The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-16 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1865

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If the wise men of fifty years ago could have
looked forward to the present day they would have
seen a good, many things to surprise them. No
doubt many of the more prescient spirits of those
days foresaw many of those changes of thought, and
feeling, and progress which some of them have lived
to see. They could hardly, indeed, have anticipated
the wonderful development of our material wealth
or our manufacturing industry, though they would
not have doubted that education and toleration
would work many marvels. But if they could by
one sudden glimpse have taken a coup d'ccil of the
existing England of 1865 as contrasted with the
England of 1815, they would have thought it a very
strange place indeed. 'What with the iron network
of railways, which, not content with traversing the
highways of the provinces, is now fairly intersecting
the metropolis, the electric telegraph up in air and
down in water, the tubular bridges, the tunnel
through the Alps, and all the other marvels of the
day, our unenlightened ancestors would be pretty
well puzzled. But it is probable that none of the
wonders they would catch a glimpse of would startle
them more than a very simple though felicitous pro-
ceeding which is now being carried on. An Eng-
lishman of 1815, with the thunders of Waterloo still
booming in his ears, and the glories of Trafalgar
and the Nile still fresh in his memory, would have
been amazed, incredulous, and, perhaps, shocked
at the spectacle of the Channel Fleet sailing
amicably for the French Coast. Yet this
astonishing event has been very naturally brought
about to the full satisfaction of both countries. A
graceful interchange of courtesies is an appropriate
celebration of the fifty years' peace between the
two leading nations of the world, and if Waterloo
was not quite the conclusive affair that our grand-
fathers believed it to be with regard to the Impe-
rial dynasty of France, we may at least hope that it
was a final exhibition of the enmity which had
existed in one form or another for many genera-
tions. NOUS etyma change tout cela, as our sprightly
neighbours themselves have it, and the better un-
derstanding between the two countries is undoubt-
edly to be reckoned among the gains of our modern
civilisation. Fifty years ago the English child was
brought up to regard the French as his natural
enemies, and the hero of their popular idolatry as
something akin to a demon, while the French in
their turn were certainly not better informed re-
specting ourselves. There have been two important
elements in bringing about a clearer comprehension
and a kindlier feeling—steam and education. The
one has so shortened the distance between the two
capitals that the one is kept constantly informed of
what goes onein the other, and men of either nation
can pass to the other without fatigue or delay. The ,
postal communication is cheap, rapid, and accurate,
so that a very large correspondence is regularly
carried on. Few of the better classes think them-
selves qualified for mixing in society until they have
at least visited France. The diffusion of education,
again, has not only made the French language
familiar to twenty times the number who could
formerly ask or answer a vocabulary question, and
by doing so introduced the chiefs of their literature
to an intimate acquaintance ; it has made history
so much better known, and politics so much more
generally interesting, that Englishmen of ordinary
intelligence can no longer look on the French as
aliens and enemies. They recognise in their
struggles and their sufferings some of the leading
features of their own great story. They sYmpathise
in the ardour, sincere though often mistaken, with
which her great men have striven for an ideal
liberty : they mourn over her sorrows and her
losses, even while accepting the moral which
they point. The very debates which excite an
interest in the one capital are in a few brief hours
circulated, in substance at least, in the other ; it is
impossible, therefore, for either nation to misunder-
stand the other so completely as it formerly did.
It is well for the peace of the world and for the
interests of humanity that it is so, for of them it
might truly be said—
'" Like fabled gods, their mighty war
Shook realms and nations in its jar."
And if the whole Continent were convulsed with

the struggle in days when their supremacy over
other nations was less assured than now, what

would be the chaos produced by a battle of the
giants in these times? It would have one certain

effect--it would throw back all pacific reform, all
internal improvement in Europe, and would pro-
bably hinder the slow but progressive march of the
I,:s.s civilised nations towards a clearer day. Hap-
pily, na SUCh catastrophe threatens our epoch. The
raceful interchange of national courtesies at

The Cattle Plague has by this time aroused the
attention of all classes of the community, and the
various meetings that have taken place in all parts
of the country testify to the natural anxiety that is
felt at the present evil, and the prospect of future
calamities on a more extended scale. The worst
part of the affair seems to be that as yet nothing
very effectual can be devised to stop the spread of
the disease, or guard against its introduction in
hitherto uninfected places. We are now suffering
from the consequences of long-standing neglect,
and as usual in such cases a certain time must
elapse, and a considerable amount of suffering and
loss be sustained, before the skill of science can be
brought to bear upon the evil, or the contrivances
of the energetic and the enterprising arrest the sad
workings of the calamity. Much information on the
subject, which is now, indeed, the social subject of
the day, may be gathered from the accounts of
the several meetings held in divers directions. In
the neighbourhood of Canterbury there have been
several fresh cases of murrain, and the committee
of the East Kent Farmers have drawn up and sent
to the Privy Council an important intimation, to
the effect that the county of Kent is in great danger
in consequence of the landing of diseased stock
along the coast, and this more especially on account
of the prohibitory law which prevents cattle being
imported into London without " due inspection."
It seems that the law as it at present
stands does not suffice to stay the transit
of diseased stock on the public roads. There
is great reason for the prayer of this memo-
rial; which desires that the system of inspection be
introduced into all the ports of the Kentish sea-
board, that the progress of the deceased cattle may
be prevented, which will thereby greatly check the
spread of the disease, and that other measures
deemed to be desirable be adopted. Too much care

and caution cannot possibly be taken at this cri-
tical juncture, and it is most important that the
plans suggested by the Committee should be put
in force whenever there is an opportunity.
In Warwickshire a meeting was convened to
consider the best mode to be adopted, and
here again some suitable schemes were de-
vised. Lord LEIGII truly observed that it
was . highly expedient they should take steps to
prevent the spread of the evil into their county ;
and Mr. WISE mentioned the extraordinary cir-
cumstance of the cattle plague which broke out in
this country, a hundred and fifty years ago, was
most extensive, although the means of communi-
cation were nothing then compared to what they
are now. Attention was also very properly called
to the great neglect which took place in the mode
of transferring cattle from one place to another, and
the great encouragement which was thereby given
to the ravages of the disease. It is indeed too bad
to think of the mischief and misery that are wrought
by this calamity, and then to reflect that every
possible incitement is afforded to the murrain by
'the gross cruelty and culpable neglect of those who
have the conduct and management of the imported
cattle. It is indeed surprising that something has
not been done to remedy these glaring sins of
omission and commission ; but the subject will

make itself heard now, when it comes before us
iu the terrible aspect of the pestilence that de-
stroyeth at noonday. Next Saturday is appointed
for meetings in Oxfordshire and Nottingham, to
consider the serious state of affairs, and propose
what may be deemed most expedient by competent
judges to guard against the consequences of the
fearful calamity. In Berwick a large meeting of
farmers took place, and the Superintendent of the
County Constabulary appears to have taken active
steps. He proposes that the county police should
watch at the railway stations, and give notice of all
cattle coming into the places to the Committee,
likewise furnishing all particulars relating to them,
and also to send a circular to those who purchase
cattle in the neighbourhood warning them to be
careful, and to keep the new stock apart from the
rest. It would be well if these excellent sugges-
tions were generally followed out through the coun-
try, as they cannot fail to be of service to the cause,

and conduce to the knowledge and experience of the
parties most intimately concerned. This is a ques-
tion of such vital interest to the community that all
should unite in taking the best steps to mitigate the
evil, and make common cause in regard to what is
fast becoming a great national calamity.

We are accustomed to think of China as in a
chronic state of rebellion, and perhaps the most
astonishing piece of news that we could receive
from the Celestial Empire would be that it was at
peace, and that there was anything like a vigorous,
settled, or popular form of government. So far
from the long-standing Taeping revolt being sup-
pressed there has recently been a new and formid-
able outbreak in the north of China, where his
people are justly much incensed by the conduct of
the Mandarins. It is called the Nyen-fei rebellion,
and has already assumed considerable proportions.
The latest news is that these Nyen-fei rebels have
captured and sacked the city of Chu-fou-llsien,
the birth-place of CONFUCIUS. Pekin itself
is threatened, for the rebels have taken
up a strong position at a distance of only 100
miles, and the communications of land and water
are easy and direct. It is no great wonder that
under these circumstances considerable uneasiness
is felt in Pekin, and it is said the authorities have
applied for the assistance of British military officers.
Despite their jealousy and self-conceit the Chinese
are far too shrewd not to perceive the immense ad-
vantage which the presence and direction of Euro-
pean officers confers on the Imperial troops. In-
deed one of the most prominent chiefs, the notorious
Futai Li-Hung-Chang understands it so well that
he has taken care to keep the European officers
and artillery under his eye, and though the
Court issued orders for all the disciplined
troops in the province to repair to the defence of
the Imperial City, Li chose to send his Europeans
and
uitheir 26 guns to Nankin, the seat of his own
tiuority. This proceeding, in conjunction with
Lt's
nown arrogance and assumption, has
encouraged the idea that he entertains the project
of coming forward as the leader of another rebel-
lion on his own account. 'Whether this be true or
no, it is certain that this powerful chief has paid
very little attention to the alarm at Pekin, or to
the threatening movements of the northern rebels,
though there is little doubt that the Imperial order
directing the concentration of disciplined troops
northwards referred especially to this very
artillery which is now despatched to Nankin,
The worst part of all this disturbance
that it damages trade and interferes withthe
com-
mercial prospects of the country. Still we can do
nothing to prevent it. If the effete and corrupt
Government of China is unable to control its sub-
ordinates, or to satisfy its people,, we cannot hope
to reform it. Neither ' can we take f n active part
in promoting rebellion. Our best course will be
that which we have lately followed, Irotecting the

radius of the treaty ports, and leaving any assist-
ance which the Imperial Government, the Futai, or
any other party may obtain from Englishmen to be
unofficial and a matter of individual arrangement.

Captain ADOLPIIUS EDYE has written a letter
which contains some suggestions on the fate of the

Atlantic Telegraph Cable. It will be found well
worthy of perusal, and offers some valuable hints
to those who may have to exert themselves in this
great undertaking. The object here designed is
chiefly as relates to the future, for, as the writer
states, at presence all is uncertainty on the topic,
although he entertains a favourable opinion of the
result. There has, no doubt, been too much haste
in some quarters to declare that the expedition is a
failure, and that there is all to fear and nothing to
hope from the intelligence that is forthcoming.
Captain EDYE declares that in case of the cable being
cut and buoyed from an accident to the cable
or the ship he should have prepared a second
buoy, with at least 100 fathoms of rope, " with a
weight attached to the lower end proportioned to
the capacity of the float, and have set it adrift as
an indication of the course the telegraph cable
would be likely to take from the combined effect
of winds and tides." No doubt this would be an
admirable arrangement and provide for the exi-
gencies of the occasion. The " pioneer buoy" would
be more likely to stand out of the water from the
weight attached to it being lighter, and thus would
have more chance of being detected, and then some
notion would be gained of the whereabouts of the
other buoy. As for getting at the injured part of
the cable, Captain EDYE proposes a plan, of
which he confesses he entertains great doubts,
on account of the depth of the waters. It is, how-
ever, worth considering, and certainly no better
suggestion has been made hitherto by the many
who have expressed their opinions on the subject
It is proposed, then, that use should be made of an
instrument similar to BURT'S buoy and nipper,
although modifications would of course be neces-
sary. The nipper is to be attached to a hundred
fathoms of hawser, and after sliding down the
" telegraph cable," to be checked, when it would
nip the cable, and " on power being applied render
that portion between it- and the ship slack ; the
strain being always kept on the hawser, the wire
would be got in with little difficulty." The
object of this attempt is to lessen the
strain, which at an times affects the
"cable," more or less, in consequence of the
motion of a ship at sea. The " electric cable has
little or no elasticity, but the het-npen hawser pos-
sesses a great amount, and on a sudden strain
would give out many feet, and it would recover
itself after the strain. This would not-be the case
with the wire, for if the strain be . beyond its
strength it must part, and all will be lost." Of
course many dissentients will be found to this, plan
as to all others put forward ; but it appears to pre-
sent a scheme to notice which is feasible, and which
on consideration gives a promise of success. No
v-Aid reason exists to prevent the execution of the
grand idea of the Atlantic Telegraph, and on
another occasion it may be realised if the present
expedition should prove unsuccessful, which is as
yet by no means certain. The Peruvian, which
arrived in Liverpool on Monday night from Quebec,
reports heavy seas during four days of her pa,ssagd;
which circumstance may account for the delay that
has taken place, and given rise to so many fears
and grave apprehensions.

THE ATLANTIC CABLE.

(From the Morning Herald.)
VALENTIN, Saturday, Noon.

Up to this hour nothing has transpired to support any of
the numerous conjectures thrown out as to the cause of
the loss of insulation of the cable. Indeed, the mystery of
the non-receipts of information thickens daily, and gives
riee to grave forebodings as to the safety of the Great
Eastern. Even the officials themselves, who keep a look-
out night and day for tidings, reluctantly admit that "it is
very strange nothing has been heard of her," but agree,
nevertheless, that "she is all right, whatever may be the '
state of the cable. Tho last telegram but one from the
great ship shows 1,150 knots paid out and the last tele-
gram 1,200 knots, which I see one of Your contemporaries
has been taking for miles, and speculating accordingly. I
may also observe here that Mr. May emphatically repudi-
ates ever having stated the result of the tests, and allow-
ing he had done so, his tests would not in the least show
that the cable had been "safely landed at the bottom," as
has been asserted. There is very little doubt as to the last
communication received on the 2d inst. being correct, but
since then nothing of a reliable nature has transpired. At
the time of the loss of insulation the cable had been laid in
2,000 fathoms, 2,100, 1,900, 2,400, 2,000, 2,080, 1,975, and
1,657, and the next deepest water she would have had to
encounter would have been some 200 miles to the west, in
latitude 41 north, and longitude 44 west, from which she
would have shoals all the way to Newfoundland.
It is now 11 days since the loss of insulation, and the
fact of there being no tidings of either the Great Eastern or
the other two vessels that accompanied her, astonishes the
most experienced men here, who shake their heads, but
say nothing. There are some, however, who are very
sanguine as to the arrival of news in the course of the next
24 hours, but that of course remains to be seen. A well-
organised staff of men stationed at Foilhammon-um, are kept
on the 100k-out night and day, so that in the event of
the vessels being sighted, the fact will be instantly tele-
graphed to head-quarters.

VALEXTIA, Tuesday, 1 p.m.
No news. Strong northerly wind. Yesterday Mr.
Glaisher examined the state of affairs at head-quarters.
Tho result is said to bo satisfactory.

FORESTERS' DAY AT THE CRYSTAL .PALACE.—
Yesterday there was the annual gathering of the members
of the Foresters' Society at tho Crystal Palace, and
although the day was wet and unpromising, upwards of
4G;000 people, fur the most part members of the order,
their wives and children,were present, and throughort the
earlier part of the day the railway companies whose lines
lead to the palace had enough to do in conveying the mul-
titude of people to their destination. A great many of the
Foresters cane by excursion trains from distant parts of
the country. In consequence of the wet which prevailed
yesterday the Foresters' tickets not used then will be ad-
mitted on Monday week, the 28th inst.
THE LATE MR. COBDEN.--It may be recorded
with something like pride that a private subscrip-
tion has been started, with a view to a memorial to Mrs
Cobden, which, without one single appeal to the public or
to strangers, now exceeds £27,000. From this it will-be
seen that the family were quite right in refusing the grant
proffered by Government. The gift would have been as
much a pension as the sums paid to inefficient incapables
and younger sons for services they never rendered. The
present is a spontaneous gift, marking the highest appre-
ciation in the subscribers, and reflecting as much credit
and honour on the recipients as on the donors. The
public may now see that honesty and virtue, even in these
degenerate times, are honoured, and that national grati-
tude may be more certainly counted on as a reward than
the recognition of the State.--Birmingham Post.

EARLY CONCERTS IN THE ClTY.—Nothing shows
more clearly the extraordinary changes, and, at the
same time, the almost total migration of residents from the
City proper of our own days, than the recorded anecdotes
connected with its early musical entertainments. It is
pleasant to turn over the pages of the anecdote-loving Sir
John Hawkins, who will accompany us through a variety
of now dingy, now palatial thoroughfares, of which all
associations have long since departed, save those con-
nected with limited_liability companies or monetary invest-
ments. For instance, it is absolutely dfficult nowadays to
conceive a private concert periodically held in the shop-
keeping, unromantic Chi:swell-street, and "so contrived as
to fall on that particular Thursday in the month nearest
the full moon, in order that visitor 3 might walk home
in safety when the perforniadco was over." Then
were the operatic music of the giant Handel, the
manly strains of English Purcell, and the sweeter and more
ri;isatsilwakfbiailsioelisio7i.nolenmelaoibmanlideues,ss,btohufhotllavltuveaeovliretaet;treteehraonelia•lelli, much Ve lo ved by those
probability
alternated
bud:hi igtl yroe
disagreeably
yhe
wi audiences,tshecut
ee
calm inspired by such excellent performance. It is not so
very much more than 100 years since this picture of the
city and its .suburbs would hold good—a period when the
"Devil" Tavern, near Temple-bar, the "Castle," Paternoster-
row, and Stationers'-hall, not to mention divers nooks and
corners eastward, such as Change-alley or 'Cernhill, each
poS§essed some concert-giving associations of their own,
since faded from the recollection even of the oldest inhabi-
tant. In the common but ostentatious modern public con-
cert is true music always or often the gainer ? Let `the
ghosts
tnatnsdainth e nightly deserted
City
yh ofous the departedesteuils:_m residents
cal
ise
rd,