The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-06 00:00:00

There is more of idleness, vanity, and mere custom,
perhaps, than of actual corruption in what, painted
in more vivid colours than I have put on my
palette, might well be entitled to the appellation
of Pandemonium. Traits of a better nature, calcu-
lated to cause us regret or individuals born for
higher destinies, occur here now and then, and are
retailed with eagerness by men who seem dead to
the real meaning of their own anecdotes. A noble
Marquis was standing on the racecourse by the side
of one of the beauties who astonish the natives here
by driving the most stylish and mettlesome pair of
dark greys. They were accosted by the boquetiZre
of the Jockey Club, a well-known girl, who follows
the Club wherever it goes, as faithful as a vivandare
to her regiment. The Marquis chose a rich rose,
and offered it to the fair horsebreaker by her side.
" Qu'est ce que vous me dcnnez la, Monsieur ?"
said the beauty, with a sneer at his stinginess.
" Qu'est que cela vaut ? Quatre francs ? " Non,
Madame," answered the Marquis readily, " cela
vaut vingt-cinq louis," and he handed a note for
the amount to the flower-girl.
The Paris grand monde bring all Paris along with
them—their operas and concerts, with Patti, Nicolini,
Delle Sedie, Viaxtemps, &c.—their French drama,
with all its first-rate celebrities. I went to the play
last evening, and saw the first performance here of
M. Emile de Girardin's world-renowned comedy,
Le Supplice d'une Femme. What a play that is, and
what a state of society it lays open before us !
What a deep romance of domestic mystification, of
long successful duplicity ; what complication of
plots, what exhibition of human misery ! A wife
deceiving her husband for eight years ; a friend be-
traying his friend ; a child " not his father's child ;"
a lover jealous of the husband; a woman outliving
her guilty passion, unable to free herself from its
toils, atoning for it by the ruin of her husband,
the loss of her child, and the exposure of her
dishonour. Such incidents may occur in many
families in all countries ; but one cannot help
wondering why it is that such, almost exclusively
such, should be the theme of nearly all French
dramas and novels, the Alpha and Omega of
French literature, whether it be earnest or
humorous, deep tragedy or broad farce, broad-
sheet fenilleton or Charivari caricature. The style
of composition being admitted, certainly no piece
can be better conducted, more highly finished, bet-
ter written than this of M. de Girardin. It is true to
the life—one is afraid, too true. Once in presence
of that repulsive group, accustomed as it were to
that tainted atmosphere, schooled to hear vice and
crime called by specious names, there is no doubtbut
your interest becomes strongly engaged by the
hideous exhibition before you. You cannot with-
hold your sympathy from the writhing features, the
agonizing shrieks of that guilty despair. But one
must be allowed to question the style and the sub-
ject very much. The tendency of the play is moral,
no doubt, for it shows what the wages of sin are
even in the conventional world wherein the scene is
laid. But there are sins which cannot bear light—
at least not as consummated sins. The struggles of
women under temptation have been often, every-
where dramatized, and with good effect. But a
fallen woman, a woman who has hugged her sins for
years, and only abjures it when it turns to ashes in
her mouth, cannot without great danger be made an
object of our sympathy, even for the sake of visiting
her crime with poetical justice, exhibiting all its un-
mitigated wretchedness, and bringing it to the direst
punishment. You may not take your subject from
the Divorce Court any more than from the Old
Bailey.

The acting, by MM. Reignier and Worms (Du-
mont and Alvarez), and Mesdames Lia-Felix and
Hortense Damain (Mathilde and Madame Larcey),
excelled in all that careful study and masterly dili-
gence which place the French dramatic theatre so
vastly above all other European stages. There
was, however, to my poor taste, not a little of that
conventional, outre, maniere finish which makes
artists of that school sacrifice _truth to effect.
Madame Lia-Felix, the guilty wife, was hysterical,
almost asthmatic, from beginning to end. Her
acting was all of one colour. M. Worms, the
lover, was either stiff and ultra-tragic, or
else wild even to frenzy. M. Reignier, the poor
husbancMalone was perfectly natural, though some
of his outbursts were somewhat grotesque and un-
artistic. Madame Damain, as the gossiping femme
du monde, had a brilliant, easy part, and managed it
well. But, on the whole, it was " grand acting," too
grand for me. There was an afterpiece, "Le Fruit
Ddendu," by Camille Doucet, but I had had enough
of it for one evening.

Game in Brazil.

- a --

A correspondent of Wilkes' Spirit of the Age (the New
York Bell's Life) gives some particulars of the animals of
the chase found in Brazil about the latitude of 23 degrees
south, and some hundred miles or so from the coast. The
entire region is exceedingly broken and mountainous, and
contains v7ews of mountain scenery of surpassing beauty.
The valleys and portions of the mountain sides are densely
wooded, and form the coverts of the game described, which
include a small species of deer, lighter coloured than the
North American species, with shorter and finer hair, and
seldom exceed 601bs. in weight. " They are killed," says
the writer, "from stands with dogs, as at home. The close-
ness and density of the cover makes a knife to cut one's way
as indispensable as a gun, so that still hunting is out of the
question, and without dogs no sport can bo hoped for. The
same method of hunting is adopted for the paca (a rodent
animal—that is, having the prominent gnawing teeth like
the rats, squirrels, &c.), save that a stand is always chosen
near some stream of water, as the paca always makes for the
narrowest stream when pursued, in which it dives andswims
like an otter. This animal weighs from 101 b to 151 b, is of a
light brown colour, spotted with dirty white on theback and
rump, the hair short and thin, the body closely put together,
and the feet partly webbed. They are very fine eating, and
when roasted whole resemble very much in looks and
taste a sucking pig. The peccary, or wild hog, an ugly
Customer, hunted the same as the deer; a full grown one
weighing close on to 100Ibs., of a dark pepper and salt
sort of colour, with formidable tusks, and the high shoul-
ders and drooping hind quarters of the European wild boar.
The bristles on the back and spine are longest, giving the
animal when enraged the appearance of a very dusty cus-
tomer, and it behoves the hunter to mind his eye in ap-
proaching a wounded one, as their tusks cut like bowie-
knives, as I have had personal experience •f. The flesh of
the young is veiygood, but of an old one coarse and strong.
Then there is the cotea, another rodent, about the size of
our northern hare or white rabbit, but with shorter legs
and weighing more ; in colour a reddish brown, with no
visible tail. They are shot by making a sera—that is, cut-
ting away the underbrush in some unfrequented mountain
path, and baiting the spot with corn. The coteas soon find
it, and having once fed there are sure to come again; and
the Portuguese sport, ensconcing himself in the bushes at
daylight, peppers cotea, when he comes for his breakfast,
with his single barrel 30-gauge pop gun, universally used
in this country, as a consequence of which game is on the
increase. These sam3 coteas are not bad in a stew, if pro-
perly skinned : otherwise there is a strong piggy odour.
Their skins also make capital shoes. Of the birds that
may be classed under the head of game come first the
macouk (I am not sure about the spelling, but that is the
way it is pronounced)—a fine large bird, weighing from
three to five pounds, much resembling in shape the Guinea
fowl, save that the bill is longer and more slender, and it
lacks the red wattles on the head ; in colour a dark brown,
with fine mottling of a lighter colour. These are some-

times shot at the cotea bating places, or enticed to show
themselves in the path by an imitation of their peculiar
mellow whistle, produced by blowing into the shell of a

large nut through a small orifice. Next the capuara,--so
called, resembling very much in form, size, and colour the
English partridge, lacking, however, the horseshoe mark
7,negre
theo regrow, or
They are caught frequently in traps by the
same manner as the macouk, except
rolling or shot in the
Sound
like a
made of a piece of cane, and produces a
lover whistle. Then there is a fine
that the call is
large species of siaipol)
open boggy grounds in thendii'ke it
in
or English snipe, l
pe,
bii t
narked
by one-third than our Wilson's
kor
a good dog much sport could Vicinity
b
known
were to be had, plumage. It inhabits
of cultivation, and with
these same snipe are abouVl'alalntdh
if a dog
own
ingo
Brazil,
out of them. ; but
pointers and setters are not
macouk
tikcould
be hunted, for the cover inhabited
by th© '
and
capuara are enough to make the most enthusiastic
sum-
mer woodcock shooter's hair stand on end, and prevents
h eannre.
.
of hunting them with any sort of pi
t e
Speakingposs possibility boi lfi tth
the
long
bills reminds me that I have been told
there is a woodcock in this country, but I have never seen
one, and am inclined to think that the snipe before men-

tioned is meant. This, so far as my personal observation
goes, comprises the game of this region. As for the sport
of hunting it, the less said about it the better, as to wait on
a stand, which is the only chance to get a sight of any of
the larger game, subjects the sportsman to the attacks and
stings of ants, mosquitoes, wood-ticks, and a dozen name-
less vermin, which effectually do away with the pleasure of
the
thing, and the sportsman coming to this country for
shooting would do better to stay at home and bet on the
Jersey Boy against Taylor. •

The Cattle Disease

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COURT OF COMMON
COUNCIL.

Yesterday a special meeting of the Court of Common
Council was held at Guildhall (the Lord Mayor in the
chair) for the purpose of taking into consideration the pro-
priety of voting the sum of £l,OOO towards a fund for com-
pensatfng the owners of such cattle as may fall with the
cattle plague within the metropolitan district, and for the
establishment of sanitoriums for the separation and
cure of the cattle affected. There was a numerous attend-
ance on the part of the members.
The LORD MAYOR, in opening the proceedings, said the
notices which had been issued would have informed the
council of the particular purpose for which they had been
that day convened. During the last month or two he had
received a great number of letters upon the cattle disease,
the whole of which he had sent to the markets' committee ;
and he might observe that no body of gentlemen could
have exerted themselves more energetically or more praise-
worthily than had the markets' committee. (Hear.) About
the middle of last month, when the disease was spreading
in all directions and exciting a deal of attention through-
out the country, he requested the chairman of that com-
mittee to summon a meeting at the Mansion House in order
that not only the members of the committee themselves
should assemble there, but that at the same time they
should invite to their aid the medical officers of health to
attend as well. That meeting had been held, and it was
attended by a very great number of gentlemen. A dis-
cussion of three hours' duration took place, and in the end
a committee was appointed, consisting of the markets'
committee with the addition of the officers of health, two
or three salesmen, and some of the cattle importers. That
committee was formed for the purpose of arriving, if pos-
sible, at some practical resolution on the subject of the
disease. They subsequently met again at the Mansion
House, and an interview had been had, as might have been
seen by the papers, with the authorities at the Home
Office, to obtain additional powers beyond those contained
in the act of parliament. Those powers had been granted,
and now all that was required was that attention should be
paid to the carrying of them out. A report would be pre-
sented to the council that day, in which they were recom-
mended to contribute the sum of £l,OOO to the fund for com-
pensating the owners of such cattle as might fall with the
plague, and it would be for the members to take that recom-
mendation into consideration. He sincerely thanked the
markets' committee, and those gentlemen who had remained
in town at this season to assist them, for the indefatigable
manner in which they had been discharging their duties.
There was only one other remark ho had to make, and he
made it with some diffidence--that he thought it was not
the duty of all the officers of the corporation to be out of
town at this period. (Hear, hear.) There was scarcely a
single officer of the corporation in London during the past
month, and in his opinion that was a state of fhings which
ought not to exist at such a time, when a fearful cattle
plague raged in the metropolis and required attention and
advice. (Applause.)
The TOWN CLERK then read a long report from the
markets' and cattle plague committees, in which they re-
capitulated the various meetings they bad held, the resolu-
tions they had arrived at, the interview with Mr. Wadding-
ton at the Home-office, the Orders in Council, the legal
opinion respecting the slaughtering of diseased cattle given
by the Common Sergeant, the reasons in favour of the
establishment of sanitoriums, and the necessity which
existed for raising the compensation fund, In conclusion
they recommended the corporation to contribute £l,OOO to
the fund out of the City cash.
Mr. DAVIS asked what amount of money had as yet been
contributed by the public towards the Compensation Fund.
The LORD MAYOR said he was not himself aware that
any money had been contributed to it except 50 guineas
which he had received for it that morning from Mr. John
Lowe, of Clapton.
Mr. GIBEINS, the chairman of the markets' committee,
then moved the following resolution :—" That in conse-
quence of the vast interest the corporation have at stake in
the importation and sale of cattle at the Metropolitan Cattle
Market, and the prevention of the spread of the cattle dis-
ease throughout the country, the markets' committee is of
opinion that the corporation should contribute the sum of
£l,OOO towards a fund for compensating the owners of such
cattle as may fall with the disease within the metropolitan
district, and for the establishment of sanitoriums for the
separation and cure of the cattle affected." Ho thought the
importance of the subject had justified him in asking the
Lord Mayor to call the present meeting. It was a subject
which came home to every householder in this groat metro-
polis. The attention of the markets' committee was first
called to it by their inspector, who at the time was in com-
munication with Professor Symonds. It was then referred
to a special committee, and shortly after a letter was received
from the Lord Mayor stating that cattle disease had mani-
fested itself amongst the layers at Islington. The commit-
tee thereupon disinfected the market in every possible way,
as recommended by Dr. Letheby. They ordered chloride
of lime to be freely used, and directed that the market
should be periodically flooded from the hydrants there.
They also empowered their inspectors to employ additional
men to prevent cattle in a diseased state from being sold for
human food. Their object in doing that was because they
had no power to prevent any quantity of diseased cattle
from coming into the market. They had no power to stop
them, the market being a public one; but when the diseased
cattle entered, then they had power to deal with them to a
limited extent. That limited power on their part was so
described in the acts of Parliament. They found that they
could go to a justice of the peace and obtain an order from
him to have the diseased cattle entered, but then they were
informed that all cattle in the early stages of the disease
were fit for human food, and that they could not condemn
beasts which were only in those stages. He was afraid
the disease had been spread all over the country from the
Metropolitan Market, for it was the market for the metro-
polis of England and of the whole of Europe. In the first
instance he went to the Lord Mayor and endeavoured to
allay the alarm in the public mind. The first effect of the
disease was shown in a deprivation of the milk of the
animal, and then the cows were sent, sometimes to the
slaughter-house and sometimes to the Metropolitan Mar-
ket. A deputation waited on Sir George Grey, who seemed
to think that the committee had plenty of power to meet
the emergency, for he said that if they referred to the
Nuisances Removal Act, cap. 117, they would find that all
the necessary power had been conferred on them. They
told him, in reply, that that Act only gave them power in
cases where the cattle were unfit for human food ; and here
was the difficulty, for, though a beast might have the dis-
ease, yet it might be good for human food. Then an
Order in Gouncil came out on the 11th of August, but that
only gave the committee power to seize and isolate. To
seize the diseased beasts in the dairies and to bury them
upon the promises was impossible. That was pointed out
to Sir G. Grey, who then issued another Order in Council,
giving them the power they required, a power that when
they found the animals really affected with the disease
they could order them to be slaughtered ; and now the in-
spectors were exercising that flower in the best way they
could. It now appeared that up to last night, out of 16,000
cows in the metropolitan district as many as 2,000 had
been killed in consequence of the disease. That only
included cows, as distinguished from beasts. The day
before there were 17 fat beasts affected with the disease,
and this was its first appearance in the metropolis among
the beasts, though it was not its first appearance among
them throughout the country. The cost of the 2,000 cows
which had been killed was some £30,000 or £40,000. Who
was to meet this loss ? During the last two months that
disease had been raging, and how to meet it no one seemed
to know. None of the professors seemed to be able to sug-
gest a remedy. Professor Symonds was of opinion that it
was the poleaxe and the knife which would get rid of it,
but Heaven onlyknew when or how it would be eradicated.
So far as could be understood the following was a true
description of it and of its effects :—" The disorder which
is at present raging amongst the cattle is said, not only by
competent physicians, but also by veterinary surgeons and
others, to be a virulent kind of typhus fever, which is so
deadly in its effects when once established that it sets all
medical aids at defiance, and spreads like wildfire amongst
the herds. Those who were in affluence at the beginning of
one week may be reduced to a state almost of beggary by
the sudden destruction of the animals on which they de-
pended for their livelihood." A remedy it was thought might
be found, and indeed it would be a disgrace if in the year
1865, among tho number of scientific men we had in the
world, some remedy could not be invented to meet a plague
so direful. • (Hear.) The cures suggested for the disease
were legion, and amongst these were gruel, tar, saline
mixtures,- and water impregnated with iron, and it was
hoped that the latter, which was recommended upon high
authority, would be found effectual. At present the cow-
keepers sent off the infected beasts to the market, or to
some slaughter-house where they might be killed. There
was believed to be great danger in allowing infected
beasts to be driven through the streets. If the good could
be separated from the bad animal; and if the latter could
be conveyed to sanitoriums, where the medical men could
operate upon them, then much benefit would result ; and
then, too, if the animals died, they would be buried on the
spot. All the professors were, agreed in this—that if a com-
pensation fund were raised, and the cowkeeper were told
that he would be remunerated for his loss, he would at
once inform the authorities when the disease made its ap-
pearance in his cowshed. Shod after shed was now being
shut up, and men and women who seemed to bo affluent
ono day were the next reduced to ruin. An illustration of
this would suffice. One daylast week a cowkeoper at Pim-
lice had 70 or 80 healthy cows. Ono Wednesday three of
them were found dead. On Thursday 42 of them were
sent to the market. Of these 42 three showed symptoms
bth e s
sentela. u gnhi
Thei:eer
pen dlooorbre e
Cfc
eoa
luNlvos esw t oowf
ta
hts 1
et et irsskenea
its
naenb edd.
these
the disease, and then the whole of the 42 beasts had to
ma
asasettuo alsong Mondayah(el
inlegLi
to be slaughtered. At present the man was absolutely out
of his mind. (Hear, hear.) Out of his 70 beasts ho
had
not one left. Some persons were saying that the disease
arose from bad water, bad ventilation, and bad cow-shed;
but in the case of Miss Burdett Coutts, who had 40 head of
cattle, which were most carefully housed and attended to—
particularly from the moment that she heard that the dis-
ease was amongst them—all were gone with the exception
of one cow; so that, whether it was a want of water or a