The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-10 00:00:00

TBE SUA, LONDOS!, FHIOAY EVENING: FEBRUARY 10, 1865.

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEB. 10, 1865.

Mr. MOFFATT has begun the work of the Session
in good time by bringing forward the subject of the
Bankruptcy Act. It is indeed high time that some-
thing earnest was done in respect to this question,
for its present management is a disgrace to all con-
cerned, and a positive loss to those who ought to
benefit by the workings of the system. It is well
known that nothing is so difficult to uproot as the
prejudices which appertain to the law, and it seems
indeed impossible at times to make any progress in
this up-hill task. Yet when we consider the im-
portant bearings of this case upon all social affairs
and commercial traffic, it is most urgent that a re-
medial measure be speedily adopted, and some of
the discrepancies removed which attach them-
selves to the present workings of the system.
Times out of number have those well skilled
in the details and perfectly conversant with
the working of the matter declared that
the fallacies which it contains render failure almost
certain, and entail great grievances upon all the
parties immediately concerned. Mr. MOFFATT'S
object was that a select committee be appointed to
inquire " into the working of the new Bankruptcy
Act, and to report thereon." It is satisfactory to
notice that the motion was agreed to, for it cannot
fail to prove of service and to confer some benefits
upon those who seek for information upon the sub-
ject. It will be of consequence to many to peruse
the speeches made during this discussion, for they
contain Some good descriptions of the workings of
the system,
and expose some of its most glaring
errors. Mr. MOFFATT entered into the subject with
a comprehensiveness which showed that he had
mastered all its
paid
him
swell-deserved compliment when he said
the House
w
which his
:u m. recogniseid the valuable services
friend had rendered in connexion
with the subject." It is dreadful to dwell upon the
monstrous practices that have prevailed in these
matters; they are a scandal to justice, and a re-
proach to the framers of the law. Here we find
from Mr. MOFFATT'S summary of
"
some of the chief
points of note that upon estates amounting to
£680,000 the official charges were upwards of
£140,000," or about 20 per cent., besides unavoid-
able expenses. Out of 9,200 bankruptcies only 150
paid more than 9s. 6d. in the pound. Such state-
ments clearly show that what profit there is in a
bankrupt's estate goes principally to the benefit of
officials, and thus the complicated workings of the
system prove of no avail to those concerned, or of
very little, at all events. In the hurry-skurry of
assistance, as it is called, it is very possible for
serious evils to exist without much notice being taken
of them, and this may in some degree account for the

small share of attention that the anomalies
bankruptcy system have received fromtheofthe
commu-
nity in general. Now, however, that reason can
no longer prevail, for through the exertions of well-
informed persons, the frauds and fallacies of the
case are pretty generally known, and must have
been widely disseminated through the length and
breadth of the land. Mr. MOFFATT affirmed, as a
fact, that creditors were ready to accept almost
anything rather than go into the Bankruptcy Court.
And who can doubt it. They spend a great deal of
time in annoyances and trouble, with very little
profit in some cases, and none in many. The hon.
member truly observed, that it was impossible to
base any measure upon the existing system which
would be successful or satisfactory. Too much was
attempted, and it would prove a failure if it sought
to undertake anything beyond its due limits. Thus,
in seeking to prove the honesty or dishonesty of the
debtor, it essayed more than was compatible with its
power and resources. Enough has been shown by this
time to corroborate the force of the statement here
put forth, that this latter endeavour is " quitebeyond
the scope of a sound and useful bankruptcy system,
and should be abolished." Mr. MOFFATT'S proposi-
tion, that the existing law of bankruptcy should be
abolished altogether, and a simpler system substi-
tuted similar to that now in use in Scotland, was an
admirable one, and it would be a great advantage if
such a thing could be done in every point of view.
The Scotch system has given general satisfaction,
and from attempting too much it does not fail, as
ours does in so many palpable ways, but answers
the legitimate ends for which it is designed. The
State has very little to do with the manage-
ment of affairs in Scotland ; and the credi-
tors in general make their own arrangements
through an agent that they appoint for the purpose
of transacting the business. A final court of appeal
was also advocated by Mr. MOFFATT, and his sug-
gestion of permitting the creditors to receive the
estate of an insolvent in lieu of their debts would
now probably answer in the long run. By this
means, as he observed, a debtor might say " There
is a good dividend, let me go," and thus 16s. in the
pound might often be realised, which at present
very seldom took place. The fact is that a series
of abuses has:rendered the workings of the existing
systems quite incompetent for the purposes for
which they were designed, and while professing to
sift the subject and adjust the difficulties of the
case, the employees of the Bankruptcy Court suffer
the proceeds of the estate to melt away, and by the
time the day of reckoning arrives the creditors find
that all their time and trouble have brought them
nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit. 'The law
that is so proverbially known as the eater of the
oyster and divider of its shell never appears so to a
greater extent than when it is surveyed under the
aspect of the Bankruptcy Court. There it seems
to culminate its inconsistencies and absurdities, and
out of the necessities of some and the losses of others
to reap an unrighteous harvest. " A sound, intel-
ligible, and satisfactory state" is what Mr. MOFFATT
prophecises as the result of his proposed alteration,
and certainly if that object is in any degree attained
many great and important improvements will be
made upon the past and present system. A decided
change is what is imperatively called for, and unless
that takes place it is idle to expect and useless to
promise any benefit of a practical nature to those.
interested in the affair. It is to be hoped that after
all that has been said and written in a theoretical way
upon this subject, and all that has been gained in a
practical form by the workings of the faulty system
now in vogue, some great change will take
place, and that the country's good sense may not be
insulted by any more patchings and tinkerings cf
unsound measures, but that a new and simple
scheme may be adopted to answer the desired end
of securing as much money as possible for creditors,
instead of squandering away the assets of the bank-
rupt in unbecoming ways, and for unworthy pur-
poses. The interests of the commercial members of
the community surely merit attention from the Le-
gislature, and it will be a great disgrace if their
wants and wishesare not to be made paramount to
the prejudices of officials and the predilections of
red-tapists to their own notions. For many reasons
a real reform in the law, and especially in the Bank-
ruptcy Act, is more necessary than in a Parliamen-
tary sense.

It was only to be expected, after the number of
serious accidents that have lately occurred on our
railways, and especially after her MAJESTY'S just
and forcible remonstrance on the subject, that the
opening days of Parliament would not pass over
without some allusion to the subject. Accordingly
Mr. BENTINCK, last evening, called the attention of
Mr. GIBSON to the matter, and asked whether it
'was the intention of the Government during the
present Session to bring forward any measure for
the better prevention of railway accidents. It was
fully in accordance with the general policy of our
existing administration, and could hardly have sur-
prised any member of the House that the President
of the Board of Trade stated that he and his col-
leagues had no such intention. For this inaction
he brought forward several reasons, many of which
were plausible enough, but which are hardly altogether
satisfactory. Mr. GIBSON thinks the matter is best
left to the directors of the various companies, who,
during the year 1863, have paid, in the shape of
indemnities, nearly £170,000. He further 'argues,
that in the year 1864 the railways have conveyed
220,000,000 of passengers, of whom only 14 have
been killed, so that the computation stands at 1
passenger killed out of every 15,719,285, and
one injured of every 315,638. This, however, is
not quite the way to look at the question. The
number of fatal accidents is comparatively small,
but if those fourteen deaths arose from preventible
causes, if they were occasioned by carelessness or ne-
glectof duty, the public has just ground for com-
plaint and uneasiness. According to Mr. GIBSON'S
inference we might as well
proportion of fatal accidents occurring
ntot' .heinsmoaurll
thoroughfares, and thereupon cease from
punishing
furious driving. Mr. GIBSON admits that the acci-
dents to passenger trains have increased from 52 in
1863 to 77 in 1864, but he attributes this to the in-
creased number of trains running. Increase of
traffic demands increase of care, and the traffic,
rapid as its increase is, has certainly not risen at the
rate of half as much again in 12 months, so that an
addition of 25 to 52 in the number of accidents mustbe
altogether disproportionate. Under these circum-
stances, though doing every
ajunsdtifcnenytoaptphreeepiautbinligc
spirit of the railway companies,
the advantages of leaving
enterprise
unfettered,so farfrom the
public may be inclined to thinkthat
diminishing the responsibilities of the companies it
may be desirable to take measures to increase their
sense of their obligations to their passengers.

everye
A c c iodue
en,
st s a bttye
nfit n r e
The e o m m d
aonng
eerncooungche r
nt os
uesx cailtl
and therefore one would suppose that all would
unite in endeavouring to avoid it, and in providing
the best means of escape in case of personal danger.
But it is a singular thing that a very large propor-
tion of the fires that annually occur in the Metro-
polis arise from sheer carelessness or recklessness,
while, although anxious householders may make
provision for due precautions being t ken by their

servants, there is one source of general danger that
is altogether disregarded. What is everybody's
danger is nobody's danger, and the condition of our
public buildings has been a wanton risk of life and
limb. Accident after accident, catastrophe after
catastrophe, have failed to arouse the public interest
to more than a languid and occasional action. We
have had no vigorous exertion, no organised im-
provement, no official supervision. Just now fires
are a good deal talked of, for the disasters have
been more than usually momentous. The very
narrow escape of Sandringham Hall is enough of
itself to attract attention. Every one must feel re-
joiced that the country house of the young Prince
and Princess, whose fortunes England follows with
such kindly interest and goodwill, has escaped de-
struction ; the risk was, however, sufficiently great
to make its preservation a matter of more than
ordinary congratulation. It would have been very
much to be regretted if the building which has just
been arranged and adorned to suit the taste and con-
venience of its royal owners, should have been de-
stroyed ; but the absence of all but a few persons
from the establishment prevented much risk of any
fatal casualties. In our public assemblies it is not
so, and we have just had two warnings sufficiently
impressive to arouse us from our lethergy. The
destruction of the Edinburgh Theatre happily
occurred when the audience was not present,
and thus loss of life from the terrible commotion
inevitable when such a discovery is made was
avoided. The catastrophe, however, was not un-
attended with fatal accidents, and the death of those
courageous and noble-minded men who perished
in attempting to rescue those already endangered
by the falling buildings, adds a mournful feature to
the story. Since that disaster, and while the heroism
of the Dean of Guild is still fresh in the minds of his
countrymen, the metropolis itself is startled by ano-
ther wholesale conflagration. One of the regular
theatres is totally destroyed by fire ; but in this in-
stance, though the public lose a pleasant place of
amusement, the respected managers incur a heavy
pecuniary loss, and some hundreds of persons are
thrown out of employment, no life is actually sacri-
ficed. Had it not been for the promptness and
presence of mind of those in the theatre, many acci-
dents would probably have taken place ; and had
fire broken out earlier in the evening,when the house
was full, we can scarcely hope that no fatal results
would have occurred. In both these theatrical dis-
asters the origin of the fire was something similar,
as the roof in each case caught fire from excessive
heat and unprotected gas. It is noticeable, too,
that, in accordance with a common but dangerous
custom, the carpenter's shop in the Surrey Theatre
was just above the thin lath and plaster ceiling,
which, from the excessive heat of the chandelier, set
fire to a heap of shavings and rubbish. It will be
remembered that this was the orign of the fire at
Covent Garden in 1856, and the total destruction
of the fine old house. It would be well for theatrical
managers to look to this, and to have the arrange-
ments altered without delay. A very trifling out-
lay of trouble and of capital would not only secure
their own property from great risk, but the public
from serious danger. Forewarned should be fore-
armed, and the recurrence of such disasters proves
that there is something wrong in the present sys-
tem. The same motto should be accepted by the
public generally, as a hint to insist on some active
steps being taken to. improve the means of entrance
and exit belonging to places of public resort. Most
of our large houses are little better than man-traps
for destruction in case of fire or sudden panic ; and
we have no doubt that it is the desire as well as the
interest of the managers to secure the safety of their
visitors, it only needs a properly organised system
I to remove the danger.

The French Government and the Papal

Nuncio.

The Moniteur of yesterday contains the following
announcement :—" The Minister for Foreign Affairs,
after receiving orders from the Emperor, has re-
quested his Majesty's ambassador at the Holy See
to complain of the two letters addressed by the
Apostolic Nuncio to the Bishops of Orleans and
Poitiers, letters which have been published in the
newspapers, and which constitute an infringement
of the regulations of international law and of the
public law of France."
The following is a translation of the letter ad-
dressed by the Papal Nuncio to Monseigneur Pie,
Bishop of Poitiers
Monseigneur,—l have just received, and I have read with
delight, the charge that your excellence has published in
your cathedral for the purpose of acquainting your people
with the recent Encyclical of the Sovereign Pontiff, and
the catalogue of condemned errors annexed to it. Your
charge, Monseigneur, is admirable for its firmness and epis-
copal courage. That does not, however, astonish me in any
way; I expected it. It is to be 'hoped that the veritable
glory of the Church of France will shine forth undimmed on
this memorable occasion. It will be a great subject of con-
solation for our Holy Father to see the chief pastors of this
catholic nationinspired with his courage and firmness, which
do not falter despite the sore trials to which he is subjected.
I take the liberty of adding, that we shall all be very glad
to become acquainted with the letter that your excellence
has addressed to the minister, in reply to his circular of the
Ist January. Accept, sir, with my most sincere congratu-
lations, the assurance that I am happy to renew towards
you the sentiments of affection and devotion with which,
I am, &c., FLATIO,
Archbishop of Myra, Apostolical Nuncio.

BANK OF FRANCE.

PARIS, FEB. 9.

,
The following is the return of the Bank of France
for the week ending to-day, together with the cor-
responding figures of the previous account :

DEBTOR.

Feb. 9.

Feb. 2.

fr. c. fr. c.
Capital of the Bank 182,500,000 182,500,000
Profits in addition to
capital (Art. 8, Law,
June 9, 1857
Reserve of the Bank

and its branches
22,105,750 14 22,105,750 14
Reserve in landed pro-
perty 4,000,000 4,000,000
Notes in circulation
Banknotes to order and
receipts payable at
sight 6,246,618 64 6,780,382 75
Treasury account cur-
rent creditor
Current accounts, Paris 129,309,601 97 115,213,823 01
Do. branch banks
Dividends payable 2,574,848 75 3,240,358 75
Discounts and sundry
interests
Rediscounted the last
six months 2,789,444 05 2,789,444 05
Sundries 9,897,778 50 10,925,989 86

Total
CREDITOR.

Feb. 9. Feb. 2:
Cash in hand and in fr. c. fr. c.
Branch banks
Commercial bills over-
due
Commercial bills dis-
counted, not yet due 328 857 706 40 322,560,428 27
Do. branch banks 307'446'199 328,814,862
Advances on deposit of ' '
bullion
Do. branch banks 4,248,210 4,205,610
Do. on French Public
Securities 14,584,100 14 925 600
Do. by branch bankr

_or _8..,
Do. on railway shares

- 9;222;500 -

and debentures
D. branch banks 17,573,750 17,928,050
Do. on Credit Fonder
Bonds

Do. branches 331;150
Do. to the State (Con-
vention, June 10,
1857) 60,000,000 60,000,000
Government Stock re-
serve 12,980,750 14 12,980,750 14
Do. disporable
Rentes Immobalisees
(Law, June 2, 1857) 100,000,000 100,000,000
Hotel and furniture of
the Bank and landed
property branches
Expenses of manage-
-221,800 06 208,008 18
ment
6,754,389 71 6,550,813 50
Sundries
____------.

T0ta1............ 1,287,921,267 81 1,286,065,500 33
(Signed) The Senator Governor of the Bank of France,
BOVLAND.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTERS TELEGRAL)

ROME.

RoME, Feb. 9.

The Giornale di Roma of to-day contradicts the
statement that the representatives of the Holy See
in foreign countries have .given, by order from
Rome, any explanations or commentaries upon the
Encyclical.

ITALY.
TURN, FEB. 10.

It is stated that the Commissioner appointed to
select a locality for the establishment of a military
port for the Southern Italian provinces, have fixed
upon the port of Taranto.

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, FEB. 10.

The official Wiener Zeitung of to-day says :
"In reply to the false rumours now current, we
state that the military tribunal of Buda, having
condemned the landed proprietors of Nedeczky and
the Bailiff Benitz t/be hung for high treason, com-
mitted in Hungary, this sentence has been com-
muted by his Majesty to 20 years' imprisonment."
Paul Almasy and five other individuals have been
condemned to 14 years' imprisonment, and Linen
to six years' imprisonment and loss of his nobility.

JAPAN.
SHANGHAE, DEC. 26.

The intelligence from Japan is unsatisfactory.
The British forces were still in the Bay of Jeddo.
It is reported that the Mikado repudiates the late

happy to learn that the President has signed the
bill creating a General-in-Chief. That bill is now
a law. No appointment has yet been made to fill
the new office."

A Washington despatch thus describes the result
of Mr. Blair's mission to Richmond :

" It is now definitely settled that Mr. Blair's
mission has been an entire failure, and that he is not
to wear the honour of a great pacificator. Mr.
Blair went to Richmond confident that he should be
able to inaugurate negotiations whose end would be
the termination of hostilities and restoration of the
Union. He returns satisfied that at present there is
no hope of a peaceful solution of existing difficulties.
He found division and wrangling among the rebel
leaders, but they are so distrustful of each other
that none dare to assume the responsibility of mak-
ing advances, or agreeing to terms which would lead
to peace. Davis is environed with enemies, who
watch his every motion, and are ready at the first
indication of a disposition to accede to any possible
terms of settlement to spring upon and overwhelm
him. For this reason he could offer no terms ex-
cept a precedent recognition of commissioners as
representing the Confederate Government, or he
was willing to negotiate without an actual recogni-
tion, provided an armistice of from thirty to ninety
days was granted. Neither of these propositions
could, of course, receive a moment's consideration,
and so he was informed.

" Failing all efforts to accommodate: matters
amicably, Mr. Blair has returned to this city, and
his labours as a peacemaker are ended. Nothing
now remains but a vigorous prosecution of the war
until the army of Lee is destroyed, and then peace
will come, not by negotiation, but by the disintegra-
tion of the rebel Government.
" The rebels are determined to make one last
effort, by the conscription of negroes and a more
vigorous enforcement of the conscription of white
men, to change the current of disaster, which has so
steadily set against them of late. Their hopes
of recognition have not altogether failed them, and
they are encouraged, from the action of our Con-
gress in relation to the French occupation of Mexico,
to believe that France will soon recognise them as
an off-set to the hostility displayed towards the new
Government of that country by the United States.
All these arguments are used to keep the rebel Con-
gress and the people from despairing of ultimate
success ; and they have the effect desired for the
present.

" It is authoritatively stated that Mr. Blair is pre-
paring a letter, addressed to Horace Greeley, de-
tailing his experience as a peace negotiator, and
explaining the causes of his failure, and showing
that there is no hope of an immediate peaceful set-
tlement of the war.

" General Singleton has not returned yet to this
city, although it is understood that he has come
within our lines from Richmond. His political
friends are quite disappointed at his utter failure to
bring about a peaceful frame of mind.
" Peace men are said to be plentiful in Richmond,
but reconstructionists do not as yet dare to avow
themselves.

" A resolution will be introduced in the Senate on
Monday calling upon the President for all the Blair-
Davis correspondence."

PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION,

HOUSE OF COMMONS-FEB. 9.

PRIVATE BILLS.

Standing Order No. 7 read. Amendment proposed, to
leave out the word "four," in order to insert the word
"three," instead thereof. Question put, " That the word
'four' stand part of the said Standing Order." The house
divided—Ayes, 154 ; Noes, 72.

AYES —154.
Adderley, C. B. Gore, J. R. 0. Palk, Sir L.
Archdall, Capt.M E. Goschen, G. J. Palmer, Sir R.
Ayrton, A., S. Gower, G. W. L. Palmerston, Visct.
Barnes, E. Grey, Sir G. Parker, Major W.
Baring, Sir F. Gurdon, B. Peel, Sir H,
Barrow, W. H. Hadfield, G. Peel, Gcn.
Bazley, T. Hamilton, Lord C. Peel, J.
Beecroft, G. S. Band,ey. J. Potter, E.
Bellew, R. M. Hartington,Marquis Powell, F. S.
Bonham-Carter, J. Hassard, M. Price, E. G.
Bouverie, P. P. Bay, Sir J Rowley, R. T.
Boyle, G F . Headlam, T. E. Russell, A.
Bremridge, R. Henley, J. Sclater-Booth, G.
Brid,cres, Sir B. W. liothatn, Lord Scourfielo, J. H.
Bright, J. Howes. E Smith, Augustus
Broinley. W. B. Hubbard, J. G. Smith, Sir F.
Bruce, Major C. Hutt, W. Smyth, Col.
Bruce, H. A. Ifigham, R. Smollett, P. B.
Burghley, Lord Jervis, Captain Stansfeld, J.
Caird, J. Kingscote, Col. Stracey, Sir H.
Calthorpe, F. IL Knatchbull, W. Sturt, H. G.
Cardwell, E. Knatchbull-Hugess Sturt, Lt -Col. N.
Cartwright, Col. Leader, N. P. Surtees, H. E.
Castlerosse, Viet. Lefevre, G. J. S. Taylor, Col.
Cave, S. Leroy, A. Thynne, Lord H.
Childers, H. C. E. Lee, W. Tite, W.
Cochrane, A. D. B. Legh, Major C. Torrens, R.
Courtney. Lord Legh, W. J. Tracy, C. R. D.
Cowper, W. r. Lennox, Lord H. G. Trefusis, C. H. R.
Cox, W. Leslie, C. P. Treherne, M.
Crawford, R. W. Long, It. P. Trollope, Sir J.
Darner, S. D: Lovaine, Lord Turner, J. A.
Denman, G. Lowther, Col. Turner, C.
Disraeli. B. M'Cormick, %V. Verney, Sir H.
Duncombe, W. E. Malcolm, J. W. Villiers, C. P.
Dundas, Sir D. Melina, R. Waldegrave-Leslie
nine, Col. Martin,J. Walpole, S. H.
Farquhar, Sir M. Miller, W. Warner, E.
Fenwick, H. Mills, A. Watkin, E. W.
Fitzgerald, W. S. Moffatt, G. Weguelin, T. M.
Fitzroy, Lord F. Montagu, Lord R. Western, S.
P toyer. J. Montgomery, Sir G. Westhead, J. P. B.
Foley, H. W. Morgan, 0. Whalley, G. H.
Fortescue, F. D. Morris, W. White, L.
French, Col. Mowbray, J. R. Whitmore, H.
Gavin, Major Naas, Lord Willoughby, Sir H.
George, J. Noel, G. J. Woodd, B. T.
Gibson, T. M. O'Conor Don, The Wynn, C. W. W.
Gilpin, C. Ogilvy, Sir J.
Gladstone, W. N. O'Logtilen, Sir C. TELLERS.
Glyn, G. C. 0' i:eilly, A. W.
Goddard, A. L. Puke, Col. Patten, Col. W.
Goldsmid, Sir F. Paget, Lord C. Egerton, E. C.

NOES —72.
Antrobus, E. Ferrand, W. Pakington, Sir J.
Baillie, H. J. Forster, W. E. Peacocke, G. M. W.
Beaumont, W. B. Gower, F. L. Pinney, Col.
Bentinck, G. W. P. Greville, Col. F. Pugh, D.
Bentinck, G. C. Griffith, C. D. Robertson, 11.
Bowyer, Sir G. Hardy, G. Roebuck, J. A.
Brady, Dr Hardy, J. Salt, T.
Briscoe, J. I. Hennessy, J. P. Selwyn, C. J.
Bruce, Lord E. A. Hodgson, R. Seymour, Danby
Burrell, Sir P. Hurooerstone, P. S. Stacpoole, W.
Cairns, Sir H. Jackson, W. Stanley, Lord
Cargill, W. W. Kelly, Sir F. Trelawny, Sir J. S.
Cecil, Lord R. Kinglake, A. W. Vance, J.
Clifton, Sir R. Knightley, c,ir R. Vansittart, W.
Craufurd, E. H. J. Langton, W. H. G. Walsh, Sir J. B.
Daiglish, R. Lawson, W. Walter, J.
Dawson, R. P. Lennox, Lord G. G. Whitbread, S.
Douglas, Sir C. Locke, J. White, J.
Duff, M. E. Lowe, X. Wickham, H. W.
Elphinstone, Sir J. Lyall, G. Wrightson, W. B.
Enfield, Viscount Maguire, J. F. Wyndham, P.
Ewart, W. Marsh, M. H. Yorke, J. R.
Ewart, J. C. Murray, W. TELLERS.
Fenwick, E. M. Newdegate, C. Forster, C.
Ferguson, Sir J. North`. Henley, Lord

MR. STANLEY AT BARCELONA.—We must, writes
the Barcelona correspondent of the Presse Theatre
et Musical of Paris, alluding to the performance of "Lucia
di Lammermoor," make a special mention in favour
of the Barytone Santley. Since his debut in
the " Trovatore," Mr. Santley has marched onward
from success to success. His is a talent of the very
highest order, and his voice is so happily timbre that
one cannot hear it with indifference. Mr. Santley
manages it with an art which one cannot sufficiently ad:
mire ; without exaggeration, without ficelles, by force of
expression alone, by the legitimate employment of all the
resources of the vocal art, he produces his effects and raises
the enthusiasm of his hearers. Mr. Santley was recalled
and applauded vociferously after his air (the air of Enrico
in the first act), after the duet with Lucia—in fine, after
the principal scenes of the opera, all of which compliments
were eminently merited.—Musical World.

RESTORATIONS AT NOTRE DAME.—The scaffolding
which was erected before the north front of the
cathedral of Notre Dame has been removed, and it can now
be viewed with its large Gothic window completely re-
stored. The date of this part of the church is not cut in
stone as on the south side, but the architecture itself indi-
cates the period of its construction. It was evidently built
at the same time as the other part of the church, and per-
haps by the same architect—that is, by Jean de Chelles.
The gate at this side of the church is called the gate of the
cloister, because it opened on the ground reserved for the
canons. Nothing can be more richly sculptured than that
gate, the sides being profusely decorated. The Gothic
window is not less than 40ft. in diameter. Two angels,
sounding trumpets, are placed in niches at the sides, and a
statue which stood there, and which was removed thirty
years ago, has been replaced.—Times' Correspondent.
AN INCIDENT IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.—A
very novel circumstance occurred yesterday evening in the
House of Commons. Mr. Boyle, the new member for
Buteshire, took the oaths and his seat at the usual hour
and in the usual way, but being resolved to distinguish
himself he subsequently, after Mr. Disraeli took his seat,
walked up to the right hon. gentleman and presented his
card. The unusual proceeding attracted notice, but Mr.
Disraeli was equal to the occasion. Instead of evincing
surprise he coolly inspected the card, and handed it back to
the owner, apparently for the purpose of getting his address.
Mr. Boyle accordingly wrote the address, and again pre-
sented the card to Mr. Disraeli, who solemnly gazed on the
writing, then slowly rose from his seat, advanced to the
table, applied some blotting-paper to the card, and carefully
consigned it to the breast-pocket of his coat. This accom-
plished, in the same grave manner as if the business on
hand had been of overwhelming importance, the right hon.
gentleman returned from the table and resumed his seat.
Mr. Boyle then gave a parting bow to his leader, and re-
tired to a distant bench in the vicinity of the Sergeant-at-
s.—Morning Parer.

LITERATURE,

A Journey Due East. By Christopher Cooke. One
Vol., pp. 278. Hall, Smart, and Allen.

It is not the first time, through this intelligent and
entertaining volume, that we make Mr. Cooke's ac-
quaintance. He is already known to us by his odd
little shilling pamphlet, intituled " Astrology in a
Nutshell," purporting to be descriptive of occult
phenomena—previously to that by his half-crown
volume, " A Plea for Urania"—and, latest of all these
earlier publications of his, by a four shilling book
recounting to us with really surprising frankness his
own astral experiences during an interval of 14 years,
a sort of autobiographic record of what he defined,
(we might almost conj ecture with a double significance
in the phrase) " Curiosities of Occult Literature."
Lastly, he comes before us, here, with a goodly six-
and-sixpenny volume of Foreign Travel, in which
astral experiences, occult literature, and astrological
proclivities are but very occasionally, and always,
then, it should be said, quite casually and unobtru-
sively indicated ! A volume, this is, descriptive of
Oriental journeyings, hither and thither, along tracks
already made familiar to English readers by their
having been trodden successively by Alexander
Kinglake, in his " Eothen," by Robert Cur-
zon, in his " Monasteries of the Levant,"
and by Eliot Warburton in his " Crescent and the
Cross." In this one circumstance of his having been
preceded, within the remembrance of the present
generation, by those three celebrated writers of
three celebrated books, now, in their way, part and
parcel of our national literature, lies the seeming
disadvantage with which Mr. Cooke claims the at-
tention of English readers on presenting to them this
his Journal of a Five-Months' Trip to Lower Egypt,
Palestine, and Turkey. Yet, upon an examination of
his book, it can hardly be said that he has reason
to fear any invidious comparisons whatever, and
just simply for this reason—that neither in his
manner nor yet in his matter, as a narrator of
oriental travel, does he for an instant lay himself
open to one—that is to any comparison at all
with one or the other of his three most illus-
trious predecessors. " A Journey Due East,"
as it is here recounted by Mr. Cooke in this
very readable and amusing, nay, we may
even say, this occasionally instructive little
volume—is nothing more nor less than the
unaffected record of what was seen and
heard and thought during travels of some five
months' duration altogether, by an observant and
intelligent Englishman upon the occasion of his first
visit to localities as profoundly interesting to any
educated traveller as Alexandria and Cairo, Jaffa
and Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth, Tyre and
Sidon, Damascus and Baalbec, Constantinople and
Athens, Naples and Rome, and so homewards,
through Padua and Venice, by Dresden and Berlin,
to Hamburgh, and thence by steam on to Gravesend.
If we have not here, for example, the brilliant
rhetoric of Eiithen, we have at none least of its
heartless cynicism or of its sardonic profanity. Our
author treads lightly, with a sense that it is
holy ground over which he is moving, so soon as his
foot is planted upon the soil of Palestine. lie at
any rate indulges himself and outrages his readers
with no insolent flippancy, while he passes with a
reverent air of veneration, instead of with a diabolical
sneer, through the hallowed haunts, rendered—less
than two thousand years ago—Holy Land, in very
truth, as ever since then in name, by having been
glorified by the footprints and sanctified by
the blood of the Saviour of the human
race. A cultivator of the obsolete science—
or, 'as it is nowadays called, the pseudo-
science—of Astrology, has long come to be looked
upon as kind of a credulous pariah in the realms
of philosophy—what though " the wisest and
brightest" of mankind was himself, in his time, a
believer in that science, or pseudo-science if you will,
of Astrology ! Yet, astrologer though the author
of this " Journey Due East" assumes to be—as a
traveller in Holy Land, he contrasts as favourably
with such an irreverent writer as Mr. Kinglake,
let us say, as any man who has ever visited
Palestine and then written an account of his
journeyings, to and fro, there, afterwards. The
unaffectedness of the work we have already
spoken of—and it is such, let us say, that of itself
alone it would be sufficient to impart to the book
under review a charm of its own, almost influencing
the reader's mind at moments with a kind of fasci-
nation. At the very outset, in his modest but
rthoroughly manly Preface, Mr. Cooke warns his
reader frankly— "I do not pretend to be a scholar,
and still less a divine or an artist." In despite
of which he cannot for the life of him,
apparently, help letting the reader recog-
nise very plainly, whenever the opportunity
chances to present itself, that—artist though he is
not, he has an eye for beauty—divine though he is
not, he has a capacity for veneration, such as many a
divine might envy—that, scholar though he pretends
not to be, his chapters are sprinkled here
and there, nevertheless, with unmistakeable
evidences of scholarship ! The volume, alto-
gether, interesting as it is in its capacity as a narra-
tive, is also, in its way too, really and practically use-
ful, as a guide-book. Even those among the intending
Voyagers Due East who, before setting out on their
journey to Palestine and the regions thereabout,
wisely provided beforehand with those incomparable
guide-books, bound in red—almost everywhere, in
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, known to be
the Travelling Englishman's Trade mecum, his
MURRAY—even we say the possessors already of a
" Murray" would do well, as it seems to us, in a
mere business point of view, before set ting out
on their " Journey Due East" like Mr.. Cooke, by
dropping into the valise a copy of Mr. Cooke's jour-
nal of his Oriental wanderings. " Omne tulit
punctum," sang the epicurean but sagacious Horace,
" qui miscuit utile dulci," adding—" Lectorem de-
lectando pariterque monendo." Unconsciously, it
may be, our author has been heartened on to the
composition of this little volume of his, by an innatq
sense in his own mind of the fitness of things, in
just such a blending of the useful and the
delightful—heartened on, we may be quite cer-
tain, however, by no such vainglorious incentive
as that derived by some authors of less modesty
than that by which Mr. Cooke is, as we have already
shown, so amiably characterised—the incentive de-
rivable from the Horatian hint that follows :
" Hie meret sera liter Sosiis ; hic et mare transit,
Et longum noto scriptore prorogat tevum."
Without flattering the writer of this really useful
and often singularly entertaining volume by hinting
the faintest application to him or to his work of
words like those—words but once or twice
realised in a whole generation—we may insist, we
do insist that he has at any rate so far realised the
words preceding them, for inasmuch as he has here in
this pleasant little volume contrived to mingle the
utile and the dulce so very adroitly.

LIFEBOAT SERVICES. —D UNDEE, Feb. B.—l have
to report (says Mr. J. Hunter, jun.), that about 9
o'clock this morning the lighthouse keeper at Briddon Ness
(mouth of the Tay) observed a vessel riding heavily at
anchor between. No. 1 and 2 buoys, and quite close to the
broken water, with a flag of distress flying. ' The light-
keeper immediately fired the signal guns, which Were heard
at Broughty Ferry. The crew of the National Institution's
lifeboat The Mary Hartley immediately mustered, launched
the boat, and pulled across to Ferry-Port-on-Craig, where
she was taken in tow by the steam tug Rob Roy. Hav-
ing proceeded down the river to about the position
indicated, they discovered the Dutch galliot Anga,
Meyer, master, from Norway to Newburgh, in a highly
dangerous position. The tug cast off the lifeboat at No. 2
buoy, and steamed up to the vessel. Two or three minutes
brought the lifeboat alongside, when nine of the crew
boarded the Anga, and, assisted by four fishermen, suc-
ceeded in slipping the anchor and getting the vessel under
charge of the steam tug, which towed her in safety to
Ferry-Port-on-Craigßoadstead, which she reached toward
mid-day. Great praise is due to the lifeboat crow for so
promptly turning out and launching the boat, which was
proceeding down the river in tow of the steamer within 35
minutes after the report of the gun was heard.
A WIDOW'S GIFT.—Mr. Deshler, treasurer of the
Sherman testimonial fund, in a note to the Ohio State
Journal, says the first contribution (after General Grant's)
was made by a widow lady, who, as she presented her 25
dollars, remarked that, "as a friend and neighbour, she
was present at the birth of Tecumseh Sherman, and put
upon him his first clothes."—New York paper.
A BULL.—A learned coroner in a neighbouring
county the other day, being asked how he accounted for
the great mortality this year, exclaimed, " I cannot tell.
There are people dying this year that never died before."—
Limerick Chronicle.

t t
I'o 11 r

HER MAJESTY.

OsBORNE, Feb. 9: co
The Queen, with the Count of Paris and Frin,
Edward of Saxe Weimar, walked and drove Yeste
day afternoon. The Dowager Duchess a A*

attended her Majesty. goo.
Princess Louise drove out, attended by the
Harriet Phipps. by
The Count and Countess of Paris, attendee.
Madame de Boerio and the Marquis de 13°1°1'
left Osborne to-day.
Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar also took
departure. Lora
Viscount Sydney, Lord Chamberlain, ant'A A fro
Proby, Comptroller of the Household, arri'„el:iioty
London to present the addresses to her
from both Houses of Parliament.

The Prince and Princess of viraleo•
t rd3l
The Prince of Wales rode on horseback yes

afternoon, attended by Major Teesdale. Arm,
The Princess of Wales took a carriage '-
attended by the Hon. Mrs. Stonor.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales h° n°
the performance at the Royal Olympic Theatre by
sence last evening.
the The Duchess of Somerset's early dancing
will take place on the Bth, 15th, 22d, and 29th a
41cioi,
suing month at the duke's official residence at 010

ralty, Whitehall. ti be'
The Countess Bernstorff's first evening Pa?) 5i:10
fore Easter is appointed for the 22d inst., at tho i's,
Legation. Ahnaer °vThe Marquis d'Andigne entertained at u.---- odor
Tuesday night his Excellency the Austrian Ar3l)3-oncl °'
his Excellency the Prince de La Tour d'Auvergle'
select circle. eel

The Earl and Countess Russell had a dinner
yesterday evening at their residence in Cheshattrin' bar
Among the guests were his Excellency the French"-il
sador, the Earl of Sefton, the Countess Frances wail itod
and the Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, the 000
Countess of Clarendon and Lady Emily Villi°r6l,l collr
Wimpffen, &c. On Wednesday the noble earl 5t1,, f,O;
teas received the Duke and Duchess of Argyll tit
Cowper, Viscount and Viscountess Amberley,AriSc:- d
1,4
Viscountess Enfield, Hon. Miss Stanley, Mr. `-
Georgians Romilly, Mr. Baines, M.P., &c. ug
The Right Hon. the Speaker of the ers
Commons will commence his Parliamentary te;tlevtii,
Saturday, the 18th inst., when the right hon. )liP
will entertain Viscount Palmerston and the leading
terial members in the Lower House of Parlittreent'corg
The infant son of .the Hanoverian -
d'Affaires and Baroness Blome was baptised et the flOl
verian Legation, Grosvenor-place, on Monday 111ss .00
sponsors were his Excellency the Austrian Al'a- d th
Baron Gersdorff (father of the Baroness Bloree),
Countess Apponyi. fie
THE TOMB OF THE PRINCE CONSORT.----:e,
mausoleum at Frogmore, where the morta' f,t-1:01/hie
of the Prince Consort lie interred, is slowly but Dio
approaching completion. Over the doorwan 1;,,,,t of 'ti
A!
portico, and facing the visitor as he ascends the JO]
noble flight of steps by which the mausoleum °iv
is the monumental inscription in bronze. li
in Roman character as follows :

" Alberti Principis quod mortale erat
Hoc in Sepulchro deponi voluit
Viuda mcerens Victoria Regina
A.D. MDCCCLXII.
Vale Desideratissime ! hic demuna
Conquiescam tecum
T ecum in Christo consurgara."
—Morning Post.
aiorl
_ _ _ _ -
THE SAINSBURY MUSEUM.—The atraC)r riOg
museum formed by Mr. John Sainsbury,
most valuable autograph letters, and many literarY„cleol
ties of great rarity and value, is now being""; ota
coinPlior
under the hammer of Messrs. Sotheby, Wil,l
Hodges, in Wellington-street, Strand. a' /(,:/,
important lots included in the first three days' tot
the under-mentioned :—" Books of Engravings-- aiora
" Duplessi Bertaux," a volume containing 6° 0w
ill,
drawings illustrative of the principal events iota!
French Revolution of 1789, by Duplessi Bertaulcivllif;
spersed with portraits of those who figured
tory of those perilous times. A Portrait of g:,110:
precedes this unique collection, morocco--12
con°
(Ellis). 179. Napoleon 1. A portfolio,
upwards of 136 engravings, chiefy relating
Emperor •,a very important collection-0i 00-
Bronzes.—The Emperor Napoleon I. Equestri°,l.l4
with military hat and great coat, modelled by lc
on bronze plinth ; a magnificent work, 38i11,1): -1301.1;:t
(Willis) Autograph letters and documents.--t oiee:t
(Henry) Cardinal of England and Bishop
to ji7
Signature to a document, acknowledging
end other,,
tb. il,teeP/
from henry, Archbishop of Canterbury,
um,
larl,ks29,thinoPf
most
:eooouvostlefitenavnsee,baxrOnecOrtelcsclmsrlioova3li
ner4ok,nivsoe rarity—five
e,
Inud.svuteeel
IpfAroemt
.hdei:en
.se
at t
0:,
13
illustrative papers. The autograph of thiswililtilsb
Printed ticl{ his
110
agemt IFai dressed'as)n. oef et °sthast2eLaN.the funeral of Oliver, Lord-, r
nibs IP
Somerset-house, on Tuesday, the 23d of Nole fwel ill
and requesting he will send to the herald's ° ttell"
to old
Pauls, the names of his servants that so
imourning, and that no coaches were to Pass,:ostei.'
n the streets between Somerset-house and Wes '4. her 031F,,,tel
to(lllrec.9l,l:l.vd,l),
.very curious paper, with various portraits and °"-o 1 f
lled
ings—six guineas (Lord Houghton). 604. Ss° .e 04,10
Actor and Dramatic Author, an autograPh
one page, 4to ; to David Garrick, North-end r
year ; with five portraits. A very interesting "',,e;eotl3o4s
as well as extremely rare autograph. It corcott,,e-t0;11
ed
—"My dear Sir, —You and I are a couple of bile° to 101 l
you are raising the reputation of ShakesPet' !ot3
endeavouring to sink it, and for this PtirP°si,: 81:ilop)
give next Monday the tragedy of Haul-let? 0)14'
the loan of the Ghost's armour, &c.—£s VP' 9'ef
613. George Fox's, founder of the Society of Fri° a 540'1
clical letter, 11 pp. folio, entirely autograph, s'3;,,i B[ooo4
with his initials ; " For the Quarterly Men's an Oa
Meeting in London and elsewhere ;" "To be rae-tij, 15;
monthly and quarterly meetings."—Gooses the '2'45.
1689 ; extremely rare and curious, with two portila 15
is said to be the last public document he wrote ; ti.`" perk
religious counsel and exhortation-5 guineas (:1:0t/t
622. French Revolution.—A collection of `til oflittia
letters,l papers, notes or signatures, illustrated scitol.s°6o
sous portraits and biographies of the prinoiPll,l,tittelli4',
great French Revolution of 1789—£10 55.20 l4,
and 4. French Revolution—A collection of e°,,"
letters and official papers, with signatures -,.
persons during the French Revolution, toge'lle-,ooo'
wards of 60 portraits ; and a similar collectios owe"
about 120 autograph letters and official Parers,4;los•,;olo
bound in two large volumes ; royal folio,slo,
chell). 629-33. David Garrick.—Five interestil'Abt
letters, signed—three of which are addresse'
date le atea
Thomson, of the Tartuffe, at Plymouth, `-'3tt -41aji
the latter, informing him that he must w,_,3,;„,- es
of Parliament to know his fate. "Lord o'lo4
Sir George Young, and Lord Palmerston() ars "'Alit/
friends, and I think Sir Ed. Hawke cannot we 0 fof ;010
Wilkes has set us all in an uproar. Ile is 63:fro cli°ot°
dlesex, and the mob is so riotous upon it that opo,/
to ride in a coach on which No. 45 is not Pilt
4 r
part of it. I fear much mischief in con s4l
guineas (Ellis). The Shakspearo docurnellts
posed of this day. eBo_ ,er of
" THRICE WAS OFFERED HIDETIIE brOng
Joseph Bonaparte, that is, the el.,zclervi
~,eor:,
Napoleon the Great—Joseph, Icing of -„; ;7014 ce,lV
Spain, but not (as he might have heeZ rsva'perftpe
Mexico !—lt may not be forgotten (say s titeho
spondent of the 7imes) that a member o' )le' j 01,44
family was offered 40 years ago the Crown o' to of ',
story is told by the Emperor himself in lis sice.ie jo0106"
eldest brother of the first Napoleon : W,41010 P.„je
living, as a philosopher, on the banks,
thiking of nothing but of doing good to those
dooVo
nhe received a proposal which surprised "11 co at lees I'll 3
A deputation of Mexicans came to hiye to PO3l /.1141);10/ f
posal the Crown of Mexico. The ex-IC:itigiliose tdll3°letO
Spain answered the deputation nearly
"°lO o t oF°
have borne two Crowns, and I would no to 0 cog
for a third. Nothing can be more flatters to re to foe
see men who, when I was in Madrid, troefitil:°o,,,ft tltieo,ol;l4
my authority, come now in my exile
myself at their head. But Ido not belie.° 01
,01 ev 4 eie
you wish to raise up can make you haPPY ;cl. ston, 04
1 spend on the hospitable soil of the Voile blico ecei°,,;
to me more and more the excellence of iZePitlis 1:0,0194
tions for America. Preserve them, then, still°
gift of Providence. Put an end to your in° colt'
,iOOO6 - fir'
imitate the United States, and look out
too to
eilo
citizens for some one more capable than I ;Vali d
de
”___<ol2,4res
cit
great part of Washington.'
vol 2.) pa
"We are assured," says the le .0,
project of employing the telegraph for ',ll_°.„'tlion• thel:9
Post-office money-orders is under confnclstit ato 4o.e•
uister of the Interior is said to have OW° f°looesPo epot
ter of Finance a plan for realising this,llfas aii°,eriP'
" A report," says the Presse, ``
to Albee
time since that the Emperor intended I'l4l!eso7
it was contradicted. It is now stated to
loon, and not the Emperor, will go to Alb if
OOP.
the propositions of Marshal de itac-3.1