The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-01 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1865.

A convention of considerable importance has just
met at Detroit to discuss a very important topic.
It is true, the object of the meeting was a pacific
one. The principal speakers were engaged in the
sober pursuits of commerce, and the great subject
of debate was apparently a mere question of cus-
toms. If we look below the surface, however, we
shall find the destinies of two or more great nations
in the balance, and a war which shall engage the
attention of the civilised world, or a peace which
shall de felope the resources of half a continent, were
really the subject matter of an apparently commer-
cial debate. A body of merchants and other dele-
gates from the United States assembled at Detroit
to discuss the renewal of the Reciprocity Treaty.
Representatives from Canada and the other British
Provinces were likewise present, and the whole
question of the exchange of produce, the navigation
of the lakes and of the St. Lawrence, and the sea
fisheries, were very fully and freely discussed.
Just at the present crisis such a gathering could
not fail to be an important one, both as regards
its immediate results and its ultimate effects.
Rightly or wrongly, our Transatlantic friends are
supposed to have an eye on the fair provinces
as yet in the infancy of their development which
own allegiance to the British Crown, and a desire
to avenge the imaginary affronts or injuries received
during the Civil War was thought to have quick-
ened their sense of the advantages to be derived
from the annexation of the Canadian provinces.
Under these circumstances the termination of the
Reciprocity Treaty was looked upon as the be_
ginning of the end, as the first step on a road
which might lead to very serious mischief. It will
be remembered that soon after the notice about the
Treaty the Chamber of Commerce at Detroit
addressed a very frank and sensible remonstrance
to the Government on the subject, showing how
great were the advantages of the Treaty, and how
necessary its maintenance was for the trade of the
Border States. The meeting which we are now
referring to included, as we have said, representa-
tives from both the American and British sides of
the question, and the propriety of a renewal of the
Treaty was discussed in all its bearings. General
WALLBRIDGE, of New York, declared that, for his
part, he was very willing to consider a renewal of
the Treaty, but took the opportunity of hinting that
a close bond of alliance was possible, and that if
Canada would join the United States and help to
pay their debt she would receive a very cordial wel-
come. The Canadians, however, did not seem dis-
posed to any such Quixotic generosity, and the pro-
posal was received very coolly. But the polite
hints of the General were entirely thrown into the

shade by the downright assertions of the
American Consul-General at Montreal. This
gentleman, Mr. POTTER, said that a Recipro-
city Treaty had its advantages and its disad-
vantages, and that he was against the re-
newal, because he believed that its suspension for
two years would compel Canada to join the Union.
This kind project of starving the Canadians into
submission did not meet with their assent, and the
Delegates of the Provinces frankly assured the
speaker that no such step would succeed in coercing
them. The Consul indeed appears to have forgotten
that there is such a place as England, and that if
the direct communication with Canada is blocked
up during part of the year, there are still months
enough to send supplies which would last out any
winter. Besides, the British provinces are naturally
so rich in agricultural products that independently
of any supply from this country it would not be
an easy task to starve them out. If the Americans
ever try such a plan they will find themselves very
grievously mistaken, for the stubborn spirit of the
genuine Anglo-Saxon would be more bent in op-
position than ever. The sentiments of the Pro-
vinces were unmistakably expressed by Mr. HOWE,
a gentleman whose name is not unknown in this
country, and who has made some very able speeches
on the relationship of this country with her
American dependencies. Mr. HOWE addressed the
meeting at some length, and boldly declared
that the colonies wanted nothing from the States,
and that any man who proposed annexation would
be driven from public life in three months. He
declared that be loved the English flag before all
others, and his frank, straightforward statement
carried the assembly with him, so that, although
his speech was not very complimentary to the
former speakers, he was unanimously cheered. His
arguments in favour of the renewal of the Recipro-
city Treaty were so convincing and so clearly put
before the assembly that a resolution in its favour
was passed without a dissentient vote.

The difficulties of the discussion were considerably
augmented by the introduction of a very broad
question, namely, the route of communication be-
tween Europe and the Western States. Hitherto
the Empire State has been the great channel, and,
despite natural disadvantages, the New Yorkers, by
the aid of canals and railways, have drawn the
whole commerce of the West through their port.
But there appears to be a growing jealousy on the
part of the Western States towards New York,
and several plans for devising new means
of communication were brought forward at
Detroit. It was suggested, on the one
hand, that the Erie Canal should be 'enlarged,
but the scheme which was most warmly supported
was that of a ship canal round the Falls of Niagara
large enough for vessels drawing fourteen feet of
water. This plan was very favourably received by
the majority of the meeting. The great point to
decide, for which the meeting was convened, was, as
we have seen, decided in favour of a renewal of the
Treaty, and we are not surprised to learn that
this result is mainly attributable to the good
sense and judgment of the British repre-
sentatives. These gentlemen brought into the
convention the calm and temporate atmosphere
of an English constitutional assembly, utterly
opposed to the rash and violent assertions, the
acrimony and vehemence too common among
American professional politicians. The good taste
and courtesy of the Delegates from the Provinces
sufficed to temper the vehemence of the New York
politicians, while they frankly but firmly intimated
their intention to hold their own position. The
result of the assembly cannot be otherwise than
gratifying to well-wishers of both countries, since
fair and friendly commercial relations are indis-
pensable to their individual success, and must tend
to their material advantage.

The drama which is being played out between
Austria and Prussia has now assumed an interest
and importance which excites the curiosity and
awakens the speculation of the beholders. Accord-
ing to all appearances, as Prussia recedes Austria
advances in the march of progress and constitutional
government. There seems nothing at all un-
reasonable in the nature of the conditions proposed
by Austria, although it is not likely that they will
be accepted willingly or graciously by the captious
and overbearing power to whom they are now
offered. A great many concessions are made in this
arrangement, which at first sight seems to yield up
most of the important points of debate, but still
there remains the one thing needful omitted, which
will spoil the affair in the eyes of Prussia. The
scheme of annexation is not to be, and Austria
stipulates that before she consents to the choice of
the Grand Duke of OLDENBURG, " Prussia shall de-
clare her definitive resolution to continue to support
this proposal and shall not on any future time resort
to the scheme of annexation." This will be the
death-blow to the plan which otherwise promises
very well for the Berlin schemes of aggrandisement.
It is proposed to give up " Kiel " to Prussia, and
that she should also occupy Rendsburg under
certain conditions. Furthermore, it concedes
further territory to Prussia if a correspond-
ing registrar be granted to Austria by " a
rectification of the Silesian frontier." As to
the other demands of Prussia, in respect to
the marine and postal arrangements in the Duchies,
Austria is willing to allow the same to be settled
between the future Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and
Prussia.

It is a very prudent precaution on the part of
Austria to stipulate that if the choice fall upon the
Duke of OLDENBURG there should be an under-
standing come to that the arrangement is definitive,
and no further schemes of annexation are to be
contemplated, because nothing is more likely than
that the wily BISMARK will try to steal a march
when all is settled. After a time other interests
will engross attention, and other schemes excite in-
terest, and it will not be likely that the Duchies of
Schleswig-Holstein will for ever be the prominent
objects of attention, and, therefore, any alteration
afterwards would not be so serious. Count BELO-
REDI, Minister of State, has addressed a circular to
the Governors of all the non-Hungarian provinces,
urging on them the strict fulfilment of their duty
and a judicious attitude towards self-governing
corporations. The circular also recommends " re-
the press, as being
spect for the free expression of public opinion by
a precious and valuable benefit."
It has been rather the fashion in certain quarters
to slight Austria ; but surely the magnates of
Prussia and France will do well to take a hint from
this wise and generous course. No country can
ever be called really free without the liberty of the
press, and therefore this concession on the part of
Austria may be regarded
as a step of some im-

portance. •
Bavaria, Savoy,
and Hesse have made an im-
portant declaration, which cannot fail to have its
due effect upon the arrangement of affairs. It was
not likely, indeed, that the smaller States would go
on for ever quiescent when such great questions
were at stake. It is not so much the magnitude of
the territory in question as the fact that they are
put on one side in such an unceremonious fashion in
all the discussions and disputes on the subject.
Those who watched the course of events felt toler-
ably certain, that before the regular vttlement took I

place these despised departments of the Germanic
Confederation would make their voice heard. It is
not likely that Prussia will be able to cope with
Austria and the Germanic States as well, and she
may well be anxious now and pause on her way,
instead of proceeding with fatal precipitancy.
On the whole, we may consider that, strong as are
the appearances at present, there is nothing actually
to regret in the aspect of affairs in Germany. It is
not for the interests of the other nations of Europe,
and it is unfavourable to the maintenance of
the balance of power, that a perfect una-
nimity should exist between these Princi-
palities and States so diverse in their com-
plexion and so grasping in their demands. It is all
for the best that the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein
should remain a standing-point of dispute, and a
lasting source of altercation. Had there been a
speedy and satisfactory adjustment of the difficul-
ties last year, who can tell to what lengths the
parties might not have gone and what new worlds
they might not have sought to conquer ? As it is,
there is presented a spectacle which he who runs
may read, and which the dullest must com-
prehend, and the most partial cannot gainsay.
The wrongs of Denmark are already partly avenged
in the pitiful position of Prussia. Austria
will not yield so tamely as some imagine, nor will
the United States be so quiescent as it has been
supposed in certain quarters ; on the contrary, we
may expect to hear of a decided change taking place
shortly in the style and tenure of things. It must
be borne in mind, likewise, that the Government of
Berlin has to contend against internal dissensions
as well as external altercations, and at any moment
either of these difficulties may prove too much for
them to manage ; and the combination of an out-
raged people at home, and indignant allies abroad,
will furnish a proper sequel to their long career of
treachery and deceit.

St, James's Hall,

PROFESSOR ANDERSON'S ENTERTAINMENT.

Last night Professor Anderson commenced a
farewell season in London prior to his departure for
Australia, and it was highly gratifying, despite the
unfavourable state of the weather, to see his splen-
did temple of magic crowded with a most attentive
company. On this occasion the Wizard has divided
his entertainment into three distinct parts, the great
novelty being the performance of Mr. Frederick
Maccabe, a ventriloquist of, extraordinary talent.
Mr. Maccabe's entertainment is very much of the
same style as that of our old friend Love, the poly-
phonist, and Mr. Woodin, without being a servile
imitator of either ; it is exceedingly interesting and
attractive. He assumes various characters with the
greatest rapidity, but the principal is Miss Mary
May, a good-naturedly satirical young lady, whose
peculiarities he hits off in the most astonishing man-
ner. The entertainment is varied by several capital
songs, all of which are given with point and humour
by the new candidate for popular favour. Miss
Lizzy Anderson performs the great Indian basket
trick with the greatest success, and Professor An-
derson goes through various experiments of Euro-
pean magic, for which he is unapproachable. Miss
Anderson contributes an entirely new phase of her
extraordinary second sight, and, taken as a whole,
the Wizard of the North's entertainment is, without
exception, one of the best in the metropolis.

Mr. W. H. Smith, the founder of the well-known
firm W. H. Smith and Co., died at Watson House,
Bournemouth, at the advanced aged of 73, on Friday, the
28th ult. The deceased gentleman commenced the business
of newsagent in a comparatively humble way some fifty
years ago, and had retired about seven years, leaving to his
son, Mr. W. H. Smith, the entire management. It is in-
deed principally within the last seven years that the busi-
ness has received its extraordinary development, but its
great success, and its conversion from an ordinary news-
agency into one of the greatest publishing establishments
in the kingdom, are, undoubtedly, to be traced to the in-
dustry, energy, and prudence of its founder.

THE PLANET SATURN'S RINGS.—New theory of
their nature, by Mr. Proctor, of St. John's College,
Cambridge.—lf it should prove true, says the Spectator,
what an astounding conception of the mighty bowling-
ground of the solar system it opens out to us ! Mr. Proctor
supposes that planets are constantly being attracted out of
the mass towards the body of the Saturnian globe, their
advanced guard in that direction constituting indeed the
dark transparent ring, and some probably even falling
right home into the central globo itself—while, in the
planetary whirlpool called the Ring, balls of greater velocity
are constantly overtaking those of less velocity, and pro-
ducing by their impact a celestial thunder and outbursts of
heat such as no earthly cannonade could give us any idea
of. True, the cannonade goes on at a distance of ten
thousand miles from the body of the planet, and far beyond
the reach of its atmosphere, so that the sound is probably
inaudible through want of a medium to convoy it. But
the light and heat of such collisions must be very con-
siderable, and may have more to do with the Condition-of-
Saturn question than we have any idea of. A perpetual
celestial thunderstorm on a huge scale, though without the
thunder, except perhaps when an occasional thunderbolt
in the shape of an unhappy moon that has been 'absorbed'
drops plump into the body of the planet,—satellite canon-
ing against satellite,—a group of celestial express trains
overtaking a group of slow trains, and hustling each other
as only worlds can hustle worlds,—such is the scene
which, if Mr. Proctor is right, may be nightly present to
the astronomers of Saturn, as they.gazo at what we from
our distant station in the universe look upon as his system
of rings. If this be so indeed, it is difficult to conceive
anything more different than our emotions towards

" That orbed maiden
With white fire laden
Whom mortals call the moon,"

than the emotions of Saturnians towards that zone of
clashing worlds, that incessant artillery of the skies, which
sometimes hides the sun from them, sometimes reflects
back the sun upon them, and ever flashes on, like sus-
pended Etnas or Heclas in a rotating celestial roof, almost
close to their habitation. Yet perhaps even they could
scarcely find poetry to express their feeling towards these
marvellous rings more fitting than that of one of our own
Psalms,—" He bowed the heavens also and came down,
and darkness was under his feet. . . . At the bright-
ness that was before him, the thick clouds passed, hail-
stones and coals of fire ; the Lord thundered in the
heavens, and the Highest gave His voice, hailstones and
coals of fire ; then the channels of waters were seen, and
the foundations of the world were discovered at Thy re-
buke, 0 Lord,—at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils:,

CHA RING CROSS REDI VINT US. —Whatever may have
been the motives of the railway company in decree-
ing the re-erection of the Charing Cross after its violent
destruction in 1646, the public will feel certainly grateful
to them for their determination to rescue from oblivion so
interesting a relic of bygone times. The architect to
whom the work has been intrusted (Mr. Edward M. Barry,
A.R.A.) has had before him a task of no ordinary diffi-
culty, though it has evidently been a labour of love, for
while it was his duty to restore the design of old Charing
Cross, the materials for so doing are exceedingly scanty.
A rough drawing in the British Museum, another scarcely
bettor at the Bodleian at Oxford, and a third of similar
character in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, are
all the authorities available for the purpose, if we accept
some few engravings of obvious incompleteness and inac-
curacy. It is fortunate, however, that the drawings above-
named, though evidently by unpractised hands, agree
thoroughly together, and may therefore be regarded as
tolerably safe guides for the leading principles of the design,
number of stories, and other important features, though
they necessarily leave in the hands of the architect much
of the detail to be filled up from his own skill and know-
ledge. Pennant describes the Cross as octagonal, and
specially states that there were eight figures upon it.
A priori, this could hardly have been expected, as none
of the other crosses had more than four—Northampton
now display ing this number, and Waltham only three.
The new Charing Cross, however, will follow
Pennant as regards the number of its niches and statuei,
and will agree, in its leading features, with the drawings
above referred to. It will be 68ft. high to the top of
the gilt metal cross by which it will bo surmounted, and is
being erected of Portland stone. The work is now in a
o ‘
t a te, ,uatinlids
e,
its, th
completion may be expected be-
forertit thefs
or c
ilalolr close
be state,
source e
t of the summer. To the lovers of the Fine
of satisfaction
monument
totisfaction
in
know
any
y ;
that it is
not very
intendedit
will not carry a clock in any of its niches, there will not be
a drinking fountain at its base, nor a telegraph-office, nor a
post-loffice,hnor
alagn-cardovsse,rt, iasninagacgoaliir
we say
. It will be pure and
that the direc-
tors deserve well of the community for having thus given
a Art o n of the ground purchased by them at such great
for
cost, and so valuable for the purposes of the traffic, and
having had the courage to expend the amount required in
the erection of this interesting and admirable work of art.
The beautiful work, so completely restored by Mr. Edward
Barry, is now just on the eve of completion, and will very
shortly be uncovered.—Railway A-cu&

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.
BREST, AUG. 1.

The Transatlantic Company's steamer Europe,
from New York on the 21st July, has arrived here.
Her telegraphic news has been anticipated.