The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-15 00:00:00

lIIGII WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

not be ordered to quit the Duchies so long as
he does not act contrary to the laws and govern-
ment of the country. How true this may be, and
how strictly adhered to if proposed, remain to be
seen, but there is every reason to suppose that such
will be the attitude assumed at the approaching
conference, and insisted on by the bearers of secret
missions and special injunctions. _

Txis DAY.—Morning, Bh. sm.—Afternoon, Bh. 40m
To-licautow.-Morning, 9h. 20m.—Afternoon, Oh. 59m.

I ..
u
pe

It is curious to reflect upon the events which have
' occurred since the last meeting of the Sovereigns
of the allied powers of Germany. Last year they
met after the honourable peace that terminated
their glorious war, and now, after so many months
have passed away, they are apparently no nearer a
settlement of affairs or a solution of their difficulty.
The nations of Europe have looked on from afar
and made no effort to interpose their protests nor
exert their influence, hence the parties so unwilling
or unable to come to terms cannot say that it is the
fault of any one but themselves. We have all heard a
great deal of the wonders that would be wrought
when once the united German Powers took this
matter of the Duchies up with vigour, and over and
over again was it triumphantly asserted that the
inhabitants of Schleswig-Holstein would reap great
and permanent benefits if they were rescued from
the grasp of their Danish oppressors and restored
to the sway of their rightful owners. On the con-
trary, what has been the reality since time has put
these professions to the proof ? Anarchy, discord, and
misrule are rampant in the Duchies, and the agents
of the protecting powers protest against each other's
cuts, and. mimic their masters in strife and bicker-
ing after a fashion highly edifying to their foes,
but not very reassuring to their friends or very
creditable to their cause. Claimants have been put
forward by one side, and were denounced as pre-
tenders by the other. The Ministers of this Power
have declared a certain thing to be indispensable
to the maintenance of their rights, and straight-
way the Government of that Power have decided
that to recognise such a plea would be quite incom-
patible with their duties, would militate against their
projects, and mar their policy. All these remi-
niscences cannot render an interview between the
two Sovereigns very pleasant or profitable. No
doubt more might be done if the interviews could
take place free from the shadow behind the throne,
which casts a baneful influence over Prussian pro-
spects, and at home or abroad is alike so potent in
mischief and so paramount in misdeeds. If we
could for a moment fancy the KING without this
Minister Statesman, something might be looked for
or expected; but the ton jour3 perdrix of the affair
effectually precludes all hope of improvement, 'and
prevents all chance of a beneficial turn being given
to the negotiations. All are too well aware of the

ideas of Herr BIsMARK not to feel assured that if
the deliberations end amicably it will be because the
modern representative of the Medes and Persians has
convinced his opponents, and not because he has
yielded an iota of his prejudices, or swerved one
hairbreadth from his pre-conceived notions or pre-
determined plans. The minor States of Germany
have certainly been completely hoodwinked
in this affair ; but no one pities them who
has followed their tortuous copse and dwelt
on their subservient course of last year. A general
mania seemed to take possession of all Germany,
and because Prussia, to suit her own selfish pur-
poses, chose to come forward with might and main
to prosecute the cause of tyranny, and spread the
reign of desolation, all the other Powers, great and
small, allowed her to go on, and were too glad to
follow in her wake. The day of retribution has
speedily arrived, so far as concerns any gain or glory
on the part of the conspirators, great and small.
So far as the aspect of affairs at present allows us to
judge, failure and discomfiture have waited, and
still wait, on the hopes of all except Prussia ; and in
the plenitude of her fulfilled desires what ills may
not be foreshadowed, and what incipient dangers

lurk. If the Duchies are annexed to the possessions
of the heaven-sent Sovereign, what profit will there
be in the victory when the price is paid? It will be
hard to satisfy a discontented people at home and
disgusted and betrayed allies abroad. The smaller
States will watch for their opportunity of revenge,
and Prussia will not then have gained her crown-

ing aim and object to be the head of Germany, the
bond of union to the several divisions of the great
Fatherland, the pride of her own people, and the
envy and admiration of others. No one can regret
the failure, but still the result is not to be dis-
puted, although the pride that goes before a fall
is still urging on the politicians of Berlin to their

LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1865.

Another attempt is being made to patch up the
Schleswig-Holstein question, but it is as yet quite
impossible to decide whether it will be successful or
not, so diverse are the views of the disputants, and
so different are their desires and expectations. The
strenuous exertions of the Ministers of the great
Powers seem, however, for the present, to have
gained their point, and to have so far settled the
preliminaries, that the meeting is expected to take
place between the Sovereigns which has been so
long talked of, but still indefinitely and unaccount-
ably postponed. According to appearances, this
chance of a rencontre augurs well for the further-
ance of the schemes of Herr Von BISMARCK. Cer-
tainly he has shown a zeal and determination that
were worthy of a better cause, throughout the
whole of this dispute on the Duchies, which has
dragged its weary length along apparently alike
interminable and incomprehensible. The declara-
tion of opinion lately given by the Prussian Crown
lawyers was sufficiently significant to any one who
was well versed in the matter ; and it would have
been amusing, had not the issue of the affair been
so serious, to notice how ingenious were the con-
trivances by which the desired end was reached.
Thus, to tho surprise of the uninitiated, King
CHRISTIAN was declared to have been the rightful
Owner of the Duchies when the war had been inau-
gurated to dispossess him of them. The real object
of this was to secure the coveted prize as the right of
conquest, the unfortunate King of DENMARK having
been compelled to yield them up to the German
Powers at the conclusion of the war.
Straightforward persons who follow a consistent
course are no doubt puzzled at the tortuous devices
of such crafty politicians ; but the end sanctions
the means, according to their doctrines, and the
wondering world may look onwhile vows are broken,
promises unfulfilled, pledges forgotten, and engage-
All is pushed aside in order that
nients disregarded.
the one great object may be carried out in its
entirety, and thus the Duko of A UGUSTENBERG, once
a favoured aspirant, finds himself put out of the
way in the most cool and unconcerned manlier.
The Duke of OLDENBURG receives no more respect,
and so on it will be with all the other claimants, if
they stretched on in endless succession, and threat-
ened, like the shadows in MACBETH'S vision, to last
till the crack of doom. Count BLOME'S skill in
diplomacy promises to secure an interview between
the EMPEROR and the KING, and thus fulfil in some
degree the desires of the horde of schemers, small
and great, who are on the tiptoe of expectation
now that the culminating point is so nearly reached.
If the Government of Vienna deem it advisable to
prevent all chance of a rupture of the friendly rela-
tions between the great Powers, and recognise any
plan whereby they may save their character, if they
do not absolutely gain their plans, no doubt this
proposed meeting may take place, and some com-
promise be agreed upon. Austria still remains firm
Upon some points, doubtless considered as vital
ones by her sapient Ministers, and the opinion is
expressed that the Duke of AUGLTSTENB;RQ should

ruin.

Few of the benevolent institutions of our day ,
have seen their meritorious exertions crowned with
more success, or produce more substantial results,
than the National Lifeboat Institution. The emer-
gencies with which it deals, the sufferings which it
alleviates, are of a nature to impress themselves
visibly upon the mind. The results are immediately
perceptible, and are of a character which is par-
ticularly gratifying to the kind-hearted promoters
of the Institution. Our hospitals and asylums are
often only able to smooth the sufferer's passage to
the grave, or to alleviate the weary hours of hope-
less pain, but the friend of the shipwrecked mariner
is usually able to raise him from one extreme of
fortune to the other, to change the scene from
death and desolation to safety, health, and cheer-
fulness. Valuable lives are preserved to their fami-
lies, and many a household hearth which would be
cold and vacant rejoices over the presence of the
rescued member—thanks to the Agency of the Life-
boat Institution. There is not much hope or fear
that liumaubenevulociiuu Dina nu
the present at all events. Some dangers and evils
may indeed be extirpated by the progress of time
and execution, but there are many forms of distress
which are inseparable from the most ordinary and
reputable avocations of life. With all possible
improvements in mechanical science, with all pos-
sible extension of meteorological knowledge, human
skill or wisdom can never avert all risk from life
at sea. On the contrary, year by year, as our
commerce increases, and the facilities for travel
encourage frequent communications with the Con-
tinent, we may expect that the aggregate amount of
risk incurred will augment rather than diminish.
Certainly from the records of the Lifeboat Institu-
ttiboen
numberthere
o
does
8f
riot
vessels •
appear to be much reduction in
m Perilled sin
seventeen months from imperilled, since January, d64,utroingMtahye,
1865, inclusive, the total number of lives saved by
lifeboats was 614 in addition to 390 saved by shore
boats and other means for which the Institution has
granted rewards. The primary object of the asso-
ciation is to provide a suitable number of efficient
lifeboats on all the dangerous and exposed parts of
our coasts ; but it has always endeavoured to en-
courage every ineacs of rescuing life, and has there-
fore established the system of giving rewards and
tokens of approval to those who have been fortunate
enough to save life by any means not connected
with their own institution ; and it has encouraged
the use of the rocket and mortar apparatus, which
has often proved valuable in saving life. Thanks to
its efforts, too, the importance of providing efficient
lifeboats for the Royal navy has been impressed
upon the authorities, but the energetic and conscien-
tous managers still feel that something is left un-
done, and accordingly they have o.ddressed them-
selves to a new sphere of action.. Cur shores are

nearly everywhere provided with lifeboats or the
rocket apparatus, and our navy, as we have said,
is properly cared for, but the importance of pro-
viding some simple and inexpensive means of safety
on board our merchant ships is now very apparent.
The difficulty in this case is that the merchant
vessels are private property, and therefore no action
can be taken in the matter without the consent and
co-operation of the owners. At the same time our
merchant navy is of such immense and increasing
extent, and the men engaged in it are exposed to
so many risks, that very many lives are at stake on
the question. The Committee hove therefore de-
cided upon introducing a cheaper belt than the one
hitherto in use, and to supply it to the shipowners
without profit, making, at the same time, an appeal
to them to do their duty towards their men. The
Committee, in their interesting report on this,*
remind the shipowners that the general community
has come forward most liberally in the work, while
the boatmen, fishermen, and pilots risk their lives
cheerfully. It is surely, then, not too much to ask
that those who derive so much profit from the
marine traffic will exert themselves on behalf of the
men imperilled in their employ. The information
obtained from various sources, and the consideration
of the subject in all its forms, have led to the con-
clusion that a large proportion of the seamen yearly
lost from our merchant ships might have been saved
if they had worn really good life-belts. With a
view, therefore, of getting them extensively used
on board our merchant ships, the Committee of
management have decided, as we have said, on
supplying them for a time cost price, and of for-
warding them in chests, suited for every description
of vessel, through the custom-houses, shipping
offices, and sailors' homes at the principal ports.
It is suggested that the shipowner might, if he chose,
require each man to pay 6d. annually, or id. each on
short voyages for the use of the belts. As the ori-
ginal cost of the belts is only ss. each, or 4s. when
bought in any number, the expense can hardly be
demurred to. Should this new khiLd of bolt prove
really efficacious in saving life, it will be advisable
to consider whether it would not be well to render
the supply of such a chest compulsory on the ship-
owner. It is manifestly the duty of the owner,
who pays, perhaps, a large amount to insure his
cargo, to insure the lives of his men, humanely
speaking, by such a trifling outlay, and no one who
can afford to send a ship to sea can excuse himself
from adopting a precaution which costs him five
shillings a man ! The Committee have shown their
usual good sense in not taking upon themselves a
duty which manifestly belongs to others, by sup-
plying these belts gratis. Such an undertaking
would greatly increase the expenses and responsi-
bilities of the institution, while, if the life-belt chest
were recognised as part of the indispensable equip-
ment of the ship, each owner would provide his own,
and the work would be thoroughly done.
The subject of pharology, under which high-
sounding title few will recognise the science of
lighthouse-building, is very ably discussed in the
new number of the Lifeboat Journal, from which
we quote in another part of our impression. Light-
houses, or rather light-towers, are of very ancient
date, the celebrated " Pharos" of Alexandria having
been erected 300 B.C. There have been many
noted instances of remarkable watch-towers of the
deep, and, as usual, Englishmen have not
been backward in a work requiring en-
terprise, courage, and perseverance. Our own
thrice rebuilt Eddystone is a sample of resolution
triumphing over difficulties. The various forms of
light-houses,light-towers, and floating-lights, testify
to the skill and ingenuity with which man has
adapted himself to the caprices of nature. The
Eddystone, the Bell Hock, and the Skerryvore, are
the most noted light-towers of their class in this
country from the great difficulties attending their
construction, but there are other forms of towers
adapted to different positions which reflect great
credit on the inventor. In this, as in all other de-
partments of mechanical skill, we have advanced
with wonderful rapidity in the last century. Our
light-towers are now reared at a height and
our floating lights ride at a depth that would
have amazed our ancestors. The Barra Head
Lantern is 680 feet above water, our " Seven
Stones" light-ship rides at a depth of 40 fathoms.
We have changed since the days when the burning
logs of a wood fire wore the only means available
for the light, but the efforts of man in all ages has
been the same, prompted by the same desire to guard
his fellows against the insidious perils of a dangerous
shore. Prevention is better than cure, and how-
ever admirable the heroic daring which prompts the
rescue of the shipwrecked crew from imminent
ifnd aopnlogessessri ,bblteehn, eet
fipo
cr
aui
avdle.ernt cTseuhcaehni
m da
importance forethought
tan calamity,cefa sr
uet
chhac t
ertaistrive,nly
precau-
tionary measures has been fully recognised in this
country, and the coast lights are proportionately
numerous. There remain, however, several ways
by which the dangers of a seafaring life may be
greatly lessened, and the public has good cause to
thank the National Lifeboat Institution for keep-
ing them so consistently and steadily in view.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

* The Life-boat Journal, No. 59.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

The Bishop of Cartagena has protested against
the recognition of Italy to Spain. The clerical
journals publish the text of the Bishops' Manifesto.

SPAIN.
MADRID, AUG. 14.

Sir John Lawrence, and " O'Malley Irwin
V. Sir George Grey, Baronet,"

TO TILE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Silt,—Allow me to state, that when the Mayor of Lon-
donderry at the late banquet, given to Sir Robert Mont-
gomery, K.C.8., " claimed Sir John Lawrence as a Derry-
man," no less a personage than a Yorkshire rector comes
forward in the columns of an influential contemporary, on ,
the 10th instant, to eject Sir John from the roll of "Derry-
men" by the simple process of producing his baptismal
registry "in the parish of Richmond, Yorkshire."
Although I am quite willing to concede to Richmond the
credit 01 naving regisioieu tee Daptism
Viceroy of India, as the son of Alexander Lawrence, then
Major of the 19th regiment, who was himself ono of
Ireland's most gallant sons, yet, with confidence, I assure
you no Yorkshire blood flows in his Excellency's veins.
Paternally and maternally Irish, he was educated at
Foyle College in Ireland.
Well may I be proud of the no small honour of having
had on the banks of the Foyle such eminent and distin-
guished school contemporaries ; among others, Sir John
Lawrence's brother, Sir Henry—of the purest and most
perfect fame—and his other gallant surviving brothers,
Generals Alexander and St. George Patrick Lawrence,
C.B. ; Sir Robert Montgomery, K.C.8., lately the Lieut.-
Governor of the Punjaub ; the Hon. Richard Holy Hutch-
inson ; Canon Boyd and his lamented brothers—Robert
and Captain Boyd, R.N., of the Ajax, to whose gallantry
their respective monument at Malaga and Kingstown bear
witness ; the Rev. Fielding Ould, the Dean of Emly, &c.
To those associations, and the vigorous training of Foyle
College, must be attributed any little zeal or devotedness
on my part in defence of the right of the subject to the
security of the laws of supremacy, not depending on the
will and pleasure of English or Irish officials, or even on
the discretion of any judge, however learned, high, and
powerful his authority.
It is to be regretted that a question of such import has
not devolved on abler hands than mine to assert and de-
fend the indefeasible right of petition ; but I hope no
British subject will hereafter suffer through any want of
devotedness and zeal to the cause of that right on my part,
or through any want of straining of whatever humble
capacity and means I may possess.
In Foyle College I have been taught to remember that
right is right, and that justice is not accommodation. If
the case to which I refer, of " O'Malley Irwin (myself) v.
Sir George Grey, Baronet," is clearly mine, not by com-
promise or accommodation, or by any intricacy of law, but
simply ex debit° justitit, then, sir, I have a claim—such a
One as the mere assertion of right can do me no injury, nor
can the policy of procrastination, which has been so long
practised, prejudice a question of so much grave and con-
stitutional import as petition of right.
My steady and firm demand for justice will now, I trust,
speedily obtain it for me, as I have succeeded, after many
struggles, in having the case set down first on the list of
appeals, for hearing before her Majesty's judges next term.
I have the honour to be your obedient servant,
GEORGE O'MALLEY Inwzx
London, August 14, 1865.

THE

THERSUN, i:LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 15, 1865.

.TES,

(From the Times Correspondent.)
PHILADELPHIA, July 31.
The subject engrossing the almost exclusive at-
tention of the people of the United States is the
condition of affairs on the Rio Grande. The greatest
uncertainty exists as to the real state of affairs ;
for fully nine-tenths of the reports we receive
from that region are manufactured by specula-
tors to affect the gold and corn markets. These
speculators seem to have a complete system in opera-
tion, their agents being widely extended, and each
echoing the other's falsehood, or capping it by a still
greater one. There is no source of news from
Mexico that is not liable to grave suspicion, and it
is almost a hopeless task to attempt extracting the
truth from such a mass of lies. Several reports of
the past week are now positively contradicted—
among them the stories that Americans in Sinaloa
were maltreated by Maximilian's agents ; that Gene-
ral Brown had promised Federal aid to the Liberals,
and had sent them a regiment of troops ; that an
Imperial army of 35,000 men was to be quartered at
Matamoras to watch the Federal movements on the
Texas side of the river, and that M. Eloin, Maxi-
milian's agent, was in Washington, endeavouring,
without success, to procure a Presidential audience
to urge the recognition of Maximilian's empire. All
these stories are falsehoods, and so many more that
continually arise are dissipated by the next day's
news that it would be idle for me to contradict
them.

Yet there is deep anxiety felt about the situation
on the Rio Grande, and it cannot be denied that
the majority of the American people would like to
see a war there. Every one who supported the
Government in the war against the South hates the
French, and would like nothing better than to send
American troops to drive Maximilian out of Mexico.
Southern sympathisers, however, sympathise with
Maximilian, and feel sure that if American neu-
trality is preserved, Juarez will be defeated. His
party is looked upon, much as the per se Aboli-
tionists are regarded in the North, as men always
anxious to stir up commotions and keep the world
in continual broils. The unanimous opinion of

both parties is that without American aid Juarez
never can be successful, and, as a necessary conso-

quence, a continual battery is kept up upon the
authorities at Washington to compel them to send

him aid, or to embroil the French and Americans on
the Rio Grande, so as to keep the greater part of

Maximilian's troops busy. A witr between the French
and Americans on the Rio Grande is not improbable,
yet both President Johnson and Maximilian are
anxious to preserve the strictest neutrality. M. Eloin,
Maximilian's agent, is in New York, and he denies
that lie has ever been in Washington importuning
the President for a recognition of the empire ; and
neither he nor any other representative of Maximilian
will go there on any errand, until the doors of the
White House stand wide open to receive them. There
is no longer any doubt that Maximilian has given up
the cannon sold to his troops by the Confederates, for
we have received advices of their formal surrender at
Brownsville on July 10. Although no intercourse is
permitted between the French and American armies
on the Rio Grande, and the officers and men hate
each other most cordially, yet the only chance of a
battle is from the intermeddling of Cortinas, who
flies about Matamoros, and crosses from one side to
the other of the Rio Grande with his handful of
Juarists, evidently with no other object than to em-
broil the French and Americans. Our latest news is
to July 14, and at that time he had not been successful,
and it is to be hoped that prudent officers on both
sides the Rio Grande will checkmate his efforts.
On July 12 the Texas Bank of the Rio Grande
was picketed by American troops from the mouth of
the stream up to Brownsville. The French held the
opposite shore, and in many places the pickets of
the two armies were not more than 40 yards apart.
In this picket line and at Matamoros the French are
supposed to have about 18,000 men. In the Fede-
ral line there are 17,400 men, about 6,000 being
negroes. There are many other Federal troops in
Texas, 5,000 being at Galveston, 6,000 negroes
under General W eitzel on the march, by way of San
Antonio to the Upper Rio Grande, and atleast 12,000
cavalry under Custer and Morritt, crossing the nor-
thern part of the State, also to encamp on the Upper
Rio Grande. At the rate these troops were march-
ing they were expected to reach the neighbourhood
of Piedras Negras in the last week of July. No
doubt in the first week of August they will be en-
camped along the Rio Grande, and will gradually
extend their lines down towards Brownsville. The
Liberals hold the Rio Grande, where Custer and
Morritt have charge, and they no doubt will look on
each other with great kindness ; yet the instructions
to preserve neutrality, given to all the American
generals, are so strict that if they are obeyed no
complications can possibly follow. Some days in ad-
vance of the march of Custer and Morritt are many
small parties of Conservative soldiers on their way
to Mexico. Wehave reports that two of these parties
—one led by Kirby Smith, the other by Shelby, have
been stopped by the Liberals near Piedras Negras,
paroled, deprived of their arms and waggons, and
then allowed to cross into Mexico. Many other
parties, however, have succeeded in crossing and
eluding the Liberals, and as Maximilian is straight-
ened for troops, they are, no doubt, gladly welcomed
to his army.
With the merits of the Mexican contest Ameri-
cans have very little to do, and beyond the general
impression that the Liberals are hopelessly defeated
very little is known of the actual progress of the
war. The reports from Mexico are vague and con-
flicting, and, in addition to the falsehoods invented
by both parties there, American speculators invent
ten times as many here. It is stated, apparently
on good authority, that 12,000 French troops, an
additional force for Maximilian, arrived at Tampico
about July 2. There are no organised movements
in any part of the United States to procure aid for
either party. The Government puts a stop to any-
thing that may result in a breach of neutrality, and
the only aid the Liberals get is sent clandestinely,
and must be very small. Maximilian gets much
more, but not nearly so much as is reported, his help
only being the addition to his army of gipsy-like
bands of discharged Confederate soldiers, who are
very little accustomed to the restraints of camps or
the strict discipline of the French armies.
A movement, which will no doubt have much
erect in cementing tne union between North and
South, has been decided upon by the bishops of the
Protestant Episcopal Church. This Church was the
only Protestant body which before the war had not
split into factions upon the slavery question. A
general convention of the bishops and clergy will
meet in Philadelphia in October next, and the
Northern bishops have sent to the Southern ones
invitations breathing the spirit of kindness and
brotherly love, asking them to return to their places
in the convention. If any or all of the Southern
bishops choose to be present, they will only need to
present their credentials, answer to their names, and
take their seats as of old, without doubt, question,
or condition of any sort whatever. The Church
Journal, the organ of the Episcopal Church in
America, assures the Southern bishops that they
will be most heartily welcomed, and that although
there are a few Radicals in the Church who would
favour the passage of incendiary resolutions, the
constant course of all the general conventions since
the war began has been to frown down such pro-
ceedings. If by these means the Episcopal Church
throughout the country can be reunited it will go
a great way towards restoring good feeling between
the sections. Nearly 'all the men of wealth and high
social position North and South are of that faith.
The unity of that Church and of the Roman Catho-
lic Church, both having the strongest Conservative
tendencies, will do much to aid the efforts making,
both North and South, for a restoration of the
Union.

President Johnson has recently pardoned several
Southern men on condition that they leave the
country and never return, and in many parts of the
South the planters seriously discuss such a course.
Brazil is generally preferred by the would-be emi-
grants, though very few carry out their scheme, on
account of not having the money to pay their way
and the necessity of parting with their slaves, for no
man is allowed to take his slaves out of the country
with him, they being considered as free as he