The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-15 00:00:00

THE FRENCH FUNDS.

According to Reuter's telegrams the French
Rentes to-day were quoted 73f. 77c.

NEW MODE OF WARMING RAILWAY UAn-
!MGM —A new method of warming first-class carriages
in Express trains has been adopted in Bavaria, A special
van is attached to the train and contains a powerful
" calorifere," and the heated air is conveyed to all the
carriages of the train by means of india-rubber tubes.
The experiment with first-class carriages is reported
upon so favourably that the authorities have determined
to apply it to all the carriages on the Bavarian lines, and
it is expected that it will soon be adopted on all the
German railways.—Guardian.

THIEVES' SUPPERS.—" Ned Wright " still con-
tinues his efforts to benefit the criminal class from which
he has been himself rescued. About two hundred con-
victed thieves were assembled on Wednesday night at his
meeting-house--once a penny gaff—near the New-cut.
They were each given a basin of good soup and half a
loaf ; and after supper Ned Wright gave them a vigorous
practical address. Before obtaining admittance, every
thief is obliged to apply for a ticket, and to furnish parti-
culars of his position. Ned knows the name and address
of every man who attends his meetings. He said on
Wednesday night he was not without means of obtaining
honest work for any who were desirous of leaving their
present mode of life; but, it is to be feared, from the inte-
resting account he gave of his own history, that this must
he his chief difficulty.
THE VAGARIES OF A FEMALE PAUPER.-011
Wednesday, at the Town Hall, Salford, a woman
named Elizabeth Clarke was charged by the master of
the Salford Workhouse with refusing to do •
work which had been allotted to her. She had
been given into custody on the previous day, and•
removed to the police-station. Divesting herself of
her clothing, and tearing every article to shreds, she pre-
sented herself to the astonishment of the officer who went '
to the cell for bringing her into court in a state of perfect
nudity. Puzzled what to do with the woman, the officer con- .
sulted his superiors, and Clarke, envelopedin a blanket, was
removed to the dock in the court. The master of the work- '
house deposed to her refusal to work. and outrageous
and intolerable conduct. The bench advised her re-
admission to the workhouse, but the master refused to have
anything more to do with her. The bench then discharged'
her, and she left the building with the blanket wrapped
Around her body.

A REPREHENSIBLE RECTOR.—A. curious affair
occurred at the last sitting of the Jersey States. The
Rector of Trinity took his place among the rectors,
though he had not been present before for two years. The
Legislature of Jersey, as some of our readers may need to:
be reminded, consists of a governor and bailiff, appointed,
by the Crown, twelve judges of the Royal Court;
the rectors of twelve parishes, and twelve con-j
stables elected by the ratepayers. Before, the
business of the day on this occasion was,
commenced the rector of St. John's called attention to
the unusual appearance of his brother rector of Trinity,
and after a sharp speech moved the following singular
resolution :—" Considering that it is incumbent on the
States not to admit any person into this assembly whose
reputation is such as may bo considered repre-
hensible, and that the conduct of the Rev. William
Du Heaume, Rector of Trinity, since the desastre on his
property in 1868 has not been such as to contribute
in any way to help him out of his deplorable circum-
stances, nor that, until on the present occasion, he has
made his appearance in this assembly, the States
have resolved not to recognise his presence." A
warmish conversation followed, but most of the
members were averse to entering on moral and per-
sonal investigations. " Consider, said one of the depu-
ties, "how very unpleasant it would be to inquire into
"private character. Everybody has his own history."
The President did not consider that the ejection of
the Rev. William Du Heaume could be legally
effected ; and the best course would be to leave the
matter between his conscience and himself. The rector
of St. John's then withdrew his proposition, and the
matter dropped. Would not all the rectors be better out
of the States;-English Indepaideqs_

THE LAST INSURRECTION IN SPAIN.
The late riots, or insurrections, at Barcelona and
Gracia are excellent samples of the state in which the
authorities are set at defiance in Spain, and equally of the
style in which the rule of law and order is
restored. These are risings commenced in certain
villages outside the city of Barcelona. On the night of
Monday week barricades were raised in Barcelona at
several points. Their number was not considerable, and
their strength of slight importance ; some were unde-
fended, and others defended only by stone- throwing, for
want of arms. Nothing was easier than to settle the busi-
ness without difficulty ; but the authorities were deter-
• mined to make a war of it. A Grimsby merchant, who was
pre,,ent, expresses his disgust at the doings of the officials,
writing on April 9, he says " The authorities, for some
reason of their own, or from a misconception, were pleased
to consider Gracia---a place of 20,000 or 30,000 people,
three-quarters of a mile outside Barcelona—as the focus
and strongest point of the movement and commenced
throwing shot and shell on Tuesday, which continued in-
cessantly till Friday evening, and it is particularly to be
remarked they never once made even an attempt to enter
the place. This morning a tremendous parade of forces
was made and a grand attack arranged. Three divisions
were to move on as many points at the same moment,
preceded by a heavy cannonade, with another division in
reserve for support. After all this preparation the soldierly
did simply what they might have done on any of the four
preceding days--entered the place and took possession,
without—or, to be safe, say, with scarcely any fighting ;
in fact, there was not a single soldier killed. The barri-
cades were not formidable, and no one was found to defend
them. Yes, by-the-by, one of them was defendel by a
woman, whose husband had been shot the day before !"
" An Englishman in Spain " furnishes the Pall Mall
Gazette with similar particulars of this remarkable out-
break :—" On Tuesday, at daylight, the cannonade
opened, and the boom awoke the whole city. One
battery was planted in front of the barricade which
guarded the main street of Gracia ; another, to the right
of it, in front of some open ground to the east-
ward, to command another barricade at the end of
another street. Both were at the comfortable
distance of six hundred yards. They fired all day ;
they fired a thousand shot ; they cut in two trees which
had not been used by the insurgents for their barricades ;
they knocked the head off a lamp-post ; they hit private
and inncent houses lying out of the range of fire ; they
knocked the poor village about in many parts ; but they
did not destroy the barricades, nor kill a single fighting
man, nor lose a single man of their own. I have the best
information about the defence, as it was seen by a friend
who was in Gracia all the time. The barricades were as a rule
about"three feet high, and made of trees and stones, the
facings being formed of granite slabs taken from the seats of
the promenade. These slabs were placed at angles, and
constantly turned the shot ; so that, as the shot did not
hurt the barricades nor their defenders—who popped
round corners after each discharge—the brunt of the busi-
ness fell upon the unlucky respectable people's houses.
The insurgents were never more than three hundred in
number, and were simple working men, armed with com-
mon fowling-pieces and old-fashioned blunderbusses—tra-
bums. They fought, I am told,with great composure and good
order. Their cry was always ' Death to Prim ?' a cry
which would suit many political theories of the revolt,
and would be compatible with its being Repub-
lican, Carlist, or Alfonsist ; but which also is quite
unintelligible if the movement be simply set
down as a protest in arms against the conscription.
There is so much that is subterranean in Spanish
politics, such rills from the Pactolus flow gently
through them out of sight, that I always laugh at
the wiseacres who pretend to interpret the political
significance of rows of this kind. Buggins, the missionary,
sees the Pope and the Carlist in everything ; is convinced
that the priest next door means to have him killed ; and
takes care of a life so invaluable to the cause of
Protestantism by an early bolt out of the seat of
danger. The manufacturer who has thriven b
smuggling ; the merchant whose agents steal British
coal by false weights ; the contractor who remembers
the good old quiet days of jobbery, when his
own party had the jobs to give—these unite in cursing the
' Republicans ' for making order and commerce impossible.
They are perhaps both right ; they are perhaps both.
wrong. All one can say is that, though there are cer-
tainly many Republicans, and probably a good many
Carlists, in Gracia, there are no means of proving that
either party planned or paid for the disturbance. The
most certain inference from it is that it has placed the
Government in a humiliating position and shewn that
Prim's popularity is on the wane."
This writer's account of the final charge on Friday cor-
responds with that given by the Grimsby merchant. The
thine was settled without the slightest difficulty.

THE LAST B iTTLE OF LOPEZ.
The accounts of the last pursuit and defeat of the
Paraguayan Dictator shew that he was reduced to the
last extremity, and quite incapable of making any stand
against a properly appointed force. It appears that the
Brazilian General Camara marched from Concepcion
on the 26th of December, pursued Lopez, and
captured various posts down to the 14th of
January. On the day the final series of combats com-
menced, the Brazilian vanguard overtook and skirmished
with the Paraguyan outposts, at Samarugua, near San
Pedro, where he had about GOO men drawn up in line,
with his left on an orange grove, his centre on two large
houses, and his right in an old clearing, while his front
. was so covered by the woods as to allow it to be seen only
when at a distance. The struggle was short. The
Brazilian infantry soon broke through the woods, formed
on the enemy's flanks and charged, accompanied by the
cavalry. Many prisoners were taken, and one flag, 236
muskets, 249 lances, 32 swords, &c., while the Brazilian
loss amounted to only three killed and four wounded.
During these operations General Camara's troops made
154 prisoners, of whom 54 were sent to Rosario, 32 died,
and 54 were released because of their youth. The com-
mander of a foraging party of Paraguayans in the Brazi-
lian service reports that the distance from Curuguaty to
Lopez's post, near Panadero, was 65 miles, 48 through
woods. The road was choked with felled trees for about
half a mile ; and so many putrifying bodies lay in it, that
most of the party fell sick. At the camp of Lopez many
women and men were lying dead, some with their hands
tied. Many others in a dying state were found,
and over one hundred persons who could travel, were
brought away. Carts, accoutrements, and arms were also
found abandoned on the road. From information given to
them they learned that Lopez had thrown into the river the
cannon mounted at the Aguarahy-guassu ford, and, as he
ascended the Cerro, had caused trees to be felled into the
road behind him, which was done for fifteen miles, and
that after leaving the Cerro he had gone on, upon the
11th of January, either to Cerra CorA or Dourados.
According to the statement of Lieutenant Villalba, who
deserted on the 10th, General Roa, with 130 men, was
then engaged in crossing cannon and carts over the
Aguarahy, and had thrown six pieces into the river for
want of means-of conveyance. Lopez had passed some
days before, accompanied by Generals Resquin, Caballero,
and Delgodo, with about 600 soldiers, chiefly sick, and
boys, of whom only a few had muskets and four rounds
each. Besides the ammunition carried with the cannon
there was no reserve. Lopez had sixteen carts, but of
• what the loads consisted Lieutenant Villalba did not
know; nor how much cattle was in front, nor what had
become of Lopez's brother Venancio and his sisters ;
but his mother was conveyed as a prisoner in a small
cart. Many soldiers died of hunger every day, but any
found stealing food were killed. A good many deserters
were in the woods, but could not travel from want of
food."
The last combat in which Lopez was killed has already
been detailed by telegraph, It seems that several weeks
elapsed before the prey was finally brought down. A
dispatch to the Minister of Brazil in Buenos Ayres from
Councillor Paranhos is as follows :—" Asuncion, March 5,
1870.—Long live the allied armies ! Lopez was
overtaken by the forces of General Camara on
the left bank of the Aquidaban on the Ist
instant ; he was wounded in the fight, and not choosing
to surrender, was killed during the action. The mother
and sisters of the tyrant, with several field officers, among
whom is General Resquin, have fallen into our hands.
General Caballero was i n another point, and a cavalry
force had already marched against him. Mrs. Lynch
was hid in the woods, and up to the moment
of the above news being forwarded, which was
immediarely after the action, she had not been met
with. Your Excellency will be pleased to felicitate the
members of the Argentine Government in my name."
speaking of this termination to the war the Buenos Ayres
Standard observes :—" It may be truly remarked that
Lopez was the cause of his own ruin ; had he followed
the discreet and wise policy of his father he would be
to-day the Republican monarch of Paraguay. Had
he had as much genius as ambition, the elements
at his disposal were every way sufficient to carry
out his programme, but he lacked generals and the
smallest spark of military talent. As a patriot he was
nothing, for he refused to leave the country, when Gould
offered him terms the most honourable. As a soldier he
was still less, for he never figured on a battlefield until
hunted down at Aquidaban. He has cut a figure in South
America which it is difficult to extenuate, and which calls
for the calmest contemplation to define."
T.

BADEN PARLIAMENT.—There has been a.
brisk interchange of despatches between Paris, Vienna,
and Berlin, in consequence of the speech delivered at the
close of the session of the Baden Parliament. On this
occasion the Grand-Duke told the representatives of his
people that he was decidedly in favour of the annexation
of the Grand Duchy to Prussia. It seems his opinson is
not shared either by his subjects or by the great continen-
tal powers, and that the dispatches in question have
referred to the matter. Lord Clarendon has asked the
English Ambassador at Paris, Berlin, and Carlsruhe to
send him a special report of the speech of the Grand
Duke.

MINISTERIAL CRISIS IN AUSTRIA.--The
terial crisis appears to be over in Austria. The Official
Gazette has published Imperial decrees, which relieve Dr.
Giskra, Herr Prestel, and Dr. Herbst from their functions
as Ministers. An autograph letter of the Emperor decrees
the appointment of the members. of the new Cisleithan
Cabinet, with Count Potocki for its chief. This
_Ministry
has been formed, in spite of the efforts of the German
party, which organised a sort of political strike around
Count Potocki. According to the North-East Correspon-
dence, the Count is the less discouraged because he counts
upon the support of the Emperor and Count Emit.
His plan is to proceed at once to the elections, which
he will conduct in the most liberal manner, so that the
real opinion of the country may be obtained. He will at-
tempt to make terms with Gallicia which will be easy,
and with Bohemia which will present greater difficulties,
if it is not found quite impracticable. It is worthy of
notice that Count Beust found himself in a similar posi-
tion to that of Count Potocki when he undertook. the
task of making a compromise with Hungary. At that
time he held several portfolios himself, and had only a
few colleagues, who were somewhat insignificant. The
elections will be vigorously contested, and the various
.arties have bawd their manifestoes and organised meet-
. • of a character which shows thai the struggle willpe
• v mos