The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-13 00:00:00

METRO P OLITAN GOSSIP-THURSDAY.

Another omnibus has been added to the train which
blocks the legislative Temple Bar. The Marquis of
Hartington and his colleagues can hardly expect that it
will get through this year. But as more than two hun-
dred members of the Liberal party insisted upon its being
brought out, Mr. Gladstone was obliged to consent. The
funny thing about this Parliamentary Elections Bill is,
that it in most respects sets aside the recommendations
of the select committee ; but as the committee ignored
the strong and almost unanimous testimony which was
brought before them, the Government was compelled to
adopt the course it has taken. It does not please Professor
Fawcett. Nothing that comes from Mr. Gladstone's
Cabinet ever does please the Professor. The fact is to be
lamented, but cannot be avoided. As for the Land Bill,
that is now making good progress, and there is some pro-
spect that it will get through committee during the fort-
night that remains before the Whitsun holidays.
But it is scarcely possible that the bill will be
introduced to the Peers before the latter half
of June ; and as a House of landowners will be
sure to have plenty to say about such a
measure as this, their lordships are not likely to be best
pleased at such a late appearance. And yet it cannot be
said that the Commons have been wasting their time.
Throughout the whole of the present session, now more
than three months old, there has been only one count
out—an incident, I suppose, unparalleled. Night after
night the House has sat till past two in the morning.
Altogether this has been one of the most toilsome, as it
has been quite the most uninteresting, session of our
time.

Some of to-day's London papers refer to the attempted
count-out in the debate on the opium traffic, and the
Times attributes the attempt to the unpractical character
of the subject. The real authors of the attempt were the
Roman Catholic members who wished to prevent the ap-
pointment of the committee on monastic institutions.
At one time Government were very near being beaten
on Sir Wilfrid Lawson's motion, and if a, division
had been taken at 9 o'clock there is little doubt but that
the member for Carlisle would have been in a majority.
As it was Ministers did not venture to oppose the motion,
but shelved it by moving the previous question. After
all, the real grievance is not taxing opium, but enforcing
its introduction into China. The Emperor of China
burnt the opium ships rather than have his people
debauched, and, although opium was contraband, and
we were therefore violating the law in importing it, we
went to war with China, and have since then gone on
demoralising that great country in order that our Indian

revenue might be larger. We shall have no right to corn-
plain, if the Chinese, who, once the most stay-at-home,
are now becoming the most enterprising and adventurous
people in the world, bring their custom with them, and
teach our own people the ruinous practice of opium-eating.
Mr. Childers has had a sharp attack which caused some
uneasiness to his friends for a few hours. He is now,
however, convalescent. I wish I could say the same of

Mr. Bright. It will be a long time, I fear, before he
will resume his post at the Board of Trade, if
he ever does resume it. Mr. Lefevre looks as if he wanted
a holiday. Nevertheless, I believe that Mr. Bright will
not resign, at all events, for the present ; for, though his
friends desire him to vacate his post, Mr. Gladstone does
not want to lose the influence which even his mere
name gives. The sick man has been sorely
missed during the present session, if only for
the want of any one to keep in order the

members below the gangway. He would not have hesi-
tated to snub Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Vernon Harcourt, or any
number of advanced Radicals. A speech from him would
have saved us many a speech from discontented Radicals
and Irishmen. Mr. Bright was, I believe, in town
yesterday, and this shews some improvement.
The Alabama and San Juan questions remain in statu
quo, and except for occasional vapourings in the New York
Herald there is very little said or thought about them.
There is a matter which excites far more irritation in the
American mind than either of the above. It is the
imprisonment of certain American Fenians, espe-
pecially General Halpin and Mr. Shore. The
first declares most solemnly that he had no
connection with the Fenian movement, and that when he
was arrested on board a steamer during the time that the
Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, he was leaving the
country. General Carey, who is now in England,
is interesting himself a good deal in his
f glow-countrymen's behalf, and has lately seen General
Ipioa at the Chatham Convict Prison. The prisoner
said that he had no cause to complain of his
treatment in the gaol, but he was surprised that
his own Government had not taken up his case more
warmly. I believe that Mr. Motley will now be urged to
do so. At the same time it is fair to state that our own
Government have not the smallest doubt as to General
Valpin's guilt, and Mr. Bruce has stated that this was
about the last man they would have thought of in choos-
ing which of the prisoners they would release. Shore is
one of the men who was apprehended in connection with
the Manchester murders. It was shewn that he had
no part in it, but for some reason with which I
am unacquainted he still remains in prison. Both men
were Americans by residence, though technically and by
birth British subjects. The Fenians do not wish to see
them released, because so long as they remain in prison
there is hope of exasperating the United States against
England.

The gathering at the London University yesterday was
tolerably brilliant, though small, as the spectators were
with a few exceptions confined to the graduates. The
number of public men was less than might have been
expected. Mr. Disraeli was quite the ladies' man, and
stood clmtting to the five distinguished women who were
permitted to occupy the front bench. A sudden burst of
cheers sent him to his seat, for his great rival was
entering, and all the company rose to greet him. What
as the rule as to costume on such occasions ? Mr. Dis-
raeli, Mr. Forster, and Mr. Lefevre wore the Windsor
uniform, Lord John Manners wore his Oxford D.C.L.
gown. Mr. Gladstone, who might have selected either,
was in plain clothes : so, too, was Mr. Ayrton. The
Queen looked as well in health as she ever looked. The
Princess of Wales was so charming that Mr. Weigall's
portrait at the Royal Academy is absolutely amazing in
its un-likeness. The portrait of the Prince is much more
faithfuL

Will any of your readers say what relation Lord Derby
will be to Lord Salisbury after the marriage of the first
with the Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury? Stepfather
by marriage is not a relationship that one often hears of,
though this is the closest definition that occurs to me.
Another query—Will the marchioness accept the lower
title of countess in order to get rid of the "dowager ?"
The marriage has some political significance. It denotes,
or at all events should promote, restored union among the
Conservative chieftains. Perhaps even the irreconcilable
Mr. Beresford Hope will be won now that his brother-in-
law, the marquis, is about to enter into family relations
with Lord Derby.

The Royal Commission appointed many months ago to
inquire into our coal supply is approaching the ena of its
labours. A very careful section connecting the
various coal fields of Staffordshire, the Mid-
lands, and Yorkshire has been made by the
officers of the geological survey, and will form a most
valuable conspectus of this department of our mineral
wealth. In fact, it is taking stock of our coal ; primarily
for the benefit of the coal owners, though ultimately for
that of the whole population. The sections differ from
most drawings of the kind. The vertical scale is the
same as the horizontal. This seems almost a pity,.
as it is impossible to shew 50ft. in a section of one
inch to a mile. On the other hand, there is an advantage
in having the scales alike, as the section then offers an
actual representation of the strata.

Manufacturers have rather a good story to tell just now
at the expense of one of her Majesty's inspectors. He
went to a town, which shall be nameless, in order to in-
spect a mill. He was received by the millowner in his
private office, a beautiful Turkey-carpeted room,
and there was a goodly lunch spread out, which,
the inspector. being young, and having a• healthy
appetite, did full justice to. The meal finished,
the host said to his guest, " Well, if you
won't have any more wine, let us go into the card room,"
meaning, of course the room where the carding is done.
"You must excuse me," said the inspector, "but I never
play cards before dinner." This is almost as good as the
story told of a noble lord with royal blood in his veins,
who going over a cotton mill, and being shewn some of
the raw material—" wool," as it is called—looked at it
knowingly and said, "Ah ! wool. I see. Well, now,
Mr. —, is this the wool of Australian or English
sheep?"

Sundry provincial newspaper proprietors met in Londoi
inin Tuesday, and having done business in the morning feasted
freely at the Crystal Palace in the evening. The society
is called the Provincial Newspaper Association, and its
programme of work is not unsatisfactory. Its members

Would like to know, however, who is to—Farlor theMb-
eitantial dinner and very large amount of wine which was
consumed. Such a dinner must have cost about £5O.
Manifestly the charge ought not to be defrayed out
of the funds of an association whose revenue amounts to
about £2OO a year.

A rather absurd mistake was made the other day. The
Illustrated London News published a portrait which pro-
fessed to be that of Dr. Hughes, the new Bishop of St.
Asaph. It was not a likeness of him at all, but of a
neighbouring Welsh clergyman. The Bishop's friends
wrote to the News, but obtained no reply. The fact was
that somebody, I suppose by way of joke, had sent a
photograph of some highly respectable, but not very
widely known cleric, and the present was accepted and
used without inquiry.

The I to-day publishes a very interesting correspon-
dence between Mr. Hepworth Dixon and Admiral
Ommaney respecting the bombardment of Solovetsk
by the latter gentleman during the Russian War. It is
satisfactory to find that a British sailor was not—as Mr.
Dixon's Russian friends believe him to be—guilty of firing
upon an unarmed monastery, and without provocation.
The monastery was virtually a fort, and the first
shot was fired by the defenders of it. The Times,
which had a very severe review upon Mr. Dixon's
" Free Russia," publishes to-day a letter from
Professor Kapustin, in which he says that he
strongly dissuaded Mr. Dixon from " writing about a
country so perfectly unknown to him." The Professor
has found in the work matter for laughter, which is accom-
panied by " the sad thought that there exists in Europe a
nation about which it is permitted to speak unrestrainedly
without knowing its language, and without taking
the trouble to become acquainted with its life, even
at second hand." The Professor attributes the
haste and errors of the book to the necessity
Mr. Dixon was under of anticipating Sir Charles
Dilke's book, which is to eome out next spring. The
Professor's-letter is severe, all the more because the writer
is Mr. Dixon's personal friend, and was his host in St.
Petersburg. Dr. Kapustin himself is not likely to fall
into the mistake of writing a book on England without
knowing the country. He has visited it more than
a dozen times, and his letter shews that he has a
perfect mastery of our language. Mr. Dixon will have
to console himself under his Russian friend's strictures
by the praises of another friend, Mr. Ralston, who has at
least mastered the Russian language.
One of the most charming publications ever offered to
the art-loving public is the Photographic Art Journal
published by Messrs. Low and Marston. It is edited by
Mr. Alexander Rivington. Three monthly numbers
(half-a-crown each) have appeared. Each number contains
sixteen 'pages of letter press, and three illustrations. In
the first is a photograph of " The Return of the Flock"
by Jacque, an engraving of Albrecht Diirer's
" Nativity," and a photograph of a view near La
Grande Chartreuse. The second number has photographs
of Verschur's " Stirrup-Cup," " A Village Street in Switz-
erland," a photo-engraving of Netley Abbey, and a
phototype of " The Muleteer's Love." The number for
the present month has the first published example of Mr.
Woodbury's new patent process of photo-mechanical
printing in printing ink, the subject being a portrait by
the eminent French artist Girardet. The other illustra-
tions are a charming stair4ase at Chartres, and
G-ericault's picture, ".A Heavy Load." The letter-press
contains a great amount of information relating to photo-
graphic matters and kindred art topics. I am glad to
state that several pictures by the autotype process will
be published in this inagaziire. The Autotype Company
seems to be making great way. It has removed from its
temporary offices in the Haymarket to 26, Rathbone-
place, where a large gallery has been erected for the
exhibition of carbon prints.
The publishers are keeping back their new books until
" Lothair " has had its run ; 7,000 copies of which have
been sold already. A new novel called " Arthur," by Mrs,
Davis, is in type, and will be out before long. Miss Poole, of
Bridgwater, who has contributed tales and articles to
Macmillan's Magazine, will bring out a volume of Somer-
setshire tales, to be called, I believe, " Other Folk's
Children." The two charming stories which have appeared
in the Cornhill Magazine" Stone Edge " and " Lettice
Lisle " are by a sister of Miss Nightingale, a lady of title.
Mr. Bentley is publishing " Letters from London, from
1856 to 1860," written by Mr. Dallas, then United States
Minister in this country, and edited by his daughter ;
also " The First Lord Malmesbury : his Family and his
Friends," containing much information about the secret
political history of this country during the commence-
ment of the century ; and " Confidential Letters
of the Right Hon. William Wickham," which will
deal with the same period. The Rev. Francis Garden
chaplain to the household in St. James's Palace has
written a pamphlet with the title, " Can an Ordained
Man Become a Layman ?" and having special reference
to Mr. Hibbert's bill. The Rev. Harry Jones, one of
the most popular of the Broad Church clergy in London,
has brought out a volume of sermons called " The Perfect
Man," and the Rev. James Moorhouse has published his
sermons preached before the University of Cambridge.