The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-05 00:00:00

fHE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 5, 1870.

WASIIINGTON'S BIRTHDAY.

DIPLOMATIC DINNER AT VIENNA.

VIENNA, Feb. 24.
The 22d of February was celebrated by a dinner at the
American Legation. Among the guests were the Chan-
cellor of the Empire, Count de Beust, and his Excellency
Count Festetics, of the Hungarian Ministry ; the Duke de
Gramont, Ambassador of France, and the Duchess de
Gratnont ; Mr. and Mrs. Lytton, of the British 1-Embassy;
Baron Schweinitz, the successor of Baron Werther, as the
nvoy from the North German Confederation ; his Excel-
ency Cipriano del Mazo, Minister from Spain; Mr. Vas-
siltchikoff, of the Russian Embassy ; the Marquise de
Pe poli, wife of the Italian Minister; Count Wydenbruch,
the late Austrian Minister at Washington ; Baron Orczy,
Mr. von Hoffmann, General Post, Mr. Delaplaine, and Mr.
Tiffany. After the dessert, the American Minister,
Mr. JO/IN JAY, said—ln rising to offer the first toast of
the evening I beg leave, on my own behalf and on that of
my countrymen, to return my thanks to our distinguished
guests who have come to assist us in celebrating the birth-
day of Washington. That the Chancellor of this ancient
empire and the ambassadors and envoys of tLo great
Powers of Europe accredited to this Imperial and Royal
Court should thus cordially assemble in honour of the
founder of the American Republic, may seem to the stu-
dent of history to be adding at least a spice cf variety to
the diplomatic memories of Vienna. But there was than
in the character .and career of Washington which has
long commanded the admiration of Europe. A doubt yet
lingered, and perhaps with reason, of the thoroughness,
permanency, and solidity of the work performed by that
group of American statesmen of whom WaShington was
the central figure. The last decade has solved that doubt,
and to-day, whatever names, illustrious in the past, may
pale in the sunlight of the nineteenth century, that of
Washington stands with undimmed brightness, rever-
enced alike by sovereigns, diplomats, and people. It is
the hope of my countrymen that, however extended may be
the boundaries of the Republic which he founded, and
which has been recently puritied and reconstructed, it will
still be in every part imbued with his spirit. That uni-
versal freedom will bo ennobled by universal education,
that local corruption where it exists will disappear before
the higher morality of the nation, and that his farewell
counsel of good faith and justice to all nations will never
be forgotten. You all know how far the traits of Wash-
ington were reproduced in Lincoln, whose death for the
moment made the whole world kin by a comrion sorrow.
Of his successor, who, by the choice of the American
people, now sits in the seat of Washington it is not for me
to speak. His work as a soldier the world beholds in the
Republic one and indivisible. His work as President each
day is unfolding. But 1 may say with propriety ou this
occasion, and in this distinguished presence, that the in-
ternational policy of General Grant and Mr. Fish will be
based upon that inaugurated and maintained by Washing-
ton, and which has been approved by the most enlightened
publicists of Europe as illustrating the highest principles
of the law of nations. I have the honour to give you
"The Presid 2nt of the United States."
The toast having been received with all honour,
The AMERICAN MINISTER said, in proposing the toast, I
cannot but allude to the interest with which the American
people, while free from all entanglement with European
politics, are watching from afar the solution of the pro-
blems that are presenting themselves in this, which some
regard as a transition period in European history. That
interest, as I observe from the American 'nese, is fixed
especially on this empire, where, as it seemed to them, the
Government itself has wisely assumed the initiative in in-
augurating the constitutional changes demanded by the
spirit of the age and the condition of the empire, with the
pat•iotic intent so carefully to protect the rights and inte-
rests of the people that the people should feel that loyalty
to the constitution was loyalty to themselves. My coun-
trymen looe upon this widely extended and polyglot
Empire, so rich in national resources, connecting Europe
with Asia, and the Cross with the Crescent, and constitut-
ing, as has been said, "a Europe in miniature,' as de-
stined to extend in all directions the influence of civilisa-
tion, Christianity, and culture. In their efforts to accom-
plish this grand work the Sovereign and his Chancellor,.
the Parliament and the people, will have the warmest
wishes of the American Republic. I have the honour to
give you "His I.R. Majesty the Emperor of Austria, Apos-
tolic Kin,g of Hungary."
The health of his Majesty having been cordially drunk,
His Excellency the Count de BECTST responded and
eaid:—A very loyal and cordial toast to the health of my
Imperial Master having been, drunk, allow me, in my
capacity as his Prime Minister, to tender you my warmest
thanks. It is a very difficult task to address you after the
brilliant speech we have just heard, but I hope that, con-
sidering this embarrassing position, you will excuse mine
being a very short one. When a Minister of Foreign Af-
fairs speaks of good relations with other countries - and
what else can ho say ? it is generally considered as a for-
mality—some people are even of the opinion that it is
humbug. Well, lam perfectly aware that a great diplo-
matist has said-that language is given to man to conceal
his ideas; but, ladies and gentlemen, you will kindly re-
member that this evening I venture to address you in
English. I shall be exceedingly happy, if 1 come to the
cud of my speech without sticking in the mud ; the utmost
that I can dare to aspire to is to express my feelings. I
should never succeed in concealing them; cousequent!y
all that I say in English is undoubtedly true. Lot me
then express the gratification I feel iu being able to record
that friendly relations between Austria and the United
States have never been disturbsd. I have sometimes been
reproached with being too prone to introduce innovations in
this country. With respect to our cordial relatiouc wit liAme-
rical. shall never be ;pithy of any a licit change. We highly
esteem them, though they are less political than moral and
social. I trust that the motto of the great Republic across
the ocean, "Uuity and Freedom," will always be and re-
main ours—Unity and freedom ! The first as the only
element of strength, the last as the great principle of pro-
grees. Our political horizon, I am sorry to say, is not
illuminated with the many bright stars which twinkle on
the American banner ; but if what people here assert be 1

correct—a point on which I must refrain from expressing
an opinion, that we have just emerged from a sort of poli-
tical night, we cannot be astonished to find ourselves in
twilight. We must rather then congratulate ourselves, for
we are enabled to think that a happy day is soon coming,
radiant with the sunshine of political, national, and econo-
mical prosperity. I feel quite confident that this wish will
be re-echoed in the brt Lists of our liberal American friends.
Thus thanking you again for the honour you have douo
me, I may ask you to join me in drinking to the memory
of the great champion of liberty—the first President of the
United States—the immortal Washington—to the health
of the present gallant President of the great transatlantic
Republic, and to the health of our worthy host, his repre-
sentative at this Court.

The company having responded to the sentiments of
Count de Beust,
Mr. JAY said—The eloquent and kind remarks of the

Chaucel:or, which have been listened to with such atten-
tion, will be read with equal interest throughout the
United States. In introducing the third toast, I may ob-
serve that, in the American Chamber of Representatives,
the only portraits that adorn the walls hang on either side
of the Speaker's chair. They aro full-length companion
portraits of Washington and Lafayette, and they recall to
all who look upon them, the friendship, early formed and
never broken, between America and France. When the
news of Washington's death reached Paris, France, under
the first Napoleon, paid national homage to his memory.
Our celebration to-nig'et would have been most incomplete
had wo not been favoured by the presence of his Excel-
lency, the accomplished Ambassador of France, and I have
the honour to ask you to drink the health of " His Impe-
rial Majesty the Emperor of the French."
The company having honoured the toast to the Emperor,
His Excellency the Duko DE GRAMONT said—Ladies
and gentlemen,—After the speech I have just heard, I feel

it a duty, not only as a Frenchman, but as Ambassador, to
return thanks to my most honourable colleague, and to

the distinguished company which has associated itself to

its friendly propositions. As representative of a Sovereign
whose sympathies for the people of the United States of

America are known to every ono, I feel happy to avail

myself of such an opportunity, and to express in the name
of the Emperor and in the name of France the reciprocal

friendship which unites both countries. lam aware that
the word "friendship" appears to be better qualified for

private life than for international relations ; however, I
prefer it to any other, and if I have made use of it, it is net
from inadvertence. Friendship between nations is more

and better than alliance. An alliance between two great
peoples has always a determined purpose, and is generally
intended for aggression towards a third one. In the first

case it shows that the poace is troubled, and in the second
that one means to trouble it; both cases ate equally to be

regretted. it is also a transitory state of things, and its
consequences aie,most uncertain. Friendship, on the con-
trary, is the normal and durable state of international

relations, and let us hope, ladies and genlemen, that ours
will last for ever. It is, lam happy to say, an old tradi-

Lion in the annals of your Republic, as well as in those of

my own country, and the name of the illustrious hero,
whose anniversary we celebrate to-day, belongs to our

national remembrances as it belongs to yours. I could

easily, among a.° friends of Washington, quote many of
my distinguished countrymen, who,e names are certainly

not unknown to you. But why shuuld I look behind in the
past, when here amongst us I can give a friendly and cur-

dial salute to the worthy descendant of ono of the most
I,riliiant and honour:ale companions of the great man—of

Johu Joy, of whom Daniel ‘Vobster said with unanimous
applause of his co-citizens that " When the Fpot less ermine
of the judicial rube fell on John Jay, it touched nothing
less spotless than its. lf." With such representation, ladies

and gentlemen, the tradition will not perish. It will last
for ever, and so will last for ever our mutual friendship,
for which I lift my glass and propose a toast.
The company rose in honour of the Duke's toast, and
The American Minister, after acknowledging his grace-
ful courtesy, said:—The next toast draws us Americans
still nearer home. Among the finest passages in modern

eloquence is oue, where an eminent member of the present
Cabinet of Great Britain, after alluding to Rome as the
"lone mother of dead Empires," bailed England as "the

living mother of great nations." Tho orator recognized
with British pride the fact, that the American Republic, in

contending for its national life, was battling for freedom
and humanity throughout the world. While our illustri-
ous English guests are uniting with us to honour th 3 me-
mory of the father of his country, Prince Arthur has
been welcomed by the President to the capital, that bears
the name of Washington, and the Monarch is returning
from carrying to his native shores the remains of Peabody.
An English friend cf mine, by way of apology for his
warm admiration of the good which he found in the Ame-
rican character, explained to me with the frankness com-
mon to both nations a theory which, ho said, was rather
popular in England, that our faults were our own, while
our virtues were inherited. Be this as it may, I can say
for my countrymen that no theory is necessary to account
for the admiration felt in America from ocean to ocean,
and from Canada to Mexico, for the virtues of the Sove-
reign of Great Britein, and I have the honour to propose to
you the health of 16 Tier Majesty the Queen of England."
The toast having been drunk with the utmost cordiality,
Mr. JAY remarked that it was to have been responded
to by that eminent and experienced diplomati,t the Bri-
tish Ambassador, bat that a note from Lord Bloomfiel 1
expressed the sincere regret of Lady Bloomfield and him-
self that the loss of a near relative preverited their Coll-
ing. lie would therefore call upon his friend the Secre-
tary of the British Embassy, who, during a diplomatic
career on both sides of the Atlantic, had achieved a lite-
rary renown which added lustre even to the name of
Lytton.

. _
Mr. LYTTON responded as follows—Ladies and Gentle-
men,—The Chancellor of the Empire has just been com-
plaining, not of the difficulty of expressing ideas, for that,
Indeed, is a difficulty with which we can hardly expect
his Excellency to sympathize, but of the difficulty of conceal
ing them. Well, I have an idea, which I shall not attempt
to conceal, that my position at this moment is a rather diffi-
cult one. I have been told that there are three great les-
sons, which it is the duty of every young diplomatist to
learn betimes. The first is to talk French ; the second is
not to talk at all ; and the third is to talk without saying
anything. lam afraid, however, that I must now utterly
disregard all these excellent rules, because the unavoid-
able (and, as I can assure you, most unwilling) absence of
her Majesty's Ambassador, as well as the unmerited cour-
tesy of the far too flattering mention with which my
own name has just been h._ noured by our distinguished
host, have, in fact,. unexpectedly, and very undeservedly,
placed me in the position, nut of a young diplomatist, but
of an eminent and highly experienced diplomatist. I assure
you, ladies and gentlemen, .that this is a position which I
now find to be much less enviable than young diplomatists
generally suppose it to be. Assuredly, however, I should
be a most ungrateful and unworthy guest if, after listen-
ing to the eloquent and kindly language iu which the health
of my most gracious Sovereign has just been proposed to
us, I did not, at least, attempt to express, not merely my
own individual feelings, but also what I know to ba the
feelings of hundreds of thousa ds of my countrymen else-
where, towards that great, that noble nation, which is here
to night so worthily and so hospitably represented. Sir, I
am persuaded that the tribute which your Excellency has so
gracefully offered to the virtues of a sovereign whose throne
is in the hearts of all her subjects, will be all the more appre-
ciated by her Majesty,because of that sensitive susceptibility
which certainly does exist—which, I think, ought to exist,
and which, I trust, always will exist,betwoon two great na-
tions of kindred race and charact who must necessarily
desire not only to deserve, but also to receive and retain,
the good opinion of each other. Ladies and Gentlemen—
Our distinguished host has toad us of a certain plain-
spoken friend of his, who (with a frankness which his
Excellency is so good as to consider common to the two
nations) expressed to him the opinion that all the virtues
of the American nation are inherited, whereas all their
faults are their own. But he has concealed from us the
name of that plain-spoken gentleman with a generosity
which, I hope, is also common to both nations. Well,
in my own short experience of the world, 1 think, I Lave
observed that virtues are a kind of property which is
always subject to disputed claims, whereas faults are a
monopoly rarely claimed even by the rightful owners.
Be that as it may, however, surely both Americans and
Englishmen may be well satisfied, if at least they have
not lost any of those virtues which they inherit from a
common ancestry, and which it is, I trust, their destiny
(as it is, lam sure, their duty) to bequeath to a frater-
nally united posterity. And, whilst, on the one band, I
certainly am proud to remember that it was from Old
England that New England received those virtues, which
first planted on the black shores of Massachusetts the
immortal memory of the little Mayflower, and the free
faith of the Pilgrim Fathers—on the other hand lam, believe
me, quite as proud to remember that it is from New Eng-
land that Old England has in turn received the latest,
the largest, and the loftiest example of what such vir-
tues can achieve for a nation, when in the hour of her
sore trial they animate the hearts of all her children.
Ladies and Gentlemen—That was, I think, a very great

example to all the world. And, when we recall to Mind
merely the magnitude of those colossal armies, all com-
posed of men who, but a few mouths before, had been
unarmed, peace-loving citizens ; and who, the mo-
ment after they bad rescued from the sudden eclipse
of a most unprovoked calamity those thirty-four bright
stars of the great Atlantic constellation—(those stars
whose combined beams have this evening been so
gracefully reflected in the transparent humour of Count
Beust) again became, as they had Leen before, unarmed,

peace- loving citizens, yet wheao victorious operations had
in the meanwhile covered a lino of territory acti.ally vaster
in extent than the whole distance• from ➢Moscow to Ma-
drid. I say, when we remember how those armies were
created, what those armies achieved (not for America only
but for the cause of tudversal hunlauty), and then, again,
how those armies were dissolved, we must surely aelcaow-
ledge that in the history of all the world there is no such
other example of how much may be effected, even mate-
rially, by sheer force of conscience when indeed the con-
science of a great nation is fairly concentrated upon the
duties of a great cause. Therefore I think that without
any uncommon frankness upon his part our host was fairly
entitled to remind his plainspoken friend that what im-
partial history will undoubtedly record as the sole deter-
mining cause of that great struggle was a defect—a sore
and grievous defect indeed—which the American people
inherited from the past, by no exceptional fault of their
own, but from which they have now emancipated the
future by an effort of heroic virtue which was indeed
wholly their own. I dare say, ladies and gentlemen, that

many of you, like myself, have lately noticed with interest
a very curious pieco of intelligence which has reached us

with the recent news from America. We all know that it
is the tendency- and indeed the boast—of the age we
live in to enable every individual member of society (if he
be industrious as well as ambitious) to change his situa-

tion in life for a better ono, and to transfer himself from a
lowly to a loftier station. Well, but we see it stated in the
newspapers—and, of course, what is stated in the news-
papers must be true--- that in the Transatlantic cities of
Boston and New York this privilege is now extended from
beings to the very houses which human beings inhabit;
and at this moment, I believe, huge and crowded hotels—

immense buildings of deep foundations and of solid struc-
ture—are actually Leing transported from ono situation to
another, from situations which are low or inconvenient to
situations which are elevated and commodious—from
prospects which are dark and narrow to those which aro
bright and broad. And lam told that all this is done so
delicately that the movement is not even perceptible to
the inmates of those mansions, and so securely that not a
crevice has been sprung in the massive masonry of their
walls. Well, and 1 dare say you may remember also an-

other fact which renders this interesting announcomen

even still more interesting. I dare say you may remem-
ber that the greatest mechanical genius of that fifteenth
century—a man, indeed, whose genius was so great that
many of its single achievements have not yet been

equalled by the collective intelligence and industry of mo-

darn times—onco audaciously proposed to move, in a simi-
lar manner, the great cathedral church of Florence—of

course, for the sake of placingit altogether on higherground.
But the guardians of the Church seem to have been in
those days exceedingly averse to movement of every

kind. And in any case the proposal of Leonardo da
Vinci was scouted by his contemporaries as the proposal

of a dangerous dreamer. Now, undoubtedly, this, if it be
true, is a very extraordinary achievement on the part of
modern mechanicians. But, sir, I venture to think that a

still greater and a far more beneficent achievement is now
open to the skill of that modern diplomacy which your
Excellency so well understands and so worthily adorns,

For modern diplomatists have not now to deal merely
with houses, if though they be Royal houses, but with
those vast and complicated social structures which we call
nations, and which, however deeply and firmly founded
they may be in the past, yet require, by such delicate ma-

nipulation as shall neither loosen their solidity, nor dis-

turb their equilibrium, to be constantly, even if impercep
tibly, moved forwards and upwards towards the future.
Sir, I devoutly trust that American diplomatists, now

cordially co-operating with English diplomatists, will

henceforth help each other to beat this achievement of
your mechanicians by successfully applying a similar
process of perpetual improvement and increasing change
for the better to whatever may be the situation of
the r,,la`ions between those two great Empires which

they respectively represent. Sir, I do, indeed, devoutly

trust that the combined diplomacy of these two groit and

kindred nations may at all times be equally willing—for
then I am sun: it will at all times bo (Tinnily able —to

elevate whatever may Lo low, and eularge whatever may
be narrow, iu the relations between them; to replace ob-

grin:five and gloomy prospects 1•y bright and ope❑ ones,

each situation of momentary unctxtainty by one of satis-
fied security ; aml, thus, to establish the ever rising and

griaten!ug edifice of international sympathy ui on the high

and broad foundation of mutual confidence, sustained by
mutual respect.
A pause succeeded Mr. Lytton's speech when
The American Mini tor, in proposiug the nuxt toast,
said—Among the varied na:ionalities to which now, as iu

the past, the Republic is indebted, standi:the great German
people, who are represented hero to-night by his Excel-
lency the Envoy from Berlin. Of all who come to us,

there aro none who arrive in larger numbers, none who
bring with them a larger share of thrift and common sense,

of useful education and sound principle than his German

countrymen. There arc Lone who receive a more cordial
welcome, none who, while affectionately remembering

their Fatherland, exhibit a warmer attachment or a more
enlightened loyalty to the land of their adoption. I beg to
give...you the health of " His Majesty, the King of Prussia,
President of the North German Confederation."
Ilis Excellency the Baron SCIIWEINITZ responded as
follows beg to thank you for the kind and eloquent
words with which you have introduced the health of my
most gracious Scvcreign, the founder and ruler of the
Noah German Confederation, which from the beginning
has enjoyed the sympathy Of the United States. I thank
you also for the good testimony you have borne to my
countrymen living amongst you. I need not speak of the
feelings of the North Germans concerning America. They
are known to her through the medium of the distinguished
learned men whom sho sends to us as her rei resentatives
over the sea; still I must say that these men, however
Influential by their merits, aro few in number, and we send
year after year thousands and thousands of strong arms,
intelligent, enterprising heads over the ocean, and our
best wishes accompany them. Without envy we boast in
their success, we aro well aware of our loss, but wo re-
joice in their welfare. Only one condition we ask, that
they keep us in their affections, and that they win us yours,
,vliich we value highly, far more highly than I am able
to tell you.

The American Minister thanked Baron Schweiuitz, and
said : Thu American Republic rejoices to-day that her
civil war resu3ted in the emancipation of four millions of
slaves. But before Lincoln signed his immortal Procla-
mation, on the ground of military necessity, the autocrat
of the youngest nation of Europe had inaugurated in time
of peacs a policy of wisdom and right which emancipated
more than twenty millions of serfs. That great act of
justice, elevating, as in America, not simply the low or but
the higher class, was a grand step in the path of progress,
and conferred upon Russia and her Sovereign a moral
dignity which has won for them the admiration of Chris-
tendom. 1 give you the health of " His Imperial Majesty
the Emperor Alexander."

Mr. VASILTSCIIIKOFF, of the Russian Embassy, responded
as follows--Upon this day, memorable in your history,
you have been pleased, Mr. Minister, to call up the recol-
lection of the noble act of generosity conferred upon my
own country by her sovereign. I consider myself fortunate
in being enabled to express my thanks, and I cannot do so
more satisfactorily than when assuring you of the existence
of those sentiments of sympathetic feeling reciprocally
entertained, which wero interchanged at the time of the
visit of your countrymen in Russia, and also when the
Imperial flag was floating in the American waters.
The American Minister, after acknowledging the assur-
ance of Russian cordiality, said—Americans are not for-
getful of the golden threads that interweave their early
history with the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. They

recognize the fact, that to Spain belongs the glory in the
famous words of Canning of " Having called a now world
into existence to redress the balance cf the old." We are
honoured to-night by the presence of his Excellency the
Minister of Spain, and I give you "Prosperity and happi-
ness to the Spanish nation."
His Excellency CIPRIANO DEL MAZO, the Envoy from
Spain, responded in French to this effect :—I thank you
infinitely, Mr. Minister, for the kind words which you
have spoken, and permit tne, in the name of the Spanish
Government, which I have the honour to represent, tc

propose a toast " to the g!orious memory of George Wash-
ington, one of the ino6t illustrious founders of the great

Republic °tithe United States of America, which we com-

menunate to-day. To the great genius who, after having
given independence to his country, had the virtue toretire to
private life as a simple citizen. To the model people of free
countries, who have known how to harmonize the most
extended liberty with the profoundest regard for law. To
their wog thy President, the brave warrior and loyal magis-
trate, General Grant, who knows how to maintain so well
the treaties of reciprocal friendship, which aro based upon
right and justic:). To his honourable representative, our
worthy colleague, Mr. Jay, and to his amiable family."
The American Minister, recognising the frank tribute
and friendly courtesy of his Spanish colleague, rem' ked
that they werer honoured by the presence of ono -who had
lately represented the Imperial Royal Court near the Go-
vernment at Washington, and he begged to call upon his
Excellency the Count Wydenbruck.

Count WYDENBRUCK said—The festival, in commemo-
ration of the illustrious founder of the American Republic,
which unites us to-day, is essentially a family festival of the
American nation. In kindly inviting me to join in its
celebration, his Excellency the American Minister has done
justice to the feelings of sympathy which I entertain to-
wards Lis country. These
,feelings are the fruits of seve-
ral years res:dence in America. In fact during the time I
had the honour to represent Austria as Minister in
the United States, I learned in daily intercourse to ap-
preciate the many sterling qualities which distinguish
the American citizen, and which have raised the na-
tion, in comparatively so few years, to the high posi-
tion it now holds in the world. Moreover, it has
been my lot to live among the Americans in times
of [Adversity and in times of prosperity. In the bad days
of their civil war I have admired the immense resources,
the constancy, and the energy displayed to maintain the
integrity of Washington's creation. On the return of
peace I have admired the alacrity with which the vast
armies were disbanded and the burdens of war lightened
for the benefit of the people ; and last, but not least, the
generous forbearance shown by the victors to the van-
quished. The only thing I should be tenipted to reproach
to AinerTca, should I not fear that the reproach could le
t urued against ourselves, is the strong attraction it exercises
upon so vast numbers of my countrymen, whose energies
are thus lost for their native country; nevertheless, be it
as it may, this very circumstance gives us a stronger and
nearer interest in the prosperity of America.
On the conclusion of Count Wydenbruck's generous re

marks the company rose and the festival ended. The
speeches were in English, excepting those of the repre-
sentatives of Russia and Spain, and the report of each has
been approved by the Speaker.

LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET.--(THIS DAV)

Sales probably 8,000 or 10,000 bales. The market
dull.

The latest telegram came from Washington on
Thursday, and is as follows :—The majority of the Con-
gressioaal Investigating Committee have issued a report
exonerating President Grant from all charges of compli-
city in the gold speculation of last September.

Alaska looks very pretty on paper, but Uncle
Sam finds that purchase from the Muscovite rather an in-
cumbrance. His trouble is to know what to do with it,
as he never had such a piece of land before. Away from
his own soil he can reach it only by sea. It is not a co-
lony, for no one will settle there ; and because there are
no inhabitants, it cannot except at great expense be ele-
vated to the digcity of a Territory. The number of votes,
exclusive of military, is about 125, of which Sitka would
furnish 50 ; and to get up a Territorial Government for so
few, with the prospect of decreasing instead of increasing,
will make Uncle Sam's fist experiment in governing de-

Cached bits of soil the most extraordinarily expensive ever
known. Major George P. Ihrie has travelled to Wash-
ington, claiming to be the delegate elect from the Terri-
tory of Alaska, and his mileage will amount to more than
all the revenue of the Territory put together. The Pre-
sident has issued an order prohibiting the importation of
ardent spirits, guns, and ammunition into Uncle Sam's
" bear-garden" (in sober earnest, we propose this name
for the Territory), but if the order is strictly enforced, it
will deprive soldiers of their grog as well as of their
powder. Mr. Seward's imagination has always been far
in advance of facts; but he never made this more apparent
than in the glowing pictures of Alaska, by which he
charmed and beguiled poor Uncle Sam.

The Hon. D. S. Bennett, the member of Con-
gress from Buffalo, has written to the papers to ask the
public to await his reply to the recent malignant attack of
the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. Ho asserts that the
paper was sent from the office with the libellous passages
marked, to the ['resident, the members of the Cabinet,
and prominent Congressmen that ho has instituted pro-
ceedings against the proprietors of the journal, and that
Messrs. Noah Davis and B. F. Butler have volunteered
their services. There never was a jolly row" wherein
the latter had any chance even of inserting his finger of
which opportunity he did not eagerly avail himself. Mr
Bennett goes on to remark that the last is the crowning
outrage of a long series from the Commercial Advertiser
to which he has been subjected. He denies every
charge, declares his intention of bringing the case to trial
as quickly as the law will admit, and lays the damages at
$lOO,OOO. From his place in Congress Mr. Bennett has
also made an explanation to the same effect as given
above. The Commercial Advertiser, however, appears
to be nothing daunted, the publishers asserting that they
aro prepared to prove all the charges they have advanced;
indeed, if they are not, it will be difficult to decide whe-
ther their folly exceeds their malignity, for they must in
that case be mulcted in heavy damages, destroy the cha-
racter of the newspaper, and cast a stigma on journalism.
The case will be watched with interest, as on the one
side involving the charactor of a member of Congress, and
on the other cf a journal of standing.

Io opening the Legislative Council of British
Columbia, on the 16th February, the Governor by com-
mission, for he was too ill to attend in person, stated the
terms a! p:oved by th Imperial Government for the Con-

nation of tho Province with Canada. Canada assumes

the ommercial dobt of British Columbia. T I,e population
is rated at 120,000. The debt is less than that of any other
Province. The Dominion grants yearly $33,000 and GOc.
for each inhabitant over the rated population, the same to
be continued until the population reaches 400,000, at
which rate the subsidy remains.

I ADVERTISEMENT. I—Holloway's Ointment and Pills.—
Disorders—Will prevail more or less at the change of seasons.
All aches and pains in the nerves, muscles, and bones, which
often compel the man of business to neglect his usual avo=tions,
may be speedily subdued by this powerful ointment. It should
he well rubbed into the parts affected. The action of the oint-
ment is expedited by previous fomentation with warm water.
rue ointment is then as easily, made to pass into the human
frame, as salt is made to pass into moat. And none need appre-
hend any injurious after effects from it, for its cures are worked
withlat the aid of a particle of mercury, or any other noxious
substance.