The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-25 00:00:00

LOIVDUN, PRIDAY, MARCH 25, 1870.

Lord GRANVILLE cannot be congratulated upon
his success as a Colonial Minister, for he has made a
succession of blunders, and given us good cause to
fear that he has seriously compromised our position
with the colonies. The subject has engaged the
attention of the press, and awakened the interest of
the public for months past, but no satisfactory solu-
tion has been come to. Perhaps no severer censure
has been passed than that which is contained in the
reply of the New Zealand Ministry to Lord GRAN-
VILLE'S famous despatch respecting the removal of the
18th Regiment, the only regiment left in the colony.
The memorandum is dated the 7th of January, 1870,
and expresses the regret of the New Zealand Govern-
ment at the decision which the Colonial Secretary
had come to. It then states that the best reply to
the argument that the presence of one regiment in
New Zealand would implicate the Imperial Govern-
ment in the war, is, that during the three years the
war has lasted not one soldier of the Imperial Go-
vernment has been called on to fire a shot or to leave
his garrison. The presence of the regiment has been
a moral support to the colony during the contest,
and its removal would have aggravated the evils of
insurrection. A. very forcible argument is that
which calls attention to the fact that Lord
GRANVILLE will not see the difference which
exists between the despatch 'of an Imperial
regiment to the aid of a colony which contains no
Imperial troops, and the removal of the only remain-
ing one from a colony that is struggling with a rebel-
lion. The effect of such an act is well calculated to
intensify the insurrection, and to enfeeble those who
are combating it. Lord GRANVILLE'S hurtful tone
to the colony is properly commented on, and great
indignation is felt at his unwillingness to aid the New
Zealanders, by supplying them even with "the prestige
of British troops." It is next very truly pointed out
that the Imperial Government have some obligations
towards the natural and adopted subjects of her
MAJESTY, and that it cannot absolve itself from
these obligations. There is nowhere a Wronger feeling
of loyalty than in New Zealand, and Ministers feel
assured that throughout the colony there will arise a
universal feeling of regret that the tone and purport
of Earl GRANVILLE'S despatch (written at a time
when he must have known the colony to be in the
greatestdistress) are scarcely susceptible of any other
explanation than a desire to abandon this country,
and to sever its connection wilt the empire." Finally,
the memorandum asks for au impartial and search-
ing inquiry into the whole question, and requests
that Commissioners may be appointed, one selected
by the Imperial and one by the Colonial Govern-
ment, in order to ascertain the true state of affairs,
and the due share of responsibility devolving on
all concerned. The Ministers have ample reason to
be satisfied with the temperate tone and fair spirit in
which they have drawn up this memorandum, and
they are fully justified in entertaining the hope
they express, that they have not been betrayed into
any unbecoming language by the strength of their
natural feelings on the subject so dear to them :
" They claim that the colony should be practically re-
cognised as an integral portion of the empire, and not
be thrust out beyond its pale as of infinitely less con-
sideration than a British subject in foreign lands.
They ask England for no pecuniary sacrifice, they do '
not appeal to her compassion, but they do appeal to
those eternal principles of justice which are as much
the duty of the strong as they are the heritage of the
weak, and which even the most powerful nation should
never withhold from the feeblest suppliant." It is
difficult to say bow and in what manner this memo-
randum could be improved on, for it is worthy of its
important subject and interesting history, and forms
at once a vindication of native spirit and a
protest against the unfair and unsuitable treatment
the colony has received at the hands of those who
should have been its protectors and its friends. It is
a mistaken course upon which Lord GRANVILLE has
entered, and one that will bring discredit on himself,
and call disfavour upon his colleagues. More than
this, it threatens to injure the interests of the coun-
try, and to militate against the time-honoured policy
that has been approved and sanctioned by mighty
statesmen in successive Parliaments. It bas been
truly said, that the " Chart of our colonies is a chart
of the world in outline, for we sweep round
the globe and touch every shore." Lord GRAN-
VILLE would change all this, or, what comes
to the same thing, he persists in a policy
that must lead to the sad result. Before it is
too late, let the Legislature look to it, and not
allow the dismemberment of our Colonial Empire to
rank as another of the precious blunders that our
Governments from time to time have perpetrated.
As regards England and her colonies a less on neither
side can be gain to the other ; but no inconvenience
that is experienced from the withdrawal of material
advantages can be compared to the compromise of
our national character, which will assuredly be
brought about by the utterance of such pretests as
this we have referred to, and which are alike con-
fusing and confounding.

Seldom rerhaps has the public mind been more
painfully impress:d with a sense of the perils of the
seas. We have often had to record melancholy catas-
trophes and wholesale loss of life, either on our own
weather-beaten coasts or on the broad ocean high-
ways, which so many of our vessels are constantly

traversing. The wreck of the Royal Charter, the
loss of the London, filled for the time being the
minds of Englishmen, to the exclusion of every other
subject. Nevertheless, there are several other con-
siderations which render the fate of the two vessels,
whose names are now the constant theme of conver-
sation, exceptionally impressive. The loss of the
Oneida is so painful a story that we may reasonably
hope not to have its parallel in the annals of English
shipping for many a long year. Over the fate of
the City of Boston there hings a thick cloud, which
we must still hope a few more days will
cheerfully dispel, but the hope grows fainter and
fainter.

The time is therefore oppportune for the publica-
tion of the annual report of that enterprising associa-
tion which does so much to mitigate the danger and
distress of shipwreck. The singular fluctuations of
the weather during the past twelve months have
given Englishmen plenty of opportunity to enlarge
upon their favourite topic, and we have it now on
the authority of the Lifeboat Institution that the
season has been " one of the stormiest that has ever
tested the value of Britain's lifeboats, and tried the
mettle of her lifeboat men." As usual both boats
and men have fully responded to the call, and the
public have cheerfully seconded their efforts, so that
in spite of the heavy expenses to which the associa-
tion has been subject it has been able voluntarily to
relinquish the annual subsidy which for fifteen years
it had received from the Mercantile Marine Fund.
Finding that the public support they received was
quite sufficient to maintain their fleet and meet all
requirements, the Committee felt it a public duty to
decline further assistance from funds raised by tax-
ation. They have not however by any means slackened
their exertions, and since the last report twenty-one
new lifeboats have been constructed. Eighteen of
these were to be placed on new stations on the coasts
of the United Kingdom, and two are to take the place
of decayed boats. The institu ion has now 220 life-
boats on the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, and
the Channel Islands. During the past year alone
those two hundred and twenty boats have been the
means of saving eight hundred and seventy one
persons from drowning. This by no means includes
the whole of the public service rendered by the
association, for in one way or another it has contri-
buted during the twelvemonth to the saving o f
1,231 live,. The storms of the year were unusually
violent, but the num' er of lives saved happily
makes the year 1869 a memorable one in the history
of the institution for the long list of its successes, as
as well as for the number of maritime, disasters. It
is very gratifying to know that, although many of
these heroic services were carried out is face of
most imminent peril, not one man of the
crews who manned the lifeboats was lost.
That this was due to no want of courage
is proved by the fact, often recorded, that the more
desperate the case demanding succour, the more
eager and numerous are the volunteers. Al hough se-
condary :in importance to the pres.Awat:on of life,
the saving of- property effected by means of the in-
stitution is by no means ins'gnificant. Thirty-three
ships have been saved from wreck in 1869, and it
will be readily acknowledged that this of itself con-
stitutes a valuable public service.
A paragraph in this report deserves especial no-
ice. The Committee observe, that " looking to the
circutns`ances under which a large numbcr of vessels
are lost— such as by col sion with each other, by
foundering at a distance from the laud, by being
driven ashore amidst unapproachable rocks, and by
grounding on out-lying banks or on parts of the
coast far from any lifeboat station, and frequently in
the dark hours of the night—they„ is no room f„r
hope that any winter will pass wit'iout th 3 loss of
many lives on and around our shores. Nevertheless,
there can be but little doubt that the present average
number may be much further diminished by more
stringest measures being adopted to prevent the sail-
ing of unseaworthy, ill-found, and half-manned ships
and by other preventive measures." This session
ought not to pass over without an effort to put a stop
to the unnecessary waste of life and property now
going on, especially among vessels of the carrying
trade. The Wreck Register of every year tells the
same story, and the row of ominous black dots
marking the eastern coast represents a host of vessel;
which should never have been sent to sea unless they
were intended to founder with all on board. The
committee direct especial attention to the extension
of the Rocket apparatus on the coasts by the Board
of Trade. This system is invaluable in pl ices where
rocks and other impediments hinder the exit of the
lifeboat, and unfortunately shipwrecks do not always
accommodate themselves to circumstances.
The number of lived save by the institution from
its establishment in 1824 to the end of 1869 has now
reached the enormous aggregate of 19,080, at a cost
of '£240,000 for lifeboats and establishments, and of
£32,000 for pecuniary rewards, besides 90 gold
and 814 silver medals. We cannot doubt that an
Institution which is able to give so good an account
of its proceedings will continue to gain ground in
public favour, and that the Committee will find
their anticipation of a steady revenue, independent
of all taxation, will be more than justified by the
events.

A telegram dated the 22d inst., received yesterday
from Madras, mentions the arrival there that evening of his
Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, by rail from Bey-
pore, after a fine run across the peninsula, in twelve hours
and a half. _ _ _ _

The Right Hon. the Speaker will hold a levee
on Saturday evening, April 2, at ten o'clock p.m. Full
dress.
Lieutenant-General Thomas Bowes Forster,
brother of Lieutenant-General W. F. Forster, K. H., Mili-
tary Secretary to His Royal Highness the Field Marshal
Commanding-in-Chief, died on Monday last. Ho obtained
his first commission in the Madras Infantry in 1818, and
became lieutenant-general in July, 1867.
At the Tuileries the other day the Emperor re-
ceived a number of the old soldiers of the First Empire,
the Prince Imperial and the Empress being present.
W hen the question was asked whether any were present
who had been at the battle of Marengo, which was
fought in 1800, two of the veterans replied in the affir-
mative.

The Alexandra Theatre at Glasgow was burnt
down at one o'clock this morning. It was a brick and wooden
structure, and was destroyed in an hour. The London .Dra-
matic Company was playing at the time. The damage is
estimated at £2,000.
MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE.—We are informed that
in conesquenco of an epidemic of scarlatina having assumed
at this sehool an unusually serious character, a suggestion
was made by the authorities of the school to parents of all
pupils on Tuesday last thr.t boys who had not already had
the disorder should be recalled A large proportion of the
school have consequently returned home.
NEW CALEDONlA.—Australian papers state that
gild has been discovered in New Caledonia.
MADAME TASSAUD'S EXIIIBITION.—A portrait
model of the late eminent Count Moutalembert is now on
view at this popular exhibition. The good manlgoinent of
this exhibition always insures even during Vie gloomiest
season of the year its fair share in every sense of the term of
public patronage. New additions are constantly being made,
the celebrities and every nine days' wonder being added with
a celerity which is perfectly surprising.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REU"ER'S TELEGRAMS.)
FRANCE.

PARIS, March 25.

An Imperial decree of yesterday's date appoints
General Lebouf, the Minister of War, a Marshal of

France.
The Constitutionnel believes that the answer of the
Vatican to the recent despatch of Count Daru, con-
cerning the (Ecumenical Council, has reached the
French Foreign Office.
Bo URSE, March 24.—Three o'clock—The market
closed as follows :

q per Cent. -
3 per Cents 74 10
End of month._ 73 97-}
Credit Mobilier 280
Transatlantic 202 50
Credit Foncier _1307 50
Paris Gas 1785
Suez Canal 337 50
RAILWAYI

Orleans

Western

Northern

Bank Shares 2830
Italian gives 56
Austrian Fives
Ottoman Loan
Do. Debt 46 75
Spanish Threes
Home Debt —
Deferred —
's, Cash
1007-}

~ 11771

Strasburg .. Bl3i
Lyons and Mediterranean
Southern..... 6261
Sardinian
Austrian
__ __

Lombard
North of Spain
Saragossa
Roman

5021
70

GREECE.

ATHENS, March 24 (Evening).

The municipal elections have commenced through-
out the country to-day, and great animation prevails
everywhere. 'they will last four days.

AMERICA.
(Per French Atlantic Cable.)
NEW YORK, March 24.
The Cunard steamship China arrived out at 7
a.m. to-day.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
CLOSING PRICES.

Gold closed at 1121 ; the highest quotation during the day
was 1121 ; the lowest, 1121.
Sterling Exchange on London
5-20 U. S. Bonds, 1882
1885

1867

... 108 f

10-40

Illinois
Erie
Cotton—Mid. upland •
Petroleum—Standard White
Flour—Extra State, $4 60c. to $5 20c. Corn—Old
mixed, $1 3c.

THE WEST AFRICAN MAIL.
LIVERPOOL, March 25

The West African mail steamer Benin has arrived
here with 14 passengers, a full cargo, and 100 ounces
gold dust. Trade was dull, and the health good on
the rivers awl along the coast. The state of Bonny
was unaltered. Oil prospects at Benin, Bras=, Old
Calabar, and Cameroons were good. Owing to dis-
turbances at Lagos cotton from the interior could
not reach the coast. The raids of the Ashantees
continued at Cape Coast Castle. The Liberian
Republic was engaged in a petty warfare.

PORTSMOUTH, March 25.

The Ind'an relief troopship Serapis, Captain
Soady, anired here this morning, from Alexandria
and Malta, with troops.

LITERATURE.

St. Bede s. By Mrs. Eiloart. Three Vols. Hurst

and Blackett.

Mrs. Eiloart is making rapid progress as a novel
writer, each successive work is au improvement upon
the last, and bears ample evidence of the develop.
ment of the writer's powers, and her increased faci-
lity in the construction of a plot and the narration
of a story. A few years ago "Johnny Jordan" and
other youthful heroes were the delight of school-
room and playground, and having won unstinted
praise from juvenile readers, a very sure test
of a writer's abilitie', Mrs. Eiloart adventured
upon a more ambitious task. One of her first novels,
"Meg," exhibited great power in the opening chap-
ters, and the character of Meg herself was very
striking, but the tale was not a pleasing one. " The
Curate's Discipline" was an improvement in the tone
and theme of the story, I.nd "Madame Silva's
Secret," published last year, was more interesting
than its predecessor. We are glad now to be able
to congratulate Mrs. Eiloart upon her new work,
which is in many respects the best thing we have seen
from her pen. She must excuse us for objecting to
a good deal of very unnecessary description and
common-place talk which fills up a great part of the
first volume. Little Kitty, the heroine, is very
charming, and it is no wonder that every one con-
spires to pet and to spoil her. It is very natural
also that the fair little damsel should be delighted at
the prospect of making her debut at the county ball,
but it is not at all neceesary that the reader should
l'sten to page after page of chatter and
consultation about dress, and bouquet, and other
et ceteras, all important no doubt in their.
place, but decidedly out of place in their introduc-
tion here. Such trifles, however, are soon dismissed
from poor Kitty's thoughts. More eventful and
more anxious times follow, and we must accord to
the author due praise for the very effective manner
in which the after trials are depicted. The second
volume opens very charmingly, "In Fairyland."
Kitty Itidsdale gild Norman Launceston are wander-
ing hand in hand. "It was the golden day of
Norman's life and hers ; everything was couleur
d'or ; the light that never was on laud or sea
beaming round them for these few hours, stolen, as
it were, from the days of Heaven." A startling
changeis, however, close at hand. The chapter,
I tell her ?" is powerfully written, and
How
can
the situation is well imagined. Gervase Launceston,
as he summons courage to reveal to his unfortunate
kinsman the doom that overshadows them both, and
Norman himself, overwhelmed with the unexpecte I
affliction, are both admirably depicted, and the
cry that breaks from Norman's heart, "•How can I
tell her?" finds a ready echo in the reader's
sympathy. We shall not in any way betray
the mystery of the plot ; we will only admit that the
end is a thorough surprise, which is more than a e
can say for the majority of such stories. ' We think
Mrs. Eiloart has finished off her story vm2what
abruptly. We could have lingered a little longer
over the latter detags, hut, as S..in Weller observes,
with regard to his Valentine, to make a reader w sh
for more is, ; fter all, the gr..at art of writing !

ROYAL MUSIC HALL.—We have noticed au an-
nouncement of the bane6t of Mr. Charles Eaten:la; stage
manager of the above hall, and Mr. W. West, the original
stump orator. The bill includes the names of some first-rate
artistes, who are positively announced to appear. Mr. West
is a world-renowned favourite with the habitues of the above
hall and the professionals generally. We trust their ex-
pectations on Wednesday evening next will be fully
realised.