The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-24 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN COSSIP—Jan. 22.

The movements of the Prince of Wales during the
present week have given rise to no little speculation. He
WAS, as your readers are aware, to have visited Berkeley
Castle. His servants went before him, a large con-
course of persons assembled at the station to witness his
arrival, and there were great preparations in his honour
at the Castle. Everyone was " sold," the Prince
did not arrive, did not even take the trouble
to telegraph that he was not coming. It was
then given out that his Royal Highness had such
a severe cold that he could not undertake the journey.
The cold was not bad enough to prevent the patient from
going out to dinner on Thursday night, bitterly severe
though the weather was. His Royal Highness is now suf-
ficiently recovered to travel, but instead of going to the
West he goes to the East ; instead of taking his journey to
Gloucestershire he goes to Norfolk ; and it is now stated
that his visit to Berkeley is abandoned. Tne truth is that
it ought never to have been projected. All the world
knows, if the Prince does not, that when the present Lord
Fitzhardinge came into his earldom in 1867 he was so
terribly embarrassed that a largo portion of his income
had to be I aid to his creditors. Two years is too short a
time for a peer, situated as Lord Fitzhardinge was, to
r3cover himself, and the Prince, if he had had any con-
sideration would not have imposed upon him the expense
of entertaining royalty. It is believed that the Queen in-
terposed, and that this may have been one of the sources
of t, worry " which the Lancet has just been announcing as
the cause of her indisposition.

Last night I had the opportunity of gazing upon One of
the most distiguished assemblages which even this capital
could collect. The place was the Royal Institution,the occa-
sion a lecture by Professor Tyndall on " Haze and Dust."
The company included not only the most celebrated
savants of the day, but statesmen, poets, artists, men of letters,
theologians. For ,}stance, next to the Chairman, Sir
Henry Holland (who it will be remembered married the
daughter of Sydney Smith) were the leader of the House
of Commons and the leader of the House of Lords ; Mr.
Gladstone, I grieve to say, looking very worn and haggard,
and even Lord Granville without his usual jovial expres-
sion. In other parts of the lecture-room were Dean Stanley
in Court dress, and Lady Augusta Stanley; Dr. Bence
Jones, the biographer of Faraday ; Sir E. Sabine, President
of the Royal Saciety; Professor Stokes, late President, and
Professor Huxley, present President of the British Asso-
ciation; Dr. Gladstone, the eminent chemist, and defeated
Liberal candidate at York ; Teighton, the Royal Acade-
mician; Browning, the poet; Moncure Conway, the
American author; Mr. Charles Buxton, ➢I.P., and a crowd,
of other celebrities. The lecture was most interesting,
and the experiments perfect. Professor Tyndall, who
seems to have made Faraday his model, proved
that with a light sufficiently strong (he used
the electric light) the air we breathed was thick with
dust. He found by experiment that this dust was organic
and could be destroyed by heat,leaving dark stellar spaces
in the shaft of light. He then passed on to the germ
theory of disease, and, paying a high compliment to Sir
Henry Holland and Dr. Budd (of Bristol) for their re-
searches into this matter, said he had no doubt that such
diseases as scarlet fever, smallpox, and the like, were taken
into the lungs in the form cf a germ. which rapidly mul-
tiplied and spread throughout the body. But, as a very
moderate degree of heat Was sufficient to destroy the
germ, a respirator would afford perfect protection,
especially one of ordinary cotton wool. He himself was
so confident on this point that ho would be ready to run
the risk of going, so armed, into the most virulent
atmosphere. Invalids were now sent to the Alps,
but by means of a cotton wool respirator the
high air of the Swiss mountains might be introduced into
the sick ohamber itself. The lecturer was very warmly
applaueed, and then we all went into the library, and
inspected Mr. Vernon Heath's most beautiful photographs
of clouds taken during the great storm of last September.
To-day Professor Seeley is lecturing to ladies at South
Kensington on Roman History.
I am glad to learn from a distinguished American who has
for some time been resident in England that the Free Trade
movement is making good progress in the United States.
My informant says that Protection will not be abandoned
immediately, but in the course of four or five years we
may look for the triumph of a sound commercial policy.
This is all the more important for us because there is no
doubt that in one important particular British trade is
diminishing. The exports fromltaly to Northern Europe
used formerly to pass through London. Now they
are taken direct by rail across the Alps, greatly to the
detriment of London merchants.

The anticipations of Mr. Lowe's budget become higher
every week. The recent parliamentary returns skewing
the excessive costliness of our Customs' establishments are
believed to have prepared the way for a great reform, pre-
liminary to a total abolition of customs altogether.
Sanguine politicians believe that the era of the Free
Breakfast Table is close at hand, and that in four or five
years wo shall have remitted the ten millions which we
now raise from tea, sugar, and the rest.
The Times announces this morning that Captain Douglas
Galton has been appointed to the Directorship of Works
and Public Buildings. The War Office will scarcely know
itself without Captain Galton. For many years he,
though only under secretary, has had enormous influence,
and he is generally supposed to have had Earl de Grey
under his thumb. As great changes are impending at
the War Office, it was important to remove Captain
Galton. His old post will not be filled up.
All the Ministers are now in town, and the whole fif-
teen took part in yesterday's Cabinet Council. Mr.
Chichester Fortescue is credited with holding the advanced
views held also by Mr. Bright with respect to the
Irish land question, and certain Conservative journals are
Announcing rumours of "serious divisions." There never
yet was a January in which the same announcement was
not made. The bill is actually in print, although, of
course, the copies are for private circulation only.
There is great regret among thosewho wish to see purity
of election that Mr. Lovibond's appeal has been granted.
There is no one more mixed up with the discreditable
practices at Bridgwater than this lawyer has been for
many years past, and if he escapes punishment as seems
certain, the chief offender will come out of the ordeal
unhurt when lesser offenders, such as Dr. Kinglake, will
probably have to incur serious penalties.

The Low Church party have had their turn at last ; the
new Bishop of St. Asaph belongs to them (if the
appointment announced in the Church Times, but
denied in the Echo, is true), though like all
Mr. Gladstone's Bishops he is not an extreme man. Arch-
deacon Basil Jones owes his promotion, doubtless, to the
fact that he is an accomplished Welsh scholar. He is a
Welsh country gentleman and magistrate, as well as Arch-
deacon of York. He is under 50 years of age, was educated
at Trinity College, Oxford, obtained the Ireland scholar-
ship (as the new Bishop of Manchester did), took a
second class in classics was a Follow of Queen's
and then of University College. He was moderator three
times, select preacher twice, and senior proctor once. In
1863 he was appointed to the living of Haxby, Yorkshire,
worth £298 a year. Previously to this he was made a
Prebendary of St. David's Cathedral, and subsequently of
York Cathedral. He was for some time examininz-
ehaplain to the Archbishop of York. He has written four
books on Welsh language and architecture, one of them,
On St. David's Cathedral, was written jointly with
Mr. Freeman, historian of the Norman Conquest. He also
published a commentary on the New Testament conjointly
with Archdeacon Churton. Altogether he seems a very
suitable man.

It may interest some of your readers to know that the
author of a recent review in the Times of Dr. Bence Jones's
Lifeof Faraday, is Dr. Percy, the well-known metallurgist,
whose great work on metals is now being published.
Another literary item is that Mr. Samuel Bailey, author
of essays on the Formation and Publication of Opinions,
has just died in his 79th year. Ms. Murray announces
Lord Stanhope's History of the Reign of Queen Anne,
and the correspondence of the late Sir Charles Bell.

'MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

SO LTTIIW ARK.

Sir F. Lycett has anticipated the arbitrators
and retired from Southwark. He had been present
at the inquiry into the relative merits of his own and
Sir Sydney Waterlow's claims, and being satisfied
from the evidence that the position of the latter was
the stronger, he has withdrawn irons the contest.
Sir Sydney is thus left alone to cope with Colonel
Beresford, the Conservative candidate, and Mr.
Odger, the working. man. Owing to the retirement
of Sir F. Lycett,
Odgers chance must be mate-
rially lessened. But he coutinues his campaign with
undiminished zeal. At the :Lc etmg in Ills Favour
one speaker that
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The use that ruts been made of the h
is in no way proportionate to the yig
it was claimed.

TILE lIIISII ATTORNEY-GENERALSIIIP.

The Law Times of that the report of Sir
Colman O'Loghlen becoming the Attorney-Gencyal
for Ireland has roused the iodignation of the entire
Irish bar, no matter of what politics. Sir Colman, it
is complained, never attained any great emirence 111
his position, which he has- practically deserted for
years, and yet ho is to be preferred over the heads of
the first Irish barristers.

VICISSITUDES AMONGST PEZIIS.
The death of Admiral Seymour, heir presumptive
to the Marquisate of Hertford, at the age of
842 leads. Dallx ire 44 —to _Quote eemo

remarkable examples or peers who litiVe --OhJOyea
their titles for long periods, and heirs presumptive
who have lived to very advanced ages without gain-
ing their inheritance. The late Duke of Nor-
thumberland succeeded to the title when he
was 87 years of age. The llon. Henry Cecil
Lowther, late heir presumptive to the earldom
of Lonsdale, died about two years ago, aged 77.
The sixth Earl of Kingston, who died in October
last, enjoyed his honours live weeks, and never took
his seat in the House of Lords. On the other hand,
Earl de la Warr, who died twelve months ago, en-
joyed the title 74 years. The present Duke of
Buccleuch has been in possession of his estates 51
years, the Duke of Leinster 66 years, the Duke of
Abercorn and the Earls of Lindsey and Sandwich,
each 52 years, the Earl of Chichester 44 years, and
the Earl of Onslow 43 years.