The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-25 00:00:00

THE GREEK BRIGANDS AND THEIR CAPTIVES.

The statement that the British Minister at Athens
has offered to convey the Greek brigands with the
ransom out of Greece has not unnaturally been
greeted with unlimited astonishment in England.
The Echo, however, thinks such a proceeding capable
of explanation. It is supposed that the brigands
have their victims at a house on the shores of
the Negropont Channel, that they are surrounded
by troops, whose attack, it may be, they keep off
by threatening to murder the prisoners if
their terms of ransom and pardon are not acceded.
to. It is on the one hand awkward for a Govern-
ment, even a Greek Government, to grant a pardon
for the forcible detention of diplomatic agents ;
and on the other hand, of what good is the ransom
without the pardon, while the troops surround the
robbers ? A precedent may even be found. It is
very 0
band of brig-an& withl T regard to the
Arthur
Hervey in the Morea about three years ago, that they
were conveyed free of charge and let loose upon the
Cretan shore, with the Englishman's sovereigns
rattling in their pockets.

TIIE WAR IN PARAGUAY.
The Times, through a " well informed correspon-
dent," sets everything right with respect to the late
war in South America. It is altogether erroneous
to suppose that the Argentines had withdrawn
their army from the alliance before the
war actually ended. All the parties to
the league kept their obligations for five years
with remarkable fidelity. It has been said.
that Brazil aims at absorbing Paraguay. This, too,
is a libel. Brazil has now more territory than she
can well dispose of, and the occupation of Paraguay
would lead to a war with the Argentine Republic—
an enterprise even more costly and hazardous than
the struggle with Lopez.

The telegraph wires have much to answer for;
observe that a contemporary at a distances in reporting
the banquet to the Bishop of Exeter at Tiverton, says
That the right rev, prelate was entertained at dinner by.
" Old Blundell ! "—Western Morning News.
AN AMERCAN BlSHOP.—Bishop Wood has re-
turned to Philadelphia from attending the (Ecumenical
Council, The Roman Catholic Cathedral Wila crowded ;
to overflowing on the occasion of his appearance there.
He assured the clergy that it gave him much pleasure to
return among his own people. He said that he coßtd not
disclose anything that had transpired in the Council, but
he could assure them that there was perfect unanimity
4
among the Fathers there assembled, and free discussion.'
on all topics brought before them for deliberation.

GOLD MINING IN AUSTRALIA.—Reports from the
colony of Victoria state that a nugget weigh' nearly,
117 ozs. was found in the Pitfield Plains, near Sin_ythes-
dale, and at Berlin two nuggets were go in one day 133 r
Chinamen and a party of Englishmen. Payable gold haw
been found in the Central Mine Malmsbury, at s depthof 230 feet from the surface, or 270 feet from the level ofl
the plain. The average gold per load at the Central ite,
nearly 1 oz. Mines at Ballarat are paying expenses with
a yield of 1 dwt. 9 gr., or about 1-14th of this yield. Some
of the alluvial claims on the Crooked River are yi- • . : I
splendidly. Recent gold discoveries in Sout4_,Aus ~i a.
have attracted attention. In New South wales . •
absence of returns in the number of miners on the vario '
goldfields renders it necessary to calculate by the auioun
paid into the Treasury on account of miners' rights, an
this gives the number for 1869 as 12,000.

,
THE GORDIAN KNOT.—The following droll story,
is told of a faspionable clergyman : "us wpA Ifingre
man, and fell in love with half the unmarried feinales-or
his congregation, promising marriage in a raiseellaneoSN'
and impartial manner. At length the atmosphere becaie
rather perturbed, and he resolved on a eou,n de main. He
went to the seaside on a Monday, and on Thursday theral
appeared the announcement of his death. Blinds'
were drawn down, and the elders met to strengthen each
other's hands under the bereavement. But atonic them
was an " unbelieving Thomas," who had a shrewd notioul
that the death was moonshine. They went to the offlcej
of the Times, where they found that the advertisement of
the death was in deceased's handwriting. Then one cot!
them went to the seaside' and found that the bird 11041.
flown to France ; but that, instead of dying, he had beeni
married on the Thursday, to one of the many ladiel to
whom he had pledged his heart and hand,and the remain•
ing fair half of the congregation are still to be wooed and
won.

SHARP TEST OF INFALLIBILITY.—ThO Levant
Herald says :—The feud between the Hassohnists and,,
anti-Hassounists has at length culminated in bloodshed.
the 9th inst. a couple of partisans of the two factions met
on a Pera café, and of course soon warmed into wordy quartet
over the ecclesiastical bone of contention which has set the
Armeno-Catholics by the ears. From mutual anathemas'
the disputants soon came to blows—or, rather, to the wild
play of arms which amongst EasternsrepresentAhe boXp"
—when the champion of " national rights," finding him-
self getting the worst of it, drew a knife and stabbed,
the defender of Hassoun and Infallibility. The wounded
man was conveyed to a neighbouring pharmacy, but died,
in the doctor's hands. His slayer managed to escape at
the time, but was found by the police, hid i his oft. j
bouse, some liourß gterwarils, and slow owwf4tg ip 04161

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