The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-16 00:00:00

JUDICIAL REFORM IN EGYPT.

The question of judicial reform is attracting a
good deal of attention in Egypt. Our Western re-
formers have no easy task of it, but over in
the East the obstacles in the way of pro-
gress are well-nigh insuperable. The In-
ternational Commission for putting into a new,
clear, and definite form the whole complex and
variable system of consular courts in Egypt com-
pleted its work twb months since. NubarPasha set off
for Constantinople ?with the report, hoping to induce
the Porte to look favourably on the scheme. At first it
was well received, then doubts arose, finally it was
submitted to the Ministerial Council and rejected
unhesitatingly. No doubt the present unpopularity
of the Khedive may have influenced the
Turkish authorities, while Nubar PaPha himself, an
Armenian and a clear-sighted reformer, is no
great favourite among the effete denizens of the
Ottoman capital. As the Commission was an interna-
tional one, however, and the matter closely concerned
Europeans as well as Egyptians, having special
reference to the frequent suits between traders
of the two countries, the Turks could not
afford to shew their dislike to the whole
scheme openly. Negotiations have accordingly
been opened, but it is very doubtful how they
terminate. It is impossible foranyoneexiteovidnegneyeNihees
necessity of a radical change, since the
are so numerous and contradictory that no one knows
exactly how the law stands. The Commission pro-
poses to establish a uniform law, competent
tribunals
with a proportion of European judges, indepen-
dent courts, with sentences enforced by the officials,
not by the Government, and similar reforms. •

MONSTER CONCERTS IN CALIFORNIA.
San Francisco has not generally been considered
a city very favourable to the cultivation of the fine
.arts in fact, it has been strongly suspected that
visiting cards were supersaded by bullets in its social
in▪ tercourse. It is therefore a little surprising to find its
citizens enjoying a monster concert after the European
model exceptin, as to the duration and extent, which
were -characteristically gigantic. The festival lasted
five days. Thera were 1,200 adult vocalists, 2,000
j▪
uniors, and 400 instrumentalists. It was held for the
bew4t _of another civilised institution.. the

I San Francisco Mercantile Library, whose
fortunes have lagged • somewhat behind its
merits; and the success was fortunately indisput-
able. There were a good many musical chefs-
, crtruvres in the programme, but the great event
which " brought down th 3 house " was the
Anvil Chorus. Even English Easter Monday
theatre goers might bo a little startled at the pro-
spect of its performance. Twelve hundred in the
choir, three hundred in the orchestra, one hundred
firemen leating fifty anvils, and last, not least, a tele-
graph operator, who "played the cannon," placed out-
side the building, by means of an electric apparatus.
The wild enthusiasm of the audience at the conclu-
sion of this magnificent concerted music was, we are
told, something to be remembered. It is gratify-
ing to ];now that the Californians, if deafened,
were delighted, and the first great musical festival
ever -held on these coasts of the Pacific was brilliantly
successful.