The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 6, 1869.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

THE IRISH CHURCH COIIMISSIONERS.

Speculation is at last ended by the announcement
of the three gentlemen whom Mr. Gladstone pro-
poses to make commissioners of the Irish Church.
To the appointment of Viscount Monck, who has
done good service to the State as Governor-General
of Canada, no possible objection can be taken. His
lordship is an Irishman by birth, education,
and title. He is in his 50th year. The
appointment of the Right Hon. J. A. Law-
son is more questionable, simply because it
is intended that he shall continue to be one of the
judges, whereas it may well he doubted if his new
duties will not occupy all his time. Mr. Lawson is
also Irish by birth and education, and was a scholar
and gold medallist at Trinity College, Dublin, and
for five years held the Professorship of Political
Economy in that university. He was called to the
bar in 1840, and made a Queen's Counsel in 1857.
He was appointed law adviser to the Crown in Ire-
land in 1858, Solicitor-General for Ireland in 1801,
and Attorney-General in 1805, and went out with
the Russell-Gladstone Government in 1800. He
sat for Portarlington in the Parliament of 1805-8,
having previously unsuccessfally contested Dublin
University. Ile was not a candidate at the last
election, and last year was appointed a judge of the
Court of Common Pleas. He is 52 years of age.
Mr. George A. Hamilton, who is to be Mr. Lawson's
colleague, was formerly his competitor, having
beaten him in a contest for the representation of
Dublin University in 1857 by 791 votes to 272.
Mr. Hamilton is a grandson of a former
Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland, was born
in 1802, and is therefore 07 years old—rather an
advanced age to undertake his new duties. Ile was
educated at Rugby and Oxford. He unsuccessfully
contested Dublin county in 1820, 1830, and 1832, and
the city of Dublin in 1835, but was seated on
petition, after an inquiry which lasted fourteen
months. He was beaten again for the city in 1837.
He was returned for the University in 1842, on Mr.
Jackson becoming a judge, and continued to repre-
sent that constituency until January 1859. He
was a strong Conservative, and pronounced himself
in favour of " sound scriptural education," the with-
drawal of the Maynooth grant, and " the protection
of the Established Church against spoliation." Thus
the supporters of the present Establishment will have
a friend on the commission. When Lord Derby
first became Premier in 1852 Mr. Hamilton was
appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury. H e
held the same post in Lord Derby's second Adminis-
tration, and in January 1859 was appointed perma-
nent assistant-secretary. He subsequently became
permanent secretary. It will be seen that two
of the commissioners are Liberals and one is a
Conservative.

" THE OWL.°

The feathered symbol of wisdom has little that is
new to tell us this week. Two facts are worth men-
tioning. One is that there will be a recommenda-
tion in the forthcoming report of the Courts Martial
Royal Commission for the abolition in toto of brand-
ing. As we do not brand our civil criminals, there
seems no reason why we should brand military
criminals. If photography is sufficient to apprise us
of a previous conviction in the one case it should be
sufficient in the other.
The second piece of information is that " the
electors of Dumfriesshire are preparing a case for
the consideration of the Select Committee on
Municipal and Parliamentary Elections, presided
over by the Marquis of Hartington ; and the forty-
two parishes in the county are to furnish illustra-
tions of the peculiar description of ducal pressure
under which it has come to pass that Major Walker,
who was himself worsted in December last at the
general election, was enabled last month to defeat
Sir Sydney Waterlow, who on each occasion was his
opponent."

impress this upon the Government. me dome
Secretary said that London was truly charged with
having the worst description of cabs of any capital
in Europe, and that the Government hoped to bring
forward a bill on the subject this session.

execution received the full amount of the fee he
would be entitled to for collecting the judgment,
even though he does not secure a cent. It is calcu-
lated that this would add to his perquisites a quar-
ter-million of dollars, which would enable him to
pay $lOO,OOO for its passage. Its effect will be to
throw the collection of debts into the Bankruptcy
Court. Our Senators are now closely watched to
see who are under the influence of Tammany. A
bill has been passed forbidding the leasing of stalls
in the New York markets to non-residents. By
this means men from New Jersey will he unable to
carry on such business here. From the South the
report is that the sharp cold we have experienced
was severely felt by the cotton plant, which was
just rising above the ground. Though the days are
hot even here, the nights are frosty, and snow is still
in the woods and on the hills. The Sun has been
writing neon Horace Greeley telling why he went to
Washington. Its correspondent asserts that
object was the English mission, but he failed in
bringing the President over, so he we:it to the
Senate and lounged about till he heard the nomi-
nations, when "he indulged in a volume of not
polite abuse of the Administration to every one
that would listen to him, an 3 at sunset was s.!en
making tracks for the railroad depot behind a huge
carget-bag fife 1 with the good advice he ha I in-
tended for Grant." It also asserts that he could
not be relied on for courage to maintain American
rights. His effort, too, to secure for Major-Gene-
ral Walbridge the New York Collectorship, was so
outrageous as to shake the President's faith in the
philesophers's common sense, and though it did not
help Walbridge it helped to settle Greely, adds the
Sun, for Grant did think of sending him to Eng-
land before he saw it; at least so says Mr.
Dana, who has himself got a good appointment.
Mr. Greeley answers that if the President thought
of bestowing the English mission on him, he never
intimated it to any friend or suggested that he
might be nominated for any office. Ile always uu
derstood that Mr. Motley had been decided on, and
the wisdom of that choice had never been con-
tested by him, for he believed it to be a good (tee,
and he has always given it his hearty approval.
Apropos of Mr. Greeley, there is a handsotne por-
trait of him, painted by Mr. F. B. Carpenter, on
exhibition at the National Academy of Design.
considered to be the best yet taken. A prisoner
was brought before one of the New York Courts the
other day charged with being a member of a Vigilance
Committee and spreading inflammatory reports about
crime in the Courts. Notice has been given of the
36th annual meeting for the 11th of May of the
American Anti-Slavery Society. Frederick Doug-
lass will address it, and I hear there will be a groat
demonstration in honour of Etnancipatio-r Day.
An article in the Tribune on the annexation of
Canada, in which, by the way, you were haed-
somely mentioned, has attracted great attention,
and set all our journalists writing on that subject.
The New York Times pooh-poohs the i let, and
asserts that there would be no chance of persuad-
ing the Canadians to accept such a benefit, :dchouh
it is generally believed that their gain would be the
greatest. I find this in one of our papers—" The
Canadian Cattle imported into the United States
during the first three months of 1869, have greatly
exceeded in value those imported during the same
period in 1868. The value for the first three
months of 1869 was $236,252, paying $47,250
duties. The value for the first three months
of 1868 was $131,303, paying $26,260 duties."
The brokers believe they have gained a triumph on
the question of taxing their loans as capital. It
was supposed that Assessor Webster was supported
by the Deputy-Commissioner at Washington, and
he stated that he would press the question into
the Courts for a decision, if the Senate did not take
it out of his hands by " rotating" him out of office
It appears, however, that he has been " rotated"
out, and Mr. Cleveland appointed his successor, at
which the brokers greatly rejoice, considering it a
triumph for themselves.

WASHINGTON, April IG.
It is not surprising that amid the throng and
Babel of office-seekers around the White house,
the Senators, and the Public Departments in
Washington, that mistakes should be made. If
Carl Schurz, a simple Senator, almost before he
had made his first speech, received 7,000 applica-
tions for office when of right he had n) offices to
give and had no business even to recommend, what
must he the number that a Cabinet Minister would
get or the head of some great branch of a Depart-
ment. A. B. Ketchum was nominated Assessor of
Internal Revenue of the Ninth District of New York
by mistake, as be happened to be already nominated
and confirmed by the State. A great number of m-s-
-takes in naming, wrong men have been made. Mr. N.
D. Sperry, a supporter of the late President, who was
expelled from the Republican Executive CornmEttee,
has been made Postmaster at New Haven, but
several Johnson men have been appointed, a few of
them being nominations that had stood over fr,m
last session. The people also make mistakes. They
reported a nominee to a post to be black, but he
turned out on inquiry to be the President's cousin,
as usual the spiteful say, for it is one of the
charges • brought against. General Grant that
he quartering the clan on Uncle Sam. Negroes
nowadays are coming in for their share of
good things. Some have been set to work in the
mechanics' department of the navy-yard for the
first time. Mr. J. R. Clay, an African, was one of
the few men who declined a❑ appointment ; he was
nominated Minister to Liberia, but he had evidently
no wish to return to Africa. Justices Nelson and

Grier will, it is thought, retire, under the provisions
of the new Act, which enables those who have
attained the age of 70, after a service at their post
of not less than ten years to do so, retaining their
Pay. Sonic suppose that Attorney-General Hoar
wilt. get the additional judgeship of the Supreme
Ciurt created by the law. The President, however,
desires to retain him, and he desires to remain ill
the Cabinet. Mr. Fisher does not take over the
P,At?nt Office, to which he has been nominated
Commissioner, for the present, as he is about to
leave for Cincinnati to prepare for his residence in
this city, and Judge Foote will remain in charge
till he is ready. Mr. Richardson, the Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury, is getting :id of the
women clerks by the score. He has already signed
100 discharges, and another 100 permanent vacan-
cies will be created in a few days. Speaker Blaine
stole away by a back door from home yesterday,
and left an eager crowd of office-seekers waiting for
the opportunity of button-holeing him at the front
door. Mr. Van Aernam,the Commissioner of Pensions,
is to take over his office from Governor Cox on the

Ist May. Senator Sumner's great speech on the
Alabama Convention is generally accepted as a fair
statement of the subject, as seen from the American
side. It is not, perhaps, as tersely and lucidly
arguel as was expected, and presents weak points
through which holes will be driven on your side.
The " little" bill is, however, growing, and shows
a marvellous tendency to increase. American ideas
have always been noted for expansion, and the
people are pre-disposed to take broad views on this
subject, more especially on the " naughts" to follow
the first figure representing the damage. Senator
lloward spoke against the San Juan Boundary
Treaty for an hour, but no vote has been
reached, nor in the case either of the Darien Canal
treaty.

At the National Academy of Science,

the Honourable Samuel B. Ruggles stated, on
invitation, the progress in Europe of monetary uni-
fication. It commenced iu 1863 at the Berlin Satis-
tical Congres4, and it has progressed with such s4ccess
as to include ten European nationq, containing
130,000,000 inhabitants, to which Germany wont,'
soon add another 33,0A090 and Ruisi t 68,000,000,
Ire considered the plan of the Paris Conference to
be sufficiently metrical for all practical purposes,
and that any new scheme would but keep the United
States in perpetual isolation, sending Auter;can
coins into the mints of Paris and London. Chief
Justice Chase has delivered the opinion of the Su-
preme Court in the long-pending INPArdle case, and
after elaborate argument dismissed the appeal of
the petitioner for want of jurisdiction.

PARIS, April 29.
The summer season has set in in Paris, everything
has changed as if by enchantment, and the culti-
vators of the vice are looking forward to a vintage

as excellent as that of the past year, and last, not
least, for the moment, the-price of vegetables, espe-
cially those used for spring salads, has now rapidly
lowered. As one of the principal aims of your
journal is to learn and- point out with the greatest
readiness all points of international progress as re-
gards France, England, and America, I had great
pleasure in accepting an invitation to visit the new
English laundry which has been erected on the bor-
ders of the Seine, at Boulogne-sur-Mer, near Saint
Cloud, which should rather be called an institution
than a laundry, and which reminded me forcibly of
certain large hospitals I have visited, especially in
reference to its extreme cleanliness, reflecting great
credit on its manager, Mr. Checkley. It has been
fitted up for the purpose of carrying into operation
on a large scale the washing, mangling, and other
machines of Messrs. T. Bradford and Co., which,
like the sewing machines of the late lamented Mr.
Howe, have become a speciality in almost every
country, and have obtained especial attention in
France, having been introduced under the imme-
diate patronage of the Emperor and Empress into
the Palace, the Fleet, and various benevolent insti
tutions in whose welfare her Majesty takes deep in-
terest. On different occasions I have had the p'easitre
of meeting in Paris both Mr. Howe and Mr. Bradford,
and have been in •ch struck with the same restless
energy apparent in the manner of each ; men alike
self-made, and never wandering from the absorbing
idea to which each had consecrated the labour of a
life. The former is, unhappily, lost to the world
upon which he conferred so great a benefit ; but
Mr. Bradford yet remains, not only for the more
perfect development of his own system, if that can
be, but also, it is to be hoped, to aid in other great
national improvements, which will do yet more to
link America, France, and EnJand together in the
bonds of unity and social progress. One of these
contemplated improvements is the proposed estab-
lishment of a quicker and more effective communi-
cation across the Channel, and to accomplish this
various proposals have been submitted to the Em-
peror. That which has been most favourably re•
ceived is the employment of large steamers of a
peculiar censtruction, with railway communication
on each opposite shore, upon the principle of a
ferry— a plan which, organized and perfected in
America, has been adopted with complete success
in that go-ahead country ; and under the surveil-
lance of one of her ablest engineers, it will probably
be carried into effect between France and England
before long. I have noticed in the columns of the
Daily Telegraph that a project of this nature has
been already contemplated in England, and that,
according to this journal, it has fallen through,
principally from an alleged apathy on the part of
the French Government. Ido not wish to advance
premature statements, but I will venture to assert
that no man living is more alive to improve-
ments of such a nature than the Emperor of the
French ; but heAill commit himself to no plan,
unless be the most perfect and most feasible,
in proof of which his Majesty has expressed by
letter his warmest interest and sympathy in the
success of the talented report and plans which
have been recently laid before him by a gentleman
who has already acquired a world-wide reputation
for the scientific improvements he has introduced in
marine matters, and which have been universally
adopted not only in the various mercantile steam
lines, but also in the navy of Great Britain. As
regards the small talk of Paris, the domestic menage
of Me. Patti and her illustrious spouse is s mid not to
be of the happiest description. Great things are
said of the extraordinary success which attenls tit e
treatment of the exhibition of hypophosphites in
consumption and other tubercular diseases by Dr.
Churchill, and as many of our friends are now on
the wing from Nice and elsewhere, it would be well
for them to know that every information on this
head can be obtained from Mr. Swann, the chemist
to the American Embassy, Rue Castiglione. An
amusing incident occurred yesterday. Two old
friends, who had feted each other alternately during
the day at the various Marchands de Vins found on
their route, were staggering homewards in the
direction of the Bastille about four o'clock p.m.,
mutually sustaining each other, when all at once
they encountered a waggon laden with empty wine
casks, slowly advancing along the Rue St. Antoine.
At this sight our two friends melted into tears.
" Poor old casks," said one, "to think what they
have contained, and what they have come to."
" Perhaps," said the other, " we may even our-
selv,is have drank of the petit-bleu from them. L A
us follow the mournful remains to their resting
place." "It is but just," said the first, and the
inhabitants of the quarter derived no small amuse-
ment from observing the two friends following the
vehicle iu the guise of mourners chapeau bas, even
as far as Bercy.