The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-11 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

matte weair. sv hat uhanoeuor of the Exchequir
could bear such a pressure ? What Premier would not
release captives L—all the prisoners in the kingdom—
under such circumstances?

METROPOLITAN DANQTTETS.

The grand city of great feasts has had a most for-
tunate week. Seldom have such important events
followed one another so closely in the City of
London. And though there has been some talk—in
the way of boasts—of the occasions passing without
"banquets," we can assure our readers that the claims
of the City to great continence are not well founded.
True the Lord Mayor and his aldermen did
not have a public dinner on . Saturday last;
but the only difference made was that neither
great men nor reporters were invited; and the City
made up for that deficiency by having two "spreads"
on Tuesday night. Of course the chief one
was at the Guildhall ; where Mr. Gladstone,
after leading his hearers to suppose, in their
impatient curiosity, that he was going to divulge
his land scheme, did nothing of the kind;
where Mr. Lowe was not unpleasantly sarcastic, but
only pleasantly funny ; and where the Lord Chan-
cellor, Messrs. Cardwell, Childers, and Bruce, and
Lord de Grey and Ripon made " very appropriate
speeches." Mr. Disraeli, whose hope'-was expressed
last year that lie should be Prime Minister on this
occasion, and again reply to the toast of "Her
Majesty's Ministers," was not present. Meanwhile,
at the Fishmongers' Hall some of the lesser stars
were shining resplendently. The Belgian Minister,
Sir John Bowling, a nobleman or two, and some well-
known City celebrities made speeches.

THE PROGRESS OF AMERICAN OPINION TOWARDS

GREAT BRITAIN.

Mr. Gladstone on Tuesday, in his speech at Guild-
hall, expressed himself very hopefully as to the rela-
tions of this country to America. If the London
correspondent of the Manchester Guardian is to be
believed, he did not do so without good
ground. According to our contemporary's
opinion, the " Sumneritish " party—the section
in the United States which howls so against England
—is losing its power and influence speedily. The
drift of public opinion seems to be setting somewhat
towards the Conservative or Democratic party ; and
moderate members of the Republicans (Mr. Seward,
Mr. Adams, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Bigelow) are
leaninc, in the same direction. The violence of
Mr. Sumner and of President Grant has disgusted
them. They want less bluster, and more work. Nor
is this all. The President himself is anxious to make
himself a name for making his country stable and
secure in prosperity. He has had enough of war, and
wishes to shew his power in establishing satisfactory
relations with other countries. He is even now
negotiating a commercial treaty with Canada. Would
he do so if he had any intention of going to war
with that State ?

THE SUN, LONDON', THtTESDAV EVENING, X MEMBER 11, 1869.

Mr. G. 11. Moore -was ridiculous ; but, unhappily,
duelling in France is no joke. A fatal fight with
-swords has -lately taken place, and death is a not
'lnfrequent result of these encounters. The Govern-
ment does not interfere effectively ; but surely
the mania for fighting has gone too far.
When it was carried to 'similar extravagance
in the reign of Louis XIII., Richelieu speedily stopped
it by cutting off a head or two. Another sovereign
effectively cured his "honour" loving subjects by
hanging one of them. It is hardly necessary to go
this length now. The Telegraph points out that in
the State of New York the sending of a challenge
is punishable by a long term of imprisonment with
hard labour. This remedy would very likely succeed
in France. The treadmill is decidedly antagonistic to
fencing, and " shiny " would no doubt prove an
antidote to fire-eatino.