The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 4, 1869.

bowed down and worshipped before his image." It
is not usual to erect such a memorial to a man whilst
he is yet living, as Mr. VANDERBILT is. Mr. PEABODY
was a most worthy exception to the general rule; and
possibly the reader who has net heard of Mr.
VANDERBILT—though there can be few such—may
conclude that he also has been a great benefactor to
his kind. Unfortunately the orginal of the Now
York bronze effigy is neither statesman, warrior,
poet, nor philanthropist. He represents the modem
golden calf. He is a rich man, perhaps the richest
in America ; he has gained his riches by the
most questionable means, and he has employed
them to no good purpose. The honour that has
been paid him is the worship of Mammon, pure
and simple. That a statue should have been "sub-
scribed for" is, as will presently appear, by no means
surprising ; but that clergymen, civic functionaries,
and a large crowd, more or less respectable, should
be found to countenance the inauguration is certainly
a most melancholy sign of the time. It may be in-
teresting to skew who this deified personage is.
"Commodore " VANDERBILT—the title is of his
own choosing—is in every sense of the word a self-
made man. He began life on nothing; he was in-
dustrious ; and, above all, he was consistent. The
series of evil deeds which make up the history of his
life is unchequered by any of the good
actions which most bad men commit in
moments of weakness, in order to place a
trifle to the credit side of their moral account. He
began early, and the system which he adopted from
the first has been continued to the end. Whilst a
boy he assisted his widowed mother in working a
small schooner which she owned, and which acted as
a ferry-boat between New York and Staten Island.
He soon saved a little money, bought a vessel of his
own, entered into competition with his mother, and
speedily ruined her. This brilliant performance
won the admiration of a large steam-boat owner, who
gave VANDERI3ILT the management of a line of ves-
sels on the Hudson. Here again the hero's perfect
freedom from the trammels of moral conviction
secured him a triumph. A. competing line of vessels
was driven off the river. VANDERBILT himself became
the owner of several steamboats, which he turned to
the best account. Legitimate trade was too slow
and too honest ; the rising star of com-

merce adopted a system which had the
double advantage of rapidly winning him both
wealth and the execration of the entire mercantile
community. Wherever a boat was doing a good
trade, VANDERBILT started a vessel, not in legiti-
mate competition, but to carry passengers at
nominal fares, for the sole purpose of being
bought off. This practice he followed so
systematically that many owners found it well to
pay him a regular subsidy as the price of freedom
from his competition. In a few years the Commo-

dore embarked in a wider sphere, and tried on the

ocean the trade which had succeeded so well on the
rivers. Once, in endeavouring to levy a
contribution from the Cunard and other
great firms plying between England and
America, he was severely bitten ; but for the
most part his fraudulent competitions brought him
vast sums of money. VANDERBILT next appeared in
the field as a Government contractor. In this capacity
he injured his country a good deal, and as a bait for
more profitable business, he presented to the Repub-
lican navy a steamer which consumed so much coal
as to be worse than useless.

This exploit, was a fitting close to the Comoro•

Bore's career on the deep. his fame had now be-
come great ; with the view of immortalising himself
he went into the railway line in 1861. This
doings in this new field of enterprise ex-
celled in grandeur and sublimity of moral
destitution even his performances on the water; but
the history is too long to be given in full. Suffice it
to say that VANDERBILT now changed his tactics;
instead of competing, he adopted the system of buy-
ing up lines which proved troublesome. He first
made himself master of the Harlem railway, then
of the Hudson River line, and, thirdly, of
the New York Central. With these three
important railways at his command, it re-
mained for him only to get possession of the well
known Erie line, in order to secure the absolute con-
trol of all the commerce between New York and the
West. For once, however, he found his match. On
the directory of the Erie were the notorious
JAMES FISK jun., and GOULD ; and these two men
were as determined to keep the line in their
hands as VANDERBILT was to get it into
his. The memorable " Erie Railway War "
was fought out in 1867. VANDERBILT tried to buy
up as many Erie shares as would give him a con-
trolling voice in the management of the property.
FISK and GOULD persistently defeated this project by
fraudulently pouring new stock on the market.
hundreds of thousands of illegal shares were
issued, judges were bought, legislatures cor-
rupted, the shares flew from zero to above
par and back again, like the gold heap of a roulette
player ; but whatever the traffic on the line, or what-
ever the price of shares, there was no dividend for
the shareholders. This strange contest revealed
many remarkable facts, but the most curious of all
was the clear proof that there existed in America a
greater rogue than VANDERBILT. Mr. JAMES FISK,
jun., was always ready to cross the limit at which his
competitor stopped short. Hence FISK won, and
VANDERBILT was beaten. The person uninitiated in
the beautiful mysteries of American finance might
imagine that the loss of such a battle would ruin even
the Commodore. Far from it ; he was the gainer
in money, though the " honour" (and money too)
remained with Fax. The price of this conflict
was paid by the shareholders. In July 1867 a
truce was concluded between the two parties,
VANDERBILT being bought off at an enormous
price. When the public suspected the corrupt
transaction, the Commodore wrote to a New York
paper, denying that he had ever sold to the Erie
Company any stock or had received any bonus ; but
he seems to have forgotten that the maxim of

" honour amongst thieves " does not usually apply to
commerce, for FIsK immediately proved VANDER..
niLT's deliberate falsehood by producing two cheques
paid by the treasurer of the company to the Com-
modore.

Such are a few of the deeds which have just been
' commemorated by a statue. The getting up of this
memorial was worthy of the man whom it is intended
to represent. VANDERBILT gave orders to a satellite
to farm a committee and receive subscriptions. It was
soon announced that a generous world had come
forward liberally, and the statue was ordered
and paid for. Needless to say who furnished
the money. The proceeding is entirely in keeping
with VANDERBILT'S rules of existence, and he,
therefore, thinks well of it. The Mayor of New
York, who delivered an eloquent inaugural address
on the occasion of the unveiling ; the bishop who.
pronounced the benediction, and divers spec-
tators who applauded, must also think well
of it. Bait what course . is the American
people about to take in face of this
unparalleled effrontery ? This bronze memorial is
but the latest symptom of a gigantic social evil.
VANDERBILT has piled up an immense fortune at the
expense of his fellow - creatures. No misery
that he brought upon his dearest friends,
not to speak of his enemies, seems to
have ever given him the slightest uneasiness.

His own mother, his own sons-in-law, ' his
most intimate associates, have all at different
times become his prey. The able New York corre-
spondent of the Daily News doubts "if his warmest
admirers could credit him with a single good action. No
charity—here where almost all are charitable—can
boast of one dollar which he has contributed to its
funds, nor, in the length and breadth of the land,
could one poor man be found who has ever benefitted
by his hoards." But this is not all. VANDERBILT
has been the great pioneer in a shameful
cause, and it is by him that the commercial
morality of America has been brought to
such a pass, and that a reckless system of gambling
has taken the place of legitimate trade, He, at

least, undoubtedly set te first great example of suc-
cessful fraud. That a sttue should have been erected
to such a man is a ntional shame. But it is to
be hoped that a reactiti will come. Mr. VANDER-
BILT'S statue, if the Nei York mob spares it, will in
future give its representtive greater fame than he at
present bargains for.

NAVAL AND 1111LPARY INIELLIGENCE.

The following chan;es of stations have been
made in-the various divsions of the Royal Marines
Light Infantry during he past month :--Chatham
Division.—Colonel-Conmandant G. Lambrick,
Aide-de-Camp to the i,ueen, Captain J. is!. De
Conroy Meade, and Francis Lean, from leave to
headquarters ; Captain and Brevet-Major H. L.
Evans, Captains A. H. larnes and W. H. Poyntz
(adjutant), from leave o headquarters; Captain
J. W. Vaughan-Arbuclie, from the Donegal on
leave ; Lieutenants Shave, Parker, Short, Bird,
and Quill, from headquaters on leave ; Lieutenants
Nash, Tully, M'Neale, aid Sandwith, from leave
to headquarters ; Lieuttnant E. A. Ford, from
the Trafalgar on leave. Portsmouth Division.
—Captain and Breve-Major N. W. Hunt,
from leave to the Duke of Wellington ;
Captain and Brevet-Major A. %Volrige, from
headquarters on leave ; Captain E. B. Pritchard,
from the Trafalgar of leave ; Captains W.
T. Savary, G. F. Gambb, and E. F. Thompson,
Lieuts. G. B. Morris (adjutant), Strong, Lakin,
Gillman, Walker, and F.ext from leave to head-
quarters ; Lieuts. Agassiz Miller, and Morley, from
headquarters on leave ; Lieut. Sharpshott, from
leave to the Asia; Lieut. Dmvding from headquarters
to the Duke of Wellington. Plymouth Division
—Col. Second Commandant P. C. Penrose, C. 8.,
and Capt. and Brevet Major H. G. Davis, from
leave to headquarters; Capt. J. Bunce, from the
Lion on leave ; Capts. G. Bazalgette and J. C.
Hore, from headquarters on leave ; Capt. G. Leslie,
retired on full pay ; Capt. W. H. Clements, from
the Royal Adelaide to headquarters; Second Capts.
Kennicott and Pritchett, Lieuts. St. John, Turner,
Stephens, Barham, and Ludgater, from leave to
headquarters; Lieuts. Peake and Faulkner, from
headquarters on leave ; Lieut. Byrcb, from head-
quarters to the Revenge ; Lieut. Edye, from head-
quarters to the Ocean; and Lieut. Pyne, from
Hythe to headquarters.

The Lords of the Admiralty did not, as had been
expected, visit Chatham Dockyard yesterday ; they
are to make their inspection to-day.
The stores of
gunpowder at Upnor Magazines,
opposite Chatham Dockyard, are in future to be
placed under the guardianship of a body of police-
men, instead of being in the care of watchmen. A
number of the Metropolitan police doing duty in
Chatham Dockyard will be detached to Upnor to
take charge of the magazines. The strong military
guard at Upnor will be still maintained. It is un-
derstood that since the people of Chatham and
Rochester asked the Government to remove the
powder from Upnor the amount stored there has
been much diminished. The whole, according to
the promise of the Minister of War, will eventu-
ally be removed to magazines less open to objec-
tions.

The largest steam crane at Chatham, intended to
lift 30 tons, but capable of doing much more if
necessary, has now been erected on the Gun Wharf.
Messrs. Taylor, of Birmingham, have supplied the
machinery. A very strong foundation for the crane
had to be built. The great weight of much of the
ordnance now in use for ships has rendered it neces-
sary to provide so powerful a crane.

BATES OF FREIGHT AND CHARTER.

(From the Shipping and ditereantile Gazette)

The tonnage leading on the berth for India, China, and
the Cape of Good Hope amounts to 53,789 tons, and for
Austialia and New Zealand to 28,641 tons.
Berth freights are more active, and there is somewhat
more inquiry for tonnage.
Coal freights to the East are, for the most part, well
maintained, the amount of tonnage offering being rather
limited, 245. to 255. has been the quotation for Point de Galle.
For Calcutta 28s. is quoted from Wales, and for the other
ports rates are obtainable as particularised below. Steamers
of moderate draught are in some request for general cargoes
for the Indian ports rid the Suez Canal, but at present not
many transactions have taken place. The homeward trade
is much unsettled, and may be so, it is expected, for some
little time to come. Better rates are now to be secured
for coal from Newcastle (N.S.W.),and 275. Gd. is the quota-

Lion for Bombay.
Rates for iron to the United States are rather beau
;han last week. Chartering homewards for cotton is quiet,

For the West Indies, coal freights arc low, with next to
nothing doing. Operations in sugar homewards are rather
restricted, but higher rates are quoted from Jamaica.

For the West Coast of Africa there has been more doing
in coal, and ships have within the last day or so been fixed
at higher rates. Qnotations for coal to the River Plate are
more or less nominal, and the requirements for most of the

Brazilian ports easy.
fhe rates from the West Coast of South America for guano
are 70s. from Maiden Island to United Kingdom, 02s. Gd.
Chinchas, &c., to United Kingdom, and 61s. 6d. to
Antwerp.
Mediterranean and Black Sea coalfreights continue to be
well mainta'ned, more especially for the Italian and further
ports. For forward vessels there is little grain to be got
homewards, and hardly an order from Alexandria for cotton
seed is to be found. •

Mr. Charles Buxton will, it is stated, bring for-
ward next session a :notion on the question of the armaments
of Europe.

France, it is said, proposes a conference for the
settlement of the Turco-Egyptlan dispute. The conference
will confine itself to this one question.

The Northern Echo, a halfpenny morning news-
paper of Liberal principles, is about to be started in the
north of England. The chief office will be at Darlington.
The Somerset Chamber of Agriculture has passed
a resolution affirming that DO children be employed in
agriculture without a certificate that they are able to read
and wrto.

It is stated that 11ir. Gladstone will introduce the
Irish Land Bill at the very opening of next Session, and
that he hopes to get it read a third time in the House of
Commons before the Easter recess.

The port of Maracaibo in Venezuela has been closed
for some time on account of a rebellion. The revolt having
been put down the port le now reopened to the commerce of
all nations.

It is intended to issue a new weekly journal called
the Vatican, which will give full and detailed accounts of
the CEcumonical Council at Rome. The publication is to bo
published at the Tablet office.

A series of meetings of the unemployed are an-
nounced to be held almost immediately throughout the me-
tropolis, and will be followed by a demonstration behind the
Horse Guards on the reassembling of Parliament, "to de-
mand," as the projectors state, "of the Government a prac-
tical recognition of the right of the poor man to live."
Dr. Featherston and Mr. Dillon Bell, the Commis-
sioners from the Now Zealand Government to the imperial
Government, will arrive in F:1209314 ill January, or early in
February. The Commissioners are empowered not only to
make terms for the retention of a regiment, but to enrol a
special force under the advice of the Qolouial Office and the
War Office.

After passing several resolutions, described as of a

"democratic" character, the lay delegates of the Dublin
Synod, who had continued in session after the departure
of the Archbishop, separated. On Thursday &private meet-
ing was held in another Dublin hall of a number of the
lay delegates who dissonted from tho line taken by the
majority.

It appears (according to the Scotsman) that there
is after all to be a contest for the Rectorship of Aberdeen
University. Sir William Stirling-Maxwell's friends persist
in putting him forward on political grounds, and therefore a
largo body of students have requested the present rector, Mr.
Grant Duff, M.P., to offer himself for re-election. It is be-
lievcd that he will do so.

We announc(.d months since that Mr. Fitzjamca
Stephen, Q.C., had received the lucrative appointment of
legal adviser to the Indian Government in the place of Mr.
Mayne, who returns superannuated., but still young and in
vigorous health. The salary is (says the Law Times) to be
no less than £lO,OOO per annum, and the term of service only
seven years.

In connection with the Grenville-Murray case,
Thomas Rosekelly, the warrant officer at Marlborough-
street police-court, has offered a public apology to Mr. John
Hill, of the Flying Horse, Oxford-street, who became bail
for Mr. Grenville-Murray, who, it will be remembered, did
not reappear. Rosekelly says it may have been in the course
of conversrtion and through his representation! 014 3.Y.
Hill beoam~ bail Al4:t Mre4Y4l.l?-3111.F.a3.•-- :

MARTIN FOR LONGFORD.

The following circular has been published in reference
to the Longford election :
"Longford to the Rescue !

"A committee of the electors of Longford has been
formed for the purpose of securing the election of John
Martin, of Kilbroney. Electors of Longford, we appeal to
you not to desert the cause of your country in this crisis of
her fate. The name of John Martin is, by his heroism and
his sufferings, inseparably associated with the cause of
Irish nationality. As you value that cause, as you would
have self-government for Ireland, vote for John Martin.
As you would liberate your imprisoned brothers, vote for
John Martin. As you would unite all our countrymen in
a struggle for the rights of Ireland, vote for John Martin.
As you would strike a blow at political jobbing, vile cor-
ruption, and place-hunting, vote for John Martin. The
glorious example of Tipperary is before you. The elec-
tion of O'Donovan Rossa has struck a blow at the oppres-
sors of your country which has been felt throughout
Europe. The election of John Martin will follow it up by
a triumph that will have even more influence on the des-
tinies of your country. John Martin, although he has in-
curred the patriot's doom, being imprisoned for treason-
felony, is perfectly capable of being elected. Your votes
for him will not be thrown away. No man stands higher,
even in the estimation of his opponents, for his blameless
life, his high-souled purity, and his noble and disinterested
services to his native land. In him the awakening cause
of Irish nationality will find a fitting representative. In
the name of your country do not let this opportunity
pass. Listen to no counsels of weakness or of corruption.
Return John Martin as your representative and you will
earn the blessings of unborn generations of Irishmen.
"Far dearer the grave or the prison,
Illumin'd by one patriot name,
Than the glories of all who have risen
On Liberty's ruin to fame."
GOD SA.VE IRELAND!

"TOTE FOR JOHN MARTIN'

BREACH OF PROMISE ACTION AGAINST
A CLERGYMAN.

On Thursday an action for breach of promise was tried
in the Dublin Court of Queen's Bench before Mr. Justice
O'Brien. Damages were laid at £l,OOO. The plaintiff is a
young lady residing as governess in the city of Cork, Sarah
Anne Jackson ; and :the defendant is the Rev. Alexander
Blair, a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, lately principal
of the Fermoy College, but now holding the position of
curate at Sherburne, in Yorkshire. The defence entered
was a denial of the promise.—The Solicitor-General, in
stating the plaintiff's case, said it presented some features
of peculiarity, and he regretted to be obliged to say that
the peculiarity consisted largely in the peculiarly bad and
unjustifiable conduct of the defendant, whose position,
as a minister of religion, as well as a gentle-
man, would lead to the expectation of a different
course of conduct. Having described the nature of
the case, the learned council read the following letters :
"My darling Pet,—l have just received yours, and have
read it all over, I believe three times. Do you not, at all
events despond. I care for nobody but you, and for a very
good reason, that I ought not to. I shall not write any
more desponding letters, but, my darling, it is very hard
to avoid it sometimes ; but you have at all times borne
with me, and often cheered me when in my distress of
mind. I will send you money early next week without
fail, no matter where it comes from ; do not be the least
cast down, wo will be happy yet. I would be all right.
Poor Bessie tells me to bring you at once. She knows well

enough how I feel the cause of it I will see

you on Easter Monday, and then we will talk over every-
thing. This day, which formerly used to be the happiest
day, is now the most miserable. . . . I do not much
care who knows that you correspond with me. . . . Good
bye my darling, and believe me ever yours faithfully and
affectionately, " A. BLAIR."

It was stated that they had only a friendly intercourse

He would read one of the letters in this friendly intercourse.
"My ever darling Annie,—lt would take a great deal to
make me write to you in the strain that you have written
to me. Indeed I might have reason to suspect the sin-
cerity of your love from such language more than you have
reason to suspect mine. . . . lam miserable. I never
thought you couid write to me in such a way with regard
to loving you. I give up all for you. I was only happy
in your company; to deceive you never entered my mind.
My reason for not complying with your wishes at once you
know. lamin a state of uncertainty here—not knowing
what I shall do. I told you I would never leave you. Why
my darling, do you say I am so bad—how could such
Linguage ever proceed from your lips? I had no object

whatever in not meeting you at your friend's house—l say
this emphatically—only just that I did not like the people.
You say the strongest love is the fiercest hate. Oh, my
darling, don't speak that way to me. You do not knowhow
I feel while writing this. I valued your love and do so still.
I have not trifled with your love in a wiekedmanner. Your
letter has put me in a terrible state. Do forgive me. I

care for nobody but you, and never will. Do write to me
again by to-day's post, and oh, my pet, do not speak to me
in such a way. You know how sensitive I am. When may

I see you and tell you of my future plans ? I am not going
to leave you or desert you. I never intended to say one
word or do one act that would pain you,—Your darling pet,
ALEXANDER." That was one of those lovers' quarrels with
which the jury was familiar. He would not trouble them
with any more letters. The only question with them
would be one of damages, and he asked them to give

large damages against this erratic gentleman for the
gross ill-treatment the injured young lady had received.
Miss Sarah Ann Jackson, a young lady of good appear-
ance, was then examined : I am plaintiff in this action.
In the year 1867 I was living with my brother, at 22, Nile-
street, Cork. I first saw the defendant on St. Stephen's
Day in the year 1866. I saw him in the Rev. Mr. Grant's
lodgings in Cork, having gone there to answer an adver-
tisement. I went to Fermoy College as manager on the
15th of January, 1867. I was not more than a month there
when the Rev. Mr. Blair used to come into my room to
write his letters, eat his lunch, Sc. I told him I felt sure

the boys going in and out might remark his coming to my
room so often, and I thought it better for him to confine
himself to his own sitting-room ; he then said what was on
he mind might as well be said, and he asked me to be his
wife. I told him he ought not to say anything in a hurry,
and that his proposition came to me very suddenly ; that
I heard he had been engaged to another young lady; that
if at the end of a fortnight he was of the same mind I
would give him an answer. At the end of that time ho
came into the room. He said his mind was the same as
when he had spoken to me a fortnight before, and asked
me for my answer. I then said that as his mind was the
same I consented to be his wife. It was arranged between
us that if the school got on we would bo married the
following Christmas. A few days before Christmas
Day he said ho would go up to Cork, that he would write
for me to follow him in a couple of days, and that we
would come to Dublin to be married. Having received a
letter from the defendant, I went to Cork on Christmas-
eve, and he met me at the railway station. I spent part of
Christmas-clay with the defendant, and he said we were to
leave for Dublin by the first train on the following morn-
ing to get married. On the following morning the defen-
dant told me that on thinking further over it, it would
not be prudent to go to Dublin, that people might pass
remarks about our getting married so soon. I objected
strongly to the postponement, and I said I could not think
of going back to Fermoy, or keeping up any correspondence
with him unless he told my friends of our engagement. Ho
said I seemed to doubt his word. I told the defendant I
would not go back to Fermoy, and remained in Cork in
lodgings. When he was going to Fermoy that day he said
he would expect a letter from me in the morning. I told
him I would not write. During the vacation in June the
defendant again came to my lodgings ; we had in the mean'
time kept up a correspondence ; he told me ho was think-
ing of giving up the school, that he did not like teaching,
and I said I believed it would be a foolish thing ; he said
he would take a curacy in the diocese of Cork if ho could'
get it, and if not, he would go to England, but he said he
thought it would not be prudent to get married until he
got settled down ; he wished me to enter the Governesses'
Home in Dublin, and remain their for some time ; I did
so, and he left Englana the first week in August;
our correspondence was constant. In October I
went to an engagement in the county of Limerick ; in
October and in August last I went over to Yorkshire,
where I saw the Rev. Mr. Blair ; the first Sunday he and I
had a walk for a couple of hours, and the next morning he
called on me ; he said he supposed I was looking forward
to the fulfilment of his promise to marry ; I said yes ;
that my friends were very angry for allowing it to be
hanging on so long; in reply, he said I was speaking as
if I belicvod he was going to marry some one else,
but that he had no intention of it; I said he was
hindering me of getting married, as I might have
been in the county of Limerick. He said he could say
the same, that one of his parishioners was a young lady
who had £lO,OOO, and that the vicar promised to speak for
him. I said that from the way in which he was then
situated I saw no season for furtherpostponement of the
marriage. He said he did not think he was long enough
in England to.morry.—His Lordship charged the jury, and
said tho only quesil,?u which they had to consider was one
of damages. The =dal: of the defendant was quite
irreconcilable with their no:
ion of what was right. —The
Jury after a brief absence returi.
•:(1 a verdict for the plain--
tiff, with £3OO damages and 6d. costs.
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