The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 12, 1869.

trary pOwer which has not the support of
antiquity is often driven to strange expedients to
preserve its place. The recent debate in the Corps
Legislatif on the City of Paris Loan is an instructive
lesson in the science of despotic government. Never
before has the secret policy, the strength and
the weakness of the second French Empire,
been so fully revealed. Ostensibly this turbu-
lent discussion possesses but a local interest,
and is important only in a municipal sense. Some
eighty millions have been spent in beautifying the
French capital. Part of this immense sum had been
furnished in the shape of a loan by the Paris Credit
Foncier, and the Corps Legislatif, according to
law, were asked to sanction this contract. Certainly,
the money had been spent before permission to spend
it had been asked, but this is only a trifle under the
Empire. In reality, however, the importance of this
memorable debate goes far beyond this. It has
revealed the entire system of internal policy pursued
under the Empire, its disclosures have brought
discredit upon the Imperial Administration, the
position of which in a moral sense is seriously

impaired.
Although it has been one of the duties of the
EMPEROR'S Government to demolish everything that
was unsightly in Paris, and erect a city of palaces on
the ruins, yet this is by no means the primary pur-
pose for which 80 millions sterling have been spent.
When President Louis NAPOLEON became Emperor
he was fully convinced of the necessity 9f keeping
out of mischief the army of democratic workmen
who had overthrown so many Administrations since
Louis XVI. If this lean and revolutionary multi-
tude could be kept quiet, the Second Empire might
stand ; but if the mob were not fed, there was no
reason to hope that it would not repeat its former
achievements. This was the first great cause of the
pulling down and rebuilding of Paris. The EMPEROR,
like a prudent ruler, knew the danger by experience,
and had taken measures to provide for it. When the
new Constitution, which followed the downfall of
Louis PHILIPPE,
.was drawn up, NAPOLEON 111.,
then President, took care to insert a proviso that
the Executive could commence public works at will,
provided all loans were submitted to the Legislature.
' By virtue of this stipulation the Paris workmen
were employed in rebuilding Paris. They received
good wages, had constant employment, and instead
of overturning the Empire, became rather friendly
to it. Troops of artisans from the country came to
the capital to share in the spoil. The work when
once begun could not be stopped. The city was
burdened with local imposts, and yet the taxes would
not pay for the splendid buildings which everywhere
sprung up ; but the Government could not dream of
throwing the army of workmen out of employment.
The city has vastly improved under this Imperial
treatment, but whether such improvement is desi-
rable or not, the danger of ceasing it is too
great to be contemplated. The city became
greatly in debt, and at length Baron HAussmANN
was obliged to have recourse to illegal expedients.
He borrowed money without the authorisation of the
Corps Legislatif. The Credit Foncier secretly lent
the City of Paris nearly nineteen millions sterling on
very hard terms. A better bargain might have
been obtained by a loan,
,but a loan must
necessarily be public, and publicity would not do for
Baron HAussmANN. The money has been lent and
spent, and the evil day has come. The Government
has been obliged to come before the Corps Legislatif
and ask the sanction of this contract.

It will thus be seen that the recent debate is but
one episode in the history of the regeneration of
Paris. The Government has simply been compelled
to confess its arbitrary deeds, and unveil to the
Parisians and to the nation the intolerable and yet
ever-increasing burden which the reckless destruc-
tion and rebuilding of a city entails. But the satis-
faction which the people of France can derive from
this exposure lies simply in the circumstance
that the Government has been disgraced. It
does not appear that under the present system there
is any hope of amendment. The Ministry promised
that for the future the Corps Legislatif should not
be asked to sanction what had already been done.
Then M. TITTERS, after a preliminary skirmish,
commenced the attack, and in a very elaborate
speech pointed out where the recent altera-

t ions were useful, and where in too many
instances they were merely a waste of money. The
Government is no doubt perfectly aware of this.

It must be patent even to Imperial Ministers that the

demolitions cost too much, and entail an overwhelm-
ing burden. The difficulty is, that the Government

cmnot persuade itself to the venturesome experi-
ment of stopping them. It is not a question of
beautifying Paris, but of feeding a dangerous
multitude at the expense of the community.
To avoid telling this truth the Imperial Ministry has
been driven to the most humiliating shifts. The

condemnation of the illegal expenditure was defended

by the supporters of the Empire ; but M. HOUIIER

the next day, contradicted every word his colleagues
had uttered, declared that Baron lIAussmANN had done
wrong, and that, too, upon his own responsibility. It is a
not uncommon,but in this case it was a very daring, act
to sacrifice a Minister for the good of Imperialism ;
there was, perhaps, no help for it. If the EMPEROR
would stop the rebuilding of Paris there would be
an end to this degradation. Or if he would consent

to a responsible Ministry and true parliamentary
government, the support of all the orderly classes
would extinguish the danger of the mob. It has

-- been affirmed that this and similar occurrences have

driven the EMPEROR to contemplate free institutions.
It is the hope of ultimately attaining this end that

may console the French nation for revelations which

are humiliating alike to both the EMPEROR and the

people.

PARLIAMENTARY COMPANIONS.*

The Reformed Parliament has already caused a host of
works to be published on the constitution of its assembly,
but the majority of these are not of that standard
character which has for many years particularised " Dod's
Parliamentary Companion." This handy book has now
reached its thirty-seventh year of existence, and is com-
monly looked upon as the right-hand friend of politicians
of all classes and opinions. It boasts—not unnaturally—
that during every Ministerial vicissitude since thepassing of
the Reform Act of 1832 it has aimed at avoiding party ten-
dencies. During that time thirteen Administrations have
been summoned to the councils of the sovereign, ten Par-
liaments have been elected, and nine have been dissolved.
Yet the volume still holds its sway against all comers,
many of whom have failed through becoming the partisan
instead of being the faithful chronicler. To shew the vast
amount of labour necessary in the "get up" of "Dod,"
it may be mentioned that 227 new members, of whom 193
never were previously in Parliament, were returned to the
House of Commons at the general election. This is the
largest number of new members since 1832. In that year
these figures stood at 280, whilst in 1837 there were only
121. In order that there should be no errors as to the
opinions held by the respective parliamentary representa-
tives, their exact words relating to the Irish Church,
national education, vote by ballot, and the abolition of
the malt tax are recorded. In spite, however, of every
precaution, several errors have crept in, which we will
take the liberty of pointing out. Mr. O'Beirne, who, since
the general election, has been unseated for Cashel, was not
returned for that borough without opposition, but was
opposed by Mr. Munster, who polled 84 votes against Mr.
O'Beirne's 100. In Westminster Mr. John Stuart Mill is
reported as having polled 6,884 votes, instead of 6,284, he
being exactly 300 behind Captain Grosvenor. At South
Shields Mr. Stevenson is stated to have polled only 2,277
against Mr. Palmer's 2,582. It is needless to say that the
figures ought to be reversed. Mr. Lopes, the member for
Launceston, was first returned for that borough in April,
not December 1868, on the resignation of Mr. Campbell.
Concerning the same little pocket borough, "Dod" states
that " the Duke of Northumberland's interest here is very
considerable." We have already alluded to this error, but
it is still repeated. It may be necessary, therefore, to
explain that as far back as the spring of 1865 the Duke of
Northumberland sold Werrington Park—including his
" interest "in the borough—to Mr. Campbell, a merchant,
of Liverpool. This gentleman, who bought the seat for
himself, sat in the House of Commons from July 1865 to
April 1868, when he in turn sold it to Mr. Fitzwilliam
Dick, M.P. for Wicklow. As the latter was not in want
of the seat, he kindly handed it over to Mr. Lopes, a
barrister on the 'Western Circuit, who, of course, was
elected without opposition. The senior member for Bel-
fast—Mr. William Johnston, of Ballykilbeg—is erro-
neously mentioned as a Liberal, although we expect it
would be difficult to find a more bigoted Orangeman
throughout Ireland. Perhaps the mistake has occurred
through Mr. Johnston allying himself with Mr. M'Clure,
a Liberal, in order to defeat two "thick-and-thin " sup-
porters of the late Government. In spite of this fact, the
hon. gentleman sits on the Conservative side of the House,
and votes with the Opposition. In the memoir of Mr.
Thomas Brassey, who sits for Hastings, the most impor-
tant facts of his life are altogether omitted. Mr. Brassey
first tried for senatorial honours
.in December 1861, when
he fought Mr. John Laird for the new seat given to
Birkenhead, but was defeated by 1,643 to 1,296. His next
fight was at Devonport in June 1865, on the resignation
of Sir Arthur Buller, when he won over Mr. John
Fleming by a majority of 56. This, however, was reversed
at the general election a fortnight afterwards, Mr.
Brassey finding himself in a minority of 11. He fought
another losing battle, viz., at Sandwich, in May 1866, on
the occasion of Lord Clarence Paget's retirement. At the
close of the pull Mr. Capper was declared to be the
winner by the narrow majority of six votes. These inci-
dents should certainly be added to Mr. Brassey's life.
Mr. Fowler, the new member for Falmouth, is also not
credited with fighting
an unsuccessful battle in the borough
which he now represents. It is correctly stated that he
lost the fight in the city of London in July 1865 ; and it
may be well to inform "Dod" that he was beaten at Fal-
mouth in October 1866 by Mr. Jervoise Smith, by a
majority of 63. Looking to the high character to which
the "Companion " has deservedly attained, it is only due
to the public that these important alterations should be
made, and the omissions we have pointed out be supplied.
" Vacher's Parliamentary Companion" is a more
modest, but exceedingly useful little publication. It
comes out monthly during the session, at a moderate
price, and contains a mass of useful political information.
It not only gives the names of the members of the House
of Lords, but the date of their creation, and the titles
borne by their eldest sons. The representatives in the
Lower House are also inserted, with their respective con,
stituencies and their town residences. Besides this,
contains the polls at the recent election, the members of

the Government, the Privy Council, the judges of the
various law courts at Westminster, the chief officers of

State in Scotland and Ireland, and the British and foreign
ambassadors. From this it will be seen that, although
small, it is extremely serviceable to those who take an
interest in the great governing and judicial bodies of the
State.

Companion:" Whittaker and Co., Ave
" Vacher's Parliamentary Companion :" Vacher and Sons, Parlia,
m:rlD lane. Parliamentary
ment-etreet.

At Cork on Wednesday, in an action for breach 0:
promise of !ll:tillage by Miss Studdert, eaughter of the deputy
lieutenant, against a gentleman of property named Hewsor,
the jury awarded £2,500 damages,

It is stated on authority " that the wife of a high'y -
placed official at the Treasury has eloped with an Irish
marquis. It is stated that the official arrived in Paris in
pursuit, had an interview, and has returned alone."

A requisition has been forwarded to Mr. Milner
Gibson from a portion of the more advanced Liberal party at
Scarborough, asking him to allow hims&f to bo put in
nomination as a candidate for the seat in Parliament for
that borough rendered vacant by the death of Sir J. V.
B. Johnston,Burt., but he has declined to le put in
nomination.

land Belgian Govern-
nl
se; tet
ts i
haveng satedh e g
railway thato dto refer
e f
o trench e
acommission.e
theeh
dispute which has arisen
e
commission. The statement,
rtagreed
law
t Fe
though coming from a good source, must be accepted with
caution.

On Wednesday an explosion took place at the
Springfield Chemical Worlis, Sedbury, Worcestershire. The
accident occurred to a still containing tar. One man was
burnt to death, and several others were seriously injured.
A considerable amount of damage was done.

This (Friday) evening the Attorney-General will
move for the copy of the short-hand writers' notes of the
judgments delivered by the judges selected in pursuance of
the Parliamentary Elections Act, 1868, for the trial of elec-
tion petitions.

The nomination for Drogheda has been fixed for
Monday. No second candidate has, up to the present, ad-
dressed the electors, and the prevailing opinion appears to be
.hat Mr. Thomas 'Whitworth, son of the late member, will
be returned without opposition.

It is stated by a Bristol paper that Mr. Richard
Bright, M.P. for East Somerset, has met with a severe
accident. Ills horse fell with Lim during a fast gallop and
rolled over him ; and although it is hoped that ho has nus-
tained no permanent injury, yet it must I.?p, we understand,
some time before he can leave his bed.

On Wednesday a butcher was brought before the
stipendiary magistrate at Liverpool charged with offer-
ing or exposing a piece of diseased meat for sale, such meat
b,ing unfit for human food. It was proved that the piece
of meat in question was part of the carcase of a dropsical
animal. The defendant was sent to gaol fora month, with-
out the option of Paying a fine.
COBDEN CLUB.—The subject for the Prize Essay
of the Cobden Club for the year 1869 is the following :
" Free Trade in its Relation to the Colonies and Depend-
encies of Great Britain." The essays are are to be sent
in to the honorary Secretary, Mr. Thomas Bayley Potter,
M.P., Reform Club, London, before the Ist of January,
1870, and are not to exceed in length 50 pages of the
Quarterly or North American Renews. The committee re-
serves to itself the privilege of publishing the succesefu
essay

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGIL—At a meeting of
the curators of the University of Edinburgh, held on Wed-
nesday, a lettcr was read from Professor Lyon Playfair,
M.P., intimating his intention to resign the chair of
chemistry at the close of the present session. Those are
already a number of candidates for the professorship.
AYMA RK ET THEATRE. Mr. George Turpin,
box-doorkeeper, whose claims upon the frequenters of this
theatre are of themselves considerable, announces his
annual benefit for WenneAlay next. The programme
includes Mr. Robertson's highly successful comedy of
" Home," and the farco of "B ,x and Cox." Other en-
tertainments are also promised ; and there is very little
doubt that Mr. Turpin will have on this occasion, as he
has had on many others, a crowded house.
THE ;MANUFACTURE OF WATCHES AND CLOCKS.
A most iuterc:•tin,g and instructive little work, describing briefly
but with great clearness, the rise and progress of watch and
lo , has just been published by Mr J. W. Benson, of
25, c
Oldk mraokni
Bond-street, 99 Westbourne-grove, and the City Steam
Factory, 55 and 69, Ludgate-hill. The book, which is profusely
c,
illustrated, gives a full description of the various kinds of watches
and clocks, with their prices, and no one should make a purchase
without visiting the above establishments or consulting this truly
valuable work. By its aid persons residing in any part of the
United Kingdom. India, or the Colonies, are enabled to select for
themselves the watch best adapted for their use, and have it sent
to them with perfect safety. Mr.Bensou, who holds the appoint-
ment to the Prince of Wales, sends this pamphlet to any address
on receipt of two postage stamps, and we ca,unot too strongly
recommend 11 to the.noticeof thetenclutser puriiugnd

EXTRAORDINARY LIBEL CASE.

Some strange proceedings in a libel case, brought by Mr.
Charles Reade against the proprietors of the New York
Round Table, are reported in the American papers. It
appears that on three several occasions the Round Table
criticised Mr. Reade's novel "Griffith Gaunt" most severely,
declaring it to be "replete with impurity," " essentlially
bad and indecent," and at length affirming that the work
was so immoral and obscene that Mr. Charles Read could
not have written it. Mr. Reade claims damages to the
tune of 25,000 dollars; and that his complaint might be
made out, his advocate called Mr. George Vandenhoff to
the witness-box, placed a copy of " Griffith Gaunt" in
the hands of that famous elocutionist, and desired him to
begin at the beginning, and read it all through.
No objection was made to the proposal, and the
judge and jury adjusted themselves for the entertainment.
The performance is thus described :—" The jury looked
bored and pleased by turns ; though they often frowned
and drowsed, he quite as often brought a smile to their
lips. But one old ` gentleman of the jury' looked out of
an eye peculiarly hollow at what he evidently considered
the hollowness of the whole proceeding, and seemed not
half so well pleased as if he had paid for an orchestra chair
to the entertainment. When Mr. Vandenhoff said, ` Mr.
Leicester favoured her with a knowing wink,' he looked
at the jury and the court, and the jury and the court
looked sorrowfully back again, but the ` wink' was with
with the reader. On he went, but when he read `because
you ha'n't got no stomach,' said the boy contemptuously,
a laugh went round, which shewed plainly enough that other
people had this indispensable machinery, and that it was long
after lunch time. Getting disgusted with his work, the reader
began to utter the words very rapidly, and the chop-chop•
chop of the exercise shewed that Mr. Vandenhoff
can read badly if he tries. At twenty-five minutes
to two o'clock he had read eight chapters, and rested for
a short time, but, after resuming, even the pathetic
capitals `I love Kate' made no impression upon the jury,
nor could they be roused when he read in a dramatic
manner how `their lips met, in spite of all the difficulties,
and grew together in a long and tender embrace,' and se
at twenty minutes past two, having got through with ten
out of the thirty-seven chapters, Mr. Vandenhoff asked
that, as it was the longest reading he ever had occasion to
make, the rest of his task might be deferred until another
day. This was granted. For the defence it was urged that the
authorship of the novel must be proved before it could be
admitted in evidence. According to one report, the
defence `emphatically denied that Charles Reade wrote
"Griffith Gaunt ";' another report has it that `as a matter
of fact they intended to shew such plagiarism in the book
as was injurious to his reputation.' The court reserved
the real point for decision : it is that the original com-
plaint had a double aspect, one treating the plaintiff as
having suffered by the libels personally, and the other as an
author. The court had put him to his election as to which
of the two he would sue on, and he had chosen to sue for
the injuries to him professionally. In this view it was
essential to prove that he was the author of the book.

TERRIBLE N.APIITITA EXPLOSION.

Telegrams from Birmingham state that a fearful explosion

•`.ecurred on Wednesday afternoon at the naphtha works of
e,srs. Demath and Co., Oldbury. It appears that the re-
tort in which the extracting process was going on exploded,
and sot fire to a large nurnter of barrels, all of which
were filled with naphtha. The fire thus caused could not
be extinguished. All efforts made to put it out proved
utterly vain. Two of the men who were employed at
;he works, and whose names were Elletrent and Picke-
rill, were burnt to cinders, and four other men, named
Forrester, Bastible, Rollason, and Tomlinson, were se-
verely injured. So serious are the it:juries sustained by
Forrester that he is reported to be dying. The Birmingham
papers give the following additional details of the disaster
On examination it was discoverod that ono of the boilers
or retorts used in the distilling process, situated at the
lower end of the yard, near the canal, had burst,
from its contents having, in some way or other,
at present inexplicable, become ignited. About

three o'clock the charred remains of the man Element
were found amongst the delnis. The fire, while awful
in its nature, was magnificent to Lehold. Streams
of tar, hissing and blazing, were running about
the place, and one of the streams found its way
to the canal, and set two or three boats on fire
The sides of the boats were much damaged. When
the fire was got under, the remains of the unfortunate mar
Pickerill were discovered near the remnant of the exploded
retort. lie was employed to wheel slack from the boats into
the works. A young man named Forrester (son of the mana-
ger) was seriously burned by the tar. Ile jumped into the
;anal, and managed to reach a public-house near to the place,
from whence he was shortly afterwards removed to his house.
A man named Rollason, a fitter employed at the works, way
also severely injured. The bones and other remains of Ele-
ment were removed in a hamper to the Oldbury po:ice station,
and Pickerell's remains were allowed to remain at the
works. Drs. Brown, liawa; d, Sainsbury, and Cooper were
promp!ly cu the cone of the disaster, and rendered all the
aid in their power to the sufferers. Several of the people
living rn ar the premises removed their furniture into an ad-
joining field when the fire was at its highest pitch, as they
considered their houses in danger. The cause of this sad oc-
currence is at present unknown, but there is reason to believe
that the boiler or retort which exploded leaked in sonic way
and the contents, on being exposed to the heat of the fire
ignited. The man Element was married. Late last night the
young man Forrester died. The fire was quite extin-
guished by five o'clock, but the whole place is reduced to a
state of complete ruin, and it was estimated that about
£2,000 worth of finished material was destroyed. The place
was not insured.

The Sheffield Town Council on Wednesday adopted e
petition to Parliament in favour of a national compulsory
system of education.

The London correspondent of the Leeds illereur3
states that there is ono circumstance in connection with the
return of Mr.Jamcsfor Taunton which deserves to be noticed
Ho will, it is rumoured, be a loser to the amount of nearl3
£lO,OOO by his success in the petition against Mr. Sergeant
Cox's return. At the time of the general election he Ivag
retained in an extraoidinary number of election petitiot
cases, and received, in accordance with the practice which
has been established in the petition courts, very high
briefs. It was in the first instance understood that counsel
who were also members of Parliament were not deterred
by that fact from appearing in election cases ; but the
Attorney-General, to whom an appeal was made upon the
subject, has decided against this view, and Mr. James must,
therefore, return all his election petition briefs which have
not been tried.

Madame Rachel's effects, at her house in Mad-
dox-street, were submitted to general inspection on Thurs-
day morning, and aro to be sold by public auction in
the course of a few days. The drawing-rooms
and principal apaitments aro said to "present splendour
and magnificence difficult to describe." There is a pair
of massive candelabra, formerly belonging to the Emperor
of the French, and a magnificent pair of incense burners,
formerly tho property of the King of Delhi. Dis-
persed throughout the house are numerous works
of art, and the extensive collection of articles of vertu, many
of them being presentations from Madame Rachel's " dis•
tinguished patronesses." Admission by catalogues was
strictly enforced, and a shilling each was charged for them.

Mr. Justice Smith had before him at Exeter on
Wed nesdAy a charge of arson. Thomas Martin was the accused
and he pleaded guilty to setting fire to a corn stack. Ot
acing called on to receive judgment the prisoner said :
" All I have to say is this-1 am a man under
curse, the worst curse that can happen to a man.

I am possessed of the devil, and that is the cause of my
committing the crime for which I stand here. I know I
should have to do it three years helot.° it happened. I know
Also that I have to commit a murder, and I call ou
avery person present to witness, when at a future day I am
3r0u61,t up for murder, that I gave all the warning that I
could. I have only done this now to put off committing
murder for a while." He was sentenced to penal servitnde

for seven years.
WORKHOUSE MASTERS.—The workhouse mas-
ters in Kent have just had a gathering to form an asso-
ciation of their members. The meeting was held at
Nlaidstone, and was numerously attended, a deputation
being also present from London. Mr. William Lance, of
Cranbrook, having been voted to the chair, the deputa-
tion explained the object of the Workhouse Masters' Asso-
ciation of London—namely, the discussion of poor-law
legislation and other matters affecting poor-law officers,
for the protection and mutual aid of its members by the
appointment of a solicitor to the association, and to obtain
more uniformity of discipline and arrangements in work-
houses, now so diversified. In the course of the discussion
that ensued it was stated that the deputation had an inter-
view with the Poor•law inspectors of the metropolitan dis-
trict, and that they strongly approved the association;
that they would be pleased to receive any suggestions from
the masters' association; that it would have been beneficial
to workhouse management had it been established sooner;
and that if at any time the association expressed a wish for
an inspector to attend any of their meetings for discussion,
one of them would do so. The formation of a benevolent
funl, the simplification of the book-keeping, and the
improvement of the system of superannuation were also
mentioned as objects of the association. With respect to
poor-law legislation, it was considered that the interest of
the ratepayers ought not to be entirely lost sight of, a
large proportion of whom when sick could not afford to
have the comforts provided for inmates of workhouses. All
the masters present signified their intention of joining the
association, and it was decided to hold a meeting at (an.
terbury in the first week in June,