The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 27, 1869.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, THE ERNEST J O...YES DEMONSTRATION. 31ISCELLANEOUS
•
'fie gaturday _Review, in contemplating the probable
The Ernest Jones demonstration is pronounced a THE HABEAS CORP'
consequences of the disestablishment and disendowment
comparative failure. otwithstan4g that it was a The Habeas Corpus Act is no
of the Irish Church, says that with many of the prophe-
holiday, thattheweather was fine, and at every effort had Ireland, and we have now to sl
cies of; woe which have been uttered during the debate it
been made to make the showd an imposingoi one,
hthe effect of the "policy of justice
has no kind of sympathy. The Protestant Episcopal
processions were meagre,
out-door
an composed which the Ministry boast they
Church in Ireland is sure to get on well enough if anyonewhich ended
mi aterial than. any of gatherings, The first act of the Government
really wants it there, and sure to fade away if it is not Fenian convicts, is not auspicious
n the passing of the Tory Reform Bill ; and, so far as
wanted. In half a century it will have used or neglected that we might shew our strength
casual spectators could observe from the banners and
the great opportunity now given it of chewing what as a sign of weakness. Set free
placards incidental to the proceedings, it was the
amount of stuff and life there is really in it. The Irish we had no fear of them, they ha
Fenian prisoners and the defunct Reform League,
Protestants will be just as loyal and industrious and indication that we are afraid to ]
Jones, who
energetic in two years' time as they are now. The clergy and not the memory of the late Ernestto be hoped that the same result
of all denominations may be less sore, and can scarcelybe were to be glorified. For the most part Trafalgar- resumption of the Habeas Corpu
of elite of
Friday on the
more sore, than they are now. But on two points the square was the receptacle THE PRESTON ST
alarmists seem to us to be quite right. The disestablish- London ruffianism, although, in justice it should be The Standard recurs again 'to
ment and disendowment of the Irish Church cannot fail added, from the force of circumstances appeared in an and again condemns it. Our cont
to affect the English Church. The minds of men have expectant and subdued state. For two hours a shifting, that thousands will have to
been turned in the-direction of leaving all religious bodies I motley crowd of perhaps 5,000 persons kept the Square this strike who have nothin,
to themselves. The argument that the State can do per- alive, and of these certainly not more than 1,000 belonged with it. Thus, those who
fectly well without a national religion will tell on both to the demonstration proper. There were apparently machinery must stop wh
sides of the Channel. and how serious will he the discus- persons of all classes r resent, for upon glancing across the stop. Every man, woman, e
mien when it is raised as to the English Church may easily fountains prominent in the foreground was to be seen a I engaged in the manufacture, yl
be learnt by anyone who cares to weigh w hat Mr. Lowe notorious Fenian nho was tried along with Michael fleeted with the trade, is thi
meant when he said that he objected to a disestablished Barrett for complicity in the Clerkenwell explosion, factory is compulsorily closed.
Church retaining great endowments, as that would he to while the farther c:;tremity of the mass was boldly the. operatives are creating par
their own, in Preston. They ai
set up a theocracy in the middle of a nation. Then, again, marked by the manly presence of Sir Robert Peel.
We have' every sympathy with
it is impossible to believe that this division will not I The processions started from three centres. To
they will receive help in that wh
inspire the Irish with hopes which must some day be dis- Clerkenwell-green, of course, was reserved the privilege of righteous struggle from their fel
appointed. Mr. Bright openly and courageously avowed accommodating the forces that mustered in the East-end, same field, and the prevalence c
that ranianism had been one of the most immediate causes and upon that grassless area a few hundreds of men and meat among those who are ern]
of the proposal to treat the Established Church as the youths collected about three o'clock. This was the chief industry is highly creditable. .
majority of Irishmen would wish it to be treated. Irish- procession. The hand was there, and Handel's well- " conciliators ?' Where are the
men will certainly think that a resettlement of the land known funeral dirge was the music ; nor can it benied that people the true economy of the
and probably will think that a repeal of the Union may the red "caps of liberty" were present in much force ; but argue with them that, if cotton I
be obtained, if enough noise is made, and England is suffi- for all this it was a very paltry business. So evidently raw markets high, demand in
ciently terrified. Sooner or later they will have to find thought the spectators, who looked on while the proces- I market depressed, business evi
out their mistake, and we are not sure whether the disen. sion passed through Farringdon-street, Fleet-street, and and profits at zero, it is better fo
the level of affairs than to wilful
chantment may not come as soon as they wake to the fact i the Strand. Meanwhile another procession was mar-
that the proposals of the Ministry that has done so much I shalled in Soho-square, to reach Trafalgar-square, the workhouse?
, ~,_ %....._, Ll._ rn..--1. --- -- 4- 41.- 1.-A 4- is- .lw way of Den.n.strept_ Prinnes-strent_ Cnventrv.street. PAUPERISM.

The Ernest Jones demonstration is pronounced a
comparative failure. Notwithstaniiipg that it was a
holiday, thattheweather was fine, and did every effort bad
been made to make the show an imposing one, the
processions were meagre, and composed of rougher
material than any of the out-door gatherings, which ended
in the passing of the Tory Reform Bill ; and, so far as
casual spectators could observe from the banners and
placards incidental to the proceedings, it was the
Fenian prisoners and the defunct Reform League,
and not the memory of the late Ernest Jones, who
were to be glorified. For the most part Trafalgar-
square was the receptacle on Friday of the elite of
London ruffianism, although, in justice it should be
added, from the force of circumstances=-it appeared in an
expectant and subdued state. For two hours a shifting,
motley crowd of perhaps 5,000 persons kept the Square
alive, and of these certainly not more than 1,000 belonged
to the demonstration proper. There were apparently
persons of all classes r resent, for upon glancing across the
fountains prominent in the foreground was to be seen a
notorious Fenian who was tried along with Michael
Barrett for complicity in the Clerkenwell explosion,
while the farther e:;tremity of the mass was boldly
marked by the manly presence of Sir Robert Peel.
The processions started from three centres. To
Clerkenwell-green, of course, was reserved the privilege of
accommodating the forces that mustered in the East-end,
and upon that grassless area a few hundreds of men and
youths collected about three o'clock. This was the chief
procession. The band was there, and Handel's well-
known funeral dirge was the music ; nor can it benied that
the red "caps of liberty" were present in much force; but
for all this it was a very paltry business. So evidently
thought the spectators, who looked on while the proces-
sion passed through Farringdon-street, Fleet-street, and
the Strand. Meanwhile another procession was mar-
shalled in Soho-square, to reach Trafalgar-square,
.by way of Dcan-street, Princes-street, Coventry-street,
and the Haymarket. The third procession was supposed
to represent Southern London, and its route was the
Obelisk, Blackfriars-road, Westminster Bridge, and Par-
liament-street. In Trafalgar-square there were five chair-
men, but the speeches were very little heard, and very
little effort was made by the people to hear them. Mr. J.
G. Holyoake made the speech of the day. Speaking of the
claims Ernest Jones had upon the working-classes, Mr.
Holyoake went on to say : " What Mr. Bright
is to the middle-class Mr. Ernest Jones was to
the people —to all those oft regarded as the
' insurgent classes.' It is only lately that the masses
took heartily to Mr. Bright ; they always took heartily to
Mr. Jones. He took more personally the part of the
working people. They liked him for his defence of them ;
but they knew that he was a gentleman, well born and
well connected, and they liked bim better still for that.
He attacked ' the Manchester School,' he hated Whigs,
manufacturers, and the middle classes, who, once possessed
of power themselves, forgot all their fine promises of help-
ing the people to political enfranchisement. But in all
his fierce attacks which disturbed the peace of the Anti-
Corn Law League, he did not hate these parties as the
workmen then hated them—he hated them as an aristo-
crat bates them, Proud and brave, he spoke fiery words
at public meetings. Two years' imprisonment followed,
in which he was treated with indignity. The
visiting justices were of the class he had outraged,
and they were not inclined to make their prisoner oblivious
that he had fallen into their power. Nervous, sanguine,
ambitious, conscious of great powers, these were two
dreadful years to pass by Mr. Jones ; but his spirit was
untameable. He could not hope to escape the cholera
which decimated the inmates of the cells around him.
He was treated as though it was desired that he should
die of it. But what occurred inside the prison was
a small thing to a man of his nature, to what he knew
was occurring outside of it. His wife was left with
a young faMily dependent on aid which was sure to
fall short of her needs, and had to be procured by means
of appeals far more painful than privation to a lady
of her honourable pride, and the prison authorities kept
his letters back three months at a time, and he could not
hear whether cholera or grief or want had killed his family
and his wife. His hatred became intense, and, after this,
undying, and those who are going to condemn it should
put themselves in his place first. The care and sorrow of
his prison years told on the health of his wife, and a few
years after his liberation be found himself a widower,
and his children motherless. It was hard for him
to die just when the prospect was assured him of
entering Parliament, the equal of those who put
this malignant misery upon him, and meeting them
face to face in conflict. It is clear that Ernest Jones
became a poet under the influence of Lord Byron's genius.
His early poems are all Byronic in form, force, and pas-
sion. In gaol they would not allow him ink, and he had
to cut himself to get blood to write with, and he covered
in that fluid the leaves of his prayer book with his poem
the " Revolt of II indostan." He was kept nineteen
months without pen, ink, or paper. After his liberation
he became known to Mr. Disraeli, who respected him as a
man of genius ; and- certainly at one time the brightest
days of Mr. Jones were those when he joined his friends,
after interviews with the eminent literary statesman.
Thomas Cooper, another noted Chartist, who wrote a poem
of mark in gaol, received honourable notices from Mr.
Disraeli. Not long after his imprisonment, Mr. Jones's
uncle, Mr. Halton Annersley, made him an offer of a
fortune of .-c..2,000 a year if he would abandon his
Chartist advocacy. At the same time Mr. Jones well
understood what he was about and what his prospects were.
The service of the people would not keep him in bread.
The people he served never do keep any advocate of Mr.
Jones's typo in bread. Indeed it was Mr. Jones's pride
and policy not to receive any pay for his addresses, and
this was permitted, although penury; or dependence, or
debt must result, and thosewho accepted his services knew
it. Ernest Jones had chosen his cause, and would not
shrink from the lot it entailed. In London his life was always
one of anxiety and labour. lie published newspapers which
he lacked capital to sustain. People sent him orders
who could not pay him, and some sent orders who never
meant to pay him ; and the poet, ever dreaming of high
things, was condemned to perplexity, labour, and humi-
liation. To the day of his death anxiety followed him.
He went to Manchester with a sad heart when his career in
London came to an end, and a few days before his death
be wrote to me to say how he looked forward when mem-
ber for Manchester to come and sit by a fireside that over-
looks the spot where we now stand, and talk over again
the long deferred dreams of bygone days. It is a proof
of the gratitude that dwells in the common people that
the news of his death cast a gloom of audible
sorrow over all the workshops of England and
Scotland, and a good way over the world the sharp
grief bas travelled. Every' workman looked forward
to his triumph, and was grateful to Manchester for ensur-
ing it. One might differ from Mr. Jones in many of his
views, and not hesitate to condemn what might seem
hurtful as well as erroneous ; but every publicist must
respect one who gave himself to the labour of advancing
freedom with all the energy of passion and courage, and
whose ambition it was to put upon it the stamp of honesty
and genius."

it is impossible to believe that this division will not
inspire the Irish with hopes which must some day be dis-
appointed. Mr. Bright openly and courageously avowed
that ranianism had been one of the most immediate causes
of the ,proposal to treat the Established Church as the
majority of Irishmen would wish it to be treated. Irish-
men will certainly think that a resettlement of the land
and probably will think that a repeal of the Union may
be obtained, if enough noise is made, and England is suffi-
ciently terrified. Sooner or later they will have to find
out their mistake, and we are not sure whether the disen-
chantment may not come as soon as they wake to the fact
that the proposals of the Ministry that has done so much
to please them about the Church are, as to the land, to be
confined within the miserable limits of political economy.
These are very considerable risks to run, and the division
of the week may be taken as a sign that England, having
counted the cost, is still determined to run them. In
politics the risk of standing still is sometimes greater than
the risk of moving Cu, and now the determination
to move on, as the less dangerous course of the
two, has been taken. It is an immense advantage that
this determination has been taken and manifested with an
decisiveness which will spare us further wavering, and
prevent us from losing through irresolution the advantages
that moving on promises to ensure us.

The Spectator declares that everybody is asking, early as
it is, " What will the Lords do with the Irish Bill ?" for,
as politicians clearly perceive, the power of preventing, or
at least of delaying, the fall of the Irish Church, now rests,
in fact, with them. Mr. Gladstone's plan will probably be
sent up to the Lords intact. The fight will then recom-
mence, and, as usual when the Upper House is in the way, .
will he carried on mainly from the outside. Pressure will
be applied instead of argument, and menace instead of
reasoning; the Lords will b e threatened with extinction, with
inundation, with popular violence, with all manner of
pains and penalties borrowed from the half-forgotten
Liberal repertoire of 1831, when the measure desired by
the people was levelled directly at their power. We con-
fess that, as Radicals, we dislike this process, this eleva-
tion of bluster to a constitutional agency, very much
indeed. It may be a very doubtful question whether the
House of Lords, as at present constituted, is a desirable
power in the State, whether a public meeting of one or
two hundred wealthy gentlemen irresponsible to Uri
nation ought to have the power of rejecting a bill like
that for the disestablishment of the Irish Church,
whether the day for withdrawing the veto on legislation
now entrusted to the great landowners may not have
arrived. It may be expedient to strengthen the popular
assembly by making its decisions when affirmed by a cer-
tain majority, say of 100, irreversible, or to strengthen the
Executive by limiting the veto of the Upper House to the
bill in its entirety, as is done with money bills, or to
modernise the tone of the House by introducing life
peers, or to extinguish the House altogether ; but there is
one thing which it is not expedient to do, and that is, to
m-ak; the highest men in the realm demoralise the nation
by setting the example of voting against their consciences.
If the Lords are of any use at all, it is as men who can
vote without fear of external compulsion, who can speak
their minds without reference either to the hustings or tho
mob, who can legislate, and not merely register an already
pronounced decree. Some of the demands popularly made on
the Lords seem to us to be demands fur the display of an
hypocrisy which is just as injurious and as enfeebling in
politics as in theology. They are to say they approve the
bill, as some clergymen say they approve verbal inspira-
tion, not because they believe in it, but because, if they
do not, their "means of usefulness" in other departments
may consequently be lessened. The Lords are subject to
just the same rules of intellectual morality as other people
are. If they, in their consciences, are convinced that
the Irish Bill will be injurious to the -nation, and that it is
their function to give operative expression to that belief,
then their duty is to throw out the bill, regardless of any
consequences to themselves from its performance. It will,
of course, then be a question whether the Queen's
Government can be carried on with an mire) ised Consti-
tution ; but-better that question, with all its dangers, than
legislation carried on by a Chamber intellectually enslaved.
Let us have a proposal for the reform of the Lords, rather
than a proposal to make either lying or cringing in the
Lords a constitutional etiquette.
The London Beriew thinks that the majority wnica
on Wednesday morning, sent into committee the Bill fox
the Restitution of Stolen Property in Ireland formed thu
expected climax of a dull debate. We cannot recall any
political project of similar importance the discussion of
which in Parliament offered so very little of interest to the
outside public. We doubt if one man out of every ten
took the trouble to read those ingenious, but perfectly
unnecessary, efforts of oratory which were intended to sup-
port or prevent a foregone conclusion. Here and there
the reader of the morning paper may have been tempted
to watch Mr. Disraeli's dexterous fighting in the air with
invisible opponents, or listen to the stately and sympathetic
periods of Mr. Gladstone, or study the valiant and un-
hesitating attitude of Mr. Hardy ; but any such casual
scrutiny of the dreary columns of type had not for its
object the obtaining of information upon the prospects of
the bill. These were settled in November last. Tho
parliamentary custom which ordains that before the con..
cession of the principle of a new national bill be granted,
the foremost men of all parties shall be heard, is doubtless
wise and salutary ; but in the present case it only caused
a sheer waste of splendid intellectual effort. Mr.
Disraeli, indeed, seemed to understand the position
so thoroughly that he can scarcely be said to
have dealt with the present bill at all. The
man who reads the brilliant and subtle speech over
which the member for Bucks had apparently spent a
tolerable quantity of midnight oil, may be pleased and
tickled and even struck into genuine admiration by cer-
tain portions of it; but if he wishes to gather from it any
notion of the real points at issue—the real stumbling-
blocks which lie in the way of Conservative opposition to
the measure—he discovers that he has been dining off
air. Not even Mr. Gladstone's masterly and luminous
exposition ; Mr. Bright's eloquence, just touched by official
repose ; Mr. Lowe's acute critcism, and the delicate
reasoning of Sir Rounclell Palmer—to say nothing of the
interest attaching to some excellent first appearances—
could save the general character of the debate from being
tedious and dispiriting ; while the ordinary proportions
of dulness with which all debates in the House of Com-
mons are liberally furnished were duller than ever.
The John Bull thinks that the greatest wonder of the
day is that the mass of people are ignorant of the por-
tentous crisis through which the country is passing. The
ordinary Englishman eats and drinks, does his business,
and indulges in social and other festivities just as if no
unusual event was taking place.' But as to considering the
question of the Irish Church on its merits, or in connec-
tion with other measures passed years ago of which it is
the complement, or with others in the future of which it
is certainly the forerunner, the idea never enters his head.
The John Bull considers that matters are far more serious.
For a few years indeed it anticipates no great cata-
strophe, but the work will be going on secretly.
Then, as suddenly as the Irish Church question was
declared ripe for decision, we shall be told that th'e hour
of the English Establishment's downfall has come, or that
the House of Lords must cease to exist, or that private
property can no longer be respected. To those who tell
us that these are visionary dreams, that such writing is
dictated by mere irritated party feeling, we answer, Turn
back to the records of former legislation. See Low earnestly
Roman Catholics protested, when the Emancipation Act
was passed, that they would not use their political privi-
leges to the injury of the Established Church ; how Dis-
senters were indignant at the scandalous libels put forth
by infatuated Tories as to their desiring to hurt the
Church. And where now are. these Liberal pledges?
Laughed to scorn ; while those bigoted politicians who fore-
told that what we now sf e before our eyes would occur have
been proved to Le true prophets. And none but those who
refuse to see can blind themselves to the fact that far
more than the position of the Irish Church is now at stake.
With these convictions it is not surprising that our con-
temporary should advise the House of Lords to reject the
bill on the 'second reading, and declare that the Conser-
vative party must follow Mr. Hardy on this question, not
Mr. Disraeli.

This was•the pith of the speech, and although it wa..
lost upon the majority, there were some present who,
knowing, like the speaker, something of Ernest Jones's
warm impulses, were carried away by the vivid recollec-
tions of the past that were called up.
Amongst the other speeches there was one in French,
delivered to an audience of foreigners, who, either by
happy accident or appropriate design, occupied the space
nearest Leicester-square. The largest and noisiest groups
of applauders were to be found around four or five couples,
who, personating priest and clerk, read and sold mock
litanies touching the last election. These loathsome
denizens of St. Giles's seemed to meet with no rebuke and
no disapprobation, but uttered their profane parodies of
some of the most beautiful portions of the Church Service with
tokens of approval that were, unhappily, particularly forth-
coming when the approvers were young men of gentle-
manly appearance. As a commercial speculation, how-
ever, the venture was fruitless ; the dodge, to begin with,
is an old one, and the blasphemy had not the excuse of wit
and shrewd application as it had when introduced into the
Hyde Park demonstrations of other days.

DEFALCATION BY A RATE COLLECTOR.—Mr.
Francis Durrant,latelyone of the parochial rate collectors
at Greenwich, has disappeared, leaving ascertained defi-
ciencies in his accounts amounting to £2,818, and which
are mly covered by sureties amounting to £6OO. By the
40th clause of the local Act of Parliament governing the
parish of Greenwich the collectors are restricted from keep-
ing any sum above £25 in hand more than seven days, but are
bound to pay the same to the parish treasurer, under a
Penalty of £5 each day the sum should prove to have been
in their possession. Surprise is expressed at the laxity of
the parochial body, to whom is entrusted the auditing of
accounts, in allowing so large a deficiency on the part
of any official to have become possible. At a meeting
of the vestry, Lcid on Thursday night, Mr. Church-
warden Soarnes presiding, the loss sustained by the
parish was repored, and as Mr. Durrant had suddenly
taken his departure from the town, it was resolved that
criminal proceedings should be taken against MAI by the
solicitor and clerk to the parish, and a reward offered for
his apprehension. 'The defaulter's sureties complain of
the utter want of supervision which has deen displayed
over the receipts, supposed to have existed for some years,
and it is understood their liability will be contested
in one of the superior courts of law. The de cations
named will, under the most favourable circ I ",,ces,
npoccuensd uponsitate ththeelevying of as additional rate, • in the
whole of tjoiccltpiers Q sin II-
I tOWnc

GARRETT V. STOWELL AND WHITWORTII.—The
plaintiff in this action has, we are informed, received
strong legal advice to move the Court of Queen's Bench
to set aside the award which the referee who was ap.
pointed under the rule of court at the last Manchester
winter assizes has recently made and published, • The
cause will come before the' judges in lalaco_virjzilLbii
Lulu tam.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

bad recommended that the contract should be dis-
allowed, but that the contractors be offered the
option of conducting the postal services for a shorter
period. The sense of the meeting appeared to
favour the conclusions at which we arrived in our
article last week ; that subsidies were required
to enable companies efficiently to carry the mails ;
but it is clear that the Chamber was divided on
the subject, as an amendment was offered, protest-
ing against subsidies as opposed to Free Trade.
The Public Credit Bill was brought up in the
House on the 12th inst., and was passed with very
little alteration under the title of " An Act to
strengthen the Public Credit of the United States,"
by 97 to 48. There is but one Democrat among
the majority, Mr. Axtell ; but there were several
Republicans in the minority, Beatty, Butler (Mas-
sachusetts), Butler (Tennessee), Cobb, Coburn,
Dewees, Hawkins, Hopkins, Orth, Shanks, Ste-
venson, Taffee, Tyner, and Wilson, of Ohio. The
Senate took it up on the 11th, but adjourned after
striking out the second section legalizing contracts
in gold. Mr. Thurman moved to except the 5-20
Bonds from the section retained, which was de-
feated by 30 to 12. Among the minority were the
Republican Senators Boreman, Cole, Morton, Os-
born, Pratt, Ross, and Sprague, but not a single
Democrat voted with the majority. Senator Mor-
ton made another effort for repudiation ; but was
defeated by 32 to 14, when the Senate adjourned
till the 15th.

THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT.

The Habeas Corpus Act is no longer suspended in
Ireland, and we have now to see what will be the
effect of the " policy of justice and conciliation "
which the Ministry boast they have inaugurated.
The first act of the Government, the release of the
Fenian convicts, is not auspicious. Released in order
that we might shew our strength, they have taken it
as a sign of weakness. Set free that we might shew
we had no fear of them, they have regarded it as an
indication that we are afraid to punish them. It is
to be hoped that the same result will not follow the
resumption of the Habeas Corpus.

Mr. G. W. Smalley, the London correspondent
of the Tribune, has written to that paper on the
American Minister to Spain, with reference to that
gentleman's recent letter to a New Hampshire Con-
gressman, making charges against Mr. Perry,
Secretary of Legation, and asking that he, Mr.
Hale, be continued in his diplomatic post. Mr.
Smalley has lately visited Madrid, and the opinion
he formed was that Mr. Hale had been so injuri-
ously affected by severe illness as not to be then
qualified fairly to represent America. The Minister
sympathiz?s with the Queen of Spain, desires her
return, and opposes the revolution. The corre-
spondent considers Mr. Perry to have taken the
more American and correct view, indeed Mr.
Smalley's letter is in condemnation of the Minister
and in favour of his Secretary of Legation. At the
tame time he asserts that he formerly knew nothing
of Mr. Perry, while he knew a great deal of Mr.
Hale, and went to Madrid prepossessed in his
favour. The Washington Government seems in-
clined to settle the matter by recalling both gentle-
men, which we believe is the course most likely,
indeed certain, to be pursued.
The Senate Committee of the New York Legis-
lature on legislative corruption reported to the
Senate on the 11th inst. Tho document is very
long, and ought to be carefully read before au
opinion is given. The Chairman is Matthew Hale,
and the members Francis S. Thayer and Asher P.
Nichols. It is natural for the members of a Legis-
lature, whose conduct was impugned, to report as
favourably as possible; and we must therefore ac-
cept what they say with a liberal discount. It is
very difficult for men earnestly desirous of extract-
ing the truth to ascertain whether bribery has been
practised, became there are two guilty parties only
to the contract, neither of whom can convict the
other without disgracing himself. It appears evi-
dent that the charges have been exaggerated, but
it is equally clear that they are grounded on truth.
We will endeavour to give the pith of the report
next week.

The Tribune asserts that there is a delegation
from Nova Scotia at Washington, who " represent
the people of that colony as about to ask England
for a release from all political connection ; they
will at the same time send a delegation to Washing-
ton
to ascertain upon what terms they can be re-
ceived as a State into the American Union. The
feeling in the colony in favour of the measure is
intense and widespread. The subject is advocated
by the leading newspapers in the colony, and by
pamphlets prepared and published in Halifax, and
extensively circulated over the province. A pro-
minent gentleman in Washington has commenced
the preparation of a pamphlet on the subject, in
which he proposes to show that very great good
will result to both countries by the annexation,
not only of Nova Scotia, but of all the maritime
provinces." If the Tribune is right, which we
doubt, the sooner Nova Scotia settles the matter
with Canada and enters the Union the better. We
have persistently maintained that the best move
England could make would be to sever her political
connection with North America, and establish a
commercial and friendly alliance with the whole
continent, organizing a broad, comprehensive plan
of emigration. If this policy were carried out, what
England really desires, and what would tend
equally to the advantage of both countries, would
happen. The whole race, although under two
separate Governments, would become firmly knit
together, and the power and prosperity of each be
enormously strengthened thereby.
Ex-President Johnson left Washington by the
9.30 morning train for Baltimore on the 11th
March in a special car, wherein were ex-Secretary
Browning, General Trimble of Kentucky, the Hon.
C. A. Eldridge of Wisconsin, the Hon. S. S. Ran-
dall of Pennsylvania, Judge Gooding, late Marshal
of the District of Columbia, R. 11. Slicer of Balti-
more, Mr. J. F. Coyle, and others, escorted by a
Committee of the Baltimore City Council. Go-
vernor Bowie welcomed him on arrival at the Cam-
den Railroad station. Andrew Johnson received
for two hours in the Rotunda of the Exchange, and
so blocked the street that it was.impossible to get
about. Over 200 persons sat down to the dinner.
In response to the toast of his health, Mr. Johnson
alluded to the encouragement, peculiarly sustaining
in its character, he had received from Maryland
during his hard struggle for the Constitution. He
declared he felt more pleasure in being an American
citizen than to be inaugurated President over the
ruins of a violated Constitution ; a bit, we presume,
at Grant. His deliverance was the greatest case
of emancipation since the rebellion, and he would
rather be a free man than a President and be a slave;
—another hit. If a Radical report of the entertain-
ment be true, the Hun. S. J. Randall of Philadelphia
assaulted Judge Geary, of Baltimore, under the
impression that he was in some way connected with
Governor Geary of
his State. Although in a con-
dition in which men are supposed to see double
this gentleman could see but one Geary, and enter-
tain but one impression, that Geary was his enemy.
A discussion has been raised on the question of
the French withdrawal from Mexico. It was origi-
nally suggested by an article in the New York Tri-
bune, " On the Alabama Wrong," wherein a para-
graph hit at the feeble policy of ex-Secretary Seward
towardsthe French in their connection with Mexico.
This produced a reply from Mr. Bigelow and a re-
joinder from the Tribune, and another letter from
Mr. Bigelow, who, in our opinion, has the bed of the
argument, though his open sneer at the men whose
notion of foreign policy consists in cramming down
the throats of nations the eagle—talons, feathers,
and all—is resented by the Tribune. The Nation
alludes to the circumstance, which has not, we be-
lieve, been denied, that the French Marshal obtained
the Mexican maps and plans procured for and used
by General Scott during the invasion of Mexico by
the United States. In the meantime another candi-
date for the honour of having persuaded the Emperor
Napoleon to withdraw his troops has appeared in
the person of General Webb, Minister to Brazil, and
an article was published in the New York Times of
the 10th asserting that Mr. Seward's letter to Count
Montholon had not been written until after General
Webb had assured President Lincoln that it would
be all right. Poor Mr. Seward thought he had re-
tired in peace ; but here is a hornet's nest raised
about his cars touching his most celebrated de-
spatch, before he reaches Auburn !

The third party of middle class emigrants de-
spatched by the Minnesota Land Association leave
to-day by the .13eIlona from the Victoria Docks,
London, for St. Paul, Minnesota. On arrival at
New York, the agents of the Association will re-
ceive them, and they will proceed by express train
to their destination, making but two changes in a
run over 1,300 miles. The cars are fitted with
sleeping accommodation and other conveniences,
which enable the party to do this with comfort.
The emigrants consist of farmers, tradesmen, and
artizans, for the most part small capitalists. This
is the proper way in which to conduct emigration,

and in a few years its effect will be seen in Minne-
sota and felt in Congress ; and this is the true re-
medy for the ill blood generated in the United
States by Irish immigrants, and a very different
cure to that proposed by many wiseacres, of di-
verting in every possible way emigration from the
Republic to strengthen the colonies.
Juarez appears to be in a tight place. His situa-
tion by the latest advices is described as critical,
without money in the treasury, with limited and
unreliable troops, with a country in a state of an-
archy, open outrage stalking unpunished, and fierce
and undisguised hostility to him even in his capi-
tal. There is much abuse in Mexico of the United
States, which is always accused of having designs
on Mexican territory. The best day Mexico ever
saw would be that in which its beggarly inhabitants
were annexed to the Union ; but, however benefi-
cial for the Mexicans, we have. grave doubts re-
garding the benefit the great Republic would de-
rive. The Department Commanders have been de-
prived of the power of inflicting capital punish-
ment at will. General Alvarez evinces no inclina-
tion to put his head intep the lion's mouth, which the
lion has invited him to do. Juarez has directed
him to proceed to the capital and give an account
of the large sums he abstracted from the Acapulco
Custom-house, but he says he will see Juarez
somewhere !—first.

Professor Agassiz arrived at Havannah in a sur-
veying ship, and obtained permission from the
Cuban authorities, by whom he was most courte-
ously treated, to make surveys of that harbour.
Admiral Hoff, in command of the West India squa-
dron, bears testimony to the desire of the Cuban
Government to protect American citizens and their
property. There has been some fighting, in which
the insurgents were defeated ; but the insurrection
is spreading, and if the Spanish authorities ever re-
gain possession of the island, it will be only after a
long and bloody struggle. Dulce has written home
for more troops, for artillery and for a fleet,
also for money, and he will need al! he can get of
these supplies before he can put down the rebellion.
The insurgent General, Juan Capote Lopez, being
taken prisoner, was shot on the 9th inst. at Cien-
fuegos; and many other captured Cubans were
slain on the spot by the Spaniards with their knives.
An expedition from Nassau had landed, conveying
aid from the United States. It consisted of four
steamers, which landed cannon, arms, ammunition,
and recruits for the insurgents. The Spanish war
steamer saw the Peruvian monitors pass the Cuban
coast on their way to St. Thomas's when she re-
turned to Havannah. We fear a long and disas-
trous war, for Spain will never voluntarily surren-
ner her hold on Cuba while not sufficiently powerful
to crush out the insurrection. Several engagements
are reported .in the neighbourhood of Sagna. The
views of President Grant relative to the Cuban
question are the subject of numerous reports and
considerable discussion.

The Government on Thursday published in the
daily papers a melancholy list of the fate of British
subjects who took service with Lopez. Two were
shot by order of the Dictator, and most of them
are known to have died of ague and cholera.
Knowing the character of the man, it is gratifying
to learn that General M'Mahon is in good health
n the hills, not far from the miserable mountain
hamlet called Pirabebui, which Lopez has made his
head-quarters. On the morning of the 30th Jan.
an expeditionary force of 500 men left Ascuneion
to look up this position. Some sixty Paraguayan
families, protected by Rio Grande cavalry, were
massacred on their way to Ascuncion by a raiding
party of their countrymen, as Lopez has decreed
death as the award of all who submit to the in-
vaders. The escort fled, and on their return found
the women, old men, and children with their throats
cut. The gunboat Wasp was on her way back to
Paraguay. It is supposed that the despatches of
the American Minister have been intercepted.
From all accounts it appears that the Paraguayans
have been nearly exterminated ; but so devoted are
the people to the Dictator that it is thought, even
in his present extremity, that Brazil will be forced
to make peace with him. If the latest rumour from
the seat of war be true, Lopez has played a most
extraordinary card, and one that will cause no
slight embarrassment to the Allies and to Mr.
Hamilton Fish. The Buenos Ayres Standard thus
announces it :

"The news from Paraguay is of the most unlooked-for
character: nothing 1 ss than the cession of Paraguay by
Lopez to the United States. At first few credited the re-
port, but yesterday there was some importance attached to
it at Montevideo. Our brother editor informs us that the
story is not believed. It is impossible at the present
juncture to offer any opinion on the matter, and we
therefore await further advices. We regard it as a bola."

A report is about to be laid before the Legis-
lature of Prince Edward Island in relation to the
subject of reciprocal free trade between the island
and the United States.
AIR. MONCURE D. CONWAY.—The London cor-
respondent of the Tribune writes as follows :—" Our good
Virginian Radical, Moncure D. Conway, was last week
elected a Fellow of the Anthropological Society of Lon-
don. I know not. how many years Mr. Conway has been
a resident in England, but it must be six or-seven at least,
and his history is a remarkable one. He has achieved a
kind of success difficult to an Englishman, and doubly
difficult to an American in England. There is no place
where competition in literary work is so keen, where the
supply is so much greater than the demand, as Loudon ;
and where one man succeeds in a purely literary career,
there are scores who fail. Mr. Conway, without any
other aid than his own energy and genius, has made
his way into the front rank of writers in the periodical
press. There aro three daily journals in London so supe-
rior to the rest as to constitute a class by themselves,
and to two of these Mr. Conway is a regular contributor of
leading articles. His work is equally sought for in such re-
views and magazines as the Frazer, the Fortnightly, and
the Westminster. In the midst of all this labour, he
has found time for independent scientific pursuits, and
for• regular discourses on Sunday in South Plane Cha-
pel, to which he attracts a large audience of thought-
ful hearers. He has also a wide acquaintance am-mg
scientific and literary men—with Huxley and Tyndall,
Carlyle, Fronde, Browning, and many other names well
known in America—with whom, as well as in general
society, he is a great favourite. Secure in his position,
he has settled himself comfortably in a house in Notting-
hill-square, with all the air of a man to whom London has
become a permanent home, but who is thoroughly Ame-
rican spite of his long exile, and who does good service to
America in many ways ; not least by the example of a
successful career due to that kind of culture and ability in
which Americans are supposed to be most deficient."
THE AMERICAN NATIONAL DEBT AND THE LONDON
TI3IES" CORRESPONDENT.—A subscriber of ours, at
Frankfort, writes as follows : —The London Times corre-
spondent, writing from Philadelphia, says, the United
States national debt has only been diminished for the
month of February to the amount of $1,448,013. Now the
report of the Secretary of the Treasury shows a reduction
of $10,868,753 07 as follows :—Debt for February,
$2,556,205,653 08; ditto for March, $2,515,336,904 38;
reduction, $10,868,753 70. This, of course, includes the
cash on hand reported for each of the months.

SPARROWS IN CANADA.—The imported sparrows
at Quebec are good colonists. In spite of the tremendous
E now storms they still manage to keep up undiminished
numbers. There are now about twenty birds, which may
be seen daily in and about the Artillery Barracks. The
utility is more particularly observable at this season of the
year; the hot sun vivifies insect life for several hours of
the day, when from their semi-torpid state they become an
easy prey to birds; the eggs, too, of the caterpillar tribes
are approaching maturity. A little bird, therefore, such
as the sparrow or the black-taped titmouse, can commit
groat havoc among what will become insects at a later
period.—Canadian paper.
RAPID STEAMING.—SOUTHAMPTON, March 19.
The Hamburgh American Company's steamship .Holsatia,
Captain Ehlers, which arrived here last night, made the
voyage from New York to the Needles in the remarkable
short time of eight days twenty-two hours. This is be-
lieved to be by some six hours the quickest passage on
record. The following copy of the Holsatia's log shows
the distance run to be 3,105 miles, giving au average
speed of 141- miles per hour. She left New York at 4.10
p.m. on the 9th to the 10th noon, steamed 252 miles, lat.
40.36 N., long. 68.28 W.; on the 10th to the 11th noon,
steamed 335 miles, let. 42.8 N., long. 61.17 W. ; on the
11th to the 12th noon, steamed 368 miles, Lit. 43.43 N.,
long. 51.11 W. on the 12th to the 13th noon, steamed 352
miles, let. 45.19 N., long. 45.20 W. ; on the 13th to the
14th noon, steamed 840 miles, let. 46.47 N., long. 37.22 W.;
on the 14th to the 15th noon, steamed 332 miles, lat. 48.19
N. long. 29.40 W ; on the 15th to the 16th noon, steamed
352 miles, lat. 99.15 N., long. 20.54 W.; on the 16th to the
17th noon, steamed 348 miles, let. 49.10 N., long. 12.4 W. ;
on the 17th to the 18th noon, steamed 342 miles, lat. 56.6
N., long. 3.31 W.•' to Needles, steamed 84 miles. Time,
8 days 22 hours; distance run, 3,105 miles.

DuNvILLE and C 0.,? Belfast, are the largest
holders of Whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is ro
commended by the medical profession in preference to French
Brandy. Supplied in casks and cases for home use or exporta
tion. Quotations on application to Messrs. Dunville and Co.,
Belfast; or 4, Beaufort-buillings
_bum). lendon:,-W.9...[Ad-
Tertisement.

MONEY AND BUSINESS.

(From the Springfield Republican, March 13.)

The Boston Post says that at that city "money is easy
enough for those who owe nothing—with others who
have payments to meet the case is quite different," and the
market seems to be in a similar condition at New York
and in the Western business centres. The ruling rates
of loans " on call" at New York and Boston is below 7 per
cent., while outside paper and of a good quality is only
taken at au advance from that figure. There is a short
supply of money in the market, although the banks gene-
rally accommodate their regular customers without diffi-
culty. The shipments of merchandise to the South still
continue on a large scale, and a return of currency from
that quarter is looked for at an early day, and a revival of
the western trade is also expected as soon as navigation
opens. The farmers on the prairies have become tired of
waiting for a rise, and are bringing their produce to market
in quantities, which must compel an early transfer to New
York. The recent act of Congress prohibiting the certifica-
tion of cheeks, by banks, except where the corresponding
amount of funds is actually on depo-it, ii making the New
York bankers some trouble, as they hive not yet united
on a mode of everting it. Various methods have been
tried, but none with complete success, and some of the
banks threaten to return to the old system if the Act is
enforced. The law was designed to prevent a "lock up"
of currency at the pleasure of the speculators, and, of
course, the brokers are more eager and industrious than
the bankers to discover an evasion of the law. The re-
sult of this attempt to correct the evil by special legisla
tion, however, only proves more clearly the necessity of
the only efficient means of defeating and destroying specu-
lation—return to specie payments. The new law, also
enacted at the last Congress, which releases the na-
tional banks from their obligations to make a quarterly
report to the Controller of the currency is, however, as
acceptable as the other is distasteful, and the periodical
stringency to get over "quarter day" will henceforth be
avoided. The demand for money at Chicago slackened in
the early part of the week, under a disposition to wait de-
velopments at Washington, and most of the loans were
for use in the country, where money is still scarce and
collections difficult.

The price of Government Bonds has been unsteady
during the week, and the tendency of the market has been
downward, the decline in Five-Twenties ranging from
one to two per cent. The cause of the depression has un-
doubtedly been the unsettled condition of things at Wash-
ington in reference to the Treasury Department, and the
general hitch in the affairs of the new administration.
Quotations in the foreign markets have also been lower,
and of course exerted au unfavourable influence on the
situation in our home market. The orders from abroad
have fallen off within a day or two, and the active demand
is apparently suspended until the events of the future are
a little more clearly seen. The market in New York
since the inauguration has been weak and vacillating,
though there appears no particular disposition on the part
of holders to sell, and of some of the later issues of Five-
Twe n tie s quite a scarcity prevails. The fractional currency
issued last week amounted to $411,461, and that re-
deemed and destroyed to $369,185. The National Bank
currency issued for the same time amounted to $129,600,
and that returned, redeemed and destroyed, to $13,150,693,
leoving $299,905,083 still iu actual circulation.
The gold market has been without special interest,
though manifesting more than its usual sensitiveness, in
consequence of the uncertainties of the situation at Wash-
ington. On Monday the price went below 130, the lowest
for three years, but it speedily recovered itself, and has
since ranged at 131 to 131 k. The expectation of the sud-
den and surprising reform which the administration of
Grant would work, seems not to have been wholly realized,
and the gold speculators are content to hold on and await
developments. The imports for.the week at New York
show a very large increase, both of dry goods and general
merchandise, the total being seven and a quarter million
dollars in foreign gold value, aggregating an amount for
1869 in excess of either of the two previous years, for the
corresponding time since January 1. The figures for the
three years are as follows : —For the week ending March
6, 1869, $7,455,411; 1868. 31,753,533, and 1867, $4,806,103
—since January 1, 1869, $48,614,304; 1869, $38,190,551,
and 1867, $48,942,601. The entire gold value of the imports
at New York since July 1, 1868, are $170,856,203, an in-
crease of $45,267,723 over the amount for the correspond-
ing time in the previous year. The exports of specie
from New York since July 1, 1868, are $128,692,304, and
the receipts of California gold silver for the same time
$15,382,508, a decrease in the first case over $1,000,000,
and in the latter of over $7,500,000 from the amounts in
the year previous during the similar period. The demand
for gold for duties at New York is thus shown to b 3
greater than usual, and with a short supply from Cali-
fornia, even with the specie export diminished, the market
price will be well sustained and hold its place firmly.
The stock market has been dull and without excitement
or heavy business. The pendency of the investigation
into the operations with the stock of the New York Cen-
tral Railroad last fall, undoubtedly checks operations in
that direction, and only a few of the Western shares seem
to be much sought after. The roads radiating from
Chicago are in good demand, and the outcast and exiled
Erie has at last found a home in the new National Stock
Exchange, which began business on Thursday. It is
doubtful if this new movement will have the effect
of restoring business confidence to Wall-street or pro-
duce any decided increase in the value of the securities
in which it deals. The Stock Exchange as at present.
managed is a machine of doubtful value to the public,
and its blessings are solely bestowed upon the favoured
few who are within the inside ring. The New York
Stockholder, the highest authority, thus remarks
upon the present and future of the share market:
" A few concerns control the Railway Share Market, leav-
ing no chance of profit to the general operator. The
money of the public, therefore, no longer seeks invest-
ment in the securities dealt in in the Stock Exchange. It
turns to other speculations, more deleterious and quite as
dangerous, to speculative operations in merchandise and
in real estate. These are full as hazardous as are dealings
in stocks, and so far as merchandise is concerned, they are
much more damaging to the public at large. It would
seem to be worth the while of the Stock Exchange houses,
which are counted by hundreds, to consider if some means
may not be adopted to make the dealings in shares once
more a fair and legitimate resort of the general public. It
is plain that the cliques,' as they are called, do not find
themselves under the necessity of providing support for
the brokers at large. Each clique has its own set of agents
at the Stock Exchange, thus employing but few firms.
The operations of these cliques drive general business from
the street, and accordingly the whole machinery of the
Stock Exchange, which, expensive to maintain, might be of
great value to the public at large, is turned to the benefit
and profit of a few."
The meeting of the Pacific Railroad Stockholaers at
New York, Wednesday, for the choice of director; was
brought to nought by an injunction from Judge Barnard,
forbidding proceedings until the rights of James Fisk,
jun., whatever they are, are recognized. The votes, how-
ever, had already been cast, and the injunction will pro-
bably result in nothing mere serious than delaying the
count, although Judge Barnard ordered six or eight of the
directors. to appear before him on Thursday for contempt
of his process. The Erie Express Company was adver-
tised to,go into business March Bth, and it is reported
that the "Vanderbilt" roads will adopt the same plan of
transacting their own express business as soon as the
present contracts expire. Express stocks are not ad-
vancing.
The general market for dry goods is active and steady,
and the opening of the spring trade seems promising and
favourable. The influence of the new Administration,
influencing the business of the whole country, is more
decidedly and more powerfully felt than in the contracted
circles of Wall and Broad-streets. The tone of the coun-
try is one of confidence, and the business of 1869 will un-
doubtedly be heavier than that of any year since the war.
The stock of cotton goods now in market is not large, and
as the supply of the manufacturers is limited, an active
demand would undoubtedly produce an advance in prices.
The now styles of prints aro going off well, and at good
prices, as is the case with all seasonable fabrics of cot-
ton. The woollen market is also active and firm, and the
demand from the manufacturer has decidedly improved
of late.

(From the Wall-street Journal)
NEW YORK, FRIDAY EVENING, March 12.
Money on call is easy at 7 per cent. on Stock Collaterals
and at 6 per cent. on Govarnments. Discounts are quiet,
and first-class paper passes at Bto 10 per cent. Govern-
ment Bonds are very strong, and higher prices are expected.
The appointment of George S. Boutwell as Secretary of
the Treasury, vice T. Stewart resigned, is much approved
of in financial circles. The opinions of the newly-
appointed Secretary on the necessity of the payment in
Gold of United States Government Bonds are unques-
tionable, as the following remarks made by him, in the
Republican State Convention last fall will show:—" We
do not propose to tolerate, sanction nor permit an issue
of demand notes payable in coin, to be exchanged for the
time bonds of the United States. We intend to limit, and
if necessary to diminish gradually, the volume of paper
money, until it approximates in value to the standard of
coin. We intend that there shall b 3 one currency for the
bondholder, the merchant, the farmer, the pensioner,aud the
labourer. That currency shall be of the value of gold.
When this is done the public debt will be paid, as the re-
sources of the country may permit, and to the satisfaction
of those who pay and of those w-ho receive. When the
credit of the country is restored, as it will be by the single
fact of the election of General Grant, we can issue bonds
payable after 10 or 20 years, bearing a lower rate of into-
rest, and thus save annually the sum of twenty or thirty
millions of dollars. tint, first of all, as a means of restoring
the public credit, the people must dispel by their votes
the apprehension of national dishonesty in the public
finances."

Railroad Stocks are steady, but the business is small.
Railroad Gold Bonds are enquired for, especially those
of the Union Pacific and the Rockford, Rock Island, and
St. Louis Companies.
First-class Railroad Bonds continue to sell readily, and
there is a steady demand for investment. Among those
lately introduced on this market are the First Mortgage

Adams ... ... ...
American Merchants' Union
Do. Old Stock ...
United States ... ...

Seven per Cent. Bonds of the St. Louis, Vandalia, and
Terre Haute Railroad Company, which are guaranteed by
the Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railroad ; the Columbus,
Chicago, and Indiana Central Railroad ; the Pittsburgh,
Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railroad ; and the Pennsylvania
Railroad Companies, presenting thereby a desirable in-
vestment of unquestionable security.
We will in future quote the Pennsylvania Railroad
shares from the actual business done as reported by
Messrs. Drexel and Co., Philadelphia, No. 34, South Third-
street. On the 11th March the latest sales of shares were
at 581 ; Sixes, Ist mortgage, 98*, and 2d mortgage, 961.
Express Stocks are steady, but generally lower. We
quoto:—