The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-07 00:00:00

rIITILEIsULXIiIOQUITEL

The Times thinks the first impression produced bj
General Grant's Message is of his Conservative character.
The President avoids the dangers, if also the advantages,
of originality ; and no Englishman can read the part of
the Message directly dealing with the question at issue
between the United Kingdom and the Federation without
being struck by the apparent inability of the writes
to comprehend how the same facts can be regarded
from a point of view entirely different from
his own. The President expresses the natural
sympathy of the people and Government of the
United States with the struggling Cubans, but adds
that " the contest in Cuba has never assumed a condition
which amounts to a war in a sense of international law, os
which would shew an existence of de facto political
organisation of the insurgents sufficient to justify a recog-
nition of belligerency." The principle is maintained,'
however, the summary goes on to add, that "this nation is
its own judge when to accord the right of belligerency
either to a people struggling to free themselves from a
Government they Lelieve to be oppressive, cr to nations at
war with each other." When we associate these
sentences with the lan,guage referring to the differ-
ences with ourselves, we are lost with atonishment
at the inconsistency unconsciously manifested. It is im-
posible to insist upon the right of the Government of the
United States to decide for itself when to accord the con-
dition of belligerency to Cubans, and to deny to the United
Kingdom the right to decide when to accord the same con-
dition to the States in secession. The President has himself
felt, as his Message shews, the inconvenience of with-
holding the acknowledging of the belligerency of
the Cubans. He stopped the departure of the
gunboats in process of construction for Spain upon a
roundabout allegation. And subsequently, not feeling
autjorised to detain the property of a nation with which
the States were at peace, he remitted the matter to the
decision of the courts. The experience thus learnt might,
we could hate hoped, have led President Grant and his
Cabinet to regard our own conduct from a different point
of view from that to which they were before accustomed;
and we cannot but regret that the language of the Presi-
dent shews that ideas are still prevalent in Washington
which are absolutely inconsistent with a prospect of an
carry settlement of the question.

That the late Earl of Derby is a fitting subject for a
public memorial, observes the Standard, few men of feeling
and honour, whatever their party relations or political
opinions, will deny. Thrice Prime Minister; for twenty
years the leader of a great party ; the foremost man in
the House of Lords—we might say in Parliament ; the
chief and representative of the English aristocracy;
gentleman distinguished in every accomplishment, grace,
pursuit, honoured in every sphere of public service,
characteristic of English gentlemen ; a man of whom
his country was proud; the late Lord Derby is
precisely one of those whom it becomes a people to honour
after his death, whose of ought to stand among those
of his country's foremost statesmen. The erection of a
memorial to Lord Derby, and that memorial a statue, pre-
serving for future generations a vivid lifelike image of the
man as he was in life, is a national object. The fitting site
of such a statue is undoubtedly in the neighbourhood of
the scene of Lord Derby's political labours; of the
Houses, i oth of which have so often rung with the
powerful tones of a voice never raised but in defence of
what he believed to be the truth, of what he held to be
the duty, the honour, the advantage of his country. It is
right that the Carlton Club should have its own testi-
monial to the memory, its own reproduction of the form
and features, of its greatest member ; but it would be the
most unsuitable site that could well be selected for a
public memorial of the memory of a public man. Lord
Derby does not deserve that his statue should be
withdrawn from the public eye; hidden away, as
it were, in the recesses of a private house, though that
house be the meeting-place of the chief ornaments and
supporters of his party. He is worthy to stand by the side
of Canning; and no meaner position would become the
reverence in which his memory is held, or accord with the
feeling which prompts the endeavours made to honour
that memory as it deserves.

The Telegraph calls attention to an Arctic explorer of
the humber kind who has just died at Greenwich Hos-
pital. Samuel Rogers was a simple Corporal of Marines,
who served for four years in two Arctic explorations with
great credit. He remained five years in the ice and snow,
and when he came out his superior officers pronounced him
to be "a very good" man. The Chaplain at the Hos-
pital, Mr. Tucker, who knew the man well, and attended
him during his last illness, wrote of him—" He died a
happy, pious Christian soldier, leaving behind a bright
example of the supporting power of true religion
under bodily suffering ; but in painful anxiety for his
wife and family." " Ready, aye, ready," seems to have
been the motto of Corporal Samuel Rogers, whether told
off for duty in this world or in the next. What can be
done about it? It would be best that some naval officer
who knows all about pensions for the widows and children
of naval men, and about naval funds and naval sohools,
should take the matter up. We have no doubt that
assistance in the form of money will be readily
enough forthcoming; but the question will re-
main how to use it wisely and for the best. From
the dates given, we should presume that Corporal
Samuel Rogers formed one of the expedition under Sir
Edward Belcher. We can now look quietly back at all the
discussions, and even at the mistakes made in these
bygone years ; but we can never forget the deep anxiety
which prevailed on the subject of poor Sir John Franklin
and his followers. The nation would have given or done
anything to reach them in their distress. Surely, then
we shall not leave in hopeless misery the widow and
ehildren of a brave man who did his best, amidst ice and
darkness, to come upon the. track of the missing ships.
Such a man was Corporal Samuel Rogers.
The Daily News differs from Mr. Matthew Arnold in his
estimate of the value of criticism and poetry. Criticism,
however fine it may be, serves but a temporary purpose,
and influences comparatively few minds, while poetry lays
hold of the human heart with a grip whiCh time cannot
relax, since it appeals to universal feelings, which are un-
affected by change. The art of criticism has been fre-
quently associated with the art of poetry. Dryden was
orie of the earliest and ablest of English critics, and what
he has written about poetry and poets has still its interest
for students ; but it is scarcely too much to say that the
prose of " glorious John " has become obsolete,
while his verse lives and will live. Again, Addi-
son's criticism, considering the time at which it
was written, may assuredly be styled first-rate, while his
poetry is for the most part very poor stuff indeed._ But
who reads Addison's criticism nowadays? Who has not
mrd, perhaps learned, one or more of the sacred poems
written by the famous essayist, and preserved in most col-
lecticns of English poetry? Southey's work in poetry
must, we fear, be pronounced second-rate ; his work as a
prose writer and critic is, some of it, of the highest
order; yet, if Southey's name holds its place in literature,
as we believe it will, it will be due probably to a few beauti-
ful occasional verses rather than to the worth, high though
it be, of his almost inimitable prose. Sure we are that,
great as Coleridge proved himself in the realms of criti-
cism, ail he ever wrote about poetry is ns nothing when
compared with that most exquisite of all love poems,
" Genevieve," with the " Hymn in tho Vale of Chamouni,"
or with the "Ancient Mariner." On the whole, it may be
said that poetry which cannot justly be pronounced the
best—that is to say, which must not be ranked with that
of Dante and Shakspere, of Milton and Moliere—has some-
times, nevertheless, a permanent value, which is not reached
even by first-rate criticism.

The six candidates for Southwark, says the Heral(l, have
been winnowed down to four, and of these only one is well,
or, rather, personally, known to the electors. But 31r.
Odger appears to take his own standing before the consti-
tuency au sirieux. He is accustomed to the experiment,
and will not be surprised at being disappointed. The
merit, however, of such candidates, is always the immensity,
and yet the narrowness, of their programme. While all
for a class, it will not be his fault if he fails to pro-
vide for it a lion's feast of legislation. " I shall
at once abolish the game laws," Mr. Odger says.
-Ho will equalise poor rates; reduce military and
naval expenditure; reinstate the discharged dockyard
men; be just to Ireland; vote for the Ballot; and remain
a trades unionist. With a keen eye to the corruption of
companies, he would counsel no nacre strikes,
recommend arbitration, sweep away all suffrage qualifica-
tions, and scrutinize the titles of English landlords—
institute, indeed, a sort of cadastral survey on his own
'account before decreeing a partition on the part of his
friends. There is a famous monastic story about a mouse
who peeped out from the Cathedral of Ely intending to
referm the world; but, astonished at its bigness, re-
treated to his cell and kept quiet. We do not suppose
that Mr. Odger Lcep quiet ; nor do we wif.h it ;
he has his ri•.-:1:t. -to public liic ; and nobody dreads

tho. appearance (if a working-clas rcp:-,7;:rntative in an
assembly where every man at en.efe 4.inds Lis levil. Hp,
indeed, may be taken as about the best of the claimant:
v.hce pretentione have been rut forward ; yet, for all that,
he will not be member for Southwark. The constituency
is too broa4-sighted and too far-sighted to adopt a member
vho, with schemes so gigantic for the amelioration of
human affairs, practically promises to consider no snore
than the interest and prejudices of ma particular sectior

The Pc.flinclar and Or!,ental Company's, ofileers
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11IR. GLADSTONE AND THE WELSH"
BISHOPS.

The petition and resolution adopted at the recent meet:
ing at Carnarvon in reference to the appointment of Welsh
Bizhops have been forwarded to Mr. Gladstone, and the
following reply received
" Sir,—l am directed by Mr. Gladstone to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant, enclosing the
copy of a resolution adopted at a public meeting held at
Carnarvon, preying that a Welshman may be appointed to
any see becoming vacant in Wales. And lam to inform
you, in reply, that should a vacancy unhappily occur, tho
subject of the resolution shall have Mr. Gladstone's careful
consideration. " ALGERNON WEST

"R. Watkins, Esq."

MORE WORKING ArEys CONSERVATIVE
ASSOCIATIONS.

The Conservatives of Padiham met in large numbers,
on Saturday, at a meeting of the Conservative Working
Men's Club. Colonel Starkie presided, and amongst
h:s supporters cn the platform were several members
of Parliament. Cu Vie motion of Mr. Chamberlain
Starkie, M.P., seconded by Mr. R. Assheton, M.P.,

it was resolved that in the formation of work-
ing men's Conservative clubs the meeting recognised
the advancement of sound constitutional principles ; and
on the motion of Captain T. G. Parker, seconded by Mr.
James Thompson, cf Blackburn, the meeting expressed its
regret at the present 'depressed state of the cotton trade,
and its opinion that the commercial interests of the nation
require parliamentary investigation, especially with regard
to reciprocity in Free Trade.
Mr. Hornby, M.P., and Mr. Feilden, M.P., the members
for Blackburn, were present at the inauguration of another
Conservative Working Men's Association in that borough
on Saturday. Mr. Hornby said the policy of the Radical
party was now upon its trial. Pauperism had increased,
and the taxes of the country had become unprece-
dentedly heavy since the Whigs had been in power,
and now the taxes were to be called for twelve
months in advance. Ireland, instead of having been
tranquillised by the spoliation of the Irish Church, was in
a state of incipient rebellion; and Fenianism, so far from
skulking in back streets, now stalked forth defiantly, and
openly issued treasonable proclamations. The infection
was spreading to Wales, and where the tendency to revo-
lution, and its concomitants—anarchy and confusion—
would stop it was difficult to say, "unless the reins of
Government were snatched from the hands of the weakest
and most incompetent Administration of modern times."

EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT AT KIA'G'
COLLEGE.

On Monday morning, about eight o'clock, the root of a
nail used for dining purposes, in the rear of King's
College, London, fell in without any premonitory indica-
ticns. The roof was of iron girders, laid across
from side to side, resting at their extremities upon but-
tresses of solid brickwork, in which the plates
were embedded in the usual manner. The proximate
cause of the accident was probably the shaking produced
by the traffic of heavily-loaded trucks on the tramway
running on the embankment immediately in the rear of
the building. The clumsy use cf iron girders is becoming
a very serious matter indeed, and will require prompt
attention. If the accident had occurred a few hours later
there would have been some 160 boys in the hall