The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,- SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 13, 1c69.

being united, and only this feeling of concord can
I cable them to accou plish the task before them, and
to fulfil the ardent aspirations of the nation in this
new and untried course.
The arrangements which have been made are as
yet most crude and incomplete, but the shadowy
outlines have been sketched with a master-hand,
and reveal a sense and spirit in the composition that
are reassuring :and convincing proofs of the ability
' and goodwill of the designers. The task which lies
before the deputies is then to fill in the picture, and
to consolidate the reforms that stand out in gigantic
likeness before them. Liberty is the idol of the
hour, and on all sides offerings are laid on her
shrines, and devotees throng her altars. The pro-
gramme which the regenerators of Spain have
drawn out for the people is a promising one, and
seems well calculated to do away with all abuses of
the most extravagant form. Of course matters
cannot work well at once, and while in some re-
spects the new regime may not go quite so far as some
desire, and in others may excel the wishes of the mode-
rate, it is, on the whole, all things taken into account,
to be admired and appreciated. Some clouds had ob-
scured the prospect which at first had been so bril-
liant, but the Government acted with energy and
patriotism, and all the "partial disturbances" have
been repressed. This inaugural address of the Pre-
sident of the Provisional Government is one well cal-
culated to inspire confidence in the future well-being
of Spain. More inflated language might have impressed
more fully and favourably at first, but the wise
and prudent know that the eventual consequences are
to be looked to, that a task of overwhelming difficulty
such as the regeneration of a kingdom, cannot be ac-
complished without a mighty effort, and the lovers of
justice and freedom throughout the world will hail
the signs of progress so unmistakeably held out by the
Spanish leaders. We may say that we have witnessed
a revolution of revolutions, for the whole has been
effected as a scene on the stage or a page of a‘fiction,
and, while some have wondered and others doubted,
the change has been effected and the transformation
rendered complete. In a concluding sentence the
Marshal said that slavery would be abolished, but
without compromising the prosperity of the Antilles.
Hitherto the Spanish nation has not been distin-
guished for prudence, and the grand and heroic qua-
lities sometimes displayed have failed to do much ser -
vice in the land on account of the marring effects of
prejudice. But now it would seem as if a great and
invigorating influence bad prevailed, and while old
things passed away and a new era commence], that
the people had begun to learn the lesson which would
not let them fail, and to recognise the all-important
fact that zeal without discretion could not succeed,
andthat nations, like individuals, must not neglect the
opportunities aff.)rded them, for talents will rust for
want of employment, and the noblest gifts of Pnovi-
DENCE may be abused until they become a blight to
the possessor.

THE Fishmongers' Company is the most Liberal
of all the London guilds, and it has therefore justly
claimed the privilege of being the first to entertain
the new Liberal Ministry. That Ministry, whatever
else may be said of it, is most richly endowed with
the gift of eloquence. It is rarely that four such
speakers as Mr. GLADSTONE, Lord GRANVILLE, Mr.
LOWE, and Mr. BILIGHT have to speak in behalf of
the same Government. They are orators of
long standing reputation ; they have before
now been antagonists in debate ; they are now
colleagues, and the Fishmongers had such a
feast of reason and flow of soul at their Lenten
banquet as does not often enliven City dinners. It
is perhaps scarcely fair to analyse post-prandial
eloquence. It should be light, airy, witty ; to
foam or vuo.itLpc.Blac *xi the examination of a
subject it to criticism is .),,bihming the
lIEnAPATu or a TAT Lon. -N-Vhat, for instance,
could be more sparkling and evanescent than
the eloquence of the Bishops whom the Fishmongers
entertained on Shrove Tuesday. They were
thoroughly jovial : every idea was brilliant, every
sentence was a joke. What we may call the impu-
dence of humour was never carried to a sublimer
height than when Archbishop THOMSON claimed for
the prelates that they, being life-peers, are the true
Liberal element in the House of Lords. Bishop
MAGEE, having been translated from Cork to Peter-
borough, was, naturally enough, in good spirits, and
the comic aspect in which the Irish Church presents
itself to him is only the natural result of
his removal from an Irish deanery to an English
bishopric. We do not care to criticise the remarks
of either prelate. They were meant simply as after-
dinner speeches, purposely, perhaps, made jocose, in
order that the public might see that the speakers are
not at all cast down. But it is otherwise with the four
Cabinet Ministers who spoke on Thursday. It is the
penalty of their position that their words should be
weighed, tested, analysed, and subjected to the most
powerful microscopical inspection.
IWhat,rs then, t
h ihnegn „ is
to
noticethe risesilt of
that
tf
r.thGeLseADsspTeoecNhes ?
Th
E as
Premier has learnt to repress the copia fandi which
used to distinguish him. Ilis speech was, for him,
short. It contained, moreover, very little positive
information. It shewed that the speaker was fully
alive to the difficulties of the task which he under-
took eleven months ago, and it promised that there
should be no looking back on the part of those who
had put their hand to the plough. All this was
general, it may be said ; but there was nothing else.
Even the announcement that the diffusion of the
sense of brotherhood throughout the United Kingdom
cannot be accomplished by one measure conveys no
new information, although one of our contemporaries
calls it " a most significant announcement." Mr.
GLADSTONE did not, in saying this, refer to the " three
resolutions" about the Irish Church, as the Telegraph
supposes, but to the pacification of Ireland generally.
This, we all know, can be achieved only by a variety
of reforms ; by a reform of the land tenure, for
instance, as well as by a reform of the Church.
It is quite possible, as the Telegraph infers, that " a
deeper study of the (Church) question has shewn
that the task bristles with difficulties which must be
conquered one by one, and which it may
take more than even a single session to
overcome;" but Mr. GLADSTONE said nothing of this.
More within the limits of logical deduction is the
inference of the Times, that as Mr. GLADSTONE pro-
mised that the necessary measures of the future
should be matured as quickly as possible, "they
are not matured at present, and it would be plainly
premature to discuss a scheme of legislation the
details of which are not yet completed." This
inference is indirectly confirmed by the reticence of
the other Ministers. Lord GRANVILLE was genial,
as he always is, but of course had nothing to say
respecting the levelling-up policy with which his
name is just now associated by public rumour. He was
anxious only that the measure relating to the Irish
Church should go up to the House of Lords with a
weight it would be impossible to resist. It is to be
hoped that Lord Git.xxvlLT.r.'s colleagues share the
liking for gentle violence which he invoked in their
behalf.

So far the leader of the Commons and the leader
of the Lords. Coming to Mr. Lover and Mr. BRIGHT,
we find their speeches occupied with other matters
than the Irish Church. Mr. Lo wE is generally reported
tohave desired the -War Office; whether that be true or
not, he has taken to his present post with the keenest
enthusiasm, as though it were the one of all others
that he had chosen. He was not ashamed to stand
up as the apologist of " cheese-paring." He held that
cheese-paring is the only real economy. There is
economy enough in the " abstract ;" everyone is an
economist in the " abstract , " but no one likes to
descend to details, and so nothing is done. A
private person mends his pens when they want
mending, but a Government clerk throws them away,

and if any tax.pa.yer.complaina that this is waste, he

is stigmatised as a cheese-parer. Here lies the real
difficulty of economists. Public sentiment is not with
them. Of course it condemns extravagant expenditure,
but it has no patience to go into details, and thinks
the Minister who does enter into them trivial and
mean. It is the duty of the present Government to
bring about a healthier state of feeling, to correct the
anomaly—" that strange inversion of functions
we now witness in the theory that the
House of Commons is the guardian of the
purse of the people, and that the persons who are
to be dreaded as likely to invade the purse are the
Ministers of the Crown." In reality it is the House
of Commons which would spend; the Ministers who
would save. But they cannot save unless the public
sentiment is with them. No economist can go far in
advance of the popular will. His action is paralysed
unless he is pushed on from behind. We now for
the first time have a Ministry each of whose mem-
bers considers that he is a trustee for the public, and
that he ought to spend the public money as thriftily
as he would his own. That idea has yet to permeate
the public mind.
Mr. BRIGHT'S speech had an interest of its own on
account of the speaker. He evidently felt the novelty
of his position in having to return thanks as a
Cabinet Minister. There was one remark of his—
" If I have forsaken the paths of trade, I have not
endeavoured to make a trade of politics "—greeted
with enthusiastic cheering, which shews how
thorough is the belief in Mr. BRIGHT'S sincerity
and purity of motive. Not only did he never
seek office, but it was thrust upon him against
his will. Now that he las accepted it, he
has taken a post which., he considers rather one of
adviser than of administrator. No one ought to
know better than the PRESIDINT of the BOARD of
TRADE the effects of various kinds of taxation ; no
one should be better qualified to give the CHANCELLOR
of the EXCIIEQ UER useful information. Apparently,
Mr. BRIGHT has been giving Mr. LowE both
information and advice to very little purpose. The
first has been pleading for a free breakfast table,
and the second has replied to all his pleas with the
Abyssinian war. We hope that Mr. BRIGHT will not
be disheartened by this unsuccessful attempt, though
he considers failure the inevitable fate which
always befalls the occupants of his post. Abyssinian
expeditions have not to be paid for every year,
and it may be that in 1870 the CHAN-
ELLon of the EXCHEQUER will gladly accept
the counsel of the PRESIDENT of the BOARD of
TRADE. Meanwhile, we hope that Mr. BRIGHT will
remember that his duties are not confined to giving
good advice. There is plenty of work for his depart-
ment to undertake if he will only overcome his
repugnance to the active intervention of Government
in affairs of commerce and trade.

LATEST INTELL IGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRA3IS.)

TURKEY.

PARIS, Feb. 12.

The Paris papers publish intelligence from Con-
stantinoile, Feb. 11, according to which the Shah
of Persia is said to be preparing to proceed in per-
son with the army to the south, in the direction of
Bagdad. The Porte is sending reinforcements to
the Persian frontier.

SWITZERLAND.
BEIINE, Feb. 12.

Notwithstanding the petition signed by 6,000
inhabitants of the Canton of Soleure in favour of
a total revision of the Constitution, the Cantonal
Council have decided by 76 against 19 votes for a
partial revision only.

''"OLUIEBRONDENCE PROM I'AILIB.

(ntoz OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, FRIDAY, February 12

Politics have in no degree recovered from their present
abnormal dullness. Foreign affairs are represented only by
Greece and.Spain,and the difficulty in both which countries
has lasted too long and has moved too slowly to be
interesting. The news from Greece is pacific ;
the news from Spain as doubtful as ever. The
Cortes has opened, and must shortly have before
it the great question of government, but the
indications of what form the government will take are
as meagre as ever. The campaign in Algeria has col-
lapsed. The tribe of Ouled-Sidi-Cheikh was alone, and
even it did not work harmoniously, for a portion of
the race turned its arms against their brethren. These
friends of the French have derived all the profit of the
struggle, for they captured all the riches of the disaffected
tribe. As to home politics, we must wait until M. Thiers
makes his promised attack on the Government relative to
the City of Paris Loan.
The right of public meeting was made available on
Wednesday for a gathering under the auspices of a society
known as the " Peace League." The object of this asso-
ciation is to propagate philanthropic ideas, and to stir up
a popular feeling against war. The great project by which
swords are to be made into ploughshares is the reference of
all disputes to the supreme tribunal of nations. There
were 400 persons present at this meeting, and the enthu-
siasm was considerable. All success to the idea, but its
realisation still seems far distant.

M. Pinard has pleaded in his first cause. .rie na
appeared before the First Chamber of the Civil Tribunal
to support the interests of the Commune of Vincennes in
a legacy suit.
We have probably now heard the last of the oonbon
affair. Masson, the medical student, now says that he
was asked by the Polish Count to poison the bonbons with
nicotine, but that he did not choose to participate in such
a crime, and accordingly only added to them a little ink
mixed up with gum paste. Such, in fact, being the sub-
stances found by the chemist, this young man has been set
at liberty. The Count is still detained in prison. The
grief of Paris at the collapse of this scandal is unspeak-
able.

Fame, however, when once gained, is not to be lost so
readily. Sometimes, too, it costs its possessor dear. This
may probably be the case with Madame Belval, the lady
who would not poison, or attempt to poison, the duke. She
called herself Madame de Narbonne, and in doing so she
usurped without leave a historic title, and is now
threatened with legal proceedings. The Marquis de Nar-
bonne-Lard is the representative of the family, and will
take the initiative against her. This is surely to be
regretted : the woman is a member of the disreputable
class, but then she acted properly in this affair, and it
ought not to be made the indirect cause, as it thus will be
of a misfortune to her.

Another case of cruelty to pupils by a religious teacner
has come on for hearing before the Correctional Tribunal
of Lyons. This ecclesiastic is named Quincandon, but is
known by the clerical title of Father Pirin. He is only
22 years of age. It was proved in evidence that the
prisoner, by a strange refinement of cruelty, was accus-
tomed to hang the pupils up by the legs to a large hook
in the wall, and then flog them. Sometimes he left the
unfortunate children for a considerable time with the
head down, totally regardless of the ill effects which
such punishment might produce on their health. He
also frequently made the big boys act as executioners
and whip the young ones. The court sentenced him to
six months' imprisonment. This is the third or fourth
case of the kind which has come before the French
coasts, and the affair is causing great excitement. During
this trial murmurs and marks of strong indignation arose
from the immense crowd assembled in the court. Of the
many flagrant cases which ha;ie come before the public
notice, this is the worst. _

In the operatic intelligenCe from St. Petersburg is u
news that Mario has been laid up with illness.

The archmologists have made an important discovery
near Durfort, in the Gard. A miner searching
for a lode of lead in the side of a mountain, came upon a
grotto the mouth of which had been blocked up by stones.
It contained a quantity of petrified human remains
imbedded in concretions from the rock ; a flint knife and
a hatchet were also found, and one skull was remarked as
having been formerly pierced with an arm of the same
material, a portion of which had broken off and was still
remaining in the bone.

THE ►VEATHER TABLE.-TIIIS

IkILITOt OLOGICAL EELOIITS.

Extreme Sea
1 I.a F. 0
, 13. B. IT. ,•‘',s, W. 1 to• F. D. It. to
29'8,8r. 33 ;36 S.W. I 4 1 'W. b7oc 0•051 2
con
30'u4r. 40 ;38 W. 3 2 W. !b.
s !3 ) F.r. 39' 36 W. 2 2 W.N.W. 2
rough' 30-15 r. 16 34 W.N. W.! 2 2!k;N. E. 2
,ut,h 3016r. 31 134 W.N.W. 3 10 r.m. 1.'12 3
an
30'13r. 46 142 W.N.W. 6 8 W. C. 4
;astle 30•11.1 r. 42 40 7 W. 3 5 N.W. r.c.
;ad 1—
col
is 3o'4or. 46 j 42 N.W. 4 9 N. o.rc 'o'll 3
s Pt 30'45 42 j4O W.N.W. 3 7 , W. o.b. ; o'ls 2
ce
ith 30'37r. 44 41 N. 3 9 N.N.W. r.b.10'27 3
luth 30'33r. 41 40 N.W. 1 10 N.W. 0.0.'0'16 2
outh 30'29r. 40 59 N.W. 1 10 N.N.W. r.c.'o'2l 1
a
isNez _
fort
. .
——— _
I a.m.!
imel
EXPLANATION

Saturday,
Feb,
.13,

Nairn
Aberdeen
Leith
Shields

Scarborough
Yarmouth
Helder
Cux haven
Skud esnves
Ardr ossan
Green castle
Ilulyhead
Liver pool
Valet) tia
Cape Clear
Roches Pt.
Penzance
Plymouth
Weymouth
Portsmouth
London
C'peGrisNez
Brest
L'Orie nt
Roch e fort
Biarritz
Corunna
Brussels
Paris
Strasbourg
Lyons .. • • •
Toulon
Heart's Con-
tent (9 a.m.
local time►

=PLANA__ _
Barometer corrected and reduced to 32 deg. at ea' e The
letter r, rising ; f, falling ; s, steady—indicates direction of motion
of the mercury within last 14 hours. Thermometer exposed in
shade. Extrcine Force with its Direction during last 24 hours.
Z.—calm. Weather : b.—blue sky ; c.—clouds, detached; f.- fog
h.—hail ; I.—lightning ; m.—misty, hazy ; o.—overcast, 11/411 r.—
rain ; s.—snow ; t.—thunder. Rain-fall, snow or hail melted)
daring last 24 hours. Sea disturbance.