The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-19 00:00:00

THE DEATH OF MOLIQUE.

Everyone will regret to hear of the death of Herr
Molique, the composer. He was born at Nurnberg,
in 1803, and was the son of the Stadtmusikus in that
city. He soon learnt all that his father could teach
him, and by the time that he was 13 sheaved such a
preference for the violin that his education was
devoted entirely to the study of that instrument.
Ie went to Munich where King Maximilian took much
interest in him, and before he had emerged from boy-
hood he took a place in the orchestra at one of the
Vienna theatres. Thence he went to Stutt-
gart; thence he came to London in 1849.
In our capital he obtained a considerable reputation.
One of the most exquisite songs ever written,
" Could I through tether fly," we owe to him. His
more important works are a Mass in B minor, and
an oratorio entitled " Abraham." This last work
was produced at the Norwich Festival in 1860, but
never became popular. It was the intense labour
attendant upon the writing of this oratorio, amidst
many other occupations, that undermined a consti-
tution previously robust enough. Molique gradually
became unfit for work, and at length, some two
years since, he retired to his native land, there
to breathe away in peace what remained to him
of life.

THE GUANO ISLANDS.

The guano on the Chincha Islands is nearly
exhausted. In a few months these islands will be
deserted, and then all the ships now engaged in the
trade will make for the Guanape Islands, five degrees
south of the equator. There is a supply of guano at
Baker's Island, in the Hawaiian group, estimated at
from 250,000 to 2,000,000 tons, and worked by the
United States. It is, perhaps, not generally known
that there is .also a small deposit on some of the
islands off the north-west coast of Norway. Pro-
bably by the time all the deposits are exhausted we
shall have come to the conclusion that it is wiser to
use the manure at our own doors than to transport,
at an immense expense, manure from the other side
of the world.
THE WESTMORELAND SERVANTS' HIRING FAIR.

A writer in the Times gives an interesting account
of the Westmoreland Servants' Hiring Fair, held
annually during Whitsuntide, at Kendal, the chief
market town of the county. On White Saturday lads
and lasses pour in crowds into the town from all
parts of the county, and take up their
position by the market-place, exhibiting them-
selves as for hire. The masters come to town
also, and going in and out in the dense crowd, pick
out those wbo are strong enough and reasonable
enough in their demands. The two parties to the
contract then adjourn to a stone in the midst
of the place and ratify their agreement.
No characters are asked for or given ; little
inquiry is made on either side. After the hiring, Sun-
day, Monday, and the following days are considered
a holiday. During the daytime shops are visited,
walks are made, beer is drunk, shows and the lions of
the place are seen. Then follows dancing in the
upper rooms of the low public-houses. The demo-
ralising effect of the fairs, the vice that prevails, has
often been commented upon. Is there no way of
suppressing them

AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS.
The agricultural prospects have by no means been
improved this past week. The continued wet and the
continued low temperature are gradually spoiling the
wheat crops. We shall have a bad harvest if this
weather continue lone.

FOREIGN NOTES.
THE ALABAMA CLAIMS.

Mr. Motley, the successor of Mr. Reve- rdy Johnson, was
to set sail for England yesterday. On the 2nd inst. he had
a long interview with President Grant, and another with
Mr. Fish, who has taken Mr. Seward's place. Some specific
information as to what transpired at these final conferer
is given in various quarters. The Times Philadelphia ,

respondent is very precise. This authority telegraphs that,
Mr. Motley has been entrusted with power of direct action,
but only in case the Alabama question is again brought
forward by England. "It is understood that they (the
Ambassador's instructions) maintain the ground here-
tofore assumed by the American Government, avoiding
the extravagance of Mr. Sumner's propositions. The
question of England's moral responsibility for the results
of the Neutrality Proclamation of May 1861 is still insisted
on for reference to arbitration, and if decided against Eng-
land, then all damages resulting therefrom will be pressed
for payment. For the present Mr. Motley is not himself
to take any steps towards reopening the controversy."
The New York Herald says that the policy of the new
Ambassador is to be based on Mr. Sumner's speech ; but
" there is to be no hurry in reopening negotiations." The
London correspondent of the Ind4endance Beige deems
himself authorised to affirm that Mr. Motley's instruc-
tions are based upon a thorough spirit of concilia-
tion, and that no demand in any way likely
to lead to war will be made. The writer
adds that Lord Clarendon, after the rejection of the treaty,
and before Mr. Motley received his directions from
General Grant's Cabinet, wrote to Washington desiring
to be informed as to the nature and extent of the conces-
sions which the American Government was disposed to
make. 'fh-e British Minister very plainly left it to be
inferred that any negotiation on the basis of Mr. Sumner's
demands would be mere waste of time.

The information of the Times and the New York Herald,
it will be seen, support the statements already made that
Mr. Maley will come to England with virtually no
policy at all. He will, indeed, have his terms ready in
case the English Government desires to treat,
but he will not reopen negotiations unless
England take the initiative. America will preserve
an attitude of " masterly inactivity." On this important
point the New York journals are pretty unanimous. The
Tribune remarks that Mr. Motley will do nothing more
than " tell the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs that
we are assured in our position, and can afford to wait."
America does not threaten war, nor raids upon Canada
and the West Indies, says the Tribune—as if anybody in
England needed such an assurance. The Herald, as is the
custom of American papers, sent a correspondent to
"draw Mr. Sumner out." The journalist found the
senator busily engaged, but though "delving at a mass of
letters and papers," he had yet time to entertain the
representative of the Herald, and allowed himself to be
" drawn out" to the extent of well nigh a column of print.
But it does not appear that anythingof particular moment
was elicited. Mr. Sumner was very hard upon England
and upon Mr. MacCreery, the unhappy Democratic
senator who voted alone for the ratification of Mr.
Reverdy Johnson's treaty. lie was quite sure that Eng-
land was in the wrong, and that she would at length be
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