The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-21 00:00:00

MRS. STOWE AND lIER CRITICS.

The slashing attacks made from every direction
upon Mrs. Stowe have at last roused that lady to a
reply. She simply asks the impatient public to stand
and wait. Too much passion and excitement exist,
she says, to permit any useful explanation from her at
present. She withholds her communications, there-
fore, until such time as the minds of her readers
shall be more quiet, and disposed to judge calmly.
Time is required, moreover, for her to complete
her defence. She is constantly receiving additional
proofs from England ; and without these her review
would be incomplete. Some of. our contemporn.riasi.
judge that these two reasons are altogether insuffi-
cent ; and they. demand that Mrs. Stowe at once
produce her arguments against the rejection of her
True Story." They urge that if the public mind is in an
excited state, it is simply because the public thinks that
Mrs. Stowe has too lightly brought an accusation of tre-
mendous gravity against a man who cannot now be
heard in his own defence. Consequently the best
mode of allaying the excitement is to hasten, not f'
defer, the publication of any evidence which the
accuser has in her possession tending to elucidate the
mystery. Then as to the "new proofs," it is con-
tended that Mrs. Stowe ought to have had a com-
plete case before she latmched her_chigget

FOREIGN NOTES. ,

ARCTIC DISCOVERY.

The Weser Zeitung gives Dr. Bessel's account of the late
voyage of the Albert in the Polar Seas. This steamer if
the first vessel that has crossed the Spitzbergen Sea al
76 deg. lat. from the south coast of Spitzbergen to the
northern coast of Nova Zembla. The Albert reached the
most northern point of her voyage, SO deg. 14 min. N
latitude, on the 20th of June. Here the ice presented ar
impassable barrier, so that the proposed visit tc
Gillis's Land had to be abandoned. A landing
was made two days later on the western coast of
Spitzbergen, but the torrents of snow-water streaming
from the glaciers en every side rendered it difficult and
dangerous. The way to Bclsund was next tried, and found
choked with pack-icc,.. Hunting expeditions were formed
to the remains of the old Dutch settlement of the seven-
teenth century. The ruins of eleven boiling houses and
heaps of chi barrels and bleached bones of whales were
found. There, too, were many gravestones piously
inscribed. Ducks were numerous, and many were shot.
Dr. Bessel took some photographic views, and then, as the
way northward was still blockel up, the vessel
turned southwards. Somo errors in the maps were
rectified, a number of meteorological observations made,
apd zoological specimens secured with the dredge.

The season appears to have been peculiarly unfavourable,
ft. 3 the English, Norwegian, and Russian vessels which have
wtio eAgago in locations have been ch • •

endeavours. The English, which was undertaken by
Mr. Lamont, of the Royal Geographical Society, was very
successful in the way of sport, its members when en route
homewards killing 30 walruses, 20 large seals, 2 bears, and
102 stags. The Norwegian expedition was under the com-
mand of a celebrated walrus-hunter, Captain Carlsen, who
sailed along the Siberian coast till he reached the White
Islands, a few miles from the mouth of the Obi.
Captain Carlsen secured 233 walruses, 30 seals, and three
polar bears, which he estimates at a value of 7,500 thalers.
The Russian expedition aims at establishing a direct com-
munication by sea between Norway and Siberia. The sand
banks at the mouth of the Obi form the most serious obstacle
to this route, the commercial importance of which would be
very great, as the water is free from ice four months in the
year, and the distance between Vara, in Norway, and the
mouths of the Obi may be traversed by steam in a few
days. This expedition has not yet returned.