The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, 1869

that the Chambers often consumed much of their
time in the discussion of questions which were after
all of secondary importance, while greater matters
were left untouched as above or beyond their pro-
vince. It had been objected, said the member for
Birmingham, that great questions belonged to the
Legislature only, but he would ask what Parliament
would be without the public opinion, which not only
instructed it but pressed it forward ? Parliament,
indeed, is only the reflection of the public opinion of
the country. Its members are chosen to re-
present the collective wisdom and en-
lightenment of the people, and it seldom
happens that its place in the path of progress is far
in advance of an enlightened public conviction. Mr •
BRIGHT, in referring to the two greatest questions
settled in our time—Free-Trade and Parliamentary
Reform—pointed out the important part played by
the pressure from without upon Parliament. With
regard to the repeal of the Corn Laws, indeed, the
Manchester Chamber of Commerce took a prominent
position. In 1839-40 the Manchester Chamber, after
, three day's anxious deliberation, passed resolutions
condemning the law which prohibited the importation
of corn. " When I went to the House of Commons,
25 years ago," said Mr. BRIGHT, " there were not a
hundred men in it who could have been induced by
any argument, though one had risen from the dead, to
rote for the repeal of the Corn Laws. Within a very
short period you could have had but a very small vote
in the House of Commons in favour of such an
extension of the franchise and of political power
as we now have. Therefore, unless there be an out-
side influence that can fill the sails, unless there be
something that can at the same time instruct Par-
liament, why Parliament is no better than a ship
without a rudder and without canvas, waterlogged,
floating helpless, no better than a wreck on what I
may call the ocean of time."
The late discussion on the local burdens in the
Commons gave Mr. BRIGHT another theme, an&he
declared the pauperism of the country to be the great
problem which sooner or later must be solved. Why,
he asked, should not such a question as this come
under the notice of the Chambers of Commerce,
whose members were the great employers of labour,
and who, coming constantly into contact with the
labouring classes, knew and understood the evils
which existed in their midst ?

The scheme of an ocean postage, we are glad to
find, received cordial encouragement from the new
President of the Board of Trade, and he spoke ad-
visedly when be expressed his conviction that such a
reduction would eventually be not only possible, but
profitable. Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE, in the course
of his brief but sensible address, humorously advised
Mr. CHAMBERS to make the new President's life
a burden to him until he had succeeded in
impressing upon his colleagues what the country
wanted, and the Attorney-General repeated the
amiable advice with respect to the Bankruptcy Bill.
From what the learned gentleman said on the sub-
ject we may hope that he is prepared to deal with
it in a vigorous and efficient manner, and the
willingness which he expressed to receive any
suggestions from commercial men showed that he
fully appreciated the practical difficulties of the
question. Chambers of Commerce may not, indeed,
be the proper arena in which to define the actual
course of national legislation on such matters, but
they can do good preliminary service by sifting the
evidence and collecting the arguments on both sides,
by pressing on the notice of the Legislature those
questions which belong to no party, and which are,
therefore, very likely to be thrust aside in the heat
of political strife, and by representing with accuracy
and impartiality the sound and practical convictions
of a large and influential section of the community.

THE enterprising Frenchman who undertook the
stupendous' work of joining the Mediterranean and
the Red Sea, and thus completing a short highway
of water to India, has in one most important par-
ticular completely triumphed over his many adver-
saries. When M. DE LESSEPS opened the Suez Canal
project, few authorities hesitated to pronounce it
impracticable. Minor objections were all included in
the sweeping verdict that the canal could never
be made at all. But not only is the greater part
of the work an accomplished fact, but there is now
no reasonable doubt respecting the completion of
the remainder. The popular decision and the opi-
nions of many eminent engineers have proved
erroneous. All who have seen the works in their
present condition, amongst whom is Lord NAPIER
of MAGDALA7 agree that at least the canal can be
made. And this decision applies not only to the
construction, but also to the preservation of ,
the work, which is by far the greater difficulty. The
excavation has gone on so far, that the means by
which great natural difficulties have been overcome
will beyond question apply to the rest of the way.
The canal is a plain cutting, broken in various places
by " passing stations," and is altogether an under-
taking of a simple character, the work having the
additional advantage of being in a very light soil.
But the water-way is no less than ninety-nine miles
long, the climate of the country very unfavourable,
fresh water extremely scarce, and the situation
remote from the " base " of operations—France.
These obstacles were so serious as to lead to the
general scouting of the project when it was first
announced. More than two-thirds of the work was,
however, completed by the middle of last December,
and though a heavy laboury etremains, past experience
leads to the hope that the undertaking will be
finished during the present year. The maintenance
of the canal is a much more serious consideration.
Many centuries ago a similar work was choked up
by the sands of the desert. But though time has
not altered the wilderness, it has enabled man to cope
with it on very different terms. There is a danger
that the sand may drift into the canal to such an
extent as to render it useless, but this danger is only
formidable at two points on the way. These the
company intend to protect by planting trees, and it
is further hoped that the fresh water of the canal may
form oases in these unsheltered spots. In spite of
these precautions a large quantity of sand will
find its way into the water, and for this there
is only the remedy of incessant dredging. A
similar danger is to. be apprehended at Port Said,
where the canal begins. Here the matter in the
wrontheNgilpe,lacwe
hiischn,ot saitisndt,hboluigt
thought,
a t,e
mllatyivipalendeetrpaotseitsthoef
two breakwaters forming the harbour. This also is
a serious danger, against which the company has two
remedies—either to let the Nile deposit come through
the breakwaters as it does now, and dredge it out, or
make the breakwaters solid, and thus let the deposit
accumulate on the outside. It may be explained that
the harbour at the entrance to the canal is
artificial in every respect. It is formed of
two artificial breakwaters, and these are constructed
of artificial stone----that is, hardened cement. These
are the gravest difficulties in the way of preserving
the canal as a practicable roadway. But they do not
exhaust the list. The soil in which the excavations
are made is so light that the action of the water will
tend to wear the sides away. To remedy this a facing
of stone will be required.
Though it would be unwise to underrate the diffi-
culties to be encountered, yet a fair consideration of
the evidence leads to the conclusion that M. DE LES-
SEPS was right. A canal which will connect the
Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and will secure a
short journey wholly by water to India, is a practi-
cable undertaking, and this for the public is the most
important consideration. Whether the enterprise
will prove remunerative to the shareholders is
quite a different question. It is obvious
that the canal will be a commercial advantage whic.
cannot be overlooked. It will vastly improve the
Suez route for passengers, to whom the journey

across Egypt has always been a severe trial. But
its commercial--- superiority -over the antiquated
voyage round the Cape will be the great
source of profit to the company, if it
is to derive any. Other things being equal,
the saving of thousands of miles must ensure the
canal a large traffic. But the debtor side of the
account is heavy. The canal has cost more than was
at first reckoned on, though the works are upon a
less stupendous scale ; and the expense of mainte-
nance will be great. The obstacles just enumerated
can doubtless be overcome, but each of them will
deprive the company of some of its returns. The
dredging to keep out the sand, the dredging at• Port
Said, the stone facing to the banks, not to speak of
other precautions, will each involve more or
less expense. Then, as to the traffic itself
there are various militating circumstances. The
canal will admit only one vessel at a time,
and though " passing stations " are provided,
yet the necessary want of space must to some extent
impede the free use of the work. The tolls will
unavoidably be very high—no less than twenty
pounds per ton. As the entire average freight of goods
round the Cape is fifty pounds a ton, it will be for
shipowners to consider whether they will gain suffi-
cient upon the remaining thirty, and in respect
of time, to compensate them for the dangers
of the Red Sea, the navigation of which is
very difficult. This is a question which trial alone
can answer. It is certain that the company will gain
much local traffic—that is, between ports on shores
of the two connected seas ; and if vessels be specially
built for the Indian trade, vid the Red Sea, the com-
pany may derive a good revenue. More than this
cannot be said at present'. The canal may be a
benefit to the company ; it will assuredly be a benefit
to the world.

LITERATURE.

Mr. Hotten's Publications.

Very recently there have been issued from the
establishment of Mr. John Camden Hotten, of
Piccadilly, several works mostly of a humorous
character—some old favourites reprinted, others
new provocatives to laughter hardly less welcome of
their kind—the majority of these books having
been run into rhyme, each of the volumes in turn
being admirably well got up, and all of them
drolly, some of them profusely, illustrated.
Puck on Pegasus—by H. Cholmondeley Pennell,
is ono of the intermediate volumes, neither very
old, nor yet very new, neither of yesterday nor of
fifty years ago. It is a work now in its fifth
edition. Unlike both " Bon Gualtier" and " The
Rejected Addresses"—the former of which famous
books of fun was written by two " hands," William
Aytoun and Theodore Martin, the latter by two
" hands" also, to wit James Smith and Horace Smith
(arcades ambo)—" Puck and Pegasus", like the
itinerant musician's violincello, is made all out of
one head—its author's—namely, Mr. Cholmondeley
Pennell's. If the letterpress, however, has been
thus run-off in sparkling, flowing lines, currente
calamo, lines of riant comicality, the solitary
author of the book has had the aid of a whole throng
of admirable caricaturists. The one exhilirating
pen has been assisted by half-a-donn delightful
pencils. Cruikshank, the Prince of Caricaturists,
the veritable, inimitable, inexhaustible, indefatigable
George Cruikshank—who, as a stripling, made our
grand-parents nearly die with laughing over his
fantastic whimsicalities, who carried on the joke as
a young man to the dear delight of our fathers
and mothers, and who, in regard to our-
selves, has done whatever he liked, for about
as long as we can well remember, with our own
sense of the ridiculous—Cruikshank himself,
George Cruikshank contributes the frontispiece to
Pennell's " Puck on Pegasus !" Puck on a rocking
horse in full canter—the horse of the genuine breed
with large circular spots on it like wafers--the
rocker rampant ! Why that of itself—that one
picture, with its swarm of little figures scattered
hither and thither all about it—is worth the price
of the whole volume. Bat, besides Cruikshank's
frontispiece—there are other wonderfully grotesque
embellishments squandered through the book.
Yes--and what others ! There is oar ever-
regretable John. Leech—with (Longfellow
must forgive both author and artist) his
preposterous Song of In-the-Water." There
is Phiz's, that is llablot Brown's, almost as
prep ysterou3 " Fight for the Championship."
There is John Millais' (actually a live Royal ACA-
demiciau's) hurry-skurry- binning of "Fire." There
is Richard Doyle's most ludicrous " Tail Piece."
There is Julian Porch's visible Guffaw in derision of
the late Admiral Sir. Charles Napier's braggadociose
entrance into the Baltic—" Heard ye the Din of
Battle Bray ?" And, last and beet of all, there is
John Tenniel's outrageously laughter-moving kit-
chen-interior delineative of an incident in " Lord
Jollygreen's Courtship." Altogether it is a won-
derful book a book that might give a
stitch in the side, with laughing, even to a
curmudgeon. While saying this of it, we would
add, in parting, that all who may wish to read Mr.
Pennell at his best should, on first opening this
volume of " Puck on Pegasus," turn at once, just
to begin with, to his celebration, in breathless
rhythm, of his
"Night—Mail—to the North!"

Carols of Cockaigne—by Henry S. Leigh—a
volume of right comical verse, daintily illustrated
by the graceful pencil of Alfred Concanen—is
really worthy *of lying on the same table with the
last-mentioned book, or with their congenial pre-
decessors already referred to, the immortal " Re-
jected Addresses" and the " Ballads of BouGualtier."
Does anyone doubt this—imagining that we rate
Mr. Leigh's drollery too highly—let him turn to "The
Sword of Damocles The Man behind my Chair !"
Let him listen to the "
Nightingale" of Cockaigne.
Let him coon this true-born Englishman's cele-
bration of " The Weather." Let him peruse his
lamentations over the miseries of an " Evening
Dress"—a gentleman's !
.Let him meditate on
that apostrophe "To a Timid Leech—Drink Pretty
creature, Drink !" Above all let him read gravely

—if he can—the ever memorable ballad about
" The Twins," in which are sung the sorrows born
from the perpetual loss of their identity.
Doctor Syntax's Three ours—by William Combo,
illustrated with seventy-nine or eighty coloured
pictures from the designs of T. Rowlandson—
is an old, old, old friend redivivus. The
book is interesting in itself, as a piece of
old-fashioned fun on the part of the rhym-
ing humorist, and on the part of his coarse
but merry-hearted illustrator. It is especially in-
teresting, but, more than that, it is really valuable,
and worthy of preservation, by reason of an excel-
lent piece of biography penned by the Editor of the
work (in our English sense of that term, and in that
of our Gallic neighbours also, for he is also the
publisher of it) Mr. John Camden Rotten—who
describes, in a Memoir of thirty-five pages, very
effectively indeed, the singular life, adventures, and
vicis-itudes of the once famous Author of " Doctor
Syntax"—William Combe, who died at the age of
Eighty-Two (in 1823) in the rules of the Bench,
at 12, Lambeth-road, Surrey, having been born
at Bristol in 1741, having worked as a literary
hack for many years in the employment of R.
Ackermann of the Strand (now Rimmel's), and who
was, in the early part of his life, after completing
his education at Eton and at Oxford, one of the
most elegant, accomplished, and extravagant swells
of his time. If only for that biography, the book
is worth buying, reading, and preserving after-
wards on our more frequented bookshelves.
A Handbook of Heraldry—beautifully printed,
lavishly embellished, and appropriately bound with
external blazonry—is another of Mr. Ilotten's
recent and not least welcome publications.
A comprehensive announcement of all his later
publications, finning over with fun, frolic, and
humorous conceits of the most extravagant kind, is
worth mentioning at the close of this notice, as de-
serving tiny one's perusal who is capable of appre-
ciating a harmless and thoroughly enjoyable skit
upon the puffs satirized years ago, but not one
a hit better (we had almost said " not one wit
better") years ago by Sheridan in " The Critic."
Whoever compiled it is an unmistakeable wag.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, THURSDAY, February 25.
The Public says that the French Government has at
length sent a communication to Brussels relative to the
much-debated railway bill. In this letter the Cabinet
of the Tuileries asks to be informed as to what extent the
Belgian Government intends to put the new law
into force— how far it proposes to avail itself of
the power of refusing a concession to a foreign
railway company, what influence will it have
on the commercial relations between France and
Belgium:? It is hard to believe that such a letter has been
sent, but if it has, it must be pronounced about the most
impertinent deed ever perpetrated at the Tuileries. The
idea of one Government asking another how far it intended
to use a privilege which had just been entrusted to it, is
simply preposterous. What was the use of the Belgian
Government asking for this power ? If it is to test the
French Cabinet, how far will it make use of it?
The debate on the City of Paris Finance was continued
yesterday. M. Forcade de la Roquette, Minister of
the Interior, took up the question. He occupied a long

time in defending the enterprise of knocking Paris down

to build it up again ; indeed, he occupied so long that there
was but half-an-hour left for M. Ernest Picard
to speak in. The half-hour was sufficient to utterly
demolish M. Foreade de la Roquette.
M. Thiers's speech is the one topic of the day. All are
agreed that it is his finest performance since 1863. His
success in this case is greatly enhanced by the fact that
he had public sympathy on his side. His great speeches
on Free Trade and the Roman Question were against the
sentiments of the majority. But this time he had the
public with him. Everybody knows that the finances of
the city of Paris are in a deplorable condition, and pro-
ductive of much oppression; but few understood the com-
plication which M. Thiers took upon himself to explain,
and succeeded perfectly.
Daoud Pasha, Turkish Minister of Public Works, is
travelling on a mission. He has been at Vienna seven
weeks, and two or three days ago he arrived in Paris.
This wandering diplomatist is charged with negotiations
relative to a most gigantic enterprise—the construction of
the Turkish railway system. The project was first of all
conceived by the well-known Belgian banking house,
Langrand-Dumonceau, which had, in fact, obtained
the firman of concession ; but that establishment
not having been able in ,time to fulfil its
engagements, which consisted more particularly in
procuring a subscribed capital of 18 millions sterling,
the Porte thought that it would be more likely to secure
success by giving the undertaking an international
character, in appealing to German, French, English, and
Turkish capital. The greater part of the required sum
will, however, be raised in Vienna, where capital is very
abundant at present. Two companies, together with the
Rothschild and other houses, have formed a consortium to
be united to the Ottoman Bank and the General Society of
Constantinople, and to the principal financial establish-
ments of London and Paris. Sixty-two per cent of the capital
is to be raised in Vienna, and 38 per cent in Paris and
London. Under the wing of this great combination is
to be started one of the most gigantic enterprises of this
generation. The success of the project will be of infinite
benefit to all the subjects of the Porte, Christian or Mus-
aulman, and every wellwisher to the cause of progress
must heartily desire its realisation.
Another old servant of the Second Empire is in extremis
to-day. M. Troplong, the President of the Senate, is very
dangerously ill, and has had the last sacrament adminis-
tered by the Archbishop of Paris. After the first attack
there was a slight amelioration, but this was followed by
an unexpected catastrope— cerebral congestion, accom-
panied 'by other alarming symptoms. It is thought that
there is no hope of recovery.
All the rivers of France have greatly risen during the
last day or two, owing, it is supposed, to the sudden visita-
tion of cold weather followed by an equally sudden rise of
the thermometer. The snow which had accumulated during
the last few days has wholly disappeared, but no case of
inundation is announced. The reports from the country
are, in the main, very satisfactory. Vegetation proceeds
rather slowly so far as the grass crops are concerned,
but rather too rapidly in the case of the fruit-trees. How-
ever, the recent changes of temperature have done no
harm, and so far everything promises remarkably well.
We shall now, perhaps, hear no more of the wretched bon-
bon poisoning case—the affair which was to have developed
into a mountain of scandal, but subsided into a molehill of
obscure trickery. The soi-disant Count Siemiaskowski has
been removed from the Mazas prison and locked up at the
Prefecture of Police, at the disposal of the authorities.
The day before yesterday be received intimation of his
expulsion from the French territory, and, accordingly, was
removed by two agents, who were to conduct him to the
frontier. May he seek a more congenial clime, and return
no more.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-THIS PAY.

f ____.

METEOROLOGICAL RETORTS.

Extreme Sea
Friday ( ! F.
Feb. 26, , B. T. 0 W.
I 1 to F. D. WR. to
12 9
Nairn
Aberdeen
Leith
Shields
Scarborough 29 90r. 41 37 N.W. 4 8 S.W. o.cb o'o2 3
Yarmouth 29'95r. 43 41 W.N.W. 3 6 S.S.W. 'o.m 3
Helder
Cux haven _
Skudesns _
Ardrossan
Greencastle 30'01r. 42 40 W. 2 9 N.W. r.ho'ol4
Holyhead
Liverpool
VsUen Ma 3o'29r. 49 48 N. 1 7 S.W. r.f.o o'o3 5
Cape Clear — _
Roch isPt 3B'2lr. 48 46 W. 1 6 N.W. c.b.10707
Penzance 30'22r. 51 50 W.N.W. 4 8 S.W. r.c. 0'27 3
Plymouth
Weymouth 3019 r. 49 45 N.W. 1 1 S.W. r.c.015 2
Portsmouth 3014 r. 48 46 N.W. 2 6 W.S.W. 0.c.0'03 5
London
C'peGrisNez 30'03r. 48 46 N.W. 7 8 W.N.W. r.0.;0'03 4
Brest
L'Orient 3o'3or. 50 50 W.N.W. 5 5 S.W. 7.0.0'04 3
Roche fort 3o'3ls. 52 50 N.W. 5 4 N.W. c.
Biarritz
Corunna —
Brussels
Paris
Strasbourg —
Lyons
Toulon
Heart's Con-
tent (9 a.m.
local time)

=PLANATION
Barometer corrected and reduced to 32 deg. at sea level. The
letter r, rising ; f, falling ; s, steady—indicates direction of motion
of the mercury within last 14 hours. Thermometer exposed in
shade. Extreme Force with its Direction during last 24 hours.
Z.—calm. Weather : b.—blue sky ; c.—clouds, detached ; f. - fog
; I. lightning ; m.—misty, hazy ; o.—overcut, dull r.--
rain ; s.—snow ; t.—thunder. Bain-fall, snow or hall melted'
during last 24 hours. Sea disturbance.
REMARKS.
_ _

Pressure, after decreasing rapidly yesterday in the north-east till
the afternoon, has again recovered, and readings are almost every-
where higher than they were yesterday morning. The rise has
amounted to nearly half an inch in the north, but is much less to the
southward. The reading at Nairn is 0.67 in. lower than that at Brest.
Temperature has increased somewhat in the south, and at those
stations where the decrease was greatest yesterday a recovery has
occurred. A hard S.W, gale blew yesterday at all stations except
those in the S. and S.E., the wind subsequently veering to N.W., and
blowing hard. The gale continues at Ardrossan to-day. Strong
S.W. winds were prevalent elsewhere, but have veered, and are now
generally N.W. moderate. Rata has again been general, but not
heavy, and hail is reported from Greencastle. The sky this morning
is more clear, and the air drier. A high sea continues at Ardrossan,

THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR AT
MANCHESTER.

The Hon. Reverdy Johnson met the members of the
Manchester Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce
in the Mayor's parlour, Town Hall, on Thursday. The
Mayor (Mr. Grave) briefly expressed the pleasure
experienced by the citizens of Manch ester in receiving
a visit from the distinguished representative of the United
' States, after which Mr. Heron, the town clerk, and Mr.
Browning, the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce,
read addresses from the above-mentioned bodies to Mr.
Johnson. Mr. Abbott, United States Consul at
Sheffield, read the written replies of the American
Minister to the two addresses. In the course
of Mr. Johnson's speech, referring to the Alabama Con-
vention, he said it was possible that what has been already
done towards the settlement may not meet with entire
favour in that part of his Government to which the
ratification is, by the Constitution, to be submitted. On
Monday last he telegraphed to his Government to know
whether the committee had acted, and if it had, what
it had done. The answer waT, that, although it was
rumoured that a majority of the committee were
opposed to the particular Convention, they had not made
a report to the Senate. That committee (he said) con-
sists of seven, whilst the body itself is made up of two
senators from each one of our States. The Constitution
requires a treaty to be ratified by two-thirds; so that it by
no means follows that if the committee bad with actual
unanimity reported, or should report, against the confir-
mation of the Convention, the report would receive the
sanction of the body. But, however that may be, one
thing I am satisfied you may esteem as settled beyond all
doubt—that nothing growing out of the circumstances in-
tended to be embraced, and the difficulties intended to be
settled by that Convention, can bring us into serious conflict.
Two or three of the subjects of dispute between England and
America (he went on to say) might be considered as
actually settled : one of them, the question whether native
allegiance was perpetual, and the other that of the true
boundary between the possessions of this country and those
of America in the north-west. He hoped the day would
soon come when, listening to the spirit of a more
enlightened civilisation, and, above all, when looking to
the interests of all peoples, to the happiness and security
of individual men upon the ocean, it will be adopted as
one of the laws of nations that private property upon
the ocean during war shall never be subject to capture. A
banquet took place in the evening at the Town Hall, at
which Mr. Reverdy Johnson, alluding to the Convention,
,said the Christian and humane men of the United States
felt as the English felt, and had sanctioned what he had
done. With regard to the sentiments of the President,
General Grant, he quoted the General's letter to the
Chicago Convention, in which he said we want peace and
universal prosperity, which is its sequence. It was said
zhe President was opposed to the Alabama Convention,
and desired war with us. It was a base and unfounded
calumny. He (Mr. Johnson) observed that the liberation
of some of the Fenian prisoners, who were naturalised
americans, would have a good effect upon his countrymen.
;peaking of the future prospects of commerce, he said we
.hould have plenty of cotton.