The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 29, 1869.

point which has floored the legal personages who
thought, and expressed their sentiments in print, that
amalgamated societies could really transfer all their
liabilities, and be no longer answerable for them.
They concluded that if policy-holders and annui-
tants continued to pay premiums and receive
instalments from the incorporating society, the
amalgamation was thereby sanctioned. But policy-
holders have no efficient means of protesting against
such procedures. The decision of the Vice-Chan-
cellor will be bad for shareholders, but good for the
public. The Indian policy-holders especially ought to
gain something, for their principal office, the Medical
and Invalid, was never insolvent until the Albert
bought it.

Dlo one can reproach heiidtriiii-viiigii ined in the rear of
the other European States, and the calm and systematic
manner in which she is conducting her military reforms
presents a striking contrast to the feverish eagerness of
some other Powers. Russia does not menace Europe. She
has maintained general peace during fifteen years. Europe
has often been threatened with war in that interval, and
has turned towards Russia, whose voice has always been
raised in favour of peace.

Rand Brothers, conduct it on the European plan,
and therefore look for the custom of the European
travellers. It is beautifully furnished and deco-
rated, and well supplied with all recent improve-
ments, as well as centrally situated. The formation
of the Camden and Amboy Railroad depot pro-
gresses so rapidly that the company will be able
to transfer their office from the Battery to Des-
brosses-street next spring. The work on the new
Post-office is kept up all night, and the puff
of the steam engine never ceases in the vicinity
of City Hall square. There are eight hundred
men there employed, and Drummond's lights enable
them to carry on their occupation almost as well
during the night as by day. The contractors may,
however, be beaten by the weather, as we have had
a taste of the coming frosts. Still their energy is
in strong contrast with the work on the new Court
House at the upper end of the Park. The most
interesting undertaking, however, is the commence-
ment of the East River Suspension Bridge, where
the engineers are constructing a cone, which is to be
lowered to the bottom of the river when the water
will be pumped out and steps taken to lay down the
foundation for the pier. Andrew Garr brought a
charge against Phoebe Persall, which was tried be-
fore Judge Barnard on Thursday. Andrew wanted
to secure a wealthy prize, and if he could not get
all to get as much as he could, so when the lady
succeeded to a property worth $1,000,000 he boldly
claimed her for his wife. He did not ask like other
men, but simply.said she was his wife, and that they
had been married 20 years ago, but both then being
very poor they had lived separately awaiting this
windfall, which they knew must come to the lady's
share. The Court held with the defendant, who
stated that the story was a pure fable, got up to
extort money. I guess you will hear something of
what is called " the great joke" of last Wednesday,
the ceremonies on unveiling the Vanderbilt bronzes
at the Hudson River Railroad depot. The Governor
was not there as he had promised, nor many other
leaders, but Mrs. Vanderbilt was, and so by the way
was Mrs. Johnson, better known as IVliss Harriet Lane.
Early in the day the flags fluttered gaily, but noon
was not reached before they were lowered to half-
mast, in respect to the memory of General Wool.
senator Folger, of the New York Legislature, who
has been re-elected, I believe, five times, has been
named in succession to Mr. Butterfield, and the
experts sent from Washington are again counting
the money in the Sub-Treasury. Mr. Folger will
take charge on Monday, and his friends in Con-
gress will, when it meets, make an effort to have
the salary increased. The Anti-Slavery Standard
is out with a furious article about the drift from the
main question—the negro. The Administration (it
considers) is guilty of cruel neglect, having donned
the garment, whose skirts are full of innocent
blood shed by its predecessor. "No financial suc-
cess," writes the stern Mr. Wendell Phillips,
" will ever give such idlers and fops the credit of
statesmen. Treacherous, selfish betrayers of those
who trusted them ; guilty of blood, and as having
slattered away the noblest opportunities—this will
be the record of their history." By way of a
commentary on this, at the Astor House the co-
loured members of the 33d Regiment had a reunion
last "Wednesday. Sensible men are amazed at the
social change already wrought ; but perhaps it is
well that nothing ever satisfies enthusiasts like
Wendell Phillips, who in getting a part of that for
which they strive, do good, whereas if they got all
they would break up Government and disorganize
society. rwo 'Undoes have arrived here and put
up at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, but one of these so-
called Hindoos is a Parsee, and no Hindoo at all.
They represent the interest felt in India about
America as great, and they express surprise that so
enterprising a people as the Americans should never
have established a direct trade with Indian houses.
They have many letters of introduction, and went
the rounds of some of our principal merchants, who
were snrprized at the excellent English and the easy
manners of their visitors. They left on Wednesday,
going by West Point, Niagara, Chicago, Omaha,
and St. Louis, where they are to collect informa-
tion before extending their tour into the cotton-
growing States.

BUDGET OF PERSONAL.—Mr. Boutwell has in-
creased the pay of the following gentlemen of his depart-
ment: Mr. M'Cartee, superintendent of the printing bureau,
now receives $5,000 ; Mr. Vanderbilt, appointment clerk,
$3,000; Mr, Hammond, custodian of dies and plates,
$3,000 ; Mr. Wilson, chief of note division, $2,800 ; chief
of engravers division, $3,500; three principal engravers in
that division receive salaries amounting in the aggregate
to sl3,ooo.—Ex- Governor Marcus L. Ward, of New Jersey,
has returned from his California tour —Dr. J. Porter was a
citizen of Troy, Missouri, who said last summer that he
would die on the second Saturday of October, and he kept
his word.—Parson Browlow obstinately refuses to die to
let Johnson into the Senate. Browulow is on his way to
Washington, and said to be in better health than he has
enjoyed for a long time.—The latest title for Commodore
Vanderbilt is the " Venerable Colossus of Roads."—The
latest news about Mrs. Stowe is that she is trying the
water cure in New York city.—General O'Neill, President
of the Fenian Brotherhood, has been in Buffalo, where his
presence has caused great excitement in certain circles.—
Senator Bradley was married, Nov. 9, to a sister of City
Chamberlain Peter B. Sweeny.—The Rev. J. W. Kramer
of Calvary Church, Summit, New Jersey, has accepted the
charge of Grace Chapel, New York.--Among the passen-
gers in the steamship De Soto, which arrived at New York,
from Havannah, were Lieut. G. V. Mengris, United
States Navy; Senor Francisco Morales, and Baron Mauri-
cide Munagetta, ex-Captain on the staff of General Jordan,
captured in one of the late engagements in Cuba by the
Spaniards, and, through the influence of the American
Minister at Madrid, pardoned.—Jennio Collins of the
American Workman has challenged the Rev. J. D. Fulton
to a public discussion on the Rights of Women and of
Labour, considering his lectures injurious.--George Pea-
body's ancestors, who came from England to Massachusetts
in 1635, spelled their name " Paybody." Miss Annie Ward,
once a well-known Philadelphia actress, now Mrs. Annie
Ward Tiffany, is "starring" at Ciocinnati.—Kirby Smith
has a military school at Newcastle, Kentucky, at which
an affray and shooting match between whites and negroes
recently occurred, ten of the latter being wounded.—Mr.
Burlingame and the Chinese Embassy arrived at Berlin
last Saturday, and took up their residence in the Grand Ho-
tel de Rome, in which they occupy 34 rooms. The length of
their stay is uncertain, but they will probably remain some
time in the city.— General Belknap got acquainted with his
wife by capturing her brother, who was a Confederate
officer.—Mr. Seward in his journey through Mexico
had an escort of three hundred cavalry to protect him
from, brigands, who are the chief portion of the population
of that country.—Ex-Secretary Browning, who was in
President Lincoln's Cabinet, has been elected by the De.
mocrats of the Illinois Constitutional Convention.—Gen.
Lee bas been presented with a cane made from a
piece of the Confederate ram Merrinum—Kicking
Bird, who has recently succeeded to the Chieftain-
ship of the Kiowa Indians, is said to be a savage of
iernarkable address, eloquence, and influence.—Thomas
Curley, of Salem, Massachusetts, has been fined $l,OOO
and sentenced to gaol until paid, for attempting to collect
a bounty claim of $lOO in the name of Patrick Doyle.—
Sir Francis links has been elected to represent the County
of Renfrew in the Dominion Parliament. The contest was
very close and exciting.— Zadoc Pratt of Prattsville, N.Y.,
and ex-Congressman, owner of $5,000,000 and 79 years
old, has just married Miss Grimm, an employe of a New
York newspaper office.—Sit Ming Cook has been appointed
Interpreter to the Consulates of the United States in
China,—Governor Hoffman has appointed George W.
Chapman of Saratoga Canal Commissioner, in tho place
of Oliver Bascom, deceased, to hold office till January 1,
1871.—Governor Palmer, of Illinois, has appointed Mr.
Johns, of Chicago, a well-known and wealthy coloured
man, a notary public.—Jay Cooke and Seward own 50,000
acres of land each in lowa, and Horatio Seymour has as
much divided between lowa and Wisconsin.—Ben Perley
Poore says of ReverdyJohnson, on celebrating his golden
wedding, "he blundered in his diplomacy, but his _mar-
ried life has been a glorious success." He is the father of
ten children, and the grandfather of nearly fifty.—Fisk,
jun., is now called the "Great American Grabber" by the
New Fork Herald.—Thero are rumours from Washington
of disagreement between Secretary Belknap and General
Sherman about War-office matters. —Mrs. Dr.W. A. Banks
of Rockland, Maine, has a Bible once owned by Martin
Luther.—Professor John Tatlock of Pittsfield, Massachu-
setts, owns a Latin book printed in 1474. It is a work
of Hierocles, a Platonic philosopher of the sth century.--
A purse containing money and an ivory mallet were pre-
sented to Edmonia. Lewis, the coloured sculptress, at her
farewell reception in Boston, Nov. 9.—Senator Ferry has
so far recovered from his recent illness that he will be
able to resume his seat at the opening of Congress.—The
American artist Church, who has been spending some
time at Damascus, has just finished a painting of that
city, and sold it to a New York citizen for ten
thousand dollars. It will be placed on exhibi-
tion for the present in the Yale School of Fine Arts.—
President Chadbourne of the University of Wisconsin, and
formerly of Williams College, is to assume an editorial
position on the :Yale College Courant on the Ist of
January.--General Joseph S. Pitman, of Providence,

who did efficient service in the Mexican War, has been
placed in the Washington Insane Asylum.—Mr Cyrus
W. Field has been hunting buffaloes in Kansas.—Mrs.
Stowe was taken suddenly ill, Sunday, Nov. 7, at Ply-
mouth Church whilst listening to Henry Ward Beecher's
preaching ; 100 pages of her answer to the criticisms on her
article on Lady Byron are in type, though yet subject to
the author's revise.—The Right lion. B. Disraeli positively
denies ever having been a journalist, and we congratulate
our profession upon thus escaping the charge of having
reared such a failure. We desire Ben. to know that we are
the cream of the earth, and whether true or false that he
was ever enrolled among us he ought to have held on to
the honour.—An American paper says Sir Francis links,
the new Canadian Minister of Finance, began by editing
a newspaper, but his habits led him down to his present
position.—Governor Claflin has purchased a house and
1,578 feet of land in Boston for $10,500. —The Hon. Elliot
E. Cowdin sailed, November 13, for Europe, intending to
spend the winter with his family (who are now abroad)
in Paris. Mr*Cowdin was met by a large number of
his friends, including ex-Governor Low of California,
Minister Plenipotentiary to China, and ex-Senator Folger,
just appointed United States Sub-Treasurer for New York,
at an elegant entertainment given Nov. 12 at the Union
League Club.— Risdon, who started the lie about the loss
of Professor Powell's Colorado exploring expedition, last
summer, has just been senteteed to three years in the Illi-
nois State prison for Lorse stealing.—Her Boyd Highness
the Princess of Wales gave birth to a daughter yesterday
morning at Marlborough House.—The Arehbiiln.p of Can-
terbury continues seriously ill at Broadstairs.