The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-16 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 1867.

HIGII WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS DAT.—Morning, sh. 10m. I Afternoon, si. 42m,
To-Mon now.-Morning, 6h. 10m. I Afternoon, 6h. 371 n.

tviit

LONDON, MONDAY, DEC. 16, 1867.

Seldom has there been a stronger or more unani-
mons feeling evoked throughout the whole of
London than the sentiment of pity and indignation
called forth from all classes by the catastrophe at
Clerkenwell. As the hours go on, and the misery
and suffering so wantonly inflicted on unoffendiug
women and children becomes more widely under-
stood and more fully realised, the universal execra-
tion of the reckless and cowardly ruffians whose
work we are all deploring grows louder and more
intense. The mournful pictures of the quiet little
homes so suddenly and so terribly desolated, the
heartrending accounts of the sufferings of poor
little children, and the total ruin and overthrow of
so many industrious families just on the eve of social
and cheerful Christmas, all combine to render the
story one of the most painful and melancholy which
it has been our duty to record. No doubt every-
thing that public effort and private charity can do
to relieve the victims of the outrage will be done,
and the spontaneous sympathy of all classes has
been shown with a promptitude and heartiness which
does honour to English hearts and hands. Within
A few moments of the first terrific shock
brave men were risking their lives in extricating
those embedded in the ruins. No sooner
were they all rescued, and the alarming nature of
their injuries perceived, than every vehicle within
reach was at once offered for their service, regard-
less of consequent damage. The hospital authori-
ties having heard the explosion were on the alert,
and everyting thing skill and kindness could do was
done to alleviate the sufferings, which at the best
were harrowing to witness. Meanwhile those who
had happily escaped from the ruins with slighter
injury to life and limb, but with the total loss of
their belongings, were not uncared for. Early on
Saturday morning the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
with commendable promptitude, despatched his
Private Secretary in concert with Mr. LAMBERT, of
the Poor-law Board, for the purpose of distributing
immediate pecuniary assistance to those left desti-
tute by the catastrophe. This kindly forethought
was doubly welcome, as many of the homeless
families belonged to the class of respectable me-
chanica who would have shrunk from applying for
parish relief. Mr. HARDY, the Home Secretary,
was also on the spot on Saturday morning, and soon
after the Government proclamation of reward was
offered. Unhappily, notwithstanding all these
efforts, there will be much distress and loss, in-
dependently of the personal injuries, and
a public meeting is convened for this evening to
consider the best means to be taken to relieve the
distress. Had the Fenians endeavoured to devise
the most efficacious means of destroyingall sympathy
with their proceedings, and of changing their
position from that of political offenders—misguided,
indeed, but sincere and enthusiastic—into reckless
and determined criminals, whose hands are against
every man alike, and who aro callously indifferent
to the torture and suffering of those who have
never injured them,provided they have even a chance
of gaining their object, certainly they could not have
done so more effectually than by causing the fearful
catastrophe of Friday. The offence of forcibly
rescuing prisoners from the custody of the law is in
itself a very serious and unpardonable one, but this
falls into the shade compared with the means
mlopted to effect it. The feelings of the working
•lames arc now thoroughly aroused against Fenian- '
ism, and the Government will meet with the ready
and unquestioning support of all ranks of her
MAJESTY'S subjects in the firm and consistent re-
pression of it in all its aspects.
The great catastrophe of Friday has been the
one engrossing topic of the last few days.
Happily the proclamation of the Govern-
ment and the effects of the authorities in the
several cities in which the funeral demonstrations
were to be held have proved effectual, and the pro-
cessions were not attempted. The news from
Ireland reports that everything was tranquil in Cork
and the adjoining counties. It is understood that
Slr. JOHN MARTIN has left the country in conse-
quence of the summons served on him for having
taken part in last week's demonstration. No doubt,
in common with other worthies of his class
lie thought discretion the better part of
valour so soon as personal danger threatened him-
self. The mock funerals were altogether aban toned,
and at Killarney the originators of the movement
posted a placard counselling the people to obey the
law. At Leeds the streets were paraded by artillery,
nifantry, and yeomanry,but not the slightest mani-
festation of Fenian feeling showed itself, and the
military dispersed about four o'clock. At Liverpool,
where the scene of action had been changed from the
town to the suburbs, some anxiety was felt, and to
judge from the quantity of crape and green ribbon
the week a grand display was in-
provided during
tended. But the vigorous preparations made, and
the resolute attitude of the authorities proved to be
Amply sufficient to prevent any attempt at the ab-
surd and mischievous display. The fact is, that the
crowd of neutrals, and idlers, and sight-seers whom
mere curiosity and love of excitement usually draw
to the scene of such affairs, arc now thoroughly dis-
gusted, and will not countenance by their presence
any more Fenian celebrations. We have no doubt
that the explosion of Friday has been fatal to the
interests of the conspirators themselves, but even
that gain is dearly purchased by so much needlessly
inflicted suffering.

The Cuba, from New York on the 3d of Decem-
ber, brings a further account of the PRESIDENT'S
Message published on that day in advance of de-
livery. We have been already put iu possession of
the substance by means of the Atlantic Cable, but
some additional passages of considerable interest
aro now given. The points upon which ho prin-
cipally dwells are the Reconstruction of the South
and Negro Suffrage, and these are indeed the all-
engrossing topics of the day. The Negro ques-

tion more especially is gaining daily in
portance and interest, for the white men
of the North arc not slow to perceive
the results with which they are threatened. It is
one thing to keep the Southern States at bay, to
refuse them representation, and to idly the petty
tyrant without datuage to themselves ; but it is
quite another to allow negroes to he elected, and
thus to put a considerable share of the legislative
powers of the country into their hands. On this
subject the PRESIDENT says, with sound common
sense and justice, " Four millions of slaves yes-
terday cannot be made intelligent freemen to-
day." The PRESIDENT is desirous to " better
their condition in all their rights, save
transferring to them our political inheri-
tance." The dangers of such a course must
be apparent to every impartial observer, and there
can be no doubt but that this perception has had a
cmsiderable share in altering the constitution of
Congress. Whatever professions of equality the

iicals may make for party purposes, there are
very ; few white men in the North who really desire
to In tt the blacks completely on a level with
them. ;elves, and there can be no question
as to, the imprudence and danger of such
a o,urs e even as regards the North. As for
the Southern States, the PRESIDENT says
the stab jugation of the Southern States to negro
domino tion would be worse than military despo-
tism, n nder which they are at present governed.
If anyt ling could drive the whites of the South
to a fr osh outbreak it would be the sudden eleva-
tion of the negroes. Setting aside the prejudices
of race and colour, which are not in fact so strong
in the :3outh as in the North, it is not difficult to
believe that the sudden conversion of servants into
masters is a dangerous as well as a distasteful ex-
perin lent to the latter. Yet the numbers of blacks
in soi ne of the States are so large that representation,
if the franchise were extended to them, would bo
completely in their hands, and the interests of the
whites would be altogether sacrificed. The Radicals
have gone on much too fast. Allowing them to be
sincere in their loudly expressed desire for negro
elevation, the haste and precipitation of their
schemes would hare been sufficient under any other
circumstances to secure their condemnation. We
wish to see a child well educated, and accordingly
send him to school and college, but we do not ex-
pect him within a day or two of his arrival to carry
off the highest honours. Much has been said of late
about the elevation of the masses among ourselves,
and much has been done to procure it, but nobody
expects to find our miners and our bricklayers on'
an intellectual level with our engineers and our
skilled mechanics. Yet the proposed method of
registration in the Southern States does more than
put the negro on a level with his former master.
It decimates the numbers of white voters, who are
already in some parts numerically fewer than the
blacks, and consequently the whites are left totally
unrepresented. As matters are at present
arranged by the Radical Reformers, the
members for the Southern States might actually
in Congress vote for the confiscation and
re-distribution of Southern land and property.
Happily for the Southerners the danger which
threatens them extends itself to the North also, and
the negro will be no welcome addition to the deli-
berations at Washington. The words of the PRE-
SIDENT on Reconstruction will be listened to with
more attention now than they would have been last
year. He does little more than repeat the old un-
heeded arguments. The disorganisation of the
Union is, he says, a subject of profound regret, and
the Union, as formerly established, can only really
exist when all the States are represen!ed in
Congress. The rebellious States were always
part of the Union, and their secession
ordinances were mere nullities. If it is now
to be admitted that they were valid as the authors
intended them to be, the whole ground upon which
the civil war was justified would be swept away.
In fact the Radical party are now doing the very
thing which the great majority of the Northern
people refused to do during the painful years of
struggle. They are acknowledging the secession of
the South. At the time of the secession the Radi-
cals, like most others in the North, refused to re-
cognise the Confederacy or its officers. PRESIDENT,
Ministers, Congress, and Generals, were all to
them mere empty names ; and the whole body
of Confederates, great and small, were classed
together as " rebels," men who had resisted a supe-
rior authority, and laid claim to an indepmdence
which they had no right to possess. But if, by their
own voluntary act, they had power to dissolve their
connection with the Northern States, how were they
rebels? The clai n of the North was based on the
indissolubility of the Union, and the North was
I low, then, can the Radicals, with
any consistency, maintain that the Union
is broken, and the South must not be
re-admitted ? These are the questions which
the more moderate and reflective among
American politicians and statesmen have been put-
ting for some time past, and they are at last obtain-
ing an answer from the great body of the people.
We have in the news brought by the Cuba another
significant intimation of the change. General
PorE has ordered the adjournment of the Alabama
Reconstruction Convention, for the pithy reason that
si its action tends to delay reconstruction." Thos•
who have watched the progress of these African
legislators during their brief deliberations will not be
disposed to dispute the truth of the General's asser-
tion.

victorious.

CONTINENTAL nations seem to be surpassing
Great Britain in their appreciation of cheap means
of intercommunication. By the convention just
concluded between Austria and the North German
Confederation, the penny-postage system is ex-
tended over the greater part of Central Europe.
Heretofore, post age throughout the whole of Austria
cost only a penny, and by the new arrangement a
letter may be sent from Hamburg to Vienna, from
Pesth to Cologne, for the same suns. This is
not the whole of the improvement. These States
offer their subjects still greater advantages. By
this convention with North Germany, Aus-
trians will be enabled to send small packages, for
many hundreds of miles in fact, for the same dis-
tances as they could post letters—for threepence.
The desirableness of some such system in this coun-
try needs no enforcement. The present charge on tho
transit of most parcels more than a few ounces in
weight, whether by post or by rail, is nearly pro-
hibitory. In the matter of telegraphic messages
we have also a great deal to learn. Austria is not
an advanced country in commercial progress.
Nevertheless, its telegraph system is being dove-
loped more rapidly than ours. Cheap rates have
been adopted, and have succeeded so well
that they are to be made considerably cheaper.
The means for the rapid transmission of informa-
tion will soon he brought within the reach of the
bulk of the people. In the first six months of this
year the inhabitants of Vienna alone sent 175,638
private messages. This number, considering the
ratio of progress, would allow an average of nearly
one message to every member of the population,
and five or six to every adult male, per annum.
England has heretofore taken the lead in such
matters, but now we are content to follow other
nations at a humble distance. It is no wonder
that we are not quite so prosperous as formerlr.

The Abyssinian Expedition seems to be prosper-
ing on the whole. From Malkatta, December the
Ist, we learn that Colonel MEREWETHER is moving
on Senafe with the advanced Brigade. One very
encouraging circumstance in the affair is that the
Expedition seems likely to receive the support and
assistance of the people of the various plat s
through which it pas-;es. In this last account we
learn that the inhabitants of Okuleh and Kuzeih
have offered their services. It is very cer-
tain that this wpect of the matter must not be
slighted, or made little of, because it might
hereafter prove to be of material advantage to our
forces. The troops, it is said, are in good health ;
but from Aden it is reported that there is a great
scarcity of water, and the disease among the mules
and horses prevails to a great extent. It would be
well if, in any future transports, more carp were
taken that there was not so much crowding in the
transit of these animals. The mules were sent
packed in so " tight" a manner that it
was impossible for them to lay down. This

is not the way to enable them to bear the
subsequent fatigues and privation that await them,
and a change for the better would be a desirable
one. Colonel STAVELY and Staff, with the last de-
tachmerA of the Scinde Brigade, have passed Aden
en route for Abyssinia ; it is mentioned also that a
chief of the Tigre, with six hundred men, had arrived
in the British camp, and that is a significant an-
nouncement of itself. On the whole, we feel assured
that the expedition promises well so far, and the
public may feel confidence in its future prospects. Of
course we cannot expect that it will be without
drawbacks and disappointments to a certain ex-
tent, but the result is the main thing to consider,
and i❑ every view of the question there seems no
reasin whatever to doubt that it will have a pros-
perous issue.

CORRESPONDENOB FROM PARIS.

(FROX OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.i

PARTS, Sunday, Dec. 11

- -
From telegrams received here I am informed that a
tearful explosion, attended with loss of life, took place in
London on Friday night. The telegram is extremely
bald and inaccurate, but the circumstance that all the
journals have taken it up. chews that the calamity has
created excitement here. The telegram gives notice that
the event took place at the "Prison de Elerkenwell," and
that Burke has escaped.
Lord Clarendon has passed through Paris en 'route for
Florence and Rome. During his brief sojourn here, he
he was accompanied to the Palace of Saint-Cloud, and
introduced by the Marquis de Moustier to the Emperor.
In spite of the promises made by the Itioniteur and
other official organs, and in spite of the efforts of M. de
Moustier himself, the project of the Conference, for the
realisation of which the French Government has been
labouring with more perseverance than success, has been
abandoned.

A common topic of talk here is the strengthening of the
garrisons of Gibraltar and Moscow. It is believed that
these measures have been taken in view of approaching
complications in the East. The fact that Gortschakofr has
been superseded by Ignatieff is believed to be a sort of
menace to Turkey.

At the close of a conference held at the Imperial Asylum
of Vincennes upon the nutritive qualities of the flesh of
horses, M. Reboul, director of the establishment, ordered
that a plate of this meat should be served to convalescent
patients.

A most remarkable and mysterious case of murder
is just now the topic of conversation here. A
farmer and money-lender of Bourgueil, named Pierre
David, disappeared suddenly in June 1863. The body was
discovered in a state of decomposition in December 186 G.
On examination it was found that death had been pro-
duced by strangulation, and also that the body had but
lately been removed to the spot in which it was found.
On tke 17th of February last Hilaire David, son of the
victim, was standing in a wine-shop talking to a man
named Bouchet. Suddenly the young man, pointing to
Bouchet, exclaimed, " Arrest him ; he has in his
possession the names of the murderers of my father !"
Bouchet was obse;ved to have a slip of paper
in his hand at this moment, but he put it
into his mouth and swallowed it before he was
placed in custody. Bouchet and Hilaire David were
found to have been in close relations respecting the crime
since August 1863, and it turned out that the former had
agreed to produce the body of the murdered man in con-
sideration of a sum of money. For a further sum of money
Bouchet agreed to write down the names of the mui-
derers, and he had actually written a name or names upon
a piece of paper, when he seemed to change his mind, and
would not give up the writing. At this moment David,
pointing to him, accused him of complicity in the murder.
The charge of murder has just been made, and though ii
was found to be impossible to bring the charge directly
home to Bouchet, enough was made evident to pl (.v.,; that
he knew something about the tragedy, and he was sew
tenoed to twenty years' hard labour.

Herr von Dreyse, the inventor of the needle-gun, died
on the t,th instant at his native place, Sommerda, near
Erfurt. He was born in 1787, and in youth he worked in
the shop cf his father, who was a locksmith. From 1809
to 1814 he lived in Paris, and was employed by a German
officer who had been commissioned by Napoleon I. to in-
vent a breech-loading rifle. On returning to Prussia ho
devoted himself to the pursuit of the object which his
Paris employer had vainly endeavoured to realise, and the
result was that in 1836 he produced the famous needle-
gun. Herr von Drcyse is also the inventor of the grenade
rifle, and of other varieties of firearms. The needle-gun
was first placed in the hands of the Prussian infantry
iu 3840