The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-20 00:00:00

will be lost if Sykes is convicted. Mr. Hall admits
Sykes to bail, postponing the trial from term to
term till the affair is forgotten, and Sykes continues
his triumphant career. Minor affairs are similarly
treated till hundreds of indictments are collected in
the district attorney's office, and he rules the roast.
When the period for election comes round he issues
his mandates much as Jonathan Wild did, and is
nominated by his myrmidons at the conventions,
and they control the elections. But the assertions
of the correspondent do not stop here, for he says,
" The majority of our judges are made of dense and
hopeless ignorance, elevated to the bench from the
bar-room by the votes of brother roughs. They find
in Mr. Hall a guide, counsellor, a friend, who tells
them what to do when they have cases to decide.
There are not three judges, justices, or magistrates
in this city that dare disobey Mr. Hall's commands.
As a consequence our district attorney's power in
elections—controlled, as ours are, by the worst
classes of the community—is simply enormous.
There is no office in the gift of the people of this
city that he cannot, an' he wills it, obtain. Why?
To use the language of a New York weekly news-
paper, 'lf the leading men of the nominating
bodies of our city were to refuse to select Oakey
Hall as the man of their choice, half of them would
be in prison within a week ; there would be a dearth
of members of county conventions; a quorum would
have to be hunted up behind iron bars.' The facts
that I have related are known to every citizen of
New York. Perhaps the English advocates of un-
restricted suffrage may find something in them
worth thinking about." The correspondent has
forgotten to add that what is true of the corruption
he asserts is mainly due to the Democratic party—
the Conservatives of New York.
The death is reported on the 31st ult. of Miss
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, a popular writer of the
United States. Miss Sedgwick was born in 1789,
being at the time of her death in her 78th year.
Her first book, entitled "A New England Tale,"
which appeared in 1822, gained her reputation
and success. In 1824 she published a second
tale, " Redwood," which was republished in Eng-
land and within a brief period translated
into French, Italian, and Swedish. In 1827 was
published " Hope Leslie ; or, Early Times in
America." In 1830 she issued " Clarence ; in
1832, " Le Bossu ;" and in 1835, " The Linwoods,"
and a collection of shorter tales. In the next three
years she issued a series of books whose popularity
was and continues great—the " Poor Rich Man
and Rich Poor Man," " Live and Let Live,"
" Means and Ends, Home," and " Love Token for
Children." In 1841 she published, on her return
from Europe, a charming volume of travel, " Letters
from Abroad to Kindred at Home ;" in 1845 ap-
peared "Milton Harvey, and other Tales." In
1857 appeared from her pen a novel of American
society, " Married or Single ?" In 1858 she issued
a life of Joseph Curtis. She was the autllor, be-
sides, of a great number of essays and stories in

magazines.
The following items are from the Round 7 able of
August 3 :
Mr. T. Buchanan Read, on the conclusion of a
tour in Maine, where he now is, gill sail for

Europe.
Mr. Charles 11. Brainard is preparing, for use
next winter, a lecture on the life and genius of
John G. Whittier.
The Rev. Edward C. Towne, who is recommended
as a lecturer by Messrs. Wendell Phillips and Ralph
Waldo Emerson, announces a lecture on " John
Brown : a Lesson of American Manhood."
President Hopkins, of Williams College, will next
winter deliver a course of twelve lectures before the
Lowell Institute, Boston.
Mr. George Vandenhoff, who has already ac-
cepted engagements to deliver a course of lectures
next fall at different points in Massachusetts and
Connecticut, has; in addition to his usual readings,
two new lectures—" Moliere, " and " Our Mother
Tongue and How we use it."
Mr. William L. Alden, hitherto editor of Harper's
Weekly, has relinquished that position to Mr. W. F.
G. Shanks, formerly a correspondent of the Herald,
in order to devote his time to a book which he is
preparing for the press.
Professor llubert A. Newton, of Yale College,
has added to Eaton's " Common School Arith-
metic" a brief treatise on the metric system of
weights and measures, on which the candidates for
admission to the academic and scientific depart-
ments of Yale are henceforth to pass examination.
The Rev. Cyrus Byington, for many years a
Presbyterian
Chickasawsn. C.
evand
C. elhoCcotpawsan has,d, completed the translation of the
with
missionaryt h e to
the
assistance
of the
Pen-
tateuch into Choctaw—the New Testament and
parts of the Old having already been printed in that
languageis
n by the American Bible Society. Mr.
about coming to New York to put the
book to press.
Mr. S. J. Ahern—for some seven years the pub-
lisher of the Albion, and also for some time con-
nected with the business department of the Times
—has purchased one-half of the Evening Gazette,
which will henceforth be published by Sweetser and
Ahern.
The Rev. C. T. Brooks will publish, in the
autumn, a translation of the Layman's Breviary.
M. Louis Blanc is said to have collected the pri-
vate papers of the Emperor Maximilian, with a
view toward a work upon the unfortunate prince.
Mrs. Ann S. Stephens is said to be indefatigable
in her attendance upon the Surratt trial, with the
design of drawing from it the materials for a novel,
in emulation perhaps of Mr. Cyrus Redding, whose
novel, " A Wife and Not aWife," is founded on
the notorious Yelverton case.
Mr. E. G. Squier, now in Paris, is engaged upon
an elaborate work on Peru.
Southern Episcopalians—those, that is, of the
dioceses of North and South Carolina, Georgia,
liAlroltriadnas'as, d T
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas,
Tennessee—are bestirring themselves
to build a university, which, we understand, is to
be located in the last-named State. The movement,
we presume, is a High Church one, as otherwise
Cenyon ought to be able to supply all that is needed.
The example of Trinity, with its signal failure, is
enough to forbid sanguine expectations from the
new institution ; but circumstances alter cases, and
enthusiasm may be abundant now which was want-
ing before.
Newspapers for our negro population, such at
least as are edited and published by them, are
eight in number, published in San Francisco, New
Orleans, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia,
Brooklyn, and Cincinnati. One of these,.that one
published at New Orleans, is a daily, with an issue
of 10,000, the others being weekly, and with an
average circulation of perhaps 3,000, wbich, all
things considered, is by no means a discouraging
condition of things when we remember how much
more numerous a
few years.numerous their readers are likely to become
A London correspondent of Frank Leslie writes :
—" Tom Taylor, celebrated in the United States as
a dramatic author, is equally famous in England as
art critic, historian, and htterateur, holding at the
same time a high post under the Government. His
beautiful residence, Lavender Sweep, at Clapham
Junction, some four miles from the centre of Lon-
don, is the very ideal of an artist's home. A large
and commodious house, literally crowded with books
and gems of art, divides the attention and delight
of guests with the landscape
garden and flowers.
Mr. Taylor is some forty-Vivo years old, of
medium height and handsome form. Like Charles
Reade, his hair and beard are turning grey, but
it is the only sign of age about him. His dark eyes
flash when talking, always animated and rapid, in-
deed I have no hesitation in crowning him the best
conversationalist I ever met with ; and as chairman
at the annual dinner of the Dramatic Authors' So-
ciety at Greenwich, last Sunday, he illustrated
equal talents for public or private. His accom-
plished wife contributed much to the fete a la cam-
pagne, last Sunday, at their charming place, by her
rare musical powers, as well as in tho..-e graceful
attentions which are so pleasing to guests. Mr.
Taylor was a barrister in fair practice before ac-
cepting office, and his experience at the bar is of vast
advantage to the Government in the Home Depart-
ment. His busy nature finds time for play writing,his-
tory, art, criticism, and contributions to the maga-

zines. Ile mentioned, not in a complaining way,
that he had received but three hundred pounds, in

all, for " Our American Cousin," well knowing
that it has produced to the managers of the theatres
in the United States as many thousands of dollars.

Although his plays are generally successful, and he
is accounted at the head of living English drama-

fists, yet he has not escaped some failures, and his
last, " Antipodes," now being performed at the
Holborn Theatre, is savagely cut up by the critics,

and will probably have a short run. The best play
and the best playing in London is in " Caste," at
the Prince of Wales Theatre. Unlike Mr. Reade,
_ _

Mr. Taylor meditates an early visit to the United
States, where he is well assured a warm welcome

awaits bitn.

Mr. Bancroft will be received in private audience
immediately after the King's return to Berlin, to present
to his Majesty his credentials as United States' Minister at

this Court.

Colonel Luke Lyman, of Northampton, Massa-
chusetts, formerly of the 27th Regiment, has been pro-
moted Brigadier-General, which appointment was con-
firmed by the Senate on July 20.
The wife of Admiral Farragut was received at
the railway station of Stottin, last Saturday, by the Com-
mandant, Lieut.-General Boehm, who accompanied her on
board the United States steamer Frolic, which is about to
leave for Cronstadt.

The officers of the Stettin garrison have given a
banquet to the officers of the Frolic in return for the hes-
pitality accorded to those on board that vessel.
At the Sailors' Home, Liverpool, on Thursday, a
gold chronometer watch was presented, on behalf of the
American Government, to Captain Rowland, of the coaster
Margaret Jane, of Barrow, as an .acknowledgment of his
services in rescuing six persons from the American ship
Toscano, when she was foundering at the mouth of the Irish
Channel in March last.
Senator Morrill, of Vermont ; Senator Doolittle,
of Wisconsin ; Hon. E. B. Washburne, M.C., of Illinois ;
Hon. James G. Blaine, M.C., of Maine; Ex-Governor
Curtin, of Pennsylvania; Hon. F. W. Morse, U.S. Consul
at London ; Hon. J. A. Kasson, U.S. Postal Commissioner ;
A. M. Beckwith, General Commissioner from the U.S. to
the Paris Exposition; James W. Simonton, of the Associ-
ated Press; Alexander P. Stewart, the New York mil-
lionaire ; and Dr. Johnston, the well-known " Malakoff"
of the New York Times—Were among the guests at a recent
dinner given by Mr. Gibbs, of the U.S. Treasury Depart-
ment, at his residence in Paris.
Wilkes's Spirit of the Times observes that the
choice of the next President has been narrowed down to
a few leading Republicans, of whom Grant, Stanton, and
Chase have thus far been the most prominent.
Marcus Ottenburg is to remain Minister at
Mexico, having received a special order from Mr. Seward
to that effect.
Canover, the perjurer, has been sent to Albany
to work out his ten years' sentence.
Charles Anthon, the distinguished classical
scholar and author died at New York on Wednesday, the
30th July.
General Sir John Michel, K.C.8., commanding
Her Majesty's troops in Canada, has resigned.
General C. C. Washburne, member of Congress
from Wisconsin, arrived by the Cuba. Ile will visit
France and Germany.
Mr. D. A. Wells, Revenue Commissioner, having
completed his English and Continental researches, is now
at Paris.
Mosen, the American artist from Rome, is at
Homburgh-les-Bains, for the benefit of his health.
Daniel Gould, American Consul at Leith, died
the latter part of July last. His son, W. M. Gould, is
acting as pro tem Consul.
General Hugh Ewing, American Minister at the
Hague, is spending a few weeks at the village of Ringen
on the Rhine.
His Excellency General John A. Dixon, Minis-
ter at Paris, is with his family at Homburgh-les-Bains.
The General returns this week to Paris, but his family will
remain some weeks at Homburgh.
Miss Charlotte Cushman, the noted actress, has
been living eight years in Rome, except for a short period
when she visited the United States in aid of the Sanitary
Fund. Her nephew, E. Cushman, is the American Consul
at Rome, and Miss Stebbins, the sculptress, is living
with her.
General Rufus King, late United States Minister
at Rome, is expected to visit his old home in Milwaukie
in September next.
Mr. L. Motley, late Minister at Vienna, has
delivered his letter of recal to the Emperor. His family
will spend the summer in Switzerland, while he will go to
London to superintend the publication of the two con-
cluding volumes of the " History of the Netherlands."
The health of his daughter is such as to probably require
a winter residence in Italy. Mr. Motley is not very rich
in worldly goods, and would have liked to remain at
Vienna a year or ti6o longer, so as to have written where
he had such great facilities his "History of the Thirty
Years' War." The infamous M‘Cracken, the great anony-
mous, was too much for him. Messrs. Motley, J. R.
Bartlett, T. B. Laurence, and Dr. James Sargent have
been appointed by the American Antiquarian Society to
attend a Congress of Antiquarians, which meets in Antwerp
in August.
Professor Whitney has ascended Mount Hood,
California, and finds it to be 12,400 feet.
Longfellow luxuriates in the sea breeze at Nahaut.
Stoddard's summer home is near Nowburyport.
The Springfield Republican says that Miss Hough-
ton of North Adams, who was lately mixed up in the Rev.
S. M. Merrill scandal, has written to the gentleman, since
his pretended drowning at Plattsburg, telling him that it is
now his duty to leave his family and share his fortunes
with her, oven if they have to go to the ends of the earth.

JEAN HILAII?E BELLOC.
(DIRECTEUR DE L'ECOLE lIIPERIALE DE DESSIN.)

The provincial museums of France are, as is'
generally known, much better worth seeing than
similar institutions in our own country, as the
French Government frequently enriches them with
fine specimens of the work of native artists who
have riseA to fame in the great arena of Europe.
At Avignon, for instance, are many beautiful
examples of the genius of the three Vernets, and
the collection at Nantes is in the highest degree
interesting and well arranged. This latter gallery
has quite lately received from the Ministre de la
Maison de l'Empereur et des Beaux Arts, a remark-
able picture from the hand of a recently deceased
artist, born at Nantes in the year 1786, and whose
long Parisian career of public usefulness will have
ensured his name being well known to those who

have toiled, not unsuccessfully, to develope some
local knowledge of Art in England through Schools
of Design. But even to them it may not be well
known that the man who sacrificed himself with
untiring energy to help others to achieve fame, and
to spread a knowledge of the principles of art, had
within himself the genius and the fire which
concentrated solely upon painting might have
placed his name beside those of the great French
artists whose names and whose works are perfectly
familiar to the English public.
Jean Hilaire Belloc came of an honourable mer-
chant stock, in the city which may be considered
as port of the Loire. His father took part in the
military struggles of the revolutionary times, on
the side of " the country" against the Royalists.
A certain delicacy of health, a decided talent for
art, prevented the boy from following the profes-
sion of arms ; and he studied painting under Reg-
nault, Guerin, Gros, and Proudhon. In those
early days he had for a friend and fellow student,
Gericault, whose undeveloped genius and career he
foresaw and prophesied. In 1810, NI. Belloc exhi-
bited an historical painting, 'The Death of Gaul,
Companion in Arms of Ossian." It was one of the
successes of that year, and gained the great gold
medal for the youthful artist, then hardly twenty-
four years of age. In 1812, he exhibited several
portraits, and a picture entitled " A Lost Traveller
in an Egyptian Catacomb." The political changes
of 1814 and 1815 brought reverses of fortune and
family trouble which for some years compelled M.
Belloc to relinquish his beloved profession—years
which he numbered among the saddest of his life.
But, in 1823, he reappeared triumphant upon the
old arena, exhibiting several fine portraits. In
182 G, he produced a " St. John the Precursor ;"
in 1827, again, a series of portraits; in 1828, a
" Flight into Egypt ;" in 1829, an " Assumption,"
and also a portrait of the Duchesse de Berri.
Ili 1830, when the Revolution of July took France
by storm, M. Belloc was in mid-career, building
up that fame which to artists comes in middle life,
and occupied with numerous commissions, never,
alas ! destined to be executed ; for when politics
are disorganized and commerce suffers, the Arts
the fairest and most delicate children of Civilization
—have but faint chance of a healthy existence.
And, moreover, the last picture exhibited by M.
Belloc having been the portrait of the Duchesse de
• Berri, it may be imagined that his artistic connec-
tions were likely to be seriously injured by the
- Bourbon downfall. It was, however, through the