The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-09 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

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rHIS DAL—Morning, , Bh. 40m.—Afternoon, 9h. 20m.
To-Motutow.-Morning, 9h. 55m.—Afternoon, 10h. 30m

I y 4
I 44
4,4§„441

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1867.

On the whole there is much to be satisfied with
in the decision arrived at by the Commons last
night, for they agreed to the most important
of the Lords' amendments, the representation
of minorities. Most strenuous opposition was
made to its passing, however, and indeed the
course pursued by the Liberal side of the House
altogether was disgraceful. Surely sufficient oppor-
tunity has been afforded them during the progress
of the Bill to express their opinions, and to try
to g:in their ends, but last night was evidently
made a standing ground for a faction fight,
and it i 3 fortunate that an important clause
was carried after all. Despite all the sneers of Mr.
BRIGHT,. and the efforts he had made, he found
himself in a minority. Mr. GLADSTONE also tried
his utmost, but to no purpose, and Lord CAIRNS'S
Clause mly now be regarded as a settled thing.
Mr. BRIGHT moved its rejection in a speech of
great length, and evidently set his mind upon its
rejection. The hon. member for Birmingham cer-
tainly al not shine last night, and his intole-
rant language contrasted very unfavourably with
some of his earlier speeches this session, when be
seemed to wish to help the Government to get
through their awkward task, Prejudice has, 11091-

ever, so perverted his judgment that it is almost im-
possible to say what he will do next on any im-
portant occasion, and if a d; bate be protracted, ten
to one but he will fail at the last, and virtually undo
all that he has done before by moderation and
conciliation. Mr. BRIGHT was most earnest in his
adjurations to the House on this subject, and de-
clared that the giants of the English constitution,
the great men who were the parents of English
freedom, would have given their vote for him had
they been there. We really do not see how this
can be, or by what means Mr. BRIGHT ascertained
their would-be intentions, but the majority of the
House of Commons preferred to act up to their
own convictions, instead of following Mr.
BRIGIIT in his visits to the spirit land.
The hon. member for Birmingham tried
argument as well- as exhortation, and said that the
whole matter was " so monstrous, and so unconsti-
tutional, that he felt as if he were either humiliating
himself or his hearers in discussing it." Mr. KNATCH-
BULL-HUGESSEN'S speech was much to the point,
and he said, very truly, that Mr. BRIGHT argued as
if the weight and importance of constituencies de-
pended entirely on majorities. The main reason
why he advocated this plan was, because "he
desired to see the greatest amount of in-
telligence, and the largest number of persons
possible engaged in taking part in all political
affairs ;" and this is of itself a very forcible argument
in favour of the adoption of the scheme.

Mr. LOWE was, of course, very earnest about the
clause, and was very effective in discussing the
speeches of Mr. BRIGHT and Mr. GLADSTONE. The
latter was very strongly against the clause, and
declared that it would not be right to curtail the
electoral powers of the great towns. Mr.
G LADSTONE'S arguments showed an illiberal
spirit, for he went too much on Mr. BRIGHT'S
tack of sweeping everything away by the
power of numbers. At any rate, it is a matter
of great satisfaction that the House should have
adopted this clause for the representation of mino-
rities, and its success will infallibly be shown as
time proceeds. It is matter of regret that the
Voting Paper Clause should have been thrown out,
and the opposition made to it came with a very
bad grace from the Liberal side of the House.
Mr. GLADSTONE declined to agree to Mr.
DISRAELI'S proposal to have a compromise,
and to omit boroughs from its operation.
Mr. BRIGHT, as might have been expected, was
furious about the motion, and declared that it
would lead to intimidation and similar undesirable
results. Altogether, the course taken by Liberals
in this matter wan, as we have said, not unworthy ;
and it is pretty plain by this time that they will
not try anything which will make bribery less
effectual, and prevent the noisy and turbulent
party from losing the best chance of win-
ning the day. Mr. MILL said that he
would rather have no bill at all than
one with such a condition attached to it, and
we have in this declaration a very fair specimen of
the sincerity of these enthusiasts about Reform.
They are full of crotchets, and directly any one
ventures to touch upon their province they are in-
dignant, and say that nothing must be done at all
if all is not exactly as they want. Mr. BRIGHT
has threatened to retire from Parliament in
the event of the minority clause coming
into operation, but in all probability he will
see fit to change his intentions when the time
comes for putting principle into practice. A good
deal of work was got through last night, and the
Reform Bill may safely be considered as virtually
passed. The difficulties which Ministers have had
to contend against may be best estimatedby the viru-
lence of the opposition which they encountered last
night. Those who, like Mr. GLADSTONE, had remained
practically quiescent after the great Government
success in April, reappeared yesterday in full force,
while Mr. BRIGHT, who had affirm' d the measure
before it went to the Lords, attacked it in a spirit
worthy of 1859, and the malcontents, like Lord
CRANBORNE and Mr. BE RESFORD HOPE, were all
on the alert. The public will rejoice that the bill
has survived the dangers of this motley crew, and
that, with a few exceptions, it bids fair to sustain
the desired end of those who introduced it. Mr.
DISRAELI did his best in the awkward position in
which he was placed, and though the House of
Commons did not respond to his invitation with
quite the cordiality of previous occasions, it acted
well and wisely in the most important clause that
came under its consideration ; and it is no exaggera-
tion to say that most desperate efforts were made by
some to defeat the Lords' amendments altogether,
a desire in which they were most happily unsuccess-
ful, but their responsibility is the same.

Lord STANLEY'S answer to the question put to
him last night by Mr. H. SEYMOUR, did not express
much confidence in the present position of the
Abyssinian captives. The noble lord said that the
latest accounts which he had received from Mas-
sowah were of the date of July 20th. It was re-
presented that the KING'S power was greatly
diminished, that rebel troops were actually in
sight of his camp, and that communication between
Debre Tabor, where he is, and Magdala, where the
prisoners are detained, is cut off. " But," added
Lord STANLEY, after repeating this statement, " I
cannot say whether it will be permanently cut
off, and it would therefore be premature to
conclude that the prisoners were about to be imme-
diately liberated." Such being the case, we trust
that the opportunity afforded us by the temporary
release of the prisoners from THEODORE'S guard
may be turned promptly to account. The chances
of war arc proverbially uncertain, and it is very
probable that the KING may make a special effort
to recapture the prisoners in pursuance of his policy
towards this country. lie had evidently some end
in view in their long detention, and will no doubt
be much mortified at his prey having escaped from
his grasp. If he can regain possession of the Euro-
pean captives he may recover some of his lost
prestige among his followers. By sending a force
from India to the assistance of the rebels we may
recover the prisoners from their long captivity with
very little delay or difficulty ; and we hope Lord
STANLEY will transmit instructions for an im-
mediate despatch of troops. By leaving the fate of
so many Englishmen to. the doubtful chances of
war, in which neither party is fighting for us, we
shall do incalculable harm to our reputation in the
East, and weaken the power and influence of Eng-
land iu every semi-civilised country with which
we have to deal. No nation is more concerned in
preserving that hedging round of dignity and
prestige which is so valuable an assistant to mere
physical force, and which indeed in many cases
seems as an efficient substitute for it. But if Eno.-
land is known to be too weak, or too indolent, or
too indifferent to exert herself on behalf of her
official representatives, our interests in every quarter
of the globe will be imperilled, and in our dealings
with China, with Japan, above all with India, we
shall find that the timorous saving of life and
honour at the expense of the Abyssinian cap-
tives wil be likely to involve us in heavy
and costly wars. England is at a low ebb indeed
if she cannot rescue her subjects from a half-de-
throned KING, whose people are in open rebellion
against him. It is not a question that will afford to

wait, and we hope that Lord STANLEY has already
adopted the only safe and ready means for its solu-
tion.

Yesterday afternoon was held, under the presi-
dency of the Lord Mayor, a Reform meeting in the
City—one of the last, we may presume, that will
for the present be found necessary or desirable.
The proceedings were very brief, inasmuch as the
time was limited owing to the necessity of present-
ing the petition agreed upon to the House of
Commons that very afternoon. The object
of the petitioners was to obtain the rejec-
tion of the Lords' amendments against which the
speakers argued with much energy. The increase
of the copyhold and leasehold qualifications from
£5 to £lO, the use of voting papers the loss of one
vote to the electors of the City, or, as the petitioners
termed it, their " partial disfranchisement," and the
requirement of the payment of a county or borough
rate in addition to the poor rate were all dwelt
upon. As we have seen, the House of Commons,
with one exception, adopted the desired views, and
reduced the bill to very much the same position as
formerly. The citizens of London have less reason to
complain of the reduction of their voting powers than
the members of other constituencies, seeing that
three votes is by no means an unreasonable allow-
ance. The terms of the petitioners were ingeni-
ously vague. They do not altogether disapprove of
the principle of representing minorities, but say
that the mode by which that object is proposed to
be effected by the Upper Home " affords oppor-
tunity for the practice of abuses, for the evils of
which any supposed advantages in the principle
itself would yield inadequate compensa-
tion." This is not a very lucid objection.
The fear that the Peers hope to replace
the influence they lose in nomination boroughs and
nomination minorities is surely a groundless one in
the City of London. The voting papers were
objected to on the grounds that they would facilitate
corrupt practices and the exercise of undue in-
fluence. All this, however, is mere matter of con-
jecture, and since there are many solid arguments
in favour of the adoption of voting papers, it would
surely be wise to make the experiment in a few
boroughs or counties. Experience would soon show
whether the objections raised to them were
valid or no, while there is no question that the
adoption of a different mode of voting would be
the first step towards the Ballot. Very probably

it is the conviction of this that excites so strenuous
an opposition to the papers. One thing is certain
our present mode of conducting our elections is
eminently unsatisfactory, but there are always a
host of objectors to exclaim against the adoption
of any new course, so that we have not much
chance of seeing a change for the better.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Thursday Evening.
The evening Moniteur, in its weekly review of
foreign events, says :--
"A few days before the departure of the Em-
peror of Russia from St. Petersburg for the Crimea,
to meet the Empress, he signed an ukase relative to
the reorganisation of the newly-annexed provinces
of Turkistan. The two administrations, civil and
military, are declared to be conjoined under the
authority of a Governor-General. The natives
fill a good many offices, and the customs of the
country are scrupulously respected. The Govern-
ment of the Emperor Alexander has obtained an
important success by extending its influence over
those countries which, in the vicinity of Persia, the
Indies and China, occupy in the heart of Asia, as
it were, such an important geographical position
under the double rank of politics and commerce.
" The elections for the Confederate Parliament
have commenced throughout the whole of Northern
Germany. The scrutiny will commence towards
the end of this month. The absence of any pay-
ment for the deputies has rendered candidates
less numerous. The Prussian Government has sus-
pended the measure which it proposed in regard to
the treasure of the ancient electorate of Hesse.
Instead of adding to the Prussian Treasury the
reserves successively accumulated by the sovereigns
objectsof
of
that coluonctarlyi,ntietreisst.proposed to apply them to

The Sultan left Vienna on the 31st of July to
embark in the Danube on his return to his States.
During the interruption of the labours of the
Reichsrath, the committees charged with the exami-
nation of the laws presented during the session
pursue their task with activity. The Confessional
Committee is occupied with propositions having for
object to give matrimonial jurisdiction to the civil
tribunals, to emancipate public instruction from
ecclesiastical authority, to regulate the relations
between various religious communities, and to
decree the equality of the confessions before the
law. The Chamber of Deputies has already
accepted these propositions in principle, but it ap-
pears doubtful whether the House of Lords will
ratify them.

" In Italy the agitation which extreme parties
endeavoured to foment appears to have been com-
pletely dispelled by the public good sense. The
note published in the Moniteur, on the subject of the
journey of General Dumont to Rome, has replaced
things in their proper light and put an end to all
equivocation or misunderstanding. The Govern-
ment of King Victor Emmanuel, like that of the
Emperor, exhibits the firm intention to scrupulously
respect the Convention of the 15th of September,
which is at once the safeguard of the Pontifical
territory, and the pledge of the amicable relations
existing between France and Italy. The Chamber
of Deputies held it last sitting on the Ist of August;
it will not meet again till November. It is believed
that the Senate will agree to the law for the liquida-
tion of ecclesiastical property without difficulty."
The packet which has arrived at St. Nazaire from
Vera Cruz has brought a despatch from H. Dano,
dated July 8, to the Government, and anterior to
the telegram recently published in the Monikur,
Juarez had not yet arrived at Mexico, where, how-
ever, he was expected without delay ; and Parfirio
Diaz, who continued to hold the command, seemed
personally disposed to exhibit moderation. General
Vidaurri, who was arrested in consequence of a
denunciation made on the morning of the 7th, was
shot on the same day in one of the principal squares
of the city.
The school vessel, the Jean Bart, has arrived at
Brest. The health of all on board is excellent.
Prince Napoleon and the Princess Marie Clotil44'
have left Paris to take the waters in the Pyrenees,
where they will remain for,the season.
The Siecle, in discussing the nationality of
Schleswig, says :
" What could have been more easy and more ad-
vantageous for victorious Prussia than to have ful-
filled the treaty of Prague, as regards Schleswig ?
By executing it faithfully there would have been
extenuation for greater violence on her part.
As Andrieux says—" A windmill is respected ; a
consistedprovinee is
of rotibieberdig." The in
dnoluil rl foreo u s little Prussia
hts
that ag
population of Danis,' Schleswig, who resisted and
of c
who still resist their invaders with such heroism.
If it be true that homage is due to courage in mis-
fortune, no nationality ought to be more respected
than that Danish nationality, so attached, so de-
cided, and which now prefers dispossession and
exile to submission to Prussian Germanism. We
had occasion lately to see in Paris a certain 'lumber
of persons of various classes belonging either to
Denmark or to the provinces in question. It is
impossible to imagine a population better beloved,
better instructed, or more sympathetic, or who
merit less the misfortune which has occurred to
them. Some statistics relative to the elections ex-
plain why Prussia does not proceed to the vote
respecting the cession of Schleswig in pursuance of
the treaty of Prague. She knows that the iEthabi,

tants wish to be again placed under the dominion
of Denmark.

The papers are remarkably barren of news or in-
'ormation. Their attention is still centred upon
;he elections to the general councils.

The robbery of jewels from the Swedish portion
of the Exhibition was effected in this way : A well-
dressed gentleman walked up to the glass case while
many persons were about, took off the globe under
which the ornaments were kept, and wrapped them
up carefully in tissue paper, and put them in his
pocket. This he did in such a business-like way,
without any concealment, that no one had a sus-
picion, as the gentleman was supposed to be one of
the Swedish Commissioners. It may be well to
explain that many stands are left the greater part
of the day without any one being in attendance to
look after them. Some of the proprietors of articles
only:come once a week, although, as a general prin-
ciple, there is a representative of the owner. The
most curious part of the affair Kerns to be that,
although this stand inclosed such valuable jewellery,
the window was not under lock and key.
It is stated from Rome that, although the depar-
ture of the Pope for Castel-Gardolfo was fixed for
this day, it is the intention of his Holiness to remain
in the former city until the cholera shall have en-
tirely disappeared. The cases of cholera have very
much diminished, and the disease is now in such a
mild form that a cure is generally effected. At
Palermo, however, on the second day after the
disease manifested itself there were no less than 80
deaths. M. Rattazzi intends very shortly to put up
for sale ecclesiastical property to the amount of 200

Strange stories are told about a doctor who re-
sides on the Faubourg St. Antoine, where he gives
consultations in a little room on the second floor.
The landlord allows the doctor to live rent free in
consequence of the good done by him to society.
He never goes to the house of a patient. All his
patients visit him. He literally gives advice, for he
will never accept money, although he effects mar-
vellous cures. His treatment is a perfect mystery.
Some say he cures simply by his presence. He does
not allow any patient to come a second time, be-
cause, he says, if he can cure at all he can cure in
one visit. The crowd of patients is so great that it
is necessary to give numbered tickets, and they go in
their turn. Sixteen hundred tickets were given some
time ago, and about thirty patients were admitted
daily. The doctor, whose name is Jacob, is a man
nearly 40, of middle height, and a very intelligent
countenance. He is a soldier, that is to say he is a
musician in a regiment of Zouaves of the Guard.
When interrogated the other day relative to the
wonderful cures he is said to have made, and asked
bow he was enabled to effect them, be said he did
not know. Some attributed the cures to spiritualism,
some to mesmerism, and some to charlatanism. The
doctors, he said, called him a quack, but that did not
give him any uneasiness. When asked if his pa-
tients were really ill, he replied that they said so,
and that he did them good, and that was all he
cared for. " Some come," he added,
" who can't
move, bat when I tell them to stir, they do so.
Above all things, I tell them not to drug themselves
and to take no physic." Mysterious as this may
seem, it is quite certain that there is always a
crowd of patients about the house. Among
them are lame, blind, and paralytic, and what-
ever the disease the visitors all seem confident
of obtaining relief. When the doctor is in garrison
at Versailles he gives consultations there,which are
as much frequented as his consultations in Paris.
He says he bas never studied medicine, but when
a patient comes to see him he tells him instantly
what disease he labours under. _ . .

The King of Sweden has been several times to the
theatre since he has been in Paris, but he goes in
private without the least ceremony.
A railway line has been commenced to connect
Switzerland with Italy. The ceremony of laying
the first rail took place at Sion (Switzerland), on
Tuesday. It was performed by the President of
the Council of the State of the Valais.
By the advice of his physicians, M. de Lamartine
is gone to Switzerland for the benefit of his health.
The weather is inclined towards storm, and the
wind is rather violent. It was very dull and cloudy
in the morning, but it became bright in the after-
noon.