The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, Luisa ON, TUESDAY E v ENING, JANUARY 22, 1867.

that it prefers to allow disputants to ruin them-
selves and each other. Both sides have some-
thing to complain of, and can find plenty of
arguments to sustain their complaints. It cer-
tainly appears a hard case that a man should go
through the form of registration, and believe him-
self secure of a particular title, if the registration
is actually no more than a form, and is of no
service to him whatever. On the other hand, it
is very hard that a publisher should be al-
lowed to go through all the heavy preliminary
outlay demanded for the establishment of a
general magazine, unsuspicious of any am-
bush, while all the time there lurks in the
background a secret foe, who at the last moment
may start up and disarrange all his carefully-pre-
pared and costly plans. The condition of many
points of our law on literary matters has long been
a matter of comment, and efforts have recently
been made to amend it. This cause celebre of the
two " Belgravias" will no doubt be instrumental in
bringing about a reform in the vexed question of
what confers the exclusive right to a particular
publisher. There ought certainly, in common
fairness to authors and publishers, to be such a right
indisputable in a court of law ; but there
should also be some guarantee against money
being spent for other people's benefit. It has
been very sensibly suggested that the right
conferred by registration should be limited to a
certain period, so that if it was not used within an
interval, say of six months, it should be forfeited.
This would be a good way out of the difficulty which
undoubtedly exists. To show the condition of the
law and the lack of protection it affords, we may
suppose that a publisher of less standing and respec-
tability than either of those engaged in this dispute
had from malicious motives started a " Belgravia,"
he might have headed his principal story " Birds of
Prey." Something certainly must be done to pro-
tect literary rights. Merchandise is protected by
trade marks strictly enforced by the law, why then
should literary rights, if less tangible, be less
protected ?

The Imperial decree appears to have given gene-
ral satisfaction in France, as indeed it might natu-
rally have been supposed that it would. Indeed,
in many respects, it seems very well suited to the
exigencies of the time. It is true that some of the
journals seem to be disappointed at the suppression
of the address from the Throne, which is not sur-
prising. The Moniteur of yesterday is anxious to
allay the feeling of regret or indignation on that
score, for it says that there will virtually be no dif-
ference in consequence, and that the " suppression
of the debates on the Address will not delay ex-
planations, since the Government has decided to
accept, from the opening of the session, questions
upon foreign policy." We aro glad to find that
on all sides this decree has been regarded as an
indication of a more liberal policy, and it is re-
assuring that the French people should thus begin
the new year under such favourable auspices.
Perhaps there is no country in which it is more
difficult to make changes than in France ; that is to
say, desirable ones, for with one thing and another
it is often more easy to keep on the same than to
inaugurate in a successful manner any important
alterations ; but we hope that the present endea-
vour will be attended with success.

the weather was intensely cold, and a strong north-
easterly wind prevailed. There is no sign of the
departure of the frost. Large masses of ice are
floating in the Seine.
The Memorial Diplomatique states, with an air of
official authority, that in the Circular Note ad-
dressed on the sth of December to England, France,
and Russia, the Porte accuses Greece of trampling
under foot the general rules of neutrality, and even
the most solemn engagements. The Porte then
invites foreign powers to remember that whatever
may arise, Greece is herself alone responsible for a
position which is no longer supportable. As to the
island of Candia, the Porte asserts that among the
ranks of the insurgents there is now scarcely one
native, but that the partial struggle is kept up by
emissaries from abroad.

A letter from Naples, dated Jan. 15, says that
since the previous day a ♦iolent tempest has pre-
vailed, which had done serious damage to the vessels
in the port and bay. About 20 vessels had been
sunk, and others were in great danger. Only four
lives were known to have been lost. At Baja four
vessels were lost.

A terrible explosion has taken place at Fosse-
Seutincllc, ne 1r Mons, in a charcoal pit. Eight
bodies had been recovered, and many workmen
were severely burnt. Mons and Charleroi are the
chief towns of France where coal mines exist.
A controversy has been raised as to whether the
lately deceased actress, Mdlle. Georges, was born
at Amiens or Bayeux. The question, however, is
now set at rest by the discovery of the lady's bap-
tismal register. It states that on Saturday, Feb.
24, 1787, the vicar of St. Patrice, Bayeux, bap-
tised a girl born the previous day, who was the
legitimate daughter of George Wemmer and Marie
Verteuil, living in that parish, and that the name of
Marguerite Josephine was given to her. M. Marc
Fournier, the director of the Porte St. Martin, the
scene of many of the triumphs of Mdlle. Georges,
has written to the younger sister to say that in com-
memoration of them he intends to give for her bene-
fit an annual representation at that theatre, the
minimum produce of which he guarantees to be
2,400 f. The amount is to be paid to Madame
Georges, the younger, monthly in advance.
M. Ingres, the painter, leaves by his will to his
native town, Montauban, his magnificent painting
of " Jesus before the Doctors," and his magnificent
collection of works of art, with the exception of a
few private legacies, for instance, his own portrait,
which he leaves to his wife. M. Ingres has also
bequeathed to the town of Montauban his valuable
collection of sketches.

PARIS, Monday Evening.

Although the whole of the Cabinet Ministers re-
signed, as you will have learnt by telegraph, the
actual Ministerial change will be but trifling, at
least for the present. M. Rouher is appointed
Minister of Finance in the room of M. Fould.
Marshal Niel has accepted the office of Minister of
War in the room of Marshal Randon. Admiral
Rigault de Geneuilly is named Minister of Marine
and the Colonies in the room of the Marquis
Chasseloup Laubat ; and M. Forcade de la
Roquette has become Minister of Agriculture, Com-
merce, and Public Works, in the room of M. Behic.
M. Behic, however, has received the cross of the
Legion of Honour, and is raised to the dignity of
Senator. Thus there is no change in the important
offices of the Minister of the Interior and Minister
of Foreign Affairs, the Marquis de la Valette and
M. de Moustier retaining their functions as well as
the rest of the Ministers, the Emperor not having
been willing to accept their resignations.
I learn from a source on which reliance may be
placed that at the Cabinet Council held on Satur-
day there was some difference of opinion in regard
to the policy of discontinuing the discussion on the
address in the Chambers, and that at its close the
Ministers tendered their resignations. As the dif-
ference of opinion among the Ministers was very
partial the resignation of the greater portion of the
Cabinet was merely formal, and it was at once
withdrawn at the desire of the Emperor.
The course adopted of abandoning discussion on
the address has long been talked of, and therefore
the letter of the Emperor to M. Rouher has not
taken anybody by surprise. There seems to be
almost general concurrence in the arguments and
explanations of the Moniteur upon the subject. The
official journal says :—" Everybody has been struck
with the fact that discussions on the address tend
that r proceeds
such
discussions confirm
on thel y opinion
result of
inmore and more to divert attention from the topics
mooted by the hour in the speech."
TheEm 3pfeor no u
the
loss of valuable time. This argument
is sup-
ported by the official records of the time em-
ployed in discussions on the address for six years
past. In 1861 the time occupied in the discussion
on the address was one month and 18 days ; in 1862,
one month and 23 days ; in 1863, one month ; in
1864, no less than two months and 24 days ; in
1865, two months ; in 1866, one month and 28
days. It is a striking fact, too, that these discus-
sions were of a desultory character, and that which-
ever way the vote went the decision did not involve
a specific settlement of any important point of
policy. With these remarks I may again refer to
the great argument of the Illoniteur, as forcible as
it is true, that the Chamber will have two modes
of demonstrating its opinion upon the speech at
the opening of the session—first by the order of
the day pure and simple, if it find that there is
no foundation for the interpretations, and by send-
ing the points back for the consideration of the
Government, should the question appear to it to
merit especial attention.
In conclusion, the Moniteur says—" 'What the
country demands above all is that truth, justice,
and the general welfare should be triumphant in
the discussions. In this respect the decree will be
considered by all rational men as realising a nota-
ble improvement."
At present the Paris papers do not seem to have
had time to consider the scope of the decree abo-
lishing the discussion on the address. Ihe Siecle,
always earnest or disapproving of everything said
and done by the Government, of course censures it,
but in a comparatively moderate spirit. Its chief
objection seems to be in reference to the announced
law for referring offences of the press to the cor-
rectional tribunals. "We should prefer," says the
Siecle, " in default of a jury, the administrative in-
tervention, because it offered to the press a cer-
tain guarantee in the moral responsibility of the
functionaries who had jurisdiction over it. As to
the right of meeting which iu announced that will
certainly be accepted with satisfaction by the coun-
try."
The Emperor has addressed the following letter to
Madame Ingres :

" Palace of the Tuileries, Jan. 16, 1867.

" Madame,-1 take a sincere share in your grief.
The Empress joins in it, and all France shares it.
Receive, with my condolence, the assurance of my
feelings. " NAPOLEON."

From the last census it appears that there are
eight cities in France with more than 100,000 in-
habitants. Paris, 1,825,274 ; Lyons, 323,954 ;
Marseilles, 300,131 ; 81154,749 ; Toulouse, 126,936 ; Nantes, 111,956 i
Rouen, 100,671. Fifteen°r( x' 194,241 ; Lille,
cities have a population
of more than 50,000, viz., St. Etienne, Strasburg,
Brest, Toulon, Havre, Roubaix, Amiens, Rheims,
Nismes, Mulhouse, Montpellier, Dietz, Angers,
Limoges, and Nice.
This inclement weather has
just given rise to
various experiments. A scientific writer says that
if you hold a ball of snow over the flame of a candle
it will instantly melt into drops of water if a thaw
be imminent. On the contrary, should there be
more snow coming the snowballs will become hollow,
and more than half of' the snow will be absorbed
without giving a drop of water. He made the ex-
periment in Alsace, where there is a great quantity
of snow, and as the snowball became hollow without
yielding water he augurs that the thaw will not
come yet.

In addition to rare fruits and various choice pro-
ducts of the soil, sent from Smyrna to the Exhibi-
tion, is a collection of very curious and splendid
dolls dressed in the various costumes of Asia Minor.

A clever robbery has recently been effected at
several tobacco shops, it is supposed by the same
individual. The last victim is a lady who keeps a
ehop at No. 110, Rue de Riyoli. The thief went in

and asked for two Fous worth of tobacco. While it
was being weighed he dexterously removed the
handle by which the shop door is opened from the
interior. He then offered a sfr. piece, and when
the change was tendered, he snatched both change
and sfr. piece from the lady's hand and ran off
When he shut the door from the outside it could
not be opened from the inside, and thus it was im-
possible to pursue the thief. The shopkeeper, there-
fore, could not get out herself until she beckoned to
a passer-by, who seat for a locksmith to open the
door.

According to the account of a French gossiping
writer from Cannes that town can boast of the
presence of many European celebrities. Earl Rus-
sell is or was there ; and among other visitors are
M. Mermiee, M. Barthelemy St. Hilaire, M. Gamier
Pages, the Bishop of Orleans, and a host of well-
known political characters in addition to those
named. Victor Cousin was there till death re-
moved him,; 'and another literary man, M. Leon
Rossignol, editor of " Paris Cascade," has just died
there. The rides about Cannes are sometimes so
filled with fashionables as almost to resemble the
rides and drives about Hyde Park. As to Lord
Brougham, although he wrote a letter to M. Berryer
the other day, containing a melancholy foreboding
that there would b 3 an early close of his career, the
noble lord is said to believe in a theory that he has
yet a long life before him, because he evades the
winter by passing it in the temperate climate of
Cannes. He passes every winter at his villa, the
first that was built in the locality. The winter, in
Lord Brougham's opinion, is the cause of all the ills
which flesh is heir to. There is a summer health
and a winter health. The latter is always the worst
of the two. It is winter which brings colds, throat
diseases, rheumatisms, and all the morbific causes
which destroy the animal economy and precepitate
" the last scene of all." Cut off the winter, and
you suppress at the same time all diseases, and not
only do you not suffer any longer, but instead of
dying you go out as gently as a lamp that wants oil.
This theory, to a certain extent, resembles that pro-
pounded by M. Floureus, a French savant. M.
Floureus contends that man is killed by his passions.
Lord Brougham believes it is the bad weather that
kills him.

The weather to-day has been much the same as
yesterday, a bright sunshine, but excessively cold.
There is no sign of the departure of the frost. The
snow lies as solidly as ever around Paris.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.
(By Atlantic Telegraph.)

NEW YORK, Jan. 21, Evening.

Gold, 137. Sterling exchange on London, 1091.
Five-Twenty United States Bonds, 108 ; Illinois,
116 ; Erie, 65. Cotton—Middling Upland, 34ic.
The Inman steamship City of New York ar-
rived out to-day.

SOUTHAMPTON, Jan. 22.

The Hamburg and American Company's steam-
ship Allemannia arrived off the Needles at 9.35. a.m.
to-day.

ARRIVAL OF THE AUSTRALASIAN.
(Via Queenstown.)
NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (Morning).

The Hon. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, has offered a re-
solution in the House of Representatives to impeach
President Johnson, under charges of gross abuses
of his veto and pardoning powers, of corrupt dis-
position of public property, and of interfering with
the elections. The resolution authorised the Judi-
ciary Committee to investigate the conduct of the
President, and report what grounds existed for his
impeachment. The House. adopted the resolution
by 107 to 38 votes. _ .

The President vetoed the District of Columbia
Impartial Suffrage Bill, which both houses subse-
quently passed over the veto.
It is reported that Mr. Thaddeus Stevens is pre-
paring a bill declaring martial law throughout the
South.

Tha Canadian authorities have refused the de-
mand of Mr. Seward for papers relative to the
Fenian trials.
A Fenian meeting was held in New York on
Monday last, when resolutions were passed declaring
Stephens a humbug, and electing General Gleeson
in his place.