The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-20 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

fl[IS DAY.—Morning, 3h. 50m.—Afternoon, 411. 6m,
I%J-Moßatow.-Morning, 4h. 24ra.—Afternoon, 4'l. 40;r,

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1867.

The House of Commons was engaged yesterday
afternoon in the discussion of a difficult question,
about which a good deal might might be said en
either side ; but finally they decided wisely, for it
was on the right side. It is always an unwise thing
to make a comprehensive change without due con-

sideration, and without attentively studying the
consequences of such an undertaking. Lord Am-
BERLEY proposed the second reading of the Sunday
Lectures Bill, the object of which was to legalise
Sunday lectures. For this purpose he proposed to
repeal so much of the existing statute as makes it
contrary to law to open any place of public amuse-
ment or for debate on Sunday if money
is charged at the door. Mr. KINNAIRD,
in moving the rejection of the bill, showed
the danger of it by declaring that if
carried the bill might lead to the opening of
theatres and other such places ; and, besides,
lectures can now be given legally if no charge is
made. Mr. HARDY said that while he admitt2d
the probability of these lectures being not only
harmless, but profitable, if this bill passed it
would open the doors of infidel lecture-halls, and
explained that it would be a mischievous thing to
sanction, many being taken for this purpose. The
money test of the Act, which was now sought to be
repealed, has hitherto acted as a check in the right
direction, and it would be unwise to change the
present plan.

MT. BRIGHT'S speech was very moderate, and
he did not urge the point strongly, but
wished the House to take it into considera-
tion. He made some impressive remarks upon
the necessity that existed for the observance of
Sunday, quoting the expressive lines of the poet on
the subject, who said—.

" The weeks wero dark without thy light,
Thy torch to point the way."
He wished the subject to be inquired into by
a fair tribunal, in order to settle the points at
issue. Lord AMBERLEY refused to withdraw the
bill, and the amendment was carried without a
division, and the bill was therefore lost. Under
the circumstances this was the best thing to be
done ; but Sir G. GREY'S advice, if followed, would
have disposed of the matter more satisfactorily. He
desired that a select committee should be proposed
next session to consider how the law could be put
upon a more satisfactory footing without affirming
the principle of this bill, which was an unpopular
one in the House.

Ireland and the Irish have certainly not appeared
to advantage during the past and present years, and
those who pretend to be its best friends seem deter-
mined to show how unwise they can be. The course
which some of the representatives of Ireland have
followed is a most unwise one, and also a most dis-
creditable one, Yesterday a meeting of the Irish
Liberal members was held, at which they consi-
dered what steps to take in consequence of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer's announcing that there
will be no Irish Reform Bill this session. No doubt that
announcement was a disappointment, but really it
ought not to have been a surprise to them under
the circumstances of the case, and we expect that
few were prepared for the determination arrived at.
It was resolved, after a long discussion had taken
,
place, that Mr. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE should
give notice of an amendment to the effect that
the English Reform Bill be not read the
third time until the Government had con-
sented to introduce a Reform Bill for Ireland.
A more mischievous proposal can hardly be ima-
gined than this, or one which reflects greater
discredit upon its promoters, and nothing can
possibly excuse those who plan it with the
intent of putting their idea into execution. These
indignant patriots, as they style themselves, are
showing what mock Reformers they are at heart,
and instead of vindicating their country from re-
proval they only demonstrate more fully the neces-
sity that existed for the determination come to by
the Ministers. The present state of Ireland is
most unsatisfactory, and it is quite idle to assert
that it would be advisable to have the discussion on
the Irish Reform Bill taken this Session. It would
only complicate matters still more, and render the
task of settling the Irish question further and still
more difficult and uncertain.

If these infatuated individuals persevere
in their cause, and persist in showing
how illiberal soi - disant Liberals can make
themselves, it will remain for the House to
show their sense of the scheme by indignantly re-
jecting it at once. It will be the best service to
render the promulgators themselves, because no
defeat can possibly be so disastrous to them as suc-
cess must prove. The country will not tolerate any
attempt to interfere with the progress of the
Reform Bill now that it has made such
way, and has commanded so much respect
and attention from all parties, and from
men of various shades of opinion. Without
at all supposing the probability of this factious at-
tempt succeeding, it is just as well to caution hon.
members to be on the alert, and resist the unworthy
manceuvres from the outset ; and still more is it
desirable to urge those misguided parties who are in
favour of it to stop while it is yet time, and not do
themselves such injury in public opinion, and bring
discredit on the country they profess to sere and
the cause which they declare their readiness to pro-
mote.

As the labours of the Sheffield Trades' Union go
on, the evidence which they extract from the re-
luctant witnesses tends more and more to confirm
the unfavourable impression already formed of the
working of these societies. The proceedings of the
eighth day were chiefly directed to endeavouring to
elicit the truth respecting the affair of SHAW and
lIELLEWELL. The difficulty of obtaining evidence
is in many cases great. The witness are seized with
sudden shortness of memory and most convenient
ignorance. Thus lIENRY GARFIL, a !Saw grinder,
who was formerly a member of the committee
of his trade, and was present when SHAW and
BROADHEAD signed a compact and put his name on
it, could not tell what it was all about, and did not
know what the committee did. " He did not
know" was the continual reply, varied a little,
when Mr. OVEREND asked him what he was to do
on the committee, and he answered, " Sit still, as
many others do." On a little further questioning,
he admitted that part of the business was con-
ducted upstairs and sometimes down. What
they did upstairs he did not know, downstairs
they " supped ale." This is a convenient way of
getting rid of an inconvenient number of commit-
tee men, but it is not the way in which business is
supposed to be generally conducted. If we are to
believe this witness, although chosen as a committee
man, he cannot read and can scarcely write, so that
we can only suppose that ignorance is a recommen-
dation, and that the few leading spirits of such as-
sociations prefer to have " dummies" to make up
the necessary number of committee men, so that
their own power and authority may be un-
limited. The system of terrorism which is
kept up through these trades over masters and
men alike is something surprising, and, as
is usually the case, the powers that be contrive to
extort substantial evidence of the submission of their
adherents. The rate paid by members of some of
these unions is actually half-a-crown in the pound !
No wonder our working men find it difficult to
keep their families in winter time, and are always
clamouring for higher wages ! A man who earned
£6 was told to pay 15s. out of it, and if any one
143 iii thi4 eztortionate contribution he is speedily

brat tight to terms by " rattening" or " fetching"
of tools if he be a workman, or of some
part of his machinery, if he be a master. The
worst of it is that the masters aro as bad as the
mon, and for the fear of damaging their business
always advisrl their men to give in and to pay the
sums charged, thus strengthening the hands of the
enen iy. If a steady and clever workman did his
best , and regularly put half-a-crown per £1 of
his •earnings in the savings bank, doing as much
wool: as he could get all the year round, regard-
less of strikes and unions, what an excellent
position he would be in ! He would be
independent and self-respecting without hav-
ing to regard any man's whim as law, and
being free to speak his own words and *control
his own acts. It is absurd to talk of the unions
being the friends of working men. They are really
their most dangerous and insidious enemies. Even
without the violent extremes of gunpowder and
pistol-shot, the intangible secret tribunal, watching
every man's actions, checking him here and
threatening him there, would, we might sup-
pose, be perfectly intolerable to Englishmen.
.But little by little the system has gained
ground, stimulated, there is no doubt, by the desire
of power and money by the managers. The
unionists are, in fact, very much like the Fenians in
America. A few men talk very largely about the
rights and wrongs of their dupes, and deal whole-
sale in patriotic and high-flown sentiments, and their
followers listen admiringly, and pay up all that is
required, the Centres and Head-Centres enjoying
the fruits and powers of temporary distinction. It
may be said that Fenianism does nothing fur its fol-
lowers, and gives them no money back, whereas the
unions support their men in strikes ; but, on the
other hand, Fenianism does not keep up the sys-
tem of rattening and threatening letters. JOSEPH
WILSON, saw manufacturer, who had for years
been at variance with the unions, because of em-
ploying non-union men, said he had received at
different times nearly a dozen threaten-
ing letters. lie put in two in evidence.
One of them referred to his employing boys
to grind 'for him, and said, " It will save sour life
if you don't succeed, as it will cause you to become
the next game. In that case it is 50 to lon your
days being numbered. You are a doomed man,"
&c. Neither were these altogether empty threats,
as an explosion took place on his premises, which
injured one of his children. No doubt this is all
done with the best of motives, but to the uniniated
the appearance of such advocacy of the rights of
labour is, to say the least, a little strange.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Wednesday Evening.

The Illoniteur states that during two days the
Emperor was suffering from rheumatism, and was
compelled to keep in bed, but that his Majesty's
health is now completely re-established.

The official part of the ifoniteur says that the
Emperor received on Monday the letter by which
her Majesty the Queen of Spain notified to him
the birth of a child, the son of the Duchess de
Montpensier.

His Highness Prince Charles of Bade; and the
Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Bade; have
had the honour of being received by the Empress
at the Tuileries. The Grand Duke and Duchess
travel incognito, under the name of the Count and
Countess d'Eberstein.

The International Congress charged with the
discussion of the monetary question have had a
meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under
the presidency of the Marquis de Moustier. The
States represented are England, France, Austria,
the Grand Duchy of Baden, Bavaria, Belgium,
Denmark, Sp tin, the United States, Greece, Italy,
the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, the
united: kingdom of Sweden and Norway, Swit-
zerland, Turkey, and Wurtemberg.
The Emperor of Russia, coming from Wurtem-
berg, and accompanied by Prince Alexander, who
went to meet his Majesty at the frontier of Hesse,
arrived on Friday at Darmstadt, where the Grand
Duke, the Prince Alexander of Hesse, the Princess
de Battenberg, his wife, and the Duke of Nassau
were in waiting at the station. The Czar pursued
his route for Berlin the next evening at 9 o'clock.
On Monday there was a grand review, at Berlin, at
which the Emperor Alexander, the King of Prussia,
and the Princes of Russia and Prussia were present
on horseback. The Emperor intended to leave
Berlin on the same evening on his return to Russia.

After taking leave of his august father, the Em-
peror Alexander, the hereditary Grand Duke of
Russia went to Lubeck, where he embarked on
board the State vessel the Slesvig, which was in
waiting for his Imperial Highness to convey him to
Denmark on his arrival at Copenhagen on Friday.
The Grand Duke was received by the Prince Royal
of Denmark and the members of the Russian Lega-
tion. His Imperial Highness went immediately to
the Chateau de F:edensborg, where the Royal
family and the Cesirewna were in readiness to re-
ceive him.

We are informed (says the 3loniteur) that the in-
terview of the representatives of foreign Powers and
the Taikoun of Japan, which has just taken place
at Osaka, is likely to lead to the most satisfactory
results. The conditions for the residence of
foreigners at Hiai, Iliggo, and Osaka have been
favourably regulatel according to the spirit of the
treaties.

The Consul of France at Riga has sent informa-
tion to the Minister of Marine and the Colonies
that, according to a recent decision of the Russian
Government, the Central Department of Customs
requires from all vessels which enter the ports of
the Baltic a bill of health given by a Consul of
Russia. The owners of vessels which are not fur-
nished with such a document are punishable with a
fine of 100 francs, even if they come from a healthy
port.
It is stated that an agreement is almost effected
between the Austrian Ministry and the Gallician
Polish delegation respecting the political and ad-
ministrative claim of autonomy made by that pro-
vince. Gallicia is to be represented in the Council
by a special Minister, to be always chosen from
among the Poles. The Polish is to bethe official
language in matters relating to administration and
the tribunals. The number of Deputies to the Diet
is to be augmented, and a special Court of Appeal
is to be established for Gallicia. ➢I. de Beust is
said to have evinced a desire to satisfy all the rea-
sonable wishes of the Poles. The proposed new
measures must be submitted to the Reichsrath for
approval.

The Legislative Body have agreed by 193 votes
against 26 to the law raising the amount of the
portion of the expense to be contracted by the State
for the annual support of the municipal police of
Paris from 4,247,000 fr. to 5,207,000 fr.
A Belgian paper says that the carriage which
conveyed the Imperial family of Austria to Pesth
for the coronation is the same vehicle in which the
Emperor Ferdinand formerly made his entrance
into Milan as King of Italy. This carriage is en-
tirely of gold, except the panels, which are of
bla s. The body of the carriage is covered with
paintings by Raphael.
A psalter of Saint Louis, King of France, has
just been found in the library of Leyden. On one
of the leaves is au inscription in old French, to the
effect that St. Louis, who was• King of France, was
taught from this book in his infancy.
It was intended to give a Venetian night fete and
grand regattas in front of the Champ de Mars last
night, but the weather not being considered suffi-
ciently favourable the fete was postponed till next
Tuesday night.
The electric light for the English lighthouse now
shines very brilliantly every night, and contrasts
curiously will the somewhat sombre new light of
the French lighthouse. It has more the appearance

of a star detached from the milky way suspended
between heaven and earth than that of a marine
light.

The Chinese bands at the Chinese Exhibition
discourse some exceedingly strange music. The
Marquis d'Herve, however, has organised an effec-
tive band, and in a day or two there they will play
during the day in the Chinese orchestra. The
Chinese refreshments begin to be more relished.
One of the beverages rejoices in the name of you-
ten-goo, which is said to be very nice, but I have
not yet tasted it. _ _

The Imperial Commission have contradicted the
report that the price of the stalls at the ceremony of
the distribution of prizes on the Ist of July is fixed
at 20f. The Commission do not intend to sell any
ticket of the kind. A great many tickets have been
reserved for the deputations of the exhibitors, the
diplomatic body, and official personages. The rest
will be devoted to subscribers, who alone, with the
above exceptions, will have the privilege of being
present at the ceremony.

The Viceroy of Egypt has made the first visit to
the Exhibition, and several times expressed the great
delight with what he saw. The Egyptian portion
is peculiarly splendid and remarkable. There is a
splendid pavilion for the Viceroy near the Temple
of Philo. One of the rooms contains a plan in re-
lief of Lower Egypt. The others are devoted to
the repose of the illustrious visitor. You pass to
them by a beautiful door, ornamented with sculp-
tured ivory, which leads to a sort of waiting room.
This room gives access to the salle du saint or saloon
of safety, which is surmounted by a beautiful dome
forming a rotunda, in which a fountain plays. This
room opens upon three others, all of which may be
formed into one. There are divans, the floors of
which are covered with magnificent carpets and
containing rich and curious furniture, which excites
wonder and admiration. In the extreme angles two
small private rooms have been fitted up, where the
Viceroy will sometimes give interviews to friends or
official personages. Ile stopped a considerable time
in one of these rooms, and gave audience to several
persons. He particularly admired the arrangements
of his pavilion, worthy of the Pharaohs.
In addition to the Peace Congress at Geneva, a
similar society is spoken of, to be called the Inter-
national Disarmament League. The members are
to be working men, native and foreign.
A special meeting of the Society of Men of Let-
ters has been held to elect some of its members,
who are to be charged with the organisation of a
Literary International Congress. The members
chosen are Messrs. Edmond About, Jules Simon,
Champfleury, Paul de Musset, Baron Taylor,
Auguste Barbier, Emile de la Bedolliere, de Celorine,
Wattemore, and Germond de Lavigne.
The funeral of M. Felix Morrand was attended
by vast numbers of literary men, and Baron Taylor
and other gentlemen nade appropriate speeches
over his grave. Felix ilforrand was born on the
12th of July, 1815, and was the son of an advo-
cate. Among other journals with which he was
connected may be mentioned the .Journal du Com-
merce, the Revue de Paris, the Siecle, the Estafette,
the Presse, the Illuaration, the Courrier de Paris'
and the Opinion Natiozale. Among his writings
were "La Vie a Paris," "Un peu partout," "La
Vie Arabe," " Berierette," and the " Sermons of
Pere Gavazzi."

THE RIOTING AT BIRMINGHAM.

BIRMINGHAM, Wednesday Evening.

The town has looked cuieter to-day. During the
whole of last evening, and until a late hour at night,
all the streets leading to those in which the recent
riots and conflicts have taken place were crowded
with people. Many of them were mere spectators,
no doubt peaceably enough discosed; but that there
was another class lurking about ready for mischief,
if the opportunity was given to them to go to work
by the withdrawal or weakening of the protecting
force, was palpable enough. It was a sad and even
portentous sight to witness at this time of day such
a force arrayed to protect the town from a desperate
mob, and in such a cause. The crossings of the
streets were guarded by the infantry, the Hussars
were picketed in the Bull Ring and elsewhere, and
the prison van was escorted by cavalry to the
Borough Gaol. There were rumours that distant
parts of the town were to be attacked, and although
everybody felt assured that the magistrates were
doing their duty in providing as far as possible for
any emergency, yet after the events of Sunday and
Monday no one could feel that there was security.
Fortunately the night went over without any
renewal of the disturbance. Soon after midnight a
detachment of more than 100 men-54th Infantry
—arrived from Manchester. They were marched
to the Town-hall, and this morning the police has
been augmented by the arrival of detachments from
the towns in the locality.

Such are some of the precautionary measures taken
after so much mischief has been done. What pro-
vision was made for its prevention must be the sub-
ject of inquiry hereafter. The matter has been
already discussed at a meeting of the Watch
Committee of the Town Council, and but for a fact
or two there disclosed it would be absolutely in-
credible that, considering the danger (to some
extent indicated by the Mayor's refusal to grant
the use of the Town-hall to Murphy), so little
should have been done to provide against accident.
Murphy's first service was fixed for Sunday, at 3
o'clock, yet, according to a " report" from the
Chief of Police, laid before the Watch Commit-
tee, " six men only were on duty in the locality of
the Tabernacle from 3 to 6 o'clock,"—the reason
assigned for this being not to create more excite-
ment than was possible.

Allusion was made in our report of yesterday to
the damage done in Park-street ; the utter wreck
in that locality is indescribable : in some instances
the window frames have been wrenched out whole-
sale—not a pane of glass remains, and the mob
carried away every movable article. This street
was inhabited almost exclusively by the poorer class
of Irish. The poor creatures had to leave their
way. The spectacle
truly shocking. It is
dprweeslelnintegds
idnesthtiattutreespineetevwearsy
said that the Irish were the great culprits on Sun-
day and Monday. Even if that were so, the retri-
bution is fearful. A local report says
Having sacked the houses, the party of order '
marched up and down the street, armed with frag-
ments of window shutters, wainscoating, chairs and
tables, bedsteads, &c., and singing the Glory Hal-
lelujah,' John Brown's chorus.'"
In other streets partial but considerable damage
was done; attempts to renew the disturbances last
evening were quickly put down.