The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-24 00:00:00

kti*

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUG. 24, 1867.1

The French and Austrian Emperors have parted,
awl, to the great disappointment of the curious,
nothing decided appears concerning their confe-
rence. All seems to be surmise and guess—work
which does not suit the fancy of those who are
burning to know all about it. In consequence of
the reserve that has been kept, those who must
give vent to their feelings have to content
themselves by generalities, and thus we meet
everywhere with suppositious intelligence. One
thing is certain, however, that the greatest

cordiality prevailed between the two EMPERORS on
the occasion of their meeting, and that from first
to last nothing occurred to distract their serenity.
The result of their interyiewe may be All the more

important and interesting hereafter for not bavin g
been blazoned forth to the world in haste.
It by no means follows, indeed, that any
settled plan has been determined upon,
notwithstanding the eagerness with which 'some
would make out that an attempt has been made and
resulted in failure. What is more likely is that a
good understanding prevails between these poten-
tates, and they have made up their minds, in -the
event of certain contingencies arising, to act with
spirit and promptitude. Under existing circum-
stances it would be difficult, if not impossible,
to decide as to what their future course
must be, and the tactics of Prussia are so shifting
that it would be presumptuous to fix anything
with certainty that depended for fulfilment upon
her policy. We may draw one conclusion from all
the fuss and ferment that has been made—that
things are anything but straight in the councils of
Berlin. If all was as smooth as they would have
us believe, why is all this outcry raised at
the meeting of the Emperors ?—why are such
pains taken to show that nothing has come of the
affair ? Did confidence reign in these quarters
where it is proclaimed to exist, no notice but a
casual one would be made of the affair ; but the
great effort that is made to appear indifferent
betrays itself, and shows a hidden motive for
anxiety. The eagerness with which the Prussian
Press put forward their information is almost
amusing, and is a sure proof of the feeling which
dictates it. The New Prussian Gazette declares that
it learns from a " reliable source " that there has
been no understanding come to at Salzburg as to the
formation of a South German Confederation under
the auspices of Austria. It is added in a sonorous
style that any understanding between France and
Austria might be accounted for, but that it was
more hard to comprehend how " German princes
could again try to dismember the Fatherland,
and to lead foreign Powers into the very heart of
our national aspirations." Of course Count BIS-
MARCK must look with great doubt and suspicion
upon all these goings on, and has throughout used
all his influence to decry the importance of the
Salzburg affair. Some of the French papers seem
uncertain what to say upon the matter, but
they lay great stress upon the excitement caused
by the publication of the telegram about
the due execution of the Treaty of Prague. It is
considered that if it was genuine, the peace of
Europe might be endangered ; but at any rate the
notion of its truth shows an "indirect defiance" to
Prussia, likely to exasperate some and interest
others. Notwithstanding all that is inferred and
hinted at coneerning the dislike which every part
of Germany entertains to foreign interference, we
suspect that a very different tale would be told
if war really broke out. It is all very fine to argue
in the abstract, but the constant encroachments of
Prussia are far worse than the infringement of the
laws virtually laid down about accepting no help
and agreeing to no dictation from Sovereigns. It
may be that the day is not far distant when the
Germans will be only too glad to accept the
assistance of the vigorous ruler of the French,
and to have the interposition of the very
men whose counsels they now appear to
despise. 'The French EMPEROR gave an audience
to Herr SCHINDLER, a member of the Lower
House of the Reichsrath, and conversed with him
for some time upon the affairs of Austria. The
EMPEROR and EMPRESS also received the authorities,
and in reply to the address of the Burgomaster the
Emperor NAPOLEON answered in German,
though he confessed that so long a
period had elapsed since 11;3 sojourn in that
laud that he had nearly forgotten the
language. After alluding to the friendly reception
he had met, with he declared that he had come to
offer condolence to the Emperor of AUSTRIA for the
sad death of his brother. We may consider, in taking
a final resume of this meeting at Salzburg, that
peace is not thereby endangered, but, on the con-
trary, that its chances are more secure if
the Berlin Government appreciate the matter
rightly. A great deal may be done without
having recourse to war, and if Count BISMARCK
arrives at the conclusion that the Emperor NAPO-
LEON iS on good terms with FRANCIS JOSEPH, he
may find it advisable to make a change for the
better in the policy he pursues. At any rate there
is nothing to regret in the meeting of the two
Emperors, and it may very likely turn out that
some lasting good has been done by it, and that the
aggressive course so persistently followed by Prussia
has received some check.

The terrible calamity of Orissa was of a nature
and extent that could hardly fail, when its details
became known in this country, to produce a pro-
found sensation. Under any circumstances, the
death of 750,000 persons from actual want of the
necessaries of life would be an appalling event, and
when it occurs in a province under British rule,
without due efforts being made to relieve the vast
aggregate of suffering by the officials, an English
public may well feel bound to inquire again and
again into the melancholy particulars. The recent
debate in the House of Commons has called forth
an active correspondence, but the majority of the
writers are unanimous in condemning the incapacity
and indifference of the officials. In the first place,
it was impossible to convince them that a famine
was coming.; in the second place, it was equally im
possible to rouse them to action when the famine
had come. The failure of the crops was to them
an empty sound, and the very circumstance on which
they founded their security—the export of 30,000
tons of rice annually from Orissa—should, in fact,
have awakened their alarm. As a writer on the
subject very reasonably contends, so small an
annual export of food from a province producing
nothing else, at a time of unprecedented high prices,
showed that there was no reserve in the country.
When it was known that the crop of 1865 was a
failure no one seemed able to realise what it meant.
The most impassioned warnings were in vain. It
now appears that so far back as December,
1865, Sir ARTHUR COTTON, no mean authority,
pressed upon the Home Government, whose
head was then Sir CHARLES WOOD, the necessity
of adopting prompt and vigorous measures to avert
a terrible catastrophe. Instant measures, contended
Sir ARTHUR, were necessary, and what did he re-
commend ? " One of the first things to be.,clone
should be to construct a very large flotilla with the
least possible delay to provide for the carriage of
the numerous masses of food that will require to
be brought from the eastward." The answer, of
course, was what might have been expected. " Sir
ClisimEs WOOD trusted there was no reason to
apprehend any such calamity as Sir ARTHUR COTTON
foresaw, but had every confidence that, should
such a calamity unhappily occur, the Government
and the Government of India would not fail to take
all necessary measures for protecting the poorer
classes against the effects of the visitation." Of
course the Whig Ministry at the India-office knew
far better the extent of the danger than the expe-
rienced man of business on the spot. No more
attention was paid to the warning than to Sir
ARTHUR'S report on the state of that very province
nine years ago. Six months after the expression of
Sir CHARLES WOOD'S courtly indifference the famine
was At its height ; but what is sic MOUths to an

Indian Minister ? Warnings to be of service should
be given six years before the event to allow time to
convince the officials.

The decision of Baron BRAMWELL in the case of
the journeymen tailors will probably give general
satisfaction. The men themselves have great reason
to be thankful for it, as, after the verdict of the
jury, they might have been treated very differently.
Baron BRA3IWELL, however, after due considera-
tion, has decided upon putting them on their good
behaviour, and trusting to their promises not to
offend again in a similar manner. With one
exception the defendants were allowed to enter
into their own recognisances in the sum of £lOO to
appear and receive judgment if called upon to do so.
The solitary exception was in the case of KNOX,
who had been proved guilty of personal violence
and intimidation, and who was therefore deservedly
sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard
labour. Any attempt at resorting to forcible
measures to make men leave their work or enter
the Union cannot be too promptly or too effectually
checked. We have seen what that leads to, and
although it would be doing great injustice to the
journeymen tailors of London to class them for a
moment with the saw-grinders of Sheffield, we can-
not help perceiving the dangers of such a course.
Public justice demands that some protest should be
made against the whole system of persecution, which
even the most respectable and best conducted of
trades unions seem to think they have a right to
adopt. At the same time it was by no means
necessary to pass a severe sentence upon men who
pleaded ignorance of the law, and who had not
gone beyond annoyance and troublesome inter-
ference. They will have, we hope, learned their
lesson, and for the future try less questionable
methods of securing coadjutors.
Baron BRAMWELL before declaring his decision
addressed the defendants in a kind and friendly
manner as a perfectly impartial observer of the
dispute. He pointed out to them the folly and in-
justice of their proceedings, and asked what
they thought would be the result if every trade
combined to enforce the particular views of some
members. Would such a result be for the benefit
of society in general? He showed them that the
most eminent men in the country had been labour-
ing for the last forty years to remove restrictions
from every branch of trade and commerce.
Class legislation was completely done away
with, and no men, however engaged, had
any exclusive right over their fellows, yet
these unionists were trying to legislate for them-
selve in a totally contrary direction. They must
be aware, added the learned judge, that they had
failed in obtaining any sympathy even among the
best friends of the working classes. It is in fact
not a little strange that in the midst of the general
progress and enlightenment so many intelligent
men should be found ready and eager to go back
to the fetters and restraints of old and prejudiced
times. It has been invariably proved that the
less trade of any kind is hampered and restricted
the better it thrives. half the secret of our ex-
tended mercantile prosperity lies in our Free-trade
principles, adopted as they now arc in almost every
branch of trade and commerce. But our working
men would undo all this, and destroy that principle
' of free competition which is so powerful a stimulus
to industry and excellence. The tailors of London
have not as yet gone too far to be amenable to rea-
son ; and we must therefore hope that we have heard
the last for the present of strikes and lock-outs, of
picketing and persecution.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

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

To believe the announcement of the Spanish Go-
vernment would be to imagine that the insurrection
in Spain is suppressed. It is difficult to obtain in-
formation upon the subject, as for two or three
days no Spanish papers have been allowed to pene-
trate to Paris, and letters are opened. • However,
it is a significant fact that official accounts describe
the movement as " serious." There have been seve-
ral conflicts, all of which, of course, according to
Ministerial authority, have turned to the advan-
tage of the royal troops. The plain fact is, as I
gather from authentic sources, that the insur-
rection is not confined to Catalonia, but has
spread to Arragon and Andalusia. In the pro-
vince of Castellon, formerly belonging to Va-
lencia, important insurrectional movements have
taken place. Tarragona its in the power of Escoda,
a very influential General of Catalonia. General
Pierrad has been joined by a numerous revolu-
tionary force in Upper Arragon. Gen. Contreras,
with a numerous body of revolutionists, is marching
in the direction of Lerida. Already some very san-
guinary encounters have taken place at Rens, in
Catalonia ; at Villanuova, a small port between
Barcelona and Tarragona ; and in the mountains
and woods of Catalonia. There is great confidence
in General Contreras, whose appeals rally the vil-
lagers in his support, so that important movements
may anticipated. It seems certain that General
Prim has passed the frontier, near Somport on the
Lower Pyrenees, and is advancing without diffi-
culty in Arragon at the head of a numerous body of
insurgents. In short, in spite of the complacent
announcements of the Government, the revolution
assumes formidable proportions.

Another case of poisoning has occurred, which
has occasioned great excitement in the locality,
13eaulieu-sous-Parthenay. M. T., proprietor of
the Chateau de la Meillevai, died a few days ago in
great agony. In consequence of the rumours in the
neighbourhood the magistrate of the town ordered
a post-mortem examination, the result of which was
that Madame T., the sister-in-law of the deceased,
and M. C., the father of Madame T., have been
arrested, and committed to the prison of Parthenay.
A few years ago, M. Auguste T., the brother of the
gentleman just deceased, died under similar circum-
stances, and his body will be exhumed to aid the in-
quiry. M. C., one of the accused, was formerly a
partner of M. Reau, of Niort, who was recently
executed for poisoning several persons of his family.
I gave you the particulars at the time of the
occurrence.

A man named Boulanger, condemned to death
for murder, has been executed at Moulins. The
prisoner did not utter a word on his way to the
scaffold.

There are now at the Invalides about 1,900 pen-
sioned soldiers, the majority of whom served under
the First Empire. The number of companions in
arms of the First Napoleon is 960. Of this number
more than 150 have had a limb or limbs amputated.
One has lost both his arms, but he has a mechani-
cal apparatus by means of which Ile scarcely misses
his hands. A thousand soldiers have the St. Helena
Cross, sixty are decorated with the military medal
of the present Emperor, and nearly 200 have the
Legion of honour; many of them obtained this re-
ward under the Second Empire for services ren-
dered to the first. Among the old soldiers at the
Invalides there are 30 whose services date from the
first Republic. Among others is one who, in 1793,
was a sailor on board the Scipion. Ile was blown
out of his ship, and both legs were amputated. He
is now about 92. Another, a volunteer in 1792,
when twelve years of age, remained in service till the
end of the wars of the Empire. When he entered
the Invalides he had seen 33 years service and had
been in 16 campaigns. Forty invalids were soldiers
under the Empire, several of whom were at the
battle of Marengo. More than 100 made the cam-
paigns of Ulm and Austerlitz. Only 20 were in
Prussia and Poland (1806-7). The survivors of
Waterloo are comparatively rather numerous.
There are but six or seven soldiers who were at the
campaigns of Russia (1812), having escaped from
the horrors of that most ,disastrous retreat.
The won= Trigard, who throughout thQ trial