The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON. WEDNESOAV EVENING, DECEMBER 11, 1867.

SWITZERLAND AND THE CONPERENCE.

BERNE, Dec. 4.
Subjoined is the answer returned by the Swiss
Cabinet to the invitation addressed by France to
the Swiss Confederation to send a representative
to the proposed conference upon the Roman ques-
tion :--

M. le Miuistre, —M. le Marquis de Banneville,
the French Ambassador to this Government, has
read to the Federal President a circular despatch
dated the 9th November; and has left with him a
copy of the same. In that despatch his Excellency
the Minister for Foreign Affairs addresses an invi-
tation to the Federal Council to allow Switzerland
to be represented at conferences which are shortly
intended to be held upon Roman and Italian affairs.
The Federal Council has the honour to reply to
this invitation that it thanks the Emperor's Govern-
ment for the friendly attention again displayed
towards Switzerland in this matter, and that it has
not failed immediately to direct its fullest atten-
tion to the important business of which the de-
spatch treats. Although the neutral position
of Switzerland renders it incumbent upon her to ob-
serve especial caution in the treatment of European
affairs, the Federal Council has yet no desire to
withdraw itself from participation in the rights and
duties which attach to Switzerland as a member of the
European commonwealth of nations. As it, there-
fore, fully admits that great moral and political in-
terests are at stake in the present instance the Federal
Council are ready to have itself represented at the
conferences placed in prospect. It couples with this
promise the sole condition that the conferences shall
possess an universally European character, as
participation in mere isolated questions in the case
under consideration would hardly be compatible
with the neutral and impartial position of Switzer-
land. The Federal Council, however, considers
that it ought to add to this declaration a few can-
did remarks. Two great interests have for some
time rast been opposed to one another in Rome—
the one being of a religious nature, based upon the
necessity of independence to the supreme Head of the
Catholic Church ; the other of a political character,
consisting in the efforts of the Roman people to
decide itself upon the fashion of its state and form
of government. It would not be fair to controvert
the rights of these two interests, and it will
probably not be possible to bring the exist-
ing conflict to a permanent conclusion other-
wise than by granting admission and satisfaction to
both. The Federal Council is unable to judge whe-
ther previous negotiation of the Emperor's Govern-
ment with the parties chiefly interested would have
been advisable for the attainment of this object.
It is able, for its part, fully to accept the course
proposed by the invitation of free deliberation
without previous settlement of the programme.
On the other hand, it appears to the Federal Coun-
cil that this last standpoint has its special conditions
and consequences. Probably the first condition of
free deliberation is that the European conference
shall not have brought before it a state of affairs
already partially prejudged. Owing to the
speedy termination of armed intervention in the
States of the Church announced by his Majesty the
Emperor himself, the Federal Council considers need-
less to dwell longer on this point. It considers also,
as a f urther consequence,the establishment of theprin -
ciple that definitive resolution can only be invented
with legal effect iu so far as such has been accepted by
the parties concerned. Lastly, it would probably
be free to every participant to withdraw from the
conferences in case the negotiations took a course
incompatible with the political principles of such
a Power. The Federal Council feels itself com-
pelled even at present to declare that it can only
operate in passing resolutions suitable to the
principles upon which the political position of Swit-
zerland herself rests. The Federal Council assumes
that in all these respects the character of free
deliberation will be preserved to the conferences.
Upon this understanding the Federal Council
awaits further communication from the Emperor's
Government as to time and place of the
conferences, upon receiving which it will not hesi-
tate to appoint its representatives. You are re-
quested to read this despatch to his Excellency the
Marquis de Mousticr, and, should he desire it, to
kayo with him a copy.

In the name of the Swiss Federal Council,
Federal President DUBS,
The Chancellor of the Confederation SC lIIESS

ONTOLOGY.

The Ontological system of Philosophy (as it is
called) seems to have attracted notice in France

in the first decades of this century, and has not
been without its earnest supporters amongst our-
selves. Founded, as is alleged, in the teachings of
the greatest intellects of the Church, imbedded in
St. Augustine, shining steadily in St. Anselin, and
animated by the rhetoric of a Bossuet, a Fenelon,
and a Gerdil, it took possession of the mind of a
Moigno and a Fabre, and with patient elaboration
it has been reduced to system—so as to be taught
from text-books in seminaries and colleges—by
a Brancherau, au Übaghs, and a Hugonin.
The advocates of this system have agreed, it ap-
pears, in maintaining that God is always present
to the mind through a direct and immediate intui-

tion ; that all truths which are eternal, being
somehow identical with Mm, are seen directly in
Him ; and that, inasmuch as in Him are contained
these everlasting truths, He is the lumen intellectus,
without which nothing whatever can even be con-
ceived by the intelligence.

The works of Professor Übaghs received the at-
tention of the Sacred Congregation of the Index
as early as the year 1843. In his " Theodicea," he
taught, amongst other things, that no external
metaphysical truth could be known without ex-
ternal assistance, and in its ultimate analysis with-
out Divine revelation ; that it is impossible to
prove the existence of God; and that the proof of
external metaphysical truth is reduced to the
argument of " sensus communis." These proposi-
tions met with the displeasure of the Sacred Con-
gregation, and Professor Übaghs was instructed to
correct his errors in the next edition of his works,
and meantime to refrain from teaching them in the
schools. Upon this the Professor addressed, on
the 9th December, 1843, a memorial to the Sacred
Congregation. With this memorial the Sacred

Congregation was by no means satisfied.

August Bth, 1844, it issued another declaration,
pointing out errors in it identical with those already
spoken of, and declaring the teaching of them to
be unsafe. Meantime, a new edition of the " Theo-
dicea," was brought out by Professor Übaghs. He
seems to have been little moved by the authority
of the Sacred Congregation, for in this new edition
the very same principles were to be found which
had twice been visited with the displeasure of the
authorities at Rome. Naturally, such a proceeding
as this was not likely to act as a sedative in the
minds of professors, or philosophers, or scholars.
Louvain became a scene of great excitement and
contention. The Archbishop of Mechlin as-
sembled his suffragans in solemn council to devise
a method to put a stop to the irritating scandal.
They determined to petition the Holy See to settle
the question definitively, once for all. Meanwhile

they addressed a joint letter to the Rector Mag-
nificus of the university, calculated to calm the ex-
citement which was at its height. But four of the
Louvain professors had already presented them-
selves to Cardinal Andrea, who, in 1860, presided
over the deliberations of the Sacred Congregation,
and had expounded to his Eminence the principles
of their school. In March of the same year the
Cardinal issued a declaration that the doctrines
of the professors could rightly be numbered
amongst those which are freely debatable amongst
Catholic philosophers. Naturally enough, this
declaration was received as issuing with all the
plenary authority of the Sacred Congregation.
But nothing of the sort. It was the spontaneous
and unauthorized act of Cardinal Andrea, and the
Sacred Congregation had nothing to do with it.
This element of confusion added fuel to the fire.
The kindly and paternal letter of the bishops
was entirely thrown away upon the noisy jangling
of the disputants. Their lordships once more
turned to the Holy See for a decision. A letter
to the Cardinal Archbishop and his suffragans
from the Holy Father, dated December 19,

' 1861, put a stop for a time to the fer-
ment. It declared that Cardinal Andrea was
quite unauthorized to make the statement re-
ferred to, and commanded all parties to leave the
question alone, till such time as the Holy See had
examined its merits and had come :to a definitive
declaration. The Holy Father appointed the Con-
gregations of Index and of Inquisition to fully
investigate the matter. They did so. On October
11, 1861, they declared, as the result of their de-
liberations, that Professorlibaghs had not, amended
his new editions, according to the mind of the
Holy See, and that the condemned principles had
not been withdrawn. The Cardinal Archbishop
was instructed ,to warn the Professor most solemnly
of his duty, and of the obligation upon him of
conforming to the wishes of the Holy See. And
the bishops were all advised to take especial care
that none of these doctrines were taught in the
colleges, universities, or seminaries of their dio-
ceses. Still the Professor seemed to be incorrigible.
He brought out another edition of this unhappy
" Theodicea "in 1865. The bishops, however,
were ready for him. The book was sent to Rome.
Again it was declared that the doctrines broached
in the book could not be taught with safety, and
this time the Holy Father confirmed the decision
with his supreme authority. Still the philoso-
phic mind is very tenacious of its own. A new
tack was taken. The words of the Sacred Congre-
gation were misinterpreted. It was declared that
the principles laid before Cardinal Andrea in 1860
were neither condemned in this last act of the Holy
See nor in those that went before. The Holy See
again spoke. It authoritatively commanded those
who held still to the condemned opinions to submit
plainly, perfectly, and absolutely to the Holy See.
Now another plea was made. It was doubted
whether the opinions declared in 1860 were con-
demned doctrinaliter, or disciplinaliter. And, by
means of this escape,'the dispute was stirred up once
more from its embers. Those who raised this new
difficulty, in order, theysaid, that they might clearly
understand their duty, directed to the Sacred Con-
gregation, on August 1, 1866, four propositions,
expressing their philosophical views ; and they
begged the Holy See to declare if they were to be
reprobated by Catholics or not. The bishops also
sent a letter on the same question, begging for a
declaration on the controverted point. A dignified
rebuke was all the professors:got or deserved from
Rome. They were told that already they had
abundantly been answered, that their paper was
a superfluity, and that the Sacred Congregation
was exceedingly amazed that they should raise such
doubts. They were reminded that Catholics, and
especially Ecclesiastics, should rather subject them-
selves at once plainly, perfectly, and absolutely to
the Holy See, and do what they could to remove
all obstacles to such a consummation. The bishops
forwarded this letter to the rather tenacious set of
Louvain professors and their Rector Magnificus
informed them that now the question was abso
lutely settled, and that Rome had clearly intimated
that the exposition of doctrine made to Cardinal
Andrea in 1860, was condemned by the Congre-
gations of the Index and the Holy Office on the 2d
of March, 1866. With this letter was a form to
be signed by the professors, in which it was de-
clared that they plainly, perfectly, and absolutely,
and ex animo, rejected the errors put forward by
the four professors, and received ex conk whatever
the Holy See thought fit to teach upon the con
troversy in question.

Thus ended these principles of the Belgian On-
tological School at Louvain. In France the collapse
of Ontology is more striking still, because more
wholesale. llugonin condemned his own book in
1866, previous to being made Bishop of Bayeaux,
and Brancherau repudiated his in 1861. And in Italy
the " Acta " for October of the current year, printed
by the Propaganda Press, declare that the seven
propositions which Ontologists imagined were
directed against Pantheism alone are in reality
condemned, " quatenus novam doctrinam Onto-
logisnztan appellatam continent." W hat do English
Ontologists say to this? Is the system sound ?
Westminster Gazette.

THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.

(From the Round Table.)
The rapid progress which this magnificent enter-
prise has made toward completion is a matter for
national congratulation. There is something very
grand and impressive in the idea that a scheme so
stupendous as once to have been ridiculed as
utopian has not only been commenced but is now
actually on the eve of successful consummation.
From the Missouri River to the foot of the Rocky
Mountains —a distance of more than five hundred
miles—the line is already completed. The company
have literally worked like beavers to accomplish this
result. Men certainly have never yet built so long
a line of railroad within the same time. Over 500
miles in eighteen mouths—for it is no longer since
ground was broken at Omaha—is, we believe, a feat
quite unparalleled. We must remember too that it
is not the eastern branch of the road alone which is
apushed
Thein rapid process of construction. The western
divisionentral
pi s
flocny of energetically
California.beingcom
pby the
Central two
extremities are constantly nearing each other, and
it is now confidently expected that the whole grand
line will be open to travel early in the year 1870.
The expenditures thus far of the Union Pacific
Railroad Company, have been a little in excess of
$40,000,000 ; and it is estimated that some
$83,000,000 more will be required to complete the
work. That this will be readily forthcoming there
is not now the slightest doubt. Already in its
unfinished condition the earnings of the road
from way business are more than double the

current expenses. We are credibly assured that
these earnings for the three months ending July
31 amounted to more than four times the inte-
rest upon the bonds which could be issued upon
the number of miles in operation. As the road
progresses it comes nearer and nearer to the
great mining regions of the central continent, and
thus opens fresh sources of profitable traffic. We
look to hear of discoveries of the precious metals
within the coming two years which will entirely pay
for the great railroad itself. The prophecy seems
hazardous, but we are not without reasonable data
to justify us in making it. But apart from consi-
derations of this kind, we have not the least mis
giving of the ample financial success of the Union
Pacific Railroad. That its bonds will go to as high
a figure in the sequel as have those of the great
steamship company trading t• the same terminus,
we think there is every reason to anticipate.
Westward, indeed, does the march of empire take
its way ! In a very few years the extraordinary
experience of our present most flourishing Western
States will be extended straight across the conti-
nent, until from ocean to ocean there shall exist an
uninterrupted succession of rich, growing, and, as
we trust, happy peoples. Such a condition of
things, probably inevitable in the long run, has
been greatly facilitated and hastened by the wise
action of our Government, and it is truly satis-
factory to be able in this respect unreservedly
to compliment and applaud it. The main features
of the Government concession may be usefully
stated. They amount to $16,000 per mile for the
first 517 miles on the plains; $lB,OOO per mile for
150 miles through the Rocky Mountains ; and
$32,000 per mile for the remaining distance. To
this is to be added the land grant, which amounts
to 12,800 acres to the mile, and much of which will
hereafter be of enormous value. In order to assure
as far as possible the quality of the work, two
Government directors by law take part in the direc-
tion of all the affairs of the company and reprt
through the President to Congress. These gen-
tlemen are required to inspect each successive
section of.twenty miles, andito pronounce it a first-
class road in construction and equipment before the
section can be opened to public business or the bonds
for that number of miles be issued. It is, therefore,
very fairly claimed that these bonds represent not a
prospective work which promises to be built, but a
completed one in active operation.
From "every point of view this stupendous work
is honourable and important to the country, and it
is undoubtedly to the interest of every member of
the community that it should be rapidly and suc-
cessfully completed. It is also a great object to

Europe. Throughout the vast plains heretofore
occupied by savages, or lying vacant in solitary
grandeur, a new and attractive expanse will now be
opened, presenting the advantages of safety, fer-
tility, and ready access, which will make it inviting
and remunerative to the immigrant. For sometime
these lands can be had at comparatively low rates,
although the rise in their price which will follow
the completion of the railway will be very great.
The entire population of Europe could readily be
sustained in the country to be traversed by this line
of rail without calling upon either the Mississippi
Valley or the teeming coast of the Pacific. In this
respect therefore, that it affords an almost exhaust-
less resource for the surplus and overworked popu-
lations of the Old World, the building of the Union
Pacific Railroad is desirable for others beside our-
selves. We feel justified in recommending the bonds
of this company to our European friends who may
seek profitable investments as well as to friends at
home. Few securities offer such substantial safety,
coupled with a probability so apparently .limitless of
future appreciation.

A large and enthusiastic meeting of the citizens
of St. Mary and Centreville, Elk County, Pennsyl-
vania, was recently held for the purpose of awaken-
ing the people to the importance of immediate
action upon the question of a proposed railroad to
connect the most extensive bituminous coal region
of Pennsylvania with Buffalo, Rochester, and
North-western New York, and the continuation of
the same southerly down the Little Toby, to an
intersection with the Alleghany Valley Railroad.

The reorganisation of the Ohio and Mississipp
Railroad Company is now complete. The new
Board of Directors are William H. Aspinwall,
Joseph W. Alsop, Allan Campbell, William White-
wright, Jr. S. F. Odell, William W. Scarborough,
Larz Anderson, William D. Griswold, Alexander
H. Lewis, John H. Ross, Samuel Gaty, and Lewis
B. Parsons. William D. Griswold has been elected
president, Alexander H. Lewis, vice-president,
John W. Conlogne, general superintendent. The
new corporation have had a settlement of all the
difficulties with the city of Cincinnati, and have
secured all desirable accommodations in the city.
The stockholders of the South Side Railroad Com-
pany, of Virginia, are requested by the president to
meet the directors of the company upon matters of
unusual interest, at the City
_Hall, Petersburgh,
Virginia, on December 3d next.

The interest due January 1, 1868, upon the mort-
gage bonds of the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad
Company and the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien
Railroad Company will be paid upon presentation
at the office of the
.company, 25, William-street,
less seven per cent. per annum discount for the an-
ticipated time.
The annual meeting of the first mortgage bond-
holders of the Vermont Central Railroad Company
was held at Boston ou November 14. The annual
report showed the total receipts of the road during
the past year as $1,783,991 44 ; expenditures,
$1,300,862 99 ; leaving a surplus of $483,128 24.
Übe debt of the road has been reduced $146,000 by
the surplus earnings of the road during the past
seven months. Out of the surplus, however, is to
be taken the amount to be paid for the use of the
Vermont and Canada Railroad, $90,000, and
$97,553 10 for interest on mortgage bonds. The
trustees expect to reduce still further the debt of
the road during the coming year, and represent the
business as constantly increasing, and more now
than they have rolling stock to accommodate.
We learn that the prospects for the rapid and
successful progress of the Toledo, Logansport, and
Northern Indiana Railroad are very good. The
Whitely (Indiana) Republican of the 31st ult. says :
—" The rate at which stock is being taken in the
Toledo, Logansport, and Northern Indiana Rail-
road indicates that the enterprise will be a complete
success. Full returns have not been received from
the committee, but we are informed by the chair-
man that the subscription is much heavier than was
anticipated."
Articles of Association have been filed in the office
of the Secretary of State at Indianapolis, Indiana,
for the incorporation of the White River and Wa-
bash
Railroad Company, to extend from Worthing-
ton, Green County, to Merom, Sullivan County; a
distance of 36 miles. The stock cothiist,s of 6,000
shares of $5O each.
The annual meeting of the Indianapolis, Cincin-
nati, and Lafayette Railroad Company was held at
Indianapolis on November 4th, and the following
board of directors elected : —Wm. Dwight and D. A.
Dwight, Boston ; H. 0. Lord, Nathaniel Wright,
George K. Schoenborger, and W. W. Smith, Cin-
cinnati; L. B. Lewis, Lawrenceburg; A.R. Forsyth,
Greensburg ; and T. A. Morris, Indianapolis. The
only new members are D. A. Dwight and W. W.
Smith.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS,

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

The Treasury Department has, it is believed,
decided that unless the holder of 7-30's shall pre-
sent them for conversion into 5-20 bonds at matu-
rity, the option to make such conversion is lost, and
the 7-30's will afterwards be paid in greenbacks.

Presidential tickets are now flying over the
Union, raised and eddied around by every wind of
opinion. General Steedman was talked of at the

informal Democrat Caucases at Washington, with
young Mr. John Quincey Adams for Vice. The
Washington Union gives General Sherman the first
place, and Commodore Stockton the second. Pro-
minent members of the party state that they will
run Horatio Seymour if the Republicans run Chase.
A Chase club is to be farmed in Washington, and
Southern loyalists intend to re-assemble the Con-
gress they held in the capital last winter to forward
Mr. Chase's interests. A Connecticut paper sug-
gests General Grant for President, and Governor
Bullock, of Massachusetts, for Vice. The Rocky
Hountain News of Colorado prefers Speaker Colfax
either to Grant or Chase. It is now announced
that General Grant has been sounded, and declines
a Democratic nomination. By the cable news re-
ceived yesterday the General was nominated, at a
mass meeting, national candidate for the Presidency,
by the merchants and bankers of New York. The
moderation, the prudence, the reticence, of Grant
are telling in his favour with the class most deeply
interested in suund legislation ; that class, which
when they do speak in the States, speak with an
authority almost national in its weight.
The Rev. Dr. Hawley, of Auburn, New York, it
is now said, proceeds, by direction of Secretary
Seward, to the West Indies to "stump" the Danish
Islands, lately purchased to secure the vote of the
inhabitants in favour of the transfer. This is a
very different mission to that before chalked out for
him to the Eternal City, to offer a home in America
to the Pope; but perhaps Garibaldi's defeat has
removed the necessity. The purchase conditional
on the transfer being ratified by the popular vote
has been completed with Denmark for St. Thomas
and St. John; the sum being $7,500,000. Late
experience may throw doubts on the value of St.
Thomas as a harbour, which its known unhealthi-

ness tends to increage. The Royal Mail Company
are endeavouring to avoid all further connection
with the port, as the hurricane of Oct. 29 has caused
a very natural prejudice against it as a central
point for the: r traffic. Thaddeus Stevens has promised
to use his influence in the Ilouse for the necessary
appropriation, though coldness towards the scheme
is anticipated in the Senate. The Nation says that
the preference of the American people seems to
be for the Sandwich Islands..
The Round Table thus alludes to the autobio-
graphy of the Rev. Edward Mathews, who is well known
to our readers from his correspondence in these columns.
"A work just published in England which is not without
interest here is the autobiography of the Rev. Edward
Mathews, who is the 'Father Dickson' of Mrs. Stowe's
Dred.' Mr. Mathews, who is a cousin of the famous
Father Mathew, came to this country while a young man,
and, after living as a clerk in New York for a few years,
studied for the Baptist ministry, and wont ou missionary
duty to Wisconsin. He then became an agent of the Illi-
nois Anti-Slavery Society, and from that time pursued in
Kentucky and other Slave States the life of heroic mis-
chief-making of the active abolitionist of the time. To the
exciting incidents of this life, and to the general history of
the anti-slavery movement, his book is chiefly devoted."
The Saturday Review considers the New York
Nation the ablest paper in America This is saying great
deal, particularly, as we venture to say the writer had not

seen one of every fifty papers published in the country.
We dare, however say, he was not very far from the
mark.

An " American Fenian" has written a letter to
the Pall-Mall Gazette, which we have read, and an article
in Tinsley's Magazine, which we have not read. We are
glad to see the advocates of Fenianisru ventilate their
opinions in such organs, and we are glad that the editors
give them the opportunity of stating openly and boldly to
the English people the objects for which they contend. A
cause is not worth fighting for that cannot bear such a dis-
cussion, and if Ireland has wrongs which can only be ;a-
dressed by a total separation from England, it is right that
the English should know it. A very strange theory runs
through the "Fenian's" letter. He seems to consider that
England is not justified in inflicting death do those who
kill to gain a political end. If ho carried out such a
theory the United States were not justified in execut-
ing the assassin of President Lincoln. Nations hold
that tne greatest crime is that of rebellion ; as it
leads not to only individual but to wholesale slaughter,
and the robbery not being only of the person, but of
the community. There may be a difference between
killing a ruler and killing a policeman, but the law
regards both as a murder, and a nation might have as
little right under the extradation treaty to refuse to sur-
render such a culprit as Surratt as to decline to surrender
the man who openly boasted of having shot Sergeant Brett.
The policeman may have been killed by accident, but
others were wounded who had boon deliberately fired at.
Supposing one thus wounded had died, England ought to
demand the person who fired the shot with the intent to
kill from any country to which ho had escaped.
This American explains that ho writes so passionately in_a
cause for which he says the Americans have comparatively
little sympathy; preferring the Irishman in Ireland to the
Irishman in America, by stating that it is a " most effec-
tive means of agitating the English Government ;" but he
should add that he speaks only for a section of his coun-
trymen. There is no denying there is a party in America
hostile to England, but it is a party more noisy than
strong, and composed entirely of Irishmen. The feeling
of Americans toward England presents a curious com-
pound of the sweet and the bitter. Ireland is a country
generally regarded in the Sta:es with contempt—England
with respect and admiration. Socially, morally, commer-
cially, these feelings have force, but not politically.
It is in politics that the bitterness of Americans is ex-
pressed, and as it is in politics that the nations come into
intercourse the bitterness thus obtains an undue pro-
minence. The "American Fenian" sets a good example
in giving vont to his opinions, and we wish that journals
devoted to Fenian propagandism would follow the example
of the New York Free-Trade and Protectionist journals of
discussing the subject pro and con. in the same paper.
This would be the way if they merely wished to redress a
grievance ; but we fear that the object is, as expressed in
this letter, to inflict an injury.
It is said that Mr. Bonner has offered Mrs.
Yelverton a good thing as an inducement to furnish
contributions to the Ledger.
Kelley's Weekly, a new illustrated paper, devoted
especially to light literature, has made its appearance.
The Atlantic Monthly has paid its present pro-
prietor 8200,000.
Five hundred thousand copies of " Macaulay's
History" have been sold in America alone since its
first publication by the Harper Brothers.
Senator Wade met with an accident while return-
ing to Jefferson, Ohio, in a buggy from Ashtabula. The
horse took fright, upset the buggy, and the Senator was
thrown on some stones, receiving several painful cuts on
the head. Mr. Wade has expressed his determination,
notwithstanding the accident, to be present at the opening
of Congress. He arrived at Washington little the worse,
and ready to take his place as President of the Senate.
The Hon. David Davis, administrator on the
estate of Mr. Lincoln, has just made a final settlement,
from which it appears that, after all debts are paid, there
remains to Mr. Lincoln's heirs 8110,294 62. Of this sum
Mrs. Lincoln's portion is 836,765 30, which invested at six
per cent., gives her an annual income of about twenty-twc
hundred dollars.
David Dudley Field returned to New York on the
20th Nov. from his tour in England, to attend the Social
Science Congress.
John Folgate, of Jefferson, Ohio, is the oldest
man living. He was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania,
in 1759, drafted in the war of 1812, and discharged because
he was too old to serve.
Judge Bullock, of Kentucky, has ruled that coin
is the only legal tender of that State.
It is a mournful fact that both the late Charles
G. Loring and Governer Andrews were to deliver an ora-
tion on the unveiling of the Everett statue, executed by
Story, which was erected on the 18th November, in the
public garden at Boston. The statue is nine feet high,
and represents Mr. Everett dressed in the clothing in which
ho always appeared—a frock coat and trousers, his right
hand raised, the shoulders thrown back, and the head
erect, as if in the act of speaking.
A correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial
says that General Grant denies wholly the truth of old
Bun Wadu's twaddle abort his talking horse to him. He
never talked with Old Ben but once, and that was at one
of Speaker's Colfax's receptions, when Wade called West
Point a "nest of damned traitors." " This," said the
General, "vexed me a little. I told him it wasn't so ; that
while it was true that a good many West Pointers had
joined the rebel cause, it was also true that the proportion
was much smaller than had been turned out of the cradle
in which he (Wade) had been rocked, meaning the capitol.
I showed him that every Southern man in Congress, with
one or two exceptions, joined the rebellion, while less
than half the Southern West Pointers did so. I didn't
talk a word of horse to him from beginning to end."
Assistant Attorney-General Binckly having given
an opinion that the President has power to order a now
trial, it is thought General Fitz-John Porter will be again
tried, when much fresh evidence will be brought forward.
Some Confederate officers will testify that, had Porter made
the movement he was condemned for not making, his
command would have boon annihilated.

Colonel Messmore demands an investigation into
the charges which resulted in his removal as Assistant
Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Mrs. Stone, sister-in-law of Governor Stone, of
lowa took poison by mistake for cough medicine, and died

in an hour

Mr. Jefferson Davis has left Canada, and arrived
on the 22d November at Richmond, without a demonstra-

tion. His counsel deny the report that he had protested
against the trial taking place before Judge Underwood.
Mr. Thaddeus Stevens occupied his seat in the
House of Representatives on the 21st November. lie is
reported to have said that "a partial defeat in the Northern
States was inevitable after the adoption of negro suffrage
in the platform, but the present reverses aro but a mere
tremor of the nerves, and with a little wisdom and much
courage the Radicals can hold all they have won." We
have had just this combination all along. What we need
now, with the "much courage," is more wisdom. A "little"
is not enough.

Professor Julius Degmeier, of Erie, was arrested
November 17, at Nashville, by the United States Deputy-
Marshal of Pennsylvania, for having emlß.zzled 560,000
in 1865, when deputy collector at Erie. The charge is
admitted, and the statement alleged that ever since, ho has
been unsuccessfully endeavouring to refund.
The Rev. Newman Hall addressed 3,000 blacks
at the African Church, Richmond, November 19. Governor
Pierpont and Governor Browne were on the platform.

The Joseph H. Delano, of Marion, Massachu-
s,etts, whose marriago to tho daughter of a Russian
admiral at St. Petersburg, was recently announced, went
thither as an ensign in Farragut's fleet.

Theodore C. Woodman, of Bucksport, will
probably bo elected Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives of the State of Maine without opposition, and Josiah
Crosby, of Penobscot County, and Frederick Robie, of
Cumberland, will contest tho Presidency of the Senate.
Most of the Maine State officers will be re-elected. except
Ephraim Elint, who, for four years Secretary of State,
will be transferred to the Executive Council. Franklin M.
Drew, of Brunswick, John J. Perry, of Oxford, and
General Sheldon Connor, of Fairfield, are condidates for
the prospective vacancy. _ _

Mrs. Cady Stanton addressed a large audience at
St. Louis on Woman Suffrage, on her way to the Eastern
States from Kansas.

Edward Cooper, of Tennessee, is Assistant Trea-
surer of the Treasury, vice Chandler resigned.
On the 14th November, at St. Paul's, Minnesota,
a daughter of General Sibley was dangerously injured, and
a servant girl killed by the explosion of a kerosene lamp at
a party given by General Sibley.
General Stoneman is President of a Court of
Inquiry granted to Colonel Rosa at Richmond to investi-
gate the charges against him as conductor of elections by
citizens.

The three leading candidates for the mayoralty
nomination at Boston are Mayor Otis Norcross from the
Republicans, Dr. N. B. Shurtleff from tho Democrats, and
Alderman George W. Messenger, whose chances are good
with either party. .

General Barry, United States Artillery, is to com-
mand Fortress Monroe and to superintend the artillery
practice at that post. Brigadier-General J. Roberts and
Brigadier-General William llayes, with four batteries of
artillery, have also been ordered to the fort.
it is stated that Commissioner Rollins will be re-
moved if he does not resign, and General Wisewell, a New
Yorker, formet]y Military Governor of 'Washington, is to
be his successor.

Generals Howard and Gregory, of the Freedmen's
Bureau, are to be mustered out as Majors-General of Volun-
teers, retaining their rank of Colonel in the regular army.
General Stone has been set free from Lis long
imprisonment, and though discharged without a trial
there is a report that ho will be granted a Court of In-
quiry.

General Cary was serenaded at Washington by

the working men on the 19th tilt., as a supporter of the
Eight Hours' Bill.

General Steedman is now proclaimed as the Demo'
cratic favourite for the President, and young Mr. John
Quincey Adams as Vice.
Major-General Sickles and Brigadier-General
Scott are to be mustered out with the year 1867.
Dr. E. 11. Ludlow, one of our well-known and
successful physicians of New York city, and who has prat'
tised in that city for about half a century, is spending the
winter at Stuttgart. "

Ex-President IL P. Tappan, formerly the poPI4
lar Chancellor of the State University of Michigan, and one
of the finest scholars of the day, is staying at Can nstadt
Bad, near Stuttgart for the winter. The university seas
never so flourishing as when Dr. Tappan was at the head
of that institution. Guizot once reproached Dr. Tappan for
living so much in retirement, arguing that he ought to be
at the head of one of our great American Universities. Dr.
Tappan is quietly pursuing German studies, and is also en-
gaged, we hear, in writing some works.
Young Rutledge, whom we warned our readers
against in a late number of our paper, has lately turned 11P
at Stuttgardt, under the name of Perry, claiming to be 3
son of Governor Perry, of South Carolina. He swindled
some gentlemen there on his worthless New York Bad
cheques.
Mosby, the guerilla chief, visited the Gold
Board at New York, on the 19th November, where he was
received with marked coldness.

Baron Magnas, the Prussian Minister to Mexico,
and the Prince and Princess Salm Salm left Elavanval'
on the 20th November in the steamer Panama for
Nazaire.

The members of the court-martial upon General
Santa Anna have been sentenced to four years' imprison'
mont for improper leniency.
Senor Garcia, the new Prussian Minister, Pre-
sented his credentials to the President on the 20th of
November.

Gen. Hancock has been hurried to New Orleans
to assume command of his department, as Gon. Mower hag
been exercising his powers too freely in removing State
officials from Louisiana. He has received directions from
the President, and in compliance has rescinded his removal
orders.

N. P. Jacoby, United States Consul-General at
Calcutta, has gone to Detroit, United States, on a visit t°
his home.

A Mr. Lewis, an American artist, has been AP-
pointed United States Consular agent at Dusseldorf._

Lieutenant-Governor Bross, of Illinois, has been
making a tour through Germany with his daughter.
While at Frankfort-on-the-Maine he visited the great
wine-collars at these points. _

Mr. J. P. Hall, the Minister at Madrid, has been
making quite a stay in Paris. During his absence the
worthy and popular Secretary of Legation, Mr. IT.
Perry, is acting as Charge d'Affaires. Mr. Perry die
charges his duty to the satisfaction of the Government;
and is highly esteemed as an officer. Mr. Perry Tannic'
a Spanish wife, and speaks the language familiarly.
R. N. Rice, the popular superintendent of the
Michigan Central Railroad for some 20 years, has returned
from a visit to Paris through Germany. He 1541
accompanied by Colonel Julius Menus, formerly gene°
agent of several of the western railways over since their
construction, and who resigned his position from 1)614
nearly worn out by his arduous labours.
The Hon. George Bancroft, American Minister
at Berlin, has his receptions on Sunday evening.
Henry Sherman, a clerk in the Third Auditor
Office, wrote an article which appeared in the Sationa!
Intelliyencer, giving an opinion against the legality both e.t
the extra session of Congress last summer and the present
one. It caused some excitement, as it was at first attri-
buted to Attorney-General Stanbery.