The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LOisIDON, MONDAY EVEMNG, *" APRIL 15 1867

a- ~.

Application for a Summons against the
"Times" for Libel.

At the Guildhall Police-court on Saturday, Mr.
Rigby Wason applied to Alderman Sidney for a
summons against the proprietors of the Times for
libel, and Alderman Sidney requested the presence
of Sir John Musgrove to hear the application.
.111 r. Wason said his application was very shortly
as follows :—By the present law anything published
in a newspaper of a character to bring a person into
ridicule or contempt was a libel. The publication
of reports in Parliament rendered the parties pub-
liThing them liable to an action for damages or a
criminal protTeution. In the present case there
would be no action for damages for himself, but the
question was, whether in the paper he complain cd
of there was prima facie evidence that there was a
libel in the publication.
Alderman Sidney asked what was the nature of
his application.
Mr. Wason said it was a summons against the
proprietors of the Times.
. Alderman Sidney wished to know for what pur-
pose.

Mr. Wason said for a report in Parliament and
an article in the 7 lines.

Alderman Syney asked if it was for a false report.
Mr. Wagon said—Oh, dear no ; it was not for a
false report.
Alderman Sidney wanted to know which House
of Parliament it was in.

Mr. Wason replied that it was in the House of
Lords. There was a bill in Parliament which bad
already passed the house of Commons and the
second reading in the House of Lords which would
make the publication of speeches in Parliament
privileged, but that was not the case at present.
No doubt their answer would be that it was quite
true, or that it was no libel.

Alderman Sidney asked Mr. Wason if he expected
the Bench to grant a summons without considering
whether the article complained of was a libel.
Mr. Wason said—Decidedly he did.

Sir John Musgrove said it might save Mr. Wason
a long statement which might be irksome to him if
he would read the libel complained of.
Mr. Wason then referred to a copy of the limes
of Wednesday, the 13th of February last, and said.
the first of the report that be had to complain of
was in a speech of Earl Russell's, in which he says :
—" I did this that when the petition was presented
there might be a full opportunity of an answer to
the charges which it contained. That opportunity
the noble and learned lord on the woolsack has fully
and properly availed himself of. lle has given a
complete answer to all the charges made, and it
appears to me a matter of the greatest public im-
portance that the character of our judges should re-
main, as I am happy to think they have hitherto
been, unstained and pure -in the eyes of the public.
It appears to me, my lords, it is better that before
an assembly such as your lordships such charges
should be heard and refuted and shown to be totally
destitute of foundation, than that every peer should
refuse to listen to a petitioner, and that a person
aggrieved should not have an opportunity of obtain-
ing a hearing in the House of Lords." The next
was from a previous speech of Earl Russell's—" In
the next place it appears to me that Mr. R. Wason
could hardly have refrained from pressing his charges
from any feeling of personal tenderness for Sir F.
Kelly, but rather because he felt his proofs
were insufficient, and that he could not
bring to the test of inquiry the grave charges
which he desired to make." The next part he
complained of was the speech of the Lord
Chancellor, in which he said--" Now, my lords,
assuming that every word of this position is as true
as I shall prove it to be false, we must not forget
that the facts upon which these most grave charges
against the Lord Chief Baron are founded took
place no less than 30 years ago, and that during
that long period my right hon. friend has twice held
the office of Solicitor-General and one of Attorney-
General," &c. The next part of which he com-
plained was in a subsequent r-orion of the same
speech—" Therif‘.re I must ask your lordships to go
through the charges contained in this petition as
briefly as I can. In doing so I will refute them
utterly-, and leave it to the judgment of every im-
partial man to say whether there is a single word of
truth in them." In those speeches he was accused
of fabrication and making a false and unfounded

charge.
Alderman Sidney observed that Earl Russell had
presented a petition from him (Mr. Wason) to the
House of Lords, and it was his lordship's remarks
upon that petition that he complained of.
Mr. Wason said that was so.
Sir John Musgrove asked to see the act on which
the application was made.
Mr. Martin (the chief clerk) handed him the Ist
volume of " Russell on Crimes and Misdeameanors."
Mr. Wason said that Earl Russell never told him
the course he intended to pursue on presenting the
petition.

Sir John Musgrove said he wanted to see that
they were proceeding rightly, and he therefore
wished to know whether Mr. Wagon went on any
other ground than the report of the speeches in the
House of Lords.

Mr. Wason said he also went against the /bites
for a leading article.
Mr. Martin observed that he did not rely on that
the previous day, when he made his application to
him.

Mr. Wason said that he knew he did not, but he
could not go against one without the other.
Sir John Musgrove referred to " Russell on
Crimes," page 326, and read the following para-
graph :—" The members of the two Houses of Par-
liament, by reason of their privileges, are not
answerable at law for any personal reflections on
individuals contained in speeches in their respective
house ; for policy requires that those who are by the
Constitution appointed to provide for the safety and
welfare of the public should in the execution of their
high functions be wholly uninfluenced by private
considerations." And again, at page 330, it laid
down as a rule that, " Though the publication of a
proceeding in Parliament will in general be consi-
dered as privileged, and protected from being deemed
libellous; the presenting and delivering a petition
to members of a committee of the House of Com-
mons, being according to the order of proceedings
of Parliament iu their committees, has been held to
be justifiable."
Mr. Wason said he had nothing to do with that.
Sir John Musgrove thought it was a question for
the Bench to consider.

Alderman Sidney said the question was whether it
was true or not, for if true there would be no libel.

Mr. Wason said that was so.

Alderman Sidney asked whether, if they had.only
published that which was true, that would not be an
answer to the charge.

Mr. Wason said it would not. Although it was
true the speeches were made in the House of Lords,
the matter in them was not true ; and although the
speeches in the House of Lords were privileged, the
publication of them was not.
Alderman Sidney said then, if he understood the
application, Mr. Wason did not complain of any-
thing libellous that had been said in the House of
Lords, but of the publication of it.,

Mr. 'Wason said that was so.
Alderman Sidney said then they would have to
decide upon that point.
Mr. Martin advised the magistrates that the ques-
tion they had to consider was whether the speeches
were libellous, and then to consider whether the
limes was justified in publishing them.
Sir John :Musgrove said that, after all Mr. Wa3on
might'say, his brother alderman and himself must
consider whether the report was libellous or not ;
and, supposing that they should consider that it
was not, they would not be justified in granting
him a summons.

Mr. Was o n said that undoubtedly it would be
libellous if it were not true; but it was true.
Sir J. Musgrove
.said they would consider the
queStion, and give him an answer on a future day.
Mr. Wason replied that their time was his.
Sir J. Musgrove observed that he was very ac-
commodating, and they would give it their best con-
sideration. He, however, would like to ask Mr.
Wason whether the pamphlet he had handed to him
was his.

Mr. Wason said it was.
Sir J. Musgrove read the titlepage as follows :

" A letter expo Sing the falsehoods of Lord Chelms-
ford and Lord St. Leonards in order to deceive the
House of Lords and stifle inquiries into the charac-
ter of the Lord Chief Baron." He then asked Mr.
Mason whether he did not consider that libellous.

Mr. Wason said they could bring their action.
Alderman Sidney asked, in the event of their de-
ciding that the report was not libellous, had Mr.
Wason any other remedy.
Mr. Martin said—Yes, he had an action for
damages in a civil court.
Mr. Wason said he did not want damages.

The magistrates then retired with Mr. Martin to
consult, and in a short time returned into court,
when

Alderman Sidney said—l thought it right to save
your time, Mr. Wason, if I ascertained the opinion
of my brother magistrate after going in ; and I have
just put my decision—because your application is
really to myself as sitting magistrate, Sir John Mus-
grove having kindly come here to hear your appli-
cation—down in writing, and it is this :—" I have
duly considered your application, and having read
the paragraphs of which you complain, after con-
ferring with my brother magistrate and our legal
adviser, Mr. Martin, I am of opinion I ought not to
grant the summons applied for."
Mr. Wason asked to have a eopy of the decision,
as he wished to take it to his barrister, and get him
to take steps to try the question in a legal manner.
The request was courteously complied with, and
Mr. Wason, having thanked the worthy alderman
for the attention they had given him, retired.

and were there not a good supply on hand, the visi-
tors to the Exhibition would find us not clothed a la
derniere mode, but in a seedy and dilapidated con-
dition.

Three hundred and fifty handsome basket can:
riages are preparing and will soon make their ap-
pearance on our streets ; a decided improvement on
the clumsy, dirty vehicles now ,doing service in
Paris, and one that will be welcomed by the cab-
riding public. The omnibus company is about to
establish a line of vehicles built on a new model,
and capable of containing 50 persons each. They
will start from the Palais Royal every five minutes
and run to the Bridge of Jena, conveying visitors
to the Exhibition. Other lines have been consider-
ably increased, so that there are now in Paris over
seven hundred omnibuses.

I must now give a few► jottings relating to the
Exhibition. Much hat, been said about the exorbi-
tant prices for living, which the Exhibition, with its
immense influx of visitors, will entail upon all classes
in Paris. To remedy this as much as possible a
grand popular restaurant has been established under
the patronage of the Imperial Commission ; the
prices will be fixed and remarkably cheap. A meal,
consisting of bread, soup, meat, vegetables, cheese,
and decanter of wine, will cost from 17 cents to 20
cents. The cooking is said to be excellent, and the
accommodation all that could be wished by those
desirous of living economically. Another praise-
worthy establishment is an infant asylum destined to
receive the children of the labourers from the various
nations. Children under three years will be admitted
and taken care of gratuitously, during the stay of
their parents in Paris. A solemn inauguration of
this charitable institution will shortly take place,
and we shall then expect to see a multitude of pretty
little cribs and cradles, tiny white sheets and hand-
some furniture, all graced with the smiling faces of
numerous cherubs.

In the square placed in the centre of the Exhibi-
tion building, an elegant pavilion will display the
Crown jewels of France. A circular glass enclosure
around the crystal pavilion will contain coin,
money, stamp, and medals struck in France
during the reign of Napoleon 111. By an ingenious
mechanical contrivance the pavilion sinks into the
ground after the closing of the Exhibition. The
opening is masked by the soil, and protected by a
roof of impenetrable cement.
One of the chief attractions of the Exhibition
will be the International Theatre, which has
announced its opening representation for the lbth
of April. There will be 1,300 places, elegantly
and conveniently arranged for spectators. Repre-
sentations will take place every evening at eight
o'clock, composed of operas, ballets, &c., in which
the theatrical "stars" of different countries will
appear. From two to four in the afternoon ex-
hibitions of all kinds, pantomimes, concerts, chil-
dren's balls, &c., will be given. The orchestra is
to be composed of 50 musicians, the opera troupe of
40 chorists, and 60 dancers; all young and pretty.
The 20 Indians sent over from America are to
make their Milt in this theatre.

The total number of exhibitors enrolled for the
World's Fair amcunts to 42,000. France has
11,645 ; the Ottoman Empire comes next, with
4,496, and Great Britain third, 3,609. I have not
learned the number of American exhibitors. Up to
this time they have made but little show iu their
section. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is last
on the roll, having only 10 exhibitors.
Since the completion of the great works of the
Champ de Mars, and the Trocadero, from 8,000 to
10,000 workmen have returned to their regular
labours in the city, and the activity of the gigantic
public works has recommenced.
The price of entrance to the Exhibition has been
reduced to one franc per head. Weekly tickets are
issued at the rate of six francs, giving admission to
the palace, park, and grounds at Billaueourt, with
the privilege enjoyed by season visitors of entering
as early as nine in the morning. The photograph
of the bearer must be posted on the ticket, having
the face exposed.
Thomas 11ill, the American artist and painter of
the "Yosemite Valley," has arrived in Paris from
Rome. 11. G. Bispham, also an American artist
of some note, is visiting Paris for a day or
two preparatory to starting for home. Messrs.
John Munroe and Co., the Paris agents for the
Great Eastern, have received a despatch from New
York, stating that the " big ship" arrived there
safely on the 9th.

PARIS.

I am very much afraid that all the nations of the
world who are expected in Paris between this and
the end of May will find the French nation out of
town. People are scampering off to the chateaux
with all the Parisian fashions packed up in large
arches as if they were determined to hide the trea-
sures from the imitation of invading barbarians.
Others mean to make a good speculation out of the
Exposition visitors by letting their houses furnished
to the highest bidder, including even their own ser-
vants, horses, and carriages, which it will be so
convenient to have kept at the expense of others,
while the happy owners are at Dieppe or Trouville
dining at the table d'hote, living on a fourth flat, and
declaring that Paris is so intolerably full they could
not put up with foreigners any longer. This is not
very truthful, and the only natives I see any real
objection to are, those of the Celestial empire, in
which elevated region it is not customary to use
pocket handkerchiefs, as far as I have been able to
judge at least, but then in a country where inhabi-
tants must naturally hold their noses very high
pocket handerchiefs may be superfluous.
The weather is the great topic of conversation in
all
du r lo
dust,
szosnad unsn,
gaennd ceruezteapihnyirts that the
ot
vreariyn ,
lively.md u
isarthea
My impression is that the sun is confused; he finds
all his favourite haunts jumbled together round the
Champ de Mars, and when he
shines on the
Egyptian Temple he suddenly comes across Gus-
tavus Vasa's cottage in Sweden, which makes him
recede. Thus it is he gets into the Russian izba,
and does not find his • way out again. I do not
wish to say anything disrespectful of the Exposition,
but I do not think the Park can be finished till the
said exposure is over. A permanent standing
ought to be voted, considering what labour the
highly worked ornamentation will cost. The fol-
lowing is the result of my observations in the dif-
ferent departments I have visited. An excursion
through France leads one to a firm conviction that
her machinery, porcelain, and jewellery are not sur-
passed by those of any other European nation. Her
crystal, bronzes, and tapestry are perfect, but her
ironmongery cannot come up to England, even though
she is trying hard on stilts. The arrangement of
her articles is mare effective than that of the British
section.
The Fine Arts of England, our pride, are not
excelled by the works of Italy, Spain, or France.
Prejudice alone is blind, but connoisseurs are cos-
mopolitan ; they love art for itself, and all are unani-
mous in praise of our English paintings. Men of
talent do not inquire what was the birthplace of a
landscape-painter before they discover the beauties
of his production. The unenlightened are those
who, on being told that they are in the English Fine
Arts Court, shut up their eyes, sneer, and call our
green, spinach " our flesh tints," pastry our azure
" washing blue." Ignoramuses of this description
remind inc of the Asiatic who went to the opera to
hear " Dame Blanche," and on being askei at the
end how he had liked it, said the finest part, in his
opinion, was the first piece that had been played.
The loaler was requested to have the overture
executed over again in honour of the guest, but the
Asiatic said they were not playing what he meant.
After fruitless endeavours to hit on the particular
part, as he called it, that had taken his fancy, the
musicians all set to tuning their instruments anew,
and the foreigner exclaimed in ecstacy that that was
the first piece he had heard. And so he had, and
so every one does at the opera before the leader puts
an end to the unearthly groaning of violincellos,
violins, and all the other wailing, let loose by dis-
cord before the unwelcome tuning is over.

Such are most judges of the fine arts, the first
impression is the lasting conviction, and as impres-
sion exists abroad that all the English are either
lords or stable boys, created for the sole purpose of
buying choice wines and rearing all the best race-
horses, of course painters and paintings are out of
the question, the more so as the sun never shines

in England ; there is not a flower to be got,- not a
peach to be seen ; all the women are tall and
thin, wear ringlets, and red, blue, and violet at the
same time.

I conclude that the greatest infliction a man
could make his worst enemy undergo would not
be, if in Paris, to take him to the Champ de Mars
on the top of an omnibus, and when there to keep
him on his legs till five without giving him any
refreshment ; far worse would it be, if in London,
to drive him out to some of our lordly seats, and
there to sit before the usual amount of food that is
laid out on our English tables, food of native pro-
duce, not forgetting our hothouse dessert, home-
made bread if possible, and home-brewed beer,
vegetables from our kitchen gardens, fruit from
our well-kept orchards ; and when he had tasted
of all, to let him crawl up to his room a victim of
English native produce.
But to return to the Exposition. Prussia and
Austria are acting like sisters; they are both be-
hind. Russia is in a pretty mess with all the
powers, but America seems inclined to help her.
Italy is not in decent order at all. Spain cannot
look np, she never will now ; it is too late to mend.
Turkey is heart-broken, very much in want of a
main-spring in my opinion; whereas Sweden and
Norway are on the look out in an advanced state
of progress.

ROME, April 2.

The last few days have borne little resemblance
to the delightful weather previously enjoyed. Cloudy
skies, heavy rains, and damp cold winds have sug-
gested what is called a " sea-turn" on the further
shore of the Atlantic. Such a period must be dreary,
for nature then has little beauty, ruins cannot be
visited, or if they were, most persons would probably
think more of the present mud than of the Caesars'
past magnificence. I doubt if the Coliseum
viewed from beneath r.n umbrella would seem ma-
jestic even to a Byron, while all painting and sculp-
ture require the sunlight to add a finish beyond the
last the artist can give. Sculpture, of course, en-
dures the trial best, losing only something of dis-
tinctness of light and shade.

One cannot but wonder if the streets of ancient
Rome, in the days of its magnificence, were as
narrow and as dirty as most of them are
to-day. Doubtless some of them were, for
the poor then were probably much like the poor
now, only not so numerous. But one cannot but
fancy that better streets led to the forum than
now lead to St. Peter's, and that the sound, common
sense of that sturdy race would have objected. to
splashing in mud their embroidered sandals when
there was labour enough at hand to clean the
streets and money enough to pay the labour. It is
pleasing to find that on at least one of their roads
they had a side-walk, paved and guarded, a thing
which can scarcely be said to exist in modern Rome.

This, in fact, is only a part of the problem con-
tinually forced on one's mind here, whether the
Romans of to-day fairly represent the conquerors
of the world. We feel sure they do not. These
people, glad to serve for a more or less honest
profit the inhabitants of what was once.
the distant and savage island of Britain, or,
still better, of that wider country which lies
where their ancestors supposed the shades of the
departed to dwell, cannot compare with those men
who subdued all the shores of the Mediterranean,
fought their way through France, and subjected
the greater part of Britain to their dominion.
Cicero's eloquence would hardly find a fit audience
to tempt it, if he were alive, to wield the Italian
tongue. At least so it seems to a foreigner's per-
haps too limited observation. It is a view we are
pleased to take, for it is hard to believe that mere
force of circumstance determines whether the same
spirits shall command or cringe, gain new conquests
for literature and art, or allow those already won
to fade utterly from their remembrance. This is,
in fact, an impossible thought, for greatness, in
any adversity, and under whatever oppression, will
still be *great. 1 was much interested during a
recent visit to the Capitol in noticing the many
heads and busts, of which we know only that they
are portraits of persons whose very names arc now
forgotten. We m.Ly suppose them, then, to repre-
sent an average of the better classes of ancient
society here, and to show something of that sub-
s stratum of character on which the greatness of
Rome was founded ; and they are faces and heads
such as we should look to for valour, intelligence,
and virtue now. They are beyond all expression
superior to those prelates, with whom portraits
eh, too, were
the old masters in painting.
were forced to deform their
convictioncanbelieveoutrothe aactiheaatt
aßnadplil nae sculpture, unljd )tu others
deeds,tieancient
compositions.
rest race
S o
correspondedfoundation as solid as
the marble which has survived Vandal violence and
mediaeval oblivion.
It is especially pleasing to meet in the female
7n a
, self-reliant dignity, which does not
faces thus preserved that nobility of expression, a
self-respecting,
destroy feminine gentleness and tenderness—a cast
of countenance so common in America and Eng-
land, but elsewhere, if not rare, rarely seen.
One has good opportunities here to compare the
faces of various nations. It seems fair to presume
that the great body of travellers from each are of
about the same relative position in their respective
lands, and Americas and English faces can be dis-
tinguished half-way across St. Peter's, and a com-
parison of them with those by whom they are sur-
rounded is seldom such as a citizen of either country
need be reluctant to make, even if his national
pride is as high as each declares the other's to be.
Our language is here so surprisingly common
that one ceases to be surprised at it. You hear it
around you thoughtlessly for a while, until at length
thevEisaigtlri
seth,
reflection
theec at in odnwaerises these people are speaking
are
in Rome." In a moonlight
Coliseum,
indeed,
some of us were a
little startled at the general laugh raised by a jocose
reference to Byron's description, for the ruin and
the moonlight made all seem so intensely foreign,
as to make it surprising that others there could
comprehend the language of our distant land, but
we soon found that of all the crowds which trod
the arena and the galleries on those bright evenings
there were few who could not read Byron without
translation. The progress our language is making
abroad is striking, though hardly wonderful. It is
true, the number who speak it is not great, but the
number who attempt it is considerable. The pains
that waiters and tradesmen take to bring out their
little store of half a dozen words of our tongue, and the
pride they evince when they find themselves under-
stood, are amusing in the extreme. All around the
streets are placards announcing that one " Signor"
teaches " Inglese," or that from another it can be
learned completely in six months ! One tradesman
is expecting the return of a son who has been a
year in England, and will speak the language per-
fectly; another forces upon your notice the feet that
he himself uses it " a leetle." Of course no hotel's
appointments are complete without at least one
English-speaking
attendant. The euphemistic
French may long continuo the language of the
fashionable world and of diplomatists, who may well
shun a speech so logical and determinate as ours ;
the time must be near, if it has not already
come, when one to whom it is native may travel
round the globe and find it everywhere sufficient.
Nor will it be found in Asa unworthy of the im-
perial position which the greatness of the nations
who own it is preparing for it so speedily and so
surely—unle:s some inconceivable catastrophe shall
Lreak the rower of both America and England.
Among the few incidents which are worthy of
record at this quiet period, the most interesting was
the complimentary dinner of the resident American
artists of Rome, in honour of W. C. Bryant, given
both as a testimonial of personal esteem, and in
recognition of his long and earnest advocacy of the
claims of art. At the well. furnished tables at
Nazzari's, some twenty artists gathered, including,
of sculptors, Messrs. Rogers, Mozier, Rein-
hardt, Stone, Ives, and Haseltine—of pain-
ters, Messrs. Freeman, Vedder, Inman, Coleman,
and F. 0. C. Darley. General King, the
American Minister, presided, and among the
guests were the Consul, Mr. Cushman, and Drs.
Gould and Burridge. The toast of the evening was
given by Gen. King. Mr. Bryant, in his brief reply,
referred to the progress of art in America within
his own recollection, stating that when he was a

young man the number of American artists was
small, and their position one slightly esteemed, while
at present not only were their numbers very consider-
able, but they enjoy high consideration in all culti-
vated society. He was very happy to believe that
he had contributed in any degree to such an ad-
vance. The occasion, though not furnishing► many
long speeches to report, was one to be pleasantly
remembered by all present—an agreeable tribute
from the brotherhood of the pencil and the chisel to
that of the pen, which they have found a faithful
and powerful ally.

NEW Yon; March 15.

It is now nearly a month since I reached New York,
and passages across the ocean are matters of such every-
day occurrence that it hardly seems worth while to say
much of my voyage, yet there are one or two points which
deserve mention. I was passenger by the noble steamer
Virginia, Captain Prowse. We had an exceedingly rough
passage ; indeed one more severe and trying is seldom
made. From the day of sailing until we neared the Ame-
rican coast wo encountered incessant headwinds, and g ale 3
of great violence, amounting on one occasion to a hurri-
cane of twelve hours' duration, with a sea which Captain
Prowse pronounced the heaviest he had ever experienced
on the Atlantic. The behaviour of the Virginia, however,
was splendid. Very few seas came on board, although
our cargo was principally dead weight—a decidedly dif-
ferent experience from that which I had, on a previous
passage, when I crossed in a smaller ship, the waves often
breaking over the vessel, flooding the saloon, and making
everybody on board exceedingly uncomfortable. At that
time I deteymined that whenever I crossed the ocean again
should bo in one of the largest and best sea-going
vessels ; and the selection of the Virginia proved a most
fortunate choice. She and her companion craft of the
National Line are among the largest passenger steam
vessels in the world, their average measurement being
over 3,000 tons. Their great length and beam enables
them to ride the sea much more easily than smaller
vessels can, while their passenger accommodation is of
the best order as regards comfort, convenience, and
safety. Families and those who value such quali-
ties as these, as well as reasonable rates, rather
than high speed and high prices, should remember the
" National " Line. Captain Prows° and his chief
officers did all in their power to make the rough voyage a
pleasant one, and so far as I could observe, they were all
admirably qualified for their respective positions.
Every traveller who has written an account of
this part of the world has described the mag-
nificent harbour, which gives New York its commercial
importance and its pre-eminenco among the cities of the
New World ; but there cannot be too much said of its
beauty, even in winter. Tho clear and smokeless
atmosphere—contrasting strongly with the fogs of London
—enables the voyager as he comes up the bay, 25 miles
in circuit, to take in at a glance all the leading features.
Upon landing the traveller notes first the marked contrast
between the New York Docks, which are simple wooden
structures, and the splendid docks which afford such
facilities for commerce at Liverpool and London.
INumerous schemes are already discussed for building
structures around New York which shall accord
with its wealth and dignity, and before many years elapse
some of them must take definite form.

A characteristic of New York is its din and ex-
citement. Everything seems to be done in a hurry. The
people one meets in the streets have a restless,
anxious look, which comports with their hurried
walk, seeming to say, that darkness will overtake them
before their day's work, is half done. In their talk, too,
one notes extravagant adjectives and expressions, which
well accord with the high pressure under which they
seem all the time to be labouring. Street railways
have been reduced to a science. The horse cars traverse
almost every street, over three hundred miles of
tramways being in operation in the city, and with the ex-
ception of Broadway the omnibuses have entirely dis-
appeared.
Broadway—famous among the noble avenues of the first
cities of the world—=presents its usual thronged and
bustling appearance. Various plans for relieving the
crowds that daily push and surge through this and the
other great arteries of New York are proposed, with a fair
prospect of success. The most comprehensive of the dif-
ferent plans contemplate the addition to the city of a great
avenue underneath Broadway. It is proposed„ first, to ex-
cavate the entire street, and construct another below it at
the depth of 15 feet, with two tunnels in the centre for
railways, with sidewalks on either side, making into
shops what are now the basements of the buildings. The
old street level is then to be replaced as before, supported
by arches. Light is to be afforded to the sub-street, or ar-
cade, by openings between the upper windows and the side-
walks, enclosed with iron railings. Steps at each crossing
will lead from these openings to the substreet, and pedes-
trians will be sheltered from storms as well as from the
summer sun. Pneumatic railways aro also talked
of, as a means of communicating different points
in the city, a. 4 well as for passing under the north and east
river to New Jersey and to Brooklyn ; and considerable
interest is felt in that now being constructed under the
Thames.

Political affairs are just now in an anomalous condition.
It is customary when the term of one Congress ex-
pires, for the Senate alone, to reorganise immediately,
and hold a short extra session in order to act upon any
nominations the President may send in. For. rea-
sons which your readers fully understand, Congress
passed a law before adjournment, that the New House of
Representatives should organise simultaneously with the
now Senate, immediately upon the dissolution of the old
Congress ; and, on the 4th inst., accordingly, both branches
of the national Legislature reassembled, and organised for
business. The House selected as Speaker the Hon. Schuyler
Colfax, who has served two terms, or four years, in that
capacity, with great credit. The Senate chose as its
presiding officer Senator Benj. Wade, of Ohio, a Radical Re-
publican. Some importance attaches to this office just now,
because he who occupies that position, will be Acting
President, in the case of Mr. Johnson's death or removal
from office, by impeachment or otherwise. The new
Congress is the fortieth since the organisation of the
Government. The thirty-ninth (which has just been
dissolved), before its adjournment received President
Johnson's vetoes of the measure known as the Military
Governments Bill, also of the Tenure of Office Bill. The
latter deprives the President of much of his appointing
power, and prevents him from removing from their
places any of the civil officers whose terms of service are
not limited by law, without the advice and consent of the
Senate. The Military Governments Bill you fully under-
stand. Both measures ware vetoed by the President on
the ground of their alleged unconstitutionality ; each
was immediately passed, over the veto, by much more
than a two-third vote. The fortieth Congress is even
more strongly opposed to the President, politically, than
its predecessor was, and Mr. Johnson will find it
harder to deal with and utterly impossible to manage.
Probably it will soon adjourn until next December, when
it will be known whether the Southern States have
accepted or rejected the ultimatum just submitted to
them. Then the reconstruction question will come up in
a new shape.

General business has been stagnant during the
last few weeks, merchants were so uncertain of the
future, in consequence of the doubt which rested upon the
fate of the Tariff Bill. Since that has been shelved,
as a whole, trade mayrevive, but many insist, that there
must be a fall from the present extravagant prices,
before any permanent improvement can take place.
Great preparations are making for the Paris Exposition,
where twelve thousand American exhibitors will repre-
sent the ingenuity and industry of their country.
Double the space allotted to America in any previous
exhibition has been appropriated, and will be well filled.
Steam engines, caloric engines, locomotives, lightning
printing presses, type-setting machines, sewing machines,
agricultural machines, musical instruments, American
watches, Sm., will compete with those of European
manufacture. The Fine' Arts will be represented by
paintings and statuary, many private citizens having
lent their choicest specimens for the purpose. Curial
products will be sent from every State in the Union.
The improvement made in firearms during the late war
will attract no less attention than the needle-gun.
Western life in America will be illustrated by an Illinois
farm-house, fifty feet square, 'to be erected in the park.
The chief representatives, however, will be human.
Seventy thousand Americans will visit the Exposition.
Every steamer crossing the Atlantic from this country is
crowded with passengers—the state-rooms being
all
engaged for months beforehand. Numerous excursion
parties aro •being organised, and Paris is the destination
of them all.—G. W. B.

EMIGRATION TO NEW YORK.—The New York
Commissioners of Emigration state in their report to the
Legislature that iu the course of the year 1866 294,357
passengers landed from foreign countries at that port, being
37,066 more than in the year preceding. 60,939. were
citizens of the United States ; of the other 233,418 it is
stated that 10G,716 were from Germany, 68,047 from Ire-
land, 36,186 from England, and 22,469 from other countries.
97,607 reported their intended dt.stination to be the State of
New York, 32,751 Pennsylvania and Now Jersey, 18,743.
Now Eug,land, 71,485 Western States, 5,333 Southern States,
2,932 Kansas, Nebraska, Canada, Ste. The commissioners
state that 12,487 were tompararily relieved with board and
lodgment, and 10,771 were provided with situations
The very large sum of $132,495 was received by the com-
missioners in the year from relatives and friends of immi-
grants to aid in forwarding them to their destinations.•
6,829 cases, including 438 births, were under medical treat-
ment ; the percentage of mortality among them was
813. In the medical hospital alone the mortality was
11.64 per cent. on the cases treated, or 14.41 on the dis-
charges. The average number of patients in the hospital
was 648; the deaths were 788. The average number of in-
mates in all the institutions—refuge, hospital, &c.—was
1,081; the total number in the year 10,306, including the
438 births ; the deaths were 871. The cost of the support
of the institutions was $142,749. The Commissioners de-
sired to express their thanks to the Sisters of Charity for
their invaluable services in the dangerous duty of attend-
ing the cholera cases.