The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-20 00:00:00

IHGI.I WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS DAT.—Morning, Bh. 35m. I Afternoon, 9h. 17m.
To-Mouttow.-Morning, 91. 55m. I Afternoon, 106. 30m.

ef.'t
71
01 rr*v
41 J-y
fra.l4",,

LONDON, TVEDNESDAY, NOV. 20, 1867.

The Session has opened under favourable circum-
stances, and, we may hope, for the best, since all
parties seem inclined to combine to make the best
use of their time. It cannot be denied that the
Government meet Parliament under circumstances
of some difficulty, but the only way to get ever that
difficulty will be to look the matter fairly in the
face, and to consider what can be done to vindicate
the honour of the country. The Royal Speech was
couched in most expressive terms respecting
the Abyssinian expedition, and, more wily

than such compositions generally do, explained
how Parliament must come to the aid of th,s Sove-
reign and her advisers in disposing of a matter that
deeply involves the credit of the country and inter-
fering with the conduct of our affairs abroad, inas-
much as the safety and welfare of our fellow-sub-
jects are outraged. The DERBY Administrations
which have held office during late years have been
proverbial for having the luck of dealing with
awkward things ; and this Abyssinian affair
threatens to be not the least vexed question of the
day. It is a satibfaction, at any rate, that the
whole subject is now before both Houses of
the Legislature, and hence the public mind will be
fully represented, and all will have an opportunity
of understanding those particulars, which during
the recess can never be so well comprehended in all
their bearings. For some time past those best in-
formed and most familiar with things believed that
something more than ordinary would come of the
dilly-dallying of King THEODORE, but perhaps even
they hardly expected that the affair would increase
in magnitude and importance until a Session of
Parliament was anticipated, in order thatfull powers
might be given to the Executive to send out an ex-
pedition to rescue the prisoners, or at least to

avenge their wrongs.
An opportunity was afforded last night for the
illustration of that good feeling which, to the credit
of English political life, always was superior to mere
party conflicts and ambitious views. Mr. GLAD-
STONE, in a graceful manner, offered the Chancellor
of the Exchequer the sympathy of the House under
the trying circumstances in which he had to meet
them, and refrained from touching on those
minor points relative to the recess speeches,
and so on. The remainder of the right
honourable gentleman's speech was very much
to the point and most statesmanlike in its sugges-
tions. He advised the House to have faith in Par-
liament, and not to add the expenses of this expedi-
tion to the debt of the country. The Chancellor
of the Exchequer, who was received with general
cheering, returned his thanks to the House for the
kind manner in which they sympathised with him,
and in a short speech alluded to the chief points of
the Speech. The Abyssinian Expedition, he ad-
mitted, had not been agreed to by the House, and
it was quite free from pledges on the sub-
ject. It is worthy of notice, as Colonel HOGG
observed in seconding the address, that Lord STAN-
LEY could not have informed the House of the
expedition to Abyssinia at the end of last session,
because at that time King THEODORE had not an-
swered the ultimatum which had been sent to him.
In the House of Lords Lord RUSSELL alluded to
the expedition to Abyssinia in rather captious
terms, which were the more uncalled for as a great
of the mismanagement of the earlier stages of the
affair, rests with the noble lord himself and his col-
leagues. Regarding Reform the noble lord
tried some bitter jokes, and assured Lord
DERBY that he had better have explained how
the Scotch and Irish bills would be for the good of
the House, rather than content himself by saying
that he was going to take two more leaps in the
dark. Lord DERBY made an effective speech, in
which he very truly declared that all who entered at
all into this Abyssinian question must see that the
honour and dignity of the British Crown could no
longer be treated with insult, and the offenders be
treated with impunity. The noble earl showed
the House in the most complete manner
that all had been done by the Government which
could possibly be done to settle the matter in an
amicable form. We would direct particular atten-
tion to this passage of the noble lord's discourse,
because some have been very ready with their cri-
ticisms on the subject before they understood it
themselves. A time must come in all discussions
of this kind when remembrance must cease and
action begin, or of what avail is it to have force at
our command at all ? No doubt much may
often be done to smooth down things, and let
arbitration take the place of war ; but there are ex-
ceptions to every rule, and this Abyssinian matter
is unquestionably one of them. On the whole, we
may conclude that the Government has been well
received by Parliament, and that the unanimous
acceptance of the Address to her MAJESTY by both
Houses of Parliament is a good augury of success
for the future. The part of the Speech relating to
education is satisfactory, and Mr DISRAELI declared
it meant more than a flourish, and that her
MAJESTY'S Ministers were fully determined to deal
with the question as soon as possible. This is well,
for the general feeling of the public has long
decided upon the necessity that exists for some steps
to be taken ; and no Government can hope to
meet the approval of the public which does not deal
with this vital topic in an unprejudiced manner,
and quite irrespective of the doctrines of party and
intolerance.

The intelligence from the West Indies continues

to be of the deepest interest. Official advices from
St. Thomas report that all the officers and engineers
of the Rhone were lost with the vessel. Out of 145
passengers 25 were saved, but most of the crew
were drowned. Five steamers and sixty vessels
were wrecked, and on shore the destruction was of
an equally terrible character, the town being, it is
said, almost in ruins. Happily, though the
accounts of the hurricane at St. Thomas's appear
to have been in no way exaggerated, there
is reason for hoping that the catastrophe at
Tortola has been unduly magnified. The British
consul at Cuba bas declared his belief that the news
of the submersion has been much exaggerated, and
our Consul at New York telegraphed yesterday to
the Foreign-office that the intelligence was only re-
ceived by the New York Herald, and was doubted
in New York. The Consul at Havannah had in-
formed the Consul at New York that no particulars
had been received, but that the rumour was thought
to be greatly exaggerated. This is further con-
firmed by the fact that a letter, dated November 1,
had been received at Havannah from Tortola, say-
ing that a great fire bad occurred there during
the hurricane of the 29th, and mentioning that a
family had been drowned. If this is the only
foundation for the alarming reports which have
excited such widespread consternation, it is a
noticeable instance of the rapid growth of rumour.
Notwithstanding our indignation at the reckless
propagators of such false news, we can only hope
that it may prove the case, but catastrophes are
not unfrequent in these tropical seas, and we know
that the recent tempests have been of
an exceptionally violent nature. Possibly the
truth lies somewhere between the two accounts.
There may have been great loss of life without
" every living thing being destroyed." The sea
may have swept over some low-lying districts im-
mediately on the coast without " the island having
been submerged for eight hours." The authorities
have adopted the wisest course in sending instruc-
tions to the Admiral commanding on the North
American station, desiring him to send a ship of war
to the Island of Tortola. It is quite time that this
cru_.l suspense were put to an end, and that the real
nature and extent of the disaster were made public.
The American news itself is not especially
striking. Mr. TIIADDEUS STEVENS has written a
letter on the finances, declaring that be abhors
repudiation, but that he thought Government was
not bound to pay the principal of the ,ve-Twenty