The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-17 00:00:00

the Registrar-General in opposition to the popular
belief that extreme cold is healthy. No doubt some
degree of frost is more generally beneficial than an
unseasonably warm winter ; but we must always
expect in severe weather to see the list of deaths
rise in proportion. If every individual was in robust
health and living in favourable sanitary conditions
we might see less reason to regret the visitation of
King Frost, but so many are feeble or poorly-fed or
ill-clothed, or compelled, by the necessities of their
occupation, to undergo prolonged exposure or ex-
treme exertion, that the practical test is very diffe-
rent from the theoretical. Well-dressed, well-fed
people, hurrying from well-aired offices to comfort-
able firesides, may talk stoically of " fine seasonable
weather," when the wind is piercing through half-
clad children and feeble old age cowering b 5 an
empty grate. Those whose employments, healthy
enough in themselves in ordinary weather call them
continually out of doors, suffer severely from the
extremities of the season, and must no doubt include
among the unfavourable agencies of the winter the
depressed condition of trade and business generally.
With the return of spring we may hope for a better
state of affairs, and there is reason also to look for-
ward to a favourable agricultural season.
There are some points in the Registrar's return
which deserve attention, and prominent among these
are the deaths from smallpox and typhus. During
last week the deaths from these diseases were re-
spectively 45 and 50. The old prejudice against
vaccination still lingers among the poorer classes,and
we can hardly hope to see it rooted out until we
have less ignorance to contend against. Those who
foster this prejudice are very much to blame, since
the fact is patent to all that smallpox has declined
with wonderful rapidity since the discovery of Dr.
JENNER, and no arguments or denunciations can
contradict it. It is diflicUlt now to realise the
truth that, in the last century, one-eighth of the
population died of this terrible disease, though every
book and record of the time abundantly confirms
the statistics. It is a question for our social re-
formers whether further steps may not be taken to
secure the vaccination of infants who too
often suffer through life from the ignorance or
negligence of their parents.
The prevalence of typhus is another point which
demands attention. The overcrowding of our
streets and lanes, the evils attending the thronging
of our courts and byeways, are multiplying every
day. We cannot expect fever to keep aloof when
small rooms are tenanted by two or three families,
when an ordinary eight or nine-roomed house is
inhabited by 40 or 50 people. When we remember
that the water supply in such places is extremely
limited, and the drainage often deficient, we
shall only be surprised that typhus does not demand
still heavier toll. The accommodation of the labour-
ing classes in this busy metropolis is one of the most
p.uplexing of modern puzzles, but there are
some sanitary reforms which might be carried
out without waiting for the building of model
lodging-houses or the construction of railways. The
immediate removal of a person attacked by fever
from one of these overcrowded houses is a measure
dictated alike by common sense and humanity,
yet it is very seldom attempted for want
of proper and sufficient accommodation. To
carry fever into the crowded wards of a
London Workhouse is manifestly to in-
crease rather than diminish the risk of infec-
tion, while the general mode of conveyance—street
cabs—is highly unsuitable and dangerous. Many
persons shrink from performing necessary duties,
and put themselves to great inconvenience and ex-
pense to avoid all possible risk of contagion, while
quite unawares they are often in positions of great
danger in the most ordinary pursuits of life. No one
can guarantee that the cab which they may call in
the streets may not have just returned from
conveying a fever-stricken patient to the
hospital. Medical men have often insisted
upon the great danger and absurdity of this
practice, but until there is some regularly organised
system for the conveyance of patients to the hospi-
tals we shall have one fruitful source of danger.
The water supply, too, is a very important question,
which will, we hope, be definitely considered this
year. The cession ought not to be allowed to pass
without some measures being taken to compel land-
lords to make proper provision for the reception and
storing of water. The plan of every one in the
house rushing with tubs and bowls to catch suffi-
cient till the next day is more fitted for some out-of-
the-way village than a great metropolis. It is no
wonder that cleanliness of every kind is at a
discount in such places.
The deaths of five persons killed by horses or
carriages were registered in the week. They in-
clude two young children, two middle-aged men,
and one old woman. Some short time since a good
deal was said about providing for the safety of
foot-passengers at our large crossings, but nothing
has as yet been effected. Accidents occurring to
children, however lamentable, must rather be at-
tributed to the negligence of their parents than to
any avoidable cause in the traffic ; but when we
find accidents 59 constantly occurring to persons
in the full possession of their faculties, we may
feel sure that there is something wrong. The
dangers of London streets are increasing rather
than diminishing, and the loss of time itself

becomes in these high-pressure days a serious in-
convenience. Of course, there must be many
places where the plan of foot-bridges would be im-
practicable, but we should like to see it tried at
least at some of the grand rendezvous of traffic,
where, if it was found to answer the purpose in-
tended, it could be easily extended to the less
frequented parts.

In his ill-judged attempt to get the Government
into difficulties, or at all events to place them at a
disadvantage, Mr. OSBORNE has contrived to en-
tangle himself and his friends in such a manner
that it takes a long time for them to extricate them-
selves.• The whole affair was by no means worthy
of the importance which Mr. OSBORNE affected to
attach to it, and had it not been for the peculiar
circumstances that surrounded its recital—the house
being on the point of coming to a division—it
would very likely, have elicited neither comment nor
inquiry. As it i 3, however, someof themembers of the
Opposition side of the House appeared to have made
themselves unnecessarily busy in the matter. There
was no occasion for the meddling of Mr. OSBORNE
in the matter, and he has done himself no credit
thereby. The conversation between Colonel TAY-
LOR and Mr. DILLWYN was private, and the account
which Mr. OSBOBNE gave was taken from an inac-
curate copy of Mr. DILLWYN'S note. There was no
decided plan, as he would have made the House
believe, between Colonel TAYLOR and hon. mem-
bers on the Opposition side, and still less any
engagement on the subject of Mr. lIBBERT'S
amendment relating to the Compound Householders.
On the part of the Government Lord STANLEY
ccertainly disclaimed any knowledge of the matter,
which statement was received with cheers from all
parts of the House. Any one who knows anything
of Parliamentary life is perfectly well aware of the
frequent occurrence of such conversations as that
held by Col. TAYLOR and Mr. DILLWYN, and these
was nothing in it to excite surprise, or give rise to
explanations, Hid Colonel TATIaa been present

on Friday he could have settled the matter in a
minute ; and it does not improve the position of
those who made such a fuss about the affair that
they did not find out that the gallant member for
Dublin could not take part in the proceedings of
the House. The extreme anxiety testified that the
House should understand the facts of the.case came
very ill from those who evidently did not or
could not understand them for themselves, and
the language used by Mr. OSBORNE at the
time referred to showed very plainly the mean-
ing of the affair. Had there been a definite arrange-
ment made between any member of the Govern-
ment and members on the Opposition side it would
have been very different, but as it is Mr. OSBORNE
has only shown his great readiness to interpose in a
very uncalled-for manner, and to show his too ready
disposition to make impertinent remarks on those
whose conduct he has not given himself the time
and trouble to judge, and much the same may be
said of those who approved of his proceedings.

Count BISMUICE has already met with a decisive
check, which will be all the more mortifying on ac-
count of his former great successes, and the sudden
change is well calculated to dishearten him and to
dispirit his followers. To make bad worse, the de-
feat followed upon the urgent request of the Minis-
ter to the house that it would adopt the views of
the Government. The point at issue was the Fede-
ral military system—a very awkward subject to
debate upon, and upon which differences were very
much to be deprecated. Two amendments were
proposed, the one by Count STOLBERG, and the
other by Duke UJEST. Count BISMARCK favoured
the adoption of the former one, which proposed
that the strength of the Federal army should re-
main unaltered on a peace footing until after the
promulgation of " a common Federal code
of laws." Duke UJEST, on the other hand, de-
sired that the next five years should be looked I
upon as a period of transition, and that after
that time the maintenance of the Army
on a peace-footing, should be the same as hitherto,
until after the promulgation of a code of general
laws, and that even then the expenses of the army
should be fixed by a special law, on the basis of
the existing organisation. This scheme was evi-
dently a well-considered one in every respect, and
well calculated to meet the end in view, but Count
BIS3IARCK made a decided stand against it, and
sought by every means in his power to circumvent
it, but all to no avail; for the good sense of the
house triumphed over the plausible arguments and
eager solicitations of the Minister. The Count said
that this amendment would leave open the possi-
bility of a Parliamentary conflict on the subject of
the army ; and certainly his recollections on this
point cannot be very agreeable, but the question to
decide was one of national importance, and consi-
derations of expediency were very properly banished
from it. It would be better to run the risk of
having ever so fierce and ever so many conflicts be-
tween the auilorities and the representatives than
to allow all prudent considerations to be sacrificed
to the idea of settling things at once and for ever.

Although Count BISMARCK refused to say if the
Government would reject the whole draught, if the
amendment of Duke UJEsT were carried, the House
was not daunted, and did not swerve from its pre-
conceived notion, but adopted the proposal by a
majority of one hundred and twenty-two, which
was, indeed, a defeat of a most significant
character for BISMARCK. The amendment of Count
STOLBERG was rejected, and yet another mortifica-
tion was in store for the imperious Premier of
Prussia. He earnestly rcquestcd.the house before
the decision was taken upon the amendment of the
Duke, to adopt instead a second proposition of
Count STOLBERG'S to the effect that the Govern-
ment should have the choice of the time for pro-
mulgating a common Federal Code of Laws. He
even went so far as to intimate that if this were not
agreed to the Federal Governments would not agree
to the draught, and it would very possiby happen
that the task of drawing up the constitution would
be frustrated at the last moment. Another awk-
ward episode in this sitting was the attitude assumed
by the Polish Deputies, who, after voting against
the whole draught, declared that they resigned their
seats, as their last attempt to prevent the act of
violence had failed; the said act, meaning their
incorporation in the North German Confederation.
To-day a sitting will be held to receive from the
Federal Government communications on the subject
of the amendments being adopted. At any rate dis-
union has shown itself very plainly in this attempt
to lay down laws for the regulation of united Ger-
many ; and discord seems more likely to be the
ruling spirit than harmony. Count BISMARCK is
not likely to prove a very amiable auxiliary in the
work of constructing the "new constitution, now
that he has been so signally defeated on a point of

importance.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

--

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
The Itloniteur has rePeAeißvlesd Tuesdaydespatc Ehesv
ferninig.
o
nt e
Havannah to the 22d March, announcing the almost
simultaneous entry to the poi t of the ironclad squad-
ron commanded by Vice-Admiral Baron de la Ron-
eiere le Noury, and the Imperial vessel the Souve-
rain, having on board Marshal Bazaine and his
family. These vessels were immediately followed
by the transport Navarin, Captain Clone, who has
left the harbour of Sacrificios, after having given up
the fort of St. Jean to the Mexican authorities. The
Themis and the ships of war of the naval division of
the Antilles were also at Havannah. From the ex-
cellent arrangements made no accident whatever
occurred, notwithstanding the large number of
vessels concentrated ; no less than 16 ships of war,
carrying 200 guns, and crews amounting to 4,000
men. The best understanding prevailed between the
French and the authorities. The Souverain put to
sea again on the 27th of March.
Proceedings are about to be taken by the Govern-
ment against the Avenir National for having given
false information of military preparations in pro-
gress at Lyons, and respecting the measures adopted
by the War Department.
On Sunday evening the Princess Mathilde gave a
splendid entertainment, at which the King of the
Belgians, Ministers, and persons of great distinction
were present.
Marshal Vaillant, the Minister of the Fine Arts,
Vice-President of the International Exhibition, has
given a splendid offi,;ial dinner to the members of
the Foreign Commissions and Ambassadors of
foreign countries. Lord Cowley, the English Am-
bassador, was among the guests. The band of the
Gendarmerie of the Imperial Guard played the
National French air after dinner amidst enthusiastic
acclamations. Persons of note from almost every
country attended the evening party after dinner.
Fabrications, or at all events suppositious, still
abound upon the subject of Luxembourg. Perhaps
the most trustworthy account of the day is that the
three Great Powers, parties to the treaty of 1839,
are engaged in official communication upon this im-
portant question, and that their object is to seek a
solution of it in the first place irrespectively of
France, Prussia, and Holland. When their exami-
nation of some intricate details shall be concluded,
the Governments of England, Russia, and Austria
will make known their. views to France, Prussia,
and Holland, and in concert with those Powers will
endeavour to make an amicable arrangement
which will be mutually satisfactory.
In the meantime a report gains ground that the
French Ministry will make another communication

upon the subject to the Chambers, but probably
not till after the Easter holidays.
It is stated in a well-informed channel that Gen.
Chazel, who is studying the state of military orga-
nisation in various countries was about to proceed
to Berlin to prosecute this object. The Prussian
Cabinet, however, made a communication to the
Belgian Government expressing a desire that the
General should postpone his visit to Prussia for the
present, in order to prevent the idea that is con-
nected with political considerations which might
engender alarm.

The Constitutionne/ contradicts the report given
by one of your contemporaries that there had been
a Cabinet Council, which sat till a late hour in the
night. I have mentioned all the Cal'inct Councils
which have lately taken place, and I have reason to
believe upon inquiry that the time occupied at the
last Council did not exceed two hours.

Letters from Rune state that some degree of ex-
citement has prevailed in that city for some two or
three days. Letters from Garibaldi, and proclama-
tions from the Insurrectional Committee, had been
profusely circulated of an exciting character, not
only upon political matters, but calculated to excite
uneasiness in regard to the Pope. The respectable
portion of the population has no sympathy with
those agitators, but their manceuvres have some
effect upon the lower classes. It is not, however,
to a serious extent, as the influence of Garibaldi is
almost entirely destroyed.
An extraordinary case of a trance has just oc-
curred. A few nights ago a Monsieur It—, a
merchant, residing in the Rue de Rivoli, gave a
dinner in honour of the approaching marriage of
his son. Among the guests was Adrienne L--, a
young girl of 16. The family, fete having been pro-
longed till a late hour, and Adrienne being rather
indisposed, it was arranged that she should sleep at
the house. The next morning the merchant's wife,
finding that the lady did not come downstaiis, went
up to her room, and finding she was asleep did not
disturb her. Madame again went up to her
room at midday, and seeing the young girl iu the
same attitude she touched her. On placing her
baud on the girl's face Madame It-- was horror
struck at finding that it was as cold as marble,
and she fully believed that she was dead. The body
was rigid. A doctor was, of course, immediately
sent for, and by his advice the formality of sending
notice of the decease to the authorities was delayed.
He believed she was only in a trance, and made
some experiments usually practised in such cases.
Having touched her even with a heated iron the
symptom that life was not extinct was manifested.
For some hours the girl remained in the same state,
—that is to say, she did not breathe, and was quite
inanimate. Other measures were resorted to, and
the girl soon
gave signs of animation. The next
day she was sufficiently recovered to go home.
The English Protestant chapel at the entrance of
the English garden of the Exhibition is now com-
pleted, and our countrymen may now attend reli-
gious worship without leaving the precincts of the
Champs de Mars. The storm which has prevailed
for the last few days has rendered it necessary to
remove tliG covering of the gallery leading to the
grand entrance from the Pont de Yena. Some of
the ornaments have been blown down. Only the
two British lions have been able to withstand the
storm. The weather was still cold and disagree-
able to-day, with frequent showers, and the at-
tendance at the Palace has been rather limited.
The workmen seem to have taken advantage of the
comparatively free circulation, for they have been
more busy to-day than ever. Boards, ropes, lad-
ders, and the various appliances ogf
it‘h,ceabnuiilddeia of building are
scattaed in all directions,
more unfinished state than ever. They, however,
I completed their work very rapidly, and probably
only a few days more will elapse before all is
finished in the interior. There is, however, mush
to finish in regard to the many surrounding build-
ings. Even the vestibule which forms the principal
entry has been filled with workmen. It is a noble
a s
construction of grand and elegant proportions. It
is 91 metres long, 15 metres wide,oafndoll,o
8 in height,
Phis
beautiful
' galleries.jgulslits s entrytip3r
architect, M.
placing
Alfred
variousLer
Leroux,
u xh
splendid
labours. Th
The'
skstatues, one by M. Crauk,re hby v
representing
IVictlrory
I crowning the French flag; the other, W.
task
will 1
havect t e ,
again
is g anai n illustrationh ee n
p ursn from
eScripture.ir
0 juries
will probably not bo finished for some days.

MB. ROBERT BELL..—There departed from among
us at 4 p.m. on Friday a gentleman whose name
was well known to all men of letters in London, though it
was not as common to the ears of the world at large as
aro those of many others who have, perhaps, done less for
literature. At that hour Mr. Robert Bell died, after an ill-
ness which had kept him to his bed for about three months,
and left behind him few men who at their going will be more
deplored by loving friends. Tho work he has done has been
chiefly of that sort which operates most widely without
receiving any impetus from the name or fame of the man
who does it. For more than 30 years, we believe for more
than 40 years, Mr. Bell has been a contributor to periodical
literature, working both as a writer and as an editor. Dur-
ing that long professional life he has always kept his head
well above the waters by his own exertions, and has afforded
one of the few instances we have that literature taken in early
life as a profession, and as an only profession, may be made
the means and the sole means of maintaining an honour-
able career. Mr. Bell, however, did not work only as a contri-
butor of theperiodical press. lie wrote a novel called "The
Ladder of Gold," which was well known a few years since,
and may be well known again; ho wrote a life of Can-
ning; he wrote and produced on the stage, as wo think,
three plays ; and ho edited an edition of the British poets,
which is, perhaps, at the present moment his best-known
contribution to E❑glish literature. But the peculiarity of
Mr. Robert Bell's life has been this, that though by no
means a pre-eminently successful man, though not enjoy_
ing that public success which his undoubted talents and
acquirements seemed to justify his friends in expecting for
him, he has through a long life been always helping others,
and never wanting others to help him. Whether as a mem-
ber of a public corporation at the committee of the Lite-
rary Fund, or as private individual who know personally
most of those who were successful in literature, and nearly
all of those who were unsuccessful, he has ever been giving
assistance. We who knew him well admired him for his
wit, his genial kindness, his affection, his great social
virtues ; but very many who did not and could not know
him socially were bound to admire him for the constant
support given by him to his literary brethren, and for his
manly adherence to the interests of the profession which
ho had adopted.—Pall-mall Gazette. [We are requested to
state that the funeral of the late Mr. Robert Bell will take
place at Kensal-green to-morrow(Thursday), at 12 o'clock.]

—•
Loss OF THE STONEWALL JACKSON AND ALL ON
BOARD.—The fate of the barque Stonewall Jack-
son, which sailed from Liverpool, via Cardiff, for the Cape
of Good Hope, ou the 22d of January, has been cleared up
by a report from Captain Jones, of the Inman Company's
steamer City of Manchester. On the 18th of March, when
the City of Manchester was on her outward voyage to
Now York, and when off Kinsale about 3.30 p.m., a barque
with the British ensign hoisted, union down, was sighted,
and Captdones at once bore up for her. La reply to a signal of
what was required, the captain (Russell) of the barque said
his vessel was the Stonewall Jackson, of Liverpool, and that
she was sinking. An offer was made to take the distressed
crew on board the steamer, but it was declined. Capt. Jones
then asked if he should take the vessel in tow. To this
Capt. Russell consented, but refused to send his own boat
for the tow-line. Under the circumstances No. 4 boat of
the steamer was launched, and the chief officer and six men
pulled alongside the barque, and succeeded in making fast
a cable. The vessel was then taken in tow, but some time
afterwards the line parted, and a fresh Manilla rope was
put on board the barque, together with an extra cable. The
steamer then proceeded at half-speed, the night coming on
very dark, though the Old Head of Kinsale light was vis-
ible. When off Kinsale Harbour it was noticed that both the
tow-ropes were rather slack, and on a test being put to them
it wasfound teat they were loose. They were then hauled in,
and ou being examined it was found that they had not snapped
the eye-holes being perfect, and Capt. Jones and his officers
thinking that the barque required no further assistance, as
the ropes had been clearly
cast loose by those on board the
Stonewall Jackson, proceeded on his voyage. With the
exception of a piece of wreck washed ashore near Kinsale,
and which has been identified as having been a portion of
the barque, nothing has since been heard of her, and there
can be no doubt Capt. Russell, from motives of his own,
probably a desire to save salvage money, cast off the tow-
ropes when off the mouth of Kinsale Harbour, attempted
to enter, and iu doing so came to grief, with all on board.
The boat and men belonging to the City of Manchester had
a narrow escape. When coming alongside
.the steamer from
the barque the boat was swamped, but the men wore saved.
The Stonewall Jackson was 468 ions register, was built
at Liverpool on the composite principle, and had a crew of
22 men.

FEMALE OVERSEERS IN ENGLAND.—At the Barn-
staple Petty Sessions, held on Wednesday week, two ladies
were electsd overseers ; Mrs. Slocombe for the parish of
Bittadon, awl Div, Crang for the parish of Bratton
Fleming.