The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-07 00:00:00

Tl' E SUN, LOINIJON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 7, 1867

would probably view with impatience the direction
a the national strength and influence to another
hemisphere. The Mexican expedition has never
been popular in France, and indeed both France and
America are beginning to discover that interference
in Mexican affairs is a very thankless office, and
that Mexico itself, despite its natural wealth, is a
very troublesome possession.
A change, we are "told, is expected in the Mexican
poliay of the Federal Government, but in what di-
rection that change is to tend no intimation is given.
From Mexico itself we learn that ORTEGA is ad-
vancing against JUAREZ ; and it is further reported
that the French have seized the Custom-house at
Vera Cruz with a quarter of a million dollars of
Imperial treasure. 1,000 French troops have, it is
said, left for France.
Of American domestic news we have very little
by the mail. The Freedmen's Bureau, we are told,
is working satisfactorily in Alabama, which is cer-
tainly remarkable. To counterbalance this we
learn there is great demoralisation among the ne-
groes of Virginia and Carolina. The PRESIDENT,
according to the New York Herald, has decided to
adhere firmly to his reconstruction policy. Renter's
Telegrams bring intelligence dated Jan. sth, to the
effect that the Radical agitation for the impeach-
went of President JOHNSTON is being renewed. Pro-
bably the extreme members of the party are incensed
at his resolute attitude, and many, as we know, are
eager for the substitution of a temporary PRESIDENT
of their own. If they should succeed, which we
trust is not likely, in removing Mr. JOIINSON from
his position, the result would be the hastening on of
a violent crisis in American affairs. 13uTLE1t is
anxious for a sojourn at the White House, and
would be supported by the unscrupulous members
of the party. GRANT would probably be put for-
ward by a large section of the community as the
most moderate and reliable man ; while there would,
no doubt, be a strong agitation in favour of other
candidates. We trust, however, that the American
public at large which has had reason to rely upon
Mr. JOIINSON'S Statesmanship and Constitution-
alism, will take care that such a disastrous inaugu-
ration of the new Congress may be avoided, and
that the Ides of March may pass safely over without
reopening the gates of civil war and national con-
usion.

A wet day is not usually a very welcome sight in
London, but we apprehend that, with the exception
of the skaters, there will be general rejoicing to-
day at the change in the weather. We all of us
had quite enough of JACK FROST'S company, and
when we got to three degrees above zero in Hyde-
park there was no great reason to wonder at the
prevailing distress and discomfort. The process of
thaw itself is not a very agreeable one, what with
the bursting of water-pipes within doors, and the
melting of snow by the ton without. Nevertheless
there were not many (skaters, as we have said, ex-
cepted) who wished for a continuance of thg,
intense cold of the past week. The wel-
come alteration in the temperature took place on
Saturday afternoon ; and, though the frost re-
asserted its sway for a time, since then there has
been a progressive change. The violence of the
wind was not a little remarkable, a complete hur-
ricane blowing in the course of Saturday night over
the metropolis, while on the south coast a gale blew
from the south-east during Saturday, which did a
good deal of damage. At Portland the sea was one
of the most violent which has been experienced
since the formation of the breakwater twelve
years ago ; but although a good deal of the
connecting staging between the river and the
outer breakwater was carried away, the efficacy
of the work was proved by the safety with which
the vessels in the harbour rode out the gale. At
Weymouth the light at the mouth of the harbour
was washed away, and at Portsmouth some mis-
chief was done, while at Falmouth the gale is said

to have been one of the heaviest on record, beginning
on Friday night and lasting 22 hours. All over the
country, indeed, the weather has been more or less
exceptional, and we may bo thankful to subside into
ordinary London rain and mud. The state of the
streets, however, reminds us that if the atmosphere
is no longer unusual, the thoroughfares of the
metropolis are certainly in a condition below
par, and since our local authorities usually
require a considerable time for their deliberations
we should advise them during the mild weather to
set about considering what they will do in the next
heavy fall of snow. If Jack Frost had favoured
us with his company for five or six weeks, as he did
in 1855 and 1860, would the streets have been
left impassable during that time? And if so, what
would have been the effect on trade and business
generally? Here is a problem for vestries to solve,
I and they had better begin to study it at once.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Friday Evening,

There was another Cabinet Council yesterday at
the Tuileries, over which, as usual, the Emperor
presided.
The Monileur has received a telegram from Con-
stantinople, dated Jan. 2, which states that the
Porte had that morning received news of the sub-
mission of Cellius and Kissamos, the two fortified
points occupied by the insurgents in the western
part of Crete. Completely beaten in an encounter
in which they had 200 men killed, the insurgents
fled in disorder towards the sea, and were enabled
to leave the island in vessels which they had been
able to procure for the purpose.

The Senate of the kingdom has been prorogued
without any day being fixed for the resumption of
its labours.

According to a private despatch from Athens, the,
political programme of the new Ministry was one of
moderation, the Ministry being of opinion that
Greece requires tranquillity to develope her re-
sources. The Ministry has no connection with the
insurrection in the island of Crete. " Greece," says
this despatch, "in spite of her sympathy for the
Candiotes, will respect the laws of neutrality in re-
gard to Turkey."
The despatches received by the Minister of War
by the last mail from Mexico are uninteresting as
far as military operations are concerned. Indeed,
the only announcement they contain of importance
is that a telegram, dated Dec. 1, mentions the re-
turn of the Emperor Maximilian to his capital. At
the departure of the last despatch the bells of the
churches were ringing in celebration of the event.
Some of the insutrectionary bands continued to give
occasional trouble to the troops, but their efforts
are so powerless that they are treated with indif-
ference.

The Siecle says:—"Everyone must have re-
marked the pacific character of the reply of the
Emperor to the felicitations of the Diplomatic Body.
At Berlin the Prince loyal, in reply to the deputa-
tion who brought to King William I. a present
offered to him by the army, finished his speech with
these words God grant us many more long
years of pacific Government.' May these wishes
be realised (adds the Siecle). May the Universal
Exhibition also have the good results which are ex
petted from it ! The speech of the Emperor to the
Archbishop of Paris is the analysis of a whole poli-
tical system. The Archbishop is complimented upon
the fact that his Mandements and his Pastoral
Letters are embued with a spirit of patriotism, faith,
charity, and conciliation. May the other bishops
understand that the eulogiums bestowed upon Mon-
seigneur Darboy should be considered by them as a
sort of lesson, and that they afford an unequivocal

condemnation of an those writings by which the
clerical party sometimes attempt to excite the pas-
sions, to spread fanaticism, and to engender chime-
rical alarms."

The Siecle proceeds to remark upon other state-
ments and indications in various foreign news-
papers, and draws the inference that " pacific ideas
seems to predominate everywhere," and that there is
no foundation for the report that Russia was likely
to interfere in the Eastern complications.
A terrible and exciting case of revolt, murder,
and incendiarism is now being tried before the
Court of Assize for the Department of Var. I gave
you an outline of the circumstances at the time they
occurred. The accused are 16 in number. They
are mere boy; the 6k :A being only 19 ears of ag
and the ages of the others ranging from 13 to 18.
They were inmates of the penitentiary for young
criminals, founded in 1860, in the island of Ilyeres,
in the Mediterranean. These young criminals now
on trial arrived at the Penitentiary, from Corsica,
in the month of September, and they had been
there only a few days when they induced the other
prisoners to revolt. Their complaint was in regard
to provisions and dissatisfaction with some of the
prison regulations, but particularly at not being
allowed to smoke. The result was they orgakised
a plot to release all the other prisoners, and to get
free themselves. They rushed to the establishment
where the provisions were kept and set fire to it.
A young prisoner, named Garibaldi, who attempted
to resist them, was stabbed in two or three parts of
the body and thrown into the flames. Fourteen
other children were burnt to death. The prisoners
committed great havoc on the provisions. M. Du-
condray, the manager of the Semaphore, who en-
deavoured to stop the work of destruction, was
thrown into a [ditch, where be was found in a
pitiable condition with a broken leg, and with other
injuries. Any prisoner who refused to join the re-
volters was treated with similar barbarity. In con-
sequense of there not being considered sufficient
legal proof to convict the prisoners of the murders,
the charge against them is, " Rebellion, destruction,
and pillage." Some of the accused offered to make
a confession. Some deaths took place a few days
after the terrible revolt, so that the number of per-
sons murdered amounts to no less than fifteen
in all.

it has snowed several times during the day. It has
There was a great deal more snow last night, and
been dull and foggy and intensely cold, the ther-
mometer generally being below freezing point.
There is every indication of great abundance of
snow. According to the accounts from the North
of Iceland there is a great deal of what is called
Greenland ice in that territory. It was detached
from the coast during the summer, but not to a
greatd istance, and it is supposed that the arm of
the sea which separates Greenland from Iceland was
completely crowded by the ice from the north of
that island. According to a letter from a naval
officer, which appears in a Copenhagen paper, the
ice in its progress towards the south, will soon:come
in contact with the great current of the Gulf of
Mexico, and it will then be melted, and will cause
great perturbations in the atmosphere. The con-
sequence, in all probability, will be that all the
countries of Europe situated to the north of 51 and
52 degrees of latitude will experience wet and vari-
able weather during the summers of 1867 and 1866.
The year 1866 (says one of the Paris papers) was
remarkable for numerous calamities. We had the
seven plagues of Egypt, and other plagues which
were unknown to the ancients—the cholera, the
cattle plague, inundations, invasion of locusts, bad
harvests, war, and earthquakes. These wore the
items of one side of the account. As to the other,
the only clear benefit was the enfranchisement of
Venice. As to the battle of Sadowa, we don't learn
on which side of the aecouns to place it. We must
not forget that three new planets were discovered in
1866, but then they are such small ones. Let us
hope that the year 1867 will be more happy in every
respect. There will be one rather rare peculiarity
which pleases the superstitious. This year only two
Fridays fall ou the 13th, the 13th November and
the 13th December. Only two days reckoned by
some as positively unlucky.

Sunday Evening.
The Gazette (1 Italie announces that the negotia-
tions with Rome continue favourable, and that
already several points of difficulty in regard to eccle-
siastical matters have been overcome.
The Moniteur states that the King of Prussia will
shortly arrive at Kiel, as his Majesty is desirous to
decide himself respecting the best point of the bay
on which to construct the naval port.
The vessel Jean Bart, which serves as a school of
instruction for young sailors, arrived in the roads of
Rio Janeiro on Dec. 22. The sanitary state of the
vessel was satisfactory at that date, and the cases of
fever which had manifested themselves during the
passage of the vessel from the western coast of
Africa to Brazil had completely disappeared. Seven
of the youths who had been attacked with fever
were lauded at Rio in full convalescence. The
Jean Bart was to put to sea on the 10th, for the
purpose of executing some manoeuvres, and would
shortly afterwards proceed to Bahia.
The Siecle says:—" The German papers announce
that the Eastern question is beginning to assume a
formidable aspect. We do not know upon what
information the uewsmongers beyond the Rhino
found their opinion, but, according to documents in
our possession, France is on terms of cordial under-
standing with the Powers who signed the Treaty of
Paris, and the Ottoman Porte will consent to con-
cessions in favour of the Christian populations. It
will, therefore, be in an amicable manner that the
difficulties presented by the Eastern question will be
arranged."

wreiltihgi
On Friday commenced the nine days' fete of
Sainte Genevieve, the patroness of Paris. This
grouseact pomp at
which is every year celebrated
at the church of St. Etienne-du-
Mont, as well as at the Pantheon, has attracted a
toAaf
nstiahni ex;
ieoefenrmmte
the patroness
taken
pot
wi
tlaohthnraeti
owcoh3nhfeade the
remainedo
stone eft
s3sAjnbet
coffin
Abbey
a et
firfcarefuChurchlly
emaf osuropliilhtslyy:,
considerable number of the faithful, not only in
Paris, but from the neighbouring villages and towns.
found.ettehpeellnia remainsc
seoTevftee whveteehdrot
waswh e which
twhme r
n
preserved in one of the chapels of St. Etienne-du-
Mont, have always been held in great veneration,
as well as the chasse of the Saint, which is now at
the Pantheon. In the reign of Louis the
Sixth, towards the year 1131, a malady
which was called the sacred fire (feu sacre) deci-
mated the population of Paris. The inhabitants
requested that this chasse should be taken with great
solemnity to Notre Dame by way of propitiation.
When the epidemic disappeared, it was carried back
to Sainte Genevieve, and placed behind the altar.
As has been the
case for many years, temporary
shops for the sale of articles of piety and Churchornament and worship have been erected at the
doors of the two churches which contain the chasse
and the tomb of the patroness of Paris.
Several violent shocks of earthquake were felt at
Spa on the 3d of January at mid-day. They lasted
nei hood of Stavelot.
several seconds. The same phenomenon was re-
marked in the
In Algeria there has been a terrific earthquake,
of which the following particulars have been ob-
tained :—Ou the morning of the 2d of January
ghbour
several shocks of earthquake took place in the pro-
vince of Algeria, at a quarter past seven and at nine
in the morning. The shock at a quarter past seven
was the most violent. It caused considerable loss and
destruction at Blidah and in the villages to the
west of Chiffa. A great number of houses were
thrown down and rendered uninhabitable. The
soldiers left their barracks and encamped under a
tent. Only one man, however, received any in-
jury. The villages of La Chiffa, Mouzaiaville, Ben-
Roumi, El-Affroun, El-Amour, and El-Ain have
been almost entirely destroyed. At Mouzaiaville
37 persons were killed and
100 injured. At
Ben-Roumi the number killed was four and many
were injured. At El-Affroum 12 were killed and
sixty more or- less injured. Arrangements were
rapidly made to render assistance, and the troops
were sent with all haste with provisions and tents
to shelter the inhabitants. Shocks of earthquake
were also felt in all the towns of the Tell and the
province of Algiers, The earthquake was not at

all felt in the provinces of Oran and Constantine.
When the last accounts left Algeria great conster-
nation prevailed.
A widow ilady named Jeanne Salles, residing
with her daughter at the chateau of Montvaillant,
near Androye, in the department of the Gard, died
last week in her 105th year. She was in the full
possession of all her faculties up to the last moment.
A letter from Pesth states the general opinion
there to be that the task of the Hungarian Parlia-
ment becomes more and more difficult, and that the
hope of au arrangement decreases. M. Deak gave
this opinion to the bearers of an address which had
been just presented to him, invested with the signa-
tures of 5,000 citizens. Sixty Deputies and thirty
members of the House of Lords formed part of this
deputation. Such a manifestation (adds the letter)
affords abundant proof of the unalterable wish of
the Hungarians who claim their rights in all their
integrity, a determination in which even the most
moderate party participates.

Another woman has been murdered in Paris. 'The
victim is a lady of property, named Sophie Vernant,
who resided in Cite des Rigoles, No. 5, Belleville.
The Commissary of Police, when informed of the
murder, went to the house and found that the de-
ceased had received several mortal wounds on the
head. The motive and circumstances of the
murder are still unknown. Although the lady was
rich it does not appear that any robbery has been
committed.

The cold last night was intense, and there was
more snow. About day-break, however, a rapid
thaw commenced, and it became comparatively
mild. Rain came down very heavily at mid-day,
and it has rained almost uninterruptedly up to post
hour. Paris is floating with natural macadamiza-
tion. The streets are almost knee-deep in a mixture
of melted ice, snow, and mud. In this plight, to
which may be added the existence of fog, Paris
to-day has presented anything but an aspect
of joy. Indeed a sudden check has been given
to all out-door gaiety. One of the papers states
that at daybreak on Wednesday morning there
were two loud and violent claps of thunder, and
that there was a heavy fall of snow at the time.
1 for one did not hear them, but I might have been
asleep.

One of the most eminent jurisconsults of France,
M. Frederic Mourlou, has just died. The name of
his works is legion.
The celebrated Swiss prophet, Jean Tobia, is
dangerously ill. Should he. live till the 16th of next
February he will have reached his 105th year.
During the year 1866 the number of letters dis-
tributed in il'aris by the Post-office was 1,028,437.
Your readers will regret to learn that Rossini is
rather seriously indisposed.
The shopkeepers of Paris, who provided such an
abundance of gaudy and tasteful articles of the season,
have no reason to be dissatisfied with the result of
their exertions. It is evident, from the appearance
of some of the shops, that the goods sold well, for
some of them which were completely filled are now
comparatively empty. As to the dainty eatables,
the official records of the markets prove that the
amount sold considerably exceeded that of last year
at the same time.• The English have done their
part effectively, for I noticed yesterday, on passing
the shop of M. Deboos—the English btitther in the
Faubourg St. Honore—the upper portion of which
now forms a part of the Boulevard Haussman, that
his splendid stock of Christmas meat had been con-
siderably thinned, like the stocks of articles of taste,
luxury, and industry at the other shops. The
French butchers cut their meat differently from the
English, but this great purveyor accommodates him-
self to the English taste, which is one reason why
they patronise him so extensively.

7HE DEATH OF SIXTY-SIX, WITH LAST
DYING SPEECH AVEI CONFESSION.

—e---
One of the happiest political squibs we have
anywhere met with for a long time past we tran-
scribe below from the columns of the Morning
Herald of to-day
The slushy earth, struck by a sudden frost,
Hardened, and silently the foot's impression
Sank in a new-fallen snow, and then was lost,
A flake on flake fell fast in quick succession,
The West wind veered to North, and, sadly sighing,
Huddled the snow in drifts, and, onward flying,
Whispered around, " The old, old year is dying ;"
And folk looked up and smiled, as if replying,
"A good job too ;" and still the wind went crying
To where the holy man in vain was trying,
By terror, admonition, intercession,
To move the sad old sinner to confession.

But when he spake no word, with wrath aflame,
He called on the accusers. And they came
And swarmed around—not ones and twos, but dozens ;
Each glad reviler, to enjoy the game,
Brought his own angry sisters, wives, and cousins,
And such a chorus swelled, and such confusion
Rose round the white head of the dying giant,
That had he not been ruthlessly defiant,
He surely to the parson had been pliant,
And owned his sins, and got his absolution.
But ho, regardless quite, spake not a sentence,
Nor showed.the slightest symptom of repentance,
Whilst all around, in stormy gusts, was whirled
The babble of the grumblers of the world.
" Who killed our fruits with early frosts that caught'om ?
"Who drenched our moors and stubbles all the autumn ?
Who turned our barley into farm-yard litter
• " And made our Bass and Allsopp raise their bitter ?
" Who made our streets a mud-sea, in which wretches
" Condemned to walk where filthy London stretches
" Could find for crossing not a single isthmus ?
"Who forced Gigantic Gooseberries at Christmas ?
"Who raised the prices of all kinds of victuals?
" Who knocked down Kings and Emperors like skittles ?
" Quite indiscriminately bowled good and bad over,
" And throned brute force upon the field of Sadova ?
" Who fired his holocaust in earth's black bed
And filled the ghastly catacombs with dead ?
"Who strewed the seas with wrecks and floating spars ?
" Who dragged us from our beds with shooting stars ?
"Who taught vile Bears, death-dealing lies to vent ?
" Who kept the Bank two months at 10 per cont. ?
" Who broke great firms and solvent banks like sherds ?
" Left but a remnant of our flocks and herds'?
"(Worst slanghterman that ever raised a cleaver!)
" Who brought the cholera and yellow fever?
" Who burnt the two giraffes ? Who killed the porpoise
"Suspended twice the writ of Habeas Corpus?
" Hatched pale rebellion in the Queen's dominions,
" And frighted Erin with the skulking Fenians ?
" Who laughed at vile venality in voters
" And glorious greediness in Yarmouth bloaters ?
" Who set one class against another railing ?
" Who quite demolished all the Hyde-park paling ?
" Who set John Bright to fall on Robert Lowe?
" Who 'gainst the bishops egged on S.G.O.' ?
"Who sot all Churchmen squabbling about capers,
"And all* and chasubles, and copes, and tapers?
"The form of waistcoats ? and the cut of bands ?
"Who wattle wreckers on to Goodwin Sands ?
" Who, as a parting gift, in wanton malice
,kDestroyed the Winter Garden of our Palace ?
" And just to spite the generous friends that bro't 'em us
" Fried the poor Chimpanzee and Hippopotamus ?
" Who
But the giant stirred ! His hour was near.
The pleased Confessor bent him down to hear—
He would not die without a single word—
Confession came at last—his prayers wore heard !
I Hush !

The slow words bespeak the inward tussle—
" But then—you know—l did—turn out—JOHN RUSSELL."

A faint smile played around his lips. His foes
Stood speechless. Then a mystic band arose,
Weird, black robed, horse-hair wigged, each one a kuigh
And hailed him as their maker, aud, from sight,
Bore him away, the while the startled heaven
Clanged to the birth of 1867.
Jan. 1,1867.