The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-12 00:00:00

etc

I,ONDON, FEB. 12, 18G7.

During the course of an arduous political career
it may fairly be said that Mr. DISRAELI never had
a more difficult task to perforzn than that he under-
took last night, but yot NVO way affirm that he was
eminently successful in his venture. It was no
light thing to come down to a crowded House, and
to unfold a scheme for the settlement of the It?.fornt

question when so many Bail failed in the attempt.
Those who were so fortunate as to be in the House
last night were favoured by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer giving a detailed account of the many
lets and hindrances that had beset the way, and
impeded the progress of those who had trod thorny
paths before him. So far back as the year 1852
the Goyerment, of which Earl It usulai4 wag the

head, attempted to deal with the subject, and
failed, then followed the Coalition Government of
Lord ABERDEEN, which also Came short of success.
The Conservative Government of Earl DERBY, in
1859, shared the same adverse fate, and, in 1860,
the Ministry of Lord PALMERSTON had to give up
after daring the achievement of the task. In 1866
another Government failed in the same manner, and
the conclusion which her MAJESTY'S Ministers
draw from all this is that Reform should no longer
be made a party question, and should
not again be suffered to decide the fate
of Alinistries. In this opinion we fully concur, and
indeed it is one which we have long entertained, and
repeatedly urged upon public men of late. So long
as this important matter is made the stalking-horse
of prejudices and the bone of contention among
dissatisfied persons ; and, above all, so long as ita
decision rests upon the chances and changes of

party popularity on one side and Opposition

strength on the other, it will be idle and useless to
expect to come to a satisfactory solution. If there
be some who do not like this notion of settling the
matter, they may thank themselves for their having
come to this pass ; for, as Mr. DISRAELI emphati-
cally observed last night, " it was the vote of 1859,
proposed by Lord JOIIN RUSSELL, that made Re-
form a party question." This is strictly true, and
no man ever dealt a more deadly blow to a work of
great importance in the Legislature than the noble
lord did by his ill-advised proceedings at that
juncture.

Those who have been prone to cavil at the course
pursued by the Conservatives of late years in regard
to this important matter should really, in common
justice, give heed to the explanations tendered last
night by the leader of the party in the Commons.
He said that in 1852, when " daily rumours" got
about to the effect that Lord Jost RUSSELL was
about to relinquish the principle of Finality
to which he had pledged himself and the
Whigs in a very peculiar manner, the leading men
of the Conservatives consulted as to What course
they should pursue, and the result of their delibera-
tions was that they resolved, if " Lord JOHN chose
to give up the Bill of 1832 nothing should induce
them to take up as a principle opposition to Parlia-
mentary Reform ; the consequence has been that
the party has observed a consistent conduct on that
point—there never has been a bill brought forward
the second reading of which was ever opposed."
We think that it is a burning shame to the Liberal
party that they cannot say the same ; and, in fact,
that the most factious opposition which has dis-
graced the House of Commons in modern times came
from them. Besides vindicating his own party
from the charges brought against them, Mr.
DISRAELI also devoted a part of his discourse to the
defence of the late Lord PAL3IRRSTON. As he truly
remarked, en passant, " There is no man whose
opinions on Parliamentary Reform are spoken of
with more levity than Lord PALMERSTON'S." How-
ever, it is a mistaken idea to take' hold of that the
noble lord did not wish to see a measure of Parlia-
mentary Reform carried. When he was at the head
of a very powerful majority he inserted a para-
graph in the QUEEN'S Speech to the effect
that it should be taken into the consideration
of the House. When he shortly afterwards

had to relinquish office, he intimated to Lord
DERBY that some settlement should take place, and
also assured him that if he thought fit to bring for-
ward a well-considered measure, it would receive a
fair and c tndid consideration. " how, then," ap-
propriately inquired the right hon. gentleman,
" can you call Parliamentary Reform a party ques-
tion under these circumstances?" We all know the
sad sequel to that story—Low, when, the measure
referred to was brought in, the efforts of Lord
PALMERSTON to keep to the engagement he had
made, a private member below the gangway brought
forward a motion which upset the Government,
and threw out the bill then before the house.

What Mr. DISRAELI sought to prove, and we

think succeeded in proving, was, that upon the
House of Commons rested the responsibility of this
question having become a party question. The
Conservatives have not shrunk back from the dan-
gerous work, and, after the struggles they made in
1859, none can call them cowardly or recusant
if they now decline to throw down the gauntlet and
again renew the fierce skirmish, the thoughts of
which may have inspired the autumn orations of a
BRIGHT, or vindicated the Italian visions of a
RUSSELL. It follows, then, that a middle course must
be adopted, and assuredly, however comparatively
easy it may be to gain the desired object by Resolu-
tions, it is not a light task to convince the House
that it is so. We hope and trust that the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer may not find that his words
of last night were profitless ones, or that he failed in
making out the merits of his case. lie appealed to
the good sense of the House, and it should not fail
in that capacity. He also addressed himself to the
patriotism of his hearers, and Englishmen, of what-
ever rank or class of politics, should not be back-
ward in responding to that call. It was a power-

ful passage in which Mr. DISRAELI referred to the
manner in which it would be advisable to reconstruct
the House of Commons. Her MAJESTY'S Govern-

ment think that it should be done upon those prin-
ciples, and not upon those of any other country.
We entirely agree with the right hon. gentleman in
his earnest and eloquent defence of the time-hon-
oured principles upon which the Constitution of
this country is founded. If we now quit, without
due consideration, the ancient traditions of the
policy under which we live, we shall assuredly make
a very great mistake, and the sooner we
realise this truth the better. The Commons
of England, as the right honourable gentleman
showed last night, have assumed a charac-
ter " in reference to the other E.ttates which
was never contemplated in the days of the
Plantagenets and the Tudors." As for the House
of Lords, as this able critic of our social condition
observed, the power of the peerage is greater in
every part of England than in their own house.
The " taxing power" has caused a great deal of
the immense influence now possessed by the Lower
House ; and all classes seek to be represented there.
As for the saying that there is a wider influence of
the peerage in that House, Mr. DISRAELI speedily
disposes of it by stating that, on the contrary, the
" influence of the peerage in the House of Commons
is not a usurpation of our rights, but iu all
deference to our authority." Every interest seeks
to be represented in the House, and hence the
variety of its character. We consider that it is an
admirable definition which is here given of the
means whereby the House has been made important
and pronounced influential. The variety of char-
acter has given them dcliberative power—the
deliberative power has afforded their holding
the Executive, and it is the hold on the Executive
that affords the only security for the rights of
Englishmen. After the many violent and vehement
attacks which have been made upon the present
position of the house, it is a relief to find so• firm
a determination on the part of Government to
maintain its principles inviolate, and to hold fast to
the old plan which has stood so many trying tests,
and been proved by so many searching ordeals.
"Her MAJEsTv's Government can counsel and can
countenance no course that would change and alter

the of the House of Commons ; they will
respect ar
aw ack
'reverence the causes that have elevated
chek
the rude popular assembly of the days of the
Plantar anets into a Senate which commands the
admire Lion of the world. We no not believe that
thero exists any security for our retaining that
character unless we oppose a policy which
would give to any class power whether
they dare or low, or whether they are in-
fluenced 'a democratic feeling or an oligarchical
ing— 1;y,
hich would give to any class a preponde-
feei
raling pr)wer in this House." We feel convinced,
taleetl, that whatever it may be wise to do in the
way ,of change or alterations in the present systems
it is imperatively necessary that all should deter-
min e and resolve that what they will not do will be
to change or alter the fundamental principles upon
which the House of Commons rests.

We particularly commend to the notice of all
ti ►at passage of Mr. DISRAELI'S speech which refers
to foreign countries and their institutions. In
France there is a popular Assembly elected by
universal suffrage ; but who can say that it is equal
to the English House of Commons ? No French-
man would presume to do so. If we turn from the
Latin race to the House of Representatives that
flourishes on the other side of the great Atlantic,
what do we see there ? Another Assembly elected
by universal suffrage, and who can declare that the
House of Representatives, at Washington, equals
our House of Commons? There we have a nation,
as the right hon. gentleman puts it, of the same
blood, brains, and intelligence as ourselves, and
perhaps of greater enterprise. " But the House of
Representatives is elected by one class, they have no
variety of representation; and neither the Legislative
Assembly of France nor the Representative As-
sembly of America rules in the country in which
they exist as institutions. Again, we see Germany,
where it is now intended to have a Parliament
elected by universal suffrage, and already we find
that it is made a provision that the ministers of the
KING are not to sit in that house. If one class pre-
ponderates in these assemblies the effects of all they
do is naturally nullified, and we had better take
that lesson to heart in time. The distinguishing at-
tribute of the House of Commons is variety, and
that must be preserved, no matter what " violent,
thoughtless, or pernicious doctrines are now
preached." In concluding his eloquent speech,
Mr. DISRAELI declared that we are not to
run away with the notion that her MAJESTY'S
Ministers were angling for a policy ; they have cer-
tain distinct principles to guide them which they
wish the house to sanction. It is true that the
course proposed is not flattering to the members of
the Government, but this is not, he truly says, the
time to defer to the self-complacency of a Ministry
or to the pride of party. " I earnestly hope," ex-
claims the right hon. gentleman, " that the House
of Commons will rise to this occasion ;" and we
trust that his wish will be realised, despite
what has been said of the failures and defi-
ciencies of the house of late. We think that its
leader took a fair view of its position when
he said that those who take a large and noble view
of human affairs will " recognise that alone among
the countries of Europe England has now for almost
countless generations, by its Parliament, exhibited
the fair exemplar of a free Government, which she
has maintained by her House of Commons, and she
has cherished that free spirit which is the soul of the
commonwealth, without which empire has no glory,
and the wealth of nations is but the lees of corrup-
tion and decay." Mr. GLADSTONE'S remarks were
worthy of the occasion, and we willingly ac-
cept them as an augury of the future of
the measure now proposed in the House.
There are enough, and more than enough, of jea-
lous and bitterly prejudiced politicians, but we Link
better of Mr. GLADSTONE than to rank him among
them. If he support the proposition of Ministers
it may be the turning-point of their success ; and
we feel convinced that he will be no loser in the
appreciation of the public for the course he may
thus take in contradiction to the voice of party.
National interests demand that no jealous opposition
be given to the scheme of Lord DERBY'S Govern-
ment, and the people will soon learn who are their
true friends by scanning the ranks of the Ministerial
supporters.

Seldom, of late years, has any political measure
excited such eager anticipation and busy specula-
tion as the Government proposal respecting Par-
liamentary Reform which was last night brought
under the notice of the expectant House of Com-
mons. The Cabinet had kept their secret with
surprising success, and although every one was
ready with his suggestion or his rumour, no one was
able to indicate confidently the line of policy to be
pursued. During the recesss, indeed, we had perio-
dical canards, promulgated from various quarters,
to the effect that the Government intended
to leave the subject altogether alone, and
were opposed to any further interference with
the system of Parliamentary Representation.
Such rumours have all proved worthless, and the
paragraph which attracted most attention in the
Speech from the Throne was that in which the
QUEEN appealed to her faithful Commons to lay
aside for once all party spirit, and to discuss this
vexed question in a spirit of mutual forbearance.
As yet the Government have given no reason to the
House or the public to complain of delay. On the
very first night of the season the Chancellor of the
Exchequer fixed an early day for the exposition of
the Ministerial intentions, and already within a
week from the opening of Parliament the principles
of their Reform policy are clearly indicated, and a
day fixed at no distant date, though at a sufficient
interval, for their full discussion.

Every one is by this time aware of the manner in
which the Ministry
was rightstryproposeto proceed, and although
Mr. GLDsin
saying
that it was
somewhat unusual, it is none the less likely to com-
mend itself to the approval of the House or the
country. The question has been left in an unusual
position by successive Cabinets. Tho political ma-
chinery has come to a deadlock, and every party
has tried its hand in turn to get into working order,
again without success. Its intricate mechanism is
not the work of any living craftsman, and therefore
all repairs or alterations must be matters of theory
rather than of practice. Ono party advises a
wholesale change, little short indeed of taking
the work to pieces and putting it together afresh.
Another is so fearful of the result of such rashness
that they would make mere surface additions or
modifications of little real value or service. Surely,
then, the wisest and most practical course, since no
one can assume the undisputed authority, is to find
wisdom in the multitude of counsellors to dccidt

upon principles, and then to mould the details ac-
cording to the public wish and the experience
gathered from official statistics.
We have always contended that Reform should
not be treated as a party question, but dis-
cussed as a national question in that broad,
patriotic, and enlightened spirit which on
matters affecting the public welfare is
happily common to all Englishmen. IVe have
party spirit and tierce contentions going on con-
tinually in ordinary matters, but when once a real
danger threatens the country what do we see?
All ranks, all parties, all creeds, combine honestly ;

and heartily for the common good. Every English
Minister, whatever his unpopularity, knows he may
rely upon the support of his most inveterate oppo-
nents for any exceptional measure which he may
declare necessary for the public safety ; and so the
first rumour of a possible attack upon our shores
bands together peer and mechanic, employer and
employed, Tory and Radical, in spontaneous cor-
diality. Why should not this feeling animate our
own politicians and statesmen in dealing with so
important a question as a change in our Parlia-
mentary system ? Very certainly the interests
affected by it are not insignificant, nor its influ-
ence transitory. To the Reform Parliament of
1832, notwithstanding all its failings, England is
deeply indebted ; and the great national progress
in wealth, in prosperity, in all that makes the
happiness and welfare of the masses of the people,
date from that time. Are we, then, in ren owing
that enterprise, to renew with it the violence, the
intolerance, the mutual hatreds and jealousies which
so greatly impeded its passage, or to profit by the
more elevated tone and enlighb3ned tolerance of the
present day to discuss this great question in all its bear-
ings fully, honestly, and dispassionately, not with the
rancour of disappointed place-holders, the prejudice
of selfish oligarchs, the recklessness of speculative

agitators, but temperately, deliberately, and patrio-
tically, in a spirit worthy of men whose representa-
tive body is, with all its drawbacks, the purest, the
most independent, and the most national consti-
tuent assembly in the world ?
The method of proceeding by resolutions is not,

as Mr. DISRAELI last night observed, very flatter-
ing to the pride of the Ministry. No doubt it would
have been more gratifying to have brought forward
a clearly defined measure, to have been carried
triumphantly through the House, and to have

been able to boast that, notwithstanding Libera

professions, the Conservatives alone had been able
to deal with tha question of Reform. But in the
way of such a course there were great and insu-
perable difficulties—difficulties within and without
the Cabinet—difficulties in both Houses, and out-

side the walls of Parliament. By proposing certain
fundamental resolutions, and then proceeding to
consider the details in an impartial and conciliatory
spirit, the Ministers will be able, should the House
give them the support to which they are fairly
entitled, to frame a Reform Bill faithfully
representing the patriotism, the intelligence, and
the population of the country. Should they suc-
ceed in doing this they will have attained a higher
distinction than can attach to the wording of a
particular measure, or the carrying of a forlorn
hope through the division list.
By declaring their readiness to listen to sugges-
tions from without, to be guided by the learning, the
genius, and the experience of the House of Com-
mons, the Ministers show that they are not fettered
by any party trammels, or pledged to particular

technicalities, such as have often proved fatal to the
success of previous measures. They lay down, in-
deed, certain principles by which they desire to
abide, and these, as yet indicated, are reasonable
enough. The first resolution is to affirm that rating
is to be the basis of franchise, and this, after the
last division on Lord RUSSELL'S Bill, can hardly be

rejected by the House. The second point concerns
the distribution of seats, always one of the most
troublesome points of a Reform Bill. Mr. DISRAELI,
on this point, asks the sanction of the House to two
principles. First, that no borough should be

wholly disfranchised ; secondly, that the chief
consideration of a reapportionment of members
must be to supply representatives to places
unrepresented. These principles, again, are not
as yet likely to provoke much antagonism,
because if no borough is to be wholly disfranchised
on mere theoretical grounds much of the unpopu-
larityo Crneimng in t
do thequestion
of boundaries,
necessarily attending this part of the Reform
be
cluestieuwillid
DISRAELIe oi
reminded the House
that according to existing arrangements the county
population of eleven millions and a half was repre-
sented by IG2 members only, while the borough
population of nine millions and a half was repre-
sented by 334 members. If, as he should propose,
there was a considerable reduction of the county
franchise, portions of the borough population would
become county electors, and it Would, therefore, be
necessary to revise the boundaries of the Par-
liamentary boroughs, when, according to the
Government proposal there would be a diminution
in the amount of the existing county population of
some hundreds of thousands. " The great objec-
tion," said the Chancellor of the Exchequer, " that
has been brought against such a revision has been
that it would throw the county members entirely
into the hands of the landlords, their tenants, and
labourers." But, deducting the two millions who
come under these heads, there still remains, said
Mr. DISRAELI, a scattered or village population,
which does not live in towns, of even 1,500 popula-
tion-7,000,000. These 7,000,000 Mr. DISRAELI
declares to be the backbone of the country,
remarkable for independence, industry, and deep
religious convictions, whatever their outward

form, and he attributes much of the prevailing dis-
content to the disfranchisement of the 40s. free-
holders by the Bill of '32. It was the freeholders
of England, added the right hon. gentleman, who
carried that measure, and yet a large proportion of

them is utterly ignored by the House of Commons.
On this point of the representation we may add that
we hope in the new Reform Bill recourse will be
had to a very simple means of adjusting
inequalities. Why should the House of Com-
mons be rigidly restricted to 658 member 3?
Is there any special charm in the three
figures in that particular sequence, that although
our population has so enormously increased we aro
to have no increase of representatives? .Why not
raise the number to 700 at the least, and thereby
provide additional representatives for the intelli-
gence and industry of the country ? If 658 was
an adequate representation of the population of
1832, very certainly it cannot be an adequate re-
presentation of the population of 1867. The adop-
tion of such a plan will lighten some of the difficul-
ties attending the apportionment of members, and
we hope the house will have the good sense to make
the experiment.

"Whatever the changes or modifications ultimately
decided upon, we have little doubt that the public
verdict will be substantially in favour of the Go-
vernment proposal. All classes are weary of per-
petual discord on this theme ; and, in fact, all the
effervescence of party-spirit has long since evaporated
from a struggle in which all sides have mingled and
deserted from their ranks. The country at large
will be thankful for a settlement which is no less
loudly
c.kmanded by the accumulation of neglected
questiAis than on behalf of the unrepresented inil-
lions, who include so much of the intelligence, the
judgment, and the public spirit of the country.

-----
The American bibliographer, has published a
catalogue of six thousand and soventy-thrroe books and
pamphlets relating to the great civil war.
A new process for cleaning the fagades of public
buildings and dwelling-houses is 1101 V being experimented
on iu Paris. A steam-engine supplies pipes of gutta-percha
with a constant stream of vapour. Theso are applied to
the stone or brick surface of buildings, one man directing
the steam jet and the other using a brush. The building,
after the application of this system, looks as clean and new
as when erected. A couple of men in three days will thus
wash the facade of au hew.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.:

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARTS, Monday Evening.
The German papers state that the plan for the re-
organisation of the army drawn up by the Bavarian
Government, and which is to be proposed as an
example to the other States of Southern Germany,
lays down the principle of obligatory military ser-
vice by all Bavarian subjects. The number of young
men capable of bearing arms who have entered their
20th year is an average of from 24,000 to 25,000
men. Hitherto about 12,000 men were incorporated
with the army, and 4,000 were left without arms,
although inscribed upon the army lists. The army
will be now organised in such a manner as to pre-
sent in time of peace an effective force of at least
72,000 men out of a population of five millions.
The duration of active service will be five years,
three of which are to be in the service. Then there
will be a service of five years in the Legion or
Landwehr, or first class susceptible of being drafted
into the regular army at the first call, and then to
serve five years in the Landwehr of the second class.
The same as in Prussia, the young men inscribed on
the lists will only be forced to active service for a
year if they consent to serve at their own expense.
The Wurtemberg Moniteur announces that the
deliberations which have taken place at Stuttgardt,
under the presidency of Bavaria, between the repre-
sentatives of the States of Southern Germany, have
resulted in a perfect understanding between the
Governments of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden, and
Hesse Darmstadt respecting the subject of military
union and organisation.
The steamer Sentinelle, whose departure from
Toulon for the waters of Greece was announced a
few days ago, arrived on the 2d inst. at Corfu to
replace the aviso Promethee, which left on the 3d
to rejoin the squadron of Admiral Simon in the
Piraeus.
The Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, in
consequence of the intensity of the cattle plague in
Belgium, has issued a decree extending the previous
prohibitions against the entrance of animals into
France to the whole line of the French frontier from
Dunkerque to the Rhine near Lanterbourg. Similar
interdictions have been issued by the Belgian Go-
vernment.
The Imperial Commission of the Universal Exhi-
bition have just authorised another entrance, mak-
ing the third, to the site of the Exhibition. Persons
wishing to inspect the building have to pay a franc
at either o: these turnstiles. Four small but perfect
models of French ships of war are about to be sent
to the Exhibition. They are models of the war-
clad frigate la Flandre, the Imperial yacht l'Aigle,
the transport le Cher, and the steam aviso d'Estr6e.
The models will be armed, and will in every respect
be imitations of the vessels iu all their details.
A despatch has been received in Paris from
Mexico, which confirms the report of the arrest of
Ortega, the competitor of Juarez, for the Presidency.
He was made prisoner by the Governor of Zaca-
teras.

The municipality of Venice recently sent an invi-
tation to Garibaldi to N:sit that city. The General
has sent a letter in answer to the invitation, in
which he says he hopes " that the day is not far
distant when he shall be able to come to the glorious
Queen of the Adriatic." After referring to some
historical recollections connected with Venice, Gari-
baldi thus concludes his letter :—" The deliverance
of the mother has urged the daughter to break her
chains. Venice suffers sti'l, I know, but are not
those who suffer more compassionate for the suffer-
ings of others ? You will, lam sure, remember the
Poor families of Candia.—With gratitude, yours for
life, " G. GARIBALDI."
The exciting event in the musical world of Paris
is the production at the theatre Lyrique of Sardan-
apalus, an opera in three acts, by M. Victorin Jon-
cieres, words by M. Henry Becque. This young
composer is but 27. He was a pupil of Elwart,
and is the sou of M. Joncieres, a man distinguished
in literature. A self-sufficient and conceited critic
of the Moniteur, M. Xavier Aubryst, informs his
readers that the subject is taken from the poem of
Lord Byron, " the dandy litterateur." Upon the
whole, according to the other critics, this opera holds
out good promise that the young composer will at-
tain a distinguished rank in his profession. The
first two acts are pronounced to be superior to the
third. The music of the former is described to be
graceful and pure, bat it does not seem to be con-
sidered as remarkable for very striking beauty or
originality. There is a still younger candidate for
literary honours, M. Henri Houssaye, who is not
quite nineteen, having been born on the 24th of
February, 1848. His production is a history of
Apelles, the painter. Some may suppose that there
is nothing very romantic or exciting in the career of
an artist ; but this work, while preserving the
gravity due to history, has all the attraction and
highly coloured events of romance ; and Apelles,
for the first time perhaps, is delineated as the hero
of many interesting adventures "by flood and
field." M. Houssaye is the son of a distinguished
writer, author of the portraits of the 18th century,
and of other estimable productions.
An authentic list just published of the immense
sums of money expended by the Emperor for use-
ful and philanthropic purposes exhibits the
generosity of the head of the State in a very strong
light. lie causes the circulation of money for the
general good. The amount devoted by him last
year was no less than 3,794,000 f. Among the
items was a sum of 1,200,000 f. for "assistance to
individuals" large sums for co-operative associations
of workmen, for building houses for workmen, for
repairs of churches and sanitary measures. Besides
this, the Emperor pays for the expenses of the
Empress, the Prince Imperial, and officers of the
household, 9,300,000 f. ; for the encouragement of
arts and letters, Various publications and horse
racing, a sum of 600,000 f., and for "private gifts
and assistance," 1,200,000 f.

It is stated from Florence that the Commission
charged by the Ministry with the compilation of a
new penal code, have definitively urged the neces-
say of the abO.tion of the punishment of death.
One of the gentlemen connected with the Paris
Observatory states that an eclipse of the sun, the
most beautiful of the present century, will take
place on the 6th of March next. The moon will
cover nearly eight-tenths of the diameter of the
sun. At Paris the eclipse will begin at Bh. 23m. in
the morning, and finish at 11b. 3m. The instant
of the greatest obscurity will be 9b. 40m. The
quantity of light and solar heat which we shall re-
ceive at that time will be less than that which will
then be enjoyed by the inhabitants of the planet
Mars.

The French calla fib a lie, or something difficult of
belief, a canard a duck. Here is the most authentic
version of the origin of the word which I have seen.
A farmer of a rural district, St. John the Baptist,
was the happy possessor of 21 ducks. On a fine
morning one of them died. He cut it into small
pieces, and the remaining 19 ducks swallowed them
with great enjoyment. The farmer, wishing to see
how far the gluttonous taste of his ducks would carry
them, killed another,which was as speedily devoured
as the first. Ho continued the experiment until
only two ducks remained. He killed one of them,
cut it up, and gave the morsels to the last surviving
duck, which despatched them all in the course of
the day. Thus, between the morning and the
evening, this duck had eaten his nineteen com-
panions. Yes, it swallowed them all, more easily
perhaps than the reader will swallow the account of
the feat.

The tranquil weather has come to a sudden tenni-
, nation. Early this morning thestorm returned with
almost as much violence as ever, and the rain fell
more abundantly than agreeably. To-day has,
upon the whole, been fine, but there was little
abatement in the violence of the wind. The weather
predictions of M. Niel), to which I have alluded,
have, up to this time, been completely fulfilled.
Yesterday was the last day for the sale of game
in the Paris markets, and now not a head of game
is to be had for love or money. On Saturday, at
the Halle, there were hundreds of tons of hares, and
on Sunday not a dozen remained. A fine hare of
some nine or ten pounds weight could be bought
for six francs and a half.

About 2000 season tickets for the Exhibition have
been subscribed for. On Sunday week the receipts