The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-24 00:00:00

FRANCE.

Count Paul Schouvaloff, aide-de-camp 'of the
Emperor Alexander, has just arrived in Paris on his
way to the Emperor Napoleon's head-quarters as
Russian Military Commissioner. The Count is the
bearer of an autograph letter of the Emperor of
Russia to Napoleon 111. He replaces Colonel Abbe-
dinsky, who joined the French camp at the com-
mencement of the campaign.

Baron Kubeck has arrived at Frankfort with
new Austrian propositions for the Diet ; but he is
not to present them until he has received communi-
cations from the Prussian Government as well as
his own. The approach of Prussia towards Austria
is obvious within the last week.
Baron de Pfordten, ex-Minister of Foreign
Affairs in Bavaria, and now representative of that
tho Germanic Confederation, made his
appearance suddenly at Munich on the lith, and
was received by the King. From Munich M.
de Pfordten afterwards went to Stuttgardt, to
confer with the Ministers of Wurtemburg, and
thence returned to Frankfort.

A decree in the Moniteur, , signed by the Emperor
at Brescia, nominates Count de Horny as President
of the Legislative Body, MM. Schneider and Reveil
Vice-presidents, and General Baron Vast-Vimeux
and M. Hebert questors for the ensuing session.
General of Brigade Wimpffen has been promoted
to the rank of General of Division, and Colonels
Anselme d'Alton and Douay to that of Generals of

Brigade.
PARIS BOURSE, June 23.—The market still con-
tinues dull, and slightly declining. Threes have
been done at 61f. 90c. and 61f. 75c. Mobilier
varied from 622 f. 50c. to 617 f. 50c. ; Austrian,
400 f. to 397 f. 50c. ; Orleans, 1,207 f. 50c. to 1,202 f.
50c. ; Lyons, 817 f. 50c. to 812 f. 50c.; Northern,
917 f. 50c. to 915 f. The following were the last
quotations :-
14 per Cents. .... 91 751 Credit Fonder 635 '—
Do. end month .. 92 I Belgian 41 —
3 per Cents 6l 80 Piedmontese (5) .. 80
Do. end month 6l 75 Roman BO 50
Bank Shares 2760 Austrian

Credit Mobilier .. 620
Do. Account ..... 620

Spanish Threes 42 25
Homo Debt 39 50

RAILWAYS.

Cash. Account.
Orleans
Northern 917 50 .. 917 50
New ditto 7BO 780
Lyons and Mediterranean Bl5 .. 816 25
Geneva 495
Southern
Western 515 .. 510
Eastern 6OO .. 597 50
Sardinian
Austrian
Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 121 c. ; money,
25f 7/c.; three months, paper, 25f..; money, 2if. 971 c.

AMERICA.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)

SOUTHAMPTON, FRIDAY MORNING

The screw steamer New York, Capt. von Santen,
with mails of the 11th, from New York, has arrived
off Cowes, and proceeded to Bremen. Her advices
are anticipated.

She brings 327,336 dols. for England, 73,000
dols. for France, and 26,800 dols. for Bremen.

A marriage is arranged, and will shortly take
place between Viscount Boyle and Lady Blanche Lascelles,
sister of the present Earl of Harewood.

ROYAL DRAMATIC COLLEGE.—The Prince Con-
sort has kindly consented to become the patron of the
Royal Dramatic College, of which her Majesty is patroness.

At Hamburg, notwithstanding the political ex-
citement prevalent there, as well as in other parts of Ger'
many, the rate of discount has fallen to 11 per cent.

Mr. Edward Branson, of the Hanwell College,
passed his examination for the Indian Military Service on
Tuesday last, at Addiscombe. We are glad to find that
the college, under the constant supervision of Dr. Emerton,
continues to contribute its share of accomplished officers to
the British army.— United Service Gazette.
THE YIELD OF GOLD IN VICTORIA.—The
total
quantity of gold brought down by escort up to the 15th of
April, 1859, was 523,000 ozs., against 629,918 oas. during
the same period in 1858. The quantity exported this yeB4:
has been 643,878 ozs. making the total quantity
since the discovery of the gold fields, 18,253,620 ozs., repre-
senting at £4 per oz. the enormous sum of £70,014,480•"-
South Australian Gazette.
FATAL ACCIDENT.—At Lambeth
;the Water-
p lice-court
yesterday Henry Sheppard, the driver of onaeuosed
the death
100 omnibuses, was charged with having
by running
of John" Radstead, a boy of ten years of cage,
over him From the'evidence the unfenodrttln:teeeeouccseuirirewnacse
appeared to be perfectly accidenti!l,
admitted to bail in his own recogiusances to appear at this
court on Saturday next.
Taco was on Thursday last
FATAL FALL FROM A CLIFF AT ILFRACOMEE.—
This pleasant little watering
ent. On that dad • •
the scene of a melancholy
_roc sin the ase..elves among the yka Pic-n
party were enjoying
ethe party, Mr. W. Blathwayt,
neighbourhood, when othneereot
Re,
Gloucestershire e st,soeneraoftaCloold.
an ensign in the 83d
hara-nark,
Blathwayt, of DYr tsome gulls' eggs. down th 6 cliff in search of . Unhappily he
lost his footing, and falling from an immense height he was
literally dashed to pieces. The unfortunate young man
was to have been married in about ten days' time. He was
in his 21st year.
The following is a literal translation of a scroll
which has been placed by the Archbishop of Paris on the
new weathercock, just placed upon the steeple :of Notre
Dame :—" In this box, tied with ribands of red silk, and
sealed with our seal, are placed relics of the true cross, of the
holy crown of thorn.: of our Lord Jesus Christ, of St. Denisi
the first Bishop of Paris, and a martyr, aid of the virgin St.
Genevieve, the patronsaint of this city. Paris, on the vigil
of Pentecost, after the solemn benediction of the cross which
is to bo placed en the summit of the steeple of our metropo-
litan Church, June 11, 1859. t FRANCIS NICHOLAS,CardinaI XoltloT, Archbishop of Paris."

L I

R E.

Life and Liberty in America. By Charles Alackay,
LL.D. 2 vols., illustrated. Smith and Elder.
It has long been the custom, when persons of any
note in this country visit the New World, for them,
on their return, to give us their impressions of life
and manners in the other hemisphere. They are
especially qualified for this task by the cordial
welcome and ready attention they generally receive
from our Transatlantic brethren. It has been some-
times objected that they have repaid the hospitality
they have received with ingratitude, by deprecia-
tory remarks and criticisms ; and many of them
have no doubt been restrained by this fear from
expressing their fair opinions. The volumes before
us occupy the happy medium between these two
extremes—neither refraining from fair and open
comment on the state and tendency of American
institutions, nor indulging in harsh and hyper-
critical comment on the manners and customs of
domestic life. A work of this kind was to be ex-
pected by the public, from the interesting papers
which Dr. Mackay occasionally sent over, under
the title of " Transatlantic Sketches," to the London
periodical to which he contributed. These sketches
have been incorporated with the rest of his notes,
and appear in the present volumes, which contain
a large amount of pleasant reading and varied in-
formation. They are calculated, too, to dispel some
of the prejudices against the Americans lingering
in the minds of some Englishmen. Dr. Mackay
asserts that it is a mistake to suppose that the
Americans really regard the English with the
contempt which in argument they often express
for " Britishers." Among themselves they. speak
differently, and he believes that it is their eager
desire to be thought well of by the " old land " that
makes them resent with such fiery indignation any
disparaging comments from this side of the Atlan-
tic. The commencement of Dr. Mackay's excursion
was not auspicious. The weather was 'stormy, the
voyage was longer than the average, and he was
ready, under a combination of the smalGniseries of
a sea voyage, to regret having started: -On arriving
at. New York, however, he soon changed his opi-
nion, and commenced his acquaintance with Ameri•
can "institutions," a word which they apply to
every thing remarkable, from pumpkin-pie to
the falls of Niagara. One of the first of these "in-
stitutions," which struck him was that of the fire-
men, who are conducted on a very different system
from our fire brigades.
The fire system, in nearly all the principal cities of the
Union, is a peculiarity of American life. Nothing like it
exists in any European community. As yet the city of
Boston appears to be the only one that has had the sense
and the courage to organise the fire brigades on a healthier
plan, and bring them under the direct guidance and con-
trol of the municipality. Everywhere else the firemen are
a power in the State, wielding considerable political in-
fluence, and uncontrolled by any authority but such as
they elect by their own free votes. They are formidable by
their numbers, dangerous by their organisation, and in
many cities, are principally composed of young men at the
most reckless and excitable age of life, who glory in fire as
soldiers do in a battle, and who are quite as ready to fight
with their fellow-creatures as with the fire which it is more
particularly their province to subdue. In New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other large cities, the fire
service is entirely voluntary, and is rendered for " the love
of the thing," or for .‘ the fun of the thing," whichever it
may be. The motto of one fire company, at New York, in-
scribed on their banner, is—
" Firemen with pleasure,
Soldiers at leisure ;"
a couplet which characterises the whole spirit of their
organisation. The fireman are mostly youths engaged dur-
ing the day in various handicrafts and mechanical trades,
with a.sprinkling of clerks and shopmen. In New York
each candidate for admission into the force must be balloted
for, like a member of the London clubs. If elected, he has
to serve for five years, during which he is exempt from jury
and militia duty. The firemen elect their own superinten •
dents and other officers, by ballot, as they were themselves
elected ; and are divided into engine companies, hook and
ladder companies, and hose companies. The engine and
accessories are provided by the municipality ; but the fire-
men are seldom contented with them in the useful but un-
adorned state in which they receive them, but lavish upon
them an amount of ornament, in the shape of painted panels,
silver plating, and other finery, more than sufficient to
prove their liberality, and the pride they take in their
)usiness.

-----
An admirable system of fire telegraphs is organised
in most of their large towns, conveying immediate '
intelligence to head-quarters of the locality of the
fire. Such precautions are extremely necessary in
America, where the accidents from fire are of
alarming frequency. The railway cars and the
street conveyances are also described at length,
though in both these respects the " go-a-head "
people seem to be far behind our more sober selves.
Hotel life in America is certainly an "institution"
peculiar to the country. Some of the greatest in
the great cities make up from five hundred
to a thousand beds, and the system on
which the meals are conducted is as follows :
For a fixed charge of two dollars and a halt a day aoout
ten and sixpence English) the traveller has a comfortable
bed-room, the use of a drawing-room, dining-room, reading-
room, and smoking-room, and the full enjoyment of a
liberal tariff, or bill of fare, for breakfast, luncheon, dinner,
tea, and supper. The two dollars and a half include all
charges for servants, and every charge whatever that can
be fairly included under the head of board and lodging, ex-
cept wine, beer,land spirits. There is no charge for wax-
lights—that flaring pretext for extortion in England. The
cookery is in general excellent. The breakfast is bounteous,
and at the leading hotels is spread from eight o'clock to
twelve, between which hours fish, flesh, and fowl, fresh
meat and salt meat, eggs, omelettes, wheaten bread, rye
bread, corn bread, corn cakes, rice cakes, and buckwheat
cakes (the last-mentioned a greater delicacy than England
can show), are liberally distributed. From twelve o'clock till
two the luncheon is spread with equal profusion ; and from
two to six there is a succession of dinners, the getting up of
which, at the St. Nicholas, the Metropolitan., or the New
York, would do credit to the Reform Club and its excellent
chef de cuisine. As soon as dinner is over, tea commences,
and as soon as tea is cleared away the cloths are laid for
supper, so that from eight in the morning till midnight
there is one continual succession of feasts, at which Go-
vernors of States, members of Congress, Judges, Generals,
ex-Presidents of the Republic, the magnates of commerce
and the law, and all the miscellaneous and less distin-
guished public, male and female, sit down. Whether the
traveller do or do not partake, it is the same to the landlord.
Ho may eat once, twice, thrice, or all day long, if he pleases.
The price is two dollars and a half, even should he be a
popular celebrity—have many friends—and take all his
meals abroad. If ladies and families prefer to have apart-
ments of their own, the price for lodging varies from three
to five or ten dollars a day, according to the extent or ele-
gance of accommodation required. In like manner, the
board of each individual, supplied in a private apartment,
is raised from two and a half to four dollars per diem. The
consequence is that very few people board in their private
rooms, and that nearly all breakfast, dine, and sup in pub-
lic, except the very young children, for whose convenience
there is a separate table d' hote.
These hotels are admirable establishments for tra-
vellers, but they are often used for another purpose
for which they are not so suitable. Many families,
from the extreme difficulty of procuring good ser-
vants, take up their permanent abode in one of
them, thus forfeiting all the comforts of domestic
life, and bringing up their children in an atmo-
sphere of publicity very disadvantageous to them.
It is no uncommon thing for young married people
to settle in one of these great hotels for years—a
system which has its obvious drawbacks and disad-
vantages. It was not long before Dr. Mackay
visited Niagara, of which he gives a full and very
passages
twenty onodeffreaeiwituthengfinpBl
fee eatp ,
oaf
interesting description. We extract a few
it,
from it.
Here, at all events, man and his works are impotent tool.
mar or diminish the magnificence of nature. No wheels
ae
this. It
lotrwfoaucltdorideasshcainntobeinssetat
would
utilise such
instant
tnr
ruin
motion
the
proudest u.ad cataract
ml
eprael!tceed,
since the
worormldanbeugfaacnt.oryHethwaht
whooimperral ever_
a flood must be as cautious as a homceopathist. To use
would
e dt hbaen t ano
court infinitesimalsn d
to m portionee
annihilation. of its exu exuberant
lute
ot.
urn
ot strengthaanlm although
osusugnoh-f
has ever sounded the
nbwroaotke broken n
magicianpours depth overo
af d upwardstnhoe plummetrocks o f
odorneaddempnreodfunladkitoy,
rocks with her keel until she was preci-
pitated,ewanutinf uo ,0
na
eh uknndorwe
sd, andefiv fetry e
never touched the
l
water, was carried over the Falls as lightly as a cork. She
steamer, even
w the Daetniroi
fathoms into a lower deep, scooped out by
below, and
stilltteaup will
the edoywann,ddbo
know,
wanmt many of the Falls in the very bowels of the
earth, to reappear, a.f.ew minutes afterwards, a chaotic and
unconnected mass of beams, spars, and floating timber.
When the first sensations of mingled awe and delight
have been somewhat dulled by familiarity with the mono-
tonous majesty, so suggestive of infinite power, and so like
an emblem of eternity—though impossible for man's art to
picture it under such a symbol—the eye takes pleasure in
looking into the minutia; of the flood. The deep slaty-
, green colour of the river, curdled by the impetus of the
Fall into masses of exquisite whiteness, is the first pecu-
liarity that excites attention. Then the shapes assumed by
• the rushing- waters—shapes continually varying as each
separate pulsation of the Rapids above produces a new em-
• bodement in the descending stream—charm the eye with
fresh wonder. Sometimes an avalanche of water, striking
on a partially hidden shelf or rock half-way down the pre-
, cipice, makes a globular and mound-like surge of spray ;
• and, immediately afterwards, a similar downflow, beat-
ing on the very same point, is thrown upwards, almost
to the level of the Upper Niagara, in one long, white,
and perpendicular column. Gently, yet majestically, it
I reaches the lower level by its own independent impetus,
I without being beholden to the gravity of the sympathetic
stream from which it has been so rudely dissevered. And
then the rainbows I No pen can do justice to their number
and their loveliness. No simile but the exquisite one of
Byron at the Italian waterfall—which, compared with
Niagara, is but a blade of grass to sonic oaken monarch of
the woods—can adequately render the idea of any spectator
who has a soul for natural beauty as he gazes on the un-
paralleled spectacle of such an Iris as it was my good for:-
tune to behold :
" Love watching madness with unalterable mien
I"
One of the most amusing chapters is that on Ame-
ricanisms of speech, in which Dr.Mackayords which
Mackay gives
us first an account of the English words
.
have lost their English mea.onainnigs,masn.zl, i
, s e cf.?
the
y,
first o f
what he terms " pure Amen
class are " exercise," which means to agitate, vex,
or trouble; "bright," which means clever; "clever,"
which means courteous ; " amiable," which means
stupid, &a. Of the latter class he gives an ex-
tended list, such as "to honef ug e, to flatter on
"take in ;" " to stump a state," to go on a tour oil
political agitation ; and many others, some of which
Are yery expreetliye, while others he,ye a otrog

tinge of vulgarity. To one of them the following
anecdote is appended :
A bunch of sprouts. An Englishman who had steamed
down the Mississippi with a captain who was not " clever"
in the American sense of the word, seeing on his arrival at
New Orleans a great assemblage of people at the les4e'
and hearing a disturbance, asked the captain what was the
matter.
" Oh, nothing particular," said the captain. "It is only
Jones, an editor, who has quarrelled with Smith, another
editor, and given him a whole bunch of sprouts."
" A bunch of sprouts 1' " inquired the Englishman.
" Yes, a bunch of sprouts," said the captain.
" And what is a bunch of sprouts ?' " inquired John
Bull, bewildered.
" Don't you know ?" rejoined the captain.
" I don't," said John Bull.
" Then more fool you," was the reply, on giving which
the captain turned upon his heel, and walked away.
The Englishman, not altogether discouraged, applied to
the clerk for information.
" Oh! editors are always quarrelling here," he replied.
" It is but one editor who has given another a bunch of
sprouts."
" But what is a ' bunch of sprouts ?' "
" Don't you know ?"
" Not I.
" 'Why, what a fool you must be 1"
The story is that the Englishman has asked the same
question since that day, no one knows how many years age,
of thousands of people, but never obtained an answer that
the idea has taken entire possession of his mind ; and that
he is wandering over the United States asking every ono
he meets, " What is a bunch of sprouts ?" Receiving no
satisfactory reply, he hurries on from place to place, and
from person to person, worn to a skeleton, the mere shadow
of a man—a kind of flying Dutchman—a spectre presence
—a wandering Jew—asking the old, eternal question, never
to be answered on this side of the grave, " What is a bunch
of sprouts ?" Should this unhappy citizen of our fortunate
Isles ever read these pages, the spell that is upon him will
be broken, and he will learn that a " bunch of sprouts" is
a slang expression for the whole discharge of a revolver--
barrel after barrel.
It would be impossible, in a work of this kind, to
avoid touching on the subject of slavery, and Dr.
Mackay has done so with moderation and judg-
ment. pHe looks upon it with the honest indigna-
tion'ot an Englishman, and an American's sense of
the difficulties of the question. On the subject of
politicil parties and the government •of the States
his remarks contain a good deal of truth. He was
a sufficiently shrewd observer to detect that, under
the high-sounding names of republicanism and free-
dom, party tyranny exercises a stronger influence
than under a constitutional government. The
system of paying the members of the Legislature
has very injurious effects, as many of theta
depend entirely upon their salary, and are open to
all outward influences of bribery and persuasion'
The frequent changes of the President maintain a
continual agitation and strife in the political world.
The rival parties, each with their candidate, keep
up and foster the angry passions of the community,
in order to obtain votes. In this way Dr. Mackay
accounts for the sudden disturbances about English
misconduct, slavery, and other chronic troubles of
the States, which occasionally astonish the
English public. Each party catches at some
popular cry, and many of the statesmen are
forced by the exigencies of the hour to countenance
those views and opinions which they are secretly_
averse to. It is impossible not to believe that all
this must have a deteriorating effect on public life.
On leaving the States Dr. Mackay visited Canada,
and his description of Canadian loyalty to Eng-
land is very gratifying. His descriptions of the
scenery all through his tour are graphic and well
written. Here is his account of shooting the rapids
on the St. Lawrence, one of the most difficult feats
of American navigation. The Indians of the neigh-
bourhood are always the pilots :
Our pilot started from shore in a canoe, and, on reaching
the Kingston, sprang nimbly upon deck—an indubitable
red man, but without paint and feathers—in the European
costume of his vocation. He had a keen black eye and a
quick hand, and seemed to be fully aware of the importance
of the task he had undertaken, and of the necessity that lay
upon him to have every faculty of mind and body on the
alert, to carry our vessel in safety down this frantic stair-
case of seventy feet in a run of about three miles, intersected
and encumbered by many rocks and with a current rushing,
in some places, at the rate of fifteen or- twenty ranee an
hour. Our trusty pilot was equal to his work. He was all
nerve—and nerves—and at one point more especially of our
mad career, when ,we seemed to be running right upon a
point of rock projecting about two feet above the surface of
the torrent, to be inevitably dashed to pieces—a sudden turn
of his wrist altered our course instantaneously, and sent us
down a long reach, amid showers of dashing spray, at reck-
less speed—like a railway train—full tilt upon another heap
of rocks that seemed absolutely to bar the passage, dela,'
of one second in altering our course would have been
certain perdition; but the mind of the red man, quick_
bo
Is
electricity, communicated its impulse to his hand, and o
hand, with the same rapidity, to the wheel ; and away yr
were again, before we could draw breath, safe in deep
waters—dancing along impetuously, but safely, into new
dangers, to be as splendidly and triumphantly surinountage
The trees upon either side seemed to pass out of our ti
of vision as instantaneously as the phantasmagoria PeeeV_lt
a magic lantern; and when we darted at last into th
_Dr_
water, and saw far behind us the snowy wreaths and featk
crests of the mountainous waves through which ouraastp,
had whizzed like an arrow, the propriety
.of the expre
the
snuotiog ale Rapid.," uecdca 710 justcation but this
although many canoes and boats have been lost in scene and its remembrance. It should be stated that,
Rapids, no accident has ever yet happened to a steam vessel
in navigating them.
DS
tra.tesMaanedkaiYn'sCarneacdepatwioans bothin
of "the good time coming" was a most congenial
visitor to the people of Progress. A banquet_vfa.
enthusiastic. t h e
TheU n
!eel:
given him on his departure, at Boston, at whi
most of the American literary celebrities were pre-
sent.plvell known O n this
po
ets occasion,
addr
e slks le ra.
someH m
gracefules , one of
linestheir
o
the departing friend and litterateur, whielqi_reokafs
duced in these volumes. Some of Dr. M
own impressions of America are g.
which is well worth the reader's attention.
sums up his opinions in the following terms-7 s
e.
verse
e
cially of critics, who are too apt to be over sensitive upon nthe.
In conclusion, and for the benefit of Ain-eirvice.nsnts,°iann: p.
e
Cosas Americanas, I need but say that time has strengthe d
_peopele.
every good impression which I formed both of the
and of the country, and weakened every unfavourable 011
that if I have spoken of slavery, and one or two other subve
jects in a manner at which some may take offence, I
ha
spoken conscientiously, and that I could not do my awn
heart the injustice to witness slavery, without raising EDY.
voice against it—not to blame the slaveholders, but to c_ono
dole with them on the burden of their inheritance, and
pray for the day when the evil thing may be eithene.natir!,ll
. l n
removed, or so diminished by natural, aided by le ative
causes, as to lead to the hope that one or two gene °is
..
s ant
the furthest may witness its extinction. No E
can travel in the United States without seeing en evetry.
the
ee
inadnodmiattabelaechenesrtegpy
of
ff
the
es
people; and
u ( or from
not judge too rashly from first applreretee,y
he feel in
random expressions), of the pride
,their
11
pevteor
of British literature,
England, and of the noble inheritance
their Anglo-Saxon descent, tithe
iphonofwil
which is theirs as well as ours.
mercy avert—that the
arrive—which may Heaven in its _ y
b the coalitions of
thS:ouldreitahtie°ndsahyi
" Old Country" ahould beti imperilled.
barbarism, Great Britain
great and overpowering militaryand an alliance with the
would have but to say the word,
despotism, or by the subjection ot Continental Europe to a
of the whole American people, ai.id bring to the green shores
United States, offensive and defensive, would stir the heart
of the " Mother Isles"—of which professor Holmes has
sung so sweetly—
a greater army of volunteers than Eng-
land and America have at the present moment ships enough
to convey across the ocean.
Thus he closes his pleasant and vivacious records
of a people who must always be especially interest-
ing to the English nation. He has discharged his
task with a degree of taste and ability, which leave*
on the mind of the reader a pleasant impreesios
of the lands and the people he visited, and of the
visitor who records his experiences.