The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, iVIONOAY EVENING,'SANUARY4,7IS, 1866.

Archaeological Association.

-s-

The members of this association resumed their
ordinary meetings, after the Christmas recess, on
Friday evening, in their rooms in Sackville-street.

Mr. Cuming, who was in the chair, exhibited
several interesting specimens, among which was the
end of an ancient British war dub, found in Moor-
fields, and with it was also shown an Esquimaux
war club, which closely resembled it. Mr. Owning
remarked on the similarity of the implements of
several savage nations of the present time with those
of the Britons, and on the light thus thrown on the
past by the rude arts of modern savage life.

The discussion of the subject• of forged antiqui-
ties formed a prominent part of the proceedings of
the evening. Thames Embankment has been a fruit-
ful source for the production of fictitious relics of all
kinds, which are alleged to have been found in dig-
ging in the bed of the river. Several coins were ex-
hibited, which had been sold as genuine Roman
coins of different emperors, which were proved to
have been forged. Among them was a- halfpenny
of George 11., which had been rendered much more
valuable by its conversion into a coin of one of the
Caesars. Mr. Roberts observed that many gentlemen
—even some members of the Archaeological Asso-
ciation—had been imposed on in that manner, and
he stated that he was recently requested to examine
what the owner considered a very choice collection
of antiquities, which at the first sight he detected
to be forgeries, including among them daggers of
very fanciful shapes, for which high prices had been
paid. Mr. Levien, of the British Museum, said that
forged documents were very often offered for sale to
the museum, purporting to be manuscripts and let-
ters of great antiquity ; but on some occasions the
forgeries were instantly detected by the paper mark
of Parkins and Gotto.

In continuation of the same subject, Mr. G. Hills
read a letter he had received from Mr. Burns re-
specting the alleged Greek and Roman coins which
had been discovered by the Rev. E. Kell, of South-
ampton, and which he exhibited at a previous meet-
ing of the association. From the finding of these
coins, connected with other circumstances, Mr. Kell
had assumed that the Romans and Greeks had made
the Isle of Wight the high road for the conveyance
of tin from the mines in Cornwall, and that they
carried it to the south side of the island and thence
shipped it to France. In the opinion of Mr. Burns the
coins are spurious, especially those presumed to be
Grecian ; one evidence against their genuineness be-
ing that they are only of copper, and not of either
silver or gold. Mr. Geo. Wright stated that when
the association held their congress .in the Isle of
Wight, Mr. Kell had confirmed his opinion respect-
ing the transit of tin through the island by pointing
out distinct traces of Roman roads across the island,
which roads were continued on the Hampshire coast
towards Cornwall.

At the last meeting of the association Mr. George
Wright exhibited the bone of an ox, shaped into an
implement, which had been found at Barnes, in earth
brought from St. Katharine's Docks, and it was
then stated that other similar bones had been found
in different parts of London, which it was proposed

produce on another occasion, and last evening

large collections of bone implements were exhibited
by Messrs. Cuming, Simpson, Cato, and Guns-
ton. Three of them had the appearance of handles,
and had been filed or rubbed, and in some instances
holes had been bored through them.. The uses to
which these implements had been applied could only
be conjectured. Mr. Curving was of opinion they
had been used in weaving or lace-making. Mr.
Roberts, and some other members, conceived the
holes had. been intended to pass strings through to
serve as handles to pull by ; but no satisfactory ex-
planation could be given of them, though it was
generally agreed that the implements were of great
age.

Mr. Rutley read a notice of two fresco paintings
of the Crucifixion in the Church of East Bedfont,
which he attributed to the 13th century. His reason
for assigning that date to the paintings was, that
there was a crown of thorns around the head of
Christ, which emblem, he said, was not introduced
in paintings of our Saviour before that period. Mr.
Levien, however, said that there is a German manu-
script of the 12th century in the British Museum,

in which the crown of thorns was introduced. 'The
paintings, however, are supposed to have been of a
late date. The meeting then adjourned.

Lcc me by Lord E. Cecil.

Lord E. Cecil, M.P., for South Essex, delivered an
interesting lecture on North America on Tuesday evening,
in tho lecture hall of 'the Chelmsford Mechanics' Institu-
tion ; Major Skinner, RA., presided. The audience was
a large one, and comprised Mr. J. A. Hardcastle, M.P., Mr
W. M. Tuffnell, and other local gentlemen of influence-
The lecturer, Lord E. Cecil, M.P., who was received with
cheers, said :—Tho United States and Canada were so well
known by report that he felt his task would be consider-
ably lightened. All that appertained to the United States
must be peculiarly interesting to Englishmen. Springing
from a common ancestry, and speaking the same language,
the people who inhabited the United States—however
much we might differ from them politically and socially
were, after all, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh ;
and their cities, their lakes, their mountains, their woods,
their forests, their vast prairies, and their mighty rivers,
were intimately connected with the history of our beloved
land. North America also continued to afford us a field
for our redundant population, who might there, if they had
health and energy to seek for it, acquire competence and
even wealth. A visit to America, involved, however, some
drawbacks, not only to the emigrant but to the pleasure-
seeker. One of the greatest of those drawbacks was the
ten days' voyage across the Atlantic. If one supposed
oneself on board one of the magnificent Cunard steamers
bound to New York one would find no lack of comfort ;
everything which could make the voyage agreeable would
appear to have been thought of, and there would seem at
first to be nothing to do but to eat, drink, and be merry.
But there was one thing—that was the abominable roll of
the ocean, which made one's heart leap into one's mouth,
and caused one to vow never to be so foolish as to put
one's foot on board a Cunard steamer again. (Laughter)
T wo or three days, however, brought a change. One
began to be able to peck a mouthful or two, and to wash
it down with a glass of champagne or brandy and water.
One also began to look about, to take an interest in the
working of the ship ; and as one got rid of sea sickness
one got rid of English reserve at the same time. The
passengers on board one of the Cunard steamers were a
perfect study. You found yourself with a Vice-President
of the United States on one side, and perhaps a detective
in pursuit of a Muller on the other, whilst opposite might
be a French Minister 'going out, and Mr. Barnum perhaps
next to him. (Laughter.) Some most amusing scenes
might also bo witnessed on board these steamers. He
(Lord E. Cecil) remembered a Yankee stump orator, who,
in spite of sea sickness, would insist on mounting the
paddle-box and haranguing the passengers on Mr. Seward's
election. Let it be supposed that New York was sighted
and the traveller found himself in ono of the monster
hotels—more like monster barracks than anything else,
discussing the various " fixings" which a charitable waiter
brought to him. Tho term " fixings" was of universal
application in America; it includes everything visible as
well as eatable ; and it was even said to be used in the
language of romance, for there was a story of a Yankee
who told his lady-love that her image was implanted on
his heart like a plum in a pudding fixing. (Great laughter.)
Having glanced at Broadway with its different classes of
wayfarers—one on one side and ono on the other—the
admirably managed Belle Vue Hospital, the Croton Water-
works, supplying an ample daily quantity of water to the
900,000 or 1,000,000 inhabitants of Now York, &c., the
noble lord said he would suppose the tourist went on
board the steamer which was waiting to take him to West
Point. West Point could be approached by boat or rail-
way, but the former was infinitely preferable, for as the
boat glided smoothly up the river you might almost fancy
that you were enjoying tho pure and bright atmosphere
and the lovely scenery of a Scotch lake, the river disclos-
ing at each successive bend some fresh beauty. At the
great military college of West Point all the best generals
—Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Sherman, and others, on both
sides, during the late war—were educated. In addition to
its other picturesque attractions, West Point was also in-
teresting to the English traveller from having been the
scene of one of the most terrible tragedies in the American
War of Independence —he referred to the well-known case
of Major Andre, aide-de-camp to Sir Henry Clinton, to-
wards the beginning of 1780. He (Lord E. Cecil) would
now suppose that the traveller took " the cars," and pro-
ceeded by that mode of conveyance to Philadelphia and
Baltimore. Philadelphia, the Quaker city, was chiefly re-
markable for its clean, tidy appearance and well laid-out
streets. The houses for tho most part were warmed by
steam boilers placed outside to guard against explosions.
This mode of heating houses was common enough
throughout the States, and appeared to him to bo prefer-
ableto heating by hot-water pipes or German stoves, which
warmed and stifled you at the same time. The public
buildings of Philadelphia comprised Independence-hall,
Gerrard-house and Mint, penitentiaries, and many other
asylums and institutions. Let the traveller again mount
the cars, and a four hours' journey along the banks of the

Delaware, through a pretty undulating country, would
convey him to Baltimore. As Philadelphia was remark-
able for the tidiness of its streets so Baltimore was remark-
able for the good looks arid comeliness of its ladies.
Before the late war Baltimore was a pleasant town to
dwell in, possessing a most hospitable disposition towards
strangers. Once more he would suppose-that the traveller
continued his journey on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway,
making no stoppage until he arrived at Cincinnati. As to
travelling in the cars, to imagine what it was like you
must fancy a long and wide omnibus, with a passage in
the middle, and furnished with rows of stuffed seats. You
must then fancy every second passenger chewing tobacco
for very life, and you must then picture to yourself a total
absence of ventilation, and a reeking odour of tobacco
juice, apples, oranges, and moist clothes; then you would
have some faint notion what travelling in the cars meant.
(Laughter.) On many of the American Railroads, how-
ever, if you were able to invest half a dollar for the pur-
pose, you could enter a sleeping car, where well-venti-
lated sleeping apartments were arranged in the same manner
as a ship's cabin. Before arriving at Cincinnati it was
necessary to cross the spur of the Alleghenies, while the
Ohio was crossed by means of a huge raft. Cincinnati
was a large dirty city, famous for its pork and a sparkling
wine, dear in price, pleasant to drink, and termed Catawba,
champagne. Pork was manufactured so rapidly at
Cincinnati as to remind one of the scene in the pantomime
where a policeman was put into.a box and came out again
all cut up again into sausages. (Laughter.) "Hog and
hominy " were to be had at Cincinnati in perfection ; and
he might remark that punctuality was not only the soul
of business, but the soul of eating also in the States.
(Laughter.) He had seen waiters told off to various
dishes ; at the word " one " each dish cover was firmly
grasped with the thumb and fore-finger, and at the word
" two " every cover was removed with military precision—
(laughter)—while such was the voracity and the velocity
with which the good things on the table were despatched,
that if you showed any shyness or reserve you stood no
chance of getting anything at all. (Laughter.) The
noble lord then conducted his audience—over abominable
roads, the very recollection of which, he said, made his
bones ache—to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, of which
he gave a detailed account. As this cave has been re-
peatedly described before it is perhaps scarcely necessary
to follow his lordship through this portion of his lecture ;
it may be noted, however, that he stated that in one part of
the cave some stone cottages had been recently erected
by an enterprising doctor for the reception of consumptive
patients ; this " summary mode of interring patients before
they died" failed, but the doctor, nevertheless, pocketed
his fees. (Laughter.) His lordship also called attention
to the part of the cave known as the chapel, whore, he
said, a couple had once been married, the traditfon being
that the bride had promised her mother not to marry her
lover anywhere on the face of the earth, and that she
did not consider that the pledge which she had given
prevented her from marrying him under the earth. (Much
laughter.) Having followed the windings of the cave
(which extended over more than 100 miles) for some time,
the noble lord said he would again take the cars to the
West, and turn to St. Louis, 1,200 miles from New York.
There was nothing peculiar to distinguish St. Louis from
other large American cities, except that it had been for
years looked upon as the extreme western point of
American civilisation. The houses were built of wood,
and to guard against fire there were at the street corners
large knobs communicating by means of electricity with
a central fire office. Some eighty miles from St. Louis
was a celebrated iron mountain ; the works were well
worthy of a visit ; the ore, before smelting, was among
the purest in the world. He would now mount the cars
again, and creep along through miles of desolate-looking
forest land to Chicago, which might be said to have been
built more for utility than for ornament. The streets,
however, were well laid out on the usual American plan—
broad, straight, and at right angles. Tho houses were the
plain, four-walled boxes which might be seen in any ordi-
nary Anglo-Saxon town. The position of Chicago, on
the borders of one of the great inland lakes, was admirably
adapted for trading purposes, and if we took into considera-
tion the fact that it had no existence 35 years ago, and that
it now comprises between 150,000 and 200,000 inhabitants,
it would be seen that its progress has been marvellous.
Rapid, however, as had been the rise of Chicago, it born
no comparison with what had taken place in the lately
discovered oil regions of Pennyslvania, where within a
very few months of the felling of the trees of the forest
cities of several thousand inhabitants had sprung up.
A long journey of twenty-four hours, through a flat and
uninteresting country, brought the traveller to Niagara
Falls station—that was to say, to Niagara Falls, the
mightiest cataract in the world. After alluding to the
geological formation of the district, noticing a theory that
in the course of 16,000 years the Falls would gradually re-
cede towards Lake Erie until they altogether ceased to
exist—a theory, however, which concerned the present gene-
ration very little— (laughter)—the noble lord observed that,
strange to say, the general impression of travellers on see-
ing Niagara for the first time was one of disappointment.
The eye was unable at first to take in the vast torrent of
water. A feeling of awe, however, succeeded, as greater
proximity impressed one's mind with the sublime spectacle.
The width of the whole cataract was 1,080 yards, the height
of the Horseshoe Fall was about 158 feet, and that of
the American, or smaller fall, was 164 feet. To.give au idea
of the fall of waters, it was sufficient to say that they wore
computed to amount to 20,000,000 cubic feet per minute.
To attempt to measure the volume of such a vast cataract
seemed, however, like. counting the sands upon the sea -
shore, such was the bewildering idea of Almighty power
and infinite wisdom conveyed to the mind of the spec-
tator. Au American who saw the Falls was stated to have
been able toatefidnsdecaendaopoinublly.einttgerndoorwelhvsneenrelfbrl
otohnt eh
—me
t(whlaoauurgldhthtleearast) o—sfuch a scene to be found. Two miles below
oaemnlsocethetoima
the Falls was a suspension bridge, constructed to
unite the America and Canadian sides of the
river, and here a good view both above and
below the Falls was to be obtained. If tho traveller next
made a bold plunge on Lake Ontario four hours would find
him at Toronto, the streets of which had a wood instead
of a stone pavement. While he (Lord E. Cecil) was in
Toronto the Canadian Houses of Legislature were sitting,
their removal to Otawa not having been then determined
on. The prevalence of tobacco chewing in the midst of a
debate certainly did not add to the dignity of the assem-
bly, and he sincerely hoped that whatever changes might
be in store in the future such a reform would never be
imported into the House of Commons. At the same time
the Canadian idea of decorum was superior to that which
prevailed in many of the American legislative assemblies,
the debates of which were frequently very amusing. For
instanqp, here- was a report of a speech by an Illinois M.P. :
"Mr. Speaker, I think sheep is property, and our laws
ought not to be so that dogs can commit ravages on sheep.
Up where I live sheep is of more account than dogs, and
although dogs are useful, sheep are usefuller. Show me
the man who says dogs are usefuller than sheep, and I'll
show you a know nothing. Mr. Speaker, I am through."
(Laughter). The noble lord said he would next halt at
Montreal, the largest town in Canada, the population being
principally French Canadians. Montreal was by no means
deficient in public buildings, although none of them were
remarkable for architectural beauty. Being the older
town, the streets of Montreal were not so well laid out as
those of Toronto, while they were exceedingly hot and
dusty in the summer. The great wonder of Montreal was the
Victoria-bridge, constructed by the Grand Trunk Railroad
Company, whose trains now traverse nearly ton miles of
water by this means. The bridge, with the exception of
the tubes, was all solid masonry, and, although the piers
looked light and fragile, they were calculated to resist a
pressure of 70,000 tons ; they were constructed with sharp
edges outwards, so as to cope with the great masses of ice
as they came down the St. Lawrence. Quebec was the
oldest town in Canada, having been founded in the reign
of Francis I. of Franco, by Jacques Cartier, a lineal de-
scendant of whom was Prime Minister of Canada. The
streets were irregular and dirty, and the architecture of
the town's buildings was by no means worthy of the
natural beauty of its position. Having referred to au
obelisk GO feet high, raised to the memory of the Marquis
de Montealm, the last French Governor-Generalof Canada,
and also to the Montmorenci Falls, which, he said, although
smaller than those of Niagara, had still a peculiar beauty
of their own, the noble lord observed the military strength
of Quebec was very great, but there were some engineers
who believed that its strength was overrated, and that in
any future siege the improvements in artillery would enable
an enemy to bombard it successfully from the other side of
the St. Lawrence. The weak point in its armour was
still, as in former days, the Plains of Abraham, to the
westward—that memorable battle-field which saw decided
the question whether the English or French race should
rule in America. A monument was erected on the Plains
of Abraham in 1832 to mark the spot where General Wolfe
fell in the action of September, 1759 ; and close at hand
was still to be seen the well which quenched his dying
thirst. No ono could look without emotion on this spot
so pregnant with memorable events. The story of Wolfe's
life taught us a lesson of no common patience and energy
exerted in the cause of his country ; and the loss of Wolfe
appeared to remind us of the loss which we had recently
sustained of the statesman who, in the fulness of his poli-
tical glory, had been taken from amongst us. Both Wolfe
and Palmerston toiled unceasingly to promote their
country's good ; both afforded bright examples of devotion
to the public service ; both in the truest sense of the word
had the honour of England for their uppermost thought ;
and so long as the world endured so long would their
names be connected with England's greatness and pro-
sperity. Ono word as to the climate and resources of
Canada. Tho climate was infinitely colder than that of
the United States, owing to the absence of the influence of
the gulf stream ; and for the six months of winter, com-
munication, except by sledge, was impossible. The true
remedy for this was a well-arranged system of railways ;
but from the poverty of the Canadian Government and
the comparative failure at present of the Grand Trunk
Railway of Canada, it was to bo feared that most sensitive
of all commodities, money, would be lacking for the pro-
secution of Canadian railways for some time. Canada
would, however, succeed to a magnificent inheritance
when the seaboards of the Atlantic and Pacific were linked
together by railway communication ; she would have then
the command of the markets on the east and the west, and

would be enabled to open up a new world in that vast
field, the Hudson's Bay territory. The material resources
of Canada were boundless ; but let no one think that
there, any more than in the States, he was going to pick
up gold for the trouble of asking for it. A man might
perhaps amass a good fortune after thrift and care and
a life of toil, but he must have a pair of stout arms, a good
constitution, and a little capital to commence with. Skilled
artisans were in demand, but schoolmasters and gover-
nesses were at a discount, and nothing was more sad than
to see such poor people constantly performing the feats of
subtraction and division in what little money they had
instead of multiplying it. The noble lord then returned
to the States, and proceeded to speak of Concord, where
the first levying of troops by Massachusetts against the
English Government took place, and where the practice of
tarring and feathering was first introduced. It was said
it was first put in force by an English colonel on an Ame-
rican militiaman. The Americans were, however, in the
habit of declaring that every bad custom came from Eng-
land, and every good one from themselves. (Laughter.) His
lordship next referred to Lowell and its industry, remark-
ing that the famous shoddy cloth, which put such large
fortunes into the pockets of army contractors during the
late war, was first manufactured here. Touching nett
upon Boston, his lordship referred to the monument
erected to commemorate the alleged American victory at
Bunker's Hill. The English, however, he said, remained
in possession of the battle-field, and, although it suited
American vanity to call the action an American victory,
no impartial historian had ever ventured to claim it as
such. Boston was a beautiful town, with a certain fresh-
ness about it very attractive to strangers. Referring in
complimentary terms to the hospitals in Boston, the noble
lord said American public establishments were distin-
guished by greater economy than English, and the Ame-
ricans were also remarkable for the ready and ingenious
manner in which they turned everything to account. This
power of adapting themselves to circumstances, and mak-
ing the most of what they had, was one of the great
secrets of their national success. Lawyers, doctors,
traders, and mechanics, who took part in the late war, re-
turned, when it was brought to a close, to commerce and
their old occupations, just as if nothing had happened.
General Lee, whose campaigns might be mentioned among
those of the greatest generals, did not retire into private
life, but undertook the monotonous duties of president of
a military college ; whilst the Federal General Sherman,
who might almost have dictated the policy of the Republic,
returned to the drudgery of a lawyer's office in a small
country town. Conduct such as this reminded one of the
old Romans, who saved the State one day and wielded a
plough the next. (Chem).

A cordial vote of thanks was accorded. to the noble lord
for his interesting lecture.

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

" THE LONDON REVIEW" ON THE FATAL COL-
LISION OFF DOVER.—The Board of Trade inquiry
into the collision between the mail packet Samphire
and the American barque Fanny Buck has termi-
nated in a manner satisfactory to Captain Bennett,
the commander of the Samphire, and to the com-
pany he serves, but hardly to the public. On the
night of the 13th ult. the Samphire left Dover for•
Calais with the mails, 78 passengers, and a crew of
18 men. When about five miles from Dover har-
bour the Fanny Buck ran into her, and had it not
been that she was built in compartments, many
lives might have been lost ; for the American
barque did not stay to render assistance to the
Samphire, but held on her course with characteristic
Yankee indifference to any interests but her own.
It seems very doubtful whether the barque was sail-
ing with her proper lights, and, at at all events, it
would appear from the witnesses in her behalf, that
the night was clear enough to enable the crew of
the Samphire—and consequently the crew of the
Fanny Buck—to see half a mile off. Upon this
question, taking all the evidence, it appears to be
doubtful to what distance the crew of either ship
could see before them, If the night was clear
enough to see as far as the barque's witnesses
state, it is inconceivable how, with a proper look
out, the collision could have occurred. If, on the
other hand, it was so dark that a ship sailing with-
out lights could not be seen at more than 60 or
100 yards off, it becomes a most material question
whether the American barque displayed her proper
lights. If she didnot, and the evidence leans strongly
in this direction, great blame will attach to her cap-
tain or to the mate—who, by the way, was a Dutch-
man—who commanded for him, he being ill in his
cabin. Indeed, whether we are to believe the case
for the Samphire or the case for the Fanny Buck,
the American bark was to blame, if it be true that
she sailed with insufficient lights. And even if she
can be excused upon this ground, there was a ras-
cally cowardice, an abominable callousness, in her
desertion of the ship which, through her act, Ives
apparently sinking, that nothing can excuse. The
scene on board the Samphire after the collision
seems to have been somewhat disgraceful. There is
too much reason to believe that the crew did not
behave with the unselfishness we are taught to ex-
pect from British sailors ; and we fear we must go
further and admit the probable truthfulness of the
statement that they positively deserted the ship.
The position of the Samphire was, it must be ad-
mitted, alarming. A sailing vessel had cut her
down to the water's edge, and had then, with the
ruthless indifference to life which, we sincerely re-
gret to say, is one of the most repulsive features of
American " morality," held on her course. Ina very
short time, in fact almost immediately, the head of
the Samphire went under water, so that her rudder
was lifted clean out of the water, while the sea
was washing forwards up to her funnel. This
position of affairs, perilous as it was, does not,
however, excuse the crew, who, possibly in-
fected by the Yankee example which had just been
set them, thought only of themselves. But if the
crew, with a very few exceptions, surrendered them-
selves to the panic, Captain Bennett maintained to
the full the honour of the British seaman. We are
glad to make this acknowledgment, because his
conduct in other respects is open to rebuke. If the
Yankee skipper or his Dutch mate sinned against
the humanities of navigation, Captain Bennett
sinned against its prudence, and consequently
against its humanities too. His misconduct, in this
respect, comes so home to us, that we can hardly
afford to consider the great guilt of the people on
board the barque. The late civil war has given us
such repeated instances of the lofty indifference of
the American mind to human suffering that the
coolness with which the Fanny Buck left the Sam-
phire and her living freight—for all she knew or
cared—to sink, shocks, but does not in the least sur-
prise us. We have a right to judge English cap-
tains by a different and higher standard. By such
a standard Captain Bennett's navigation of his ship
on the night of his collision must be condemned.
It is the main point of his defence that the night
was so dark that the utmost caution was necessary,
and yet he was sailing his ship at its ordinary speed
—a very high speed. We take it that the inquiry
which has been held at Dover has not resulted.
unjustly in the decision of the magistrates and
the nautical assessors, " that the captain of the
Samphire, who is solely responsible for the con-
duct and management of his vessel, is culpable
for having driven his vessel at so great a speed
across one of the most frequented narrow seas
in the world, on so dark and hazy a night
as that of. the 13th of December." It is
true, they go on to say, that the attendant circum-
stances, and the default of the barque in not exhibit-
ing a sufficient light from her lamps, " to some
extent contributed to the damage and loss of life ;"
but it is really impossible to see how the imprudence
of a Yankee skipper can so excuse the imprudence
of the captain of an English mail packet as to free
him from any severer penalty than a mild reprimand,
qualified by an emphatic and glowing compliment.
Capt. Bennett's judges have seen no reason why his
certificate should even be suspended. And yet, in
despite of the most ordinary prudence, he was sailing
his ship on the night in question at a dangerous
speed—for what ? To earn his employers a pre=
mium of £5! His defence is, that the night was a
dark and hazy night ; yet he was driving his vessel
at full speed. He had, himself included, almost a
hundred souls on board the Samphire, and to earn
£5 for the company, he risked their safety ; practi-
cally estimating them at something less than a shill-
ing per life. And this, we beg our readers to
observe, is the system on which the mail-packet
service between Dover and Calais is conducted. If
the ships keep their time, the company receives £5
premium for each voyage ; if they exceed it, it for-
feits £5. But so well do these captains serve it,
that the company, according to one good authority,
gains between three and four thousand a year by
premiums upon rapid and often unsafe voyages.
And if they are to be complimented by their judges,
and have their certificates returned to them when
they have brought their ships to grief, and have lost
the lives of some at least of their passengers, we do
not see what control we can exert over them, or
how those who sail with them can be secured the
ordinary chances of escape from the dangers of the
deep.
THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON THE GOVERN-
MENT.—In general, a Government that is thought
weak is weak, because the expectation that it will
not succeed relaxes the energies of its supporters and
gives courage to its enemies ; and no one can deny
that the present Government is thought weak, and
that very confident prophecies are hazarded that it
will not last through the next session. Probably
these anticipations are in some measure due to the
time of year at which they are made. When
nothing of any moment is happening, political gos-
sips like to spend their time in forecasting the
future, and find it easier and pleasanter to see a
gloomy than to see a bright prospect before them.
Still, the Government has obviously its weak points
as well as its strong ones, and it may be worth while

to attempt an estimate of the chief elements both of
its strength and its weakness. The most conspicu-
ous element of its weakness is the personal element.
Except Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone, none of its
members occupy a first-rate Parliamentary position,
and its two leaders have personal disqualifications
which it is expected will tell against then. Lord
Russell has many virtues, and combines aristocratic
and democratic tastes in a manner that suits a large
portion of his countrymen ; but he was never a
good leader of a party, and is now likely to be
a gorse leader than he was formerly. He
has long lived a secluded life, takes little inte-
rest in what is said and written by the
outside world, and has perhaps less knowlege of the
general public, and of the men whb most influence
their fellows, than any political leader has had dur-
ing the present century. Lord Palmerston was the
popular man of the party, and Lord Russell for
many years has been content to be practically un-
known to all the world, except a small clique of
intimate friends. He has, too, the reputation of
continually making small mistakes, and of giving
perpetual offence almost without meaning it, or sus-
pecting that any one could object. In all probabi-
lity the great objections to bestowing a peerage on
Sir John Romilly never occurred to Lord Russell,
simply because Lord Russell knew nothing about
the bar, or the courts, or legal opinion. Judges, he
may have thought, are often made peers, and why
should not the one judge he knew be made a peer'?
There is, too, a great difficulty in filling up the
vacant places in the Ministry, partly because the
Liberal leaders have never tried to provide for the
future of their party further than by securing a
certain proportion of seats for ineffectual Russells,
Byngs, and Cavenclishes ; and still more because
the luck of life has been against the party, and death
has happened to carry off eminent Liberals, and
has spared eminent Conservatives. Had the Duke
of Newcastle, Lord Herbert, and Sir Come-
wall Lewis been alive, there could have been
no difficulty in making up a Cabinet that
would have been much stronger than any Cabinet
selected from the ranks of the Opposition. The
great diversity of opinion that prevails among
Liberals as to a Reform Bill deprives Lord Russell
of the co-operation of Mr. Horsman and Mr. Lowe,
and it has thus become a very hard matter even to
find a Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster. A
Ministry that cannot fill up the Duchy is in a very
odd position. It excites a feeling of the ridiculous,
and it is dangerous to be laughed at. It was regarded
as quite natural that Lord Russell should have been
unable to think of anything else than to make Mr.
Goschen Chancellor. Had .a seat in the Cabinet
been originally offered to Mr. Goschen, this would
not have been taken as an indication of weakness,
for Lord Russell might have thought the Cabinet
would have gained by admitting into it a young,
energetic, and courageous politician. But to have
offered a minor place in the first instance, and then
to have offered a seat in the Cabinet, would not
have shown bow highly Lord Russell thought of
Mr. Goschen, but how very limited the range
of choice of the Government really was.
The Government is also thought weak, and in
some degree deservedly, because it must bring in
a Reform Bill; and because, if it does bring
in a Reform Bill, it cannot avoid associating
itself with Mr. Bright. Whether it is or is not
true that office was offered to Mr. Bright, he is at
any rate in relations of great confidence with the
Cabinet on the subject of Reform. He lets it be
understood that he knows the decisions at which
the Cabinet is likely to arrive, and that these deci-
sions are in a large measure determined by him.
And he evidently knows so much, and influences
the Cabinet so powerfully, that colour is given to a
very exaggerated estimate of the pressure he exer-
cises on the Cabinet ; and their counsels are thought
to be affected by him more than it is at all probable
they really are. There can be no question that it
is dangerous to the Government that it should be
considered to be merely doing what Mr. Bright tells
it to do, and that it seems to make itself a party to
ail his vague and vast schemes of political change.
If the Ministry could simply say that the working
men ought to be allowed to vote, and that they
proposed a measure which would give working men
a fair proportion of political power and no more,
there ought to be no great difficulty in getting a
Reform Bill through the House. But when Mr.
Bright guides the Ministry, or is supposed to guide
it—and when he says plainly that the use of the
proposed Reform Bill is to prepare the way for
giving the working man a very different political
position from that created for him by the Bill—the
Bill assumes a new and not very inviting cha-
ratter.

THE " EXAMINER" ON THE MOST DREADED PUN-
ISHMENT.—The advocates of the total abolition of
capital punishment contend that death is not the
greatest punishment, and that there would be more
dread of perpetual imprisonment, and therefore
more deterring effect. But if, as they aver, death
is not the greatest punishment, how can they justify
their endeavours on all occasions to obtain a
commutation of the capital punishment for the
secondary ? What right have they to use all their
influence to get the convict subjected to a severer
punishment than justice has awarded? This is a
question they can never answer. It is quite true
that the fear of death is overcome by many tempta-
tions and evil passions—cupidity, revenge, hatred
—but this is true also of all punishments, for the
most they can do is to check crime and keep it
within bounds, complete prevention being clearly
an impossibility. We believe, however, that there
never yet was a criminal sentenced to death
who would not gladly exchange it for a
secondary punishment, nor one sentenced to
imprisonment for life who would really prefer
death. Eli Sykes, condemned to death for the
murder of his sweetheart, who has just died
in his prison in consequence of a fall, presents an
example of the paramount terror of death, and also
of the baneful effect of any tampering with justice.
But for Townley's escape from the gallows this man
might not have been a murderer, and he cherished
hopes to the last of a commutation of punishment,
and would have rejoiced in twenty years of penal
servitude. A witness who had charge of him in his
prison states :—" He asked when hanging day was,
but witness told him he knew nothing about it, and
the best thing he could do was to make his peace
with God. Ever since this fall he appeared to be
sensible and of perfectly sane mind. Witness saw him
five or six times every day. He spoke a good deal
on religion. After being sentenced prisoner. took
his own clothes off, and he said he should like them
to be sent to his parents. He had a suit of plain
prison uniform put upon him, and he said, ' Here
goes for twenty years.' Witness said, Nay, Sykes,
I think you'll wear them till you depart this life ;'
and Sykes replied, ' While there's life there's hope.
My case is not as bad as Townley's—Townley's
case was worse than mine, and if I get off with
twenty years I shall be thankful.' At another time
he said he hoped the Queen would take his case into
consideration and let him off with penal servitude.
Witness told him his case was a very bad one, and
there was no hope for him.

THE " ANGLO-AMERICAN TIMES" ON A NATION
REDEEMED.—A few short years suffice to carry us
back to a period when nothing was deemed
more chimerical than the schemes of the hand-
ful of anti-slavery men then to be found in
England and America. They were branded as
abolitionists and fanatics, and treated at all times
with discourtesy, and sometimes with violence.
Abolitionism, however, has triumphed, its early
leaders have become heroes, and its adversary
is numbered with the dead barbarisms of the
past. It is a wonderful chapter in the history of
the world—that which records the struggle between
Radical freedom and slavery in the United States, and
no higher evidence of the energy of the American cha-
racter could be given than the rapidity with which the
problem of the supremacy of free or slave insti-
tutions in that country has been solved. Other
countries and other times would have taken
centuries to work out sue' a reform. The
announcement by the Secretary of State that a
sufficient number of States have ratified the
Constitutional Amendment abolishing slavery to
make it the law of the land, proclaims the most
important fact connected with the struggle which
has so long convulsed and divided the American
people. This is what makes the victory complete.
The contest which has been going on was not so
much a war between the people of the North and
the people of the South, or the Secessionists and
the Unionists, as between conflicting systems of
government. The people of the North naturally
favored free institutions and free society, while
the people of the South, under the domineering
influence of slavery, concluded that their interests
demanded a condition of social aristocracy and
institutions founded upon the idea of classes and
castes holding toward each other the relations of
masters and slaves. Hence the disagreement, lead-
ing first to controversy and wrangling, and afterwards
to war. The war was a necessity—occasioned by the
existence of slavery. From the very nature of
that institution it was impossible for it to exist in
peace in a country governed upon the idea of social.
and political equality. It was an antagonistic ele-
ment, and its presence became a constant source of
irritation and disturbance. Such has been the his-
tory of slavery in America from the first organisa-
tion of the Government. The result was a grow-
ing conflict between the principles of the Government
and those of slavery, until the dispute, in the ordi-
nary course of things, ripened into an issue of
arms. Either the principles of the Government had
to be subverted, or slavery had to perish. The case
was precisely analogous to such as often occur in
the physical systems of men, when foreign and un-
friendly substances are by violence introduced into
them. Inflanunation,s and fever remit, and the

uncongenial thing is expelled, or the member which
is the sufferer, if not the entire body, perishes in
the conflict. Slavery was a thing foreign and
hostile to a Republican system of government—
its presence produced irritation and pain, and a
conflict arose, which could only be terminated
by the expulsion of slavery or the overthrow of
the entire system and policy upon which the
Government was constructed. Hence it was
that slavery rebelled against the Government and
attempted its destruction. The two things could
not exist in harmony together, and slavery chose to
be the aggressor in declaring war upon the other.
The contest, once begun, was to be a life-struggle,
and happily for the interests of humanity, free go-
vernment proved to be the stronger of the two, and
slavery went to the wall and was crushed. Had
the United States been a monarchy, or even an aris-
tocracy after the fashion of the more liberal Go-
vernments of Europe, it is possible that slavery
might have existed in the country for many
years
without leading to war, or if war had resulted the
principle of freedom woul i probably have been too
weak successfully to cope with it, and the end would
have been very different from the issue of the con-
flict through which the Americans have just passed.
As it is, there can be but one opinion intelligently
entertained of the outcome of the struggle and its
value to the country. In the death of slavery the
Americans are far more than compensated for
all the losses and sufferings they have experienced
from the war. Their losses have been tem-
porary, and are generally such as time will
speedily repair, while their gain in the removal
of an enemy which was constantly menacing the
integrity of their entire system of government
will be permanent and constantly increasing. To
determine the importance of that consummation
which has been reached, we have only to reflect
upon what would have been the consequence had
the principle of free government been crushed in
the struggle, and an organisation founded upon the
principle of slavery been established in its place.
Happily the danger, is past, the victory won.
The enemy which sought to overrun the land and
blight its promise has been trampled under foot,
and the youthful nation stands like a second Her-
cules after one of his tremendous encounters, worn
with the trial of strength, but effulgent in the glow
of victory, and conscious of a power of which before
he had never dreamed. To say that the American
Government is to-day stronger than when the war
of the rebellion began is asserting an acknow-
ledged fact. It is stronger because the element
which produced dissension and weakness among its
members is removed. It has been made a unit by
the expulsion of slavery, while time will soon heal
the wounds inflicted in the course of that battle
through which this great achievement was accom-
plished.