The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-03 00:00:00

discretiun.

The English public is never appealed to in vain
for the assistance of sufferers by a great calamity.
No sooner do they hear of fire or inundation, pesti-
lence or fan tine, being busy, not only in their own
dominions but in almost any part of the globe,
than they are ready with their subscriptions and
their gifts. They feel strongly for any distress
which is vividly brought before them, and, being an
eminently practical people, their sympathies natu-
rally take a substantial form. It is a satisfation to
them to be able to do something tangible, and accord-

ingly there is almost a feeling of disappointment,
when, as in the case of the Indian famine, money
contributions are found to be unnecessary. There
is never a long interval, however, between the calls
for help, for what with the fluctuations of trade, the
variations of the public health, the violence of the
elements, and those great calamities which follow in
the track of war, we are almost constantly hearing of
some pressing distress. Just now the liberality of
the English public is invoked on behalf of sufferers
who have no especial claim upon their considera-
tion. They are fellow-subjects, and kindred in race
and feeling, and speaking the same language and
governed by the same laws. The disaster from
which they are suffering has been one of great mag-
nitude and extent. The fire at Quebec has com-
mitted terrible devastation, as might have been
expected in a city built chiefly of wood. No doubt
the ultimate effect will be a beneficial one : it will
raise and improve the character of the city, and
bring it more in accordance with the requirements
of the present day than with those of the age of
CHAMPLAIN. The health and comfort of the people
may be improved, and the devastated portion of
the city may probably rise from its ashes greatly
improved and enlarged. But there can be no doubt
whatever that this future good is purchased at the
expense of very great present distress. According
to the rough reports that have reached us, the num-
ber of houses destroyed in this great lire was 2,500,
awl the number of persons rendered homeless was
18,000. It is possible there may be some exagge-
ration or mis-statement in these figures, but there
can be no doubt that the catastrophe was a very
serious one. The season at which it occurred, too,
was especially unfortunate—just before the early
Canadian winter, whose severity can hardly be ap-
preciated by English people accustomed to our com-
paratively mild specimens of the frost king's power.
For so many thousands of persons to be suddenly
burned out on the verge of such a season is a very
serious thing, and however anxious or willing their
fellow-colonists might be to assist them their means
are not likely to be equal to the occasion. Canada,
as we know, is anything but a rich country ; the
national resources have of late years been severely
taxed by the vagaries of the Fenians. It is cer-
tainly an occasion on which English help will be
most appropriate and most welcome, and we are
very glad to find that subscription lists have
been opened both in London and Manchester,
whose example will probably be followed by other
great towns. Messrs. COLITTS and Co. have very
liberally headed the subscription list which they
have opened at their bank with a donation
of £5OO, and we have no doubt that they
will meet with a prompt and liberal re-
sponse to their appeal. It is important that no
time should te lost in coining to the assistance of
the sufferers before the winter comes on, and Bis
dat qui cito dat should be the motto of the givers.
The ties of union between England and Canada
have latterly been much strengthened, and the
ready sympathy shown in their distress will tend to
cement the kindly feeling. Canada is a country of
which Great Britain may be justly proud, and there
can be no doubt she has a great and noble future be-
fore her. Her natural resources, her vast extent, her
capacities of soil and climate, and her free institu-
tions, all mark her out to fill a prominent place in
the history of future generations. We may say of
British America as the poet long ago said of those
fair southern colonies of England now rising so
rapidly in wealth, population, and importance :
As in a cradled Hercules we trace
The line of empire in thine infant face,
"What nations, in thy wide horizon's plan,
Shall teem on track untrodden yet by man,
Where aught but brute or reptile life is dumb.
Laud of the free ! thy kingdom is to come.
It is not likely that " brute and reptile life" will
much longer be suffered to monopolise so much of
those fair possessions, and the proposed confedera-
tion, when fairly and equitably carried out, will give
an immense impetus to the progress of all the
colonies. Meanwhile England watches with anxiety
and interest the state of affairs in her American
dependencies, and the best and most practical ald
which she can render in developing the fortunes of
the colonies is to assist in restoring and rebuilding
Quebec.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Friday Evening.

Yesterday, All Saints'-day, having been kept
with great strictnesss, nono of the papers have been
published this morning, and I do not hear of any
news in the usual sources of information. The
throngs of persons at the cemeteries yesterday were
greater than was ever known.
The German papers make the future position
of the fortress of Ulm a point of earnest dis-
cussion. Ulm, as is well known, was one of
the strong places of the ancient German Con-
federation. It was guarded by a mixed garri-
son of the troops of Wurtembourg and Bavaria.
It appears that negotiations are now in progress
between the Governments of Wurtembonrg and
Prussia, having for their object to arrange that in
future the garrison of the fortress of Ulm should be
composed, half of the troops of the South, and half
of Prussian troops.
The last races of the season yesterday at La
Marche terminated satisfactorily, the attendance
an
for account
ros fe s t. h e
Entryr e results:,
u l t,s
2: —OO. tfk. Hra
inndei pp
pol
ef
being good and the morning excellent. The follow-
ing2,oooi sf
.
(Page), 1 ; Betty, 2 ; Milton, 3. The Betting was
7 to 2 against Pine Apple.—The Prix de St. Hubert
of I,ooof. for hacks and hunters. Pompadour, 1 •
Victot Pontol, 2; Tim Meagles, 3.—The Closing
Prize, free handicap of I,ooof. Silly, 1 ; Piccolo,
2 ; Doge, 3.

A letter from Berlin states that Count de Bis-
marck is in a precarious if not dangerous condition.
Urgent business; requires his presence at Berlin, and
he is expected there ; but his visit will be a very
short one, as his medical attendants advise quiet
and abstinence from business and excitement.

111adame Potier, the widow'of the excellent comic
actor Potier, has just died at the age of 78. 'Palma
once said to Potier, If I were not Talins, I should
wish to be Potier." When Potier died it was like
the death of Liston ; a genuine comedian was lost
whose place has never again been filled up. Potier
was the issue of the illustrious Parliamentary family
of that name, which furnished the Ducal branches
of Gesvres and Tresmes, now extinct.
The demolitions in the Rue St. Victor are nearly
terminated. Some historical recollections of great
interest are attached to that street. It formerly
contained a great number of abbeys, churches, and
convents ; among others the college of Cardinal
Lemoine. During a long period there was cele-
brated in the church of that convent a religious
ceremony called the Fête du Cardinal. The come-
dians of the Hotel de Burgogne (a strange circum-