The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-19 00:00:00

TILE SUN, LOILI;1,;IN, FRIDAY EVEMNO, OCMBER 19, 1866

it remains uncontradicted, is the case of Mr. SNIDER,
by whose invention for converting the Enfield
rifle into a breechloader, the whole nation is now
so largely profiting. It would have been impossible
after the experience gained in modern warfare for
England to have rested satisfied with her old wea-
pon. The expense of supplying our entire army with
anew arm, and the serious consequences which might
result from an inefficient method of conversion,
may be roughly estimated without much labour, and
the actual saving to the national exchequer result-
ing from Mr. SNIDER's admittedly successful design
is something to be reckoned by hundreds of
thousands sterling. The converted Enfield is
generally acknowledged to be superior to that
Prussian needle gun, of which we have all
heard so much, and we know that in Prussia the
fortunate inventor is loaded with honours and re-
wards. Let us see, then, what reward rich and
liberal England has in store for her inventor.
Seven years ago the invention was presented to
Government, and was, after characteristic delay,
accepted and adopted on an extreme scale ; and
then, it might be supposed, came the time for re-
warding the inventor. No such thing. We ma-
nage matters much more economically than that in
England. Mr. SNIDER was told to send in his
claims under the three heads of expenditure, ser-
vices, and invention, and was given to understand
that the first two were enough at a time. He esti-
mated his expenditure and his services at £2,700,
not, one would think, a very, ,exorbitant sum. Go-
vernment, however, thought differently, and re-
ferred the claim to its solicitor, who advised the
offer of £l,OOO ! This the inventor of the converted
Enfield accepted, being in reduced circumstances,
sick at heart with hope deferred. The actual claims
being thus settled, we hear no more of the reward
due for the invention, and our Administrators, past
and present, may congratulate themselves on having
saved the public money at the expense of justice,
humanity, and national honour.
The fact of Mr. SNIDER'S being in bad health, and
without the means of subsistence, adds to the hard-
ship of the case, though in common justice,
if he were a- CRESUS, the Government ought
to pay him what his invention is worth. But
if he were a Cnnsus, and had dressed up some
one else's ideas, he would very likely have been re-
paid with a peerage and half a million. There may,
of course, be two sides to the question, and the in-
ventor may have been unreasonably exacting ;
but as yet the fact remains uncontradicted that the
man who has rendered a great public service is left
in poverty and sickness, while out of the 12 or 14
millions annually voted for our Army Estimates not
one fraction can be spared for the inventor who has
excelled the needle-gun.

We published on Wednesday a very interesting
letter from Captain ANDERSON, of the Great
Eastern, on a subject most congenial to him. His
object was to render the honour due to the hearty
goodwill and professional skill of the officers and
men connected with the memorable expedition in
which Captain ANDERSON and his " big ship"
played so conspicuous a part. The Liverpool
banquet, it is true, was given in honour of all the
members of the expedition, and Captain ANDERSON,
in his speech on that occasion, endeavoured, he
says, to express his sense of the zeal and efficiency
of the services rendered ; but, thanks to the late-
ness of the hour, the press of matter, and the
exigencies of the telegraph, the reporters did not
think fit to give the world a verbatim report of.what
the captain said. He complains, half humorously,
half indignantly, that they only said he made " a
characteristic speech ;" which, as the gallant officer
does not profess any peculiar style of oratory, was
a somewhat perplexing definition. Perhaps, how-
ever, they meant that the readiness and cordiality
with which Captain ANDERSON gave the credit of
success to every one but himself was quite in ac-
cordance with his character, and in this aspect of
the case the commander of the Great Eastern need
not complain of the sagacity of the stenographers.
He is not contented even-with praising the officers
in connection with the expedition of 1866, but has
a word of commemoration for those who laboured
with equal zeal, but less good fortune, in the days
when anAtlantic cable was a hope, but not a reality.
" No one," he says with kindly courtesy, " can ap-
preciate more than I can the former efforts on board
the Niagara and Agamemnon, with ships so un-
adapted, and cable appliances so immature, as com-
pared with the Great Eastern and the cable ma-
chinery of 1865 and 1866, and I hope the officers
employed in those former struggles will not do those
of the late expedition the injustice of supposing
that we claim more than that the opportunity was
ours to complete what they had begun." Those
former struggles and failures, so far from being
profitless, were in fact mainly conducive to the
ultimate success of the scheme, seeing that much
was learned from them, the deficiencies and errors
in the cables themselves, and in the machinery and
management were ascertained, and experience
taught that practical knowledge which no theoreti-
cal science can hope to equal. Staff-Commander
MORIARTY, one of the officers of the Aga-
memnon in the former expedition, took part
in this one, and gave Captain ANDERSON
very useful assistance. The most gratifying testi-
mony is borne by Captain ANDERSON to what he
calls " the cheerful zeal" of Captain CoSI3IERILL, of
the Terrible. We can fancy how welcome was the
cheery sailor paying his visits to the anxious party
in the great ship with his encouraging " You'll do it
yet" when doubt and despondency threatened them.
lle was not content with words, however, for.
" What can I do ?" was his oft-repeated question, to
be followed, as soon as the want was expressed, by
the ready " I'll do it."

No less valuable to the conductors of the
undertaking was the nautical skill shown by
the commanders of the Medway and. Albany
during the anxious weeks spent on the grappling
ground. It was, says the captain, of the greatest
importance that the vessels of the squadron should
keep always together close enough to begin work
whenever it was possible, and yet avoid collision
in fogs. "We were often separated by fog, gale,
or darkness; yet whenever the day dawned, or the
fog cleared, there the squadron was to be seen
converging from different points towards the mark
buoy, a small spot looking no bigger than a man's
hat upon the surface of the ocean. Unless all
had concentrated their minds and watched their
ships and compasses night and day no such beau-
tiful illustration of nautical science could have been
possible." The recovery of the lost cable was, in
fact, the crowning triumph of the expedition, and
many who were sanguine as to the ultimate suc-
cess of the new line were very doubtful as to the
chance of finding the old one. The result has been
highly creditable to the zeal and perseverance of
all concerned, and Captain ANDERSON may rest
assured that the public will not readily forget the
services of any of those whose names are associated
with the great nautical and telegraphic exploit of
1866.

DOCK CORPORATIONS AND THE POOR RATES.—It
was stated at the meeting of the Mersey Deck Board yes-
terday, that the surplus for the current year would have
been £70,000, instead of £7,000, had not the board been
!mulcted in the payment of poor rates and arrears for past
years.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PAEIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Thursday Evening.

The Moniteur states that General Lebeeuf, in
concert with the Austrian military authorities, was
present at the evacuation of the fortresses of Pes-
chiera, Mantua de Leguand, and Palma Nova.
These different places were consigned by the Aus-
trian Commander into. the hands •of the General,
who then delivered them, in the name of the Empe-
ror, to the care of the Municipalities. This double
operation was effected with perfect order, and in
the four cities in question the Municipalities charged
General Lebceuf to convey to the Emperor the ex-
pression of their homage and gratitude.
The official paper also publishes a letter from
Berlin, dated October 1, which states that recent
events will give a great impetus to the productive
resources of Prussia, who will be able to send her
productions to the European markets upon favour-
able terms. The letter 'adds that Prussia will have
possession from the dispossessed Governments of
various productive mines, and that she will be able
to work the railways under advantageous circum-
stances.

The French Government has received a communi-
cation from the Emperor Maximilian, in which he
expresses his earnest desire to make any sacrifice to
fulfil his engagement towards France, and particu-
larly to the holders of Mexican securities. In order
to effect this object a portion of the Customs
Revenue is to be devoted to the payment.
A letter from Rome says :—" The malady with
which the Empress of Mexico is afflicted has caused
the, most painful emotion here. The cause of the
malady was the disappointment which attended her
mission to the Pope, increased by the fatigue of a
long voyage. The object of her Majesty's voyage
was to arrange with the Pope the basis of a Concor-
dat, the principal clause of which was to authorise
the sale of ecclesiastical property. At the first
audience which the Empress had with the Pope, his
:.Holiness made her Majesty understand that her
mission would be ,a failure: Instead of words of
consolation, the Pope spoke with great bitterness
of the policy pursued by the Emperor Maximilian
in regard to the clergy, and even went so far as to
threaten her with the Divine anger. The interview
had a very painful effect upon the Empress. On
the third day of her sojourn at Rome she went
twice to the Vatican, and in the evening an apart-
ment was prepared for her. It was then she lost
her senses. She had an idea that there was an in-
tention to poison her, and she would not take any
nourishment except from the hands of her lady at-
tendant. The Empress walked about the streets of
Rome with a silver gDblet in her hand, and drank
water from the fountains. Great sympathy was
manifested towards her when she left Rome, ac-
companied by her brother, the Count de Flandres."
The fine weather has again departed. It began
to rain at mid-day, and it has rained heavily up to
the hour of post. The Moniteur, in a review of the
events of the day, says that the evacuation of the
fortresses of Venetia continues without incident.
Each of the strong places is delivered up to the
local authorities.

The official paper proceeds to give an explana-
tion of the policy of the French Government in
regard to the events of the Crete. " Affairs there
have become appeased. In the presence of the dif-
ficulties which arose the Emperor remained faithful
to the conservative andprogressive policy which he
has always pursued in regard to the events in
Greece. When the Cretans made known their
grievances the French Ambassador at Constantinople
was instructed to examine into them and to give as-
sistance, should their complaints prove to be well-
founded. The Marquis de Moustier gave his opinion
to the Cabinet of Greece with friendly frankness.
His advice was received with gratitude. There is
now less agitation in the Hellenic provinces adjoin-
ing Crete, and the Cretans are more disposed to
attend to the conciliatory advice given to them by
the Porte."

The Prince de la Tour d'Auvergne, the French
Ambassador to the English Cuurt, who is now in
Paris, will return to London in the course of the
week.

The chief event in the fashionable world of Paris
is the marriage of the Marquis de Saillant with
Mdlle. Clemente de Pre- Ministers and many
ladies of title were present at the Church of St.
Philippe, where the marriage was celebrated. A
paper affecting to give fashionable news says that
the head-dress of the bride was ,4 marvellous," and
that the toilette of the Countess de Talleyrand, blue
taffetas, covered with Valenciennes lace, was much
remarked. General Gontald, aide-de-camp of the
King of the Belgians, was among the company, and
many eminent personages from Belgium.
The journal La Patrie has been purchased by a
society of capitalists for 1,500,000 f., at the head of
which were the principal directors of the Credit
Foncier.

A letter from Florence speaks of an alliance be-
tween Prince Humbert and the daughter of the
Archduke Albert, Mathilda-Mary-Aldegonde-Alex-
andra, born on the 15th July, 1845.
The autumn steeplechases at La Marche on Sun-
day next promise to be attractive. Twenty-nine
horses are entered for the Prix d'Automne (handi-
cap). For the Free Handicap 25 horses are en-
tered.

Marshal O'Donnell is expected in Paris, some say
with an important mission in reference to Spain. I
cannot learn anything about it in the quarters where
I usually apply for political information.

N
LATEST INTELILL7-...4 TI NOB.

(RE UTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

SAXONY.
LEIPSIC, Oct. 19.

At a meeting of 400 members of the National
party in this city a committee was appointed,
which, in the event of the continued resistance of
the King of Saxony to conclude peace with Prussia,
is to solicit King William to order new elections of
members of the Saxon Chamber of Deputies, who
will then have to represent the interests of the
people of Saxony as opposed to the particular inte-
rests of the Saxon Government.
PESTH, OCT. 19.
The cholera is greatly diminishing in this city.

MORAVIA.

pnuNN, Oct. 19.

The Emperor has ordered the completion of the
Moravian railway system to be carried out with the
greatest possible expedition, and the execution of
public works in Moravia to the amount of one mil-
lion of florins during the current year. His Majesty
has remitted 10,000 florins to be distributed among
the poor of Brunn.
Dr. Giskra, Mayor of Brunn, has been decorated
by his Majesty with the Cross of the Order of
Leopold.

PORTUGAL.

LISBON, OCT. 18.

The King, Queen, and suite went to Oporto this
morning in order to be present at the inauguration
of the statue of Dom Pedro IV., which is to take
place in that city to-morrow.

TIIE BOMBAY MAIL.
MALTA, OCt. 18.
The Ripon left at 8 p.m. yesterday, and the Pera
at 9 a.m. to-day.

The former may be expected at Marseilles on the
20th, and the latter at Southampton on the 27th

instant.

SUEZ, Oct. 18:
The Norma, extra steamer from Bombay, arrived
at 1 p.m. to-day.

FRANCE.
PARIS, Oct. 19.

The Moniteur of this morning announces the
death of M. Thouvenel as a loss to the Emperor
and the country, and adds—" His name is so inti-
mately associated with the remembrance of the an-
nexation of Nice and Savoy to France that his loss
will remain the object of well-founded and honour-
able regret."
A Lyons letter of the 14th says :—" This city has
just witnessed a demonstration of working men.
For a week past it has been announced, with details
of a more or less disquieting nature. Yesterday
the senator, Prefect of the Rhone, issued a procla-
mation to the workmen marked by a happy union
of firmness and compassion. I purposely say com-
passion, for the sufferings of the silk weavers are
only too real. M. Chevreau tells them that he is
aware that a manifestation is about to be made ;
he exhorts them to distrust the devisors of it, and
to have confidence in the Emperor ; and he con-
cludes by offering to meet their delegates in order to
come to an understanding as to the measures to be
taken to assuage the sufferings caused by the pro-
longed want of employment. A proposition like
this could not but be accepted, and this morning at
ten the delegates left the Croix-Rousse for the old
town-hall, now become the prefecture. A crowd of
not less than from 8,000 to 10,000: men followed
and filled all the streets and approaches of the Croix-
Rousse and the Place des Terreaux. The square
itself was for a time thronged, but a strong body of
sergents de ville took up a position in it and kept
the people in the side streets. This great mass of
the population, however, raised no cries nor caused
any disorder. During this time what took place
between the prefect and the delegates? We do not
yet know. It is asserted that the men were instructed
to ask that a tax should be imposed upon the looms
worked outside the octrei barriers, the abolition of
the municipal tax on looms within the city, and the
prompt opening of great national workshops in aid
of the most pressing wants. Of those three propo-
sitions, the second alone, rumour declares, has been
accepted."
BOURSE, Oct. 18.—Two o'clock. —The market
continues dull with few transactions, and these,
with the exception of railway shares, at generally
lower quotations. French Threes, for the account,
are offered at 68f. 70c., with a fractional decline.
Italian Fives are now doing at 55f. 5c., a decline
of 25c. Credit Mobilier Shares are sf. lower, at 622 f.
50c. ; and Spanish Mobilier 2f. 50c. lower, at 344 f.
25c. Credit Foncier remain unchanged, but
Comptoir d'Escompte have fallen 5f., to 880 f.
Railway Shares are firm, and some show a fractional
advance. Lyons are most in demand, and are doing
at 902 f. 50c., an improvement of 2f. 50c.

Three o'clock.—The market has closed as fol-
lows :

4i per Cents 97 i Bank Shares 3575
Do. end month — Italian Loan 55 30
3 per Cents. 6B 60 Do. end month 55 20
Do. end month 6B 671 Mexican Loan —
2 _ _ _

Credit Mobilier ... 620 Do. Bonds
Do. end month 622 50 Spanish Threes
Credit Foncier Home Debt —

Do. end month 1360

Deferred

ICALLWAYS.

For Account.
Orleans
Northern ll7O
Lyons and Mediterranean 902 50

Southern
Western
Eastern
Sardinian
Austrian
Lombard
North of Spain lO6 25
Saragossa 132 50
Ditto to Barcelona —
Roman

577 50

545 -

TIIE CONSERVATIVE HOME SECRETARY. —There
is a considerable party in England who are of opinion
that it would do certain political agitators and leaders of
trades' unions good if they wore subjected to the discipline
lately established by Governor Eyre in Jamaica. This
party was very wroth at Mr. Walpole for the considera-
tion which ho showed to the Reform. League, and our
comic journals, whose vocation is exaggeration, represented
Mr. Walpole as crying; and, for political ends, phrases
equally liquefied have been applied to that interview. The
fact is, Mr. Walpole never shed any tears. When he com-
menced to speak ho paused, as though under emotion, but
it was no more than many persons display who break
down in a speech under unusual circumstances. So far as
ho showed reluctance to proceed with measures which
must have led to a considerable loss of life, his conduct was
to his honour ; and it is bad policy, as well as bad taste,
to make an offensive use of a characteristic of sympathy,
which public men are not in the habit of betraying. If
such conduct is persisted in, it will come to pass that inso-
knee and severity in an official will be thought the safer
policy. The people who ridicule Mr. Walpole for his
sympathy do all that lies in their power to bring the
bearing of Sir Richard Mayne into fashion. The people
have no interest in this. If the fashion a contemporary
has put on, of suggesting thatthe Hyde-park railings shall
be cast into a Niobeian statue of Mr. Walpole, is to be fol
lowed by the working class, we shall oblige the Homo
Secretary to perpetrate some official carnage to prove his
nerve. For it requires less courage, iu these days, for a
minister to commit an outrage than to hesitate and be hu-
mane. Mr. Walpole chose by far the most courageous
part, and was called to account by his own party for it. It
is the interest of the people to respect, and even honour,
him for this.—The Working Man.

" ENOCH ARDEN" WITH A DIFFERENCE. —A citizen
of Atlanta, Georgia, was draughted into the ranks of the
Southern army during the war, and went away, leaving
his wife to sigh for the end of the conflict. At length the
end came, but he came not, and after long waiting she
took to herself another husband, and all wont merrik with
them. Last week, however, the truant spouse suddenly
returned. lie did not upbraid his wife, was willing that
she should continue to live with her second husband if
she preferred to do so, but merely insisted on taking his
son and going off with him. The mother could not con-
sent to part with her son. If he would wait till the next
morning she would make her preparations, and both sho
and the boy would go with him. So ho waited ; but when
morning came both sOn and mother had flown with the
oecvad husband tv parts tullin6w4i!-4tlanta New Era.

LITERATURE.

Cervantes' Don Quixote. Illustrated by Gustave
Dore. One vol. Pp. 737. Cassell, Petter,
and Galpin.

A sumptuous volume—ponderous only in a mate-
rial sense—is this glory of Light Literature. Gus-
tave Dore de France (or, as we suppose we might
rather say, de Paris) and Miguel Cervantes de
Saavedra are congenial spirits. They harmonise
wonderfully well when brought thus directly into
companionship. Pen and pencil, wielded by
their hands, dance the wildest fandangoes
together over the pages as we turn them--
and we know not which of the two the more
extravagantly in an utter abandon of the very
wildest eccentricity. Spreading the huge volume
open—upon the support of no flimsy reading-desk,
but of some substantial table, worthy of the weigh t,
we bid adieu to gravity or sadness, to pensive medi-
tation or to serious thought of any kind upon the
instant, nay, in point of fact, until some consider-
able time after we have shut the massive tome toge-
ther to recover from the side-shaking laughter
of which the book is provocative at almost every
turn of the leaf. Four hundred illustrations are here
scattered affluently through the glorious letterpress.
Four hundred drawings from about the most rapid
pencil surely in all Christendom—the pencil of Gus-
tave Dore ! A daringly imaginative artist, who, al-
though as yet in the very flower of his manhood,
has illustrated thus abundantly and enduringly such
widely contrasting works as the Holy Bible, as Dante's
" Divine Comedy," as this very work before us of
Cervantes' " Don Quixote," and among others again
of such a preposterous book as the anonymous
" Adventures of Baron Munchausen." No wonder
with a pencil so free, so bold, so untiring, so
ambitious, that this young French draughts-
man has won his way well to the front already.
If his repute required justification, as being,
in truth, thoroughly well deserved, it would be
sufficient to turn over the leaves of merely a very
few chapters of his illustrated edition of the Holy
Bible. Apart from that—his opus inagnunz as an illus-
trator---" Don Quixote" is almost sufficient for the
same purpose—that is, in the way of affording that
same kind of justification. The English version of the
work—carefully edited, in the revision of the text of
it, by J. M. Clark, M.A., and preceded by a brief but
adequate biographical notice from the pen of T.
Teignmouth Shore, M.A.—has been issued from the
press as a veritable edition de luxe by one of the
great popular publishing houses of the day—that of
the Messrs. Cassell, Fetter, and Galpin. On its
productioa they have manifestly lavished all •the
resources of their immense establishment.

The Bible Dictionary. Two Vols., pp. 1141. Cassell,

Petter, and Galpin.

- • -
Another costly publication by the same house,
but one of a very different character from the work
just noticed. Designed for the bookshelves as a
work of reference, and, as such, appropriately clad
in serious, even sombre, binding, the " Bible Dic-
tionary" forms a striking contrast, even in its exter-
nal appearance, when placed side by side with the
gorgeously emblazoned bevilled binding of Dore's
"Don Quixote." Divided into two weighty volumes
—the first ranging from Aaron to Izri (pp. 573)--
the second from Jaakan to Zuzims (pp. 568)—the
Dictionary under notice is embellished with a pro-
fusion of eminently useful explanatory woodcuts,
distributed in amongst the letter-press, to the num-
ber of very nearly six hundred engravings. Taking
the information here compacted together as a
whole, it is, of course, indisputable (mais vela va sans
dire) that scarcely two individuals out of the entire
population of these islands could anywhere be found
who would pronounce it to be orthodox. Yet what
marvel can there possibly be in that—remembering
what was said of this country, so wittily, nearly
a hundred years ago, by Marie Arouet de
Voltaire, when he spoke of England, with
his ineffable sneer, as that land of a hundred
religions and one sauce. Setting aside all ques-
tion as to the work's having any value at all upon
doctrinal points, it is full of interest, and of value,
and of perfectly reliable information_ of various
kinds—geographical, historical, arch aillogical, philo-
logical, and otherwise.

Christian's Mistake. By the Author of " John
Halifax." One Vol., pp. 320. Hurst and
•Blackett.

A charming new edition of a very charming tale
is this reprint of Miss Dinah Mulock's affecting
story, entitled " Christian's Mistake." As a frontis-
piece embellishment, F. Sandys has depicted Chris-
tian herself, pausing for a moment, with a sorrowful
expression of countenance, upon the staircase,
whence she is watching Lord Uniacke as he saunters,
cigar in mouth, to and fro in the distant river-side
avenue. As the new volume added to the Messrs.
Hurst and Blackett's well-known Standard Library,
the book is particularly noticeable, because of a
change in the general appearance of it, in the bind-
ing and tooling, in the paper and typography—in
all but the size, which is pretty much the same as
that of the preceding volumes. Coining to us under
any shape, however, the work could hardly fail to
be acceptable as the welcome reprint of a general
favourite.

FUN'S THIRD VOLUME—that is, Vol. 111. of the
New Series, but Vol. X. of the Old Series—more
than sustains the repute of Tom Hood as the alter
ego of Fun, or, in other words, as Fun's head joke-
master! As we have already before now remarked,
he is there indisputably as the right man in the
right place, as the round man in the round hole,
or as the square man in the square. Ever since he
took the penny rival of Punch in hand as Editor, he
has not only held his own admirably well, but he
has raised the excellence of the whole publication,
alike among its writers and among its illustrators.