The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-18 00:00:00

said the House of Commons devoted a whole sitting
to this matter. The House of Commons had re-
proached the English Admiral for not acting with
the American Admiral, who wished to prevent the
bombardment. There was something which con-
cerned France in the reply of the English Minister.
He had accused the Spanish Government of not
acting with good faith. France ought, therefore,
to act in accord with England in demanding redress.
The lesson to be drawn from the melancholy facts
was that the maritime code and maritime right
required reform. M. Itouber, Minister of State,
said that the bombardment of Valparaiso had caused
real emotion and deep sorrow to the Government.
France had no military force ,in the port,
and only one war transport, the Egerie. There
were two questions, one of humanity and one of
right. France would not have bombarded a city
under such circumstances ; but the question of right
was a very delicate one, and to enter into it with-
out diplomatic examination was a task which he
hoped the Chamber would not impose upon him.
(Very good.)

Two young fellows havevictimised a poor coach-
man by the drugging dodge, or hocussing, some-
times practised in London. He was driving home
along the Rue de Rivoli, late at night, when one of
the swindlers called to him and told him to drive
them to a well-known cafe at the Porte Maillot,
near the Champs Elysees. One of them, who was
elegantly dressed, and was very polite and amiable,
got on to the seat by the coachman's side, engaged
him in conversation, and oTered him a cigar. This
cigar, it appears, had been prepared with some
narcotic, for, after having smoked it only a few
minutes, he felt an irresistible desire to sleep.
The thieves drove the poor fellow to a solitary part
of the park de Neuilly and there left him. When be
awoke, between three and four in the morning, he
missed his purse, which contained nearly a thousand
francs. The poor fellow immediately made known
his loss to the Commissary of Police of Neuilly, but
the polite gentlemen have not yet turned up.
M. Didiot, Bishop of Bayeu and Lisieux died
yesterday morning. He was born in 1797, and had
been Bishop of Liseux since 1856.
In the commune of Hotfot-les-Bagues, in the de-
partment of Calvados, a widow lady named Dones-
nel has just died, who was 101 years and four months
old.

Rather a considerable robbery has taken place at
the Northern Railway. In one of the trains from
Boulogne was a sealed box, containing money to
the amount of about £l,OOO sterling. The thieves
almost in a second wrested off the padlock, and
broke the leaden seal of the box.

Within a very few months several women of ques-
tionable reputation have been murdered in Paris.
Some of these women are known to possess a good
deal of money and valuables. Recently I gave you
au account of the murder of a woman of this class
named Fanny Haag, who lived in stylish apart-
ments with her own furniture in the Rue Taitbout.
On Friday night another woman was murdered in
the Rue Neuve Coquenard. Not appearing the next
morning, her room was broken open, and the body
was found bathed in blood. She had been mortally
stabbed in the throat, and had been cut on the
hands and face. There was blood about her dress,
and her pockets had been rifled. There was blood
on some of the furniture. As some jewels were not
touched, it is supposed that the murderer was dis-
turbed, and had not time to break open the drawers.
The concierge of the house states that he saw the
woman leave the house about 11 o'clock accom-
panied by a young man. In passing she said to the
concierge, " I am very much delighted ; I have just
had a present of a very beautiful bouquet." The
murderer washed his hands in a basin and wiped
them on an article of dress, which had blood on it.
Marshal Regnauld de St. Jean d'Angely has
assumed the command in chief of the troops of the
Imperial Guard at the camp of Chalons, and the
camp operations have commenced.

'There is another extraordinary change of weather.
There has been a violent wind—cold as the March
wind—all day.

Royal Po!ytechnic Institution.

The attraction, if we may judge from the crowded
audiences daily visiting this establishment, must be
very great ; but we have some difficulty in saying
where its chief point lies, insomuch that its pro-
gramme is so diversified we hardly know which of
its varied entertainments to allude to first. Taking
them, however, in rotation, we enter the large
theatre, where Mr. W. Stokes is labouring in a very
pleasant and successful manner to cultivate on the
minds of young and old his system of artificial
memory. Mr. Stokes' work on the subject has al-
ready been noticed in the columns of The Sun,
and in addition to what we then said we can only
in recapitulation add that his lectures are sufficiently
popular to insure not only large but appreciative
audiences. Our attention is next called to Mr.
Jester's exhibition of ventriloquial powers, of which
his talking hand and headless men are wonderful
illustrations. The extraordinary doll which recites
" The little busy bee," with a mind running on
visionary sixpences, excites roars of laughter from
every one. On our part we were sorry when Mr.
Jester concluded. We are now transported into
" The land of the mountain and flood," and con-
ducted by those deservedly popular artists, Mr. and
Mrs. Henri Drayton, through the most beautiful
passages in the "Lady of the Lake." This is no
weary journey; the dulcet strains of Mr. Drayton's
voice, the ample justice rendered to the author by
Mr. Drayton's exquisite reading, renders this per-
formance delightful. Mrs. Drayton, in Sir Walter
Scott's song of " Rest, warrior, rest, thy warfare's
o'er," is fully equal to anything we have ever
heard.

We now reach the scientific attraction of the
evening in Mr. Pepper's popular optical illusion of
Shakspere and his friends, the Delphic Oracle, and,
perhaps the most beautiful of all, that of the
cherubs floating in the air. Our readers must spare
us the task of description ; the illusion is so per-
fect and so beautiful that we advise them to satisfy
themselves rather than we should fail in describing
what the pen can hardly, at all events satisfactorily,
accomplish. Amongst the stalls where articles of
beauty and utility combined are to be found we
notice that where Mr. Cox, the patentee of the
" Patent Ceramic Pentalocaust" prepares by his
patent the most beautiful specimens of natural
printed glass, china, and porcelain, where such
natural objects as flowers, seaweeds, ferns, butter-
flies, and moths are transferred in life-like reality on
the objects before us, and wo were informed, al-
though in their truthfulness to nature, their bril-
liancy and durability, that they are cheaper than
those produced by hand painting. Space prevents
our mentioning many other objects worthy of note.
But we must not conclude our remarks without a
word of praise to the unceasing exertions of Pro-
fessor Pepper, who is indefatigable in his efforts to
please the public taste ; nor on Mr. Thomas, secre-
tary to the institution, on whom much responsibility
rests. In fact, a word of praise is due to everyone
employed in the institution for the uniform civility
and couetesy they show towards the comfort and
requirements of the visitors.

Stokes' Pictorial Alultiplication Table. London

Houlston and Wright.
Since the above remarks, we have received that
which, if applicable, will gladden the heart of many
youths of both sexes, inasmuch as the difficulties of
bhe vexatious table can be mastered in the incredible
space of half an hour; which, if a fact,
and we have
no reason to doubt the veracity of Mr. Stokes, he
will deserve more laudatory comments than our
limits permit us to bestow.

ARMY OFFICERS' COMMISSIONS.—A War-office
return shows that in the course of the years 1861 and 186,5
127 officers in the army died while ou full pay. The sums
which they had paid for their commissions amounted
together to £llO,OlO.

ANTWERP TO LONDON.Ort Friday 37
TIIE GREAT PIGEON FLYING MATCII FROM
pigeons were
thrown up at Antwerp, to contest in a fly home to London,
but to the surprise of the owners not one arrived at its des-
tination till Saturday, although in training several of the
birds came half the distance from London to Antwerp in
lh. 45m. It is supposed the weather drifted the pigeons
out of their track. The distance from Antwerp to London
has been flown by pigeons in less than four hours. Another
and inore 6.atilifactory trial is anticipatod.