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

case there cannot be much of sentiment in it if he should
be called upon to part with his land at a fair price. I have
been charged very often—you know I have—with saying
very severe things of the English aristocracy. Now that
is not true in the sense in which it is imputed to me. I
have always said that there aro many men in the English
aristocracy who would be noblemen in the sight of their
fellow men though they had no titles and no coronets.
There aro men among them of as undoubted patriotism as
any man in this building or island ; and there aro men
among them who, when they see a great public object is
to bo served for the beneit of their fellow men, would
make just as great sacrifices as any one of us would be wil-
ling to do. lam of opinion, therefore—l may be altogether
mistaken, but I will not believe that I am until it is proved
—I ens of opinion that if this question were discussed in
Parliament when next the Irish laud question is there dis-
cussed, and if there wore a general sentiment in the House
of Commons that sumo measure of the kind would be ad-
vantageous to Ireland, then I think that a commission so
appointed would find no difficulty whatever in discovering
noblemen and very- rich men in England, possessors of
great estates in Ireland, who would be willing to nego-
tiate for their transfer to the commission ; and the com-
mission, by the process I have indicated, might transfer
them gradually, but steadily, to the tenant farmers of
this country. lam told that I have not been much in
Ireland, and that I do not know much of it. I
recollect a man in England, during the American war,
asking me a question about Americas and when I
gave an answer that did not agree with his opinion,
ho said, " I think you have never been in America,
have iyou ?" I said "No ;" and he said " I have
been there two or three times, and I know something
about it." He asked me if I thought the Yankees would
pay when they borrowed money to carry on the war. I
thought they would; bat he thought that as I had not
been there and he had, his opinion was worth more than
mine. I said that I know in England several people who
had been in England all their lives, and yet knew nothing
at all about England. (Laughter.) I am told that if
were to live longer in Ireland among the people I should
hold different opinions from those which I now entertain ;
that I should think the small Church of a minority was the
honest thing in the face of the Church of the majority;
that it was not the fault of the landowners, but of the
tenants, that everything went wrong with the land;
and that I should find that the Government and the legis-
lation were mostly right, and the people mostly wrong.
Now, there are certain questions with regard to any country
which you may settle in ymr own house, never having
seen that country, not even upon a map. Thus you may
settle that that which is just is just everywhere, and that
men from those of the highest culture and of the most moral
capacity, whatever their race or colour, have implanted in
their heart by their Creator—wiser much than these men,
the knowledge of and the love los justice. (Loud cheers.) I
tell you that since the day when I sat beside O'Connell, nay,
at an earliorday, I had considered these questions of Ireland;
that in 1829 for several weeks in the autumn, and for several
weeks in the autumn of 1852, I came to Ireland expressly to
examine these questions by consultation with all classes of
the people, in every part of the island, and I will undertake
to say that I believe there is no other man in England who
had more fully studied the evidence given before the cele-
brated Devon Commission with regard to Ireland than I
had ; therefore I dare stand up before any Irishman or Eng-
lishman to discuss the Irish question. (Cheers.) I say
the plans and the theories and the legislation of my oppo-
nents on this matter have failed, deplorably, disastrously,
ignominiously—(cheers)—therefore I have a right now to
offer to the people of Ireland, as I would to the [people of
Great Britain and the Imperial Parliament, a now, a wisp,
and a just policy for the people of this unfortunate coun-
try. I have attended great meetings iu England and Scot-
land during the last two months, and I think I am at
liberty to tender to you from those scores and hundreds
and thousands of men the hand of felloWship and good-
will. (Hear, hoar.) I wish I might be permitted when I
go back—and I think from this address I am permitted—
to say to my fellow-countrymen, that amidst all the fac-
tions by which Ireland has been torn, amidst, it may be,
Hie errors that have been committed, amidst passions that
have been excited, amidst hopes that have been blasted,
amidst the misery that has been endured, there is still in
this island, and amongst its people, a heart that can sym-
pathise with all those who turn to them with a fixed reso-
lution to judge them fairly and to do them justice. (Con-
tinued cheering.) Gentlemen, I have made my speech—l
have said my say—l have fulfilled my small mission, and
I thank you from my heart for the kindness with which
you have received me, and which I shall never forgot ;
and as I have in past times felt an unquenchable sym-
pathy with the sufferings of your people, you may
rely upon it, if there be an Irish member to speak for Ire-
land, you will find me heartily at his side. (The hon.
gentleman concluded amidst loud cheers, having spoken a
little over an hour.)

Mr. Bright at once left the meeting for Kingstown, and
will return to Englund this day.

MISCELLANEOUS AMERICAN NEWS.

------

Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton has offered herself
to the electors of the Eighth Congressional District
of New York as a candidate for the coming Congress.
There is, it seems, nothing in the Federal Consti-
tution, or in any of the State Constitutions, which
says anything of the sex of a representative, and
as the district in which Mrs. Stanton appeals is a
somewhat Radical one, it is not at all impossible
that the Fortieth American Congress may be dis-
tinguished as the first representative body graced
by the presence of woman. In her address to the
electors this lady declares that she cannot represent
either party of the country. The Republicans,
whilst right on questions of personal rights, are, she
holds, narrow in their views of protection ; and the
Democrats, sound in their ideas of trade, hold views
of " class and caste among men wholly at variance
with our free institutions, and fatal to a high civi-
lisation." Her " creed is free speech, free press,
ersaSyostth and the millions
'i " In view of the
f
free men, and free trade---the cardinal points of
democracy." ot chraatc
they.''
freedmenS he
f rtof the
of foreigners now crowdingour western shores, most
of whom represent neither property, education, nor
u h
civilisation, are all, in the progress of events, to be
enfranchised, the best interests of the nation demand
that we outweigh this incoming pauperism, igno-
rance, and degradation with the wealth, education,
and refinement of the women of the Republic."
Mr. Flint, to whom the fictitious despatch in the
Philadelphia Ledger was traced, was a war corres-
pondent for the Herald (New York) during the
late civil war, and was denounced at that time by
the Hon. Mr. Bout well in the House of Represen-
tatives as a " rebel reporter."

On the night of the 14th of October and morning
of the 15th a terrible fire occurred in Quebec. It
began in a grocer's shop in St. Joseph-street.
The wind blew strongly from the east, and the
delay in getting out the fire brigade and pro-
curing a supply of water gave the fire great head-
way. The entire district west of Crown-street to
the St. Sauveur toll-gate, a distance of a mile, was
destroyed. Seventeen churches and convents and
2,000 houses were consumed, and 20,000 people
rendered homeless. The aggregate damage done is
estimated at from £500,000 to £600,000. Four
persons were killed and several injured. The con-
flagration ceased at five o'clock in the afternoon,
nothing being left in the burnt district to feed the
flames. A public meeting has been called in Quebec
to raise money to aid the sufferers.

Great efforts have for some time been made to
introduce the growing of flax and the manufacture
of linen on an extensive scale into the United States,
but as yet they have not succeeded very well. In
this particular the British North American pro-
vinces are far in advance of the United States, as
they now have in successful operation several large
linen factories.

The Philadelphia Inquirer gives this sample of
how the election was conducted in the Fourth Ward.
On the morning of the election, before the polls
were opened, a gentleman, appointed by the Court
one of the inspectors to conduct the election, accom-
panied by a clerk, presented himself at the Sixth
Precinct House, in the Fourth Ward, and, after
making known his business, asked to be admitted to
a seat in the room set apart for the election officers.
The Judge at once denied him admission, notwith-
standing that he presented the order of the Court.
The election officers did not pay the slightest atten-
tion to the order, and would not even glance at the
document. The thought immediately struck the
inspector that those selected to conduct the election
in this precinct were unable to read, and for their
information he volunteered to read the order to
them. This excited their indignation, and the in-
spector was forciblyejected from the Precinct House.
Ile soon after waited on the Sheriff and informed
him of the disgraceful proceeding, and of the re-
fusal of the election officers to countenance the
order of the Court. The Sheriff would not inter-
fere with the business of the Court, and consequently
the Sixth Precinct was loft without an inspector.
Such is a sample of how the election was conducted
in the Fourth Ward.

I he name of Illinois originated in the following
manner :—A party of Frenchmen set out upon an
exploring expedition down the river, which they
afterward named, providing themselves with bark

canoes, and relying chiefly for their subsisten.cei
upon game. They found at the confluence of this
river with the Mississippi an island thickly wood ed
with black walnut. It was a season of the ycr
when the nuts were ripe, and the party of explore as,
encamping on this island, greatly enjoyed the luxv Lry
of this fruit. From this circumstance they called._ it
the " Island of Nuts"—or, in French, " Isle a•ax
Nois"—which name was given to the river which
they explored, and thence to the territory and State.
We note the following in the special despatches
of the Philadelphia Inquirer on the Ledger cauard.:—
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 186 6..
To Hon. Robert Johnson, Private Secretary to the
President, Washington, D.C.

Philadelphia, Oct. 11.—Is the statement true of
the President desiring the Attorney-General's opi-
nion as to the constitutionality of not recog•li''ing
the present Congress ?
WILLIAM W. HARDING,
„Publisher of The Philadelphia Inruirer.

[Copy.]
Telegram from the President.

To William W :Harding, Publisher of The Phila-
delphia Inquirer.
Executive Mansion, Washington, Oct. 11, 1866.
Your despatch of this morning has been received.
There is no truth whatever in the statement re-
ferred to.

ROBERT JOHNSON,

Private Secretary to the President.
The representatives of the Ledger here positively
deny that they sent the despatch, and one of the
attaches of the paper, who was supposed to be the
author, this afternoon called on the President, and
disclaimed any knowledge of the origin of the
despatch. The President and Mr. Stanberry both
tell me there is not the slightest foundation for the
Ledger story, and that they never even conversed
on the subject.
The President has appointed the following post-
masters : —Nehemiah Dunn, Salem, New Jersey ;
Joseph Davis, Albany, New York ; C. Hyde Beck-
with, Cazenova, New York ; William S. Cook,
Paris, Illinois ; James G. Hatchett, Frankfort,
Kentucky ; J. J. Thomas, Newport, Kentucky ;
William A. Trower, Shelbyville, Illinois ; Fred. S.
M'Neeley, New town, New Jersey ; Joseph B.
Oliver, Rahway, New Jersey.
The law requires the agents of the National
Banks in the leading cities of the United States to
redeem the currency of any of the National Banks
under certain regulations. One of these agents in
Boston refused to redeem a package of a thousand
dollars, mutilated currency, because he considered
the notes so much destroyed as to impair their
value. The matter was submitted to the Comp-
troller of the Currency for his decision, and that
officer has decided that mutilated notes must be re-
deemed by the redemption agencies of the National
Banks at commercial centres, so long as no reason-
able doubt exists as to the value or identity of the
notes presented. When the notes are so badly
mutilated as to make the value or identity diffi'cult
to determine, the case shall be referred to the bank
from which the notes were issued. A circular to
this effect is immediately to be issued to all the
agencies and banks.

Letters and printed matter of every kind posted
in the United States, and addressed to Switzerland,
may be transmitted to their destination, via Bel-
gium, in the mails made up at New York and de-
spatched by the new line of American steamships
running direct between New York and Antwerp.
Correspondence for Switzerland forwarded in the
mails to Belgium by direct steamer to Antwerp
will be subject to the following rates of postage,
the same being in full to destination :—On letters,
18 cents per single rate of half ounce, prepayment
optional. On newspapers, gazettes, and periodical
works, 4 cents per each weight of 3 ounces, or
fraction thereof ; prepayment required. On
books, pamphlets, and other printed matter, 3 cents
per each ounce or fraction of an ounce ; prepay-
ment required.

The Treasury Department is informed that smug-
gling operations of an extensive character have re-
cently been carried on from Matamoros to Browns-
ville, Texas, across the Rio Grande. The withdrawal
of troops stationed at Brownsville has given the
smugglers an opportunity for effecting their unlaw-
ful purposes, which they have been prompt to seize.
Measures have beeti instituted for the prevention of
these transactions. Such is the activity of smug-
glers at the various points of the frontier that the
exercise of the greatest vigilance is required from
revenue officers in the performance of their duties.
Alfred Delestatius was brought up on the 11th of
October, before United States Commissioner Hibler,
on the charge of opening the United States Post-
office boxes attached to the lamp-posts. Several
witnesses were examined. One of the witnesses, a
lad named Frank Howard, discovered the defendant,
on Wednesday night, Oct. 10, attempting to open
a letter-box at Thirteenth and Pine-streets. The
defendant held a hat over his hand in order to con-
ceal his operations. The witness watched the ac-
cused, who went from this to two or three other
boxes, which he attempted to open. Information
was given to the police, who took him into custody.
There were found on his person one of the ordinary
keys used for unlocking these letter-boxes, a letter
directed to John Ilerk, Ipswich, Massachusetts,
and also a $lO note, which he admitted he had taken
from a letter. One of the officers testified that de-
fendant said to him that being a locksmith he had
manufactured the key. He was held in $3,000 to
an swer.

In the severe storm which occurred in Maryland
this month the establishments that suffered are the
following :—Gray's Factory, Union Factory, This-
tle and Granite Factories, at Ellicott's Mills ; Al-
berton Factory, at Elysville. The dams are all de-
stroyed or greatly injured. The Avalon nail and
ironworks, near the Relay House, on the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad, had their dam broken and the
buildings flooded and injured. The accounts re-
ceived from the Upper Patapsco show the damage
by the storm to have been much greater than was
reported on the 10th of October. The large dam
of the Union Manufacturing Company, with a part
of its mill-race, stabling and horses, together with
the bridge connecting the works with the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad, were all swept off. The dam of
the granite factory at Ellicott's Mills and much
other property has been swept away. There are
reports of 21 persons believed to be drowned at
Ellicott's Mills. The repairs to the railroad are
actively progressing. The tressel work at Ilchester
is nearly completed, and the trains will soon pass
as usual.
From San Francisco we learn that 200 guns were
fired on the night of the 11th October, by order of
the Union State Central Committee, for the late
political victories. G. S. Goodman, the book-keeper
of the firm of Levi Strauss and Co., is the name of
the person referred to in connection with the recent
defalcations, estimated at $500,000 in currency.
He was reported to have absconded to China or
Panama. The members of the firm say their books
and moneys do not show that anything has been
abstracted. Markets at San Francisco, October 12,
state—Wheat less firm; sales of 3,500 sacks at
$1.65 per 1001bs. Mining Stocks—Yellow Jacket,
$745 ; Savage, $1,195; Belcher, $77; Imperial, $75;
Legal Tenders, 70i.
A new military organisation—the " West Jersey
Rifles"—has just been formed in Camden. It is
composed of veteran soldiers and sailors who did
noble and effective service iu the Union cause dur-
ing the war against rebellion. Application has been
made to the State authorities for arms and equip-
ments, which will be forwarded to them in a few
days. Sixty veterans have already joined the com-
pany.

The Union Republicans of Camden city and
county, and, in fact, throughout the entire First
Congressional District, are highly elated with the
results of the recent elections, and feel encouraged
in the work they have to perform between this and
the 6th of November. Preparations are in progress
for holding several meetings to rejoice over these
victories, as well as to discuss the issues of the day
before the people.
The Round Table, in an article on " Presidents
and Precedents," declares the Hon. Charles Francis
Adams to be the person best fitted to succeed Mr.
Johnson as President. The main argument of our
New York contemporary is that Mr. Adams is a
gentleman. After disposing of the claims of the
successful Generals, it looks in vain through the
political ranks for the individual it considers