The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-26 00:00:00

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1.474 AU-DE-VlE.—This Pure PALE BRANDY,
18s. per gallon, is very superior to recent importations
of Cognac, recommended by the medical profession, and ex-
tensively used in hospitals. In bottles, 3Ss. per dozen, or in
a case 39s , railway carriage pat I.—HENRY BRETT and
CO., Old Furnival's Distillery, Holborn, E.O , and 30, Regent-
street, S.W. Established 1829.

CONTRACT FOR BEECH WEDGES.
Contract Department, Admiralty, Somerset
House, 14th Dec., 1866.
/11HE COMMISSIONERS for EXECUTING
IL the OFFICE of LORD HIGH ADMIRAL of iho
UNITED KINGDOM of GREAT BRITAIN and IRE-
LAND, Do hereby give NOTICE, that on TUESDAY,
the Bth January next, at Two o'Clock, they will be ready
to treat with such Persons as may be willing to Contract
for supplying Her Majesty's Dockyard at Portsmouth with
Hewed Wedges of Beech, under a Contract for twelve
calendar months certain, and further until the expiration
of three calendar months' warning.
The average annual consumption, together with a Form
of the Tender and Conditions of Contract, may be seen in
the Lobby of the Storekeeper-General's Department,
Admiralty, Somerset House. No Tender will be received
after Two o'Clock on the day of Treaty, nor will any be
noticed unless the Party attends, or an Agent for him duly
authorised in writing.
Every Tender must be addressed to the Secretary of the
Admiralty, and boar in the left-hand corner the words
" Tender for Beech Wedges ;" and must also be delivered
at the Department of the Storekeeper-General, Admiralty,
Somerset House, accompanied by a L;tter signed by two
responsible person; engaging to become bound with the
Person tendering in the sum of £2OO for the due perfor-
mance of the Contract.

By Order,
ANTONIO BRAY,
Registrar of Contracts and Public
Securities.

PRICE.... ....... 4d.
STAMVED....Sd

VIETROPOLITAN RAILWAY—Trains every
AZ. five minutes.

ETRO POLITAN RAILWAY Moorgate
AA_ street Station.

BOYS' ATTIRE.

i TETROITAN RAlLWAY—AldersgatPOLe
ta street Station.

TimEs.—lt would perhaps be premature to say
hat the Government of the United States is about
to undergo a *complete.. change ; but the more we
hear of the proceedings of the current Session of
Congress the more apparent is it that elements are
at work which must speedily transform the Consti-
tution, unless their action is checked by the national
opinion. The Republican party, flushed with vic-
tory and overwhelming in strength, hurries on to its
ends without listening to a word of remonstrance.
It is for a time the uncontrolled and uncontrollable
master of the situation. The minority which passes
for an Opposition in the Senate and House of Re-
presentatives is litera!ly silenced. The power of the
President is gone. Unable to reckon upon a suffi-
cient number to support. his veto, he sits at the
White House an impotent witnrss, of a legislative
action which he cannot impede. The
powers con-
ferred upon his office are taken away from him one
by one, and his- duties are reduced to those of the
most formal character. The small remnant of autho-
rity which he might exercise during the interval be-
tween successive Sessions of Congress he will not
enjoy, as an act has been already passed making the
next Session follow immediately on the termination
of the present. The Republican supremacy is thus •
complete. But perfect as their position now is, the
leaders of the party are conscious of its insecurity.
They have endangered, if they have not sacrificed,
the Constitution that they might turn to the utmost
profit a triumph probably temporary. Their victo-
ries in the autumn were iu the most important States
the direct consequence of - a reaction against the
violence of the Chicago tour, and the majorities
won by the indiscretion of their principal opponent
may be lost by the extreme course they have them-
selves taken. Without 'considering the possibility
of the admission to the national Legislature at no
distant time of representatives from the excluded
Southern districts, it is manifSst that-the Republi-
can party cannot depend on the continued fidelity
of the middle States. It is. not unnatural, there-
fore, that they should be eager to consummate all
their projects now, in their time of power; although
should delay from any cause intervene, it is possible
that their eagerness may prove their own destruc-
tion. The present Congress may not have time to
complete its plans, but enough has been done to
show the essential character *of the changes the
majority desire. The L .gislative has conquered the
Executive I.),Tartment of the Government, a.al
would now proceed to absorb all other power through
out the country. It is not difficult to see that a
collision between C _ingress and some of the middle
States is the thing to be next apprehended. The
policy of the Republican party in dealing with the
conquered South must be supplemented by consti-
tutional changes in the Sates still in the Union,
and it is certain that these changes will not be
accepted without as opposition which mast first
be crushed by enlarging the sph,re of Congress.
One of the great—perhaps- we should say the great
—question in relation 'w the South is that of the
suffrage. Last spring Congress was willing to
allow the reconstituted States to settle the suffrage
at their own discretion as heretofore, subject to the
proviso that representatives should be- allot ted in
proportion to the electors, and not to the inhabitants,
of a district. No such compromise is now posale.
The acees.,:ion of strength which the Republican
party has received emboldens its leaders to insist
upon " impartial " suffrage,in the South— that is to
say, a suffrage limited, it may be, by property or
educational qualifications, but admitting of no dis-
tinction of race.. It would, however, be wholly in-
consistent to insist upon an impartial suffrage in
the South so long as it is not conceded in the North,
and at present, with some exceptions iu New Eng-
land, persons of colour are hindered in acquiring, if
not absolutely debarred from, political privileges in
the North. Congress has accordingly shown its
temper bya Suffrtvi°e Bill for the district of Columbia.
In this peculiar district-:specially subject to the
National Legislature—negroes will, after the pre-
sent Session, be admitted to vote like the other in-
habitants. The next step will be the application of
the same law to the Northern States. At present
it is uncertain in what proportions the Senate would
be disposed to support a bill interferino, with the
liberty each State has to determine who shall have
the privilege of the suffrage within it, and until it is
well ascertained that a sufficient number of Senators
would favour the proposal to pass it over the Presi-
dential Veto, itsintroduction will be delayed. But
already there is a cry that the Senate is a clog to the
House. Its tendencies are too conservative for the
extreme Republicans in the House and, thy. country ;
and it is very possible that some wavering Senators
may give way rather than provoke a hostile feeling.
Events are at present marching fast in that direc-
tion, and we may ,anticipate that the 40th Congress,
if not the 39th, will pass a law which will be a more
striking innovation than anything of which we have
yet heard. The threatened interference of Congress
with the qualification of voters in every State will,
if effected, be an essential alteration of the charac-
ter of the Federation, and the first instance of the
aggrandisement of the central authority by the re-
moval of the checks which were designed to limit its
power. The tendency of Congress to encroach on the
functions of the separate States is a sequel to its
absorption of the Presidential powers, and is in
complete agreement with the conduct of the majo-
rity towards the minority within itself. The
" Caucus" has always been a great institution at
lirassington, but never hitherto has its power been •
anything like what it is this Session. The " Caucus"
is King. It supersedes discussion in House and
Senate. In this conclave of the dominant party
the measures are hatched which are then brought
to light in the Legislature, and hurried through
without debate. A dissident in the ranks of the
Republican party itself must give way in every par-
ticular to the resolutions of his associates, as he
knows that otherwise his name would not be in-
cluded in the " ticket" of his party at the next
election, and his political career would be sum-
marily closed. In the " Caucus," however, there
may be debate, though it is a debate in secret. In the
Legislature there is no discussion worthy of the
name. The bill, for example, providing that when
the present Congress conies to an end on the 4th of
March the new Congress shall immediately assemble
for the despatch of business was carried in the House
of Representatives, after scarcely half an hour's dis-
cussion, by a majority of 127 to 3J. If the bill be
important, and an attempt at opposition is expected
time " previous question" is called into play. This
device absolutely precludes debate, since when it is
demanded a vote is immediately taken whether the
discussion shall be confirmed. If the majority de-
cides this in the negative, a vote is at once taken on
the bill itself, and :a measure thus becomes law, al-
though no opportunity has been given to its oppo-
nents to argue against it. The minority is thus sub-
ject to the caprice of the majority, and the temper
of intolerance fostered which forbids any expression
of independent opinion. The man who is in a party
is its slave ; the man who is in a beaten party is a
silent slave ; the man who attempts to be indepen-
dent of party is nowhere. In observing the change
which American institutions are suffering, it must be
obserired that we pass no opinion on the immediate
objects of thogiornivant party in Congress. The

BOYS' & HYAIII and CO.

TO GUNMAKERS and Others.

The SECRETARY of STATE for WAR is desirous of
receiving PROPOSALS from Gunmakers and Others for
BREECH-LOADING RIFLES, either repeating or not
repeating, which may replace the present Service Rifles in
future manufacture.

OYS' at 66 and 67, OXFORD-ST.

BOYS' NEW STYLE OVERCOATS.

The following are the conditions considered essential in
military non-repeating Rifles:—
A. "WEIGHT.
Not to exceed 91b. soz. without bayonet.
n. LENGTH.

To be 51 inches, with short stock, measured from tho
hollow of the bUtt-plate to muzzle.
c. WEIGHT OF AMMUNITION MADE UP.
Must not exceed 61b. 4oz. for sixty rounds as packed for
service.

3IETROPOLITAN RAlLWAY—Farringdon.
street Station.

D. CARTRIDGES.

BOYS' NEW STYLE REEFERS.

Must carry their own ignition

E. SIGHTS.
The foresight must be such as to admit of a bayonet
fixed according to the present system.

r. STOOK.
Must bn such as to carry a light metal cleaning-rod, and
allow a sling to be used.
_____

G. RECOIL.
Must not exceed that of the Enfield Rifle by more than
0 per cent.

n. THE AIM AS A WHOLE.

Must be as little liable to injury by long-continued firing,
rough usage, and exposure, as the naval rifles converted to
breech-loaders on the Snider system. To be as capable,
also, of being used without accident by imperfectly trained
men, and of being manufactured in quantities and of uni-
form

nays, KNICKERBOCKER SUITS.
413

BOYS' OSBORNE suns.
_A)

BOYS' HARROW SUITS.

BOYS' JACKETS for ALL PURPOSES.

METROPOLITAN RAILWAY—King's-cross
S La Li o n.

BOYS: TROUSERS and VESTS.

OYS' HOSIERY and SHIRTS.

OYS' HATS, CAPS, &c., &c.

11-ETROPOLITAN RAILWAY—Gower-street
al. Station.

ETROP 0 LITAN RAILWAY— Portland
road Station.

E circusß oPspatLiolnT(oAN Rtiegteint:-
283, Regent-street). en t-s tree t). TE)
COMeAIgY'S SPECIAL OMNIBUSES to and from Port—
land-road Station meet every Ttain.
(opposite
PolytechnicoliA.N I tnAs. II.V111:.

HYAM & Co.'s BOYS' WINTER CLOTHING,
66 and 67, Oxford-street, London.
The First Establishment in the Kingdom for Juvenile
Clothing.
Boys' Sandringham Overcoats lss. to 355.
Boys' Prince Alfred Reefers
Boys' Overcoats for Little Boys
Boys' Knickerbocker Suits lss. to 355.
Boys' Westminster and Osborne Snits lss. to 355.
Boys' Eton, Harrow, and Rugby Suits
Boys' Jackets for School and Home Os. to 21s.

HYAM and Co.'s ATTIRE for GENTLEMEN,
66 and 67, Oxford-street, London.

THE BELGIAN PUBLIC WORKS COM-
PANY (Limited).

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the LISTS of
APPLICATION for SHARES in the above Company will
be CLOSED on FRIDAY NEXT, the 28th instant, for
London, and SATURDAY, the 29th instant, for Country
applications.

By order of the Board,
W. J. L. lIERIOT, Secretary.
St. Clement's House, Clements-lane, E.C.

WHAT IS YOUR CREST AND WHAT IS
YOUR MOTTO ?

Send 3s. 6d. to CULLETON'S Heraldic Office for a
Plain Sketch, or 6s. for a Colohred one. The Arms of
man and wife blended together in proper heraldic form.
The proper heraldic Colours for servants' liver'es, what
buttons to be used, and how the carriage should be painted,
fee 10 s. Just complete, a very valuable book, with 3,500
Engravings, arms, crests, and mottoes of nearly every
family in the kingdom, the result of thirty years' labour,
price XlO 10s., printed in several colours. Family Pedi-
grees traced from authentic records, information as to the
obtaining of a new grant of arms, = how to change one's
name„ by T. Culleton, Engraver to, her Majesty and Royal
family ; also Diesinker to the Board of 'Trade, 23, Cran-
ourn-street (corner of St. Martin's-lane), W.C.

Hyam and Co.'s Winter Tweed Overcoats 21s. to 30s.
Hyam and Co.'s Winter Reefer Capes 3os. to 81s.
Ilyam and Co.'s Winter Overcoats
Hyam and Co.'s Winter Suits
Hyam and Co.'s Winter Jackets
Hyam and Co.'s Winter Frock Coats
Hyam and Co.'s Winter Vests
Hyam and Co.'s Winter Trousers

YAM and Co.'s SELECT DEPARTMENTS.
11. 1. Gentlemen's Clothing for immediate Wear.
2. Bespoke or Order Department.
3. Boys' and Youths' Distinct Department.
4. Hats, Caps, Hosiery, and Outfit Department.

QPANISH FLY is the acting ingredient in
ALEX. ROSS'S CAN ITEARIDES OIL. which speedily
produces whl,kers and thickens hair, 3s 6d, Ss Bd, and iOs 8d;
sent by post for Si, and 141 at,tnips. -ALEX. HOBB. 248,
nigh Holborn, London, and all Chem!sta.

WONDERFUL DISCOVERY.—Corns cured
in one day by usinz _ALEX. ROSS'S CHIROPO.
This preparation gradually dissolves the Corn in a few hours,
removing the veryroot. Price Is ; sent by post for 80 stamps.
—248, High Holborn, London, and all Chemists.

FIAIR-CURLING FLUID, 248, High Holborn,
London.—ALEX. ROSS'S CURLING FLUID curl,
Ladles' or Gentlemen's hair immediately it is applied. Sold
at :is 6,1, 6s 6d, and 10s 6d ; sent free for 51, Si, and 141 stamps.
—Had of all Chemists.

ri REY HAIR.-248, High Holborn, London.—
ijr ALEX. ROSS'S HAIR DYE produces a perfect colour
immediately it is used. It is permanent, and perfe3tly na-
tural in effo I. Price 3s ed, be td, and .08 ed ; sent by post
for 54, 84, and 144 stamps ; and all Chcmi,ts.

HAIR DESTROYER.-248 High Holborn,
London.—AL EX. ROSS'S DEPILATORY removes
superfluous hair from till lace, neck. and arms, without effect
to the skin. Price 3s Sel, 5s 6d, and 108 6d; sent for 51, 84,
and 144 stamps.—li ad of all Chemists.

DIMPLE REMOVER.—AII diseases of the
It skin are improved by • one dose of ALEX. ROS,'S
VE ;ETAJILE SKIN PILLS. They remove re inoss, sal-
lowness, Ate. 2s 9d and 78 ad ;or post for and WO stamps.
—ALEX. ROSS, 248, High Holborn, London, and all Che-
mists.

iVASii.—BY
Wash, iu seven
washing the
or head
sssußine
beautifully-perfumed
s its original colour, ,nd remains
so by an owsional usin 2*. 10,3,4 ; s nt Tor stamps.—ALEX.
ROSS, 24e, High Holborn, Londmi, and Ali Chemists.

Just published, 2d; sent by the author for i stamps,
UGLINESS and BEAUTY; being a Pamphlet
descriptive of articles and means used for improving
the appearance. By ALLX. ROSS, 248, High Holborn,
London.

THE RESCUE SOCIETY
Lome to tho 12 now in operation. Last year no fewer
han 455 poor, friendless, young females were rejected trom
wishes to add another
want of FUNDS and room, making a total of 3,0b7, who have
been sent away in fire years.
Me new home the Committee wish to form woald be for
hyoavuengbegeinrllsedastrayalmost ch
from
lontributioas will be received gratefully by the Secretary,
Nir. I )aniel Cooper. ,z 5, Queen •screet• Cheapside; or by Messrs
il dret it , from the age of 6 to 15, who
e path of virtue.
Barclay and Co.. Lombard-street.

Aith„ 1422yzi'osr-tillaenr;T,Vi.,
9rßay
rt:iYrmin ItktuiLeusi.:lF.naßilenEtlig.,st.e:vrioic°:o.nSiryiTof

Patron--lier nost Graciotta Majesty the QUEEN.

Vlea-Patron--1118 Royal Iflghnees the Prince of W NLE 8, H G
President-131s race the Duke of BUCCL RUCH.. K.G.

This Hospital, lot:tide-I in the year 1828, the. lrat estab-
' fish the principle of free admission to the sick poor, without
the delay and difficulty of Governors' orders. is wholly de-
pendent for support nu voluntary contributions and t .43.;; es .
It affords relief to a large number of in-pailents, and, in
addition to this, the average number of attendance of the
destitute sick has for a considerable period averaged between
3,000 and 4,000 weekly.
The Committee earnestly solicit the ASSISTANCE of the
benevolent, as the premises of this Hospital are capable of
containing several hundred more beds had the Committee
the requisite funds to maintain them.
Contributions are received by their bankers, Messrs. Brown,
Janson, and Co., Abchurch-lane; also by Messrs. Coutte and
Co.; Drummond and Co. ; Giyn and Co. ; Berries and Co. ;
Ransom and Co.; Prescott, Grote, and Co.; Smith, Payne,
and Co. ; Barclay and Co. ; ilhatas, Deacon, and Co.; Nisbet
and Co., Berner's-street and at the Hospital, from 10 till 5.
srikruroxiD 82411T11.

FALKNER'S OLD IRISH WHISKY, " Real
Malt," 19s. per ffallon, is sold in battles and jars, bear-
ing hia label and trade mark. Most liberal terms ar, oiThre4l
to the trade for the sale of this geniiina old s,lri t, which is
coming into universal consumption through England.
For price lists a,ply at Offices, 14, Strand. London, W.C.
Established is Gratton-street, Dublin, A.n. 17,••0.

DUNVILLE'S V.R. OLD IRISII WHISKY,
ELP.A.3T,

31ETROPoLITAN RAILWAY—Baker-street
station.

ETROPOLITAIN RAILWAY Edgware-
H. Station.

31ETROPOLITAN RAILWAY Bishop's-
road Station.

TAAr ETROPOLITAN RAILWAY--Trains every
fire minutes.
MYLES FENTON, General Manager.

111E11:14ZIOLPw0A.Ly
taisn.rdlfGAßs EliolLollArEy.9,,RtNra
Trains between the City, liini-i's-eross, cower-street,
land-road, Regent-circu,t, Baker-street, Edgware-r• ad and
Paddington, Hammersmith, Kensingtin, Shepherd's-bush,
Notting-hill, and Westbourne-park.

SPIRI r OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Is regularly supplied to the House of Lords.

"P.R." IRISH WHISKY.

DUNVILLE and CO.'S " V.R." OLD IRISH
WHISKY, BELFAST.

London OM es and Stores,
4, DEA.CFORT-BUILDING.S, STRAND, W.C.
Establi3hed 18C8. Quotations on application.

JAMES DALY and CO., Distillers, John-street,
Cork.—" The purest spirit and Pft'eSt drink in the
world."—l.oi.don Offices, 7, frinting,-honie-square, E.C.,
next the "Times."

TAMES DALY and CO., Distillers, John-street,
/..Y Cork, beJ to announce that they LIT able to supply the
trade with their celebrated Whiskies, in casks or cases, and
to take orders in bond .trd for exportatio,, at their (aces, 7,
Printing-house-square, London, E C.. the only house in the
equare not occupied by th,, "Times." J. D. and Co.'s whiskies
brim: the highest prices in the Australian and °the,' Colonial
markets, as may b.: observed by reverence to the "Journal of
Ct.mmetce if Victoria," by whkh it wits be seen that 'tt,ir
whiskies fetch 6d. tier alloti and Is. pA• cisc over the next
best. and Is. 6rl per gallon atm ss. 6.1. c tse over 'lie lowest
quotation. Always on hand a large supply itt ye y old
mellow w'ofsky in the finest condition, matured In slurry
casks, unsurpassable in quality and flavour, sa, plied on the
most reasonable terms.

jkaVALUABLE CHRISTMAS PRESENT.-
... A CHIN .t.:SE CADDY, crlitta'ninz Itilm. or really
00 Illack 'tea, se ,4 c,arriag,e Ince to Ray railway sta ion or
market town in Inland, Ireland, -eltkiri. or tVsle., o , re-
r,•ipt of 10s., b; i'IIILLIPS and CO , Tea 31ere:iants, 8,
li:ng WilUarn-street, City, E.C.

TEA IS CHEA.PER THAN EVER.-Is. 61,
t. per lb. are the prices at whi.h Pti IL LI I'S
and CO Tea Merchants, 8, Kim!: Wllliam—ttreet, City, L tn-
don, E. 1.1., :.re selliny good and fine BL VIC A price
currettt post tree. 40a worth c:ir.iat.te tree to any ntilway
t lion or market town in the Uni•ed Kinvitm.--o'm rye—
Purr,Lirs ar,d Co. have no Agenta or any oonnextoa with
any house in Worcester or Bwaneea. Su.viri ace stippled at
market prices.

GEOLOG Y.—ELEMENTARY COLLEC-
', to illustrate th Edition ot "Lyell's
Elementsfloss of Geology" and facilitate the important study of
Mineralogy and Geology, can be had at 2,5, 10, •40, 51 to 50)
guineas ; also tingle Specimens of Minerals, Roaks, Fossils,
aid Iteant Shells, Gcologi,al Itav s. Hammers, al' the recent
Publealons, tc, o' J. TENNANT, Miaeralogist to Her
Maj, sty, 119. Strand, Lon ion.
Private Instruction is given in Mineralog; and Geo'ogy by
Mr. TENNANT, F.G.S., 149, Strand, W.C.

R. scorrs LIVER AND BILIOUS
PILLS.—A NEVER FAILING ItElls:DY.--Fre-
,ared without any mercurial Ingredient trots the recipe of Dr.
Scott, of Bromley, Rent, will be found invaluable to all who
offer from bilious And liver nomnlaints, indigeatten, wind,
pasms, giddiness, thtzinew of the eyes, &a. For habitual
cetiveness, as a family aperient medicine, and as a purifier
.1 the blood, they <tre truly excellent; mild in their opera-
tion and grateful to :he stomach, they create appe•ite, pro-
note dlgeaticn, and strengthen the whole nervous system.
Prepared only and told by W. Lambert, Chemist, t 3, King
WLiiarn-street, Charing-cross. London, and by most dreg-
gists, in boxes,ls. lid., and three times the quantity in one,
es. 9d. Be sure to ask fir Pr. Scott's Bilious and Liver Pills.
The genuine are a square green package. with " William
Lambert" enzrsved OT, the stamp.

NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE.—The greatest and
most use( .11 invention of the day, AGUA 4MARFLLA.
Ntessrs, JOHN GOSNELL and CO.' Red Bull Wharf, 9:3,
Upper Thames-street, Perfumers to her Majesty. respect-
tully offer to the public this truly marvellous Ifni 1. which
gradually restores tne human hair to its pristine hue- no
matter at what age. The Agus Amarelta has none of the
properties of dyes ; it, on the contrary. is beneficial to the
system, and when the hair is once restored one application
per month will keep it in perfect colour. Price one guinea per
bottle. or in half bottles. its. 6.1. Testimonials from artistes
ofthe highest order, and from individuals of undoubted re-
spectability, may be seen on application. Messrs. John
Gomel' and Co. have been appointed Perfumers to her Royal
Highness the Primus of Wales.

IVSp44, FE - -
views of the Repu
but the means by >14t0446 tain
them appear to be ffp_e2etf eee , Go-
vernment'designed timt'W•ittiNf_e anon.
Government . it wills h
is not a representative is;Governmet Tongressour is
not a deliberative body. These are facts of obser-
vation, and to insist upon them no more implies a
criticism of the Republican policy than to say that
the Government of Russia is autocratic involves a
condemnation of the Imperial regime. But the
failure of Congress as a deliberative body and of the
representative institutions of the States is a fact of
the highest importance, and it may he questioned
whether any ends can be worth such a cost.
We have been accustomed to believe free o.overn-
ment to be of more value than any perfection of
administration, and to think it the peculiar glory of
Parliament or Congress that every opinion could
find an utterance in it, every class could secure a
representative and a hearing. America is in danger
of losing, if it has not lost, this inheritance. Its
Congress is engrossing power to itself mi all sides,
and yet it is not Congress that is supreme, but a
power behind Congress--secret, irresponsible, al-
most unknown. The decrees of this self-elected
Council, matured in private, are launched upon the
Legislature, which accepts them without discussion,
and the destinies of the nation are committed to the
keeping of a few unseen men, who direct the ma-
chine of legislation. To what lengths the trans-
formation of the American Government thus begun
may be carried we know not ; individual members
of Congress are powerless to resist it, and the only
hope of arresting its progress lies in a recoil of
national opinion such as has landed the Repub-
lican party in its present triumphant position.
POST.—If there is, as Mr. Newdegate seems to
think, ," something very inconvenient in old Tory
notions," many people who read the speech which
he delivered at Birmingham the other day, in the
light and heat thrown out by a Christmas log, may
be of opinion that, so far from being either incon-
venient or inopportune, it was a seasonable stimu-
lant. The plain truth is that the question which
Mr. Newdegate expatiated upon never has been,
and. we trust never will be, a mere question.of party.
Injeed, seeing that he insisted on the European
status of this country, and humorously protested
against the British Parliament meeting in Calcutta,
his tent may be said to be pitched on neutral ground.
Isolated it certainly is not, for the flag which covers
it still inspires respectful consideration in every
quarter of the'world, but national principles stand
alone in the sense that their proper position is high
over the heads of parties. However, Mr. New-
degate's remarks on the events of the year which
is now fast drawing to its close, together
with the augury which they have suggested,
claim attention from another point of view.
Some of those events have been explained and in on the public mind by the prescient states-
man who shaped their course ; and it is noticeable,
in the first place, that the effect of Mr. Newdegate's
exclamation, " Alas ! for the prophecies of peace,"
is to a certain extent neutralised by Count von
Bismarck's declaration that Prussia halted in her
victorious career and modified her high-handed
policy to avoid a war the end of which could not
possibly be foreseen. This statement, which appears
to have been made somewhat ',gratuitously, should
surprise no one; but it proves— if proof were want-
ing—that there are limits to the abuse of interna-
tional forbearance, and Mr. Newdegate can, if he
is so minded, give it a more comprehensive. inter-
pretation. For our part, we are content to take
note of the fact, as the Prussian Minister has done,
and to hope that it affords the security for peace
which Mr. Newdegate despairs of finding. Ile says
the treaties of Vienna have been torn into shreds,
which is perfectly true in so far as there was any-
thing left to tear up in the tattered threadbare rem-
nant of the European settlement which they esta-
blished. It is, too, matter of history that the great
Powers parties to those treaties created or resuscitated
certain small States for the purpose of strengthening
the guarantee which they desired to obtain; but Mr.
Newdegate omitted to mention how they departed
from the rule by compelling Austria to bear again
the burden of her former Italian dependencies, and
how, in effect, that mistake eventually opened up the
opportunity which Prussia improved. The treaties
of Vienna apparently gave Europe peace for over
30 years, and yet, inasmuch as during that period
their irovisions were repeatedly violated, it may be
thought that, practically, they contributed to bring
about what has since come to pass, and therefore,
which if really the matter to be considered, that
their destruction may lead to a better state of
things. At present it is impossible not to perceive
that the situation is dangerously complicated by the
very measures which it exacts. All the Powers of
Europe are reconstructing their armaments, and, as
Mr. Newdegate puts it, in homely phraseology, " if
c-gt•rybody io afrnia, ;,,,,tutfLittily tiZ.`l+ thin), anau
somebody means to break somebody else's head."
No doubt that is the csse. Count von Bismarck
admits as much, and it is manifest that liberty of
action represented by formidable armies allows of
no other construction. What took place immedia-
tely aftar the battle of Sadowa, when " negotiations
were impracticable," leads, however, directly to the
conclusion that such an understanding, abnormal es
it, is, may be effective and worth its cost. Of course,
in any emergency of the kind a great deal would
depend on the nature of the ultimatum. If condi-
tions of peace are imposed, the power so exereist d
should be susceptil.le of no miagiving. Whatever
negotiations may be possible under the circumstances
ought to be positive and intelligible, and sustained
by a force which could be brought to bear in-
stantly. Such, then, is the requirement, and Mr.
Newdegate argues, as from an accomplished fact,
that what France and Ilus,da are doing we must do.
But the point, after all, is whether when a country
has done everything that is prescribed—when its
second and third lines of defence are organised—it
with
will be suffered to live in peace its neigh b
and, if not, what is to become of PoWers that can-
not compete with France and Russia ? This ques-
tion, however, suggests another, for if the change to
which it relates is not for the better, it does not fol-
low that it is for the worse. Mr. Newdegate rea-
sonably enough concludes that the prospects of peace
are precarious, but is there actually molarest uncer-
tainty than
.prevailed this time
or at any time since the invasion of Denmark ?
The independent German States were then in
existence, and the Bund was nominally intact.
We cannot but think, therefore, that too much
importance is attached to the suppression of the
treaties of 1815. They are confessedly obsolete,
even in Germany, and no one is bound by them,
because no one cared to enforce them. From first
England alone, among the contracting
powers, observed their provisions. It is true that
they were, aelsiN'•tsere, as Count von Bismarck says, intended
to protect the Continent against France, but he
seems to forget that they were discredited at the
outset by the formation of the Holy Alliance, very
much as Mr. Newdegate fails to recollect that the
first step to what is called our policy of non-inter-
vention was taken by the Tory Government, which
declined to do more than formally dissent from the
principles acted upon at Troppau and Laybach.
Rightly or wrongly, Lord Castlereagh laid the foun-
dation of the policy which, although sensibly modi-
fied by Mr. Canning and Lord Palmerston, was re-
cently carried out to the advantage and instruction
of Prussia. Count von Bismarck saw his. way from
Duppel to Sadowa, and, as he himself expresses it,
Prussia stopped there rather than jeopardise her
success. The statement speaks for itself. It is not
for us to appraise an admission on the part of Prus-
sia that France was competent to arbitrate in the
late war ; 'but, taking it at Count von Bismarck's
valuation, we can conceive that it might be made
the basis of an arrangement from which the aggran-
disement of the Prussian monarchy, or the restora-
tion of the German empire, could be regarded with
equanimity. Treaties which were ignored with im-
punity
may only be described as a delusion and a
•
snare, and it remains to be ascertained if the substi-
tutedwhich is at any rate substantial, can
b e security,
realised
a s the assets of their failure.

NEW THEORY ON THE ORIGIN OF COAL AND COAL
OlL—The origin of coal and petroleum has awakened
much discussion. A writer in the New York T
rz..
bvne takes a decidedly original view of the ease,
and
argues that there is no other possible way to aaed-
count for the deposit of coal, in the situations where
it is now found, than to suppose that an impure
liquid carbon—what is petroleum or asphaltum but
that ?—was ejected from the interior of the earth in
such quantities that it overwhelmed small districts,
and in some instances districts where an immense
growth of vegetables already existed. Some very
few of these floated upon the surface of the
mass, where they were afterwards embedded in the
shower of ashes, which afterwards became slate,
and retained the imprint of these vegetable forms.
To suppose that coal was formed out of carbon that.
had previously been embedded in trees, vines, and
herbaceous plants like ferns, or of mosses of such as
form the peat beds, will bring us constantly in con-
tact with such stubborn facts as this. The coal-
fields of Pennsylvania, like those of all other coun-
tries, are made up of a succession of seams, one
above another, separated by intervening strata, sand-
stone, iron ore, and other mineral substances, to the
depth, perhaps, of 800 feet. Were these veins of
coal formed of successive growths of peat or other
vegetables which must in turn have been covered
with earth to produce new deposits of vegetable
Carbon until the whole superstructure was built up
Journal.
to its present height ?—Pittsburghltining