The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONtiON, TUESDAY EVtNING, DECEMBER 18 rilio.

an extent the Customs' revenue of the United
States is defrauded by French exporters. Every
sort of trick is resorted to evade dues, and the
Government is compelled to employ agents on this
side to counteract the dishonest devices. Heavy
duties will be evaded if a loop-hole of escape can
be found, and there are plenty of people in New
York and other American ports ready to aid French
and English exporters in " doing" the Revenue.
It is not probable that the Government at Wash-
ington will budge an inch from the position it has
taken, for not only the national interest, but also
the interests of honest dealers, are too heavily con-
cerned.

Admiral Dahlgren is about to leavo Washington
and assume command of the South Pacific Squadron.

Senator Doolittle returned from Texas to New
Orleans, Nov. 22d, en route for Washington.
General Rosseau is, also in the city on a short

visit.

Paymaster - General . Benjamin W. Brice has,
under the new Army Bill, had conferred upon him
the rank of Brigadier General in the Regular Army,
his former rank being that of Colonel and Brevet
Major- General.

Dr. George Fries, a prominent Democratic poli-
tician of Cincinnati, died on the 13th Nov. He
was formerly a member of Congress. When John
Quincy Adams was stricken in the ball of the
House with the paralysis, that terminated his exis-
tence, Dr. Fries was his medical attendant, and was
among those who heard his last sublime exclama-
tion that has passed into history, " This is the last
of earth 1"

Major Augustus Rawling's visit to Shaftes-
bury may be considered a complete success. His
oratorical powers have been fully appreciated
by crowded audiences ; his readings are origi-
nal in their style, and very effective, and there
is no doubt that he has a splendid career as a lec-
turer before him if he chooses to devote his time and
talents to such a course. His readings of " No-
thing to Wear" and the " Raven" are perfect gems,
which once heard are not easily forgotten.—Shafies-
bury Gazette, Dec. 1.

Amongst the ladies who graced with their pre-
sence the late Thanksgiving dinner, celebrated at
the Langham Hotel, was one well known at Wash-
ington for her philanthropic efforts in behalf of the
sick and wounded of both countries during the war
' —Miss Jeanette Lesley Douglass, following the ex-
ample of Florence Nightingale, threw herself per-
sonally into the good work, and liberally supplied
the means at her disposal in the task she had
taken up. Miss Douglass has spent the last
three months in making herself acquainted with
all-in and 'about-what she happily styles, this grand
old city. English people can little conceive the
deep feeling of enthusiasm inspired in the descen-
dants of old English and Scottish families in
America by this ancient seat of Government, learn-
ing, and of art—so full of historical associations,
and so intimately connected with the deeds of their
own ancestors. The records of London are better
known to this class than they are, generally, even to
the upper circles of English society, and when these
enthusiasts find themselves on the scene of Which
they have read and dreamt so much, they throw
into their efforts, to become acquainted with every
spot of renown, an energy that surprises those to
whom many of these places are familiar. For this
reason the English are often astonished in discussing
with Americans, the land of their birth, that theirs
is but a superficial knowledge, compared with the
intimate acquaintance displayed by their kinsfolk
on the other side of the Atlantic. Miss Douglass,
like most of her fellow-citizens, has a happy way
of combining business with pleasure. One of her
objects is to receive a considerable fortune inherited
from the Scottish family, to which she belongs.
But the great, idea which has taken possession of
her mind is to obtain a correct knowledge of the
Old World, and to impart that knowledge to
her country. Her tour will embrace Paris dur-
ing the Exposition, Germany, Switzerland,
Spain, Italy, Rome —without the French—
and thence to the Holy Land. The journal of one
so intelligent, and with so many opportunities of
seeing all that is to be seen, can scarcely fail to
be interesting, and we hope that no untoward cir-
cumstance may prevent the fulfilment of her inten-
tion. She has met with so much kindness since her
visit to England, and appreciates so highly all she
has here seen, that we feel assured that the pages
of her journal, when given to the world, will tend
to cement the friendly feeling which is now
strengthening year by year between the two coun-
tries.

EUROPE AND PHILADELPHIA.—We are truly
happy to be able to announce, which we do on the
best authority, that new and ample arrangements
are being completed to secure a permanent first-
class line of steamers between Philadelphia and
Europe. The Inman line was continued until the
breaking out of the Crimean war withdrew the
ships that were employed here, and they would
have resumed their regular direct trips but for the
combined influences that have been brought to bear
at New York. These adverse movements are now
being counteracted, in a way that is certain to in-
sure success.

Mr. J. Edgar Thomson, President of the Pennsyl-
vanuia Railroad, and Mr. Gilead A. Smith, an
American banker, now resident in London, have
secured the active co-operation of English capitalists
for the immediate establishment of a line to Liver-

pool. Conditional contracts have been recently
signed in that city for two A 1 ship 3 of 3,000 tons
burden, to run between Philadelphia and Liverpool
direct. These are to be followed by four others,
all of the best construction, of the greatest speed,
and possessing.all the advantages of any line now
afloat. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
has already taken the initiatory steps for fur-
nishing the funds for the first ship
4of the line.
They will all run from the wharves of the com-
pany in Philadelphia, where 'ample accommo-
dations will be provided. The Legislature of the
State will readily grant any legal facilities, so as to
give the American end of the line all the requisite
control. It is expected that two of the ships will
be running in the course of the next eight month 3.
It is scarcely necessary that we should' repeat here
the arguments so often advanced in the columns
of the Inquirer in favour of this new line. Our
readers,more especially those actively engaged in com-
merce, all understand and appreciate its advantages.
Philadelphia commands a direct communication with
St. Louis, St. Paul's, and New Orleans, that is
shorter and more available than any other from
the West and South-west to the seaboard. It is
a centre of traffic by railway from Chicago to
Kansas City, by the way of Cincinnati. A straight
line drawn across the map of the United States
conclusively establishes this fact. We hear a great
deal the moment any ocean commercial enterprise
is started in Philadelphia of the superior advan-
tages of the harbour of New York. But it will be
found, on a careful examination, that they are al-
together imaginary. Philadelphia brings 27 feet
of wharves of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
which is as much as can be brought over the bar
at New York. The beneficial influence of the fresh
waters of the Delaware on the bottoms of ships in
clearing them of barnacles is well known in the com-
mercial world. The capes of the Delaware Bay are
accessible and quite as safe as the lower bay of
New York. The ice of the upper river, of which
so much is said by our commercial rivals, is always
manageable, as much so as that of any other
Northern seaport in America. Not a vessel is
known to have been injured by ice in the Delaware,
any more than in the Hudson or East rivers. It is
nothing to compare with that of Boston harbour,
which receives and maintains a portion of the
Cunard line. The proof that the ice argument is a
fallacious one is found in the action of the
United States Government in laying up its iron-
clads in our harbour, and making the immediate
vicinity of our city the station of several of its
largest vessels of war. In addition to all these
local advantages there is the superiority of the
southern passage
across the Atlantic, almost in a
direct course from Philadelphia to Liverpool and
back. By this
Passage the dangers and delays of
ice, fogs and winter gales, which lie on the route to
New York, are all avoided. The voyage is thus
made not only safer and pleasanter, but much more
speedy. It is a remarkable historical fact that every

ocean steamer to Europe that has been lost was on
the most northern route. We cannot close this
article without congratulating our readers on the
prospects that this line of steamers is opening up to
Philadelphia. We speak by authority when we say
that failure is impossible. The money and the men
are now at work that cannot and will not stop short
of success. The work has been begun right this
time, and it will go on right, without variableness
or a shadow of turning.—Philadelphia Inquirer.
The army in New Mexico consists of the Fifth
infantry, commanded by Brevet Major-General
George Sykes, headquarters at Fort Sumner ; Third
cavalry, Colonel Marshal S. Howe, Fort Craig ; and
Fifty-seventh regiment coloured troops, Colonel P.
Harwood, at Fort Stanton.

Speaker Colfaxleeturedn Williamsburg, Thanks-
giving night, on " AcrOss the Continent."

lion. J. L. Jones, of Phillips County, has been
elected United States Senator by the Legislature of
Arkansas.

Mrs. Ann S. Stephens has just returned from a
journey West as far as Fort Riley, and is now at
the Fifth avenue.

SPIRI C OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The terrible examples of yellow fever
which have been been brought this winter to our
doors will enable us to appreciate the havoc which
such a disease can work in congenial climates and
on favourable soils. Happily for us, the poison
cannot long retain its vitality in our atmosphere ;
but so severe and deadly has been the pestilence in
the West Indies during the present season that the
French packets, as we yesterday announced, have
been forbidden even to stop at the most infected of
the islands. That island, however, is not a British
possession, nor have we until now received any re-
ports of the existence of the epidemic in any of our
garrisons in those parts. This morning, unfortu-
nately, another tale must be told. Demerara has
been the scene of mortality scarcely less appalling,
as far as we can judge, than that at Hongkong or
Bermuda a short time ago. The victims have been
the men of the 16th Regiment. We have not yet
received the actual statistics of the outbreak, but a
local print says that the troops were " more than
decimated," and, in speaking of the tardy move-
ment of the garrison to a healthier station, describes
the detachment embarked as comprising " those who j
survived and were capable of removal." We are
compelled, therefore, to infer that the story when
completely told will be as bad as that of the fever at
Hongkong, and that if the actual results should be
less startling, the difference will be due rather to
the smallness of the West Indian garrison than to
the lightness of the visitation or the prudence with
which it was encountered by those in authority.
On this point, indeed, the case appears to bear a
most unhappy resemblance to former examples.
What yellow fever is, or what mischief it can work
if uncontrolled, we need not again describe. Under
conditions favourable to its development it is one
of the most frightful diseases to which humanity
is exposed ; but these conditions, fortunately, are
often to be evaded. The plague seems peculiarly
local ; it visits some places and not others, and is so
confined in its actual ravages that it can generally
be escaped by flight. In Jamaica it was found that
troops had only to be moved from barracks in the
plains to camps half way up the mountains, and all
danger would be over. Scientific men could tell
exactly the altitude at which a regiment would be
out of the range of fever. All these conditions,
apparently, were discoverable at Demerara. The
ships in the harbour were infected with the disease ;
indeed, they had probably brought it to the
colony. The troops in garrison soon began to
suffer, but outside the garrison not a single case
occurred. Yellow fever was raging in the settle-
ment 'certainly, but only among one class of the
population—that is, the British soldiery. Had the
men, therefore, been moved at the first appearance
of the disorder, it is almost safe to conclude that the
mortality would have been escaped. It was only
within the limits of the military station that the
fever existed, and within those limits the men were
kept to die. All this seems to have been perfectly
understood on the spot. The colonial authorities,
with a very creditable solicitude for the reputation
of the settlement, put themselves in communication
with the authorities of the garrison, and proposed to
inquire into the origin and circumstances of the
outbreak. It was remarked that the consequences
might have been entirely escaped if the troops had
been moved in time. The true method of encoun-
tering an enemy of this kind is not to light, but to
fly. So well is this now known in India that when
cholera breaks out at a station the regiment marches
out, witho;it waiting even for medical or hospital
appliances. It is better to encamp on an unin-
fected spot without drugs, physic, or surgeons, than
to remain within reach of the plague and medicine
together. In fact, medicine is all but useless.
There is a certain percentage of recoveries
under all systems of treatment, and about
the same where no treatment is attempted at
all ; hut when once the troops have changed their
qitarters it is often found that the attacks cease
altogether. It was not .believed at Demerara that
the mere climate of the colony itself was much to
blame, though it was acknowledged that young
soldiers coming fresh from England, without any
intermediate acclimatization or seasoning, would be
more liable than other classes to suffer from occa-
sional epidemics. This may be very true, but, on
the other hand, if soldiers are exposed to greater
risks, they have also greater facilities of escape. A
regiment is far more movable than a body of civilians
Troops may at any minute receive orders to march,
and it is, indeed; of the very essence of military
discipline that such orders should be met with
promptitude and ease. Suppose a demand had
suddenly arisen in some West India Island for the
services of the military, would not the 16th have
been brought from Demerara at twelve Lours' no-
tice ? Why not, then, do as much for the preser-
vation of the men themselves ? Nowhere, indeed,
could such movements be effected more readily than
among the stations in the West Indies. It could

not possibly be of any consequence whether this
unfortunate regiment was quartered for a few mouths
in Demerara or Barbadoes, and yet the removal was
not effected until all this mortality had occurred.
At last, when a tenth of the men had been buried,
and the survivors could hardly crawl, they were
taken off to Barbadoes, and there, as one of the
papers of the island reported on the 22d ult., they
were " free from Yellow Fever." So they might
have been a month or two earlier, but for routine,
incompetence, or whatever species of maladminis-
tration may be found to have been at work. We
do not, of course, attempt to apportion the blame
in this scandalous case with our present imperfect
information. That the troops were retained in
Demerara when they might have been transported
to Barbadoes, and were thus allowed to die when
they might have lived, appears to be a fact in itself
beyond dispute ; but how, why, or through whose
proceedings the misfortune occurred is more than
we can say. One thing only ought to be added, in
conclusion, and that is, that it is stated, though
only as a report, that the garrison doctor objected at
first to the removal of the troops to another locality.
If this is true, the case may be one rather of profes-
sional miscalculation than military default, but in
any event it should receive strict inquiry. In these
days we do not hear with indifference of the sacri-
fice of British soldiers, and the Colonial authorities
were perfectly justified in anticipating that the
public at home would be startled by the intelligence,
and that all concerned would be assuredly pub on
their defence.

HERALD.—The latest accounts from Ireland point
to the gratifying conclusion that the Fenian enter-
prise has been abandoned by its projectors, and that
the Christmas of 1865, in spite of all the threaten-
ing omens, is likely to pass over in peace. The vigi-
lance and resolution displayed by the government,
backed by the active loyalty of the better cllss of
the Irish people, have frightened the Fenian leaders
from their purpose. The Yankee sympathisers are
reported to be making their way quickly from the
ungrateful country. The local patriots are subsid-
ing from ambitions of an Irish republic into the
safer and more familiar path of vituperation. The
Centres are being scattered to the Poles and ter-
ribly disturbed in their gravity. The Head Centre
of all, Mr. James Stephens, whose capture was pre-
maturely announced on Saturday, is reported to be
somewhere on the French coast, preparing for a
descent—an attitude which it is probable he will
maintain as long as the funds of the Fenian
Brotherhood remain unexpended. In Ireland itself I
the panic has almost, spent itself, and confidence is
once more fully restored. It may be premature to
congratulate ourselves on the final passing away of
this peril, but we may fairly take credit on behalf of
the Government for the present effectual suppres-
sion of the mischief. 'We can attribute the fE ilure of
the project only to the vigorous and resolute action
of the Irish authorities, aided by the sympathy of the
loyal portion of the people, and the support which
has been lent to the cause by nearly the whole respect-
able press of the two countries. A timid or vacillating
Government might have easily plunged us into all
the horrors of an Irish civil war before Christmas.
We were never so near, we believe, as we have been
during the last few weeks to that calamity. Fe-
nianism itself never had so fair a chance, and pro-
bably never will have one again. We can almost
sympathise with Mr. James Stephens in his great
disappointment. There was a good deal to encou-
rage him to make his attempt in the winter of 1866
if ever it was to be made at all. He might fairly
reckon upon the political circumstances of the

United States as being especiaily favourable. The
struggle between the two native American parties
occurring in the midst of a general bad feeling to-
wards England on the part of the American people
seemed to promise the very opportunity which the
Fenians wanted. The conclusion of the American
civil war had thrown a swarm of loose military ad-
venturers out of employment, who were precisely
the material required by the founders of an Irish
republic. Nor were there wanting at home many
conditions essentially advantageous to the Fenian
leaders. Ireland was in one of her periodical moods
of sullen discontent—uneasy she knew not why, and
wanting she knew not what for her relief. There had
been a long interval since the last outbreak, and a
great many looked upon the promise of a " row "
with longing eyes. It was not that there was any
particular grievance to complain of in the winter of
1866—that the Irish Church bore more heavily on
the shouldersof the country, or that the tenants were
more than usually aggrieved at their landlords pos-
sessing the property ; but from a variety of causes,
each trivial and insignificant, but making up a sum,
which to the dys-logical mind was irresistible. Ire-
land was in a more unwholesome state in the autumn
of 1866 than she had been for some time previously.
In England Mr. James Stephens had all the sympathy
which Mr. Bright and his friends could give him.
He might look for a civersion in his favour at least
from those who showed themselves no less disloyal
to British institutions than he was, and who were
just as ready to found an English as he to create
an Irish republic. With all this in its favour
Fenianism, fortunately for its advocates as well as
for the peaceful people of the two countries, has
failed even before it was put to the trial. Mr.
James Stephens must be convinced, unless he is the
most foolish as well as the vainest of men, that the
day has not come for a separate Irish republic.
Such a day can never arrive until the last hour of
England's decadence has sounded. It is the wildest
of conceivable delusions, this dream of an indepen-
dent Ireland. We have seen many wonders in this
generation, and have realised many seeming impos-
sibilities. We have had a United Italy, a powerful
Prussia, a constitutional Egypt ; but it is more
rational to imagine a revival of the Byzantine Em-
pire, a regenerate Poland, with an elective King
and the liberunz veto, or a limited monarchy in New
Guinea, than to talk of the independence of Ireland.
There are twenty-five millions of people in Great
Britain who, however they may differ in other
respects, will oppose any such project to the last
extremity. And there cannot be a greater mistake
than to suppose that the English Radicals are not
quite as strenuous enemies of Fenianism as any other
party in this country. We believe that under man-
hood suffrage there would be even less a prospect
than there is now of an independent Ireland. There
can be no doubt that an English democracy would
repress an Irish insurrection just as sternly and
energetically as a Conservative Government would;
nor is there any hope at all from the political divi-
sions of the English people to such as Mr. James
Stephens. Even those extreme journals which re-
present Mr. Bright's policy would find cause to
change their pacific tone if it were a question between
a Government of its own kind and a Fenian insur-
rection. The wisdom of a prompt and energetic
policy in the beginning has never been better illus-
trated than in the present instance. A weak and
irresolute Ministry could hardlyhave been able to
prevent the outbreak of a civil war in Ireland
this winter. Irish sedition has been so often
assisted by English forbearance that the
Fenian Senate might have been almost jus-
tified in feeling some degree of confidence
insurrection
for they would have had at least an
for their money. But there has been no other dis-
turbance than what has been created by the domi-
ciliary visits of the Irish police. The revolvers and
the pikes are innocent of loyal blood. The green
uniforms remain unstained by Saxon crimson,- and
will probably be returned to the tailors. The Greek
fire has burnt only the fingers of those who played
with it, and the soda-water bottles of explosive mix-
ture may be put away into the same repository with
Mr. Meagher's sword and Mr. John Mitchell's
vitriol, to remain as emblems of a folly the most
extravagant, purposeless, and desperate that ever
lured brave men to their own destruction.
THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON THE LATE DE-
IIONSTRATION.—Mr. Hartwell, " Secretary of the
Demonstration Committee," writes to the Times,
expressing his satisfaction with the result of the
procession of last Monday week. He accounts for
a good deal, excuses here and apologises there, and,
after the fashion of abler generals, makes out en-
tirely to his own satisfaction that, in a strategic
point of view, 25,000 are equal to 200,000. Know-
ing that military critics have assured us that, strictly
speaking, Waterloo was a French victory, we have
no objection to Mr. Hartwell's complacent estimate
of his great success. We should never have thought
it worth a moment's discussion what numbers the
Demonstration mustered had we not been pro-
mised 200,000. A much more serious issue, how-
ever, is raised by this person's letter. In account-
ing for what he admits to be the breakdown of the
day—that the procession was unable to enter the
ground at Walham Green—he has the impudence
to say that he holds Sir Richard Mayne responsible
for it. The Leaguers and Unionists were unable
to get into the ground because they found a certain
lane " blocked up by a dense crowd, a large pro-
portion of whom were roughs and thieves of the
lowest character, who, with au eye to the best situa-
tion for business, had selected this narrow spot for
their avocations." From which statement the natural
inference would be that the Chief Commissioner
of Police had summoned all the blackguards of
London for the express purpose of interfering with
the march of Beales and his followers. The thing
complained of is this dense assemblage of the dan-
gerous classes ; the only matter to be discovered is
who brought them together—that is, did Potter and
Hartwell, or did Sir Richard call the procession out ?
Even accepting the Secretary's ridiculous doctrine,
that the police and the guardians of the public are
responsible for any consequences which may result
from a breach of the peace, never mind by whom
encouraged, instigated, or invited—what follows ?
That the police are to be called from their local
duties to concentrate all their strength on a particular
spot, to which anybody may, if not directly yet in-
directly, invite all the scum of a population of three
millions. We regret to say that this is a conclusion
which, after all, is not so very unnatural for the
Leaguers to draw, after the amenities and high
politeness which they received at the Home-office.
Mr. Walpole did not lay it down in words that the
Demonstration was an admirable thing, but when
he said that the police would use their best en-
deavours to prevent any obstruction to their march,
he really went very far towards enunciating Mr.
i
Hartwell's doctrine. If t was the business of the
police to keep Piccadilly clear for the Leaguers, it
was their business to keep the Brompton lanes clear.
As we have hitherto understood the law, it is the
duty of the Executive to prevent any such assem-
blage of people as, though the meeting itself is for
an object not unlawful, may yet collect such crowds
that a breach of the peace may reasonably be anti-
cipated. What might have been anticipated on
Monday week, and what was anticipated by every-
body, police and Hartwell included, did occur. A
breach of the peace, after all, was the result. It was,
we repeat, all along anticipated. Mr. Walpole an-
ticipated it ; the Leaguers anticipated it ; Sir
Richard Mayne anticipated it. The gathering of
the roughs was foreseen by everybody. According
to the Hartwell doctrine, it was the duty of the
police to have dispersed the roughs ; that is to say,
what he regrets is that. there was no charge of horse
and foot, headed by Sir Richard in person, on the
crowd which had blocked up the lane. Because this
was not done—that is, because blood was not shed
and lives were not lost, for it would have been
absolutely impossible to have dispersed the roughs
without a riot and bloodshed—Mr.. Hartwell com-
plains. These are the tender mercies of
advanced Liberalism. The Leaguers admit that
the meeting which- they convoked, and
the procession which they marshalled, resulted in
the gathering together of .4 hordes of desperadoes
and ruffians;" and the fact that a " terrible scene "
did not take place, " which would probably have
resulted in serious injuries, if not loss of life," is to
be attributed only to the virtual collapse of the
whole proceeding. If these frightful consequences
were only averted by the scanty numbers of the
processionists, what could have prevented their oc-
currence if the summonses with which theyplacarded
all London, inviting all the working men, had been
listened to? This whole subject of the right to bring
organised masses through the streets requires more
consideration than it has received. No doubt the
law, if there is any, on the right to hold public
meetings and organise public processions, is vague
enough. And it is so because the present conditions
of society did not exist when the present law or
custom grew up. Six ty-five years ago the popula-
tion of London and its suburbs was under a mil-
lion ; now it is trebled. London grows at the rate
of nearly 50,000 a year. Good sense, or at least
common sense, has hitherto prevented any mass meet-
ings of formidable magnitude in the capital of the
Empire. But if we are to accept the views of the
Home-office, there is no moment at which London
may not be exposed—we will not say to the roughs,
but—to an occasion which is certain to assemble all
the roughs. And whenever this occasion arises—
that is, when any fool or knave is able to collect
together thousands or tens of thousands of people
—it is the business, we are told, of the Home-office
and the police to leave the rest of London most im-
perfectly protected in order to defend the quarter
specially menaced. If this is to be the law, or is
already the law, the sooner we get a change the
better ; or we must demand an extension almost
indefinite of the police force. It was this sort

of thing which made a Parisian National Guard
necessary. ' And Paris, left to its own free will and
only protected by itself, ended in a certain day of
December. The legitimate and logical consequelie!
of the Walpole-Hartwell doctrine of public wee/
ings and processions would be either a Reign °
Terror or a coup d'etat.