The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-07 00:00:00

IHE SON LONDON, WEDNESIMY EVENING, NOVEMBER 7, 1866.

their j unction with Prussia. Have not they exchanged
comparative freedom for a situation which is
questionable at the best, and which bids fair to
become before long very intolerable.
We have always thought that the French poli-
-ticians took the most correct view of the situation
in Germany, and so it will prove in the long run.
The remarks which some of their journalists have
made from time to time have been characterised
by great acuteness, and displayed considerable
foresight. The Siecle has lately commented upon
the state of things in Germany, and in allusion to
the recent appointment of M. BE UST, it observes that
his nomination will force Prussia to keep a watch over
herself, for the new Austrian Minister will attack
her with her own arms—the feeling of Germany. It
is not a secret to anybody that great discontent pre-
vails in the Prussian countries. It had been ex-
pected that as the foreign policy of Prussia continued
to succeed the home management might improve,
but these desires have not been fulfilled. " Liberty
does not come, and glory evaporates like smoke.
Without being a prophet one may foresee moral ex-
plosions more or less distant, and those men
of the Landwehr who fought so well at
Konigsgratz wish to be paid for their
services in liberty." We suspect that this
will prove to be a very scarce coin in the Prus-
sian exchequer for some time to come. But no
doubt there is a general feeling of discontent at
present existing in the minds of the Prussians.
They may well inquire what use this war has been
to them, and how far they have benefited by it,
except in having to pay largely for assisting their
rulers to sequestrate the rights and liberties of
others. So far from the recent events being
conducive to the furtherance of freedom in the
country, it would seem as if the Ministers in-
tended to take advantage of it to carry out their
tyrannical course in all directions.

At any rate, we may expect that the new session
in the Prussian Chambers will be a very stormy
one, and that those Deputies who are really worthy
of being representatives of the interests of the peo-
ple will feel themselves encouraged and animated
by the great victory which the Liberal party have
gained in the decision of the Court concerning Herr
VON TWESTEN. This demeanour on their part will
call forth fresh demonstrations of defiance
from the Ministers, and so on to the end of the
chapter. It is not in the nature of things that the
present state of affairs can continue very long in
Germany, and we shall not be at all surprised if the
artifices and manoeuvres of Count BISMARCK bring
about a sad day of reckoning for himself and his
Sovereign. The German States will soon have
enough of the interference of Prussia, and when
once the French take offence the Berlin Govern-
ment will not fiid such ready support as
they are now counting upon. It is, indeed,
as strange as it is unsatisfactory to reflect upon the
rapid change which the present year has witnessed,
and we can safely say that a great deal of the injury
done to the cause of freedom on the Continent may
be traced to the unwise and irresolute policy of Earl
RUSSELL at the time of the Schleswig-Holstein dis-
pute. We have not yet the end of that unfortunate
business, but already it has been rife with evil con-
sequences, and brought ruin and destruction to
many States and people not connected with the
affair.

on the Seine near the Pont de la Concorde excited
great interest. The Prix d'Antomno was won by
Gauloise ; nine boats were engaged. The Prize of
the Rowing Club by the sane boat ; Cendrillon
second. The Prix d'Orsay by Pile-ou-Face. The
Championship of the Seine, the great match of the
day, was contested by two boats—Latine, belong-
ing to M. Frebault, of Paris, and Perseverance,
belonging to M. Gesling, sen. The latter is a Lon-
don-built boat. The struggle was a very severe one,
and the victory was for the French boat and rowers.
The triumph was hailed with as much enthusiasm as
on the occasion when Gladiateur won the Grand
Prize of Paris. The spectators and betters seemed
almost mad with joy when Lutiue was the first to reach
the Pont des Invalides. These matches terminated the
nautical season of the Rowing Club. The produce of
the matches is to be devoted to the relief of the suf-
ferers by the inundations. The winners of the
prizes also refused to receive the amount to which
they were entitled, wishing it to be devoted to the
same object.
A fish, supposed to be the sea fox, has been taken
near the coast of Dieppe. It has a tail nearly a
yard long. Its skin is fine, the belly is white. In
many respects it resembles the dog-fish. A similar
fish was taken in June, 1834, on the coast of Varen-
geville.
The last member of the Army of Egypt, M.
Antoine Charavay, died a few days ago at the age
of 95. He left Paris as a volunteer to take part in
the campaign in Egypt, and did not return to France
till 1802, with the remnant of the great army.
As a lady was passing a narrow street a day or
two ago she received on her head the contents of a
large jug of water, incautiously thrown by a young
servant girl. The latter did not deny the act, and
accompanied the lady to the Commissary of Police.
As there was no malice the magistrate thought it
would be only necessary to impose a fine sufficient
to pay for the damage done to the lady's
bonnet. The complainant refused to receive
the money ; but, adds the Patrie, which gives the
account, the lady said to the commissary " I have
been inundated, but others have suffered more
from the inundations than I have. I therefore beg
you to hand the amount to the committee appointed
to receive subscriptions for the relief of the sufferers
by the inundations."
The death is announced of the eminent Italian
tenor Cesare Sarti.
The warm, beautiful summer weather still
continues.
The husband of Madame Chapuis, a young and
favourite actress of the Theatre des Nouveautes, has
attempted to murder her. He then committed sui-
cide. The night before last he went to the theatre,
and just as she received the intimation that her
husband had something important to say to her she
was about to go upon the stage. She hurried down
to him, and he instantly stabbed her in the throat.
Believing that he had killed his wife he then directed
the weapon against himself, and his wounds are
likely to prove mortal. No explanation has yet
been given of the motive of the crime, but it is re-
ported to be jealousy. The wound of Madame
Chapuis is not very serious.
A very curious case of animal magnetism or
human electricity is authenticated by the writer of
a letter to a Paris newspaper. He signs himself as
a M. Brunet, employed in the house of Messrs.
Christoge, No. 56, Rue de Bondy. The letter
states that a young girl of 13, Miss Dumesnil, is
imbued with a fluid of an extraordinary attractive
power, which attracts all objects of wood which sur-
round her. Chairs and tables are instantly attracted
towards her when she approaches near to them.
She has only become possessed of this attractive
faculty for the last three weeks. The phenomenon
has been witnessed by many persons to whom she
is known, and the Faculty will probably be called
upon to give explanation in regard to it. The
writer adds that a great personage has sent for the
girl, to be convinced of the truth of the extraordi-
nary accounts which have obtained publicity respect-
ing her. The girl is employed as a wood polisher,
and lives with her parents, who are poor people.

Lord Bury, in a letter to the 7'imes, writes as follows :
The committee of the Eyre Defence Fund have just sent
round to every officer commanding a regiment of Volun-
teers an appeal for co-operation in raising funds to assist
Mr. Eyre at his approaching trial. He is to be arraigned,
we are told, at the Old Bailey next month. It does not
appear desirable that tho organisation of the Volunteers
should be made available for the purposes of the Defence
Fund. If for the defence—why not for the attack ? No
such appeal should be made without the sanction of the
Secretary of State for War.
But time presses, and something must be done. I have
never till now subscribed to dither defence or attack, nor
have I declared any partisanship on either side. Will you
allow me, therefore, as a dispassionatespectator, to ask why
any subscription at all is necessary ? Is it not the duty of
the Government either to bring Mr. Eyre to trial or to de-
fend him ?

The course pursued by Mr. Eyre's assailants seems to
me inconvenient and wrong, irrespective of the question
whether or not he is technically amenable to the law for
the death of Mr. Gordon. No one attempts to palliate or
deny—l know no ono who does not deeply regret—the
excesses which took place while martial law existed in
Jamaica. But every one should surely see that there are
grave public reasons why Mr. Eyre, if brought to trial at
all, should at any rate not be arraigned by private persons.
Mr. Eyre was at the time of the alleged murder in the ser-
vice of the Crown. The Government either believe that
ho committed murder or that he did not. If it be not the
duty of the Government to prosecute him, surely he has a
right to be defended by the Crown lawyers from a private
prosecution.

No generous person would consent to see a brave gentle-
man, already deeply wounded, placed in an additionally
painful position, unless the spectacle were destined to result
in some great public good. But Mr. Eyre's trial by public
subscription, however it may end, will be an unmixed evil.
It will paralyse tho authority of future Governors in
times of emergency, and distract them with doubt whether
vigorous action will be upheld at home. As Lord Russell
once said, humanity will not be the gainer if hesitation
takes the place of timely severity--for the cautious pro-
ceedings and mild sentences of law are not applicable to
times of revolution. That which is but petty larceny in
peace is marauding in war ; in ono case a month's impri-
sonment is the punishment ; in the other it is hanging by
the provost-marshal on the nearest tree.

It is easy to understand why the Government should de-
cline to try Mr. Eyre. The same reasons should still more
forcibly deter private assailants from proceeding against
him. I have lived long enough in colonies to feel keenly
that a Governor needs all the support which can be de-
rived from the certainty of cordial co-operation at home.
A painful sense of isolation is produced by long absence
and want of contact on equal terms with other minds.; the
Governor of a colony is particularly subject to this feel-
ing. It would be unbearable if, in addition to his other
anxieties, he were constantly in doubt whether he would
be supported at home; uncertainty whether his judgment
would square with that formedin England would result in
imbecile vacillation when the moment of danger came.
In ancient as well as in modern times every groat Gene-
ral, every groat statesman has seen the necessity of up-
holding officers who were called upon to judge and act
promptly, not for the subordinates' sake alone, but for the
sake of the moral force which such countenance secures to
the public service.
I do not argue that a great public officer who commits a
crime should be allowed to escape with impunity. If he
commits a fault let the Government judge him; upon
them—and upon them alone—the responsibility lies. But
for private individuals to direct against such a man the
machinery of the law, after the Government award has
been pronounced, must be looked upon as an act of vindic-
tiveness subversive of public decency and detrimental to
the public weal. I trust, sir, that the Government will
shake off its inaction. If it believes Mr. Eyre to be guilty ;
let it impeach him ; if not, let it undertake the defence of
its officer. At least let Englishmen intrusted with high
office in times of peril know that they will not be left by
the nation whom they servo to defend life and honour un-
noticed and unassisted.

A NEW GUNPOWDER.— G. A. Neumeyer, :of
Doblitz, near Leipsic, originally a blacksmith by trade, has
invented a new gimpowder, which, by experiments made
at Hassfurt, Zwickau, Leipsic, and Bouchet, near Pads,
has been proved to possess the superior advantages of not
exploding so long as the air has access to it, with acting
with greater force in an airtight enclosure, and of leaving
less residuum there than the ordinary powder, and of pro-
ducing less and more evanescent smoke. In the Mansfeld
mining operations, where it is largely employed, the smoke
emitted has been ascertained not to exercise any injurious
influence whatever on the health of the miners. An addi-
tional recommendation is its being cheaper than the ordi-
nary powder. M. Neumeyor has taken out patents in
England, France, Belgium, and Holland, and is at this
moment in treaty with the French CloYernmont fora sato
of ilia patent WOW Mary.

L A TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.
(BY ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.)

NEW YORK, Nov. 6.
It is reported that the Emperor Maximilian has
abdicated.

The North German Lloyd's steamship Hansa ar-
rived out to-day. The Transatlantic Company's
steamship Pereire has also arrived out in nine days.

HUNGARY.

PESTI'', Nov. 6.

It is stated, on reliable authority, that the Govern-
ment have definitively resolved upon the appoint-
ment of a Ilungarian Ministry.

DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES.

BUCHAREST, Nov. 6.

The Russian Consul-General at Bucharest and
his staff were received yesterday by the Hospodar
in solemn audience, and the latter received from the
Russian Consul the announcement of his recogni-
tion by the Czar as the Prince of the Danubian
Principalities.

SUPPRESSION OF THE CANDIAN
INSURRECTION.
CONSTANTINOPLE, Nov. 7.
The insurrection in Candia is stated to be at an
end.

Three engagements have taken place at Gelinda,
in which the insurgents lost 112 killed. All the
Spha Riot chiefs, 33 in number, have made their
submission.
Akeff Pasha is to be Governor-General of the
island. The Grand Vizier will obtain further con-
cessions for the Christians from the Sultan.
The legations of foreign Powers have addressed
a collective note to the Porte upon the establish-
ment of lifeboat stations upon the coasts of the
Black Sea.