The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-18 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1557

We earnestly invite attention to a very able
letter from a fair correspondent, "II R. D.,"
which will be found in another part of this day's
impression. It so clearly and forcibly explains
the grievances of married women in respect to
their rights of property and it; administration, •

and to the total absence of reciprocity in the par-
tial and defective Divorce Bill now before Parlia-
ment, that it requires but little argument to sus-
tain and enforce its admirable suggestions. There
is but one point in it which we could wish it had
been otherwise, and that is but an act of
omission, in passing over the consistent, in-
defatigable, and most efficient efforts of Lord
BROUGHAM, so long the devoted and chivalrous
champion of the gentle sex. It was his powerful
and convincing oration in the House of Lords, on
the 13th February last, which laid the foundation
on which Sir ERSKINE PERRY framed the measure
which he brought forward in the House of Com-
mons. He was unfortunately absent during the
earlier stages of Lord CRANWORTH'S very partial
and inadequate Bill, and to that unavoidable ab-
sence may be ascribed the temporary success of
the Episcopal provisoes. But on his return, he
completely demolished the fragile basis on which
they rested, and induced many of his brother
Peers to take less prejudiced views of the im-
portant question. We need not say that, in
claiming for Lord BROUGHAM the credit to which
he is so eminently entitled, it is not our desire,
in any way, to detract from the efficient efforts of
his able and zealous coadjutors, Lord LYNDHURST
and Sir ERSKINE PERRY. All have done well,
and long may they live to enjoy the thanks and
gratitude of their fair countrywomen.
" H. R. D." has graphically depicted the case
of the young possessor of a princely estate, of
lands, manors, rents, franchises, houses, and all
the appurtenances of wealth, who ascends the
altar with a man on whom she has bestowed the
inestimable treasure of her devoted love. At the
very moment that she becomes a wife, she also
becomes a pauper. She is divested of all her
property, and if anything is retained for her own
use, it can only be by the intervention of trustees.
As we recently stated, the moment it is reduced
into possession, it becomes liable not merely to
the demands of the husband, but also of his cre-
ditors. He or they may seize the articles pur-
chased with her money or bestowed by cherished
friends or relative, and hallowed by many endear-
ing recollections. Although the chain may be
gilded, she is but a white slave, without pro-
perty, whose all rests on the consideration of her
master.

But there is a still harder case. Many
wives are endowed with genius and talent, and
patient industry enabling them to acquire an in-
dependence by their own unassisted efforts.
These cannot be vested in Trustees. And whether
it be the milliner, dressmaker, or humble setup-
stress, who can earn an humble subsistence for
herself and children (to whose interests she post-
pones every selfish consideration), or the distin-
guished and brilliant authoress, the skilful
artiste, all her gains may be seized and
squandered by a brutal husband, either in
degrading dissipation, or on a worthless
paramour, or the support of his spurious progeny
—in any manner that he thinks proper, although
the application may add the deepest insult to the
heartless injury. There is not, as Lord BROUGHAM
declared, " the slightest possibility of his being
in any, the very least degree, either controlled or
even called to account for the heartless cruelty of
his robbery, or his profligate use of its fruits."
There is but one practical remedy, and that is
by rendering woman perfectly free and independent,
giving her, in the absence of a settlement, full
control over the property which she possessed be-
fore marriage, or which she may subsequently
have acquired, and also of the fruits of her own
industry. As H. R. D. says, " Let her hare
legal status like her husband. Let her enjoy her
own property. Secure to her the honest fruits of
her own labour, and then let her take upon her-
self her separate liabilities and responsibilities !"
This is what women are entitled to, and they
should never be contented until they have re-
ceived a full and complete measure of justice.-
As to divorce, we have always declared our-
selves the advocates of perfect reciprocity.
Women, GOD bless them, are more lenient and
forgiving than the sterner sex; and we believe that,
if the power were given, it would but seldom be
resorted to. They might find it necessary to separate
from a profligate husband, but with the intuitive
delicacy fer which they are conspicuous, they
would shrink from parading their grievances, and
exposing themselves to the cold world's cruel scorn,
nor if rendered independent as to their own pro-
petty and earnings would there be any urgent ne-
cessity for so doing. But when any condonation
is rendered absolutely impossible, when the man
has outraged every feeling, and can only be re-
garded with horror and contempt, his victim
should not be condemned to pine in hopeless soli-
tude, without anything to alleviate her miserable
condition. Let the power be given to woman as
well as to man, and sure we are that it will not be
abused. Once more we venture to remind our
fair readers that the cause will be " mainly lost
or won through their own efforts," and that
they should not permit the golden opportunity
to pass without taking due advantage thereof.
Although they may have no personal reasons for
insisting on justice—although their unions may
have fulfilled the warmest aspirations of their
hearts, they have suffering sisters, and they
should aid in the struggle to establish the un-
questionable rights, and vindicate the flagrant
wrongs of their sex. If they do so an' early
triumph is certain. If not, they may live to
deplore the insensate folly of their blind credulity
and selfish feelings.

should, be perpetuating about the most conspicuous'
disfigurement in the whole of this vast capital—a
metropolis already supplied with so many and
such notorious disfigurements ! And at the
same time we should be denying to the New
National Gallery an advantage inseparable (with
all its faults) from the Old one—that of a site, at
once Commanding, Elevated, Central and Pic-
turesque—preferring to this noble site another
site invested with not one of those desirable cha-
racteristics. The proposed new site being any-
thing but commanding—being very low—being
situated actually at one extremity of the metro-
polis—and being in every respect, moreover, the
very reverse of picturesque. Hence, our horror
at the mere mention of Kensington-gore. Hence,
our unhesitating preference for Trafalgar-square.
A preference happily decided upon, at last, by
Her MAJESTY'S Commissioners, if we are to credit
the very explicit statement to that effect given to
the public, this day, in the following words, by one
of our morning contemporaries. "Our readers will
remember," says the Advertiser, " the strenuous
opposition which we offered, eighteen or twenty
months ago, to the proposal which was then
made, in high quarters, to remove the National
Gallery from its present site in Trafalgar-
square to Kensington-gore. We have now the
pleasure of announcing that the Commission that
was appointed to examine in the question
of the most eligible site for the new Na-
tional Gallery, has reported in favour of the
site remaining where it is. The only one of the
Commissioners who voted for the removal of the
National Gallery from Trafalgar-square, was the
Rev. Dr: MILMAN, Dean of St.. Paul's,, a gentle-
man who has the reputation of being the toady of
a distinguished personage. Mr. FARADAY did not
vote at all, as he could not, for reasons best known
to himself, make up his mind on the subject.
Lord BROUGHTON and the other Commissioners
voted in favour of continuing the building in
its present situation, and their report we are
inlormed, was duly signed on Tuesday last."
Let us hope that the encouraging declara-
tion thus made by our-contemporary, may prove,
in the main, to be accurate. Mr. FARADAY'S
objection to vote at all, we cannot readily admit
as in any way even probable—seeing that his
authoritative evidence was decidedly in favour of
the situation of the Trafalgar-square site, as one
in no way calculated to prove injurious to the
works of art stored up in the Great National
Collection. We should gladly, therefore, see this
part of the foregoing statement formally contra-
dicted. We would fain have some satisfactory
explanation of the vote imputed to the Venerable
Dean of St. Paul's, moreover—loving neither to
eee an ecclesiastic tuft-hunting, nor a poet
toad eating. The gist of the whole para-
graph, however, is so eminently gratifying in
itself, that even with those drawbacks
we are loathe to doubt of its authenticity. It
affords us such exhilirating promise of retaining
the " finest site" anywhere procurable in all
London for the British National Gallery. It
augurs the speedy removal of one of its most
ludicrous eyesores in the metropolis. And it
opens up to the imagination the welcome prospect
of our ultimately beholding the erection upon
the north side of Trafalgar Square of some
Classic Palace of the Fine Arts worthy of con-
taining the canvass and marble treasures of the
nation, and of confronting from its elevated posi-
tion above Charing Cross, the noliole Gothic
Palace of the Legislature down at Wesminster.

Frenchmen are a riddle to us just now. Either
they and we are diametrically opposed in regard
to the very elements of manliness or freedom, or
the whole nation must be ready to place Louis
NAPOLEON in a minority of one in the New Legis-
lative Body. Perhaps, however, both supposi-
tions are partially true, and the result may be
that the EMPEROR will seem to have once more
the Suffrage of all France. Nothing is more certain
than that a circular here, like that of M. BILLAULT,
giving the voters a cong4 d'elire in favour of nearly
all the old Assembly, accompanied by implied
threats, if the Government nomination were not
generally accepted, would have been fatal to the
political existence of the Minister who issued it,
and that its repetition, if supposed to have been
due to the commands of Royalty, would have
shaken the throne itself. As if all this were not
enough, the Moniteur must needs follow with its
commendations the lucky (or unlucky) fellows who
compose the Cosps Legislatif, and bedecks them
with praises till they must glitter from head to
foot in the livery of Imperial laudations.
What the electors must think of themselves,
when told in the circular that they were perfectly
free to choose the EM .PEROR'S nominees, or that
"M. le Prefet would know his duties, and that
Justice would also know how, not less severely,
to perform hers," it is somewhat curious to con-
jecture. But still more curious is it to contem-
plate the Member of the Legislative Body now on
his election tour, and to imagine him surveying
the coat of many colours in which the pater
patrice, the Imperial Saviour of his country, has
clothed him. Wherever he goes he must fancy
himself a kind of embroidered extract from the
Moniteur ; everywhere the bourgeoisie will seem
to be gazing on him, and saying—behold the
man whom the EMPEROR thanks, and whom he
says all France is to thank too ! The man who
helped to vote nearly a thousand bills ; and
nearly one quarter of a thousand of them of
Imperial importance !
When he walks among, the handsome new
Tho National Gallery, it is stated, will not be buildings erected by the: EMPEROR'S order ;
removed to Kensington-gore, after all, but will " Yes," he says to himself, " I voted all the
be permitted to remain—as we have all along loans he demanded." When he looks on a rail-
insisted that it ought to remain—upon its old way—" I endorsed the EMPEROR'S concession."
site, at the north side of Trafalgar-square. A When he sees the repaired canals and improved
more magnificent site could not possibly be any- irrigation, " Ah, I too looked at the Bill on that
where discoverable in all London and Westminster. matter and voted that also." Re goes iut3 a
A. more central situation could hardly be desired. Court of Justice—" Yes, I accepted the Ear-
A more suitable position, everything considered, PEROR'S Bill for the improvements of its admin-
could hardly be dreamt of even by the most istration "—" the war, Sebastopol, the democra-
daringly imaginative of all the fanciful and auda- tic loans, the Moniteur says I share the glory of
cious architectural day-dreamers who recently all"—and even when he calls on his worship, the
contributed to the Exhibition of Designs in Mayor of a municipality. " Ah, here, as the
Westminster-ball. It has never, in fact, been so Moniteur says, is my crowning glory. I, the
much a question with the more rational participa- EMPEROR and lat least, have placed the choice
tors in the discussion about the building up anew of all. the Mayors in the EMPEROR'S own paternal
of a National Gallery worthy of its designation, bawds." The temporary ex-deputy must require,
whether or not the actual site already occupied indeed, a larger portion of native modesty than
admitted, as a site, of improvement. It has falls to the lot of most of our neighbours, not to
rather been a matter of hesitation with some think of himself before all eyes as the great bel-
among their number, whether or not, all lows-blower to the great organist.
things considered, it might perchance be ad- 'We do not wish to smile at things among our
visable to make the best of a bad bargain by spighbours—our elections, as a clever Frenchman
handing over the hideous structure now disfiguring fihowed us last time, are not quite comprehensible
that superb site to the present half-occupants of it affairs to them. The hustings license, the unre-
--namely, to the Royal Academicians ! Instead of strained cries, the merciless questionings of aris-
-1 razing the structure to the ground, and setting; tocrats, quite as much as of citizen candidates-
-1 about the new one in its place upon a more ample„ a Frenchman hardly understands how "order" can
I and of course upon a more costly, scale in every educe itself from what seems to him such lawless-
particular. Economy—or rather, as we deem i‘t, ness. To us the wonder is how any people can
ParsinlenY.—pointed to the former branch of the think themselves free, and yet receive the nomi-
alternative as preferable ;
Munificence, and, ac nation of their candidates from' the throne itself ;
cording
also, to our view of the matter, Right Rer,son a nomination backed by the praises and the threats,
to the latter! Naturally, thus. Fob by las they may be needed, of the man who commands
yielding to the temptations held out by the aster- half a million of bayonets.
sibly economic suggestion, we should really and 1 But what are the facta of the case ? Here all
1 ruly be guilty df two enormous-absurdities: We is mystery: In thii coiintry' every batch of poli-

THE SUN, LIONBON, THURSDAY EVENING, PJUNE 18, 1867

ticians, all the discontented w:th things as they
are, publish at once their tract, their pamphlet,
their weekly or monthly organ. All the uneasy
mind of England rushes into pint, if it is only
through a speech at a public meeting, or a letter
in a newspaper. No such indicator or safety-
valve exists at all in France. The Moniteur's
praise of the Legislative Body is, that it initiated
nothing, upset no ministries nor could do it, re-
pressed discussion, and agreed on all points with
the Government ; and the praise of the French
Press is, that after repeated warnings it " knows
its mission"—the mission of having no mind of
its own, but of grinding imperial ideas into whole-
some nutriment for renovated France. With no
press, no public meetings, no free discussions in
the Legislature, and no full publication of such
discussions as are permitted, we can only guess
the state of things from external symptoms.
We must, then, take this governmental puff•,
ing of its own praise, as the indication that all is
not right. Legitimists, Bourbonists, Fusionists,
and Republicans, are, perhaps, all taken together,
a minority of the people ; and they are at war
with each other; the illiterate peasantry are Louis
NAPOLEON'S strength ; yet they are, to a large
eistent, if workmen, Socialists ; if agriculturalists,
indifferent. M. BILLAULT exhorts the Prefects
to urge the latter to the poll, " for they made the
Empire, and they love it." If they love it what
need of this urgency ?

The truth appears to be that no one cares for
the Empire but the soldiers ._they made
it, they profit by it. The parties of
course do not care for it. The secret societies
do not ; the -workmen do not, at least, no longer
than work is found for them by au increasing
taitation. The agriculturists plainly need the
whip to get them to the ballot box. France is
quiet, for it has not yet rested quite long enough ;
quiet because disturbance by any party must.,
now, end in immediate discomfiture by the mili-
tary ; quiet because its intellect is entirely
silenced ; quiet because it foresees that the pre-
sent regime has no basis but the life and will of
one clever man. To us these Imperial electioneer-
ing documents are but so many proofs that the
EMPEROR cannot trust the people to understand
the merits of his Government, except as they are
proclaimed by himself. We could wish for some
better quiet than that of the universal compres-
sion of such an.,explosive people.

This evening, the Bill for the Abolition of
Minister's Money in Ireland will be brought
under the consideration of the House of Lords,
and the Earl of DERBY has given notice of his
intention to oppose it with all his powers. We
trnst, however, that the Peers' will hesitate before
they provoke a collision with the Commons on a
question recommended to their consideration by
the decisive majority of 139. And what is the
important matter in dispute ? Merely 12,0001. per
annum, which can be paid to the present proprie-
tors out of the unappropriated balances in the
hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, so that
none will really suffer, but which is justly re-
garded as an insult and badge of degradation by
the Roman Catholic inhabitants of eight of the
principal towns in Ireland. If our Dis-
senting brethren feel acutely the Church-
rates, to which they are so improperly sub-
jected, still nore will the payers of ministers money
complain of that which is but a partial charge,
from which the Protestants of Belfast, of Ennis-
killen, Newry, Lisburn, and. other towns in
Ulster, are exempted.
•
From the day that Sergeant, now Commis-
sioner MURPHY, made his powerful and con-
vincing speech in the House of Commons, the
iniquitious and impolitic impost was doomed.
It was impossible that it could be main-
tained, and although his well-merited pro-
motion prevented him from conducting the
contest to a triumphal termination in the Legis-
lature, his mantle descended on a worthy suc-
cessor. Mr. W. FAGAN has laboured zealously,
indefatigably, and efficiently, and he has had the
satisfaction of seeing the case taken up by the
Government, who very properly permitted him to
reap the honours he so well merited.

We cannot conceive anything more ear-
nestly to be deprecated by the friends
of the Established Church in Ireland
than the temporary success of Lord DERBY'S quasi
amendment. It would create a storm in Ire-
land that could not easily be allayed. It
would be impossible to calculate the conse-
quences of the fearful hurricane ! Sufficient
is known of the proceedings under what was
termed " the tithe rebellion" in Ireland, to pre-
vent any welt-wisher of the Church from incur-
ring the risk of such another conflict. Lord
DERBY himself was a witness to the former struggle;
he should therefore cautiously abstain from any..
thing calculated to produce a similar catastrophe by
affording a just ground to the opponents of the
Obnoxious impost. If one State endowment be
successfully resisted, others may share a similar
fate. The Irish Church may therefore well ex-
claim, " Save us from our friends ! for their
triumph would be far more prejudicial than the
most vigorous onslaughts of our avowed oppo-
nents !"

.ROYAL SURREY GARDRNS,

We rejoice to find well-conducted crowds flocking
nightly to this justly popular place of amusement,
for it augurs well of the taste and feeling of
" the people," when they lend their ears to the
divine strains and high class music of Handel,
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, foregoing toe
vulgar and silly trash of " Ratcatchers's Daughters"
and " Jim Crows" for the elevating influence of " The
Heavens are telling," "Andante Symphonies," and
choice " Operatic Selections." The perfect and
masterly mode in which Mon. Jullien renders
the first productions of the first masters,
entitles him to the warm and grateful acknow-
ledment of the masses. He performs his task
in no meretricious and trifling manner ; but with
all the enthusiasm of his spirit and proficiency
of his art presents to the public rich musi-
cal feasts ; at once indicative of the providers'
elevated and sound taste, and the partakers' refined
sense of enjoyment. Haydn's "Creation," with
Sims Reeves, the Weisses, Madame Rudersdorff,
Madame Gassier, George Perrin, and full choral power
to sustain it, afforded us intense gratification, and sel-
dom have we heard this great master's greatest
work more efficiently performed. The Mozart and
Mendelsohn nights attracted dense audiences, whose
appreciative- applause must have been very satisfactory
to the wielder of the baton ; and the miscellaneous selections
are enlivening and well chosen. The " Great
Comet Galop" by M. Jullien, exhibits his usual
tact and talent. Perhaps, during some passages
of it, we felt slightly inclined to make
some remark to the members of the orchestra, as
amiable and doting mammas do to their active
" olive branches," whose uproar has arrived at
the climax which threatens to verify the fabulous
process of ".turning the house out of window.' '" I
think, my dears, there is a little too much note there.'
In concluding our testimonial to the excellence of the
musical festival at the Surrey Gardens, we can-
nia do better than advise all who can possibly spare a
shilling to expend it in the purchase of an evening's
exquisite enjoyment, so ably and attractively concerted
by M. Jullien.

THE DIVORCE BILL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

•
SlB,—Whatever may be the ultimate fate of the Chan-
cellor's DiVorce Bit, one good result at least will flow
from this puerile attempt to legi,late upon the matter,
and this is the effect it will have in diverting public at-
tention in a more pointed way, to the present defective
state of the law in rel ttion to married worm n. The
eloquent voice of a fair and genius-gifted lady first laid
the cruel wrongs of her sex at the foot of the Throne.
And it is impossible to say how much we are indebted
for the present bill, bad as it is, to the admirable and
spirited letter which the Hon. Mrs. Norton addressed to
the Queen. Her magic voice seem. at least to have had
the effect of arousing from his slumbers the present
drowsy occupier of the Woolsack. A more extended
agitation has now taken place. Since Mrs. Norton first
took the initiative numerous champions of both sexes
have entered the field and thrown down their gloves in
defence of the rights of women. Amongst the most con-
spicuous is Lord Lyndhurst in the Lords, and Sir Erskir e
Perry in the Commons. Under such leaders who need
be afraid of not gaining an ultimate victory? Each day
brings now converts to the can e, and it is with pleasure
I have read the letters of your fair correspondents
" M. C C ," and " A Lady of Title," together with the
powerful articles you have written upon the present
Divorce Bill. It seems to me almost impossible to con-
sider the many objectionable clauses in the present
Divorce Bill without taking into view the effect which
marriage has, under our law, upon the legal and social
statue of a woman. Allow me, therefore, sir, to poiet
out the consequences of marriage according to the
present state of the law. And let us, for the pur-
pose, imagine a young lady of fortune about
to be married. As she ascends the altar she is the fair
possessor of what may be called a princely estate—lands,
manors, rents, francnises, houses, and all the appurte-
nances of wealth fall to her rich inheritance. She is
about, perbap, to marry one whom she loves, but whose
fortune is comparatively small. The contract of mar-
riage is to be hallowed by the sanctions of religion. The
clergymari attends and reads the beautiful and impres-
sive service of the Church. Surrounding friends and
relatives let fall their tears at the touching and solemn
ceremonial. The husband plights his troth in all kinds
of Vows and protestations, and as the ring is placed
upon her finger he, amongst other things, solemnly as-
WUCE33 his bride that be endows her with all his worldly
goods. The marriage is over, and what is the result of
this ceremonial, and what is tho :q.t. dowry with_which
she is endowed ? The result is simply this : that cere-
mony which makes her a wife makes her a beggar at ti e
self-same moment. The altar of marriage is the altar of
sacrifice. The goodly heritage is all gone. The only
dowry she receives is to be pillaged ofleverything—e% en
to the last farthing—so much so that the law will not
even allow her, as her separate property, the bridal vest-
ments she has worn. Everything is gone. Immedi-
ately she is married the law ceases to recognise her ex-
istence. She has no rights, privileges, or immunities
whatsoever ; and she has found that even the ceremonial
of the Church is, by the crue:ty of the law, turned into
" a mockery, a snare, and a delusion." And this is the
unholy bondage in which men are content to see their
sisters, wives/, and daughters placed. But it may t e
said that the husband may make a settlement on
his wife before marriage. This is true, but where
can be found a stronger argument against the absurdity
of the present law than is furnished by marriage eetile-
ments ? What is a marriage settlement but an evasion
of the law ? The law says the wife cannot have a sepa-
rate estate, and therefore property is conveyed to her
trustees to hold the same to her use. Why convey pre -
perty by a side wind in this manner ? There can be no
good reason in sense or justice why the legal rights of a
woman should not remain the same after as before mar-
riage. Let her have a legal status like her husband.
Let her enjoy her oem property. Secure to her the ho-
nest fruits of her own labour ; and then let her take ripen
herself her separate liabilities and reTonsibilities. Any
reform which stops short of going to this extent is
childish.

A woman shoild enjoy equal rights and liabilities
with her husband. The difference—the unjust distinc-
tion made between husband and wife is the most flag-
rant feature of the present Divorce Bill. A woman com-
mits adultery, and the husband immediately obtains a
divorce ; the husband, on the other hand, lives in open
adultery for years, insulting arid degrading his wi'e
beyond conception, and yet she can have to divorce
without her case comes within the one er two excepted
ewes of the Act. What justice can there be in this ? If
adultery is to end the marriage contract in the case of
the wife, why not with double reason in that of the hus-
band ? Again, was ever such ingenuity devised to tor-
ture female sensibility and delicacy as the cruelty of that
clause which, when a wife is deserted by her husband,
only allows her to enjoy her own earnings by going
before a magistrate, and in open court unveiling to the
public her deep and cruel wronas Was ever insult and
cruelty equal to this ? lam afraid my letter is running
too long. Upon another occasion, with your permission,
I will point out what I conceive to be the glaring defects
of the present Bill. Iu the meantime, I hope the ladies
of England will follow the st,ps of M. C. C., and remem-
ber that their cause will be mainly lost or won through
their own efforts. ,

Yours faithfully, H. R. D.

" THE HOBBIES."

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

30, Welbeck Street, Cavendish-square,
June 16, 1857.
Sir,—l am sure I need make no apology in requesting
the insertion of the following statement of facts, in re-
ply to a letter which has been printed in the papers from
Miss Julia Kavanagh, which absence from town has pre-
vented me from sooner noticing.
Nearly twelve months since Miss Julia Kavanagh's
father brought the MS. of The Hobbies" to me, with
a view to its publication, telling me that a considerable
portion of it had been written by his daughter, who had
carefully revised the whole as its editor. The MS. fully
bore out this statement, inasmuch as I found a large
part of it, as well as innummerable emendations, in Miss
Kavanagh's handwriting. I was also shewn. several
letters of Miss Kavanagh's, in which she wrote in high
terms of the merits of the work, and of her having made
such alterations as she thought would make it more ac-
ceptable to the public. These circumstances, and the
fact of her having herself previously offered the work to
one of the leading publishing firms in London for publi-
cation on the understanding that it was to be announced
as edited by her, induced ma to believe her father's state-
ment. and in this belief I undertook the publication upon
Mr. Kavanagh's express written authority, to publish it,
"as edited by his daughter, Miss Julia Kavanagh,
author of Natlialie,' Daley Burns,' &!., the said work
having undergone the editorial revision of the said Julia
Kavanagh."

I was unaware when I accepted the MS. that un-
happy family differences had arisen between Miss Ka-
vanagh and her father, nor had I reason to suppose that
any objections existed to the use of her name as editing
her parent's work until I was called upon by her solici-
tor to withdraw it. Immediately, however, on being
requested to do so, a new title page was printed and
sent to every library to which copies of the work had
been sold; and in further compliance with Miss Kava-
nagh's request, her sclicitor was promised that imme-
mediately after my return to town, the fact should be
announced to the public in a form that would be most
agreeable to her wishes. I was therefore much sur-
prised—and I think I have reason to complain of Miss
Kavanagh's _pabiishing her letter of the 9th instant,
threatening me with the penalties of the law, when she
could not fail to be aware that everything, and even
more than any legal proceedings could have effected,
had already been done by me to comply with her wishes,
and that if any ground of complaint existed, it ought
rather to be settled between her father and herself than
between herself and me.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. CAUTLEY NEWBY.