The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-01 00:00:00

IHE SUN, LO_NuON, EDNESDAY EVENING JANUARY 1, 1868.

FINANCIAL EVENTS OF THE YEAR.

Subjoined is a summary of the principal finan-
cial, commercial, and other events of the year
1867 :

JANUARY.

Ist. Consols 90. Bank of England bullion
£19,247,859 ; Bank of France, ditto, £28,580,000.
7th. Resolution in Congress for impeachment of
President Johnson ; subsequently abandoned. Re-
suscitation of the Agra Bank.
14th. News of great fire at Yokohama, Japan ;
loss £500,000, of which £163,000 was insured in
London.

17th. Chilian loan of £2,000,000 6 per cent.
stock issued by Messrs. J. S. Morgan and Co.,
at price equivalent to 811, secured by mortgage
on the Customs ; payable in instalments extending
to November. Total applications 17 millions.

FEBRUARY.
sth. Opening of Par!ialnent by the Queen in
person.

7th. Bank discount reduced from 31 to 3 per
cent.

11th. Fenian plot at Chester to seize the Castle
discovered and frustrated.
14th. Fenian riots in the south of Ireland.
18th. Queensland Loan of £550,000 in Six per
Cent. Debentures, announced at 91.

19th. Danubian 8 per cent. loan for £1,264,420,
announced by Fruhling and Goschen at 71 (or reck-
oning allowances 68i), secured by certain State
domains and Customs' dues.
MARCH.

2d.—Subscriptions invited for £250,000 deben-
tures of the Ceylon Government. at 108, redeem-
able at par in 15 years ; only £90,000 was sub-
scribed, and the balance was withdrawn until the
30th of November, when £lOO,OOO was offered and
subscribed at 1108 13s. 6d.

25th.—Strike of engine-drivers on Brighton Rail-
way ; terminated on the following day.

APRIL.

4th.—Budget introduced by Mr. Disraeli. Sur-
plus for past year, £2,654,162 ; estimated re-
venue for current year, £69,340,000 ; expenditure,
£68,134,000, showing surplus of :F1,206,000. Pro-
posal to cancel 24 millions of debt held by Savings-
banks' Commissioners by granting an annuity of
£1,776,000 for 18 years, the extra annual expense
of which will be £1,056,000, although the increase
for 1867-8 will be only £750,000. Alsc', proposal
to reduce marine insurance duties to uniform rate
of 3d. per cent., absorbing 1210,000, and thus bring-
ing surplus down to £246,000.
sth—Expiry of annuity from Government to the
Bank of £585,740, granted in 1823 for 41 years,
and commonly called the " dead weight."
6th.—Fall of 2 per cent. in the French funds on
apprehension of war with Germany on the Luxem-
burg question. Three per Cent. Rentes, 66.

Bth.—Panic on the London Stock-Exchange from
apprehension of war between France and Germany.
Consols, 891. Despatch of two ironclads in Gib-
raltar in relation to the question of the capture of
the Victoria, which was shortly afterwards satis-
factorily settled by the Spanish Government.
29th.—Improvement in the Stock-markets by re-
moval of apprehensions of war between France and
Prussia—a Conference on the Luxerublug question
having been agreed to at the instance of the neutral
Powers.

30th.—During the whole of this month, and
mostly through the remainder of this year, con-
tinued and extreme depression characterised the
railway market, owing to adverse disclosures re-
garding the financial position of the Brighton line,
and subsequently of the Caledonian.

the Pal ml and French troops, and subsequently re-
arreartet 1 by the Italian authorities.
7th..—News of the loss of the Rhone and three
other steamers of the Royal Mail Company from a
hurriceme at St. Thomas on the 29th of October.

Bth. —Colliery explosion at Rhondda Valley, near
Cardiff., and loss of 178 lives.

9th---Honduras 10 per cent. railway loan at 80,
redeetw..ble at par in 17 years by annual sinking
fund of 3 per cent., and secured by mahogany
forests .and other domains, introduced by Lottdon
and C 3uuty Bank and Messrs. Bischoffsheim anus
Co.

15th.—Telegram from New York of submersion
of Island of Tortola, and loss of 10,000 lives; sub-
sequently contradicted, the damage having con-
sisted of disasters from a hurricane, and the loss of
from 300 to 500 lives.

18th.—Opening of French Chambers with pacific
speech by the Emperor. Egyptian Nine per Cent.
Loan for 12,009,200, introduced at 90, by Imperial
Ottoman. Bank and Oppenheim and Co. Earth-
quake at St. Thomas.

19t1.—Opening of Parliament. Jew Zealand
Six per CeLt. Debentures for £470,000 subscribed
at 1041.

26th.—Vote of £2,000,000 taken by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer on account of the Abys-
sinian Expedition. Addition of id. to the Income-
tax.

30th.—Ceylon Six per Cent. Debentures for
£lOO,OOO, subscribed at £lOB, 13s. 6d., redeemable
at par in 16 years.

DECEMBER.

sth.—Nova Scotia Six per Cent. Bonds for
£125,000 subscribed at par.
6th.—Burning of her Majesty's Theatre.
10th.—South. Australian Government Six per
Cent. Bonds for £140,500 subscribed by tender, at
and above £lO7 3s.

13th.--Incendiary Fenian explosion at Clerken-
well Prison ; five persons killed, and 40 or 50
wounded.

12th.—Portuguese Three per Cent. Loan of
£5,500,000 stock, introduced by Messrs. Stern,
Brothers, at 381 (or 361 reckoning allowances), of
which £3,750,000 was offered for subscription.
23d.—Ministerial crisis at Florence, from defeat
of the Menabra Ministry by a majority of two.
26th.—Bank of France bullion, £40,600,000, the
highest point ever touched ; Bank of England bul-
lion, £21,941,047.

28th.—Explosion of a powder-mill at Faversham
and loss of 11 lives.

30th.—Consols, 91i ; great anxiety regarding
Continental politics.

FASMONS FOR JANUARY.

-~

(From Le Follet.)

There have been many modifications in the style
of the short costume during the last few weeks ; and
as so very much of its gracefulness depends on the
arrangement of the two skirts, we will endeavour to
give our readers an idea of the most usual and truly
Parisian make.

The under skirt, though short, is not very short ;
generally either red, violet, or black, and it plaited
round the bottom. The upper skirt, which is most
frequently black, should be cut moderately trained
at the back, and so looped up as to be perfectly
flat at the front and the sides ; whilst the back,
being set in at the waist in large plaits, is quite
bouffant. Four buttons are used for the looping up,
two at the sides and two at the back, those at the
sides being so placed as to stretch the front breadth
quite plain. This skirt of course is considerably
shorter than the under- skirt.
Fur is still much in favour. It is profusely em-
ployed as trimming. There are various ways of
arranging it. For taffetas, cloth, or velvet dresses,
a double row placed up each side of the front
breadth is a very suitable style, a single band being
put round the cuffs and arm-holes. The paletots
of medium length have a square collar bordered
with fur.

We have heard the question asked whether a low
body wrs considered indispeasable for dinner-dress.
Without doubt it is so in Paris for all ceremonious
dinners, so that it is quite customary for Parisians
to have two bodies made to their silk, satin, moire
antique, or velvet dresses. Thin material is re-
served for young girls or very young married
ladies.

Last year black toilettes obtained an immense
success—they were worn even at balls ; and our
ladies of fashion appear to have no desire to give
thou up, so that is expected many ball dresses
will be seen made of black lace. Rich plain or broche
silks will be also worn this winter ; buy young girls
should never wear anything but light vaporous ma-
terial for ball toilettes.

The rage for gold tritnming is as great as ever.
Velvet spotted with gold, as well as velvet embroi-
dered with coloured silk, is in vogue for grand toi-
lette. For at-home dress, cachemere, poplin, and
velveteen are much worn.
Our list of dresses commences with one of claret-
coloured velvet. Short skirt over a satin skirt of the
same shade, forming a train in large plaits. The
bottom of the upper skirt is bordered with narrow
sable, headed with five rows of narrow satin, match-
ing the dress.

Robe of golden brown poplin, trimmed with a bias
of the material, striped with satin pipings of the
same piping is placed round the
ar 1M shade.
- hol e s bottom Asimilar
o f the sleeves, pockets, and
waistband, through which is passed at the back two
scarf ends of satin. Very small satin bows are put
on this piping, with a short space left between them.
Small round paletot, trimmed with a square collar
to match.

A costume "Marie Antoinette" of violet satin,
raised by bands of velvet of the same colour. The
upper skirt of poult de soie to match, shortened at
the hips by bouffants of satin, the back forming a
tunic. The body trimmed with satin ; tight sleeves,
with satin epaulettes and cuffs. The paletot man-
telet, fastened at the back of the skirt iu the style of
that time.

A costume " Imperatrice" of white poplin, cut i❑
points, falling over a band of ruby-coloured satin.
Upper skirt of ruby satin, raised a l'antique by
braces, which pass over the shoulders and fall in
long ends on to the skirt, where they are fastened
under the bows and ends with which the skirt is
raised.

A visiting dress of brown satin, trimmed with a
bias fold of the same colour, raised in front over a
skirt of black velvet, worked with steel beads. A
" Psyche" band fastened at the side. High body
with revers cross in front.

A dress of faille with double skirt, the upper one
raised in the style t 4 Louis XV." by a rich agrafe
of velvet to match the colour of the dress, em-
broidered and fringed with gold or steel. The body
high and round at the waist ; tight sleeves. The
whole embroidered to match the ornaments on the
skirt.

Morning walking-dress. Skirt of black or violet
silk, plaited ; dress of black faye, raised as de-
scribed at the beginning of this article ; a trimming
of jet at the pockets and on the body only, consist-
ing of a galon worked with bright beads, and a
fringe about four inches wide. The sash is very
wide, and fastened at the back with rings of jet.
Short polonaise, trimmed with Astracan. Black
velvet bonnet and Astracau muff.

Robe of rich black serge, each breadth trimmed
with jets. The pockets covered with jet fringes,
and the band of the polonaise made of white
ribbon, embroidered with jet. The polonaise is of
black Chantilly, lined with black satin.
Robe of golden brown taffetas, trimmed round
the bottom with a grecque of satin of the sane
shade. Polonaise, without sleeves, of golden brown
velvet, trimmed all round the bottom and up the
fronts with a satin grecque of a smaller size. Band
of satin fastened at the side with a small bow. The
sleeve of taffetas is open and hanging, and
trimmed also with a small grecque.
A very pretty and simple dinner-dress may be
made of silver-grey foulard. Low body, opening
over a stomacher with narrow revers of pink silk,
the edge trimmed with a triple row of very narrow
moss fringe, which has a charming effect. The
skirt, long and plain at the back, has the front
lxreadth trimmed with narrow robing:3 of pink silk,
oited like those on the body, and euxuaounted

by three narrow pink galons. A wide scarf of
pink silk tied loosely round the waist completes this
toilette.

Another of foulard, extra quality, the ground
white, covered with pink spots and small bunches
of light flowers shaded. The skirt is long, trimmed
with a flounce of white taffetas, edged and sur.
mounted by rouleaux of shaded pink silk. The low
body, cut square, is t rimmed to match. Fichu
"Marie Antoinette" of black lace, fastened behind
with rings of gold.

A white satin dress, the skirt very full and long,
trimmed with a band of grcba placed quite at the
edge ; a second band of the same trimming placed
half-way up, so as to resemble a double skirt. Low
body, with long hanging sleeves trimmed to match.
This dress is equally pretty in coloured satin, but
the trimming should then be of swan's down—grebe
looks better o❑ black or white.

For toilette do bal, a green crape over white
satin trimmed with steel-coloured leaves, the body
trimmed with lace and leaves to match those on the
skirt.

Another of white tulle with seven flounces, one
falling over the other, the edges trimmed with silver
lace. Over this tulle skirt a second of satin flamme
de Vesuve. The body low and square, and trimmed
with silver lace.

A skirt of poult de soie, pale green, with a long
train, the bottom trimmed with a light bouillonne
of white crape dotted with small bows of flue gold
cord and tassels. Over this a second skirt of white
crape, spotted with gold and edged with gold fringe,
drawn up on one side with a gold cord and tassels,
and on the other with a scarf of green silk fringed
with gold. The body is made with a narrow corse-
let of green silk edged with gold cord ; it is laced
in front with a gold cord, the tassels of which fall
over the points in front of the waist. This
cot Eelet is compleled by a bouillons° of
white crape, fastened round the shoulders
and half down with gold cords. Full bouffantes
sleeves. The coiffure to this elegant dress consists
of a plait of green velvet and gold cord, raised a
little in front to form a diadem ; it is then twisted
round the chignon and falls over the shoulders, end-
ing in a fringe of gold. A gold butterfly, the body
of emeralds, completes this head-dress.
Dress of blue crape spotted with silver, over a
skirt of white crape. Tallier covered with bows of
pink satin and pale pink roses, placed at unequal
distance. Low body, trimmed round the shoulders
with a bouillon of crape, on which are placed small
bows of satin and tiny roses.
The bonnets, although still worn so small, are
made warmer and more comfortable by means of
the cr)ssway strings of velvet or satin, lined, and
generally edged with lace. The " Duchesse"
is much admired, and is certainly a very becom-
ing head-dress. Thus, a chapeau " Duchesse "
of black velvet, trimmed with a wreath, or rather
ruche, of lace, with a diadem of jet flowers ; at the
side an aigrette of gold and steel. Wide strings of
crossway velvet, lined with white satin and edged
with lace.

Or the same bonnet is grey velvet, trimmed with
a ruche of blonde, and bandeau of gold and steel
with hanging ornaments of steel. Strings of cross-
way satin, fastened by a bow of the same formed
of ends. At the back a bow to match, with two
long ends of satin edged with blonde.
A " Marie Antoinette" of violet velvet, edged
with small feathers the same colour and agrafes of
gold and steel ; this trimming is carried down the
strings, which are of crossway velvet and fastened
with a bow of the same.

Another, of ruby velvet, was trimmed with folds
and rosettes of the same coloured satin all round the
edge, with gold hanging ornaments. Across the
back a band of curled feathers forming a curtain
over tho chignon and carried down the strings,
which are ruby velvet lined with white satin, fas-
tened under the chin by a bow of velvet.
A very comfortable and, at the same time, elegant
bonnet may be made of black or coloured velvet, the
front plaited, and edged with a wreath of small
feathers to match the velvet, on which are placed
small jet leaves. Soft full crown of black lace,
over which falls a rich lace forming a mautile, fas-
tened over the satin strings by a satin bow.
For visits of ceremony, a very charming bonnet
was of white royal, trimmed with rouleaux of white
satin and a fringe of marabouts. B tudeau of steel
and gold, and strings of white satin edged with
blonde, fastened by a rich brooch.
Bonnet of maroon velvet, piped with satin the
same colour; small mantilla of black lace, fastened
to a band of velvet piped with satin, which forms
the strings; at the top a bow of velvet formed of
ends. A ruche of lace forming a diadem, separated
by a band of gold and steel. At the side a bouquet
of small white flowers.

A fanchon of bright black feathers; strings of
the same. At the side a bouquet of gold wheat ears,
and a scarf of Chantilly, forming a veil at the back,
and fastened under the chin.

JOHN FRANCIS MAGUIRE, M.P., ON THE
IRISH IN AMERICA.

Our remarks on what Mr. John Francis Maguire,
M.P., has published are not based on his book,
which we have not yet seen, but on the review of it
which appeared in the Times last Wednesday. What
the Irish are in America is better known to every
American than it can possibly be to Mr. Maguire ;
and it is not likely that his eulogy of his country-
men will do more than amuse them, though it be
coupled with the detraction of the native American
character. What we are interested in, is the strength
and object of the Fenians, and on this subject Mr.
Maguire is an authority. He asserts that persons of
all ranks have joined the order. Everywhere he
speaks of the end to be attained as a great object,
and he writes of many of the Fenians as desperate
men who took part in the war, and have become so
familiarised with death as to contemplate the pos-
sible loss of life with the utmost indifference. That
they are desperate men has been proved by their
acts—that they are so ready to meet death, has been
shown, as is often the case, to be mere bravado.
Take, for instance, Massey when arrested—contrast
the scene in the court at Manchester and that on
the scaffold there. However desperate, it will be
found that there is often a wide discrepancy
between talk and acts, and generally those
who know that the most likely end of their en-
terprise is the gallows will shrink from putting
their necks in the halter. Mr. Maguire tells us that.
Irish children born in America are fed on the sor-
rows, the wrongs, the ancient glories, the future
hopes of Ireland, the most acceptable themes for
these exiles—a training that may have a fascina-
tion for them, but which can neither be profitable
nor agreeable to the American people. These chil-
dren are taught to nourish wrongs of which they:see
no trace and can little comprehend, and their igno-
rance about the true state of Ireland is shown, we
understand, even in these pages, where a man is de-
scribed as being about to declaim on a grievance
abolished generations back, and who only expressed
disgust when informed of this by the author.
The Fenian leaders consider as a blow to their cause
every abuse rectified, every wrong corrected, and
these are the words of Mr. Maguire :—" They pre-
fer that the admitted causes of Irish discontent
should not be removed ; for they naturally argue•—
' If our hopes of regenerating Ireland be based
upon revolution, it is better for our purpose
that the various causes and sources of discontent,
and disaffection should be allowed to exist, and by
their prolonged existence irritate and gall the public
mind more and more, and thus keep the people in a
condition most favourable to revolutionary teaching.
Let the sources of discontent be dried up, the causes
of anger and irritation be removed, and what can
be hoped for then ?' If half a dozen new grievances
could be improvised to-morrow, their announcement
would be hailed with gladness by those who desire
to keep alive. the Fenian organisation, and impart a
more vengeful spirit to the feeling against England.
A grievance redressed is a weapon broken."
It is important to obtain such testimony from
such a source, for both England and America ought
to understand the position. We believe it to be of
the highest importance that the objects and inten-
tions of Fenian:sm should be distinctly known by
both nations as well as by the Irish people. It is
then avowed that the intention is not to right Ire-

land as O'Connell desired, but to erect the island
into a republic, dividing the lands of the present
possessors among the regenerators. The Fenians
are aware that the only chance for such a scheme
is to involve the United States in a war with
the United Kingdom. This, therefore, is the
object to which all their efforts are bent. Mr.
Maguire asserts that the public opinion of the
United States affords its sanction "to the con-
victions of the Irish in America, and a moral
if not an active support to efforts unfriendly,
and even hostile, to England." Ile adds
" There are not many journals there which are not,
to a certain extent, under the control or influence
of Irishmen." To be an Irishman, according to
him, is to be a person imbued with a fanatical hat-
red of England. " America will help us," is the bur-
den of their cry, and when the war he predicts breaks
out, " with a hound and a shriek of exultation, the
Irish would rush to meet their enemy. . . . To
revenge, if so they could, the wrongs inflicted by
monarchs, and soldiers, and statesmen, by confisca-
tion and by massacres, by penal laws and evil
policy." lle ought to have added, " and to aban-
don every advantage in the land of their adoption
to wreak their vengeance on the grandchildren of
those who a century ago injured their fore-
fathers." The reviewer treats with contempt the
idea of the American people being Jed or dragged
into a war with England by Irish firebrands, add-
ing, " If ever we have a difference with the United
States, it will not be produced by Irishmen." Now,
this is the point on which we desire not to be mis-
understood. Earnestly, emphatically, we assert,
the ceaseless danger of Fenian success in this,which
can be guarded against only by the exertions of
influential men on both sides of the ocean. In
America a political hostility has long and success-
fully been established, which has, in its turn,
given rise to a dislike of Americans in England.
When Mr. Chandler and Mr. Robinson bring for-
ward their Fenian motions in Congress, they may
be sneered at by native Americans, but they
here produce the effect they intend. What
they state is read far and wide, the English papers
giving to their propositions a publicity which might
lead to the supposition that they were, in the inte-
rests of the Fenians, creating among the British
people a strong belief in American hostility. No
nation can find itself the object of a never-ending
animosity without a feeling of repugnance growing
up towards those who express such hatred. The
Irish-Americans contrive to keep alive the idea in
England that America is to it a hostile country. Be-
lieving this, many Englishmen would gladly have
seen the disruption threatened by the civil war ac-
complished, and the expression of this feeling has
been seized on by the very people who created it to
generate among native Americans a reciprocal pre-
judice. Calumnies have been freely circulated
against England throughout the United States, and
every measure resorted to that could foster the
baneful influence among the citizens of the Repub-
lic. Proclaiming aloud that Fenianism is an Ame-
rican conspiracy, the leaders carry out diabolical
plots throughout England, making a street in
the metropolis the scene of an atrocious outrage.
What possible good could result from the Clerken-
well affair, or from the many attempts at arson ?
Why this—a bitter hatred may be excited against the
source whence emanate these secret thrusts at the
life and property of the inhabitants of England. if
both peoples can only be brought up to the proper
spirit of irritation against each other then the
Fenians have but to wait. The spark will soon be
struck to kindle the blaze, or, should they be im-
patient, a raid into Canada will be sufficient. Mr.
Maguire appears to exult in the prospect of this
contest, so says the renewer, who gives the follow-
ing extract :—" Were the American Government
so forgetful of international obligation as to close
their eyes as to what might be going on, and allow
a fortnight, or a mouth, to pass without any
active interference ; and were their uuwiilingness
to act a matter thoroughly understood,--in such a
case the frontiers of Canada would be passed with
a rush—and then ?—why, God knows what then.
A rupture with England—to cease when ? Is it
after a long and terrible or sharp and wicked con-
test, which would end with the realisation of the
American idea of the naturrl boundaries of the
United States at the other side of the St. Lawrence
and the lakes, and from Labrador to the Pacific?
The future is in the hands of Providence." The
Times prefers not to speculate on such events, and
cannot see what good purpose Mr. Maguire imagines
he is serving by putting forth the statements con-
Wiled in his 30th chapter. We entirely differ
from the reviewer, for we consider that these
are the statements which should receive the
widest publicity both in America and in Eng-
land. It is not by shutting the eyes that the
dangers can be averted, but, on the contrary, by
opening them wide. If both nations are aware
of the Fenian plot, and clearly signify their
intention not to cut each other's throats for
the gratification of Fenian spite, NiVallith the
object the Fenian outrages in Eng
will
cease. The United States could gain nothing by a
war with Great Britain. Americans firmly believe
that the North American possessions of England
will, in time, of their own accord, enter the Union,
and if England regarded America as a steadfast
ally, instead of an avowed foe, she would consider
that the sooner this happened the better. But it
will be an evil day for the United States when
Canada is coerced into the Union, and how such a
conquest could compensate Ireland for her centuries
of misrule, we are at a lots to understand. If the
Fenians could have their way, the country North of
the St. Lawrence would be desolated as was the
country South of the Potomac, and the Northern States
would have on both borders, conquered territories of
fellow citizens who hated them. This would be the
result of a successful war, and the wider it is known
and thoughtfully considered, the less chance the
Irish-Americans will have of bringing on the coun-
try in which they have received so generous a wel-
come, this fatal calamity. Mr. Maguire affects to li
believe that a war with England would not be un-
popular—" because it would most effectually solve
the Southern difficulty." This is an Irish means of
curing one evil by adding another, and then it will
not be one, for it will be two. To balance the
Southern discontent, create a similar discontent in
the North. Settle the question between the freed-
men and the whites by treading the Canadians
under feet. Mr. Maguire is a member of Parlia-
ment., and we have no doubt that the Assembly to
which he belongs will be proud of the legislative
wisdom he displays, which, we may add, is in keep-
ing with his patriotism. It is a pity such sagacity
should not have been brought to bear on the
financial perplexities of the United States. We
have little doubt that the Fenian argument
for a war with England might be further
strengthened by the assertion that one of its
first effects would be to abolish the Public Debt.
Indeed a war with England would be a panacea for
all evils, whether financial or political, Irish, Cana-
dian, or Southern !—Anglo-Amertean Times.