The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-12 00:00:00

(BY TELEGRAPH.)
GRAVESEND, Tuesday :Morning.
Arrived, May 11.—John Bunyan, from .Napier, New
Zealand; Cosmopolitan, steamer, from Hamburg; F. B.
Ord, from Cochin; Victor, steamer, from Brussels; Cho-
Nieto, from Jamaica.
Arrived, May 12.—Happet, from Laurvig Margaretha,
from Groningen; Falcon and Art-Union, from Macau;
John and Harriet, from Rouen ; Carrier, from Honfleur ;
Bud, from Jersey; Marie, from Thisted; Klara Cathinka,
from Nestved ; James Shepherd, from Shanghai ; Alba_
truss, from Penang; Emperor, from Shanghai ; Rhine,
steamer, from Boulogne.
Sailed.—Seine, steamer, for Boulogne; Fairy Queen,
steamer, for Dieppe.
DEAL, Tuesday Morning.

Passed.—Empress of Indio, from Singapore, for London ;
True Briton, from Melbourne, for London; Italia, screw
steamer, from Liston, for London; Souverain, screw
steamer, from the west, for London ; Lavinia, schooner,
from the north, for the west.
Sailed—Plover, and James Holmes, both for the West
Indies.

A NICE DISTINCTION.—What is a flute? Is it a
wooden tube with certain holes and keys? asks the
Athenieum. These are necessary, no doubt ; but the flute,
the sounding instrument, is the column of air which is
confined by the wood, and shortened or lengthened by use
of the holes and keys.

MR. GLADSTONE'S nibbling at the Estimates the
other evening, says the Saturday Review rather whimsi-
cally, only showed the cast of temper in which some
people indulge when, annoyed by things in general, they
box the ears of the first small boy they meet.

LIGHT AND COLOUR.—Here is a fact showing the
influence of artificial light in the production of green
colouring mutter. Some lilacs were placed for forcing in
a heated cellar, partially lighted with gas. Those loaves
that were exposed to the light became green, as if they
had been in the open air, while the remaiud3r were etio-
lated. The fact is recorded b 3 bt. Ermine in a recent
number of the "Revue Ilorticole+."—Lan•l and Water.
LLight thus imparting or creating colour, surely gives some
faint hope that, ultimately, science may, through proper
agencies applied to the Tense of, or the sensitised plate in,
the camera, enable light to perform its proper office as a
colourist, and so to produce at last naturally coloured
photographs.—En._

TIIE PRINCE NAPOLEON—has provoked from a •
new journal, entitled Times Ikview, the folio wing curiously
incoherent, parenthetical paragraph : the scorn e:presaed
by which reads ohnost hysterically.—The Prince Napo-
leon, it is well known, has as much idea of religion as
his friend the writer of a blasphemous life of Christ.
The worthy pair, with a medical professor named Robin,
who bolds that man has no more soul than a cat (we
deny M. Robin the sense of one) and a few other choice
spirits (the Prince always has a choice lot about
him) held a grand banquet on Good Friday, we sup-
pose in derision of the Christian religion. Some years
since the Prince was a member of a society of
atheists, we are not aware whether his Imperial Highness
(what a highness, it is sufficient to bring loathing on the
name) still holde the post of chairman. This so-called
highness has ever been foremost in every act of folly, and
has givoa his cousin, the Emperor, more trouble than he
is worth. The other day he rambled through Germany
seeking alliances and meeting rebuffs at every Court;
truly the Emperor is bard put to it for ambassadors when
he sends such a man as his cousin to.represent him. The
place for such a genius, such a wonderful savant (and he
considers himself in reality a nonsuch), is decidedly with
King Theodore. Why does not the Emperor give him a
mission, the atmosphere of Abyssinia would be found
much more congenial than that of Berlin.
REPORTED Loss OF THE ELLCTRIC STEAM-TUG.—
The annexed is made public at the request of the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty :—" With reference to a
report that has recently appeared in the newspapers rela-
tive to the alleged wreck of the Eleerie, steam transport
tug, near Aden, on the 18th of February last, and in which
it is stated that seven of the crow, including two engineers,
reached Aden after experiencing great suffering, and that
the remainder of the persons on beard, 67 in number, were
supposed to have perished, a letter from Commodore
Heath has been received at the Admiralty, dated the 15th
of April last, stating that the ship ran on shore near Aden,
but subsequently was gut off without damage of conse-
quence. Commodore Heath further states that the two
naval engineers landed against the wishes of the master of
the tug, and reached Aden, suffering much from the effects
of the journey, and with loss of their clothes. Oue native
of their party appears to have been killed. The report of
the loss of the remainder of the crew is, therefore, untrue.'

THE BARRETT ALIBI.—Mr. Poland, the legal
oommissioner despatched by the Home Secretary to
Glasgow for the purpose of making certain inquiries with
reference to the alibi set up in defence of Barrett at the
recent trial, examined a number of witnesses in the
Central Police•eourt, Glasgow, on Friday last. The
principal evidence was that of two police-constables and a
girl named Kerr, the daughter of the landlady with whom
O'Neill lived at the time he was so frequently visited by
Barrett. The constables, in their evidence, d-nied the
statements of Lindsay, the printer, examined before
Barrett's agent, as to Barrett and Lindsay having met
them the day of the torchlight meeting on Glasgow
Green, and as to the former having given his name and
address to the constables. The girl Kerr stated that she
knew Barrett well, and that she saw him immediately
before and immediately after the torchlight meeting, and
that there was no apparent change in the length of his
whiskers, as alleged by the witnesses examined for
Barrett. She also stated that, though constantly in the
employ of O'Neill, frequently sleeping with Lim at night
he disappeared a few days after the Green demonstration,
and she never saw him afterwards. No witnesses were
examined on the other side, as their testimony had
been previously sent to London by Barrett's own agent.
The evidence was duly authenticated upon oath be-
fore a magistrate. Mr. Poland left the same evening for
London. _ _

The Royal Commission on Primary Education
in Ireland is holding regular sittings in Dublin, and all
the commissioners are in attendance, Earl Pawls being
chairman. Tho Comm'ssion is a mixed one, and repre-
sents the various opinions on education existing in Ireland.
The denominational educationist!,, the advocates of the
mixed system, Churchmen, Catholics, and Presbyterians,
are associated in the inquiry.

A competent judge has announced that the
Princess Louise bids fair to attain as high a rank in art as
her royal mother has attained in literature. At the
anniversary dinner of the Artists' Benevolent Fund on
aturday last, the president of the Royal Academy men-
tioned that "the Quoen had this year conferred a signal
honour, not only on the Royal Academy, but on the
whole profession, by permitting the Princess Louise to
send to their exhibition a bust of her brother Prince
Arthur." Sir _Francis had no hesitation in saying that
"the bust is a work of infinite talent, an admirable like-
ness, and a production full of niluomfmt and taste." Tais
opinion of its merits Sir Francis "knows to be shlred iu
by all the members of the Royal Academy."