The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, FE: BRUARY. 17, 1868.

MR: ROEBUCK ON CAPITAL AND LABOUR CANON MOUFANG ON THE PAPACY.

The Sheffield Independent publishes a letter written by
Mr. Roebuck, M.P., to one of his constituents who had
called the hon. gentleman's attention to his having omitted
all reference to the sins of capital in the course of his
recent lecture at Sheffield. Mr. Roebuck says : " For a
moment consider the circumstances in which I was
speaking. The audience was one of working men of
a town in which there had lately been horrid disclo-
sures of murder and cruelty, committed by men of
the very class which I was addressing. These men had
lately had an opportunity of bringing charges, and, if
possible, of substantiating them against the possessors
of capital. No such charge was preferred, and my belief
is that none such, if made, could have been substantiated.
My mind was by the nature of things directed
to the subject occupying all men's minds, viz., the
wrong views entertained respecting the nature of labour
and cal'ital. When I had explained what these errors
were, I had really done all, as I conceived, that I was
expected to do ; and I illustrated the principles I had
laid down by one striking instance. I stated broadly
what I thought ought to be the aim of the Legislature in
any future legislation, and there I left the matter. You
compel me to talk of myself—l reluctantly yield to the
necessity. I ask you, then, to look at my career
as a politician. Is there anything in it which has
been caused or brought about by consideration
of self ? Have I ever flattered or attempted to
cajole the people? When I have thought them wrong
have I not said so ? When I thought them right, have I
not at every risk boldly supported and defended them? But
you say that more constant intercourse with the rich and
influential may have weaned your sympathies from the
hardy sons of toil.' At what time do you state this supposi-
tion? Just when I have given the strongest evidence of my
confidence in and sympathy with those `hardy sons of toil.'
My influence has been strenuously employed in inducing
the House of Commons to give those hardy sons of toil
more power in the government of the country than
they ever yet enjoyed. And there are not few who
wilt tell you that that influence was not wholly power-
less in bringing about the passing of the last Reform
Bill. But your supposition in its very foundation is
incorrect. My intercourse with the rich and influential
has not been more constant of late years than through
my whole life. My sympathy with the working men
was not the result of association with them, but it arose
from careful study and industrious investigation. My habits
have been through life the same ; my fortunes have not
changed. Experience, I hope, has corrected errors. Age
has not chilled my sympathies, and the temptations which
failed to influence the young man will not make me
swerve from what I believe the path of duty now that my
career is coming to its eud.—l remain, with great sin-
cerity, yours very truly, " J. A. ROEBUCK "

At the great meeting at Cologne, under the
presidency of the Archbishop, and with unani-
mous assent of the representatives of all classes
and of every district in the Rhenish and West-
phalian provinces, it was resolved that hence-
forth, on the part of the Catholic people, the
following programme should be adopted :
First, that the territories which the Holy
Father still possessed should be maintained un-
diminished and defended against every attack;
secondly, that all the territories which the
Revolution had despoiled him of must be re-
turned ; thirdly, that the States of the Church
thus restored should be placed under the guar-
dianship of the law of nations, and their neu-
tralitybe recognized by all the States of Europe;
and fourthly, that these demands should be
brought forward and enforced on every occa-
sion that presented itself, and in every manner
that should be deemed suitable, until Govern-
ments themselves again recognize the stand-
point of right, and declare the neutrality of
the States of the Church. It was then moved
that this demand of the Catholic people of
Prussia should be made public. Firm con-
fidence was expressed on many sides that
such a demand as theirs could not be long dis-
regarded, and, perhaps, indeed, would be sooner
conceded than many imagined. The meeting,
which was held during two days, was very
numerously attended, and the most determined
spirit of loyalty and devotion to the Holy
Father was manifested, both in the speeches
that were delivered in the course of the two days
and in the reception they met with from the
crowded audiences. The Archbishopof Cologne
made a very impressive speech on behalf of the
rights of the Holy See.
The meeting at Cologne was a worthy con-
clusion to the meetings which have recently
been held in the larger cities. The movement is
now spreading over the whole country, where
similar meetings and manifestations among the
rural populations attest most vividly that the
idea of the Papacy, represented by the Holy
Father as Sovereign of a free, independent
State, still lives as strong as ever in the Catho-
lic peoples, and will be upheld by Catholic
peoples from age to age.
Perhaps the most able and the most charac-
teristic speech at this meeting was that deli-
vered by Canon Moufang, of Mayence. Canon
Moufang is highly esteemed throughout Catho-
lic Germany as one of the most zealous up-
holders of the civil sovereignty and the spiri-
tual authority of the Pope against the time-
serving or half-hearted policy of the minimizers
who are, unfortunately, to be met with in
some quarters of Catholic Germany.
We translate the following report of Canon
Moufang's speech as we find it in the Kol-
nische Bilitter :—"Canon Moufang, of Mayence,
opened his magnificent and enthusiastic speech,
which lasted nearly an hour, and was repeat-
edly interrupted by vociferous applause, by
saying how glorious it was to do battle for the
Church, for the highest spiritual interests.
These are glorious days, he said, these days of
battle—glorious days for him who has eyes to
see what God is doing. He is confident God
intends to raise the world from its present de-
gradation to a new spiritual life. Such meet-
ings as those of to-day are an evidence of a new
inmoorvee,maesnnt
o;
thinfor,g aisnnflioet g degrades a
uponnation
the world more
injury and mischief, than low views and false
ideas, so nothing elevates people more than
when they allow themselves to be mastered
and led by great ideas. History proves this.
England a hundred, and even fifty years ago,
was not only rich, but great, for it had a policy
which was based on principles ; it possessed
statesmen who were guided by great ideas.
But now things are different. Cotton and
coal are the rulers. England's policy is now
only framed according to the interests of trade
and commerce. Old England's voice is now
but of little worth in the councils of nations ;
its ministers are become the obsequious ser-
vants of mercantile interests. In France, the
Empire of 1852 promised to introduce a period
of prosperity, but entered on a false path by
encouraging, as it did, luxury and financial
gambling. Its policy has promoted neither its
honour nor its greatness. In 1859 it entered
upon an unjust war, and now the most crafty
of all cunning rulers is grown so weak as to
have to throw himself into ' our arms,' to look
for help to ' us, Ultramontanes.' In A m erica,
there was a great and glorious union of thirty-
six states ; but the spirit of Washington, the
spirit of freedom, moderation, and honesty,
is vanished. Gain is become the highest aim.
Hence the proud Union is come to this, that,
after a long civil war, half of the nation exists
deprived of every right, and the whole of North
American freedom is in jeopardy. During the
whole of the 18th century, in the most civilized
States of Europe, no great idea, no faith, was
visible in public life, therefore was Europe
trampled in the dust of the French Revolution.
How is it that Austria is to-day so weak and
mean spirited as to allow its rulers to hold them-
selves neutral in the great question of the day,
the Roman question ? Why, but because, for
forty years, the people have been so treated as
if eating and drinking were the chief things
in life. But a people without ideas deserves
reverses, and is ripe for slavery. How true
is it that low views and false ideas destroy
a people, but it is also just, as true, that tine
and noble ideas elevate and regenerate a people.
In the tenth and eleventh centuries the people
of Christendom had fallen into a degraded
state ; the salt of the earth had lost its savour;
princes encouraged lowmindedness in the
clergy. Then it was that God inspired the
great idea of the crusades, and faith revived,
morals were purified ; and art, commerce, in-
dustry, municipal and political freedom sprang
up in the following centuries. And what took
place in-our fathers' time ? When Germany
I was trodden underfoot, when our Kings did
homage in his anti-chambers to the Son of the
Revolution, God kindled in the people the idea
of its independence, of its rights, and of its
national existence, and what did this idea effect?
The throwing off of the yoke of the stranger
was the least ; but exhausted Germany—how
did it arise ? What then happened, may God
effect again. False ideas now govern all
things ; but where the spirit of God bloweth
there error will be wafted away, and men will
be inspired by the truth. This is the signifi-
cation of the war which Pius IX. is waging,
and which we wage under his head. It is not
a question of a few square miles of territory,
but of great ideas, which the Holy Father re-
presents. Among these ideas, the chief is that
of justice. Justice is the foundation of all
States. It has been said that force is more
than right ; but right is right with God in
Heaven, and wrong is wrong. Where are the
Governments who represent these ideas of jus-
tice ? One alone is there who represents right,
aitdhaneedreis a
or justice that
Gis
odPius IX. He represents not
only his own right, but the rights of all. This
idimnuhsteasvuren. Another vi v e ,so truly
ideaa i s
sthat
the true value of spiritual interests. Of such
an idea the world has no longer any under-
standing. All its thoughts are given to work
and money-making, to the acquisition of ma-
terial possessions, to trade and commerce. One
there is again who does not do this—who does
not allow mankind to be degraded —who
—w o up-
holds spiritual interests—the Pope. A further
primary idea is the independence of spiritual
authority. In heathendom, when the civil
and spiritual authority were confounded, free-
dom of conscience was unknown. Christianity
has placed both in independence side by side,
and for fifteen hundred years they remained
distinct until the Reformation set up the prin-
ciple. Whoso was ruler of the land, had the
right of determining its religion. Hence comes
the gradually increasing irreligiousness of the
educated classes, who do not like having their
religion proscribed to them by the civil autho-
rity. There must be authority in matters of
religion, but this authority must be free and
independent. This independence is the motive
of the present momentous struggle. And
finally, in the sequence of great ideas is the
idea of the unity and community of all the

nations of Christendom. The idea of nation-
ality has been perverted and turned to de-
structive uses. Austria's rivalry of languages
offers an example where nationalities and lan-
guages
are in conflict. Christendom aims at
making the whole world into one family—one
kingdom of God. This idea, the noblest that
exists, is realized in the struggle which the Pope
is maintaining. His army is not composed of
Germans, of Frenchmen, of Belgians, but of
the faithful sons of the Holy Father from the
whole world. The blood shed at Mentana gives
to all Catholics a blood relationship as glorious
as can be conceived. The world stands in
need, not only of great ideas, but of great men
to realize them, for they are then the instru-
ments of God. Our Lord sends such men from
time to time to ennoble the world. Men like
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great, made for a
thousand years the Papacy the centre of poli-
tical action. St. Benedict established his order,
and saved the treasures of literature and civi-
lization ; Charlemagne realized the idea of the
Western Empire. When this Empire perverted
its power God sent a Gregory VII. and an Inno-
cent 111. to uphold the idea of the freedon of the
Church, and in the beginning of this century
a Pius VII. to represent the freedom of con-
science against despotism. Cologne, too, had
its Clemens August when the Church was
treated almost as a slave by the bureaucracy.
Since then things have become better. We
have now in Pius IX. the great man who car-
ries out great ideas. In him all is great.
When, in 1846, he ascended the Pontifical
throne, it did seem as if his benevolence and
kindness of heart might lead him into acts of
weakness. But, together with his great bene-
volence, he has manifested great energy—
energy against threats and flattery, against
caresses and falsehoods. The time in which
such a great Pope brings into action great
ideas is arrived. This Pope is attacked, God
be praised for it, for that doubles our love
towards him. Pius on the cross draws every
heart to himself by the great ideas which he
represents. What have we now to do ? what
have we to hope ? To draw around the Holy
Father, to make his ideas our own, and to pro-
mote them by our influence and our money,
our blood, and our life. We may expect rich
and great blessings, as the fourth command-
ment promises, for the Church is our Mother,
and the Pope our Father.. Blessings and sal-
vation will follow as a consequence on all
the world. We see it in France, where a
revolutionized people is lifting itself in battle
for the Holy Father. We see it in the much
calumniated, but noble people of Spain. We
see it in Belgium, Holland, and England, where
the Catholic movement is beginning. We see
it also in Germany, the land of the seven
sleepers. With all these wonderful doings shall
we not believe in still greater, in universal
return to the living faith, so that at last there
shall only be one shepherd and fold ?—West-
minster Gazette.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

CFrom the Anglo-American Times.)
PARIS, Feb. 13.

Tempera mutantur, and now we believe in spring
as a settled fact. As Mr. %Yeller's pieman observed,
" Fruits is iu, cats is out ;" deer, pheasants, and par-
tridges have disappe'ared, to be succeeded by new
potatoes, haricots verts, green peas, &c., which
already appear in the markets from Algeria; and
the longer days, the soft breeze, and warm
sun, denote one of the quickest transitions of the
season that I have ever known. Work, too, is
more easily obtained, the grand magazines of
fashion are again open to their numerous employes,
whose wages recal Hood's celebrated song of " The
Shirt," but nevertheless save many a poor girl
and helpless widow from starvation ; and though
Scotch and English winter fabrics of John Manby
and Co.'s well-known establishment have not en-
tirely disappeared from his windows, a mélange of
lighter fabrics indicates more truly than many a
barometer, the advent of spring. Talking of
fashions, by the bye, which are not much in my
line, one of the greatest alterations, it is said, will
be in the disappearance for sortie time of the jet
trimmings and ornaments which have for so long
been the rage in Paris, and which are now suc-
ceeded by a very elegant combination of black satin
cord and buttons, handsome enough to turn the
head of many a fair dame, and turn out the pockets
of her husband. Bread will Again be cheap, as
large importations of wheat have come into Paris.
During the last week 118,000 hectolitres arrived in
one consignment from Marseilles. Politics are at
a standstill, and the war-cloud so readily descried
by alarmists appears to have passed away
from the horizon. The law relative to the
Press is still in discussion before the Le-
gislative Assembly, and another important
article has received ratification, which, in diminish-
ing the existing tax upon journalism, will probably
tend to the increase of that branch of literature,
and a corresponding decline in cost of the article
supplied. It is said that the arrangements making
for the great International Maritime Exposition,
which will take place at Havre in June, and last
until October, are now nearly complete, the aqua-
rium being more than half as large again as that at
the Universal Exposition of the Champ de Mars,
resembling rather one of the immense basaltic
caverns of Fingal than an ordinary aquarium. Of
course the Fine Arts find admission to the Exposi-
tion at Havre, but the great peculiarity of this Ex-
hibition is its especial reference to everything mari-
time—from the numerous varieties of fish from every
part of the world, which will be found in the aqua-
rium, to the most important improvement in naval
architecture. Less extensive in its aim than the
Universal Exhibition at Paris, it nevertheless
presents a more attractive singularity, and I feel
certain that those of our American and English
friends who may come over will dud that they have
not thrown their time away. His Holiness the
Pope appears to be in funds at present, notwith-
standing his recent warlike defences, as he has for-
warded to the Archbishop of Algeria the sum of
5,000 francs, for the benefit of the native Arab
population, who are suffering terribly from famine ;
whilst, in acknowledgment of the benefits accorded
to the Catholics in Egypt by Ismail Pacha, he has
forwarded to that Prince a rich casket, containing
nine cameos and precious stones, set in gold—the
cameos representing the engravings and allegorical
devices found ou the cuirass of a magnificent statue
supposed to be that of Caesar Augustus, which was
discovered two years ago at Campo Fiori, Rome.
His Holiness has forwarded a similar present to his
Majesty the Sultan for the protection accorded to
the Catholics in Turkey. One of the greatest suc-
cesses amongst the fair sex at Paris has been that
of Mademoiselle Rachel, who, it appears, has brought
to a high degree of perfection the botanical dis-
bcoevauertiiefysinogf
the
ee
hfuammailuynipneerieeu ; at all events, if thega rd to permanently
good folks of Paris are determined to embellish their
personal appearance, it is certainly more desirable
to avoid the ordinary poisonous cosmetics so
much in vogue, and to select a system which
combines a knowledge of the properties of
aromatic herbs with an application at the
same time of the plainest and most useful rules of ,
medical science. Judging from the costly cadeaux
of bijouterie which have been presented to this
young lady, it would appear that her Clientele have
every reason to be satisfied; and it reminds one of
the proposed testimonial in Monte Christ() to be
erected by a grateful world to the Dealer in Hatchis.
The carnival is still dragging itself along merrily,
and rapidly approaching its termination with the
" Mardi Gras." A new piece has been brought out at
the Ambigu Comique, entitled
tt The Crime of Fa-
Verne," which again introduces to a French audience
the celebrated actor, F. Lemaitre. The Fantaisies
,Parisiennes have brought out a very pretty piece,
"The Return of the Crusaders." At the Gymnase
Le Comte Jacques attracts nightly crowded audi-
ences. At the Cirque Napoleon a new gymnast,
who goes by the name of Avolo, throws Leotard
into the shade, whilst for scenic decoration and
splendid emblems the Theatre Imperial du Chatelet
and the Theatre Forte St. Martin stand unrivalled.
The Chatelet is, perhaps, the largest theatre in
Paris, being capable of containing at least a,doo

pert sons, and at present " Gulliver's Travels" have
afforded an opportunity to the French author or
auth ors to produce an improbable kind of panto-
naimi romance, of which the scenic effect atones
for its extravagances of style. The French have
e.icquisite tas to in these affairs, and " Gulliver"
in partial./ ar contains one or two scenes which
have n ever seen surpassed, indeed equalled.
The sudden breaking up of the ice whilst he and
his co.r_u: panion are lying on an • iceberg, showing in
the dist ante the flying Island Laputa illuminated
by the -rays of the sun, which strike vividly upon
the rich and quaint costume and weapons of the
guards k tanding immovably at posts, and again the
view of the city of Lilliput, its bridges and draw-
bridges -with the sea in the distance, and lastly the
exquisite fairy scene presented in the gardens of the
Sorcerer of the Lakes, with a combination of costumes
and colours of the richest and most vivid description,
not forgetting a well arranged ballet to fill up
the centre—are most especially worthy of notice,
and it is -not to be wondered at that " Gul-
liver" 'ma been, and continues to be, a success
in Paris_ A splendid ball took place at the Hotel
de Ville on the evening of the 13th. I observe that
the goo 1 citizens have purchased the Pavilion of the
Bey of Tunis, with the intention of setting it up in
the midst of one of the principal squares or prome-
nades. The Palais d'lndustrie has been let for a
period of five years to the Societg Hippique Fran-
gaise. At the ball which took place on the sth, at
the Tuileries, the following Americans were pre-
sented by their Minister :—Mr. and Mrs. Durant,
Mr. and Miss Toppan, Mrs. Crane, Mr. and Miss
Robbins, Miss Harbeck, and Mr. Van Clief, of New
York ; Mr. and Mrs. Bross, of Chicago ; Miss Til-
ton, of Brooklyn ; Mrs. Field and Mrs. Ralton, of
San Francisco; Mr. and Miss Blanchard, Mr. Bowles,
and Mr. and Miss Curtis, of Boston ; Miss Sims, of
Alabama; and Miss Wolfe, Mr. and Mrs. Brittan,
Miss Fuller, and Miss Winters.

NAPLES, 7th Feb., 18G8.

The landslip at Santa Lucia has proved less fatal
to human life than what was believed at first. It
occurred at an hour when the shops were closed,
and the people out of the houses. The number of
deaths is estimated at nine, and all were killed at
once by the fall of the ruins, as the vaults where
some were expected to have taken refuge, when
reached after most difficult tunnelling, were found
empty. Only a poor cat was found alive, but mad-
dened by fright and hunger, so it escaped one kind
of death, but met another by drowning in the
neighbouring sea.
Much astonishment was caused here by Reuter's
Telegram in the Times, that part of Vesuvius, oppo-
site the Castello Nuovo, had fallen, burying, the
houses. Considering there are above ten miles
between the two points, people knowing the locali-
ties must have been rather puzzled.

Vesuvius since yesterday is again more active,
and the eruption appears likely to last some time
longer.

A Convocation was held at the University of
Oxford on Thursday last, when a grant of books
from the University Press was agreed to be made
to the University of the Southern States of America.
It was then proposed that the sum of £350 should
be given from the University chest towards re-
storing the buildings of the said University, destroyed
in the war. This was opposed, and rejected on a
division by 63 votes to 60. The opposition to both
grants was led by Mr. Goldwin Smith, and it is
stated that the main cause was the fear that an af-
firmative vote would be taken in America as an ex-
pression of sympathy with the South. We are sorry
that the Southern College lost the proposed aid
through so ridiculous an idea. The larger the sums
given by Oxford or any other university for educa-
tional purposes in the South the lighter will be the
burden which now bears so heavily on Northern
generosity. Large sums are subscribed in the
Northern States for the purpose, and although the
donors would oppose endowments to any seminary
likely to teach treason, yet they would thankfully
receive any aid towards liberal and enlightened
education for their Southern fellow-citizens.

The steamer Island City, in which Colonel Henry
R. Foote is about to test his system for generating
steam by liquid fuel, was built on the Clyde, and
used during the war as a blockade runner. The
oil for the first short trip has been placed in two
tanks, one on either side of the boiler, each hold-
ing 1,000 gallons. These tAnks are securely fas-
tened to the side of the ship, and replenished through
an orifice in the deck. The Colonel has improved
the retorts for vaporizing the oil by the introduc-
tion of air and steam. Various experiments in ma-
nufacturing establishments have proved the utility
of petroleum in generating steam. Instead of eight
firemen and a corresponding number of coalheavers
required by such steamers as the Island City, one
man can manage the four fires, which are easily
regulated by stopcocks. Great interest is excited,
and if the steamer makes a good run from Boston
to New York, it may be the precursor of a revo-
lution in generating steam, especially for the pro-
pulsion of ships.

J. Ross Browne, of California, has been nominated
by the President Minister to China i❑ place of
Anson Burlingame. This appointment has caused
surprise at Washington, as no resignation or inti-
mation that any was intended had been received
from Mr. Burlingame, for which it is thought Mr.
Johnson should have waited. Mr. Browne can be
ill spired from his important duties in the Pacific
States. The progress of mining is of far more
moment than any diplomatic duties at Pekin, and
Mr. Browne, after a lengthened, expensive, and toil-
some experience, which has given him a fund of in-
formation, will, if the President has his way, be
suddenly transferred from the field of his labours
to the Celestial Empire. Mr. Cox's appointment
as Minister to Austria will probably be passed by
the Senate, as the Committee on Foreign Relations
has reported favourably upon his nomination. Mr.
John P. Hale, it is said, resigned his post at Madrid
on a hint from Secretary Seward. William D.
Bishop, of Connecticut, has been nominated Com-
missioner of Patents, but it is doubtful if the Senate
will confirm the appointment. Francis S. Price, of
New Jersey, has been nominated Consul-General
to Flavannah. There are rumours of changes in
the Cabinet, and one is that Mr. Banks will succeed
Stanton as Secretary for War.

A great fire broke out in the heart of the busi-
ness portion of Chicago on the night of the 28th.
January, and continued burning for two days. It
commenced in the shoe store of M'Dougal
and Nichols, in Lake-street, destroying that build-
ing known as Birch's block, and rapidly extending
to other blocks. More than twenty of the prin-
cipal business houses suffered. The great book-
selling firm of Griggs and Co. were among them.
The losses are estimated at $2,500,000. The Etna
Insurance Company, of Hartford, loses by this
event $250,000.
Cyrus W. Field has been presented by George
Peabody with a costly silver service, manufactured
by Messrs. Starr and Marcus, of John-street, New
York, consisting of 13 highly ornamented pieces,
each adorned on the one side with a med ►]lion head
of Mr. Field,. and on the other with that of Mr.
Peabody. It is not in recognition of the service
that Cyrus Field has rendered to the world in the
Atlantic Cable that this testimonial is given, but,
in the words of the inscription, it is presented " by
George Peabody to Cyrus W. Field, in testimony
and commemoration of an act of very high commer-
cial integrity and honour. New York, 24thNo-
venaber, 1866."

The Russian Minister has lately had two inter-
views with Mr. Seward touching the ratification of
the Russian-America Treaty. A new difficulty has
arisen about payment. While the negotiations were
pending a bill for $lO,OOO was quickly run up to
the Atlantic Cable Company, and the question is,
Who is to pay it ? Mr. Seward considers that
Russia should settle the account, and Russia that
it ought to fall on the United States. Until this is
decided the appropriation is held in abeyance by the
Congressional Committee.

Ou Wednesday the Evening Standard brought
out, limier a highly sensational heading, the letter of
its Washington correspondent, dated from that city,
January 31, 5 p.m. The Standard has for years
laid itself out for sensational American intelligence.
It was "Manhattan" who gavo to that journal a

push so vigorous that it is enabled with some degree
of truth to head its leading columns with the
gigantic figures it declares to represent its circula-
tion. Our " stodgy" old Tory contemporary can-
not refrain from a policy which has produced so
gratifying a result, and when " Manhattan's" career
came to an end his place has been supplied by
another vigorous sensational writer. This corre-
spondent is evidently the bosom friend of the Pre-
sident. He assists in his deliberations, he is
the confidant of his griefs and troubles as well
as his champion, and through Mr. Johnson's aid the
Standard is supplied with the exciting news that
sets all England on the qui vice. He writes :
" I have official authority for stating that Mr. John-
son declares that he will present, as the ultimatum
of the United States, the settlement of the so-called
Alabama claims' upon the b heretofore insisted
upon by this Government, or suspension of diplo-
matic relations between the two countries. The
demand, I am informed, will be made promptly,
and a prompt response will be expected. The Pre-
sident has long contemplated this step. He believes
that the Aineric in people are ready to support him
in the movement, and he believes that the internal
condition of England is such that your Government
will, for policy's sake, be compelled to acquiesce in
the demand. The subject has been debated in
Cabinet meetings during the three weeks just past ;
to-day the President declared his intentions. He
asserts that he alone has the power to promulgate
the contemplated summons ; that Congress has no
power to interfere, and dare not interfere, had it
the right to do so." Again he makes Mr. Johnson
exclaim to Mr. Jeremiah Black, " By God, I mean
to have a Cabinet that will support me in any po-
licy," and to have expressed the opinion that
" England should prepare to pay what she owes
us, or prepare to fight." The man thus repre-
sented has cordially received her Majesty's Minis-
ter, Mr. Thornton. Gold shows a tendency to
fall; Congress is ordering the sale of surplus
ironclads, and the curtailment of military ex-
penditure ; the army is reduced to the lowest point,
and, excepting the usual " stump" speeches directed
to secure votes for the coining Presidential election,
there is not the slightest sign on the part of the na-
tion of the sanguinary intentions attributed to the
President. Mr. Seward is represented as studiously
preventing a settlement of the Alabama question
for the purpose of making political capital out of it
as occasions arise, but his chief is now described as
about to embark in the rough-and-ready mode of
" Your money, or your life." Yet the President,
it is asserted, takes his cue on foreign policy from
the Secretary of State. The news by the France is
that contradictory accounts from Washington have
appeared in the New York papers regarding the
Alabama claims. Oae asserts that the President
has resolved to bring the question to an immediate
issue ; another avers that the report has no founda-
tion, but that a correspondence on , the subject of
the claims will be at once opened through Mr.
Thornton. The plan of settlement by arbitration.
is said to have been abandoned.

The intelligence from New York by the France
is to February 2, and the news there published from
Peru is to the 12th January, which confirms the
disastrous defeat of Prado by the revolutionists be-
fore Arequipa, and states that he retreated in dis-
order upon Lima, narrowly escapin g capture. Prado
afterwards left for Chili. Intense excitement pre-
vailed at Lima and Callao. The whole country is
now held by the revolutionists.
Her Majesty's Consul at Havre, Frederick Ber
nal, Esq., has called the attention of his country-
men to the International Maritime Exhibition,
which will open there on the Ist June, and which, as
yet, has scarcely excited any notice in England.
He thinks this neglect a mistake, by all connected
with the mercantile marine, and attributes it to
their ignorance of the wide scope and importance
of the Exhibition. In the seaports and large towns
of France the greatest interest has been excited,
an influential committee has been formed in New
York to organise a proper exhibition of American
naval objects and appliances, and the Emperor and
the Prince Imperial give their earnest patronage
and support. Mr. Sumner proposed to the Senate
to send representatives, but this was rejected after
a discussion. Mr. Bernal desires to make the public
aware that information will be furnished on appli-
cation to him.