The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-21 00:00:00

REMARKS.

In the northern districts barometrical press re hal decmaied since
yesterday at Nairn the change has been nealy two-tenths of an inch,
whilst at the English and Irish stations little difference is reported.
At Rochefort a rise of o'l3in. has taken place. The highest readings
are on the west coast of France, and exceed that at Nairu by three-
tenths. In Scotland and on the E. coast of England temperature is
higher. Winds yesterday in the S. and W. of these islands were mode-
rate from S.W. to N.W.. and are now light from the westward. The
weather in the f3.W. Is fine, but generally cloudy or overcast in other
districts. Rain fell yesterday on all coasts except in the N.

The Lgert6 has received special information from
Bucharest, stating that Prince Charles of Roumania,
thoroughly weary of the intestine dissensions of the
country and of the foreign riva'ry in the neighbouring
States, is disposed to abdicate a dignity to which he did
not aspire, and which was forced upon him, as it were, by
the instances of the King of Prussia and the suffrages of
the Moldo-Wallachian people. The same paper adds that
the Prince has consented to postpone this project of abdi-
cation only at the persuasion of the head of his house,
King William.
A letter from Athens in the Inclependance Beige says that
the departure from the Piraeus recently of a number of
Cretan refugees who had determined to return to their
homes was opposed by other refugees, and that the military
who were called upon to interfere acted with so much vio-
lence that a serious struggle ensued. About 200 Cretans
embarked.

A correspondence is now going on in the Times as to the
real nature of the insurrection. Some maintain that a.state of
anarchy has been brought about by the intrigues of Russians
and Greeks, and that the only real grievance the insur-
gents had at the beginning was certain vexatious taxes ;
but, although it was unwise of the Turkish Government
not to remove them at once, it was absolutely absurd to
magnify that grievance into a sufficient cause for detach-
ing the island from the Turkish dominion. "If heavy or
vexatious taxation is sufficient justification for insurrection
and annexation to a foreign Government, there are but
few countries in Europe now where that process might
not be excused." It is therefore recommended that
the appeal of the Cretans for assistance in money be
disregarded. Certainly, we should not like foreign capital
to be employed in fostering an insurrection in Ireland, and
it would perhaps be well, therefore, to leave the Turks and
the Cretans to settle their own differences.

It is worthy of remark that the gallery of Northumber-
land House just destroyed by fire is the very part which
the Metropolitan Board of Works were anxious to prevail
upon the late duke to dispose of, for the purpose of open-
ing up a grand boulevard from Trafalgar-square to the
Thames Embankment. It remains to be seen whether
the present duke will reverse the former decision in
the altered circumstances of the case ; but noblemen are
very jealous of their privacy, and if his grace intends still
to make Northumberland House his town residence, the
cost of rebuilding the wing will hardly be a consideration
of sufficient strength to affect -the decision already
arrived at.

Should any modern satirist hand down to posterity a
picture of English manners and customs in the upper and
middle classes, as presented in the trial of Madame Rachel,
the follies of the present day will assu•ne a startling
aspect. The Jewess of imperfect e,lucat:on ; her dupe who
parts with a fortune for a few powders, soaps, a perfume-
box and pencil-case, aforetime the prorerty of
" William's " sainted mother ; and the noble lord who
has to listen to the criticisms upon his personal appear-
ance, make up an inimitable comedy. The materials for
a comic opera are invaluable. Rossini or Mozart would
have rendered them immortal. The trial causes th,,
greatest excitement, the court being so crowded that
counsel could barely procure admission. The circum-
stances of this case are exceptional, women of ferh un-
limited vanity and credulity not being at hand every
day; but Madame Rachel has not lived upon Mr.:. Borra-
daile alone, and if this were not an ado Of folly the
Rachels would have to find other 1110.M3 fur the develop-
ment of their vulgar cunning.

Thieves must work, and honest men weep. It has been
observed that the ingenuity of the rogue, which brings
him sooner or later into trouble, would, if devoted to an
honourable profession, raise him to affluence. We have
hoard of the mock brokers collecting samples of corn, &c.,
merely to accumulate a bulk, and then sell it. This trick
must give precedence in r erseverance and inventive
genius to another just brought to light. A man has been
In the habit of collecting catalogues from 1
_1
OIISO3 of busi•
nem, and when ho obtained a sufficient number, taking
them to a butter.shop in Drury•lane, a4l selling them at
lid. per pound for waste paper. This is evidently no
millArY man ; 119 W 91114 l'9lR ho id think A pod

2ERRIBLE RAILTVAY ACCIDEN7'.

TWENTY-THREE PERSONS KILLED.

One of the most singular, and at the same time
most horrible, of accidents recorded in the history
of railroads, took place yesterday afternoon on the
line of the London and Nort-Western Railway,
near Abergele Station. While the limited Irish
mail, a train justly noted for regularity and speed,
was pursuing its journey on the down line from
London to Holyhead, at the rate of probably not
less than 50 miles an hour, a goods train was pro-
ceeding at the ordinary pace on the down line of
the same railway. A moment before the two trains
would pass each other, the axle of a waggon laden
with casks of paraffin broke, and the truck and its
load were thrown across the up line. The engine
and train of the Irish mail dashed into them, and
were not only thrown off the line by the shock, but
were set on fire by the paraffin which had instan-
taneously burst into flames on coming in contact
with the engine fire. So far as could be learned in
town last night nine persons were horribly burned
to death or killed by the shock ; but other
accounts put the number killed as high as
nineteen. Of these the majority were passen-
gers by the train ; but, in addition to them, the
stoker, one guard, and a Post-office sorter were
taken up dead. The body of the guard, it is
stated, was burned to a cinder. It would
appear that the paraffin spread as a stream of
liquid fire over the line, and, when once ignited
and scattered over the persons of the passengers
could not be extinguished. The mail bags were all
saved. A number of the directors of the London
and North-Western Railway met at the Eustcn
Hotel last night to decide upon such measures as
it might be necessary to take in order to mitigate
the effects of this awful calamity on their generally
fortunate line.

MANCHESTER, Thursday Night.

A very extraordinary and shocking accident
occurred yesterday, shortly after noon, to the Irish
mail train while on its journey from London. This
train was due at Abergele at 1.30 p.m. The acci-
dent happened about one mile beyond Abergele,
where some trucks loaded with paraffin, and which
had become detached from a luggage train, un-
fortunately blocked the line. The engine of the
mail train dashed upon the trucks with terrific vio-
lence, breaking them to pieces, flooding the line
with paraffin, which was splashed over the pas-
senger carriages, and the fire of the engine set the
liquid in a blaze. The consequences were fearful.
Three of the passenger carriages and the Post-
office tender, were set on fire. Before the unfor-
tunate travellers could be liberated nine were
killed by the collision and the fire, and thirteen
were injured. The mail bags, it was reported, were
saved. By the collision the line was blocked for
several hours.

Thursday Midnight.

The accident caused a block of six hours. It is
now believed that the mail bags are destroyed. The
train was through from London.

ANOTHER. ACCOUNT.
SuREWSBURT.

At half-past one this afternoon the Irish mail,
from London for Holyhead, ran into some trucks
which were filled with paraffin casks, near Abergele.
The engine unfortunately set the oil on fire, and
ten persons were burnt to death, while many more
are reported missing.