The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-06 00:00:00

ANOTHER METEOR.

Another wonder for the astronomers, It is to be
hoped that they were all watching very hard.
Unhappily, it appeared out of their season. Another
meteor is announced, a meteor in the daytime.
These last few weeks have been very prolific of
good things for those who watch the wonders of
the heavens and the earth. An eclipse ; several
earthquakes ; meteors—to the amateur innumerable ;
a transit of. Mercury across the sun ; and now a
meteor in the daytime. Just after three on Tuesday
to one a ccoun t " d
afternoon
shape,oonitmaandde
accoitselfrdinvisgible, was very brightseeme, of
a
to end its career by an explosion." It lasted about

three seconds. -
A letter in the Siècle gives some interesting details off,
a visit to the battle-field of Alcolea. It says the position
chosen by both generals was the worst that could be selected.
The most ridiculous blunders were made on both sides.
" Garibaldian generals themselves could not have done
worse." Novalinies made several direct attempts in front
to force the bridge which was raked by Serrano's artillery.
Many of the best of the royal troops perished here, and
yet, whilst No valiches wasted his soldiers on this fatal
bridge, two ravines at a little distance might easily
have been passed, even by cavalry. Several of Serrano's
cannon were mounted on waggons, and moved about from
one point to another. The personal bravery of the troops
of the generals on both sides was unquestionably great.
The folks of Cordova have cleared off all the relics from
the field, and are selling them at a high price to the
tourists, who, especially English, flock in great number•
to the scene.
Mr. Justice Blackburn has been selected by the
Queen's Bench and Mr. Barcn Martin by the Exchequer to
try election petitions.
A telegram from Ireland states that Spiller, the
associate of the Fenian Captain Maokay, was captured in
Cork on Tuesday. He had not been seen since Mackay's
arrest, when he attempted his rescue.
It is said that a man finds a ready sale for life-
preservers at Blackburn, getting rid of about twenty of them
two or three tames a week. They are for the purpose of
urging polit'cAl convictions.
On Manchester Excbat4 e on Wednesday what was
described as an unusual scene took place. The Conserva-
tive candidates went on the exchange, and were about, it
is said, to address the electors. Said electors were not all
willing to hear them, however, and groans and cheers
alternately drowned each other. The master of the ex-
change interfered and forbade &DY 40419kgitsatieg.

111ETROPOL17AN GOSSlP—Thursday.

If Mr. Disraeli needed any proof of the failure of his
No-Popery appeal, he has it today in the London streets.
It is Guy Fawkes Day. The thoroughfares are crowded
with guys ; but there is no " foreign prince " among
them ;no effigy of Mr. Gladstone, even. Eighteen years
ago, during the height of the " Papal aggression " panic,
the streets were paraded with stuffed cardinals and friars
and monks. But to-day we have—Madame Rachel and
Mrs. Borrodaile ! That is the nation's first answer to the

appeal to its bigotry ; the second answer will be made a
fortnight hence, and will be equally significant.
There is one borough which, contrary to its usual wont,

promised to have a quiet election. Superfluous Liberals
had been got rid of, and consequently the Conservatives
declined to put forward any candidate, knowing well that
they could not hope to win unless their opponents
were divided. This borough was Greenwich, and

one of the two candidates was no less a person

than the paulo-post-future Prime Minister, Mr. Glad-
stone. The seat was kept for him in order that he
might have one to fall back upon, in the not impossible
event of his being defeated in South Lancashire. Perhaps

the delay that would take place in the Liberal attack upon
the Ministry if Mr. Gladstone failed to obtain a seat
before Christmas, has something to do with the matter.

Anyhow, it is resolved that he shall be put to the trouble
of a contested election at Greenwich. Lord Stanhope's eldest

son ,Viscount Mahon, a captain in theGuards,who was stand-
ing at Leominster in opposition to another Conservative,
Mr. Arkwright, has been withdrawn from that place, and
is now brought forward to do battle with the Liberal leader.

Alderman Salomons, too, finds a competitor in Sir Henry

Parker, an officer in the Indian army.
Two other metropolitan contests excite great interest,

at all events in London. In Westminster Mr. John
Stuart Mill will have to fight hard for his seat.
Mr. Smith, the newsman, will run him very close, for not
only has Mr. Smith spent money freely, but Mr. Mill bas
done some exceedingly indiscreet things, chief of which is
his subscription to Mr. Bradlaugh's election expenses at
Northampton, a proceeding which has induced Mr.
Kempe, rector of St. James's, and a very liberal-
minded clergyman, to join Mr. Smith's committee.
In Chelsea the retirement of Mr. Odger, the

best of the few working men candidates, has caused a

good deal of regret among his friends, and all the more
because they keenly resented the unpardonable attack
made upon their candidate by the Pall Mall Gazette. Mr.
Dilke, one of the two remaining Liberal candidates, is the son
of Sir Wentworth Dilke, M.P. for Wallingford, and pro-
prietor of the Athenceum. Mr. Mike aco3mpanied Mr.
Hepworth Dixon, editor of the Athenceum, to the Salt
Lake, and, leaving his companion there, visited Australia,
New Zealand, and India, and has just published an
account of his travels—" Greater Britain : a Record of
Travel in English-speaking Countries." Mr. Duke's
grandfather was not, as has been stated, the founder of
the Athenceum. He bought it of the founder, who saw
that he could do nothing with it, even though assisted by
writers of the calibre of John Sterling. The
price was Bd., and Mr. Dilke at once halved
the price and doubled the size—a bold stroke.
He paid his literary staff handsomely, and at a rate quite
unknown in those clays. He sank all his wife's fortune
(#;10,000) in the undertaking before he saw any return for
his money. It was for a time uncertain whether he would
swim or sink. But at last the tide turned, and carried
him towards the fair haven of prosperity, where he was
safely landed and became a most prosperous man. Up to
his death he used to write in his journal ; and between his
paroxysms of gout his friends used to ask him if he could
not, by way of diverting his mind, give the readers of the
Athenceum another article on his favourite subject—the
authorship of Junius's Letters. By the time that the
journal passed into the hands of its present proprietor, Sir
Wentworth Dilke, it had become a most valuable property,
and it has increased in value under his hands. Connected
with this journal is the Gardener's Chronicle, another paper
which, though of necessarily limited circulation, is worth
owning. •
Mr. Roebuck has always been a fierce antagonist of
temperance legislation. It was he who proposed to
answer Mr. Somes's arguments for closing public-houses
on Sunday by ejecting his saliva. This ardour is not
altogether disinterested. If the public lament over Mr.
Roebuck's perverseness, the publicans do not. They look
upon him as their patron saint and favourite politician ;
and Messrs. Bass, and, I believe, other of the great
brewers, have subscribed towards his election expenses at
Sheffield.
Another new daily paper is just about to make its
appearance. It is called the Morning Summary, and will
consist of eight pages about the size of the Pall Mall
Gazette, and contain a condensed summary of news,
occasional notes, and two leaders. It will give no long
reports. Mr. Alpass, formerly foreign editor of the
Morning Chronicle, and afterwards editor of the Day, is to
be the editor of this new venture. It will be somewhat
Conservative in politics, but not pledged to any party.
The first number is to appear on Wednesday next. The
Echo, the new evening halfpenny paper brought out by
Messrs. Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, is now advertised to
appear "shortly." I hear that another evening paper is
talked of. It will be published late, and confine itself to
the events of the day, chiefly to London news.

Mr. Walter, of the Times, is now entertaining, at Bear-
wood, Mr. George W. Childs, from Philadelphia, who is
very properly described in the American papers as "the
publisher, editor, and philanthropist." Mr. Childs is the
largest newspaper proprietor in America. But while he
is connected with several journals, his name is generally
associated with the. Philadelphia Ledger, of which he is the
sole owner. This paper, which was commenced by a small
body of working men who could raise only a few dollars
amongst them, is now one of the most prosperous publica-
tions in the Union ; and the building in which it is
published, recently erected by Mr. Childs, is one of the
finest structures in Philadelphia. Mr. Childs is a
warm supporter of the temperance movement and
other social reforms. During his stay in England he will
be the guest of Mr. Walter, Mr. Dickens, Mr. Peabody,
and other gentlemen, some of whom have enjoyed his
princely hospitality in America.
Last Sunday was All Saints' Day, a festival observed
with a good deal of ecclesiastical pomp where high Ritual
prevails. At All Saints', Lambeth, Dr. Frederic George
Lee celebrated the anniversary of his dedication festival,
and at the evening service sang the Dies Irce. The visitor un-
accustomed to Dr. Lee's arrangements would have thought
that a funeral hymn was not particularly appropriate to a
dedication festival. But Dr. Lee is one of those who
pay respect to days that are not in the English
calendar, and Sunday was the eve of All Souls' Day.
At Christ Church, Marylebone, a sermon was preached by
a very different type of man, Mr. Llewellyn Davies, broadest
of the Broad, as Dr. Lee is highest of the High. Mr.
Davies, referring to the large number of saints who lived
in various ages of the world, spoke of four who bad
lived in our own time—Dr. Arnold, Frederic Robertson
of Brighton, Captain Hedley Vicars, and Abraham
Lincoln.
There is nothing new to say of the ecclesiastical
appointments, except that three of the last four have
given general satisfaction. You will remember that
some weeks ago I mentioned Mr. William Bright as the
most fitting man for the Professorship of Ecclesiastical
History, and his promotion to that post gives great
satisfaction at Oxford. As regards the archbishopric
there are a good many surmises, and all the religious
papers are quarrelling thereon. Of course the choice must be
much more limited than in that of a bishop, since it would
be considered highly improper to select an archbishop from
the ranks of the lower clergy. The Low Church party
suggest the Bishop of Bangor and the Bishop of Lincoln.
The first is almost unknown ; the second is a respectable
mediocrity. The High Church party have a better
assortment, men of great ability and high reputation—the
Bishops of Oxford, Ely, Lichfield, and Rochester—all
able men. It seems to be thought that the Queen will
insist upon Dean Stanley receiving promotion.
The Social Science Association does not seem to be quite
in such high favour as the two other congress-holding
bodies, the British Association and the Clergy. The first-
named body has hitherto received no definite invita-
tion for next year's meeting, and is rather perplexed what
to do.
The attempt is being made to get up a Ladies' Improve-
ment Class on a large scale. It is to consist of ladies
in all parts of the kingdom, who will write in a manu-
script magazine, to be circulated among them, the writers
to meet in London once a year. I believe that Miss
Davies, sister to Mr. Llewellyn Davies, is the originator
of this movement. Her other project, the Ladies' Uni-
versity, does not, I regret to say, make any progress. It
wants a few more subscribers of £l,OOO, like Madame
Bodichon. Why does not Miss Burdett Coutts take it up ?
She would not find it cause her a tithe of the annoyance
that her colonial bishoprics have caused.
'The complaints against the police are getting louder
and louder, and if Sir Richard Mayne does not carry out
his reported intention of resigning, public discontent will
drive him from his post. His mandate for rnuzzlings dogs
excited a good deal of angry feeling, and before it has sub-
sided he has issued another edict forbidding children to
bowl hoops, even in the unfrequented roads. At
the same time that the guardians of the public
peace make war upon dogs and infants, they allow the
London rough to have full course. He will knock down a
passer by in a leading thoroughfare and walk off with his
watch and purse with perfect impunity. There are dis-
tricts of London in which he is absolutely monarch of all
he surveys, whose right there is none to dispute. The
police will not venture into his domain. Nor is this all. The
police are not only ineffi cien t ; they are also untrustworthy. It
will be remernbe;e4 that some four years ago, in consequence

of the disgraceful scenes which occurred every night in the
Haymarket, a Lill was passed through Parliament closing
the refreshment-houses in London between one and four
a.m. But while the refreshment-houses were closed
certain other houses were allowed to remain open, with the
full connivance of the police, who allowed the fast men and
the gay women to betake themselves thither, and actually
themselves went in and out constantly. The matter was kept
quiet for a time, but the scandal has at last been brought to
light, and the result has been that the detachment of
police guilty of this dereliction of duty have been drafted
to another part of London.

Competition seems to have gone hard with the drivers
of public vehicles. There have always been omnibuses
running over Waterloo Bridge, but lately an opposition
has been started in the shape of a one-horse penny 'bus,
the conductor of which bawls along Wellington-street till
lie is hoarse. Another enterprising individual, or com-
pany, has started more of these penny omnibuses, and
now the old two-horse 'busses have to reduce their fares.
Of old the cabmen who drive to 'Waterloo Station usedirto
call out to pedestrians that they might have a lift over the
bridge by paying the toll ; now they offer the ambitious
traveller the dignity of a seat in ahansom for one penny. This
part of the town was bad enough before. There are
sharpers and loose women, thaugh well known to the
police here, congregated about the neighbourhood at all
hours of the day and tight ; the double nuisance of avoid-
ing the Scylla of the pickpocket and the Charybdis of
'busses nursing each other is almost intolerable.
We have had a late autumn this year. Despite early
frosts and high gales, the trees have kept their leaves
well. But the premature cold drove away a large number
of persons to warmer climates, and Englishmen have been
crowding into Cannes, and Nice, and Menton. The South
of France would seem to be very attractive. A friend of
mine advertised once only for a governess to accompany
his child there, and received about a hundred answers. At
Cannes, land which when Lord Brougham first made the
place known was worth one franc the metre, is now worth
twenty-five francs.
The event of the literary week is the appearance of
Good Words for the Young. This is the last venture of
that most enterprising firm Messrs. Strahan, and it ought
to be a splendid success. It is really a most charming
magazine. The illustrations are simply perfect, and the
letterpress most admirable. The poetry is especially good,
and " Old Mother Tabbyskins" is the best and quaintest
poem ever written for children. This new periodical
ought to be in every household where there are children,
and I am inclined to suspect that they will some-
times see those children of larger growth, papa'
and mamma, devouring it. Of new books there
are two anticipated just now with some interest—
Mr. Browning's new poem, in four volumes, " The
Ring and the Book," and Mr. Dilke's " Greater
England" above mentioned. Mr. Greg is about to repub-
lish the articles which he has contributed to the Pall Mall
Gazette under the initials " W.R.G." Mr. Hepworth
Dixon has in the press " A Book of Studies." Mr. Trol-
-1 lope is editing , a book on British Sports and
Pastimes, to which he, Mr. Lawdley, Mr. Leslie
Stephen, and other writers contribute. Sir Ed-
ward Creasy will shortly have out a new his-
tory of England down to the end of the Plantagenet
dynasty. Mr. John Henry Parker, who spent several
months in Rome investigating the early Christian and
mediaeval monuments in that city, is bringing out an
account of his investigations. Canon Jenkins has
in the press a History of the Church. Two works
relating to Cornwall are announced—a new edition of the
Rev. R. S. Hawker's poems, and Mr. Blight's Cromlechs
of Cornwall.—To conclude with an item of dramatic news,
Mrs. Howard Paul is, report affirms, about to appear in
; the character of Macbeth, and will also take the part of
Hecate in the same play.

THE SECRET MEMORIAL OF A CHINESE

SE4 TESMAN.

( From the Anglo-American Times)
Early in the summer of this year there was cir-
culated privately a translation of a secret memorial
then just addressed by Tseng-kwo-Fau, the Go-
vernor-General of the Two Kiang, to the Emperor
of China, ou the revision of the treaty with Eng-
land. It is of great interest, coming from one of
the ablest and most powerful of Chinese states-
men. It was not intended to meet the eyes of
foreigners ; but while no doubt can exist of its
authenticity, through some unexplained cause it
has been made known. This document bears out
what has been advanced regarding the objects of
Mr. Burlingame's mission, and it shows a wonder-
ful advance in knowledge, at least in the statesmen
of China. The strong position taken by Tseng-
kwo-Fau against railways, telegraphs, and steamers
is in accordance with Chinese policy—literally, the
essence of Conservatism. Let any one read Stephen-
son's life and he will learn whether the writer of
this secret memorial would compare unfavourably
with the Toryism of England in the time of the
railway projector. The principle of making all in-
terests subservient to those of the people manifest
at least a proper intention on the part of the Go-
vernment, and what is now required is a greater
breadth of knowledge. If Tseng-kwo-Fau knew
the history of Railroad and Steampacket Companies
he would find, as a rule, that they benefited the
general public at the expense of the capitalists, and
that it is essentially the masses, whose wellbeing he
considers paramount, that would profit. The
Chinese statesman errs in the old errors of
Toryism, that the public weal is not to be ad-
vanced at the expense of a class, and as no im-
provements can be made without victims, the world
becomes stereotyped, ossified, precisely as China
has been for a thousand years. The secret memo-
rial gives the sincere opinions of the writer, as
it was intended only for his own Government,
and when it is contrasted with similar docu-
ments written a decade ago the advance is
very marked. The cool reception given to the
Embassy in England must have had an injurious
effect at Peking, as it strangely contrasts with the
warmth of the American welcome. The newspa-
pers of the United States are unanimous in con-
demning the reception here, which they attribute
to jealousy, selfishness, and the dread not only of
the English monopoly of trade being infringed, but
that the monopoly of bullying has come to an end.
The argument in the 'limes was so transparently
absurd that no child could be deceived by it, and
has only raised a feeling of contempt. What the
effeci, has been at Peking we cannot tell, but no •
doubt the document has been translated into
Chinese, and shown up as barbarian argument.
We give the memorial as it appeared in the West-
minster Review, omitting only the reviewer's re-
marks, which, being interpolated, we cannot say
whether the sentences are consecutive. The objects
of the Chinese are thus summarized :--

" He has carefully perused the confidential note
from the Tsuug-le-Yamen point by point. The Ya-
men has with great pains acted up to the true
method of taking the times and circumstances into
account, viz., to devise the most unanswerable
and irresistible arguments, without, at the same
time, damaging the great interests at stake ; and
to cherish the thought of wiping out our shame
without at the same time allowing the other parties
to suspect it. . . . He conceives that in inter-
course with foreign nations the great requisites are
good faith and integrity, and still more decision.
What we cannot accede to, must be refused from
the first, and this refusal must not be departed
from ; what we can accede to-, ought to be an-
nounced in the plainest and shortest terms. There
should not be alternate concession and refusal (lit.
now spitting out and now swallowing) or the slight-
est appearance of indecision, which would give the
other party an opening for their sophistical argu-
ments. Foreigners in the East and West for seve-
ral hundred years have been making and unmaking
kingdoms, each kingdom wishing to deprive its
neighbour's subjects of some advantage, with the
hope that its own subjects might ultimately profit
thereby. Their object in coming to China, set-
ting up places of business everywhere, and
trading largely in goods, is to follow out their
nefarious devices of depriving others of advan-
tages, and they wish to damage our merchants.
Ever since the commencement of the troubles (i.e.,

the Taeping rebellion) the people of China have
suffered long and severely (lit. have long suffered

file and water.) The additional opening of some
(lit. of three or five) parts of the river (the
Yang-tse has been contracting their means from
day to day—they suffer in mute agony, and will
be driven to extremity ; if trAe in salt is conceded
to foreigners, salt merchants will suffer in business,
if the building of godowns (in the interior), the
establishments already existing will suffer. If small
steamers are allowed in the interior, native craft
of every size, sailors and pilots, will suffer ; if they
are allowed to construct telegraphs and rail-