The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-29 00:00:00

THE LATE ATTACK ON THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.

The CHAIRMAN brought under the notice of the
Court the late atrocious attempt upon the life of
the Duke of Edidburgb, and au address was agreed

ACCOUNTS AND GENERAL PURPOSES.

Oa the presentation of the report of the commit-
tee for Accounts and General Purposes,

Mr. KEMSIIEAD took occasion to refer to a case
which occurred in Dr. Lankester's (the coroner)
division, in which seven inquests were held at the
same house, the same day, and before the same
jury, where the summoning officer charged the ex-
penses seven times over, just as if there had been
seven juries impannelled—a system which required
the attention of the magistrates, as an enormous ag-
gravation of the county expenditure.

The report was received and adopted.
ROMAN CATHOLIC WORSHIP IN PRISONS.

- Mr. E. W. Cox moved, "That the visiting jus-
tices be empowered to make all necessary arrange-
ments for the proper performance of Divine service
according to the rites of the Roman Catholic reli-
gion within the prison." He at some length sup-
ported this motion.

Captain MORLEY moved as an amendment,
"That the arrangement for the performance of Ro-
man Catholic worship at the House of Correction,
Westminster, be left to the discretion of the visiting
justices of that prison."
After a long discussion the motion vas with-
drawn.

Some other business was disposed of and the
Court adjourned.

NE IV ZEALAND.

WELLINGTON, April 8.

The intelligence which reached us on the 6th inst.
that the Duke of Edinburgh did not intend to pay
his promised visit to New Zealand has caused the
greatest disappointment, although we cannot but
admit that the return of the Duke to England direct
from Sydney is the only course open to Commodore
Lambert, under whose orders it is understood his
Royal Highness is acting.
Throughout the whole of this colony the most
active preparation has been for some time going on
to receive the Duke in a manner which, while it
could not pretend to vie with the magnificence which
the Australian colonies hive displayed, would at
least be expressive of the hearty desire that is felt
to act loyally to the Throne. The two months dur-
ing which the visit was to last would have been
spent pleasantly—all the more so because of the
marked contrast which the freshness and verdure
of this country presents to the aridity of an Aus-
tralian summer. Sir George Bowen was within an
hour of sailing to meet the Duke at Auckland,
when a roundabout telegram was received that his
Royal Highness had been shot. It was not credited.
It was regarded as one of those startling canards
which the telegram occasionally floats ; yet, as a
steamer was overdue from Melbourne, Sir George
postponed his departure for a day. On Sunday,
the 22d ult., the Governor started, the belief being
strongly against the correctness of the report. Next
day, however, the news was confirmed, the welcome
announcement being added that the wound was not
only not fatal, but that great hopes were enter-
tained of a speedy recovery.
To say that the attempted assassination caused the
utmost horror and indignation is to use words which
totally fail to express the popular feeling. Indig-
nation meetings, attended by crowds such as have
never before assembled, were held in the pro-
vinces, Wellington, as the capital of the colony,
setting the example by its people so overflowing
the building that a second meeting had to be held
to accommodate them. The feeling of indignation
having in some measure found vent, that of joy at
the recovery which was going on so rapidly induced
special thanksgiving services at all the places of
worship, and is to take the additional shape of a
general holyday, when the aid of the illuminations
which were to celebrate his Royal Highness's arrival
will, no doubt, be called into requisition.

From the first hearing of the attempted assas-
sination it was feared that the Duke's route
would be altered and that he would give New
Zealand the go-by ; yet letters written by Lord
Belmore and Commodore Lambert led us to hope
that, owing to the unexpected quick recovery,
there would only be a brief delay in and not a total
renunciation of the long-expected visit. So far as
we know (the Governor being still awaiting his
Royal Highness's arrival at Auckland) no positive
information has been received, but private letters
received from Sydney the day before yesterday lead
to the conviction that by this date the Duke is at
sea, homeward-bound. That this intelligence caused
us for the moment much vexation may readily be
imagined, but as it exhibits no want of pluck in the
young Duke himself, but is only a prudentprecautiou
on the part of the Commodore, we are bringing
ourselves to admit that the arrangement isa wise
one. The confession of *O'Farrell that he is only
only one of ten sworn to assassination is not uni-
versally credited ; but looking at the Fenian dis-
play at Hokitika, so much more open than any in
Australia, the question must naturally arise in the
mind of a responsible officer like the Commodore,
" Where are the nine ?" And the answer to this
question in some measure receives a solution in the
fact that from information which the Sydney Go-
vernment has received the advertisement offering a
reward for the capture of O'Farrell's associates is
directed to be published in the New Zealand papers.
We are as loyal as Australia; but Australia could
not prevent the attempt at assassination, nor can
we guard any better against such a fiendish inten-
tion. The stigma of O'Farrell'i act will unfortu-
nately give a more or less unfavourable impression
of New South -Wales in the mind of the home
public. For the Duke's sake, and for the sake of
our reputation, we are, therefore, prepared to forego
the pleasure which his Royal Highness's visit would
otherwise have afforded us.

My last two letters have contained details of the
sympathy which has been manifested for the Man-
chester murderers at llokitika, the capital of 'West-
land, on the west coast of the Middle Island. The
authorities there had no power, even if they had
had the will, to oppose the mock funeral procession
of last month ; but when the news of the attempted
assassination of the Duke reached that town the
community felt the time had gone by for tolerance,
because Fenian sympathy was not the harmless
exhibition it had been taken for. When the news
reached Hoidti a that 9'Verrell's purpose was pro.

videntially frustrated, and that the Duke was yet
alive, the gladness of the loyal population of
Hokitika knew no bounds. Meetings, bon-
fires, processions, blue ribands, anthems—the
people went mad with joy. But there was
method in their madness. The Celtic cross
still stood in the Roman Catholic cemetery in de-
fiance of authority. The Town Council debated,
but had the courage to do what was right by order-
ing its removal. The agent of the General Govern-
ment was appealed to by the Fenians to interfere
and prevent it, as otherwise there would be a bloody
riot. He refused, and the cross was removed. The
riot was still threatening, and, backed by the fear
of it, Father Larkins applied to the Government
agent for permission to reinstate the cross. Per-
mission was refused. The determination to deal
firmly had its effect. The local authorities wers
supported by the swearing in of no less than 1,200
special constables during that and the two follow-
days, and .the ringleaders of the Fenians were
arrested. On the 27th Father Larkins was the
first whom the police troubled. This notorious
priest is part owner and part editor of the Hokitika
Celt, the seditious inclinations of which have
caused much of the present mischief. His co-
partner and, editor, Manning, was also arrested.
He appears to be an old offender, having 15 years
ago been the writer of sundry inflammatory articles
in the Ballarat limes, materially helping to bring
about the Ballarat (Victoria) riots, and was at that
time tried for high treason, but was unfortunately
acquitted. Several others were arrested in the
course of the day, and have since been com-
mitted for trial, the town during the examination
being guarded night and day by the specials. The
Government and the Romish bishop at Wellington
were • not inactive. The latter recalled Father
M'Donogh, denounced Father Larkins, and poured
what oil he could on the waters which those reve-
rend gentlemen had with so much painstaking been
the means of troubling. The former sent for the
whole of the armed constabulary (sixty) in the Patea
district, and shipped them off to Hokitika, and one
of the Ministers went post-haste to Auckland to
advise the Governor to send down troops to their
assistance. In consequence of that recommendation
her Majesty's ship Falcon, with a company of the
18th R. 1., called in here on Sunday night last ;
but as, in the meanwhile, the inhabitants of Hoki-
tika have so well shown that they know how to
take care of themselves, it has been thought desir-
able to land the troops here and send the Falcon
thither without them—more as a moral demonstra-
tion than anything else. Several of the newspapers
have received threatening letters, and one of the
seven prisoners just committed is a publican, at
whose house was planned an attempt to burn down
the office of the principal Hokitika journal, the
Nest Coast 7 inzes.

The spirit of loyalty which has been aroused
throughout the colony, and the satisfaction which
the decided steps taken to put a stop to the flaunt-
ing Fenianism on the West Coast have occasioned,
have together had a very decided effect in creating
the feeling that law and order will continue to be
everywhere maintained without resorting to any
extreme measures.

7HE 1110N7 CENIS RAILWAY.

(From the Times' correspondent.)
TURIN, May 25.

Although I yesterday wrote to you pretty fully
from St. Michel my observations and impressions
of the Mout Cenis Railway, a few things struck
me on the return journey which I will write down
before going back to Florence. The Italian side of
the mountain is the more difficult of the two to as-
cend and descend, but in going down, as in coming
up, the Fell system fully justified the reputation to
which it aspires, and which has been conferred upon
it by Captain Tyler and other competent judges.
It showed itself perfectly safe and easily manage-
able. Nothing can be better calculated to inspire
travellers with confidence than the facility with
which speed is slackened or the train altogether
stopped. One soon comes to appreciate the im-
mense power given by the breaks and the central
rail. Now and then, on some steep incline, with a
gulf below, and curves so rapid that it, seems like
running round a circle, a traveller may fancy that
the speed is unusual, exceeding the 12 or 13 miles
au hour fixed as a maximum. In some places yes-
terday the driver unquestionably got a little beyond
that rate. But scarcely had one begun to note it
when a still more perceptible slackening of speed
occurred, showing how perfectly the man had his
train in hand. There are some bits of the road
down this side the mountain which elderly ladies
and nervous persons generally will do well not to
look out upon—at any rate, until they have used
the line enough to acquire that perfect confidence in
its safety which I think all those persons who went
over on Saturday and returned yesterday to Susa
must now feel. We had a number of women and
children in the train yesterday, and they evi-
dently were no more alarmed than if they
had been travelling on the level ; in fact, if
one does not look out of the window there
is nothing to inspire alarm even in the most
habitually timid. For those who feel confidence
it is most interesting to observe the steep incline
passed, the treble line of rails (the centre one
higher than the others and of peculiar construe•
tion), winding up and down the mountain, and to
gaze down the precipices, in some few places sud-
denly sinking, within half a yard of the carriage
wheels, to the depth of a thousand feet or more.
Gliding along the winding riband of the rail, a
beautiful panorama unrolls itself before the travel-
ler, whose enjoyment will be unalloyed when once
he has attained the desirable and well-founded con-
viction that it is impossible for the train to get off
the line. The rails, repeatedly inspected not only
by the able engineers of the company, but by the
Italian and French commissioners, are as firm as
possible, secured with the utmost care, and by un-
usual means, and in every respect as good as the
day they were laid down. It is proper that one
who has acquired by personal observation and by
careful inquiry of disinterested persons a strong
faith in the security and great value of the
Fell system should express that belief in order,
in some degree, to counterbalance the unfavour-
able reports continually spread concerning the
line by malice or ignorance. On arriving
here late last night, for we had to wait at Susa the
departure of the mail train at half-past 11, I was
informed, on the authority of travellers who crossed
the mountain by dilgence towards the end of the
week that Thursday's storm had done great damage
to the rails and that Fell's line must be in a very
dangerous state. To one who had just personal
experience of its excellent condition this story could
only be matter for laughter; but it shows there are
persons who busy themselves with the fabrication
and circulation of false reports. Of course, the
coaching interest, which had reckoned upon hold-
ing its own until the completion of the great tunnel
and its contiguous bits of rail—that is to say, pro-
bably for another half dozen years at least7-feels
exceedingly sore at the intrusion of the Summit
Railway, and would most exceedingly have en-
joyed seeing last Saturday's train, with all the
directors, secretaries, managers, and engineers,
pitched over the side of the mountain to ever-
lasting smash a thousand yards below, thus destroy-
ing at one blow the head and heart, the arm and
purse, of the company: Fortunately, that gratifi-
cation was denied them. We passed a good many
vehicles yesterday afternoon, a diligence, vet-
turino carriages, return mules and horses, and it
was amusing to study the countenances of the
drivers and conductors as they stood at the heads of
their beasts to let the iron steed prance by. The
animals generally take the train quietly enough.
The greatest alarm manifested yesterday was by a
drove of pigs, which respectable animals, although
it can hardly be said their interest is greatly affected
by the innovation, manifested extremediscomposure
and with many grunts hastened to save their bacon
by a forced march across a neighbouring field.
Various considerations, and especially the short-
ness of the time during which the line is likely to
be open (it is bound to close when the tunnel line
is completed), rendered it desirable to carry the
Summit Railway for nearly the whole of its length
over the roads already existing. _ This rendered a

very narrow gauge compulsory, made the line
longer, and the gradients in many places worse.
Had Fell's system been tried ten years ago,when the
tunnel was only about to commence, the monstrou
and most costly labour of boring through the moun-
tain would probably not have been undertaken,
and then it would have been well worth while to
expend, if necessary, double the very moderate
sum the line has cost, and to make a railroad such
as we probably shall soon see over some other of
the great Alpine passes, and over other great Euro
pean mountain chains. As it is, the summit line
must be looked upon as a pilot balloon. It has been
cheaply made, kir it is calculated that if it runs only
for six or seven years the capitalists who have em -
barked in it will get back their money, principal
and interest. This is encouraging for future enter-
prises of the kind.

In England and elsewhere numbers of people will
be surprised to hear of the certainty that the Mont
Cenis Railway will be opened for public traffic on
the Bth of June. The repeated delays had given
rise to a widely-spread impression that the line
never would open, and was to be looked upon as a
failure. Of those delays the last and the most
provoking was due to the French patent law and to
the inferiority of French engine builders. One is
accustomed to hear such very tall talk about the
progress of French iron and steel manufactures,
the perfection to which their forges and amines are
brought, &c., that one is almost surprised to find
such a Protectionist enactment maintained as that
which compels the employment of French engines
in the case of inventions patented in France. Surely
it must have escaped Mr. Cobden's notice when ho
was negotiating his famous treaty, or he could
hardly have failed to urge and obtain its repeal.
In the present case it has. proved most injurious to
the Mont Cenis Company. In November last the
line was ready, the covered ways were made, the
French engines were put upon the line and broke
down without delay. Had they been English,
similar to the two experimental engines, the
line might then have completed the tests stipu-
lated by the French and Italian Governments,
and the trains might have commenced running for
public traffic in December or January, as they now
will do iu June. It is a manifest loss of at
least five months' traffic to the company. There
can be no doubt or mistake possible about this.
There is the English experimental engine as good as
ever, and considerably lighter than the French
engines. To the latter weight did not give
strength, and the material was clearly either of
bad quality or ill distributed. The delay, arising
solely from the inferiority of certain parts of the
engines, has been so injurious to a company which
has probably but half-a-dozen years wherein to get
hack its outlay that it would have been worth its'
while, as I have been assured by some of its menl"
hers, could the thing have been foreseen, to indem-
nify Mr. Fell, get him to give up the patent" is
France, and have the engines made in Eng-
land. It is only fair here to add that the French
engine builders who enjoy the highest reputation
for their work were so much occupied as to be unable
to execute the orders of the Mount Cenis Company,
which was consequently forced to address itself to
other houses.

As soon as the Mount Cenis Railway shall be
open to public traffic—that is to say, upon this
day fortnight—the mails between Franca and
Italy should be conveyed by it, which will at
once give a gain certainly of at least four hours
between the arrival at St. Michel and departure
from Susa, and vice versa. Corresponding altera-
tions should be made in the hours of departure of
the mail trains for Florence and Paris. On this
side the Alps the summer railway times have net •
yet been published. Owing to thepfetes in various
Italian cities, the change, which was announced for
the 15th of May, has been postponed to the first
days of June. It is to be hoped that in its regula-
tion the opening of the Mont Cenis Railway will
not have been lost sight of. It is time for Signor
Barbavara, our Florence Postmaster-General, to be
upon his mettle. He is reputed zealous and active,
and now is the ti me for him to justify his rep"'
tation. The mail from Paris reaches St. Michel a
little before 2 p.m., leaves Susa at 11 15 p.m., re-
mains in Turin till 7 45 a.m., reaches Florence at
eight ani nine in the evening, and the letters ar°
delivered at nine the next morning. Fell's railwah
starting at 2 p.m. from St. Michel, will bring the
mails to Susa by 7 30 p.m., they may be in luna
by nine or soon after, start thence immediately for
Florence, and the letters may be delivered there be-
fore noon, instead of at nine on the following morn-
ing, as is now the case. A clear gain of 21 hours
may thus be easily effected. This is what ought to
be done, and if Italy were a country where time 13
as much valued, and where public opinion has 211
much power as in England, I should not hesitate
to add that this is what must and will be done. It
remains to be seen what the French Government
will do. Will it induce its post-office and railway
administrations to rid us of that 12 hours' detention
which letters for Italy leaving London at night
undergo in Paris ? Or will it incur the stigma Of
obstructing progress and impeding communications
by still refusing the easy remedy of a morning nuld
train from Paris to St. Michel? As au example
what may be dune in the way of rapid travelling
between England and Italy, Mr. Brassy left Lon-
don one morning last week at eight o'clock, via
Boulogne, and was in Susa at seven o'clock on the
following evening. Had a mail train then started
immediately from Susa, he might have been is
Florence in 48 hours from London ; and this 0
what ought now to be done. We want two mails°
day from Paris to Florence, the journey to be per"
formed regularly in 48 hours.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—The number of visitors to the
Crystal Palace yesterday was as follows:—Admissions
by season tickets, 1,482 ; on payment, 2,561—t0ta1, 4,043'
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No. 58,216, of the Marchioness de Brehan, of seven years'
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dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation,
spasms, sickness, and vomiting.—Maria Joly."—Cure
46,270: Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley, Surrey, of 30 yea.,-'d
diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, 5„'",,
partial deafness. Important Caution.—Beware of the 113,5'3's
unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, witeed.
authority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attache
In tins at Is. 14d.; 1 lb., 2s 9d.; 2 lbs., 48. Id„; 5 lbs. 11'74/,
12 lbs., 225.; 24 lbs., 408.— BARRY Du BARRY and Co., N°'
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Births.
BOYLE—On the 27th inst.; at Aldershot, the Lady Thereon
Boyle, of a daughter.
HAVES--On the 24th inst., at Brookfield, Greenocktilisft.
wife of Capt. Montague Hayes, R.N., C B of Ll."'
Lion, of a son.
JOACIUIM—On the 28th inst., at 45, Leinster-square, 13(1S°
water, the wife of Henry Joachim, Esq., of a son.
Marriages.
BARTDETT—OSMOND —On the 26th inst., at St. Geore:
Hanover-square, Mr. J. Bartlett, of Raise, 13raciavii.
Northamptonshire, to Emma, third daughter of
Osmond, Hurstbourue Tarrant, Hants.
GRAY—ASTLEY On the 27th inst., at St. Paul's, go„.Tig"h7;
bridge, Edmond R. H. Gray, on of the late Rev. oe,ley,
Gray and Lady Emilie Gray, to Cecile Maria, ,As
daughter of Sir F. Astley, Bart., of Eastleigh, Wilt.

Deaths.
BRIDGES—On the 27th inst., at 26, Ashburnhara-gr°Vet
Greenwich, George Bridges, Esq., aged 85. lacei
CHRISTMAS—On the 25th inst. at at 13, Dunsford.:P
Bath, Thomas Chris‘mas, Esq.., late Bth Hussars. tb,
HOPE- On the 25th inst., at 9, Widcombe-crescont, 133
Vice-Admiral Saekeit Hope, aged 67.
LEE—On the 26th insi., at 20, Talbot-road, Bayswater,
N. Lee, &q., aged 74.
OltME—At her residence, Lynden House,
Urmo. a St.
PLOSZCZYNSKI—On the 26th inst., at 12, Church-roabo
James's, New-cross, Napoleon Ploszczynski, aged itioh
WALLES -On the 26th inst., at the Governesses AsY
Kentish-town,
„toe,
London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM AN No f
Os,
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tan Sun 0aw,Q4243
0-
btraml, in the Precinct of the Savoy, it)
Aliddlesex.—Friday, May 29, 180$, Brighton, Dig

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