The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-17 00:00:00

r,fter
The lateness of the Session, now that the matter the subsequent assault of the 14th are full of
is brought forward at all, is in itself somethirg interest. The leading features of both events
really lamentable. For, so far from Mr. CARDWELL are familiar to us all, but the full details are now
being justified in deprecating the notion of there i laid before us on the first attack. TIIEODORES
being any serious cause for anxiety because of the troops, says the general, advanced with the full
reported angry feeling awakened in Nova Scotia, confidence of men accustomed to victory. They had
facts only too plainly show that there is cause for I been promised by THEODORE that they should en-
anxiety there in Nova Scotia, and that the discon- rich themselies with the spoils of the English, and
tent is extending also into New Brunswick. For I they made a stout resistance before they would be
several months Mr. HOWE and his associate, as re- driven from the field. This was THEODORE'S grand
presenting that discontent of the Nova Scotians, mistake. lie should have kept his men in the
have been waiting here in London in quest of a i fortress and have concentrated all his efforts there.
hearing of their caee, and of action afterwards, litany case his ultimate defeat was inevitable, but the
upon it at once by the Government and by the Le- sortie of the 19th precipitated matters not only by the
gislature. All that has now been asked for by the actual loss, but by its disheartening his people and'
member for Birmingham after these long delays is destroying the prestige of his troops. As Sir R.
NAPIER observes, they cast themselves from their
vantage ground, to which there was no return.
Those who accuse the British General of unn,!ces-
sary harshness towards THEODDRE will now be un-
deceivel, s'nce Sir R. NAPIER offere I terms to the
defeated King after the first engagement, which

the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry. Facts'
beyond the possibili.y of denial, are pointed to in
demonstration of the validity of the cause ther.2 is
for some inquiry. These facts were many of them
specified by Mr. BRlcarr in the House of Commons,
clearly and cogently enough, only last evening—
the orator slpporting the cause entrusted
to him with great moderation, as well as
with great earneeness. The appeal for consi-
deration, hlwever, has been made in vain, we re-
gret to find, in the House of Commons : and to-
morrow a like appeal for delay, for inquiry, for some
deliberate reconsideration of the whole matter,will,
by the lips of Lord CAMPBELL, be addressed (let us
not hope there, too, in vain) to the hereditary legisla-
tors of England in the Upper House of Parliament.
What is now asked by the Nova Scotians, by Mr.
HOWE as their delegate or mouth-piece, what was
asked by Mr. BRIGHT yesterday in the House of Com-
mons, and what will be asked for to-morrow in the
House of Peers by Lord CAMPBELL, is simply inquiry
in regard to facts that admit of ready demonstra-
tion one way or the other. It is, in other words,
simply a question of fairplay. Shall the appeal be
denied ? And if denied, what may not be the con-
sequences ? Why, it is no exaggeration to assert
at once, that those consequences may involve the
shedding of blood in internecine conflict, and—as the
result of any such disastrous collision—the eventual
disintegration of our British North American pos-
sessions.

The House of Commons had a good bit to do
yesterday, and they contrived to complete their
task in a tolerably satisfactory manner. In the
morning sitting the Public Schools Bill was consi-
dered. Mr. NEATE desired to send the Public
Schools Bill back again to the Committee in order
that certain clauses might be inserted therein en-
abling the Commissioners and the new governing
bodies to have the power to deal with the revenues
of Eton and Winchester. The lion. member made
some rather disparaging remarks upon the present bill,
it being, as he defined it, professedly founded upon the
Report of the Royal Commission, while it in reality
was passed with the object of escaping the recom-
mendations of these Commissioners. The chief end,
in his opinion, was that Eton and Winchester were
not subjected to the laws imposed upon the other
colleges. A good deal of discussion arose on the
merits of the bill, in which Mr. WALPOLE took
part, and said that power was conferred by the
bill. Mr. LOWE objected to the whole policy of
the bill. Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE, however,
explained the matter he objected to quite
satisfactorily, and the House went into
committee, when again Mr. LOWE interfered, and
proposed that " governing bodies" be struck out of
clause three, but on a division this was defeated.
The further progress of the bill was put off until
Tuesday. At the evening sitting Mr. BRIGHT
called attention to a petition tthich he presented to
the House some time ago on the subject of Nova
Scotia. This petition complained of the absorption
of Nova Scotia into Canada by the Confederation
Act of last year.

The long-expected despatches from Sir ROBERT
NAPIER are at length before the public, and will be
read with the deepest interest. The narrative
which it lays before us in its full details is one which,
under any circumstances, could hardly fail to en-
chain the attention and excite the most eager in-
terest. It is one of those histories of resolute
endurance and adventure which always impress the
public, and which are invariably cherished among
the records of national achievements. The
foe with whom Sir ROBERT NAPIER had to
contend was indeed greatly inferior to him-
self, and might almost be called contemptible ;
but what was lacking in spirit, skill, and strength,
nature supplied by the formidable obstacles she
opposed to the march of the invading army. Path-
less ravines, rugged ascents, and mountainous
ranges, which in some parts are almost perpendi-
cular, impeded the advance of the troops; and,
when it was deemed necessary to proceed by forced
marches, the task was formidable indeed. Of the
approach to Magdala itself Sir ROBERT says- " It
is difficult to give by description alone a suffi-
cient idea of the formidable position which
we were about to assail." The c .ntre
of the position is the Rosk of Selassie, which is
elevated more than 9,000 feet above the sea, stand-
ing on a plateau called Ishangie, dividel into
several extensive terraces, with perpendicular scarps
of basalt. Connecte I with these terraces is a hill
called Faille, which Sir R. NAPIER describes as a
gigantic natural bastion, level at the top, com-
manded by Islamgie. Fahla domineers over all
approaches, at an elevation of 1,200 feet. The
sides, as the invaders surveyed it from the base,
appeared precipitous, the. summit surrounded by
a scarp of rocks, accessible only in a few
places. Nearly concealed from view by these
intervening barriers, beside which the most skilful
engineer might well hide his diminished head, the
top of Magdala was partly seen. Up the steep side
of Fahla wound a road so steep that few horses
could carry their riders up it, and after this slight
account of it we may well endorse the General's
own words—" Altogether, without taking into ac-
count Maeda itself, the formidable charactor of
its earthworks exceeded anything which we could
possibly have anticipated." A refug)e chief, from
whom Sir R. NAPIER had pined valuable informa-
tion, was anxious that he should try the advance on
the south side from the opposite range, but Sir R.
NAPIER wisely refused to do so, because he had not
force enough to divide, and he would not put a
vast combination of natural fortresses" between
him and his direct line of communication. It
must have been a most anxious time for the
leader with whom the responsibility of the move-
ment rested. We may now hear his account of the
position with interest, and all unanimously approve
his choice of a place of attack ; but had the re-
selt been different, had the difficulties of
the accent proved too great, or the as-
sailed been able to keep a better hold of
their fortress, many would have been foutid to
criticise and censure the movement and manner of
the attack who are now loudest in their praises of
the successful general. It is fair to remember this
when Sir ROBERT NAPIER is receiving the thanks
of his countrymen for the capture of th,3 once im-
pregnable position, as the greater the difficulty and
the uncertainty of action, the greater the merit of
him whose genies and enterprise overcomes all
obstaels s.

were ref used.

The amnesty given by the Emperor of It ssia
on the occasion of the birth of a son to the Czare-
witch does not differ in any material respect from
its predecessors. It will be remembered that an
amnesty is by no means an uncommon event in
Russia, such acts of grace being usually per-
formed at coronations, and whenever there is a
birth or marriage in the Imperial family. Of
course, as these amnesties are so frequent, they
never amount to a full pardon ; for if they did, the
Emperor, after giving an amnesty for one insurrec-
tion, would have to wait for a second before he
could give another amnesty; and even the Poles
cannot get up an insurrection oftener than once in
fifteen years or so. These amnesties are, there-
fore, simply alleviations of the sentences originally
passed on political offenders, and are in no case
applicable to hardened " criminals," but only to
thos3 who are regarded as "worthy of confidence ;"
i.e., who have not shown too much indepenience of
spirit while under the orders of the Siberian
authorities. The boons conferred on the Siberian
exile 3 by former amnesties have chiefly consisted in
their being brought nearer to their native country,

and the same .has been done in the present case.
Thus the new ukase permits the exiles in Eastern
Siberia to settle in Western Siberia, and those in
Western Siberia to settle in the north-east of
European Russia. Among other articles of the
ukase is one permitting all foreigners exiled in
Siberia to return, and another which pardons
exiles who were under twenty years of age at the
time of their banishment, but excludes from the
benefits of the amnesty such of them as were con-
demned to hard labour in the mines, thus reveal•
ing a fact which was not hitherto known, namely,
that boys under twenty are mule to undergo this
terrible punishment.

The Roman correspondent of a contemporary,
writing on the Bth inst., says :—" The marriage of
Count Alphonso de Caserte, younger brother of
the King of Naples, with the Princess Maria
Antoinetta de Bourbon, daughter of Count de
Trapani, was solemnized this morning at half-past
seven o'clock, in the private chapel of the Vatican.
The nuptial blessing was pronounced by the Pope,
and the witnesses to the ceremony were four
cardina's belonging to the Neapolitan provinces,
but now residing at Rome—namely, CArdinals
Grasselini, De Lucca, Pambianco, and Monaco de
Lavalette. The bridal party included the King of
Na'ples,,the parents of the bride, Count de Gir-
genti, Donna Maria Isabel, Princess of the Asturias,
and Duke Robert of Parma, who came to Rome
expressly to attend the marriage. The Pope ad-
dressed a very touching discourse to the royal
couple ; and, after the ceremony, entertained the
whole company, numbering upwards of sixty per-
sons, at a sumptuous al fresco breakfast. Cardinal
Antonelli was among the guests, and also attended
the marriage. At the conclusion of the repast the
bridal party proceeded through the galleries of the
Vatican, and down the staircase of the Sistine
Chapel to the basilica of St. Peter, in o.der to
render homage at the tomb of the apostles. The
great door of St. Peter's, which is never used but
for the Sovereign Pontiff, was thrown open for the
cgr. SS of the bridal pa!r. The King of Naples
gave a state dinner in honour of the occasion, and
in the evening the Farnese Palace was the scene of
a grand ricevimento.

The Bristol Post reports the following extra-
ordinary scene in a church : —ln a pretty little
village church in Wiltshire, the other Sunday
evening, the minister announced the closing hymn.
The leader of the choir and clerk of the church,
an honest knight of the anvil, to the surprise of
the congregation, exclaimed, " 'Tis the 'underd
and thirteenth hymn." " No, it is not," said the
clergyman, and again he announced the right
number, and requested the clerk to play it. " I
tell 'ee 'tis the 'underd and thirteenth," persisted
the village blacksmith. To prevent this unseemly
harangue, the clergyman descended from the
pulpit, walked to the harmonium, placed the hymn
before the clerk (who had been watching his opera-
tions with contracted eyebrows), and said, " Play
that, if you please." The stubborn functionary
looked at it, and seeing it was not his "'underd
and thirteenth," said, " This aint the right hymn,
I tell 'ee." " Never mind, you play it." "1
shant, you play'en yourself," said the crusty clerk,
and be walke 1 from the plac7. The c mgregation
was dismissed, and the clerk was sent for. "Do
you know you have acted very improperly to-
night?" said the clergyman to him, " and if -you
d 3 not make a public apology before the congrega-
tion next Sunday, I shall request you to vacate
your office." " What, zur, make a public 'poligy !
Do you knaw Ibe a morriecl man ? Do you knaw
Ibe a your 'hunderd poun man?" He refused to
apologize, and so he will lose his office.

.. -
A few days ago the Parisian public were a little
moved by reading in the Etendard (Government
paper) a paragraph announcing that the Emperor
t, had just lost his best friend." Several persons,
without waiting to turn to the next page, came to
the conclusion that it was some great personage
whose loss his Majesty had to deplore, and the
names of M. de Persigny, Dr. and Senator Con-
neau, M. Belmontet, General Fleury, and other
best friends, old or new, occurred to their mind.
Fortunately it was neither of those personages,
and the friend in question, on whose disinterested
fidelity no one ever cast a suspicion, was simply his
Majesty's dog Nero. As Nero belongs to history
it is expected that the Etendard will give his
Liography, and that one of M. Haussmann's new
boulevards will be decorated with his name. The
Figaro relates a story about this now famous
animal. It seems that a month or two ago Nero
took it into his bead to absent himself without
leave from the Tuileries. lie had probably heard
a good deal about the embellishments of Paris,
and wished to make a personal inspection of them.
Whatever his object, he had remained away for
several days, when a note appeared in the semi-
official journal, the Constitntionnel, offering a hand-
some reward for his recovery. It is suspected that
be indulged in a little dissipation, for a lady found
him in a deplorable condition, with all the marks
of having been engaged in personal conflict, bitten,
beaten, drenched to the very bones, and apparently
sick of the world. The lady gave him hospi-
tality for a (-by or two, and then took him to the
place indicated in the journal, when he was re-
stored to his owner. In a few days after the lady
• received a lett. r from the Emperor's secretary, en-
closing a gold medal as a reward for the care she
' had taken of Nero. The medal is not meant to be
worn.

We published recently the announcement made
by the overseers of Salford of their intention tc
place on the next Parliamentary list the names of
all duly qualified women. The overs ers of Brad-
ford, on observing th!s, communicated with the
Home Sccraary, asking his opinion upon the
point, and Mr. Hardy has replied, intimating that
it is not his duty to give legal opinions as to the
construction of Acts of Parliament, but adding
that "it is clear Parliament did not intend to give
yotes td women."

The account of the engagement of the 10th and