The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, _ MARCH 10, 1868.

put confidence in the " loyalty and good feeling of
the working classes of this country." It may truly
be said if half of the evils which are now predicted
were likely to come to pass, we should not now be so
undisturbed, for the mischievous spirit which is
said to be so rife could never be confined within due
limits, and would not wait for a new Reform Bill to
take effect without showing itself in its true colours
and real meaning. Such fears are, however, quite
chimerical, and those who best know the people
of this country are the firEtt to disregard them, for
they recognise their injustice, and fully comprehend
the exaggerated motives which give rise to them.
The House came to a wise conclusion last night in
agreeing to the second reading of the Scotch Re-
form Bill ; and any changes that may be deemed
necessary upon further consideration can easily be
introduced in committee.

It would seem by the latest telegrams received
from Aden that King THEODORE,: is still advancing
towards Magdala. Letters received at Aden, dated
January 17, stated that he was then within one
day's march of Magdala. MENELEK, it is again
rumoured, was advancing on the place, so that it is
possible a collision may take place between the re-
spective forces of the two kings. THEODORE has
been assuming a more amiable character, and has
sent a friendly message .to Mr. RAssAat, with an
assurance that he was only keeping him until he
should meet his countrymen. This would seem to
indicate a reluctance on the part of THEODORE
to provoke the English still further, but unfor-
tunately his words are not to be relied
upon, and next week we may have a very
different report. As yet the invasion of his
territories has failed to irritate him, as some feared
it might do, and the prisoners, so far as we can
judge, as safer than before the arrival of the Euro7
pean troops. THEODORE is not so ignorant nor so
savage as to be unaware of the danger which he
would incur in taking the lives of his unfortunate
captives while the formidable troops who have been
sent out for their rescue are actually on Abyssinian
soil. Letters from Senafe to the 21st February
state that Sir ROBERT NAPIER was then two marches
beyond Attegerat, so that some progress is being
made. Attegerat itself seems to have sadly dis-
appointed the expectations of the troops, who had
expected to find a town of some importance, with
plentiful supplies. The place itself contains only
twenty or thirty houses, though it boasts of a build-
ing called a church, and there are scattered villages
round about, which altogether make up a large
population. Neverthless, Attegerat, such as it is,
is one of the principal towns in Abyssinia, and has
the ruins of a palace, in which the public chamber
of audience, or Hall of State, has been used by the
kings of old as a grand reception room and court of
appeal. A weekly market is also held in Attegerat,
where salt, barley, ghee, and blankets are to be
had, as well as sheep, cattle, and goats. The soil
in the neighbouring valleys is rich and fertile, and
there is certainly no natural reason why in Abyssinia
supplies should be short and scanty. The people
are not ignorant of agriculture, and could probably
do much more to develope the resources of the
country were it not for their fear of provoking the
cupidity of their richer and more powerful neigh-
bours. Besides this, they are constitutionally lazy,
and will not do anything that costs them trouble
so long as they can possibly avoid it.
Every one in the force is anxious to be at Mag-
dala, but whither all cannot proceed at once, and Sir
R. NAPIER has an invidious task in choosing who
shall be fortunate enough to accompany him. In
England, however, every one will be glad to hear
that Sir R. NAPIER is actually en route, and that
matters are proceeding a little faster. No doubt
whatever other results the expedition may have we
shall gain from it much valuable information re-
specting the interior of the African continent,
which, by a singular coincidence of enterprising ex-
ploration in one direction, with military necessity
in another, is being opened up to our inquiries in
a manner never hitherto known. The Abyssi-
nians will have to thank the miscon-
duct of their KING towards his European
captives for procuring them some good roads. We
cannot take the roads away with us, and they will
remain memorials of the skill and energy of our
Sappers and Miners. We are glad to find that the
Government has determined upon ascertaining the
truth of the rumours concerning the existence of
English captives in Eastern Africa. The fate of
the crew of the St. Abbs, more especially, which
vessel drifted on the coast thirteen years ago, is full
of uncertainty. There seems good reason to believe
that some at least of the survivors may still
exist as captives in the Somali country, from
whence fragments of wood and other traces of
the wreck have come down from time to
time. Mr. ANGELO, the well-known African tra-
veller, who is intimately acquainted with this part
of Eastern Africa, has volunteered his services to
ascertain the real truth, and he is confident of a
good reception from the chieftains of a tribe which
he represents as more humane than most of the
natives. The Government have wisely accepted his
offer, feeling that the matter is one which calls for
inquiry, and have decided on sending him as a paid
agent, though they are doubtful about incurring the
responsibility of giving him an official title. We
hope that Mr. ANGELO'S efforts will be crowned
with success, and that he will not only be able to
terminate the painful suspense to the relatives of the
missing men, but to restore them home to their
country.

The Central Executive Committee for the relief
of exceptional distress at the East End has had a
difficult and invidious task. Their proceedings
have been greatly hampered by the misconduct of
some workmen, who refused good work on account
of the influence of Trades Union regulations. Pub-
lic sympathy was alienated by the suspicion that
much of the distress was due to wilful perversity
rather than to uncontrollable misfortune, although,
in truth, the burden falls heaviest on those who aro
beneath the notice of Trades Unions, such as brick-
layers, dock labourers, and the lower orders of
artisans. At the last meeting of the Exe-
cutive Committee they bad barely £lOO in
hand, but since then they have received a
gift of £5OO from a generous donor, whose name is
withheld ; £2OO from Miss BuRDErr Courrs, and
about £l5O from other quarters. Still there is no
doubt that the subscriptions of the general public
have altogether fallen off, and perhaps this is not
be wondered at. March is very different from
December, and this year happily the welcome spring
has come to our doors, with all her sudshine and
flowers, betimes. Last year Winter could hardly
be said to have fairly taken leave of us till
May. Every time we thought we were quit
of him he re-appeared, bringing di com-
fiture to all, and actual suffering to the
poor. It may fairly be presumed, however, that
in weather like this people caa begin to help
themselves, and the committee are probably doing
wisely in suspending their operations by degrees.
A sudden stoppage of all relief would be harsh, but
by degrees their hands may be stayed. Before
another winter let us hope some means will be found
to break the spell of Trades Unionism, and induce
men to take what work they can get in hard times
and hard seasons rather than suffer their children
to want, or drive their fellow labourers to depend
on charity.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, MONDAY, March 9.:

Bad as I represented the Kerveguen-Cassagnac affair
to be, it is even worse than I described it. Not only is
the despatch referring to the six papers a forgery, and a
very clumsy one, since it referred to journals which were
not in existence at the time that the despatch purported to
have been written, but there is reason to think that many
other of these La Varenne papers have been forged or falsi-
fied. For instance, S. Nigra, the Italian Minister here,
writes to deny that he ever wrote, or caused to be written,
a letter bearing his name, and purporting to remit I,ooof.
This the Pays endeavours to evade by suggesting that another
S. Nigra was meant. But there is a worse case than this.
The Pays published a letter from S. Crispi, in which he
said : " I have not received a single line from the corre-
spondent you have appointed for our official journal of
Sicily " (journal officiel de Sidle). These words the slan-
derer has converted into " our official journal the Siede"
(notre journal officiel le Siecle). Worse than all, it
now appears that M. de Kerv6guen, hay.ing dis-
covered that some of his proofs were fort:, eries
and that others were no proofs at all, wrote to
Caesagnac, of the Pays, and told him so on February 29,
and warned him that the accusations against the Debats,
the Arenir National, the Libcrte, and the Revue des Deux
Mondes ought not to have been made. In spite of this
warning, Cassagnac continued to repeat the accusations
until March 7. Whereupon M. Emile de Girardin, pro-
orietor of the Liberte, thus addresses his conflire of the
Pays :—" Editor in Chief of the Pays, if it be true that
you received this letter from your accomplice on the 29th
February, how do you explain that you persisted from
that date until the 7th of March in accusing the Debats,
the Avenir National, the Liberte, and the Revue des
Deux Mondes t Reply. There is only one word to charac-
terise such an act ; and that is —` Infamy."
The journals, having thus completely triumphed, are de-
termined to follow up their victory and crush their slan-
derer to the ground. The editors of the four above-men-
tioned periodicals have written to M. de Kerveguen, and
challenged him to produce the documents from behind
which he launches his calumnies. They add : " Failing
this, we shall, after three days, on Thursday next, place
;n the hands of the President of the Legislative Body
a demand for an authorisation to prosecute you
before the Correctional Police, without prejudice to our
right to proceed against you by civil action in case the
majority to which you belong shall refuse permission." I
presume that they are barred by their promise from pro-
ceeding against Cassagnac, although it is fairly open to
question if a promise not to prosecute if proofs were pro-
duced would prevent a prosecution for slander now that
no proofs have been forthcoming. Of one thing the jour-
nalists are determined—they will not be clamoured down
in the Corps Ldgislatif. It may be well to ask, by the
way, what the Government intends to do with that unscru-
pulous organ which proclaims itself the Journal cl 4
l'Empire.
The Government have sustained a severe defeat on the
Press Law. The twelfth clause provided " that in case
of repetition of a press offence, the person guilty shall be
liable to be deprived of his rights as an elector for a
period of not more than five years." This was most
strongly opposed. M. Carnot declared that it was an
attack upon the privilege of the Chambers ; that if the
clause were adopted, no citizen who has printed and
repeated an opinion disagreeable to the public prose-
cutor would be entitled either to vote or to sit in
this assembly. He would be placed in the same cate-
gory with bankrupts, usurers, thieves, and swindlers.
M. Pinard, the Minister of the Interior, tried to get out
of the difficulty by declaring that the " great principle of
parliamentary involability " was a sufficient safeguard.
M. Picard replied that it might be sufficient during the
session, but it was not during the recess. After some fur-
ther discussion of an animated kind, the article was
rejected by 134 votes to 72.
It is rumoured that when the Press Bill is passed the
..,;mperor will grant an amnesty for all press offences com-
mitted heretofore. This would be graceful ;it is scarcely
probable.

The bill relating to the new loan of £17,600,000 was de-
posited with the Corps Leo,islatif to-day.
It is rumoured that Prince Napoleon intends to make a
very extensive tour, and will visit Vienna, the Danubian
Provinces, and even Constantinople ; but it is supposed
that he will return to Paris for a while before undertaking
this long journey.
The reigning Duke of Brunswick has, it is said, left the
whole of his private fortune (which is very large) and also
the sovereignty of his duchy, to the ex-King of Hanover.
The Prussian Government will, it is believed, resist the
execution of the latter bequest by force of arms, if
necessary.

The Morning Herald announces that Mr. Angelo, the
distinguished African traveller, is about to go to the
Somali country, in order to learn the fate of the crew of
the St. Abbs, which drifted on to that coast thirteen years
ago. It is not yet decided if he shall be accredited by the
Government, as Ministers naturally hesitate about encoun-
tering fresh responsibilities, such as those which have
necessitatel the Abyssinian campaign. But he will be the
paid agent of the Government, and is willing in all else to
go upon his own risk. He represents the natives in that
part of Africa as very humane—a widely different account
from that which Mr. Speke has given in his work, "What
led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile." It was
among the Somalis that he nearly lost his life.

The letters from Abyssinia give the Times no reason to
be sanguine over the prospects of the expedition. It is
not considered likely that the army will leave Antalo
before the end of March. On the most favourable assump-
tions, and taking it for granted that the transport service
is efficient, at least a month will be occupied in marching
the 200 miles from Antalo to Magdala, where we will sup-
pose the main body of the expedition to arrive about the
Ist of May. Giving a week to the capture of the city and
the release of the prisoners, we should have then to return
400 miles to our starting-point at Senafe, a journey which
would occupy seven weeks. But it might be that the Pass
would be stopped by the heavy rains, and in that case it
would be necessary to wait on the high land till they were
over. If so, the first re-embarkation would hardly be
effected before September. This is believed to be the
earliest period that anyone should venture to fix for the
termination of the campaign.

The unfortunate Cretans are in a sad plight. If their
Last state is not worse than the first, they have at least
but escaped out of the fire into the frying-pan. Seventy
thousand women, children, and old men are at Syra and
in the neighbourhood of Athens, destitute and starving.
The Greek Government has requested the representatives
of the various foreign Powers to ask for aid. Mr. Erskine,
the British Minister, has absolutely refused to do so—a
decision which, to say the least, is uncourteous. The Pope
has sent £l2O.

The Independence Beige mentions a rumour to the effect
that the British Government has expressed itself favour-
ably towards the maintenance of the Pope's temporal
power, and that in consequence of this and of the friendly
attitude assumed by Prussia towards the Holy See,
France, not liking to be outdone by Protestant Powers,
will, in her negotiations with Italy, speak more decisively
than ever upon the Roman question.

Here is a fact for Mr. Lecky and M. Michelet. A
poor old woman, 80 years of age, was seated by the fire with
her family in a Spanish 'village, when four armed men
entered and accused her of witchcraft. Two of them car
tied her off to another house, two remained behind to
prevent the family from effecting a rescue. One of the
first couple demanded of the supposed witch that she
should restore the health of his father, which she had de-
stroyed by her scrceries. She replied that she knew
nothing about it. Her captors then set upon her with
sticks, broke her legs, and inflicted such severe injuries
that she died a few hours later. Lady Herbert should
include this story in her next "Impressions of Spain."
The new treaty of commerce between Austria and the
Zollverein has been signed. Equal commercial rights will
now be enjoyed by the inhabitants of the two countries.
It is reported that Count Apponyi, who has for twelve
years represented Austria in this country, has asked to be
relieved of his duties, and will he succeeded by Count
Karolyi, who has been Ambassador at Berlin.
_ _

One or two of the morning papers rather severely handle
the metropolitan police for their laxity in not having pre.
vented the Clerkenwell outrage—a laxity which Mr.
Hardy did not attempt to palliate in the House on Monday
night. The Telegraph tells the police that their military
sagacity was at fault, and that but for the unhappy error
of judgment which led to the absence of efficient precau-
tions the fatal explosion would not have taken place.
Any general who neglects to act upon momentous, precise,
and trustworthy information, justly deserves censure;
and the police, in this case, are in an exactly similar pre-
dicament.

The navy estimates were issued this morning. They
shew a total of £11,177,290, and this is a net increase of
£201,037 over the sum voted last year. This is caused by
the great cost of naval stores, and the augmented expendi-
ture in wages, victuals, and clothing to the seamen and
,narines. There is a decrease in the cost of dock-
yards and new works, but it is not sufficient to counter-
balance the items previously mentioned.
The public subscriptions towards the relief of the funds
in the East-end have suddenly fallen off, and at the last
meeting of the committee, except two donations of £soo—
from Miss Burdett Coutts and the other anonymous
—only £l5O had been received from the general public.
This being so, the advisability of winding-up was con-
sidered. After some discussion, an adjournment for ft
fortnight wal agreed upon.