The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-31 00:00:00

LONDON, TITITRSDAY-
.EVENING;- DECgMI3ER . 31,

TFIE SUN,

TORIA I. and NAPOLEON 111. far more resplendently
than any victories won by land or by sea by their allied
forces fighting together under the same colours, that
is, under the "red, white, and blue," only differently
disposed, here in the form of the union-jack, here in
that of the tricolour—the staff of one crowned with
the warlike spear-head, that of the other with the
Imperial eagle. Throughout the whole of these last
twenty years during which VICTORIA and NAPO-
LEON have been contemporary Sovereigns, the amity
of the two countries has been altogether uninter-
rupted. During the ten previous years of her Britan-
nic MAJESTY'S reign, during the first of the three
decades of that reign, which have already elapsed,
it was a question of days, almost of hours (that is
when the so-called Citizen King was on the French
Throne) as to whether France and England should
not come into collision, as during the reigns of King
GEORGE 111., and the Emperor NAPOLEON the GREAT.
Happily the emergency passed over, but during the
later years of the reign of LOUIS PHILIPPE and
the earlier years of the reign of Queen Vicrottri the
deadly alternative of war or peace between the
two countries trembled for a while, as we have said,
in the balance. Not so throughout the twenty years
during which the Third NAPOLEON has been at the
head of the French Government. Remembering
that those twenty years of his regime have but just
now been completed, within these last few days,
within this still unfinished month of December, it
seems to us but fitting at this moment when another
decade is commencing, when the old year is going ont
and the new year is coming in, that we should recall
thus to momentary remembrance the peaceful as wel;
as warlike, the beneficent as well as glorious, the firm
and cordial friendship which has been established be-
tween France and England under the rule of the
reigning SOVEREIGNS.

THERE have been, and there will be, more eventful
years than
,1868. Most of its recent predecessors
have been more remarkable than itself ; and we shall
be greatly surprised if our yearly chronicle twelve
months hence is not a more exciting record than that
which we present to our readers to-day. And yet
1868 has not been without some marked charac-
teristics. It has, for instance, seen overthrown the
last member of a family that was, only twenty years
ago, seated on two of the principal, and several of the
smaller thrones of Europe. It has seen a British
Ministry, which held office in the face of a hostile
majority, suddenly collapse, and its leader's place
taken by a statesman who had lost his seat. It has
seen certain questions, which the most far-sighted
thought would not arise in their time, assume a pros
minence and an urgency that make it imperative
upon our rulers to deal with them, and uncertain as
to the distance they may have to go. The year which
witnessed the fall of ISABELLA, the resignation of
Mr.,DISDAELT, the uprising of the Irish Church ques-
tion, cannot be called altogether tasne, even though
the events have been fewer than in former years. If
the political world has been during the last twelve
months somewhat more quiet than usual, the physical
world has rarely been more excited. Earthquakes
of all but unexampled; destructiveness have ravaged
the Western South American Republics, and even in
Europe the earth seems to have. been disquieted, so
numerous and wide-spreading have been the subter-
ranean disturbances, so alarmingly grand have been
the, displays of the most active of European volcanoes.
Hereafter, 1808 will be remembered, if for no other
reasons, as the year of the grea+ drought and heat in
England, and of the great earthquake in Peru.
When 1808 opened it found us still agitated by
cne atrocious misdeeds of the Fenians. The
Clerkenwell explosion of a fortnight before
had horrified and exasperated the country.
It was at once the most fiendish and the most foolish
act that the " Brotherhood " had perpetrated. It
estranged from them and converted into bitter foes
that small section of the English working class
which was disposed to fraternise with them. It
was not only the victims of the explosion who
received their (Ip:lth-blow on December 13th, 1807.
Fenianism itself received such a mortal stroke that it
is now, if not wholly dead, so paralysed as to be
almost beneath contempt. This foul massacre
of women and children shewed such frightful reck-
lessness, such utter callousness with regard to human
life, that it aroused the whole nation against the
men who had done the deed, and against the con-
spiracy of which they were members. The Home
Secretary displayed commendable energy in
dealing with the offenders. The last murderer
executed in public was BARRETT, the only one of the
Clerkenwell miscreants whom the law succeeded in
reaching. This spectacle, and the execution of
ALLEN, COULD, and LARKIN, in the previous
November, were such a stern lesson to the
" Brotherhood" that since then they have found the
only true valour to consist in discretion. So inno-
cuous have they become that the new Home
'Secretary and the new Secretary for Ireland are
besieged with petitions for the pardon of those minor
offenders who are undergoing their sentences in the
various prisons of the kingdom. Another principal
cause of the decline of Fenianism must be stated
here, although it will be considered more fully when
we review the political events of the year. The
advent of a new Ministry to power pledged to deal
with two prominent Irish grievances has deprived
the Fenians of much of the support which they have
hitherto found among the Irish people. It is the
natural sequel of events that a Ministry which has
undertaken to disestablish the Irish Church and to
establish tenant-right, should restore to the Irish the
first of political rights whereof they have for three
years been deprived.
Parliament had held an autumn session in 1867
in order to sanction the estimates for the Abys-
sinian expedition. It was stated that five millions
sterling would be sufficient for it ; but though
it was completed with remarkable celerity and
with unexpected ease, there is reason to fear that the
cost will be over six millions. The campaign dis-
played qualities not usually exhibited by British
troops. Our military leaders are for the most part
slow and cautious, and strict adherents to routine.
Sir ROBERT NAPIER knew well that if he followed
the usual tardy precedents he would involve the
country in an enormous expenditure, and probably in
a great disaster. Fortunately he was not afraid of
responsibility, and he therefore dashed on to Magdala
with a small force—small, that is, so far as the fight-
ing part of it was concerned—without losing a man ;
and he gained possession of the prisoners for whose
restoration this expedition had been undertaken. It.
was a brilliant achievement, and it merited even
more substantial honours than those—a peerage and
a pension—which were bestowed upon him. Perhaps
the conqueror of Magdala, may even yet live to be
Governor-General of India.
• Parliament reassembled on February 13. Lord
SiseseEi'hacl stated, in a remarkable speech de-
livered at Bristol just before, that Ireland must form
a prominent subject of legislation for the then
ensuing session. The renewal of the Habeas Corpus
Suspension Act was not a very promising be:.
ginning for Irish legislation. It was, never-
theless. unavoidable. Before any other measure could
be presented an important, but not wholly unex-
pected, event took place. Lord Dr any had been for
some months in very bad health. In February he
was near death's door, and on one night his decease
was so confidently anticipated, that in several news-
paper 0...1ice.a obituary leaders upon the Premier were
written. Me did not die, but the Times published
its article, an d spoke of the veteran Tory
leader throughout in'
the past tense. The article was
so far justified, that a :ew days later, February 25,
his resignation was announc,*(l by
in the Upper House, and
by his Lord MaLMESBunv
own son in the Lower,
and Parliament adjourned until _Mani' 5,
so as to
allow time for the rearrangement 0:
the Cabinet.
The alterations were not numerous, and with one or
two exceptions were unimportant. Mr. DISRAELI
himself became Premier, as was inevitable,
,and con-
gratulations were showered down up on this suCnesse
ful "gentleman of the press," Lo rid CnEtimsronif

was sent his conie With Tess consideration fol. amour
pnyyre -than might have been- -expected from so
accomplished a man of the would as Mr. DISRAELI.
Lord CAIRNS went to the woolsack. Mr. WARD
HUNT was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.
These were the leading alterations in the composi-
tion of the Cabinet. As regards its policy, Mr.
DISRAELI carefully laid down that it would continue
to be the policy of Lord DERBY, whose confidant for
many years he claimed to have been. He also
declared that it would be a " Liberal policy," a state-
ment which excited some laughter from those who
remembered the .history of the previous year and its
Household Suffrage introduced to dish the Liberals.
The Ministerial changes had delayed, but could not
frustrate the raising of the Irish question. Mr.
MAGUBRE, on March 10, moved the appointment of
a committee to take into consideration the condition
and circumstances of Ireland. It was opposed by the
Government; awl Lord MAYO, the Secretaryfor Ireland,
in a speech of four hours, detailed the intentions of
the Cabinet with regard to that country. The most
remarkable of these, so remarkable that it has since
been sought to explain it away, was a proposal for
levelling up the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland
to the position of the Protestant Church. The ex-
pression turned out unfortunate, and had to be repu-
diated as inconsistent with the new attitude which
the Ministers assumed after a very memorable
declaration made during the course of this debate.
He who made it was the leader of The majority,
although in Opposition, and when he declared that
'the Irish State Church must cease to exist" there
was such a tumult of applause as is seldom heard in the
House of Commons. On this announcement Mr.
DISRAELI at once appealed to the anti-Popery feeling,
which he believed to be very strong throughout the
country. It turned out to be much feebler than he
expected. A large section of English Churchmen
detested it ; the Dissenters, almost without exception
—even the Presbyterians of Ulster—refused to adopt
the cry, seeing in it only a device for maintaining the
ascendancy of a Church which by a bold fiction was
called national. Mr. GLADSTONE lost no time in
giving effect to his policy. He brought in a series of
resolutions, which were carried by a majority of
over sixty ; he then brought in a bill for suspending
the appointments by the Crown to vacant preferments
in the Irish Church, and its second reading was carried
by an equally large maiority. It was not opposed
on the third reading, but was taken up by the Lords,
who threw it out. In this they only did their duty,
inasmuch as it was fitting and constitutional that a
measure of so much importance should be referred to
the nation. An immediate dissolution was clearly
impossible, for that would have meant an appeal to
the old constituencies, some of which were absolutely
defunct. The effect of these proceedings was that
Mr. DISRAELI maintained himself in office seven
months after his defeat. Parliament was prorogued
on July 31, having completed the work of Reform so
far as it could be induced to do so ; having got rid of
the church rates grievance by the aid of Mr. GLAD-
STONE'S measure ; having sanctioned the transfer of
the electric telegraphs from the present companies
to the Government; and having passed a measure for
the suppression of corrupt practices at elections,
whose efficacy has yet to be ascertained.

THE long vacation, which usually sees a cessation
from politics, was, during the past year, wholly given
up to them. From the end of July to the end of
November the public were wearied to death by
election speeches and tactics. The battle for which
these had been preparatory began on November
10, and lasted just three weeks. The result was in
many respects remarkable. In the first place, the
Parliament elected under the enlarged franchise
differed in no degree, so far as the social position of
the representatives was concerned, from preceding
Parliaments. An unusually large number of new
M.P.'s were returned, but they belonged to the
same classes which had furnished our legislators
before. The effect upon the position of political
parties fully compensated in fullness for any lack of
effect upon the social condition of members. Lord
PALMF.RSTON would have met the Parliament of
1805 with a majority of 70; Mr. GLADSTONE has
met the Parliament of 1666 with a majority of 115,
the largest known since ilt32. Mr. DISRAELI shewed
both consideration for his opponents and regard to
his own position in resigning office without waiting
for the vote of an assembly hopelessly hostile. By
resigning in November he gave Mr. GLADSTONE a
fortnight longer for the construction of his Ministry
and the preparation of a legislative programme, and
he spared himself the necessity of chewing his own
hand, so far as the Irish Church was concerned. By
this time the speeches of last spring, with their
"heated" rhetoric, are forgotten, and Mr. DISRAELI
will feel himself free to criticise the words and deeds
of his opponents unfettered by anything that he has
said or done.

Of events that may be termed social rather than
political there has been the usual widevariety. It is not
often that we have to record an attack upon a mem-
ber of the Royal Family. The attempted assassina-
tion of Prince ALFRED in Sydney was at first sup-
posed to be the handiwork of a Fenian emissary, but
after asserting this the assassin O'FARRELL admitted
that he had no ground for his statement, and that
he had done the deed on his own account and for no
intelligible reason. The event drove the Australians
into a frenzy of loyalty, and they passed a measure
for dealing with persons suspected of disloyalty so
stringent that it was worthy of St. Petersburg rather
than of a free British colony. The event which
next to this caused the greatest excitement was the
Abergele railway accident. England is used to great
catastrophes on her iron highways, but this one was
exceptionally ghastly and fatal. Nearly three dozen
persons were killed—not by the collision, which was
slight, but by the ignition of a quantity of petro-
leum, so that when the flames had subsided all that
remained of the victims were a few calcined bones
interspersed with fragments of jewellery. Among
the killed were Lord and Lady FARNHAM
and an Irish judge; This event, which hap-
pened on August 20, was preceded twenty days
by another calamity nearly as fatal, but affecting
persons of a far humbler rank of life. At a low
place of entertainment in Manchester the cry of
" Fire !" was raised, and was followed by a frantic
rush of many hundreds of spectators to the doors.
About two dozen were crushed to death, and a dozen
others were frightfully injured. More destructive
than either catastrophe, but one of a kind only too
common, and therefore attracting little attention,
was the colliery explosion at Wigan of about a
month ago, and which involved the death of more
than threescore persons. But all these calamities
put together are, so far as the loss of life is concerned,
a mere bagatelle compared with the frightful
earthquakes which took place in Peru and Ecuador
during August. The country visited extended over
1,300 miles, the number of lives sacrificed has
been estimated as high as 100.000, and the value of
the property destroyed is reckoned by millions.
There has been no calamity so destructive since the
great earthquake at Lisbon, on November 1, 1755.
These convulsions in South America were but one out
of many symptoms of subterranean disturbance which
have prevailed throughout the year. We have
learnt more of the causes of earthquakes than our
ancestors knew a hundred years ago ; we are not
more able than they to prevent that one catastrophe
of nature which is most appalling and most destruc-
tive. Meteorologically, the year has been remarkable
for a spring and a summer of excessive drought and
heat, and for a December of the most violent gales.
During July the maximum shade temperature was
for many days above ninety degrees, and under the
influence of the burning, cloudless sun the pastures
became converted into dry stubble; and the cornfields
not only ripened a month before the time, but were
in imminent danger of conflagration. Large
tracts of heath and grasslands were burnt, and
Englishmen had an opportunity of witnessing on a
small scale the bush-fires of the antipodes.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—One Shilling Day, Wednes-
day, Dec. 30.—Admissions by season tickets, 2,022; ditto
on payment, 4,343; total visitors, 6,36

F6B.

CORRES2ONDENCE FROM PARIS,

- (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, WEDNESDAY, December 30.

To-morrow the reception at the Tuileries will he held,
and already the Moniteur has come out in anticipation
with a host of military honours. One general
is to be made Grand Cross, another Grand
Officer. There are to be twelve appointments to
the rank of commander, forty-three to that of
officer ; 347 knights are to be nominated, and 709 military
medals conferred. Truly, the Emperor believes in the
army as the source of his strength, and has resolved that
if he cannot keep his soldiers in good humour during war,
they shall not lack cheap honours during peace. The
New Year's Day Speech, I hear, is to be remarkably
pacific. Everything points to the conclusion that a decla-
ration against war would be sincere, for the present at
least. The Eastern question notwithstanding, never was
the aspect of the situation so reassuring.
The Chamber of Appeal has done a good deal in the
way of " confirmation " lately. It has ordered that the
sentences on M. Duret of the Tribune, M. Weiss of the
Journal de Paris, and M. Hdlrard of the Temps, shall hold
good. On the other hand, it has, however, been so mer-
ciful as to remit part of the sentence on M. Deleschoze, of
the Rived, but it has retained the full term of imprison-
ment, remitting only part of the fine.

The decision of the Chamber of Commerce against the
Government Moniteur—that it has no right to bear a title
which has already been assumed by M. Dalloz's organ—
has caused much astonishment, M. Wittersheim, the
proprietor of the Government Moniteur, has lodged an
appeal, which is to be heard in the Imperial Court
to-morrow. Should the impartial decision of the Chamber
of Commerce be reversed, the effect on public opinion,
though the matter is of no great importance, would be the
reverse of favourable. The Parisians are getting tired of
seeing judgments set aside to order.
The Constitutionnel has attempted an explanation
of the charge made by the Gaulois, and repeated by
other journals, of a number of pictures having been fur-
nished from the gallery of the Louvre to the apartment of
M. Troplong. The semi-official paper is hardly more
successful than the public. Its plea is that the thirty
paintings at the Imperial Club were taken there because
there was no room for them at the Louvre, and they were
therefore hung where people could see them. The argu-
ment is childish. The public cannot get to the Imperial
Club. As to the pictures at M. Troplong's, the Constitu-
tionnel says that they were there because the President of
the Senate has always been provided with furniture.
Even if this be accepted with regard to the two pictures
which were burnt, how about the rest? The charge is
substantially admitted.

M. Pinard has obtained permission to practise at the
bar.

The Seine has risen so much by the recent floods that
the landing places are inundated, and navigation is sus-
pended except for the steamboats. The weather is bad
all over France ; nay, further, for heavy gales are
reported from Germany, The channel remains in
commotion. The storm of the last few days has
spread over a great part of the northern hemisphere.

" Th4odoros " at the Chatelet is rapidly being voted dull.
Like all spectacles of the present day, the leg element
largely predominates, and indeed the best part of the play
is the ballet with its picturesque mingling of Nubian girls
with the white Alm4es of the East. But as Th(odoros
commences operations at a quarter past seven, and does not
put himself out of his misery and the audience out of theirs
until a quarter past one, the general effect is slow. Six
hours are too long fur a ballet. At the Grand an
attempt is being made to rival the London performance
of " Faust." The tenor's air in the fourth act has been
suppressed, and Gounod has composed another. If rumour
is to be believed he has not improved his chef d'oeuvre by
this change. _

A neat bit of engineering was successfully effected in an
iron mine at Meylan a few days back. A great mass of
earth fell in, completely enclosing two men in a narrow
space. The air was so bad that the lamp speedily
went out, and the lungs of the two men gave
palpable signs that life could not be long supported in an
atmosphere so foul. A number of labourers came to the
rescue, and, under the direction of an engineer, a long
series of tubes with a ventilator was driven into the mass
of earth, and thus a constant supply of fresh air was
afforded the prisoners. After twenty-four hours clearing
away they were rescued.
Your readers maybe interested in hearing of the Marquis
Novaliches, the only partisan of Queen Isabella who
remained faithful to his trust. This gallant officer, lam
sorry to say, has not recovered so completely as was anti-
cipated. He can rest only in a horizontal position, on
account of excessive salivation in any other attitude.
Although he is able to pronounce some words, they
are intelligible only to those who have attended
him for some time. He has lost part of the bones of the
mouth, and is supported by liquid food, conveyed through
a silver tuhp. The recovery of the Marquis 10 It. ~,11
respects to be desired, for though he fought on the wrong
side none of the revolutionary acted his part
more worthily. He might very probably be of much use
to his country just now.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-THIS DAV.

MEI roil °Lome). T, EFTCRTS.

Extreme Sea
Thursday, i Vf F. 0
Dec. 31, B. T. I: rz
' W. 11, F. D. W It. to
8 a.m. 12 0
-- _
Nairn
Aberdeen
Leith
Shields
Scarborougl 29'63r. 26 35 W.N.W. 1 2 N.W. s.e.f .1'27 2
Yarmouth.. 29'60r. 38 36 W.S.W. 3 5 W. o. 3
Fielder ....
Cuxhaven . _ _ _ _ _ _
Skudesntes _ ... _
Ardrossan .. 29'74r. 37 34 N.N.W. 2 4 S.W. c.b. o'o4 1
Green castle 2913 r. 38 37 N.W. 1 2 W.S.W.ler.b o'2B
Holyhead .. 2975 r. 42 (40 W.N.W. 5 8 W. c.
Liverpool .. 29 74r. 41 39 N.W. 2 2 W.S.W. 0.0. o'lB 3
Valantia .... 29'98r. 45 i 43 N.N.W. 4 6 S.W. s.r.c 9'19 3
Cape Clear.. 2992 r. 42 140 N.W. 2 6 N.W. c. o'o6 2
Roches Pt. 29'91r. 40 (38 W.N.W. 3 6 N.W. c.b. 0.10 2
Penzance .. 29:812. 45 i 45 N.W. 4 6 N.W. c. o'o3 2
Plymouth .. 29 90r. 42 (40 N.N.W. 1 5 N.N.W. c.b. o'lo 3
Weymouth 29:84r. 44 142 W.N.W. 1 1 W.N.W. c. 0.03 2
Portsmouth 29•53 r. 42 (40 W.N.W. 8 8 W.N.W. c. o'l7 5
London ~. 29'73r. 38 137 W. 3 6 W. s.r.c o'4o
C'peGrisN er. 29 72r 45 45 W. 9 8 W.S.W. o.c. o'ol 6
Brest ...... 33:02r. 46 41 N.W. 5 5 N.N.W. c.o. 3
['Orient.... 30•84 r. 145 (43 W. 4 7 N.W. C. o'ol 3
Roch e fort .. 30'09r. 43; 41 S.W. 7 7 S.W. c. o'o7 4
Biarritz .... 30'16r. 143 4l S.W. 5 -- r. 0'55 6
Corun n a ....
Brussels .... _ _ _ _ _
Paris...... _ _ _
itrasb ou rg..l 1— _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Lyons ......1 1— •• _
Toulon ' 29'958. :46 44 W.N.W. 4 3 S.S.W. m.O 4
Heart's C0n..1 I
tent (9 a. TO .
local time) , _ __ _
__ _ _ _