The New York Herald Newspaper, February 9, 1868, Page 6

B NNEW YORK HERALD. BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. Ne. 40 Volume XX XIII 1 RELIGIOUS SERVICES TO-DAY. i LOOMINGDALE BAPTIST CHURCH, Forty-second oo torning and evening. tad * ontRcn OF THE sTR, NGERS, Hall of the. Dniver. ey, Washington ‘square. —, Dexas, Morning and vening. CHAPEL OF T! SHEPHERD'S FLOCK,~Rev. Sra- sx H. Ty, D.D. Evening. CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION.—Morning and ‘afternoon, ‘ CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMS.—Rey. Cmanvas B, Savra, oN Tug “Ware Fawx ano tux Pinania Com ane.” Moraing, afternoon and evening, CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION.—Bisuor Brpact. Morning. ‘ CHURCH OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.—Rev. Dz, Swors. Evening. CANAL STREET PRESBYTERIAN CRURCH.—Rav. javip MiTcHEL. Morning and evening. * DODWORTH STUDIO BUILDING, Fifth avenue.—Rev. Huwer Biaxcuanp, ox “Goon Sov, Jxsvs, CauRon.” oon. DODWORTH HALL.—Sriairoauistic Socrerr. Morning end evening. ‘pRORTY.SROOND STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Rav. W. A.M, Scorr, on “Tux Parosoruy oF Puxasuns aw Reviaiox.” ‘Eveclng: FREE RFISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR Rav. 8, F. Duxuax, Morning and evenii FIFTH AVENUE, BAPTIST CHUROH.—Rev. A. B. a and evening. Eautz. Morning, after: MASONIC H, —THE ASSOCIATION OF SPIRITUALISTS, Morning—Mns, Kawa J. Bouuxwa, Kvening—Jupgs ED mons. METHODIST ere Nl Neo 195TH STREET.— Rev. Joun Corton Suite. NEW JERUSALEM HOUSE OF WORSHIP.—Rrv. Cuaoncer Gries, Morning and evening. ANN'S FRER payne. H.—Suaxox in the morning; nme vor Dear Murss in the afternoon, and a Lecrure ‘4p the evening. _ JOHN'S M. E. CHURCH.—Mo1 Rey. G. C. on “fue Emsiematio MOUNTAINS—SINAI AND Citvanr. ”’ Evening—“Too Late rox tus Weppina.” VENTEENTH STREET M. EB. OHURCH.—Rev. Wu. . Morning and evening. TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH.—Ruv. J. 8. Houma, D. D, Morning and evening. nate TRINITY CHAPEL, West Twenty: fifth atreet.—CuoraL Beavick ap Sxgwon. Evening. UNIVERSITY, Frashington inf HOP SNOW, ON edun bioxs oF Sum Tums’ Afternooa, UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, Bleeokor street —Rxv. Day Lem, ON THE “PANORAMA OF THE AGES.” Kvening. UPPER CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION.—Morning and evening. WELSH BAPTIST CHURCH, Chrystie street.—Rzy. F. Evans. Afternoon, TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Sunday, February 9, 1868. THB NEW s3. EUROFE. By special telegrams through the Atlantio cable, dated im Paris and Madrid yesterday, we have the important intelligence that the Emperor Napoleon has altered his Policy toward the Pope aud Italy in a sudden and re- markable manner. His Majesty evinces a disposition to abandon bis position of champion of the Holy See, As- sured, it is said, of the existence of Bourbon intrigues radiating from Rome, the imperial diplomacy with the Rome has become colder, while the friendly relations hitherto existing with Victor Emanuel are to be rene Quven Isabelia, of Spain, is forced to dissolv: Papal Legion which was being recruited under her war- rant in Madrid, as Napoleon ‘flatly”’ objects to its ger- vice in the cause of the Holy See, By special cable telegram from Florence, dated yesterday, we learn that Admiral Farragut remained in the Italian capital a much honored visitor. The United States fleet was at Spozzia. By special telegram from Abyssinia, forwarded by way of Alexandria and Malta, and from London through the Atlantic cable, we learn that a strong force of Britian troops advanced from the camp at Senafe towards the interior on the 26th of January. Water had been bored for according to an American plan, and was found in abundance near the English line of march. The coast shore had been lighted by the English for naval purposes. The camp followers from India were being returned home, The Egyptian Governor of Quassonah was recalled, with, it is said, the approval of the British authoritios, The news report by the Atlantic cable is dated yeater- day afternoon, February 8. Count Bismarck is invalided and will travel for somo months on sick leave, vacating the Premiership of North Germany. A new Cabinet was formed in Greece. Yiurbide, of Mexico, has takon service in the Papal Zouaves. A fierce riot took piace in Cork during an Unsuccessful attempt to rescue a Fenlan captain. Consols 93:4 2.933; in London. Five-twenties 71% @ ‘71% im London, and 75 a 765 in Frankfort. Cotton active, with middling uplands at 8d. a 814. Breadatuffs and provisions without marked change. Our special correspondence and newspaper roports from Europe embrace very interesting details of our cable despatches to the 25th of January. CONGRESs. ‘The Sonate was not in session yesterday. ‘The seaston of the House, according to agreement on Friday, was yesterday devoted to general debate. Mesars. Hunter, of Indiana, and Clarke, of Ohio, ad- dressed the House on tho financial question, the former arguing that the present depression in business has been caused by the partial failure of the crops, the contrac. tion policy of the Secretary of the Treasury and the ‘ction of the democratic party in delaying the recon- struction of the Southern States, Mr. Clarke favored the payment of the five-twenties in lawful currency, the substitution of greenbacks for national bank notes and the restoration of the free banking aystom, but ‘would have no banks of issue, Messrs. Stevens, of New Hampsbire, and son, of California, spoke on the Political questions now agitating the country, after which the House adjourned until Monday. MISCELLANEOUS. By w.epecial tolegram from Mazatlan, Mexico, dated on the Ist inst.> we have further reports of the revolu- tion in Sinalos, The revolutionists are uniting their forces to attack Governor Rubi. They have had one fight, and a decisive battio is daily expected. The Governor, it was thought, would bo wustainea by the forces of President Juarez, General Martinez proclaimed Dimself Governor of Sinalon en the 18th ult, and called for loam of $100,000. Several bodios of regular troops bave declared in his favor, The riot in Durango bas deen suppressed. An American woman was found mur- dered near Guadalajara, with seven stiletio stabs about ber breast and heart, From Brownsville we have news of revolutions in several Mexican States. An expedition from Tabasce was marching on the capital. Canales, Querags and Carvajal were organizing # revolution in Tamaulipas, and their agents were in Brownsville pur- basing arms and munitions of war. The House Reconstruction Committee held @ long and animated session yesterday on the recent Johnson- Grant correspondence referred to them by the House, Mesers. Stevens and Houtwoll urged that a resolution of impeachment be at once reported, A sub-committee of ‘three was appormnted to examine witnesses and further investigate the matter, who will report to the full com- Mittee at an early day. Genoral Grant bas been sub. penned, and will probably testify before the Committee gn Monday, A tesolution was sdopted in the New York State Constitutions! Convention yesterday directing tne seorslary to notify absent members that their immo. diate attendance is required to take final action upon the adoption and modo of submitting the new consti. tation to the people for its ratification or rej@ction, Bection seven of article seven of the present constitution was adopted, insiend of firet section of the report of the Committee 04 the Sait &prings, ‘The National Commercial Convention, which has beon ja geeaion in Boston for eeversl doy, vegardey NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 's'. 1868.—TRIPLE SET. nee adopted the fmance and ourrenoy report which was submitted on Friday, and adjourned sine die, The Georgia conventioniats yesterday adopted an or- dinance to provide means for defraying the expenses of the Convention by the imposition of a tax of one-tenth of one per cent on all taxable property in the State, to be collected before the 1st of May next. In the Florida Convention they are having lively times, The minority party held three sessions yester- day in secret, and have nominated a Biate ticket. A mass meeting of the negroes had been called for the purpose of approving of their action, aud threats of vio- lence against the majority were indulged in at the meeting, ‘The full vote of eight counties in the Alabama elec- tion foots up 18,159, mostly negroes, The constitution will probably be rejected. Our correspondents in the Southern States furnish in- teresting accounts of the proceedings in the Reconstruc- tion Conventions, which will be found on the eleventh page of this morning's Heratp. At a meeting of the Board of Councilmen yesterday afternoon a petition was received requesting that Seventh avenue be paved with Belgian pavement. A resolution to prevent the sprinkling of salt on the rail~ Toad tracks was adopted. Resolutions in favor of paving @ number of streets with the Nicolson pavement were ‘adopted, The Fifth avenue extension project was argued yeater- day before the committee of the Board of Aldermon, Several propositions were advanced by persons whose interests are affected by the movoment and the com- mittee adjourned to Saturday next at noon. ‘In the Board of Aldermen orders were passed direct- ing the taying of Nicolson pavement in several streets, ‘and a lively discussion took place as to the propricty of lighting up the new streets in the upper portion of the city where the houses are few and far between. The fine steamship City of New York, Captain Hal- crow, of the Inman line, will sat! from pier 45 North river at noom to-morrow (Monday), for Queenstown and Liverpool, touching at Halifax, N. 8, to land mails and passengers, The mails will close at the Post Oflice at twelve M. to-morrow. The stock market was strong yesterday. Government securities were dull, Gold was strong and closed at 142%. Business in commercial circles yeaternjay ‘was light, the markets with but few exceptions being extremely quiet. Holders were firm in thoir views, however, in consequence of the firmness in gold, and previous prices for almost all articles were sustained. Coffee, though quict, was steady, Cotton was less active but firm at. 20c, for middling upland. On 'Change flour was mode- rately active but at irregular prices. Wheat was dull and heavy. Corn was in fair domand and advanced 1c. & 2c., while oats were 3c. higher and quite aotive, Pork, though quiet, advanced about 250, por bbl. Other kinds provisions were moderately active and very firm. Naval stores were quite active and firm. Petro- Joum was dull, and bonded was about 3c. lower. Freights wore slightly firmer but without activity. The live stock markets were without especial change, Beef “cattle wore selling at from 1c, to 18¢., with arrivals of 181 head at Communipaw and about six oar loads at Hudson City. Swine were selling at 8%%c. a 8Xc. for good to prime. 200 head arrived at the Fortieth street yards, No arrivals at Communipaw, Mexican Affaire—Inside Revolutioulsts and Outside Adventurers, We must not forget Mexico. Having wor- ried Napoleon out of that unhappy country and brought the model empire of his man Maximilian to a bloody end, having secured the restoration of Juarez and the republic in the national capital, we are in @ measure bound to see to it that there is an end. of Mexican anarchy. How is Juarez getting on? If he were asked the question he would proba- bly answer, “Much betier than your wise men at Washington are getting on with their work of Southern reconstruction.” Still, the lookout from the halls of the Montezumas is somewhat dismal. They have just put down a revolution in Yucatan, with the usual shooting of a batch of prisoners, and great are the rejoicings of the government over this achievement, Had not old Santa Anna, however, been seized from that United States vessel at Campeachy and finally packed off to Havana, it is probable that Juarez would have been again by this time a distinguished exile in New Orleans or New York. But as the failure of one revolu- tionary pronunciamiento in Mexico only leads to another, poor Juarez, like Montezuma, will not be permitted to sleep upon a bed of roses. There were rumors the other day at Vera Craz that several Mexican generals had pronounced against the powers that be, and from Havana (February 7) we have the report.that an insur- rection had broken out at Tampico, that the rebels held possession of the city, and that some government gunboats wero blockading the port. This is notan encouraging exhibit in vebalf of the republic; but the worst remains to be told. From the disclosures made of the inside machinery of the late empire it would appear that the Mexican chiefs adhering to Maxi- milian were, from his own showing, little better than treacherous cutthroais and rob- bers. Nor does Mexican history furnish us any satisfactory evidence that the adherents of Juarez aro much better. The rule for many years in Mexico has been the pronunciamieno and the musket. Where a military leader has been sufficiently enterprising to raise an armed body of a few thousand men he has pronounced his authority over a State as a starting point for the central government ; when the gov- ernment has been strong enough to muster an army todeter any such opposition the gen- erals of this army bave quarrelled among themselves, and the sharpest of them has come into power. When an ambitious man ofa military turn of mind cannot muster vol- unteers enough to take possession of a State or a city, he begins with some small town the. collection of bis forced contributions and con- scriptions in view of larger operations. But if he can muster no force adequate to the seizure ofeven a small town, he takes to the road and the mountain passes and becomes a professional highway robber. Another thing peculiarly Mexican is the looseness of the bonds which bind his followers to the military leader. Thus the soldiers, for instance, of Canales to-day, if beaten by Esco- bedo, will be the followers of Escobedo to- morrow. They have no interest in this or that party, or leader, or pronunciamiento, beyond their chances of pay and plunder. The mass of the Mexican people are Indians, and war is their normal condition, It is only against the foreign invader that they can be, to any extent, united ; and this sentiment of patriotism they have honestly inherited from the invasion of Cortes. With the removal of the invader, however, they relapse into their normal con- dition of Indian warfare, as modified by forty years of Mexicar revolutions under the man- agement of the dominant revolutionary Span- sh race, There is yet another thing which contributes immensely to aborten the term of any Mexican President or Dictator. It is the spoils and plunder of the national treasury. Theso sup- plies, raised by heavy taxes and forced con- tributions, are generally appropriated to the Inst dollar by the leaders in possession. We havo never heard of a Mexican ex-President who was ® poor man. Saota Anna, after squandering millions, is said to be worth mil- lions to-day. This eystew of official gpoliation has, perhaps, as much as any other cause, resulted first in tapping and then absolutely appropriating the estates of the Church. Now, with these estates used up, and with the agri- cultural and manufacturing interests of the country impoverished, and with all these fight- ing factions and military aspirants out at the elbows, the question recurs, What security is there for law and order under Juarez, or for the continuance of his administration till next Christmas? His only security is a powerful army, consolidated by good pay. But how is he to raise the money from a destitute country? This brings us to the second branch of our text—the adventurers from the outside, who go to Mexico as a Tammany sachem goes into our Board of Aldermen—‘“on the make.” Jobs is the word. Juarez and his associate leaders, with Maximilian in full blast, had their hands full of these jobs, and so had Max, including land grants for colonies, land grants for rail- roads and telegraphs, mining and manufac- turing privileges, express companies, steam- ships, and loans from ten to fifty millions on land and mining securities. The latest project we hear of is one for uniting Mexico with the United States by a system of railroads—a pro- ject which is said to have been referred to a government commission. Very well. In these jobs we foresee the absorption of Mexico, We would, however, in this connection, suggest to Mr. Seward the saving precautions of some comprehensive treaty with the Mexican gov- ernment now, and some law of Congress to save the Treasury against an enormous budget of Gardner claims, in the shape of indemnities at some future day to American’ speculators and adventurers in Mexico for their losses in loans, and mines, and railroads, and colonies, and express companies, and telegraphs, made up from the pattern of the famous Gardner claim of half a million for damages to his mines in the moon. The Spectacular Drama and the Morats of the Metropolie—Action and Reaction of Forces. Voltaire, whose witticisms were always best with the bead on them, was right when he ut- tered or wrote the remark that one year of war would breed more vice than forty years of peace, though he might have added, with more appositeness, the further comment that one year of war breeds more vice than forty years of peace can cure. Of the former aphorism New Yorkers, and in fact Americans in gen- eral, have proved the truth; and the kernel of the latter the present state of the drama and literature are fast demonstrating to have the genuine meat of soundness and sense about it. The legitimate drama—the old, though bold, naturalistic enaction of tragedy and comedy— is dead, and there has taken its place a thing of paint and powder, which is neither dramatic nor anything else, except a mere appeal to the sensuous imagination, to say nothing of appeals to the sensual itself, Judging from the vast patronage eked out by the spectacular drama, which is only another name for semi-nude femi- ninity trimmed with gauze and labelled fairy pageant, just by way of appeasing the scruples of the fastidious—judging from this and from recking masses of literary garbage weekly pro- duced by Nassau street, Spruce street and other publishers, a moral rot seems to have eaten into the very heart of the body politic. Even on Broadway the issuance of indecent publica- tions is carried on to.some extent; the illns- trated papers, with few exceptions, teem with disgusting details in wdod-cut of criminality ; art, high art, has caught a trifle of the taint, and panders to the popular taste for the sensa- tional ; and in the drama, translated from pic- ture into spectacle, the popularity of pru- riency is attested by the fact that the income returns of the various New York thea- tres demonstrate that exhibitions like the “Black Crook” and the “ White Fawn”—which means a dozen “Black Crooks” done up ina single theatrical quid—are more remunerative than masterpieces of histrionic creation enacted by masters of the histrionic art. There is no disguising it, as a people we are rapidly learning to swallow large doses of vice, with- out even the ceremony of sugar-coating it; we are fast verging upon that state of public morals in which vice and pandering to vicious instincts are reckoned as luxuries to be moderately indulged in. The pulpit is power- less, both by reason of its want of comprehen- sion of the needs of the country and by reason of ita affected and mincing cant thai certain moral evils ave unmentionable in good society; literary men are powgrless, for tho reason that no publisher can be mentioned who will take the risk of publishing a book strong with healthy and vigorous thought; the lecture room is powerless, for the reason that lectures which are not in a certain sensa- tional sense popular cannot be made remune- rative to the clubs and societies out of the needs of which itinerant lecturers eke their subsistence. These facts may be unpalatable to American self-conaclousness ; but they are facts, nevertheless—facts so hard that not even Gradgrind conld have demanded harder. That they are facts, therefore, may as well be acknowledged, since the recognition of a disease ts the first step of the physician, and the ascertaining of its diagnosis and the prescription of the remedy are but secondary. From 1860 to 1864 may be reckoned ag the period during which a certain cancerous affection of public morals was developing itself. Previous to the former year it is doubt ful whether the spectacular drama would have succeeded. Previous to that year also it was the boast of the metropolis that most of its doubtfal publications, the offices of which the police sought and could not’ find, were emanations of Bostonian pruriency. Boston had long before caught the knack of deft in- sinuation, illustrated with slatternly wood- cuts, It was there that the Iterature of the illustrated yellow covers was first originated— at least so far as American origination is con- cerned—and it was thence that the New York market was principally supplied. They were always fond of turning » penny with illus trated almanacs, those Bostonians; and they seem to have always taken very naturally to turning a penny in any way in which ® penny could be turned. The true Yankee has very high notions of duty and conscience; but just whisper in bis ear that the thing is remunerative and the Yankeo will take to it, conscience to the con- trary notwithstanding. Boston would not at that day have tolerated the spectacular—not at all—becanse ft was pandering, expressed in plain English ; but Boston always had a habit of aloating in secret over bad imitations of Paris prints, because that could be done with the utmost propriety of externals snd when nobody was looking. Besides, Boston was ot that time the American Athens, and if an authenticated Athenian cannot indulge in what be likes it is @ greater pity than was ever heard of by an Iago. For some years, therefore, Boston had a monopoly of the market; and, in literary pan- dering, sll America sat at her feet and was taught, until at last the pupil outdid the mas- ter. Moreover, ten years since it was the fashion to swallow Bostonisms without season- ing, especially in New York; though New Yorkers have since found out that the said diet should not be taken without plentiful salt—a lesson for which America has paid some bil- lions of dollars, Previous to the war, there- fore, most of the New York demand for pru- riency was supplied by Boston production ; but since then the metropolis has managed to glut its own market. It is even doubtful whether in the last decade New York would have tolerated the spectacular; though lat- terly New York has been taught to tolerate almost anything. The reasons for this lie deeper down than is generally argued, and cannot be accounted for upon the principle of the superficial aphor- ism of Voltaire. There has been within the past ten yeara a rapid Parisization of the Amer- ican people, We ape Parisian ways of “ doing things ;” we bedeck ourselves with gaudy Parisian tinsel; we are fast imbibing the Parisian code of morals” The young men of New York, as a majority, comprehend nothing of what is meant by the old Saxon word “home.” The general adoption of the restau- rant system of living has been one of the causes of this decadence of sturdy moral health; for the restaurant system, though comparatively harmless in itself, presupposes the lodging house and its utter want of moral restraint, Sleeping in a house where one knows and cares. for nobody, and breakfasting at a table whore it is nobody’s business what one eats, how one eats it, or how one behaves during the process, form the component parts of a mode of life which, though general, is to the utmost dogree pernicious, Than this even the board- ing house is better, since in the latter irregu- larities have at least a tendency to provoke inquiry and unloose the tongue of goesip; and goasip, though very contemptible in itself, is one of the great conservators of morals. In our modes of life, therefore, owing to the general prevalence of the lodging house system, there is an unwholesome lack of moral rein ; and in our diet, owing to the general un- healthiness of restaurant cookery, there is a feverish stimulation which breeds pruriency. For the sake of moral straightness one ought always to be at home somewhere, to be ac- quainted with somebody and in a responsible to somebody ; and there is not the slightest doubt that, could reliable statis- tics of the growth of the lodging house and restaurant system be tabulated, that system of existing would be found to have been a prolific source of moral aberration. Other causes have been more or less actively operative, but this is ono of the main ones, and through it and several other causes the Parisization of New York has gone on until the metropolis has become to America what Corinth was to Greece. As a people, too, we are too passive in cer tain respects. We tolerate with a sardonic grin or a grim attempt at witticism what we ought to taboo with downright emphasis, and omit to apply the caustic to the cancer, mut- tering that it is not worth the trouble; and thus the cancer is left to eat out the moral vi- tality of the public, and spectacles of ballet pa- geantry and emanations of literature in yellow, parti-colored and illustrated covers are left to work tteir way as they will. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. There is demand or there would not be supply; the relations of the two are inexorable. The “ Black Crook,” the “White Fawn” and the literary and artistic lueubrations which nobody can trace to their publication offices are but the legiti- mate fruitage of that Parisization of fashions and morals which pervades the whole fabric of society. We shall presently out-Paris Paris itself, even in the pageantry of the ballet, It is not the “ Black Crook ” whioh has crept into manners and morals, it is manners and morals which have developed into “ Black Crooks.” Our Musical Amateurs and Cheap Charity. We have already earned the reputation in New York of educating and presenting to both America and Europe many prime donne who have done exalted honor to the lyric stage. We need hardly mention the familiar names of Patti, Van Zandt, Kellogg, Phillips, Morensi and Harris. But there is another class, not within the sacred circle of the profession, which New York is educating in the same line, but occupying a humbler position, and as yot little known to fame. We allude to the many ama- teur singers who occasionally astonish the critical ear at private concerts. Among these young ladies are to be found voices of infinite purity and power, both as soprani and con- tralti, and a cultivation that one does not ex- pect to meet in an amateur. There is to be found also in this same class a good deal of the finest capacity for stage delineations— great dramatic talent, in fact, that only needs a little nurturing to develop itself into what is recognized as genius. This mine of artistic wealth, we are sorry to say, fs not being worked as assiduously as it ought Mr. Leonard Jerome, it is true, has done much to convince us of the existence of this talent by the evidences produced at his theatre, where wo have had occasionally as good acting by amaveurs as any theatre in the metropolis can produce. There is not a week in which some rare gifts of voice and merits of style are not presented at some private concert or soirée. It is desirable that their talents should be cultivated and these young iadies encour- aged in the prosecution of their studies by a substantial sympathy. We give balls and sup- pers for purposes of charity and lavish vast sums of money on them; sometimes, perhaps, to little use, Now, there is ecomomy in charity, as In all other things, and perhaps the cheapest and most profitable way to dispose of our charitable gifts would be to sustain our young amateur artists by giving a series of concerts for their benefit, For example, why should not such men as A. T. Stewart, William B. Astor and our othor millionnaires inaugurate this‘movemont ? The success of these young Indies would amply repay for all the favors expended on them by the honor they woald reflect upon the city where they received their early culture and the pleasure they would contribute to our musical commaniyy J in the future. What gov- ernments conscientious,” 40 for the cultivation of native musical talent 0 other countries individual effort should aceon lish here, - would be ® graceful task to Reyogn'z? ‘an bring forth the vast amount of Ry Lent {hat is lying partially perdu in our midst, aad we trust that the suggestion will not be over- looked. Monarchs and the Principle of Toleratien. Among the many peculiarities of the pres- ent age there is one which has as yet received but a scant amount of attention. We refer to the absence of actual persecntion for religfon’s sake from the policies of almost all existing governments that can properly be included in the category of civilized. ‘Persecution for the sake of religion has long since disappeared from the United States. We have still in the midst of us a certain Puritanic feeling which sighs for uniformity and protests against toleration, whether in matters civil or re- ligious; but witch burning has long since been « thing of the past, Persecution has never from the first been compatible with our Tepublican institutions, and it is not too much to say that the example which we have set before the world has been insiru- mental above anything else in begetting that spirit of toleration which is now more or less 4 characteristic of all existing civilized govern- ments, For conscience’ sake was once a safe passport to the stake; for conscience’ sake now means that a man is aman and can think for himself. One of the results of our example is that even the monarchs of Europe have learned the lesson of toleration. At least one of the English revolutions was owing to the fact that the monarch for the time being differed from the dominant Church. Another, and certainly & more important revolution, was owing to the fact that the monarch for the time being dif- fered from his people. Henry the Eighth dif- fered from the Papacy, and the Papacy lost England, James the Second differed from his people, and his people cast off James the Second, Nothing, however, which had pre- viously happened in Europe was so powerful in establishing the right of individual opinion in matters of religious belief as the establishment of American independence. It was asuccessful resistance as much to ecclesiastical as to civil tyranny. In the American republic an asylum was found for Protestants in the largest sense of that term. If it was judged a sin to think for oneself, the unhappy individual at least know where a home might be found. In nothing, perhaps, has this new state of feeling been more unmistakably revealed than in the change which has passed over European monarchs. Time was when, in matters of reli- gious belief especially, the will of the monarch must reflect the will of the dominant party in the nation, It was so in the days of tho Spanish ascendancy, the times of Charles the Fifth and of Philip the Second. It was so in those terrible times which witnessed St. Bartholomew in France. It was so in England in the days of the bloody Mary, and almost so in the days of James the Second. Toleration then was a thing almost it not entirely unknown. How different is it now! To confine our attention to Europe, how few of the monarchs can be said to hold their royal or imperial seats in virtue of the ancient state of things? The Czar of Russia is the only ruler who at all embodies the ancient principle. The root and branch, the hip and thigh system has there a very definite meaning. But even in Russia a large amount of tolera- tion is necessary. The Czar cannot afford to insist gn uniformity. The knout, so far as we know, has not been tried in this direction, and is little likely to be. Sweden is a Protestant coun- try, but it is ruled by a Catholic king, and the Catiolic king is acceptable—oeven popular. The recent success of Prussia is due to a large extent to the fact that she has learned the true principles on which alone modern society can be successfully governed. A Protestant mon- archy has been found to be compatible with the best interests of Catholicism. Austria, once the most genuine friend of the Papacy and the most rigid stickler for uniformity, is no longer ashamed to have a Protestant for Prime Minister. Bolgium is now ruled by a Catholic king, but in the days of the late King Leopold Protestant interests were never supposed to be compromised. The King of Holland is a Lutheran, but he rules peacefully over many Catholic subjects. The Emperor of the French is a Catholic, but he is the heir of the “infidel revolution,” and the Infidel element which helped to raise him to the throne is still found to be useful. The Queen of Eagland rules over ten millions of Catholics, fifteen millions of Mohammedans and more than one hundred and fifty millions of Hindoos. Persecution, however, as we have said at the outset, is comparatively unknown. It is impossible, looking at all these things, to resist the conclusion that the principle of toleration is now fairly understood, and that, asa natural result, we have a right to expect a grander development of the religious prin- ciple under fairer and happier auspices. Real Estate New York. Within the past ten years there has beon an immense increase in the price of real evtate in this city. If wo were to set down the ad- vance at fifty per cent we would probably not exceod the average. There is nothing sur prising in this when we come to consider how singularly located New York is topo- graphically. Space is perhaps more valunble bere than in any city in the world; for we are restricted by two rivers on the east and west and our corporate limits are fixed at Harlem river. We see, therefore, without astonishment that property in the vicinity of Fort Washing- ton and that neighborhood, which was bought ten years ago for a thousand dollars an acre is now worth ten thousand dollars an acre and is sold at that. There is prospect, too, of Fitth avenue being extended all the way to the Battery, and what shall we eay of the jump in the value of real estate all along that line, in view of the quantity of superficial arca which must be absorbed by such an opening and the consequent scarceness and increase of value in property whioh must follow? It is palpable that the real cause of the oxtraordi- nary and unwavering advance in real estate is the want of space on this island for the necessi- tios of the community; and in proportion as we encroach upon that space, either by widening streets or running new railroads over ground or under—many plans for which are now ua- nd dergoing the heavy pressure of legislative wisdom at Albany—the value of real estate must go up; so that there is little mystery about the reason why, in less they ten years, Property should have advanced fifty per cont, or why it should continue to increase in value for another decade in like Proportion. poertectieraean th Ad. acd The Fashions Abread and At flome. We give auo! acene to-day in our Paris correspondent’s panorame of fashion, If one docs not meet “the glass of fashion and the mould of form” at a grand ball in the Tuileries, where princesses are go thick that even an @ager and conscientious newspaper correspondent cannot ascertain the names of all of them, where shall we go to find them? Last week we had an snimated picture of beauty and fashion imtheir hibernal costume on the frozen lake of the Bois de Boulogne. To-day we have all that is distinguished in Paris, and a good deal of what is theatrical, rich and ambitious In American society in the French capital, most elaborately described on the floor of the grand salon of the Tuileries. We are told how the Empress looked in her simple robe of white and straw colored tulle, trimmed with branches of white acacias, and the other less simple adornment of her hair, shoulders end arms with magnif- cent sets of diamonds and emeralds. Among the ladies presented on the occasion, who aro critically noticed as “the most tastefully at- tired,” we discover the names of some eight or nine ladies from New York and Philadelphia, coupled with those of the Princess Mathilde, the Princess Metternich, and quite an array of duchesses, from which we infer that our fair countrywomen are not behind the most elegant in the brilliant French capital, where title and wealth and nobility, both of the hereditary and parvenu order, shine the brightest. While we do not hold that American ladies should be slaves to the Parisian modistes, but rather insist upon independence in the selec- tion of the most becoming costumes. for their peculiar style. and beauty, still there are some suggestive hints in our corre- spondent’s descriptions that might be usefully adopted. When we come to touch upon the in- tricacies of ball dresses, the newest head- dress, the Duchesse bonnet and the “vaporous skirts” of tulle, bearing roses, poppies. and lilies on their ethereal folds, we enter a laby- rinth out of which we fear the cunning thread of Fair Rosamond’s bower would hardly extricate us; therefore we leave our accom- plished correspondent to tell all about them in another column. Albeit that Paris te the bright particular star whose rays illuminate the whole world of fashion, it does not follow that no place but Paris can originate an idea worthy to be done up in satin and velvet and poult de sole, to weave talismanic charms around the forms of native beauty ; and we are very glad to observe that our American ladies are getting engrafted with that opinion and are beginning to follow it out both abroad and at home. In Paris, we are told, American ladies are readily distinguished, not, we may besure, by their slavish imitation of the cos- tumes which surround them, but by the appro- priateness of their dress to their own style of beauty and the admirable taste they exhibit in their making up. And they are not only easily distinguished in the motley crowd, but they are universally commended as the best dressed women in Parisian society, The ladies at home, too, have ceased to accept the dictation of second rate French modistes in the matter of fashion. They are exercising their woman’s right to dress themselves as they please, and we must say that they are gradu- ally effecting a blissful revolution in this regard. There is no reason why New York should be at the beck of Paris. We have a Continent of our own whereon to lead the fashions. We do not build Parisian houses to live in, nor drive Parisian horses, nor do we always regale ourselves on the inflnite varie- ties of a Parisian cuisine; for, although the deli- cacies theroin provided are delectable to the palate, our people, fashionable ond un- fashionable, sometimes remember that New England cookery is substantial, though often unpalatable ; that the West, also, and the South—poor, forlorn region—have some pride in their kitchens, and that there are certain national dishes which it would be unpatriotic, if not abselutely “copperbeadish,” to despise. Why, then, should we wear Parisian bonnots exclusively and insist upon our ladies habiting themselves in unbecoming costumes and colors as they frequently do, because the dictum comes from Paris? A beautiful woman noeds but little adornment, but that little must be in good taste, and the auxiliaries mast be judi- cfously impressed into the service of com- plexion and figure. The psychological as well as the physiological characteristics have to be considered; for one naturally expects to find vivacity, sparkling wit, repartee, and a little sprinkling, mayhap, of Attic salt, enclothed in tulle and tarlatan gold, spangled and looped with pansies or violets, or blush rosebuds, em- blematic of—well, all that we hope for in an angel reduced to the necessity of tulle, tarlatan and pearls. On the other hand, the “sober second thought” of life needs a more sombre framing ; and it is here that velvets and satins, and gorgeous corsages of diamonds, and trains heavy with embroidery, and diadems weighty with jewels, come aptly upon the scene to make the picture complete. But can we not make this picture for ourselves? Shall we not create fashion, rather than import the idol and worship it? That isa question for American Indies to settle, and we leave it in their hands, congratulating them, at the same time, upon the progress they sre now making towards independence and the practical declaration thereof. The Spring Trade. We publish elsewhere this morning a mod- erately thorough canvass of the prospects of trade for the spring season, which has already begun. The dry goods auctioneers have re- sumed business in earnest and with consider- able sales during the past week, while our i bi houses have reassumed their previ ete appearance, and the bees of business and trade flit 6 and fro within, gath- ering the honey of greenbacks and national banking paper. The excess of production which depressed the market during the year 1867 has been to a great oxtent worked off through reduction of prices and resort to tha suction system, and trade starts off this epring with firmer prices, and, in fact, some tendency to advance. In some few cases jobbers have marked their goods at an advance of ten per cent, the result having been to stimulate buyers and induce brisker competition, The