The New York Herald Newspaper, April 28, 1868, Page 8

8 EW YO RK HERALD | BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. All business or news letters and telegraphic must be addressed. New York despatches HERALD. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. Volume XXXUML.....-.ssssseeeseeeseees No, 119 AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway.—Taze Waite Fawn. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and 15th street.— ener Dunvan BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—JAOK SHEPPARD--THE Stage StRucK YANKER, BROADWAY THEATRE, Broadway.—Rozy O’MoRE— YaNKER Courrsnir. NEW YORK THEATRE, opposite New York Hotel. ~ Pais AND HELEN. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Humrrr Dumpty, FRENCH THEATRE.—La Brie HELENE. NEW YORK CIRCUS, Fourteenth street.—GYNNASTICS, EQuRSTBIANISM, &. Pe esaee supe OOMIQUE, 514 Broadway.—BaLLet, Farce, 2 KELLY & LEON'S MINSTRELS, 720 Broadway.—Sonas, BoosnTRiviries, &c,—GRanp Dotou “8.” SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, 585 Broadway.—ETnio- PIAN ENTERTAINMENTS, SINGING, DANCING, &¢. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, 201 Bowery.—Comic Vocatism, NEGRO MINSTRELSY, &c. STEINWAY HALL,—FrstivaL AND Concert. DODWORTH HALL, 806 Broadway.—EXitniTion OF PAPER PIOTURES AND PoRTRAITS. MRS. F. B. CONWAY'S PARK THEATRE, Brooklyn.— » QuaREY DELL. HOOLEY'S OPERA HOUSE. Brooklyn.—ETHIorIAN MINSTEELSEX—Tak Ku K KLAN. HALL, 954 and 956 Bro: NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 613 Broadway.— SOLENOR AND Ant. QUADRUPLE SHEET. New York, Tuesday, April 28, 1868. NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS. Advertisers should bear in mind that, in order to insure “the proper classification of their business announcements, all advertisements for insertion in the Hgraxp should be left at the counting room by half-past eight o’clock P. M. THAD NEWS. IMPEACHMENT. Yn the High Court yesterday the orders submitted by Messrs. Edmunds and Sumner relative to reports of the final proceedings and the manner of voting upon the verdict were postponed until the close of the argument, Manager Stevens, for the prosecution, commenced to read a speech of about an hour in length. His Volce became weak in the midst of it, however, and Mr. Butler concluded it from the printed slips. Mr. Williams, also for the prosecution, then com- menced his closing argument, and continued until the adjournment of the court. THE LEGISLATURE. * In the Senate yesterday bills amending the military code of the State, to provide for a manual for the Mayor and Common Councilmen of New York city, at & cost of $40,000, and appropriating $200,000 to pay the expenses of the Constitutional Convention were passed. ‘The bill regulating convict labor in the State prisons was made a special order for this afternoon. The general State Appropriation bill wag@nsidered in Committee of the Whole. In the Assembly a bill authorizing contracts to fil cortain sunken lots on Manhattan street, New York, ‘was advanced to a third reading. Two or three bills of no general interest were passed. The Committee on Federal Relations reported concurrent resolutions favoring the taxation of government bonds, which were adopted by a vote of 49 to 50, EUROPE. By special telegram through the Atlantic cable, dated in London yesterday, we learn that British telegraph reports from Abyssinia state that King Theodorus commitied suicide with a pistol when he found the English “stormers” approach him in his stronghold. He had been previously se ly de- feated in an attack which he made on Napier's troops on the 10th inst. The news report by the Atlantic cable is dated in London at two o'clock this morning, April 28, Mr. Disraeli in the House of Commons spoke of the “conquest” of Abyssinia as equal in importance to that of Mexico by Cortez. Mr. Gladstone's resolu- tions on the Irish Church were under debate in Par- liament. The publication of the war news from Abyssinia yesterday imparted a feeling of unl- versal joy to the British people, and the day was observed as a sort of impromptu holl- day. One of the Fenian prisoners on trial at the Old Bailey, London, charged with the Clerkenwell explosion murders, has been convicted and the re- Mainder acquitted. The Buckingham Palace incen- diary plot is under investigation. The King of Prussia opened the session of the North German Parliament yesterday with a pacific speech. Ils Majesty paid Marked attcntion to the Bavarian Minister and the latter proposed cheers tor the King. The weather in England is favorable to the crops, Prince Alfred's assailant is to be hanged in Aus- tralia. The Newmarket, England, races commenced res. terday. ‘The news from Abyssinia gave on animated toneto the English markets. Consolx advanced, closing at 940044. Pive twenties closed firm in London at 70% @ 70%, and at 753g in Frankfort, Cotton easier in Liverpool, with middiing uplands at 12% a 13 pence, and active at vance in Havre, Breadatutty without decided age. Provisions quiet. By steamship, at this port, we have an interesting mail report, in detatl of our cable dispatches, to the 16th of April. The Dublin papers of the Ith inst. contain an elaboration of our cable despatches in describing the reception of the Prince of Wales in that city, At the landing at Kingstown, as the royal yacht reached the Jetty the cheering of the people rose upon the air, The enthusiasm increased as the Princess of Wales was visible on board. She was the cynosure of admiring eyes, She wore a rich mauve twbinet dress and jacket of the same mate- rial, trimmed with gold lace, edged with white, Her bonnet was of white lace, with a white satin ribbon bound at the back. It was trimmed with shamrocks, In the centre of the bonnet there was a beautiful white rose. The Princess wore a large chignon. ‘The Prince of Wales wore a dress frock coat, also a green satin scarf, and a bunch of shamrocks on his breast. The Duke of Cambridge was not in military costume. MISCELLANEOUS. In the House of Representatives yesierday a reso- lution was agreed to inquiring into the power of Con- wresa to regniate the tarift, speed and connection: on railways throughout the country. A bill was in trod: y unanimous consent to admit Arkansas to representation in Congress, We have special telegrams from St. Domingo ands, bids them‘deflance. others of the West Indies. Generael Baez had taken the oath as President of the republic, Amendments to the constitution were under disenssion in Con- ress favoring the opening of Samana ae a free port, A commission had heen sent to Harti to pro- oor @ Sermanent alliance af eke i NEW YORK HERALD, TUKSDAY, APRIL 28, 1868—QUADRUPLE SHEET. The tral of General Cole was continued at Albany yesterday, further testimony for the defence being taken, A large portion of it was in reference to his insanity, or melancholia, and was mainiy corrobo- rative of the evidence adduced on Saturday. Aterrible boiler explosion occurred in Philadel- phia yesterday at the Penn Treaty rolling mill, on Marlborough street, by which three persons were killed and many wounded, Thirteen of the latter have already been taken from the ruins. _ In the United States Circuit Court yesterday, Judge Benedict presiding, the criminal calendar for the term was called and cases set down for trial. The case of the United States vs, Patrick Reason, in which the defendant is indicted for engraving plates to be used in manufacturing counterfeit United States currency, is one of over two years date. Motion was made for further postponement but the court fixed the trial for Friday next. In the case of the ‘United States against William Gordon, charged under indictment with a breach of the Internal Revenue laws in removing whiskey from a distillery to a place other than a bonded warehouse, trial, on application of counsel, was. postponed, and the ball of the accused increased from $5,000 to $10,000, Among the cases postponed from the present to the June term, when Judge Blatchford will sit on criminal cases, is that of the Messmore Kentucky Bourbon Company, which is looked forward to with great interest by the whiskey manufacturing fra- ternity, In the Supreme Court Chambers yesterday, before Judge Sutherland, the first gleam of a cessation of hostilities in the great Erie Railway war was pre- sented. In the early part of the litigation Daniel Drew was suspended from exercising his functions as an oMcer of the company, and an order was granted requiring him to show cause why he should not be permanently removed. Yesterday Judge Suth- erland vacated and discharged the order of suspen- sion, The Hamburg American Packet Company's steam- ship Teutonia, Captain Barends, will leave her pier at Hoboken at two P. M. to-day (Tuesday), for Ham- burg, via Southampton. The European mails will close at the Post OMlce at twelve M. The Chief Justice—A New Danger to the Radi-+ enls—The Warning Voice of “Old Thad Stevens.” The radicals who contend that the sun and moon ought to stand still till Andrew Johnson is removed have been a little fluttered at tle hint that Chief Justice Chase, at the close of the arguments on both sides, may assume the right to deliver a charge on the law and the testimony, according to the usage of all other courts in criminal cases. Mr. Sumner's reso- lution, providing that at the close of the argu- ments the Senate shall proceed to vote on the several specifications of the indictment “gnilty” or ‘not guilty,” it is supposed is aimed to head off the Chief Justice, and he may be headed off. He has, however, the whole case in his hands upon this very issue, and he may bring this mockery of a trial to an inglorious collapse by taking a firm position in behalf of his right and duty as presiding judge to deliver the usual charge to the jury. The Chief Justice, let us suppose, will claim this right, and let us further suppose that to avoid any controversy with him the Senate will concede it; then, in order to secure the ends of justice in delivering his charge, he has only, first, to say that such is the evidence and such is the law submitted in this trial that the accused can be convicted only upon presump- tion, and that accordingly, in his opinion, the indictment ought to be quashed. Secondly, with the refusal of the Senate to accept this charge, the Chief Justice has only to say that a sense of duty requires him to retire from the court, and the case at once collapses, because his presence as the presiding officer is neces- sary to the validity of this trial from the beginning to the end. With his retirement there would be no way to meet the difficulty; because, if Mr. Chase should be impeached, tried, convicted and removed for “‘high crimes and misdemeanors” in this matter, his suc- cessor as Chief Justice would have to be ap- pointed by President Johnson and confirmed by the Senate before the trial of Johnson could be resumed. Under such a state of things, in short, the Chief Justice would be master of the situation, and Andrew Johnson could quietly settle himself down to the administration of the functions of his office till the 4th of March next. The Chief Justice, in assuming the right and in taking the ground we have indi- cated, would be acting consistently with the course he has from the outset pursued in behalf of his prerogatives as presiding judge of this Court of Impeachment. Hence this flutter among the radicals upon the rumor that he will claim the right to charge the members of the Senate as a jury before they proceed as a jury to declare their verdict. The radicals fear and hate him because he has not surren- dered himself as an obedient party slave in this prosecution. Why, then, should he be the con- venient instrument of mere party vengeance in waiving his right to charge the jury in this case? Let him insist upon it to the extremity we have suggested, and, though the radicals may excommunicate him, the country will endorse him. Not all the two-thirds vote of the Senate, however, can be classed in the school of radi- cal malignants, There are some republican Senators who are evidently disposed to deal fairly with Andrew Johnson, and they are still a cause of apprehension to the House Managers of this impeachment. This is strikingly ap- parent in the argument of Manager Stevens yesterday before the court. Mr. Stevens in the outset says:—‘‘I shall discuss but a single article, the one that was finally adopted on my earnest solicitation, and which, if proved, I considered then and still consider, as quite sufficient for the ample conviction of the distinguished respon- dent and for his removal from office.” This is the Butler article, whieh charges that Andrew Johnson, in his “swinging round the circle” speeches, “did attempt to bring into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt and reproach the Congress of the United States and the several branches thereof,” &e., Ithough the argu- ment of Mr. Steven ted to the Tenure of Office law, and his special object appears to be a warning to the Senators concerned in pass- ing and upholding that law against the awful consequences of bolting on this impeachment. Thus Mr, Stevens reproduces in detail the several votes of the Senate upon this bill, in- cluding the vote by which it was passed over the President's veto—yeas 35, nays 11—and then in the course of his remarks he goes on to say:—“‘And now this offscouring of assassi- nation turns upon the Senate who have thus rebuked him in a constitutional manner and How can he escape the just vengeanée of the law? Wretched man! standing at bay, surrounded by a cordon of liv- ing men, each with the axe of an executioner lifted for his just punishment. Every Senator now trying him, except such as had already de adopted his policy, voted for that same reso- lution (that he had no power to remove and ap- point a Secretary of War ad interim) declaring his doom. Will any of them vote for his acquittal on the ground of its unconstitution- ality? I know that Senators would venture to do any necessary act if endorsed by an honest conscience and an enlightened public opinion; but neither for the sake of the President nor of any one else would one of them suffer himself to be tortured on the gibbet of everlasting obloquy. Nothing is, therefore, more certain than that it requires no gift of prophecy to pre- dict the fate of this unhappy victim.” This, then, in other words, is the way in which Mr. Stevens clinches his argument:— “Here are your votes, Senators, on the Tenure of Office law and on its violation’ Here are your names on the record. Look at them; they all commit you and bind you to give judg- ment against Andrew Johnson. Mark and remember. Bolt, if you dare; but be warned that if you do bolt you will be ‘tortured on the gibbet of everlasting obloquy;’ that we will hunt you down and hang you up to dry.” Under this presentation this trial is a mere formality, an empty mockery, only resorted to in order to meet the forms of the constitution, the Senate having pronounced judgment against Andrew Johnson before he was indicted by the House. It is morally certain, too, that the conviction and removal of this officer upon the flimsy charges preferred will be judged at the bar of public opinion as mere idle formalities, and that the law and the evidence in this trial have nothing to do with the verdict of the court; that Johnson’s removal was contrived and re- solved upon beforehand as a party necessity; that the Tenure of Office bill was the trap, and that Stanton was employed gg the decoy to ah. trap him. It is not the act, therefore, of voting for Johnson's acquittal that will fix the Senators concerned “on the gibbet of everlasting oblo- quy,” but the act of voting his removal under the party lash of Stevens. Are there any Senators otherwise inclined to an acquittal who will thus be frightened off? Let us wait and see. Our News Theodorus, The Abyssinian expedition has reached a point which few even in England believed could have been reached in go brief a space of time and with so little cost of blood and treasure. The country was so far off and so little known, and the knowledge, which came slowly and from so many unexpected quarters, was of such a character that few felt encour- aged to believe that the expedition, doubtful to many from the outset, would not prove in many important respects a failure. The news which has reached us, most of it in the form of special cable despatches to the Hera.p, shows how timid everywhere, here and even in England, calculations were. The result, which has proved satisfactory in the extreme to all those most immediately interested, has at the same time been most gratifying to all who pay any attention to the cause of human pro- gress. Civilization had been defied; civiliza- tion was pleased to assert itself in spite of all risk, and civilization has, happily, been triumph- | ant. In this case unquestionably the cause of Great Britain was the cause of the civilized world, and, fortunately, in the interests of the civilized world, Great Britain has been suc- cessful even beyond expectation. The telegraphic news which has appeared during the last three days in the columns of the Heratp has put us in almost absolute posses- sion of all the leading facts of the case, and days have been found sufficient to do what in former times it would have required months and even years to accomplish. The com- mencement of this struggle was due entirely to the folly and barbarism of Theodorus. Folly and barbarism have again, and in a very em- phatic manner, been taught at what level to place themselves in the modern world. The supposed impregnable fortress of Magdala has been captured, the prisoners are at liberty, and Theodorus, the — fool and the tyrant, is no more. All this has been accomplished, and amid difficulties be- lieved by many to be insurmountable, without the loss of a single life, so far as we know the facts, on the part of the invading force. The result is a triumph not only to civilization, but toa something within civilization—to skilled generalship and first class military training. All the world rejoices that the prisoners are free ; few regret that Theodorus has perished, and fewer still have sorrow that the original objects of the expedition have been so easily accomplished, Our despatches inform us that the Queen's army was to set out on its return imme- diately. Why should it be otherwise? It had done its work and done it well. It had seen and made its own all the treasured wealth of the Abyssinian monarch—four crowns of solid gold, including, perhaps, the crown of the Queen of Sheba, with much gold and silver plate and jewels and other articles of value. We have no doubt at all that the wealth thus captured will go to England, that the crown jewels will receive an important addition, and that the British Museum will be enriched thereby. We are not so sanguine, however, that Abyssinia is to be abandoned at once and forever. The rains will soon be on; the moun- tain passes will soon be raging and impassa- ble torrents; communication with the lower ground and with the sea will soon be impossi- ble. Areturn, therefore, to their base of opera- tions is absolutely necessary. It will not even surprise us if Sir Robert Napier show!) turn for a season to Bombay. We can lieve, however, and we can discover no reason why it should be so, that Abyssinia should be aban doned at once and finally. The previous history of Brifish conquest renders such a conclusion in the last degree improbable. The presump- tion je that the troops, for the present, will leave the higher grounds; that they will oc- eupy some secure and entrenched position in the neighborhood of Annesley Bay; that the raing and the floods will be allowéd to come and go; and that then some final measures will be adopted, if not for the permanent oc- cupation of Abyssinia, at least for the conver- sion of the Red Sea into a British lake, Sir Robert Napier has, meanwhile, won golden opinions, and bas proved himself not only worthy of the illustrious family to which he be- longs, and worthy of his day and generation, but worthy, too, of ‘a first place in the front ranks of the military commanders of all times. He has proved himself a master of the grandest of all economies—the economy of human life, Both pastors and organists have hitherto ex- perienced much trouble and annoyance with the freaks of operatic or concert artists whom they engaged for their choirs. Besides the enormous salaries which these people de- manded they have been constantly in the habit of disappointing their employers and sending incompetent substitutes in their stead when- ever some lucrative concert engagement might tempt them away fromthe church. There isa movement on foot at present in a large number of the metropolitan churches of all denomina- tions which will not only remove this evil, but will considerably accelerate the progress of music in our midst. It is suggested by some pastors of churches that the organist shall for the future endeavor to, organize a choir com- posed of members of the congregation alone who may have musical talents. The experi- ment is one attendant in the beginning with much difficulty, but 1s nevertheless worth a trial. The result of it, premising, of course, necessary ability, energy and good will on the part of the musical director of each choir, will be that, in- stead of a single quartet of voices,.a church choir will have a double one, with a large chorus to assist. A desire to improve them- selves in music and render themselves worthy of singing the great works which composers in every age have written for the service of God, will be engendered among the young people in every congregation by the opportunity thus afforded them. Now, it often happens that persons who are gifted with excellent voices and great musical talents are kept entirely in the background, not wishing to compete with artists whose names are more prominently be- fore the prolio, When. they receive the on- couragement that due to them and are pro- perly trained, both pastor and organist will be astonished at the success of their experiment. There is a mine of musical talent lying perdu in this city, and this is the only available means to bring it before the public, The ex- penses of a choir will be also considerably les- sened by such a course; for volunteers may be obtained by the dozen who will work more faithfully in the gervice of tho choir than any of those extravagantly pafd artisis who regard the church, opera and concert as one. Increase of Crime in Brooklyn. For some time past crime has been in- creasing at an alarming pace in Brooklyn. The worst feature of it is, perhaps, the frequency of attacks made on individuals in the streets at night. Passing over the burglaries, assaults and cuttings and maimings in private dwellings and tenements, outrages in public institutions and other evidences of defective morality, the insecurity of travel in the streets after night- fall appears to have reached a point where police vigilance is at fault or fails utterly to afford protection. We can only acceunt for this by attributing it to two causes—the insuf- ficiency of the police force and the wretched manner in which the oity is lighted by the gas companies, There are wide tracts in Brook- lyn which it is impossible for the officers to visit on their extended bents more than once or twice during a night-time, yet people who are detained out late are compelled to traverse these very localities. The streets are so dimly lighted that even in the most public thorough- fares it is not difficult for an evil disposed per- son to lic in wait for an unsuspecting traveller and entrap him, In view of these facts it is evident that the police force should be increased in some fair proportion to the area to be pro- tected. If policemen were relieved from the duty of spying after drinking saloons, and put to their legitimate business of protecting pro- perty and life, there would be less street out- rages and burglaries to record. If the Corporation of Brooklyn have any regard for the good repute of their city they will insist upon the gas companies paying more attention to lighting the strects. Unless this is done there can be no safety in certain lonely districts for any one whose business keeps him ont after dark, Foreign Fleets in Japan. The outrage upon a few French sailors in Japan has caused orders to be issued by their government to send an increased naval force to those waters. Why cannot our govern- ment take a hint from foreign Powers in this respect? We have had plenty of reasons why we should keep a large flect in distant ports. But there is a general remissness in taking ad- vantage of opporfunities to augment our power abroad which other countries never neglect. For instance, when we subdued Mexico, in- stead of taking possession of it we negotiated for the purchase of California at a large sum, and permitted Mexico to remain a political ulcer upon our frontier. The United States have an especial right and duty to maintain a large fleet at Japan; for our interests are more extensively represented there than those of any other nation, It was we who, with our ships and friendly diplomacy, through the mis- sion of Commodore Perry, opened the portals of the Orient to the civilization and commerce of all the world. It was by the confidence which Americans inspired in the minds of the Chinese and Japanese that the exclusivencss of these people was mainly removed. While other nations came to conquer and oppress we came to counsel and cultiwate friendly relations, and we have been successful, If any government, then, seeks a pretext for in- creasing their naval force in the ports of China and Japan, it is not a pretext, but o positive duty which should lead us to follow the same course, Insicad of sending ships to the West Indies, as the Navy Department is disposed to do, or keeping up a Mediterranean squadron, our fleet at Japan ought to be doubled and placed under the command of a fighting admiral. We know not yet what important questions, materially affecting our interests, may have to be settled in that quarter, and we should be prepared for any events which may arise. The New Telegraph Bill in Evgland. A bill has been submitted to Parliament by the English Cabinet which contains some re- markable provisions regarding the management of the different telegraph lines in the United Kingdom. It suggests that all those lines bo placed under the control of the Postmaster General by purchase, and that a uniform rate be established for transmission of messages through- out the United Kingdom, without regard to dis- tance, the rate not to exceed one shilling for twenty words, and sixpence for every additional ten, names and addresses of senders and receiv- See ee car ers not being counted; no additional charge’ t be made for the cost of delivery by special foov messenger within certain reasonable limits. The payments for telegrams are to be made in postage stamps. Messages may be deposited in pillar letter boxes, with the payments en- closed withthem. The bill provides for an equit- able and satisfactory arrangement for the trans- fer of telegraph lines to the Postmaster Gene- ral from the existing companies. The tele- graph has become now as necessary a means of communication as the Post Office, and some such legislation is necessary for the con- venience of the public. In this country the evils of private corporations holding entire con- trol of it are so glaring as to call for the inter- ference of Congress. The telegraph should be under the sole management of the government, in the same manner as the Post Office Depart- ment is, and no stockjobbing monopoly should be permitted to interfere in it. Telegraphic communication has become such a vital neces- sity for business and news, in this country particularly, that its importance should be at once recognized in the proper manner by the proper authorities. 7. three times greater than in 1857. The greatly increased to New Granada have ueen caused by the development of traflic over the Panama route. With China the increase of trade in ten years has been a hundred and ninety per cent. - Next to these countries the de- velopment has been greatest in the States of the Rio de la Plata, such asthe Argentine Republic, Montevideo and Uruguay. It is believed that when the Paraguayan war is over there will bo a much larger increase throughout the rich valley of the Rio de la Plata, To Turkey the increase was a hundred and thirty per cent. To France, Belgium, Germany, and to nearly all the countries of Europe, there had been a considerable advance. The United States ‘shows only an increase of fourteen per cent for the ten years; but for the last year the Times says the worst feature of the foreign shipments was with the United States, where there had been a heavy falling off, notwithstanding the very large ingrease in the quantity of bread- stuffs and cotton drawn from this country, The countries to which British exports have most increased are those to which, from our geographical position and other advantages, we should have the largest trade, such as the States of South America, New Granada and China. But we are shortsighted and behind in this matter, and our government spends its time in miserable party politics instead of pay- ing attention te our commercial interests. The falling off of exports to this country, notwith- standing the, large imports of breadstuffs and cotton last year into England, may be accounted. for in part from the large sum that had to be paid there as interest on the debt held abroad, It will be well if this balance of ex- ports from here over imports should continue. Our great object should be, like that of Eng- land, to have always a balance of trade in our, favor. A debtor nation is always poor and the exchanges against her. England derives immense wealth not only on the direct profits of her exports and in the employment of her shipping and manufactures, but also from the exchanges being kept in her favor. It is this long pursued policy of making other nations her debtors, and, therefore, of having the exchanges in her favor, which is mainly, the cause of her immense wealth and her post-. tion as the financial centre of the world. Wa have claimed to be the second commercial nation on the globe, anda few years ago our shipping rivalled that of England, but we are far behind now. We have a larger population than Great Britain, far more natural resources, and our coasts, harbors, inland seas and geo- graphical position would every way give the United States the first place as a commercial nation if we understood our own interests and the government knew its duty. Let us take a lesson, then, from this extraordinary exhibit of progress in British commerce, and let us follow the example of that government in keep- ing, under all circumstances, a steady eye to commercial development imevery part of the world, : Our Special Despatches from Abyssinia. Tho HeRatp of yesterday was one more illustration of the wonders that are possible in an age possessed of a means of communication that annihilates time and space. Our news from Abyssinia was to the 18th inst., only nine days from the date of publication in this city. From that distant and almost inacces- sible country our despatches, travelling more than one-third the circumference of the earth, recount the progress of events and give the history of the battle between the English and the native forceg with more particular detail than a few years since newspapers gave to events transpiring in our own or in neighbor- ing cities, This is an example of what may be done when a press is developed under free in- stitutions, and when the inventions that have placed this age so far in advance of all others are used with energetic liberality to make a great newspaper—to lay before the reader an actual chronicle of what is going on in the world. People know tolerably well that the Hzraxp is not satisfied to give its readers the little scraps and crumbs of news that satisfy so mally other journals, ‘and therefore they need scarcely to be told that all the despatches tell- ing of the occurrences in Abyssinia that were of any value were our specials. So pitiful by contrast with our despatches was the meagre press despatch made up in London and printed in all tho other papers that it may be said he who read the Hrraxp learned the news in all its character, and he who read only the other papers learned next to nothing. Now that this Abyssinian expedition has reached a crowning point, we may refer with satisfaction to the record we have made in it for the spirit of in- domitable energy that is the vitality of tho American press. By this Abyssinian expe- dition the New York IzRratp, as the best type of an American newspaper, was put in contrast and competition with the London press, the other great representatives of journalism in the world. From that competition we have come out with an honorable success. All the London papers that are conducted in a gene- rous and manly spirit have conceded the value of our despatches, and that they brought to hand later news than cither the London press or the British government had; and finally, as to this last batch of news, it was accepted from us in full by all the London journals save one, none of the papers of that city, with the ex- ception of the London Zimes, having specials of their own on the occasion of the great issue of the war. Thus we find that English jour- nals in the English capital get their best ac- counts of the doings of an English army from us, and admittedly fall into line behind us in the great activity of gathering news. The Physiology of the Earth—The Laws of Storms, Earthquakes, &c. In another place in this day’s Heratp we print a long, and, from its own point of view, an able paper on the Physiology of the Earth—a paper in which the science of storms, of earthquakes, of volcanoes is discussed with considerable ability and with not a little origi- nality. To the public generally the paper is valuable, as it holds out the prospects of a full explanation of the recent disturbances in earth and sea and air, and encourages the hope that the time will come when these strange phenom- ena, which periodicaly disturb the nations and) shake scientific men out of their easy propriety, will be brought entirely under the control of man. We give place in our pages to the com- munication all the more readily that it is at least an attempt todo what our professors of natural science have notoriously neglected. It was only natural to expect that after the recent terrific storms and earthquakes which followed each other in such rapid succession, and which were almost world-wide in the range of their influence, and the startling, magnificent and unprecedentedly brilliant display of me- teors with which the storms and earthquakes were accompanied, that our men of science would offer us some explanation. This, how- ever, they have failed todo. Our correspondent is, therefore, entitled to all praise for having undertaken the task; and if he has not been completely successful in every part, if his de- scription of the physiology of the earth should be found a little defective, and his account of the laws which regulate meteoric phenomena not altogether satisfactory, it is at least to be admitted that he has done a good work by for- nmlly directing attention to the subject. Our correspondent is, perhaps, a little too confident in the belief that all such natural disturbances are of easy explanation, and a little too san- guine in the hope that the disturbing forces will yet all be fully brought under the control of man. It is certainly a consummation devoutly to be wished that it were in human power to guide the whirlwind and direct the storm, to make the earthquake innocuous if not impossi- ble, to tale death and destruction from the lightning’s wing, and to reduce the entire at- mosphere of the globe to one unchanging, unf- form and genial temperature. On all these points our correspondent is confident and full of hope. We commend his paper to the public generally, to scientific men in particular, Hint and all who, like him, are striving to give mind the absolute and entire control of matter, ve wish God speed. Teade Returns of Great Britain—The Lesson They Teach. The statement we published yesterday from the London Times on the trade returns and foreign trade of Great Britain is well worth the attention of our government and people. The growth of the export trade of the United Kingdom, nearly all through the history of that country, and particularly within late years, furnishes us a lesson that we should study and profit by. The enormous wealth of Engfand, which makes her the financial centre of the world, which gives her great power among nations, and which at times has enabled her to subsidize empires and to con- trol the destinies of Europe, cémes from her commerce. Hence we see why her statesmen, all through her history, have steadily pursued @ uniform policy of developing and increasing that commerce. When restrictive or protect- ive laws were deemed necessary for this ob- ject they were enacted, and when the circum- stances of the times and England's condition were changed and a different policy was called for she promptly adopted it. Her policy has varied according to circumstances, but it has had invariably one object in view—the increase of British commerce. The founding of colonies in every quarter of the globe, the conquest of India and other countries, and ber numerous wars with the nations of Europe, Asia and America have been for the extension and su- premacy of her commerce. Neither morality uor justice has prevented her at times from @ing the most outrageous things for this pur- pose, While such a policy may be denounced as selfish—and no nation has paid less regard to the rights or interests of others than Eng- land—it is a selfishness which all nations may he charged with, more or less, and which has a grand object in view. In 1867 the declared value of British expor- tations to foreign countries was, in round num- bers, about nine hundred miltion’ of dollars in gold, equal to over twelve hundred millions of our currency, and to the British possessions about two hundred and sseventy milfions of THE OCEAN STEAMSHIP RACE. The news that reached this city yesterday via cable from Liverpool that the steamship City of Paris, which sailed with the steamship Onba from this port on the 18th inst., had passed Cape Clear, the southerly point of the coast of Ireland, at seven o'clock A. M. (Greenwich time), and that up to half- past nine o'clock A. M. the Cuba was not in sight, settled, in a measure, the conficting opinions dollars in gold, or nearly three hundred and | remayding the relative Phage Dy Pm ie seventy millions in currency. There was a in seat preg ley Fae their Ganetire slight falling off for that year compared with | gnq since, vy the scores, among commercial the previous year; but then the exportations of 1866 were enormous and unprecedented. The total value of exports in 1867 compared with, 1857 shows an increase of forty-eight per com in these ten years, There have been com- siderable changes, however, in the directioh of this export trade. It has vastly increased with many countries, while in some there has been only © modetate advance and in others it bas fallen off. The most remarkable argmentation has been with Rgypt and New Granada, the shipments to which countries @ere more than ‘fen, tn gome instances to large amounts, will this be settled, and the public mind ready forthe next sensation, be It of whatever nature. Assuming that. the City of Paris Teaghed Queenstown four h aut tly (eleven o’clock) she made the run in the very quick time of eight days, fourteen hours and ml Those who recollect the unp: vedented western passage this vessel mse in fo. vember last—in eight days, four hours nd thirt: minutes from Rache’s Point to Sandy Hook wilt oe at this her latest gajfant achieves ment, RicuMonn Wacarny.—stene, Aichmond, Va-— “Have you heard the news!" “No; what ts it?" “rant has removed Schofiek” “Is it possible ?'* ; has removed him, from the hotel to lus rest- dence, Bxount inteyousor, feeling very cheap: