The New York Herald Newspaper, June 21, 1868, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. All business or news letter and telegfphic despatches must be addressed New York Herawp. Letters and packages should be properly aealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned, RELIGIOUS SERVICES TO-DAY. BLEECKER STREET UNIVERSALIST CHU RCH- Morn- Se eey- F. R. Youno. Evening—Rev. J. G. BARTHOLO- we BLOOMINGDALE BAPTIST CHURCH.—REV. W. Pore ‘YEaMaN.—Morning and evening. CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR.—Rxy. J. M. PULLMAN. ‘Morning. CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION.—RRv. Dz. FLaga. ‘Morning and evening. CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION.—Rev. Dr. Dix. Evening. CHAPEL OF THE HQLY APOSTLES.—Morning and afternoon. CHURCH OF THE STRANGERS.—Rrv. Dk, DreMs. Morning and evening. CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.—REv. JAMES B. Dun. Morning and evening. CHURCH OF THE REFORMATION.—REv. AnzorT Brown. Morning and evening. CHURCH OF THE REDEMPTION.—Rgy. Untau Scort. Morning and evening, ,DODWORTH HALL—Srinitvuatists. CALEB PINK, Morning aud evening. EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY.—Rey. Dz, KuoTEL, Morning and evening. EVERETT ROOMS.—SrrmiTvaLisTs. Mus, BYRNES. Morning and evening. FREE CHURCH OF THE HOLY LIGHT.—Rervy. East- BURN BENJAMIN, Morning and evening. FRENCH CHURCH DU ST. ESPRIT.—Rev. Dr. Venzen. Morning. ‘ FIFTH AVENUE PRES Davin MITCHELL, Mornin, TERIAN CHURCH.—Rev. FORTY-SECOND STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.— Rey. Dk. W. 8S. PLUMMER. Morning and evening. MORAVIAN P. E. CONGREGATION.—RgEy. A. A. REINKE. Morning. SECOND STREET M. E. CHURCH.—New York Paayen MEETING AssoctaTION. Morning, afternoon and evening. UNIVERSITY, Washington square.—BisHoP SNow. ternoon. TRIPLE SHEET. Af. New York, Sunday, June 21, 1868. THS NEWS. EUROPE. The news report by the Atlantic cable is dated yesterday evening, June 20. Queen Victoria reviewed the British volunteers in ‘Windsor Park, it being the thirty-first anniversary of her accession to the throne. Twenty-seven thou- sand men were under arms, and the scene was very brilliant. Admiral Farragut will place his squadron in review before the King of Belgium to-morrow at Ostend. The King of Prussia closed the session of the North German Parliament with a pacific speech. The London Change was closed during the day. Five-twenties, 775; @ 77% in Frankfort. Cotton advanced, middig uplands closing at 11% pence. Breadstuffs quiet. Provisions dull. By steamship at this port we have a very interest- ing mail report in detail of our cable despatches to the 11th of June, including a report of Mr. Disraeli’s address to the Protestants of Ireland and an official exposition of the new Press law of France, CONGRESS. In the Senate yesterday an attempt was made to call up the bill to admit Colorado, but it failed. Mr. ‘Sumner withdrew his resolution relative to the treat- ment of colored persons on the Washington and Baltimore Katiroad, and read a letter from George Downing, the colored keeper of the Capitol restau- Tant, stating that the managers of the road had “yielded to the progressive spirit of the age,” and concluded to treat all persons alike regardless of color, Mr, Sumner cailed up @ joint resolution to pay & sum amounting to over $18,000 to the owners of the British steamer Labaun, ille- gally captured during the war. A warm dis- cussion ensued, in which Mr. Conness demanded that the Committee on Foreign Affairs, of which Mr. Sumner is chairman, should first report the bill for the protection of American citizens abroad. The joint resolution finally went over on the expiration of the morning hour, Numerous private. pension bills were passed, and the Senate adjourned, lu the House the joint resolution authorizing a change of mail service in Montana was passed. A message from the President was received veto- ing the bill for the admission of Arkan- sus. The bill” was immediately passed over his veto without debate by @ vote of 111 to 31. Mr. Schenck, from the Committee on Ways and Means, reported @ bill relative to the tax on whiskey and tobacco and to amend the tax on banks, and gave notice that he should call it up on Monday, when it should mave precedence unt dis- posed of, The Kentucky contested election case be- tween McKee and Young was taken up, the com- mittee having reported in favor of McKee, A sharp debate ensued upon it, and after the previous ques- tion Was moved it was agreed to take a recess until Monday at eleven o'clock, when the vote will be taken. THE CITY. The steamtug F. Leverghen, having a barge in tow, was blown «p and sunk by the explosion of her boller yesterday morning, off the Battery, where she now lies in the channel. One man was killed and two injured, The others escaped. A full statement from each of the persons injured at the recent Bowery explosion is given to-day. From the facts elicited it appears that Engine No. 9 was considered unsafe by the fireman and engineer,’ both of whom seem to be exonerated from blame according to the testimony. An inquest was held yesterday on the body of ‘Theresa Nicholson, the German woman who was shot by her husband, Patrick Nicholson, an Irish- man, now in custody. ‘The deceased had refused to live with the prisoner, having heard that he had another wife, and was earning a subsistence as waiter girlin a Chatham streetsaloon. The prisoner ‘Was jealous of her and shot her at her own door after she had again refused to live with him. The jury found a verdict accordingly and Nicholson was fully committed, In the United States Circuit Court yesterday the case of Anne Graham against the steamboats George Washington and D, 8. Gregory was argued on ap- peal from a decision decreeing damages in favor of the libellant in the sum of $10,000 for injuries sus- tained in consequence of a collision between the ves- sels, the libellant at the time being a passenger on the Gregory. Decision reserved, An interesting case in bankruptcy, involving queg- tions as to fees and the payment of legal expenses out of the bankrupt’s assets bas just been decided by Judge Biatchford. In the case of Lambard against the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad Company, Judge Cardozo has ai- rected that the facts be ascertained before a referee, the form of the order to be agreed upon to-morrow morning. Judgments of divorce were granted in the Supreme Court yesterday in favor of the plaintiffs in the cases of Clara Flanders against Charles J. Flanders, and Cari KR. Webs against Elizabeth Webs, The stock mai ket was strong yesterday. Govern- Ment gecurities were very strong. Gold closed at uoK Hotere aakin commersial circles yesterday was extremely light. Coffee was only moderately active. Cotton was firm at Sic. for middling uplands, with a moderate demand. On "Change flour was dull and prices were nearly nominal. Wheat was in light demand but frmly held, while corn was dull and heavy and oats dull and lower. Pork was but little sought after, but held at full prices, Beef was steady. Lard was sparingly dealt in and scarcely go firm, Petroleum—Crude (in bulk) was dull and heavy, at 163,¢, on the spot and 16c. for next month’s delivery, while refined (in bond) was slow of sale at 31%0, @ 31%c. Naval stores—Spirits turpentine was a trifle firmer, closing at 4630. Rosin, &c., were unchanged. Freights were dull at previous rates. Whiskey was dull and nominal. MISCELLANEOUS. Our special correspondence from Port au Prince is dated June 8 The revolutionists had encircled and besieged closely the city, but do not appear to be dis- posed to make a general attack. ‘The forts of Sal- nave kept up @ bombardment all night and Salnave ‘was more than ever disposed to resist till the last. On Saturday, the 6th inst., Mr. Hollister, the United States Minister, accompanied by his vice consul, agent and secretaries, and Commander Eastman, with his staff of officers, made a visit to President Salnave, and next day the Presiaent visited, with a numerous staff, the United States steamer Penobscot. The usual ceremonies were made on both occasions and the President appeared to be much pleased with his visit. The salute of the Penobscot for the Presi- dent was answered by the Haytien corvette Sylvani. Our Rio Janeiro correspondence is dated May 26. The General Assembly of Brazil was opened by the Emperor on the 9th, Tne finance report showed the cost of the war to have been $121,055,600, and the total debt of the empire to be $247,600,000, The Minister of Finance, in his report, declares a foreign loan impracticable while the war with Paraguay lasts. Fromthe Parana the news comes that Lopez is arming women, and that four thousand of them are already on the Telicuari under Eliza Lynch, an Irishwoman, They are charged with the duty of guarding the communications. A hotly contested engagement is reported to have occurred in the Chacos wilderness on the 6th of May.- Cable advices of alater date from Paraguay stiite that the allies had commenced the process of starving out the gar- rison of Humaita, Lopez had resources sufficient to prolong the war indefinitely, Our Buenos Ay res correspondence is dated May 14. The result of the Presidentiai election is still un- known, although it was held on the 12th of April. A serious revolution was pending in Uruguay, inaugu- rated by one Maximo Perez, a subaltern officer, The Buenos Ayres Legislature was opened on the 13th by Governor Alsiun, who strongly. censured the war with Paraguay. By special telegram we learn that Genera! Napier, accompanied by the gon of the late King Theodorus, had arrived at Alexandria, Egypt. A Midland (Mich.) correspondent of a Western Daper gives an account of a most wonderful electric spectacle which he says occurred in that neighbor- hood, Numerous flashes of lightning played at the same time in different parts of the heavens, some- times crossing one another's path and at others shoot- ing to the earth and then darting back again. One ball of fire passed through a cottage, singeing the occupants and making a ruin of the building but otherwise producing no casuality likely to prove fatal. The Chicago Saengerfest will close to-day, when the members wil separate. The next festival will take place in Cincinnati in 1870. A grand matinée was given yesterday afternoon. The Bund have taken steps for the organization of a grand North American Association. t The Mississipp: election on the constitution begins to-morrow. The Kansas settlers, who are in danger of losing their homesteads by the recent treaty for the sale of the Cherokee lands, are calling for protection on the members of Congress. They claim that the Kansas deiegation took sides against them in the sale. Five men were drowned by the upsetting of a boat on the Saco river, Maine, yesterday. In a case where a distillery was destroyed by fire fro:n the result of an expiosion of whiskey vapor in Cincinuati some time ago, the Superior Court on Fri- day dectded that the insurance company was not lia- ble, us (he policy did not cover explosions. The rartical embers elect of the Alabama Legisia- ture are arriving at Montgomery preparatory to the assembling of that body when the whoiesale Resto- ration bill in Congress becomes a law. The conser- vatives are unrepresented, as they defeated the con- stitution mainly by not voting or running candidates. Our correspondence from Venezuela states that Marshal Falcon and his family were safe in Curagoa, and that Monagas was advancing on Caracas. A band of slaves revolted in St. John’s island re- cently, shot their overseer, maltreated the police and fied to Tortola. They were overtaken there by a squad of soldiers who made two of them prisoners. Coulter, the oarsman, disregards the decision of the referee in his match with Hamill on Friday, and charges Hamill with fraud in both races. He claims the racing championship of America. A rock slide on the Central Pacific Ratiroad in California recently killed several Chinamen. The Florida Legislature has elected another United States Senator, this time for the six years term. The Georgia Legislature will probably be con- vened on the 14th of July. The Approaching Democratic Convention— The Old Sccessionists Turning Up Again. The Democratic National Convention will assemble at the new Tammany Hall in this city on the Fourth of July. Some pioneers of the delegations of many States are already here, making arrangements for accommoda- | tions, taking soundings, making newspaper capital and laying pipe for this, that or the other candidate. These first swallows indi- cate a stormy gathering and a sharp conflict over the Presidential nomination, although from the general pressure of the democratic masses in favor of Mr. Chase some suppose that the ticket and the platform will be readily agreed upon. We notice, however, that the old disturbing Southern secession element is on the grouhd. We understand that quite a number of the unreconstructed antediluvian State rights leaders of the South are here actively at work, and most conspicuous and active among them, as we perceive from the newspapers, is Mr. Barnwell Rhett, of South Carolina, who seems to consider the stirring epoch of the last eight years, with all its tremendous events, as @ blank, and that the democratic party must be- gin again at the point where it broke off and broke up in the Charleston Convention of 1860. Mr. Rhett, it appears, in the name of South Carolina, threatens another bolt unless this approaching Democratic Convention shall de- Clare against negro suffrage and pronounce against the reconstruction laws of Congress on the ground of their unconstitutionality from first to last, and affirm that the States alone, including the rebel States, have had and have jurisdiction over the suffrage question, and that Congress, in the work of reconstruction, has no power over the matter. From the South and the West, and perhaps from the East, on these propositions, Mr. Rhett, we apprehend, will be supported by a considerable detach- ment of the Convention. In the event of its compassing more than one-third of the body it will be able, as at Chicago, in 1864, to dic- tate the platform of the party under the two- third. rule in reference to the candidate, or to “smash the machine,” as at Charleston. Herein lies the special danger to the Convention and the opposition forces in this contest, The old Southern secession element and its *: 4 7 + Busllicss ia almost all departuféhta bf trade tn Northern affiliations desire to make the fight on negro suffrage and reconstruction. On this [ack ahare Witt 68 no holding up short of the surrender at Appoma\ Court House. All that has been done in way of reconstruc- tion since must be rejected, and the ground must be taken that with the surrender of the rebel States they were already restored to their old relations with the general govern- ment and as much beyond the reach of Con- gress as New York in their local affairs. That the Democratic Convention in taking this ground will scatter the party again to the four winds of heaven is morally certain ; that it can take no half-way ground upon the reconstruc- tion question with any show of success, North or South, is sufficiently clear to need no argu- ment; that the recognition of fixed facts is the only course of safety and common sense, in view of the speedy restoration of half a dozen or more of the rebel States, no rational poli- tician can doubs. The constitution gives to Congress the exclusive jurisdiction over the admission of States, The Supreme Court, in the Rhode Island case, has so affirmed and has recognized this decision in the West Vir- ginia case. Hence, with the restoration of these rebel States, all questions as to the terms and the modus operandi of their restora- tion will be decided as in the cases of West Virginia and Tennesse. What then? Why, then the debate on negro suffrage and reconstruction will be settled, The amendment—article fourteen— providing among other things that each State shall regulate the right of suffrage to suit itself, subject to the enlargement or reduction of its representation in Congress, a8 the ballotmay be | extended or restricted, will settle the negro suf- frage question from Maine to Texas and from New York to California. Practically, there- fore, there will be nothing to fight about upon reconstruction or sufirage in this campaign. The only great and comprehensive national question remaining will be the all important money question in all its bearings and compli- cations. Upon this paramount and absorbing question Mr. Chase is the man for the demo- cracy and the country. The masses of the party and all the floating conservative elements of the country recognize him as the only man of all presented capable of grasping this ques- tion practically and competent at the same time to neutralize the military popularity of General Grant. His nomination by the demo- cracy will, indeed, involve a new departure to the party, but it will effect also a new depar- ture in the government—a change which the people most desire. Mr. Seymour, of New York, in the generous surrender of his own high claims in favor of Mr. Chase thas shown himself the sagacious patriot and statesman. He, we are sure, will bear us out in this opinion, that with Chase as the democratic nominee: the party majority of fifty thousand in this State last fall will be more than maintained, eyen against Grant ; and this of itself is a solid foundation to build upon. On the other hand, we have only to say that if Rhett and his Southern seceasion- ists and their congeners of the Western cop- perhead school dictate the candidate of the Tammany Convention it will most probably be some fifth rate military chieftain or some use- less politician of the calibre, antecedents and affiliations of poor Pierce, and that against any such democratic nomination General Grant will walk over the course, carrying along with him to Washington four-fifths of the members of the next Congress, radicals out and out. Grant or Chase is the only alternative in this contest ; for Grant in the present situation of things can be flanked only by Chase. Affairs iu South America, The very interesting budget of news from Rio Janeiro and the Rio de la Plata pub- lished in this morning's Herap reveals the true condition of things in that section of the anarchical half of our continent. The progress made by the allies in the war against Para- guay is next to nothing, and immense supplies, as well as large numbers of recruits, are still forwarded to the camp of Marshal de Caxias. The extent of these reinforcements makes people conclude that another year’s cam- paigning is expected at headquarters. On the other hand Marshal Lopez is reported to have a body of Amazons in his service, headed by Mrs, Lynch. The details given by our cor- respondent on this subject will be found highly interesting. In Brazil the conduct of the war was exciting comment, and an expe- rienced officer characterizes De Caxias as an incompetent general. The Brazilian Chambers were opened by the Emperor Dom Pedro II. in person, when, as is usual with royalty, the foreign and domestic relations of the empire were presented in the most flattering terms. The most important part of the proceedings, however, was com- prised in the report of the Minister of Finances. A summary of this important document will be found in our correspondent’s letter, together with a clear appreciation of its data and bear- ing on the prolongation of the war. In the Argentine Confederation the result of the Presidential election was still unknown, and in Uruguay revolt had raised ite head against the new President, Colonel Battle. The Spanish American republics seem deter- mined, like Cataline, to destroy the cause of republicanism in the estimation of the world. They have refused offensively our good offices in favor of mediation, both on the Pacific and on the Plata, with the same self-sufficiency that Mexico displayed in spurning our entrea- ties to save the life of Maximilian. Taz New Warsker axp Tosacdo Tax Brt.—We learn from Washington that the Ways and Means Committee have completed the revised Tax bill relating to the tax on whiskey and tobacco. The tax on whiskey is fixed at sixty cents per gallon and its trans- portation in bond is permitted. The tax on tobacco is reduced to thirty-two cents per pound for certain brands and fifteen for those of a coarser description. All of the elaborate provisions for the collection of the tax as reported to the House in the general bill have been transferred to the new bill. The report of the committee was presented to the House on yesterday, and it is probable that it will be pushed through without delay, The proposed reduction in the tax is heavy, and, if adopted, it is to be hoped that the tax will be collected and that the government will be able to derive something more in the shape of revenue from the articles referred to than the miserable sum which the swindling of officials and the ‘“‘whiskey ring” have hitherto allowed the country to be benefited by. The President’s Veto of the Arkansas Bill. Brief, moderate in language though earnest in sentiment, able in argument and carrying conviction to all minds not prejudiced by par- tisan sympathies and considerations, the Presi- dent's veto of the bill to admif Arkansas to representation must be regarded as one of the best State papers of his production. It does not matter if Mr. Johnson failed to display good policy in vetoing the measure, knowing, as he did, that it would be almost immediately passed over his objections. We regard only the position assumed by the President and the reasons given by him for the course he has pursued. Mr. Johnson begins the message by declaring that his views in regard to the un- constitutionality of the reconstruction laws have not changed, but have .been rather strengthened by time and circumstances. If, however, those views had changed he would still be compelled to return the bill without his signature. The great and insuperable objec- tions overshadowing all others dwell in the proposed State constitution of Arkansas itself, and in the assumptions of power by Congress not warranted by the constitution of the United States. The President maintains his opinion that Arkansas was never out of the Union, and that, therefore, no law was needed to admit her; he claims, as is notoriously known, that it is doubtful whether the work of the State Convention was ratified by a majority of the registered voters who attended the polls. If, however, these points could even be sur- mounted or explained away, there still re- mains that clause of the constitution which demands that every voter shall swear to sup- port and believe in the political equality of all men, and that clause of the bill vetoed which makes admission to representation consequent upon the condition that no class of citizens (meaning negroes) shall ever be deprived of the elective franchise. On the first clause Mr. Johnson argues, with much foree, that if such a test oath was applied to the citizens of nearly all of the Northern and Western States it would virtually disfranchise a majority, and probably a very large one, of the voters of those States. With regard to the condition imposed by the bill he holds that Congress has no power to make it, and that if its violation should result in a denial of representation to the State there would be “a recurrence of the troubles which have so long agitated the country.” Such are the main points of the veto mes- sage. As we have remarked already, it is an admirable document, being moderately worded, convincingly argumentative and well adapted for the thoughful to reflect upon. It was, of course, wholly lost upon the radical members of the House, and by a strjct party vote the. bill was passed over the veto. It now goes to the Senate, where it will become a law, and then Arkansas will be admitted to representa- tion upon condition that every white voter in the State will consent to swear that the negro is his political equal, or failing in so swearing, quietly submit to disfranchisement. The action of Mr. Johnson in this matter indicates what course he will pursue with the Omnibus bill admitting six of the Southern States to repre- sentation. In all but two—Georgia and (we believe) North Carolina—the same equality test oath is required by the constitution; so a veto may be regarded as- certain. Mr. Disraeli to the Irish Protestants. The Irish Protestant politico-religious leagues, known as the Ulster Protestant Defence Asso- ciation and the Central Protestant Defence Association of Dublin, have united in a vigorous effort to apply the principle of their old and animating cry of ‘‘No sur- render” in aid of the Church Establishment in that country, now so seriously threatened in its temporalities by its enemies in the British Parliament. The leaders of the incorporated bodies sent a very influential deputation to London a few days since authorized to submit their case to the Queen’s Ministers. High Church Protestants, Presbyterians, Methodists and other dissenters from the law establishment were represented on the occa- sion, the Marquis of Downshire, the Earl of Bandon, Rev. Mr. Henderson—a Presbyterian clergyman of fifty years of labor—and the Rev. Daniel McAfee—an able Methodist divine—acting as the spokgsmen. The deputation, which was really imposing, was received by Mr. Disraeli with much com- placency and an official radiancy almost unu- sual to the great chief of the British tories. The address contained no allusion to the inter- ests of the Irish people at large, but a good deal of matter concerning ‘the glorious principles of the Reformation,” ‘‘the glorious revolution of 1688,” the ‘dangers of Romanism” and a “dreaded revolution,” ending with a very plain hint that the Irish Church Defence leagues regarded Mr. Gladstone as a “bad sort of man, you know.” This latter inferential assuramce imparted much animation to the great Israelite defender of the Church, and, speaking pretty much in the name of the Crown, he told the deputation in reply that he would stand by them—intimating that he expected they would stand by him at the next general election. Premier Disraeli affirmed that every blow levelled against the “institutions of Ireland” is a blow directed in aid of a revolution in England, and claimed that he has so managed already that ‘if there is to be a great and lamentable change in the institutions of the United Kingdom, it will be by the people of the United Kingdom, and not by the machinations of a party of politicians who have seized a favorable opportunity of carrying their revolutionary designs into effect.” The Irish ‘‘Defence” men were delighted, and the Church landlords returned home deter- mined to have a terrible “‘ruction” at the next elections and to keep Disracli in power, even if they have to drive recusant tenant votera by the thousand and ‘“‘with a vengeance” to the United States, depopulate their estates, spread riot over the land, and afterwards live on cash borrowed from the Jews in London at an enor- mous percentage on post obit bonds, ——— Law asp Orper 1x Sovutu Carotina.—The negroes in the interior of South Carolina are beginning to show their brutal instincts by butchering white people when the absence of the military gives them the opportunity to do so. It is plain that the Southern blacks have become possessed with the idea inculcated by the infamous teachings of the radical scamps that the land belongs to them and that it is no ) SUNDAY, JUNK 21, 1868—TRIPLE SHEET. (jal asiedeteeieete Jt Satie at on ee eee eee ee ey rey ye nnn nn ee aS WEE CRIES, = Lore ea eae sin nor crime to murder their former masters. They are encouraged in this notion, too, by the immunity granted their unlawful acts by the military authorities. It is absolutely necessary that some efforts should be made by the au- thorities to suppress this spirit of lawlessness among the negroes and some stern examples made of the transgressors. The bodies of the unfortunate victims of the recent Bowery catastrophe have scarcely been deposited in their last resting place before an- other calamity ofa similar character is recorded. Yesterday the boiler of the steam tug La- vergne stiddenly exploded while the vessel was rountiing the Battery. Some of the crew were hurled into the air, two of them were seriously injured, and a third, the mate, who was steer- ing, has not been heard of, and is supposed to have been killed by the concussion. Look- ing at the accident from the light of its casu- alties, we must rejoice that no more lives were lost and no more injuries inflicted. But this cause for congratulation is no solace to those who may, perhaps, have been de- pendent for support upon the single victim. And whether this explosion could have been avoided is a point that should be carefully investigated. The captain of the tug states that the boiler was fully sup- plied with water, and the engineer corrobo- rates this statement. It is, however, asserted that the boiler was in bad order and that the tug was making her last trip prior. to her being laid up for repairs. If this story be the true one, why was she kept in use after the dis- covery was made? Defith and wounds, tears and mourning, and the deprivation of women and children of their supporters and protec- tors—all these could be avoided, to a consider- able extent at least, if a little more caution were exhibited by men whose vocations place them in positions where danger results from negligence or. indifference, or if the laws, which are ample and sufficiently cover all such cases, were properly administered. ee The Proposed Ecumenical Council. Last year Rome was the centre of attraction to the Christian world, on account of the cele- bration of the eighteen hundredth anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Peter. Never before had St. Peter's Day been so grandly cele- brated. On Sunday, June 30, St. Peter's church, the monument of Michael Angelo and one of the glories of the Christian religion, shone with a splendor and was filled with a congregation such as, perhaps, were never witnessed in any religious temple in the pre- vious history of the world. The glory of the Lord seemed to shine in the sacred place, and thousands, representing the genius, the learn- ing and the devotion of all lands, bowed down and worshipped. It was a triumph to the Catholic Church. It was more—it was a triumph to Christianity. At a convocation of church dignitaries held during that festival season it was announced by the Holy Father that he intended on an early day to convoke an assembly or council of bishops, to ‘deliberate and decide on the best means to be adopted to put an end to the evils which now afflict the Church.” It was advised by some at the time that his Holiness ought to take advantage of the bishops then around him and hold such a council. The laws which regulate such assemblages rendered such a course impossible. It now appears, from a variety of sources, that the Holy Father has not abandoned his purpose, and that, if not this year, then some time in 1869 an Ecumenical Council will be convened. if such a council is | held, and if it acts wisely in the circumstances, it cannot fail to mark an epoch in modern his- tory and cast a halo of glory around the latter days of Pius the Ninth. Ecumenical Councils have played important parts in the history of the Christian Church and in the history of the modern world. The first of these councils was held at Nice, in Bithynia, in the year of our Lord 325. On that occasion three hundred and eighteen bishops assembled at the request of the Emperor Constantine, and in the persons and costumes of the different ecclesiastics were to be seen exemplified the more than semi-bar- barism of the West, the North and the East, as well as the polish and refinement of the more central portions of the empire. The hast council of the kind was that of Trent, the sit- tings of which commenced in 1545 and were not formally concluded till 1563. Eoumenical Councils, which are supposed to be possessed of that infallible authority which belongs not’ to the Pope personally nor to the Church in any other form of convention, have seldom been particularly agreeable to the incumbent for the time being of the Holy Chair. It is not in human nature to desire to call into ex- istence a power which is greater than one’s own, and if Pius the Ninth rémains true to his purpose he will show not only more personal bravery but a nobler spirit of self-sacrifice than has been revealed by any of his prede- cessors since the days of Pope Paul the Third, more than three hundred and twenty years ago. There are many reasons why an Ecumenical Council is now desirable. The world has passed completely away from its ancient moor- ings. Christianity is not less but rather more @ power than it ever was. It is not, however, the dogmas of Christianity which now rule the times. It is the spirit of Christianity which now rules, and between that spirit and those dogmas it is pretty generally felt there is both conflict and contradiction. Men have not ceased to believe. It is their nature to believe. They cannot help believing. If not satisfied with one religion or one form of reli- gion they are certain to find another. But men are now more disposed than ever to find a reason for the faith that isin them. Where is the thinking and reflecting mind which now believes that infallibility resides in any of the separate voices of the Church, or even in the collective voice of the Church, whatever that may mean? Where is the thinking and reflect- ing mind which accepts the dogma that in the sacred Scriptures we have a complete revela- tion of the mind and will of the Deity, or that we have evena perfect and unmixed revela- tion, so far as it goes? The infallibility of the Church and the verbal inspiration of Scripture are dogmas which have little force in this living present world, The Strausses, the Colensos, the Rénans, the Bunsens, the ‘‘Essay- ists and Reviewers,” much as they have been maligned, have nevertheless produced a revo- lution in the religious sentiment of the Chris- tian world regarding which tt is ao longer safe —— for the Ohurches to be indifferent or inaotiwe. What is Christianity? how much or how little does it mean? are questions which are disturb- ing many breasts, and which the leaders of the Churches must resolutely set themselves to answer. It is from this point of view that the impor- tance of such a council as that which is pro- posed can alone be fully seen. Of professing Christians some two-thirds are Roman Catholics. Of three hundred os who bear the ed “ot” Gila ae least one hundred and seventy millions adhere to the Catholic Church. To the move- ments of that Church it is impossible for other sections of Christianity to be indifferent. Christians, in fact, of all names and of all de- nominations are more closely bound together, have more of common interest and common sympathy than appears either in Papal encyc- licals or Protestant harangues. If this gen- eral council is convened it will attract to it the attention of the entire Christian world. It will unquestionably be the most imposing assem- Dly of Church dignitaries which has ever been witnessed. The most magnificent coun- cils of former times will sink into insignificance in comparison. Its splendor and attractive- ness, however, will not redeem it from in- famy if wisdom is found to be absent from ita decisions. We are willing to have religion, but it must be a religion in harmony with common sense. It is not too much to say that if this council, in attempting to right what seems wrong in the men and nations of these modern times, places the Catholic Church across the path of modern progress it may beget another revolution more sweeping and more disastrous than that of the sixteenth cen- tury. Ifthe Papacy cannot or will not adapt itself to the new conditions of things as existing in Italy, in France, in Austria and elsewhere— conditions which are the flowering and fruit of modern progress—the Papacy must retire and seek companionship with the mythologies of the Norsemen, of the Greeks and the Romans, of the Egyptians or the Hindoos of an earlier period. It is vain for any council to attempt to resist steam, electricity, the printing press and the minds which these forces have eman- cipated. Wemove. If the Church will not move it must fall behind and perish. If, how- ever, the council, rising to the dignity of the occasion, succeeds in adapting itself and con- forming the Papacy to the requirements of the times it will have earned and it will receive the gratitude of mankind. Opening of the Watering Place Season. In these days every inch of space in the metropolis glows and quivers with a torrid heat. Fat men ewelter up and down tho street and lean men wilt. Every one coaste along the shady side and ventures the glaring middle at the crossing only as the. Arab might the horrible whiteness of the desert. Greon blinds are bowed at every house fitted with the Juxury, and that greater luxury yet, the dainty, picturesque red and white awning, is tipped at others, that the owner may enjoy the cool air in its shadow, ds he might ‘“‘sub- tegmine fagi.” In watching the fagged horses of the omnibuses—the omnibuses themselves whose roofs crack and warp in the keat—the whole scene of the street, that blazes fairly—- one can hardly realize that there is, perhaps, a gale blowing out on the fishing banks, that a wind is roaring in the tops of the trees only over at Weehawken, and that it is merely the surface of our city that seethes with this oven heat. But this is nearly true, as they know who take the boats for our little suburban trips, or who venture boat and cars together for the annual pilgrimage to those Meccas of fashion, folly, extravagance, comfort, discomfort and delight—the watering places. Now comes on that momentous yearly discussion, whither shall we go? Once there were only Saratoga for one set and Newport for another, and aa adventurous third, not fearful of jostling rustic Philadelphia, tried Cape May. Such as could not afford the fare of these greater centres of summer recreation went it on the farmer boarding houses and the clams all around the sandy edge of Long Island, or caught little finger-long trout in the backward slopes of the Catskills, or wandered away to the wintry coolness of the New Hampshire hills. Ia these days we have changed all that. Water- ing places have so increased in numbor that no one knows the names of all those that may even be classed as good ones. One may pack his valise and get om any train, go quite at random in any direction, and ina few hours get out of the cars opposite a hotel, where he gets a good dinner, and that he finds nestled in a hand- some copse near some pretty river or the sea, and whose balconies a little later will be bril- lHiant with the presence of bevies of beautiful coquettes swimming in the mazes of a waltz and redowa. All this magic change of scene from blistering Broadway is effected more easily than in the Arabian Nights, when Aladdin rub- bed his greasy old lamp. Other changes have been going on in regard to watering places besides those that have de- prived the few older centres of their ox- clusive pre-eminence. The extravagant charges of fashionable watering places have driven to Europe many who were formerly regular visitors at the seaside or the springs ; for it is now possible to pay the fare to Eu- rope and spend a month at Baden or in Savoy with a smaller outlay than would be induced by a month at Saratoga. Long Branch has grown greatly in favor with our citizens, be- cause it is so well situated on the Atlantic edge of the Continent, and because it is so ac- cessible—by the sail across the bay and the seaside rail. But there isa tendency also towards the great scenes of our recent history. It was not only the mineral spring that made the fortune of Saratoga, but it wap because the surrounding country was consecrated in patriotic feeling by the battle waged there in the Revolutionary war. The same Combination promises to make the fortune of the quaint little town of Gettysburg. So situated that the great battle fought there in the recent war raged at different times on all sides of the town, the place has the highest historic in- terest, and near it has been recently dis- covered a spring of mineral water of rarer healing virtue than any hitherto discovered on this Continent. These together will make Get- tysburg the great centre of attraction in the watering season for a century to come. Other flelds—other historic acenes of the war—draw