The New York Herald Newspaper, July 12, 1868, Page 8

6 NEW YORK HERALD| BROADWAY AND ANN STREET, JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. a = Volume XXXIIL RELIGIOUS SERVICES TO-DAY. BLOOMING DALE BAPTIST CHURCH.—Rey, W. Pore YEAMAN.—Morning and evening. CHURCH OF THE STRANG Morning and evening. CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN Forp. Morning aud evening. RS.—Rrv. Dr. DEEMs, CHURCH.—Rrv. F, F. CHURCH OF THE REDEMPTION.—Rxv. Untau Scot. Moruing and evening. CHURCH OF THE REFORMATION.—Rey. Apporr Brown, Morning and evening, , EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY.—Rev. De. KuoreL. Morning and evening. EVERETT ROOMS.—Rey. J. M. Peesies. Morning and evening. FREE CHURCH OF THE HOLY LIGHT.—Rey. East- BURN BENJAMIN. Morning and evening. ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRA . ONSRORATION OF DR. MOQUADE, Bishop elect of Koo ter. Morning. lorning and evening. ST. AMBROSE CHURCH. HURCH OF GUSTAVUS SWED! THERAN ADOLPHUS. ry TEMPLI noon HAL CHaxirs B, SmyTu. After- RV UNIVERSITY, Washington square.—Bisnor Snow, TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Sunday, July 12, 1868. Af- CHE NEWS. EUROPE. Se The tie y the Atlantic cable is dated yes- terday ey July 11. The Lowioa press canvasses the American demo- . PI ‘otal nomination, interpreting it ad- versely to iour’s chances, The German-Ameri- can nat treaty was in operation in Prussia, ‘The Span 3 lately arrested are exiled to the money, Five-twenties 73 @ ‘s In Frankfort. ith middling uplands at 114 a uffs slightly improved. Provi- e without material cha! Bremon, Captain Neynaber, from th ult, Via Southampton on the us port at an early hour this morn- Bremen ou Soth, arrived European correspondence, sr in detail of will insure uriety of vate manner sto the 27thof Jun a fon by its most useful subject matier, and the completely ac in which it is tre: In the te yesterday the bill authorizing the registrat teen Canadian built vessels engaged in the lake trade and always owned by American citizens was passed, with little opposition, The bill for the di tinuance of the Freedmen’s Bureau is Dill provides that the Commis- om the Ist day of January next cause the ed and its operations discontinued, tional departments. The bill to debt and for the conversion of Bureau t except the educa fund the nation notes of the United States was taken up, the ques- tion being upon the substitute reported by Senator Sherman, wlich provides for the issue of twenty, thirty and { year bonds, bearing interest, re- spective four and a half and four per cent upt from taxation in any form; to { for the redemption or purchase of of interest-bearing notes other than ent certhe contracts made specifically 1 advocated his substitute and | 1 it as covert repudiation and | h. Before a vote could be | enate ad. per annt existing five ficates. Ita for gold, Mr, Mr, Sunn violation taken u In the of the Di Staunton and vurt at Richm Va. The bill fora reduction he army Was r e fourth s¢ was stricken out and a yas adopied directing that there sta only three Majo is, to be | Gesignated with regard to their qualifications by the President tn March, The fifth section, providing ry generais in a similar manner, Other sects reducing oMecers + staf departments one-half, were e bill w smporarily ve printe to of the S¢ and ordered to ation ed an € neering eneral Blair was #!r waa passed by a amendm he Tax bill were non-concurre and a ¢ e of Conference was asked for, MISCELLANEOUS tier is dated July 4. sted by the Americans manner. A. Law . Minister s in Panama on his way to the antos Acosta had been appointed nited States by the Pre was prewing with Our Pan day was Independence a the city In {| tot z United Stat Minister ¢ lombia, jury tn the bator question having prom against t vublans, There was no news of im- por atral America. our Vall v correspondence is dated June 10, Congress vas sill in session, proceeding actively with bus The question between Peru and Chile in r to the Spanish tron-elads will soon be brought wy in that body, It was confidently ex- pected that with Colonel Balta’s inauguration as ent of Peru the matter would be arranged Active operations were to be commenced \raucanian Indians leiggs’ rail “qt progr 1 aveles ‘Televra; e that the rain the Capiain enersi conten ts city and a vite on the subjec the Koard of + " i We haven xico city to the Oh and Vera Cruz t hat, by the Cuban cable, alver, had ty Cortina had routed Flores, irty regu had » taken prixoners by one Estrada « Ha dell Valle, Which was sacked and lo was at Jacala with a force to put taro rebels, but the latter weve masa. ing at Am to meet him, Angel Miramon had been arrested for implication in the Puebla rebellion, Gur Chilean correspondent furnishes a most inte- resting narrative of a trip taken by General Kilpatrick n shot down the river, wh NW YURKK HERALD, SUNDAY, JULY 12, 18 —TRIPLE SHEET. fied the constitutional amendment known as article fourteen, af Tn the Louisiana Legislature yeaterday ex-Gover- nor J, M, Wells petitioned for his salary as Governor for the interval between the time of his removal by General Sheridan and the inauguration of Governor Warmouth, ‘The race between the yachts Martha, of the Brook- lyn Club, and Mattie, of the Bayonne Club. for the sum of $1,000, through the Narrows to buoy No. 9, and return, came off yesterday, and proved a close contest, the Martha winning by one minute and fifteen seconds. ‘The miners’ strike in Pottsville, Pa.. bas assumed such threatening proportions that the Marshal of the county is guarding the collieries in the vicinity, Dr. Peels delivered a lecture last evening at Union Hall, in the Bowery, on the “Societies and Festivals of the Germans in the United States.’’ The lecture was quite lengthy, but the gist of 1t may be gaihered from its introduction, in which the assertion was made that they tended to propagate true civilization in this country and that their iufluence has ever been humanizing. The rest of the lecture was a studied composition to prove this point by argument and facts. A two gallon jug of gunpowder exploded in a small boat at Cape Elizabeth, Me., yesterday, seriousiy in- juring Captain Glenny and pilot Stoddard, who were in the boat working upon the wreck of the steamship Bohemian, Arather singular case is now being investigated before United States Commissioner Stilwell, which it appears originated in the attempt of certain parties connected with the whiskey rings in this city to secure the removal of Collector Bailey. The parties are now charged with perjury, and testimony in the case is being taken before the Commissioner which will exhibit some rather startling facts. A decree of divorce was granted in the Supreme Court yesterday by Mr. Justice Ingraham in the case of Charles G. Webber against Louisa Webber. England and the Abyssinian Expedition Honors to Sir Robert Napier—Aun Example or Two for the United States. Sir Robert Napier, the hero of the late Abyssinian expedition, has been voted by the British Parliament a pension of two thousand pounds sterling a year, and has been created by Queen Victoria a peer of the realm, with the title of Lord Napier of Magdala. These are graceful recognitions of the services ren- dered to England by this admirable soldier in the famous expedition for the release of cer- tain English subjects held as prisoners by the late King Theodorus and in defiance of the warnings of her Majesty's government. The invasion of Abyssinia, the defeat of the King’s army, the release of the prisoners in question and other Europeans, the storming of Mag- dala, the death of Theodorus, the dispersion of his forces, and the return of Napier with | his trophies and the young son of the deceased | King to be educated in England for some fu- ture purpose, were, briefly, the results of the late expedition. The profit and loss account has been in some British fault-finding quarters set down as the rescue of a score or two of | prisoners at an expense of five millions of pounds sterling, or, in round numbers, some twenty-five millions of dollars in gold—a costly | adventure, they say, into a worthless region, peopled by arace of intractable and useless barbarians. This, however, is but a narrow view of the subject. In our estimation the costs of this Abyssinian expedition were but a small invest- ment compared with the objects gained and the profits to be realized from it by Eng- land and the world. First, the moral effect will be felt to England's advantage one hundred fifty millions atics of the British empire in India with the return of this Anglo-Indian army; and next, the prestige of this Abyssinian invasion will be recognized among all the surrounding savage nations and tribes of Africa north and south of Abyssinia, and will operate to some purpose also in Egypt. We are satisfied that this Abyssinian enterprise of Napier is but an item in certain great designs of British trade and power, in regard to which the instruct and we may say invaluable. explo- rations and discoveries of Livingstone, Bur- ton, Speke and Grant, and Samuel Baker, are only so many enco' contributions. Baker, for example, has revealed an immense cotton region slong the northern and eastern borders of Ab Speke, Grant and Burton have discovered offer extensive and fertile jons around the great ‘ountain lakes of the } od along the course of the upper le Livingstone has laid opema num- ber of fertile and extensive districts below the equator adapted to all tie producis ¥ the and | tropics in their perfection, What does all this signify ? it may be asked. It signifies that the flourishing British colonies of Australia and New Zealand of the present day may be matched in the course of another generation or two at least, in their commercial products, by the British possessions of Eastern Africa, from Abyssinia southward. Such we believe to be the grand designs involved in this late Abyssinian expedition. Nor have we any objection to interpose to its fulfilment. The manifest destiny of the United States is the a field of enterprise large enough for American development for many genera- tions to come. Let England, if she will, proceed to the development of the boundless commer rees of Africa. We shall get our fill « © profits of such expansions of trade ition, ~The only wonder is thot with the lacy cedundant population of the island of Great Britain, now struggling for a bare existence, her Majesty's government should be so slow in peopling her compara- places of the earth inviting the skill, enterprise and industry of her people. If her Majesty's Cabinet would only open their eyes to this sub- ject they might soon find a way to relieve Eng- and members of the American legation in Chile across the Andes into the eastern division of the Argentine republic, The route taken by the party is almost unknown to travellers, and the magnificent scenery of the mountains, the lovely valleys, the havita of the land of nine-tenths of her paupers and turn them to a profitable account. There are yet some other views suggested to us of the advantages of this late Abyssinian people, their labors and their | expedition to England and the civilized world. diversions, incidents of the chase, &c., are) For instance, Napier, with his training in In- faithfully depicted by our correspondent who thus enables us to present to the readers of the HERALD @ dia, in his march of four hundred miles, with mags of intelligence regarding the interior of South his camels and elephants, over the Abyssinian America which can be found in the volumes of no Alps, to Magdala, eclipsing Hannibal and Ne- history extant. General Kilpatrick and suite made.) poleon, has given the warld some new illustra- @ most favorable impression upon the people during | tions of the tremendous forces of science skil- the trip, and added to the high esteem, always enter- tained by the Chilenos of our countrymen. fully applied to the movement and subsistence Our Lima, Peru, letter is dated June 22. It was | Of #0 army in regions deemed inaccessible to not yet known who was the President elect, the invader. Nor can we omit the contributions and Colongl Baita’s chances were considered far | made to science and our common schools from from certain. Colonel Mariano Cornejo, Minister of War under Prado, and several other ofMfcers had this Abyssinian expedition in reference to the been afrested for alleged comsptracy to reinstate | S°°8raphical and geological wonders of the Prado, but they had made no developments. Mos- | Strange country thus made known to the out- quera, late President of Colombia, was living in | side world. We dare say that the readers of exile in Lima. The yellow fever, which had been raging since January, was nearly extinct. During ‘that time it had carried off 10,000 persons. the Heratp have not had such a treat of inte- resting information from a hitherto unknown ‘The President yesterday issued his prociamation | !and to them as that of our Abyssinian letters enuouncing tue fact that North Caroliaa uae reti- | since their reading of our Mexiona cerreages North American Continent and its islands—_ tively uninhabited colonies and the waste | dence from the armies of Scott and Taylor, | Doniphan, Kearney and Fremont. Yet again, in the honors conferred upon Napier, we have but another example of the great secret of England’s strength among the nations. She | rewards her faithful servants with a liberal | hand, The people of the United States, too, from Washington to this day, have not forgot- ten the wisdom of this policy, Hence the commanding position in which General Grant now siands as candidate for the next Presi- dency, As the saviour of their government { and country trom dissolution, it is the will of the sovereign people that he shall take the helm. Finally, in this late Abyssinian expedition, regardless of costs, hazards or consequences, for the rescue of certain English subjects, we have an example of the vigilance of the gov- ernment over its people which we must adopt and everywhere enforce in the protection of the citizen, before our government can be pro- perly respected by the Cabinet of England, the ‘“‘greasers” of Mexico, or the King of the Cannibal Islands. , ; A Proclamation from the President. In compliance with an act of Congress passed on the 25th of last month the President has is- sued a proclamation announcing that the Legis- lature of North Carolina has ratified the pending amendment to the constitution known as ‘article fourteen.” The President makes reference to his having received the resolution of the Florida Legislature ratifying the same, but announces the fact that it was passed prior to the act of Congress mentioned, which act is prospective in its bearing. For this reason, doubtless, the action of Florida is entirely ig- | nored. The tenor of the proclamation is | quite remarkable, and shows that Mr. Johnson | is determined not to recognize the recon- | structed States. He speaks of receiving a paper *‘ purporting to be a resolution of the Legislature of Florida,” from ‘* Harrison Reed, who therein signs himself Governor.” Again, the other paper was, he says, ‘transmitted by and under the name of W. W. Holden, who therein writes himself Governor of the State of North Carolin and so with the other parties whose signatures are attached. All of this implies that in his oficial capacity the President recognizes neither Mr. Reed nor Mr. Holden as Governors of their respective States. Still Closer to Asia, Our special correspondence from Japan and | China, published this moraing, elaborates in im- | | portant detail the telegraph news from both countries, dated at Yokohama to the 4th of June and Shanghae to the 25th of May, which appeared in our columns a short time since. The writers report the origin and progress of the reactionary convulsion produced against ‘the Mikado of Japan by the aristocracy and hierarchy after the abdication of the Tycoon, calling attention at the same time to the man- ner in which the movement had already affected the foreign interests in the chief ports of the empire, and its probable future influence in bar to the opening of the territory to outside civilization. From China we have the latest mail intelli- gence respecting the demonstrations of the Northern rebels against Tientsin, news of the | disgrace of the most talented and formidable | of the imperial generals, useful notes of the | tendency of British diplomacy, advices of the efforts which are being made by the Emperor to encourage railroads, with very comprehen- sive commercial and naval reports. This special correspondence reveals the fact that hoary pre , coupled with feudal | selfishness, alone prevent the complete ‘opening’ of Japan to Christian enlighten- | ment, material development, and a conse- quent increase of the wealth and happiness of mankind. These barriers will soon disappear, however. The presgnt re tion of our letters indicates the nangipating ageucy—steam. The Japan correspondence was posted in Yokohama, forwarded by steamship to San Franciseo, and t thence by overland | route to New York—reaching the Heratp esteblisument within thirty-seven days from the seat of the Mikado’s government. This is ab. enovgh for the mom Health of the City. The geographical situation of New York is | admirably favorable to the preservation of the health of its rapidly increasing population. The winds that sweep through it from the un- rivalled bay below and from the rivers on each side daily purify the atmosphere, and a single shower washes away more filth than the most faithful and energetic contractor could remove | ina week. At the last meeting of the Board of Health, however, two evils seriously detri- mental to the public health were quite properly denounced—the bad and insufficient food, to which the recent lamentable increase in the plete success of the great International Ger- man-American celebration in Berlin on the Fourth of July, 1869, and will likely promote a grand American emigrant Schuetzen fest on that occasion, English and Amerioan Ships and Ship- builders, In view of the impending revolution in the commerce of the world the question forces itself upon every American mind, why is it that English shipbuilders can afford to build vessels cheaper than our own? In an authen- tic statement of the British navy now before us we observe that all the engines and no { amall proportion of iron-clad frigates are built by private parties. In one column of the tabular exhibit we find the names of the great firms of Penn & Sons, Maudslay & Fields, Lairds and other eminent engine and ship- builders constantly occurring. In fact, these individual establishments constitute a material function of England's strength. We havo already alluded to the languishing state of some of our marine workshops, and we know that the same stagnation prevails more or less in Providence, Boston, &. As with England, so in a great measure it is with us. One leading element of our strength lies in these extensive iron works and the ship and engine building firms which conduct them, and so completely are they indices of material power that with their deterioration there is a corresponding depression of national vitality. With flourishing lines of steamships come wealth and the promotion of our iron and shipbuilding interests in all their varied branches, and with these comes likewise the ability to construct an iron-clad navy on better terms than is possible at the government works, which are costly affairs and do not yield commensurate returne. It has been very satisfactorily demonstrated in Great Britain that private enterprise is fully equal to supply the wants of their great naval | service, and has far outstripped the public workshops in every essential condition. Of the magnitude of these gigantic concerns some idea may be formed when we state that the Thames Iron Works and Shipbuilding Com- pany at Blackwall has an annual capability of twenty thousand tons of iron-clad ships. The trigates Warrior and Minotaur—the latter of six thousand eight hundred and twelve tons—were built there. This company alone had en their stocks at one and the same time the iron-clad Minotaur; the Valiant, four thousand one hundred tons; the Perventz (for the Russian government), of two thousand eight hundred tons; the Victory (for the Span- ish navy), four thousand eight hundred and sixty tons, and an iron-clad frigate of four thousand two hundred tons, built for the Sultan of Turkey, but subsequently sold to Prussia and christened the King William, forming an aggregate of twenty-two thousand seven hun- dred and seventy-two tons—a trifle over one- third of our whole navy now in commission— allat asingle private establishment! With the coal and iron fields at hand, the Thames in which to launch their ships and the powerful engine building firms of Maudslay Sons and Fields, and Messrs. Penn & Sons near by, the facilities of this‘company for building vessels of war of whatever type are unrivalled in Eu- rope and almost entirely unknown in the United States. Then there is the Millwall Shipbuilding Company's Works, where the iron troop ship Himalaya, the Northumberland, six thousand six hundred and twenty-one tons, the Great Eastern and other famous metal ships of leviathan dimensions were con- structed. To these enormous shipyards we | may add the Mersey Steel and Iron Works, with their stupendous steam hammers and roll- ing mills; the Lairds, whose name became familiar to us during tae war and who built the Agincourt, of six thousand six hundred and twenty-one tons; the Napiers, of Glasgow, celebrated for their iron clippers, and many Others of more or less note, Con- fining themselves to well established princi- ples and employing none but the best work- men, these leading firms produce sbips and engines which may be deemed almost perfect. One thing is certain—there are no works in the world that will bear a comparison with them. Tuere are constructed for England her huge iron-clads, cheaper, better and far more expe- ditiously than they could be in the government dockyards ; and as these and many similar es- tablishments are the pride and boast of all Englishmen, so are they a great element of the wealth and power of the British nation. Let noone wonder, therefore, that England, with such vast facilities, should be able to furnish the whole world with cheap and magniticent ships. It is just such individual enterprise that we need to have developed and encouraged here. Our country has a superabundance of re- mortality of children must be directly attri- buted, and the poisonous odors from the gas works that spread disease and death through- out the whole region between Fourteenth and Thirty-fitth streets. The latter evil would be remedied by the adoption of the new magne- | the country or add to its cost. sources and our people have the genius, but we require a complete revision of our steam- ship law: regards the outfit, management and discipline of vessels and the repeal of all acts which exclude shipbuilding material from Besides this, sium light so highly commended by Professor | we should follow the example of England by ; Doremus in a late number of the H&Ratp. The former evil demands the immediate atten- | tion of our authorities to the suggestion ot throwing into tho private slipyards of our citizens all future contracts for vessels of war. Certain it is thatehere is no branch of me- | Commissioner Smith in favor of the publication | ohanical industry which has shed so much glory of a series of rules for diet, to be distributed | among the poorer classes of citizens who live in tenement houses, This suggestion has been referred to the Sanitary Committee, with power to act in the premises. upon the nation or contributed so vastly to ad- vance the hopes of mankind. In modelling it is not presumptuous to say that we excel all nations in the essentials of safety, capacity and speed; but the equipment and outfit of our It is not too late to insist also upon the im- | steamers do not compare with those of the portance of all requisite means to guard against | English or French. Our vessels are radically the danger of the importation of contagious | defective through too great economy in the diseases, such as the yellow fever, the cholera and other plagues. We trust that the Board of Health will not relax its vigilance and that first outlay, and are, besides, very often badly manned. In England the officers and crew are retained constantly in one ship, and thus this year we may again escape every form Of | they pecome familiar with her behavior at pestilence. soa. This, unfortunately, is not the case with us; for it frequently happens that By telegram dated in Berlin yesterday and | the passengers and crew come on board forwarded through the Atlantic cable we | together. Compared with English engines, learn that the Naturalization treaty lately con- | our engines, when built without regard cluded between North Germany and the United | to cost, are equal in point of durability States is in full and pleasing operation in Pras- tere pom more ingenuity is dis- sis, King William's government had ordered | played in and the cut-offs, that all prosecutions undertaken against | detaching levers, throttle valves, &o., are adopted American citizens of German birth | much more simple. This is specially exem- should be stayed, and that all such persons | plified in the walking beam engine. It may now in prison under former sentences for viole- | also be remarked that we consume less coal tion of local laws repealed by the treaty shall | than either the English or the French. As be released forthwith. This intelligence will be | builders of wooden ships there are no mechan- recolved with jey by our German fellow olti- | ios in the world who oan compete with us, but tans all over tho Union, [ (aguras the com- A natil there are inducements for the investmast | tere aheli he counted. As Congress has as- of capital even this hysR4): OF ine suipouuaing inter@st must languish, and thus eventually ‘pass into the hands of foreign artisans. Yet it is well known that as carriers iron ships “sweat” their cargoes in low latitudes and are insupportably hot. Besides, they require to be frequently docked to be kept clean, and can never enter the lists of competition with wooden ships for freights in the tropics. The shipbuilding interests of the United States were never in such languishing circum- stances as now. The unsound condition of the national currency, by enhancing the cost of labor and materials, has doubtless con- tributed to produce this deplorable state of things, and the only hope for the revival of this important branch of American industry is in speedy and energetic Congressional legisla- tion. Stringent laws are needed for the better protection of life and property at sea. Amore rigid inquiry should be instituted into the capacity of navigators and engineers and every effort made to encourage the endow- ment of marine schools. The natural result of these measures would be to attract-the capital of’ the merchant and to stimulate the skill of the mechanic and the shipwright. In the event of @ war the entire force of the private shipyards thus called into-life would become available for government work. Let us, then, urge upon Congress the pressing necessity of relieving our shipbuilding interest from the trammeis and drawbacks which now depress it. Fashion in Europe and America, Our special fashions correspondence from Paris, dated on the 26th of June, conveys in the same lively, piquant and attractive style which has distinguished the series from its commencement the reflection of the will of the fickle goddess so far as it can be received from a description of the latest styles of toilet prevailing at court, on the racing grounds, and in preparation for use, perhaps only display, during a season of healthful recreation and pleasant abandon at the sea side. With Eugénie at Fontainebleau, Napoleon in camp at Chalons, foreign ‘‘sportswomen” and English countesses on the turf, and the “world” of Paris in active preparation for rustication and salt water baths, Fashion may be regarded as_ being in a slightly demoralized condition, her everyday code of must be finished from “head to toe,” according to rule, having been relaxed to a very considerable extent, while j the charming little heads of the ladies appear to have been confused with an incongruity of idea as to what would be ‘just the thing to bring out,” coupled with amusing attempts to fix and shape into form fitting and vaporlike | outlines of elegant robes, hats, skirts, petti- coats, jackets, flounces, trains, cuffs, collars and the remainder, which ‘‘nobody ever thought of before,” and from which the most startling, brilliant results in all matters apper- taining to dress generally flow. It was a mo- ment of fashion in its crudities; so the writer has nothing very definite to chronicle, yet re- veals quite enough to attract attention. Eugénie endeavored to bring the fashionable world to Fontainebleau by a routine of simple yet elegant receptions. Comtesse Montgomery, the Duchess Ferzensac, with the leading *‘turf- | women" of the Bois, attracted much attention | at the Paris race course in dresses of unuslin, lawn or pique; mostly of striped patterns, made in the blouse fashion; petticoats of the same material or drab linen, trimmed with white guipure, and hats—assuming there wasa hat—ornamented with feathers of such length | and profusion of curl that the exact covering of | the head could not be seen. The Empress graced the grand stand, dressed in a robe of corah fou- lard, of a dark cream color, bordering on | fawn, and two other foulards—the tussar and laintoun—were much patronized in the city. France bad, as usual, gone over, in fashion- able invasion, to the muddy little English sea- | port of Scarborough, in the North Riding of | Yorkshire, with the view of acquiring the cut of the most recent British eccentricities in sporting and watering place costumes—an an- | nual movement on the part of France calcu- | lated to depreciate her name for originality in | fashionable invention in the eyes ot independ- ent thinkers, but which tends to illustrate the position taken by some persons in the Old World—it may have been the Tooley street tailors—that there is really nothing ever new in dress but the material, and that what is known as fashion is merely a renovation and “retouch” of something which had been worn several years, perhaps centuries, before. This argument induces a consideration of the main point of our present fashions letter in the query—Why should New York go to Paris for the fashions? Why should not New York— Americans—create, use, control and send fashions to Europe? France has no mo- nopoly of polished idea, and the mind of her people is not so clear and original as that of the free children of the United States. Paris has merely inherited her sensitive appreciation of neatness in dressing from others and duly transmits it as a monopoly of fasion, Ancient Rome was more famous than modern Paris, and just as particular, in the matter of dress— perhaps more particular, for Horace has fixed the Roman gentleman as the Aome factus ad unguem—a ‘‘man made even to bis nail,” un- alterably in history. Regarding the philosophy of the science of fashion in this light, we think it is high time that we should, in a friendly way, revolation- ize the Paris idea and write a declaration of American independence in the matter of the origin and ‘‘composition” of our dress fashions. Votes of the Southern States in the Electoral College. The question of admitting the votes of the Southern States in the Electoral College has been creating a good deal of discussion in Con- gress, and a bill has just passed both houses excluding votes of those States that may not have adopted a constitution of State govern- ment since the 4th of March, 1867, under which & State government shall have been organized and in operation, and unless the election of electors shall have been held under the authority of such constitution and government, and such State shall also become entitled to representation in Congress pursuant to the acts of Congress. It was necessary, no doubt, to define precisely the status of the Southern States in this respect in order to prevent any difficulty when the votes of the Electoral Col- aimee the power to say what States are in the Union and what out, which shall be entitled to répresentation in the national legislature and which not, it will decide, of course, what electoral votes shall be counted and what not. Congress has become absolute in the matter, and there is no going behind its decisions short of another civil war. Under this condition of things it is better to have the question definitely settled in advance of the meeting of the Electoral College. We want no more civil war or strife. If Congress be acting unconsti- tutionally and despotically we must wait till a revolution can be effected at the polls. That is the only remedy. In the meantime the Southern people and the country generally must make the best of their dilemma and wait patiently the turn of events. The Triumph and Reign of Opera Bouffe. The next titillation of the popular taste for amusement is to be the ‘‘Barbe Bleue,” opéra bougfe by Offenbach, which is to be presented | by Bateman and his favorite artists in the late | home of those frippery splendors the ‘‘White Fawn” and the ‘‘Black Crook.” Now the “Barbe Bleue” represents a third atage in the development of French fancy before our city footlights. It is a little better— that is, a litttle worse—than its pre- decessors, The ‘‘Duchess” was a dainty. piece of deviltry. It had suggestion in it, but presented with such art, such exquisite drollery, such taking humor, that no 0: e had the impudence to be virtuous. The ‘‘Belle Héltne” was perceptibly broader and still at- tractive. It was a kind of vice that men could embrace without the probationary familiarity that the rhyme supposes. It was a story com- mended to thought by the happy negations of wit. Here, on one hand, is the old rigmarole, tedious with its two thousand years of repeti- tion, more or less, as Homer told it, with Achilles for its Hero, Agamemnon and Mene- laus for great men, Helen for its deceitful woman and Paris for a slippery rascal, and wit jumps up and says to all this, ‘I don’t believe it,” and then presents a new version, in which the loud words of Achilles make him a mere bully, the tameness of Menelaus presents him as a simpleton, and Helen is justified for pre- ferring a handsome fellow of spirit in Paris. All this covers the moral and makes a story fit for ears polite from a simple case of seduction; and the French language, be it said, covers many | a covert phrase and sly dig at decency that people would hardly tolerate in English. It is the case of Tom Hood’s deaf old gammer toss- | ing pence to the sailor for his song:— Only think of tossing a copper To Tom or Jack with a timber li -Who looks as if he were singing mo Instead of a song that’s very improper. Now, having digested the ‘Duche: and “Helen,” we are to have ‘‘Blue Beard,” which is a little stronger, and thus we see that the world moves. How horrified simple people were when artists that had charmed Europe firat tried our stage; when Vestris, Celeste and Elssler came, in the confidence of assumed victories won in Europe, before ‘audiences whose modesty was not a feeble valetudinarian trembling at every trifle! How eagerly the | toilet was discussed then, and especially the | length of the skirts, and what an awkward creature Ellsler looks like now in the old prints, comparing her skirts with the skirts (?) they wear in some of our modern ballets! How bravely we have gotten over our primitive objections with our hundred nights of the naked truth and our hilarious revels in French fancy! London has gotten over some objec- tions of her own also, and staid, pious, pray- sermonizing Joha Bull smiled ing, churchgoing, has looked on approvingly and tremendously on Schneider—the archest, daintiest piece of Par sent over to tempt him in Offenbach’s music, and knock about his ears ail his old pet | notions about ‘what is correct, you know.” We shall go onin the same direction. We shall laugh more delightedly over opéra bouffa | the coming winter than we did last winter, and | shall have more provocation. We shall have it from Bateman at Niblo’s, from Grau at the French theatre, from somebody else, perhaps, at Pike’s—three or four companies with opéra | bouffe at once. Everything else will be dead— Italian opera dead as a stone Memnon buried in the mud of the Nile or the sands of the | desert ; legitimate drama dead as a dozen | marble monks in as many old Gotbic ruins of | churches. Even the naked drama gives no promise. There is life in nothing now but opéra bouffe, and from this present stage of dramatic vitality what comes next? Is this the end of the career? From having the taste cloyed with this sort of delight do people come back to a desire for thought, language and passion on the stage, or must we go still further for that? The War for the Union Resalts. Without acknowledging that they are ashamed of their great success, that they repent of their aThesion {) the great principles on which they condyctod tae recent war, the \inerican people canr ‘upport a pecty opposed to ths war, and wir enecess would be @ sina! for the abandonment of the moral and politi | cal advantoges gained to the nation by | the war. It is in virtue of the war that we stand as we do in the eyes of for- eign nations. One of its great effects was to aggrandize our fame abroad, to show usin our true proportions before those who thought us insignificant brawlers, and to make us known as the leaders of thought—the very head and front of progress to all the peoples. In this blaze of active struggle, this concentra- tion of our life that was crammed into the four years of war, we have become as an example to all the-nations of a people devoted to free- dom, enlightenment, progress; and we must not belie that impression by going backwards. We must not say we are sorry for the great things we did by giving our suffrages to a party that would have prevented us from doing them. Through the political sequences of the war we must adhere to the great leader who guided us safely through the struggle, and help him still to keep the country right and keep down those violent political elements that would swerve us from the direct path to one side or the other. We must stand by Grant as the best hope of the nation’s safety and the only guarantee that we shall not be false to ourselves, and Its Logical *) om