The New York Herald Newspaper, December 20, 1868, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, RELIGIOUS SERVICES TO-DAY. ANTHON MEMORIAL CHURCH.—Rev. Tuomas A. SARK, Morning and evening, CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION.—Rev. Dr. FLAGG, ‘Morning and afternoon. URCH OF THE REFORMATION. —RRv. Brows. Morning and afternoo AzborT CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR, mrs fifth street.—Rev. J. M, PULLMAN. Morning ang ren COOPER INSTITUTE.. —DR. a EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THR HOLY TRINITY.—Key. G. F. KRoTRL, Morning and evening. Borston. Evening. EVERETT ROOMS.—Srimitvatists. Mus. M. Wil- ueLM. Morning and evening. FREE CHURCH OF THE HOLY LIGHT.—Rry. East- BURN BENJAMIN, Morning and evening. AN CHURCH.— FORTY-SECOND STREET PRESBY" 4 Rtv. evening. .W. A. Scorr, D.D. Mornin FIFTH AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH.—Rey. T, ARMr- tae, D.D, Morning and Evening. PERRY STREET M. E. CHURCH.—Drpicarion. Morn- ing and afternoon. SEVENTEENTH STREET M. E. CHL RCH,—Bisuor SIMPSON. Morning. Se 87. ANN’S FREE CHURCH.—Rey. Dr. Price. Morn- ing and evening. 8ST. ANN’S Ci bern Eighth street. 8B. Puxston. Evenit wNIVERSITY, Washington square.—“Tue will preach at 3' o'clock. Lecrure—Rey. T. Proruri” TRIPLE SHEET. The cable telegrams are dated December 19. ‘The Greek steamer Erosis is still at Syra, watched by Hobart Pacha. A demand for the protection of Greek subjects in Constantinople was made on the guaranteeing Powers, but no decisive response has yet been announced. The Turkish commander has been forbidden by his government to invade Greek territories unless under certain contingencies. The Eastern troubles have seriously affected the *morey market. The great Powers urge a delay of action. A revoit in the provinces of Thessaly and Macedonia is expected. The elections for members of the Spanish Cortes are progressing quietly and a monarchy will be the probable form of government. A treaty of peace between Spain and Chile is almost certain. The Cadiz insurgents will be tried by a councll of war. ‘The correspondence between Mr. Laird and Rev- erdy Johnson was pubiished yesterday. It is the key to the warm friendship existing between these ‘two distinguished men. The London 7imes says that the sum of MY. John- son's policy 1s, “that trifes must not prevent the preservation of peaceful relations between England and America.” The resolution guaranteeing immunity from arrest for words spoken in debate was yesterday rejected in the Upper House of Deputies in Berlin. Cuba. Generals Espina and La Torre, with 360 soldiers, arrived at Hayana yesterday from Spain, General Espina will relieve Balmaseda, and General La Torre will command the Eastern department. ‘The insurrectionists continue im the neighborhood of Manzanillo. Rumors have reached Havana of engagements between the troops and insurgents in the neighborhood of Holguin, Santiago de Cuba and Bayamos. Congressional. A petition was presented to the Senate yesterday signed by 1,500 poor inhabitants of Stockiiolm, Swe- den, asking Congress vo adopt some measures by which they can be brought to this country. Mr. Pomeroy yesterday introduced into the United States Senate a bill to provide for the reassembling of tne Georgia Constitutional Convention, and iustructing that body to amend the constitution so as te place beyond ail possibility of doubt the right of every citiven of the State, black or white, to hold ofiee. The President yesterday noma @ Thomas N, Stilwell, of Indiana, as Minister to \ cwerueuw. Miscellaneous. Senator Morton's bill for the redemption of the currency and resumption of specie payments ts re- ceiving much attention from financiers, and there is ® possibility that after receiving a few important amendments it may pass Congress and become a jaw. United States Treasurer Spinner speaks favor- ably of this bill, and thinks that most of the objec- tious taken to it are ili founded. He says no doubt the Treasury will be able, by July, 1871, to reserve a sufficient amount in gold to warrant a return to specie payments. Secretary Seward was re the Alaska Bribery Investigation Committee yesterday, He knew nothing of any sums having been paid to infiu- ence the passage of the Alaska Appropriation bill, but recommended to Haron Stoeckl, the Russian Minister, Robert J. Walker as a man who could be made useful in laying before the people the facts in relation to the Rus- Wian-American possessions, Two newspaper cor- respondents were examined, but they knew nothing about the matter, and their letters only retailed street ramora. Thus far it has been shown that but one person connected with the press realized any- thing by this Alaska transaction. A letter has been recetved from General Sheridan giving information received from Black Kettle’s sister, Several parties of Cheyennes, Kiowas, Sioux, Apaches and Comanches were encamped ip the Washita bottom, within a few miles of each other, from which war parties are sent out in differ- ent directions to operate against the whites. One of these parties, alter taking three scalps, returned, and it was their trail which General Custer struck and which led him to Black Kettie’s village. The Cheyennes, Arapahoes and their allies are so badly demoralized at the defeat ana death of Biack Kettle that it is expected they will come in and accept any terms that may be offered. The plains are covered with every description of game, and the indians were faring most luxuriantly. The builders of the steamer Meteor, which vessel her owners intended to offer to the government for the pursuit of the Alabama, but whose services were not needed by reason of the conclusion of the war, have applied to Congress for redress for certain grievances which they suffored in having their ves. wel seized by government officials and preventing her sale to a friendly nation. While a white man named Gleason and a negro Named Dunlop were being examined before the Mayor of Charlotte, N.C., the negro drew a pistol and shot Gleason twice, inflicting mortal wounds. Gleason attempted to run out of the court room, Dut as he was passing out of the door he was struck by ® negro policeman and instantly killed. Both Degroes were arrested, but it is feared that a mob Will break open the jail and hang the offenders. ‘The amount of fractional currency receivert at the United States Treasury during Iast week was $617,100. Of this sum $100,000 was sent to each of the Assistant Treasurers in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, and $231,000 distributed to the nattonal banks. During the week ¢607,500 in mutilated cur- wency Was redeemed and destroyed. ‘The troubles of the Peruvian war steamer Mara- non (late the Havana, of this city), at New Orleans, increase rather ‘Han diminish, Collector Fuller has ordered the revenue cutter Wild to intercept the Maranon should she attempt to jeave without authority from the Oustom Hous: @ Peruvian monitors are still lying at the mouth of the river. Adespatch from Little Rock, Ark., says that on the morning of the 18th four companies of mititia entered the town of Lewivburg aur set dre to two NEW YORK HERALD, storehouses, which were burned, qn all their con- tents. Mr. Casey, proprietor of ono of the stores, Was shot and his body thrown into the Mames, The town is still held by the militia, who permit no person to leave without a pasa. The special committee of seven appointed by the House of Representatives to investigate the alleged election frauds im this city arrived from Washington yesterday morning and are iocated at tue Astor House. A project is on foot to make the Missouri Pacific Railroad @ direct link in the great chain of roads from the east end of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, An informal meeting of the Buffato Board of Trade was held yesterday to consider what measures are necessary to secure the enlargement of the Erie canal and the reduction of tolls, Important action upon this subject will be taken in a few days. ‘Thompsonville, Conn., is infested by incendiaries, On Friday night a dwelling house and three large barns were set on fire and destroyed. ‘The City. Governor Hoffman has withdrawn his acceptance of the offer of the Seventy-first regiment N. G, S. N. Y. as escort to Albany on the occasion of his inau- guration. He says the excursion would involve great expense upon the regiment, and the resolution introduced into the Common Covacil making an appropriation to meet such expense he disapproves of and cannot sanction. Colonel Parmlee, in reply, States that the members of the regiment proposed to pay their own expenses, and that the action of the Common Council was altogether unsolicited and unexpected by them, : The argument in the Erie litigation before Judge Cardozo was resumed yesterday, and at its close an adjournment was ordered until Saturday next, when Mr. Field will conclude the argument and the case will be submitted for decision. The Superior Court and the Common Pieas, Cham- bers, yesterday adjourned as a mark of respect for the memory of the late Chief Justice Robertson, In the United States Circuit Court yesterday an order of stay of proceedings in the case of the United States vs, William Fullerton and others was received, The United States Disurict Attorney, Mr. Courtney, in addressing the court on the subject, intimated that the course adopted in this matter of not communicating the order of the presiding Judge to him directly was unusual. Mr. Courtney said he would immediately communicate the facts and circumstances of the case to Judge Nelson, of which, it was to be sup- posed, he was previously unaware, and he was sure his Honor would vacate his order of stay of pro- ceedings and order the trial to proceed. The store of William Jackson, No. 551 Broadway, wasentered by burgiars early yesterday morning and a large amount of valuable silks stolen. The scoundrels were seen about five o'clock on Mercer street with a portion of the goods, and officer McClintock attempted to arrest them. One of the thieves escaped, but his companion, calling himself John McCormick, was secured and taken to the station house. While endeavoring to escape McCor- mick drew a pistol and fired it almost in the face of omMcer Hendry, but fortunately without doing him any inyury. A meeting of commercial travellers was held at the Astor House yesterday to take into consideration the practicability of petitioning Congress to take action in relation to the license laws of various cities and States. An adjourned meeting will be held on the 23d inst. at the Astor House, which both merchants and travellers are invited to attend. The Third Army Corps Union will meet at Del- monico’s on Wednesday evening. General Sickles will preside and Generals Hooker and Hetutzelman are expected to be present. Cold opened yesterday morning at 135%, sold down to 135, but subsequently rallied, and after a sharp advance closed at 136. New York Central continued the feature of the stock market, and sales were made at 14, The closing price was 4; off. Pacific Mail advanced to 114% @ 115. Prominent Arrivals in the Cit: Captain H, P, Conner, of steamship Henry Chaun- y encral H. L. Palmer, of Milwaukee, and Gen- era: George S. Dodge, United States Consul to Bremen, are at the Metropolitan Hotel. Senator E. D. Morgan, of New York; Congressman Ausiin Blair, of Michigan; Congressmen Henry L. Dawes, of Massachusetts; William Lawerance, of Ohio; B. F, Hopkins, of Wisconsin; M. C. Kerr, of In- diana; 1. W. Ross, of Illinois; Bradley Barlow, of Vermont Wendell, of Washington; H. C, Wads- worth, of Massachusetts; 0. 1. Dickey, of Pennsyl- vania, and Judge Rufieid, of Boston, are at the Asior House. Major Wynkoop, of the United States Army, is at the Hoffman House. George P. Danon, John White, L, A. Belknap, Sydney Squires and John F, Kennard, of the Boston Common Council, are at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. United States Senator J. W. Grimes, of lowa; Con- gressman J. V. Ll. Pruyn, of Albany, and Professor KE. H. Blake, of Ithaca, are at the Brevoort House. Captain Brown, of the Coast Survey; Major Kus- sell, of the United States Army, and Professor Adams, of Memphis, are at the St, Charles Hotel. Prominent Departures. Congressmen J. G. Blaine, of Maine; J. Gregory Smith, of Vermont; Juage Colt, of Connecticut; Judge James M. Buchanan, of baltimore, and Con- gressman N, P. Banks, of Massachusetts. Spanish History and Events Its Bearing To-Day. Spain is roused again, and words and deeds come to us from the Iberian peninsula with the old historic ring. No nation in Europe can count a longer or a nobler pedigree or a more pertinacious adherence to the elementary prin- ciples of human liberty, municipal rights and safeguards than the Spanish people. They have not always been the tools and victims of a despotism such as that which for the past three hundred years has plunged them in the lowest depths of degradation, and ever and anon through the long roll of history they blaze forth, as they are now doing, in sponta- neous and flerce defence of freedom. A rapid glance at their records, such as we can find space for in the columns of a daily journal, will suffice to show them ia their true light. These remount to a thousand years before Christ, when the Phoenicians colonized the shores of the Mediterranean and passed between the Pillars of Hercules. After them came the Greeks, colonizing the shores of Catalonia and leaving there the old spirit which marked this seafaring and turbulent people, when Demos- thenes thundered in the ears of Philip of Macedon. Two centuries before the Christian era the Greek colonists invited the Rormans (o assist them in their wars with Carthage, and the Roman dominion endured for five hundred years. Then came the birth era of the present Spanish nation, which still delights in its moments of enthusiasm to shont “We are Goths.” From the strong loins of the big headed German tribes—the Vandals and the Visigoths—-sprang the ancestors (fifteen centu- ries ago) of the present Spanish people. Van- dalusia still lives in Andalusia, and the old Gothic oath of coronation is still the keynote of Spanish loyalty—“We, who are each as much as thou, and together more than thou, do elect thee for our king, that thou mayst maintain our laws and rights; if not, no.” These all-conquering Toutons amalgamated the heterogeneous populations of Spain and impressed upon them their love for municipal privileges and elective monarchy. Their per- tinacious resistance to the principle of politi- cal centralization gave to the proselyting hosts from Arabia an easy conquest when they ep peared at the beginning of the seventh century upon the soil of Spain. Borne back to the hills of Asean the Spanish Goths took heart in their recesses, and from the cave of Cova- donga Pelayo sprang to turn back the tide of Arab conquest. For more than seven centu- ries the conflict endured, the Goths gradually regaining their lost ground, until in 1491 the sun of Arab dominion set with the fall of Granada, and rose that of Western emprise under the Spanish banner borne by Columbus in the van to a new world. It was amid the Gothic kingdoms of Spain during these eight centuries (700-1500 A.D.) that the rights of the people, the principles of elective monarchy and the safeguards of muni- cipal organization were strenuously defended, even while the rest of Europe was sunk in feudal barbarism, Aragon was the first Christian king- dom ia which the commons—the third estate— obtained legal recognition. When Alonzo the Wise, of Castile, 1222-1285, codified the laws and gave a more centralized form to their administration he was long resisted by the great cities, which clung to their ancient muni- cipal rights, In Aragon we behold the Cortes creating the supreme court of the kingdom, with a chief justice to decide between the king and the representatives; and in a later period, under Alonzo V., 1416-1456, it was provided that the chief justice should be appointed with the consent of the Cortes, to prevent encroach- ments upon the constitution. It was not until the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella that the crown succeeded in establishing that reign of priestcraft and despotism which has since sunk the kingdom so low. Nor was this done with- out resistance. Their successor, Charles—first of Germany and fifth of Spain—in the begin- ning of his reign encountered a fierce resist- ance from the commons, when the people defended their municipal rights and very nearly succeeded in stopping the encroachments of the crown. Under his weak but despotic son, Philip II., the decay of the kingdom began to. be felt. Yet still, in the sixteenth century, the Spanish language and fashions led the courts of Europe. With Charles I., 1665-1700, ended the reign of the house of Hapsburg, and the Bourbons came in with Philip 111. From that day, suffice it to say, a Bourbon policy ruled Spain. Yet still, from time to time, we find the old Gothic spirit cropping out. The people hailed with joy the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 and yet were not led astray from their old political landmarks by the French revolution twenty years later. When Napoleon placed his brother Joseph on the throne in 1806 they had recourse to their ancient institution of the Cortes, and when Ferdinand VII. returned to the throne they forced this elective body upon him, and it was overthrown only by a French army of a hundred thousand men, under the Duke d’Angouléme, which invaded the king- dom with the sanction of the Congress ot Verona. This rapid survey brings us to the period of Spain’s greatest decay, when, at the death of Ferdinand, the Spanish banner had disappeared from every sea, and Spanish commerce, literature and power were become things of the past. [t was the contest for his succession, which, appealing to the love of liberty latent in the hearts of the people, gave to Spain a new im- pulse. Christina, as regent during the minor- ity of Isabella, re-established the Cortes, and Charles V., contesting the crown with her, pro- claimed the ancient /eros, or privileges, in the Basque provinces. A civil war in the name of freedom desolated Spain until the sur- render at Vergara in 1839. During this period, in 18 the monastic orders were abolished with universal popular rejoicings ; but until a very recent date a military scab covered the body politic, and the theories of the crown are sufliciently represented in the fact that it brought the Jesnits back. Be- neath this military rule the popular heart held up. Commerce sought and found new life, population began to increase, railways and telegraphs appeared and traversed the penin- sula in every direction, and a new race of his- torians, under the lead of Castro, have dared to assert that the history of the country as written since the time of Ferdinand and Isa- bella is one continuous lie, which must be in- terpreted in a contrary sense in every im- portant assertion, It is this growth, reviving the old ideas, which has driven Isabella U1. from her throne and to-day agitates Spain from centre to circumference. A few words on recent events will suffice to explain the present attitude of affairs in Spain. General Prim is the most daring but not the only leader who comprehended the true con- dition of popular sentiment. Two years ago he told Queen Isabella that she must change her policy or be driven from the country. He has since made several efforts at revolution with signal failure. Subsequently the leaders of the army recognized the ripeness of time, and an arrangement was made with Prim, then in exile, that the army would follow bis lead in a new movement, provided he would not claim the first place in the new government. The result is known, Isabelia fled to France, followed only by Gonzales Bravo, the two Conchas and Marfori. Everywhere the new government was accepted with popular rejoic- ing. Freedom of speech and pen and worship were at once proclaimed, Delay occurred in the organization of the permanent govern- ment, and the people became excited and sus- picious; but on the eve of « threatened | universal rising the magic of the promised | convening of the Cortes has calmed the tempest. Everywhere throughout () mury preparations are active for the com. elee- tions, and the popular mind is satisfied. Domestic and foreign intrigue are at work, hut await to feel the temper of the popular representation in the Cortes. What this will be may be deduced from the fact we have already mentioned—that the French theories of red republicanism, with its single Chamber of Deputies, and the tyranny of some popular orator or soldier have never gained a foothold among the Spaniards. The old form of Gothic representation included the separate gatherings of the higher and lower nobility, the clergy and the towns or commons, and the modern adheres to the distinction of Nobles and Commons. -Not a few French and Italian government-mongers, who have never exhibited anything but alacrity in failure, have recently volunteered advice to the Spaniards; but we incline to believe they will be very little heeded. The old forms and rights are too deeply imbedded in the Spanish mind, aud its chief aim is the Cortes, With SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1868.—TRIPLE SHEET. this as the governing nade it will Sema iiute | whether the head of the State be called king or president. Under the new order of things, and adopting the modern appliances of a free press, steam and electricity, we may expect the Gothic mind of Spain to blaze out again, though it may not discover another new world nor reconquer an old one, The Religious Element in the Late Elec. tions in Great Britain. It is a curious and not wholly uninteresting fact in connection with the late elections that while Ireland and Scotland, boroughs and counties included, have gone in for Mr. Gladstone and his policy almost as a unit, and while the great centres of population in England—the cities and towns—have followed suit, the English counties have, almost a perfect unit, gone in for Mr. Disraeli. The fact is instructive. Scotland and Ireland do not care two cents for the Episcopal Church. On many subjects at variance—wide, in fact, as the Poles asunder—Scotland and Ireland are yet, on the question of disestablishing the Protestant Episcopal Church in Ireland, of one mind. The reason is not far to seck, Ireland is not opposed to the establishment of a religion, but she is opposed to the establishment of a reli- gion, or rather a form of religion, which is alien to the country and foreign to the tastes and wishes of the people. The Episcopal Church is an exotic in Ireland. It belongs not to the soil, and the people detest it. In Scot- land, much as Popery is hated, Black Prelacy is hated even more. Of the two the history of Prelacy is certainly the most offensive. The vote which Scotland has given now she would, had she been asked, have given any time the last hundred years. She gives it now all the more heartily that in the history of religious establishments in the country she has found wanting not Popery only, not Popery and Prelacy together, but Presbyterianism as well. With the single exception of the United States there is no country in the world so completely emancipated from the once all-controlling idea of religious establishments as the little kingdom of Scotland. It is altogether different in England. Episcopacy, since the days of Elizabeth, has been the favorite form of Christianity with the great mass of the people. The question of establishments has been con- nected with no other form of belief for the last three hundred years. If establishment was right at all, then the established faith must be Protestant Episcopacy. In the towns, how- ever, and allthe large cities where thought has been quickened by contact and where a larger measure of light has been enjoyed, the love of justice and fair play has overcome the love of any form of religion. Intelligent Eng- lishmen love justice, and intelligent Englishmen are to be found in the towns and cities and not in the rural districts. We have written enough to explain why the growing sentiment of the three kingdoms is against the Irish Charch and why the counties of England stand alone, The last obstruction of justice is in the English counties—that is to say, in the rural districts— and that obstruction must yield to the combined force of all Ireland, of all Scotland and of all the intelligence of England. Mr. Gladstone represents the growing spirit of the age, and the Irish Church establishment must fall; but so must that of Scotland and that of England. This explains the result of the elections, but it explains also the difficulty with which Mr. Gladstone and his great opponent, Mr, Disraeli, must équally grapple. An Imperial Visit to Queen Isadolia, On Friday last, it appears, the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Eugénie made a call upon Queen Isabella at her residence pro tem. in Paris. Of course the common courte- sies of polite society called for this visit to the royal exile; but still it is calculated to sug- gest some curious inquiries. The Empress Eugénie, for instance, is a Spaniard and hardly less devoted to Mother Church and the Holy Father than Isabella herself, the wearer of Pio Nono’s last Golden Rose. What, then, would most likely be the special theme of the conversation between the Empress and the Queen on this formal visitation? The Church, perhaps, and how to maintain the cause of the Church in Spain. We know, too, that Napoleon is watching like an imperial eagle the move- ments of the revolutionary factions and the drift of events in Spain. What, then, was most probably the leading topic between the Emperor and the exiled Queen on this inte- resting occasion? The strength, designs and moving causes of the various Spanish revoln- tionary cliques and factions, no doubt, and especially the strength of the republican fac- tion. Again, why has Isabella sought asylum in Paris, when her affection for the Holy Father, one would suppose, ought to have caused her to accept his fatherly invitation to Rome? Because, in view of her interests as a sovereign, the Pope cannot help her; but the Emperor possibly may. In short, the presence of Isabella in Paris is a very fruitful theme for speculation and conjecture, and may yet be productive of a world of mischief. Tue ALaska Money.—The fact that the Congressional investigating committee charged with this subject has addressed an inquiry to Mr. Bodisco, of the Rus- sian legation, gives the committee the appear- ance in some degree of stepping on delicate ground. It will, perhaps, be asked what Con- gress has to do with the question how Russia spends her money, and what power it possesses to put questions to Russia's authorized agents ag to the disposal they make among all sorts of irresponsible persons of money that came honestly into their possession. The answer is that Congress moves with regard to the privilege and character of members, The allegation has been made on substan- tial authority that a large amount of money was spent here by Russia through different parties with the purpose of affecting the votes of members of Congress, and Congress itself, concerned about its own purity, bases the investigation on that point. Is it not odd that Congress waited for a case with Russia to investigate the honesty of its members on money charges ? Tne Rop to Be Kerr in PweKie ror Geyerat Graxt.—It is given ont from Wash- ington that the Honse Judiciary Committes, to which was referred the bill introduced by General Butler, for the repeal of the Tenure of Office law, will report against the repeal, Tho Modern Dictetors=-How They Rute Us in War. The year 1861 found the world compara- tively at peace. Now and then in Europe progress throttled some feudal principle which became prominent as the people compared the new with the old and cast their fortunes with the former. For nearly half a century the Old World had been tossing civilization about like a football—kicked upwards first by the masses against aristocratic prerogatives, and by the “grace of God,” as embodied in royal rights, kicked back again only to be tossed the higher at the rebound. The year 1861 found Europe contented with the old and opposing innovation, and, although far advanced, still clinging to the same methods of making war that had characterized the campaigns of Frederick the Great and of Napoleon I. The navies were those of Copenhagen, of Traful- gar and the Nile. The armies clung to the awkward old musket and in many cases the flint lock. Artillery that sent shell or solid shot two miles was the perfection of the ord- nance art. Military bridges were rarely built in time of war so quickly as we now throw them across rivers in time of peace. Not that Europe did not possess the elements to accomplish all these things; but up to Sadowa they had not felt their existence, although after 1861 and during our rebellion they began to study the effect of modern civili- zation on the art of war. Before the attention of the United States was turned in a warlike direction the race between attack and defence had been almost equal. Itis true, however, that defence had been always a little behind, and that every engineer was expected, like Vauban, to besiege and take his best fortification. Since our rebellion the war science is changed. Greater and more powerful elements have been applied—have, in fact, forced themselves into operation. The old has gone down before the gigantic new. The navies of Trafalgar and the Nile have dropped to pieces at the touch of the monitor and the iron-clad. The European musket has become a fossil, while every arms manufactory, even at this moment, is strained to its utmost capacity to supply the breech-loading rifles demanded to equalize the power of nations. In artillery we sent shot from a distance of over five miles into Charles- ton. Europe could not have been more astonished had we thrown a shell from New York into Berlin. We opened a new era in warfare and made it a wave instead of a rivulet. Military bridges were thrown across rivers like magic. Whole corps d'armée were moved with wonderful celerity, with all their material of war, to threatened points by our new system of logistics. We brought into play everything that was thoroughly modern. The old military science, asa science, was almost lost in more recent, appliances made military for the occasion. The nation went into the field. It took its rail- ways, its telegraphs and its steam machinery with it; and these were the dictators of the position. The men who made these were the men who were in the contest. Let it not be supposed that all this was directed by a chosen body of picked officers, educated at the national expense. They did not create the monarchs whom we have mentioned, and generally allowed them to be brought into play by the great army of the people, whose en- gineers, skilled in their use, stopped neither at old army theories nor other obstacles—as wit- ness the Red river dam, the iron-clad fleet on the Mississippi and the “swamp angel” battery in front of Charleston, The dictatorship which lies in the hands of the telegraph, the railway and steam is irresistible, and proves one thing—that we can rely upon civilizatiou for defence more than we can rely upon old theories, be they of war or government. In Europe, up to the advent of modern forces, wars were slow, ran through generations, even when the question for which they were origi- nated was one of vital moment. In the United States, in the era of the ele- ments which are not only greatest in peace but greatest in war, we have once and for all settled in four years a question which—down from Asia and Africa, through the Roman empire and through the feudal ages—we in- herited. The old relic of feudalism turned us aside for a moment—the Middle Ages stung the nineteenth century without counting on the power of civilization. We turned and launched our modern three military arms against them, and the result was only equalled by the rapid- ity with which these arms and the men who wielded them returned to the channel from which they had for the moment been forced. Now onward with them to greater victories! Soon we shall span the Continent and make the heart of Asia beat when our pulse throbs. Europe does that now, and it threatens monarch- ical dissolution for class privileges which are struggling against a power they cannot attack, & power whose every step by steaim, by rail- way or by telegraph is a victory. The British Press on Our National Debt and Credit. Some of the English newspapers, commenting on the proceedings in Congress relative to the national debt, argue that there is an ambiguity of purpose apparent in the resolutions against repudiation, and that if the world was assured the United States would pay the interest in gold the annual burden might be reduced one-half. We did not know that there was any doubt about paying the interest in gold, whatever may have been thought of paying a portion of the principal in currency, In fact, Mr. McCul- loch has converted nearly all the debt bearing currency interest into the coin interest debt, and there is little of the former remaining. We do not see, however, with these British philosophers, that the annaal burden has been lessened. On the contrary, it has been increased. The world is thus practically as- sured that the interest will be paid in gold ; still, if it were doubly assured of that by further logislative action the bonds might go up in Europe, but that would not lessen the annual burden while the interest remains what it is. Perhaps it is icant that the interest might be reduced if assurance were given that the inte- rest would always be patd in gold. Well, if we accept that explanation and act upon it what will same British newspapers say? What do they say when anything is suggested about reducing the interest on our debi ont lustily, “repudiation!” T all us dishonest and all sorts of had ri a that their own country ro- these They cry a “ducoa the interest on its debt from five, siz and seven per cent to three and three and a half, What they mean and wwnt is that we shall continue to pay them interest at six percent in gold, and the principal in gold as yell. They want Congress to guarantee that, and then they will take more of the debt and ¢ain this country of @ large amount of specie ewry year. Theirs is the logic of self-intergt, But as to reducing our annual burdens, thaiis all bosh. They are being yearly increased y this very policy, which Mr. McCulloch follow, and which will end either in saddling tho m tion, like that of England, with a stupendos and perpetual debt or in repudiation, Latest Eastern News.—The natural hee tation to enter upon so complicated and even ful a war as that which now threatens Euro) is manifest from our latest advices fro Athens, declaring that ‘‘the government | Greece has as yet taken no steps of an offer sive character,” and from the telegrams froi St. Petersburg, according to which ‘‘Russi and the other great Powers agree that both th’ Porie and Greece should delay action for fiv, days, in order that negotiations for a settle ment of the questions at issue may be at tempted.” Diplomacy may yet prevont the general European war which now seems to b¢ imminent. Toe Whiskey Fraups—GeneraL VAW Wycx's Discoverims.—Among the reports from committees in the House of Representa- tives to-morrow we are promised a startling report on the whiskey frauds, chapter and verse, the whiskey rings and their modus operandi, from General Van Wyck, of the House Investigating Committee. We hope that these discoveries will result in the stop- page of some of the leaks, but we fear that Mr. Van Wyck’s researches will be love's labor lost. What can this Congress do against a whiskey corruption fund of one hundred mil- lions a a We shall see. Tne New fone Capinet—A Sian.—M. la Valette has been appointed in the place of M. Moustier, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. As M. la Valette, from his late official’ advantages as the French Ambassador at Con- stantinople, is thoroughly posted on the East- ern question, his appointment to this new position is doubtless in reference to the com- manding importance which this Eastern ques- tion is again assuming. Napoleon, in short, has chosen his man for the special work thus suggested. Toe Latest From Cupa.—Our special telegram from Havana advises us that the insurgents besieging St. Jago have saluted the United States steamer Penobscot with & national salute. This looks as though they were getting up in the world and putting on national airs. A revolutionary demonstration is reported in the western part of the island, which, if true, may acquire importance in the present state of things. FINE ARTS. It would be a great error to suppose that because the winter exhibition at the Academy of Design haa unfortunately proved a fatlure—the leading acade- micians themselves having failed to exhibit, with a few honorable exceptions, aay proofs of their genius or tadustry—American art ¥ laterest in tt or in art fi general is extinct. MEF Sta Yesterday the galleries of suet; Snedecor, Kuoedler and Derby were crowded by enthusiastic lovers of art. At the gallery of Schaus everybody admired Rog- ers’ “Groups of Sculpture,’ the “Council of War,” “Courtship in Sleopy Hollow,” “Taking the Oath,’ “One More Shot,” “The Wounded Scout,” “Union Refugees,” ‘The Country Post Office,” “The Home Guard,” “School Examination,” “The Charity Pa- tient,” “Uncle Ned's School,” “The Returned Volun- teer” and “Mail Day.” Several new paintings, espe- cially “Ecco Fiori,’ by A. de Curzon; an exquisite representation of “Still Life,” by Deagotfe: “Mont Blane,” by Joseph Jansen; “The Entrance to the Harbor of Ostend,” by Herzog; ‘A Mother and Child,” by Serres, and “The Morning After the Vil- lage,” @ scene tn Flanders (where the army swore #0 terribly), by J. G. Vibert, were equally admired. At Snedecor’s, where the best specimens of Amert- can art can always be seen, two characteristic pic- tures by the most forcible of our figure paintera, Victor Nehlig, “The Last Gleam,” one of Wiliam Hart's finest productions; landscapes by Inness, J. M. Hart, Kensett, Whittredge, Bricher, Bellows, Ordway, Smillin and Wiggins; “Peace” and “War,’” by Van Elten; “The Fiddler,” by 5 Moun’ % Swing,” by J. G. Brown; “After ogni“ Brown; “A Coast Scene,” by M. F. another marine by Dana; “The ined," ‘Or A. F. ‘Tait, and several other works of American artiste evinced the fact that American art is full of vitality and promise, At Goupil’s (Knoedier’s), “A Landscape with Cat- tle,” by A. D. Shattuck; “A Flower Piece,” by M. J. Heade; a bright sunny little picture by Church; “Morning in the Bear River Notch,” by Willian Hart, and “A Landscape,” by Casilear, showed that American art is not neglected even by picture deulera, who can also exhibit such masterpieces of foreign art as ‘The Angel of Consolation,” ye ged “Russian diers Ina Snow Storm,” b; Schreyer; “Fruit Still Life’? jexquistiony finished), by Desgot “A Cavalier,” by Meis- “a “Grecian Lady Decorating @ Vase,"? Coomans, and “Holland Fiats,"? eloes. Mr. Knoedier also has on exhibition a bust of pe a 2 reel busts of Washington Irvin: ~ ay id Mr. 4. Van Wart, and a ist entitled “Purity, * by om |. Park. Derby's gallery was throngec t Veer Rerday ney chasers of Christmas and New looked with longt maging ey eyes at the eight enti valued at $10,000, which are to be distributed on tho orh of January—“Maud sane, te by Constant Mayer; “North Coast of ee by De Haas; “Source of the Susquehanna,” Mignot; “Castle on the Rhine.” by Bierstadt; “New ort," by Kensett; “Lake George,” by Casilear; “Goiten Summer,” by W. T. Richards, and “Brook Side,” by AF Bellow. ‘The monthly distribution of such pi as these has quickened the interest which out F pubis manifestiy takes in the development of American art. ‘The ninth annual sale of the Artists’ Fund Societ; will take place on the 224 inst. at Miner & Barker’ gallery, 845 ee ts The collection offered for sale comprises works by Huntington, Whittred; H, Beard, Kensett, Eastman Johnson, M. F. de Haas, George H. Boughton, ‘ p Rossiter, a a3 Eliza Greatu ter, iy Popov A Wyant, ©. F. Biaww eit R. W. Hubbard, i. A. Loop, J. *Wittlamson, ¢ . C. Griswold, Thomas Hicks, J. G. b pig c. Pe, Oranc ‘hy 4. Williamson, T. A. Ruchard, G, C. Lambdin, Louis Lang, J. W. Gas: tlaer, W. & ‘Hennessy, 4, M. Falconer, Hensoa, David Johnson, J. D. Barrow and other well kuowm American artists, WAVAL INTELLIGENCE, The Untted States steamer Penobscot was ot San- tiago de Cuba on the Lith inst. The ybacot is & fourth rate screw steamer, carrying nine guns, and tached to the North Atlantic squadron, Below be found & list of her officers:—iieutenant Cet Thomas H. Eastman; Assistant Surgeot, . Piicher; Assistant Paymaster, A. J. Groclers First Agsisiant Engineer, G. A. Melville; Second A sistant Engineors, H. 8. Ross and A. C, Engard. si ‘The United States steamer Saginaw satled from San Francisco on the ist Inst., bound for sake Alaska Territory. The following is ¢ list of oa Licutenent Commander, Ry Meade. 88, tothe rank of Coiuman % . B. Wood; Ensign ; Mate, P. Randall; Assist- mn; Assistant Paymusie pur- who Assistant Engineer, Be Ye with the ay of the present ( was ordered to relieve Lieusenwi: chell in September last, 18 th he situ ed tn the Navy, iSite plac’ wave take > wh rep mine Sagi ni camer, Cari) the: Nort Paci Sd Uau.