The New York Herald Newspaper, September 26, 1870, Page 6

t i NEW YORK HERALD AY AND ANN STREET, BROA MIUSEMENTS THIS EVENING, INWAY HALL, Fourteenth strect,—Gaanp Ni1.sg0Nn f. NIRLO'S GARDEN, Brosaway.—Tam New Dowrstio deama oF HEAst'S Ease. corner of Eighth essaue and PRT FAUST. IRAND OPERA HOL u OPERA Hour E, Uk Pi WOOD'g MUSEUM AND MENAGERIE, Brondway, cor wer Buh #t.—l'cvormances every aflernvon and oyeiliiy. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery,Tar BURGLAUS © sew Youk~ Dug PRewoRUIy. PIPTH AVENUE THEATRE, Twenly-fourth o.—MAN ano WIPER. OLYMPIO THEATRE, Br LirrLe Facsy, uiway.-Orgna Bourre BOOTU'A THEATRE, 281 a1,, ve'woon Sth ana 6th ave.—~ fav Van Wi é. LINA EDWIN’S THEATRE, 720 Broadway. Bias Ex'p Suzine—-Caui Le NEW YORK STADT THEATER GQUBMAN OPRHA~ FAUST. WALLACK'S THEAT SuERWAN's COMEDY 32, 202 Bowery. VA THEATR! MIQUE, ++ Comic Vooar 18M, NEGRO ACI». &e. .. beh Bron way FEB, &0. KELLY & Tur BADIRS 0 8, No. 806 Broadway ONLY Lron, BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC.-Epwin Founner OPERA HOUSE, RY'S Brooklyn. -NReRO MON STRELSY, BURLESQUES, 40. JENTRAL PARK 6 N, itb'ay., between $8th and Mtb st#.—-GRAND Co: INSTIVUTE FXMIBITION.~Euprnx d avenue und Sixty-third atreet New York, Monday, September 26, 1970. CONTENTS OF TC-BAYS HERALD. Pace. d= Advertisements, am Ady tion Inside ard Out- the Resources and Six Hundred ana ‘oidiers In France; al Cay NEW YUKK HERALD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1870.—TRIPLE SHEET, The Fronch Navy and It» Failure in the Baltic. Tho French naval vessels lately operating as a blockading squadron in the Baltic against Prussia bave been withdrawn to the defence of the seaporis and naval depots of France, The reasons agsigned for this moyement are that the draught of the French fron-plated ships, from tweaty to thirty feet, is too heavy for the shallow waters along the southera Ballic coast; that the guiding lights to the channels and against the shoals of that coast are extingnished and false lights substituted, rendering it difleult, if not impossible to dis- tinguish between channels and shoals; that the Prossian inlets and river entrances are ‘ested with torpedoes, which must be ided, and by troublesome light draught gunboats, or aeisos, which cannot be pursued oy heavy draught ships, and that the regular Prussian war vessels, under the shelter of forts and the protection of torpedoes, cannot be reached. These reasons are sufficieat in accounting for the failure of the French navy to accom- plish anything in this war beyond the blockade of the Prussian ports. But had Napoleon, io his preparations for this war, studied more closely the peculiarities of the southern Baltic coast, iis river mouths, its inlets, shoals, islands, | &e., and studied less the strength of the Prossian navy in heavy iron-clads, the French naval operations against Prussia ia this contest, instead of being useless, might have been mate equal to an army in the field of a hundred thousand men. In the | Crimean war England sent up in the Baltic | a formidable fleet of heavy draught ships only | to find that for aggressive purposes against Russia in that quarter they were useless. Eng- land, however, proceeded at once to repair the blunder in building a large number of light draught gunboats, each armed witha gun of | heavy calibre, for the Baltic service, and but for the fall of Sebastopol, which brought peace, those gunboats would doubtless have tied the strength, to some purpose, even of the powerful fortifitations of Cronstadt. At all events, a well appointed and numerous fleet of swift and light draught gunboats would have enabled France in this war to give con- stantemployment fo a Prussian army on the Baltic coast of a hundred thousand men, Napoleon, in failing to make this special pro- vision for this war with Prussia, has simply left the French navy in a condition in which it bas not been able to give any valuable assist- ance to the Frencharmy. This, too, when the mons in the | navy of France numbers nearly five hundred + { vessels of all descriptions, being very nearly on paper equal to the navy of England, even jy iegucolads, and. pliyg. the money expended culars of the y of Jeddo-~ le on The Freneh Navy the Baltie--Amusement toria Washington Vol i Newark Bruiser Badly ines. nd Ineidents at the War for Govery rookly —1 ements. jockay men's. 11—Advertisements. §2— Advert Frenon Crvi The latest news ag of the movem West Indies. On ERS IN THI st InpiEgs. » West Indies informs ‘rench cruisers in the th the French gun- rot the German brig rbor of St, Thomas as a n trade with the West {ndies is considers and as there are at present many ves: in West Indian ports, which may at » to escape, we may hear of other ¢: shorily besides that of the Apollo if th Europe be not brought to a close. Apollo into prize, A Toe New DeveLorments IN THX NATHAN Cask.—The man Kepliog, who was arrested in Pennsylvania on Saturday charged, on his own statements with complicity in the murder of Mr. Nathan, is now in custody in this city, and will have an examination to-day before Justice Dowling. It is said that he now denies vaving made the confessions attributed to him, but the persons to whom he made them are to ve prodnced as witnesses. His representation as to bis having been a barkeeper in a saloon on Broadway is denied by the proprietor of that establishment; but it seems that he was correct in the statement he made about the business place of his father, a respectable diamond importer in Maiden lane, who affirms that ‘his son was at his home at Roselie, N. J., at the time of the murder. The detec- - | Fr | defensive operations, it is confessed by her ; costly and formidable fleet of iron-clads in Ppon a single ‘Useless but drndiasutal, irdit- plated ship would have supplied @ fleet of gunboats equal to a land force of one hundred thousand men. We know that Prussia had expected some formidable diversions by the h gavy on hor Baltic coast, and had adcordingly “placed &n army Or & hundred thousand men under Von Falkenstein to guard that line against the landing at any point of a French army under cover of a supporting fleet of ships or gunboats. Von Moltke, compre- | hending the danzer of such an attack upon the rear of the Prussian army and its commu- nications, had thus amply provided for it; but the French, 1n failtng to make any such diver- sion by their navy, and in withdrawing at length from their profitless blockade, have released Falkenstein’s army and added its important support to the German columns operating in the heart of France. ‘Ybos, while the developments of this war have shown that the army of France was never so badly prepared for aggressive or Admiral commanding in the Baltic that his those waters are worse than useless against the Prussian fleet which is locked up, and against the Prussian seaboard towns, which, on account of flats, bars, torpedoes, false lights and light-footed avisos, cannot be approached. The whole civilized world is astonished at these revelations, in regard both to the inefficiency of the army and the navy of France, which, under the liberal expendi- tures of Napoleon the Third, it was supposed, would prove equal to any possible emersency by land and sea. The facts are before us, however, that the empire, with all its pomp and glitter, and all its luxurious parades of abounding military strength and resources, has still, with its fearful demoralizations, brought France to the verge of ruin; that while her standiog army, but yesterday the terror of Europe, is destroyed, her immense navy, pronounced useless in this conflict, is withdrawn from the field of active operations. Surely from these imperial humiliations France must now be prepared for the wholesome reforms of a republic. American Officors in Egypt. We publish to-day in another part of the paper a very interesting correspondence from Egypt, from which it will be seen a great many American officers have taken prominent positions in the service of the Viceroy. In fact they have the most commanding places in tives do.not place any reliance on. the stories every department of the military service. The he fs said to have told at Schuylkill Haven, and it is probable that they were the mere ravings of an erratic, weak-minded dual, Khédive has shown his sagacity in selecting and appointing to high office such menas Gen- erals Reynolds, Stone, Loring, Denifer, Mott, Sibley, Rhett and others. Most of these, if {pure Coron WaTene-WHo’s To BLAME ?—- | not all, are West Point educated men and had Complaints come from certain portions of the | been in service in the United States Army be- city that the Croton water is unfit to drink, fore our war. They were Southerners, and and that its use has produced sickness in a | unfortunately took the wrong side in that ter- “number of instances. Are the Croton Aque- duct Board aware that the water in the old | household words here. reeaiving reservoir is stagnant, and green with and see for themselves, Let them take a sur- +ey in particular from the rock in the south- west corner, where the Central Park observa- Their names are as familiar as Every one remembers their military skill, achievements and bravery. rible struggle. ‘slime? Lei them make a tour of the work | Both by education and experience they are well fitted for the high positions given to them by the Viceroy. No abler or better men could have been found in the world. The Viceroy tozy Is belag built, and they will find their | may well be proud of ‘his Americans.” They ‘oasted Croton a pool as green aa any country will render i a Of course the | particularly should Egypt be drawn into war horse-pond in midsummer. loreliction lies with the keepers or employ¢s mmediately on the spot, ya attended to at once from headquarters or var city may be subjected to a plague of nalarial fever such as now prevails with s verity at Poughkeepsie, where, it evory second family is prostrated wlarming vill be y the noxious exhalatious arising from the | eV green pools around that city. If such dread 8 follow the simple bre polaon, what will be our {ste from drinking it? } Egyp but the evil should | the Old World to its very centre. bim most valuable service, through the convulsions that are now shaking Yet while these officers will be faithful and do good ser- vice for Egypt, they do not and cannot forget the ‘far off land” of their birth. Thus do we see the great American republic extending her influence through her citizens and ideas to ery purt of the globe. We also publish some communications cou- athing of the | tradictory of statements made in a letter from t, published in Saturday's Heraxp, in reforence to a claim of a United States citizen against the government of that country, and to the action of United States officials in con- The affairs of Egypt promise soon to occupy their share of public nection therewith. attention, ‘The Emperor, the Empress and the Prince tu Exile. Nothing is easier and, at the samo time, nothing is meaner than to kick the dying lion. The bitterest and most determined opponents of the imperial usurpation of December 2, 1851, can take no pleasure in the unmanly abuse and contumely heaped upon the fallen Emperor of France and his family by some of the very creatures who cringed for his favor and fed upon bis bounty while he was in power. We are glad to perceive that none of the decent republicans do this pitiful thing. Even Rochefort is conservative and silent, and Victor Hugo suspends the denunciations of the ‘‘chitiments” that he inflicted when Napoleon was the master. Only the low ad- venturers and lickspittles, who are ever ready to kiss the feet of success and to leap upon the prostrate body of misfortune, have per- sisted in the howl that continues to follow the dethroned family now in exile. The French people have dire cause indeed to cry out, in the political sense, against the man and the system that have bequeathed to them such a legacy of humiliation; but the French people were themselves very largely to blame, since they sustained that man and system by their votes and vehemently called for the war. In fine, they pushed the Emperor into the field, if the voice of their press be true, and now, when assailing him, they are somewhat in the position of those who knook & man down And then kick him for falling. Our course has been plain and clear in this whole matter. We have reprobated the attacks of the empire on Germany and we have greeted the formation of a republic. But it is a duty as well as a right to pronounce justice, and now, by much concurrent testimony, we are informed that, despite feeble health and excru- clating pain, the Emperor Napoleon III. strove, at the last, todo all that a reasonable man could do by the influence of his personal pres- ence on the battle field at Sedan. Both French and English correspondents state that he was on foot among the troops from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon. He first went to the corps of General Lebrun, at Balan ,where the action was very fierce, encouraging the soldiers and displaying the greatest coolness amid the storm of shot and shell. Ho was four hours on the field in that direction where the peril was most imminent. Afterward, while he was in the sub-prefecture wen ‘in the depen avalanche of fire, several shells barst on the roof and in the courtyard, and the adjacent streets were flocked with bleeding corpses. Even thea he made no offer to yield until commander after commander arrived to urge that further resist- ance would only involve the slaughter of the “whole army. The Empress, too, toiled night and day with her Ministers aud io the hospitals at Paris, For two weeks preceding her departure she hardly disrobed or slept, and all who saw her pitied the anxieties that had nearly bereft her even of the ordinary appetite for food, while they sympathized deeply with the tenderness of heart that made her daily pass laborious hours in the military hospitals. The poor young Priace— a mere child in years—after being buffeted about day after day and week after week between the armies, was at Namur, in Belgium, by the Emperor's order, pale, weak and downcast, when he heard of his father’s captivity. He remained for a few moments with his head bowed and in tears ; then, looking up, he said, ‘‘All this is nothing should France but be spared entire.” And now this little family of three p ihe father, the mother and the son—are virtu- ally banished from the soil of France, as well as cast down from their high political estate. The head of the circle is a prisoner, more securely held than was the first Napoleon on his rock at St. Helena—the modern Prome- theus with the vulture of a disappointed ambition that would have scaled the very heavens gnawing at his entrails, The lesson is a most impressive one to men and nations ; the solace to the chief actors in the scene, let all generous hearts believe, is the conscious- ness ‘of having acted well their part in the closing hour and having borne with dignity the inevitable decree ‘of fate. Napoleon, Eugénie and the Prince may prove far more worthy of the respect of mankind in their reverse than in their grandeur. The Farragut Obsequios. There seems to be some misunderstanding between the managers of the Farragut obse- quies, which are to take place in this city on Friday, and the subordinates of the Navy Department. The Mayor-states that arrange- ments were made with the Secretary of the Navy that the war ship Guerriere was to con- vey the remains of the Nelson of America from Portsmouth to New York, and with that inten- tion negotiations have been goiag on with Cap- tain Stevens of that vessel, for some time. It appears now that a subordinate of the Navy Department, in the abseuce of the Secretary of the Navy, notifies the committee that the Guerriere will not be sent to Portsmouth, but that the steamer Brooklyn has been substituted. This is very embarrassing for the committee, who have little time now to perfect the arrangements for an appropriate celebration. It is not to be thought of that any obstruction would be placed by the Navy Department in the way of bestowing the honors due to the greatest of our naval commanders; but, as matters stand now, the proceedings of the committee who have the affair in charge have been seriously interfered with by the action of Captain Alden, who, it appears, represents Secretary Robeson on this occasion. We hope, therefore, that these obstacles will be removed at once, so that the remains of the grand old naval hero shall receive such honor as the whole nation desires to see accorded to his memory. » A Lesson From THE War.—France began this war, believing she would come out easily victorious. France has been dreadfully pun- ished. The lesson ought not to be lost. he The Question ef Peace. The negotiations for peace have assumed this form: Count Bismarck is willing to de- clare an armistice until after the election for the Constituent Assembly on the 24 of Octo- ber, provided Metz and Strasbourg are sur- rendered, not Fort Mont Valérien. Then the treaty of peace, if acceptable, may be ratified by the Assembly, which, being elect of the people, he is willing to recognize, He wishes to hold Metz and Strasbourg in order to prevent any movement for defence, or offeace on the part of France pending the truce. His especial organ in Berlin states that more acceptable terms would have been offered at Sedan had not the revolution- ary party in Paris declared its intention to | continue the war, but that as the invading army neared the walls of Paris the terms were made more exacting, and if it entered Paris would become more exacting still. Undoubt- edly this is in accordance with the rules of war, which General Sherman once described as ‘cruelty, and you cannot refine it.” If the power to enforce its own terms is in the hands of one party, it is only gener- osity or humanity that induces that party to propose terms at all satisfactory to the conquered. With the immense forces and resources of Germany and the almost utter demoralization of France, every day adds to the success of the Germans and every success gives them the power and the right, according to the usages of war, to add more exacting conditions to the final terms of peace. France has been heroic throughout. No want of bravery has bronght her to this fearful pass. She has lost no honor. She may indeed yet retrieve the day, but how little hope there is of it. Would it not be better to accept now what terms she can get, rather than wait when every new disaster adds to her frightful obli- gations? The young republic bas not yet had a chance. She came into existence burdened with a war, which she had no right to take up as ber own quarrel. Indeed, the overthrow of Napoleon, the author of the war, was the opportunity by which she profited. Why not, then, make peace with those enemies, who, however unwittingly, have been the means of relieving the republic of its greatest incubus, and begin life afresh. She has lost much, but she has gained life. In peace she will flourish and grow to greatness. In war her | young life may be ernshed out forever. Secebach as Mary Marie Seebach, afier obtaining a greal suc- cess in the Fourteenth street theatre in ber grand impersonation of Marguerite during the past week, is to appear to-morrow evening in the new part of Mary Stuart. We all remember bow much Ristori made of this character; how glorious she was in those passages where evil fortune conquered pride, and brought the great spirit of the fallen Queen to submission ; art. goaded into denuneiation of the haughty Eliza- *y007 Tt beth. From what Seebieu hi¥ nirthdy detion- anticipate nothing less worthy of thorough appreciation and commendation from the Ger- man than from the Italian tragedienne. The contrast between the gentle Gretchen in her maiden modesty, and the terrible passion which racks the soul of the betrayed and guilty unfortunate, as the story proceeds, man- . ifested the immense command which Seebach possesses over her audience and over herself. ‘True genius speaks in every action of Goethe's most beautifnl conception when Seebach represents it. In Mary Stuart she will have a character to portray somewhat foreign to German nature. This is a foreign history, in all its strange incidents and the circumstances, to be dealt with. All this will render Marie Seebach’s representation of the Queen of Scots to-night more interesting. It proved to be one of her finest characters in Europe, and we have no reason to doubt that she will make a great success in this country. The Question of Jurisdiction Over { Waters of New York Bay. The Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, Mr. Robert Gilchrist, has furnished to the Mayor of Perth Amboy an official opinion on tlie question of the jurisdiction of that State in regard to quarantine matters. He claims that the boundary of the States of New York and New Jersey is the middle of Raritan bay to the main sea, and that, therefore, the juris- diction of New Jersey over its territory up to that line is complete, and that its quarantine jurisdiction is exclusive of all other authority, even that of the United States. And he expresses the belief that no vessel can proceed to New York from the main sea withont pass- ing through waters subject to the quarantine Jaws of New Jersey. We only refer to this remarkable opinion to show the absurd lengtbs to which the ambition of these Jerseymen may go. The shores and interior towns of New Jersey, trom Hoboken to Trenton, are but the mere suburbs—the workshops and villa locali- ties—of NewYork; and the miserable effort of the authorities of that State to assert quaran- tine jurisdiction over the sea approaches to this commercial capital is a most ludicrous repetition of the fable of the frog and the ox. the GENERAL Von MOLTKE, a8 we are informed by cable telegrams, neutralized the peace Idea as it has been elaborated by Favre and Bis- marck. Von Moltke thrust his spoon of stec! into the diplomatic dish and appears to have spoiled the hash in a very unceremonious manner. Perhaps Bismarck gave biui a wink. Man.—The Greeks, taking advantage of the troubled state of Europe, and encouraged, no doubt, by Russian intrigue, have begun to re- veal their ancient hatred of Turkish rule. Insarrection, it is said, bas broken out in Thessaly. Insurrection is expected in Alba- nia. Russia is making movements which are ominous, The Khédive of Egypt is said to be ready to seize his opportunity and to have an understanding with Russia and Italy, Aa Italian fleet, it is said, is about to set sail for Alexandria. Unwilling as we are to credit every wild rumor, we cannot refuse to admit that trouble is brewiug again in the Bast, and that the other sick man of Europe is \ apout to follow into the lane of bumiliation the Pope of Rome. We are eviflently on the eve of great changes, and no one can tell Tas Orage Siok how fierce and passionate she was mac) value |i aad jhe. gym total of human strated of her splendid tragic powers we may | Church Services Yesterday. We give this morning our usual reports of Sabbath sorvices and sermons, They are, as they have always been, Interesting and instrac- tive, All religious sects are reported; all sorts of discourses, ‘from grave to gay, from lively to severe.” Of course tho great attrac- tion was et the Brooklyn Tabernacle, where Brother Beecher opened the fall season be~ fore a large and onthusiasifo audience, as the dramatlo critics would express it, We are glad to note that the programme was slightly varied, the sermon (‘Looking unto Jesus’) being somewhat of a religous character, In i this city Rev. Mr. Smyth appeared as a | prophet. The present war in Europe he declared to be tho pouring out of the sixth and seventh vials of Heavenly wrath, and he predicted that out of it would come one King, Christ, who would establish Himself on earth and make the whole world one vast United States. At Grace church Dr. Potter assured his hearers that religion had to accommodate itself to clrenmstances ; while at the Church of the Ascension Dr. John Cotton Smith explained to his aristocratic congrega- tion what the soul, the spiritual part of humanity, is. The evils of procrastination were eloquently described by Dr. Deems, at the Church of the Strangers. We think, however, that his sermon would have been bet- ter had he left out the suppositions of what might have been had something not occurred which has occurred. ‘‘ Suppose,” said he, among several other suppositions, “our Lord and Saviour had waited until Jewish churchmen and Roman rulers had become ready?” We confess fe cannot ima- gine what the religious situation would have been had Christ so waited. {t seems to us that the spirit of modern civilization is op- posed in religion as in secular affairs to suppo- sitions based upon the opposite of established facts or occurrences. Rev. George H. Hep- worth discoursed last night on ‘‘The Moral Aspects of Europe,” and came to the conclu- sion that these aspects were very bad. At the Evangelical Lutheran church Dr. Krotel advised his congregation to weary not in well doing, fortifying this advice by sage argu- ments. Rey. H.C. Stowell, at the Church of the Holy Light, described Christ as the media- tor, and Rev. R. S. McArthur, at Calvary Bap- tist church, spoke of His wouderful eloquence | andoratory. Atthe other churches fn this i city, Catholic and Protestant alike, large nam- | bers of sinners assembled in prayer and lis- | tened with becoming attention, and, here and | there, with praiseworthy patience, In Washington De. Newman preached for | the first time since his return trom Utah, {where he had been wrestling with the evil spirit of Mormonism. His eubject was “The Personal Dignity of Christ,” and it was treated with the reverend gentleman’: accustomed vigor and eloquence. In Albany Spiritualism was handled without gloves by Rev. Dr. Clover, who expressed the bollef that its doo iniquity. Thus it will be seen that in all the places reported in the Haran of this morn- ing the devil and all his works were vigor- ously assailed and pure doctrines of salvation earnestly preached. whe Military Situation in france. The only important change in the military situation about Paris, as we depicted it yeater- day, seems to have taken place inside the city. Quiet is reported restored, and it may yet i prove that the original outbreak in the streets i was merely ibe impatient effervescing of the characteristic Frenchman or the revolutionary ardor of the unsatisfied political factions. Tho government in Paris have taken great pains to deny the trath of the Prussian reports con- cerning the riots, and this pretty clearly indi- cates that there was at least some foundation for the origioal report. The fact seems to be, that while there was some popular demonstra- tion, it was very insignificant and was put down immediately by General Trochu, The city at present is not only quiet, but is resolute for defence, and, as M. Gambetta states in a ministerial circular, all parties are united to sustain the goverument. It appears, however, from the continuation of our report of the bat- | tle on the heights of Sceaux the French troops behaved very much like raw recruits. A gen- eral shakiness seems to bave seized them at the first éannonade, and when one small por- tion of the line, in obedience to orders, made a backward movement the rest were seized with dismay and fled, panic stricken, to the city. Behind tortifications these troops may | do better, but at their best they seem to be an unreliable reed for France to lean upon in her hour of need. There are six hundred and fifty thousand German troops on French terri- tory ; troops that graduated in the schools of instruction and experience—disciplined and trained troops with the most experienced and able commanders in the world, if not in the world’s history. What hope has France with her untraiped peasantry against these? © The gurrender of Toul, from the report we have this morning, has netted considerable gain to the Prussians, there being nearly three thousand Frenchmen captured and nearly two hundred’ pieces of artillery. The great gain, | however, is most probably comprised in the { number of Prussian troops and guns made available for the* grand assault upon Paris, which is evidently in preparation. The Uhlans are etill roughriding throngh- out the fair land of France. A despatch this morning siates that on their appearance at Chartres ten thongand of the Garde Mobile disbanded in terror, at the request of the Mayor. We venture to say that ten thousand of the Garde Mobile coald whip, in a fair fight, with equal generalsbip, almost any force of Uhlans that could be brought against them; but the very name of Uhlan seems to demo- ralize all the young troops of France. The report does not say that the Ublans entered Chartres, and most likely they did not, for it is not their purpose to attack stoutly defended | cities or large bodies of infantry, bul merely to seout about the country, obtaining ioforma-~ tion and suppties. { | Eveenig AND Her Son.—The ex-Hmpress of France and ber son are in @ quiet retreat in England. Queen Victoria ‘‘entirely ignores” the illustrious exiles. Sach are the words of our cable telegram. A wonderful change since the French imperial yacht L’Aigle went worst bully of Europe will think hyeatter | what is to happen. One thing only is cortain— } through the Suez Canal, saluted by the British " before he precipitates a conflict, ! many old things must pasa away, war flac. ‘‘Allis vanity,” says the preacher, ‘gilded tho lesser slopes ond summits of tho The Sptre of Strasbourg, When the rays of dawn first filcker on the eastern boundaries of France, after having crowned Mont Blano with glory and having Alps, thoy do obelsance to a Christian symbol, uplifted far on high, before they touch the soil of “the great nation.” That symbol ts tho cross upon the topmost pinnacle of the grand old Cathedral of Strasbourg. Could we suppose the eye of aclence to be” directed with sufflotent appliances of skill from some satellite or some other planet of our sys- tem toward that spot on this carth’s surface at auch a moment, it would detect in that po- cullar algn a meaning to {nform it of intelli- gent habitation here, and, perhaps, to guide the distant Intellect by analogy, or even by inspiration, to the Ineffable trhth, Tho grander monuments of human art, when in- spired by a lofty faith, have something akin with the sublimer phenomena of natare; and yet they bear within them something that, by ‘8 spiritual spell—an intimation conveyed of a recent haman presence there—seoms to raise them infinitely above the ‘most imposing fea- tures or productions of the soil. The Pyra- mids are not ao vast as the Groat Desert that stretches beyond them, nor go lofty as the bills on the distant horizons, yet they seem to fill and dominate the space. The mountains of Judea are lost to our view in our contempla tion of the ruins of the Temple tbal convey to our minds the image of ‘thd splendor and the excelloncy” of the reign of Solomon and of David the King; and the splendor of the Incas, as revealed by the vast monuments that are found in fragmen- tary remains upon the soil of old Pera, seem to dwarf in our imagination even the snow-clad peaks and ridges of the Andes. The dome o/ St. Peter's is grander than the breadth of the Campagna, than the Alban and the Sabine heights, than the expanse of the Mediterranean visible from its roof. Thus Strasbourg spire, in the morning or the evening glow, seems loftier and greater than all that lies beyond if or around it, from the borders of the Alpine ranges in Switzerland or the wooded acclivities of the Vosges to the majestic sweep of the Rhine, seen winding southward for a whols day’s journey from the observer's point of view. Aod why is this? May we not, without any atretch of fancy, believe that it is because o! the impress that architectural genius has left upon it and the associations of its religious character and venerable age? Strasbourg itself—the ancient city—was ah incipient-seat of ‘Teutonic civilization before the period of con- quest by the Romans. The latter made ita city in the tinf®of Augustus and called it theis Argentoratum., The Huns ander Attila, the Franks and the Gauls successively gave itt history, until, during the Middle Ages, ii emerged into « Christian life, and the ecclesias- | tical spirit began to enrich it with monumenia ; of almost imperishable beauty. The chief o. | | these was and is its Domkirche, or Cathedra Church, of which the spire is the noblest ané most beautiful on earth. This pinnacle, rising four hundred and sixty-nine feet into the air above the level of the city, is twenty-five feet higher than the loftiest Pyramid, and the tracery of its open carving is ao exquisite that in the distance it looka like a web of sombre lacework suspended midway inthe air. Four and a quarter cen- / turies, with all their wondrous annuals of work and war, rolled away afler the commencemont v of the building of the church ere this grand consiruction was completed in 1439—a date 162 years later than that wiich marked the % beginning of the building of the spire by Erwin F Von Steinbach, its gifted architect. Even to- day the whole edifice is not complete, for the towors should have been of the same height. In the lapse of the years duritg which the majestic fano, and of the 530 since the termination of its spire, the tomb of Conrad ; the palpit erected and carved by Jean Ham- merer; the clusters of pillars wrought like jewel work; tho stained windows and the figured floors; the matchless pictures of saints and kings; the tombs of warriors and of sages, continually increasing in number and beauty, have re-achoed to the footsteps of the great and the thunders of war, all chiming in, at last, in the later day, with the sublime organ welodies of Silbermann, But of all the grand mementoes and iinposing adornments which impressed the minds of even Martin Luther and ascetic Calvin when they trod the streets of the famons ecclesiastical city none was more engaging than the wonderfal astro~ nomical clock. This piece of mechanism, which has been destroyed in whole or in part by the Prussian bombardment of Strasbourg, was constructed about the year 1370. It represented the motions of the globe, the sun and the moon in their regular circuit. The day of the woek, i the circle of the sun, the year of the world and of our Lord, the equinoctials, the leap year, the movable feasts and the dominteal letter were all clearly exhibited by this clock, The eclipses of the sun and moon and the weekly motions of the planets were also displayed. Thus, on Sunday, the sun was drawn about in his chariot, and so drawn into another place that before he was quite hidden you had Mon- day-—that is, the moon appeared full, and 4 the horses of the chariot *of Mars emerged—- and the scene was thus varied on every day fi of the week. There was also a dial for the, minutes of the hour, so that yoa could see every minute pass. Two images of children; appeared on each side, one with o seeptre’ counting the hours, The motions of the! ° planets, the moon’s rising and falling andi H several other astronomical movements were | exhibited in this clock, Death and Christ were ~ ; also personified; and at the top of the tower was an excellent chime, which played various tunes, and, says an old German chronicle, “at Christmas, Easter aud Whitsuntide they sounded a thanksgiving unto Christ; and when this chime bas done, the cock which stands on the top of the tower, on the north side of the main work, having stretched ont his neck, shakes his comb and claps his wings twice; and this he does so shrilly and naturally as would make any man wonder.” This cele- brated clock was constructed by Dassipodius and Wolkirstenius, two famous working mathe- maticians of the time. From age to age the spire has risen, mark ing the advance of Christianity and the pro-~ gress of nations, and the clock has noted 4 the passage of time on earth and the changes ee