The New York Herald Newspaper, October 23, 1870, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HI BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, Ali business or news letter and telegraphic URALD tay es ‘The eventa which are now taking place in Europe are peculiarly suggestive. They carry | eminently the era of Papal triumph. us forward, filling the mind with strange | first time since the conversion of the Roman doubts and fears regarding the future. They | empire—for the first time gince the alliance of carry us back over the singularly tangled web | Church and State—the Supreme Pontiff was ragele for Umpire Rise of a New Power. of European history and bring us face to face despatches must be addressed New York | with situations not dissimilar to the present. Herary. Volume XXXV.... AMUSEMENTS TO-MORROW EVENING, BOWERY THEATRE, Bouokse of BRILLIANTS. FIFTH AVENUE THEAT any Wire. Bowery.-Lirrne » Twenty-fourth a#t,—Man ROOTH’S THEATRE, 28d st., between 6th ana 6th avs,— Bir VAN WINKLE. FYOURTEENTT STR ADETENNE Le COUVERU THEATRE (Theatre Francais)— STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth street.—GQkand NILeson Coxon. ee WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway ana Mth street Two Rosks. LINA EDWIN’S THEATRE or Tue Waren LA SoMNAMBI alway. de, Caprarn NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway.—Eno1[6u Orkra— Mawria. rae NEW YORK STADT THEATRE, 45 Bowery.—GRAND GERMAN OPRRA—THOUBADOUR, — GRAND OPERA HOUSE, corner of Eighth avenue and Wid st.-La GuanDe DUCHESSE. Fourteeuth st.—SHAKSPRARE'S ACADEMY OF MU: Teagupy or Macser OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway,—Ti® PANTO Mime OF Wer Wuiae WENKIE, — WOOD'S MUSEUM Broadway ¥ corner Suth st,-Perform- ances every aftoraoon and eveuln GLOBE THEATRE, 728 Broadway. @WAUNMENT—LOCRETIA Boxaia, M. D. —Vaninvy Enrer- MRS. F. B, CONWAY'S PARK THEATRE, Brooklya,— EysHavoour. Pal Ale BROOKLYN Y OF MUSIC.-Fanny Janau- BouRK IN Des plea TONY PASTOR'S OPERA BOBSE, 9M Bowery.—Va- ubik ENTKRTAINMEN. Matinee at Ds, THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Brordway,—Comic Vooan- Asm, NEGLO ACS, £0. "Matinee at 29. © MINSTREL HALL, 685 Broa ‘way.— SY, Fan BuMLESQUES, &0. SAN FR. Nrano Mins KELLY & LEON’S MINSTRELS, No. 893 Broadway,— Tur ONLY Lron—Swet tor W AMs, £0, BOOLEY'S OPERA HOUSER, Brooklyn..Nxuno MLN. BITKLSY, BURLESQUES, &e. BROOKLYN OPERA Warin's NEW YORK CIRCUS, Fourteenth streat. wun Rove, AcnonaTs, éo. ICAN INSTITUTE EXHIBITION. ‘avenue and Sixty-third street. SCENES IN AME Riv EMPIRE NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway,— DR. KAT ATOMICAL MUSEUM, 745 Broadway. - New York, Sanday, October 23, 1870. I 4 © CONTENTS OF TO-DAY'S HERALD. Pace. 1--Advertisements, 's Proposal of a Peace ‘ful Sortie on the Be- in the Field; Increas+ nee of the Defenders of Paris; ed; St. Quentin Occupied by The u Loss of the if Shipwre 7 » Hope for the Safety of Uh ‘ou Ship Hecuba Fo! Metropolitan Garrison- Cuban Patriots—the Patrt j ious. Intelli York Cou ’3 Alliance Proceed- —Trotting at Audvertisements. eading Article, The Stiuggle tor urope, the Kise of a New Power— graph ws from § of the World: Duke D’Aosta, King of Spain; Pope Pins the Ninth, the Buil and the C All te: Conclusic MoK—Tar We feel the truth of the saying, ‘History re- comparative inactivity, the struggle for empire has been resumed. Once again the Popedom is in serious trouble, Once again new Powers and new leaders of men rise to the surface. And once more empire seems to have changed its centre. Since the downfall of the Roman empire of the West—a downfall which was complete betore the close of the fifth century—a contest for supremacy has been a leading feature of European history, In the course of this con- test many nations have risen and fallen and many great characters have figured. Among the many great leaders whose names are aaso- ciated with the ascendancy of particular nations prominence must be given to such names as Charlemagne, Otho the Great, Charles the Fifth, Louis the Fourteenth and Napoleon Bonaparte. Each of those names marks the climax of a nation’s greatness and constitutes an epoch in the history of the Weat- ern world. From the fifth to near the middle of the eighth century there was no over- shadowing Power in the West. The Northern barbarians, having done their terrible work, forgot their warlike habits, and settled down to enjoy the fruits of their conquests. In the person of the Exarch of Ravenna, who ruled in name of his imperial master of Constantino- pie, the semblance of Roman unity and power was feebly maintained. Gradually, however, out of the débris of the fallen empire there arose a new Power. The Frankish kingdom had steadily consolidated in spite of the feeble rule of the descendants of Clovis. In the per- sons of Charles Martel and his valiant son Pepin, the mayors of the palace had become more mighty than the monarchs; and for ser- vices rendered the Holy See Pope Stephen the Second sanctioned the deposition of Cail- deric, the last of the long-haired Morovin- gians, and in the Church of St. Denys, with much solemn ceremony, placed the crown of Childeric on the head of Pepin. It was not, however, until the following reign that the defunct empire of the West was for- mally re-established. The Holy See was again in trouble. Charlemagne crossed the Alps, delivered the Pope from his enemies, and, on the festival of Christmas, the last year of the eighth century, in the Church of St. Peter, Leo the Third placed upon his head a precious crown and hailed him Emperor of the Romans. The large donation of territory which had been made to the Chair of St. Peter by Pepin was confirmed ; and while the Roman empire was thus solemuly restored the Bishop of Rome took his place for the first time among the temporal rulers of the world. In those donations of territory by Pepin and Chariemagne we see the foundation. of that temporal power which in recent years has been so fruitful a source of disturbance, and which within the last few weeks it has been our privilege or our misfor- tune to see disappear. In the course of his long reign of forty-six years Charlemagne de- stroyed the Lombard kingdom, waged suc- the Huns in Pannonia, and, although not with- out much of what seems to us unnecessary cruelty, effectually crushed his Saxon neigh- bors inthe North. It was his privilege to re- store the unity and to extend the limits of the Roman empire of the Wést. His rale extended from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, and from the Atlantic and the Ebro in Spain to the Raab and the mouth of the Oder. In his own day and generation Charlemagne stood peer- less and alone. His figure towers up like a Barnard—Polit t Bail 1A—Adver! 12—Acve PresipeNT GR. has finally determined to appoint Commissioner Delano Secretary of the Interior in the place of General Cox, resigned. Spanisn Rerorms ror Cvza.—Some of the Madrid papers are advocating the granting of liberal reforms to Cuba, aud urging the gov- ernment to seek glory in that direction. While there is so large a field at home for reforms why notatiend to it? The Spanish govern- ment has enough to to in Spain, and Yhe day is past for its i erence in Cuban affairs. Commisst BOR Decision. — United S: pmunissioner Osborn, in re- t before him on gs oners broug ing the supervisor leasing the pr B charge of gander the federal law, has simply decided what the i States temporary officials, pnder the act of Congress, h make summary pf violating the at the registry or at the lis. Beyond this the decision does not seem curtail the authority of ihe deputy mar- hals, These officers will of course abide by e decision of the Commissioner, and wi jot in future attempt to exe any arbitrary wer not invested in them by law. In the re rr no right to | ts of parties suspected | beacon upon a waste or a rock in the broad ocean. His sceptre, as one has well said, was as the bow of Ulysses, which could not be drawa by any weaker hand. When the great monarch died died too his magnificent empire. Charlemagne died in 814. His vast dominions, according to the custom of the times, were divided among his sons and heirs, But his descendants held the reins with a feeble grasp. The epithets of the Bard, the Stammerer, the Fat and the Simple, revealed at once the characters of the men and the esti- mation in which they were held. The mighty fabric fell, and the fall was great. Europe was chaos once more. Each successive generation was feebler than its predecessor; and from the abdication of Charles the Fat to the acces- j sion of Otho the First, a period of seventy- | four years, the imperial throne may be | considered vacant, or rather the empire | defunct. Inthe year 936 Otho the First, at i the age of fourteen, ascended the throne of Germany left vacant by the death of his father, Henry, the Fowler. The reign of the first Otho, which lasted thirty-six years, merked a new epoch in the history of Europe. His reign was turbulent in the extreme. \ Disturbed by enemies within his kingdom and beset by foes without, he fought with and ; overcame them all. The internal affairs of | the State being arranged he applied himself jt his foreign foes. The Slavic tribes were driven back behind the Oder and the Danes were compelled to retire within their natural ia Kurope—The NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1870.—TRIPLE SHEKT. Gregory the Seventh, marks another epoch in the history of the struggle for power in Europe. The new era, which lasted long, was pre- For the more potent than the Cresar. Over that long interval which reaches down to the Refermation and the times of Charles peats itself.” Once again, after a period of | the Fifth, the last of the great Emperors of the West, it would be delightful to linger— an interval which witnessed the humiliation as well as the triumph of the Papacy, whieh saw Popes captive at Avignon and rival Popes hurling against each other their mimic thun- dors, as well as proud Emperors grovelling in the dust and pleading for Papal mercy, and during which the States system of Europe slowly but effectually developed itself—but our present purpose renders this impossible. In the erder of time the next great master of Europe was Charles the Fifth. Charles, it would seem, was born under a happy star. The rise of numerous powerful States all over Europe made it more difficult than ever for any one to obtain the mastery of all the others, France had become a Power of the first rank, So had England. So had Spain. The empire, for some generations, had been more nominal than real. French and English Kings, rather than German or Roman Empe- rors, had become the terror of the Papacy. But fortune was on the side of Charles from his birth, and under him the empire revived much of its ancient splendor and all its ancient power, The Netherlands, Spain and her colo- nies, the Austrian territories and all that belonged to the House of Hapsburg, fell to him by right of inheritance, In 1520 he was chosen to succeed his grandfather, Maximil- ian, as Emperor of Germany. The conquest of Mexico and Peru made him virtually the master of two continents. No such power had been possessed by one man since the days of Charlemagne. Among the princes of Europe there were but two that could be regarded as his rivals. But Henry VIL. found sufficient occu- pation at home; and the battle of Pavia, 1525, in which Francis I. was defeated and made prisoner, left Charles master of the situation. Through the agency of the Constable de Bourbon he humbled and imprisoned the Pope, and Sultan Solyman the Magnificent felt and confessed the weight of his arms. In 1530 Charles and the Pope were reconciled, and Clement VII. placed on his head the imperial crown, just seven hundred and thirty-one years after it had been placed on the head of his great namesake by Leo III. Then, for the last time, did Pope and Cesar conspire and enter into a compact against the liberties of mankind. Charles was undoubtedly a great monarch; but his reign was illustrious rather than successful. He fought against, not for, progress, As he advanced in years his difficulties mullti- plied. His life purpose was a failure. The age of Michael Angelo, Ariosto and Raphael, of Wolsey and Cromwell, of Luther and Me- lancthon, was not to be held under the heel of any despot. The love of liberty had begun to be more potent than the fear of kings; and so it was that Charles, having partitioned his dominions, filled with mortification and disgust, retired to reflect on the past and prepare for Now it has virtually swelled into the Empire of Germany. It is a long leap from Frederick William of 1870 to Frederick, cousin of Rudolf, of Hapsburg, and first hereditary Burgraf of Niirnberg, 1273; but it must be admitted that the Hohenzollerns have well deserved success, Germany is now the pivotal or rather dominant Power of Europe. It is the latest seat of empire in the Old World. Let us hope that Germany will not abuse her power, The Military Situation in France. The most important announcement that we have from the seat of war in France is that Marshal Bazaine, with his whole army, vari- ously estimated as numbering from sixty thousand to eighty thousand men, had made & successful sortie from Metz, crushing the enemy, consisting of twenty-six battalions of infantry and two regiments of cavalry, and capturing a considerable quantity of stores and war munitions. The announcement ema- nates officially from the seat of government at ‘Tours, where there was great rejoicing over such favorable news, On the other hand de- serters from the garrison are said to be re- sponsible for the improbable report that Ba- zaine is dead and Canrobert in command, The Prussians continue to threaten other important towns in France, At last accounts two columns were. marching on Amiens, but complete preparations had been made for its defence. The citizens of Lyons were expecting an attack and were equally sanguine of successfally resisting it, The Prussians, with twenty thousand men and forty cannon, had surrounded Chartres. Vernon had been cannonaded from across the river without any practical result. The French garrison in Verdun have thus far defeated all attempts to take it, and made several sorties, during which they inundated the environs of the town. The armistice at Méziéres was ended and the Prussians were awaiting reinforcements before beginning the bombardment. The occupation of St. Quentin by the Prussians is confirmed. General Bourbaki had commenced operations with his Army of the North. Our special cable reports from Paris give interest- ing accounts of the situation in the capital, which is said to be so completely fortified that it cannot possibly be taken by assault. Peace negotiations continued, and the arrangement of an armistice to allow the election and meet- ing of the new French Parliament was momen- tarily expected. Tne Duke oF Aosta AND ‘THE SPanisu ‘Trront.—Spain, it seems, is determined to havea king. {[t is now officially announced that the vacant throne has been offered to and accepted by Prince Amadeus Ferdinand Marie, Duke of Aosta, the second son of King Victor Emanuel. This Prince. was born May 80, 1845, and is now, consequently, in his twenty-sixth year. Tho House of Savoy, like the House of Hohenzollern, is now in favor. A united Italy for himself and Spain for his son, why should not Victor Emanuel be proud? Will it work? is a question which many will ask. If Spain must have a king we know no good reason why it should not work. A father in Italy and a son in Spain, or one brother on the Spanish throne and another brother on the Italian throne, why should not the two peninsulas shake hands the future amid the seclusion and pious sur- roundings of the Monastery of Yuste. After the death of Charles power passed of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., and under the guidance of two such ministers as Richelieu and Mazarin, France reached the climax of her ambition and of her glory. Louis XIV. was ambitious of universal empire; and, although he was not successful in realizing the object of his ambition, he became certainly the mighti- est monarch of his time. Nothing but an armed coalition of all the Powers prevented him from bringing the whole Conti- nent under his sway. His reign was illustrious beyond that of any of his predecessors. His court became the model court of Europe ; great generals led his armies ; great statesmen directed his councils, and science, art and letters flourished under his patrenage. But his costly wars and the ex- travagance of his court made France com- paratively weak in the two sneceeding reigns, and sowed the seeds which in 1789 and subse- quent years brought forth snch a harvest of desolation. The memory of Louis is badly stained by his revocation of the edict of Nantes and by the brutal persecution of his Protestant subjects. How the French recovered power under the first Napoleon every reader knows. In that great but bad man all the genius of Julius Caesar and all the genins of Charle- magne seem to have been united. His genius, in fact, was loftier, more comprehen- sive and more brilliant than that of either. Never before had such dash and daring been exhibited on the battle field. Never before was there such wisdom, such energy, such decision in council. Jt was his proud boast that he had taken up the long disused sceptre of Charlemagne and that he had been born for universal empire. At no time in the history of the world, before or since, was absolute and universal empire so near the grasp of one man. Much as he did to break down the barriers and prejudices of the past, his mission, after all, was that of an angel of and be friends? If this arrangement can be carried out it will pave the way for the final fusion of the Latin races. But Napoleon— cessful war against the Saracens in Spain and | first toSpain and then toFrance, Inthe times | where is he? Alas, poer Yorick! Tor Loss or THE CamBRiA.—There is now no longer any reason to doubt that the Cam- bria, of the Anchor line, has been lost. Awful as the disaster now appears, it will be much more awiul if poor but fortunate John McGartland is the only survivor. At the latest nothing has been heard of the missing boats, It is the history of the ill-fated Hibernia re- peated. It is sad to think of the erowd of pas- sengers who have in all likelihood perished. ‘The moral of this other sad story seems to be that the Anchor line proprietors must build stronger vessels if they would persist in round- ing the northern shores of Ireland. Of all the steamship lines their route is the most difficult. No fault can be found with this company. Its ships qre good; its oflicers are the very best. If they have lost ships other lines have lost ships as well. The Cunard is the only line which has not lost a single vessel. The misfortunes of the Anchor line are traceable mainly to the difficulties which they are compelled to encoun- ter in their northern passage to and from the Firth of Clyde. Than Captain Cunningham no more brave or skilful commander guided ship across tho Atlanti Tue Irish Lecion IN FRanow.—We are not surprised to hear that the Irish Legion, which was raised to assist the French, has already won laurels for itself. In the actions tism of fire,” the Legion fought with distin- guished gallantry and rendered signal service to the cause of France, The charges of the Irishmen, most of whom are young men from Dublin and vicinity, carried all before them; and the Legion has been publicly thanked for its valor and success. We suppose that after peace shall have been restored and the French republic firmly established, the Irishmen will before Orleans, where it received ita first ‘‘bap- | expect the Frenchmen to reciprocate by help- ing them to whip the English and organize a destruction, In due time he fell, and the mighty but ill-cemented structure which republic of their own in Ireland. But if our Celtic friends will only wait a little longer they pxercise of their lawful authority it is not | j; nig beyond the Eider. For services rendered | he had reared crumbled to pieces. In| may see Great Britain a republic, and then, ikely that they wil! be obstructed on election | y if they confine themselves within proper | fimits. | to his brother-in-law, Louis of France, he was permitied to annex to his dominions the Duchy of Lorraine. Invited by the Pope, like his our day France has once again recovered her greatness and once again fallen. In the pride of her heart she has once more sinned, and predecessor, Charlemagne, to deliver him from | once more the handwriting on the wall has his enemies, he led his victorious army | been interpreted by painful fact. Weighed in across the Alps. He was successively pro- | the balance she has been fonnd wanting. claimed King of the Lombards and King of | This time she has been struck down, not by Italy, and finally, from the hands of Pope John | British gold or British perseverance, but by the Twelfth, he receivedthe imperial crown, | the vigorous blows of her German neighbor. ; Tus was renewed the compact between the | Under the influence of Prussia—a compara- | Pope and the Cxsar, and thus was established | tively new State—Germany has found that that German or Holy Roman empire which, cohesion and unity the want of which had with varying fortune, lasted until the times of | hitherto been her carse, United she has risen the first Napoleon, The second restoration was | witha might and majesty which have filled in many respects more successful than the | the world with amazement; and by a series of first, The empire remained strong under three | well dealt blows she has sinitten her would- successive Othos, under their kinsman Henry, ) be destroyer to the earth, To-day France and under the early Franconian Cwsars, In | lies bleeding and weak, and there is no 1056 died Henry the Third, the most promis- | Power in Europe bold enough to bid the trium- ing of all the German Ciesars; and his suc- | phant conqueror ‘‘Halt.”” The sudden up- cessor, Henry the Fourth, found himself weak rise of Germany, under the leadership of in the hands of the mightiest monk who ever | Prussia, is the most significant tact of these served the papacy. The accession of Hilde- | times. One hundred and soventy years ago brand to the Paval throne, ugder the tife of | the Prussian Kingdom had got begun to exist. Horst Nomenciatore.—The doubiing of ‘pames for hotels sometimes leads to awkward ishaps. We have two hotels in this city | f nearly similar names, to wit, the Grand otel and the Grand Centrel or Central Grand lotel, both on Broadway. It not unfrequently appens that the baggage of a stranger goes one house and he himself is carried to | other. In other cases a husband expects is wife or a wife ber husband, and one goes way and the other another, until things | $0 mixed up that sometimes mischief | not divorce suits ensues. Ali this tronb: be obviated by giving each hotei i: | and distinct appellation. In the in- | we refer to it would undoubtedly be of wantage to the entire travelling community } have the ‘‘Central” wiped out of the name the “Grand,” or the “Grand” out of the tral,” it dopit make wuch difference as perhaps, their dream will be so far realized to make them satisfied with the compromise. Scorch PREsBYTERIANS TURNING Episco- PALIANS.—The organ of the Free Church of Scotland (the Monthly Iecord) announces with alarm that there is a growing tendency among the young people in Scotland to leave the Presbyterian for the Episcopal Church, which it regards as the half-way station to Rome. This is certainly a very curious move- ment among the old stiff-necked, bilieus and punctilious Scotch Presbyterians, And what- ever course such a class of rigid religionists undertake to pursue, it will, no doubt, be car- ried out with true Scotch obstinacy and firm- ness, When a Scotch Presbyterian does any- thing in a radical religious way you may look out for a revolution or @ moral earthquake, Diamonps of immense value, ‘extraordinary gems,” as we are told by the cable, continue to pour into Europe from Africa. The original African diamond, a very valuable article also, was tided towards the American Continent, Thanksgiving Day. * In view of our obligations of gratitude for Divine mercies and favors, and ‘whereas tho people of the United States, during the year now about to end, have special canse to be thankful for general prosperity, abundant har- vests, exemption from pestilence, foreign war, and civil strife,” the President has recom- mended Thursday, the 24th day of November next, as a day of general thanksgiving for the bounty of God during the year, and of suppli- cations for the continuance of his blessings, What a volume of good and great things vouchsafed to us as a people are embodied in the President's brief recapitulation! ‘‘General prosperity.” Yes, and there is nothing like it now and no precedent for it in the prosperity of any other people. ‘‘Abundant harvests.” The aggregate this year of each and all the essential crops of the country, notwithstanding the long and widely extended drought, is really wonderful, and the quality is first rate. “Exemption from pestilence.” ‘True, and con- sidering the vast extent of the republic and its great varieties of climate, and its exposures to contagious epidemics, this general exemption is very remarkable. Likewise is our exemp- tion from destructive earthquakes, and con- sidering the lute extensive shake, we are dis- appointed in this omission from the proclama- tion, Exemption from “foreign war and civil strife.” How fortunate our condition con- trasted with the fearful sufferings of France, and how beautiful, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, the abounding fruits of internal peace compared with our late experience of the horrors of civil war! The general observance of a day of thanksgiving, then, North, South, East and West, by the people of the United States—thank God !—was never more appropri- ate than in the recognition of our good fortunes asa people for the year 1870, Let the day, then, be universally observed throughout the Union, and let not the calls of charity at home or from over the sea be forgotten in the pre- paratious for the festival. Dress Fashions for Autumn. Each one of the four seasons of the year exerts its own peculiar influence on mankind universally, despite the local troubles or the isolated quarrels or individual suffering of humanity. People are now being toned down by the sombre seriousness of autumn towards a calm anticipation of the coming severities of winter. The ‘‘sear and yellow leaf,” visible on all sides, from the centre of the Park to the most retired nook of the cosiest glen of the mountain fringes, speaks of the inevitable finale—of the evanescence of the sparkle of the summer. So it is to a certain degree with the mundane matter of dress, as will be seen by our special report of the latest fashion styles published to-day. The letier is dated at Tréport, on the coast of Normandy. Paris remained closed; so the devotees of fashion congregated at this little place. Almost the latest flutter of the wavy muslins of summer were to be seen here. Winter colors were “coming in.” Velvets, cashmeres, gheavy silks and coat-shaped casaques werd in vogue. Llama and Algerian satin wool are even now worn over velvet petticoate. Jackets, tunics, hats and robes have been revolutionized almost completely. We must refer our fair and fashionable readers to the learned exposé of our special writer for the full particulars of this grand movement, as well as of its more immediate consequences in Europe, from which part of the world the fashion goddess will soon emigrate to New York. Nusson.—This exquisite artist, afier a most extraordinary success in Philadelphia and Baltimore, will visit us again at Steinway Hall to-morrow evening. It is said that the receipts at her concerts for the brief season at these two provincial cities amounted to over thirty thousand dollars. The receipt of her last concert in Philadelphia was over six thousand dollars—something unprecedenied in the annals of that town, or indeed in the history of concert singers anywhere. Nilsson and her acceptable company, including Brig- noli and Vieuxtemps and Miss Cary, will be heartily welcomed here, returning as they are crowned by unexceptionable triumphs in the provinces. Brilliant as Nilsson’s first season was in this city, her second will probably ex- ceed it, for the public are eager for more of that delicious voice, that graceful form and sweet face of beauty which charmod them as with a spell. Tue BovmENicat Cooncu, has been inde- finitely postponed by the Pope, in consequence of the occupation of Rome and the Papal States by the Italian government and the uncertainty of the temporal habitat of the Holy Father. He has his dogma of infalli- | bility, but since its proclamation he has been truly unfortunate. His late most powerful friends are in exile, and he is himself as an exile in his own dominions, of which he has been despoiled. Still we think that this loss of his temporal kingdom is ‘‘a blessing in dis- guise,” and that in good time it will so be made manifest to the Pope and the Church, Tue VENEZUELA ReEvorurion.—Success, which appeared to flow in favor of the insur- gents in Venezuela, headed by Guzman Blanco, one month ago, now seems to run in the opposite direction. In several battles which were fought recently the government troops, under the lead of General Hernandez, were victorious. Blanco is losing ground. THe ‘Wag or tHE Racgs” in South Caro- lina did not end with the rebellion, but occa- sionally bursts forth with its wonted fury. The last conflict between the blicks and whites in the Palmetto State occurred in Laurens county on Wednesday last, when five white men and three negroes were killed and several others severely wounded. As we are assured that politics had nothing to do with this riot we must infer that it is the out- cropping of the old spirit of antagonism between the races which, unfortunately, was not stamped out with the abolition of slavery. Rep River Kyoc xo at tHe Door.—The slight taste of democratic institutions enjoyed by the people of Red River during their insur- rection only increased their desire for self- government. Becoming restive under British dominion and Ganadian tyranny, they have memorialized President Grant to use his intercession with the Queen to permit the peaceful annexnicz *f thair country to the Vnited States, Religion and Meligions Sects in tho Onited States, Father Hecker, the Superior of the Com- munity of Panlists in this city, toolsup a very interesting subject in his lecture last Tuesday atthe Academy of Music, Brooklyn, on “The Religious Condition of the Country.” Frow his standpoint as a Catholic it was treated in a liberal and comprehensive mamer. He argued, with much truth, that religon among the Protestant sects, and particulady in New England, had lost its vitality and hal run into rationalism and scepticism. While tiese sects still maintain the forms and pretend 9 hold te the croeds of former times they virtually ignore the faith and repudiate the dtrines. “Not one man or woman in ten,” he reparked, ‘would be willing to make active faithon the five points of Calvinism, which was te reli. gion of the Puritan fathers—in a they had turned clean round the circle, so thet the religion of the people there to-day was a en. tire subversion of Christianity as held oir forefathers.” The truth of these remrky must be apparent to every observing aniin. quiring mind, Father Hecker quoted Dr, Bellows and other preachers of the same stip in support of his argument; but Dr. Belloys is hardly a fair representative of the re. gious belief, or rather unbelief; of N England. He is a Unitarian, and alth there are a great many of that sect the greates part of the New Englanders prefer te belong to the Independents and other so-called Trini: tarian sects of the old Calvinist school. Henry Ward Beecher is more the representative of the religious sentiment of New England at the present time. There is, however, little dif- ference between them. Neither, as wo under- stand it, believe in the Godhead and sacrificial atonement of Christ or in His divinity, excepi in some such poetic sense as Renan does. They profess to preach the gospel and call Christ the Saviour, but in a moral and figura- tive sense only. The old Puritan belief is, ae Mr. Hecker remarked, utterly subverted in New England, and through New England in- fluence very much destroyed throughout the United States. He summed up the religious condition there in a few graphic words :— “Unitarianism had got rid of Christ by deny- ing His divinity; Universalism had got rid o! hell by denying its existence, and Spiritual- ism had got rid of heaven by substituting something for it.” The two irresistible tendencies at work in the Christian world, this able lecturer ob- served, is to Catholicism on one hand and ta rationalism on the other. These are more apparent in this country, because here religion has a fair and free field, and because there is nothing to obstruct it in its natural and logical consequence, And what is the consequence of the subverted faith of the Puritan fathers—of those men and women ‘“‘who loved religion above all things and were ready to sacrifice everything for the freedom of carrying ont their religious ideas?" In the first place, we see the Catholic Church becoming stronger and spreading farther every day. The piously inclined cannot feed upon the lnsks of mere formality and rationalism, They cannot endure the insincerity of preach- ers and congregations professing the old ortho- dox Christianity of the Puritan fathers while no more believing it than Renan or Strauss. Faith to them is spiritual life and salvation, and they fly to the Catholic Church to tind it there. Herein lies the secret of the growth o! that Church in this free country, where all churches and sects are on the same footing and where there is an ample field for their action. It is not within the province of an independ- ent journal that holds the scales impartially for all to argue for or against one religious body or . another. We simply state facts and reflect aa in a mirror the movements of the times. It cannot be denied, however, that since the New England Churches and their offsprings in other parts of the United States have cut loose from the old faith and have run into rational- ism, Universalism and modern Spiritual- ism, the morals of the people have not been improved. The marriage tie, for example, as Father Hecker properly remarked, has been loosened. In Connecticut there is about one divorce for every eight Pro- testant families, and it is not much better in Massachusetts and other New England States. The family is the foundation of the social fabric ; yet see how it is undermined through the laxity of morals and want of religions influence over the people, Then, again, the decrease of births is so great, trom a like cause mainly, that there would be danger of the New Englanders dying out if the popula- tion were not kept up by foreigners. True we build gorgeous temples of religion, and the liberality and taste displayed by the American people in this is really remarkable. It is something we may well be proud of, and it shows to the world how religions institutions can be maintained and flourish without the support of the State and by the voluntary principle. Nor do we forget that our Churches, however much they may have fallen from the old faith and have become more lax in princi- ple, have still some moral and restraining influence. But it is evident, as we have said, that the Protestant sects, especially those of the New England type, are losing their hold and usefulness among the people from the want of faith, and that the Catholic Church is gaining ground because it maintains its faith and is the refuge of those who are piously inclined, Vicror Hugo, we are sorry to hear, has declined to ‘‘stimulate” the French provinces in a stumping campaign in behalf of the republic. No wonder. He exhausted him- self in that tremendous edict against the Germans of blood and thunder, comets, earth- quakes and volcanic eruptions in defence of Paris. Rutcious CONFERENCES «NX New York.— During the past week the American Church Missionary Society (Episcopalian) has held its anniversary, and the National Unitarian Conference has met in New York. The efforts of the Missionary Society. according to the eleventh annual report, were last year crowned with the most gratifying results. The total receipts for the year were $64,564 80. Sixty-one missionaries had been commissioned, eleven of them being reappointed,’ The National Unitarian Conference, after three days of animated discussion between the old- fashioned conyervalive Unitariags gud the