The New York Herald Newspaper, December 25, 1870, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, RRO ADO RS “ AMUSEMENTS TO-MORROW AFTERNOON AND EVENING, GLOBE THEATRE, 728 Broadway,—Vapigty ENTER- Matinee at 3. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.New York Rura- LABS-—-Roubeks OF THE Hest, 40. Matinee at 1. TAINMENT, 40. BOOTH'S THEATRE, 34 m.. botwsen th and 6th avs.— Ru VAN WINKLs, Matinve at 15. NIBLO'S GARDEN, Rroadway.—TuB SPECTACLE OF THE BLACK Choox. Matinee at 14. WALLACK'S THEATRE, Broadway and 13a stroet.— Coquerrrs, LINA EDWIN’S THEATRE, JAK SUEPPAND. Matinee at 2. 70 Broadway.—Lirr.e GRAND OPERA HOUSE, corner of Sth ay. and 23d at-— Lrs BuiGanps, Matinee at 2. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Tu® PANTOMIME OF Weer Witiite WiNKIE., Matinee at 2. WOOD'S MUSEUM Broadway, corner 30th at.—Perform- ‘ances every alteravon aud evening, ca ACADEMY OF MUSIC.—Tuz Herm at TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, yt Bowery. Va. RIR1Y ENTERTAINMENT. Matinee a: 2. THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Broadway.—Comto Vooat- ism, NEGKO ACIS, &C.—Tus KLALK DWARF. Matinee, SAN FRANCISCO MINSTREL HALL, 685 Bi NEGO MINSTRELSY, FAROSS, BURLESQUES, iway.— BRYANT'S NEW OPERA HOUSE, 234 st., between 6th and 7th ays.—NeoRo MINSrRELSY, KOCENTRICITIES, &O. HALL. corner 28th rect and Broadway.— RY'S DIOKAMA OF IRELAND. APOLLO Dx. Co: BROOKLYN OPERA HOUSE——Weon, Hoaues & Warre’s MinsTus.s. ~CHUR(STMAS PANTOMIME, &O. NEW YORK CIRCUS, Pourteenth st THB RING, ACROBATS, 40. Matinee at DR. KAHN’S ANATOMICAL MUSEUM, 745 Broadway.— SOIMENOE AND aut. rest, SCENES IN NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— SCIENCE AND Ant. TRIP LE SHE ‘ET. New York, Sunday, December 25) 1870. ‘8 or TU-DAVS ‘HERALD, $e Advertiser: s—Chi ristmas s e Origin and Observance of me al of Christendom; vt ma tie Services in the Churches ‘To-Day—Tele- graphic News trom Ali Parts of the World. 4—Kiding on a Rail; Street Railroads as a System— Yachting—Religious —_Intelligence—Brooklyn uris—Tne Oneida Community. e3 in the Court of Special Sessions—‘Boss” ‘I—The Westchester Supervisors—Out of Kanuck Jafl—Skating—The New Telegraphic Code—Atiairs in Brazili—Christmas Cold—The Nick Wall Tragedy—Rutherfurd Park Hotel Burned Down—Those “Charmmg” Shoplilt- ers—Naval Intelligen 6—Edivoriais: Leading Article, “A Merry Christ- mas and a Happy New Year'’—Amusement Announcements. Y—Editorials (Continacd from Nenan Page}—The War in France—Busi Netes—Criticlsms Australasia— jons—Holiday York to Phila- yn City News. Books. United Scates senat Week in the Courts— aeipiia in Twe LHours. t 9-North Carolina: The Radical and the Demo- cratic Bt View of Impeachment—Dixie Stake, tiers from the People—Financial Ke- Cronin Homicide—Married on the and Deaths, Romance from Real sin the Gold Room— Advertisements, Shipping Intelligen 4§1—Travei in Persia: 8) eral, Valimaseda, to ‘4 J Field—New York State Lind Oiice—Nitro-Glycerine Explosion. ts of Pythias—Advertisements, Biessep Ar pay their Taylor. Harry Boys To-Day—The new régime in the i incoming § Sheriff's office. SENATOR TWEED yesterday sent his check for fifty thousand dollars to the poor of fhe Seventh ward. A nice little present is this to find on your Christmas tree this morning. Ovr Curistran Esquimavx Frienps in Northera Alaska will celebrate Christmas in a feast of blubber and fish oil, under the bril- liant coruscations of the Aurora Borealis. A merry Cirisitmas to our fellow citizeas of Alaska, and plenty of blubber and oil. tL Harvest—The Christmas sho keepers. A good sign, ral prosperity of business, city and of a merry Christmas over and country, Santa Claus among the olive branches. “Brussep Are THE PEA —There- fore let General Bu EMAKERS up his friend tak Sumner this bi if possible, to the White House offer ng to G eral Grant. What would Grant say? He would say, ‘‘ Let us have peace.” Conarnss HAs ADJO or the holidays, and General Grant will evjoy bis Chri dinner to-day without f of a contum Senate. His parson should preach from the text ‘‘‘Let us have peace’ on earth and good will to all men.” Nor a Forcery.—We have 1 I ved a card from Mr. Chase, the young man whom it was alleged Judge Dowling held for forgery, deny- ing that the charge could bear any such inter- pretation. The fact, as he states, amounts to the indiscretion of drawing his own check on a bank where he had no funds. This may have been a foolish proceeding, but it certainly was not forgery. Paris 1s UNpEer —Berlin is so far victorious; Paris is reduced for side dishes to cats and rats—Berlin has all the luxuries of the season; and yet the gay Parisians will probably have as merry a Christmas as the grave Berlinians. Such is the physiological difference between your sparkling and warm- ing champagne and your ambrosial but cool- ing lager beer. SkoreTary Fisa gave a dinner to the mem- hers of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations night before last, and Sumner, the President's accuser, was present with Morton, the President's stanch defender, and they treated each other with cordiality, This was, perhaps, a peace movement, and there may be, perhaps, another soon on a larger scale, Who knows? A ConresPONDENT sugge: sts in relation to the building which fell in Thirty-fifth street and caused the death of four individuals that a proper cellar for the structure was not blasted in the solid rock upon which it stood, and that the foundation was therefore pro- bably imperfec'. We give the suggestion to Coroner Keenan. It may be useful in the in- vestigation of the cause of this quadruple murder, NEW YURK HERALD, SUNDAY, DEUKMBER 25, 1870.~TRIPLE SHEET. “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New | the grip of the conqueror; that Germany may Year!” In the olden times in ‘‘merrie England,” and, indeed, wherever Christmas was Christ- mas, it was the custom of the preacher, at the close of the service on Christmas Eve, to pro- Rounce, as the congregation was about to break up, the words which we have chosen as “A merry Christ- mas and a happy New Year”’—what better blessing could cdm> from the lips of a Chris- tian minister! Ifany event which men now cele- brate deserves to be celebrated joyously, that event is surcly the birth of the Saviour of the heading of our article. mankind, When Christ was born of Mary 1n Bethlehou, in that fate nny tree, Angels sang there with pir and gice, In excelsls glori Peace on earth and good will to mon—such was the burden of that song of the angels. there was joy in heaven when the Christ was born; ifthe Gospel of Christ is a Gospel of peace and good will, why sheuld not the day which celebrates the advent of the Redeemer be a day of sweet, holy, festive joy. Very early in the history of the Church of Christ it was ordained by the authorities in Rome that on that day no work should be dene, for the reasoa that the joy begotten of the gift of sal- vation was teo intense to allow of labor. The modern pulpit is the editor's desk ; the modern preacher is the editor's pen; burdened with the gespel message of peace and good will, we repeat this morning the old story and pray for the reign of love and joy and peace. Itis a joyous truth that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to-day giving tone and character to the civilization of modern times. Wherever there are life and thought and energy ; wher- ever there is anything which indicates progress, there is Christianity, there is Christian influ- ence. Old prophecy is being fulfilled; the rough places are being smoothed; the crooked places are being made straight; science is piercing the everlasting hills and bridging the mighty waters; the fierce winds are being tamed and made _ the car- riers of commerce and tho swift lightning is being trained and made the mes- senger of thought; barrier lines are being broken down between nations, and the families of mankind, insensibly drawn closer and closer, are learning the lessons of a common brother- hood. During all the ages of the past there never has been such evidence of progress. To the philosopher it has almost appeared as if man were master of fate, not the creature of circumstance. The philosopher's stone, it is true, has not yet been discovered; but the door to the mysterious chamber where the secret of life lies hid seems at least to stand open, and expectation stands on tiptoe. It is a painful tact, however, that while humanity has never had so much reason to rejeice humanity has never had more cause for sor- row. Railroads, telegraphs, newspapers, prosperous constitutional monarchies, flourish- ing republics—the fruit of science, the flower- ing of liberalism, . the hope and en- couragement of the geod and brave—have not yet been able to give the world peace. While to-day New York can _ shake hands with London; while human in- terests are identified all the world over; while the means of peacemaking and peace- preserving are all but omnipotent, the time- honored centres of modern civilization are scenes of misery, sorrow, ruin, blood. Not in many centuries—not during the days and years of the Corsican tyrant—has Europe experienced so much agony as she is ex- periencing to-day. Germany and France— two of the most advanced nations of modern times—nations in which the human intellect has reached its highest development—are bleeding at every pore, and the vilest passions of mankind are permitted to run riot. Happy, singing Germany, jolly, free and easy France, are equally in the condition of Rachel when she wept for her children and refused to be comforted because they were not. On this Christmas Day of the year 1870, with so gigantic and destructive a war in existence, good men who have faith in their fellows and faith in progress and faith in the Gospel stand aghast, and, with all their fine theories blown to the winds of heaven, ask themselves whether, after all, another, a nobler and more potent Gospel, most not be looked for? To-day success is sg allied with failure, construction is so defeated by destruction, hope is so wedded to despair, that many hungry eyes are now turned to Heaven, vainly looking for that sign which has so often been looked for before, but which is not to be given, It is not, we think, unfair to say, with all the facts of this Christmas morning before us, that hope and despair divide humanity. Happily for us, we are safe and far away from the scenes of sorrow. When the deluge camo upon the ungodly the ark containing the good floated high and safe on the bosom of the mighty waters; when fire and brimstone descended on the doomed cities of the plain Zoar remained as‘a place of refuge; when Pharaoh drove out the poor Israelites the pillar of fire and cloud made the waste wil- derness a happy home; when darkness covered the Earth during the awful hours of the crucifixion there were some hearts that never yielded to despair. In this grand, free, wide-spreading American land we have at once the ark, the Zoar, the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud, and, although darkness overspreads the Earth and the hopes of many are being sacrificed, our hearts know not andought not to know despair. We can burn the Yule log and play happily under the mistletoe, and the young people, from one end of the land to the other, can merrily sing— Bear blue, apples and pears enow, Barnfuls, pagfuls, sacktuls; Hurrah {hurran ! hurrah ! Circumstanced as we are, with peace reign- ing and plenty abounding, let us not forget that the privileges of a chosen nation, a pecu- liar people, imply responsibilities. Let us not take all the glory to ourselves. Let us with kindly eye and generous heart look abroad upon the suffering nations and upon the neigh- boring poor, who are always with us. Let us battles, so that He may make an end of hor- rid war. And while we pray, let us also remember that he who giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord. To all nations and to all peoples we wish well. That the Holy Father may soon find reat and refuge, with peace and contentment; that poor, suffering France mav soon be delivered from It not ~forget to intercede with the God of not lose the fruits of her hard won victories ; that In the establishment of a universal brotherhood the nations may s00n make an end of dynastic wars ; that among all ranks and classes of the people this Christmas sea- gon may bo a season of genuine joy—such is our earnest prayer. The New York Heratp speaks to a large congregation. Our readers are to be found in all lands and among all peoples. Our voice sounds everywhere. Our words reach to the endof tho world, To all our readers, from Alaska to Abyssinia, from “Greenland’s icy mountains to India’s coral strand,” to the high, the low, the rich, the poor, everywhere, the Heratp does most sincerely wish “A MERRY Cayustatas And A Harry New sosmae ei ene a a oy Wur SHovtp Nor Our Hesrew Frienps celebrate Christmas? Are not many Chris- tians in the lager beer business he-brewers ? Wuo Wit Cerzsrate the new City Charter most cheerfully to-day and to-morrow, the poor or the rich ? The War Situation in Frauce—Hopeful Prospects of the Republic. The coming of Christmas brings brighter prospects for France. Our despatches this morning state that General Faidherbe, tho leader of the Northern army, gained a decisive victory at Pont Noyelles, near Amlens, on Friday, in which he had driven the Prussians with the bayonet. A trap has evidently been preparing for General Faidherbe between Manteuffel and the commander of the heavy column, which has been moving northward through Laon and La Fert¢é; but he has as evidently scented it and brought on a battle with Manteuffel before his co-operadng column could come within strik- ing distance. Havre and Cherbourg are both deemed impregnable, the gunboats being in the harbors, and there are sixty theusand troops in Havre, who will doubtless be pushed forward to attack the rear of Man- teuffel and complete his discemfiture. In the south the retreat of the German armies under Prince Frederick Charles and the Duke of Mecklenburg toward Orleans from Tours is fully confirmed, and was evidently brought about by the skilful manceuvring of Bourbaki to cut off the Prince and of Chauzy to turn the Duke's right flank. Each of these movements brings the armies of relief nearer to Paris, just as General Grant's flanking ope- rations in the Wilderness, before Spottsylvania, on the North Anna and along the Pamunkey, brought him at each turn so much nearer Richmond. The Germans, finding Chauzy over- lapping them on their right and Bourbaki threatening to overlap them on their left, ne- cessarily withdraw, as Lee was compelled to do, in order to present a front equal to that- of the enemy. of thorough and successful as the first accounts stated, although King William, hitherto the The sorties on the east Paris seem to have been fully as “reliable correspondent” of the war, has stated that they were easily repulsed. Alto- gether the evidences of shrewd generalship and of soldierly steadiness evinced in the new armies of France give great hopes for the heroic people. A new feature which has appeared in the cenduct ef the war may well bring a great chill to the heart of King William. Itis stated that the people in Rheims have risem in ‘‘in- surrection” against the Prussian commander in that city, and that six thousand Saxons are sustain fifty thousand inhabitants and is the capital of the champagne district. a heavy Prussian force ever since its capture, soon after Sedan, until recently, when its gar- to of being hurried from Versailles him. Rheims is a city It has been held by rison was depleted by the sending of a large portion to co-operate with Manteuffel. It is probable therefore that the people, finding the enemy so reduced in their midst, have organized such a resistance as threatened General Butler when he held New Orleans against the rough mob of that city. Our readers will remember—and those who were among the Union force in that city at the time will never forget—how formidable an array the jacquerie ,of that city, unorganized, un- drilled and only partially armed, presented against Butler's weak force of Union soldiery; and what an iron will and prompt determina- tion it required to disperse them. Such a force in Rheims may breed terrible trouble for the Prussian commander there ; but, whether it is put down or not, the truth will have been forcibly illustrated that the people of France will make another war of La Vendée before they will give up fully and completely to the invader. “Arrer A Feast THE Giver Snakes His Hrap.”—Therefore if you have a favor to ask of your host do so before you sit down to his Christmas table. Witt a Fiery Toovsanp Dotiar SraB.e cover a multitude of starvation hovels ? He Wom tHe SHEPHERDS RECOGNIZED by the message of an angel, because they found him in swaddling clothes, resting in a manger— He whose glorious birth we celebrate to-day, loved the little children, whom he took to His heart and blessed. Bo assured that He loved those little ones most who were fatherless and friendless, and that He will reward most abundantly those who befriend the orphan. Let us remember, then, when we lift up our hearts on this bright Christmas festival and ask for blessings upon our households—let us remember those who have no household except what public charity provides for them in the orphan asylums. Above all, let us not forget the children of the dead heroes of the war, in whose behalf the public are now appealed to in the fair, which, we regret to say, is not supported as it ought to be. Members OF THE LxGisLaATuRE ELEct— Don't get too jolly these Christmas times, for you must remember that you will have to com- mence business ia seber earnest in Albany on Tuesday of next week, A Coon ‘Prosrror For CuristmMas—That of the artists and professors stationed on the tip-top of Mount Washington. With the wind Christmas Day and Our Foreign Residents. Heaven bless the happy omens of this day! It rounites the bearts of men from Iceland to Australia; and nowhere on this little, toilful planet of our own, swinging around the circle of ages through celestial space, is there, perhaps, so complete and varied a representa- tion of the human family, in all its branches, from the flat-nosed Esquimaux imported by Captain Hall to the ‘heathen Chinee” shipped over by Koopmanschap, as on this fair and noisy istand of Manhattan. The Dutch—not the whole Teutonic tribe so designated by thoughtless “scribes—but the genuine broad-built, wide-breeched children of Schiedam, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and all the dams from the Scheldt to the Zuyder-Zee, have tarried in this pleasant land sues tig days of Hendrik Hudson and left their names, their influence, their hearty cus- toms and their progeny in every ‘‘coigne of vantage” from Coenties slip 6 the farther- most ridge of the Kaatskills, ‘Schnapps, “krullers,” roast geese and grand old open fireplaces, heaped high with fragrant back- logs and faced in front with colored tiles enamelled all over With pictured stories from the life of Christ, still remiad us, at this season, that New York was once “Nieuw Ausierdani,*’ even if the welcome visits of ‘Santa Claus” and the merrymakings of the Saint Nicholas Brother- hood did not recur about these times. Genuine Deutschland proves her presence in a thousand ways. She has temples, societies, theatres, concert rooms, club halls, newspapers, banks—all opulent and successful among us—and one hundred and fifty thousand of her children quaff lager and the best of Rhenish wine, and make endless vocal and instrumental music in scores of cesey places redolent with the fumes of good Kamaster, and huag with the photographs of ‘‘ Koenig Wil- helm” and ‘ Unser Fritz.” France, too, has her thousands here who, in spite of home depression beyond the seas, re- tain their cigarettes and ‘café noir” and ‘petits verres” with undiminished inclination, and lose none of their local gayety because of those ‘sacrés” Prussians who are playing the deuce on the soil of the ‘‘ grande nation.” Nor is the ‘‘roast beef” of Old England at discount in New York. Many a secluded table will be surrounded to-day by roystering John Bulls, who will carve luscious saddles of genuine Southdown mutton, flanked with the fattest turkeys and capons from Liverpool, with desserts ef plum pudding and mince pies compeunded three thousand miles away, and dance and frolic to-morrow under real mistletoe and holly decked with scarlet berries that grew on the slopes of Lan- cashire. But in the midst of their wassail, and with the Yule leg of other days blazing on the hearth, there will be honored, with brimming goblets and in tearful silence, the memory of one who has peopled the homes and holidays of the passing generation with quaint, tender and loving creations that have become a part of our lives, and may, by their genial influence, have made us gentler and better mem. Ah, while his own countrymen do him lasting honor, there will be few fire- sides ia America where the shade of Charles Dickens will not seem to hover near in the celebration of the merry customs and the re- vival of the kindly feelings which he did so much to hallow and perpetuate in all our homes! But then there, too, will bo the Norseman, with his ‘Swedish punch” of steaming arrack, somewhat stronger than the foaming miéd of the days of Thor and Odin; the Russ, with his caviar and brandy; the Italian, with his maccaroni and his Sagestano wine, and his relishes of tunny-fish and Parmesan—all in force, all heartily celebrating the day, all patronizing numerous restaurants and hostel- ries kept by their own people. Spaniards, Portuguese, Welshmen, Greeks and Orientals are in less number; but, no matter how few, or what their peculiar education, all seem to unite heartily in Christmas frolick- ing, and whether it be amid the organ melodies of solemn Christian worship or sharing the jollity of a brief release from toil and care, all feel and celebrate the season. Such is the glorious thought of universal love which fills the hour that every heart acknowledges it spontaneously, enthu- siastically—the first bright streak of the hoped for lasting dawn, let us endeavor te believe. As in New York and throughout this wide Continent, so all over the world, our friends are of every tongue and race. In the epitome of their representation in this metropolitan city is figured the result that, some day, light and truth will have worked out for the world, Let us, men and brethren of every land, enjoy it, then, right cheerily, and let our descendants still say of us, as we say of those who went before :— ’Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale, ’Twas Christmas told the merriest tale, And Christmas gambols still would cheer ‘The poor man’s heart through half the year. GeneRAL Burier.—Lay up your battle-axe and don’t look both ways for Christmas, “CuristmMas Comes But ONCE A YEAr.”— It does generally, but it comes twice this yoar. “Tu Poor Ye Have Atways wirn You,” but just now more than ever do they appeal to those who are well to do in the world for the means to make their humble homes comforta- ble, to give them a chance fer a ‘‘merrie Christmas.” When the rich are returning thanks in the churches to-day for their pros- perity, and dining at the sumptuous table, sur- rounded by a cheerful family, they should not forget that there are thousands of poor people who have not the wherewithal to keep the hungry wolf from the door. If they but recall the assurance, “‘it is more blessed to give than to rereceive,” they may learn to keep Christmas day holy and well.” ArHoues TamMMANy and the Young Demo- cracy have been at ‘‘sixes and sevens” for the past year, ‘Big Six” will no doubt entertaia all hands jollily to-morrow. Wao Witt Present the forlorn damsel in the fountaio in the City Hall Park with suita- ble habiliments in this both the hospitable up there driving at the rate of sixty miles an hour they can have a merry Christmas only by “‘splicing the main brace.” Splice, gentle- men, and ‘a mercy Christmas” to you. and inhospitable season of the year? Let ALL Powtrio1aNs cease wrangling, and remember to-day and to-morrow and keep them both hely—-and themaalvaa saber. A wonderful revolution has taken place in racing in this country since the organization of the American Jockey Club. Bofore its formation, it is true, we had race meetings in different parts of the country at intervals, but nothing like the regular annual gatherings that we have at the present day. Important events were few and far between. Within the past five years, since the selection of the charming and plcturesqne grounds, with the delightful drives thereto, of Jerome Park, much has been done for the success of racing in this’ couatry. The few gentlemen who initiated the American Jockey Club soon found their numbers aug- mented by other wealthy gentlemen of influ- ence, and ‘s short time the institution was a sucdéss, any of {he pomvete Mt once became owners and breeders of thg ilgh- mettled racer, and this created such a rivalry that the whole country soom becamo inter- ested ‘in the welfare of the undertaking, and more racing associations and clubs were formed at other fashionable places, and we have now four popular and beautiful race courses within a few hours’ ride of the metro- polis, owned and patronized by the wealthiest and most Tefined people of the land. All these racing ercistloas owe thelr rise and progress to the American Jockey Club, and they are governed by ft rules and regulations of that institution. 3 quisitions are being made daily to these asso- ciations; new stables of horses are being formed, and many wealthy gentlemen, who a few years ago could not be induced to attend a race meeting alone, much less with their fami- lies, are now buying and breeding thorough- bred stock with the intention of enjoying that highly interesting and exciting pastime in the future. The charms of Jerome Park and the other race courses are not monopolized by the wealthy classes alone, but the masses of the people have the sports and pleasures within their reach, and the immense throngs that have been witnessed at these places during the past summer fully attest how passionately fond the people are of all kinds of equine sports. The horses are now at rest, and will remain in quiet repose until the month of March, whenthey will be summoned to prepare fer one of the most brilliant campaigns that ever took plaee in this country, There will be eight meetings the coming season—Long Branch, Jerome Park, Saratoga and Balti- more—of four and six days each, and more than ene hundred and fifty races will be run for stakes and purses offered by the associa- tions, besides the numerous private matches that will be made during the winter by gen- tlemen horse owners. We shall have more race horses in this vicinity next summer than were ever before in all America, and some of them as fleet of foot and stanch in endurance as England ever had in her palmiest racing days. Therace for the Westchester Cup at Jerome Park at the next meeting will have a field of horses to contend for it that will as- tonish the racing world. In this connection it is but just to say that the American Jockey Club has done more than establish racing in this country on a firm footing. The example it has set has re- sulted inthe erganization of nearly all the trotting associations in the United States and the establishment of trotting on a respectable basis. During the past few years millions have been added to the wealth of the country by the selective breeding of that most valuable of all horses, the trotter. And this source of wealth will multiply for years to come if all ‘the trotting associations of the country are’ controlled and influenced by the samo spirit of fairness and impartiality which forms the dis- tinctive characteristic of the American Jockey Club. Let THe Poor Feitows who are in impri- sonument to-day for offences of which their consciences pronounce them innocent remem- ber the sufferings of the Saviour of the world and be patient. TRIM UP youR Ho.iies and festoon your halls with evergreens out of respect to the holiness of to-day and in preparation for the festivities of to-morrow. Count Bismarck on French ‘Military Honor—Will the Republic Observe Treaties? By a special cable telegram, published in our columns to-day, we learn that Count Bismarck has addressed a Cabinet circular to the representatives of the North German Confederation serving at the seats of foreign governments, in which the Prussian Premier delivers the ‘‘unkindest cut of all” to the French nation. The Count assails the military power of France. He points out that French soldiers, three generals being of the number, who surrendered to the King’s troops, and were paroled in dne form in Germany, have designedly broken their parole, gone over to the French lines, had their com- missions renewed, and appeared again in command, fighting against the Prussian armies, While prisoners they were well treated, and enjoyed all due regimental consideration. Premier Bismarck directs that the foreign governments shall be duly informed of the contents of the circular, and, at the same moment, asked officially if their Ministers think it probable that the rulers of France will, after such action with respect to military parole, observe the text of any treaty which may be concluded with them? It will be absolutely necessary, he says, to require of them, at the very least, that they shall give ‘material guarantees” for so doing. The Prussian Premier is exceedingly severe on poor France, He not only eounsels that a foreign army shall remain on her soil; but he also sets out to depreciate the honor of her sons ia the eyes of the world, and implicate, by anticipation, the interests and arguments of her friends in the London conference. Poor France! The Premier of Prussia don’t like the French republic. AraB Provers—Send a Christmas box to your poor neighbor, but take not a turkey across thine own threshold at a late hour to-morrow night. A Sproracte For CuHRrIstTMAS—A poor, withered woman—no professional beggar— sitting upon the marble steps of a Broadway bank, soliciting alms. A policeman accosts Did she bave a ‘‘heppy Christmas?” whee for political or other reasons, per fy sons desire to injure a prominent man they not uncommonly adduce against him the authority of some popular individual who, being dead and gone, cannot refute slanders uttered against one who may have been the best friend of the departed. In- stances of this mode of attack on public mon abound in both ancient and modern history, and we now find our republic an apt imitator of older nations, A meaner method of injuring a public man could not be devised, since, if it can be shown that he has taken from the dead one particle of the reputation to which the latter is entitled, the act recoils on himself and dims the brightest laurels that he may have won. It is Rot ugugual to put in in the mouths of aying men words whic they” never uttered, yet which may easily pass current for thelr real sentiments, since few people of reputation will stoop to defend themselves from asper- sions which they deem too contemptible to notice. They prefer deponding on the good sense of the public to give the libels the quietus they deserve. Bosides, there aro generally preset seme true-hearted persons at the deathbed of a prominent man who will not allow his character to be stained by seati- ments foreign to his nature, yet falsely im- puted to him, when he is no longer in exist- ence to contradict them. ~~. hy Thgre were twe men in the navy——Farragut and Portér—tvho fought side by sidé during the rebellion, and did their utmost to sup- press a conspiracy that, if successful, would have consigned their country to destruction. Both succeeded in all that they undertook, received their country’s approval and the highest honor she could bestow. Neither had cause to feel jealous ef the other, and the best feeling existed betweem them from the moment of their first association in the path of duty until the day of the gallant old Admiral’s decease, which was felt by the army, navy and the whole country as one common sorrow. It must, however, have been observed, with shame and regret by our people, how certain newspapers have zealously labored to show that Admiral Porter has all along been the enemy of Admiral Farragut, some of them evem going so fur as to say that the latter was persecuted te the grave. If any evidence of such persecution exist why has it not been given to the public? Why are assertions made without a particle of evi- dence to substantiate them, when, indeed, day after day sinco the culmination of this ras- cally plot, proofs have been forthcoming that Porter, not Farragut, was the victim of persecu- tion, if we may thus designate one who boldly defies his slanderers and will fight them to the death? These charges are not brought by Farragut’s friends, but by his and Porter's enemies; for no friend would take such a step to dim the reputation of the gallant dead. That would look too much as though he envied the reputation of the living. It must be confessed that our navy has fallen upon evil days; since it is well known that these fierce attacks on the senior officer proceed from a class of subalterns who are un- willing that the Admiral or any one else should differ with them in opinion on certain points, or throw his weight into the scale to prevent the navy from falling into anarchy and con- fusion, While Admiral Farragut was living, he was annoyed beyond measure by the nu- merous applications made to him by these dissatisfied non-combatants to commit him- self in writing in support of their wild preten- sions. The Admiral persistently refused to countenance their schemes, and at length his signature was forged to a document—an act that caused him to go to Washington and expose the whole matter. Every effort wag made at this time and subsequently to create bad feeling betweem two officers who could have none but the best wishes fer each other; for as they conferred together freely on all matters at issue, and agreed on almost every point, they never, during their lives, held any but the most amicable relations. But when Farragut died, and a sorrowing nation was lamenting the loss of the brave old Admiral, whose simplicity of character and heroie actions endeared him to all, the treacherous ghouls, ever on the alert, thought they saw an opportunity to strike a fatal blow at Admiral Perter. They published a confl- dential letter, written six years age, which was to array him against the President, supposing that when he had read that letter Grant would not have the magnanimity to send the Ad- miral’s name to the Senate for confirmation, They failed in this scheme. Then there were others who put words in the mouth of the dying Farragut. These electrified the Heuse of Representatives, but did not shake the faith of the Senate, that great conservative body which stands as the bulwark of our liberties .and our safeguard against any hasty action on the part of the more impulsive House, most of whose members did not realize what they were doing when they followed the leadership of Butler. This whole affair presents a sad picture of political demoralization, and serves to show how useless {t is in this country for a man to attain high honors, when the most ribald characters have influence enough te pull him down, The people are disgusted with such trickery, and it will yet recoil on those who have endeavored to injure the Admiral. The latter has from the first treated the attacks made upon him with that dignity which should characterize a brave officer, who feels that he has done his whole duty to his coun- try, and he will experience the satisfaction not only of being endorsed by the Senate, but of being better known to the American peeple, XX.—Christmas toast by an Englisman— “All bail! to-day and to-morrow.” Curistmas Eve In WALL SrREET.—That the brokers may at times unbend from their strict pursuit of money, and that Mammon may at times put on the mask of Momus was verified in Wall street yesterday, where the eve of Christmas was celebrated with unusual zest. The Gold Board yformed a masquerade pro- cession and promenaded the street with ban- ners and music. Returning to the Board Room they wound up the day with songs, solos on trumpeis and other morry-making. The spectator who witnessed these scenes must have been drawn into the reflection that New York, with its vast commerce, its enor mous financial transactions, its theatres, itg balls and ita Wall stroot carnival. is assuming