The New York Herald Newspaper, January 2, 1871, Page 4

NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, JANUARY 2, I87L { NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. —_ Volame XXXV1. AMUSEMENTS TO-MORROW AFTERNOON AKD EVENING, OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Tus PANTOMIME OF ‘ee Wii.ie WINKLE, WOOD'S MUSEUM Bro: ‘ances every afternoon and orner 80th st.—Perform- enins. GLOBE THEATRE, 738 Broadway.—VanreTy ENTER- TAINMENT, &C. Matinee at 2. FUFTH AVFNUK THEATRE, Twenty-fourto sireet.— SARATOGA. Matinee at 2. BOWERY THEATRE, Bow Wirr—PRorrus FrRsonivy BOOTH’S THEATRE, 43d ai. Riv Van WINKLE. NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadwa Tax BLACK CrooK. WALLACK'S THEATRE, Broadway anda 13th strest.— Tar Rivacs. Hearr or Goup—Our ©. Matinee at Uy. ween th btn avs. — Tue SPECTACLE oF LINA EDWLIN’S THEATRI A FAULI ALADDIN, 720 Broadway.—KIND TO Matinge at 2. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, corner of 8th av, and 33d at.— Las BRIGANDS, Matinee at 2. MRS. F. B. CONWAY'S PARK THEATRE, Brookiya,— FPRENANDE, TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, 21 Bowery.--Va- RIEIY ENTERTAINMENT. Matinee at 2. THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Brosdway.—Comro Vooan- 18M, NEGKO ACTS, &C.—JOLLY SANTA CLAUS, Matinee, SAN FRANCISCO MINSTREL HALL, 585 Brosaway.— NrGRO MINSTRELSY, FARORS, BURLESQUE, &0. BRYANT’S NEW OPERA HOUSE, 334 at., between 6th and 7th avs. —Negno MiNSTRELSY, EOORNTRIOITIBG, 40. APOLLO HALL. corner 28th street and Broadway.— Dm. Couny’s DiowAMA OF INELAND, BROOKLYN OPERA HOUSE——Weroa, Hoenes & Warre’s MinoTRRL8. ~HOLEDAY PANTOMIME, &O. Brvoklyn.—HooLky's AND Matinee at 2. HOOLFY'S OPERA HOU KELLY & Leon's MINSTRELS. NEW YORK CIRCUS, Fourteenth strest.—SomNEs IN ‘THE Ring, Acnowats, 40. Matinee at 234. DR. KAHN’S ANATOMICAL MUSEUM, 745 Broadwhy.— SOIRNOE AND ART, NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— BCIRNOE AND ART. New York, M ¥, January 2, 1871. CONTENTS OF TO-DAY’S HERALD, PacE. nes 1—Advertisements, 2—Government Storm Signals—The Weather on Long Island—General News Jtems—Marriages ana Deaths—Advertisements, upernumerary Sports: New Year's Eve Behind the Footlights—The Franco-Prussian War: Im- portant Circwar of Delegate Chandoury— Those Boston Smugglers: Some Fresh Particu- lars of their Startling Transactlons—From an Army Oficer—Contribution for W. T. Sabine— Yachts at Port Jetferson, L. I—Romantic Story of a ri-Newsboy’’—Bold Burgiars in Brooklyn—New York City News—A Success- ale Medical Practioner—journalistic Note—Louisiana Sugar Crop—The Gioucesier (Mass.) Pis“eries—Cold Air Boxes, 4—Editorals: Leading Arucle, “Parts Under Rom- bardment” — Personal Intelitgeuce — Amuse- ment Announcements. S—France: Herald Special Report from Versailles; Feu fer Irom the French on Christ- mas Di German Batteries Ready for a Terrific Bombardment; The Most ‘Start- ling Drama of the War Heraid — Special Situatign in the Country—Na) at Wilfelmshihe and Every Day Life of the Royal Exile—New Year's Day—The Fire Fi iscellaneous Te‘egrams—Views of the ews from Washington—Business No- pus : New Year’s Day in the Churches; Soema Dedications, linposing Inaugura- ions, Sermons and Services; Church Unity and Churcnmen’s Duty; Discourses by Arch- bishop McCloskey, Dr. Armitage, Rev. Messrs, Foote, Gallaher and others. 7—Religious’ (continued from Sixtn Page)—News from Cuba—Music and the Drama—The New Jersey senatorship—A Romance of the Inte- rained with @ Bottie—Tae Mormon Sys- ankee Institution—Shameful Deception ool Teachers—Melancholy Cases of and Freezing—A Fortunate Adven- nancial and Commercial Reports. Killed by Assassins in the y King of the Spaniards: Arrival of His Majesty Amadeus at Madrid; Enthusiastic Reception by the Peovle—Rome: Entrance of King Victor Emmanuel into the Eternal City ws from Montevideo and Buenos Ayres—The State : Preparations for the Opening of the tive Session—Shipping News—Adver- A Man's Crime will find bim out, is a maxim strangely illustrated in the instance of the killing of one Murphy, in San Francisco, by the brother of a woman whom he had se- duced fifteen years before. Conscu’s Fexs.—Of eight hundred United States Consular officers in the world it ap- pears not more than two hundred and ninety make the required returns of fees received. Of these latter Paris returns the largest amount, being over fifty thousand, London thirty-eight thousand and Liverpool twenty- nine thousand. IntimipATION IN GeorGia.—Prominent re- publican Congressmen insist that the election in Georgia was carried by intimidation. But on which side was the intimidation—on the part of the United States troops sent to enforce the new election law or on the part of the bloody Ku Kiux bent on a democratic victory? If the new law, which secured so fair and peaceful an election here, fails to succeed in Georgia there is something radically wrong in the law itself. Some elec- tions, even in Georgia, may go democratic and be fair and orderly, too. Tax Srare LeGistatrurs meets in Albany to-morrow, and the caucuses of the two political parties among the members will be held to-night. The democra‘s seem to be per- fectly harmonious, the spoils being all their own; but the small band of rural republicans, who have no spoils of any consequence, are deplerably discordant. The great St. Domingo fight that shook the massive foundatiens of the party, even in its Congressional stronghold, is tobe taken up by the weak outpost of repub- licanism at Albany, and the advantage that might be gained as a balance of power by a united republican vote will consequently be frittered away. Tax Sreamsniy Horner.—Oar correspond- ent at Havana sends us further details of the steamer Hornet at Nassau. The Cubans at that place were much incensed at the Gover- nor for sending a British man-ol-war to watch her; but the lookout did not ameunt to any- thing, the Horoet easily leaving her disagree- able companion, It is reported that while at Nassau she took on board an armament. If this is the case, she may give the Spaniards much trouble, and we may hear of operations | ona scale similar to those of the Alabama. In point of speed, she is vastly superior to the Spanish fleet on the coast of Cuba, but she may leave the West Indian waters and ‘ry the Spanish home coast, where she will be able to do much damage and create a perfect panic among those of Spain who bave property afloat. If such is the intention of ber com- mander it cannot be long before we have ac- counts of Spanish commerciil vessels sunk, burped and destroyed. wari Under Bomparoment. The long-threatened and long-delayed assault by shot and shell upon the magnificent and populous capital of France has at length begua. The carefully poiuted batteries of the German army of investment have undoubt- edly ere this opened upon the devoted city, and the homes and lives of two millious of human beings, of whom three-fourths are non- combatants and a large majority women, chil- dren and helpless graybeards, are menaced with speedy destruction. To the grand edi- fices ef public utility and of religion; to the superb monuments; the price- less treasures of literature, art and taste; the historical archives and relics; the superb resorts of trade; the unrivalled municipal works; the stores of every species of costly merchandise, and the luxurious homes of opulence and refinement thus exposed to devastation, it is almost need- less to refer. The fame and splendor of the late residence city of the French empire are familiar to the world, and all enlightened nations regret her impending ruin. Paris has often been besieged, captured and subjected to the will of the conqueror. The nomadic tribe of hunters and herdsmen who, far back in antique times, were com- pelled at last to make a halt and build their group of rude huts upon the small island in the middle of the Seine that was the nucleus of the latter city, were continually assailed by their fierce neighbors, but their Loutou- hezi, or ‘‘dwelling amid the waters,” as the old Celtic compound word may be inter- preted, survived its varying fortunes for ages, until the invading and victorious Roman, Julius Cesar, in the year B. C. 53 amicably invited his second convocation of the Gallic tribes to meet at that accessible centre. It was then the capital of the Parisii, a proud and warlike race, whose origin is semewhat hidden in the mists of tradition, The terms imposed by the Latin stranger were harsh, and in the ensuing year the Parisii rose in furious rebellion to repel the violeneg.of Ceesar’s lieu- tenant, Labienus, and burned not only the bridges connecting their island with the two banks ef the Seine, but laid the city itself in ashes. But, in spite of the most desperate re- sistance, Lutetia, as the Romans called the place, was taken by its assailants and enrolled among the vectigales or tributary cities of the Roman realm. In 451 of the Christian era Paris was invested by the Huns and was rescued by St. Géncviive, who became its patron. Clovis, however, triumphing, at the head of his warlike Franks, occupied it in A. D. 486, and formally made it his capital in 508. Three centuries later the Normans ravaged the city and its environs four times within twenty years—viz.: in 841, 845, 856 and 861. It was subsequently fortified by the Counts of Paris, who had become its local rulers, and it sustained a siege of thirteen months, commencing in 885. The attacks of the barbarian hordes pouring down from the North and the East were incessantly repeated until they produced a protracted famine, which, in 975, became horrible beyond description, and, for fourteen years within the brief lapse of twenty-three, the wretched people of that district suffered nea¥y all the pangs of star- vation. Under the Capets Paris enjoyed a long perlod of comparative tranquillity and progress, until, in 1306, the first great popular insurrection broke out. It was occasioned by the exorbitant taxation of Philip IV., sur- named ‘‘Le Bel,” or the Handsome, who had, in 1302, convoked the first States General, and so made one step toward a parliamentary form of goverament. In the days ef Philip VI. a new enemy appeared in the English invading armies, who advanced to the very gates of the capital, Under King Jobn, after the disas- trous route of the French at Poictiers, Paris, by its firmness and _ heroism, again saved the realm, and, under the lead of the famous merchant prevost, Etienne Marcel, became literally ‘‘a city of the people.” Marcel presided over the States General and distributed his orders to the populace from the famous House of the Pillars, which subsequently became the Hotel de Ville. This was the epoch when Paris rose indeed to be the controlling centre of France and the democratic bugbear of the old time as she now is of the later day military monarchs. The English, however, persisted in their attacks, and finally, im 1418, after a fierce resistanee, mastered the city and held it for more than eighteen years. Their advent, however, was not without its good effects, for they quelled the terrible internal disorders which, commencing with the bread riots of the Maillotins, and followed up by the still more formidable disturbances occasioned by the Cabochiens, kept the place in endless alarm. ‘The English were at last expelled in 1436, and immediately afterwards, in 1437 and 1438, Charles VIL, then reigning, pestilence and famine reduced the population so fearfully that wolves from the neighboring forests howled along the streets of Paris at noonday. But, rising above all her troubles, this wonderfully vigorous and elastic ¢apital regained all her strength and, under Francis I., began a career of prosperity and splendor whieh only the frightful religious dissensions that followed the reformation at length temporarily arrested. The terrible reign of Charles IX., the poisoning of Jeanne D'Albret and the awful scenes of disorder that attended the nuptials of Henry of Navarre and Marguerite of Valois led on, at last, to the horrors of St. Bartholomew. The reign of Henry IL., however, began with a comparative calm; but the organization of ihe League and of the renowned Council of Sixteen, the pepular insurrections and _barri- cades in favor of the Duke of Guise, the sub- sequent cruel assassination of that leader and the siege and famine inflicted by the assaults of Henry IV., again subjected Paris to the mest distressing straits. These troubles were | soon followed by the wars of the Fronde and the sanguinary ‘‘Day of Barricades,” during the minority of Louis XIV. They led to the | withdrawal of municipal franchises and vari- ous other civic privileges from the Parisian | people. Successive conspiracies and disor- | ders which, although they did net bring a foreiga enemy to the gates of the French capital, repeatedly reduced it to a state of siege under its own sovereigns, filled up the record ef exceptional events through the three succeeding reigns until the outbreak of the grand revolution par excellence, which cost Louis XVI. his throne and life and pvre- pared the way for the First Napoleon. He, after crushing revolt at home, waged universal war abroad, up to the moment when the Holy Alliance (so called) of European kings overwhelmed him and drove his last army, in that contest, to capitulation along with proud Paris itself, in 1814, after a campaign of prodigies in mili- tary skill and gallantry on the part of the French, and a heroic but unavailing battle under the very walls of their capital. And here we reach a striking stage in this eventful record, which has been rivalled by the histery of few strongholds in the world. That of Rome alone, perhaps, surpasses it in variety of incident and grandeur of result. The struggle that preceded the evacuation of the French defenders and the entry of the allied forces on the morning of the 3st of March was sotremendous thatever since then the historical writers of the different coalesced nationalities have been claiming the credit of the plan ot triumph for countrymen of their own. Schwarzenberg, the commander of the allies, had broken the resistance of Napoleon at Arcis-sur-Aube, on the 20th of March, and the Emperor, conceiving the daring idea of abandoning all attempt to fall back upon his capital, had crossed the Aube and meved east- ward, as though to seek a junction with his lingering forces and stronghelds in Lorraine and Alsace, with the hope of luring the inva- ders to follow him through fear of finding their retreat cut off from Switzerland and the Rhine, But Schwarzenberg was not so easily diverted. On the contrary, he hastened to unite with Marshal ‘‘Vorwiirts” (Bliicher) who had fought at Laon, and then moved directly on Paris. The credit of this decision has been claimed by the Russians for their then Emperor Alexander; by the Bavarians for their General Wrede and by M. Thiers for the diplomatist Pozzo di Borgo, but the truth is that Schwarzenberg had entertained the thought while he*was in Frankfort-on-the- Main some weeks earlier and had spoken of it at his headquarters in Pougy on the 24th of March. He matured it subsequently, and it was approved by the Czar Alexander and King Frederick William of Prussia in a coun- cil of war held on the famous Monarchs’ Hill at Vitry. Paris was defended by a regular veteran force of twenty thousand men under Marshals Marmont and Mortier, and the allies approached with one hundred and seventy thousand. The plan of the German combined army seems, in the present instance, to have been equally prompt and decisive after the surren- der at Sedan and the capitulation of Metz, with this difference, that the disparity of num- bers has been by no means so great, while the material and appliances, as well as the weapons and the ordnance, have been incom- parably superior. But, while Von Moltke and the Prussian Crown Prince have proved themselves to be fully the equals in strategy, and hard fighting, too, of Schwarzenberg and Bliicher, there is now no Marmont, no Mortier, much less any Napoleon Bonaparte, in the French array. It was the final storming of the heights of Belleville and Chaumont at four o'clock P. M., on the 80th of March, 1814, the attack of the allies having begun early in the morning, that led to the parley which ended in surrender, and it is in the same quarter that the Germans are apparently push- ing their best point now. However, by our despatches it is made evident that the invest- ing force is operating in chief on a vast seg- ment of a circle extending from the north- west of Paris all around the northern, eastern and southern exposure of the city. From the account given, which we have endeavored to render perfectly explicit, by an aceompanying article, it would seem that the better chances of immediate impres- sion on the suburbs of the doomed capital are in the northeast and south. But on all sides the preparations of King William are Titanic ; he now has four hundred and fifty thousand men concentrated upon Paris, one hundred and fifty thousand fresh treops having reached his camps from Germany within a fortnight, and all the available heavy siege trains from beyond the Rhine have been brought to the scene where the last desperate die is to be cast for empire and European supremacy. At the dating of the last account received all the German officers had gone from Versailles to the front, and their field pieces were playing on the French outposts to drive them in preliminary to the awful miserere of the general bombardment. The hour of the final crucial test—-of the experimentum crucis—has come for the grand capital ef the late modern Cesars, and nations look on with interest painfully profound. But if the stern energy and gigantic strength of the attack excite our wonder, there is some- thing in the calm resistance that confronts it which revives the spirit of old time chivalry in every manly heart and sways the sympa- thies of the whole outside world. May God defend the right! Smugaling on a Grand Scale, Our Boston correspondence, published to- day, reveals a most astounding system of smuggling between the British previnces and Boston and New York. The government has been robbed to the extent of hundreds of thou- sands of dollars, and prebably of millions, by a combination of official rascals with dishonest merchants and citizens who had a respectable standing in the community. These revelations show the facilities afforded by an alien people and government on our border to extensive smuggling and the difficulty of preventing it. This is more evidence, in addition to the fish- ery troubles and the navigation of the St. Lawrence, geing to show the necessity for the territories of this Continent being under one government and for the United States having possession of them all. But it appears the New Dominion not only affords facilities for smuggling, but a refuge also to the smugglers when their crimes are discovered. Several of those engaged in this stupendous Boston system of smuggling have fled to the New Dominion to escape the vengeance of the law. We hope our government will make the most searching inquiry into these smuggling cases and bring the offenders to justice though they may shelter themselves in the New Dominion. Five of the finest steamboats on the Lower Mississippi were destroyed at their dock in New Orleans yesterday. The logs in property « ty reported at $450,000, The War Situation—A Probable Trap tor Bourbaki. The operations in the open field are already becoming circumscribed in France by reason of the cold weather and the bad state of the roads, In the north of France and the Vosges Mountains the winters are frequently more severe than they are bere, and the present winter is certainly much more severe than the mere substi- tute for winter that New Yorkers are enjoy- ing. The mud and cold ef Virginia, so familiar to the veterans of the Poto- mac, are the portion of the French and Prussian armies now making the most important operations, outside of the slege of Paris, in the present strategic situa- tion of thewar. The army of General Chauzy, seuth of Paris, seems to be steadily pushing Prince Frederick Charles back towards Paris. Desultory fighting has recently occurred near Vendéme, in which the French gained some successes, and the general apathy of the Ger- mans confronting Chauzy leads to the conclu- sion that a large portion of the army has been withdrawn, and that the present force in his front are merely making a feint to divert his attention while a neces- sary movement is being made else- where. In the north Manteuffel makes the merest show of operations against Havre, and in the east the Germans are slowly but steadily withdrawing before the advancing legions from Lyons, It is quite probable that a sudden swoop upon the threatening Bourbaki is intended, and while the attention of all France is concentrated upon the bombardment of Paris an overwhelming force may be hurled against the column that so seriously threatens King William’s line of communication. Death ot General Prim. General Prim, the Marshal Count de Reus lies dead in Madrid. Me expired of his wounds delivered by the hands of armed assassins, The facts connected with the out- rage have beer specially reported in the Heratp. The culmination of the murderous act is announced in our columns this merning. Prim, the great soldier, fellas did Cesar, by the hand of an assassin. Politics, with the ruinous demoralization which results to society from a continued indulgence of the spirit of party strife, induced the deed. Ex- pectant placemen had become Thugs. The man whom they supposed to stand in their way was made the victim of their unreasoning jeal- ousy and blind revenge. The facts connected with the commission of the assault on Prim, its more immediate consequences and the fatal termination appear elsewhere in our col- umns. The exciting causes and their complica- tions are also reviewed. Italian royalty makes its advent to the Iberian peninsula at a mo- ment ef very sad gloom. ‘When shall the olive branch be free from blight?” The ques- tion remains with Prim—lying in his death chamber—just as it did at the moment of the battles from Badajos to Salamanca and Waterloo, The New King Amadeus at Madrid. By a late special despatch from Madrid, re- ceived via Washington City, where the an- nouncement has been officially conveyed, we learn that Amadeus I. ‘“‘King (elect) of the Spaniards,” has arrived at his new capital, and has been received with unbounded demonstrations of popular enthusiasm, not- withstanding the direful threats so recently made against him. However, his coming is surrounded at the Spanish capital with most ominously inauspicious cireumstances. General Prim, the reputed chief mover in the negotiation which has elevated the Duke of Aosta to the throne, lies dead beneath the hand of assassination, said to have been instigated by vengeance for his betrayal of the republican cause and his restoration of monarchy where he had been most conspicuous in what was considered the people’s revolution. Will the young King take the suad- den fate of his political friend as a warning, or will the proud and gal- lant blood of the ancient House of Savoy rather revolt at all attempted intimidation? This is a question which brave men can readily answer from the promptings of their own hearts. ais But Amadeus has a strange counsellor in Admiral Topete—a former strong adhe- rent of Queen Isabella—who is still en- trusted with provisional control ing the ceremony of the new King’s coronation, and the breath of Madrid is full of change. In fine, the shade of Maxi- milian seems to flit before us as we endeavor to peer beyond this momentary pageant. Moreover, the manes of Riego have been so often invoked in the streets and plazas of the Spanish capital that he may yet, indeed, stalk abread in spirit to defeat the plans of foreign kings even when they approach invested with all the attractions of youth, courage, intellect and honest good intent. Germany Feeling the Effects of the War. While the eyes of the world are directed towards Paris, watching for the hour of its fall or its triumph, popular feeling in Ger- many is undergeing a change unfavorable to the continuance of the war. The special de- spatch from Berlin which we publish this morning shows that the Germans are beginning to wince under the burden of the contest. Agriculture and commerce have been paralyzed by thecalls made upon the male population to take up arms. Nearly all the arms bearing men are in the field; none remain at home but the aged and physi- cally incapable of military service. The re- sult of this strain upen the resources of the country is dissatisfaction on the part of the people. They want peace; the war enthusiasm of two months ago is dead. Never- theless no sign of discouragement is percepti- ble, as all the official reports, says our corre- spondent, are rose colored, and hence the masses have nothing to complain about, so far as the conduct of tne war is concerned. It is now stated that the visit of the delega- tion of the Reichstag to Versailles was pre- mature, and the consequence was that the King gave it an indefinite reply. Newspapers and correspondents continue to feel the weight of the German government, being suppressed and oppressed at the will of the authorities, In conclusion, our correspondent reports that Germany has an eye to territory in Asia and is beginning to look lovingly upon the French possessions in China, pend- + Sermons on New Year's Day. In a religious sense, the New Year opened favorably. Yesterday all the churches were well filled. Those devout people who could not afford the luxury of a carriage con- tented themselves with the street cars as far as they could go and braved the half melted snow the balance of the way. It is gratifying to us to report this, People who have not been very good, but who possess qualms of conscience, usually “turn a new leaf” on New Year's Day, and why shall they not turn the religious leaf? Paris, the gay, the beautiful, whom devotees of fashion worship, probably began the year sadly enough, if all the reports we have of the Ger- man big guns be correct. Must not the thought of the approaching flery ordeal through which she must pass have hastened the steps of the fair and of the eye-glassed exquisites who patronize our aristocratic tabernacles to their velvet cushioned seats, there to pray that she might not be utterly destroyed? And must not the poor and lowly have felt so deeply grate- ful to Boss Tweed and Sheriff O’Brien (now Sheriff no more) as to throng the churches and there pray that the warmth bestowed upon them on earth this winter might never be in- flicted upon their benefactors in the hereafter? Neither must we forget supplications for the salvation of one’s own soul; for though these must spring from interested motives they com- prise the only kind of selfishness which reli- gion and society approve. We wish we could dare to hope that every Sunday during the present year would be marked by as little sectarian bitterness as is reported in the Heratp this morning. Yes- terday all the clergymen were as mild man- nered men as ever preached sermons. The consecration of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic church was an interesting event, and the ser- mon delivered by Archbishop McClos- key able and instructive, At the Christian Free church Rev, Mr. Foote reviewed the political, scientific and religious events of the past year, showing what progress the world had made in that brief poriod of time and how many things had come to pass of which we had not dreamed twelve months ago. Rev. Dr. Armitage discoursed consolingly to the aged, and rebuked some members of his con- gregation who were in the practice of seeking religious consolation from pulpit celebrities every Sunday evening, instead of attending their own church. Rev. Mr. Sabine was silent on the subject of his refusal to bury Mr. Holland; butas in his discourse he showed “what Christians may expect by minding their own business,” we suppose he meant to con- vey to inquisitorial and importunate interview- ers his desire for them to mind their own busi- ness and not trouble them. But Mr. Sabine has aroused the indignation of the Christian and charitable pastor of the ‘‘little church around the corner,” for that gentleman, Dr. Houghton, together with Rev. Mr. Tyng, did not hesitate to condemn his action. At Lyrie Hall Mr. Frothingham preached on the new year, giving his own peculiar ideas of religion, and declaring that Protestantism, like Catholicism, was going to the bow-wows. In Brooklyn Dr. Storrs baptized a number of children, and afterwards presented each child of seven years, who had been baptized in his church, a copy of the Bible as a New Year's gift. This interesting event over, Professor Green preached a sacramental sermon. In Washington and elsewhere reported the at- tendance was good and the sermons instruc- tive. Napoleon’s Review of the French War. By special telegram, dated at Wilhelmshéhe and forwarded through the Atlantic cable yes- terday, we have one of the most important and interesting reports which has reachefl the American public from the castle prison of Bona- parte since the day of his surrender after Sedan. The Heratp writer describes his Majesty as being still in the enjoyment of excellent health, Winter had set in with a degree of severity unusual even in that section of Europe. The ex-Emperor enjoyed his daily outdoor exer- cise uninterruptedly notwithstanding, vary- ing its character from walking to sleigh- riding and skating. His sleigh-riding excursions were facilitated in a very agreeable manner by the kind-hearted, womanly attention of Queen Augusta of Prussia, who forwarded to him specially from Berlin a present of several of those vehicles, Napoleon replied in a message of thanks which he enjoined the officer of the Prussian household who waited 6n him to deliver to her Majesty. As a skatist the ex-Emperor isnot a complete snccess-in the matters of grace and agility ; but his performance on the ranners is not, as will be seen, to be exactly despised. The evenings were passed in the enjoyment of a cosey, comfortable society around the parlor fire, the chirp cricket of the hearth consoling the mind of the fallen dynast for tbe absence of the stirring blast of war's ‘“‘rude alarme” by the bugles of Paris and the sound of the mustering drums of the Champ de Mars. Napoleon had time for reflections. He ran his mind over the past. He labors also for the future. There are arrivals of mysterious messages at the Castle. He dis- cusses State affairs. Bazaine is slightly out of favor, owing, it is said, to advices which have been received frem Eugénie. The most exciting portion of our special telegram is that which announces Napoleon’s anathema of the Committee of National De- fence of Paris, Gambetta, the military men and all the rest. He “pitches in” with the veriest personal vim even of his great uncle when speaking of perfide Albion. He claims all the credit for the military display which France has already made in the war. He says that Paris will capitulate. This event is anticipated, indeed, on all sides. We bave also from our special writer an outline of the bases on which peace may be concluded between France and Prussia. Du Crariv's’Gorttta in: WasHine TON,— We notice that the intrepid African explorer, Paul Da Chaillu, has just been to Washington to enlighten the politicians, negrophobists and philanthropists there on the mysteries of Africa and the relationship the gorilla bears to the races of men. As the time might come when the gorilla will be tamed and claim to be a “brother and fellow citizen,” Du Chaillu’s lec~ ture affords an interesting speculative theme for Mr. Sumner apd other levelling humani« tariang, King Victor Emmanuel in Rome. The event so long dreamed over, thought of and planned for has at length been partially, almost wholly, completed, by the entrance of Victor Emmanuel into Rome as King of un. divided Italy. At the commencement of the year which has just passed away Pio Nono was seated in undisturbed possession of his inheritance, and the soldiers of Napoleon oc- cupied the Eternal City, and the event which has just been telegraphed through the cable found but a small place in the minds of his Holiness or his Cardinals. But two months prior to the war now raging in France a per- tion of the imperial troops were recalled. This was regarded as the first indication of danger. The declaration of war against Prus- sia served as an occasion for the withdrawal of the remainder of the seldiers of the empire. The Pope was now left to himself, and the Italian government, profiting by the reverses which France met on her own soil, resolved to consummate an act which fora long time has been the aim of Italian statesmen. The small army of his Holiness melted away before the soldiers of Victor Emmanuel, and Rome was entered during the month of September by the royal troops in the name of the King of Italy. Not even then, not even now, does Pio Nono ac- knowledge the kingly right claimed by the reigning monarch of the Italian people. From his chamber in the Vatican his Holiness hurled his anathema for a second time on the “sacri- legious invaders.” From every part of the civilized world came protests from the Catholic hierarchy against the spoliation of the Holy See. The edifice of Italian unity is crowned, Victor Emmanuel is King of Italy, and Rome is the capital of the nation. Verily do we see in the event just consummated the force of the expression employed by the Pope him- self, that ‘‘the crown of imperial France and the tiara hang by the same thread.” Personal Intelligence. Senator J. Crews, of South Carolina, ts among the latest arrivals at the St, Nicholas Hotel. General T. W. Sherman, of the United States Army, who has been sojourning for several weeks atthe Metropolitan Hotel, has left for his post in Florida. Count Edmund Gerson, a French refagee from the beleaguered city, alighted yesterday at the St. Denis Hotel. Senator Cole, from California, has left the Grand Central Hotel for Washington. Captain R. O. Colt, the great agriculturist, of Baby- lon, L. I,, 18 staying at che Everett House. Senator B. M. Boyer, from Pennsylvanta, has apartments at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Sefior Roberts, the Spanish Minister, is among the latest departures from the Albemarle Hotel. Senator Matt. Carpenter, from Minnesota, hag left the Metropolitan Hotel for Washington. Mr. A. R. Cotton, the newly elected Representa- tive forthe Second Congressional distriet of lowa, arrived yesterday at the Grand Central Hotel, General Jefferson C. Davis, of the United States Army, has taken quarters at the St. Nicholas Hotel, where he will remain for some time, Colonel Charles M. Evans has arrived from Phila- delphia and is stopping at the St. Denis Hotel. Ben Field, of Albany, is temporarily sojourning at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. General F, Hayden, of the United States Army, is quartered at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Mr. Arthur Cheney, the proprietor of the Globe theatre in Boston, has left the, Fifth Avenue Hotel, homeward bound, THE FIRE FIEND. BURNING OF THE STEAMSHIP DE SOTO. Total Destruction of the Ship ond Cargo. The steamship De Soto, of the New Orleans line, white on the voyage from New Orleans to this port, was, with her cargo, totally destroyed by fire on the night of the ist ult, on the Mississippi river, twenty-five miles below New Orleans, She run on McColl’s Flat, where she burned to the water’sedge. The steamer and cargo, consist- ing of 983 bales of cotton, 200 hhds. of sugar and 1,000 barrels of molasses, valued at $250,000, are al- mosi a total loss Insurance unknowa. On the 26th December the De Soto cleared from New Orleans Tor this port, but was run into by a tugboat and re- turnea to New Orleans for repairs. The De Soto was a steamship of 1,577 tons, built in 1859, in this city, by Lawrence & Foulks, for the Hava- na and New Orleans trade, and rated Al at Lloyds. At the breaking out of the war she was purchased by the government, and during hostilities did good service a8 cruiser and blockader. At the close of the war, when the navy was reduced, she was, with many others of her class, sold, and was soon recon- verted into a merchant steamer, and took her place m the service she had formerly performed. She was a stanch, seaworthy vessel, and good sea boat, of fair speed and quite popular. Her destruc- tion will be a great loss to our small fleet of ocean steamers. STEAMBOAT BURNING AT NEW ORLEANS. The Mississippi Steamers Magento, Grand Era, Julin Rudolph, Thompson Dean and John Hownrd Destroyed by Fire at Their Wharves—Lovs Over Four Mundred aud Fifty Thousand Dollars. New ORLEANS, La., Jan. 1, 1871. Early this morning a fire broke out on board the steamboat Magenta and spread rapidly to the Grand Era, Julia Rudolph, Thompson Dean and Jonn How- ard, all of which are a total loss except the John Howard, whose hall may be saved. The Magenta is valued at $30,000; insured for $10,000. The Grand Era ts valued at $70,000 by her owners; 1s insured for $35,000. The Julia Rudolph is valued at $150,000; is reported to be insured for $120,000, All of the above insurances are in Western. offices, The cargo destroyed on voard the Thompson Dean consisted of 1,600 sacks of four, 300 hogsheads of sugar, molasses, steel, &c., valued at $100,000, anct insured here for $60,000. The John Howard, a new boat. had 1,200 bales of cotton and a large lot of Western produce on board. ‘The boat and cargo are valued at $130,000 ana the estimated loss $100,000. Insurance unkoowa, GREAT FIRE IN MIFFLIN, PA. Over Seventy Buildings Destroyed—Loss Over $150,000. HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 1, 187L. A great fire occurred at Mifflin, Pa., iast night; upwards of seventy buildings were burned in the centre of tlie town, including stores, dwellings and staples. The loss is estimated at from $150,000 to $200,000. Two steamers and a hose carriage were sent from Harrisburg and Lewistown. The origin of the fire is undiscovered, ‘The following are the names of the sufferers:— Sulaff Sellers, palace store building and com~ mission warehouse, brick, and one dwelling house, frame; Hoffman, frame dwelling, clothing store and contents; Troup, dwelling; S. Stilling, frame poor A T. Hamilion, irame dwelling; Hazzard, frame house; Mrs. Keese, frame house; J. B. Hollobaugh, frame building, occupied aa & restaurant, billiard saloon and printing office of the Democrat and Register; Odd Fel- lows’ Hall, brick, lower story occupied by Tipton & Espenshade as a dry goods and grocery store; Union Hotel, rough cast (proprietor, Simon AL- bright); W. Egolf, residence, frame; B.S. Doty, brick awelling house and office; S. Parker, brick house; H. Gosben, brick house; A, G. Bonsall, brick house; Westiall, frame house; J. Stambaugh, brick house; Joun Wright, briek house; ©. McClellan , frame house; Mra. Oswalt, store and house; Wil- Ham Wise, frame house; Jonn Dit. rick, frame’ house; Robert Gallagher, — brick house; James Rebeson, brick house; Mrs. Dolan, large trame house, occupied by the famities of Messrs. Dolan, John Witmer and W. J, Jackman, and some six or eight irame buildings of George Jacoba, occupied as ofices and shops. There wore also some twenty-five or thirty stables destroyed. The amount of the insurance has no&ween made known. ‘There was no loss of life, we y