The New York Herald Newspaper, February 27, 1871, Page 4

_# NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. All business or news letter and telegraphic’ despatches must be addressed New York Herarp. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Volume XXXVI.. AMUSEMENTS THIS EVERING. FIFTH AVENUK THEATRE, Twenty-fourth street,— BABATOGA. GLOBE THEATRE, TAINMENT, &0.—APTY way.—VARIETY ENTER ak NEW YORK STADT THEATRE, 45 Bowery.—Trans AND LAUGRTER, BOOTH'S THSATRE, Ya Riogriiru. WOOD'S MUSEUM Pro: ances every afternoon an. . debween Sch and 6th ave— Ther S0th st.—Perform- NIBLO'S GARDEN, THE BLACK Cxroon. WALLACK'S THEATRE, Broadway ana Ith street.— Monry, DBroadway.—TaB SPECTACLE OF LINA EDWIN'S THRATRE, 120 Broadway.—Hunrep Down; On, THE TWo Lives OF Many Lxrail GRAND OPERA HOUSE, corner of 8th av. ana 23d st.— Lrs BRicanns. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway.—Tux Rroaxrev or THE PERion. BOWERY THEATRE, Fowery.—Pome; or, Way DowN Soura—JaQues Br MRS. F. B. CONWAN'S PARK THEATR&, Brooklyn. — SARATOGA. YR'S OPERA HOUSE, 201 Bowery.—Va- AINNENT. TONY P. minty EN THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Broadway.—Comto Vooan- Ins, NEKO ACTS. RO. SAN FRANC Nroxo Miners HOOLEY'S OPERA » Brooklyn.—HoOoLEy's AND KELLY & Leon's MINsT NEW YORK CIR Tur RING, AckoMATS, Fourteenth street.—SczNns 1N EUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— | ANATOMICAL MUSEUM, 745 Broadway.— Boeck WIT U SUPPL EMENT CONTENTS OF TO: APs HERALD, PacE. Advertisements. Q—Adverisemente. ts, eading Article, “Peace Concluded in France—Review of the Fianco-Prussian War"— Amusement Acnouncements, S—Editorials (Continued from Fourth Page)— Peace: A Treaty Finally Agreed Upon—Gene- ce —News from Cuba— jon—Miscellaneous ‘teleg: ore onal Intelligence— View: ess Notices. 6—The Si 01 Notes—The Health o Vort Vindicated—“Dead Beat Laundry —Fashionaile — Intelligence — Court Calendars—financial and Commercial Reports—Marniages and Deaths. Zr Advertisement 3. S—Religious: Yesterday's Verbal Labors in the Master's Vineyard; Praying for the Pope; the Snares of the Devil and the Footsteps of Jesus; the Joys of the Heaven Above; Various Pic- tures by Various Hand 9—Keligious (continued from Eighth Page)— ign and Washington: Services in Bro Brother Peecher's Words of Hope and Encour- agement to the Unsuccessful; A Mormon Ex- communication in iiliamsburg; Rev. !r, Newman on the Conversion of Paul—Criticisms ot New books. 1t0—News from Washington—Military Etiquette: The Grant-Mancock Controversy—The Coal Conspiracy—Music and the Drama—Shtpping Intelligence—Adverttsements, Fosrer Biopcerr is again figuring for the Senatorship from Georgie. He was elected at one of the numerous Senatorial elections which the muddled Legislatures held in that State, and his credentials are not supposed to be the most authentic in the world. But he is not proud, and is doub-less willing to take his seat on almost any credential that offers. Tae Dominion PARLIAMENT AND THE JOINT Hien Commission.—The debate in the Do- minion Parliament on Friday night relative to the powers of the Joint High Commission was in tone and temper, as well asin its result, creditable to the Canadian people. Sir A. T. Galt, after the manly speech of Sir John A. Macdonald, very wisely withdrew his resolu- tions—resolutiens unnecessarily distrustful of the mother country and unnecessarily fearful of the United States. Through the labors of the Joint High Commission Sir John A. Mac- donald looks forward toa long era of peace and prosperity. We sball not be sorry if Sir John’s expectations are fulfilled. On this Con- tinent there is room enough for both peoples, aud scope enough for our joint energies. Arp For Franoz.—It has been stated that ‘the first vessel with food contributed by Americans for the starving people of France was despatched from Boston. This is a mis- take. Our enterprising townsman, Mr. A. T. Stewart, has, at his own expense, fitted out and loaded with four thousand barrels of the best flour that could be procured in this mar- ket the bark Hunter, and despatched her for Havre on Saturday last, This supply of bread- stuffs is not intended for Paris, but for Tours, Mulbouse and other manufacturing cities and towns of France where the inhabitants are suffering equally with those of Paris. Mr. Stewart has instructed his agent in Havre that if the French railway companies do not forward this cargo free of freight he is to forward it to destination and pay all charges thereon until ready to deliver into the hands of those for whom it is intended. Tue Coat Consprracy.—It is gratifying to observe that there is a check put upon the coal conspirators to the extent that the price has not advanced to the extortionate figure anticipated a few days ago. This is entirely owing to the influence of the newspapers—the Herap epecially. Tho fire opened in our columns upon the concoctors of this fraud was followed up by other journals, so that the conspirators were frightened and brought toa sense of the fact that the American people cannot be oppressed by monopolies without a friend to stand up for their rights, and that friend is the independent press. Whether the present state of affairs shall reach the extreme point of a coal famine or not, the duty of Con- gress is equally clear. The import duty on forcign coal must be removed without delay. And they must go farther. They must put the railroads and telegraphs under control of the government, We bave urged this course of action before, and we shall ggntinne to press it upon Congress until the end is accomplished, Peace Concluded im France—Review of tho Franco-Prussian War. The terms ef peace have at length been signed by the French and German Commis- sioners, and it is but reasonable to sup- pose that the National Assembly will ratify the conditions, While we write busy preparations are making in the German camp anticipatory of their triamphal march through Paris to-day, homeward bound for Fatherland. Now that the roar of battle is hushed and the quiet of peace reigns throughout the late theatre of war, the present may be regarded as an op- portune moment to review the colossal struggle which has just closed on the soil of France. From the obscurity of a small State Prussia has reached an eminence, by reason of her great military successes, which renders her now one of the foremost nations of the earth, The comprehensive military organization which for years it has been the aim of Prussia to perfect, has guided the nation, by the genius of Von Moltke, to those grand achievements which have led to the union of all Germany into one vast empire. When we reflect that of all the nations of Europe for the last half century Prussia has seen least of actual war, her recont successes appear most remarkable, The case was different with France. While Prussia was quiet, unobtru- sive, working steadily as it were for her own internal development, France was seeking for glory and military prestige in the four quarters of the globe. In Algeria, in the Crimea, in China, in Mexico, not to mention numerous other campaigns, the eagles of France were flaunted defiantly, and in nearly every instance with anvarying success. Yet while quiet reigned ix Prussia her generals and statesmen were by no means idle. On every battle field she had intelligent spectators. Her military students were close observers. Taey studied war closely in order that, when the time came, their study might be turned to the advantage of the State. Detecting weaknesses in the dif- ferent systems, they noted them; perceiving mishaps, they traced their origin; observing | alterations, they made inventories of them, and from the knowledge thus acquired by intelligent observation in Europe and in Asia, in Atrica and in America, came forth that marvellous success which has everywhere vin- dicated the superiority of the German military organization in the campaign just concluded in France. The march of the French to the frontier was more like a parade than the advance of an army preparing to invade an enemy’s coun- try, but the hesitation of the Freach armies gave the Germans an opportunity to make their preparations and consolidate. n the 28th of July the Emperor arrived on the fron- tier to take command of the army, Five days later the frontier was crossed and the heights of Saarbruck occupied; on the second day | after this the battle of Weissenburg was fought, and though French valor shone conspicuously in the contest the French were defeated with much loss, and the admirable strategy of the Crown Prince compelled General MacMahon to change his plans. The victory won, the Crewn Prince pushed on and gave battle to MacMahon at Woerth. The forces of the Germans in this baitle numbered nearly four to one. MacMahon had about thirty-five thousand men, while the army of the Crown Prince numbered over one hundred and twenty thousand. Again victory sided with the Germans. The defeat of the French at Saarbruck about the same time told heavily against them. General Steinmetz engaged the French under Frossard, completely defeating him and forcing him to retreat with a loss of one-third of his whole army. After the battle of Woerth the forces of the Crown Prince, weakened by the struggles they had gone through, did not immediately move forward. There was a pause, only tem- porarily, however, on the part of the Germans. The French continued to fall back. Marshal MacMahon had retreated on Saverne and was making for Nancy; De Failly was moving to a junction with MacMahon; Douay remained at Belfort, and Canrobert had arrived at Metz with two fresh divisions. The corps of Bazaine, Ladmirault, Frossard and Bourbaki, with the Imperial Guard, were around Metz. Napoleon was also there, and recognizing from the recent defeats that a new departure must be taken, he resigned his positien as Com- mander-in-Chief of the Armies. Ata council of the generals, at which the Emperor was present, the supreme command was vested in Marebal Bazaine, in conjunction with Marshal MacMahon. Bazaine, on assuming command, determined, if possible, to retrieve disaster. The battle of Courcelles, which was fought on the 14th of August, immediately after Bazaine’s accession, will long be remembered as the first of a series of the bloodiest battles of the campaign. The Prussians were com- manded by General Steinmetz and Prince Frederick Charles. The battle lasted all day, and though the Prussians toward evening were reinforced by thirty thousand fresh troops, they were driven back along the whole line. Bazaine at nightfall remained in possession of the field. Both armies claimed the victory. The losses were heavy on either side. The next day followed the battle of Mars la Tour. Bazaine, while moving on to Verdun, was suddenly attacked by the Third Prussian corps. This attack opened the day's conflict, which ended only at nightfall. In this battle the French fought with forces about equal to their opponents, but the for- tune of war was still against them, and at night Bazaine fell back to Gravelotte. Next morn- ing, the 16th, Frederick Charles and Stein- metz, strongly reinforced, following up the ad- vantages of the previous day, attacked Ba- zaino at Gravelotie. The siruggle was a terrific one. During the day victory more than once seemed to smile on the French { eagles, but Prussian obstinacy checked, dis- pelled and brought gloom. Canrobert about midday, when the contest raged fiercest, single-handed charged the Prussians at the head of two divisions near the quarries of Jaumont. A terrible hand to hand conflict ensued. Against the impetuous desh of the | French the Prussians straggled heroically, but without avail. Step by step they were forced back; bebind them were the steep cliffs of the quarries; nearer and nearer approached the French. At last the mitrailleuses opened a heavy fire, the Prussians wavered, and, un- able to withstand the destructive fire poured upon them, fully eight thousand of them were was not yet won. On the German side Moltke waited with anxiety. Night was approaching. Reinforcements were expected. At last they arrived, and the waning strength of the Ger- mans was sustained and strengthened. The Germans pressed on with renewed energy, and the battle was won, Bazaine, with the flower of the army of France, was forced into Metz, never to leave it unless a prisoner ef war in the hands of victors. In the three days’ battle which concluded on that day fully one hundred thousand men were either killed or wounded. While these events were taking place, which resulted in Bazaine’s retreat from Verdun being cut, MaeMahon was at Mourmelon. On the 2Ist of August he commenced his march to the rescue of Bazaine. Ascertaining the French General’s movements, the Crown Prince abandoned his plan of advancing on Paris, and sought instead to prevent Mac- Mahon from realizing his intention of going to the rescue of Bazaine. Mézidres, Montmédy and Sadan, and the keeping of the line of railway, became of vital importance to the army in Metz, Without it Bazaine could neither obtain supplies_nor receive reinforce- ments, MacMahon thoroughly appreclated this, and hence pushed on with all possible baste. On the evening of the 28th ofAugust he was at Vaux, only two miles from Sedan. On the next day another portion of the army came up. The belief that the Germans were not near and the carelessness of the French commanders was such that little or no precautions were adopted to guard against surprise. This neg- lect was criminal. The Prussians were close on the heels of the French army. Almost before they knew it the Saxon troops, over sixty thousand strong, surprised De Failly's corps. The next morning the Crown Prince, with an immense force, came up, and the battle raged all that day. Toward evening the French fell back on Sedan. By rapid marching large German reinforcements arrived during the evening, and MacMahon was flanked. The Ist of September witnessed the magnificent army of MacMahon completely at the mercy of the Prussians. Early in the morning the Marshal was carried from the field severely wounded. The command devolved on General Wimpffen, a good general, but one unknown to the army. All day the battle raged, though the French were nearly out of ammunition. The result was inevita- ble. Moltke again was a victor, and the last of the imperial armies in the field, with their Emperor, surrendered. The events which followed Sedan are still fresh in the minds of the readers ef the New York Heratp, and it may, there- fore, be only necessary to merely men- tion them in order to call them to mind. Paris was almost immediately invested. Metz had been already surrounded, and outside Strasbourg lay another German army. Star- vation soon brought Strasbourg and Metz to surrender; not, however, without attempts on the part of the garrisons to cut their way out. Paris at last was compelled to capitulate. The republican armies which were called into existence with the proclamation of the republic did far better than was expected of them. At Orleans, Beaune la Rolande, Bapaume, Havre and Le Mans the French levies fought with great bravery; but valor counted for naught. The guiding spirit of the German armies was Moltke—the one comprehensive mind which moved the whole machinery of German or- ganizatien. Neither during the empire nor the republic were the French armies guided by a great commander. Several generals had several plans, many of them drawa up without reference to the effect they would produce outside the immediate field of operations for which they were prepared. On the German side it was all harmony and co-operation; and in this consisted the main points of difference between the two systems. In refer- ring to our late war we can bear testimony to the evil effects of the system which, either through design or otherwise, the French adopted. Previous to General Grant taking charge of the forces of the Union signal defeats resulted to the operations of the armies. Grant changed all this. Not a few of the successes of Moltke find parallels in the successes of the Union armies under Grant. Vicksburg, where Pem- berton was penned up by Grant, finds a parallel in Metz, where Bazaine was locked in after the battle of Gravelotte by Moltke. For the Appomattox campaign and the capitu- lation of Lee we have Sedan and the surrender of the remaining forces of France, with the Emperor at their head. Many others might be enumerated, Some of the most decisive victories were won by the flank movements of the Germans, as were many of the triumphs of Grant. Where McClellan hesitated and attempted success without energy to secure it in the penin- sular campaign, Grant, by moving rapidly and pressing heavily on the enemy’s flank, proved eminently successful. The same hearty co-operation between Moltke and his generals was observable in Grant's campaigns. Moltke moved with heavy masses and overpowered his enemy by superior strength, coupled with skill, judgment, fore- thought and ability in its directien. Grant pureued a similar course. While the names of the Crowaj Prince, Prince Frederick Charles, Steinmetz and Manteuffel will illustrate Moltke’s campaigns, those of Sherman, Sheridan, Meade and Rosecrans will illumine Grant's. That Moltke was a close student of the Ameri- can war there are many evidences to point to, and, improving om the knowledge he thus ob- tained, he has helped te rear the great Power which, having its origin in French disasters, received its baptism of fire on French soil, now appears before the world as the empire of Germany. Tae Lvoxy Loriery Ticker which wins the splendid Opera House at Hamilton, Ohio, is said to be held in New York; but whether it has been sold or remains in the hands of the agent here is not decided. The fortunate number is 28,889. Who ts the owner? Who- ever he is we hope there will be no legerde- main about the business. A Worrny Caarity.—Contributions are being made in San Francisco to the families of the four men who were lost in the gig of the Saginaw while trying to briag help to precipitated {nto the quarries below, The day | their wrecked companions on Qcean Island. Tho Europeae War Cloud Rolling to the East—From Madrid to Cairo, and from Lendon to Athens. Almost identical with the Hkratp de- spatches which report the closing scenes of the war between Prussia and France come our telegrams by cable from Europe fore- shadowing the roll of the dark cloud of difi- culty and danger eastward. Spain and Egypt, Italy, England and Greece are becom- ing uneasy; we may say, indeed, irritable. The symptoms which indicate the approach of a change of the existing relations between these Powers are still more apparent; the evidences of an attempt at “rectification” from the border of the Hellenic kingdom toward the territory of Egypt, and it may be—perhaps must be—toward Constantl- nople, multiply. The Spanish flag has been insulted in Cairo. So itis asserted, at least, in the telegrams, An official employed in the Spanish Consulate in that city sustained some personal offence, and this has been resented in such a marked manner by the representatives of King Amadeus that it was stated yesterday in London that “‘all the Spanish consuls had quitted Egypt.” King Amadeus, who appears to have in him a good deal of the cool pluck of his warrior ancestor of the ‘Iron Head,” instructed his agents in the East te act “energetically,” while from the Foreign Office in Madrid was despatched an ultimatum—a word of very ominous import when used at the commencement of an Old World difficulty—to the Egyptian Viceroy. The neutrals of Europe apprehended serious trouble; for we are told also, in our series of cable telegrams, that ‘several of the European Powers have offered mediation between Spain and Egypt.” England, a Power which apprehends a com- ing danger with the keen sense of an expert, has already, as it appears, sniffed the breeze. She has determined to be out in that direc- tion ; resolved to ‘‘see whatever can be seen.”. Great Britain has consequently sent a gov- ernment despatch to Athens, in which Earl Granville demands that the manes of the mur- dered subjects of Her Majesty the Queen shall be appeased, and the recent massacres at Marathon be atoned for. Queen Victoria asks a judicial retrospect of the cases of the native prisoners who have been already acquitted by the Greek tribunals of justice. When we recollect how easily Britain can ‘‘drift” into war at a suitable moment—when we remem- ber that the theft of a hatchet and a goat by an African near Cape Tewn produced the Kaffir war, and that the question of a greased cartridge brought on the Sepoy war, we may reasonahly presume that the exhibition of the mangled corpses of some of her subjects on the plains of Greece will be quite sufficient to lead England into a conflict eastward, should the government deem such a war safe and profitable. Can it be safe or profitable? Is the Eastern question about to be solved without the counsel of the London Conference? Is the ‘‘protected” kingdom of Greece in the way ; or will Greece be ‘‘neu- tralized” to obliteration, and a new plan of territorial settlement eastward, from Florence to Athens and Cairo and Alexandria, be at- tempted according to a programme which will render the highway to India still more secure, and bring the Greek and Latin churches still nearer to Constantinople ? Sermons en the First Sunday in Lent. Yesterday was the first Sunday in Lent. The disagreeability of the weather kept many persons from visiting the churches, but we are comforted by the thought that it was con- ducive of much indoor reflection upon the many sins which have been committed during the past year. Even en those who do not hold it a part of their religion to observe it the penitential season must have some effect. It may not be convenient in this busy world of ours to be everlastingly thinking of futurity; but there ought to be periods when we shall scan the record of our lives for the purpose of ascertaining how many things are-inscribed thereon which tell of sin and remind us of punishment. If the coal monopolists, for example, observed the lenten season—we doubt if they do—what tormenting reflections would arise in their minds and how quickly they would get rid of them and give joy to the poor by giving us coal at a moderate price! ‘‘Yhe Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want,” says the psalm, and yesterday Dr. Chapin took this for the text of his sermon. He showed that man is a creature of wants, and gave a vivid picture of monopolists who endeavored to step between Ged and the gratification of these wants, evi- dently referring to the men who have sent up the price of coal to fourteen dollars per ton. Apropos of the season was Mr. Hepworth’s discourse on reformation, repentance and eternal punishment. The reverend gentleman inclined to the opinion that there will be sal- vation for all finally, but he thought that the redemption of the sinner in the next world will require ‘‘hard work” on his part. Rev. Mr. Foote dwelt upon the necessity of every Christian bearing his cross, while Father Brophy preached eloquently upon the import- ance of doing penance as a means of obtaining forgiveness for sins and as a fortification against the snares of Satan. Dr. Ewer's small congregation listened to an admirable sermon en the obligations under which men labor to aid each other, the speaker referring regretfully to the spread of scepticism in this country. At ‘the little church areund the corner” an English clergyman officiated. The subject of his discourse was ‘‘the personality of Satan,” the existence of whom he demon- strated by the temptation of Christ in the wil- derness. Satan, he said, is not an eternal being, but he is a creature of vast power, ever endeavoring to shut out the divine light from us. Dr. Hall engaged in eloquent speculations on the excuses man will give at the bar of heaven, but the subject is one as impossible of any satisfactory surmise as is anything of the future existence. What excuses will man give? Aye, what! Dr. Armitage spoke ear- nestly on the means whereby man can renew his spiritual strength, In Brooklyn Dr. Talmage discoursed on the joys of the future world. He took the orthodox view of the subject, including the robes of white, the palms and the songs of salvation. There is undoubtedly something sublimely beantifal in this picture of all the peoples who dwelt on earth before the throne of God ; but what seems to us an error is to take literally what is probably only a figura- NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1871.—WITH SUPPLEMENT. tive description in Revelstions, At the Tabernacle Brother Beecher took up & con- tribution for home missions, and then spoke words of hope and comfort to the sinner. In Williamsdurg a Mormon brother was formally excommunicated. Our reports from Washing- ton show that Dr. Newman discoursed on the conversion of Paul, that Rev. Mr. Mitchell explained the proper mode of serving God, and that Rev. Mr. McKee interpreted the visions of Ezekiel, We must not conclude this article without referring to the dedication of the Catholio church of St. Mary and to an eloquent address delivered by Archbishop McCloskey on the occasion. In all the Catholic churches the services were rendered unusually impressive by the deliverance of a solemn prayer for the protection of the Holy Father In his bondage. Whatever may be public opinion on the ques- tion of the Pope’s present tribulation, all per- sons will admit that the prayer was a touching evidence of the devotion of Catholics to the visible Head of the Church, The German Terms of Peace. Our despatches from Paris, by way of Lon- don, enable us this morning to announce with certainty the conclusion of a treaty of peace between France and Germany. The terms differ little in their general features from those originally reported. They are, how- ever, comsiderably modified. Instead of de- manding the whole of Alsace and the greater part of Lorraine, Count Bismarck has been content with the cession of ‘Alsace and Metz.” Nothing is said as to any other part of Lorraine than Metz; but we suppose that all of the territory along the German frontier west of the fortress to the base of the Vosges Mountains is included in the cession, It may even be, as the despatch only gives the outline of the conditions, that the part of Lorraine ceded is that orginally demanded by Germany. This included all the territory on the right bank of the river Moselle to a point near Nancy, which city was to re- main French. From this point the line was to continue in a southeast direction past Epinal toa point southwest of Belfort, whence it con- tinued east to the Swiss frontier. One modi- fication is evidently certain, and that relates to Belfort, which is to be restored to France. Belfort is a part of Alsace, and is situated in the Department of Haut*Rhin. The abandon- ment of the demand for this fortress is an unimportant concession to France, because the Germans retain all the passes of the Vosges on the south. Tie war indemnity is fixed at five milliards of francs, or a little less than one thoussnd millions of our gold dollars. This amount will doubtless be heavily reduced when all the war contributions levied upon the people are deducted. To insure the fulfilment of the conditions it is agreed that a portion of French territory, including some of the for- tified towns, shall remain temporarily in possession of the Gormars—a precaution usually taken by a victorious enemy. The entry of the German army into Paris to- day is also made a condition, but, if we understand the despatch correctly, the Ger- mans are limited to the occupation of the Champs Elys¢es. Such are the conditions of peace agreed upon by Thiers, Favre and Bismarck. If they are adopted by the Assembly peace between France and Germany will be immediately proclaimed. That they are severe is unde- niable; but they possess the merit of greater liberality than was expected. France cannot get better terms, because Germany will not grant anything better, and France has no allies to back her in resisting those agreed upon at Versailles. True enough, rumors are current in Northern France that “England has interfered with regard to Metz, declaring that the fortress should not be ceded to the Germans.” This, however, is evidently an idle rumor. Distaste- ful to England as any aggrandizement of Ger- many may be, she would not interfere at the eleventh hour in a matter which would likely involve her in war. Hence we regard the ru- mor a8 a fiction. Doubtless most of the great Powers sympathize with France; but they cannot help her. She must, therefore, accept the terms with as good grace as possible, get rid of the German armies and apply herself to the reorganization of her government, the re- pairing of her waste places and the develop- ment of her resources. M. Thiers and the Consultative Commission were to have gone to Bordeaux with the treaty on yesterday. The Assembly will probably act upon their report to-day, and as the majority are mode- rate in their political ideas and ardently desire peace we expect that their action will be favorable to the closing of the most disastrous war France ever engaged in. CusaN ATROOITIES—THE REBELLION IN ITs Last AGontEs.—The rebels in Cuba are in their last agonies. They see that their case is hopeless, and as they cannot hang Spaniards, they are hanging thoae whom they suspect of wighing to surrender to Spanish authority, women, even, being the victims of the rebellion’s dying hate. A pleasant state of affairs truly, and one that cannot last much longer; and even if continued for a short time it may have the effect to change the genereus policy of Valma- seda and compel him to be more liberal in his use of the garrote with those who are capable of hanging women for being untrue to disloy- alty. The Cuban cause has appeared very rotten for some time past, but the despatch from our special correspondent in Havana indicates that it has now gone beyond re- demption, Prayers ror THE Porg.—Yesterday in the Catholic churches prayers were delivered for the Holy Father Pius the Ninth. The troubles which have gathered around the Chair of St. Peter in these late yeara, and in the old age of its present occupant, are numerous and weighty. It is not too much to say dhat the Holy Father is an object of sympathy, not to the members of the Catholic Church alone, but to all right-thinking, generous minds throughout Christendom. The effectual fervent prayers of the righteous avail much, So says the Holy Book. Let us hope and pray that in this instance the prayers of the churches will be all-availing, so that the Holy Father may see the end of all his present troubles, and live and die in peace and honor The Joint High Commission—Apprchensions of Ite Failure, The members of the Alabama Claims Com- mission are to be formally introduced to each other to-day, and until the arrival of the remaining British negotiators will discuss informally the various sights and scenes to be witnessed in the City of Magnificent Distances. The first formal meeting, it is said, will take place on the 6th of March, and in the meantime Secretary Fish is preparing various important State papers relating to the great subjects to be considered, and the other American members of the Commission are studying the fishery, Alabama claims and boundary questions with an avidity and earnestness equal only to the avidity and earnestness with which Mr. Washburne studied French when he was appointed Minister to France, An uneasy feeling of the foreordained failure of the Commission is growing upon the prominent public men in Washington. There seems to be a general sentiment that the two countries have gone into a business which neither onderstand, and that neither of them knows what it wants. The fishery ques- tion is apparently all cut and dried, England being willing to make Canada grant all that we want; but about other matters—the Alabama claims, the claims of British citizens against this country and the abstract rights of Great Britain to fit out the Confederate privateer— there isa misty befuddlement that leaves the public mind uneasy and apprehensive. The announcement of Lord Granville, that the present Commission was empowered only to talk over matters and not to make a final and decisive settlement, has inclined people to the belief somewhat that the Commission is not the august affair it started out to be, and that they have been in a measure humbugged. Altogether, the outlook from a Washington standpoint, according to our Washington correspondent, is rather ap- prehensive than rose-colored. We cannot join in these sentiments very heartily. The Joint Commission, in its person- nel, is pretentious enough to insure the vesting in it of almost unlimited powers for a settle- ment of the questions now in dispute between us and Great Britain. The Com- missioners on our side will be in daily contact with the administration, Congress ahd the people, and, even if they have not the necessary powers, can be invested with them at a moment's notice, and they can daily feel the public pulse in case questions ,of unfore- seen significance should arise. On the other side, the Atlantic cable connects the British Commissioners directly with Downing street, and red tape is a thing of the Chapin—Ormt were The names herewith given represent men who stand at the head of what may be called the extremes and the mediam line of Chris- tianity in this age and in this city: And in our office of minister to the churches and te the people we seek to present, from week to week, not only the best thoughts of the best theologians among us, but also the leading characteristics of the men who utter them, and as nearly as we can the school of the prophets to which they belong. The pastor of the Church of the Divine Paternity is too familiar to New York people to require any elaborate or extended notice. Asa preacher and lecturer and writer his logic and his eloquence are well known. The sympathetic nature and the theology of the man are expressed in the title of his church and congregation—Divine Paternity, In name Dr. Clrapin is a Univer- salist; in fact he is a broad-souled, large- hearted Christian minister. It would be quite possible for a Methodist, a Presbyterian or a Baptist to worship in his church for a year without hearing a doctrine broached or a duty enforced which he could not say Amen to with all his heart. It is not because men believe Jess in Christ and Christianity that they divide offinto sects and denominations, but rather because they have been brought up under one or another set of influences, and can work better in this or that association. David could fight his first great battle better with a sling and stone than with the sword and the armor of Saul. Nevertheless he afterward used the sword of Goliath. So it is with many a Christian minister and layman. The sym- pathetic nature of Dr. Chapin is as great a barrier to him becoming a Calvinist as the stern, unyielding spirit and foreordained faith of the latter would be to his becoming a Universalist. Hence the Calvinist may pity, though he cannot save the predoomed sinner, against whom the gates of glory bave been long ago shut. But the school of the prophets to which Dr. Chapin belongs sees in God the Great Father, the loving Saviour, the loving Spirit. ‘The popular theology of the day,” to use his own words, uttered yesterday, ‘‘is that the wrath of God to man could only be appeased by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. This is not Christianity. The gift of Christ is the gift of God's love, and this love is the basis of true religion.” This is theology to which Jew and Greek can subscribe—God’s love to man and man’s love to God and to his fellow men—this is the sum and substance of true religion, and this is the basis of Dr. Chapin’s theology. The new pastor of the Reformed Collegiate church in Fifth avenue, Rev. Dr. Ormiston, is a man of plain and practical words in the pulpit. A fine, commanding presence and a peculiarly nervous temperament greatly assist and give him power with an audience. The direct utterances of the man show him to be in his inmost soul a hater of sham and hypocrisy. He could not preach what he did not believe, and, with a firm conviction that “the word of the Lord giveth light and under- standing to the simple,” his sermons are not labored easays on a few words of the Sacred Book, but plain, practical expositions ef por- tions of Scripture from which, almost in their statement, the audience can perceive and un- derstand the bearing of the discourse and the lessons to be drawn therefrom. Such was his sermon yesterday morning, which our readors will find in another column, and may peruse with profit. Rev. Dr. Ewer, rector of Christ church (Protestant Episcopal), may be said to stand at one extreme of modern Protestantism as his brethren in this connection do at the other. The author of the lectures ‘Protestantism a Failure,” he has since doubtless learned that ritualism is not qaite synonymous with Pre-