The New York Herald Newspaper, December 22, 1872, Page 8

NEW YORK HERALD] BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. wee NO. 357 Volume XXXVII. ~ AMUSEMENTS TO-MORROW EVENING. BOWERY THEATRE, ‘Beene, tax Hunten. WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st— Banus in Tax Woop,’ Astcrnoon ind Evening. Bowery.—Boxnie Fisnwire— ” GRAND OPERA HO av.—Kounp Tux CLock. |. Twenty-third st. and Eighth NIBLO'S GARDEN, Brondway, betweea Prince and Houston streets.—Luo np Loos. between SU RANGE, UNION SQUARE THEATRE, Broadway, Thirteenth and Yourteenth streets. —Loxno E THBATRE, Twenty-fourth street— FIFTH AY New Yuan's WALLACK’S THEATRE, street.—Buotasn Sam. THEATRE COMIQUE, LAVInGsTON® AND STANLEY. roadway and Thirteenth 514 Broadway.—Arnica: on, BOOTH'S THEATRE, Twenty-third street, corner Sixth @venue.—Henuy Duxoar. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broady @nd Bleecker sts.—Taw One } y, between Hotiston aeD Virgins. MRS, F, B. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.— ‘Tur Jeavous Wirk—Satanas. BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Montague st.— Rouro xp Juuimer. BRYANT’S OPERA HOUS! av.—NxGRo Minste wonty-third st, Corner RN TRICITY, &C. ATHENEUM. No. or Novenrixs. CANTERBURY VAR “tween Bleecker and Hou: Broadway.—Srienpip Vagtery HEATRE, Broadway, be- ‘ANGTY ENTERTAINMENT. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No, 201 Sowery.— Guan Vanity Ententainment, &c. Matinee at 245, SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, corner 28th st. and Broadway.—ETmiorian Mixstimisy, &C. BARNUM'S MUSEUM, MENAGERIE AND CIROUS.— ‘Fourteenth street, near'Broadway.—Day aud Evening. STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth street.—Lerorurs, *Buuning To Deata AND SavixG yrom Diati.”” NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Brondway.— ‘Boiwnow Nv Ant. QUADRUPL ——- B SHEET. rk, Sunday, Dec. 22, 187 To-Day’s Contents of the Herald. “SANTA CLAUS FOR ALL! THE RICH, THE POOR, THE YOUNG AND THE OLD”—FIRST EDITORIAL ARTICLE—KicutH PaGs. THE THIRST FOR BLOOD! A SHOOTING AF- FRAY AT THE GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL: ONE MAN SHOT AT AND ANOTHER WOUNDED: A THRILLING PURSUIT—FirTH PAGE. WNDIGNATION OF THE CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS AT THE SEIZURE OF THE TIMES NEWSPAPER! THE NATION TO BE APPEALED TO—FEDERAL CAPITAL NEWS— Firta PaGs. , BY CABLE FROM EUROPE! THE NEW SPANISH LOAN ALL TAKEN: AMADEUS’ CABINET AND CUBAN SLAVERY: DISASTERS BY THE STORMS IN ENGLAND AND SCOT- LAND—SEVENTH Pace. THE SOCIAL SEASON AT THE FEDERAL CAPI- TAL! A BRILLIANT PEKSPECTIVE: THE MARQUIS DE NOAILLES—AMUSEMENTS— ART—THE WEATHER—Tuirp Pace. RISING TO EXPLAIN! THE THESPIAN PRACTI- CAL JOKE: OPINIONS OF THE PARTIES PARTICIPATING — PROFESSOR TYNDALL'S LECTURE—MARINE NEWS—Twe.rri Pace. SUPREMAULY IN ASIA! THE STRUGGLE BE- TWEEN ENGLAND AND RUSSIA: IMPORT- ANT ADVANCE OF THE LATTER: ENG- LAND'S POLICY—THE SKATING ART EX- CLUSIVES—FIFTEENTH PAGE. PROCEEDINGS IN THE LEGAL TRIBUNALS! A FULL JURY IN THE STOKES CASE: GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN ARRESTED AND LOCKED UP FOR PUBLISHING OBSCENITY: HIS SPELCH TO THE COURT—FounTEENTH Pace. BRAZIL'S TREATY WITH THE ARGENTINE CON- FEDERATION! THE CHACO FRONTIER A BASIS FOR TROUBLE WITH PARAGUAY: VESSELS WRECKED—ETHICS AND ETI- QUETTE—FovusTgenTi Page. on ‘CHANGE! MONEY LOANED AT SEVEN PER CENT: A BAD BANK STATEMENT: ERIE QUIET: PACIFIC MAIL—MR. GOULD'S COUP—ELEVENTH Pages. SEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA FOWLS BAT- TLING FOR VICTORY! FIRST COCKING MAIN OF THE SEASUN: GAME FIGHTS— HARLEM COURT HOUSE—FovurtEENTH PaGE. PAST AND PRESENT OF THE NEWLY ENFRAN- CHISED FREEDMEN OF THE SOUTH! CON- TROLLING THE NEGRO BALANCE OF POWER: EX-SLAVES AS PLANTERS : STUMBLING BLOCKS—SixTH PaGe. RESUME OF THE REAL ESTATE MARKET! THE | FEATURES AND TRANSACTIONS—A CON- | SPIRACY AGAINST THE NATION AND THE CHEROKEES! A GREAT INDIAN LAND- GRAB—TENTH Pages. @LMOST TWO MILLIONS SAVED FOR UNCLE SAM! RAISED VALUATIONS AND MAR- KET VALUES: WORK OF THE AP- PRAISER AND HIS DEPUTIES—TENISON NOT A BIGAMIST—SEVENTH PacE. @IRE FEEDERS! THE TINDER-LIKE STRUC- TURES RECENTLY PUT UP IN NEW YORK: INSURANQGE MEN DENOUNCING THEM— OBITUARY—OUR UNPROTECTED SEABOARD CITIES—SEVENTH Pace, @HE RELIGIOUS FIELD! PASTORS AND SUB- JECTS FOR TO-DAY: PUBLIC BIB % STRUCTION: IMPOSING ORDINATION: A RUSSIAN PRINCE VISITS THE POPE: CLERICAL CHANGES—THIRTEENTH Pace. WINTER SPORTS! AN HOUR AMONG THE SLEIGH BELLS—HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE HOLIDAYS—SixtH Pacer. INVESTIGATING THE FIFTH AV SEARCHING INQUIRY. YORK AND BROOKLYN CITY ITEMS—Tentn Pace. COMING BACK TO LIFE! A SUPPOSED MUR- DERED MAN RETURNS TO CLAIM A DI- | WIDED PROPERTY—SAD SCENES AT MR DURYEA’S FUNERAL—TENTH Pace. "Tux Recess or Conoress.—The two houses | ‘of Congress stand adjourned over to the 6th | of January, 1873, and most of the members, by the trains of Saturday evening, left Wash- ington homeward bound. We hope thatefrom their Christmas and New Year festivities they will return to their public duties not only “like Gients refreshed with new wine,” but .mate- tially enlightened, from their contact with —_ opinion, on the great questions of the Ys Ove Vira, Startsrics.—During the week ending yesterday the deaths in this city re- ported were 527; the births, 419; the mar- riages, 160. The report shows the city to be in as healthy a condition as could be expected with our life-destroying tenement houses, our filthy back streets and river fronts and our ex- tensive shanty settlements, exposed to all the dnglemencica of wind and weather. UE FIRE! A | NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, DECEMBEK 22, 1872—QUADRUPLE SHEET. Santa Claus for All—the Rich, the Poor, the Young and the Old. As the feathery snowflakes borne on the bitter wind come eddying, whirling down to tell us that another Christmastide is about de- scending on the world, the most sceptical being finds his thoughts away im » snowflake world of their own. It would seem as though the footprints of Old Time upon the Christmas snow were pictured by the hand of memory on the heart, there to remain long after the year and its snow were gone, the one to the clouds of history, the other to tho clouds of air, And what are the white and sparkling thoughts that cluster so fairy-like, so weird- like, 80 joyfully and withal so mournfully within the rims of those footprints? Why do they move us to a pleasant smile crossed with a sweet shade of melancholy, like the shadow from an angel’s wing? Because they form the vision of joyous youth seen from the present through an atmosphere of all life's sorrows and joys. The mellowed light tones down the sharper outlines; the mind dwells on the picture and becomes.selaced, We may forget fora moment what Chyistmas means in a religious sense; but we will not fail to weave into the fantasy a kindly, cheery, snowy-bearded face, a fur-clad form with a pine branch on the shoulder, the mystic Saint of the nursery, the, jovial Saint of after-years— good old Santa Clans. Long may his saintship flourish. If he is not American to the manner born, we have naturalized him. If for us he goes not among the fir trees of the Schwarzwald to cut his bough and garner there around the gnarled roots of leafless trees from fairy toymen his store of knick-knacks, we have noble forests of our own in Maine, and nobler still in the great sweeps of the Sierras, where he may hold his elfish fancy fair beneath the waving of the giant pines and cedars. Wherever he goes to gather his good things, he is certain to be here on Christmas Eve, and just as certain to go plumping down the chimneys with a whisk to fill the stockings and deck the Christ- mas trees of young America. It would be well, indeed, if the aforesaid Young America could fix his faith on other things as devoutly as he does on Santa Claus) But Young America must grow older, and then he begins to doubt the story. The early cynicism of twelve makes sad inroads on his faith in the chimney theory ; for does not the chimney end ina stovepipe ? But not for all his bud- ding manhood and adolescent citizen- ship would he shatter the pretty myth that his little brothers and sisters talk them- selves nightly asleep speculating on. It be- comes sacred. If itisa myth it brings him presents all the same. The box of toys is ex- changed for a book of exciting adventure or for a new suit ora game. Here he commences to count the footprints in the snow. From year to year it goes on. The myth brings him a trinket, a watch, achain. Off at school as the holidays approach he forecasts what Santa Claus will bring, although he knows full well that his papa is the Santa Claus, He begins soon to make Christmas presents himself, and when, a man and ao father, he sits around the Christmas board and sees the little ones wondering and chirruping over the toys on. the tree, he blesses old Santa Claus still. Ifa time comes when the Christmas board is bare and Santa Claus has passed that chamber by, and the old man looks dreamily out on the whirling snow, he can see with one glance the whole vista of his years. The loneliness is gone, for Christmastides of olden gladness flash upon his soul and the feast of memory is lit, if only for a moment, by their rays. There are reverses to the picture. Santa Claus, like all the fates, is partial. For all his kindliness he is a toady to wealth, to caste, to fashion, There, in a den on Baxter street, is a group of ill-clad, dirty-faced little children, who are as ignorant of Santa Claus as Mir- ambo, the King of Ujowa, is of Christianity. The old white-bearded fellow was too busy on the Avenue to leave them o token of his existence. Like Cosette, in ‘Les Misér- ables,’’ they may have stared in at the toyshop windows; but no weary-hearted, love-longing Jean Valjean was there to buy them even a five-cent toy. There are the little newsboys and newsgirls, ranning wildly with their bundles of papers to and fro, who are‘in- fidels to the belief in Santa Claus. Look into the hospitals, where the pauper patient has bodily pain added to the mental on this Christ- mas Day without its Santa Claus. Look into the prisons and asylums. Would not the hardened hearts be better for a sight of the old snow-tipped comfort-bringer? There are homes for the aged and the indigent where a little Christmas cheer would make the old hearts young for a space. Gaze, if you wlll, in upon the inmates of the House of the Good Shepherd. All you have seen of shattered homes and widowed hearths and frittered lives will not match this gather- ing. To the eyes of humanity the fallen woman is a more direct matter for sincere sorrow than all the fallen angels ever cast out of heaven. The harsh St. Michael of worldly opinion who flourishes his fiery sword of social disgrace above their heads is pitiless as his prototype. But in that House of the Good Shepherd may be seen other women of angelic souls who minister to the social outcasts, who guide the erring feet into the right path, who lift up the sin-darkened brow that the merciful light of God may shine upon it. Good people, then, you on whose | fireside circles this blight has in God’s and the world’s mercy never fallen, can not you | think how the friendly smile of Santa Claus upon the Christmas Day of these unfortunates might call up the memory of vanished purity and severed home ties?—how it might help along the great work of the good Sisters? Think, too, of the orphan boy and the orphan girl, whom death has sundered from their Santa Claus, Would it not make your Christmas joy run smoother to think you had helped these fatherless and motherless little ones to some of its innocent delight? Do not, while looking on these sad reverses of the picture of Santa Claus, forget the tiny found- lings. If these little waifs are in most cases too young to appreciate all the poetry of the myth, give them cause to know when they are a little older that old Santa Claus was forced by you down the chimney of their dormitory, first, to put some coal on the fire, and then, with a bundle of mannikin clothing, to keep the life in their little bones. It is a touching theme, and one that points a hundred morals and could adorn as many tales. In the two sister cities of New York agd Brooklyn there will assemble in family groups on Christmas Day more than a million of people, young and old, from the rich to those not absolutely poor, to greet the joys of the season. Outside of these circles will be thousands and thousands who will not know that day from any other, so far as any difference of fare or cheer may count—who a week after will not care whether the old year is dend or the new year born. Now, both these cities are rich. For that one day the wealthy and the well-to-do should see that this number of cheerless ones is diminished. It is very easy to find the way if the heart is inclined and the purse ready. Hundreds of charitable people have taken the good work in hand, and it should not be difficult to find them. In every asylum, houso of refuge, hos- pital, mission house and charitable institution @ good Christmas dinner should be provided for those whom Santa Claus would otherwise have forgotten. This is an appeal made on behalf of no ono religious denomination, nor of any particular class of the friendless, because it covers all alike, Charity is.not or should not pe sectarian. The list to choose from is long as misfortune. We cannot pretend to give a complete list of the places where this trifling boon may be dispensed, but wecan furnish the names of a few with- out any detriment to those we are unfortunate. enough to.omit. . ‘The House of the Good Shep- herd we have mentioned. The charity of the Sheltering Arms, of similar good work, we may also note. Then there are the Children's Aid Society, the Newsboys’ Lodging House, the Five Points House of Industry, the Found- ling Asylum, tended by the Sisters of Charity; the Howard Mission and Home for Little Wanderers; the Home for the Aged, made homelike by the Little Sisters of the Poor; the orphan asylums of all sects; St. Luke's Home for Aged Christian Women, Trinity Chapel Home for the Aged, tho Industrial School and Home for Destitute Children, the House of Refuge on Randall's Island, the Juvenile Reformatory and Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island, the Workhouse on Ward's Island, the Catholic Protectory for Boys, Bellevue and the other hospitals; the prisons and the numberless. churches which will give the poor children a Christmas dinner and distribute gifts from Christmas trees. Do not hesitate, then, yo of the happy homes, to make sad faces merry; to brighten older memories in those who think themselves forsaken; to lift, or try to lift up all the poor and lowly you can reach to innocent merry- making for one Christmas Day, so, when Old Santa Claus looks in on you, he may be en- couraged to call with a heartier voice the noxt time. Spain and Cuba—Significant Move- ment of the South American Re- publics. The Spanish government does not relent in the least, if our cable despatch from Madrid be exactly accurate, in its determination to rule Cuba according to the policy of the vie victis system and of “stamping out’’ the colonial insurrectionist movement against the authority of the Crown after the most approved fashion of the military royalisms. His Excel- lency Minister Zorrilla took occasion to assure the Spanish Senate, when speaking on the subject of colonial governmental reform gen- erally, that ‘no reforms will be inaugu- rated in the government of Cuba while a single insurgent remains in the island.” This is plain speaking, and Sefior Zor- rilla will enjoy the official merit of being brief and exceedingly emphatic in his expression. His method of reasoning is extraordinary. By the denial of reform to the Cubans, as a punishment, he acknowledges that reforms are very essentially necessary in the island, but that the population of the place must be reduced to a condition of slavish blindness as to the value of the concession before they attain it. Like to, the child in the story play, he says to the Cubans, ‘Open your mouth and shut your eyes,” and then, perhaps, you may have ‘a plum fora prize.” Such is the position of Minister Zorilla. The action of the government of Colombia in addressing the Minister of Foreign Affairs for San Salvador on the subject of recognizing the independence of Cuba and sustaining the Cubans in their struggle is very significant, and the reply of the Secretary of State of San Salvador is not less so. It is evident that there is a general movement among the South and Central American republics to bring about the independence of Cuba. Our readers will have seen by the correspondence referred to, which we published yesterday, that there is acalm earnestness of tone and clear reasoning in these communications. In connec. tion with this movement of Colombia and San Salvador there are others which indicate 8 combined and general effort to sustain the Cubans and to dispossess Spain of her remaining American colonies. Peru recently expressed the determination to reject the treaty which our Secretary of State con- cocted between Spain and the South American republics because of the humiliating condition in it that no aid or practical sympathy was to be extended by Peru to the Cuban patriots. So we see that in spite of systematic represen- tations by Spain and her agents of the state of affairs in Cuba, and in spite of the important aid given by our State Department to the Spaniards in their efforts to suppress the truth and to crush the Cubans, the dayspring of hope begins to shine upon the prospects of the Gem of the Antilles. The proposition of Colombia and San Sal- vador is that the republics of South and Cen- tral America shall unite to secure the inde- pendence of Cuba and that the United States shall act with them. It is to be hoped our government will act in conjunction with these republics for that . object, but whether it will or not they shonld combine to give, at least, all the moral sup- port possible to the Cubans. The proposal is for all the American republics to unite in requesting Spain to grant independence to Cuba, and, if necessary, to pay Spain an indemnity for the cost of the war. We ex- pect little from the magnanimity or wisdom of Spain; butif such a pressure as this were brought to bear upon the Spanish government the object might be attained—at least it would strengthen the cause of free Cuba and turn the scales of the existing doubtful and dreadful war in favor of independence. Spain would hardly venture to defy the will and action of all America, especially when con- vipced of the futility of doing so. If the Spanish-American republics follow up the} ‘Phe Proposed New York Orystal initiatory movement of Colombia and San Salvador earnestly Cuban independence will not be long deferred, whether Spain concedes it or not. A Eombshcli in the Credit Mobilier Camp—Responsibility of Railroad Directors. ‘The publication of the list of stockholders of the Crédit Mobilier in the Huraxp yester- day fell like a bombshell in the camp of the magnificent and mysterious “ring’’ whose operations have recently been so prominently before the world. Heretofore the Orédit Mobilier has partaken of the character of the Venetian Council of Ten—dark, secret and incomprehensible. As the workings of the Council were unknown until the bodies of conspirators were discovered at daylight dan- gling in the square of St, Maro, so the doings of the Orédit Mobilier have beon a mystery until the innocent stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad have found themselves im- molated as victims on the shrine of the inner ring, by means of extraordinary logislation in } Congress. . Everybody has been inquiring, , Who are the Crédit Mobilier? No answer: has been forthcoming, because the ‘records of the concern have bean a sealed book, into which none but the favored have been ‘suffered to pry. No wonder that the appearance of the list in the Hunanp should have oreated an in- tense sensation, and led to important results. Tho present shareholders in the Union Pacific Railroad Company, who are the inno- cent and bona fide successors of the original “ring,’’ now learn, for the first time, the ex- tent to which that company has been victim- ized in this Crédit Mobilier transaction, and the names of the parties who have, as the present stockholders claim, robbed the cor- poration for their own enrichment. They have determined to move in the matter and to compel restitution. With the evi- dence supplied by the Henarp in their pos- session they will direct their President, Mr. Horace F. Clark, to institute a suit against those who divided the plunder for eighteen million dollars, or upwards, which they claim has been virtually stolen from the treasury of the Union Pacific, and shared between the conspirators. This will cause a flutter among the persons whose names were published in our list, as well as among those who stand behind relatives in the Crédit Mobilier cor- ruptions. The suit will, no doubt, compel a full development of all the facts, for Oakes Ames will be a principal defendant, and when his fortune is at stake he will not be willing to stand in the capacity of ‘‘trustee’’ before the parties whose interests he represents. The recent settlement made between Mr. Jay Gould and the Erie Railroad forms an en- cearaging precedent for the action proposed by the Union Pacific Railroad stockholders. If the ex-President of the Erie Railroad found it desirable to restore nine millions to Erie, the Crédit Mobilier will be likely to find it dis- creet to restore eighteen millions to the Union Pacific. Indeed, there are those who believe that the Erie Railroad Company were guilty of an offence in compromising the suit against the old direction of that road, and insist that the matter should have gone before the Courts in order to test the extent of the responsibility, both ryorally an@financially, of those who ex- ceed their powers or commit illegal acts in their fiduciary capacity. The prosecutors of the Union Pacific Railroad suit against the Crédit Mobilier ‘“ring’’ can avoid this error, and, while insuring the return of the money dishonestly taken from the former company, can test the criminal responsibility of those they charge with having robbed them. The developments will excite a great sensation in financial circles, and will embrace some of our leading financiers, as well as many of our most prominent politicians in their scope. If the suit shall serve to bring the whole secret history of the Crédit Mobilier to the light of day it will be a good thing for the country. The Protestant Episcopal Church and Her Foreign Missions. On Sunday last we announced to our readers that Friday, the 20th, had been set apart by the Protestant Episcopal Church as a day of special prayer, with a view to invoke the Divine blessing on the foreign missionary operations of that Church. It was understood that the day would be so observed in England and all over the British colonies as well as in the United States. Apart altogether from the object, which cannot be too highly commended, there is something exceedingly beautiful in this united action of the Protestant Episcopacy. It has been the standing disgrace of Prot- estantism that it wants that unity which the Master so much insisted upon and which has always been the principal characteristic of the Ghurch of Rome. It is gratifying to know that the day of special prayer was faithfully observed. In most instances the congregations were large, and the sober, earnest demeanor of the people gave evidence of the interest which is taken in the work of foreign missions. We learn by cable that the day was religiously observed throughout England. The Bishop of London officiated at St. Paul's Cathedral, and Dean Stanley condueted the services at Westminster Abbey. At many of the metropolitan churches, we are told, the congregations were large. We commend this example of united action on | the part of the Protestant Episcopal Church to the other Protestant sects. The example ought not to be lost on the Presbyterians, who are now talking of the propriety of holding a grand general council, representative of Presbyterianism throughout the world. A day of special prayer is possible. A general council is beset with some difficulties, As little should the ex- ample be lost on the Methodists, the Baptists and the Congregationalists. Our readers, we feel assured, will all join us,in the wish that the fervent prayers of Friday last may be heard, and that the Lord of the Harvest may be pleased to send forth laborers into His vineyard. Africa, now more than ever, holds out her hands unto God, “Come and help’’ is her cry. It will be ashame to the Churches it the help is not promptly and efficiently given. Tar Weex mm Watt Srnxer has beon note- worthy for the further decline in gold and the excitement and advance in Erie. While money has been stringent there has beon no depres- sion in mercantile circles, and the new year is likely to come in upon memories of no un- Rleasayt nature ag temards the dying 1872, Jan act of Palace. During two years past there has been a quiet movement among some of our wealthiest and most enterprising citizens to produce in New York ono of those groat international shows which, by its gathering samples of the natural and manufactured products of all parts of the world, tend signally to stimulate trade and develope excellence in all the indus- trial arta. London, Berlin and Paris have, in their turn, attracted the curious by World's Fairs, and each bas been indebted to its Crystal Palace for « large influx of sight-seers, while its artisans have learned valuable lessons from a comparison of the best products in their several departments. New York, when only a fraction of her present size, had her Orystal Palace Exhibition in Reservoir square, and was justly boastful of it, till fire reduced it and its treasures to a heap of blackened iron bars and formless ruins. Why shall we not have another Exhibition which shall equal that now, preparing in Vienna? In .1870 was procured for “this purpose and a. contract . male to buy-eight blocks of land, bounded by Ninety-eighth ‘amd 102d streets, Third and Fourth avenues—a high, rocky plot admirably suited for the purpose. Here it is proposed to Greot, at a total cost, with the ground, of }:4! about ten million dollars, a building of which America would be proud; the whole to be completed and the Exhibition opened for our Centennial Independence Celebration on the Fourth of July, 1876. This new Crystal Palace would be more central than, in its day, the old one was. Itssite is near the lines of railways which enter the city from the north, west and east, and is easily reached by horse- car lines, Among the names of the gentlemen who are vigorously promoting this enterprise are citizens of the highest sagacity and energy. It proposes for all who have individual or property interests in this city decided and pos- itive advantages, which seem to render it cer- tain that the requisite capital will be quickly raised and the work done. By all means let us push on this. project with all practicable speed, and let New York show the world that the commercial capital of the American Re- public can organize and carry out a World's Fair as amply attractive as any one yet pro- duced by a Europeah monarchy, in an edifice as vast, complete, appropriate and beautiful as has yet been seen. If we do this we shall all be the wiser, better and richer in more ways than one for New York’s new Crystal Palace. Y French Nationai Restitution to the Or- leans Princes. The French National Assembly adjourned yesterday for the enjoyment of a Parliamen- tary recess during the Christmas holidays. Before the completion of their temporary separation the members prepared for a due observance of the great Christma festivals by the accomplishment of an act of public absolution and restitution which will redound vastly to the honor of the republican govern- mental institution, and may, also, have a very important and decided effect on the constitu- tional future of the French nation. The Par- liament passed, finally, the bill for the restora- tion to the Orleans Princes of their property which had been confiscated to the State. This action will bring to the family descendants of the late King Louis Phillippe a very large amount of money, footing up in the first instance over forty millions of francs, with a rich territorial patrimony be- sides. The progeny of the late Bourbon ruler of France numbers to-day fifty-two persons. The project for the main first division of the restituted amount includes eight prominent heads, as will be seen by the Heratp exposi- tion in our columns. The features of the legislative arguments for and against the action, which we publish, are quite interest- ing in view of the results. Bussta anp Centrat Asta.—The Russian government has, we are assured from St. Petersburg, resolved in Cabinet Council to undertake a campaign against Khiva, in Cen- tral Asia. Colonel Makasoff, of the imperial army, has reconnoitred the territory, and, it is alleged, already mapped out the route of the royal army and fixed the points for its encampment. Most important national con- sequences may result from the movement, for it is almost certain that Great Britain will not permit, ifshe can, any northern attempt on Khiva, Kashgar or Yarkand, or the comple- tion of any further Russian annexations along the frontier of Western China. The Governor General of India has already refused an appli- cation of the Khan of Khiva praying for Brit- ish material aid against Russia; but whether His Excellency will remain honestly neutral between the belligerents, should war ensue, Temains to be seen. Prymcura Rock Day.—This is the anniver- sary of the landing of the Pilgrim Puritan fathers and mothers at Plymouth Rock, when The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast, And the woods, against the stormy sky, Their giant branches toss’d. And they, the chips of the old block, are going to have a famous celebration there to-morrow, the two hundred and fifty-seventh anniversary of the disembarkation from the Mayflower, and we wish them a good time. Op Farner Tuames has, as we are told by cable from London, suddenly asserted his power by rising from his slimy bed and swelling up a huge volume of water which overflowed the shore boundary yester- day and inundated the surrounding country. Home Park presents the appearance of a vast lake, and the flood is the greatest which has been seen in that neighborhood since the year 1852. The occurrence of these sudden up- heavals of rivers in Europe may be influenced to some extent, independent of rain and storm, by a subterranean volcanic action. ‘Tue Corporation Arrorney’s Orrice.—Cor- poration Attorney Thomas C. Fields has sent in his resignation of that office to the Corporn- tion Counsel, Mr. E. Delafield Smith The Corporation Counsel declines to accept the resignation, very properly holding that Mr. Fields, by deserting his post and abandoning his official duties, has in fact left the office va- cant. Mr. Smith will, no doubt, appoint a Corporation Attorney immediately, in order that the public interests may not suffer. A Lvcm Inrervan ror France.—The Na- tional Assembly has adjourned over for the Christuas holidays. |. Chridtianity. What sors of | clergymen and funerals. The Kernel of the Religious Press. The approach of the holidays seoms to have had upon the minds of religious editors am effect very different from what might have been expected. Barely, if ever, has the re- ligious press been duller and more savorless than in its issues of the past week. Here and there, of course, may be found gleams of in- tellectual animation; but when it is remem- bered that if all these weeklies were bound together they would make a mass of printed Paper almost as big as the biggest of cyclo- pedias this is sadly unsatisfactory. The Liberal Christian has an article draw- ing a distinction between genuine and spu- rious “liberality,’’ which has, at any rate, the merit of being plain spoken. It certainly does not mince matters, Here is ita keynote: — All those caricatures or misrepresentations’ of Christianity which make God the enemy of sinners instead of the enemy o/ sin, the enemy of errorista instead of the enemy of error, the contriver of Hts own glory, the infinite seli-seeker and self-divine egotist; or which represents Christ as the Saviour Ol & lew or many chosen ioliowers, and not as the universal Saviour, which hangs God’s love and favor upon technical conditions other than eternat and universal ones ; tm; free.trom: arbitrary choice or the” tyrauny: of mere perso) ‘sover- elgnty, are’ not the gos Of free-grace, are not fr of Ube ‘or liberality 1s that which, having devised in any human way & propositional creed, makes its articles, ‘or protes- sion and belief in them, conditions of acceptance with God or of communion with Christ or Tollow- ship with Christians? All the cnurches.or sects which make opinions or theological statements or creeds the basis of fellowshtp or the assumed con- ittons of datvation are because unchris- A careful reservation’ is, however, subse- quently made in acknowledgment of the im- portance of having definite principles ; only, whatever be a man's avowed principles, they ought to be rigidly binding upon him; and especially if he holds the dogma of the ex- istence of hell he ought to carry it out to its final consequences. He should frankly tell people that, in his opinion, they will be damned unless they do and believe certain things. This is the liberal Christian's idea of what pulpit honesty and true liberality really is. The Evangelist has a kind word for the efforts of the Roman Catholic Church in be- half of temperance, concluding with what most people would look upon as the some- what obvious and commonplace remark that it would ‘‘consider the man a narrow bigot who would refuse to rejoice lest temperance reform should lend new respectability to the Roman Catholic Church.’’ So would every- body else, Mr. Hvangelist, worth counting. The Independent, in spite of its strong repub- lican proclivities, indignantly condemns the unconstitutional action of Judge Durell in Louisiana. It believes that Kellogg, being a Senator of the United States, was, by the laws of the State ineligible for the office of Gover- nor. And it thus concludes: — When judges on the bench abuse their powers, and go unpunished therefor, then the safety of our oe system is ‘assailed at ite most vital it. hen federal judges are permitted to invade the rights of State oficis nd arrest them in the ex- ercise of their authority, then State rights are in imminent peril. The precedent set in Lovistana is an exceedingly bad one, and it should beso thor- oughly rebuked that it will nat be repeated. It im, in tact, the overthrow of a State government by the interference of rederal officers; and no bpd d zeal snould defend it fora moment. The principle at stake 18 One of the highcst consequence to the whole country. The question now is not one of paleo not who is the best or the worst maa, ‘armoth or Kellogg; not whether Kellogg or McEnery was actually elected by the pene a whether gross frauds were perpetrated by both the contending factions; but whether the constitu. tional government of @ State shall peace be subverted by federal power. The issue could scarcely be stated in cleare1 language. The Christian Union, after a seasonable column reference to the Star of Bethlehem and the Feast of Hope--a bad new name for a Christmas dinner—points out to the liberal republicans, or the ‘“‘men without a party,”’ aa it styles them, that if they are true to them- selves they may do good service yet in the cause of political purity. Thus, they may be perhaps ‘‘more earnest defenders’’ of civil ser- vice reform than many of the ‘‘orthodox re- publicans.’"” And the reason for this is laid bare in words which breathe a delicately cyni- caland man-of-the-world tone that is singu- larly pleasant in the mouth of a ‘gentleman of the cloth.’’ sal EL it is much easier for a minority tobe steadfast in principle. That is its stock in trade. But the virtue of such steadfastness in the present instance lies in the circumstance that the declared principles of both partics are so nearly alike as ta Tequire of the minority on many questions the sur- render ofthe pleasures of opposition. To follow one’s own colgrs when another bears them is some- times a severe test of loyalty. But this, we trust, the liberal republicans will do, The (bserver has something to say about It contends that clergymen are often very discourteously treated in such matters, and this is probably true. But it says, further: — Many people turn their back upon the Church, despise and vilify its ordinances, and are openly and avowedly godless and proiane; yet when death comes inte their families they call for the Tites of religion, and claim them as @ matter oi course. This is a testimony that in the secret con- science the value of religion is acknowledged. Na clergyman would refuse to render the service the: demand; but it should be understood, if it is nol that such a demand is wholly unreasonable, and 1s complied with a io that spirit of enlarged Chris- tian charity which is exemplified by no class of pe mere copstantl and magnanimously than by he pastors of churches in @ great city. Inno de- partment of labor are ministers subjected to more thoughtless wrong than in the matter of funerais, ‘They are expected to be ready at ben 4 hour of any day to give their time, without regard to previous duties or present health. The Methodist hails the last position taken by Strass as a proof of the unsatisfactory character of modern philosophic scepticism. It professes to believe ‘more and more in ouz prediction that by, or even before, the close of the present century there will be such a reaction to Spiritualism as the world has never before seen. Men must and will recoil from the despondent results of modern scepticism, They will do so logigally, because they will da so from an overpowering law of their highest nature.’” The Golden Age, apropos of the Free Relig- ious Conference the other day, says: — Until our rationalistic friends make religion their chief objective point, leaving this freedom to come of itself ta its own good time, they will count their tollowers by tens when otherwise they might count them by thousands. There is immense significance in the catholic feeling expressed by Wiseman years ago, that freedom without religion would prove an unmitigated curse. We are realizing something of the truth of his exaggerated statement in all our cities to-day. Freedom without religion is deswita- tion, vagrancy, vice. Freedom from religion is animalism. ‘The freedom that |s religious can come only from @ religion that is iree and makes free, This is the sober opinion, probably, of all who have ever felt the peace that springs from an obedience to that religious instinct which, whatever he may say or try to think, lies at the very depth of every man’s true nature. The Tablet discusses the education question again in a two-and-a-half-column article. It complains that Protestants and infidels seem everywhere anxious to exclude the Catholic clergy and teachers from the public schools. In Prussia, Switzerland, Great Britain, even in Fronce, the same spirit is displayed. Then it expresses the following frank opinion of modern civilization: — Tt is, in many respects, below that ofour American Indians. 1 is less qpiritual, aad more purely aul