The New York Herald Newspaper, November 9, 1873, Page 8

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR AMUSEMENTS TO-NORROW EVENING, PARK THEATRE, Brooklyn, opposite City Hall— Evervnopr’s Fauxd—Foary Winks. HARLEM THEATRE, 3d ay., between 129th and 130(h ot. —New Macpaen, THEATRE COMIQUE, No, 54 Broadway.—Varirry La reatalnaunt, OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway, between Houston wnd Bivecker sta—Kir Van Winkie. GERMANIA THEATRE, Mth street and Md avenue.— Evy Scarirr Vou Weer. BROADWAY THEATRE, 728 and 730 Broadway.— Tux New Magpauex. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Eighth ay. and Twenty-third et—A Foasu or Licurnine. NIBLO'S GARDEN, “Broadw: y, between Prince and Houston sts—Tux Back Cxoox. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth | street,—Ouns. ACADEMY OF MUSIC, 1ith street and Irving place.— Travian Orena—Les Huguenots. UNION SQUARE THEATRE, Union square, near Broadway.—lux Gexzva Cross, ‘WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway. Jack Harkawar, Alternoon a BOOTH": Ricumaixv. METROPOLITAN THEATRE, 635 Broadway.—Vanixty Enreerawarnt. corner Thictieth st.— evening. THEATRE, Sixth ay. and Twenty-third st.— BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Tus Giant's Cavsa- ‘'ar—Dawini Boone, -MRS, F. B. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.— Nore Damx, Bal TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOU: Vanietr ENTRRTAINMENT. BRYANT'S OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st., corner Sixth av.—NxGuo Minsteetsy, &c. P. T. BARNUM'S WORLD'S FAIR, 27th street and 4th avenue. Aiternoon and evening. AMERICAN INSTITUTE FAIR, Sd av., between 63d ‘nd Gith sts. Afternoon and evening. NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, No. 618 Broad- ‘way.—Scixsce amp Ant, QUADRUPLE SHEET. New York, Sunday, November 9, 1873. THE NEWS OF ‘YESTERDAY. To-Day’s Contents of the, Herald. “THE MURDER OF RYAN AND HIS ASSO- CIATES! THE ATIITUDE OF OUR GoYy- ERNMENT’—LEADING ARTICLE—EIGHTH PaGE. EXECUTIONS AT SANTIAGO DE CUBA OFFICIALLY REPORTED BY THE SPANISH OFFICER CHARGED WITH THE DISGRACE- THE FUL TASK! GREAT NUMBERS OF SOL- | DIERS, SAILORS AND PEOPLE PRESENT! BEFORE THE CAPTURE—FirrH Pace. GOVERNMENT ACTION UPON THE SPANISH AS- SASSINATIONS OF THE VIRGINIUS PRIS- ONERS! A WAR VESSEL SENT TO SAN- | CORdemned as a lawful prize, no voice could TIAGO! WAR NOT PROBABLE—Firtu Pace, SENOR CASTELAR AND THE AMERICAN MIN- | Spanish authorities. ISTER TO SPAIN CONFERRING OVER THE | be condemned without a trial, VIRGINIUS TRAGEDY IN MADRID—Nivre | times of PaGE. A DESPERATE BATTLE BETWEEN THE SPANISH | itled GOVERNMENT FORCES AND THE CAR- | weet enaiile LISTS, IN NAVARRE! LIEUTENANT GEN- ERA KILLED AND GENERALS MORIONES AND OLLA WOUNDED! THE GOVERNMENT ARMY ROUTED! VERY HEAVY LOSSES IN KILLED, WOUNDED AND PRISONERS— | NINTH Pace. 4 REPUBLICAN MAJORITY SECURED BY THE FRENCH PARTY OF THE LEFT IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE PRESIDENTIAL TENURE! INTENSE EXCITEMENT! A CAB- INET COMPLICATION! MacMAHON AND BAZAINE—NINTH Pace. MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF COUNT CAVOUR, ERECTED BY FREE ITALY, UN- VEILED YESTERDAY—NintH Pace. THE GREAT BRITAIN MOVING HER “BLACK TROOPS” | FROM JAMAICA TO AFRICA FOR SERV. AGAINST THE ASHANTEES! NEW COM. | intelligence of the views of Secretary Fish was MERCIAL AND CABLE ENTERPRISES IN THE BRITISH WESt INDIES—NINTH Pace. 4 FURTHER ADVANCE IN THE DISCOUNT RATE | OF THE BANK EXPECTED IN ENGLAND! | BULLION STILL BEING WITHDRAW Nintu Pace. FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS IN AMERICA AND EUROPE! THE MARKE’ THE BANKS, THE MA S$ AND OUR CURITIES—ART WORKS—ELEVENTH Pac: TRADE EMBARRASSMENTS! THE EFFORTS OF MANUFACTURERS AND PEOPLE Tu “WEATHER” THE PRESENT STORM! THE NEEDS OF THE HOUR! THE GENERAL SITUATION—S1xTH AND SEVENTH PaGes. reported. or that these were his precipitate FINANCIAL AFFAIRS AND REFORMS! THE | and immature views, which would have | FAILURE TO CHECK THE FLOW OF | been recalled or corrected before BRITISH GOLD TO AMERICA! THE IM- | now. ‘The flippant manner in which | PORTS SO FAR—TWELFTrH Pace. UP EVERYWHERE! THE SPRAGUES ANp | °SY” from Spain, appeared revolting in view SE, No. 201 Bowery.— | Virginius and her liability to seizure by the | Spaniards has by their own indiscreet action = | subjected to the fate of war. _ NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1874.-QUADRUPLE SHEET. The Muracr of Ryan and Mis Asso-| able our governmont will demand and re- | the snowy day. In places where trade has elates—The Attitude of Our Govern- mont. ‘The murder by the Spaniards at Santiago do Cuba of four of the persons found on board the American: vessel Virginius, at the time of her capture by a Spanish gunboat, has shocked the civilized world. The cruelties practised by both parties to the miserable struggle that has been going on in Cuba for the past five years have been a disgrace to humanity and have long excited universal indignation. But this last crime is one which affects all peoples and all governments; which outrages those laws upon which the friendly intercourse of the world is based, and without which the nations of the earth would be thrown together as wild beasts, to tear and destroy each other, without any protection except that of brute strength. The slaughter of the young students at Havana about three years ago; the murder of the wounded on battle felds ; the mutilation of the dead; the butchery of prisoners, male and female, with- out trial—all these barbarities have been hor- rible to contemplate; but they have not directly affected the outside world, and deeply as they have been deplored by all civilized people, they have not seemed to demand their active interference. In the hurried assassina- tion of Ryan and his associates the Spanish authorities in Cuba have shown their contempt for the rights of other nations ; their readi- ness to ignore the obligations they owe to the rest of the world in the gratification of their malignant hatred of the Cubans and their sympathizers. The mere question as to the status of the become of secondary consideration. There is enough evidence to show that she carried | men and arms with the intention of landing | them on the island of Cuba. No person will pretend that these arms and individuals were not designed to aid the Cuban cause. Ryan, Cespedes, Varona and del Sol, it is very well known, were not likely to fight on the Spanish side, and if they had been captured on Cuban soil by the Spanish troops they would have been properly | If they had | been taken on a pirate vessel, or a vessel thit had been lawfully condemned as a prize after ; a proper trial in an admiralty court, the Spanish authorities would, no doubt, have been entitled to hold them as prisoners and to subject them to the penalties they had incurred under Spanish law. But there is grave doubt as to the right of the seizure of the Virginius by the Spanish gunboat, despite the well known character of the former, and that doubt shonld have been settled before any injury was done toa single passenger or individual on board the Ameri- can vessel. | of her capture, the trial held and the boat | Zi THE LABOR STRIKES! FULL WAGES GIVEN BY SOME BUILDERS! DISTRESS LOOMING | THEIR PROPERTY! NECESSITY F AND MEANS OF HELPING THE POOR—"MR.” STOKES IN PRISO) Skv- ENTH PAGE. SHE NAST INDEMNITY! THE SYMPATHIZING PEOPLE DETERMINED THAT HIS PLOYERS’ NEGLECT SHALL BE THAN “MADE UP”—NintH Pace. MORE SERVICES IN THE VARIOUS CHRISTIAN EM. | to Spanish vengeance. PLES TO-DAY! CATHOLICS AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS LOGICALLY CO! D- ERED! GENERAL RELIG S ITEMS— TWEED'S MYSTERIOUS PROTEST—Tenra PAGE. ALL OF THE POLARIS PARTY NOW IN AMER- ICA—REGENERATED TAMMANY'S FIGHT AGAINST POLITICAL CORRUPTION—Turn- TEENTH PAGE. Tae Cantist Katemoscorr.—The Carlists have gained a great victory, or so the wires | are made to say by the Carlist agents and hangers-on who make their headquarters at | views of the President on the Virginius mat- Bayonne. The battle was fought in Navarre, and General Moriones is reported wounded | and General Primo de Rivera killed on the republican side, while Ollo is wounded among the Carlists. From these names of killed and wounded—as Moriones is, or was, recently the Tepublican Commander-in-Chief in those | ont their threats of vengeance, and has pro- parts—we would naturally suppose the affair ‘was a severeone; but you cannot always tell when the news comes from Spain. ‘To-morrow or next day we will likely hear that the ‘re- cently reported Oarlist victory” resulted in the annihilation of the Carlist army, and that the republicans have illuminated Madrid in honor arc overwhelming triumph on that occa- pote Pate & day later we may be informed r © report that @ battle had been fought in Navarro is prematare. We don't know | | who holds the kaleidoscope for the Spanish but the li Ope for the Spanis! into fanny shapes, ttle pieces of - colored glass fall | seizure can be settled, and finally, that if the | We have looked with anxiety for some in- | government to vindicate the honor of the | to despatch a vessel to that port forthwith, to | have been raised against the action of the | But no vessel can even in war, and until the Virginius | was condemned If the Virginius had been carried | | into port, the American government notified | ceive complete redress at tho hands of Spain. In all this we find confirmation of the charge of murder we bring against the Spanish cutthroats at Santiago de Cuba. It is pre- cisely because the question of the right of the Spaniards to seize the Virginius is in doubt that the killing of those who were found on board that vessel, under the protection of the American flag, was a crime against the law and an insult to the United States. Weare told that the Virginius was seized under a treaty between Spain and tho United States in regard to vessels carrying contraband of war, but Mr. Fish has already settled the point that no such seizure can be allowed except when a state of war is officially declared to exist. In July, 1869, General de Rodas, then Captain General of Cuba, issned a proclama- tion in which it was declared that “vessels which may be captured in Span- ish waters or on the high seas near to the island (Cuba) having on board men, arms and munitions or effects that can in any manner contribute to foment or promote the insurrection,"’ &c., “shall be de faclo con- sidered as enemies of the integrity of our territory and treated as pirates in accordance with the ordinances of the navy. All persons captured in such vessels, without regard to their number, will be immediately executed.’’ Secretary Fish in the follow- ing April addressed a communication to the Spauish Minister on the subject of that proclamation, and reminded him that under the law of nations, and especially under the treaty between Spain and the United States in 1795, ‘the United States expect for their citizons and vessels the privilege of carrying to the enemies of Spain, whether those enemies be claimed as Spanish subjects or citizens of other coun- tries, subject only to the requirements of a legal blockade, all merchandise not contraband of war. Articles contraband of war when destined for the enemies of Spain | are liable to seizure on the high seas; but the right of seizure is limited to such articles only, and no claim for its extension to other merchandise, or to persons not in the civil, military or naval service of the en- emies of Spain will be acquiesced in | by the United States. This govern- ment certainly cannot assent to the punishment by Spanish authorities of any citizen of the United States for the exercise of a privilege to which he may be eutitled under public law and treaties.” Again, under | date of July 16, 1869, Mr. Fish wrote to the Spanish Minister:—‘‘But the decree of the Captain General de Rodas assumes | powers and rights over the trade and commerce of other peoples inconsistent with a state of peace, and which the United | States can only be expected to allow their yessels to be subjected to when Spain avows herself to be in a state of war or shall be mani- festly exercising the rights conceded only to belligerents in the time of war. * * * If Spain be at war with Cuba the United States will submit to those rights which public law concedes to all belligerents, But while Spain disclaims a state of bel- every soul on board to the protection of the American flag. The execution of the four | Persons who were captured with the boat was not, therefore, the carrying out of any legal sentence. It was simply assassination, urged by that brutal ferocity that distinguishes the | Spaniards in Cuba, and hastened by the fear that the victims were entitled tq protection and might receive it from the United States government. It is in this view of the outrage that every civilized nation becomes an inter- ested party and must desire that full atone- ment be demanded of Spain for the crime her authorities have committed. timation of the position that would be taken | by our government in this matter. The first | given yesterday in our | spatches. Washington de-' We then learned that the Secretary does not think that we ‘need fear any trouble ;"’ that the Spanish government ‘‘is “satisfied with dne explanation from the Spanish government,”’ even if we should find | that the capture of Ryan and the other vic- | tims was, like the capture of Mason and Slidell, in 1862, without proper warrant. We did hope, for the honor of our country, that the Secretary of State had been erroneously the murder of the four men was dismissed, | with the hope of an “‘explanation’’ or ‘apol- of the hurried and cruel death of the victims, of # more hopeful character, They give promise that something will be done by our nation, even though they cast a slur over the memories of the men who have been sacrificed Admiral Scott has been ordered to repair to Santiago de Cuba, or protect the interests of the United States, Despatches have passed between Washington and Madrid, the result of which has been to induce the Spanish government to invest Admiral Polo, their repre- sentative in the United States, with pleni- potentiary powers, #0 that his orders may be directly obeyed in Cuba. In a long interview with Admiral Polo Secretary Fish hes laid before the Spanish Minister the ter, and has reminded him of the ‘‘extreme sensitiveness of the people on the subject of the speedy executions.” President Grant has | complained of the haste of these assaseinatione, of the apparent fear of the Spanish government | that they would be prevented from carrying | tested against ‘such inhuman conduct and indecent haste.” It looks too much, says the | President, “like shooting on sight and ‘going throngh the ceremony of trial after- | wards.’ At the same time we ate told | that able authorities on international | law believe that the Virginins has not been guilty of any violation of the nen- | trality laws, althongh she may have forfeited, in some other manner, the protection of the United States; that all the facts must be known before the point as to the right of the opposed to quarrels,’’ and that we ought to be | | United States flag and assassinated without ligerency, or until the United States may find it necessary to recognize her as a belligerent, the government of the United States cannot fail to look with solicitude on a decree which, if enforced against any vessel of the United States on the high seas, cannot but be regarded. | asa violation of their rights that may lead to serious complications.” Here, then, we find Secretary Fish on record, declaring that a state gf war must exist befote ghe right of seizure is exercised. Spain has denied thé existence of a war, and hence the seizure W the Virgimius, in accordance with Mr. Fish’s views, must have been unjustifiable. The Henaxp has always advocated the strict enforcement of our neutrality laws and has | made no apology for filibusters. Our flag | should not be degraded by being made the | cover for fraud, nor should it shield those | who have forfeited its protection. The | nation is too powerful to play the part of a bully. We have no desire to draw the govern- ment into a war with Spain, for we see nothing to be gained by it, and we are opposed to the annexation of any more ter- ritory to the United States. We have already | territory enough, and, however much we may | sympathize with the struggling Cubans in | their fight for freedom, we are not willing to | add their beautiful island to our | Own possessions. But we desire to see our dignity as a nation upheld, and we regard the course of Spain towards the United States for a number of years past as insolent and overbearing to an unpardonable degree. How far we have provoked the treat- ment by our own uncertain and timid policy we do not care to inquire. It is on unthanktul task to condemn G | Our Washington despatches this morning are | the foreign policy of our own government, and to accuse our State Department of want of pluck and dignity. But we must insist that in this outrage of the Virginius there is no room for argument or excuse; that the Spanish authorities at Santiago de Cuba are self-condemned; that, whatever may have been the character of the Virginius, the murder of four of the persons found on board was an insult to the American flag, and as such must be fully atoned. But how? Not as Secretary Fish flippantly says, by an “‘apology’’ or ‘‘explanation,” but by the pun- ishment of the murderers of Ryan and his associates. Suppose Captain Wilkes had hung Mason and Slidell at the yard-arm as traitors to their country. Would the world have justified the act? Would England have accepted an “explanation” or ‘‘apol- ogy’ from Mr. Fish in satisfaction of their murder? Would the insult to the British flag have been over- looked? Or would England bave demanded the life of the murderer, as well as an apology for the outrage? et Secretary Fish answer these questions, and let the replies guide him in his action towards Spain im the case of the men who have been torn from the protection of the pretence of trial. The Depression in the Trades. The effects of the panic on labor are every- where felt in this and the neighboring cities, while in the centres of special branches of mannfacture production is either at a stand- still or brought down to a very low rate. With some of the trades, as, for instance, building, the winter season is always dull, capture shall be found to have been unjustifi- been steady for years saving has been one of the great objects with the majority. Hence, if the saving institutions preserve their solvency tho want will not be so widespread. Despite the gloomy outlook for the present let it be carefully borne in aind that the country was never actually so prosperous, so powerlul and so energetic as now. The brain, muscle and solid wailth are here as they were a month age, with only the means of exchange momentarily lacking. We admit that this fact alone is a severe com- mentary on our financtal system, but it is too trifling to cause any permanent injury. We shall come out of the panic with the froth blown off our finance, and none but the foam com- panies missing. For whatever want or dis- tress may be produced the nation is rich enough to provide when it reaches the poor man that toils for his daily bread. It is, how- ever, necessary to see to this at once. Tweed Trial—That Paper. The mysterious paper handed to the Court by the counsel for the accused in the Tweed case at the commencement of the trial ap- pears to have exercised an influence over all the subsequent proceedings, and the tilts between the Bonch and the Bar threaten to rival those which recently occurred on the Tichborne trial in England. All manners of rumors naturally find currency in regard to the paper, wh’ ‘ is at present held in the close custody of tke Court, andas much curiosity is felt on the subject the Henaxp reporters have sought information as to the con- tents. The defendant's counsel, however, re- fused to make any explanation, on the ground that it would be contempt of Court, although they declared that the publication of the docu- ment would be satistactory to them. It is stated that the paper isin effect a protest against the trial of the cause by Judge Davis, on the ground that the Judge is politically prejudiced against the accused aud has 60 ex- pressed himself. If these charges are made in the protest and are true the Judge would not be disqualified thereby from trying the cause. In French law and under the law of Louisiana, which is based onthe French law, the right of recusation exists; a judge can be recused or challenged for supposed partiality and set aside. But no such proceeding is known to our law, and the Judge must decide for him- self and settle with his own conscience whether he isin a condition to try a cause impartially or not. Nevertheless, a judge could be impeached if it should be proved that he had concealed some important inter- est he might have had in a cause and tried it in a partial manner. In the trial of Anson Herrick for alleged malefeasance as an Alder- man of the city, eighteen years ago, Mr, Brady, the counsel for the defence, objected to the Court, Judge Roosevelt, on the ground of political prejudice against the accused, and on the further ground that the Judge was a material witness in the case; but Judge Roosevelt disregarded the protest and con- tinued to preside. On the other hand, Recorder Hackett refused to try the late misdemeanor case against Mayor Hall on personal grounds, although no person questioned his entire fair- ness and impartiality. Ina marked instance occurring in one of our highest courts some years since one of the judges, who could well have been spared from the bench, asked to be excused from participating in the trial of a cause because he had formerly given a legal opinion, for a fee, on one side of the case. the Court refused to excuse him on that ound, and he continued to assist in the trial, The point is yell, sgttJed, therefore, that previous expréssions of opinions on a case do not disqualify a judge from trying the cause under our laws. At the same time the peopleyyrould like to he officially informed of the contexts of the mysterious paper handed to Judge Dawis. They are curious to learn on what ground an alleged criminal claims to select his own Court. It would be a curious sequel to the information they have already gained as to the importance of an eighth juror who is pernritted by the Court to roam abont- under the careful guardianship of a deputy sheriff. Is there any reason why the contents of the Tweed protest should be kept secret ? The Mysterious The Palpit and the Poor, More advice than assistance will be given this winter ; but, unfortunately, people can- not dine on good counsel, and the human stomach refuses to digest chunks of wisdom. A family that has not had a fire for a week had rmther have half a ton of coal than a whole sermon of common sense. Perhaps it is an approach to platitude thus to insist upon what is so evident; but it must be remem- bered that the majority of those who are com- fortably off behave as though the reverse of these propositions were true. T'o-day the pul- pits throughout the land will probably teem with good advice, delivered in generalities, Dives will be reminded that ‘The poor ye and hence it may be expected that, in a great many cases, something has been hoarded tor have always with ye;’’ and Lazarus will be informed, in a very ingenious and roundabout manner, that if he is virtuous he will be cor- respondingly happy. Perhaps the vagueness of these injunctions and condolements springs from the difficulty that is felt when one faces the task of alleviating, with limited resonrees, the sufferings of a large number of people. But, like almost every other difficulty, it grows smaller when a wise and strong attempt is made to remove it. The duty of ministers at present is not so much to enjoin spiritual abstractions as to devise instant means for giving practical relief to the poor of their congregations ; and the duty of the respec- tive congregations is to form instantaneous and hearty copartnerships with their pastors, instead of frittering their souls and their time in a sort of spiritual voluptuousness which contemplates the reward of heaven as the chief incitement toward intending to begin to do good on earth. In practical work of the kind we propose all creeds can join with equal zeal. People who are starving are incapable of caring much for the salvation of their souls, It is their bodies they would keep from | | the hell of hunger. Only those sinners can be | counted upon coming to the fold who | have enough to eat and keep them warm. Famine and spiritual introspection do not make their home in one and the same person. The man who lives upon a crust becanse he cannot get more is not apt to trouble himself about the sin against the Holy Ghost. We have no desire to underrate tho excellent in- tenticas of the ministry, as a class, or the | tne Exchange, and stovks went up from one to five charitable dispositions, not only of indi- viduals, but of congregations ; but the ardor of the one is too apt to have an exclusively spiritual bias and that of the other to evapo- rate for want of good leaders and practical or- ganization. At this hour there must be in New York hundreds of families who, in a peculiar sense, may be said to deserve aid. They belong to the class of people who have become reduced through no fault of their own, and whom pride or sensitiveness prevents making their want known in quarters where, perhaps, it might be relieved. If this pride or sensitiveness is foolish the foolishness has a trait of moral beauty in it which few of us will refuse to ad- mire. Such people are the ones to suffer the most in times like the present. They drop sileutly from the places which used to know them, and vanish like the autumn leaf, borne out of sight by the stream on whose surface it has fallen. Their silence is according to the intensity with which they suffer. We will uot undertake to decide how large a proportion such people constitute, but the number must be large. These and all kindred cases pecu- liarly deserve help, and not the less because when they aro reached it is difficult to offer assistance so as not to wound. But these are instances which the public charities have no cognizance of, and which therefore bave special claims upon the Church. We repeat, then, that the times demand, not rhetorical sermons on the general duty of charity, but congrega- tional organization for practical relief. It is next to useless to remind a fashionably dressed congregation that ‘He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord,” for no one in such a congregation believes that he will ever get it back. It is a waste of time to inform the rich man that if ‘He cast his bread upon the wa- ters it will return to him after many days.” He is not willing to wait. If congrogations are going to be charitable it is the ministers who must stir them up, and the quickest way to do this is by means of practical proposi- tions, followed by immediate action. Let there be, then, the true leaven of char- ity in to-day’s sermons, not the mere sem- blance of the first of Christian virtues. Each clergyman, when he ascends the pulpit, should bear in mind the dire necessity of the present condition of hundreds of his congregation, and he must be prepared, if he desire to do his duty as a true minister of the Gospel, to suggest practical methods by which much suffering may be alleviated. Church committees can also do a great deal of good in instituting delicate inquiries into the financial state of certain families belonging to the church, who may have to endure great hardships during the winter, and who will, through pride, show no sign until the grim destroyer sets his seal upon them. It is idle to speak in glittering generalities on the subject of charity ; such a course must un- doubtedly fail to unloose the purse strings of the -wealthy. The spirit which animated sanitary comiiitissions during the war and relief funds after the Chicago disaster should be now fully awakened, and practical sermons in the pulpit to-day can do much towards warding off terrible suffering in many families. Never before in this country was there such need of such assistance. The Religious clai Situation and dict. The columns of our religious contempo- raries this week possess no particularly distin- guishing features, although the panic forms the subject of remark in some of them. The Methodist discusses the financial situa- tion amd avers that ‘the triul has proved the essential strength of the country. Qur great staples, grain and cotton, are in active demand and are exported in large quaitities. That occupation which is the’ foundation of the rest, the culture of the soil, 1s jn, a healthy condition. Our imports aré limited to immediate necessities. Nothing has occurred to prove that the business of the country is rotten. When great manufacturers suspend temporarily with a surplus running, at a moderate valuation, into millions, we may infer that time will rapidly offect #éu- ration.” ‘When one compares 1857 with 1873,” the same writer pertinently remarks. “the better wisdom in the treatment of a panic whist obtaing pow is very perceptible. In 1857 there was less of the determination among the various classes of business men to sustain cach other; we may say that in 1873 widespread ruin has been averted by the de- termination of those who hold the reserve of the country to use it freely for the relief of busi- ness. The good effect of this policy has been seen in the repression of unreasoning fear.”’ The Liberal Christian is disposed to take a cheerful rather than a lugubrious view of the crisis. ‘The commercial trial through which we are passing,” writes the editor, ‘is, on the whole, highly encouraging in the results of the test it has applied to American character and to the business habits of the country. It turns out under a very severe trial that our banks and corporations are—admitting our monetary basis to be theoretically wrong— | essentially sound and well conducted ; that a | large and well-founded confidence snd un- selfish desire to maintain each other in credit mark the attitude of our monetary institn- tions towards each other ; that our great mer- chants are ready to make frank exhibits of their affairs, and have, in most cases, when overtaken by a storm which came out of a clear sky, been able to weather the hurricane, and, if momentartly crippled, to prove them- selves still seaworthy.’ The Christian Union, after stating that the rumors of coming disaster were plenty enough last week ‘‘to satisfy the most morbid appetite for financial tragedy,’’ proceeds: — When matvere were at the worst news came that the meeting of bank presidents, called to con- sider the condition of the great dry goods house above referred to, had adjourned without taking @ny action in the matter, as the house proved per- | fectly able to take care of itsell, It wae expiained, moreover, that the Bank of England bad raised the rate in view of the stated semi-annual “settling day,” when some such action it olten taken as 4 precautionary measure even in ordinary times. The announcement shortly followed that the banks had gained something like four millions in legal | tenders, Upon this there was # rush of brokers to | Press on the Finan- the Stokes Ver- per cent amid great excitement. Of course, it is impossible to say how long this state of things will last, but it is pleasant, at least, to begin the week without reasons Wo anticipate larther trouble, In regard to tho Stokes’ verdict, the same paper asserts that if the trial had taken place under the new law for the punishment of such crimes, ‘Stokes would almost certainly have been convicted of murder in the second degree, and sent to State Prison for life, Such a verdict, in the judgment of thoughtful men, | order of merit. would have no more (nan saristiod tho domands of justice, while that actually rendered by the jury must be regarded as altogether inade quate to the crime.” Referring to the monetary situation, the Independent, in its financial column, remarks that “‘if the history of the recent panicin the stock market, with its enormous shrinkage of market values, were written in all its details, so as to bring to light all the individual losers, it would tell a story of warning to the general public. Millions have been swallowod up as a total loss, no small part of which has come from persons of comparatively moderate means, Their experience in Broad street and Wall street ought to be a lesson te others.’” ‘The Evangelist, always careful in expressing its judgment upon public events, exprosses the hope that the present state of things will improve. ‘There are some considorations,"’ remarks the editor, ‘thut encourage us in this belief. There is very little in the present crisis like former ones. So far as production is concerned the country was never more prosperous. Its record, as respects foreign commerce and importations, is favorable. A check has been given to rash speculation which has already reduced inflated values, and will tend ere long to restore confidence, Jompanies that have suspended operations may see their way clear to resume, and where full employment cannot be given it may be that, by a reduction in the hours of labor, the present crisis may be tided over.” The Observer discourses on the ‘Duty of Debtors in Hard Times,”’ ‘Pay as you go’’ being its motto. If you would bea true man and keep a name unspotted from the world, says the editor, “keop clear of engagements to pay unless the ability is assured. And if you are now in debt you will Lasten to pay, because it is your duty to do so, and your creditor may be in danger of failing or of suf- fering because you are not true to your word. * ‘The want of our times is honesty, common honesty, that old fashioned virtue, which has now become so obscured by new names in the vocabulary of trade that itis scarcely rocog- nized as the virtue that requires a man to pay his debts.”’ The Independent affirms that had Stokes beem & poor man “his case would long since have been disposed of by hanging. Money, in the purchase of legal talent, has saved his neck. ‘The result is that practically we have one law for rich murderers and another one for poor murderers. We may venture to add the hope that the extraordinary discovery of testimony which had unaccountably eluded the search of the diligent counsel in the earlier _trials really indicates less than is involved in the suspicion it suggests. May the time be far. distant when perjury shall be regarded, as in the East, a legitimate weapon of defence.” The Baptist Weelcly thinks that ‘‘four years im- .prisonment for a homicide of the character of that by which James Fisk was deprived of life is very unsatisfactory to many of our people, and the action of the jury in bringing in @ verdict of manslaughter is severely condemned by several of the papers Nevertheless it has one lesson which ought not to be lost. It pro- claims that when a man makes bimself con- spicuous for his contempt of morality and a, source of disquief and terror in society, it is impossible to make people feel that the same sacredness attaches to his life as to that of worthier men.” ‘ The Freeman's Journa’ is out with character- istic vigor in support of Catholic schools for Catholic children, declaring :—‘‘We want no shadow or appearance of special privileges. All we ask is to be ‘let alone.’ We do not want any one who does not want to to contri- bute a dollar for schools for our people.” The Catholic Reviee continues to urge the proposed American pilgrimage to Lourdes and Rome, and at the same time pitches into the grangers’ societies as oath-bound organiza- tions, which no true Catholic can join. Thés Zabld touches feelingly upon the ‘Month of Sue Dead,’ ad directs” “pointed shaft at the opponents gf Catholicism, under the title of “When Rogues Fall Out.” sara A Model Italian Opera SOmpany. The want of a proper engemble in opera at the Academy of Music has been \for many years past a source of regret and censure. The New York public, liberal to n degree @owards the’ lyric drama, have been hardly treated by operatic managers. A prima donna or a tenor’ of renown has been the sole clement of merit | presented during an entire season. The other members of the company have been gifted with such worthless qualities as to burlesque’ every work entrusted to’them. The Heratp has ‘ifor years past opposed this inartistie course ipperatic management. Mr. Strakosch, } adopting our suggestion, has brought to this | country an operd Cox!pany complete in every detail and capable of investing each work with the symmetry of execution and effect jt demands, Apart from the transeéMdant quali-* ties of the prima donna, Mme. Nilsson, this company possesses artists of the very highest The tenors, Campanini and Capoul, and the barytones, Maurel and Del Puente, would be ® sufficient recommenda | tion in themselves to attract to the opera every friend of art. An excellent opportunity to hear this admirable company in the best light. will be afforded on Monday evening, when the greatest of all lyric works, ‘‘The Hugnenots,’” will be presented for the first time. Sucha troupe deserves the hearty snpport of the music loving publie of the great metropolis. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Professor Goldwin Smith wae entertained at = complimentary dinner in Toronto on Friday eve~ ning, prior to his departore for Pngland, Dr. Linderman, Director of the Mint, left for Sam Francisco yesterday on business connected witia' the fitting up of the new Mint in that city. Anna Dickinson is lccturing at Springfield, Mass. Her jecture, ‘Joan of Arc,” has been recast, and, in its pew shape, is replote with dramatic effects, A Western paper tells the story of a country woman who made her first attempt to get in the Court House yard through the patent back-action gute, ‘She opened whe gate, went through, as she supposed, and shut herself out on the same side | keven times; then, ejacniating “Merciful sakest? climbed over the fence, Mr. Alired Austin, a former defeated conserva- tive candidate for the representation of the hotongh of Taunton, England, makes a pretty pice ture of the propriety of English electors when, im a letter about the recent contest in that borough, he saye:—“I make no charge against Mr. James or his agents; but itis a fact that bevween half-past two o'viock and four votes were being offered at prices varying from @ pound to halfa crown, and neither Sir Alfred Slade nor his agents closed witty. the offer.” Mr. James, the liberal, wag elected. as