The New York Herald Newspaper, December 1, 1873, Page 6

IRELAND. _ THE WAR UPON THE UNION. fpprConnel and the Party es - Young Ireland. Dustin, Oct. 28, 1873. ‘The last advice of Mr. Grattan—the purest and gblest statesman that the Irish Parliament pro- @uced—to his countrymen was, “Keep knocking at he. Union.” Ireland has kept knocking at the ‘Wnion ever since, but hitherto has been, as it were, " Iknocking her head against & stone wall, Daniel @’Connell, a more poweriul and versatile, if not so philosophic ana classic an orator as Grattan, and a Jeader of far broader popular power, though of y no means so great Parliamentary infu- nce, very early in his life took to the task and died at it. His first public speech, he often boasted, was at an anti-Union meeting ‘when he was a young and rather briefiess barrister. During the agitation ior Catholic emancipation he more than once said he would willingly wait tor the wepeal of the penai laws if the Protestants of Ire- Jand would join him in agitating for the repeai of the Union. During the last six or seven years of his life he concentrated all his abilities, energies ‘and infuence on that task, produced the most stu- Pendous organization of popular power ever wit- Messed, and died leaving the Union somewhat ‘stronger than it was wnen he commenced to knock atit, ATTEMPTS AT THE UNION, There have been in all four serious attempts ‘mate by, or on behalf of, the Irish nation to dis- turb the settlement under which Great Britain and Treland were formed into a United Kingdpm in “the year 1800. ‘The first of these promptly fol- _ * dowed on the admission of Catholics to Parliament, ‘O'Connell, in the first House of Commons to which he was admitted, in the year 1831, proposed a select cbmmittee to consider the terms of the Act of Union, with a view to itsrepeal There wasa long and able debate. The subject was fairly faunche3, It was all that O’Conneil intended at the time. He was beaten by a large majority; but the whigs saw the necessity of making special arrangements with him for the government of Ireland, They abolished tithes, they opened the municipal corporations to Catholics, they enlarged the Irish franchises, they dispensed the patronage of Ircland very much as ©0’Connell pleased. The local administration of the country was placed in the hands of men who had the confidence of the people. O'CONNELL AND THE WAR FOR REPEAL, In fact, for a time O’Connell virtually managed, -ifhe did not govern, Ireland. Then Lord Stanley, the fate Earl of Derby, becoming Secretary for Ireland, fertain difficulties of temper occurred, Lord Stanley would not submit to do ashe was bidden by Mr. O'Connell. He had no fear of—indeed, he rather Sespised—the popular leader. When they met in webate the Irish Secretary was in verve, keen- fess and energy of invective quite a matcn for the great agitator. Gradually the alli- anee with the whigs gave way. O’Conuell falied the Secretary “scorpion § Stanley,’’ He called the whigs “The base, bloody and brutal whigs.” They gave up remedial legislation and took to passing coerdion acts and acts against the Jormation Oo! agitating associations. Then .0’Con- neil deciared that he had lost all hope of getting a permanently good government for Ireland out of tie British Parliament, and proceeded seriously to agitate for the repeal of the Ynion. He first formed the Precursor Society. This was meant to intimate to the british government that unless they induced the Parliament to pass some half @ozen specified measures he would strike with all his force at the legislative con- “-@ection. Sir Robert Peel was then Prime Minister, and Lord Stanley, who had * 4urned from a rampant whig toa terrorist tory, Was one of his principal advisers. Neither con- templated concession to Ireland, and especially to freland impersonated by O'Connell, as honorably possivie. The Repeal Association was founded in i841. It gathered strength slowly at first. Many af O'Connell’ old associates—conspicuousiy Richard Lalor Shiel—declined to serve in this Serious crusade. But a new generation was com- ing to the front. The young men who Jormed wnat Was some years afterwards known as the Young Trelapd party were then leaving college and entering on public life. Their great organ, the Nation, was founded in 1842 It Was written not merely with extraordinary ardor and eloquence, but with a degree of Ut tazy tefinement, a spirit of tolerance and con- ‘Ciliation and an absence o/ personality which gave it @ position unique in Irish journalism. The na- tional schools had begun to teach the people to read, and the press was thenceforth to play a great part in Irish politics. In 1843 the agitation became stupendous power. Repeal mectings, at which -O’Connell sometimes addressed hundreds of thou- sSands of people, assembled at various points of three of the provinces. The repeal rent rose to sbetween £2,000 and £3,000 per week. The associa- tion was drawing to itself all the political power of ‘Me country, and, to some extent, displacing the government. Suddenly the government deter- AmMined to try conclusions with O'Connell. One of his meetings was proclaimed illegal and fthreatening to the public peace. He, his son John, Bhree of the repeal journalists and several active amembers of the association were indicted for sedi- tion, and, after a trial remarkable for its display of forensic ability, were convicted by a jury which had been selected with scandalous partiality. ©’Connell and his colleagues were imprisoned, but their imprisonment did not last for long, for the House of Lords annulled the verdict on account of ‘the malpractices detected in the empanelling of the jury. Nevertheless Daniel 0’Conneii came oat fprison a very different man from the stalwart ‘tribune of the year before. He seemed to fear the Power he had evoked; bis mind was always in #earch of means of solving the difficulty by com- Promise. He now and then gave the agttation a Violently Catholic complexion, to the alarm of his Protestant associates, who knew that repeal could mever be carried with Ulster out in the cold. ‘When the whigs came into power he resumed his ‘Old relations witn them. The truth seems to be ‘that the disease of which he died, softening of the ‘Drain, commenced while he was in prison. The Woung ireland party became alienated, grew dis- ‘Mrustrol and at jength hostile to his policy and person. THE YOUNG IRBLAND PARTY. ‘The querrei was fought out in a great debate, in which Thouias Francis Meagher, afterwards Gen- @fal im the United states Army, sprung to sudden es eminence 48 4 political orator. The Young Ireland | Party seceded trom the Repeal Association and Founded the Irish Conieteration. Whije the coun- | ‘WY Was divided by these angry politica the potato | crop A famine, such as no otner Western Mation has known for centuries, visited Ireiand. O'Connell's malady, increased by a deadiy compli seation of cares, hurried toa crisis. He atvemptea pilgrimage to Rome, but died on the way, at Genoa. The power he had created died with hin. His son, John O'Connell, who attempted to assume | the leadership as if it were hereditary, was a re spectabie, quiet, mediocre person. It was Richard Cromwell succeeding Oliver, 4nd association, under his auspices, rapidly sunk Antvo obscurity and insolvency. He afterward ov- tained a smail office in the law courts, and Concili- tion Hall became a corn store. PUL YOUNG IWBLAND PARTY THE PARTY OF RUET- ORIG, It rhetoric cowd subvert a great Power, then the British Empire onght not to have survived the Young Lreiand party. But, fortunately or unfor- @ulately, according wo opinion, the days have arsed since trumpets had the Knack of knocking » alown walls. The Young Ireland party was a _ Party Of fanitiess diction, both m prose and poetry, high toned, abundant earnestness, both a ia Car- | Aye and ata Brian Boroiume. There were dandies _ Ap those days—a race now extinct—and the Young Poland party, though not dandics as to their per- Were certainly so as to their style. “Cul- pervaded, “sweetness and light’? il Weir Works, But when it came ia ai The repeal agitation | question of challenging the British army, which even then was a very well appointed force, particu- larly excellent in artillery and commissariat, it transpired that no one had ever dreamed of a can- non foundery or of the stores that are necessary to the subsistence of an army in the field, particularly in adamp country. Some slight provision of small arms and gun cotton and a considerable number of pikes, which would have been about as useful as bows and arrows, had been made. But tents, wagons, ambulances, and, above all, artillery, had not been 8o much as thought of, There was not a man among them who had ever undergone @ day’s drill, not to say seen a shot fired in action, but they were all fired with the belief that an “ugly rush” under the influence of rhetoric at proper pitch might squelch the British lion. It is somewhat hard to judge their conduct fairly at this distance of time. In 1848 the line went down everywhere before the mob. In Paris, Vienna, Rome, Milan and Berlin there was an considerable military element in the population and a@ corre- sponding degree of fraternizing disaffection tn the army. In Ireland it was absolutely otherwise. The Irish constabulary, an essentially Imsh force, had to undertake the task of suppressing the rebellion, and did it without any help worth reckoning from the army. The Young Ireland leaders were arrested by Irish con- stables, prosecuted by Irish counsel, tried by Irish judges and convicted by Irish juries without the least difficulty, But, absurd and fruitless as their enterprise proved to be, their dispersion showed the extraordinary capacity of the party. In Canada, in the United States, inseveral of the Australian colonies and insome of the old European States the refugees of that time have been highly distin- guished, But.in ireland their fatlure was an utter failure, Two years aiter O’Connell’s death noth- ing more was heard of Old Ireland or Young Ire- land, Repeal Association or Irish Confederation, It seemed as if “knocking at the Union” had come to an end, PIRACY IN THE BAY. Seven Masked Men Shoot the Captain of the Brig Mattane—Over §800 Worth of Property Stolen. The early hours of yesterday’s Sabbath morn witnessed a diabolical attempt at murder on board the American brig Mattano, moored within hailing distance of the Battery and in close proximity to Castle Garden. Seven masked men in a boat, with muffied oars, came alongside the vessel in question at about two o’clock, and, with catlike footsteps, had made their way on deck before two men on watch had notice of their approach. Making their way aft, across the casks of petroleam which cover the deck, one of the pirates Knocked at the cabin door and asked. for admittance, saying that they came from the harbor police. The door was not opened promptly enough, and a second afterwards @ shot was fired through the cabin door, apparently from a Derringer pistol, which hit the Captain in the leg g little below the kuce- pan, breaking the leg bone and causing him to fall helpless on the cabin floor. The robbers subse- quently plundered the vessel and carried off over $800 worth of booty and made their escape unmo- lested, threatening the Captain that if he made any alarm they would blow his brains out. While the church bells were ringing for early service @ HERALD reporter made his way down to the Battery, and after taking a boat found himself afew minutes later on the deck of the Mattano, Near the caboose the Steward was seen washing dishes, with a large piece of sticking plaster on his left temple, where the rafflans had strack him while asleep in his berth, and they told him to Keep his mouth shut if ever he wanted to leave that ship alive. In reply to the report- er’s inquiry if he could see the Captain, the steward said, “Yes, if you will wait a minute, I'll goand teil him yon are here. We don’t know, after what has occurred, who people are, so we have got to be careful. The Captain is wounded very dangerously, but I have no doubt he wiil re- cerve you.” In a few minutes the reporter was ad- Mitted to the Captain’s room. The wounded man, notwithstanding the pain he was in, mustered courage to tell his story, which was as follows:— BE CAPTAIN'S STATEMENT. My name is T. H. Connauton, and I am the owner of this vessel, and intended sailing for Liverpool to-morrow, With @ cargo of about 920 tons of pe- troleum oil. My crew were here yesterday, but left to go back to the Satlors’ Home, in Cherry street, to get their traps before coming on board to-morrow (Monday). Last evening, all being in readiness to clear at the Custom House on Monday, I came on board early in the evening. At two o’clock in the morning I heard strange foot- steps on deck, as my wife did also, and I heard some one say, “I belong to the water police; I want to see the captain.’? I then got ap out of my berth, and was advancing towards the door to let the pretended officers in, when I heard a whisper- ing of many voices, and a second later I heard the Teport of a pistol. You can see the big hole in the door there through which it came; and I found that I was wounded and my leg broken. Of course Icould not move, and so, my good wife Maggie opened the door. Seven masked nen then entered our cabin, with pistols im their hands, and said that they wanted all our money and valuables, I told them I had merely a litte money. The jeader of the per Captain Jack, or Jake, as they cailed him, said it Was no good lying, and that they knew I had a large quantity on board, for they had been told 80. They then pulled me about and kicked me about when I was in their way. One of them said, laughingly, “You're a big chap; losing @ little blood won't hurtyou!” My wile implored them to be less rough towards me, but the only answer they made to her was, “You take care of the kids and mind your own busi- ness.” My three cnildrep sat on my bed, scream- ing with trigbt, and saying, ‘Don’t murder father.” Had it not been for my wile I believe they would have murdered me, The men then commenced searching every drawer and receptable round the cabin. They took the RINGS OFF OUR FINGERS— that is, my wile’s and my own—but left her ner wedding ring. The man vhey called Captain Jack | Bad a long scar on the lett side of his face, reach- ing trom his eye to bis mouth. They took our two watches, very handsome ones, by the way, which I had bought in Kio Janeiro, and worth, perhaps, $150. One of my wite’s rings had thirteen dia- monds set in it, surrounding a ruby. Also two gold chains. My wile pleaded with tears in her eyes to jet her have her chain back, to which was attached a locket, both having belonged to @ dead sister of hers. At first they relented and said she snould have it if she cared for it so much, and put it down, but subsequently they pocketed it with the rest of the spoiis. All my wife’s wardrobe was turned out of hi boxes and thrown down for examination on t Noor, and got soiled from the @loody pool which came from my leg. Fortunately, my chronometer was not on board. In spite o1 my telling them that they might look where they chose they be- lieved that I was hiding something from them: they kept on dragging me around to torture me and make me reveal where other valuables were. One of them said, “If you don’t tell us where tye money is we Wiil throw you overboard,” and they tions stopped them. After ransacking every uny and nook they could think of they took a large amount of vaiuable suk from my wife, which she was going ,to make into dresses on the voyage. My wife offered to give them a check for $1,009 if they would leave the property, and said that the check should be paid and no bead, eee! asked, bat they would not believe her. believe Tam speaking within bounds when I say that upwards of $800 Worth Of property was seized. With the men cursing and swearing, with the children crying, and my poor wife half dis- tracted, tt was a petfectly piratical scene. The fel- lows stopped here for an hour and a hali— tiil about haif-past three—and as they were taking their leave they said that if I ventured to give any alarm they would come back and “cook my mut- ton altogether.” In my opinion, hanging is too good lor sneh jellows. Lama native of this city, and bave salied out of this port for 21 years, ont have no recollection of a similar outrage, D TO THE WATCH, WHAT HAPPE! The first mate, Peter Robinson, was on deck, on | watch, when the fellows boarded the snip, They | | suited’ him with a mumMer round his throat and | fastened him in the galley. They first askea him jor a drink of water, and’ said they were from the police, and, upon his hesitating, captured him, and did what I have just told you, The second uate, Thomas Lvans, Was also secured, while G, 4. Sommers was awoke in bis berth by beim jabber in the face With the butt end of a pistol, ‘Tuey per: sisted in telling fin that he mus: tell where the money Was hid, but, of course, he could give them DO satisfactory reply. All the money the: Y tained wus 844 in grocnbucks, NONeY Mey ob At seven o'clock my Wile sent the bo: with the second mate. to fetch w doctor gay ere returned with Dred. N. Merril. IT have nothing more ww Say, except that 1 hope to be able to go out forthwith mi wy ship to Liverpool, Thanking the Captain for his statement, the re- porter lett the vessel. itis reported that the pirates meant to have robbed another vessel, on which there is said to be « large amount of Money. Yesterday morn- ing, when the robbery took place, there were one ship, two barks and two brigs | oif the Battery, outward hound, It is some consolation to be as. t sured that, as 1, the police are lvoking alter the desperadur { were proceeding to do 80 When my Wiie’s supplica- | The Thirteen Constitutions of Poor France. WHAT WILL THE NEXT ONE BE? Parts, Novy. 15, 1873. * Americans, who have been content to live under the game political constitution for 90 years and more, must lock with a wondering curiosity at the French, who have tried and discarded no fewer than 12 constitutions since the year 1759, and are now about to try a thirteenth. To a citi- zen of the United States it must seem strange that a sharp and civilized people should not be able to hit once and for allon @ method of making laws and then stick te that method, and this citizen must say to bimself, “What are these Frenchmen driving at with their endless revolutions? What do they want, and when will they stop?” The last part of this question is less easy to answer than the first, Like other nations, France is on the search for a politi- cal system which shall give her liberty and order; but, having never been allowed to meddle with politics at all until 84 years ago, she is much im the position of @ child who has jound a watch, and, in trying to overregulate it, clean it and re- wind it, is continually breaking the springs. Poli- tics are to Frenchmen a new science, and the reason why tueir many experiments with it have hitherto failed is because French innovators have taken great pains to change the names of things without ever altering the things themselves. They have repeatedly proclaimed in their constitutions that all men were free, but they never applied themselves to making the people understand what freedom meant, what were its limits, how it was to be exercised and how defended; and the conse- quence has been that average Frenchmen are as benighted now as to the true sense of the word “liberty” as their ancestors were a century ago. It may be that this state of ignorance may one day cease, and that Frenchmen will come. to un- derstand, like members of the Anglo-Saxon race, that freedom is not a thing depending on mere paper formulx; but meanwhile any American who takes a glance at the 12 constitutions under which France has endeavored to thrive since her great Revolution will be struck by the fact that every- thing which human ingenuity could devise to give a country the semblance of popular institutions bas been attempted over and over again. Under‘any one of these constitutions a people trained to the uses of uberty might have lived happy. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1791, It has just been said that the people of France were allowed no voice in the government of their country until 1789 Previous to that time the 63 kings who had ruled over France since the ac- cession of Pharamond, in the year 420, had all been despots, whose authority Was more or less heid in check by turbulent fendal lords, each on his own lands a petty king. But the crown suc- cessively got the better of these nobles and offered in this respect @ contrary example to England, where the barons by wring- ing Magna Charta from John early obtained tne upper hand of royalty and Kept it ever alter. Cardinal Richelieu stamped out the last vestiges ot feudal independence, and when Louis XIV, took the sceptre at Mazarin’s death, in 1662, he was the uncontested and absolute master of all France. Itis true that there existed a so-called Parlia- ment in Paris which claimed the privilege of registering the King’s decrees, and, now and then, of protesting against them; but this wasa mere judicial body, and all its attempts to assume political power were rudely put down. It had also been the practice of some of the kings, beginning with Philip Augustus (twelith century), to summon at fitfal intervals the States General—that, is as- semblies of nobles, church dignitaries and bur- gesses. Whenever these States General met It was. @ sure sign that the country was over- taxed, and that the Crown feared to levy more supplies without obtaining a show of popular assent; but in 1814 the States congoked by the Queen Regent—Marie de’ Medici—w 80 unruly that for the next 175 years successive kings would not hear speak of them. In 1789, however, the financial situation of France had grown s0 desperate, owing to wars, administrative corrup- tion and the unjust immunity of the nobility and clergy from taxation, that when Louis XVI. said wo his Minister Turgoit, “How can we possibly diminish our crushing national debt?” that states- man shrewdly rephed, “The question is not how we may diminish the debt, sire, but how we may increase it.” With much reluctance it was re- solved to summon the States General, and, accord- ingly, on the 5th of May there met at Versailles an assembly of 400 nobles, elected by the peers; 400 clergymen, delegated by their own crder, and 400 burgesses, returned by the taxpayers, ofcities. The King gave this assembly clearly to understand that its iunctions were purely of @ financial nature, but the public mind was in too great a state of ferment for these restrictions to have any weight. A great number of the noble- men Deputies had fought in the American War of Independence, and these, under the leadership of Latayette, soon joined the Deputies of the Third Estate, who, with a section of the more liberal clergy, Tesolved themselves into a National As- sembly, and swore not to separate until they had voted a constitution, At this juncture few of tne Deputies advocated extreme measures, They simply wished to torce the nobility and clergy to Pay taxes: and if the nobles had been reasonable the French constitution would have been the exact copy of the British; that is, there would have been an hereditary House of Lords, and a@ House of Commons composed of borough and county members, the latter of whom would, of course, have been nominees of the land owners, But the nobles would make no concessions, In consequence the Assembly grew more radical every day, and the constitution voted in 1791 was intended to debar the nobility from ali ascendency in the Legislature. This constitution conferred the suffrage on all citizens who paid 200 francs a year taxes, and instituted aconvention of 700 members, who were to sit for seven years and to vote all laws and supplies. {he royal prerogative was reduced to the mere right of veto, and the King was not to have the power of dis- solving the Convention. Naturally, therefore, in case of confict between the Crowa and the Legislature the Crown woula have to yield, and Louis XVI. saw this so well that he jorth- with took measures for quitting the country. The nobies, too, instead of remaining in France and trying to control the new Assembly by getting elected to sit in it, emigrated by the hundreds, hoping to Invade France with the Prassian armies and bring the revolutionsts to their senses, But these schemes failed. The Prussians were repulsed and Louis XVI. was arrested in his fight, brought back to Paris a8 @ prisoner, and, after twelve months Of ceaseless troubie and confusion, finally deposed on September 21, 1792, and committed for trial on the charge of conspiring against his people. THR CONSTITUTIONS OF 1793 AND 1795, On the 2ist of January, 1793, Louis XVI. was be- headed, and a few days afterwards a new consti-+ tution was voted declaring France to be a repub- Me, conierring the suffrage on all citizens aged 21, and vesting the executive power in a committee of the Convention, This constitution lasted only #0 long as the Reign of Terror, When Rovespierre fell, in 1794, the nation was in a state of unparal- leled anarchy—the peasants had sel. on the lands Of the nobles, ail churches were closed and all re- gions proscribed, and the lavish issue of a paper currency had reduced the national credit to zero, It Was leit that anew form of government was ab- solutely needed, and then arose the constitution of 1795, creating @ lower house of 600 members, elected by taxpayers, an upper house of 250, ap- point a by the jower house, and an Executive Committee of five ‘Directors,’ who were to be elected by the two houses assembled, and one of whom was ww retire every year in rotation, The number five hud been chosen, becanse it was feared that if the executive power were vested in one man he would cudeavor Wy become King, Aw it waa, the Aye “Die. Saat alee overthrown, tn 1799, by had saved them and the country from extinction at the hands of foreign armies. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF 1799, 1802 AND 1804. If General Bonaparte had been a republican and ® patriot he need only have strengthed the execu tive by reducing the five Directors to one, and the constitution of 1795, thus modified, would have worked well, But his sole ambition was to get the government wholly into his own hands, and, to this end, he established three Consuls, two of whom were to be elected for ten years .and one for five. He himself was to be the First Consul, and with him were to reat the initiative of proposing all laws and the power of vetoing the measures of the Legislature; he was also to be Commander in Chief of the armies, to be entrusted with the prerogative of declaring war and concluding peace and to be the dispenser general ofall honors, His consulate was, in fact, @ revival of kingship, and of very arbitrary king- ship, for the Legislature wa8 so ordained as to be almost powerless, There were three assemblies instead of too—viz., a Senate, a Legislative Body and a Tribunate. The Senators were appointéd by the First Consul; the Legislative Boay and the Trib. unate by the suffrage of all taxpayers above the age of 25, Bills were first introduced into the Legislative Bedy, but the members of this Assembly were not allowed to speak; their duty was simply to vote, All the talking was done by members of the Trivunate, six of whom were drawn by lot to speak for or against every bill (according as it might suit them) at the bar of the Lower House. If Frenchmen had known how to use political rights they might have controlled the First Consul even by such roundabout means as these; but Bonaparte well knew that by means of his prefects he could always be sure of packing the Legisiature with creatures of his own; nor was he wrong. The gulitary member of the Tribunate who ever ventured to speak against Consular edicts or bills was Benjamin Constant, and Bona- parte soon found a pretext for getting rid of him, In 1802 the First Consul made the Senate appoint him Consul for lite, and the constitution of 1799 was promulgated anew, with fresh restrictions against freedom of speech; and in 1804 a third constitution conferred on General Bonaparte the hereditary title of Emperor, abolished the Trib- unate, and appointed instead an Imperial Council of State, commissioned to draw up laws and advo- cate them before the Corps Législatif, who, until 1814, continued to be a silent body. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF 1814, 1815 AND 1832, On the first abdication of Napoleon, in 1814, Louis XVIIL, returning to France, granted a charter em- bodying a new constitution exactly like that of England—viz., an hereditary House of Lords and a House of Commons, elected by freeholders in counties and taxpayers in boroughs. Napoleon, when he returned irom Elba, abrogated this charter, but insertéd its main provisions in an im- perial constitution, which was intended to be liberal and to win the popular favor. After Water- loo the Bourbons reissued their charter, but this time they sought to make the Lower House thoroughly conservative by excluding fromit all members under 40 years of age, and requiring that memvers should possess an income. of at least £400 @ year, These vexatious clauses, however, did little good, for Charles X.’s House of Commons soon showed itself anti-royalist and brought about the revolu- tion of 1830, which placed Louis Philippe on the throne and led to the revised constitution of 1832, which abolished hereditary peerages and all the restrictive conditions imposed on pariiamentary candidates. This constitution gave the French a tolerable series of cabinets until 1848, when the unlucky Louis Philippe was dethroned by a street insurrection. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF 1848, 1852 AND 1870. The constitution of 1848 was republican. It es- tablished a president, to be elected for four years by the universal suffrage of the nation, and a legislature of 950 members, sitting for the same space of time. The coup d'état of 1851 paved the way to the restoration of the Empire, and the constitution of 1852 was the renewal of that decreed in 1804 by the First Napoleon. In 1870, however, the Emperor, at the instance of M. Emile Ollivier, submitted a new and more parlia- mentary constitution to the approval of the people; and tt was sanctioned, as we kuow, by a plebiscitum of 7,500,000 votes. This was France's twelfth con- stitution since 1789, THE COMING CONSTITUTION will be a new experiment, for it will be modelled pretty closely on that of America. There will be an upper house, elected for six years by the Coun- cils General, one-third of the members to retire biennially by rotation; and a lower house, which will contain 459 members, eligible by universal suffrage. The duration of the Presidential term ts, at this writing, stilla matter of doubt; but the probabili- ties are for five years. It would be a blessing ior France if this thirteenth constitution of hers could be the last; but one dares arcely hope it. ABT MATTERS. Last Day of the Hazcltine Exhibition. ‘To-day and this evening will be the last occasions of viewing the Bazeitine pictures, at 817 Broad- way, as an entirety, as to-morrow the removal of them to Clinton Hall will commence, in order to admit of the sale begmning there on Tuesday even- ing. The few sales which have as yet taken place in this city during the present season have proved that it is an excellent time in which to buy ictures, More bargains are to be had now han at any former time within proximate recollection. Almost every kind of picture is included in the exhibition that closes t There are landscapes by some of the foremost European artists, conversations and in- teriors, executed with the utmost finisn, and ex- hibiting in their multitude of accessories a miraculous degree of technical skill; seaport and river views, specimens of still life, moonlight and winter scenes, interiors * of churches, several hable drolleries, views of towns and villages, and at least one nude female figure, commendable for the truth of its fleab tiuts, the delicacy of its drawing and the sensuous but unvolaptuous treatment. The principal members of this really fine collection were named yesterday, MUSICAL AND DRBAMATIO NOTES, The new National Theatre at Washington, which replaces the one destroyed a year ago, will be opened this evening. " \The last of the Sunday concerts of the Strakosch opera company drew an immense audience to Wallack’s last evening. ‘There is amoral epigrammatic piquancy in the fact that when nearly all the theatres have lowered their prices Wood’s Museum has raised its style of entertainment, The new Fiith Avenue Theatre is abont com- pleted, and it will certainly open on Wednesday night. Few seats yet remain to be sold jor tne first performance. Edwin Adams will soon appear in “The Marble Heart.” How about the English version of “La Morte Civile,” on which, some time back, we were confiding enough to congratulate him. Does tt exist? Mr. Wallack has received from Mr. Boucicault a new five-act comedy, and Mr. Waliack is to be felicitated on the cautiousness of his rhetoric, which avoids stating that the comedy is original with the gentieman from whom it has been received, SHOCKING INHUMANITY IN JERSEY. A Young Mother and Her Child Starve ‘ to Death in Bridgeton. ‘The details of a sad and shocking case of neigh- borly neglect, resulting in the death of a mother and her ciild at Bridgeton, Cumberland county, N.J., have recently come to light. A few days ago died there in a@ tene- ment house, Mrs, Andrew Stratton, about twenty-one enn of age, and her little girl two years old. It appears want of proper nourishment and comfortable) quarters ‘ought Pe. dues woman to a sick fever; for there no bedste in her hovel. The chitd also sickened. A week or #0 ago @ physician called, administered to the sick woman’s needs and beg the neighoors to care for her and her little ones, Mra, Strat- ton had relatives in the town, but, like the neighbors, they appear to have left the poor woman to die of want and care. The day belore she died a bedstead was brought in, but too late to be of much service, It seems the woman serviceable as a more, Stratton had yore Gnd leaves a little THE NAVY. Report of Secretary Robeson to the President. Condition of the Department and the Work Performed During the Year. The Preparations Made for Spain in Case of War. WasHinoTon, Nov. 30, 1873. ‘The Secretary of vhe Navy, in his report to the President, says there are now in the navy 165 ves- sels, carrying, exclusive of howitzers, 1,269 guns, which is ® reduction since hs last annual report, by sale and otherwise, of 13 vessels, A general enumeration of these vessels presents 63 steamers, other than iron-clads and tugs, carrying 826 guns; 29 sailing vessels, $22 guns; 48 iron-clad vessels, 121 guns, and 25 tugs, used for navy yard and freight purposes, Of this number there are at present in commission for sea service, distributed on the several foreign stations and on our own Coast, 46 vessels, carrying 407 guns. . ‘THE CRUISING OR ACTIVE FORCE ofthe navy, as these may be called, and which is controlled by tne appropriations made and the seamen authorized by law, is about the same as last year, the places of those vessels which have been put on? of commission within the past twelve months from the expiration of the cruises or for other causes having been supplied by commission- ing and sending to sea a corresponding number of others, The list will show a force slightly de- creased in numbers by the sale of some useless vessels, which were, while we retained them, only @ source of expense, and it is somewhat weakened also in strength by the condemnation ana laying up of several of our white oak cruisers which have reached the hmit of their cruising life and can no longer be used with safety on the seas. Many of the ships now on the navy. list, and which serve to swell the number to the figures above given, are far from being suc as are really needed, and their true condition, which has been often oficially represented to Congress, can be fully understood and appreciated by reierence to the reports of the bureaus, ‘ LIVE OAK CRUISING SHIPS, In the meanwhile, however, we have been en- gaged in completely repairing six of our live-oak cruising ships, which are now in various st: of forwardedness at the several navy yards. These are all of moderate size, and none of them sufi ciently advanced to be of present use; but they are adapted to the avants of our cruising navy, and will in a few months add materially to its strength ana efficiency. THE EIGHT SLOOPS of war authorized by the last Congress are all in process of building—one-half at the various nav; ards, three under contract in private yards, ani e Pemeihing one under private coutract in the navy yard at Kittery. The bailding of these shi with their oa and machinery, is progressing rapidly, and the work, widely distributed at more than @ dozen naval stations and private establish- ments, is contributing to the remunerative employ- ment of several thousands of workmen and to the maintenance of the very large number of persons dependent upon their lsbor for support and educa- tion. It is not without gratification the Secre- tary 1s able to report that, besides the great value and importance of this work to the service, we have also been able so to utilize the uberality of Congress as to contribute maicrially to the busi- ness interests of the country and to the support and comforts of many producing and dependent People. The valuable work thus begun should not be discontinued, but the department should be provided witha moderate amount of funds and authorized to commence each year to build a cer- tain number of tons to supply requlacly, the regu- lar yearly expenditure of navai force which will of necessity occur. The work of puttlag OUR IRON-CLAD FORCE In efficient condition, referred to in the Secretary's last report, has been proceeded with as fast as the means necessary for the extraordinary work could be spared from the current appropriations for the support of the navy, The wisdom of this action needs no illustration trom him at this time. Without it we would have been left not only powerless to assert our own rights, but almost defenceless against arr ession. But the expenditure required bas crippled our work- ing bureaus in their general work, and it is neces- sary that this should be reimbursea to them if they are to proceed steadily and efficiently, THE STATIONS have been unchanged during the year, As now established, they are designated as:—The Euro- pean, the Astatic, the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, the North Pacific and the South Pacific. Over these, embracing the trequented waters of the globe, are scattered @ cruising force of less than 40 vessels which, by their presence, are re- lied on to encourage our citizens and, if required, to protect them and their property in all Jands to hi by their inclination or interest, they are rawn. The Secretary then gives an account of these several stations, saying of THE NORTH ATLANTIC STATION: “Rear Admiral G. es who is at command, relieved Rear Admiral Josep! at Key West a Boston on the atan, arriving aad 27, and hauled down his flag. The torce on this station was reduced in the spring and summer by order- ing North, a8 @ necessity, some of the vessels which were much in need of repairs ana whose crews needed a change, paving een long in the tropica, The Shawmut dnd Nipsic, two of the smaller but more active ciass of vessels, came North in June, and the Richmond was about the same time transferred to the North Pacific station, The Kansas was until July co- operating with the Ricaragns surveying expedi- jon, but at the same time her visits to Aspinwall enabled her to give full protection to our interet in that quarter, Notwithstanding this reduction important and useful cruises have been made, and our flag has been shown at almost all the commercial ports, or where there were American interests. In the Gulf, on the Carribean Sea and other places, assistance has been offered and ex- tended when required to our commerce and citi zens, The commanding officers have been in co stant communication with our Ministers and con- sular representatives, Our interests on the isthmus have been watched, and a vessel almost constantly stationed, on either side, has been in readiness to protect the railroad it occasion should demand. nvoOy been offered to the mer- chant service when menaced and threatened with unlawful seizure and vioience.”” The pecretary says that within the limits of THR SOUTH PACIFIC STATION only two occasions have arisen where it has been necessary to land a force from our vessels for the protection of American citizens and property, and on each of those occasions the landings were made on the same territory at the request or with the permission of the authorities or under an admission on their of their in- promise and protection due from them ‘The of detachments at Panama during two emer- encies, while quieting the fears of foreign resl- lente, secured the safe transit of the passengera and their effects, and of the freight and. specie of tour lines of steamers, two of which were not of our nationality, epending on this road for prompt mnsportation. The officers and men who com- these landing parties received the commen- dations of their respective commanders-in-chief'for the creditable and admirable manner in which they discharged their duty, THE DARIEN AND NICARAUGUA ROUTES. ‘The expeditions organized under the authority of Congress tor the survey of the Darien and Nicar- agua routes, with the view to the conatraction of an interoceanic canal, have completed the duties entrusted to them, and the reports of Com- mander Thomas 0. Selfridge and Commander FE. P. Lull, who, respectively, conducted the survey: fre submitted. Briefly stated, the route lected by Commander Selfridge imcludes 100 miles of river navigation of the Atrato, which has been carefully sounded, and found to be fully capabie of being navigated by the largest class of ocean steamers, Between the Atrato and the Pacific 4 canal or artifictal cut is made but 28 miles in length. ‘The canal for 22 miles of this distance passes through a plain, with @ gradual rise of 90 teet. There will then remain ix miles to the Pacific, of which there are a mod- erate open cat and three miles of tunnelling. It is estimated thas the work will cost between $50,000,000 and $60,000,000, and it can be completed within 10 years, The Secretary, speaking of the Nicaraguan survey, says the results of the 1abors of the expedition prove the existence of @ prac- ticable route for #n interoceanic ship canal, having Lake Nicaragua as its summit level. It is proposed to connect the lake with the Pacific bya canal 16 34-100 miles in length, beginning at the mouth of the Rio del Medio aud termnatin at Brito. Tho frst seven miles and @ haif will re- quire an excavation averaging 54 teet in depth and Will be the most expensive part of the whole work. The total length of prepared canal is 61 74-100 miles, of which more than 41 miles are in excava- tion and embankment. Th rage depth ol ex- cavation throughout is only nine feet above the prism Of the canal, No tunnel i¢ required, POLARIS. of the Polaris, says resent in F, Green and the latter returned to , in apeakit her cruise has been seme the most successinl of Arctic Kpeditions. akereraphical knowi- edge of the Arctic r ‘been lergely ad+ vanced. A very iF questioning of every Polariyand of Retural one of the omcers crew of the the scientific mrexoepe the yet unex oan deata oceurred! has crom @ good an, in which the Polaris was pl commander was skilful and judicious, the natural result of long guveniehes al’ sea and in command in northern latitudes, ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICES. The department takes occasion to express its indebtedness to the officials of the Danish govern~ ment in Greenland for their unuiorm courtesy to the officers of the United States Navy connected with the recent expeditions to the polar seas, for the facilities extended to those expeditions to promote their success, THE NAVY YARDS, The Secretary says:—I beg to renew the mendations made in my annual rts of former years in relerence to our bree | and to by that their resources may be Increased and veloped to meet the emergencies of those wars to which even the most p°ace-loving nations are lia- ble, and which are best averted by a readiness: action should they be thrust upon us. At the most of our navy yards little could be done during the past yeardeyond making the repairs to keep from falling to decey. AT MARE ISLAND, , our only naval estabusiment on the Paclfic, the new dry dock and the iron working shop for con- struction are well in hand and will add largely to its resources. We have great naval interests on the Feciho ane, I cannot too strongly express the hope that Congress may strengthen them by liberal Co ag Armee ad to develop this admirably placed arseni recome AT LEAGUE ISLAND, in obedience to the injunction of Congress, the work of removing to iv the material and stores of the old Phiiadeiphia névy yard has begun, The heavy ordnance, shot and cannon, the anchors and chain cables, and a portion of the ship-puild- ing timber are already transferred. A massive machine shop.and storehouse for yards and docks have been built, and the founda- tion of a still greater establishment tor construction has been begun. It is conclusively determined that there is no difliculty in finding & perfectly secure foundation at a moderate ana that such a foundation at League Island wi be no more costly than at New York or Noriolk, or of other of our seaboard navy yards. ume that WE SHOULD CEASE TO HAVE TWO NAVY YARDS AT PHILADELPHIA, and that the narrow and cramped yard, 80 much needed by the city for its commerce, should be transferred to the grand and better site be- stowed by Philadelphia and beg boy by Congress with. its impelled obligations. I beg to renew my ‘ mmendation that Congress may cause the ol Navy Yard to be valued, and that it advance the sum expected to accrue from its sale to the Navy Department to expend the amount thus appro- priated within four years on such buildings and im- provements at League Island as shail authorize the abandonment of the old yard. The Treasury then by its sale will be reimbursed for money advanced to create a new establishment at New York. lam impelled, by recent experience, to say that I trust that no legislation may interfere with THE PRESERVATION OF THE NEW YORK NAVY YARD IN 173 PRESENT SITE and in its integrity. The present. moment shows in the clearest manner how invaluable this yard is to the navy, in utilizing in a time of emergencies the vast naval resources of construction, equip- ment and repair which its central position en- ables it to draw from theshipyards, docks, machine shops and stores of the great city that surrounds it, teeming with a population of skilled artisans, THE PENSACOLA NAVY YARD. _. I think it very important that the Pensacola Navy Yard, burned during the rebellion, but with many of its improvements unharmed, should be in. some degree rebuilt. In the event of complications: 10 or near the Gulf of Mexico or West Indies at would be a station of vast importance, THE NEW LONDON NAVY YARD, I again call attention to the obligations of the ce in regard to the naval station at New ondon, Conn. We are the owners, by gift by the State, of alarge and valuable property at this place which has never been utilized tor for want. of adequate means appropriated for the — purpose. The considerations in favor of this site have been isrequently pre- sented, and f will only add that all that we have done there in the past has been done so well so cheaply as to (39) an earnest for the juture, and inauce the belief that @ weli-found and sup- plted naval station at this point would be ex- tremely valuable to the service and to the country. PROVIDING FOR THE ORDNANCE BUREAU. The Secretary most earnestly recommends that ample provision be made jor the support of the Ordnance Bureav, in order that nothing may in- terfere with its efforts to supply our ships with the most poweril guns. 7 ESTIMATES FOR THE YEAR. The estimates for the next fiscal year are $19,252,235, and to this is added the sum Of $864,589 for current repairs of buildings, docks and inci- dental expenses in the navy yards, &c. These estimates are less than those of last year by rather more than $2,000,000, but they do not include any extraordinary expenditure for the permanent im- provement of the navy por the amounts necessary either for the repair of our iron-clad fleet nor for the contmued prosecution o!-some of the works necessary to the proper condition naval establishments, The Secretary says, in conclusion:—The fore- going ig a general report of the condition, situa- tion and movements of the United States ‘Navy jor the past year and until the commencement of the present month. Since that time, however, events have taken peSe which made it proper that the navy should be put at once upona footing for active service. it is by no meang the province of this department, as such, to @ partin the conduct or discussion of any diplomatic question, nor should its attitude al time when serious international dificuities oasible be held to indicate anything more than a. determination on the part of a military depart. ment of the government to be prepared for action should the necessity for action arise. is the present condition of public affairs, and such is the attitude of the Navy Department. THE VIRGINIUS DIFFICULTY, ~ I have feit it to be my duty, under the existing circumstances, to take promptly every means in my power to put our available force in the best possible condition for tmmediate and active service. Ali the power and means of vhe depart- ment are now devoted to this end, UA Netal aided at every point by the enth astic activity of the officers of every grade of the service. Dimicult of accom; ment a8 our purpose at first seemed, difficulties, and even apparent impossibiliti are found to fade away beiore determination and organized activit and the navy is already in such a condition thal those to whom our interests and honor are en- trusted may be relieved from the embarrassments otasituation where just determination might be dis- regarded because thought to be powerlesa, or decent. consideration be mistaken for fear. It is neither necessary nor proper that 1 should enter here into the details of our preparations, Suffice it to Bay that @ respectable force of war vessels and monitors 18 already on the sea and concentrating at the station nearest the scene of our ible difficulties; that our whole available jron- fleet is in hand, and every war vessel that will float in. our active preparation at tle various naval stations, ese wiil for sei fully fitted, as fast as proper crews be provided for them, and if the necessity for ac tion should come beiore the time for it arrives, all there 18 of the American Navy which can be afloat on the Atlantic Ocean will be in a condition and apne to take its proper Lege In uate as this force may be deemed to the responsibilities and pretentions of a government like o1 and pes at disadvantage, as we certain! Y in respect to the number and character ol our vessels in @ contest with the fleets of any re~ spectable aval power, I lieve that the activity, skill, science and experience of our navy will be found equal to any difficulty wmcn aare to meet or energy will avail to conquer. are thoroughly imbued with the spirit, edacated the details, and experienced in the warlike duties: of their profession, skilled in the use of all the terrible weapons which science has Bing a for modern warfare, and a mind meet any crisis without shrinking from danger. Thus prepared and in this spirit, they are BEADY TO MRET ANY OF THEIR COUNTRY’S AD- VERSARIES with the means with which their country provides them.I n taking the action above referred to, the Navy Department has already sncurred considera| expense, and has been forced ‘to assu.ue some: responsibilities unusual in times of peace; tate convinced of the wisdom of prompt decided action, | have not shrvnk from these responsibilities, nor hesitated, with the approval of the President, to make warlike pre ons im. the interests of peace and of humanity, I conf- dently rely for support in this attitude upon the patriotism and sense of the American and their representatives, who cannot iail to member that our naval condition is the re- sult of causes which have been constantly essed upon their consideration, but which have atied to receive full attention, doubtless on ac count of more Hid | present requirements and obligations, and who wili clearly realize thatauties: constantly postponed are certain to be cult and iuch More expensive when pei haste, under the the of imperious necessity. ‘The department has had NO NECESSITY TO OVERSTRP ITS Al even t! it were lawful to do go; but the bara dll rere bid Ct pee was provided for the service ot je year DL the working bureaus, ‘These must Ore hee, relieved, if their work ts to go on. sion has clearly shown, I think, that navy a3 it exists should wt teast be pu tion for active service, and, in any wees a bad a to Wi come, we must be liberally to utilize ¢) means we have and to to emergency.