The New York Herald Newspaper, January 12, 1874, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD SRE ER BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR PIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, oadway (Ano veu! MRS. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE, w eet, Brooklyn. — TRAY, ats P.M; Closes oft F ee ar Prank io ro, Mra. Be Couway. BOOTH’S THEATRE, 8 "Twenty hind sree —LA FEMME, DE Fat aren ie; clues at NB. Me Mra 3. Be Booth. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway. between Houston and Bleecker streets.— GABRIEL GRUB, atS P. M.; closes at ll P.M. Majilton- Raynor family. BROOKLYN PARK THEATRE, opposite City Hall, Brooklyn.—KIT; OR, THE gg SAS TRAVELLER, at 8 P, M.; closes at M40 P. ». Chanirau, BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—LIGHTNING BOB, at 3 P. M.; closes at LP. M. Mr. Marius Turck. METEOPOLIT No. 585. Broadway. —VAK: 745P, M.; closes at THEATRE, ENIERTAINMENT, at NIBLO’S GARDEN, way. ees rege and Houston streets. — Ra cos BN SPM; THE B Ss Ne, at Kit CH m Jones amily, Mr. Stettingweil Woop’? MUSE c a Broadway, corner Thirtiath stré PERFECTION, at 2PM; cloves ard0P. M. BE SLLOUUE, at 3 P M.; closes at il P.M. O. D. Byron. GRAND Fighth avenue and DUMPTY ABROAD, at7 45 Mr. G. L. Fox. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.—VARIETY ENTHRTAINMENT, at SP. M.; closes at 11 P.M. BRYANT'S OPERA HOU my —CINDER- c, N&G , de. ats BP M.; closes atl0P.M. HOOLEY'S BROOK PERA HOUSE, opposite City Hall —HAPPY LD at 8 P. M.; closes at lu:ls P.M. ROBI Sixteenth street.—T HE ANINNIES, from London. Alternoon, at 5. Evening, Great Jones, street, corner Lati ctte place.—THE PIL- GRIM, at3 P. TRIPLE SHEET New York, Monday, January 4, 1874. THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. To-Day’s Contents of the Herald. “rustaL SAVINGS BANKS’—LEADING ARTI- CLE—Sixtn Pace. NATIONAL POSTAL BANKS FOR SAVINGS! THE ENGLISH SYSTEM! HOW IT MAY BE AP- PLIED LN AMEXKICA AND THE BENEFICENT RESULTS! OVER 1,500,000 DEPOSITORS— THD Pace, ‘ PRESIDENT SERRANO RESOLVED UPON THE NUN-ASSEMBLING OF THE CORTES SPAIN IS PACIFIED! PRUCEE. THE RADICALS! MURIO! ING ON THE EBRO—SevENTH Pace. CUBA'S FINANCIAL PERIL! SORMOUS PRICES FOR PROVISIONS! GRIM DEAIH’S DISMAL HEADQUARTERS! REBELLIOUS BEAUTIES! THE LEGEND OF THE \UMURI—E1e¢nTa Pace. THE PRUSSIAN ELECTION FOR MEMBERS OF THE REICHSTAG! THE DANISH PARTY SUCCESSFUL IN NORTH SCHLESWIG! LIBERAL SUCCESSES—SEVENTH PaGRr. GERMAN PERSECUTION OF THE CATHOLICS! CARDINAL CULLEN GIVES BIS VIEWS ON THE MATTER IN A LETTER TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY OF DUBLIN! THE REVIVAL OF TUDOR PLOTS—Fourta NG AGAI CAMPAIGN- PaGe. PARTISAN FIGHTING IN MEXICO! A DRAWN BATILE! ESCOBEDO DISCONTENTED— Suventa Pace. THE BUSY BEES OF THE APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE AFTER THE DRONES OF THE DEPARTMENTS! A SALARY CAUCUS— THEATRICAL FEATURES IN LONDON AND NEW YORK—SeveNtTH Pace. STEAMSHIPS LOST TO AMERICA IN THE LAST SEVENTEEN YEARS! WRECKED, BURNED, SOLD AND DESTROYED—Tentu Pace. PASTORAL EXPOSITIONS OF GOSPEL TRUTHS AND LESSONS OF THE HOUR! THE SCHISMATIC BISHOP ON THE UNITY OF THE CHUKCH! INTERESTING SERMONS AND SERVICES—Firtu Pace. A QUEEK SEARCH! THE PILLAGE OF THE POSTS’ DOMICIL UNDER COVER OF A HUNT FOR “COUNTERFEIT MONEY"— NEWBURG HOUSEBREAKING — Fourta Pace. THE SHARPSHOOTERS' CONGRESS AT WIMBLE- DON! IMPORTANT TESTS! THE COMING WAR IN EUROPE—Fovrta Pace. UNRECONSTRUCTED TEXAS! A TROUBLOUS SIrtUaTION AND ITS PROBABLE TERMINA, TION—ALL JEALOUSY—E1cutH Pace, TROPICAL FESTIVALS! ENJOYMENTS IN JA- MAICA! CREOLE HOSPITALITY — Turep PAGE. WASHINGTON NOTABLES AND THE TIONS—SENATOR SPENCER'S ELECT! IDLE LABOR—FourrH Pace. CIVIL, MILITARY, POLITICAL, FINA RELIGIOUS MATTERS IN THE FEARFUL DRIFT ON AN MICHIGAN ANTE-BRIDAL ELeventa P Page. CIAL AND NTIPODES. ICE FLOE—A ATROUITY— SERRANO’ 's PLAN OF OF GOVERNMENT For Spar. —- President Serrano has resolved to adopt a very simple plan of government for the Spanish Republic. He will not, according to a despatch from London, convoke the Cortes for twelve months. He will, in the meantime, devote all the power of the Executive and all | his personal energy to the suppression of the Spanish insurrection and for the tranqniliza- tion of the Peninsula. When these tasks are accomplished, and not before, will he summon the legislative body to assemble in session. Considering that Marshal Serrano bas been called to administer the government of a Re- public said to have been founded on the national will and acknowledging an aceount- ability to parliamentary supervision for its acts, this programme of the Cabinet chief must ap- pear rather ominously in the eyes of the Conti- nental democracies, The home conservatives of Spain and the foreign commercial interests may approve of it, accompanied as it is bya | proclamation which orders the dissolution ot | political associations in the territory, but to all lovers of constitutional freedom it mast | appear like an anticipatory introduction of ‘the Russian system of rule to the peoples uear dhe shores of the Mediterranean, NTI | “NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 1874.-TRIPLE SHEET. Postal Savings Banks. RALD| | We publish in another column a letter on the English postal savings bank system which will be read with interest by the public. It sums up succinctly the work done, and allows us to judge intelligently the value of the system. The idea of establishing savings banks under s government guarantee in connec- tion with the administration of the Post Office was originally put forth ably and energetically by the English press. It was the outgrowth of a feeling of insecurity engendered by the then defective system of savings banks, which offered no real security for the hoardings of the poor. The natural consequence of this want of faith was the growth of habits of unthrift among the people. The supporters of the scheme of postal savings banks urged upon Parliament that what was needed toencourage habits of economy among the poorer classes was not the attraction of high rates of interest, but an assurance of absolute security that the money placed in bank would neither be squandered nor stolen. No private | organization could give such aguarantee. In order to establish the fullest confidence it was necessary for the government to set its seal on the institution and guarantee the deposi- tors from loss. The Post Office, with its rami- | fications in all parts of the country and its established money order system, was admirably adapted to place the advantages of the pro- | posed banks within reach of the whole popu- lation, After a full discussion of the advisa- bility of engratting a banking system on the Post Office, the advantages likely to be derived by the working classes from the system were admitted to be so great that its adoption was decided on. The experiment soon proved a complete success, though it was alleged by the evil prophets that, as soon as the first flash of the economy. fever had passed and the novelty of putting shillings in bank had worn off, the workingman would return to his old habits and spend his shillings buying beer. These views haye been disproved by the statistical returns, and the number of depositors con- tinues steadily to increase. The deposits now number wellnigh a million and a half, the average deposit amounting to something over thirteen pounds sterling—quite a large sum in the eyes of an English workingman. The smallest deposit received in the postal banks is one English shilling, or about twenty- five cents of our money. An oppor- tunity is thus offered to the hum- blest workingmen, apprentices and even ! the poor sewing girls to lay by something in the days of comparative prosperity. And the extent to which these classes avail themselves of the opportunity to hoard up little savings is a conclusive proof of the value of the sys- tem to the industrious poor. In order to con- ciliate the opposition of the banking interest in the House of Commons the English gov- ernment carefully circumscribed the scope of the postal banks. They were intended to be chiefly, if not solely, for the use of the work- ing classes, or those people of small means who were supposed to be most in need of the protecting and fostering care of the govern. ment. ‘The limit named for interest bearing deposits was therefore placed at the compara- tively low figure of two hundred pounds, or one thousand dollars, the deposits of any one year not to exceed one hundred and fifty dollars ; interest to be paid on all deposits at the rate of two and a half per cent per an- num, and on the 31st of December of each year the interest due to every depositor to be added to his account. While affording the workingman an abso- lute security for his deposits, the postal bank offers facilities for the transfer of his small capital such as no other existing institution could give him. Not alone can he make new deposits in any part of the United Kingdom without further formality than presenting his bank book, but he can also draw on his ac- count wherever a money order office exists by simply giving the usual notice to the Post- master General. This feature is particularly advantageous to the working man, who is en- abled to move his capital about without risk and without expense. And, by a rule which is strictly enforced, the officers of the banks are forbidden to give any information about the names of the depositors or the amounts placed to their credit. The postal banks have now stood the test of time for something over twelve years, and, whether we judge them by the number and extent of their transactions or the public favor with which they are regarded, we must pronounce them a complete and grat- ifying success. They promise to exert a most wholesome influence on the rising generation of British work people by encouraging the growth of habits of economy and thrift which were almost unknown before the establishment of the postal savings banks or exercised under very unfavorable circumstances. More than | three millions of accounts were opened during the first twelve years the postal banks were in } operation, and about one million and a half remain open as a testimony to the thrift of the working classes under a system of wise encouragement. There are now in the hands of these banks sums amounting to twenty millions of dollars belonging to the humblest classes of the community. Under the old system most of this money would have fonnd its way to the beer houses, and would have been the prolific seed of crime and popular demoralization. Under a wise guardianship these millions have been used for works of public utility, and have borne a double profit to the State and to the people. The growth of a class of small and thrifty capitalists would be of incalculable benefit to England by tending to interpose a barrier | between the poverty stricken masses and the | great capitalists, whose wealth already ex- | cites the jealousy and the anger of those who have nothing. It is, how- ever, rather in its social aspect than its political that we desire to examine the postal savings bank system, in order to urge upon Congress the advisability of adopting some similar system offering the same abso- lute security for his savings to the American workingman. We have before called public attention to the importance of providing a secure system of deposit for the benefit of the workingmen in this country, where the laxity of the banking laws and an unhealthy spirit of rash speculation render inse- the accenmulations of the humbler ‘itizens, Under the existing system there |is a profound distrust of savings banks among the working classes, which is unfortunately only too well iustified by experi- \ cure ence, So long, however, as no measures aro adopted by the government to give that abso- lute security to. depositors which the British government has secured for its humblest sub- jects the existing savings banks will continue to receive the people’s money, and unsound speculation make victims among a most de- serving but almost wholly unprotected class, of capitalists. This question of a sound and” healthy system of savings banks affects the interest of every household in the land, and is one that deserves and ought to receive the most carefal attention at the hands of Con- gress. We have bad ample attention given by our representatives to questions affecting large ; corporations—Crédit Mobilier, Pacific Rail- roads, pig iron subsidies and a host of schemes | for the profit of people who know how to | interest Congressmen; it is now time that some attention should be paid to the wants of the sovereign people. This country is supposed to be ruled by the masses for their own benefit, and it would be natural to expect that the interests of the working classes would be better cared for in the United States than in any other country. Theories aro not, however, always sound, and we fear the ordinary Congressman troubles himself yery little abont the well being or convenience of the American citizen. If it were otherwise we would not be forced to urge on Congress, year after year, the neces- sity of taking some steps to give to the thrifty American workman the protection and security for his savings which an aristocratic govern- ment has given to the workingman under the British Crown. When will Congress give us a postal savings bank system ? Organized Sharpshooting. In another column will be found an inter- esting letter touching the subject of organized rifle shooting in England. This matter should command attention here, for it will seem un- reasonable to the outside observer that America should not command as good shoot- ing as any country in the world. It is, how- ever, safe to say that this country could not, at present, muster a team of eight capable of taking the Elcho challenge shield, if for- eigners were allowed to compete for it. We have no doubt there are thousands of excel- lent shots in the United States, particularly in the West and South; but that results from the frequency with which the gun and rifle enter into popular sports there. In the East prac- tised shots are rare, and, although the National Rifle Association has entered praiseworthily into mending the matter by establishing the range at Creedmoor, the interest in the under- taking is not nearly so widespread as it should be, Our militia regiments are, asa tule, shamefully ignorant of the weapons they handle on parade, and in nearly every regi- ment men might be picked who are ignorant of the uses of the ‘sights.’ The idea of an international rifle match is a good one, and we have little doubt that, with the subject well before the youth of the country, a team worthy of competing with the British eights could be selected ina year. Shooting at the jong ranges (nine hundred and a thousand yards) is almost unknown in this country, and will require greater and more constant training than is imagined by those without experience before anything like excellence’ can be arrived at. Let our stalwart young men consider the subject of improving the national standard of rifle shooting, and let us not be ashamed to learn a lesson from England, Profits of Cireulating Mr. Mellish, of this State, delivereda speech in the House of Representatives on Saturday in support of a bill he has prepared ‘‘to pro- vide the money of the United States, and to regulate the value thereof.’’ In the course of his remarks he said no money should circu- late except on the credit of the nation, and all profits on the issue and circulation should form a part of the revenue of the United States. Though this is not a new idea (for we have maintained all along that the profit on a national circulating medium properly belongs to the government and public) it is not often that the matter is brought before Congress in such a direct and plain manner. What just claim have a few capitalists, calling themselves national bankers, to the benefit arising from a national currency? The government actually makes a present—a clean gift—of about three hundred millions of dol- lars to these privileged bankers. That is to say, each one has had his capital nearly doubled by the generosity of the government. Let us explain. Aman basa hundred thou- sand dollars, which he invests in good six per cent or five per cent United States bonds, and for doing this the government gives him ninety thousand dollars in currency, besides paying him full interest on the investment he has made in the bonds. In other words, the man worth a hundred thousand dollars has instantly the advantage and profit of a hundred and ninety thousand through putting up his shingle ss a national banker. Now, why should not the government and people have the benefit? If the whole of the national bank circulation were withdrawn and legal tender notes substituted, just that amount of interest-bearing bonds would be taken up and the interest saved. The cancellation of three hundred millions of six per cents with these legal tender notes would save eighteen millions a year in interest. This, we sup- pose, is what Mr. Mellish means by all the profits on the circulation of money form- ing part of the revenue of the United States. Besides, we should have the advan- tage of a uniform currency based directly on the credit of the government. Specie pay- ments, or money ona specie basis, would sooner be reached by a greenback than by a national bank currency. Cueap Transportation.—Mr. Hurlbut, of Illinois, says there are projects before the Committee on Railways and Canals that, if accepted by Congress and acted upon, would involve an expenditure of $130,000,000. This would be expensive cheap transportation ; and this host of projects indicates the real difficulty in the solution of the transportation problem. We must have railway freights so high that the price of getting grain to market will be such as to well nigh confiscate the farmer's part in the value of his produce—thus dis- couraging, if not annihilating, his industry— or we must have our national finances swamped by railway or canal building projects that will repeat in every instance the Crédit Mobilier history, Old Age in Publite Life. Probably the most potent objection urged against the confirmation of Mr. Cushing is his seventy-four years of age. We do not believe either in his case or in the lives of the many aged statesmen who have exercised a marked influence on their time that septuagenarian wisdom is a whit less practical than that of the man in the noonday of his years. We are too apt in America to imagine that a man’s capacity and good sense are suddenly ex- tinguished after he completes his sixtieth year. This is in the genius of our institutions, per- haps, but it is a lamentable error that we should make haste to banish from our estimate of the services of our leading men. A glance from the galleries of the House of Representatives down on the assembled wisdom of the country shows that the men who make our bad laws, who disorder our finances and spend three months in the year in laying the network of ondless litiga- tion are seldom ripe in years, wearing the white emblems of fine old age. It is the middle-aged man, busied with ambition and the perpetuation of his own power, who has to do with the vital interests of the country. In Europe M. Thiers, day after day, from the tribune of the French Assembly, controlled that tarbulent body as it was never disciplined before, and at his great age was able to govern France, though wedged between ultramontanism on the one hand and red republicanism on the other. Nearly all of the leading statesmen of France are septuagenarians. In Germany we have the venerable Emperor, and a still more surpris- ing illustration of mental power and telling energy in Moltke, the ablest strategist of the age. England has generally been ruled by white-haired statesmen. Palmerston at sev- enty-five had a large share in all the changes made in the map of Europe; Lord Derby was in power at seventy; Lord John Russell begins a fresh war on the Pope at eighty-four, while his illustrious antag- onist is but one year his junior. Gortschakoff is an octogenarian, but a wilier Minister never served a monarch, So that, in fine, Europe is governed by an octogenarian oligarchy. Turning to our own country, we have General Dix in his old age as good a Governor as ever filled the chair; Mayor Havemeyer, who is so old that we dare not investigate the truth, occupies the civic chair of the municipality, and discharges its duties with as much vim as a@ young man of eighty. We notice, then, that wherever there is old age there is careful, conscientious administration. While, therefore, we need more of this class of public servants, we do not wish to disparage the labors of younger men. Pitt at twenty-four was at the helm when England was riding out the most violent political storm that ever tested her institutions. In the East there is the young Viceroy of Egypt, whose diplomacy was always a match for the cunning measures of the late aged Ali Pacha, a statesman who has probably delayed the exeunt of the Turks from Europe by at least fifty years. To speak at large, the work of the world is done by young men—by those between twenty-five and thirty-five—and while it may not always be of that cool and de- liberate nature which distinguishes the labors of the old man, it is nevertheless the work of the age. Between twenty-five and thirty-five aman sees more clearly than at any future time in his life, although happily he does not know it. It is during this period that he gives fashion to his career and direction to his aspirations, Disraeli said in his Glasgow specch that a youth should learn two things— “Know thyself!" and harmonize with the spirit of the age. Oftentimes, we might say generally, these public men born before the dawn of the nineteenth century are not of our time. They belong to the silk stocking and knee buckle gentry still. Yet when they recognize that the world moves they are the most valuable of officials, It is not so much what a public servant in exalted station does that we regard as the essential part of his duties, but rather what he abstains from doing. All will recognize that in an old man this desirable quality is the best developed. Yet eighty years does not always mean old age. Time at best is a convenient fiction; and if we could get at the tissues und mem- branes of Caleb Cushing we might find them as fuli of vitality as if he were but fifty, and the same is true of many of his contempo- raries. The French Cabinet and the Assem- bly—A Test Vote To-Day. To-day the French Assembly resumes the discussion of the bill regarding the appoint- ment of mayors. On Friday, it will be re- membered, the members of the Cabinet waited on President MacMahon and offered to tender their resignations, in consequence of the de- feat which they had sustained the previous day. At the request of the President the Ministers agreed to retain their portfolios until a test vote should be taken in the As- sembly. To-day, therefore, the discussion on the Mayoralty bill will be resumed, and the result will determine the fate of the Ministry. If the government be defeated the members of the Cabinet will, in all likelihood, insist on their resignations being accepted. There seems, however, to be a general conviction that the Ministry will be sustained, and that the result of the debate will practically amount toa vote of confidence. The defeat of last week is attributed to the accidental ab- sence from their seats of a considerable num- ber of government supporters. It is undeni- arrayed in ball costume than when she kneels in church or joins a missionary society. The poor children will, it may be hoped, receive substantial aid from this Terpsichorean — in their behalf, The Committee o: Appropriations Cleaning Out the Drones. The public will be delighted to learn that the House Committee on Appropriations have seriously undertaken to sweep away some, at least, of the more glaring abuses in the dif- ferent departments of government. Our special despatch informs us that the committee refuse to accept the re- vised estimates, and desire to further reduce the appropriations by some twenty- five million dollars, In their examination of the working of the departments they came upon many shady places, and, though the heads of the departments did their best to bamboozle the committeemen, enough was discover@® to show that extravagance and idleness reigned supreme. An army of clerks have been employed since the war keeping each other busy, and it is proposed to deprive the country of these gentlemen's services, The country will not shed one tear. The committee think that an average of twenty-five or thirty per cent of clerkly heads should be cut off without pity. In the Treasury alono there are four thousand employés who may be dispensed with, and it is calculated that the public ser- vice can spare the services of some ten thousand persons, Allowing the low ay- erage of one thousand dollars salary to each the country will gain ten million dollars a year, unless the recommendations of the committee are de- feated by the plottings of rings in the House. If the committee only persevere in their good work they may win immortality. We are by no means cruel, but we would rejoice to see that heap of ten thousand official heads cut off and piled up so that we could be sure that their locust-like political lives were at an end, and that we would never again have to feed them. The Mysterious Tides Polar Ocean—The Most Important Discovery of the Hall Expedition, The late testimony of the Polaris survivors brings to light for the first time what is, per- haps, the most important contribution yet made to Arctic geography. Dr. Bessels’ evi- dence established, from his own observations, the remarkable faot that the tidal wave near Cape Hatherton, on the northwest coast of Greenland, comes from the Pacific Ocean. At Newman Bay, near the Polar outlet of Smith's Sound, and at an extremely high latitude, the tide rose always before it did at Polaris Bay, further south; while, still further south, at Littleton Island, instead of coming from the northward, the tide comes from the South, and hence is Atlantic born. This astonishing discovery throws more light over the physical geography of the North Polar area than all else yet announced. The tidal wave is, so to speak, the pulse of the sea, and enables the scientist to make many accurate deductions. The lunar attraction, which* causes the tides, is exerted mainly on the equatorial belt of waters. While moving to the north and south of the Equator in its revolution the moon maintains itself at the zonith of tropical and sub-tropical regions, and it is clear that no tidal wave could be originated at either pole. Any throbbing of the sea witnessed within the Polar circle must, therefore, be communicated from one of the great oceans, and it is certain that, if the evidence of Dr. Bessels be correct, the tidal wave at Newman Bay comes from the north. The opposing tide from the south has, of course, been long since known; and%Dr. Kane, in 1853, noted that after a northerly gale in Kennedy Chan- nel, near Cape Constitution, the mid-channel current was driven south, while near shore the tidal current was moving towards the north. Very grave geographical considerations must hang upon this new discovery of Cap- tain Hall'sexpedition. If the tides of Smith’s Strait, in its northernmost outlet, advance thither across the broad expanse of the cir- cumpolar ocean from the Pacific, how do they pass from the Pacific to the Arctic basin? No other inlet exists save the narrow water way of Behring Strait, and it is apparently next to impossible that the breast of the Pacific tide can surge through this gorge and then puisate across the Arctic Ocean. Between Behring Strait and Newman Bay, as the bird flies, it is eighteen hundred miles. It is well known that the grand tidal waves of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, which knock for admission at the Straits of Gibraltar and Babelmandeb, respectively, do not penetrate into the Medi- terranean or Red seas. But the Strait of Gib- raltar is only fifteen miles wide at its western side, and ‘‘the Gate of Tears” (or Babelmandeb) is a little less than seventeen miles, while Behring Strait is about four times as wide, and its width is computed from fifty-five to sixty- five miles, It is just possible, therefore, that the Pacific wave may be propagated into the Arctic Ocean and be transmitted across its icy waters towards the point at which Dr. Bessels supposes he observed it coming into Newman Bay. The average velocity of this tidal in- tumescence in the Pacific is about five hun- dred miles an hour, and if it does communi- cate its motion (though our best co-tidal charts do not show it) through the Behring gateway it would require an open sea for its transmis- sion across the circumpolar basin in order to of the North able that the appointment of mayors by the eget into Smith's Sound from the northward. government, directly or through the prefects of departments, is unpopular with the repub- licans, and they will no doubt put forth their strength against this portion of the recom- mendation of the Committee of Thirty. The vote to be taken to-day gives another oppor- tunity to the Bonapartist members, who hold the balance of power. for it they are not unwilling to show their strength, and, although consistency in this case should place them on the side of the government, they may, for ulterior ends, vote with the opposition. Whatever the result of the vote, there is no reason to dread a serious crisis. MacMahon will retain his place, and the formation of a new Cabinet will not be beset Mens any very formidable difficulties, Tue Sxvase Asytom Baxy, which will take place on Tuesday next at the Academy of Music, is in aid of a very worthy institution, having many claims on the patronage and support of the entirecommunity. Charity can When occasion calls. If Dr. Bessels is right, then it will almost surely follow that the great ocean around the North Pole is not ice-bridged; for were it frozen over the tidal water wave could not undulate across its rigid and solid bosom. “The tidal wave," says Lieutenant Maury, ‘can no more pass under an icy barrier to be propagated in seas beyond>than the vibrations of a musical string can pass, with its notes, a fret upon which the musician has placed his finger.” It is well known that, from a principle first applied by Airy and Whoewell, the dis- tinguished mathematicians, the depth of an unexplored sea can be determined very closely by ascertaining the velocity of the tidal wave. So that the discovery of Dr. Bessels, and the data on which it is based, will furnish the physicist with a means of approx- imately determining the depth of the sea (whatever it may be) through which the New- man Bay tides are propagated. It cannot be denied that, possibly, the tidal dispense no less valnable favara whan ghe ia | phenomenon discovered (at the highest points attained by the Hall expedition) may come from the Atlantic Ocean, through that broad and ice-free inlet between Europe and America, and be transmitted from east to west around Northern Greenland. But, ever in this event, the announcement of Dr. Bessels’ deduction will open a new chapter in Arctic geography, and suggests a compara- tively unthought of solution of the question whether Greenland has a polar extension. The latter question is one that many geogra- phers think underlies the entire physical ge- ography of the Arctic basin, And Dr. Bessels’ discovery will G0 far to settle this. The Sermons Yesterday. Mr. Beecher yesterday morning discoursed to a large congregation on the influence of words on the soul, with special reference to the word ‘Lord’ and its effect upon the character and conduct of hfe. Personal in- fluence is the law of nature, and nothing has power to inspire souls but lives throbbing with enthusiastic nature. Mr. Beecher ac- knowledged his own indebtedness to the colored servanta in his father's family for, much of his spiritual inspiration and love of the Bible. His double-edged sarcasm at fitualism will be duly appreciated by those Episcopalians who are travelling so fast and so far to reach Rome. He likens them to full-grown men trying to get into cribs and beds intended only for babes—-a thing that seems to him too absurd. God is the one fixed thing, and the realization of Christ personally by the soul and faith in God.is the power, he thinks, that will keep men tuned. Dr. Chapin held up the act of the woman who washed thé Saviour’s feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head as an example of great faith. She must have seen in Christ a righteousness unlike that of the Scribes and Pharisees, and she sought and found pardon at his feet, where the Doctor would have all sinners go for pardon and purity and peace. Bishop Cummins continued his Reformed Church services in Steinway Hall yesterday, and preached a sermon on the unity of the Church, in which he refuted the theories of apostolic succession and the pretended gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of priestly hands, and expressed his surprise that the nineteenth century had stood such theories solong. The Bishop's definition of the Church of God, and of those who compose its member- ship, is so thoroughly orthodox that na thoughtful man can object to it, and so simple that the humblest can understand it. The Church is the household of God; there is but one Church, and no man is in the Church unless ‘he is saved. It is the failure to dis- criminate between the mystical Church and the organizations called churches that leads to endless confusion. The one baptism is that of the Holy Ghost—not of water. There is no vicar of Christ on earth in the Bishop’s creed. He does not think that controversies can de- stroy the unity of the Church of Christ, be- cause its members are all united to Him by a living faith. Dr. Hall cited illustrations from history, ancient and modern, to show how much worse is the condition of nations and indi- viduals whose repentance is not sincere and thorough than if they had never repented. Living without God, men die without God; for in the grave the doom of all remains in everlasting silence and gloom. A man must not be negatively good—he must be positively so; but it is only through the Lord Jesus that we can ever obtain a permanent victory over the Old Man, with his affections and lust. Mr. Frothingham, as might be expected, could not let such a live topic as the week of prayer pass by unnoticed. There is stinging irony in his pretended applause of the sublimity of this institution—the week of prayer. Criticise it as we will, he thinks there is something pathetic in the vision of these people who pray, leaving their places of business and devoting a week for besieging the gates of heaven. Indeed, if we can forget the superstition connected with it it issublime. The patience of God in waiting for these prayers is more touching than His love. In the relation of work to prayer, how- ever, Mr. Frothingham has some practical re- marks, which, if heeded, will do us all good. The Rey. William Harris, D. D., of Lon- don, told the Seventeenth street Baptist con- gregation yesterday that revivals were known long before Wesley or Luther. David prayed that God might revive His people again, and gave his reason that they might rejoice in Him. If our prayers are not answered to-day, Dr. Harris thinks, it is not because we don’t use words enough, but because we don’t wait for the Divine answer. The only revivalist that Dr. Harris knows or believes in is God. He is not circumscribed os men are. The coronation of the week of prayer, as Rev. J. Hyatt Smith described it, was the grand union communion of Baptists, Presby- terians, Congregationalists, Methodists and Reformed Dutch which took place yesterday afternoon in the Reformed church, on Bedford avenue, Brooklyn, It was a@ sublime. spectacle, and as Dr. Porter, at whose suggestion ond in whose church it was held, remarked, never was such table spread on this Continent. Two thou- sand people, of different and sometimes of warring denominations, sitting together in one. place and at one time at the table of their common Lord and Saviour and com- memorating His dying love and their own faith in Him and their union one with another is a sight seldom witnessed. Aa Dr. Porter and Mr. Holmes remarked, it should give an inspiration to the com- municants for all their future lives. Their common creed was faith in Christ, as ex- pressed in the ‘Apostles’ Creed,” which the entire congregation recited audibly. Such a scene, Mr. Stnith thought, should make Toplady and Wesley shake hands in the skies, as his followers shook hands here in spirit, if not in the flesh, as they sang their hymns ot hope and trust in Jesus. The occasion was one of deep solemnity, and not easily forgotten. A Danaenovs Carpenrer.—An apothecary in a town in Jersey is reported to be ‘a car- penter by profession.” He misread a doctor's prescription, and, instead of sending to a sick man a dose of harmless medicine, he sent him four drachms of prussic acid. Now that the Coroner is investigating the case it is to be hoped such steps will be taken og will deter the other carpenters in Now Jersey fron venturing upon the industry af comoounding medicines.