The New York Herald Newspaper, March 6, 1874, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the | vear, Four cents per copy. Annual subscription price 612. 3 AD business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed Nzw Yorke Hxnawp. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK | HERALD—NO, 46 FLEET STREET. Subscriptions and Advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. Volume XXXIX AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING —+—__——- BOOTH’s THEATRE, Sixth avenue and Twenty-third strect.—DEBORAH, at 745 P.M. , closes at 0:45 %. M, Mme. Fanny Janguschek. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth strect,—MONEY, at 8P. M.; | closes at HP. M, Mr. Lester Wallack, Miss Jeffreys | THEATRE, Broa _ ton and Bleecker streets — Pee EVILIe und Sy ty ENTERTAINMENT, at 7/45 P.M. ;closes.ut Ws P.M PARK THEATRE, “VEN UNTO DEATH, at ! Barry. opposite City Hall, Speen’ closes at It P.M. Bow. RE, Sowery.—Natince—V A K[ETY ENTERTAINMENT, at 2 VM. WHIT? | ALR, and SWISS SWAINS, Begins at 8 P.M. ; closes atl P.M Bir a MPTROPOLITAN THEATRE, 5 Broadway,—VARI+TY EN’BRIAINMENT, at P.M. closes at 10:30 P. 3 NIBLO’ ARDEN, Broadway, between Prince -and Houston, streets, — LiaTHiRSTOCKING, at8 P.M ; closes at 10:30 P.M. STADT THEATRE, Bowery.—German Opera—FRA DIAVOLO, at 8 P. M.; joses at 11 P.M. Mme. Lucea. GERMANIA THEATRE, oarteenth street.—BARBE BLEU, at $P. M.; closes at 1:46 PM LYCEUM THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near sixth avenue,—FAUST, atSP. M. Uma di Marska, Mile. Emma Sorel and Vizzani, WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth street -SANTIAGO AVENG. FD, atz Mo: closes at 4-301. M. THE BOY DETEC. | at 2 TIVE, at 3 P. Bi. ; cioses at ll P.M. FIFTH AVE! f THEATRE, ‘Twenty-eightn street and Broadway.—CHARITY, at 3P. | 1M. ; closes at 10:20 P.M, Mr, Clark, Miss Ada Dyas. ACADEMY OF MUSIO, Fourteenth street.—strakosch Italian one Troupe— IL 1OV.TOR:, at 8 P. M.; closes at P.M, Mme. | Nilsson, Miss Cary ; Campanini, Del Puente, GRAND O A HOUSE, Eighth avenue and !wenty-third street.—-HERCULES, KING OF CLUBS, and VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT. Begins at 7:45 P. M.; closes at 1045 P. M. Mr. G. L. Fox. THEATRE COMIQUR, No, 514 Broadway.—VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, at 8 | P.M j closes at 10:30 P.M. — | TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, | No. 21 Bowery.—VARLETY ENTERTAINMENT, at8P. | Mi. ; closes at UP. M. BRYANT'S OPERA HOUSE, | Twenty-third street, near sixth avenue.—THE BRI- | GAND: Sy NEGEO MINSTRELSY, &c., at 8 P. M.; closes a A COLO! Broadway, corner of T! MOONLIGHT, atl P. M. M.; closes at 10 P.M. yu. ith street.—PARIS BY satSP. M.; same at7 P, New York, Friday, March 6, 187: ro = <a eee — From our reports this morning the probabilities | are that the weather will be cloudy, with rain, and | in places snow, in New York and New England. Worsetey not Worsrep.—England is re- lieved by news from the Gold Coast that Gen- eral Wolseley and the Ashantee expedition are safe, and that they have taken Koffee. Sxx-Saw.—The latest news from Washing- ton is that Durell will probably not be im- peached. They seem to be of opinion that he has covered his tracks too well to make the attempt to follow worth while. Cowrractors To THE Front.—South America is agitated with the possibility of more war, and Brazil and Paraguay are busy with prep- aration. It is an excellent time for thrifty | people with gun mills. Werrina AND Waminc.—The Tammany braves, who can scarcely get a chance at the public till, bewailed themselves in general commitiee last night, and Mr. Kelly, the chief mourner, showed how Commissioner Van Nort is giving out contracts to make the fortunes of his friends. On such a point Tammany is an authority, and we are sorry if the people are no better served; but the tax- payers can searcely be supposed to have any choice whether the contracts enrich Mr. Van | Nort’s friends or Mr. Kelly's friends, Axornen Buin Acamst a Comet.—Mr. Havemeyer has evidently thought he should be Governor of the State and should write fine messages toa brilliant Legislature, and with this after-dinner fancy in his mind he has fallen into a deep sleep from which he has waked up thoroughly confused as to what office he really does occupy. His message on canals, wheat, railways, gunboats, history and similar trifles is the consequence. He ap- parently intends to annihilate the New York Central and other railways by showing that in five years they carried together forty mill- ion tons of freight that should have been carried by the State canals; but as he begins his story by comment on the inadequacy of the canals to do what is required of them his arguments hang together badly. On to Grory.—Don Carlos has formed a! famons resolution which he intends to carry | into effect after he has captured Bilbao, and | that will be in a short time if his confidence is | not misplaced, It is unfortunate that princes and gentlemen of that sort are generally dis- posed to postpone the performance of their grand achievements so as to make them follow | | than surrender. ‘whe Signs of the Meaning of the Garfield Demonstra- tton, General Garfield has made an apology for the administration and the republican party. We are reminded by this enthusiastic apology of another demonstration from the accom- plished editor of Harper's Weelly—Mr. Curtis— himself a conspicuous member of the repub- lican party, and for. some time an office- holder under the President, who follows up the line of thought advanced by the Hzmaup a day ortwo since in commenting upon the present political commotion in Massachusetts and its probable effect on the coming New England elections. The testimony of this gifted editor and politician is not without value, especially when taken in connection with the views of General Garfield, and our only fear is that he takes a limited scope of the subject and builds hopes upon the career and character of the republican party far from being justified. When last year the Heravp, ina series of articles and discussions which attracted an unusual de- gree of attention throughout the country, pointed out the drift of the administration and the logical tendency of President Grant’s policy, Mr. Curtis and General Garfield were among those who refused to ac- cept our conclusions, This was the time to have put such a pressure upon the administration as would have made im- possible many things that now grieve leading republicans. The general acquiescence of the most conscientious republicans in the tone and tendency of the administration justified the President in believing that the party had no mission opposed to his will. _It is too late to ask for “an unmistakable sign’’—too late | to share the confidence which finds expression in the belief that ‘an attempt in the White House to Johnsonize the republican party failed, and an effort to Butlerize it will be equally useless.”’ Itis precisely this epigrammatic form of criti- cism that fails to explain the situation. There is no comparison between what is here called | to “Johnsonize” and “Butlerize."’ Mr. John- son distinguished himself by stubborn antag- onism to the republican party; General But- ler is distinguished by stubborn fidelity to it. Mr. Johnson endeavored to build up a new party on the ruins of republicanism; Gen- eral Butler means to ruin everything to make republicanism a dominant power. General Butler is a mere soldier in the ranks; a strong, busy, audacious man, it may be, | but simply a type of the dominant element. | | If he were to be thrown out to-morrow, if he | in Vienna scandals, in the humilistions within the past few years. It would be a great were to die or to retire from politics or to be | dismissed from the ranks, the party would be | no better than itis now. General Butler isno | better and no worse than his time—than Mr. Dawes or Mr. Frelinghuysen or Mr. Schurz or any of the other politicians who are looked upon as ‘‘purifiers.’’ Mr. Dawes, who seems to be especially an element of purification, is stained with the Crédit Mobilier infamy. Heis a representative who condoned, if he did not really commit, that wrong. To ask the country | to really decide between these men, or to seri- ously look upon the appointment of Simmons in Boston as a sudden and unprecedented crime, is to lead it far away from the true meaning of the situation. General Butler is as much a representative republican as any | of his critics, The appointment of | Simmons was not an exceptional, but a natural, necessary consequence of our present political condition. The pity of it is, not that Simmons was appointed, but that the party tone has fallen so low that his appointment was a necessity, and that we are compelled to listen to the explanations of General Garfield as in some sense an apology. The men who censured that appointment are the very men who lowered the tone of the party. Mr. Dawes, who isa “‘purifier,”’ a critic of the administration, is the chairman of one lead- ing committee of the House; Mr. Garfield, its swift defender, is chairman of another. When a party cannot refuse to give the leadership of its legislation to two men stained with the Crédit Mobilier scandal it | certainly cannot expect that the Collector of the Port of Boston can be other than of the quality of Simmons. Simmons in Boston, sitting in Boston, in the receipt of customs, is | no more a scandal than Dawes and Garfield in | the leadership of the House. No, no! The discussion passes away from mere men like these into a higher atmosphere. We cannot elevate General Butler into a polit- ical principle merely because he offends the | muslin-and-beans aristocracy of Boston. He | represents the dominant section of his party— | its fighting, disciplined power; its skill in Times—The Real | the spirit of obedience, a fear to criticise, no ‘party leaders. Between the people and the Opposition to the Presidential will, unless when, by some mistake, a nomination is made that may weaken the party discipline. True, Williams was overthrown, but it was for but only because he was not “loyal to the party.” The very men who discarded Cushing are the men who sustain every outrage in the South, who dismissed Mr. Sumner and re- jected Judge Hoar and drove Cox out of public life. Furthermore, they are the men who have so mutilated the Civil Service regulations that Mr. Curtis, the editor we are now comment- ing upon, was compelled to resign, and abandon a scheme that had been dishonored and rendered barren by the coerced adminis- tration. Upon what does this party rest? Upon a deadened and corrupt public opinion. Look | around us and we find the political atmosphere laden with miasma. From Custom House to | Post Office, from the army to the Treasury, the unhealthy vapors ascend. Every day we turn a new leaf of misadministration, neglect, crime. Our revenue system is simply a nest of swarming drones, who lap and grow fat upon the drippings of the Treasury. Gradu- ally we have come to a system resembling what was seen in France before the Revolution. A vast class of middlemen has grown up be- tween the people and the government. The revenues are farmed ont as they were farmed out by Louis XV. Take the Sanborn disclosures, the Jayne transactions and o thousand instances of this kind Party discipline is so extreme, and party necessities so pressing, that the whole machinery of the government—its administration, its revenues, its power for good or evil at the polls—is at the will of the central authority, between the citizen and the President, the Congress and the courts, there is this mighty middle power. It com- mands the President and all in authority, on one side, and the people on the other. The result is that, with all of our rhetoric, we are among the worst-governed people in the world. Our tariff laws shackle the industries they claim to protect. Our State governments in the South rest upon ignorance and malefeas- ance in office, and when there arises a manly voice of resentment the mailed hand of the military commander suppresses it. We have, as wards, a savage but interesting people, and | instead of the humanity of Christians we have shown a barbarity as terrible as that of | Clive in Hindostan. Our diplomacy abroad has its fruition in Emma Mine speculations, of the Virginius. Our aim is to get rich and build palaces in Washington and drink cham- | pagne, and call each other ‘‘society,” and teach | our youth thrift by conspicuous examples of luxury and parade. When, now and then, we | have a revulsion of nature, a strain upon the system, a panic and widespread ruin, we propose inflation, The middle class (the | farmers general of the revenues) knows what | inflation means. Any policy of reform, of | economy or retrenchment means death. By inflation there will be a few years more of | success, of speculation, of ‘‘society,’’ a few more years, and then the deluge! What is the remedy? We have none from General Garfield. It certainly is not by making an example of General Butler. The Essex Congressman is a unit of consid- erable value in our arithmetic; but he is not quite a political principle. Wedo not believe the seas will go down because Jonah is thrown overboard, more especially if a crew of Jonahs remain on deck. Tho evil is not with a man, but with a party anda system; and we have no remedy either in the writings of Mr. Curtis or the eloquence of Gen- eral Garfield. The President is as good in many ways as we could wish, and on occasion has shown a strong conservative wisdom, but what is the President in presence of this men- acing, insatiate, resolute middle class, which stands between the people and their govern- ment and commands the nation? Thus far this party has marched without acheck. Only the other day it carried Philadelphia. What will be the result in New England? Upon that result may depend momentous issues. If the of the President is beaten he may re- treat from his new alliances and quietly dritt into history and private life. If it succeeds, as succeed it may, what then? partisan warfare, its discipline, its audacity, its resolution to hold power and fight rather Cameron, Conkling, Carpenter, Chandler, Morton, Brownlow, and the mighty organiza- tion which they control. represents a definite political principle of action. We know it is almost a forbid- den topic in illuminated circles, but if any principle is thoroughly defined it is that if the success of the party requires it, we sball have the President's re- nomination. The third term is in all men’s minds, ifin few men’s speech. It will not down because of the easy, protesting rhetoric of the editor of Harper's Weekly or the rade court flattery of its distinguished artist. It is a living theme, and it alone enables us to clearly understand the meaning of the nomi- nation of Simmons and the alliance with But- He is an emblem of what | might be called the regular army of the party | whose trade is politics. He represents Blaine, | ceived this contribution {rom ‘those who them- | seives have little to spare, bat who thus tax them- | Selves from their scanty means to aid in their What is more, he | | part in these charities the people will be glad alliance offensive and defensive with the | aggressive men of the party. It enables us in bis apology for the administration. And why not this alliance? What man of | eminence in the party has ventured to forbid | it? from General Garfield? Looking over the events of minor consequence, like the theatri- cal managers, who make the tragedy follow a | farce. It keeps the world waiting in | dreadful impatience. In Bilbao—when he has taken it—Carlos intends to be crowned, and he also intends to draw on his bankers from that city for a million of money. ‘These are important steps—especially the latter. But as Carlos has far more need of a crown of money than he has of Bilbao, we do not see why he should wait for this last before he indulges himself with the other. Shortly ns Richard said of Buckingham, “Hath he so | the Polish peasantry seem disposed to fight after taking Bilbao he intends to take the rest of Spain. | now for breath ?” political situation, what more effective and natural? None of our public men who mean to keep within the party are better or worse than our times. Mr. Sumner, perhaps, may linger apart, like Burke; but Mr. Sumner is | rather a monament of one generation, than | a leader of this. The editor of Harper's | Weekly may claim to be an exception, | but be has kept pace with the party | in its most extraordinary movements, { and the President may well say of him, | long held out with me untired, and stops he And all around we note ler, which is only another phrase for an | to see if Guy Fawkes was hiding there with his also to understand the zeal of General Garfield | | they don’t get over it fortwo hundred and Do we find, for instance, any protest | | most sensible thing Pinchback has done since } as that limits his moral sovereignty as Czar of A Suecestioy.—We acknowledge the follow- ing letter from Mr. Minturn, which we are glad to print :— Tuz NEW YORK ASSOCIATION FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE PooR, TREASURER’S OFFICE, 73 SOUTH STREET, New YorK, March 5, 1874, To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:— Allow me to avail myself of your columns to acknowledge the amount of $131 25, donated to this association by the employés of Messrs. W. & J. Sloane. This association does not usually make public acknowledgment of donations, but when I re- | measure to relieve the existing suffering, I felt that a special acknowledgment was due. I am, Sir, yOUrs most respectiully, ROBT. B, MINTURN, Treasurer. We are glad to second the appeal of Mr. Minturn, and we trust that those of our citi- zens who are charitably disposed will remem- ber this association. It is worthy of the ut- most confidence and support. When men like Mr. Mintarn and Mr. Roosevelt take active to support them. We shall not be at the mercy of the Braces and Barnards, who col- lect money for ‘‘charity’’ and expend it for “salary.’” Buoaasoo.—Yesterday the vaults under the Parliament House in London were searched lantern and powder barrels; but he was not found, and Parliament will meet in safety. Nations must be pretty well frightened when seventy years. Prxcupack.—That distinguished Louisiana politicien, P. B. 8. Pinchback, seems to have given up his Washington schemes, and has | gone back to printing a newspaper for the in- struction of the colored people. This is the he rose to his present eminence. Cuunch anp State.—Czar Alexander is using a few leaves out of Kaiser Wilhelm’s book, He also has a Church in his dominions that is not sufficiently within his control, and, cll the Russias, the Church must down. But for it, and seventy are reported as shot ina | recent riot. The Phenomenon Called “Spiritual- ism”—A “Communication” from Judge Peckham, Judge Edmonds sends us a correspondence, with a somewhat emphatic request that it shall appear in the Hemaup. We are always glad to oblige a gentleman as earnest and sincere as Judge Edmonds, even when he asks us to enter upon a subject as unusual as Spiritual- ism. This correspondence, as we understand it, consists of a communication made to Judge Edmonds by the spirit of the late much lamented Judge Rufus W. Peckham, who was among the unfortunate gentlemen who per- ished on the Ville du Havre, Judge Edmonds assures us that the spirit of Judge Peckham came to him, identified himself to his satis- faction and thereupon addressed him the letter which we print. The letter purporting to come from the spirit of Judge Peckham is an interesting lit- erary phenomenon, to say the least. It de- scribes the last meeting with Judge Edmonds at Albany, informing the Judge that he left the court room in advance of him, and pro- ceeds to say that death has severed no links in their friendship, “when we still sit in council with those we knew and loved."’ Fur- thermore, the Judge does not think he would have chosen death in the form that came to him. All his life, its early memories and friendships, came to his mind in the last sad moments. As he sunk in the waves, ‘with his wife folded to his heart,’’ his spirit was lifted out of the wave by his father and mother, and, with his wife in his arms, he followed the spirit of his | mother. His generous heart felt solicitous for | his fellow sufferers, but he suw them also lifted out of the waves as though by strong arms, “nerved by love.”’ There was noagony, no pain, “no sensation of fear, cold or suffo- cation ;"”” and the new life that came so sud- denly is, he assures us, so glorious that ‘the | shadow of death became an illumination.” The spirit of the Judge assures us that the “collision was inevitable ;’’ that no blame cam attach to the officer in charge, and that “the survivors alone most need sympathy.’’ He mentions the happy friendships that have come to him in the spirit world, among them ex-Senator Tallmadge, ex-President Van Buren and Nicholas Hill, and closes with an expression of the happiness of being able to “rejoice in our great and All-wise Father, | who doeth all things well.” We give this contribution to the literature of Spiritualism for what it is worth, We have had spirits since the Witch of Endor, and be- lief in Spiritualism as an actual faith or sys- tem of theology has become widespread comfort to mankind to be able to accept the | faith laid down with so much poetry and ro- mance by Judge Edmonds, and if we could all believe as fully as Judge Edmonds in the testimony of Judge Peckham as here recorded we fear there would be a ten- dency to sea travel as among the surest and happiest means of escape from toil and effort, from ill health, disappointments, bankruptcy and the other misfortunes that tread upon our | footsteps as we journey to the end. The sad- dest thought in leaving the world is of those we leave behind; and if we could believe that over the bed of death the spirits of those we loved were hovering with strong arms, “nerved by love,’’ to lift usintoa new and happy existence, death would become a festi- val of joy rather than sorrow, and our enemies would show their hatred by praying that wo might live many years. But we do not intend t be drawn into the enchanted realms of a discussion upon Spiritualism. If we could venture upona criticism without appearing to express an opinion on the subject it would be that we really are told nothing new in communications like those given us by Judge Edmonds. The larger part of these ‘‘communications” read like the dreams and fancies of a schoolgirl given to writing poems. What is this other world? What relation does it bear to the world we live in? What life do we lead there? Do we | aut | Southern States—which till 1837 flowered pro- fusely in Scotland; and many other most | | return on board any vessel of the fleet. see each other with spiritual eyes? Is it a world | of good or evil? Do we grow or re- main stagnant? Do we marry, or rec- ognize the marriages of earth? Do we carry with us our friendships, hopes, enmities or ambitions? Have we any com- munion with the saints? Is there any law of discipline or punishment for the sins of the flesh? Doei the malefactor who dies on the gallows enter into the same life with the prince who dies on the throne? Are we to have communion with the great minds of the world—to realize the dream of Napoleon in his dying hours that he would meet Cwsar, Han- nibal and Alexander in the Elysian Fields? | Is ita phenomenon, or a science, or a faith? We are afraid the world is no nearer the so- lution than Hamlet, who only saw in the ap- pearance of the ghost that there were more | things in heaven and earth than philosophy could explain. The phenomenon is certainly worthy of grave study and attention. We wish we could be more satisfied with the evidence of Judge Edmonds. At any rate, we give it as the testimony of an honest enthusiast, who believes what he says and labors to induce the world to accept his beautiful, gaudy and al- luring religion. Ispra.—The news from the seat of the In- dian famine grows worse and worse. In one | village alone eighteen persons starved to death | in four days. We do not know how many villages have not been heard from, nor how many from which it will be impossible to hear. In the meantime thousands of starving Hindoos apply for work. Before the new Ministry can begin operations the evil will have passed beyond control. We are on the eve of the most deplorable calamity of modern times and we cannot help feeling that the main cause of it is the apathy and mis- goverment which have so long cursed India. Tur Srrvation 1x Cuna.—The decree of the Captain General ordering the mobilization of the volunteers and the enrolment of all men capable of bearing arms is producing the results we anticipated. The Cubans forced to take up arms aro flocking to the insurgent standard. Our correspondent at Man- zanilva informs us that numerous deser- tions of the Cuban volunteers have taken place from the neighboring camps, and the same rebellious disposition is manifeding itself through the island. So far fron the decree of the Captain General securing peace, it will only fan to fiercer flame the insurrection. The Cuban struggle ia only tbout to hecome really gpgious. ‘Lhe | NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1874.-TRIPLE SHEET. | Spaniards have forced tho wavering to the wall, but they will probably have reason to regret their impolitic action. Cuba is lost to Spain, and the sooner the fact is recognized at Madrid the better it will be for the Spanish nation. A Free Notice. We acknowledge the receipt of the follow- ing letter: — FEBRUARY 26, 1874, Mr. ART Ogitic or THE HERALD :— Deaw Sin—I wish something similar to the en- closed published in to-morrow’s (Thursday's) Heratp. Enclosed please find $10. Respectiuily yours, P. KEARNBY, Enclosed in this letter are two five dollar bank bills. One is old and rather greasy, issued by the Marine National Bank of New York. The other is a bright, new bill, issued by the People’s National Bank of Ottawa, Kansas. The ‘something similar’ which Mr. Kearney encloses is as follows: — Agr MaTreRs.—Among the paintings now on ex- hibition and for his evening, by Messrs, ——r, aro or more of iruit pieces by P, Kearney, of Tottenville, Staten (sland, evidently rye with @ great deal of care, irom nature. grapes, cherries, foliage, &c., are superior. Since then Mr. Kearney, who evidently combines a love of art with good business habits, sends another letter: — Mz. Anr Curio oF Tun Higa DER SiR—I left @ notice here last Wednesday for insertion in the next day’s paper. 1 also en- closed $10 for the same. Notice not appearing, will you return me the money, by leaving it here or send to my address, and oblige? Yours, peepee tiully, P. KEARNEY. As wo prefer to print Mr. Kearney’s notice free of expense, our first advice to him is to call at our counting room and obtain his money. Our next advice is to give himself honestly to his art and not seek fame by attempting to corrupt newspapers, He can never rise in his art by these small and un- becoming practices. All the five dollar bills he can beg or borrow will not make hima good painter if he is really a bad one, and any criticism that can be purchased in this way will do harm to himself and the public. We do not want Mr. Kearney’s money, and we regret exceedingly he should have sent it. There is too much of this ten dollar criticism already in some modern journals, The result is that art is corrupted, and that unscrupulous dealers in pictures are constantly selling wretched daubs as the works of Doré and Landseer and Turner. The subject needs careful investigation, and we mean to devote some attention to it, in the interests of true artista who disdain the practices of Mr. Kearney, as well as of the public, who are so frequently swindled in the purchase of pic- tures, In the meantime Mr. Kearney will please consider this as a free notice, and call without | delay at our counting room for his money. Climatic Changes in Great Britain. Very curious and conclusive evidence of climatic changes in Great Britain has recently | been adduced byan English botanist in the opening address before the Edinburgh Botani- cal Society. This evidence is found in the marked deterioration or dying out of certaip vegetable growths, which, in the memory of men still living, once flourished in some parts of the United Kingdom. The alteration of climate, as indicated by horticultural statis- tics, is most striking in Scotland. Prior to 1835 the gardens and pleasure grounds around Edinburgh abounded in hydrangeas, the sweet | scented verbenas and other ornamental, shrubby plants, which are quite lost to the country, no longer beautified by their once prolific bloom and gorgeous and varied tints. During the memorably cold winter of 1860-61 a veteran myrtle tree at Leachie House, which had stood through a hundred | years—an examination of its stem showing its | age to be exactly a century—and regularly flowered, was destroyed. And this appears to have been the last survivor of its race. The catalpa, the fuchsia, the acacia, the cypress and the almond, in some of their varieties, seem also to have fallen under some evil spell, and their growth, where still alive, is dwindling and enfeebled. Equally marked is the decadence in the magnolia grandiflora—the pride of our valuable and ornamental trees have ceased to lend to Scottish scenery those varied charms which once inspired the poet and the tourist. Even the larch, the yew and woods—the staple of industrial forest growth— have not maintained their known pristine robustness and health. It may be very difficult to assign a good cause for the climatic change which has told so perceptibly upon the vegetation of Scot- | land, and doubtless more or less on that of | the entire Kingdom. The high horticultural authority which furnishes the above facts sug- | | generation of gests very plausibly that the failure of vegeta- tion during the last forty or fifty years is due to the non-ripening of the wood from lack of sun heat. The remarkable fact cited that figs, which, till 1834, grew in abundance and with- out the aid of fire heat, now seldom thrive except in well-protected and favored spots, would appear to corroborate this rea- soning. The thermometric observa- tions of climate have never boen suf- ficiently exact and delicate to determine through what variations of solar temperature | and radiation our planet has been and is passing. Great as are the bearings of such | observations on the practical work of the | gardener, the farmer and the forest-grower, they have yet to be instituted in a way to test the question now raised. But, however the amount of solar heat distributed over the British Islands may have varied during the supposed period of vegetative deterioration, it is probable the rainfall has diminished by ex- tensive deforesting ; and, what is equally im- portant, the amount of latent heat liberated from the clouds at the moment of their con- densation into rain has diminished. The loss of a cubic foot of rain overa given dis- | trict is, we know, accompanied by a loss of latent heat that would have been sufficient to raise a hundred thousand cubic feet of air from | the temperature of melting ice to summer | heat. And it is, therefore, obvious that with | the smallest diminution of a country’s rainfall, | though the deficiency would be almost inap- | preciable in a rain-gauge, the amount of heat requisite for giving bloom and vigor to vegetation is enormously curtailed. The subject is of universal interest and of world-wide economic importance; and | forcibly suggests the expediency we have long contended for, of guarding our climate against the deteriorating effects of wholesale deforest- | ing. A meteorological investigation of these climatic changes has become a necessity of agriculture aa well as of science, evergreen | The Temperance Movement. The Rey. John Hall does not favor the West ern plan of an exciting and, necessarily, a spasmodic crusade against venders of spirituous liquors, He is in the right. Violent reform are always succeeded by violent reactions,’ Repreasive measures only tend to establish more firmly the iniquities over which is obtained a temporary triumph. The suppression of the vice of intemperance is purely a practical one, and is m some respects a question also of climate, nourishment and religious teach- ing. We are glad to observe that Dr. Hall prefers addressing the moral sensibilities of persons who waste their bodies and souls in riotous intemperance, rather than attempt ta force prohibitory measures of, at least, doubt ful constitutionality. The National ‘Temper- ance Association appears also to be moving with rational pace, It has called a meeting of the clergymen of all denominations fox Monday next, at which the religions aspects of intemperance will be considered, and considered, we hope, in a catholic spirit and on practical grounds. Meanwhile the ladies are to circulate pledges to the sell- ers of rum, asking tho latter to close their establishments and retire from the business, Lessees of real estate are also to be appealed to, and an attempt is to be made to inaugurate the street scenes which have produced so much excitement in the-cities and villages of Ohio. We await the developments. Wao Puecierrarep tHE Rzvertron? is » question which we thought was decided by the answer that must be given as to who fired upon Fort Sumter, But Mr. Charles Francis Adams’ culogium on the late Secretary Seward has called trom Judge John A. Campbell a reply m which he charges the beginning of the war upon Mr. Lincoln’s Cabinet in not evacuating the Charleston defences. It isa very remarkable logic which holds a national government responsible for a war which could only have been averted by submitting to the authority of armed insurgents. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Ex-Senator Alexander Caldwell, of Kansas, ts staying at the Firth Avenue Hotel. And now another Georgia general wants to go to Congress. He is H. L. Benning. Ex-Governor Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, who has been very ill, is rapidly gaining in health. Mr. Stephen Satusbury, of Worcester, Mass., has subscribed $5,000 toward the Agassiz memorial. General G. J. Magee, formerly of Governor Hoff- man’s staff, is quartered at the Metropolitan Hotel, Sefior Constantin Borges, Brazilian Minister at Wasbington, has apartments at the Albemarle Hotel. Assistant Bishop Cheney has drawn his former parishioners of Christ church, Chicago, into the Reformed Episcopal Church. Sergeant-at-Arms N. G. Ordway, of the House of Representatives, arrived from Washington yester- day at the Grand Central Hotel, The apprehension expressed in some quarters for the safety ot General Phil Sheridan’s scalp are not shared in the Valley of Virginia, so says the Rich- mond Enquirer, Dr. Kari Mark, the leader of the elder branch of the International Association, ts engaged in trans- lating bis work on “Cupital,’’ which has not yet appeared in an English form. Sir Walter Crofton, author of the Irish prison system, 1s expected to address the National Prison Reform Congress at St. Lonis on March 13, Ex- Governor Horatio Seymour will make the opening address, and the Rev. Dr. Bellows will be among the other speakers, WAVAL INTELLIGENCE. The Old Constitution in Dry Dock for Rebuilding. PHILADELPHIA, March 5, 1874, The old frigate Constitution was taken into a sectional dry dock this morning, and then trans- berry vo the ways in the dry dock, She 1s to be rebuilt. ‘Transfer Orders. WASHINGTON, March 5, 1874. Ohief Engineer J. O. A. Zeigier has been detached from special duty at Key West and ordered to Philadelphia as inspector of coal, vice J. L. Van- clain, ordered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. THE NAVAL BBVIEW. The Monitors To Be Exercised To-Day. Key West, Fia., March 5, 1874. This morning Admiral Case issued an order to the commanders of vessels requesting that all the newspaper correspondents leave and not again The monitors now here are to be mancuvred to- morrow, weather permitting. The landing will be exactly in accordance with the programme and exercises previously published by you. The flagship Wabash and the steamers Despatch and Pinto returned to this port from Havana this afterngon. All reported quiet at the latter city. LEOTUBE ON ANTI-DARWINISM. Professor B. Waterhouse Hawkins, the well- known English naturalist, delivered the second of his series of lectures on the unity of plan in the animal kingdom before the Union League Club last night. Professor Hawkins is one of Darwin's numerous antagonists, and his remarks on the shes, a3 applied to the theory of evolution, were listened to with interest by an in- | telligent audience. THE ST, NICHOLAS SOCIETY. A meeting of the ‘St. Nicholas Society of the City of New York’? was held at Demontco’s, Four- teenth street, last evening. The Treasurer's report was read, which showed the finances o! the society to be ma Most flourishing condition. After the transaction of routine business the meeting ad- journed, THE KINGS COUNTY SUPERVISORS, The Kings County Supervisors met last evening. Mr. E. B, Cadley, the Clerk of the Board, was au- thorized to employ an assistant. The report of the experts employed to examine the plans and specifications of the Thirteenth regiment armory ‘was submitted by Supervisor Bergen. It condemns the plans, and sets forth that if the building should be erected by them it would be unsafe, Resola- tions condemning the plans and referring the mat- ter to the Committee on Military irs were | adopted. THE HUDSON BIVER, Avpany, N. Y., March 5, 1874 Ice from the Mohawk Rtver passed this city to- day. The river is open down as far a8 Ooeyman’s and with the present weather will soon be open there, PR Airtel Dew THE BED CUTTHROATS, A Soldier Killea by the Minnecoujous Sioux. WASHINGTON, March 5, 1874, A telegram to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs from Agent Moffatt, dated Grand Biver Agency, Dakota, 4th inst., says:— was killed at Grand River on the 22d of yeoruary. 158 by @ party o! Minnecoujous Stoux trom Tongue River. There have been no arrivals from the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies, The Indians here are all quiet. SUIOIDES IN NEW JERSEY AND MASSAOHU SETTS, Mocnt HOLLy, N. J., March 5, 1874 Allred Egiey, collector for Northampton towm ship, N. J., was jound hanging in his barn be morning. The accounts of the deceased were mraight, His estate is valued at $30,000, He was forty-one years of age and unmarried, The cause of the act is a mystery. ——- Boston, March 5, 1874. , Mass., on Wednesday, Slias Wilson, ea ina Tene committed suicide uf hanging. this mind been feeble (or some We. .