The New York Herald Newspaper, December 28, 1874, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HE ANN STREET. BROADWAY AND JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR THE DAILY HERALD, published every | day in the year. Four cents per copy. An- | gual subscription price $12. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—On and after January 1, 1875, the daily and weekly editions of the New Yorx Hexaxp will be RALD| NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1874.-WITH SUPP LEMENT. The New York Senatorship—Views of Democratic Members of the Legisla- ture. We print this morning a pretty extensive series of interviews with the democratic mem- | bers of the Legislature, relating to the organ- | ization of the new Assembly, the chances of candidates for the Speakership and Clerkship, and, most important of all, the election of a democratic successor to Senator Fenton. The Speakership and Clerkship of the Assembly are of minor interest, and need not detain us except for passing remarks, There is such a preponderance of preferences for Jeremiah | McGuire for Speaker and Hiram Calkins | sent free of postage. — All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New Yous | HERALD. | Rejected communications will not be re- | turned. Letters ard packages should be properly sealed. ares LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERAID—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. Subscriptions and Advertisements will be | received and forwarded on the same terms | as in New York. VOLUME XXXIX ~~ AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT, WALLACK'S THEATRE, 2 —TUE SHAUGHRAUN, at §#. M.; closes at Bosvre: 40 P.M. Mr. Boucicault. WoOOD's MUSEUM, ir et.-AFTER DARK, | Broadway, corner of Thirtietn stre at 2PM. closes at 4:15 P.M, and at SP. M., closes at | Wa6P. Mo J. o. Tinson i = | METROPOLITAN THEATRE, No. $85 Broadway.—VALISTY, at 8%. M.; closes at 10:30 | a. ERA HOUSE a Bighth avenue.—THE BLACK | PARK THEATRE, | Broadway, between Twenty-first and Twenty-second ree ta —GILDED 7K, at SP. a; closes at 10330 P.M. Kir John f. Rayinor OLYMPIC THEATRE, | No. 6% Broadway.—VARILTY, at 5 P. M.; closes at 1045 P.M. BOOTH’S THEATRE, corner of Twenty-third street and Sixth avenue.— | LITTLE EMILY, ats P.M. Mr. Rowe. ROMAN HIPPODROME, | Twenty-ixth street and Fourth ‘avenue.—BLUE | BEARD aud FETL AT PEKIN, alternoon and evening, atzand & TH aes TIVOLI THEATRE, Eighth street.—VARIETY, P. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, ‘Twenty-cighth street and Broadway.—PYGMALION AND GALA‘ EA, at8P. M.; closes at 10:30 P.M. Miss Cariotia Lecierca. BRYANT’S OPERA HOUSE, West Twenty-third street, near Sixth avenue.—NEGRO | aaa &c., at 8 P. M.¢ cloves at 10 P.M. Dao iryant METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, Fourteenth strees—Open trom 10 A. M to5 P. M, NIBLO'S, Serer ae AND JILL, at 8 P. M.; closes at 10:45 BROOKLYN THEATRE, Washington street.—LED ASTRAY, at 2? P. M.; MEDEA and DON CHAK DE BAZAN, at 8 P.M. Mr. Frank Boach, Mrs. way. eS SAN FRANC1yUO MI LS, | Broadway, corner of. ‘eet. NEGRO MINSTRELSY, at 8 P. M. 1. N HAL! ROBI L. Sixteenth street—BEGONE DULL CARE, at 8 P. M.; | Closes ai 9:45 P. M. Mr. Maccabe. GLOBE THEATRE, Broadway.—VARILTY, at 8P. M.; closes at 10:30 P. M, THEATRE, ats P.M; closes at ACAD) C. ¥ OF MUSIC, Irving place.—LOHENGRIN, at 8 P.Y. Mile. Albani, Mins Cary, Signor Carpi, Dei Puente. BROOKLYN PARK THEATRE. KING JOHN, at 6 P.M. Mrs. Agnes Booth, J. B. Booth. LYCEUM THEATRE, Poarteenth street and Sixth avenue.—GENEVIEVE DE BRABANT and FILLE DE MADAME ANGOT, at 8P, M.; closes at 10:45 P. Miss Emily soldene. WITH SUPPLEMENT. NEW YORK, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1874, From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be rainy and foggy. Cuurcn anv Krve were seen united yester- day, His Hawaiian Majesty having worshipped at St. Stephen’s. The programme for his en- tertainment to-day is elsewhere presented. How tur Gatuant Lirevrenant Wermore was chased for his life by the Indians in Texas | while carrying Heratp despatches, and how he escaped, is told in a thrilling letter trom Fort Sill to-day. Tar Brumr oF Captain Gevenat Concma | that a strong effort is being made in Washing- ton to obtain recognition of the Cubans as belligerents is sustained by the facts reported in our Washington despatches. | Tur Frmes in the city yesterday were more | numerons than usual. One large manufac- tory was destroyed, and the loss is thought to be about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, Castie Ganpen in its old days may have been more romantic, but it was never more useful than now. Of its present condition, as the grand depot for European immigration, we give a description to-day, including statis- tics of recent arrivals. Tae Guenpenntnc Arratk.—Trouble was | expected yesterday at the Church of the Scan- | dal, as it had been announced that the Rev. Mr. Glendenning intended to preach in de- fiance of the order of the Presbytery. But there was no occasion for the services of the | police force called out for his protection, as a letter was read from him submitting to the decision of his judges until the appeal to the Synod could be heard. That will be ten months hence, and Mr, Glendenning is likely to have a long vacation. Our New Onteaxs Desparcues state the | political excitement is very great in Louisiana, | end that the people in the parishes thrown out by the Returning Board are determined to send their representatives to the Legisla- ture. It is claimed that the proceedings on | the 4th of January will be peaceful, yet as strong escorts are to accompany the candidates declared defeated by the Board any impru- | dence may provoke hostilities. The death of | Mr. Byerly will no doubt prevent the duel be- tween Messrs. Warmoth and Jewell, and that absurd tribunal known as ao court of honor, but unknown to our jurisprudence, is ex. | pected to decide to that effect. In that case a court of honor will prove to be a court of com- mon senaa. | settled. Mr. McGuire is an Irishman by | im that position remains to be tested. Mr. | reasonable share of the esprit de corps which | joint ballot of both houses meeting together | | choice of the Senate and Mr. Kernan or Mr. | foes, make him a candidate against whom | for Clerk as to leave no reasonable doubt of their election; and _ that | part of the slate may be regarded as birth, a clear-headed man, a good country lawyer and a former member of the Assembly; but he has no experience in the kind of duties | which belong to the Speaker, and his success Calkins was Clerk of the last Senate and | also of the Constitutional Commission which | framed the new amendments just adopted by | the people, and in both capacities he ac- | quitted himself to the satisfaction of those | who elected him and was much liked by the members. He has a large acquaintance with | the public men of the State of both parties, and being a journalist by profession, with a prevails among members of the press, he wil} be obliging and helpful to newspaper corre- spondents at Albany. The great duty which devolves upon this | reason for giving it to Mr. O’Conor. The democracy of the State will miss a great opportunity if they do not elect him. Bearing in mind that the only doubt which | has been raised in any quarter rests upon the lateness with which Mr. O’Conor has been proposed, we beg the attention of readers to some of the expressions of the democratic members of the Legislature whom we have interviewed. Senator Ray says, ‘If Mr. O’Conor is really a candidate he stands as good a chance as any one named;” Senator Parmenter says, “No political station, however exalted, could add to the lustre of his name and character;” Senator | Lord says, “I think he would be an excellent Senator;"’ Assemblyman Mackin says, ‘Mr. | O’Conor would be a creditable Senator, as much so as any person that has been named;’* Assemblyman Broas says, “If Mr. O'Conor should be a candidate he would be well supported;" Assemblyman Hammond “believes the candidacy of Mr. O’Conor would command great respect;’’ Assembly- man Brown says, ‘If Seymour declines he considers O’Conor will show great strength.” Not wishing to be tedious we will not mul- tiply these quotations, and we again call attention to the fact*that the only doubt of Mr. O'Conor’s success expressed by any mem: ber of the Legislature rests upon the lateness ' with which he has been brought into the can-- vass. ‘There is no reason for bestowing this honor on Mr. Kernan which is not a stronger The democratic party is disposed to put down the old Know Nothing feeling, which made religion & political test ; but Mr. O’Conor’s election Legislature is the election of a United States Senator. The new Senator will certainly be a democrat, for it is sheer misinformation which supposes that the liberal republicans hold the H balance in the new Legislature. The demo- | crate havea clear and assured majority on | joint ballot, and only a pronounced democrat | has any chance of an election. The liberal re- | publicans have not strength enough to be a makeweight even in the Senate. Lieutenant Governor Dorsheimer, its presiding of- | ficer, who was put on the ticket | | with Mr. Tilden to catch the lib | | eral republican vote, will hereafter class | himself as a democrat, and he is ‘certain to | | shun identification with Senator Fenton and | to abstain from any steps that wouldobstruct | his reception into the democratic party in full | communion. No contingency can arise which will make Mr. Fenton’s chance for a re-elec- | tion worth discussing, and he must be dis- missed from consideration as an impossible candidate. The fact that the straight repub- | licans have a majority in the Senate will give emphasis to their complimentary nomination, but since it can be only a mere compliment | there is not yet the slightest public curiosity | as to the person on whom it will be be- | stowed. It is more likely to be ex-Gov- ernor Morgan than anybody else, as it was the understanding in the canvass that, if the republicans carried the Legisla- ture, Mr. Morgan would be elected to the | Senate. Since Congress, a few years ago, prescribed a uniform method of electing United States Senators in all the States, the forms of pro- ceeding on such occasions are well understood. Each branch of the Legislature votes sepa- rately on the appointed day, and if the choice of both houses falls on the same individual their joint meeting is merely formal to declare the result. Butif it happens, as it is certain to happen at Albany this winter, that one candi- | date has a majority in the Senate and another in the Assembly, the Senator is elected by | as one body. Mr. Morgan is likely to be the | O’Conor the choice of the Assembly, and the | candidate of the Assembly, whether it be O’Conor or Kernan, is sure to carry off the | prize. he election will move with perfect | smoothness in the Legislature. The contest, | if there should be a contest, will be confined to the caucus of the democratic members, or to the personal canvassing which precedes the | meeting of the caucus. If it should be settled and conceded in advance that Mr. Kernan or Mr. O’Conor has a clear majority of the dem- | ccratic members, the nomination will proba- bly be made by acclamation, without the for+ mality of a ballot. But if there should be a | doubt as to who is the strongest candidate the democratic caucus will be lively and exciting. It appears from the interviews which we print this morning that, before the imposing | figure of Mr. O’Conor appeared in the field, | the balance of chances was decidedly in favor of Mr. Kernan. As against Mr. Murphy, the | strongest of his previous competitors, or Judge Church, or Judge Parker, or Governor Hoffman, or Mr. Wheaton—and these are the | only candidates whose names appear in the interviews—Mr. Kernan would be pretty sure of success. But the presentation of the great | name of Mr. O’Conor suddenly changes and almost revolutionizes the aspect of the can- | vass. He is a candidate against whose supe- j rior fitness it does not he in the mouth of | any genuine democrat to make objection. | His superlative ability, commanding char- ; acter, peerless national reputation, lifelong | devotion to democratic principles, and the | ‘ profound respect and homage which are paid | him alike by political friends and political | nothing is to be said by any intelligent man | who concedes that the Senatorship fairly be- longs to the democratic party. The election of so eminent a citizen would lift politics toa | | higher plane and silence the prevailing doubts } as to whether our institutions permit the ele- | vation of the best men to the highest stations. | The only doubts expressed in the interviews | which we publish as to Mr. O'Conor’s success rest upon a fear that he has been brought too | late into the canvass. Had he been started in | the race immediately after Governor Seymour | | declined there would have been no serious opposition to his election, because there are no grounds on which opposition could be jus- | tified. The slackness and tardiness of Mr. O'Conor’s friends may be accounted for on | the supposition that Governor Seymour might | be prevailed on to reconsider his determina- tion, for the claims of all candidates would be cheerfully waived in his favor,andon the sup- posed uncertainty of Mr. O'Conor’s consent. Both grounds of doubtare removed. Governor Seymour's determination is conceded to be immovable, and since this has been fully as- has vielded his reluctance to be a candidate. | but a small part of the capital, the re: | being divided into ten boroughs. would be a more signal rebuke to that kind of illiberality than the election of Mr. Kernan, as Mr. O'Conor is a more distin- guished and better known Catholic. It is claimed that Mr. Kernan was a stanch ally of Mr. Tijden in pursuing the Tweed Ring; but while Mr. Kernan gave merely his advice and silent approbation Mr. O'Conor came openly to the front and was conspicuous in fighting the battle. It was he who furnished the legal knowledge in the Ring prosecutions, and, with praiseworthy public spirit, he devoted his pre-eminent pro- fessional ability without fee or pecuniary com- Pensatign. _In point of public standing and national recognition there is no comparison between the two men. Mr. O'’Conor's elec- tion would be greeted in every part of the country as an eminently fit bestowal of a public honor; Mr. Kernan’s election would | be regarded merely as a respectable but by no means a distinguished accession to the democratic strength in the Senate. The party will make a great mistake if it does not confer this honor on a: man whom all his fellow Senators, of both political parties, would feel constrained to treat with the most respectful regard and the most implicit deference. London and New York. While London is superior to New York in many of its public works, its docks, sewers and the Thames embankment, its ancient forms of local government are inadequate to | its present needs. The city of London, over which the Lord Mayor rules, includes but seven hundred and twenty-three acres, while the rest of the metropolis occupies over seventy thousand. The municipality ig thus ashe The want of one great city government has been\an obstacle to the improvement of the capifal ; but, as will be seen by our letter from Lon- don, an effort will be made by Parlia- ment to create an efficient municipality. That so much has been done by the Londoners amid so many diffi- culties of conflicting authority ought to make New Yorkers ashamed of the condition of their city. London has wretched methods of government and great metropolitan im- provements, while New York has an excellent | theoretical municipal rule and no improve- | ments at all. We have docks which repel in- | stead of inviting commerce, and a system of travel which is forcing our citizens to seck | homes in Long Island and New Jersey. It | { executed his high trust with a single-minded The Removal of Green. The impression that Mayor Wickham will begin his administration by the removal of Andrew H. Green from the office of Comp- troller adds largely to the sentiment of good will which awaits his coming into power. There has probably been no question for the past generation, with the exception of the downfall of Tammany, on which public opinion is so united as the necessity for this removal, The republicans do not support Mr. Green; the democrats oppose him. He represents no party, no policy, no general popular sentiment. His office, so necessary in any fiscal government, especially so neces- sany in 8 government like that of New York, has grown to be an abuse, an enormity, an assumption, or, rather, an aggregation of powers never intended by the true spirit of an honest $harter nor by the constitutional prin- ciples of government. Such an office under the control of such a man—a wrong-headed, implacable, obstinate man—has become a tyranny, and we cannot longer endure it. Mr. Wi m will not really begin to rule as Mayor of New York until we have an end of the rule of Andrew H. Green... This feeling does not represent any personal ill will toward Mr. Green. It would be a mis- fortune if the pele could rest any question of grave public policy upon likes and dislikes. Mr. Green is nothing personal If he had purpose of obeying the law and giving the city a wise and liberal administration of the finances no one would have complained of his manners or his habits; for no people in the world are more indulgent toward their servants than the Americans. We chaff and banter and censure them, and now and then talk wildly, and sometimes go into matters which a gen- erous spirit would as soon overlook. But no one really ever seriously blamed Jackson for swearing, or Stanton for his harsh personal demeanor, or Lincoln for his questionable stories, or Grant for his occasional incivilities. Mr. Green might be as pigheaded and per- emptory as he pleased, and the general sense | of the community would have cared nothing. begins our difficulty. ~ Thus the “policy of reform” which he was’ to give us has proved a policy of suffocation and decay. So far from reform wo havo had; as was keenly said at the time, a policy of | debt-piling as sure, if not as rapid, as that of | Tweed and his Tammany ring of thieves. Nothing has made any progress in New York since Mr. Green became Comptroller but the | taxes and the public debt. For Mr. Wickham | to enter upon a new municipal administration loaded down with Mr. Green as the officer in charge of his finances would be like attempt- ing to run a race horse over the course after | tying a couple of his limbs together. It is simply an impossibility. There are thousands of men in New York more honest and more capable than Mr, Green—men against whom | | there is no protest and about whom there is | no suspicion. As Comptroller any one of | them would lead to public confidence in the | | new administration. Any one of them would | | give the Mayor all that Mr. Green’s warmest friends claim for him, and would bring him | what the present administration does not pos- sess—public esteem. Mayor Wickham is a fortunate man in many | ways. He has now a duty which at the same | time is an opportunity. Let him embrace it, and in removing Mr. Green from this office | give his administration an impulse that will | send it at once into general favor. Vrvisection.—An attempt has been made in the English courts to enforce the law for the | | prevention of cruelty to animals against the | | operators of vivisections made in the interest | of science. Any thoughtful person, not | | blinded by fanatical zeal, can comprehend | that the delegation of authority to prevent | this cruelty, wherever made, is made always to suppress the flagrant exhibitions of brutal But he has been a bad Comptroller, and thore q He Does Mean Something. A correspondent reproaches us with “making the President ridiculous,” in an article on Saturday, asking what some parts of his re- cont Message mean. This writer does us a great injustice. The Henaxp is a serious journal, and it respects the constituted authorities too highly to inter- ‘ere with their inalienable right to make them- selves ridiculous. As to the President, in par- ticular, we mean always to uphold and defend him, and if our correspondent had carefully read the article of which he complains he would have seen that its plain seope and de- sign were to support Mr. Grant against the at- tacks of his enemies. It is is very commonly said of His Excel- lency, by republicans as well as democrats, that he is dull of intellect and ignorant of the plainest and best established principles of government; that his recommendations on public matters are confused and incongruous; that many of his apparently profound utter- ances are meaningless, and others rank non- sense. It cannot be truthfully said that the Herap has ever made such assertions; we conceive that we do His Excellency and the public a service when we attempt to show, by citations from his last Message--and if necessary from others of his documents— that though in common with some other great Lae. be evidegtly does not and cannot mean ‘what he sometimes appears to say, he does always mean something. For instance, to return for a moment to one of the most notable passages of the Message, @ generalization of which, we dare to say, His Excellency was very proud—his desire that Congress shall “direct the employment” of “the products of the soil."’ An enemy of Mr. Grant would naturally say that in this instance he had uttered rank and conspicuous non- sense. But we at once come to his defence. Certainly, we admit, the words sound like non- sense ; for how can Congress ‘‘direct the em- ployment’ of potatoes, turnips, carrots, onions, beans, and other respectable vegetables? But if taken in their accepted and+ obvious mean- ing these would seem to be not the words of wisdom, but the canting utterances of a slip- shod mind: “What follows? Why, that they have sme other, some gbstruse, subliiiated, refined, recondite meaning, of course, which Mr. Grant's enemies are not capable of appre- hendjng. It is not our business to tell them what His Excellency means, or to hint to them that this passage conceals his anxicty about the condition of the Agricultural Department. Our duty is done when we hasten to assure the world that he does mean something. , Again, speaking of civil service reform, Mr. Grant says:—‘‘Generally the support which this reform receives is from those who give it their support only to find fault when tlie rules are apparently departed from.” Now, no doubt His Excellency’s enemies ¢huckled when they read this passage. ‘It sounds,” they said to each other, “‘very much like a magniloquent announcement that twice two makes four.”” Shall the friends of Mr. Grant stand by and hear his wisdom made the sport of malignant, not to say superficial minds? By no means. We do not deny that this sen- tence has a ridiculous side to it, and that a hasty reader might ask with amazement who else should complain of violations of the civil service rules, if not the supporters of this re- form? But, we reply triumphantly, he means something else, something beyond the com- prehension of his enemies; something magnifi- cent, noble, just, good. What he means we do not pretend to say; but we are sure he means something. matter of ‘self-necessity,”-if we may for this occasion borrow one of His Excellency’s words; for, as patriotic and truly loyal citi- zens, it does not become us to allow the pro- fane to go about asserting that a President's Message is filled with balderbash. The Beecher Business. | We are told that Mr. Beecher and and | This much follows as a | The whole Brooklyn matter is a series of | impulses that'are horrifying to ordinary sensi- | problems. bilities, and that lawmakers never intended | Mr, Tilton are ‘dying for trial,’ yet every to embarrass the legitimate pursuits of science | day or two we have one party or another | by this sort of law; least of all could they ever | making elaborate preparations fr delay. We j | is impossible for this apathy to the improve- | | The new administration of our municipal | been sworn in on the Ist of January, and | | is the supposed inability of the members to certained it is understood that Mr. O’Conor | have intended ¢o prevent the sacrifice of a | ment of the city to continue much longer ra ais sae aes ee ee pry | meer eaeaeine mee dary te ioy En erence | hast ine anne on this point fet | affairs stands or falls according to the ability natin arena saieats feng eat Wie eetcr acer sea eran | of man to the brute creation. It endeavored The New Oath of Offices | to punish a vivisection made in the presence : 3 of a learned society, and its complaint was Two prominent democratic officers of the | dismissed. If this act cannot be punished in | State government, Mr. Willers, Secretary of England it cannot here, where there is far ae sod Mr. Pra tt, A ttorney Gencral, have | less professional philanthropy, and we hope vet foe shh Hoe ce indirect manner, | the society will take note of the decision on all persons elected in November that they may | the other side. evade the new oath of office by presenting | EERE EET TE ) themselves to be sworn in previous to the Ist | Rap Paaserr: The Sie of rapid of January. This is exceedingly kind of | transit is really a question of life or death to | Messrs, Willers and Pratt, The form of the | the city of New York. All the channels of notification is as ingenious as its motive is 8TOWth naturally tend into the upper part” of considerate. The Secretary of State writes an | the island. Tt was upon this island that New official letter asking the opinion of the Attor- | York was intended to grow. The fairest ney General, and the Attorney General re- and most inviting of our suburbs are those plies inan argument showing that the old oath | that lie around the Harlem and Hudson and will suffice if taken before the close of the year, «| beyond in the valleys and hills of Westches- but that officers sworn in on or after January | “™ Here hundreds of thousands of our citi- 1 must take the new one. This correspond- 7°28 could find homes; but they go else- ence is published in the newspapers a weck in | Where—to New Jersey and Long Island and advance of the new year, so that all concerned | Staten Island—crossing forbidding and ene may avail themselves of the opportunity to \ comfortable ferries, _ because they find it hold their offices and yet escape perjury. If | almost impossible to live in Westchester orin they are unable to swear truthfully that they | the upper part of the island and do business have not resorted to bribery or other improper i the city. Great honor has been given to means to influence votes they can take the the men who opened the Erie Canal, who in- old oath before the 1st of January. introduced Croton water and who created Honest men will be apt to inquire why this Central Park. But still greater honor will be more than official tenderness has been prac- given to the enterprise and the statesmanship | tised toward the men who were elected in | that give us rapid transit. Let Mayor Wick- | November. New State officers, the scene of bam and Governor Tilden especially remem- | whose duties is at Albany, have heretofore , bet this. | SprerrvatisM.—An ex-medium gives the | members of the Legislature on the day that | public to-day an explanation of the manner | body assembles. The only reason that can | in which the slateand paper tricks are per- | be given for departing from that practice now | formed—tricks in which it is pretended that spirits write communications to their friends take the new oath without perjury. But as it omearth. On the other side of the question i is the obvions intent of the amendments to | We present a letter from Dr. Slade, including | exelude all such persons from office Messrs. stimony to show t®e impossibility of decep- Willers and Pratt seem to have gone out of | tion in certain spiritualistic revelations which their way to show them how they can circum- | he procured, The ghost on this occasion was | vent the constitution. | very desirous to shake hands with his friends a and to talk; but, unhappily, just as he was Tne Dyrxo Statement of Thomas Corr, | about to do so his materializing power ended, | who was shot in Brooklyn on Saturday night, | and he vanished. It was a pity he could not | ; on the presumption that he was a chicken | have stayed long enough to write a letter to | thief, and his conversation with the Coroner, | the Henanp. We have had interesting com- | suggest the doubt whether the man was reaky | munications from mediums and unbelievers, guilty. The inquest will be held to-morrow | and gow we should like to have affidavits and the other side be heard. from a few chosts, are told that there is nothing they more deeply deploge than ‘newspaper trial,” that they wish to have the matter ‘transferred to the courts,’’ and they resent these constant publications and statements and interviews ; yet to-day we have a statement from Mr. | Beecher or his counsel, and to-morrow to be followed ty another from Mr. Tilton or his counsel as surely as night by the morning. It | is like the stage direction in the play:— | “Laertes wounds Hamlet, and then in scuf- fling they change rapiers and Hamlet wounds Laertes."’ The public never knows which really has the poisoned rapier. If this unfortunate business continues there can be but one opinion in the minds of the public—that both parties have so grievously sinned that neither of them can afford to have | the truth made known. It is to the interest of Mr. Beecher and Mr. Tilton, more than any two men living, that this truth shall be known. Either delay or the appearance of delay on the part of eitlier party produces great harm. This scandal case has been the dark and heavy burden of the year that is now coming toanend. It has wounded mill- ions of hearts, stained the Christian religion, brought contumely upon illustrious names and familiarized the innocent, budding mind of childhood with the darkest ideas of perfidy, | dishonor and shame. Morally speaking America has suffered as much trom it as it we had had a plague or a pestilence. recognize the fact that an effort for delay is practically a confession of guilt the better it will be for truth. Whe City Caucus. We observe that the democratic members of the Assembly from New York city have held a caucus and have resolved to support certain nominations for the United States Senate and for the organization of the House, We can understand why the members of a party should assemble before the meeting of a Legislature and agree in caucus upon a cer- tain line of action. This, however, may be- come an abuse, and the power of a caucus | The caucus is proper , should be limited. enough to indicate nominations for offices, but we hardly think it proper in the discussien of a financial measure like the bill before the Senate, which, we are tuld, was determined upon by the republicans before it came before that body. Even a worse form of this caucus system exists in New York city. It seems im- prover for the delegates from any ope distzict The sooner | it ends the better, and the sooner both parties | to meet in advance and go to Albany bound by a resolution limiting their independence, There aro many reasons that may occur to @ representative in Albany that will not be ap- parent to him in New York. These may lead to a different course of action on importan$s questions, Why, therefore, should the repre- sentative have his judgment fettered by the decree of a home caucus? The practical effect of a home caucus like the one held the other day is to put our whole delegation at Albany in a condition of dr. and to make it as subservient to the leaders of Tammany Hall as a primary convention. This is a mistake, The application of the caucus system is a blunder. It it is to be ap- plied to all legislation in Albany then the true function of legislation—to debate and consider and mature—will be at an end. In- stead of obeying the will of the people and their own best judgment our Assemblymen will simp!y go to Albany to obey the wishes of ® premature and badly informed caucus, obey- ing the orders of Tammany Hall. The Sermons Yesterday. Our sermons to-day are touched with the solemnity which accompanies those periods that mark for us the rapid passage of time, The departure of the old year, the coming of the new, naturally dispose men to consider how brief is the span of their lives. If we take no note of time but from its loss we never note it more than when custom formally declares that another year has gone forever. Among those of our clergymen who dwelt more directly upon this subject was the Rev. | Dr. Hepworth, who yesterday preached upon the text of Ecclesiastes, ‘Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do, and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.” How valuable were the lessons he de- rived from these words the reader will not fail . to perceive. The gloomy view of Solomon was contrasted with the reasons the Christian has to be grateful for the past and hopeful for the future. Archbishop McCloskey preached at St. Patrick’s Cathedral upon the lessons of the life of the apostle yongeligt St, 1 John if he fate pet foes) vor. Dr. Chapin preached upon dreams and realities in reference to the new year. Mr. Beecher treated of the morality of pew auctions and the comforts of the love of God to man, in his well known vivid and picturesque style. Rev. Dr. Alger selected the “Old Year’ for his topic, and pointed out the dangers of looking too fondly and regretfully upon the bygone, enchanted days. One of the most remarkable sermons of the day was that ot Mr. Frothingham upon the idea of Christ, The Christ in which the world now reposes its faith is not, he says, the Christ of the Jews, but the creation of St. Paul The Saviour in which men have believed és not, he holds, a person, but a thought, an idea. But the old conception is gone. “Christ is no more. The beautiful heavens do not contain Him, the throne is vacant, but | another conception arises and takes its place.” This Mr. Frothingham defines as the concep- | tion of humanity which he thinks will sup- plant that of the Christ, and ‘will one day take a stature and attributes and set itself over the world as the ruler of mankind.’’ This is a new religion, of which Mr. Froth- ingham is the apostle, and opposed, ‘as it is, to profound instincts of dependence and reverence implanted in our most inmost souls, it is true, as he says, that it is increas- ing in Germany, France, England and the | United S‘ates, and especially in countries where the workingmen feel the Church to be an oppression. a | 1 Our WasHINGTON CORRESPONDENCE suggests that between the issuing of the synopsis of the President’s Message and that of the Mes- | sage ‘itself the President may have changed his mind in regard to Cuba. There is some mystery involved in the discrepancy of the two recommendations. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Peete De a | Mayor Charles A, Otis, of Cleveiand, 1s staying at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Mr. Edwin Adams, the tragedian, {8 sojourning at the Sturtevant House. Major John F. Weston, United States quartered at the Windsor Hotel. Ex-Governor J. W. Throckmorton, of Texas, is registered at the Hoffman House, Professor A. P. Peaboay, of Harvard College, ts residing at the Westminster Hotel. In Maine the anti-Hamitn men think Judge Peters the coming man for United States Senator. Mile.Marie Heilbron, of the Strakosch Opera Company, has apartments at the Union Square Hotel. Congressman Oliver P. Snycer, of Arkansas, ar- | rived from Wasuington yesterday at the St. Niche * olas Hotel. Dr. Kenealy proposes for England a Magna Charta Association, to “destroy the despotism that now exists.’? For tashions in furs tt 1s noted that Siberian sable 18 proper for ladies whose husbands have re- cently become bankrupt. Assemblymen Emerson E£, Davis and James Mackin, of Fishkill, N. Y., are among the latest arrivals at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. A Western man has gone to sea with his soul stirred by the story of Enoch Arden. He wants . | to be wrecked and come home and find his wife married to some other man. “Scots wha’ hae wi’ Wallace bled” will probably be the refrain of the friends of Senator Scott in case Wallace should succeed that gentieman as United States Senator from Pennsylvania, In the Court of Probate and Divorce tne decree nisi obtained by the well known actress, Miss Glynn, granting her a dissolution of her marriage with Mr. E, Dallas, has been rendered absolute, “By the way, of what politics are you asked a Senator of an applicant for office while on the way to imtroduce him to a Cabinet Minister. “On,” | was the reply, “I always have been a democrat, but can turn.’ | The paragraph headed ‘‘A Boarding School Sen- | gation,” which has been published, representing that a youth disguised as @ girl nad obtained ad mission into a Philadelphia schooi, does not, we are assured, refer to any educational institute tm Sprace street, in that city, ae bas been erropeously inferred trom the language of said paragraph. | An exchange tells us that Brooklyn has 3,000 | saloons and three cierical scandals. The reason the saloons so greatly outnumber the clertcat scandals is chiefly because you Know where to lay your hand on the saloons when you want to count them,—Loulsville Courver-Journal, Messrs. Phillips, Bacon, Nye, Wilson and Os- good, @ special committee of the Massachusetts Legislature, Were at the Windsor Hotel yesterday, | on the way to Baltimore, where they are to make an inspection of tne terminus of the Baltimore and Ohio Ratlroad, They were appointed at the last session of the Legislature to consider and re+ | Port upon the possibtiity of making South Boston | flats the torminus of a through freignt line trom the West to the seaboard, and are goimg to visit Baltimore, Philadelphia and this city to obtain information to assiat them tn making their report fo the Lodislatare army, is