The New York Herald Newspaper, December 10, 1875, Page 6

} 6 NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER ‘AV, 1875.—TRIPLE SHEET. NEW YORK HERALD SRK BROADWAY ANO ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR NOTICE TO BSCRIBERS.—On and after January 1, 1875, the daily and weekly editions of the New York Henatp will be fent free of postage. THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Twelve dollars per year, or one dollar per Four cents per copy. month, free of postage, to subscribers. All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York Herat. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. SAM Hc LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. PARIS OFFICE—AVENUE DE L'OPERA. Subscriptions and advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. Youu: ME ; AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. WALLACK’ Trondway and Thirteenth stre Mj closes at 1045 P.M. M THEA PARISIAN VARIETIES, Sixteenth street, near Broadway.—VARIEIY, at 8 P.M. 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Tae Heracp py Fast Macz Tratws.— News- @ealers and the public throughout the Slates of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as in the West, the Pacific Coast, the North, the South and Southwest, also along the lines of the Hudson River, New York Central and Pennsyltania Central Railroads and their con- | nections, rill be supplied with Taz Henarp, free of postage. Extraordinary inducements offered to newsdealers by sending their orders direct to this office. Wau Street Yesterpay.--Gold was firmer at 1141-2. Rag paper, 87.33. Stocks were lower, with the largest speculation in Lake Shore. Money easy at 4nd 5 per cent, Tue Testimony taken yesterday before the Joint Legislative Committee was historical, going back to the freshet of 1857. ‘Tar Usvan Connery Exrrosion took place yesterday in England. It was : near Leeds, and six miners w Tae Exproration op THE GREAT Sanana is a task weM worthy of attainment. The letter which we publish from Algeria outlin- ing the programme of the French expedition shows that the portion of Africa which has, above all, been given up as a waste spot on the world’s face has some attractions. Tae Arxim-Brsmanck War still rages in documentary shape. Onr London: letter gives some spicy extracts from the pamphlet of the ruined Count. They have a sting in them for the Imperial Chancellor, but the latter is a man who believes that those may laugh who win ; and he has won. ANN, i of Stanley in Central Af tribute to the explorer’s ster! pays a high ng qualities of journalism which sends him forth. communication will be found elsewhere. Tar Cexsune on Prot Konren, by the Supervising Inspector of Steam Vessels, for his negligence in allowing his vessel, the Northfield, to come into collision with the ‘Twilight, seems a somewhat empty form, in- asmuch as it appears to carry no punishment along with it. ‘Tur BaLLorine ror SrNat: Assembly shows, to begin w Left cannot elect their men they can effect- + | review to this interesting subject, he might Charch and State, President Grant introduced his proposals relating to common schools and Church property by drawing a picture, im colors as warm as his prosaic mind could furnish, of the gigantic march of the nation during the first hundred years of ita existence. The subject is great enough to kindle the imag- ination, even when presented in the cold and business like style of a formal public document, and the President's enumeration of the points of progress would have been quite comprehensive if ‘he had not over- looked one of the most appropriate topics of congratulation. It is, indeed, a proud and striking contrast which he presents, notwithstanding ‘his important omis- sion. In territory, in population, in wealth, in the progress of universal freedom by the emancipation and politi- cal enfranchisement of the blacks, in the application of science to the arts, in the growth of manufactures, in facilities of com- munication by means of railroads and tele- graphie lines, in the development of the mining wealth of the country, in the progress of intelligence, refinement and civilization, the President has a just appreciation of what the nation has done in the century which has elapsed sinee its birth. It is a noble picture even when sketched in rough out- line, without any glow of eloquence or colors borrowed from the magic of poetry. Even in the dry form of statement suitable for a | State paper itis fitted to kindle pride and enliven patriotism. But it is surprising that President Grant could have left out of his magnificent cat- alogue of great achievements the one thing which is more characteristic of American progress than any other; the one thing which peculiarly differences our advance in the grand march of humanity from what has been done within this fruitful century by other nations. Other nations have abolished slavery ; other nations have applied steam and electricity to useful pur- poses; other nations have made territorial acquisitions, have improved their manufac- tures, extended their commerce, added to their wealth and made marvellous advances in science and civilization. But the one great thing which we have done within the cen- tury, and they have not done, is to effect a complete divorcee between Church and State, and demonstrate that religion does not suffer by being left for its support to the vol- untary contributions of individuals. It is astonishing that the President should have omitted this bright and peculiar feature of | American progress in a Message whose lead- \ ing recommendations relate to the very same | subject and attest his deep sense of its im- | portance. Had he extended his historical | have discovered that there was no necessity for his recommendations, and saved himself | from the absurdity of proposing, for the sec- ond century of our independence, a work | which has been nobly accomplished in the first, and of which the full praise belongs to those who have gone before us. In 1776, the year when our nation had its birth, there was a union of Church and State in all the colonies. The Declaration of In- dependence made no change in this respect, nor did the adoption of the federal constitu- tion. It is true that, by an amendment in- grafted on the constitution subsequent to its adoption, it was declared that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- ment of religion or prohibiting tho free’ex- ercise thereof ;" but this restrained only Congress, not the State governments, most of which continued to tax people for the support of religion for a long period after. There is even ‘now nothing in the federal constitution to prevent any member of the Union from establishing a State religion. The divorce of government from religion has been entirely accomplished by State action. The work was begun in Virginia ; it was finished in Massachusetts, which amended its constitution for that purpose at so late a date as 1833, Within | | the first fifty-seven years after the Declara- | | tion of Independence the alliance between | Church and State in this country, which was | then universal, was successively dissolved | in every State in the Union, and there is no | more danger that any of them will go back | to the old system than there is that an eagle | which has tried its pinions in the free air | will go back, into the broken shell from | which it was hatched. | If it be asked,what shall prevent, since | ! unwise to remonstrate, provided they do it quietly without disturbing the public tranquillity, But neither that nor the amendment proposed by President Grant is of sufficient practical importance to be undertaken at the risk of setting the coun- try by the ears and inflaming religious ani- mosities, The democrats in Congress might easily defeat the artful design of the Presi- dent by accepting the substance of his pro- posed amendments, with such modifications as could be made in their passage through Congress. They have only to accept the proposition and help it forward to destroy the motive with which it is offered. As soon as the republicans should see that no party capital was to be made out of it they would quietly let it drop and the State Legis- latures would not ratify so needless an amendment. Its success as a party move- ment depends on its stirring up a furious agitation, and the democrats will play into the hands of their wily adversaries if they meet it with a vehement and noisy opposition. It is a thing which would never have been attempted but in reliance on the folly of the democratic party in walking into atrap. To accept this measure is the surest way to kill it. Except for party purposes it is as harmless.as it is useless, and the moment it is found to be of no service as a party weapon the republicans will slacken their zeal and make no attempt to carry it through the State Legislatures. As a stroke of party tactic’ the democrats would do still better to accept it in the crude form in which it is proposed in the Message. WhegMr. Blaine presents his more moderate proposition in the House the democrats could make a great party hit by amending it into the precise form and very words in which it is offered in the President’s Message. In punishment inflicted upon Atzerott and Harold and the murderers of President Lin- coln it had a humane aspect in this, that it was executed within three days after the sentence. As it is now, our law, while it pre- tents to be humane, imposes upon the con- demned prisoner a mental agony compared to which the torture of the Chinese or the Indians is merciful indeed. The Glory of An Honest Life. Tn this land end age of bitter animosities the union of all conditions of people in mourning for Cheeles O'Conor is a remark- able testimonial to the merits of a man who always was a combatant, never a neutral. Catholic and Protestant, democrat and repub- lican, rich and poor, gentle and simple, join in the expression of a common grief, and we even behold the unexampled spectacle of old abolitionists and scarred federal soldiers shedding tears of heartfelt sorrow around the death bed of the counsel in the Lemmon case and the steadfast opponent of the civil war. But the explanation is as easy as the fact is marvellous. ‘The character of Charles O'Conor was genuine through and through. Not an atom of his great fame but was hon- estly earned. From the day, half a century ago, when, an almost friendless stripling, he tried his first cause in a petty municipal court, to the day when, crowned with laurels in the highest forums of the State and nation, he led the Bar of the United States, none of his innumerable triumphs was won by any other means than integrity, intelligence and industry. Up his long ascent in prosperity, from the obscure home of the poor boy who peddled newspapers from his father’s press, to the unostentatious but ample ease of the scholar's villa at Fort Washington, his palm was never soiled with gold ignobly gained. Of what great lawyer of past or present days that form the Protestant feeling of the country would revolt against it, because it would necessarily exclude the Bible from the public schools, and deprive the Protes- tant denominations of other advantages which they enjoy in most parts ofthe country. There are hundreds of thousands of school districts in which there are no Catholics, and in all such places the teacher, ifhe happens to be achurch member, can not only read the Bible to his pupils unchallenged, but give them Protes- tant religious instruction. Such an amend- mentas President Grant proposes would both exclude the Bible and destroy this privilege of religious instruction. An eminent Pres- byterian divine, the Rev. Dr. Baird, in his elaborate work, ‘Religion in America,” says that the exclusion of the Bible would leave the Protestants the “alternative of supporting a school of theirown. This will generally be done by the Protestants,” he says, “rather than give up the Bible.” The democrats in Congress have only to accept the President's amendments and in- sist on their being couched in his language to rouse the Protestant feeling of the country against this party project. It would be a great triumph for the Catholics to exclude the Bible from all the common schools, and the Protestant feeling of the country could be relied upon to defeat amendments having that effect. There was never a better oppor- tunity for the democrats in Congress to adroitly spike a big republican gun. Death Sentences. Our legislation in reference to capital pun- ishment should be revised. Although there isa respectable humanitarian feeling opposed to the infliction of death punishments, still the sturdy sense of the Anglo-Saxon in Eng- land and in the United States believes that life should be forfeited for life. Capital punishment is valuable as a deterring influ- ence in crime only in the promptitude and simplicity of its enforcement. When a prisoner is charged with murder in the first degree he should be speedily tried. If guilty he should be executed without delay. The crime itself is so terrible, the danger to society from its tolerance is so great, that the punishment to have any force at all should be swift and unrelenting. This should be so even as a matter of humanity to the prisoner. We can imagine no situation of life more agonizing than for an accused murderer to linger on for months and months in his cell awaiting trial, and then after trial and conviction to linger on for weeks and weeks awaiting the result of motions for a new trial, and efforts to obtain pardon or a commutation by the Governor, No story of lingering death ever told by the ingenious fancy of the romancer can equal in pathos many stories of the Tombs. the federal constitution does not prohibit it, | there are several answers, any one of which | One answer is, that tho | | is conclusive. public opinion of this country has been for | the whole century steadily and triumphantly |, | advancing in the contrary direction. An- | | other answer is, that there is not @ State in | the Union where any religious denomir- «1 is not a minority of the people, and with | such a diversity of sects as exists all would combine against attempts to confer special advantages upon one. Still another answer lies in the fact that in all or most of the State constitutions as they stand at present favoritism to any religious sect is strictly forbidden. Our New York constitu- | tion affords a specimen in this language:— “The free exercise and enjoyment of re- ligious profession and worship, without dis- crimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this State to all mankind.” There is no feature of our national progress which. doomed to die to-day, is a more solid ground of congratulation, which is more peculiarly American, or which is more truly a fruit of our institutions, than the change from a universal alliance be- ay on the labors tween Church and State in 1776 to the pro- dence had been discovered, and succeeds in hibitions against it which area part of the fundamental law of the separate States, dom so well there is no reason why it should be taken froma them now. It may, indeed, be said, not without plausi- bility, that, since the people of all the States are practically unanimous on this subject, they have no reason to object to putting it in the federal constitution. If the people | should adopt this view there are no argu- | ments of much force to be offered against it, nthe French | any more than there would be against the | all other issues, At the atmost thirty days th, that if the | proposition of a few dyspeptic clergymen to | “recognize God in the constitution” by an ually prevent their opponents from crowding | amendment. A majority of our people have the new Senate. They could tolerate the | Duo d’Andiffret-Pasquier well enough, for he is a hitter hater of the Bonavartists- no objection to God, and if it should please them to recognize Him by name in | the federal constitution it would | was convicted of a minor offence and sent | man is on the verge of death—hoping, fear- and bestows warm praise upon the new spirit adopted by their own free choice without | ing, trembling, thinking of life alone and not His federal constraint. Having used their free- | of his God. be | Take the case of Scannell. He was im- prisoned for two or three years. The jury disagreed twice before a verdict could be reached. He was sent to the insane asylum, E day of these years was full of appre- hension and agony. Take the case of Stokes, He was tried, found guilty of murder in the first degree, sentenced, on the verge of death, the day appointed for the execu- tion, when a new trial was ordered and he for a short term to prison. Think of the agony that must have shadowed this man’s life. Think of the awful burlesque upon | justice which was shown in the fact that two ‘juries conld be found in New York in the space of a few weeks, one of which would regard ® man as worthy to be hanged and the other as simply guilty of man- slaughter. Take the case of Dolan, who was He was suddenly tried. His sentence was passed almost with exnitation by his Judge; yet only yesterday a deputation went to Albany to have him re- prieved on the’ ground that some new evi- obtaining @ respite for one week. Yet this If the Governor had declined to interfere, what time would he have had for those religious offices which the humanity of our law extends to the condemned ? Capital punishment to serve justice should be swift and decisive, We should havea law laying down the time in which a prisoner | should be tried, and limiting the period between condemnation and execution. Mur- | der shold be allowed to take precedence of | should be the amplost time given the Dis- | triet Attorney to try his prisoner, and this | trial should ‘continue from day to day until decided. If found guilty and condemned to | death not move than ten days should elapse hefore the exes tion, Terrible aa was the can more be said? Of how many of his liv- ing rivals can we say so much? Pre-eminent industry, intelligence and in- tegrity thus have distinguished Mr. O’Conor's life from the beginning, but we yet hazard nothing in asserting that his purely profes- sional reputation will not, after a brief inter- val, abide so vividly in the remembrance of his countrymen as the public services of a mixed professional and political character which he has rendered during the short term of scarcely five years, since his with- drawal from the active practice of the law. No fame is more fleeting in the public mind than the fame of the dead advocate, unless it be that of the dead actor. The same sad lot of oblivion befalls every lawyer, however illustrious in his day, who does not mount the Benchor else combine other pursuits with his profession. Not twenty years have passed since the death of Rufus Choate, and his memory already is as vague as the mem- ory of Talma, Filed away among the records of judicial tribunals here and at Albany and Washington, never to be seen of mortal eye save by the legal Dryasdust, are proofs of in- tellectual exertions of Charles O'Conor, whose singular research, keen wit and ad- mirable logic would secure almost an immor- tality to his name had they been expended upon philosophy or literature. It is not for us now to discuss the causes and methods of this speedy obscuration of merely legal exploits, nor to inveigh against this usage of mankind. The mere professional renown of the great lawyer may dwindle into ashadow, but his name and memory as the saviour of this city from the disgrace which stained its government five years ago is cer- tain to endure through many ages. In the impending presence of his death the people of New York, with only the exception of the criminals themselves and of men bound by retainers to their cause, acknowledge an unstinted gratitude to him for his courage and perseverance in delivering them from the sway of official peculation. But it is only after he has gone forever that we shall fully estimate the extent of the obligation and measure the potent influence which he has exerted over the colder natures or duller intelligences of his associates. Behind his quiet and dignified manner there was a tem- per of fire and a will of steel. His flag was nailed to the mast, and he tolerated no faint hearts among his crew. Those alone who have been admitted to his confidence can un- derstand all the obstacles which have beset his way since the flush of popular triumph over the Tammany Ring in 1871 faded into apathy in 1874, and can appreciate the dis- interested persisterice with which he has waged the war, despite the dismay of the community at beholding the shining marks at which he struck. His nature was utterly fearless, and he denounced a Judiciary which interposed its own ignorance or corruption to shield peculators as instantly and vigor- ously as he pursued the criminals themselves. His last labor, before he yielded to his fatal illness, was an eloquent criticism of the opinion of the Court of Appeals which lib- erated Tweed from prison by a writ of habeas corpus, and is quoted entire in Mr. Browne's review of the Ring decisions of that Court, which was printed in Harper's Weekly of No- vember 13; and on his deathbed, up to the moment at which he ceased to busy himself with mortal interests, his thoughts have been full of the cause of political reform. One secret of the generous and utter devo- tion of Mr. O'Conor to this cause lay in the fact that, genuine in all things, he was a | genuine democrat. Without citing any of | the countless illustrations of this which might be drawn from the ordinary incidents of his life, we cannot refrain from allusion to the remarkable article, published scarcely a year ago, in which he embodied his political creed, and which he first committed, under pository of Johnson's “Cyclopedia,” and af- terwards consented to print, with supplemen- tary notes, in some of the public journals, If his fame should rest on no other founda- tion than this essay it alone would admit him to the first rank of political philosophers; and we predict for it as eminent a place in the literature of political science as is con- ceded to the writings of Locke or Rousseau or Jefferson. Men holding looser theories of the sphere of law will combat its conclusions, and will claim that it is impracticable to apply its theory to human society in this century, but none will deny the purity of its aims, the tenacity of its logic, or the tendency of the best minds of the present age to adopt its argument, with more or less qualification, for the limitation of the functions of govern- ment. i | the title “Democracy,” to the singular re- | impelled Mr. O’'Conor to the great services which he has rendered to his countrymen in these later years, a sufficient cause is mani- fest in the concurrence of opportunity with ability that summoned him to a combat from which he did not shrink, although he well knew the cost to himself of the under- taking. At an age and after labors which en- titled him to pass declining years in calm and ease he heard their call for succor and hur- ried to the strife in the truest spirit of chiv- array of all good men against the powers of ean pay to his memory—the only honor he would ask—is that we shall close the ranks and continue the fight to victory, What the Third Term Really Means. Bishop Haven, of the Methodist Church, has created a sensation by his little speech in Boston nominating General Grant for a third term. Bishop Haven gives the key- note of his startling proposition when he Cavalier be the ruler?” This idea of bring- ing into our modern politics the divisions Puritan is full of matter for reflection. We presurfe that if the modern Cavaliers and the Puritans are to fight their battles over again we must regard General Grant as the new Cromwell. Grant has many points of resemblance to Cromwell. He is stub- born, unreasonable and a good soldier. He believes the few things which he does believe intensely. Recently he has been going regu- larly tochurch, Like Cromwell, he carries his military system into politics. Every movement he has made as President is based upon the idea of a military campaign. When he could not fight Lee he flanked him, the battlefield every few days to the effect that he was abandoning the fight and meant to retreat, in the end it was seen that his purpose was to capture Lee all the time. What seemed to be retreats to the unprac_ tised eye were feints and flanking move- ments. In this manner he has fought his campaign for the third term. If any persons suppose that he has abandoned the idea they do in- justice to his stubbornness and tenacity. He tried to ‘‘flank” the opposition to the third term by the Alabama movement and failed. Then he-tried the St. Domingo movement and failed. Then he tried ‘the Cuban war ery” and failed. Then he tried Mexico and the outrages on the Rio Grande and failed. Now he proposes the religious anti-Pope flanking movement. Will he succeed ? In this our modern Cromwell is as well seconded by his favorite priests of the Methodist Church as was the Lord Pro- tector by his Puritan priests when he made war upon the English mon- archy, Like Cromwell, he has his po- litical and military surroundings. Bishop Haven is his Praise.God Barebones ; Chan- dler is his Ireton, fervent in speech and zealous for the cause ; Conkling is his Lud- low, who will stand by the new Protector and go to exile rather than abandon him ; Logan is his Harrison. We might pursue the parallel and find in the Cabinet and out of it and in the small circle that surrounds him, and in flatterers like Shepherd and adven- turers like Casey and over-zealous priests ing todo for Grant what the fanatics and | flatterers and ‘adventurers in the Puritan time were only too glad to do for Cromwell. What they aimed at was, if not a crown, the powerand the substance of a crown. The modern Puritans aim at the same thing for involved in the issue of the third term. “Let No Guilty Man Escape.” trust that his trial will be conducted in the spirit of the vigorous direction of the Presi- dent in relation to the Whiskey Ring prose- cutions. We are bound to believe that neither President Grant nor any officer acting under his instructions will show any indul- gence or favoritism to General Babcock on account of the confidential position he has so long held in the Executive Mansion. It would, of course, be awkward and embar- rassing to have complicity with the Whiskey Ring brought so near home ; but it would be fatally damaging for the President to shield a member of his official family who is indicted for a crime. Justice must take its course ; it must not forfeit the character given by artists who represent her in marble as an image with bandaged eyes and with even scales suspended from her outstretched hand. The bandaged eyes imply that she can see no parties and that her scales are turned only by the law and the evidence. In the present case she must be blind to the fact that General Babcock is the private | precisely as if he held no such relation. It seems too obvious for argument that the President's order for a court of inquiry | ment has been found against General Bab- cock in a civil court. There is, indeed, no civil jurisdiction, but there is a moral conflict which the administration can- not afford to disregard. If the military court should acquit, and the civil court convict, the inculpated officer the door would be opened for a kind of criticism which the administration should be careful toavoid. Nothing ought to be done outside of the civil trial which would tend to bias or influence the jury. If the court at St. Louis shall declare General Babcock innocent the necessity fora court of inquiry will be super- seded by an honorable acquittal. If, on the other hand, the civil court shall find him guilty, the verdict of the jury and sentence of the judge will leave nothing for a military court to investigate, and no duty will remain but forthe President to dismiss him from the army. that his request to testify in the trial of Avery could not be granted. | It was his first wish to vindicate | himself before a civil tribunal. The thing | for which he first petitioned having now | become a necessity in consequence of the in- | dictment, there is no longer any reason for | the court of inquiry, which was granted only But avart from any political theories that | on his reauost for the purnose of oiving him alry. He dies in armor at the head of the | political corruption, and the best honor we } asks the question, ‘Shall the Puritan or the ; that existed between the Cavalier and the | Although there were stories that came from | like Haven, men who will be only too will- | their Cromwell. ‘This, and nothing else, is | Now that General Babcock has been in- | dicted at St. Louis for a criminal offence, we | secretary of the President, and deal with him | should be suspended now that an indict- _ legal conflict between the military and | General Babcock asked for a | court of inquiry only when he found | an opportunity of clearing himself if he could. The coveted oppértunity will be afforded by the civil trial, and there is no reason for a different mode of investigation. Moreover, the offence with which General Babeock stands charged is not a violation of his duties as an officer of the army, but acrime which falls within the jurisdiction of the civil authorities. When Colonel Baker was recently brought to trial in England be- tore a civil tribunal the Queen’s government left justice te take its ordinary course, instituting no military inquiry, and stand- ing quite aloof until after the jury had ren- dered its verdict. Its subsequent action in cashiering that officer was founded solely on the verdict. There is no reason why the military branch of our government should pursue a different course. It is to be hoped that the order for a court of inquiry to meet in Chieago on Thursday will be suspended during the trial of General Babcock before the civil court. There is another question in connection with this case on which the grounds of de- cision are not so perfectly clear. That ques- tion is whether the President should continue to employ General Babcock a his private secretary while this indict- ment is pending against him, If the | President believes him guilty there should, of course, be no hesitation, But it is probable that the President thinks hia guilt is not yet proved. In that case it is a delicate question. His dismissal would be construed by the public and the jury as im- plying a belief in his guilt on the part of the President, and would prejudice his case be- fore the Court, The President may justifi- ably hesitate todo anything which would impair the chances of a fair trial if his own mind is in doubt. If he is fully satisfied ot General Babcock's innocence it is his clear duty to stand by him, “Tame” SraresMansurp.—We are afraid that California is too highly spiced as a com- munity. The telegraph tells us that the President’s Message is looked upon by the people of San Francisco as a ‘tame docu- ment.” The Pacific coast inhabitants have been living on Big Bonanzas and in a rarefied atmosphere, and are accustomed to so much speculation that they have a diseased appe- tite. To our mind the value of the Presi- dent's Message is that it isa ‘tame docu- ment.” Our fear has been that it would be otherwise. We have had enongh of tho “heroic” business at Washington during the last fifteen years, What we want is tame- ness, The tamer the President's administra- tion continues until its end the better it will be for the country. ‘Tur Senate Yesrerpay appointed its com- mittees, with a little grumbling from the democrats as to their representation on the important Finance Committee. They have | not squarely got to work yet, and exciting times must not be expected for a while. New York had a severe conflagration yes- terday in the burning of the buildings at Five Points, as reported elsewhere. The | activity of the Fire Department was, ag | usual, to be commended, An Inrenestoxa List of promotions and | appointments in the army and navy, which require confirmation by the Senate, having been made since that body last met, is given | in another part of the paper. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Spelling bees have swarmed to England, | ‘The Examiner likens Bret Harte to Defoe. Bayard Taylor is reported to have said that Mark Twatn’s wit is wholly superficial, A Senatorial clique is in favor of putting Hannibal Hamlin in the place of Mr. Ferry. Senator George F. fdmunds, of Vermont, arrived io the city last evening and wok up bis residence at the Fitth Avenue Hotel. An English critic nds fault with young ladies wha hang the church with greens, “with the curate,” and | adds that if flirting is to be done, it were better not | done ina church. ‘The total number of teachers in all the States and Territories {s 247,300, being nearly one to every nine children in constant attendance, aff of the teachers about one-half are women. | “Now my little boys and girls,” said a teacher, “E want you to be very still—so that you can heara pim | drop.” Ip a moment all was silent, when a little boy cried out, “Let her drop!" In the fowa Senatorial canvass it is said that Secre tary Belknap takes the lead in popular choice, distanc- ing, 60 far, Harlan, Price, McCrary, Carpenter, and others mentioned as in the race. ‘ If it be true that Colonei Valentine Baker ts writing a history of his adventures in Central Asia, and that he will strive to enter the Czar's service in the Last, we may have in future history a very romantic ehar- acter, Mamma (to Ethel, on their way to the latter's Orsv party)—‘‘Now, mind, darling, if you see any nice things on the table that you'd like to eat, you mustn't ask for them!” Ethel—“Ob no, mammal ['ll take them |" M. Picard says that tho working classes of France have ceased to put faithinany man They do not | even believe (n Gambetta, A day will come when they | will agitate fora Cabinet entirely composed of working- men, and be content with nothing else. The Newburg Journal says:—'The father of the wife of William B, Astor, the New York millionnaire who died last week, was Major John Armstrong, the man who wrote the Newburg letters urging Washington to make himself king at the close of the Revolution. ”” A writer in the Troy Times says of Vassar Collego:— “Students are not allowed to meet friends and receive calls from them without a written permit from home, and when this is obtained, a great pleasure is alfordd | them. They know how to appreciate it when far away from home." If Turkish officials have set themselves up as leaders of the religious revival lately kindled among Moham- medans, it is beeause they know or believe that the impending straggle with Christendom cannot be much longer delayed, Wherever Islamism exists there 18 re- ligious agitation, and there the influence of the Sultan is never small, while sometimes it is paramount, At the court in Belfast recently, Judge Libbey sen- tenced Martin L. Tower to twenty-five years tn the State prison, This fact was communicated to the prisoner's mother, who was etrack with astonishment as to the magnitude of the sentence, “What did they do that for?” she exclaimed. ‘Twenty-five years! why be won't be contented there three weeks!" The only really powerful Scottish nobles are those who share the religious and political prejudices of the people, and the remainder at once admit their loss of territorial influence and make a protit of it by letting their lands without scrupie to the highest bidder, The mass of the vation has a natural affinity for the more democratic element#in English society, and thus English liberalism comes very near being tho national creed of all Scotchmen in politics, «Mr, A. M, Thomson, formerly editor ef the Milw: kee Sentinel, saye that he was turned ont of his place’ (by conspiracy on the part of ex-Senator dsfatt Carponter and his friends, to make place for Mr, Botkin, for- merly of the Chiengo Times, who is only @ Carpenter man, And he savagely adds, what Mr, Carpenter wiit | probably compel him to prove:—'Matt H. Carpenter | has had more responsibility 1h these (whiskey] frauds than is wholesome for any man who ever expects fa- vors again at the hands of an Lonest coustitueacy,"”