The New York Herald Newspaper, May 11, 1876, Page 8

QUADRUPLE SH B NEW YOR Paethews waltseeng BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR —_ THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the Four cents per copy. ‘Twelve dollars per year, or one dollar per month, free of postage. All business, news letters or telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York Benarp. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. : Rejected communications will not be re- turned. m PHILADELPHI A OF FICE—NO. 112SOUTH SIXTH 81 tr. LONDON 0 E 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. VOLUME AMUS WALLAC! LONDON ASSURAN TONY PASTO VARIETY, at 8 P.M. UNION SQt THUATRE, CONSCIENCE, at 8 P.M. C.K. Thorne, Je. EAGLE THEATRE. VARIETY, at 6 P.M. EMEN KS THEATRE. M. Lester Wailack KELLY & LEON'S MINSTRELS. NEW YORK HERALD |™ "=" corm | whic. is alien to our institutions, Cerem: The scenes presented yesterday in the streets of Philadelphia and at the Centen- nial grounds are reported in our news col- umns with a picturesque fulness of detail which will meet and satisfy the lively curi- osity of the public in relation to an event which appeals so strongly to national pride and to the love of scenic effect. Tho weather, in spite of the threat- ening aspects of the morning, had all the brightness and blandness of a lovely spring day. The virgin foliage which is be- | ginning to cover the trees of Fairmount | Park has just reached that stage when its beauty is most refreshing to the eye, and a resplendent sun, shining on groves and river and on the glittering architecture of the buildings, supplied a setting for the moving picture of military and civic parade | which heightened its beauty and impressive- ness. In all that was addressed to the | eye the opening was a magnificent | success, and it is chiefly through the | eye that such oceasions produce their effect. There may have been less of a certain kind | of pomp than attended similar inaugural ceremonies in the Old World, where the presence and trappings of royaity were among the attractions ; but the one crowned head which graced this occasion is the one which we had the most reason to desire, be- cause he is the sovereign of the most impor- tant nation on the Western Continent next to our own, and because, with his royal rank, he deports himself with the sim- plicity of a republican gentleman, whoshuns instead of exacting the ceremonions etiquette This wel- ater. M. THIRTY-FOURTH STRELT OPERA EOUSR VARIETY, ai 8 P.M. AVENUE THEATRE. nny Davenport. FIFT PIQUE, at 8 P.M. ACADE GRAND PROMENADE: ( ; GERMANIA THEATRE. KREUZFEUER, at 8 P. M. GLOBE TH VARIETY, at 8P.M. 9 wooD's M ROVING JACK, at8P. M. Mat BROU! MAUD MULLER, at 8 SAN FRAN asp. M. iCO MINSTRELS, THEATRE COMIQUB. VARIETY, at SP. M. CENTRAL ORCHESTRA, QUART! GILMOR, GRAND CONCERT, at 8P.} ARK GARDEN. CHORCS, at 8 P. M. GARDEN. Offenbach, ll, 1876, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be slightly warmer and clear, Novice to Country NewspEauers.—For yt and regular delivery of the Heratp Jast mail trains orders must be sent direct to this office. Postage jree. Wai Srrzet Yesrerpay. —Speculation was active but resulted in lower prices, and ® sharp break in New Jersey Central and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western. Gold declined from 1121-2 to 1121-4. Money was loaned on call at 3.and 41-2 per cent. Foreign exchange, government and railway bonds were steady. Wuat Wi thetwo hundred thousand people yho attended the Centennial Exhibi- tion yesterday do with themselves on Sun- day? How tHe Kentucky Repusiicans regard the canvass for the Presidency is happily told elsewhere in a series of interviews with prominent corn-cracker politicians. Wuat Jacques Orrrnnacn has to say of things in general and the decline in French literature and French drama in particular will be read with some amusement on both sides of the Atlantic. ‘Ji. y a des gens——” ‘Tue Inpnsonep Fenmns will undoubtedly run a better chance of liberation from the petition which has so far received the signa- ture of one hundred and eight members of the British Parliament than from any pre- vious effort in the same direction. Prestprnt Grant's Appress at the Cen- tennial Exhibition yesterday was sensible enough, but commonplace. It was without inspiration, and did not contain one sen- tence that deserves to be remembered. Imagine what Lincoln would have made of the opportunity! His speech at Gettysburg \s written in golden letters in American his- tory, and will endnre as long as tho re- public, Tae Amnesty Question in France has evi- dently some troublesome possibilities in it yet. With anrepentant and unforgiving penmen like Rochefort on one side, and con- Rervative fears on the other, and the great tide of public opinion anxious to hide the past by an Act of Oblivion in the name of the fair future of France it would require more delicate handling than in the exigencies and Dpportunities of party warfare it is likely to | receive. Sneath | Amone THE Otp Propie.—The readers of site Hxxap, when they have read through the account of yesterday's great doings at Philadelphia, can in a measure span tho cen- jury that has almost passed since the Declar- ition of Independence was signed there by plancing at the two interesting stories of the Delaware lady of ninety-nine years and the Irish citizen of Baltimore of ninety-two | years, as told in another column. The spray pf elm which Mrs. Denny received from the hands of Cmsar Rodney, and which now towers as ao stately tree one hundred feet | high, is wonderfully apt in its symbolism of | the then and the now. A “Common” Taat Is Not a Coxmox in any eommon sense of the word is the condition in which our costly Central Park finds itself | owing to the Chinese restrictions placed upon the citizens, young or old, who attempt to enjoy themselves in it. *“Keop* off beds of flowers,” “Keep off old gentlemen's corns,” “Keep off | the tails of old maids’ Spitz dogs” would be sensible admonitions ; but ‘Keep off the grass” is to the child as absurd and trying s warning as ‘‘Keep off the gate” would be to a hilarious farmer's son in the rural regions. Let the children play on the grass, D ye Commissioners, or plait up your pig- tails and take the next steamer for the banks of the Yang-tee-kiang. { condensed moral energy, admirably appro- come is the moro cordial by the fact that he isnot only an American ruler, but that he shares with us in the noblest achievement of the century so fitly alluded to in those lines of Whittier’s Centennial hymn relating to the fruits of the strong assertion of human equality in the Declaration of Independ- ence:— Whose echo ts the glad refrain Of rended bolt and falling chain. Not only that part of yesterday’s proceed- ings whfth was merely scenic and addressed | to the eye was a great, success, but also the music, which, next to the pageant, was the most popular and inspiring feature of the | occasion, The music, which is described to have been admirably executed, was heard ; and enjoyed by the whole of the vast and thronging multitudes; but the addresses could have been audible only to one or two thousand people in close proximity to the spot where they were delivered. They added nothing to the pleasure of the greater part of the visitors, and until they are perused in the published reports very few can know whether they were good or bad. They can hardly be regarded as contributions to the pleasure of the day and of the people pres- ent, but only to the pleasure of readers on the next day when they peruse them in the newspapers. In alf the enjoyable essentinls of such ao day the opening ceremonies were a brilliant success—in the bright, lovely weather, the vastness of the assemblage, the good order of the arrangements, the military display, the gay profusion of waving flags, the beauty of the buildings, whose decorations appeared to full advantage, and in the pres- ence of notable persons. Of the intellectual features of the occasion it is not possible to speak with the same | confident and unqualified praise. Mr, Whittier's noble hymn was the most credit- able of these contributions. It has no faults of taste, no tawdriness, no mock emotion, and its tone of sentiment is in perfect keeping with the anniver- sary. In addition to these negative but important merits it is baptized in the very spirit of patriotism, and rises in some ofits lines and some whole stanzas into a high strain of poetry. The allusion to the , Argonauts is peculiarly striking and happy, as is also the thanks ‘for beauty made the bride of use.” Even the lines that seem bare of poetical ornament have a fervid and | priate in a hymn written forso affecting an occasion, as, for example, this manly invo- cation:— We thank Thee, while withal we crave The austere virtues strong to save, The honor proof to place or gold, The manhood never bought nor sold, There is a whole code of national morals condensed into these energetic lines, which deserve to be deeply engraven in all hearts. The last two lines of the hymn are equally | admirable by the lofty disdain of that flattery | which is the besetting sin of poets on such occasions, and by the hint that our national character has great room for improvement. The whole hymn is suffused with a spirit which is more valuable than mero poetry, and is so chastely poetical and truly appro- priate that it is not likely to be forgotten. President Grant's address was well con- ceived, but it has some bad faults of execu- tion. It is to be regretted that he did not submit it to some friend of more literary cul- tivation than hiniself for revision previous to its delivery. In tone and spirit it is excel- lent. It is entirely free from the foolish bumptiousness in which our patriotic orators are wont to indulge. There is none of the overstrained eulogy of our achievements so common with fluent phrase makers, who mount on stilts as soon as they begin to speak upon topics connected with our na- | tional history, and who seem to think that | fustian is the proper language of patriotism, | President Grant's ballast of strong sense protects him against spread-eagle nonsense, and he speaks of what this nation has done with becoming modesty and discrimination. He admits the superiority of some other na- tions in the arts of civilization. ‘Whilst proud of what we have done,” he says, “we regret that we have not done more. Our achievements have been great | enongh, however, to make it ensy for our people to acknowledge superior | merit wherever found.” These remarks evince sound judgment and an excellent sense | of decorum. That part of the address_in which he accounts for such defects as may j be discovered in our culture, by the neces- | Sity we have been under of subduing the | wilderness and providing for material wants, | is rational and appropriate. But when he | proceeds to state what may be learned from | the Exposition he talks léosely and incon- siderately. He says “we have done what this Exhibition will show in the direction of rivalling older and more advanced na- tions in Jaw, medicine and _ theology; in science, literature and the fine arts.” Everything but the fine arts should be stricken from this list. How “this Exhibi- bition will show” what we have done in law, theology or literature passes comprehension. Even if all the works of American authors were to be put on exhibition in the Centennial buildings nobody would go there to study and compare them. We can exhibit the physical produc- tions of the country, the machinery we have invented, the fabrics we have made, articles of dress, furniture and con- venience, the good pictures and statues of our artists; but our jurists, theologians, physicians andymen of letters must find ap- preciation through other channels and not through an exhibition of the productions of artand industry. It was not to be expected that President Grant would compose an ad- dress displaying the same exactness of knowledge which was possessed by the ac- complished Prince Albert, but he might have avoided serious mistakes by taking the counsel of some judicious friend. The opening yesterday,. notwithstanding some slight blemishes and drawbacks, must be regarded as a gratifying success, and there is every reason to expect th@ the Ex- hibition itself will be worthy of so splendid an inauguration. The Murders at Salonica. Exactly how the train of events started which ended in the murder of the French and German consuls at Salonica we are not likely to learn. United States consuls are, unfortunately, not always models of dis- cretion, They aré often disposed to pre- sume extremely on the importance of their position and to ‘take the re- sponsibility” of proceeding in wholly unauthorized ways. This is rather more apt to be the case when they are not natives of this country and are only constructively citizens) but are, on the contrary, natives of the place in which they act as our consuls. If some man of small wit who has lived to middle age a mere nobody in a quiet place of Europe or Asia acquires the right to put the Stars and Stripes officially over his house he is very apt to regard it as a warrant that fully justifies him in the attempt to sit on the heads of the rest of the popula- tion. Nearly all the vagaries of our consuls that have brought them into collision with the people amidst whom they live have originated in such mistaken endeavors, and it may prove that the statement of the Otto- man government is true, and that the people were provoked beyond the possibility of ro- straint by an unjustifiable consular inter- ference, in which case they’ only did what would have been done by a mobin any coun- try. Indeed, if the statement ofthe case that is friendliest to the Consul is true—that ho rescued a Christian girl from Moslem cap- tors—he was then engaged in performing the duties of the Salonica police force, and was hardly within the limit of consular rights. But if this officer were a thousand times wrong the acts that followed are not the less grave and compromising to the Ottoman Power. The consuls who wero killed were not involved in the primary error, if there was one, and they represent Powers that cannot afford to let a case like this pass without oan example that will protect in some degree the lives of future consuls. Turkey will, of course, give the fullest satis- taction for the outrage, both by extreme punishment of the rioters and by indemnifi- cation to the families of the murdered per- sons, in the hope to prevent the use of this fact as a comp! of those difficulties in her administra‘ that have already made her a subject of consideration with the great Powers, But the endeavor will be’ vain. Howover Austria, or any other Power, may try to-belittle this incident in the attempt to sustain the Sultan in any conference or diplomatic negotiations, this new evidence that the local authorities in an important Turkish city are unable to control tho fan- atical impulses of the people cannot and will not be left out of consideration in reflection upon the methods for ameliorating the con- dition of the Christians who may at any moment become the victims of such fanati- cism. A Starving Communicant. Acard publishetl in yesterday's Henatp related a dubious story about an ‘educated lady” who applied to Dr. Dix, rector of Trinity church, for relief during the past winter, The lady gave him, the card siates, “references to some merchants in high stand- ing down town,” and, although said to be starving, did not call again on the Doctor for “. week or two.” Finally we learn that this lady got up a dramatic reading, for which Dr. Dix is accused (!) of taking, and, we presume, paying for, two tickets. Toall this is tagged on an attack upon Trinity church and its rector, whose native goodness of | heart is sufficient answer in this community to any such injurious accusations as neglect- ing the worthy poor. We take pains in call- ing attention to this silly card because a deal of sham and cant lies at the bottom of it and kindred communications. Why the ‘mer- chants in high standing” should turn over their starving friend to Dr. Dix is a question not to be answered by a shrug of the shoul- ders. No one would lay a straw in the way of their assisting her, but it saves somo trouble and a little money and gives thom a chance for cheap indignation to send her at intervals toa revered pastor and then visit their own sins of omission on his shoulders, Tae Scorcn Rirtzmen have already marked out the arrangements for the selec- tion of the competing team that will come to America to shoot in the Centennial match. A goodly sum has already been subscribed to cover the expenses, and Colonel MacDon- ald, who has been chosen captain, will un- doubtedly head a formidable body of sharp- shooters, We bespeak a hearty welcome for the gallant Scots. Tue Benorn Tuxney Exrvosion inquiry yesterday, while making it almost certain that the rendrock catastrophe was produced by design and by some one familiar with the process of ignition, also establishes that had it not been for the criminal carelessness of the contractor the diabolical design could never have suoceeded as it did, u K HERALD, THURSDAY, MAY I], 1876—QUADRUPLE SHEET. ost ARAMA sent wt SE NBR, Can the President Abrogate the Ex- tradition Treaty? There is a passage in Secretary Fish’'s otherwise admirable despatch which assumes that the President alone, without the pre- vious authorization of Congress, will annul the Extradition Treaty if Winslow is not surrendered. ‘This is untenable ground. It will be the President's duty as soon as Winslow is set at large to communicate the | facts to Congress and make such recom- mendations as he may think suitable ; but his further action must await the will of Congress. Reason, sound precedents, judi- cial decisions and the opinions of writers of authority alike require this course. Treaties are declared by the constitution to be the supreme Inw of the land, and the President is not empowered to Mt aside any law. It has accordingly happened that when this government has desired to abrogate treaties, either for infraction by the other contracting Power or in pursuance of a provision in the treaty itself for terminating it by notice, the will of the government has been first declared by Congress and then executed by the Presi- dent in pursuance of its instructions. Our earliest treaty with France was abrogated in 1798 by an act of Congress whose preamble recited violations by France, and whose en- acting clause annulled the treaty in conse- quence of the infractions. When President Polk, in 1846, desired to give notice to Great Britain of our wish to terminate the treaty for the joint occupation of Oregon he asked Congress to confer on him the requisite author- ity. When the Canadian Reciprocity Treaty was terminated by giving the stipulated year's notice the same method was pursued, Congress passing a joint resolution instruct- ing the President to give the notice. There is only one exception to this method of procedure, and the history of that exception confirms and gives emphasis to the rule. In 1864 the people of Canada behaved so badly that Mr. Seward, by direction of President Lincoln, gave notice to the British govern- ment of our intention to terminate the ,treaty limiting the number of war vessels on the lakes. But Congress at its very next session passed a joint resolution validatitig the notice, declaring that it ‘is hereby adopted and ratified as if the same had been authorized by Congress.” That act made it very clear that Congress alone could enable the President to give a valid notice of the termination of a treaty. The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, of which Mr. Sumner was then chairman, declared through him that ‘‘in their opinion a treaty may be regarded to ao certain extent as a part of the law of the land, to be repealed or set aside only as other laws aro repealed or set aside—that is, by act of Con- gress.” In support of this view Mr. Sumner quoted Story’s Commentaries” and a judg- ment of the Supreme Court of the United States. Secretary Fish has managed this ex- tradition controversy so admirably that we should be sorry to witness a departure from sound precedents in the final stage of the business, Stock Operations. A well known stock broker and eminent wit wag once heard to remark that all wor- shippers in the Broad street temple wear “blinders.” They see a little way before them, but can never avoid the dangers or seize the advantages on either side. The | history of the Stock Exchange for tho past two years and its aspect to-day are striking evidences of this clever truism. Its votaries blindly follow the operations of a few artful leaders, who, taking advantage of the chance condition of the market, move up what they are pleased to term ‘‘values” a few points, and the faithful remnant of the once large army of speculators rush in ‘‘where angels fear to trend,” believing that the turn has come at last, only to find that, like the la- boring vessel on a dangerous coast, they are led on to destruction by a false light—a lan- tern hung to a hobbled donkey. The fact is that the day of stock specula- tion has passed, Watered stocks, scrip div- idends and ‘‘corners” have done their work, the crop has failed and the grasshoppers have disappeared. The present generation have had enough of it, and the glorious old times that ended so dis- astrously in 1873 are not likely to be repeated in our-day, or until a new genera- tion has matared—a generation ignorant of, or willing to ignore, the lessons that we have learned and for which so tremendous a price was paid. ‘Flyers” are out of fashion, and one no longer hears the slang of the street im the mouths of the gentler sex who havo “gsure point in Western Union,” nor are club members ravaged and Inid low by puts and calls on a safe thing at a dollar a share. Everybody who has anything is anxiously waiting for an opportunity to get ont, and the desire to get in grows small by degrees and beautifully. less ; in short, it will be a long time before the unfrequented resorts of | past speculation can again, like the crocodile in “Little Alice,” Welcome little fishes in With gently smiling jaws. That speculation will again revive in this essentially commercial community is cer- tain ; that it will be long delayed is improb- able, but it is equally probable that it will seek new issues and new roads to fortune. The old ones have beén ruined by misman- agement, greed, and, in many instances, by something worse. Meanwhile the daily barometers of public opinion, some doing a “Signal Service,” and financially follow- ing in the footsteps of ‘* Old Probabilities,” The Drift of Political Discussion. Political discussion, as represented in an- other column from the press of the country, shows that while the South does not wish to furnish the candidate for either piace on the democratic ticket it looks for a strong and available rather than for a great than. It wants some one to win with. It likes Bayard, it has enthusiasm for Hancock ; but ground that he will carry enough Northern States to elect him. The California Demo- cratic Convention occurs on the 24th of this month, and its Southern element will prob- ably suggest Tilden, with ex-Senator Latham, ef California, for the second place, The | latter gentleman really represents the old | democraticrégime. Kentucky is very busy in politics, and Bristow is far ahead of any men in the affections of that State, All over papers continue their money articles as | it demands the nomination of Tilden, on the | Ww the West there is 9 disposition among demo- cratic editors to regard Mr. Seymour as 8 man who will accept the candidacy if it is forced upon him. This idea is echoed by many democratic newspapers of New York State. In Ohio the county conventions are favoring old Mr. Allen before Senator Thurman, The fight for the Senatorship from Connecticut is very bitter, and both English and Barnum threaten @ bolt for a compromise candidate. Barnum is the stronger man, but it appears improbable that either will be chosen. Since Messrs, Toombs and Stephens have favored Mr. Eaton, of Connecticut, as the demo- cratic candidate for the Presidency the af- fairs of that State have risen in importance. The American Challenge to the Eng- Msh University Oarsmen. By our special cable from London to-day we learn that both the Oxford and Cambridge university boat clubs have declined the challenge of the Association of American Colleges to row a three-mile straightaway race on Lake Saratoga. Every inducement was thrown out by Mr. Rees, the represeuta- tive of the American university oarsmen, to our English cousins to come and row this race, but in vain. The declination of the Saratoga challenge does not necessarily pre- vent a meeting between our college crews and the English university crews, however, as Cambridge, Oxford and Dublin, we are told, will be here to row in the Centennial regatta on the Schuylkill, No doubt the best men that can be had will compose the English crews, and the Irish crew already in training is known to ben good one. Now that it is ascertained positively that the British universities oarsmen will not row at Saratoga Lake, and have declined the chal- lenge of the American universities, but will row on the Schuylkill at the Centennial regatta against all comers, let the American students who are so desirous of rowing pre- pare to meet them there, aud from their university sixes select the best fours they can pick out to try conclusions with the oar on the waters of the Schuylkill. The Hebrew Murderer. The burial of Pesach Nisan Rubenstein yesterday closes the last chapter in a weird story of crime. From the day of his arrest, four months ago, it was instinctively be- lieved that justice had laid its hand on the man who had committed the hideous murder in the cornfield. Every circumstance that has come to light in connection with the death of Sara Alexander has but deepened that belief, and the verdict of the jury upon the evidence was but the reflection of what everybody thought. It was a mur- der in which the cowardice was even more marked than the brutality. The wretch who howled and moaned and uttered long He- brew prayers in his cell came of an ancient and a long persecuted race, Clinging to an old, old creed through ages, when scorn was the most lenient treatment they received, small wonder that fanaticism and supersti- tion should grow among the trampled Jews of Europe to strange proportions and make them insincere and tricky in their dealings with those who had always’ treated them as objects of divine and human wrath To mystic dreams and obedience to stern dog- mas among themselves they joined a devious shiftiness to the Gentile world Of a mental organization clearly resultant from these sad conditions of his yace was the murderer who died so wretchedly in his cell on Tuesday. The girl Alexander, his cousin, was with child and his wife was coming from Europe to him. He had offended against the Hebraic and the statute law. Intensely sensitive to the first, we know that by a compact withanother Jew he proceeded to buy his way out of his sins past and to come ina manner rudely sug- gestive of the time when the sins of Israel were laid by the High Priest upon a gont sent to perish in the wilderness, and which evidently survives among his slass in the Talmudic writings. To the law of the land he felt no such compunctions, so he took the girl to the cornficld one December Sunday afternoon and stabbed and hacked her till she died. He returned to his home, and, if we may be permitted to trace the course of his thoughts, his mind hung shuddering over the weltering form that lay outstretched as he left it; trying to figure to himself how it could be hidden away ; how perhaps it could be buried with Jewish rites, so that there might be less upon his soul ; how the gory show might be ended, so that he could forget it. All the next day wore on and the body had not been discovered. He must have begun to congratulate himself on the one hand, while his religious fears became intensified on the other. Between his worldly cunning and his superstition at night he laid the trap into which he was to be caught so fast that he should be taken out of it only as he was on Tuesday—a corpse, He told his father next morning he had dreamed his victim lay dead in a cornfield eight miles from New York, and the story to ears without illusions. Of the subsequent bearing of the wretched creature in his prison cell, his prayings, his lamentations, his curses, his wild oath in court and his fastings that finally broke down his miserable frame, we can only speak as the same mixture of short-sighted cun- ning and religious mania that led him from | his first crime to his second and finally to the sight of the vermin-covered, emaciated corpse over whose face sorrowing father drew the prison blanket there was evidence enough that human and divine law had been avenged. It was so miserable a death that have been cheated. In many years no such crimes as Rubenstein's have been more sig- nally punished, Tne Mar Awnivensartes.—Although the Centennial rather monopolizes that atten- tion that the public is disposed to give to celebrations there is at least the usual formal activity on the part of those organizations that believe the ‘world } is to be bettered, if not saved, by a yearly meeting of philanthropists of various stripes in this city. As the war abolished slavery the organization that agitated that great theme has indefimitely postponed itself and | is heard of no more. But other themes re- main. Temperance is the grand hobby rid- den by several organizations; tract societies, father, in his blind belief, repeated the | L Bible societies and missionary societies col- lect their dimes with the usual assidaity, and if the heathen continues to ragp not- withstanding, at all events some very pleas- ant and no doubt talented gentlemen enjoy fine salaries as presidents and secretaries, Woman's suffrage is the most congenial topic that seems to be left for the attitudinizing of the anniversary season; but the champions of the sisters do not roar with the vigor of the anti-slavery crusade, Music at the Centennial, The musical programme at the opening of the Centennial Exhibition was worthy of the occasion, The grand orchestra, which Theo- dore Thomas led, the chorus of eight hun- dred voices, the magnificent march in which Wagner paid the homage of his genius to American liberty, the cantata of Mrg Sidney Lanier, to which music was supplied by Mr. Dudley Buck, were all not inharmo- nious with the grand event. But we beg to point out that the poets were not quite as successful as the musicians. Mr, Lanier is ‘ an intelligent poet and his verses have ideas and melody. But he seems to have made the common mistake of supposing that verse should be itself musical to be sung. Verse written for music should be simple, clear, direct and brief in its state. ments. For you cannot follow a complex thought when the words are warbled by e soprano or delivered with profound delib- eration by a basso, Every great poet who has written successfully for music has made his songs direct and simple. For instance, take the national air of England; it is s series of statements, which are understood atonce. Take the best songs of Burns and Moore, written in octo-syllabio verse. Burns tells us that his love is like a red, red rose, and Moore reminds us of the harp that once through Tara's halls the soul of music shed. To hear these lyrics sung is as casy as to hear them read. But when we compare Mr. Lanier’s cantata with these masterpicces we see how far he has departed from the true method. He has written a beautiful poem, but it is obscure to the eye and must be un- intelligible to the ear. The first stanza has ten verses in one sentence. The argument of the poem is not easily to be compre- hended, and the language is harsh. We cannot imagine any vocalist singing this verse, for example:—‘‘In thy large signals all men’s hearts, Man's Heart behold.” When we read such poetry, avowedly written for music, we are reminded of what Poe said of one of his contemporary poets:—**Mr, Channing calls this a song, and we should very much like to hear him sing it.” Graxt's PunisqMent or Custer is rous- ing public opinion in a manner that cannot fail permanently to injure the President. It would seem that his treatment of the gallant Indian fighter at the White House, ot which we quote an account from the Chicago Times, should have satisfied Grant's private anger. General Custer did not seek to testify ot Washington.. In his letter to Clymer he re- quested that questions for him to answer should be sent to him by mail. This re- quest being refused he was compelled to obey a Congressional summons. The Pres- ident’s friends have endeavored to explain his action on the ground of military neces- sity ; but his personal insult to General Cus- ter shows that he was ina mood to seek re- venge. If it was the duty of General Custer tocall upon the President ; and if he called, aa he did, merely as a matter of military ett quette, why could the President not receive him accordingly? The President was angry, and there is no excuse for him, General Ingalls remonstrated with him for treating General Custer so rudely in the White House, but he sullenly refused to say a word in reply. The truth remains that General Grant is a personal enemy of General Custer, that he privately insulted him and that he publicly disgraced him. Dom Pzpno’s rapid journey to the West is graphically sketched in another part of the Henaxp, and the interest which attaches to His Majesty's visit will repay a perusal of incidents in the.trip which has only reached the public in outline. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Anna Dickinson ts thirty-three, Saturday Review.—Englishmen dislike Victor Huga These cool, fresh spring showers make tho milk taste better. Pendieton’s family bas retarned from Florida te Obie. Senator Morton enjoys better health now than he has for several year. A California hen ts trying to go to the Centennial by laying four egys a day. Dr. Ayer has gone South for health, Why not take some of his own medicines? Murat Halstead says that Morton will not gota Northern vote outside of Indiana, Boston Traveller:—“Yesterday the thermometes stood at five paper collars in the shade.” If a negro carries a razor around with him ts he carry. ing a concealed weapon? Mr. Moses Grinnell, according to gossip, 1s soon marry Miss Reed, sister of Mrs, Paran Stevens. General Hardeo's old grove of orange trecs, on Indiag River, Fiorida, prodaced 2,000,000 oranges last summer, The Chicago Tribune savs that during the recent floods the Mississippi towns bad large floating popula bons. Hon. W. H. Barnum, one of tho candidates for Sen- ator from Connecticut, is@ wealthy iron miner ang railroad man, Grant violated a rule of rhetoric in combining twe figures of speceb when im bis Centennial address he his death. He escaped the gallows, but in | said, *&e., &e.?” John Morrissey, it is understood, has agreed that Charlies Francis Adams will find the candidate he will put “a head on him.” The Topeka (Kan.) Commonwealth Insists that the republican candidate must ‘stand right out in the sun.’ df he does he'll got tanned. Senator Conkling ts said to favor the idea that the the rope he deserved can scarcely be said to | Senate has no Jurisdiction im tho Beiknap caso; Som ator Tharmau inclines to the same view, while Senator Edmunds betieves the Sonate may go on with the trial, A pioas father entered a Virginia City saloon with @ horsewhtp one night last week aod found his eon play- ing ouchra, He tanned the young man’s jacket and | sent him home, and then sat down and finisned the gamo himsell, Newspapors are waking up to tho idea that this coun try is deptorably without candidates for the Viee Presidency. 1t is worthy ot remark what both In the time of General Harrison and in that of General Tay: Jor Danio! Webstor lost chances ot being President by not being made Vico President on the tickots wil) those soldiers, Tho Hon. Ellis H, Roberta, in a thoughtful articie asserts that aggressive moral sentiment and critics Jp this country are found within the republican party, precluding the formation of a new organization, Bat such men as Roberts, Schurz, Adame, Bowles, Seolye, Phelps and Halstead are orities and moraliste without ‘the fact or the faculty of orgamization,