The New York Herald Newspaper, May 15, 1876, Page 6

. 6 NEW YORK HERALD Hira sce — cent BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR as ae —— THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Four cents per copy. Twelve dollars per year, or one dollar per month, free of postage. All business, news letters or telegrap hic | despatches must be addressed New Yorx | Henao. Letters and packages should be properly ed. | Rejected communications will not be re- | turned. | PHILADELPHIA OF FICE—NO. 112SOUTH SIXTH STREET. | 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. EMENTS TO-NIGHT. BRASS, at 8 P. Peis ig ng tet Rowe. CHATEAU MABILLE VARIETIES, ateP.M. AMU OLYMPIC THEATRE. HUMPTY DUMPTY, at 8 P.M. PARISIAN VARIETIES, at8 P.M. THEATRE. Dat Sh. M. ‘S MINSTRELS, sap. M. “fi THIRTY-FOURTH STREET OPERA HOUSE. VARIETY. at 8 P. M. FIFTH AV JB THEATRE. PIQUE, at8P.M. Fanny Davenport. GLOBE THEATRE. VARIETY, at 8 P. M. wooD's UNDER THE GALLOWS, ats BROOKLYN TI PRIDE, at 8 P.M. Charlotte Thi SAN FRANCISCO MI wSP.M. THEATRE VARIETY, at 87. M. CENTRAL ORCHESTRA, QUARTET GILM BRAND CONCERT, a RATRE. Lestor Wallack. NEW THEATRE. LONDON Ass TONY Pas’ FARIETY, at 8 P.M. UNION SQUAR CONSCIENCE, at & P. R YM. EA VARIETY, at 8 P.M. ay TRIPLE NEW YORK, MONDAY, MAY 15, 1876, "From our reports this morning the probabilities | are that the weather to-day will be warmer and cloudy, with, possibly, rain. Norice to Counrry Nerwspxarens.— For by and regular delivery of * the Henap fast mail trains orders must be sent direct to | is office. Tue Benuin Cas System is exhaustively treated in a letter froin the German capital published in another portion of the Hzratp. It will repay the attention of the capitalists and hack owners of New York. Postage Jree. A Parapox.—The most sensible man who has had anything to do with the Beecher case is the Rev. Dr. Taylor, of the Broadway Tabernacle, and that is because he would | have nothing to do with it at atl. Tae Inrertar Memoranpum which was the outcome of the conference at Berlin is said to look to a lengthened armistice in Herze- govina and some concerted naval measures for the protection of the Christians of Salonica and other threatened points, AConnecticur Crntenantan.—The remi- niscences of Mrs. Ira Mead, of Greenwich, Conn., who has attained the remarkable age of one hundred and six years, are given else- where, and will be found of wonderful in- terest now in their glimpses of life during the war for independence. Dottans TaLx.—It was a happy and con- elusive answer which the Prefect of Vaucluse made to the member who objected to the objects of the Franco-American Union on the ground that America showed ingratitude to France during the late war. The Prefect pointed to $440,000 sent from this country to be devoted to the care of the French sick and wounded. Tue Brooxtyn Tureves who are alleged to have carried off the entire furniture of the lower part of a house without attracting the attention of the inmates, who were tem- porarily on the third story, must receive a diploma of felony ranking very close to the men who steal entire railroad Tue Frencu Rarvsuicans are becoming more and more satisfied with the govern- ment of MacMahon, the appointment of M. de Marcere to the portfolio of the Interior giving them great pleasure. They are learn- ing how to wait to win the substance which is usually near its shadow, and the Repub- lic until the late elections was little but a shadow. Tae Deap or tax Wan —On Tuesday, the 80th inst., the beautiful ceremony of dec- orating the graves of the soldiers will take place, and already the preparations are on foot. Elsewhere will be found the general order of the Grand Army of the Republic relating to this event. Tur Daxoens of the Banks of Newfound- land, on account of the almost perpetual fogs, are again illustrated in the case of the French schooner, Jenne Auguste, sunk by | the steamship Rhein. It is greatly to be | Jeared that steamer captains, becoming ac- | tustomed to the passage, and emboldened by past immunity, do not keep a proper | lookout ahead. Vessels before now have | steamed at full speed through the thickest | fogs on the Banks, and officers have been found to defend this mad practice on the ground that the greater their speed the less would they be injured in a collision, For Ovr Rirtemey’s Epiricarion we pro- gent in another column the full scores of the | practice shooting of some of the Irish gentle- | men who may come here in the team to com- for the Centennial trophy in the fall. ; zeal for some great idca, which challenged | the ordinary rule that a representative body | it, and stands, likea pyramid, on a broad | three of these four were selected by Mr. | The Fifth Avenue Conference. | The meeting to-day of a number of gen- tlemen of more or less distinction, from | different parts of the country, to confer on | the political situation and advise their fel- low citizens, will be more respectable than | efficient. It assembles in compliance with invitations sent by Mr. Schurz, Mr. Bryant, President Woolsey and ex-Governor Bul- lock, and it is given out that more than one hundred of the individnals receiving invitations have signified their acceptance. It will consist mostly of thoughtful, studi- | ous gentlemen who ‘have never had or have | lost a connection with active politics, and whose counsels their countrymen have not been accustomed to follow or have ceased to follow. They are exotics in the politics of to-day, and, like other exotics, they will not thrive in the ordinary outdoor atmosphere where ‘the winds of heaven may visit them too roughly.” Closet politicians, like hothouse plants, lack the hardiness and strength of fibre which cen stand against those accidents of the weather whose bracing roughness fortifies such growths as are in- digenous to the soil, American politics have never been much influenced by secluded men of culture, nor by small knots of indi- viduals acting outside of the regular party organizations, unless, like the old abolition- ists, they were inspired by a fiery burping and aroused an opposition as fierce as their | advocacy. We cannot see that this new movement has within it any principle of life. The meeting at the Fifth Avenue Hotel differs from an ordinary political convention | in the fact that its members do not represent | any constituencies. None of them is author- ized to speak for anybody but himself. The conference will neither have. the spirit and power of a mass meeting, which is itself a constituency acting in its primary capacity and giving ocular demonstration of its num- bers, nor will it have the influence which belongs toa convention of delegates, each of whom represents a constituency whose sen- timents he is empowered to declare. It would not be quite correct to say that the members of the Fifth Avenue Conference are self-elected, for they have been chosen by the three or four gentlemen who addressed the invitations. This little knot of originators is the real con- stituency of the members, which reverses is less numerous than the peoplewho choose base of popular numbers. This conference resembles an inverted pyramid poised on its apex. One hundred and odd individuals were chosen to represent the four gentlemen who selected the persons to be invited, and Schurz, who is the real author of the movement; which reduces the ; of this city, and the interpretation com- apex on which the inverted pyramid stands toa very sharp point. Ordinarily a political convention is created by the elec- tion of delegates, who, in turn, elect other delegates, the structure tapering as it rises from the broad popular'constituencies to the small number who actually transact the business in their representative capacity. But this meeting rests on Mr. Schurz as its ultimate constituency, and, so far as it has & representative character, it represents only him. Like wider constituencies he has chosen delegates known to be in harmony with his views. The meeting is simply the unit, Mr. Schurz, with ciphers enough an- nexed to make him count one hundred. A list of the gentlemen to whom invita- tions were sent has not been published, but when they assemble it will probably be found that they consist of two classes— namely, of political soreheads, like Mr. Schurz himself, who have been remanded to private life by unappreciative constituencies or severance of party ties, and, secondly, of respectable, worthy gentlemen who have never been in politics and are destitute of the skill and experience requisite for acting strongly on the popular mind in an absorb- ing political canvass. Mr. Schurz himself has great gifts, but they are not gifts for leadership. While he was a member of the republican party in good standing he held an eminent and enviable position among the advocates of measures adopted by the controlling minds of the party. When he first broke with the adntinistra- tion he proved a serviceable lieutenant of Senator Sumner in his successful assault on the St. Domingo job. But in every attempt of Mr. Schurz to shape.a policy, in- stead of accepting and advocating one marked out by others, he has come to grief. He was one of the foremost originators of the Cin- cinnati Convention in 1872, and his leader- ship was recognized by electing him as its president; but the unexpected result of its deliberations filled him with chagrin and indignation. He could not, éven with the aid of its large German vote, mould the politics of Missouri into such a form as would give him even a chance for re-election to the Senate, of which he was so bright an ornament. He was born to be a brilliant lieutenant, but not a leader. When, last fall, he consented to fall back into his old réle of an advocate, and, after the issue of the canvass had been made up, returned from Europe to speak on the republican side in Ohio, he gave a splen- did demonstration of the greatness of his talents in a part that fitted him. He can never be sueceasful in politics except as an orator acting with a.political party and sup- porting by his eloquence the policy and measures determined on by managers who excel him as strategists. Had he remained in the republican party and kept its confi- dence he might have exerted a hundred-fold more influence in cansing it to select a candi- date of high integrity than hean through any such machinery as he is now trying to organize. ‘The declared purpose of the conference at the Fifth Avenue Hotel is to act on the na- tional conventions of the two regular par- | ties, and cause them to select honest men for Presidential candidates. But what in- scores are not extraordinarily high, 186 out of 225 being the best ; but as this was the | rst practice of the season it shows that our | Yidemen will have to work hard to retain their laurels. The winner in the contest of Seturday at Creedmoor only scored 179 ont | of the same possible total, but allowance must ducement can these respectable gentlemen hold out, or what menace can they make, that anybody will be likely to heed at Cin- cinnati or St. Louis? They may proclaim their purpose to withhold their votes from unfit candidates; but what will that amount _ be made for the strong and variable wind - that prevailed, se to when they have no constituencies behind them whom they can bind by their de- cisions The only votes they can dispose of are their own, and the attempt to influence politics with so small a capital is as if o child with a cupful of sugar and.a teaspoon should at- tempt to sweeten the bitter salt waters of the ocean. Who cares for politicians that have no personal following? Who will mind how these well meaning gentlemen threaten to vote when they separate and scatter to their homes in ten or twenty different States ? Mr. Schurz can cast one vote in Missouri, Mr. Bryant one vote in New York, President Woolsey :one in Connecticut, Governor Bullock one in Massachusetts, and the other gentlemen in like manner. But the gos- samer'’s wing is not lighter than the influ- ence they can exert in politics by a declara- tion that they will vote for nobody but Bristow on one side or Tilden on the other. | Votes are not weighed, but counted, and the influence of a politician is measured by the number of yotes he is thought able to control. We have had considerable experience in late years of small cliques of men making reform their shibboleth and acting outside of the regular parties, but the usual result has not been suchas to prepossess the public in favor of this sort of politics, John Cochrane has led such a squad for many years, making himself a butt and laughing stock for both parties. We have an annual crop of such movements in the local politics monly put on them is that their anthors are in the political market to be bought out. The gentlemen who got up this conference are exempted by their character from such a suspicion, and even if they were not aX\high toned and disinterested as we all know them to be, they would still be exempt by the fact that they have no votes to dispose of. But it is none the less true that outside political movements on the approach of ‘an election are not in high esteem and that in the few instances when they are not sordid they seldom accomplish any other end than giving a certain kind of transient notoriety to the men who engineer them. The Cristofori Festival. The musical festival which recently oc- curred in Florence, and which was designed to do honor to the memory of Bartholomew Cristofori, is an event of more than passing interest to the musical world. Our special cable despatch from Florence, published in yesterday's Henan, gave an account of the assemblage of pianists in the city where the most wonderful of instruments received its principal characteristics from the hands of Cristofori, One hundred and sixty-five years have elapsed since the Florentine mu- sician first introduced small hammers in place of quills to strike the keys of ths in- strument which he called pianoforte, and, although many improvements were still nec- essary and much labor, industry and experi- ments had to be devoted to the tagk before | the noble grand piano of the present day | was attained, yet the invention of the Italian | must be regarded as the principal fea- ture in the history of the piano. The clavichord, clavicitherium, virginal, harpsi- chord, spinet, and the other predecessors of the piano, with their jacks and quills, would scarcely be tolerated by any musical ear at the present day, although on the harpsichord were developed some of the finest in- spirations of Handel, Haydn, the Bachs, Mozart and Clementi. The tone has been wittily compared to ‘‘a kind of scratch with a sound at the end of it.” The influence that the piano wields in the parlor or the con- cert hall is unbounded, as on no other in- follow o perfectly The Improvement at the Mississipp! Mouth. Since the commencement of operations under the direction of Captain Eads a con- siderable improvement has been effected in the navigation of the South Vass, and it is now claimed that ships of sixteen feet draught can traverse it at mean high water without any difficulty, By means of em- bankments formed of mattress work, pro- tected by sheet piling, the channel of the South Pass has been sd narrowed that the water volume flowing “through it has dredged the bed clear of a large por- tion of the mud deposit, and Captain ; Eads asserts that there is now good reason to expect a complete removal of the bar obstructing this mouth of the Missis- sippi by the action ‘of the constantly increas- ing volume of water. But a grave question arises in connection with the ultimate deposit of the mud thus removed from the mouth end channel of the South Pass, as it is asserted that a new formation or deposit has been recently discovered to exist several hundred feet to seaward of the lower ter- minus of operations, and which is believed to be due to the accumulation of the mud that has been dredged by the river current as above described. Regarding this impor- tant discovery we will express our opinion by repeating the warning of the Hrranp on the Gth and 8th of last September, when the commission of engineers was in session in New York, to consider the jetty scheme and determine finally the plan of operations. Referring to the danger of an overhasty action on the plans, the Henanp editorial article says:—‘‘Irretrievable errors may not become apparent until a vast amount of harm has been accomplished ; indeed, a temporary success may crown the efforts of the engineers at certain points on the sphere of their operations, only to render the evils sought to be abated irremediable,” And again, suggesting the very difficulty that is now believed to have presented itself outside the mouth of the South Pass, ‘A gradual closing up, by deposit, of the South- west and South Passes of the river which will in time open on an area of slack water between the Gulf Stream and the shore line.” These remarks were based on our belief that the selection of the South Pass for the proposed jetty im- provement was not a wise one, the project being intended, we presume, as a work of utility and not of mere experiment. The latter reference in the article quoted is in- tended to show what would happen if the Mississippi was permitted to adjust its out- lets in accordance with the natural eastward trending of its channel below Baton Rouge, which point marks the limit of the general southward flow of the river. The oblitera- tion of the old western outlets by filling up shows that if advantage is to be taken of the enormous volume of the river waters to render their outlets navigable, only those that exhibit and favor the natural tendency of the river should be selected and improved. It is impossible to force the Mississippi to straight course, such as that represented by the line from the forts to the mouth of the South Pass. The Sontheast Pass presents a more favorable line, discharging as it does in the general direction of the littoral current which is calculated on to remove the ex- cavated mud from the river into deep water. We publish to-day a card from Captain Eads addressed to objectors to his scheme, in which he presents the latest phases of the improvement. We would deplore the failure of the Eads jetty plan in this in- stance, but we are of opinion that its failure strument can the inspired thoughts of the great masters of music be conveyed with such effect. It is the epitome of an orches- tra, and melody and harmonious combina- tion can be expressed by the pianist in end- less variety, independent of the aid of others. The festival at Florence, therefore, is one of particular interest to all who have music in their souls. The Sermons Yesterday. A great many of our preachers yesterday, by a coincidence not very extraordinary but yet worthy of note, dwelt upon this life asa preparation for the life to come. Indeed, when doctrinal hair-splitting is laid aside and the great festivals of Christianity do not engross the attention of priests and congre- gations, it is natural that the teachers should revert to the conditions under which man in his brief breathing space must make himself worthy of that blisstul psychic translation which Christianity promises when time is no more to the creature of the earth. Catho- lic, Baptist, Congregationalist and Univer- salist agree in our columns that more or le:s to merit salvation man must move on his pathway through the world with the greatest attainable purity of thongit, word and deed. There is a divine, in- finite merey which is capable indeed of washing out all transgressions, so far as they relate to the next existence, and the sectarian differences of opinion chiefly oc- cupy themselves with the amount or quality of the human endeavor which will suffice to let that mercy operate. But no matter how much the sects differ on this point, all plead for uprightness and purity of life. To ex- amine all this more carefully we would refer our Christian readers to the reports of the sermons of Dr. Armitage, Dr. Hepworth, Father Farrelly, Mr. Pullman and Father Byron. Mr. Beecher yesterday preached what may be described as his Pan-Christian sermon—his sympathy with all denomina- tions of the followers of Christ—which may be summed up in the significant sentence:—“I take the liberty of loving what is lovable and letting the rest alone.” The semi-cen- tennial of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic church, which was celebrated yesterday, is an evidence of the steady growth of that charch in this country. Sexine THe CentenntaL.—It will be well for all our citizens who can afford it to visit the great Exhibition at Philadelphia, and to make their arrangements ahead. We sug- gest this to parents in view of the case of young Charley Brown, who, not being cer- tain of his father's intentions, solved the matter by taking forty odd dollars and start- ing ‘‘to see the show" for himself. If would be in application instead of prin- ciple, because of the injudicious selection of the South Pass. Liberty and the Women. Some of the women who want more free- dom, or some of the masculine shriekers who help the women to make a noise under that pretence, deem it incongruous that Liberty should be figured always as a woman and that woman should never be free. They should understand, however, that the plastic and the graphic arts, which endeavor to present to the eye, by visible forms, ab- stract ideas or conceptions that are them- selves without substance and consequently without form, do not presume to adhere to strict fidelity in likeness. They picture one thing by another from the fancy that they are alike in certain con- spicuous attributes. Thus all men associate with Liberty the idea of beauty. They “hold it as a thing enskied and sainted.” It is also as perishable as it is fair and ever in need of defenders, and in its cause men in all times of human his- tory have been ready to lay down their lives. For all these reasons what ‘is more to the point than that Liberty should be pic- tured in the form of a woman? Therefore, let the artists continue; but we hereby ex- pressly direct that not one of them shall ever make her in the form of a woman's rights woman, lest the world should fall in love with slavery. Professional Paupers. One of the biggest nuisances of modern society is tho high-toned beggar, who does not admit his disagreeable mendicancy. A good square beggar is, in comparison, re- spectable. There is something to admire in a beggar who confesses to the fact. Edie Ochiltree, the old gaberlunzie, in Scott's novel of ‘The Antiquary,” belonged to this class, and was proud of living upon the general alms of the public. teel paupers of our day prey upon their acquaintances and friends. Too lazy to work for their living in any useful way, they work as hard as horses to gain it by scheming. They regard their friends as adventurers do gold mines, | and are always prospecting for some new “lead.” It is difficult to deal with this high-toned professional beggary, which ap- pronches its victim with the appearance of equality and robs him with all the polite- ness Fra Diavolo displayed toward, Lord Alleash. The noble beggar who calls you a drink, the tramp who demands food and | shelter, the professional woman, with some | one else's child, can be easily dealt with. Charley had thought he was going in the regular order it might not have cost his parent half the sum. They can be gratified or dismissed, be- cause they admit their mendicancy. But , there is no protection from the beggar who | presented to an sdmiring world, and | Mr. Wiliam 4. Cerke andi. William P; Ghee But the gen- | “Captain” and asks boldly for money to buy | | from the fields where human genius wars NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, MAY 15. 1876,--TRIPLE SHEET. is not a beggar, but an acquaintance. The | the great industries of the earth are number of such people is immense, and they fill all the capitals of America and Eu- rope. They claim to be ladies or gentlemen and move in the best society, but they are wordy enemies to its comfort and peace than all the professional beggars that infest the streets or prowl around the basement doors. The old song is right in telling us how the dogs bark because the beggars are coming to town, some in rags, some in jags and some in a velvet gown. They come in various ways and garments, and those who wear velvet and broadcloth are the most per- sistent and insatiate of all. Short Sermons. The time is past when the value of a ser- mon was measured by its length. In the old-fashioned days of New England theology people liked quantity as well as quality, and took the punishment of the ‘‘seventy-second of the seventy-fourth” with the patience of prize fighters. Yet even these solemn peo- ple must have sometimes yawned as the preacher tediously expounded theintermina- ble subdivisions of his discourse. Now any necessity for long sermons—if ever any ex- isted—is removed by newspapers and books. The old conditions of society are broken up; the world learns religion as it does everything else, more from the printed page than from oral teaching. When the Rev. Norman Macleod preached before the royal family of England the Prince Consort sent him word to please make his sermon not longer than twenty minutes, but he refused to take in- structions and made it more than forty. The | Prince was kind enough to say afterward that he wished it had been longer. But the case was an exception. Dr. Macleod was a great orator, and none but great orators are privileged to take liberties with their audi- tors. As arule any intelligent clergyman who preaches once a week on well known subjects can say all that should be said in half an hour. Condensation, clearness, point, convey a doctrine or a plea better than elaborate discussions. If the. Jews were forty years wandering in the wilderness is that any reason why a clergyman should take forty min- utes to describe their sufferings in the journey? ‘When he preaches on eternal punishment he should not make his sermon the proof as well as the argument of its ex- istence. The most successful pulpit orators in modern times are those who comprehend how the methods of religious teaching have been modified by the influence of the press, The sermons of the Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, of Trinity church, are models of brevity, force and effectiveness. They owe their power greatly to their concentration, and it would be much better for the Church—and we in- clude all the creeds and sects—if this excel- lent example were more generally followed. The Case of Coliector Buckner. Mr. Buckner is Collector of Internal Rev- enue in Louisville, He is a man of sub- stance and character, and there is, so far as we know, no suspicion that he has done wrong. The law (Revised Statutes, section 3,148) allows every collector to appoint his deputies and to remove them at his pleasure, which is a most just and necessary rule to secure responsibility; and the statute adds:—‘‘Each collector , in every re-* spect, be responsible, both to the United States and to individuals, as the case may be, for all moneys collected and for every act done or neglected to be done by any of his deputies while acting as such;” which is, of course, only just. Mr. Buckner selected as one of his depu- ties a person who made away with sixty-five thousand dollars of the government funds in Mr. Buckner’s hands. Ofcourse it isa mis- fortune for Mr. Buckner, and we are sorry for him. But that is one of the risks he took when he accepted the office. His es- tate is sufficient or nearly so to cover the de- ficiency, and his bondsmen are good for it all, the bonds being for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But Mr. Buckner now appeals to Congress to relieve him from loss, and the Ways and Means Committee is considering his case, and, as we hear, a number of others of the same kind. We trust the committee will report against his and all such petitions. We do not doubt Mr. Buckner'’s entire honesty, but he was not compelled to take the office. If he undertook the responsibili- ties in return for the honors and salaries it is not right that the government, which means the taxpayers, should now bear the loss inflicted by his carelessness or lack of business qualitications. There has been too much of this kind of relief, and by giving it Congress demoralizes the public service and invites incompetent men to seek for respon- sible places. The law provides the course to be pursued in such cases. The Revised Statutes, sec- tion 3,217, declare that ‘‘when any collector fails either to collect or to render his account or to pay over within the manner or within the times provided by law, the First Comp- troller of the Treasury shall immediately after evidence of such delinquency report the same to the Solicitor of the Treasury, who shall issue a warrant of distress against such delinquent, directed to the marshal of the district,” and so forth. No doubt the Comptroller and Solicitor of the ‘Treasury have done their duty, and we trust Congress will leave this and other cases to be dealt with according to law. The people will not be satisfied to see it dealing loosely with the officers who collect the taxes. A good many people in these days find it very difficult to pay their taxes. The Centennial Exhibition. The great Exhibition at Philadelphia con- tinues to form the chief subject of interest | for press and public, and bids fair to attain all the success which its projectors hope for. In it we have a splendid expression of patriotism and a marvellous proof of our progress as a people within the first century of the nation’s existence, "No mere word pictures can convey an adequate idea of the extent, beauty and happy arrange- ment of this grand collection of trophies against and conquers the physical obstacles with which jealous Nature surrounds and guards her secret treasures. Art and Science, | the handmaidens of civilization, are there held wp to our gaze in the splendor of the results they have ‘The . giant steam engine which moves the miles of shafting that transmit its power tothe count- Jess forms of machinery—the cunning eom- binations of wheel, crank and lever that work such wonders under our eyes—is a pere fect type of the great moral, social and politi- cal lever represented by the Exhibition in which it is placed. A little more than a year ago the metal of which this great engine is formed was lying in the bowels of the earth, buried under a moun- tain of matter which apparently placed it beyond the possible reach of man. And yet here is the ore transformed into an engine of vast power and dimensions. So with our Exhibition. We will make it the engine by which we will move the machinery of civil- ization and forge the links that will unite us in peace and harmony with the rest of the human race. The Blaine-Riddlc Business. The difficulty of attempting to ‘‘take the bull by the horns” is as great in thé matter of charges made against a public man as in stopping the charge of a maddened steer by the samo method. Mr. Blaine has been attempting this feat of late, and we fear has -not come out as ungored and untumbled as he and his friends could wish. To stand up in the House and make a finely turned and clever speech in which all charges are met in the way he chooses is a mode of beat- ing down accusation more slashing and sug- gestive of the free lance of medimval days than either conclusive or dignified. We may accept it as a melancholy fact that as soon as a man writes ‘‘candidate for the Presidency ” upon his shield, he may expect every rivet of his moral armor to be sought out by his enemies or his rivals, and every weak spot, from morion to spur, to be pounded at by their maces. It would be hopeless for such a man to rush upon every antagonist that comes to the front, for if he has not that army of witnesses—his pure past and those who have beheld it—to speak for him, his flourish and caracole, ‘‘strange oaths” and fiery sallies, will tend to make him look more like a performer in the circus than anything else. To this pass Mr. Blaine hag brought himself. The Riddle correspond. ence, to which he contributed his part with a mixture of patronizing friendliness and loud threat, reopens the story which he was at such pains to close in his famous speech, The letter of Mr. Riddle, which we print elsewhere, quotes the statements of several gentlemen, among whom is General Boyn- ton, and puts the question of the identity of Mr. Blaine, in the alleged interview with Mr. Stewart, the lobbyist, in such a shape that Mr. Blaine can only answer ft in a Con- gressional inquiry. Mr. Riddle’s statement confines Knowlton's assertion within careful limits, and it appearsto be strongly sus: tained by the corroborating witnesses. aoroeeies PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Mra, Van Cott is reviving in Iowa. Commodore Preble is in Portland, Me. John Kitts, of Chitago, 1s 108 years old, O'Donovan Rossa has gono to California, Liszt, she great pianist, has a Voltairean smile, Fight hundred girls attend Baptist colleges in Geor in, "Genel Benjamin F. Butler attends Anna Dickinson's performances. Ex-Senator Milton H, Latham, of California, is rap. idiy recovering. George Eliot does not thorough)y know the custome of the best London society. Senator Fre!inghuysen is tall and slim, and has @ voice like an Zolian harp, Bret Harte wears a little gypsyish hat set jauatily sidewise on his straggling iron-gray locks, Rubenstein, the pianist, gives the impression that he grows more awkward @3 ho grows older. Mr. Harrison, the nominee of the Connecticat repub Nicans for Senator, is a thorough Grant man. iS ‘The Jacksonville (I11.) Jofrnal says that it the dem- ocratic nominee is not @ Bourbon there will be a bolt, Speaker Kerr did not put Congressman Barnum, of Connecticut, upon the chairmanship of any committee, ‘A Phitadelphian writes to the Bangor (Me.) Whig, claiming that Blaine will recetve 333 votes on the first ballot. Colone! Peter Donohue, the wealthy Pacific Railroad potentate, in 1850 started a blacksmith shop in a tent at San Franciaco, € The San Francisco Post, Senator Jones’ organ, in- forms the Hxranp that California republicanism is not for Blaine, but for Bristow. Mr. Percy Goetschius, of New Jersey, has won cone sidorable honors at Stuttgart, Germany, by the produc. tion of an orchestral composition, * The Lockport (N. Y.) Journal thinks that voor. keeper Fitzhugh ought to have opened the Centennial, Decause he is ‘a bigger man than old Grant.”” Bishop Simpson is massive, has square shoulders, a square face and a low, broad forchead. His voice is thin, high and powerful, and his cloquence is of the enthusiastic kind. a ‘Tho [Uinois State Journal says that the robbery of Miss Sweet, the Chicago pension agent, was an open secret, known to the State managers, who concealed 18 for thé benefit of the party. Mr. W. F. Rae will soon publish his “(History of the United States.’ His reputation hitherto rests upom his study of English politics, under the title of “Wilkes, Sheridan, Fox.’? Congressman Garfield last summer was shown the habits of the Chinamen in San Francisco, and the sight made him sick. He will probably use his influence to sustain Senator Sargent. Osgood & Co, have out @ new. centennial edition of Whittter’s complete works, in one volume, at $1, and | will tssue Tennyson and Longfellow "in centennial editions at the same price, Ameng Southerners there ts an undercurrent of opinion which isin favor of @ democratic candidate from the Weat, They say that the Weat, and not the East, is the true friend of the Soath, Says an English writer:—‘The charm of Mr. Wilkie Collins’ fletions is the subtle suggestions which they convey of the goneral insecurity of modern life, partie. ulariy that part of is which {s transacted in suburban villas,” ‘The Utica Observer says that In the county of Onoida: almost every Congressman for twenty years has ox- pended money to obtain his election. Mr. Conkling did not, because he had none to spend, but he had rich trends to back him. Norwich Bulletin:—‘Ruskin observes that as a role women have nocye for color. This explains why « woman is obliged to spond threo-quarters of a day im getting the exact shade of ribbon to trim a dress, while whea tt comes to mending her husvand’s pantaloons she seoms to think that a yellow patch is just the thing to maten black broadcloth.” : Among recent accomplished women writera on the fine arts is now enrolled Mrs A. G. Radcliffe, am American, whose ‘‘Schools and Masters of Paimting” if jn Appleton’s pross. It will givea nistory of painting to the nineteenth century, with a descriptive guide te the great galleries of Florence, Rome, Madrid, Paris, London, Dresden, Munich and Berlin. Mr. B. H. Rhoades and Mr, Joseph Watson were re- cently appointed by the Newport Historical Society @ committee to confer with the society’s president, Dr. ‘King, im relation to the establishment of a board of trustees for that society, and as aresalt tho following gentiemen have been elected to constitute that board— viz., Gencrat Jonn Alfrea Hazard, Mr. Benjamin Finch,