The New York Herald Newspaper, May 8, 1877, Page 7

NEW YORK HERALD | 7° Wor in tne Eostn® BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, poh ocescieriaania hb THE DAILY HERALD, published day én the year. Tree DAT rope tiunuay excinded). Ten dollars per | Tt one ‘aollar per month 1or any period less Hee he mentin, or “axe duilars for six tmonthe, Sunday ion inetnded, free of ince. eee anness: Hews letters or telegraphic despatcbes mast be nadressed Nuwe Vouk Hina. ters and packages should be property sealed, Hejected ‘communications will not be returned, —_—_>-_—_—_ ba; adhe OFFICE—NO. 112 SOUTH SIXTH LONDON IQEFICE OF Sd NEW YORK HERALD— ¥ do. FLEET 5" 4 OFFICE ENUE DE LOPERA S OFFL STRADA PACE, ill be received and ri. PARE THEATRE.—Couonm 8 GERMANIA THEATRE. ‘ux Wonpen Curip, BOWERY THEATRE.—Das: COLUMBIA OPERA HOUS: THEATRE COMIQUE.—Vani TIVOLI THEATRE.—V niet TRIPLE 8S “NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1 NOTICR 10 COUNTRY DEALERS. The Adams Exnress Company ran a special newspaper train over the Pennsylvania Railroad and its connections, leaving Jersey City at a quarter past four A.M. daily and Sunny. carrying the rosniar edition of the UenALD ae far Wont as Harrisburg and Philadelohia at a quarter past six A. M. and Washington at oue P. From our reports this morning the probubilities | are that the weather in New York to-day will be partly cloudy or cloudy and warmer, with rain. Wat Srrext Yesterpay. of Saturday was again in force yesterday, but jus€ before closing there was a general weakness and several stocks, especially the coal issues, suffered severely. The strong effort made to bull Lake Shore seems to be now exhausted, and that | stock closed weak. Gold was steady at 10714. Government and railroad bonds were higher. Money on call lent easily at.2 a 3 per cent. Rex, oF THE CARNIVAL, casts his interesting shadow upon some of our columns to-day. Spars Acai Orrers Amnesty in Cuba. It is cheaper than war and full; likely to succeed, Carevess Owners or Lire Inscraxce Por- Icres will find a needed warning in our Court re- eee fees asl Presipent Diaz or Mexico is a practical joker. He proposes, with sixteen thousand sol- diers, to keep his country free from robbers. Prswex Is Puayixc Tweep at San Francisco with great success as far as exciting the com- munity goes, and, as in the Tweed case, every man charged with domg anything wrong says, “I didn’t.” Mayor Ey need only cross the East River to obtain sympathy on the subject of appointments, for the Brooklyn Aldermen tabled yesterday all of Mayor Schroeder's nominations to Commis- sionerships. Ayotuer Onto Man Is 1n Luck at Washing- ton, with plenty of men to envy him; but not fone of them can blame the President, for such appointments ure not in the line of duty. - For particulars read “Logan-Porter.” Tae Resuuts or Generar Mites’ lively cam- paigning in Montana show themselves in the surrender of more than two hundred warriors and the admission that about as many were killed in Miles’ great December fight on Tongue River. Mr. Oaxsnott's Testimony in the Post Office accident investigation suggests the question why @ building as costly us our new Post Office should have been so faultily designed as to require at an early day such important moditications as led to the erection of the truss. Tux AMOUNT OF MONEY” re- ceived at the Comptroller's office since the first of last year had only slightly exceeded a thou- sand dollars—a sign either that the march of science has put conscience to flight or that theft has found some new and respectable name. ‘Tue Cuurcn anp THe Worvp are getting into accord upon material things. A reverend gentle- wan who has lately travelled largely through religious circles said, at the Baptist Ministers’ Conference yesterday, that he did not find a church where money matters could be men- tioned without making the members tremble. How Litrie Aci true loyalty in civil ices under the government is implied by the question addressed to the Sec- | retary of the Treasury as to whether persons exposing Custom House abuses will be allowed to retain their positions. As all Custom House employés are sworn to loyalty and faithful ser- vice it would seem the unquestionable duty of Bvery one to expose abuses und to receive special teward for such special servico. But of what consequence is loyalty in a political machine? Tus Pennsrivanta Backnone still preserves fts normal degree of stiffness. Some of the Molly Maguires under sentence of death for mur- | dersof the mostinexcusable and brutal sort have had the effrontery to bring their cases before tho Supreme Court of the State with the hope of a | reversal of judgment; but the decisions of the lower courts have been reaflirmed. The last hope of the murderers is in the Governor, but it is impossible that the chief magistrate of » great State can pay such a premium upon crime as a commutation of the sentences of these villains would be. sig! ‘Tur Weatuen.—A deep depression has ap peared on the northeast coast, having evidently moved northward along the Atlantic seaboard | the area of observation. Very heavy rains and high winds attend this disturbance, on the eastern const of Nova Scotia. The temperature is, however, low, and there are indications that # storm of considerable energy is in progress, The low area in the Mississippi Valley has extended and the pressure has fallen decidedly. Itis prob- ble that both depressions will unite during to- day on the coast. Heavy rains prevail on the southern shores of the lakes aud high winds in | the northern portion of that region. The tem- | has risen west of the Mississippi, but is im the central sections. The highest variable pressure is now in Manitoba. A low Darometer continues on the P coast, the pressure there is rising gradually, Brisk | ers be expected on the Texas coast. In winds te Southeast light rain prevails. in New York to-day will be partly Goudy and warmer, with rain. ‘The weather cloudy or Sonth to Washington, reaching | uence”’—Is It a Myth? One of the most important factors in the Eastern question is what is called the ‘tin- fluence” of England. The London news- papers discuss the war, its course and its causes, as though it had its origin in Eng- lish diplomacy, and could only terminate in obedience to English wishes. This theme is dwelt upon with so much emphasis by the London press and the speakers in Par- liament that a sentiment has arisen, not only in England,*but in the Unite? States, to the effect that unless Russia fights her campaign as the London Cabinet wishes England will at once interfere and give vic- tory to the Turks, The English are a patri- otic people and have their share of self- esteem, and newspaper proprietors know the value of encouraging that feeling. A newspaper finds comfort in telling its readers every morning at breakfast that in order to rule the world they have only to lay down their knives and forks and go out ; and command the nations. People gen- | erally have this self-esteem, ond England seems especially eager to indulge it. There- fore, in looking at the Eastern problem, which threatens to be the absorbing qnes- tion of the world, it may be well to look at this problem of English ‘‘influence” and see upon what it rests and how far it may be “depended upon to sway events on the Bos- phorus and in Asia Minor. England is a great nation and her statesmen have built up what Lord Bea- consfield calls ‘‘an unexampled empire.” She has vast resources, Her money market governs the finances of the world. Her flag dominates every sea, She has possessions in every continent. She watches Spain from Gibraltar, Germany from Heligoland, and the Mediterranean from Malta, She has ten colonies in Africa alone, one of them almost as large as France. In Asia she has the ancient and glorious Empire of India, while from Aden she keeps her eye on Egypt, and at Hong Kong she stands guard over China, In Australasia she has con- tinents that must one day be the seats of empires. Although in America her terri- tories are not what they were before the Revolution she has vast and rich dominions, She holds Jamaica in the West Indies. She menaces our Southern coasts from the Ber- mudasand Bahamas, and compelled usto pay millions more than would have been needed to suppress the rebellion by reason of her holding these islands as a base of supplies for the Confederacy. It is.really ‘‘an unex- ampled empire,” and we have enough of English blood in our veins to share some- thing of the triumph of the Englishman when he feels, to recall the majestic simile of Webster, that the morning drum-beat of Eng- lish garrisons follows the rising of the sun aronnd the world. The masters of such an empire have a right to speak when the peace of the world is at stake. No nation has more interest in peace than England. But is not this em- pire as much a source of weakness as of strength? England has built it up by play- | ing upon the rivalries of other nations. It is an empire that rests upon money—an empire of subsidies and alliances. We hear of English valor, which all the world) is supposed to dread. But what does history show of English valor? If we except Crecy and Agincourt and some of the battles during Cromwell's time and the wars of the Roses, where is the history of England standing alone as Germany stood against France, as France against all Europe, as Russia against the combined empires of Turkey, France and England? The wars against Napoleon in ‘England's great days,” as Kinglake calls them, were generally money wars. Pitt spent money in coalitions and sent a small army to take part in the fighting. It was so in Marlbor- ongh’s campaigns. England fought Louis XIV. by an alliance with Swedes, Ger- mans and Hollanders, She fought the French in North America by the aid of her American contingents. She fought the rulers ot India by arraying one Indian race against the other. When she strove to suppress the rebellion in America it was with the aid of Hessians. When she made war on Napoleon she had all Europe with her. But for the aid of the Spanish she would have been driven out of Spain. But for the arrival of Blucher and his Prussian troops Waterloo would have been not alone the defeat but the destruc- tion of the English army. When she fought | Russia it was as the ally of France and Turkey, and one of the reasons why she is not now in arms is because she can find no country but Turkey to help her against the | Czar. The truth is that England, with all of her power, is a weak nation. | She is strong in her navy; but within the last forty years France and Germany and Russia, and even Turkey and Italy, have been strengthening their navies. England might be a match for any one na- tion in the world in naval strength; but suppose an antagonistic alliance on the same scale as the hundred alliances she has planned against other nations. Conld her navy do more than hold its own against that of the Northern Powers? And do not the results of modern war show that the power of a navy can be overestimated? Notwith- standing our navy the South held us at bay for four years. Notwithstanding the su- mans the Germans overwhelmed France, and all the guns of her marine could not reduce the indemnity a single franc. one thing which even Englishmen cannot do with ships is to fight with them on land. Some day or the other and England must defend her Empireon land. The much vaunted Channel, the silver streak of shining its power with the advances of science. It took the Spanish Armada days to move over | a space that now could be traversed in a few hours. When Napoleon proposed to de- scend tipon England’s coasts from Boulogne | he needed twelve or fifteen hours for the ! work, | hours now. Even with all of Napoleon's | dificulties in crossing the Channel, the ab- | sence of steam and the appliances of modern | science, even with the transcendent genius of Nelson at the head of English fleets, the military student sees that but for the inde- periority of the French navy over the Ger- | The- sen, which Mr. Gladstone regards as the | charmed barrier of England’s safety, loses | He would not need more than two | { cision of Villenenve and his disregard of orders Napoleon would have crossed the Channel, thrown his army into Kent and taken London. Great as was Napoleon—and even greater as was his army—Europe has to-day a greater military power in the German Em- pire. Let us suppose such an alliance be- tween Germany and Russia as _ existed against Napoleon, and where is the power of Great Britain? She welcomed the destruc- tion of the military power of the French Empire, and now she has no one to take ier subsidy and fight her battles. Is it Aus- tria? IfAustria went into the field against | Germany she would lose every German | province ina campaign and become a sec- ond class Power. England has no allies to do her work on the Continent. If, in obe- dience to the blind public opinion which now and then finds expression in Parlia- ment, she resolved to assail, could she pro- | tect her own island? England is ‘not | a sacred land. Berlin, Vienna and Paris have felt the invaders’ heel within this century ; and why not London? Where is the power to save London? Is it the navy? We question if all the navies of the world could protect the Channel and the seas around England from an invading force, simply because no navy is omnipotent and | omnipresent, Isitthe army? England has no army compare’ to that of Germany or even France, She has a myriad of tender- footed volunteers, who parade over the downs and through the parks in Easter week. But they are not soldiers and have never had the training. England with her wealth, | with herendless resources, with her patriotic | spirit, with as gallant and chivalrous a people as exists on tho globe, has been governed by a false policy so far as the maintenance of her Empire is concerned. She can no longer defend her Empire by array- ing France against Germany and Rus- sia against the Austrian. Nor are large armies to be raised by subsidies, as was the case when Pitt massed the Hessians and Swiss against France. England has built up her Empire, and she must hold it by the conditions which power imposes upon other nations, as the Germans hold Germany, as the Americans hold America. She must hold it.by the sword. She now stands alone in Europe, without an ally but the Turk, without an army, with no lines of defence. Suppose the tides of war should set toward her; what is her defence? Is it in the valor of her people? Undisciplined valor, as the French showed, is as unavailing as the winds: Looking at the whole situation in Europe there is no illusion so absurd as the dream about the ‘‘influenco” | of England, She has money, news- papers and ships, and with these she can make a tremendous noise. But God help England if the mighty Powers of the Continent should feel the temptation to invade her soil. A successfal invasion of England by any Continental Power would be an unspeakable calamity, one which America would look upon with grief. But the more we study the situation the more we feel that England now owes her immunity from invasion not to her own wisdom, but to the forbearance of the Russian and German Powers. The Extra Session and American Commerce. A senseless clamor against President Hayes is raised in several quarters, as if he had disregarded the interests of American commerce by postponing the extra session from June to October. The people who raise this outcry are political lunatics. If they had sufficient clearness of perception to confine the discussion to the single point of the army appropriation they might, per- haps, havea tolerable case. On that point we have nothing to say, and if we had it would not be an indorsement of an attempt to support the army for three or four months by makeshifts and strained interpretations of statute law. But on all other grounds the objections made to the postponement reflect no credit on the political intelligence of their authors. If the Army Appropria- tion bill had been passed by the last Con- gress no public journal would be quite ab- surd enough to maintain that the President ought to call aon extra session in June with reference to the events now taking place in Europe. The real reason and only reason for a session in June rests on the fact that,no legal provi | sion has been made for the support of the army beyond the 30th of that month. Had this fact been otherwise there would have been no talk nor even a suggestion of a summer session in the unhealthy climate of Washington. Had an extra session in June been deemed by tho President imperative undoubtedly other subjects than the Army bill should receive the attention of Con- gress; but the President could not wisely have called a summer session with reference to those other subjects. It would be inconsistent with the national dignity and with tho friendly decorum we owe to Powers with which we are at peace for the Executive to assemble Congress for the purpose of legislating with reference to their expected misfortunes. An act author- izing free trade in ships would be univer- sally interpreted, both at home and abroad, as an attempt to make the most of our neu- tral position for recovering the shipping which we lost to England during our civil war. It would be o breach at least of | decorum, and the English government | would be likely to regard it as a breach of | friendship for the President to call an ex- traordinary session of Congress to prepare | for administering on her estate. England would resent it as we resented her prema- | tare action in 1861 in assuming a position | of neutrality before sho had any, official | evidence that the United States was a belligerent. As yet Great Britain is not a party to the Eastern war, and, according to her official declarations, she does not wish or intend to be, Of course all | the governments of the world see in what direction she is drifting; byt until she becomes an actual belligerent | our government need be in no haste to profit by the calamities which will betall her commerce. Until she takes the side of Tur- key and becomes a party to the war the Rus- sian cruisers cannot pounce upon her mer- chant ships, and even then some timo will elapse before their owners will be disposed to sell them ata sacrifice to forcign nations. / NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1877.--TRIPLE SHEET. port or pay the high rates of marine insur- ance, hoping for an early termination of the war, There will probably be no necessity for action on this subject by Congress before the middle of October; but if England ehould be drawn into the war within the ensuing two months the President can call an extra session in August or at any time when he deems it expedient, England’s Relation to the War. But a few days since and in face of the resolutions which it was reported Mr. Gladstone would offer in the House of Com- mons it seemed imminent that one of two things would happen, either of which might be regarded as a calamity in English poli- tics. It appeared likely either that the liberal party would take no definite position on the great topic of the relation of England to the war between Turkey and Russia, or that if it did take » position it would be split into two factions, each of which must necessarily prove incapable of exercising any influence upon the conduct of the government. But the wise moderation which seems to have controlled in the counsels of the party and in def- erence to which Mr. Gladstone so far modified his resolutions as to cast away all that part which, however sound in the moral view of the case, was dangerous in practical application, left it possible for the party toact with him and imposed upon the Ministry at least the restraint of the consciousness that they are in presence ofa vital opposition, Mr. Gladstone's criti- cism of the government in his speech of last night is one that England will heed. Itis full of the clear truths that can only be heard in the politics of the day in free countries, That no chapter in the history of the for- eign relations of England is so deplorable as that of the negotiations with Turkey in this affair isa truth that Lord Derby him- self is perhaps more than half ready to believe; that the Conference was a farce the Marquis of Salisbury must admit ; and that it was a mistake to send to Con- stantinople at the last moment a recognized partisan of «Turkey in the person of Mr. Layard that distinguished diplomatist will himself scarcely deny. It is true, as de- clared in this criticism, that the ‘‘con- science of mankind is no longer con- tent with remonstrances and expostula- tions,” and that the Power which is pre- pared to exact from the Turks more sub- stantial guarantees performs a duty to the civilized world. If that Power is not Eng- land so much the worse for her. ‘If Eng- land is unprepared to go further she must be prepared to see the duty pass into other hands.” In short, this speech, which will be recorded as one of the greatest efforts of the real leader of liberalism in England, emphasizes what is the opinion everywhere in the world that England's present relation to Russia and Turkey is the crowning blun- der of her recent history. That Settles the Question, A correspondent signing himself ‘Strict Party Man” insists in yesterday’s Herap that Governor Robinson ought to refuse to sign the “Omnibus” bill should it reach the Executive Chamber, because it ig a measure advocated and passed by a republican Legis- lature. ‘‘I do not care whether it be for the public good or not,” says this stanch demo- cratic champion ; ‘‘it should be enough for him to know that the bill was introduced to the Legislature as a party measure, advo- cated by republicans and finally passed by them.” We think this argument should be and must be conclusive with Governor Robinson. It is evidently the course of reasoning by which some of the democratic leaders in New York have been led to the conviction that the Governor must perforce veto the bill. Was he not, as our corre- spondent justly remarks, ‘elected, not by republicans, but by democrats, who pre- sumed, in voting for him, they were help- ing to elect one who would under all cir- cumstances and in each and every instance represent the party which placed him in the gubernatorial chair?” What is the ‘‘public good,” that it should be allowed to interfere with this clear obligation to a political party? A foolish idea prevails in some quarters that the executive office is en- cumbered with some obligation to study the interests of the whole State and the welfare of the whole people; but this arises from some platitudes in the constitution and from the simplicity of that remarkable class of citizens known as ‘‘non-partisan.” No good, stout democrat, and especially no Tammany democrat, believes in it, If the Omnibus bill would save the city a large amount of needless expenditure and give | ita more efficient government it would at the same time interfere with the patronage and profits of the democrats who elected Governor Robinson, and his obligation to veto it is therefore unquestionable, So conscientious a man as the Governor cannot do otherwise. Rapid Transit and Real Estate. When the minds of rural members of the Legislature become confused and bewildered by the brazen assertions of the horse rail- road lobby it is an advantage to be able to bring the noisy predictions and statements of the lobby to the suro test of facts. The opponents of rapid transit in the Legisla- ture, inspired by the horse car lobby, have declaimed themselves hoarse about the im- pending ruin to real estate along the lines of rapid transit roads. The members who have scen these puppets of the horse car companies lash their mercenary nonsense into rhetorical froth by crazy speeches will be instructed as well as | amused by comparing these gloomy predic- tions with the record of real estate transfers in this city. We give them aspecimen from the official list of sales of real estate on the Sth of May. “Amity street, north side, 88.9 feet west of Macdougal street, 23x100; A. Zarki, referee, to S. Black, $20,000.” This property is assessed at $15,000. A sale will never produce as much as when made in the ordinary way; yet the price ob- tained for this piece of property is really a large one, Now here is the point to which we wish to direct the attention of the Albany Solons—this piece of real estate is in Amity made under such circumstances | For a while they will either keep them in | likely to enhance than to depreciate the value of property bordering on its lines, The Gilbert rond has been built in front of the premises in question since last June. A Mormo: and Mormon Theory Facts. The Mormon theory of the Mountain Meadows massacre is that the Indians murdered the emigrants and that the Mor- mons were unable to protect them, but managed to save some of the children. But in the long and interesting conversa- tion of several of the Mormon leaders with a Heravp correspondent, which we printed on Sunday, Daniel H. Wells made an extraor- dinary statement about the circumstances surrounding the massacre. He asserted, of course, that the Mormons, Lee excepted, were guiltless, but he said:—‘‘All the settle- ments in the Territory had been informed that the United States army was again ad-- vancing to drive them out of it into some other place, perhaps to destroy them alto- gether, Many Eastern gentlemen well rec- ollect the fury that flamed when that news entered Utah. Our folks were desper- ate. It seemed they had nowhere to turn; every one prepared to resist; there was not a man, woman or child who was not for resistance. Now, when it was whis- pered—and it soon began not only to be whispered, but asserted—that these Arkan- sas emigrants were leagued with the sol- diers, and that some of them had been en- gaged in the murder of Joseph and Hiram Smith, at Nauvoo, the air might have seemed almost as heavy over Lower as it certainly was over Northern Utah.” Now, we cannot see how the fury of the Mormons, their hatred and desperation, which the Prophet Wells so vividly de- scribes, could affect the Indians. The In- dians could not read; they were not in- furiated by what alarmed the Mormons; they could not hear, except from the Mor- mon anthorities, that the. Arkansas people were in league with General Harney, and they would not have cared if they had heard it. The Indians did not care whether or not these emigrants had murdered Jo- seph Smith years ago. In all we have quoted from Wells there is abundant reason for suspecting the Mormons: not an iota for suspecting the Indians. Nor do these suspicions diminish when Wells goes on to describe how obediently the Mormons burned the forage, set fire to the grass and carried off the ani- mals—in fact, destroyed their own farms to impede the advance of the federal troops. He only shows that Brigham’s authority was absolute over his people, as everybody knows it was. But it was hardly less so over the Indians within the Territorial lim- its, who were for years in Brigham’s pay and his allies against all outsiders. The latest revised Mormon theory of the Moun- tain Meadows massacre, therefore, is that, because the Mormons bitterly hated the em- igrants, and were furious with fears of an invasion, therefore the Indians murdered them. That hardly holds water. Szoretary Suerman’s Oprortrunrry.—-Now that the extra session is definitely put off until the middle of October the Secretary of the Treasury has an unhoped for opportu- nity to use all his efforts to bring us so near to specie payment that Congress, when it meets, will bave no exouse for blocking the way. We hope Mr. Sherman has prepared his plans to take advantage of this period and to use every measure for which he can find authority in law to contract the currency. He ought to examine the Resumption act very carefully, as well os all the other laws regulating the currency. There is an im- pression in some quarters that a fair con- struction of the laws allows the Secretary to at least permit and favor contraction toa considerable extent, and that the Supreme Court might even decide, if a case were brought before it, that he has no‘authority to issue new legal tenders in place of those worn out and defaced. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Kate Claxton Is in Chicago, Maryland is already having picnics. Hon. 8. 8, Cox and wife are 10 Cincinvatt, Morton will stump around tho Senate for Hayes. London seldom has a grcat store of food within its limits, Mrs. Senator Spofford, of Louisiana, is handsome and rich. Jofforson Davis is writing his membirs and ts looking rugged at Mobile. * 1t was an Iilinow Senator who remarked incidentally that “Jack is high.’” Read upon Marco Bozzaris, and tell us what tho Turk was dreaming of the hour, Noxt to being asked for your autograph the nicest thing is 10 have your sentence of death commuted, Hon. ©. V. Bonynge, President of the San Francisco Stock Exchange, 18 at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, en route to Europe. He reports blue business iu mining affairs, face of a man who came out of a fight yester- day greatly resembled a Henay war map, ”’—Roches- ter Democrat, Wo hope the Rochester policomen will give the old Bucharest, Jefferson Davis says to the Leo Association that their cause has been crushed, not destroyed, and that though the silver lining of tho cloud is not quite dis. tinct the truth, he says, was only postponed, and will come at last, M. Victor Hugo, like a well known English poot, has a strong aversion to the practice of publisbing selec- tions from an author’s writings. A publisher having suggested to the poet to bring out a collection of his finest compositions, M. Hugo replied, “Does the tray- cllor who ascends Mont Blanc bring back a single stone and say, ‘Hero is the mountain?’ The reply was, “We wero not talking of mountains, but of two or three stones from a heap of stones or débris,"” é an matrimonial advertisoment says:—"tA grandmother, who Is infirm, wishes to marry her granddaughter, eighteen years of ago, pretty, bonor- able, stylish, and with 12,000,001, to a young man who is sorious and has a title and some fortane,”’ Another advertisement runs:—**A gontieman of ma- ture age anda literary man will marry alady of his own country and political party (anti-Bonapartist) if” | sho be forty years of ago and have more than forty thousand francs in the funds, If not, no.’? Savage animals are not yet extinct in Vermont, as Thomas Poggington, of East Richtord, found to bis cost a few mornings ago, He was on his way to his sugar orchard in company with his dog, when he sud- donly came faco,to face with a buge panther, The dog was torn to picees In a twinkling, and the beast thon tarned his attention to Mr. Peggington, who, though unarmed, kept his presence of mind, and avoided the creatare’s first spring by falling on his face, Tho second time ho was caught by the shoulder, and a desperate struggie followed, both rolling over and over on tho ground and finally falliag over a preci- pice twenty feet high, which ertded the combat. Mr, Peggingto# lay unconscious for several hours until THE WAR. Russian Advance Asia Minor. in KARS PROBABLY CAPTURED Bombardment of Widdin by the Forces of the Czar. ENGLAND---PEACE OR WAR? Debate in the House of Commons on Her Policy. GLADSTONE’S SLEDGEAAMMER SPERCH The Neutrality of the Euro- pean Powers. [BY CABLE TO THE RERALD.] Lonpon, May 8, 1877. A despatch from Constantinople says the Rus- sians have commenced to bombard the Turkish town of Widin, from Kalafat, on the opposite bank of the Danube. A despatch, dated Potl, Sunday, reports that the Turkish squadron has been divided. One portion remained in sight of the fort and the other left for Fort St. Nicholas. Cannonading was audible in that directionon Saturday. A telegram from Osurgheti, a Turkish town on the Georgian frontier near Ba- toum, dated Saturday, states that the Turks have evacuated Tschurksa, on the coast north of Batoum, The place, however, is defended by seven men- of-war, which cannonaded the advancing Russian column. The Standard’s correspondent at Con- stantinople understands that the Porte has re- ceived a telegram from Mukhtar Pacha announcing that he occupied a strong position between Kars and Erzeroum, and is confident he can stop’ the Russian advance. 4 CAMARD, The Paris correspondent of the Times says he has seen the person who concocted the spurious report of General Von Moltke’s speech. The party represents himself to be a German officer. Ho hawked the speech around among the special corespondents in Parig some days beforo it was published in the Figaro. NO NOPE FOR TEMPORAL POWER. ‘The French avd Austrian governments, to which the Pope had more particularly turned for protec- tion, have confidentially informed the Vatican that {it {s absolutely impossible for them to open neogotiations in his favor based upon the question of the temporal power. The Holy, See replied that, without renouncing its proper rights, the assistance invoked was strictly on behalf of the inde pendence of its spiritual authority, A SEW DEPUTY, P M. Durand, a republican, has been clected s membet of the French Chamber of Deputies trom St. Mala, BOMBARDMENT OF KARS, The France, ot Paris, publishes a telegram from St, Petersburg, dated Sunday, which says:—‘The bom bardment of Kars commenced yesterday (Saturday), An assault will take placo to-day.” There is also a report current at Pera of a great Russian victory near Kars; 15,000 prisoners arewaid to have been taken Kars is invested by 50,000 Russians, and the Second Rus sian corps is in full march upon Erzeroum. The Times® Vienna despatch of yesterday said rumors cameo there from Constantinople that Kars had fallon, MORK MASSACRES. Bechot was shelled by tho Turks yesterday evening. Tho bashi-bazouks plundered the neighboring villages at the same time and retarned with their spoils across the Danube, The bashi-bazouks afterward burned all tho shipping, including vessels belonging to neutral Powers, TRE MARCH ON ERZEROUM. Tho Russian right wing 18 marching throagh Genlos and Tchilder, ovidently with the purpose, unless pre- vented by tho Turks, of turning the second Tarkish line of defence at Sogbaule. The Russiancentre in the plain of Kars seems to bo awaiting the result of this move- ment and of the mancuvres of the le(t wing whioh it trying to force its way from Bajazid by way of Surk koy, The Turkish authorities here are actively cob lecting provisions, The inbabitants have t contribute whatever they may possess be yond the supplies necessary jor six months’ requirements, Prices arerising rapidly. The dearness of all articies of ordinary consumption is seriously felt The Circassian levies aro beginning to arrive, The weather is improving. The news of the Russias detent at Batoum and the capture of threo of theit guns has been confirmed by a lettor recoived at Pers omSunday, Everything tends to show, however, that tho Kussians are very strong in Asia, and are likely to advauce quickly. An official Russian tolegram from Tiflts, received at St. Petersburg, annoubces that vothing fresh has oq- fellows need not be dismayed. The | curred. Unfavorable weather continues, Sevon Turk: ish ships appeared before Satscha on the 2d inet, and remained one day, bat departed without action. Un the 3d Inst, a Turkish frigate fired ineffectually upos Pot!, This seems to contradict the rumors of a Tark. ish defeat at Kars, bat it mast be remembered thas the tolegraphic service in the Caucasus region is nov by any seans perfect, and delays of two or three days in the transmission of messages are by no means on- common, It is even indicated by the date men. tloned that the above information has boon at least four days on the way from Tiflis, IN KUROPRAN TURKEY, Tho murder of a number of Roumanians by Tdrkish irrogalars in a raid on Sunday has created much ex- citement in Bucharest and greatly strengthened the hands of tho wat party, Vrince Charles reviewed the Roumanian troops at Bucharest, yesteruay. They are fincly equipped and consist of two battalions of cavalry and five battalions of infantry, with forty Krapp ficld pieces, 1tis probable that this corps will take the field immediately near Oltenitza, The dificuity about the command of the Roumanian | troops will probably be arranged satisfactorily, | Tho Grand Duke Nicholas has passed through Galata | ana’ Reni and was, on May 6, at Ibrail, He is expected | to reach Bucharest on the 10th inst, The Russians who are passing through Bucharest are going to Baniassa between Bucharest and Giurgevo, A dem found by bis friends, and 18 80 severcly injured that his recovery is doubt(ul, The panther has not been seen since the fray, but it is thought he was badly street, where the Gilbert Elevated road is already built, Rapid transit is much more 4 hurt by the fall, and a party of hunters are locking for him, patch from Isakia announces that two Turkish gua- bonts attacked the Russian batteries at Tomrava, be- low Galats, on Saturday, destroyed a portion ef a bat~ | tery, dismounted agun and drove back the Russiana,