The New York Herald Newspaper, December 21, 1878, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, —-— THE DAILY HERALD, published coory day du the year. diay nuded), Ten dollars per r mouth for au od less sunday tase, ine fre pos! KLY HERALD—One dollar per year, free of post- orders, money ik of sender. In order to insure atten- < their uddress ch must give their old us well as their new address. ‘All business, news letters or telegraphic despatches mast be addressed New York Hrkat. Letters and pi should he properly sealed. Rejected comm will not be returned. NO, M2 SOUTH SIXTH PHILADELPHIA OFFIC STRE OF TUE NEW YORK HERALD— UE DE L/OPERA, TRADA PACE, ptions and advertisements will he received and on the same tortus as in New York, XLII. AMUSEMENTS 'TO-NIGHT. — WALLACK’S emt aee Son. UNION SQUARE THEATRE—Tak Banker's DavcuTzn, ROOTIVS THEATRE— STANDARD THEATRE FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE—Itir Van Wingir. NIB ARDEN—A1 ris Wont in Eiguty Days. NEW YORK AQUARIUM GLOBE THEATRE—Oyty 4 Fanunn’s Davcuten, GRAND OPT OL PARK THEATRE—Ocr GERMANIA THEAT! . . LYCEUM THEATRE—Dovsie Maxmuce, BROADW) EATRE. EGYPTIAN HALL—Vante TIVOLI THEATRE—Vanu TONY PASTOR'S—Vanuen MILHARMONIC CONCERT. 'G HALL—Con RT. WITH SUPPLEMENT. “NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1878, The probabilities are that the weather in New York ang its vicinity to-day will be cool and fair, followed by warmer and cloudy. ‘To-morrow it will be warmer and cloudy, with rain or snow. the stock mar- ket was active and strong. Gold was quiet all day at p Government bonds were weak, States steady and railroads strong. Money on call Jent at 4 a5 a 6 per cent. Brooktyn scores the first success in the skating line this winter, hundreds of light-footed children and adults haying appeared on the Capitoline pond yesterday, Wnho Is Responsince for the laborers at the Riverside Park being deprived of their pay for three months! Whoever is to blame for the delay in compensating these poor men for their work should be put to use at least as a Warning tu other incompetents. Genera Gr going to Ireland just pre- vious to his departure for India. It is to be hoped that he will be allowed an opportunity to kiss the “blarney stone,” for lack of blarney was at the bottom of many of the complaints that were made against him while he was President. Turre Is Somerninc absolutely fiendish in the malignity of the Treasury cireular about silver dollars. The Secretary offers to send lots of one hundred thousand dollars free of express charges; but who that wants the siwer can pay for a hundred thousandth part of the Secre- tary’s limit? Even THe Msrcnants seem to have aban- doued the silver shriekers, although each one ot them is probably burdened with a hun- dred times as much silver as any worshipper of the dollar of the daddies ever earned. The merchants propose to stand by the banks in the matter of resumption, GeorGis SnovLtpy MANaGe its internal affairs better. Two executions were ordered for yes terday, yet at last accounts the authorities had not been able to capture the subjects. There is in this experience too much suggestion of the hand-to-mouth way of doing things to satisfy even the criminal classes. SoctaLism Is ix Dancer of being infected by common sense. Last night the socialistic labor party assembled to listeu to a discussion of the possibility of improving the condition of the poor by free competition, and, as the platform was free to all speakers, the socialists heard some talk of a kind to which they are not accus- tomed. Ture New op Dottar has some peculiar and distinctive merits; it cavnot be split; the head of Liberty does not suggest any particu larly repulsive bag, and the inscription, “Goloid metric 1G, 16. 18., 1. 9 C. Grammes, 14.25,” is worth millions as a unique, a magazine for searchers after lucky numbers, a combina- tion of alphabet and primary arithmetic lessons, au educator of the public in the use of un- familiar words, and a good, substantial, re- liable puzzle for people who are looking for something to oceupy the long winter evenings. Tun Weatue: —The depressions which we announced dvancing from the northwest and southwest have moved into the upper lake region and over the mouth of the Mississippi River respectively. The northern disturbance is as yet unimportant, being a shallow depression, attended by light snows. The southern area, being in the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Texas coast, is at ied by rains, which on the north- ern margin fall over Louisiana, Mississippi and eastward. » dangerous winds are yet caused by either centre, but we may look for stormy weather as both near the Atlantic const. The urea of high pressure which recently overlay all the region west of the Alleghany Mountains has diminished considerably, a8 we anticipated, and is now central on the Atlantic coast near Cape Hatteras. The low barometer that was lingering over Nova Scotia has moved eastward into the Atlantic, and is followed in the lake region and Canada by the cloudiness and light snows preceding the disturbance ad ng from the northwest. It is probable that the storm centres of the Guif and northwest will converge toward a point north of or ne: Hatteras, and that heavy southeast g prevail on the Middle Atlantic and England coasts. ‘Temperatures have in the eastern districts but have risen in the West. Our special cable. weather despateh from London says that the weather on the English southwest and west coasts was last evening as follows:—Scilly—Light variable winds; barometer, 29.30 ine’ Plymouth— Light variable winds and cold; barometer, 29.50 inches. Holyhead—Moderate winds from the east ; barometer, 4 inches. In New York r Cape | es will | New fallen | und its vieinity toafiy it will be cool and fair, followed by warmer aud cloudy weather, To- wnorrow it will be warmer and cloudy, with ruin OF SLOWs NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1878—WITH SUPPLEMENT. The Methods of Taking “Census. The tenth census of the United States, to be taken in 1880, must be provided for by Congress at this session, or we are likely to have still another census under the defee- tive law of 1850. That law deglares that every succeeding census shall be taken in accordance with it unless a different law shall be enacted by Congress on or before the Ist day of January of the year in which the census is to be taken. There is no chance of the passage of a law by the next Congress previous to January 1, 1880. Being a new Congress a considerable part of the month of December will be consumed in organizing the House. Even if a Speaker should be promptly chosen he will require two weeks or more for select- ing the committees, and within a few days after the organization is completed Con- gress will adjourn for the holidays, Unless a new law is passed at this session it will not be in season for the census of 1880, and the clumsy, blundering method of the last three enumerations will be repeated, giving results which are worthless, except with regard to mere population. It will be little short of a national disgrace if this im- portant work is again botched, as it has been heretofore. The machinery for taking the census needs to be entirely reconstructed. By the present law the United States marshal in each judicial district is charged with the duty of taking the census. He is required to subdivide his district and appoint a suf- ficient number of assistants, and each enumerator gathers every kind of informa- tion within his own subdivision. Now, in most of the judicial districts the marshal has enough to do without being turther burdened with the laborious business of managing a census. Marshals are appointed for their fitness to perform the ordinary the Next duties of their office, and seldom have any fitness, even if they had time, for the intelligent collec- tion of statistics relating to manufac- tures, mining and other great industries ; to arts, education, sanitary arrangements and social progress, It is suggested by General Walker, the competent and accom- plished superintendent of the last census, that one or more supervisors of the census be appointed in each State, the number not to exceed one hundred and fifty in all, to be selected by the Secretary of the Interior, within whose department the Census Bureau belongs. It is not proposed to make marshals ineligible, since they may sometimes be useful in agricul- tural districts, but they are not to be ap- pointed, in the plan suggested, without the consent of the Department of Justice, which is the fittest judge as to whether they can in any case be spared. The purpose of this radical change is to secure men who are fitted by knowledge and training for the kind of work required. Moreover, as a new system is proposed, it will be expedient to have a more competent set of agents to administer it. We have room tosketch the new system only in outline. Instead of a rigid, uni- form plan for all localities, large discretion isto be permitted in varying the method according to circumstanees, There should be one method for cities and another for sparsely settled agricultural districts. In large towns the enumeration of inhabi- tants should be completed within a single week if it isto make any approach to ac- curacy, but in rural places it may be ex- tended, as now, over a period of three months with little risk of error. Incitiesso large a proportion of the people live in ho- tels, boarding houses and small tenements; they are so constantly removing from one boarding house or tenement to another, and occupants of the same building so quickly forget them, that no stranger can get a cor- rect list in August of the tenement and boarding house population of a large city on the lst of the preeeding June. Butin the country there is nosuch difficulty, since people do not change their abodes so often, and every family is so well known to its neighbors that if a dwelling bas been vacated or only young children happen to be at home the enumerator can learn all the facts he needs at the next house. With this great difference in circumstances it is absard to apply the same method to both city and country. By making the subdivisions small enough the population of a city, with race, nativity, ages, &c., can easily be ascer- tained in a weck; butin the country, where the time of the census takers is chiefly con- sumed in travelling from place to place, a longer time is needed and may be allowed without impairing the value of the result. Besides this difference of method be- tween city and country, of which the ex- pediency is so obvious, it is proposed to collect the statistics of population by a different set of machinery from the statis- tics of manufactures and mining. ‘The arguments for this change are irresistible. ‘The statistics of manufactures and mining | collected by the present method are so im- perfect in some cases and so false in others that they are little better than rubbish, A valuable letter has been written by Pro- fessor Whitney, of Harvard Univer- | sity, who has conducted several geo- logical and mining surveys in the United States, has visited most of the min- ing regions of Europe and is an eminent | instructor in this branch of knowledge, in which letter he exposes in detail a number of preposterous errors in that part of the last census which relates to our mining in- dustries, and expresses the opinion that the whole mass is worthless. The manufactur- ing statistics in the same census are not | much better. A man who goes from house to house in one or two blocks of a city is likely to give his chief attention to the mere enumeration of the inhabitants. place of sale in a third, resulting in dupli- cations if the enumerators are active and prying and in omissions if they are careless or stupid, and one thinks that the inquiry will be made at the factory and so neglects the office, and another that it will be made at the office and so neglects the factory. Besides, the mass of enumerators, though competent enough to find out the names and | not one cent is available for purposes A factory may be in one | | subdivision, its office in another and its ages of a family, will be so totally ignorant of the nature of manufacturing industries ments which the interest or caprice of own- ers or agents may make to them. Ordinary enumerators are equally incompetent to judge of mining. Interested parties who wish to ‘‘bull” the stock of their mines can gull an ignorant census taker to any extent they please and cause him to report their fictions as facts. In order to collect trustworthy statistics of manufactures or of mining these sub- jects must be taken quite out of the hands of the ordinary enumerators and committed to experts who understand enough of such industries to know where to go in quest of information and to j ot its correctness when it is given them. They need to know enough of the subject to put intelligent cross-questions and to apply proper tests when they doubt the truth of what is told them. It is, hence, pro- posed to employ a different sort of men from the ordinary enumerators to gather industrial statistics and to relieve them from the dull routine of duties which require no special knowledge, ‘This intel- ligent division of labor is not merely expe- dient, it is indispensable. We trust that when Congress reassembles it will lose no time in superseding the obsolete and blun- dering law of 1850, under which it is impos- sible to take a correct census. Students in Russia. In some countries an émeule originating in the discontents, whims, or caprices of students is a difficulty of « certain impor- tance. In France, in Germany, and in Italy it has sometimes been recognized that when the governments had no other limitations cf their powers they were limited by the opinions of the schoolboys; and under an adverse demonstration of those opinions thrones have gone down that had resisted all the legitimately presented hostility of the people. In those couniries the vigor- ous generations rule, and the students are the more intelligent as well as most obstreperous section of the vigor- ous generation, But Russia ‘has been exempt from effective demonstrations of that kind of opposition, and is not likely to adopt it as a national institution. Con- sequently the disturbances in St. Peters- burg will perhaps not prove of great signifi- cance in Russian politics; but alas! for the youth concerned in them, we fear the events will prove indeed significant to them, and will entail on many a toilsome journey to Siberia. The Fancher Wonder. Three communications are given in to- day's Hznap, which discuss various points of this case. ‘‘M. H.,” who favored us at some length a few days since, touches the subject again; and of the others who seem new toit one at least is a physician and supports the views of ‘‘M. H.” In his present note this writer states that we did him too much honor in attributing to him on Wednesday the origin of the theory of the ‘transposition of the senses;” and he claims that this is’ a very old doctrine in medicine. But we claim that he is in error in that statement. No physician before himself ever believed in any such fact as he claims to cover with the term quoted; but hundreds and thousands of them have believed and do believe in such facts as the one he cities in evi-, dence of the reality of the ‘‘transposition of the senses.” But simply it is not an evi- dence of any such pretended transposition. It is an evidence merely of the very famil- iar fact that, in the loss of one sense, another sense acquires such acuteness that it may in some degree substitute itself for the lost sense. Every blind man has a more delicate sense of touch than others. Familiarly and poetically people may say that such a one “sees with his fingers ;" but to pretend to base a scientific theory on that fanciful phrase, and to reason as if the sense of vision had really been transferred to a surface adapted merely to palpation, is to make an absurd misuse of words, Blind men may very likely do more wonderful things than to detect colors with their fingers. It is cer- tain that colors themselves depend upon some unknown variation of surfaces and the consequent different action of light upon those surfaces, and it is within the limits of the possible that a delicate sense of touch may discover that secret, We have no doubt that a blind man might dis- cover colors without the sense of touch, and simply by his remaining senses, He might smell them out, since the substances used to communicate color to fabrics have all their peculiar odors. But if a man in this way discovered colors would that be the transposition of the sense of sight to the olfactory nerve? School Ventilation of No Consequence, A remarkable feature of our school sys- tem is explained in another column, under the head of ‘Ihe Troubles of Trustees,” It seems that of the fund which each board of trustees is at liberty to use for repairs of ventilation. These boards may spend, without consulting the central d, fifty | dollars per month for repairs to school buildings and twenty dollars per month | for renovating school furniture, but when anything happens to ventilator, steam joint or stovepipe the defect can only be reme- died after the trustees have sent a written statement of the case to the engineer of the Board, who must report the same to the Committee on Warming and Ventila- tion, who must consider the case and in- struct the engineer, who afterward sends some oneto make the repairs which the committee deem necessary. As our readers have inferred from our various articles, we do not believe that ventilation depends upon any peculiar appliance as much as it does upon an application of common sense to doors and windows, but the facts given above show how little importance the Board really attaches to the subject of ventilation. Steam heating systems frequently spring noisy, annoying leaks, furnaces often give off gas, stoves get out of order, ventilators become closed, but these dangerous defects do not seem worthy of the prompt attention that trustees are allowed to give to shaky benches and leaky roofs. ‘These latter are solid, visible affairs and represent money ; the lungs. blood and health of children are cial value whatever. Interruptions of the Electric Light. What may be considered some pertinent objections to the employment of electricity for public and private illumination to take the place of gus, and which deserve the atten- tion of inventors and others engaged in the development of new projects for giving us more light, are suggested by the possi- bility of interrupting the lighting of a dis- trict for criminal purposes. It is pleaded that for districts illuminated by currents from their respective centres of gen- eration a continuous conducting wire must be used for public and private lighting, and implied that unless a means is devised of generating electricity so rap- idly and abundantly as to enable branch wires to be charged sufficiently to give a good light everything mist depend on the efficiency and insulation of the main wire. Whiie we may admit the presence of a difliculty we are confident that means of overcoming it are not beyond the ingenuity of electricians, In the first place it is not at all necessary that the public street lamps and private dwellings should be illumi- nated by the same continuous wire, and iu this connection we would say that the areas dependent on one wire can be reduced to any desired limit consistent with an eco- e j homical generation of electricity by ma- chinery, and controlled by a proper system of resistance coils or other devices to regu- late the electric currents. Second—The lights would not ‘go out” in all the district lighted by one wire, but only from beyond the break —that is to say, between it and where the wire made a “svound.” Theretore for the illuminating cireuits proposed it will be seen that unless the wire is cut in two places —that is to say, a given length is cut out of its original con- tinuity—the lights cannot be extinguished. ‘Third—It is not difficult to establish between the public and the private service wires certain switch connections that will insure a circuit, no matter where the wire may be cut. The cutting of a wire can be made to alarm a large neighbor- hood, the police and firemen. Unless the cutting instrument be made of a non- conducting substance, and is perfectly dry at that, the attempt to cut a wire would be enough to sound the alarm. The burglar himself with his knife or chisel would make ‘a ground” the moment he touched the wire, and if he had to climb a lamppost to get at it he might make one of another kind with a policeman’s bullet in his head. Considering, therefore, the improbability as well as the uselessness of attempts on the public street lights by burglars, footpads or other criminals, we reduce the trouble down io the possible interruption of the illumination of private houses, It is next to impossible, if the wires are properly arranged, switched and connected, to darken more than one house at a time after a burglarious entry is effected, and then the inlet and outlet of the wire must be broken in thut house. Of course, if as many thieves visit fifty houses in one dis- trict at the same time in one night, there will be a section of the district depending on that private service wire in darkness during the interruption of the circuit so far. But we do not anticipate any such “wholesale” defiance of law, even with “the finest police in the world” to guard us. Subsidies Without Free Ships. We need lines of ocean steamships con- necting our ports with those of South America, not for the benefit of John Roach, but to benefit and build up the commerce of the United States in tho interest of the whole people. We are willing to make large concessions for the sake of free trade in ships. ‘he advantage would be so great that it is worth purchasing at a pretty stiff price, if the friends of the measure are not strong enough to carry it on its merits. It would be absurd to take money out of the Treas- ury to make up the loss of sailing John Roach’s ships to South America, if cheaper ships purchased abroad could make regn- lar trips without loss. But it is said that new lines could not be established, even of ships purchased in the cheapest markets, withont loss in the early years of the experiment. Suppose this is so, and what follows? Not by any means that we should double or quadruple the necessary subsidy in order to put money into the pockets of John Roach. If John Roach and his partners want a sub- sidy of a million dollars, aud a company permitted to buy ships where they pleased would establish « line if guaranteed a sub- sidy of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, there would be neither sense, economy, nor justice in wasting three- fourths of a million of the people’s moncy in a bonus to a grasping individual. A large number of the ablest men in Con- gress favor free ships, but probably they are not yet a majority. They would be justified in voting a handsome compensa- tion for conveying the South American mails, if they could thereby acquire a suf- ficient reinforcement for carrying the great avd beneficent measure of free trade in ships. Ifwemust grant a subsidy let it be reduced to the smallest amount by enabling the new line to save a large part of the ex- pense of its outfit. No Ocean Sheridan Victprious. Yesterday was concluded the long trial of the case against General Sheridan, sued for the value of property on o Louisiana plantation of which it was claimed he had by military force wrongfully deprived the rightful possessor ; and the jury gavea ver- dict in favor of the General. Iftheyjudged the case on the rules presented by the Judge's charge, as it is to be presumed they did, they were satisfied that the person who sued asthe possessor of the property was not actually in possession of it at the time, and further had no just title to rep- resent himself as the owner. Only on the ground that Sheridan acted for the owner, and that the man ousted, even though not the owner, was not in legal pos- session, could the course of the General be justified, as the Judge charged. He was sustained, therefore, on the evidence as to those points. Everybody will rejoice in the résult. Tt is not desirable that military authorities should deal too freely with property difficulties in any case; but they are under obligation to protect owners in their rights, and their only responsibility in such cases is not to make any mistakes. Good intentions would not redeem actions really against owners; but for an impet- uous soldier to come out right in a com- plicated case of this nature must be re- garded as a rare piece of good fortune. The Old Times. A case was tried in the Court of Common Pleas yesterday which proves how effect- ually time corrects popular errors. ‘The adiinistrator of a man who held a position as messenger in the Superior Court in 1871 sues the city for a balance of salary alleged to have been due to the employé at the time of his death. The evidence elicited the fact that the deceased and another messenger were dismissed by the judges of the Superior Court in conse- quence of a request from Mr. Green, then acting Comptroller, that the court expenses should be reduced. But the two men re- moved happened to be just the per- sons Mr. Green desired to have retained, and he asked their restoration, which the judges refused. Thereupon Mr. Green instructed the payroll clerk to add the two naimes to the payroll of the Sua- perior Court af.er it had been signed by the Jndges and received at the Comptroller's office. The deceased and his companion re- ceived two months pay from Mr. Green and then the funds gave out. Five months afterward the man died, and his adminis- trator now claims the balance of his salary up to the date of his death. The letter was produced in Court which was addressed by ex-Comptroller Connolly to Mr. Green offering him the position of Deputy Comp- troller, with power to act as Comptroller, at the time of the ring troubles in 1871.. In this letter Conuoily pours out his heart, ex- pressing his earnest desire to ‘‘uct with sin- cere regard for the public interest, and to insure it against possible sacrifice.” Who would have believed in those troublesome days that Dick Connolly was a philanthro- pist and saint, and that Andrew H. Green would add names to a payroll and bestow the city’s money on men who had been dis- missed from the public service by compe- tent authority ? “Red” Leary. Some recent incidents in the career of that ornament of modern society named as above are perhaps not without interest to the man himself, but they areof far greater interest to the public generally. They seem ‘toimply that provided justice only con- cerns itself with the small fry of rogues it may goonand take into custody and try and condemn to its heart's content; but that when it ventures to put its hand on the Vautrins of our criminal world the case is altered, and that it must expect to ‘fight for the indulgence. The recent at- tempt to rescue ‘‘Red” Leary, and the demonstration in court on Thursday, are evidences that the criminal classes do not intend to.be ‘fooled with”—do, not.intend to tolerate the interference of the authori- ties with their favorite pursuits. Their demonstration in court was one of peculiar significance. Are professional criminals already so numerous withus that they can present themselves in the dominating aspect of a majority? PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, It takes six hours to read Mr. Tennyson's new play. United States Minister Welsh continues to improve in health. Senator Isham G. Harris, of Tennessce, is at the Astor House, We learn that Mr. Talmage is going to star it among the provinces. An art critic says:—"Never show the world what you Gannot do.” Senators Stanley Matthows, of Ohio, and P. B. Plumb, of Kansas, are at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Auguste Siebert has been appointed by the Belgian government Chancellor to the Consul General of Belgium for Canada. M. de Neuville, the French painter of battle scenes, is a man of middle age. He fought and sketched through the Franco-German war, ‘The German soldier who would discard his helmet and fight in a forage cap would get a fortnight’s im- prisonment, according to discipline. Dr. A. Ruppaner, president of the Goethe Club, has gone to Europe for his health, He will spend the winter in Italy with Dr, Ceccarini, formerly of this city. Edmund Yates believes that the English have not the faculty which belongs to the Latin races and which he describes a8 a keen dramatic appreciation of. outward character, ‘The mirror which Lola Montez once habitually used, now in its silver frame and stand, is the prop- erty of Theodore Martin, the biographer of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The other day there was a barrel of Johannisberg wine sold at Cologne for 56,000 florins, At 1,600 bot- tles to the barrel, it was estimated that this wine brought about $17 50 to the bottle. The condition of Congressman Williams at mid- night was unchanged from the precarious condition of yesterday, His friends haye no hope whatever that he will rally from his present prostration, Governor-elect Hoyt, of Pennsylvania, will go to Washington to-day, accompanied by a number of Philadelphia politicians, to urge the claims of Goy- ernor Hartranft upon the President a8 successor to the late Bayard Taylor, Probably there is no more aggressively’ intolerable woman than the one who is always telling you about her Very near and dear friends, the Roscoo Conklings, the General Grants, the Admiral Porters and other distinguished people, who never seem, however, to know anything about her. London World :—The fashionable woman of to-day is hardly disposed to count her children among the goods the gods ive, If her first born appeals to those instincts of maternal affection which she pos- sesses in ¢ mon with the lower animals; her nar- sery no sooner begins to fill than her children take their place among the plagues of life.” AMUSEMENTS, ACADEMY OF MUSIC—-THE SECOND PHILHAR- MONIC REHEARSAL. Mr. Neuendorff is developing « skill in making pro- grammes of the higher style of music that cannot fail to enhance his prestige as a leader and perpetu- ate as well the exalted position the Philharmonic Society has held for many years. The programme ot the rehearsal yesterday afternoon was, in- trinsically, of rare excelle and was so ar ranged as to hold the interest of the hearer ab- sorbingly to the very end. A symphony concert, in which Beethoven's “Eroica” symphony is com- prised, could not fail to command respectful atten- tion, if no other feature of especial significance were offered; but in the public rehearsal of yesterdays which is, to all intents and purposes, a concert, what- ever it may be called technically, there was not one commonplace attraction presented in the brief but select list of numbers offered, It is probable that something more of the truly in- be LT that they may be imposed upon by any state- | invisible, and consequently have no finan- | spirational quality is found in the “Froica” than im any other of. the great composer's symphonic, Beethoven was in his political sentiments to the very marrow a republican, It is said that Plato's “Republic” was transfused into his flesh and blood, and. that upon the principles of the Philosopher he © estimated all the constitu- tions of the world. Confidingly believing that Napoleon designed to republicanize France upom such principles, and convinced thas the general ro construction of the world, from which would result universal happiness, would attend Bonaparte’s be- ginning of the new ‘réguue in France, he wrote this gigantic symphony to do homage to his hero and poured into it the burning enthusiasm of his patriotie love of liberty. When Beethoven heard that Napoleon had caused hitnself to be declared Emperor, he tore the title leat, with its dedication to his idol, from the first fair copy he had made and threw the work upon the floor, from which he would not allow itto be litted, When the exiled Emperor drew his last breath in St. Hy remarked that seven: mposed appropriate music in which it was precisely fore- zh all unwittingly, alluding, vad march—the third move In snggestivencss, teen years befo: to this catastroph told, musically, althc of course, to the d went of the symphony. in variety, in ‘emotional expression and in wealth of harmony this immortal tribute to the stricken genius that inspired it stands alone, and it can never be heard without feelings of reverence and awe. It was interpreted most wor- bat by the superb orchestra of the society, and its performanes, throughout, reflected the spirit of the composer, ‘The novelty of the concert was the eis phonic poem by Taschaikowsky, illustrating the fifth canto of Dante's “Inferno,” and especially depicting the episode of Francesca of Rimini. But the elab- orate und powerful composition is by no. means confined, us the programme of yesterday dis- tinctly stated, to the plaint of the doomed Francesca, the descriptive vers: of which was alone quoted on the programme, The music illustrates almost the entire canto, describing, according to Cary’s rendering of the ‘argument, the descent of Dante into the second circle of hell, where he be- holds Minos, the infernal judge, by whom he is ad- monished against entering those regio ‘The tof carnal sinners is depicted according as they are tossed about ceaselessly by inds in the black air, The episode of a's description of her unhallowed love fol- lows, and is in turn succeeded by grand harmonies criptive of the fearful doom that follows, opening movement—andante lugubre—is a de- sided following of the new school of Lixzt and Wagner, and is as opu‘ent in effects of instrumenter tion and in weird suggestivencss, The second move- ment, deseribing the wild revels of the demons as they ride upon the winds, is in the vein of Wagner's “Die Walkire,” and its theme is not dissimilar to the well known song eof the Walkyries, which, very probably, suggested the idea of the composition to the Russian master. The most beautir ful aud original movement is the audante cantabile, in which Francesca is celebrated. In its delicacy, in ite beauty of harmony and its novel and masterly in- strumentation, this movement has scarcely been any other modern composer, and would ye justified the performance of the work here had it offered nothing else. ‘The fantaisie is not # work to be thoroughly ap- preciated or, indeed, altogether understood, ut a first hearing, and yesterday it wus given, as has been noted, with the disadvantage of an impe! t explana tion, which, it is to be hoped, will be amended to- night by the addition of the few lines trom Cary necessary to make its entire meaning clear, The orchestra did full justice to the singularly exacting work. ‘The only other orchestral selection was the pastoral from the “Symphonie Fantastique,” by Berlioz, which served as an engaging contrast to the grander works between which it was placed. The soloist was Miss Minnie Hauk, who enhanced thein- terest and variety of the programme by singing the songs, “Wenn es doch immer so blicbe,” by Rubin- stein, and ‘‘Haide Roslein,” by Schubert. The charming..artist has never appeared to advantage than in these songs, which are among the severest tests that ‘can be ap plied to a singer, especially an operatic singer. fer fascinating rendering of the Schubert song drew forth enthusiastic plaudits not often witnessed in the staid Philharmonic audiences, and, after several re- calls, the artist came forward and gave very appro- priately the piquant little ‘song, “Hat in der Brust ein Vogelein,” by Gustav Hilzel, which, unlike most songs of its’ class, has distinctive originality and brilliancy as well. The same tithe will be re- peated to-night, with the addition of Beethoven’g “Ab Pertido,” sung by Miss Hauk. ACADEMY OF MUSIC— “CARMEN,” Bizet’s opera of “Carmen” has been so often given at the Acudemy of Musié duririg ‘the pxesent season and so fully described that it is“ unnécexsary to dd more than mention the fact that in its repetition last evening it lost nono of ‘the ‘interest which has st- tached to the performance since the opening night, Both music and story grow upon one with every rendition until its rollicking airs and associations have become familiar in nearly every cultivated household. ‘The Gypsy of Miss Minnie Hauk is an utistic creation for which she hax shown herself to be peculiarly adapted by ressou both of her physique and voice, while the laurels won by Signor Del Puente, as the Toreador; by Campanini, as Don José; by Mme. Sinico, as Michacla; by Mme. Lablache, as lercedes, and other members. of the troupe, will be atways remembered among the pleasant reminiscences of the operatic season. The audience was large and heartily appreciated the gems of the opera, MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC NOTES, Marie Roze will make her rentrée ag Leonora, in “I, Trovatore,” on Tuesday evening. ‘The Philharmonic Society give their second concer this evening at the Academy of Music Mme. Gerster will’ make her first appearance ag Marguerite on Monday, opening the supplementary series of four nights of opera. “Our Bachelors” will be performed by Robson and Crane at the Park Theatre, this afternoon and evens ing, for the last time this season, Mule. Gabrielle du Sauld contradicts the report thag she has been engaged at the new theatre on Twenty. fourth street, recently known as Heller's Hall, The grand operatic benefit in aid of the scenery fund of the Academy of Music will be given on Thursday next, when the most attractive bill of the season, in a popular sense, will be presented, Mr. Jefferson will play “Rip Van Winkle,” at the Fifth Avenue, to-night, as well as at the matinée, ‘This is the first time in many years that Mr. Jeffers son has consented to play seven times a week. Mr. Jacob Goscho’s Criterion Comedy Company ise meeting with success in the New England cities, The manager's plan of presenting a complete ensemble without emphasizing any actor of the company ag the «tar has been satisfactorily realized, A matinée at popular prices will be given to-day, ag two o'clock, at Booth’s Theatre, when “Evangeline’* will be the attraction. The revival of this extravas ganza has proved so successful that there will be n@ change in the bill for some time to come. Herr Wilhemj’s arrival in Cincinnati on Thursday was attended by quite an ovation from his brother artists. Theodore Thomas’ orchestra serenaded him at the Burnett House, and last night he played before an immense audience at the new Music Hall, At Wallack’s, this afternoon and evening, “Mp Son" will be repeated; at the Grand Opera House, “Coriolanus;” at the Union Square, “The Banker's Deughter;"’ at the Broadway, “Uncle Dan'l;” 9g Niblo’s, “Around the World in Eighty Days; at the Standard, “Almost a Life; at the Globe, “Only ® Farmer's Daughter.” OPERA IN THE QUAKER CITY. THE IMPRESSARIO AND THE STOCKHOLDERS OB THE ACADEMY FAIL TO AGREE—COLONEL MA® PLESON’S UNSUCCESSYCL EFFORTS TO BULLa DOZE THE DEADHEADS-THE PHILADELPHIA ACADEMY STOCKHOLDERS, PHILADELPHIA, Dec, 20, 1878, ‘The House Committee of the American Academy of Masic held their usual weekly meeting to-day, but took no measures to change the status of the hegotin tions pending with Colonel Mapleson, of. Her Majess ty's Opera, According to the statements of the com- mittee there is no action for them to take, The mat ter stands in this wap, they say:—Colonel Mapleson told the committee that he would not take the house if he had to give free seats to all the stockholders, 550 in number, and appealed to them to modify this provisi: ‘The committee showed him their charter, in which it is expressly provided that cach stockholder is entitled to a seat at every operatic or dramatic performance, and ane nounced their inability to alter or abrogate this priv. ilege. After Colonel Mapleson’s return to New York. a note was received from Mr. Havely, his agent ing if the oo ittee sonia not modity the fre proviso, and saying that Colonel Mapleson woul wait a week to hear if his request te, ae complied with. The committeo did not deem it necessary to say anything further, havin their ultimatum, and at the meeting ther action was taken, as one of the formed me, be ba 8 ave the desi Chere are 550 stockholders, and at each oporatis or dramatic performanc out half this huraber of seats aro put aside for the share owners, emy will comfortably hold about people, about ‘one thotsand more th in the city. Nextin size is the Arch Street Theat! which accommodates about one thousand ‘ight hunt dred, Mapleson visited the Arch when here, and if he does not take the Academy will probably take this theatre and not the North Broad, as erroneously announced this morning. The Strakosch company have engaged the Academy in January, any theatre