The New York Herald Newspaper, January 18, 1879, Page 6

8 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. published every day tn * lays excluded) sonths a De ‘ L-NO. 112 SOUTH SIXTH QEFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD— 1) AVEN OPERA. ~ re TS TO-DAY BROADWAY THE. THEATRE COMIQU UNION ROOT, Pis A Matinee. Matinee. NIBLO'S GAR! YORK AQUARL GLOBE-—Miscnier. Matinee GRAND OPERA 110U: PARK THEATRE—Ro: LYCEUM THEATR, Matinee. ELA. Matinee, KeTT, RUSOK. Matinee, . Matines. Matines. MASONIC HALL—Tom 7: TIVOLI THEATRE—Vanir: TRIPLE SHEET. _ NEW YORK, ARY 18, 1879, ATURDAY, J! The probabilities are that the weather in New York and its vicinity to-day will be warmer and cloudy, with rain or snow. Yo-morrow it will be cooler and partly cloudy. Watt Srreer Yrsrerpay.—The stock mar- ket was active and strong, with a reaction in the middle of the day. Government bonds were firm, States steady and railroads strong. Money on call was very easy at 2 a 3 per cent, being plentifully offered at the close at 2 per cent. SixTEEN Srares were represented in the Militia Reform Convention. Now rora Livery Tre in total abstinence circles. Read ‘‘Gospel Temperance.” A Srirninc TAs of disaster and rescue at sea will be found in our sketch of the trip of the bark Oliver Emery. Tur Wire Murperer who yesterday got off with a sentence of imprisonment for life should consider himself lucky. A Murperer who was hung yesterday led the preliminary religious exercises by giving out the hymn. What next! Tue Ficut for and against free ships began yesterday in the rooms of the House Committee on Commerce. It promises to be a severe one, for old wrongs die hard. A Wontiry Osgect of charity just now is the snow-bound population of this city. Temporary loans of horses, carts, shovels and men to man- age them would cause inestimable relief from annoyances detrimental to health. AMERICAN SHIPBUILDERS are said to be unani- mous in the opinion that it would not be sate to change the laws regarding buying and building vessels. Very probably—unsafe to the foreign bottom in which all our exports are shipped. Ovr Axstract from the thirtieth annual re- port of the Astor Library will be to many readers the most interesting portion of our con- tents today. Antiquarians will revel in the titles of the older books by which tke library has been enriched during the year, while the acquisition of the entire archives of the Sanitary Commission will seem to historians to immensely inerease the value of this great library. Ir Ramway Companres have any business reason for excluding the attendants of travellers from trains lying at stations, why do they not order conductors or other officials of trains to provide seats for women with children or other impedimenta? Complaints like that signed “One of the Sufferers” in our ‘‘Complaint Book” to-day have been verbally made thousands of times against some of our railroad officials, and with good cause. A large railway fare should insure at least as much attention as a cheap theatre ticket. Tue Weatner.—The storm centre which passed over our district on Wednesday is now moving toward Europe, and the pressure throughout the Middle Atlantic and New Eng- land States has risen considerably. The de pression that was noticed in the West and Northwest on Thursday advanced during yes terday to the lower lake regions, and has or- ganized a centre of disturbance which may prove very severe on our northern coasts. Light snow has fallen in the lake regions and heavy rains are reported in the central valley and Gulf districts. The winds have been gen- erally fresh throughout all the territory east of the Rocky Mountains. With the ex- ception of the South Atlantic coast dis- tricts, where it has fallen, the temperature has been variable, with a slight tendency to rise. The heavy snow that attended the late storm continues to obstruct the railroads, particularly in New England, causing numerous delays to the running of trains, and in some places total suspension of traffic. Although snow accom- panics the approaching storm the gradually rising temperature will very probably change it to rain or sleet. Rain will fall on the coast dis- tricts vorth of Cape Hatteras during to-day. A very rapid rise will take place in the ice gorged Southern rivers during to-day and Sunday. It isto be hoped that the people living in the vi- cinity of the rivers have taken every precaution, as itis probable that the coming floods will be very destructive. The heavy rain storms that continue in the mountain regions will canse such asudden increase in the volume of water now in the rivers that everything within reach is likely to be swept away. The weather continues stormy over the British Islands, but the pres- sure is above the mean, the storm centre having passed over the central and southern coasts of Europe, as predicted by the Heratp Weather Bureau. The weather in New York and its vicinity to-day will be warmer and cloudy, with rain or snow. To-morrow it will be cooler and parily cloudy. NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 1879.—-TRIPLE SHEET. The Distress in England—Gloom in Europe and a Gloomy Opening of the New Year. The outlook in Europe as painted by our London correspondent in his Christmas letter printed elsewhere is gloomy enough. All the radiant triumphs of Lord Beacons- f Berlin and Afghanistan are buried ne fog of a season of commercial such as has not been known ¢ neration, Nature conspires to he prospect, for we are told ta C stmas found England wrapped Dicak and sombre embrace of an vinter, The sections where the dis- most severely are the sections most interesting to America, because they are the manufacturing districts, where dwell the workers in iron and cotton and clay, to whose labors England is indebted for so much of her wealth and Europe for so many of the comforts of her civilization. We wish we could send our cousins across the sea effective sympathy. There is no American whose heart will not be stirred by these scenes of sorrow in many an English home. When distress falls upon other lands there is no heart more readily touched than the heart of an Englishman. We trust that the new year will bring com- fort and peace to the millions who know not comfort and peace, and that the cloud now resting upon England will soon rise upon a sunny scene of renewed prosperity. Nor is the gloomy outlook confined to Eng- land. Germany is in trouble. The Empire which was to have been the example of free- dom to all the world is under a tyranny as severe as that of Louis Napoleon. We have to go back to the Third Empire, or Sicily under the Bourbons, to find laws as stern as those enforced in Germany against the so- cialists. Papers are stopped, booksare sup- pressed, clubs are dissolved, heedless talk- ers are imprisoned, suspicious persons are banished and the Empire is environed witha barrier of distrust and military ascendancy, And all because two madmen tried to shoot the Emperor. In America, when Kearney began his crusade, he was allowed to wander as he willed from the sand lots of California to the chambers of the White House, to say what he pleased and abuse any one he dis- liked. Noone interfered. The reporters were put on his path, his blasphemies were gibbeted in cold type, and Kearney slunk back to his kennel amid the scorn of the very people he claimed to lead. But Ger- many for her Kearney madmen has only the bayonet and the fetters, And so we see an Empire which did not hesitate to grapple with Austria, throttle France and defy Europe, in a state of trembling hysteria over the writings and sayings of students and fanatics. More than all, Germany cannot find money for her armies. Her French indemnity is spent. Every form of taxation has been exhausted. She must have more and more money, and her Chancellor, the first states- man of modern times, proposes a scheme of protection as severe asin China, At a time when America, strong in her fresh and growing prosperity, proposes to throw off the severer forms of protection and trust for commercial success to her own enter- prise and skill, Germany goes back to the medieval times aud proposes to surround her commerce with a Chinese wall. This is all very sad, and in other nations the prospect is no less dismal. It is whis- pered in England that Beaconsfield will fall back upon the Corn laws, for which he fought so bravely against Bright and Cob- den, and recommend retaliatory measures of protection against his own colonies and the United States. In Austria the antag- onistic elements which compose that pecu- liar Empire threaten to fly apart and seek more congenial centres of attraction. Ital- ian Austria craves Italy, German Austria longs for the Empire, Slavic Austria awaits the Czar. Italy, poor and oppressed with taxation, a vast army and an ex- pensive navy, confronts bankruptcy, and her king—one of the best of the kings—lives under the assassin’s knife. Stories of brigandage come from the southern provinces, and as a political phe- nomenon brigandage is only another name for poverty and anarchy. Russia wants funds and goes around from capital to cap- ital for money to keep the wolf from the door. Spain is on the verge of another rev- olution, and the young King is said to be as tired of his throne as was Amadeus be- fore his abdication. The ancient loyalty of the Spanish character has vanished, and in its place we have an uneasy, grumbling political feeling which may break out at any moment into the volcanic flame of republi- canism. Alone among the nations France stands beautiful and serene. There are no clouds upon her house. Her volcano burst ninety years ago. Tho lava, the rocks, the ruins, have all been covered by the gentle influ- ence of time, and the fields once black with revolution are green and comely with peace, France has had her day of sorrow—many days of transgression and sorrow. She has learned patience and wisdom. Her influ- ence grows more and more every day. The Republic which was once so despised, and against which kings banded, is now the most powerfal influence in Europe, and kings come to her fest and seek her favor. Four years, ago and the Republic was ina minority in the Deputies and in the Senate. The head of the State was @ royalist, and it seemed as if a restora. tion of Bonaparte or Bourbon was inevita- ble. Indeed, the head of the Bourbons came to Versailles to be proclaimed King. Without striking a blow, without violating a law, without infringing the rights of any class, without arousing » suspicion or o prejudice among the friends of France, the Republic has steadily advanced, winning the Deputies, the Senate and the President. France begins her new year, the Republic victorious in every branch of the govern- ment. Let us hope that the patience which has achieved such great results will not be forgotten now and that the moderation of the past few years will con- tinue to consolidate and strengthen the Republic. Then we shall feel, to quote the words of our correspondent, that France in Europe “isa gentle, beneficent influence, like the warm current of the Gulf Stream, which forces its way into the icy North and rifts the icebergs out of eternal seas and clothes the islands and continents with verdure,” And America—what is her outlook? We need wisdom as much as France, and then our influence will beas great as that of France. We have gained many victories in the past few years, precious victories over Gemagogism, and communism, and inflationism, and other forms of villany which sought to degrade our country and make it a warning and not an example to mankind, Shail we throw away these achievements and run into another mid- summer madness like inflation, or, worse than all, shall we destroy all tho fruits of peace and commercial enterprise by reviv- ing the hideous demon of sectionalism, whose reign was only suppressed with tears and war and blood? Europe is in gloom. England is on the verge of a crisis which may compel an audacious and brilliant Minister like Beaconsfield to’ plunge her into war at any moment, a war waged to give bread to a hungry multitude. As tor Germany, Austria and Spain, all we can hear is the voleanic rumbling, not knowing at what hour or in what spot the flaines may break forth. Let us hope that wisdom will strengthen Europe to overcome her dan- gers. In the meantime let us be wise and patient ourselves, remembering how re- cently we had our own chastening ; resist- ing demagogism, inflationism, communism, sectionalism and every scoundrelly “ism,” believing inourcountry, its honor and its credit, and knowing that, so long as we are true to its honor and credit, our Republic, like the Republic of France, will wield a beneficent influence and lead to a realiza- tion of what all good men crave—univer- sal peace and freedom. The Escaped Cheyennes. Our correspondent at Fort Robinson tele- graphs that a pursuing force of one hun- dred cavalry has again come up with the little band of fleeing Cheyennes and again been discomfited. It would seem that the advance was conducted with so little care that the command stumbled into the Indian ambuscade, and a volley which killed one soldier was the first intimation of the enemy’s presence. This volley appears to have so demoralized the troops under Captain Wessells that they scampered out of range, for we learn the suggestive fact that Private Barber's body as well as his rifleand cartridges were left in possession of the savages. This is dis- graceful. Reinforcements and a cannon have been sent for, and meanwhile Cap- tain Wessells and his hundred men are idly looking at the intrenched savages— nineteen braves all told! From other indications it would seem that there is another and larger band of escaped Cheyennes in the neighborhood bound north to Sitting Bull, who are believed to havo been fed by the reservation Sioux. The condition of things on the Nebraska frontier is, therefore, very critical. Blunder succeeds blunder. Our correspondent gives further details of the stampede of the Cheyennes and an indi- cation of the directions in which the authori- ties are pushing inquiries as to who,is to blame for this occurrence. Barbarity isa ckarge that we do not want to have made against us as a people, and least of all do we want to be accused of that kind of bar- barity which simply throws aside all re- straint in a hasty attempt to get over troubles induced by our own want of fore- thought. Indians are savage and treacher- ous, as all the world knows, and it is equally well known that soldiers who have treated captives well and then suddenly see their comrades murdered by these cap- tives may, in the trouble that tollows, give way to impulses as wild as those of the Indians. But precisely because conduct of this kind is natural in Indians it is the less excusable to guard them in such a way as to leave any room for them to act on such impulses, and precisely because revenge for dead com- rades is on instinctive sentiment we do not expect to see it control the actions of dis- ciplined soldiers. Our correspondent re- ports as current a diabolical fancy that the Indians were guarded so as to tempt them to run in order to open the way for a mas- sacre. That story is not to be credited for an instant, and has perhaps originated only in some sarcastic characterization of the insufficient surveillance. Evidently the primary reproach against the troops is that prisoners supposed to be disarmed were not disarmed, or, ifthey were, were so poorly watched that they were able to obtain what arms they needed while actually in custody. A Season of Fire. Destructive fires have succeeded each other in New York with startling rapidity this week, and the aggregate loss has seldom been equalled in o similar period of time. No blame can attach to the Fire Depart- ment for the great amount of damage done, for the firemen seem in all cases to have been on the ground promptly and worked faithfully, in spite of the late attempt to reduce their pay. One result of these disasters should be to make insur- ance companies more careful in their surveys or inspections previous to taking risks. It seems impossible that either of the two principal conflagrations could have been so destructive as they were, and in so short a time, had not defective constraction aided the flames, although the necessity for uncovering hydrants of snow before water could be obtained enabled the fire to get some headway, for which official neglect or incapacity is to blame. Mrs. Cobb's Last Words, Mrs. Cobb ‘protests most solemnly” her innocence of the crime of murder, of which she has been convicted, as she declares, “on the testimony ofa perjurer.” This is the substance of acard to the public, by which she may be said to close the case and have the last word with justice before her final retirement to the seclusion of a pro- tracted residence in prison. It is difficult to believe that Mrs. Cobb is innocent, and some good reasons have been presented on the trial for the opinion that she is guilty. Yet the truth may possibly be as she states it in her card, In that case it may some day appear, and as she is not to be hanged she will have all the advantage of any reve- jatioa that may be made in her favor, Im- prisonment for life is not practically | Marshal MacMahon and the Repub- severe punishment under the laws of any State. In our own State the average period of incarceration of persons sentenced for life is seven years. Some stay ten ortwenty years, perhaps, and some are pardoned in one or two. Doubtless this is at least as easy in Connecticut as with us, and if this woman gets out in any period of time near the average she will scarcely have been punished too severely. Statesmanship Needed in the Indians. This abused word has been so ‘“‘soiled by vulgar handling” that we hesitate to em- ploy it except on the most necessary ocea- sions, So many use the word who have no conception of the thing that there has come to rest upon the term ‘‘statesman” a shade or tinge of derision. Still it is a legitimate word for which there is no precise substi- tute, and in asserting the need of statesman- ship in dealing with the Indian problem we attach to it its proper meaning of a large grasp of a difficult situation, fertility of resource in adapting means to ends, and the courage, vigor and steadiness requisite for carrying out a fur-seeing policy. Thera is a call for all these high qualities in the management of oar Western Indians. { The government of Canada has been suc- cessful in dealing with the British North American Indians, but in that part of the continent the Indian problem has been so simple as to require none of the higher attributes of statesmanship. The tribes which roam through tho vast atretches of wilderness in that portion of North America have not beon molested by the intrusion of white settlements into their hunting grounds, and there has consequently been very little to alarm their jealousy. The Canadian government has had little to do with the Indians beyond regulating the trade in furs and peltries, and as it has acted in a uniform spirit of justice and fidelity to engagements it has had no Indian troubles of any consequence. Agrent part of our own Indian difficulties have, no doubt, resulted trom bad faith toward the tribes, and this part of the trouble might have been avoided by steady justice and considerate treatment. But the straighttorward Canadian honesty, wise and commendable as it is, cannot be ranked as statesmanship, because there there are no difficulties to be coped with, The Indian ‘problem in this country is altogether dissimilar. We are pushing our settlements into the heart of the Indian country, and our miners and agricultur- ists need to be protected against the dan- gerous neighborhood of savages. ‘Those re- gions are getting exhausted of game, and the pressure of hunger will make the Ind- ians bolder and more desperate in their raids, while the spirit of vengeance aroused by their robberies will keep the whole of that Western country in aflame. Bloodshed and incendiarism will reign unrestrained as the country fills up with white inhabitants unless our govern- ment ‘‘takes time by the forelock” and set- tles the Indian question effectually within the ensuing five or ten years, It is a sub- ject that cannot safely be postponed, and it isso hemmed in with difficulties as to re- quire all the sagacity and vigor implied in the word “‘statesmanship,” The only period in our history when we had any real statesmanship in the management of Indians was dur- ing the administration of General Jackson. Our Southwestern States were then afflicted with evils similar to those which now exist in the Far West. The four great Southern tribes—the Creeks, the Choctaws, the Cherokees and the Chick- asaws—held lands within the limits of Georgia, Alabama and other States, and there were incessant disputes and conflicts between them and their white neighbors. General Jackson conceived the bold project of removing them all beyond the Mississippi. It was a task of great difficulty, having been strenuously opposed by all the superfine humanitarians of the time—by Clay, Web- ster, Calhoun and the whole whig party, and by the Supreme Court of the United States, which rendered a judgment in favor of the treaty rights of the Indians. But Jackson, nothing daunted, stood by his policy. ‘John Marshall,” said he, “has rendered his decision; now let him enforce it.” President Jackson was so strong and popular on other grounds that he carried his Indian policy through, and the last vestiges of the tribes were conducted across the Mississippi in the closing year of his ad- ministration, The consequence was that there were no more Indian troubles east of the Mississippi, and the tribes which he re- moved have since made considerable ad- vances in civilization. How Will It End? The Senate and Assembly have inaugu- rated the session by talking economy. A proposition in the Senate to appoint a com- mittee to consider how the expenses of that body may be reduced was practically de- feated by an amendment which made the inquiry include all the State departments as well asthe Senate. Mr. McCarthy, who offered the amendment, and the Senate it- self, which adopted it, thus declare in favor of a continuance of the prodigal expendi- ture which has been sanctioned by the Legislature for a number of years past, and has been growing worse each succeeding session, Of course professions of a desire to economize were made by the Senators, but their action has been to effectually strangle the first attempt at a practical result. In the Assembly a resolution to appoint some heretofore un- heard-of official was met yesterday by o strong opposition, headed by Mr. Skinner and Mr. Erastus Brooks, and after a sharp struggle, in which the Speaker tried to send it to the standing committee, was re- ferred, on Mr. Brooks’ motion, to the special committee on the reduction of the House expenses. But it is safe to predict that despite the honest efforts of some members the expenses of the Assembly will be as prodigal and unjustifiable this ses- sion os they were last year, when they reached nearly sixty thousand dollars. Mr, Alvord is distinguished for his liberality in the Speaker's chair, and this is one of the qualities that insured his election, licans. Once more the republican majority in the French Assembly is face to {ace with the government on an issue which, fully surveyed in the light of the ample despatches, is seen to be tangible enough to become the pivot of an ugly conflict. Pos- session of the army is an important subject in dispute. With regard to the army the republican party is very much in the po- sition pictured in a lively anecdote, in which a logical Gaul presents his check, payable to bearer, and wants the money if the bank has not got it, but does not want it if the bank has got it. If the bank is sound and has plenty of money he would as lief have the check as the money; but any hesituncy must naturally add energy to his demand, It ought not to be of any con- sequence what are the politics of the com- manders of the grand divisions of the French army, nor should it be a point of great moment what pariy the Minister of War sympathizes with. But this point has been forced upon the attention of republicans by the Marshal's tactics. General Borel was made Minister of War. He was formerly chief of staff to Marshal Mac- Mahon—a fact that sufficiently evidences his mediocre talents asa soldier and the small range of his faculties. No man of great talent was ever endured in that com- monplace atmosphere. Borel was only distinguished for his readiness to lend himself in every way to any administra- tion of his department that might give effect to his chief's ill will toward the Republic and the republicans. Pushed by the facts.of such an administration of the army the republicans made some de- mands. Had these been conceded it could easily have been made indifferent to them what was done further, Their uneasiness with regard to the army might have been readily soothed. But the very denial of their demand and the persistence in this denial assures them that the facts in the army to which they object are not acci- dental, but constitute a policy, and against that policy they must strive with all their might. If Marshal MacMahon has declared that he will resign rather than put an ener- getic republican in the Ministry of War that declaration must necessarily lead to a resolute conflict. A Proper Inquiry. Mr. Jacobs has introduced a resolution in the State Senate calling for a report from the bank and insurance superintendents of the number of banks and insurance compa- nies that have failed in the past ten years, with the names of the receivers, the dates of their appointments and the number of receiverships still unsettled. This is desir- able information to secure. The victims of some of these bankrupt institutions have found themselves as badly off in the receivers’ hands as in the hands of dishonest or incapable trus- tees and managers. It is by no means uncommon to find the little assets left by a bank or insurance company swallowed by the receiver, and in many cases the winding up is protracted until the funds have all melted away in expenses with the exception of some beggarly dividend declared early in the bankruptcy for the sake of keep- ing the sufferers quiet. ‘he receiver too often plays the part of the man who, being appealed to for aid by a traveller who had been robbed and bound to a tree, responded by taking possession of a purse which the first thieves had overlooked. It is well to ascertain what bankrupt institutions have been languishing for years in. receivers’ hands, and to call such dilatory officers to an accounting. Paying for Praying. In another column we publish a reply by Father Burtsell, pastor of the Church of the Epiphany, to a communication pub- lished over the signature of ‘‘Trath” in Thursday's Heratp, in which it was stated that an usher of that church rudely and violently ejected a young lady because she refused to pay fifteen cents foraseat. We have no desire to be drawn intoa discus- sion of the general management of churches, nor even to dispute the propriety of pas- tors requiring payment for seats; but when Father Burtsell questions the ‘‘justice” and “Christian charity” of publishing such a letter as ‘‘Truth’s” without first consulting the pastor of the church in which the alleged offence was given, we feel at lib- erty to say to him—well, that he makes a very great mistake. The ‘Complaint Book” of the Heratp is open to all who think they have cause to complain, and who are not actuated by personal malice. In the complaint alluded to there was no injustice charged upon any particular usher, for no names were mentioned. Regarding the custom of exacting payment for seats in churches, Protestant as well as Catholic, we beg to remind Father Burtsell that it has heretofore been the subject of com- plaints almost innumerable, on account of the rudeness and vulgarity with which the rule has often been enforced by ushers, PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Mrs. Cobb leaves a child. Anna Dickinson is herself again, Good cooks are often death to family jars, Ex-Secrotary Robeson draws—on blotting paper. ‘The two Carolinas have been at war—with gamo cocks. It needs o rising stock market to break a Culifor- nia “bucket shop.” Funeral expenses are light in Itaiy; cremation costs only seventy-five cents, Father Curei’s commentary on the Scriptures will be the reverse of cursory. ‘The father of the famous “Molly Maguire” Jack Kehoe died last Sunday. General Beauregard objects to too much name for the possible teorganized militia. Boston Globe:—" ‘James G, Swisshelm’ is what an Tilinois weekly paper calis her, Such is femme,” Governor “Blue-Jeans” Williams wants « Board of Pardons to help him do the proper thing for convicted criminals, A mournful death roll is ordered by the State Senate—that of defunct savings banks and insurance companies, Mrs. Anderson, the pedestrian, is said to have owed her success partly to a sweet temper. Here's a hint on how to save car fares, ladies, Senator Bruce is contemplating a cattle ranch in New Mexico. Ottier Senators have found good enough grazing at Washington, It is reported that Senator David Davis is about to add weight to the republican party; no other Senstor can equal him on the platform (scales). ; ‘The Treasury Department exonerates Special Agen’ Williams of the charges of smuggling and swindling which were privately made several months ago. ‘A Georgia man, now living in Vermont,-advertises warning saloon keepers not to let him have liquor, and he threatens them with the penalties of the law. Judges Blaichford and Nixon have granted injuno tions against fluting machine concerns. Let amateur. on the flute take warning, and give an ear-tortured public a rest, if the le,ion of authors of “Beautiful Snow” saw the color of the Broadway article yesterday and yet stuck to their poem the fate of Ananias has lost its moral effect, The late Amportant fires cause tramps to sigh for the good old times of the Volunteer Fire Depart- ment, when such disasters were golden opportani- ties for loafers, Indians are to file written arguments next week with @ Senate committee on the reorganization of the Indian Territory, Who says that the Indian learns ouly the vices of the whites? ‘The Mobile (Ala.) News offers a prize, to cost $100, for a poem on the benevolence of thg North toward the South during the yellow fever epidemic. Of course the poem should come from a Southern pen. Dublin Jrish Times:—“Your readers will, I dare say, not believe that Algernon Swinburne, the poet, is preparing for his reception into the Roman Catholie Chureh, Icannot bring myself to credit it either, Nevertheless it is so reported, snd the story goes even us far as the assurance that Father Keogh, the Superior of the Brompton Oratory, is the clergyman who has under his instructions the writer of ‘Laus Veneris.’ ” AMUSEMENTS. ITALIAN OPERA—‘‘CARMEN” AT BOOTH’S THEA+ TRE, Louise Kellogg ins Lancuster iss Lancaster alo Sig. Ba A highly enjoyable performance of Dizct’s charm- ing opera was given last night at the above house by the Strakosch company. The occasion served to introduce Miss Kellogg in the part of Carmen to the New York pubiic, and with a success in many ways unlooked for. The music is in parta rather low for her voice—that is, some of the best effects are produced in the lower rezister, where as & pure soprano she is naturally not strongest, but there was no approach to failure anywhere, and the vo calization gained in brilliance what it lost in depth, Her acting, too, of the gypsy coquette was capital, and she ‘dressed the part with great ‘taste, making in her three costumes three pee pictures, Where an earnest endeavor in the right direction is so successful it would be ungracious to point out small errors. she was jaunty and Piquant and more passionate than we remember seeing her. Like almost all the singers in the cast, she was suffering from a cold and coughed a little, but her voice was in no way veiled. ‘The ‘Avanera’’ was prettily given. In” “Presso il Bastion” .she was not quite 80 successful, but in the sensuous dance song and all through the second act her singing was charming. Mr. Adams was pitiably hoarse, but per- severed through many difficulties. His acting in the last acts was impassioned and forcible. The honors of the male portion of the cast naturally fell ' to Signor Pantaleoni, who as Escamillo had the most taking music of the opera, His singing of the ‘Toreador's song was magnificent.. There he could be — robust without stint and he was. Miss Lancaster, who, owing to the fell swoop of throat disease on the com: pany, sang the parts of Michaela and one of the gyp- sies was admirable, her song in the third act evoking hearty applause. The chorus was fair and the or- chestra did well considering the peculiarities of the music. Altogether it was a creditable performance. “Huguenots” at the matinée to-day. ACADEMY OF MUSIC, BROOKLYN—THE PHILHARe MONIC CONCERT. ‘The public rehearsal yesterday of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society, under the direction of Mr. Theodore Thomas, was an event worthy of unusual comment. A great audience filled the Academy of Music and the performance was fully in keeping with the character of this well known organization. The orchestra consisted of some sixty of the best trained artists of New York and Brooklyn, with Miss Annie Louise Cary and Miss Julia Rive-King as the soloists, Ihe first number on the programme was Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, entitled “Recollec- tions of Scotland,” consisting of tour movements, It was written in 1842, and in the musical world is regarded as among the choicest com- positions of the great master. Inspired by royalty itself, and replete with thema, the work, when rendered by an excellent orchestra, never fails to elicit the warmest evidences of appre ciation. This was the case yesterday. The sc! movement is exceedingly charming and graceful, and the io conveys much of the tenderness of thought that illustrates the sym} tic fervor which snimated Mendelasohn in his self-im} Miss Annie Louise Cary the slumber song from Bach’s Christmas oratorio, and did so well, but the selection was not adapted to the taste of a popular audience. A fine artist like Miss bed ought by this time to have learned the art of making au effective concert attraction. Her répertoire is extensive, her voice always welcome, her manner magnetic and her art unquestioned. In the fitth number on the pro- gramme she seng “Ah, mon fils,” from Meyerbeer's “Prophete.” Her rich contralto was here heard to advantage, the audience warmly ex- pressed its appreciation of her splendid talent. Cherubini’s “Ali Baba,” with the — entr’acte aud ballet music, enabled the orchestra to interpret several lively strains, and presumably they were well adapted to the popular taste. Miss Julia Rive-King pertormed Liszt’s piano concerto No. 1 in E flat, and in touch and technique showed how thorough has been her training and what a conscien- tious artist she is; but she exhibited great bravery in following Rummel, whose performance of the composition has already made a sensation in the mu- sical world, and whose art naturally compels more or jess of comparison. The last feature of the pro- gramme was the overture, “Jessonda,”’ Opus 63, by Spohr. It is scarcely necessary to add it was rendered with the almost faultless taste that bear a4 to such a well trained body of musicians as tl Philharmonic Society, or that the great audience left the Academy delighted with the atternoon’s pleasure, MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC NOTES, “The Huguenots” will be presented at the matinée to-day at Booth’s Theatre. “Dot; or, the Cricket on the Hearth,” is marked; down for Monday at the Park. Oliver Doud Byron is announced to play at Niblo’as Garden on Monday night in “Ben McCollough.” “Robinson Crusoe” will be presented for the last. time at the Park Theatre this afternoon and evening. The fine operetta of “H. M.S. Pinafore” is nightly preceded by the pretty comedietta, “My Uncle's will.” “Les Fourchambault,” at the Broadway Theatre, judging from the audiences, is making its way suoe cessfully among the dramatic ventures of the day. If the weather is pleasant to-day all of the mati- nées will doubtless be attractive. Generally speak- ing, the performances are good, and the expenditure of entrance money will not be regretted. Mrs. Florence Rice-Kuox, who has been so favorably heard in concert circles since her return from Europe, has been engaged for another Western tour. Her voice is one that always affords pleasure. Signor Gillandi, the French tenor, made his first appearance in America with the Mapleson Opera ‘Troupe at Chicago last night, as Manrico, in “Il Tro, vatore.”” He was most favorably received. The last two performances of the “Shaughraun” will take place this afternoon and evening, at the Grand Opera House, Mr. Boucicanlt has made @ great success, He opens on Monday in the “Colleen Bawn.” Not alittle curiosity finds expression concerning the manner in which Mr. George Edgar, one of the proprictors of the Broadway Theatre, will play King Lear, for which part he is announced, He is an exe cellent reader and a keen critic. A grand operatic concert under the auspices of Mr, Max Strakosch, and comprising most of the members of his company, is announced for to-morrow evening at Booth’s Theatre. ‘Che list of artists embraces the names of Giulia Mario, Reményi, Galimberti, Litta, Lancaster, Caufmann, Gottschalk and Conly. “Ours” is said to be @ great success at Wallack’s, ‘There is no reason why it should not be particularly attractive. Mr. Wallack is in himself a host, the cast is a strong one and the action excellent. The end of the second act is singularly effective, or the curtain would not be so frequently lifted in response to the applause of the audience, A concert will be given by Gilmore's Band at the Grand Opera House to-morrow evening that may possess more than ordinary interest. Aside from the usual attractions a feature of the eventng'wiil be ‘a miusical description of the tour of the band through the different countries visited by it during the last summer, wherein will be introduced th» principal national airs.