The Times from London, Greater London, England • Page 9

CONTKNTS OF THIS DAY'S TAPER. Cabinet which should sucwed him. Thin Com tnittoo hs not formed thf hcv but ono of' lU innyf priiinllt lili'inU hold TliJff TIMES, SATURDAY, D1SCKMUEK 13, 3877. nail the jury. blockade, Ruil thww it no doubt that tich ft captimi would lo Wo can put another case in which, as wo bolk'Vu, it would ho cnuallv curtain that 1 4 r.

'vuw Tl Va. M)iirt, IivUa.l Hl IVmH rtniiUr Tk 1jU Own niyn lLrclrr, Loan. Atut (Tb lYrnfh MluUIr? Th llk Pe pi.ia Tt MrioliUii lUlltj Je.i.i" UaJou wrl vi. Tl lVtJ Ix" Vtil tVluilDkJ Court 'aft Jvtn HL in tlu Ministry, that of the Homo Dcuart I II iH I1'1''0 'or au" of tlio 1 Committee of cijhU'in ho proiH sd and carried rt jmr's swp trts tjic inquiry t.i tlio Into vlcctioii to roinno a very ricul mivrvwum of tho I Uitf, and that atthf pnont inotnont in tho pressing question. The unc inroiuiinj5 limine, Willi whinh M.

1 ri HK hiw niitv the me. of tlie Chr.mlers uet thi.UitrUrs of the luo i.j: Hnn.i ik's friendi ij that he is not in to id low hi jh1i reputation to bo in any degree Umishwl by titling awuy (ha rijjhU of tho inajority. Tho lirl (jUMtifUi for tlio Chamber of iJeputies at the pre tent tuoiutnt is thy redress of grievances. Tor tho 6tfv months tho Kepubhcans in tho re mote jvirts of FratM have been persecuted nMiknirUjr Coru) (y unjciiicijilid otMciala. 1 he large towers I to us olhcers have jhcen syfiteinatkally struiucd, t'.

Chjntix.uw AMtoim.m to t10 jjury cf t)l0 and business of He VT publicans nor lua.s their personal liberty t)ven safe, 'M tim" tJ Tr.W Notice ujvi ai Iimumerab'o are the trades and callings in Franco suj tot which a Uov vratnetit jwrmissiou is required. 6 nun.KDiw tbl SoU, I newsvenJor, as well as every keejur of wiue shop or ctting houRe, is liablu to le deprived of lus calling by a high handed Prefect who fails to bend Liji to the purposes of hii jarty. Franco must rid of those men, who, most of them trained under tlio Kuipire, like M. de ForiiTOU himself, liave been i licfl acknowltxlwi th i been formed; and tho approacn of thia 1 th Republic. 31.

Dufavre has fchown of the vear, when itKlividuals and nations i his 8jnso IUamoutary principles refusing to tho jat, there is a foir prosixct accept oflico with any nervations as to hu caoico tht this pre, ingenious, and labor mus ptvplo U1 i mu cauuirr grouua. oi uiu men wuo have bcn abusing authority for Party purposes This will bo tho test ci the character of the new Cabinet, and a test the nioro important inas much as tho uuwiliingneas of M. Dcfavre to donl ritrorouslv with tho public officials hat ut the jrviit inoniiiit tho mot important I capture would bo invalid. Suppose wo were at war With rrance, and had jn iK laimed a blockade" of certain of its coasts, i.nd, among others, the jKjrtn, would it bo sutlicient to station two or three cruisers in tho Straits of (3ibraltar to inter, cept neutral American reisols Kiir to Marseilles It would never bo allowed that wo could estibliah an elUcient blockade of Marseilles and Toulon by such simple nifans. This course, a ran 'h stronger thin that of the l'osphorua, and d' not necessarily pevern it.

The pretended blockado of tho Mediternunean ports of Fruncu would be invalid not merely becauso it was inotlicient to capture every neutral coming out or going into.thcse ports, but also becauso the line we had drawn at (Jibraltar would cover other ports, to which neutrals lie siilimits Mu'i caao tu a iurv, with the assent of tlio Judge, award damages and after threa solemn arguments and our years of life pusied in litigation, it is decided by the Ifouso of Lonls that his case was so imper rt that it'ougiit not to havo Ikcii submitted to a jury at all, and ho must begin again if I to still jxsr i sists in seeking compensation. Laymen will call I this a scandal, and their indignation will not bo apjrt aed if they arf told that the protracted litigation in tho present caso may in some moa suro bo traced to a.judgiuent of tho House of Ijords in a former case, so expressed as to have been misunderstood by the Judges. us go back to tho facts. The plaintitr, a Mr. JArKsox; was travelling us wo have stated, and at I Uowor stroet Station three persons' got into his compartment, though it was already full.

Ho re monstrated, but reraonstrauco was ineffectual, and, I destinv of tho human raoo in the east of i him T.0 Korore. It is all rery grand, but nvanwhilo ono nine evcryusy uuuix is inrtaierung iiie wnoiu life of Ixjndnn ith a blockade. We are being silted up by our own sewage. Btff re this degrading dilii tulty wo are still helpless. The very condition and first xcsult of our civilization is that a vest population is collected within a small space.

Something liko all Scotland is crowded within the Metropolitan area. The sewago the etropolis amounts to nearly twenty million cubic feet a dav, and, unless this can bo ir rid of in some wholesome and mercc in fact, to the very existence of citr.Iife bj our inability to dispose of our sewage inoffensively. Might it not bo worth while to expend on this problem a little of the gtr.ius which is now being" employed in discovering wl.at is the preciso length of time during which boiled tatUriz (an retain their vitality? THE WAR. TLe Servian Army has. received orders to cross the" Turkish frontier.

It is doubtful, however, whether it 1 1 i i iuc uiu ui mo iruoj a wm now oo mucu ap Thev would liavo ICSIX'. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1877. At length, after seven months, Franc bror.tbes of colleagues but will he rccognio tho immediate some senso oi renose i nKM5U) OI rwnoaying ino grievances unuer wiucn ia all the keener from tho sen so the ouny and various dangers of th year. Tho of the fREstPEXT ot the ltcri'BLic is fruA' and straightforward admission of his obli ptioss towards the couiitn a declaration which only intelligible in the light of the scene which csr Correspondent reported yesterday between Jlirshal MailAUOSand the Ministry of Wednesday cn the one side, and tho bluff, plain spoken st3r, 31. Pocter Qcertikr, on tho other.

Soch political event'ean only ly paralleled in the lisjnry cf the 13th or 14th century, when some rigorously whom ho inherited from the Empire was ono of the principal causes which deprived him of tho sympathy of the late Chamber, and obliged him to mako way for jM. Julks Simon. M. Dufacke is ono of the most venerable and distinguished figures in French Parliamentary hfstory. Now in lus heritarv ruler of divine right awakes at length eightieth ywr, he frwa the dream of recklessness and folly in which erfl couasellors or frivolous adulators have long held him, and comes penitent before his country to ceaind pardon for past follies.

la our time it is not a question of the initiative of a particular ruler, but of tho capacity of tho Government to know what tho country wants and uVkt th has at length com o. to learn this deaentary lesson in political life is something with riiiJi oinntrr ai troubled i. Frin miv fru 'li Ui. publican Tarty, like M. Frevcixet andM.

Bakdouxu. lis fanwlodge of public affairs should find htmsel Uih Ministry show a capacity and a determination and unflinchingly maintained tho principles of Con stitutional government bat, if ho has been un bending and consistent, he lias been also un sympathetic A clear thinker and merciless debater, he novor excited tho enthusiasm of lus hearers, and, though a member of the Left whosi good faith all men honour, he has held in this party tho position rather of Piiociox than of Demostheshs. Ho has, however, succeeded in calling to his aid some of tho most trusted of the Re st the head of the Executive is a proof of tho exist raea of difficulties not to be dealt with in r.n hour. Of disinterestedness on the part of the Marshal there is no question. If the rigorous words of a rnctical man hare awakened him from the dream is which he found satisfaction, then so much the better for France.

The patient, enduring People to meet the wants of tho country, tho Opposition in the Chamber of Deputies will continue to show that moderation which has hitherto characterized them, and will overlook the fact that the members of the present Ministry are chosen chiefly from among tiro Senate, and from that party in tho Senate who, like tho Orleanists, have rather waited on Pnovi tin hir mnrh ihc M.t vsscz tnsn twrne tneir pan luco men anu ciuzens wdvtoworkonfortheirchanreainthofuture.The!in the momentous struggle of the list half year artistic effi'ct, it is true, of Marshal MacMauox's re pentance may be spoiled by t'se fact that he throws tie blame on somebody ele. How he came to believo The change from a system of intrigue to a system of Parliamentary Government is sufficiently marked where the Ministry is personally one of good repu jjUt tnQ tation to justify the Assembly in giving the new Ministry a fair trul. in the Due tiE Brogue he docs not tell us subtle Duke is the source of all the mischief. This. kmrrr 5 lint a tnjttor.

Th coilrrr yAA rf i man. able to work on cerUin slraU of French quesUons of International Law raised during society and so unscrupulous in the nso of his the Pre8'nt war haTe ea Ter fcw' lts cxpen sbTitv i. nndotllr admnfTn. as in this respect been a marked contrast to any explanation of th; grourds on which the Pre that of the Franco German War, and a still greater contrast to mat oi me viru nar vi iuu vuiiou States. While these struggles wero in progress, every week brought its question, and reputa i tions were made by tho power of presenting in a popular form the doctrines of tho Prize sident has accepted this change, it is natural that the country should ask itself what is the safeguard that a month hence some other ingenious'person'mav not be adopted as suddenly as was the Due DE Brogue but May and bocomo practically the Presisident of the Republic The Message of the pRtsnrEXTsets all questi'ons'of this sort aside.

He frankly accepts the supremacy of the people and if Um Ministry show that in putting those declarations into the mouth of the Maeshal they are act Inj' in consistence with their principles, the anxieties of the present aro at an end. M. Dttacre and the men whom ho has been able to associate with him hare always been coh listfnt supporters of Constitutional principles. Their viers and opinions may cot be those of the cujority returned at the last election, but they are at least straightforward public men, if somewhat behindhand in their conception of the public wants. They are not intriguing conspirators and it is this carce which gires significance to tho events of Thursday.

Per the first time the President of the KnrBLic has awakened to a sense of his position. The chameleon politician, M. Batbie, tinder the EaipireTt rigid Imperialist, tho champion of the fighting policy under the Marshalate, had become the sage Constitutionalist in the latter days of the Tus de "Brogue. He negotiated, but on the failure of the' first negotiations with M. DcfaXtrr his old instincts returned.

Ho plunged into tho pp, the MinUtrt de Cvmlat, and endeavoured on Thnrsday to give France a new variety of tho busi Ress Ministry of a few days before a Ministry of unknown people who had not even the advantage which JL Wexche's Ministry posseasod mere roatine knowledgo in the departments they were called on to direct. These pinna 31. Pouye3 Qcee "TER foiled by accident. Whether as an old Imperialist or as a friend of the Marshal, ho had the pfilee denied to the weighty deputations which hare arrived at the Elysee from all quarters of France he was admitted to the presence of Marshal found him consulting with his Ministers. His plain, frank statement of the way in which practical men regarded the crisis had more effect on the Presidext than all the discussion and events of the hut half year.

At" once tho scene was changed. "ot olywM the MARSnAt ready to give tip his Ministry, but the Ministry wero only too happy to facilitate the advent of their successors. M. Bat eie, from a Jlinister of onco more converted into a political diplomatist, and finds himself on his way to the Due d'AcdiffretTas icier to arrange the terms of this capitulation. Foj the first time sin May there is in office a Ministry of whose history or claims the country knows something.

They art jwt? the official Ministry of the majority. It would have been more dignified, ccording to our notions, for Marshal MacMaJIOjc to send for the acknowledged heads of tho Qajority M. OktVY or M. Oambetta as soon as he found'it necessary to yield. Ho has prof erred to take refugo iri the Lft Centre, not of the Chamber, of the Senate but those distinctions do not haroediately concern the country.

Of the many Ministries France Las seen within the few weeks put the last is a Ministry of the Left, and the cir connected with Its nomination prove tht Marshal MscMAtlC.f has broken away, for time at leastfrom the counsellors' who hare so long fciaWhinu There are many things to make the public hesitate whether this new combination can be regarded a Ulement. Two thirds of the Ministry aro chosen, not from the Chamber of Deputies, but from the Senate. M. Dcfacri, the President, Is regarded hy the country as the representatir of rigid literal Constitotionil'sm. Tlio CoramiUee of eighteen hoatn by the Left of the As embly were desinatod WthDua the mbodimtnt wf the Courts.

We have no such exciting discussions now as arose over tho proposal to recognizo tho Confederate States but it would seem that a point has at length turned up well fitted to exercise tho ingenuity of jurists. If not absolutely new, it docs not appear to havo ever before had any practical importance. Tho question is whether tho Porte can satisfy the conditions of an ellectiVe blockado of the Russian coast of the Black bea by stationingttwo cruisers off the entrance of the Uos phorus. All neutral vessels trading or attempting to trado with Southern Russia must pass through this cbannal, and a couple of cruisers there will amply suffice to capture any that may try to comb out or go in. Do the principles of International Law allow a belligerent to make prize of neutral vessels in this way at a distance from the porta said to bo blockaded, no genuine attempt being made to maintain a blockade in front of tho ports in question 1 A neutral vessel, Greek, Italian; French, or English, comes, out of Odessa.

There is no Turkish fleet cT Odessa, nor has any fleet been stationed in the offing for some time past. There are cruisers going to and fro between Constantinople and Varna or KustenJje, anil, again, between Constantinople and Trebizond or Batoum. At rare intervals a ship of war may make its appcarence near Russian waters, but tlto unknown power of torpedoes keeps it off, and the watch is so inefficient that it is a matter of complaint on the part of Turkey jthat Russian steamers sally forth from Odessa to capture aud burn Turkish merchantmen. Tho neutral which leaves Odessa without bar makes her way to the mouth of the Bosphorus, and is there overhauled by a Turkish cruiser. Tho evidence is boou forthcoming that she has left a Russian port which is under decree of blocksdo, and the fcl.ip in taken and brought before the Prize Court at Constantinople for condemnation.

What kind of Court this may bo is to us unknown. Some people may remember the story of Houart Pasija cruising off Crete ten years ago and carrying his own' lawyer with him. Whatover tlio Court, it is rejiorted to havo hesitated for some timo before it at length decided that tho prize was lawful and tho ship must bo condemned. It must be understood that tho whole difficulty arises out of the qutetion whether it is neoessary that blockaded ports and a blockaded coast must be subjected to an efficiout blockado along their line. It is well settled, so as to bo altogether beyond dispute, that if a port is thus blockaded by a fleet of tlio enomy and a neutral vessel still manages to slip through, as will happen with tho strictest and most efficient blockadwi, tho neutral vessel is lawful capture any part of her voyago.

A Greek, Italian, or English vessel escaping from Odessa could be taken in tho Bosphorus or in the Darda nelles or anywhere clso, so long as her return voyago is incomplete, if the condition of an efficient blockade is, in tho first place, secured off Odoaita itself. Thore wss some slight disputo before tho Court at Constantinople whether thorp was dt facto an efficient blockade at the Rursinn iort( but it 'does pot appear that this was insisted' upon, and tho adjudication was put on tlio ground that the crnlsors at the mouth of the Ibsphorus wore a portion, and the most efficient portion, of tho blockading forco so that tho blockado was, In factf' made efficient by their presence there. It is extremely doubtful whether this position can uphold. All the authorities qtn.tnd at Constantinople refer to cases where vessel is captured at a substqtient part of her voyage, after hating had the good fortune of escaping through an efficient ld a right to co An effective blockade must be it was said, no porter or guard was visible. At tho so coiistitut' as to.

prevent neutrals trading with next station tried to enter, whereupon the tho blockaded jorts, End with none others. A plaintiff partly rose andput up his hand to blockado of tlu Russian ports of the Black Sea them. Tho train started a porter camo and carried oiit by means of two cruisers off the Bos pushed aside those at tho door, and then slimmed it phorus would clearly extend to other ports than i but at tho same moment the plaintiff fell forward Russian but it may bo contended on the'part of Turkey that the Black Sea is entirely Russian or and the Porte must bo at liberty to do what it likes with its own. We could never willingly acquiesce in the assertion that the Black Sea is wholly Russian or Turkish aud Austria and Germany could still less assent to it. We should rosist the attempted form of blockade, because it would be an intorferenou with neutral access to the Danube.

A littlo consideration will, however, show the reason and reveal the meaning of th; condition, so strenuously laid down, that a blockade must bo efficient to bo binding. A blockade Which Ls comincrchJ in its chancer is a belligerent privi. logo of a very high degree, chd its interferons with tho natural and ordinary freedom of neutral commerce rests on tlio fact that tho belligerent is sitting down before his enemy's door, and is entitled to forbid any one coming between them. It is because tho belligerent is exercising a simple right of war faro that tho neutral is required tosubmit, Tlio Porte would bo thus entitled to say to an English merchantman that it should not enter Odessa becauso tho Turkish cruisers wero stationed off Odessa to block its 'on trances but it would not bo entitled to say that a ship coming to the Bos phorus was liablo to capture becauso it had traded with the Russian enemy, while no attempt was made to prevent the trading at the port in ques tion. We have assumed that, as a matter of fact, there was no efficient blockade off the Russian coasts, becauso this scorns to have been only faintly denied bctcre the Prize (Jourt at Constantinople but there may be yet much debate over this point of fact, and every ono must bo aware of the extreme difficulty of deciding it in disputed cases.

The evidence adduced is constantly deficient in preciso noss, and it is of Ion very conflicting in its character. The degree of watchfulness which con stitutes, efficiency is necessarily vague. It must be such as to make access very difficult' to impose a groat risk of capture on any vessel trying to get in or out to makothe odds very great against success. This language shows tho latitudo Prizo Courts practically have, and is wholly impossible to prevent tho existence of some patriotic bias even in tho minds of tho test of Judges. Wo should scarcely wrong the Court of Constantinople in thinking that it was disposed to como to the conclu sion that the blockade of tho Russian coasts of the Black Sea was offecti.ro but, as tho Turkish naval supremacy is not disputed, it would Le judicious to station some cruisers off Odessa to satisfy the strictest requirements of International Law.

They would be serviceable at the same time to prevent the burning of Turkish merchantmen by Russian steaniors making short runs out of Odessa, of which complaint is not unreasonably made, 'lhe commanders of these stoamers may plead are only doing what Captain Semmes, of the Alabama, dkt before them but that is hardly a precedent to be followed. At the same time it would be difficult, with this example before us, to say that their conduct in not bringing their prizes before a Court is to be condemned without qualification through tho motion of tho train, and, putting his hand on tho door, to save himself, it was caught and jammed. These appear to have been substantially all the facts proved before the jury on them Mr. Justice Brett held that thtre was evidenceof negligence for the jury to consider, and they considered it and gave the plaintiff his 50 compensation. Tho Lords, on the contrary, havo decided that there was no evidence of negligenco to bo submitted tptho jury.

They declare that, in order to establish a pnmu jacte caao against any one ot re sponsibility for an accident, there must be some evidence of nejrlisence on the part of the defendant connected with tho accident as cause is connected with effect. If evidence of this kind is not forthcoming, the Judgo must not allow tho caso to go.to a jury if it is in any way forth coming, it then becomes the function of the jury to determine whether the possible connexion of causa and effect is de facto established so that the defendant is responsible In the present case, the Lords, as represented by Lord Cairns, allow that there was negligence on tho part of the Company in porf nutting the compartments to be overcrowded, but it was added that there was no evidence to show that this overcrowding was tho cause of tho acci dent. The Lord Chancellor explained what kim of evidence would havo sufficed, and it is very easy to undorstand how tho jury supplied it through their own notions of tho probabilities of the situation, and Mr. Justico Brett may have well believed that it was in fact produced. If, tho Lord Chancellor says, the overcrowding had any effect on the movements of the passenger if had any effect on the part of the carriage where ho was sitting if it made him less a master of his actions wbon ho stood up or when ho fell forward, this ought to have been made matter of ovidenco but no evidence of the kind was forthcoming.

Mr. Justico Brett and the jury Would, porhaps, reply, that tho overcrowding which is admitted by, the Lords to be negligence and tho attempt at further overcrowding caused tho passenger to rise and put up his hand that, as tho men struggling to, get in remained at tho door until after the train started, it is rcasonablo to suppose that tho passenger xvas still standing when the train started, and the start, sending him forward, was tbo immediate cause of accident, unless tho passenger wa3 bound not to let Ids thumb get jammed. Whether every link of this ovidenco vro3 suppiiod at tho trial or not, it is plain that enough could be easily added by way of supplement to connect tho negligenco with the accident. Uenco our in quiry whether wo havo heard the, last of tho third class passenger with his injured thumb. It is just possible that if there should be another trial we might havo another refinement, and yet another if "necessary.

When wo talk of connecting two events as cause and effect, we use language con taining a wide rangn of meaning. Suppose it proved that if it had not been for the overcrowding the thumb would novcr have been jammed, is it therefore clear that the accident i3 such an effect of tho cause "overcrowding" as to make tho Com pauy liablo 1 It is the old story of tho calamities satisfactory form, sloill simnlv uir Lot I selves sradually. In former davs wo accumulated predated by the Knssian btaff. la 1 a a the poison in cesspools underneath our houses, been useiut in tne early ays ot tho Mo.iue oi whence it occasionally forced its way upwards and I Plevna, before the Imperial Guard had arrivtd.in afflicted us with some outbreak of fever. At last, I Bulgaria, and when the armies of tho Czar as population increased, this resource failed, er not.

sufficiently strong to complete th and we toot to pouring our sewage into the Thames investment of the lipes of Osmao Tasha. Xow as it flows through the Metropolis. But a changed and Servian contingents can be much shorter time sufficed to show that bv this r.ro I hurried lctoss tho Timok without fear of ctss wo were noisonini: tho great artery of London, encountering any formidable resistance. and the mischief lecamo offensively evident to tho senses. It was then resolved to revert, under another form, to tho old plan, and to For it can bo doubted but that tho Seraskierate will learn wisdom from its late revcrsesand will no longer take scatter the troops at its disposal in isolated cetach the sewage away where, as was hoped, it would I meats, to be beaten in detail by superior forces of at least not bo seen.

At enormous excense the enemy. I he object cf tho Oenerals ot tne and tho presence of Turkish cruisers off tho port that follow the loss of a nail in a horse's shoe. would thus settle two difficult questions, or, rather, prevent them from being raised. We wonder'whethor we havo heard tho last of tho man who jammed his thumb on the Underground Railway more than five years ago. It was in July, 1872, that this accident happened, and on Thursday last the House of Lords decided that in th action he had brought against tho Metropolitan Railway Company the sufiorer had not adduced evidence of a character to make thorn responsibls for tho injurioj hOghad receivod.

So it was directed that a nonsuit should be and that the unfortu nate complainant should pay the co3ts of the appeal and tho costs in the Courts below. But ho may begin again on Monday if he likes, and if he thinks he would be able on another trial to produce the kind of evidence that wss wanting when ho first brought his caso into Court. Will he bo so bold There is a great principle at stake, and a man of public spirit will sacrifice much to establish tlio principle for which he has contended but, on the other hand, costs are costs, as this gentleman and hw attorneys must by (this time know. We have said that tho accidont liappened in July, 1972, when fthe plaintiff was travelling in a third class carriago on the Metropolitan Railway from Moorgate street to West bourne Park. More than a year passed away, during which, as we may believe, there was much, correspondence betwccn the solicitors of the wounded passenger and the solicitors of the Railway Company, containing solemn warnings, offers of settlement made without prejudice, and, finally, 'a stern notice that the causu would be pushed oa to the end.

It was in December, 1873, just four years ago, that it was, in fact, heard beforo Mr, Justice Brett, as ho then was, and a special jury, and tho result was a verdict for the plaintiff, with damages. Railway Companies, however, do not, and, indeed, cannot afford to, dio easily. Tho Metropolitan Company, went to the Common Pleas, where the action had been entered, to get the vordict set aside and a nonsuit substituted for it; but the Court, consisting of Lord Chief Justico Coleridge, Mr. Justico Grove, and Mr. Justice Brett again, refussd to interfere, and the vordict stood.

Then tho Company went to tho Court (of Appeal, and here tho Judges wore confess to great doubts whether tlio course of justico equally divided Lord Chief Justico Cocxburk and would not bo simpler and more sure if, as Lord Does liability for negligenco extend beyond tho ordinary natural and regular consequences of negligenco so as to cover every fortuitous result of which it can bo said that it would not have happeued had the uezligenco not existed There is, moreover, such a thing as contributory negligenco and if wo hunt this case down far enough, we might, perhaps, discorcr that if Mr. Jacksox had not been awkward his thumb would never have jammed. The distinction drawn by the Lord Chancellor is very pretty, and if it could Le relied upon it might be unreservedly approved. The Judge must determine for himself whether any facts have Leon established by cvidenoe from which nogligence may bo reasonably inferred the jury, has to say whether from thoso facts, when submitted to them, evidence ought to be inferred. 1 he Judge, as we may say, is to determine whether tho evidence is of tho proper quality the jury to decide whether it is of adequate quantity and weight, But docs tot the present, cose raise a doubt, and something more than a doubt, whether such distinction can bo practically worked 1 Lord Justico Brett thought facts had been established from vhich negligenco as tho cati3o of the accident might bo reasonably inferred, and he lwft the caso to the jury and Lord Chief Justice Coleridge and Mr.

Justico Grove agreed with him on this point. Tho Lord Chief Justice cf EaLAXDand Lord Justice! AiiPULETX arrived at tlio simo practical conclusion by a simpler road. Lord Chief ustito Cockburn referring to Bridge's case in the House of Lords interpreted it as deciding that the question of negligenco was not one of law, but of fact, and was therefore for. tho jury; and ho emphatically approved this decision as putting tho matter on a right footing. Tho Lord Chancellor now says that this is a misinterpretation of Bridge's case, and he must bo allowed to understand his own decision; but tho practical effect of that caso was that tho Lords decided that certain facts did allow tho inferenco of negligenco as tho cause of an accident to bo reasonable.

The prerogative ascribed by the Lords to each presiding Judge at Xiai Trim is, indeed, simply this that bo shall be ablo to stop a caso when tho chain of causo and effect betwocu nogligonco and accidont is not indicated so as to bo satisfactory to him and we main drainage works wero'executed and vast machi Eery erected for the purpose of carrying it away some miles down the river, where, it was supposed, it would go out to sea and never be heard of more. There were some outcries against this proposal as a neglect of the maxim that dirt was only matter in tho wrong place. But no ono at the timo cpuld find its right place, or, at least, convey it there safely, and it was accordingly attempted to get rid of it, if possible, altogether, and to bury it where everything disagreeable is proverbially disposed of at tho bottom cf thesea. But it now turns cut that, with most other disagreeable things, this rcsourceis not so easy a one as it seems. It is ono thing to throw what is offensive into the sen or the mouth of the sea, and another, to make it remaint there.

We on Wednesday an! abstract of a Report which has recently been presented to tho Conservators of tho Thames upon the changes which Lave occurred in the bed of, the river sinco the main drainage scheme has been carried out, and it appears from this Report that wo haTo simply succeeded, "by that costly scheme, in putting the sewate out of sight for some ten or twenty but that it continues to exist Lord Justico Am FU LETT being for tho plaintiff's contention, and tho Lord Chief 11a now and Lord Justico Dram will against it and a ain tho verdict stood. Tho House of Lords remained, and thithor tho Company betook themselves in the last resort and their porsovoranco has been so far rewarded that the Lords have set asido the verdict, and told tho plaintiff that ho must carry his caso further than he did in 1873 if ho would make the Metropolitan Railway Company jwy eomjicnBatioii fur Ids suffering. Wo are afraid tiro unlearned multitude will never properly appreciate tho intollectual delicacy of tho English law. It is really a beautiful product of tho human mind, affordhitf questions of perpetunHti torest to those who pursue it in an appreciative spirit) but mnhy will I apt to remark lint" is often too filio fur dally use Here, thoy will say in a rude and rough fashion, is a case of nmn complaining that his thumb has been jnmmnd through the nefcliuwuce of a Railway Company Justico Cockiurx understood, tins inference of causation were lf as a question of fact to the jury. The Court will aUayi be ablo to direct a new trial when tho verdict is against tho weight of evidence.

Wo are full in thesodaya of elaborato schemes for tho dovoloptncnt of social life schemes of education, municipal reform, political re organization, and tlio like. '1 l.o question recently discussed between two of tho chief Llbvrol kvulers is whether or not every human being hat a right to a veto, ami to Ik admitted to a share in the legislative functions of tho country. Wo are introduced vcvery month to some transcendental region which is far aboro "tho sphere of actual existence, aud are invited to cuntemplato mnio ideal society, to bo manufactured at HSriuinghaiu or soma similarly en tcrprisitl centre of municipal life. Ques tlcns of high policy are "distracting the, world, and Ministries are occupied with the futurU as sewage in our near neighbourhood. We have transferred it from London, and havo poured it, lower down, into tho jmain estuary of tho river, in the hopo that it would there disperse.

But, instead of that, it seems to 'be gradually, though not slowly, accumulating, and threatening to silt up the ac cess to me port ot Aonaon. vo were poison ing ourselves before we are strangling ourselves now, and accumulating a hugo mass of filth to form an impasoablo and offensive Lor to the navigation which is the life of this groat city. The facts adduced in tho Report in question seem to admit of little challenge. Unquestioned evidence appears to show that foul and offensive matter has recently been found within the channel of the Thames as high as Woolwich Reach. A great portion of these accumulations is in the immediate neighbourhood of tho metropolitan sewage outfalls, and has formed there since tho outfalls came into operation.

Their materials have been carefully analyzed, and, a complete identity has been established between tho constituent elements of tho recently formed niuJ and thoso of tho metro politan sewage. The amount of tho dischargo at Barking Creek and Crossness is fully sufficient to account for the mass of tlio new formations and, now that attention has been called to the subject, there is no difficulty in understanding tho reason of tho accumulation. Tho system depends entirely upon the supposition that tho river, in continually flowing seawards, is sure, on the whole, to earn tho sewago down with it. But no sufficient allowance appears to havo been made for the force of the flood tide. In the Thames, at all events, the force and the carrying power of tho flood tide would seem to have been greatly under estimated, and it is cer? taialy startling to realize what the river Iras been called upon to perform.

Bv the calculation of tlio engineers of tho Metropolitan Board itself, the sewage of. the Metropolis moves seaward at the rate of about five miles a fortnight, But there is eight miles' distancu between the upper and lower limits of the tcwago sections a which, at this rate, would require twenty two days to be traversed. Consequently, no less than twenty two days' discharge of sewage matter is perpetually oscillating about this portion of the thanies, carried up with tho, flood tide and again washed down a short distance by the ebb, and in tho course of this process gradually depositing its heavier materials. This vast mass of semi liquid matter is computed to be 8 miles long, 750 yards wide, and 4i teefdeep, and it moves up and don tha chancel four times daily between Gravesend and the neighbourhood of Blackb all. There appears to be conclusive evidence that it is not confined to 1 this region, but is earned up the river by the fcrco of the llood and deposited in some measure in the higlicr reaches.

Accordingly, not merely has there been a diminution in the depth of water near tho outfalls, hot merely have vessels grounded of lato years where there was formerly an ample channel, but there has been a progressive accumulation of mud between Battersea and Loudon Bridges. In a word, it seems that wo havo not got rid of our sewage at iJI. It has merely betn put further out of Bight for a while. We. got rid first of tho little cesspools under our houses, and then of tho cesspool into which wo turned the Thames between bridges.

But we have only constructed a new and vaster cesspool hi the lower reaches of tho river, and even this is gradually returning upon us. On such principles as are now well established there is not much occasion to be surprised at such a result. It is said that even the Leer of tbo Metropolitan Beard objected the other day to apply to tho Clyde the very process ho has had to apply to the Thames. It has been deemed quite out of the question to scheme by which the sewage icharged into the Clyde at any point, unless it has previously ucder gono purification." It is generally recognized ts imperative to exclude all solid sewage matter from rivers and it is urged that the Metropolitan Board itfdlf never regarded the existing plan of discharging the sewago into tho Thames as permanent. Thatinay be, but the Beard can hardly havo contemplated that after tho immensfl expense of tho main drainage scheme tho whole matter would como upon their hands again in fifteen years.

Such, however, appears to bo the rrsult. The Conservators aro resolved tocall upon the Board to dredge the river, and "to adopt such other arrangements as are calculated to prevent similar accumulations in the future." Tho dredging may bo accomplished at great expense. But what aro tlio new arrangements to bo 1 Tho plain truth is that the problem of difposirg of tho sowago of great cities is as yet unsolved. Various approximations havo been made towards solving it, olio of most advocated being the earth system. But the application of, this system has as yet ln.cn found impracticallo, and every other method has in turn beou reject ed as imntrkient.

It can only said that hero i problem oiihy o.t tup l.ihost imentne ami sciciitii.c Degrading as the dilFicultv tuav. there propose any shall be Sultan will now be to defend the fortresses of the Quadrilateral and to hold tho passes of the Balkans and the fortifications cf Adrianople. Every available soldicF is likelv bo devoted to tho one or other of these purposes, and tho troops that have been collected at Nish will prolnbly bo withdrawn to the southern side of the mountains. Tho investment of Widia may thus bo rendered easy. But Widin is now of littlo regard exempt sj a raein of holding a certain force of tho enemy in front of its ramparts.

It siage will not improbably bv intrusted to the Roumanians and the St viauj, und occupation will thus be found for the allies of tlie Czar, while tho Imperial, armies endeavour to achieve more brilliant actions and gain more solid advantages. Tho Russian arrangements consequent upon the reduction of Plevna and the surrender of Oituar aro in progress. Ten thousand prisoners have already passed across the Danube into Rouirania and at the most only 20,000 mora remain to be dis. posed of. The works of and the forti5ca.

tions which so long delayed tho progress of the armies of tho Czar are not to be dismantled, but aro to bo occupied and garrisoned by a Russian Division as a fortified base of operation for an advaaco against Sofia. The remainder of tho Imperial Army set free for operations in tho field by the fall of Plevna is to bo divided into three portions. Of thtso it appears that ono is to be despatched to reinforce Gourko and support him in an attempt to force tho southern dtfileaof the Etropol Balkans and obtain possession of Sofia. A second portion is to join Itadetzky in tho Shipka Pay, and no doubt strenuous efforts will bo made to nush through the mountains by the road that leads down to Kczanlik, and such efforts would bo mado with a just appreciation of the great advantage that might bo derived from their success. If the corps of General Radetzky can push through the hills and can occupy Eski Saghra, it will seriously imperil, if not destroy, tho communication bctweon Adrianople and the Ottoman army at Sofia.

This force must then, in order to regain its connexion with tho important fortress which must apparently be the central point of the Turkish defensive campaign south of tho Balkans, make a long detour and tccomploh difficult and arduous marches. The third portion of tho army relieved from sirro work by the capitulation of Osman is to lo sent to reinforce the Cesarewitch, whoso task will bo to hem in the garrisons of tho Quadrilateral and the army of Snleiinan Tasha, and render both incapable of causing annoyance or inconvenience to the roods and lines of communication by which the forces djrectcd against tho Balkans will be supplied. Such appears to bo the programme of tho future Russian campaign in the Balkan peninsula. It may be successful, but it cannot be undertaken without hazard. 1 he armies that aro to advance must cross a difficult mountain rango by means of very inferior roads at a timo of year when tho weather changes day by day," and when frost at any hour may be succeeded by snow and enow by mud.

Even if they successfully gain tho issues from tho hills, Adrianople, now strongly fortified and armed with several hundred guns, lies In their path. It will hardly bo possible to pass that fortress by leaiing it masked by a mere detachment. For if this course wero pursued Adrianople would cot be the only source of danger left in rear of tho advancing columns. Tho fortresses of the Quadrilateral are still unimpaired the harbour of Varna is still open. Moslem troops from Constantinople, Egypt, and Tunis could bo thero disembarked, and such a forco might' be assembled under the cover of Shumla and Rasgrad ail would drive the Cesarewitch from his intrenchments, seizo the passages of the Danube, and utterly paralyze tho Russian armies that had pushed forward beyond the Balkans.

From Asia Minor intelligence lias been received that Erzeroum is surrounded cn threo sides, but "is still uninvested on its western face. The Russian Government lias not officially reported this fact, and tho Turkish authorities in Asia Minor have, with praiseworthy frankness, declared that they wUi allow no telegrams to bo despatched which contain information unfavourable to their own side, so that wecould hardly eupect the report to be confirmed from Erzeroum itself. But tho British Consul has quitted the capital of Armenia, and it raust.be presumed that ho hiis bad se.mo good cause at this particular time to abandon his natural would thus appear that tho roads leading from Kara towards Enceroum, which had been consider-ably injured by heavy weather, havo been repaired, and that tho reinforcements Lorn Ivara havo arrived near the fortifications of Ghazi 3Iukh tar Pasha. Sieo cutis possibly have also been. brought up and bombardment may Lo soon commenced.

But tn secure tho fail ot tne place, a fcinci uiocaiuu oi pruuary iuijuiijuj un, as long as the western face is not enclosed and tho road leading to Baiburt remains open, Chizi Mukhtar ma receive reinforcements and supplies that may enable him for long to hold hisieition and to defy the efforjts of his A Cabinet Couucil was. held yesterday in Down inc strtet. Tho Ministers present we the Earl oi Beaconstield, the Lord Ciiancelior, the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, Mr. Secretary Earl of Derby, the Earl of Carnarvon, Mr. Secretary Hardy, the Marquis, of Salisbury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, tho Right Hon.

William Henry Smith, Lord John ana the Right Hon Sir Michael E. Hicks lfcach. Ilor.AL Visit to Hcoiikxde.v. It is announced that Iter Mijraty will visit the, Earl of iVacticsfleM tit HnsteoJen Minor to dnr. leaving WioJivr by a tprvial train, and reaching High Wycombe Station about 1 o'clock.

There an addrw will he prewuUu to ller 31ajetT oa her Arrival ij tbo Mayor cn tehaM of the corporation and tbj other aatiieriti.f. KuglienJra about two jniles Irani Wycombe, atd tte first imrt of the journey being through tbe town, the inhabitants are preparing show thru loyalty. Tbe lioyal vuit will last about a ouu(k of hoars, the iueea taking luncheon with the Prima Jlinister. llrr Jlnjrtr will return aloog tbe uiw route to the Vycnmbe KaHway Station, where th? fpeial train will bo in to cvnTey the tWysl 1 art.r Vek Windsor. This it tb tint visit wLich the (uetrn hu paid to Wycombe since her coronation.

Triusnal arches will be rrrctd ilon; the li of route and in tbe evening tbera will ba Royal Society. At the meeting of tha Rojal Sotisty, ThurwUv it, Hit Jowph Ilucler ia the chair, t.L. following wrtw ekrti forria. members Mar itV Lt, 01 l'a5 Jowph IVcaisn. of Pari Erail ii.oi ci lx rwa vtuneim iimnann 1 1..

Ck lATliia If IS no I n. ui iij ULUUa Leuckart, or ieifwic Shsh u. dts uising the foci. that iro aro throAttTicd with TV' SilVlfL Uia injury to our Imuth ami to our wm in vm?) yfMwmh.