NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2055, 6 December 1869, Page 2

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Commodore Rowley Lambert, says the Broad Arrow, is likely to be succeeded as Commander-in-chief in Australia, by E. A. Yansittart, C. B. The hitch between the English cricketers and the ogent employed to engage them for a trip to Australia, is likely to be adjusted, and the following professionals will form the “Eleven”: —T. C. Shaw (the celehated bowler), A. Shaw. J. Oscroft, F. Silcock, Willsher, Marten, Jupp, Fooiey, Humphrey, Griffiths, and Sputherton. The voyage will be made early in October. Near Paris a most horrible tragedy has been enacted—a whole family, mother and six children, having been murdered in the most cold-blooded and deliberate manner. De Quincey would have quoted this as a striking instance of murder raised to the dignity of one of the fine arts ; for the coolness and energy of the murderer were extraordinary. The murder, both in its design and execution, will always rank among the first illustrations ‘of the art; and, indeed, for completeness and daring, is almost unmatched in the records of crime. The murderer, Traupmann, is barely twenty years of age, but has long been noted for his extraordinary strength and daring. He hail become intimate with a family named Kinck, well-to-do people at Roubaix, in French Flanders, and he appears to have deliberately concocted a plan for murdering the whole family, and then possessing himself, by personation and fraud, of all the property tfyey possessed. He was favored in this scheme by the desire of the father to leave Roubaix, and settle at Alsace. This Jean Kinck, the father, did leave his home, and has not since been heard of, but Traupmann, in all probability, could account for his whereabouts, as shortly afterwards the latter wrote from Paris in the name of Kinck, to Roubaix, instructing the mother to come to Paris and bring her family with her, for the purpose of settling at Pantin. A son, Gustave Kinck, who wa| not with his mother, w r as also telegraphed for in the name of his father, to come to Paris. He came, and was disposed of by Traupmann, who afterwards met the mother and her five children, persuaded them to go with him in a cab to Pantin, “ to see papa;” took them out by twos and threes to the edge of a trench prepared for them ; murdered them one after the other, threw them in and covered tham up, some of them while living ! His intention evidently was to have accounted for the disappearance of the family by reporting that they had gone to America, and afterwards to have returned, himself to be the son Gustave,’ and so, by forged documents, have obtained possession of the property, valued at L 4,000 or L 5,000 of which the elder Kinck was possessed. A more horrible and daring massacre was never perpetrated ; and it seemed almost impossible that one s ngle assassin, only 19 years of age, could have carried it out; but there is no reason to believe that he had any accomplices. The body of Kinck j)ert has not yet been discovered. There are not many possible events which would excite the sensation which these wholesale murders have produced. Thousands upon thousrnds of people have flocked to the sceua of the murder; •and it has been with great difficulty that thesnpposed murderer has been saved by the police from the summary vengeance of the excited mob.

On Sunday, October 3, Archbishop Man* ning delivered a discourse on the Pppe’j syllabus to a large congregation in the Pro* Cathedral, High street, Kensington, select* ing as his text John vi. and 60th, “ Mary of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘ This is a hard saying ; who can hear it ?’” In this discourse there was one bold outspoken passage which deserves particular attention :—“ What -was the meaning of modern civilisation ? The state of political society founded upon divo- ce, secular education, infinite divisions, and contradictions in matters of religion, and the absolute renunciation of the supreme authority of the Christian Church. Could it, then, bo matter of wonder that when the Roman Pontiff published tlje syllabus, all those who were in love with im deni civilisation should have risen in uproar against it s Or could it be wondered that when the world, with great courtesy sometimes, -with great superciliousness at another time, and great menace always, invites the Roman Pontiff to reconcile himself to Liberalism, progress, and modem civilisation, he should say, ‘ No; I will not, and I cannot. Your progress means divorce ; I maintain Christian marriage. Your progress means secular education; I maintain that education is intrinsically and necessarily Christian. You maintain that it is a good thing that men should think as

they like, talk as they like, preach as they like, and propagate what errors they please. I say that it is sowing error broadcast over the world. You say I have no authority over the Christian world, that I am not'the vicar of the Good .Shepherd, that 1 am not the supreme interpreter of the Christian faith. lam all these. You ask me to abdicate, to renounce my supreme authority. You tell me I ought to submit to the civil power, that I am the subject of the King of Italy, and from him I am to receive instructions as to the way I should exercise tho civil power. I say I am liberated from all civil subjection, that my Lord made me the subject of no one on earth, king or otherwise, that in His right I am sovereign. I acknowledge no civil superior, I am the subject of no prince, and I claim more than this —I claim to be the Supreme Judge and director of tbe consciences of men—of the peasant that tills the field and tbe prince that sits on the throne—of the household that lives in tbe shade of privacy and Ihe Legislature that makes laws for kingdoms— I am the sole last Supreme Judge of what is right and wrong.’ ” The world has long been acquainted with these pretensions, but they have been seldom put forward with greater candor or conciseness. The Pope has made a decided hit at Dr Gumming. His Holiness ‘ ‘ had seen from the newspapers that Dr Gumming of Scotland ” had been inquiring if he would be allowed to be present at the Council and argue in support of his own opinions. With great condescension the Holy Father explains in a letter to Archbishop Manning, which has been published in all tbe papers, that the absolute infallibility of the Head of the Church and of all Councils cannot he allowed to be brought in question at th,e forthcoming (Ecumenical ; but that if Dr Gumming wishes to axail himself of the opportunity of this Council to renounce his errors (Dr Cumming’s errors!) and “to satisfy the wants of his soul by withdrawing from a state in which he cannot be sure of his salvation (Dr Gumming “not sure of his salvation” ! !)—he can “return to the Father from whom he has long, unhappily, gone astray,” who will “joyfully run to meet him.” All which reads very much like a joke, and, rot improbably, is partly so intended by His Holiness. It is the retort courteous, and it is not easy to see how even Dr Gumming can do more than draw a moral from it for the benefit of persons exclusively of his own way of thinking. It is difficult, if not impossible, to argue effectively against such pretensions, but the Doctor is very unwilling to retire. The explosion of petrolium in a lighter at Bordeaux on the 28th of September, caused the destruction of 20 ships that were lying at the wharves. The lighter was drifted by the flood tide among the shipping, and, unfortunately, the authorities attempted to extinguish the flames by submerging the boat. The consequence of tin’s was that large patches of burning oil floated on the water, and being carried by the rising tide, set fire to many distant vessels that otherv ise would have been safe. '1 he extent of the damage is estimated at ten millions of francs. Mr Gladstone has been rather profuse of late in bis offers of baronetcies. No exception can be taken to any of his nominees, however, and two of his latest, Messrs Joseph Whitworth and William Fairbairn, especially, have earned a distinction. Mr Titus Salt is another of the new baronets. The Beecher Stowe-Byron controversy continues, but if the truth must be spoken, it begins to be not a little tiresome. No one has a word to say for Mrs Stowe. Her interference—especially on the ground she alleges—was a pure piece of impertinence, and she has not taken the ordinary precaution to free her statement from palpable errors of fact, which cart discredit npon it, and herself. The remarks of the Saturday Revieio appear to us to go to the root of the matter very nearly, and we fear that Mrs Stowe’s explanation is in the main a correct one. Madame Rachel has cropped up again. It appears that she obtained large sums of money from an Irish lady, mysteriously gppkep of as the relative of an Irish legal luminary, in a high position. This lady lias brought an action against Madame Rachel upon'an 1.0. U. for L2OOO. As that interesting lady is now in Milbank prison, where she is likely to be for some years, it is diffi cult to understand the object of bringing a civil action against her, for there is little hope of recovering the money. The incident shows, however, the magnitude of the sums which the woman extracted from her dupes, who are scattered all over the kingdom. What has become of the money ? Some colony—we know not which—is to be congratulated on the prospect of receiving an important addition to its population in the persons of Mr Wil iam Broadbcad, of Sheffield notoriety, and his family. The same writer strings together the following items of theatrical news : —Miss Julia Matthews is just concluding a most successful tour in the provinces, This clever young lady is, indeed, in great request just now. She commences a long engagem nt on Oct. 25, at the Standard Theatre, where she will once more play the Grand Duchess. The Christmas arrangements are already perfect at Covent Garden Theatre, and Mr Augustus Harris will produce Adams’ comic opera “Le CMlet,” in which Miss Matthews will sustain the principal charater. Mr Jefferson terminated his engagement at Booth’s New York Theatre on Sept. IS, he has teen wonderfully successful. The treasurer of the theatre was compelled to erect an extra ticket office to accommodate tbe crowds that this gentleman nightly attracted. —Clarence Holt is now part proprietor of the Theatre Royal at Croydon. Lady Don has been doing a round of her favourite characters in Portsmouth and other provincial towns. Madlle. Victoria, the youthful and talented “Queen of the Lofty Wire,” has just been engaged for Australia for the whole of the year 1870, and I hear this lady shortly leaves London.—Tom Lenton’s Australian Boys have migrated further West, and made their appearance at the Royal Amphitheatre and Circus, Holborn, at its opening on October 2, under the management of Messrs McCollum and Chamron. The company is one of the largest, treat, and most skilful that have ever been brought together in this country, and Lenton’s pupils are amongst tbe leaders of it. While the Boys were travelling in Australia with the Japanese troupe, they got up some of their leading tricks, such as the tub and ladder balancing, and now perform them with a greater finish and neatness than the “Japanese” do.—George Fawcet will play at the Olympic shortlyns Micawber. He is a versatile actor, and will do well in London.—lt is reported that Lister is in Italy, on the look out for some lyric artistes for Australia.