7 SEPTEMBER 1878, Page 2

catastrophe, the annihilation of entire families, instead of in- eighteen

in number, of 70,000, the Maharaja of Cashmere of better deserving the energetic help of the whole community. 20,000, and the Nepanlese ruler of 100,000, while they possess in the aggregate at least 1,500 pieces of cannon. That is a formid- The vessel was loaded with artisans, small shopkeepers, and able array on paper, but it is not probable that these Princes will the like, and the calamity will bring ruin to scores of a families, entirely innocent even of rashness. Nobody expects unite, unless impressed by some common danger, such as a catastrophe of the kind in the Thames, any more general order to disband their forces ; and if they did, their than in the Strand, and the Steamboat Company is not responsible, or the owners of the Bywell Castle,' and the passengers were entirely without blame. So, also, in all human probability, were the officers of the ill-fated steamer, whose master, Captain Grinstead, with his wife, perished in the wreck ; and the sufferers, including, we fear, scores of orphans, must be aided by the public, or left to the workhouses. The rich, with all the recent demands on them, should subscribe frankly and freely in this case, trusting their money to the Lord Mayor, who is Chief Conservator of the Thames, and who is sure, with a Committee behind him, to employ the money more wisely than any private individual can do. It is emphatically a case for instant aid, on a liberal scale ; and the money, for once, will directly relieve urgent and pitiable English misery.