The Sun. — London, England, 1868-01-28 00:00:00

IZOEDUCIr ON CAPITAL AND LABOUR SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. On Monday evening Mr. Roebuck addressed an immense audience of the working men of Sheffield on capital and l a b o ur. The Mayor presided. The address was given on the invitation of the Chamber of Industry, a newly established institution in the town. Some thousands could hot gain admittance, and the hon. member was unable for about half an hour to get through the crowd, though escorted by the police. It was said there was a determina tion to prevent him from entering the hall at all. On account of Mr. Roebuck's well-known opinions respecting trades unions, popular feeling is rather strong against him. After many vague reports, says the Times, and some little mystery in official circles, the intentions of the French Government have been revealed by the Montiteor, which yesterday published M. Magne's report on the financial condition of the country. For some time past it has been no secret that there was to be a loan; the only question was as to its amount and the purposes to which it was to be devoted. Strange to say, the report will pro bably tend rather to dispel than to create apprehension in France. In that country of eager curiosity and re stricted political information the people are always ready to credit authority with something exaggerated, either for good or evil. They expect much, and they fear much ; the deliberations of the Sovereign and of men in power are watched with a solicitude unknown to us, who are accustomed to the tentative and timid appeals of English Ministers to Parliament. In the present instance the French people have had, as it turns out, an exaggerated notion of the wants of the State, or rather of the sum which would be asked for to satisfy them. Of course we know not how long the supply now demanded will last. No one can say when the warlike financiers of the empire will be compelled to confess to more unbalanced budgets, to deplore more " unforeseen circumstances." But for the present it is only 440,000,000 f.—that is, £17,000,000 sterling—and not five or six hundred millions, as some were saying. Where we see a startling addition to national liabilities, the French, who have been prepared by the events of the last two years for something serious, will draw their breath freely, and be thankful that they have escaped so easily. Glory and influence must be paid for, and the French are now settling for the past and investing of tjie future. The Ministers of the Empire always know how to assume the style of candour. If well-kept books be the hypocrisy of commerce, an ostentatiously open manifesto, with just a little air of penitence about it, is the trick of Imperial finance. The French ought to be satisfied when they are informed with such precision how much the Government has spent above its income. On the Ist of December, 1867, the floating debt amounted to 936,000,000 f. "In consequence of events beyond control," the receipts of the budget of 1867 shew a deficit of 26,000,000 f. "Adding to this," continues the abstract of the report, "the extraordinary credit voted by the Corps I.6gislatif on the 31st of May, 1867, of £158,000,000, and the cast of the expedition to Rome, there is a total of 189,000,000 f. necessary to cover the outlay of 1867." These figures are worthy of all attention. The year 1867 may be called an average year. True, the Mexican expedition was brought to an end, and so was the renewed interference in 'ltaly, but under the system of the present Empire it is reason. able to suppose that there always will be "` exceptional circumstances" and events beyond control" to disturb the equilibrium of budgets ; so that, whatever a Minister may say, we cannot believe the expenditure of 1867 to have been in any way anomalous. Now, with a floating debt getting on for a milliard, we find that in the year 1867 the expenditure of France exceeded the very liberal estimate of her rulers by the sum of seven millions and a half sterling. Besides this there are various augmenta tions of expense which will be felt by the years 1868 and 1869, and will require supplementary resources to the amount of 82 millions to be shared between them. Mr. ROEBUCK proceeded to address himself to the subject of the evening's discussion :-1. Labour—what are its rights, what are its duties? 2. Capital—what are its rights, what are its duties? Labour is that human exertion, mental or bodily, which produces or tends to produce or procure articles which are destined to human use. Both are needed ; the , one without the other is powerless. One important obser vation here suggests itself. There is a limit set by the nature of things to both sides of this division. The limit to the downward course of wages is this—the labourer must have sufficient to maintain himself and family after that fashion to which by his habits he is accustomed. If he cannot obtain this he disappears ; if he is able he leaves the country ; if not he starves, and with him disappears production also ; so that it at once appears that the subject of his wages is of vital importance to society. On the other band, by the nature of things, a limit is set to the downward course of profits. If the share which the capitalist obtains of the joint produce is not sufficient to reward him for the forbearance which has led him to save, and also to pay him for the risk he has run, he ceases to save—there is no further provision for reproduction, and again production ceases. The rate of wages depends upon the number of labourers to be employed and the quantity of capital ready to employ them. Upon this natural law, as it is sometimes called, depends eventually the rate of wages. Now comes the all-important question—Can any thing, ought anything, to be done, either by human pru dence or by human law, to regulate the proportion of the reward bestowed on labour and capital ? Men have in different ages and in different countries adopted different modes. The Chinese of the present day, the Greeks in olden time, limited the number of their people by infanticide. This horrible proceeding cannot be suf fered or even contemplated by any Christian country. In France we are told that the population is kept down, and certainly it does not there increase, by the prudence which suggests late marriages. In England the favourite plan for limiting the number of labourers to be employed seems to be trades unions, which in my opinion is not the least cruel of the means employed. (" Oh, oh ! " and " Hear.") Now, let us see how and why it is that I look upon these combinationi in this light. The working man in the battle of life finds himself unprotected and exposed when alone. Not only is he weak before the capitalist, but he is weak before Nature herself, and he discovers that by combina tion with his fellows he can guard against and ward off many of the evils by which his lot is beset. I now arrive at the point when I can make it appear what I meant when I said trades unions were the means employed in England to limit the number of the labourers to be employed. The cruelty thus perpetrated has not, I think, been sufficienly dwelt upon. One of the favourite means employed to this end is the limitation imposed by various trades upon the number of apprentices to be taken by the master. Let us learn the true character of this proceeding, which I believe I shall be able to shew to be cruel, selfish, and grossly unjust. And, first, as to its cruelty. Now, if there is one privilege which you as working men ought to hold more sacred than another it is the privilege to pro vide, without let or hindrance, for yourself and you, families by your own honest industry. The limitation of the field of employment falls at once as an evil upon the working men. A beneficent Ptovidence has given the man the wide world upon which to employ himself, and industry and talent to provide means of subsistence and enjoyment. Man has too often in his cruelty stepped in and forbidden his fellow-man using this great boon of God. Let us take an individual instance, and thus illustrate the force of this position. I will not take a fictitious instance, but I will not mention names. The thing I am about to describe has happened in your midst, and, perhaps, the person who narrated the facts to me is present. I will endeavour to be as accurate as I can, and I hope not to over-colour the transaction. The brother and brother's wife of John Thomas—the name is fictitious, but I use it for convenience —both died, leaving a boy of about 10 years of age. John Thomas felt as a good man should feel, and took the helpless orphan to his home and cherished him ; but Thomas was not rich, and the only means of providing for the boy and enabling him to get his own'bread was to teach him his own trade. Thomas had a son of his own. and apprenticed both boys to himself ; he was shortly afterwards waited on by the authorities of the union, who said they did not object to his having his son as an ap prentice, but that his nephew was not the son of one who was or had been a member of their trade, and that he must at once discharge the boy from his indentures. " But the boy," said Thomas, " is the son of my brother, who is dead. The boy's mother is also dead, and it is my duty to protect him, and to provide for him the means of getting his bread. I can only do this by teaching him my trade. I have not the means of putting him out else where, and if I don't teach him he must grow up in igno rance and idleness, and be a burden to himself and all con nected with him." " We can't help it," said the deputation ; " it is against our rules." "And I," answered Thomas, " can't help that. I will not treat my dead brother's child thus Cruelly ; I will not desert him." Well, the answer was, " We shall take all the hands out of Mr. So-and-so's shop until you comply with our demand and obey our rules and they were as good as their word. I have not heard what was the result. Now, consider this case. The first effect proposed was to shut a poor boy out of an honest livelihood. The sufferer was one of themselves, one who had been visited by a terrible calamity, and who, there fore, should have been dealt with mercifully and ten derly ; but the hearts of those who dealt with him were as hard as the nether millstone, and not only were they cruel but they were also pre-eminently selfish. The poor boy was to suffer, but who was to gain ? The Morning Post devotes a leader to the same subject. That this budget will provoke much adverse criticism the Post takes for granted, but, unless the recent military policy of the Imperial Government be called in question, we doubt if it can be successfully assailed. The items of expenditure are doubtless large, but they are necessary. The cost of the expedition to Rome may be objected to, but it will be less on the ground of the addition it has made to the national outlay than the inexpediency of in tervening betwec the Italian people and the complete vindication of the unity and independence of their country. To do the Emperor justice, he has of late done his utmost to check those drains which have hitherto exhausted the resources of the country. He withdrew from Mexico, and by so doing wiped out a formidable item which for years past appeared on the wrong side of the national balance sheet. There is not, if we may except the occupation of the States of the Church, a single instance of foreign in tervention at the present moment with which the Opposi. tion can legitimately reproach the Imperial Government. The falling off in the revenues will provoke adverse com ment, but it is not improbably due to causes over which the Government have no control. The Telegraph thinks the most instructive thing about M. Magne's statement to be, not his facts, but his hints ; not what he says, but what he suggests. It was known that the Army Bill would involve fresh expenditure, and that the wonder-working, Cha,ssepot was not a free gift from the upper or nether skies, but, on the contrary, a costly product of human skill and labour. Any reasonable out lay on that account, therefore, would have excited no surprise. The necessity of making so prominent mention of the fleet, however, is less evident ; and the significant way in which it is coupled with the defence of the country, and of the national honour, may for the moment revive apprehensions that were gi•adually dying out. Convinced as we are that the Emperor is sincerely bent on peace and that the nation would second him in that resolve with positive enthusiasm, we regret the use of any allusions, officially, that may tend to create a less favourable im pression. Hitherto the navy of the Empire has certainly not been considered a weak point; and it might have been thought that the changes required by the new conditions of warfare, whether for offence or resistance, could be carried out through the ordinary medium of the annual budget, without being conspicuously paraded as the reason for a permanent addition to the burdens of the country. Any good scheme for the extension of technical educa tion must, in the opinion of the Daily News, begin by including the first rudiments of physical science within the limits of the ordinary education provided for all classes. In the schools of primary education the elements of scien tific knowledge may be taught to the elder boys, and on the emergence of such boys into the world of labour they will be in a position to appreciate the value of scientific knowledge, and to seek for that special technical instruc tion which their particular callings require. The diffi culty here, no doubt, is, that boys seldom remain in the primary schools till they are of a sufficiently mature age to enable the teachers to impart scientific knowledge of the most elementary character ; but since we are to be called upon to discuss a scheme for compulsory education, that difficulty need not be regarded as insuperable. In middle-class schools no such difficulty exists, and we apprehend that the demand of parents to have their children educated with some regard to the probable requirements of their future modes of life cannot be much longer resisted. So with the uni versities. The pressure of public opinion has induced those venerable institutions to pay a much greater amount of attention to the teaching of physical science than for merly ; but so long as the chief rewards are kept for mathematical and classical scholars, students of science remain at a crushing disadvantage ; men who might with great advantage to the world have applied themselves to the study of science are compelled, by the necessity of obtaining a fellowship, to follow one of the favoured but less congenial branches of learning. This is an injustioe to science that will soon be remedied. Why, the very men who laid down this cruel rule to lessen their own labour, to increase their own enjoyment, risked without pity or shame the well-being of the orphan child of one who had been a fellow working man. I suppose that these men would have shrunk from infanticide, and would have called me a libeller if I said they were guilty of a crime very litt'e, if at all, less black than infant murder. But what was this cold-blooded cruelty but something very like murder ? The hon. and learned gentleman concluded by expressing his b3lief that the most important leg d pro- vision that was needed was to render clear and to enforce the law of conspiracy. The best thing the men could do was in all things t) obey the law, to be gentle and forbearing, and to be honest. The meeting listened to the hon. member with, on the whole, patient attention, but the lecture so abru4ly con cluding without dwelling upon the sins of capital, the audience abandoned themselves for a time to a sort of jury, The subsequent speakers were impatiently heard, and one of them was refused a hearing. A vote of thanks to Mr. Roebuck for his address and undaunted advocacy of the commercial interests of the country was defeated by a large majority. Apropos of education and Mr. Lowe's views thereon, the Herald presents us with that hon. gentleman's characteris tics. Mr. Lowe, it says, is nothing if not extreme. He was an extreme Radical in Australia, and an extreme—or even petrified—Tory in the House of Commons. His official career is almost exclusively associated with the adminis tration of the denominational system of education, yet we now find him coming forward as the advocate of a scheme which would give the death-blow to that system. He is a man who can only look at a question from one point of view at a time. He has no idea of the safety and the wholesomeness of the via media. He is careless about his premises, and violent, dogmatic, and overbearing in as serting his conclusions. With regard to his scheme of education, our contemporary expresses an opinion that to adopt it would be to sacrifice much which is valuable in that which now prevails, and to con lentrate the intellect too exclusively, and therefore exhaustively and ineffec tively, upon those special branches of training which Mr. Lowe particularly affects. The experience of practical educationists is entirely opposed to such a plan, and what ever the Liverpool philomaths may think of it, the Herald does not apprehend that the speech it has been noticing will tend to make many converts. In the opinion of the Standard, the French Government has gained no victory through its prosecutions of the French press. Our contemporary asks, in the name of all journalism, why this profitless interference with the liber ties of the press ? The Emperor's new Home Minister exhibits rather more than the necessary zeal. He mis takes the time in which he lives. This is not exactly an age of obedience. This is not precisely the generation which accepts without questioning the yoke of authority. We have learned to regard the press as an institution, and the Third Napoleon might have been expected to think of it more highly than to permit these petty, purposeless, and resultless prosecutions. For what becomes of them, after all ? They abate no hostility; they narrow no oppo- Aition ; they rather embitter than soften political dif ferences. And it is in the essence of their success to fling down a public challenge. We have not -hitherto tho s ught the French Emperor prone to multiply causes of rebuke against himself. He is too powerful and too popular for that. But why should he dread the epitomised reports of debates in a Parliament created by himself ? The reply is at once to be anticipated. Such reports are infringements of the Constitution. Well, but is the Con stitution so weak that it cannot withstand the effect of these debates, accurately rendered ? In the interest of France, we should hope not. There is & wonderful wealth of journalistic ability in France. It is not against this. however, that the recent criminal proceedings have been directed. It is against the simple records of legislative debate, usually so precise in their trUth (4114 so sparkling in their vigour. In seconding a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding, ROEBUCK said : You have come to hear a discussion which deeply interests working men. You have come to hear one express his opinions about it who has no interest in the matter but the good of his country. I am not a master manufacturer ; I am not an artisan ; but I have been for many years before my countrymen. I have studied deeply all that concerns the good government of my coun try—(hear, hear)—and when asked to state my opinions I have boldly stated them, careless of the result. (Cheers.) It has be en my fate, sir, often to be opposed to what is called public opinion, but in the long political life that I have led I have found my countrymen coming round to my opinions, and never receding from them. (" Oh, oh ! " and i nterruption.) Aye, aye ! (Further interruption.) Now, don't interrupt. lam not going to trouble you long. It is not my habit to make long-winded speeches, but I say to y ou that I, deeply considering this m atter, and having solely the interests of my country at h ear t, have told you to-night what I believe to be the truth ; and I ask you all, yea, one and a ll, w h en you go —" home, and to-morrow read what I hav e sa id , to prove your own minds, to ask yourselves this question Is he right, or is he wrong ? (Hear, hear.) Can h e b e wrong ? Can he be right? And might I not have been wrong in hooting him the night before ? " (Cheers.) On leaving the hall Mr. Roebuck was followed by a large orowd, who hooted him. MR. BRIGHT'S CLASSICAL STUDIES.—Mr. Car michael informs us, from the unsuspiciou3 testimony of a colleague, that Mr. Bright, who was his pupil, is an excel lent Latin scholar. It is creditable alike to master and pupil that a warm friendship still exists between them, and that Mr. Bright in writing has acknowledged the advantages he derived from his classical studies, pursued at the %Vaimgate Bar School, York.—Church Tiinu. • A WOMAN BURNT TO DEATH. —An inquest h been held at the Middlesex Hospitalron the body of Catherine Bell, aged 48, who resided with her husband, at 12, Gresse-street, Rathbone-place. Eliza Bell, daughter of the deceased, aged 8 years, stated that her mother, who wore a light cotton dress, with a crinoline, was standing in front of the fire, mid in turning round to thread a needle her dress became ignited. She tried to double up her mother's dress, but was unable to extinguish the flames. The jury returned a verdict of accidental sle*th. THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 28, 1868. days and festivals be taken, as hitherto, to the afternoon service, the chief reason given for the change being that there was not always a l ormon in the afternoon service, and that the psalmody could not be considered equivalent to a sermon. This order was signed by Bezold, a Protestant " Ministerial-rath." Another Bezold (I really do not know whether he is a nestling of the same brood, but, when almost a youngster, he was placed in the professorial chair, the eggshell still clinging to the down on his back) has now gained a certain celebrity for his physiological lectures at Wiirzburg, that is to say, on account of the naiveté with which he demonstrates to his hearers the iden tity of soul and body. To excite the curiosity of the students, he announces, once or twice, with an air of importance, that in the follow ing lecture he will treat of the interesting theme, the nature of the soul. At length the great hour arrives, and he breaks out upon the important question as follows :—" What is the soul ? It has been said that the soul is an immortal being, which enters the body at birth and quits it at death. Gentlemen, this has been said long since, has been often repeated ; but no one can prove how or where the soul enters the body, that it departs, or its being. For science, therefore, this view has no sort of value. Others say that soul and body are one, that there is no such thing as a soul distinct from the body. And, gentle men, if we look into the subject closely, it must be confessed that this view is the correct one. But to make the subject clearer, I will explain to you by a similitude in what light you have to look upon the matter. Suppose you are contemplating a picture. To the ques tion : W hat is that ? I will answer you : That is wood, canvas, oil, colour - stuff. And yet, at the same time, it is a picture, a landscape, a man, a woman, a child, &c. See, gentlemen, what I first pointed out to you is the semblance; what last—the reality. Thus is the soul,, the 1 semblance of the body." From this same university of Wiirzburg, it is reported here that the present rector, (a Catholic in name), in a solemn oration in honour of the Prince Bishop Julius of Wiirz burg, has just denied, in plain terms, the exist ence of a Creator. This was done in . face of the assembled corporation, professors and stu dents, in the face of the theologians, even in the presence of the very men who have just been invited to Rome to assist in the prepa rations for the great coming council, the pro fessors Dr. Hettinger and Dr. Hergenrother. We have not heard whether or not they gave any sign of disapproving this blasphemy (ad dressed by a soi-disant Catholic to Catholic clergy and Catholic students), or whether they got up and left the hall. Perhaps they will make a written protest ; I do not know. Dr. Dollinger, it may be recollected, did not even protest, when a declared Deist was appointed to a professorial chair here. To this is it come in our Catholic universities ; such are the lights continually imported to us from North Germany. The few who still survive in the universal wreck of Ch r i s tian principles in our universities, and seek manfully to keep the last remnants afloat, in hopes of better times, are thrust into the background, and kept down by all the means in the hands of the dominant anti-Christian party ; thus the Catholic pro fessor of history in the university here, Dr. Sepp, a man still in his prime, has just been pensioned off by the minister. "Dies irae, dies ilia, solvet regnum' in favilla !" PROFESSION ? refer the matter to the courts of law, which he said were open to us, if we felt ourselves ag grieved. He knew very well all the time that it is as impossible to meet legally as logically a vague charge, in which neither the names of those by whom, nor the places where, nor the dates when, the alleged atrocities are as serted to have been committed. Mr. Good man, however, to his great honour, refused to let Mr. Gutteridge off on so obviously un just a pretext. Mr. Goodman pinned Gut teridge to a proposal he had imprudently ac ceded to, that the charge should be investigated by a committee consisting of several Protestant gentlemen, and one, only one, Catholic. Our friend boggled very much about preliminaries; and thus gave everybody who watched (as we did) the progress of the affair, a tolerable certainty that he knew his case to be rotten. A drowning man will catch at a straw. He rejected one of the committee whom he had himself nominated, and selected another. Amongst his final contortions," he said that the point to be tried was, not whether what he had asserted was true or no, but whether or no he had at the time good reason to think it true. This explains the severe but just im putation in the Report that Gutteridge made no effort to test the truth of any of his state ments. We are not disposed to apply harsh terms to Gutteridge. We feel how completely they are unnecessary. What rhetorical amplifica tion could do anything but diminish rather than augment the effect which the collapse of a calumny like this ought to produce and will produce in all - minds not absolutely en crusted with bigotry? What that any Catholic writer can say could intensify the disgust which just and kind English people must feel at an, attempt to serve the ends of a base faction by arousing public indignation against innocent persons ? Neither are we ignorant of the ex cuses that may be made for Gutteridge from the necessities of his position. If a man will be an aggressive, intolerant Protestant, he is perforce driven to calumny as his only resource. If he looks into solid controversy he finds his cause without a leg to stand upon. It is literally impossible to interest a Protestant audience in the rationalistic subtle ties of Chilling-worth, or the historical per versions of Mosheim. But a good rattling accusation against a nunnery in the town itself, or neighbourhood, is a telling thing, and never fails to arouse attention and bring pennies at the doors. Murphy has dealt largely in the article, and has reaped large gains from the business. But Murphy always had the dis cretion to keep to safe generalities. His wretched imitator, with all Murphy's ma lignity, possessed none of his astuteness, and has been accordingly squelched. He has, how ever, done us good, and not harm, and, in gratitude, we are bound to render him some acknowledgment. We will confer renown on his patronymic, cacophonous though it be. Henceforward, whenever an anti-Catholic calumny of more than ordinary vileness is exploded, let it be denominated a gutteridge. Ugly word for ugly thing; the inherent fitness of the term will ensure for the new coinage an universal adoption.—Westminster Gazette. ARE AMATEURS INJURIO US TO THE ligion. On the contrary, they find it tends more generously to promote it, to waken them to a con sciousnes9 of their defects, and teaches them to treat the opinions of others with respect. Besides, money is occasionally require(' to complete some new church, or school, or charitable institution, and when its promoters would shrink from all aid obtained through the regular stage, they accept, more or less willingly, the proceeds of a benefit performance by amateurs; and thus, again, the line of demarca tion is broken. We do not say there are not other causes at work, for easy access to France, imparting as it does a better knowledge of the manners of our neighbours, is amongst these ; but the dramatic amateurs are the real champions and best promoters of the inte rests of the stage, and to them is owing,in no small d e gree, the increased number of our theatres, in spite of the multiplication of music halls, and the constant attraction of concerts.—Racing Times. MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. From the Anglo-American Times.) Sir Roderick Murchison has published a telegram from Mr. Young, the commander of the boat expedition sent nut to ascertain whether Dr. Livingstone had boen killed near the head of Lake Nyassa, or had gone on into the interior. Mr. Young has ascertained that the traveller had gone on in safety, the Johanna men who reported his death having deserted him ; and Sir Roderick adds, that there is no longer the shadow of a doubt that the white man seen on the west side of the Lake Tanganyika was Livingstone. Some New York papers state that the American Minister in London, Mr. Adams, writes the political articles on America. This is doubtful, but ho probably fur nishes facts for that popular journal on which the articles are founded. The following anecdote has recently made it ap pearance :—" Longfellow visited London when he was young and comparatively obscure. He bore a letter of in troduction to Balwer from Lewis Gaylord Clark. Calling at Bulwer's residence, he met the novelist upon the steps, just going out, and there presented his letter. Bulwor barely glanced at the signature—said testily Mr. Clark has no such acquaintance with me as authorizes him to introduce any one,' and then coolly walked away." General Carl Schurz and family have gone to Berlin to visit Mr. Bancroft, American Minister. Consul Page of Zurich has just returned from a visit to the United States, where he went on business con nected with a matrimonial engagement, which he fulfilled, bringing home a wife with him. Commodore James S. Thornton has been de tached from duty at Portsmouth (New Hampshire), and ordered to the command of the Kearsage. Commodore Thornton was executive officer of the Kearsage in her fight with the Alabama, and acquitted himself with great credit. Colonel J. N. Patterson of Manchester (New Hampshire) has been appointed Brigadier General of State Militia, in place of General S. G. Griffin of Keene, re signed. The Republican committee of Maine was or ganized at Augusta, Monday, Dec. 30, by the choice of J. G. Blaine as chairman, and John E. Butler of the Bidde ford Journal, secretary. Tho Legislative caucus to elect delegates to the Chicago Convention was to be held Jan. 22, and the committee intend to meet again in Portland, April 30. The Poet Laureate has asked the newspapers to insert the following notice :—" Mr. Alfred Tennyson re grets that it is no longer possible for him to answer the innumerable letters, or to acknowledge the MS. verses, which he is in the halt of receiving from strangers." Governor Humphrey refusesto accept the resig nation of Judges Harris and Ellett, of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, on account of the difficulty of finding law yers in the State who can take the test oath. Jealousy of dramatic amateurs exists in the pro fession from an erroneous idea that their represen tations are inimical to the interests of the regular stage. We all know that Thespian clubs are nu merous, and, consequently, amateur performances are almost of nightly occurrence in London and its vicinity, as also general throughout the country ; but we doubt much if any of the money thus col lected would otherwise find its way into regular professional exchequers. We question if there be a paterfamilias who so scrupulously weighs out the items of Jais expenditure as to say to his daughters, " My dears, you have spent so much in gloves and gewgaws that there must be no more balls this sea son ; so, therefore, refuse Mrs. Columbia's soiree dansante, on some plea or other," or to his family generally—" What ! go and see Wigan in Still Waters Run Deep, after having witnessed the able impersonation of Mildmay by our young friend Hector Sn'yyins! It is really the height of extrava gance, and not to be thought of." We say we doubt if there be such a ch tractor, but if there be we are cer tain that all previous balls have but stimulated the desire of his daughter to assist at Mrs. Columbia's party, and the acting of Hector Sniygins has but made them more eager to see his great proto type, and more certain that they will over come the economical considerations of papa. Ad mitting, however, there be such personages —say that they even exist, on an average, one per cent. of the general audience„ and all these of the inflexible, obstinate order, we then affirm that the patronage of the amateurs compensates for such loss ten times over. How often will each of these witness some noted actor in a part he contemplates filling on the amateur boards? Besides, each one is a sort of critic, a kind of theatrical oracle to some circle, large or small, and is the refore compelled to be familiar with the merits of the various artistes, and conversant with every new piece brought upon the stage. Then again, in another point of view, if amateur dramatic perform antes are injurious, why should not the same affirmation be made against concerts—nay, against every description of public amusement ? Undoubtedly, they all draw more or less from John Bull's pocket, and therefore trespass on the supply for the re gular actor. These notions are, however, un tenable, and their deduction, in consequence, appears so worthless to us, that we wind it up in the bold assertion, that no class contributes so much to the advancement of the interest of the regular stage as dramatic amateurs. To establish this, let us go back some centuries, and recal to our memory the fact that previous to the Reformation this country was known as Merry England—that there was no race then fonder of public amusements than our own. Let us recal this and remember that ever since, we have been divided into their patrons and their opponents—into those who regard popular diversions, especially of the stage, as salutary a n d mora l , and those who look on them as prejudicial and corrupt. We know that between these antagonists there is a medium class, holding partly with the one and partly with the other ; some who will extend their patron age to oratorios and concerts, —some who will go so far as to take their families to the Gallery of Illus tration, when they would shrink with horror from a visit to Covent-garden or Drury-lane. We k now also that for some years, a contention has existed amongst the congregations of Scotland as to whe ther the organ should or should not be allowed in places of public worship. In fa 3t, we are all aware that the gradations from one to the other are so slight as to render ascent or descent all but imper ceptible. Yet, nevertheless, there exists an influen tial and compact mass of opponents to public amuse ments in any shape, that would divide man's time on earth between money making and religious wor ship—a mass that would arrest all scientific research, all future progress under the plea of securing salva tion—a mass that would confine intelligence to Biblical study, and that under some narrow limit of doctrinal guidance, which creates a horrid egotism of self-sufficiency, and yearly consigns numerous hopeless maniacs to our madhouses. The play writer and the play-actor may be justly said to wage open hostility against this mass, but they ap peal alone to those who need no demons tration of its injurious tendency. They are powerless against its leaders attired in white linen as token of their own purity, and co,nfortable black suits, as emblems of mourning for all who are not of their sects. They make no way against these Cantwells of the pul pit and I\l3.wworina of oar streets, but the dramatic amateurs do. Many of these, whilst repudiating this restriction to our intelligence, may not have entirely broken with the sect of their child hood, and when on the boards their sisters and cousins are drawn to witness their performances, and a genial warmth is thus diffused through au entire circle. Cc West que le premier pas qui coute. The ice is broken, the regular stage is afterwards visited, and many learn that social enjoyment, when not abused, is far from being a barrier to re- A Washington despatch to the New York Post says :—" Although every attempt to remove Mr. Rollins, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, has proved a failure, the seekers for his place seem to be more anxious and determined to secure it. A number of candidates, how ever, who do not possess the very best credentials, have withdrawn from the contest, leaving the field to a very few. Another applicant for this position, Colonel C. W. Moulton, of Cincinnati, has appeared here within a few days, and will probably prove to be one of the strongest candidates. Ile is brother-in-law to Senator Sherman, of Ohio. Mr. J. B. Rangdale, of Manchester, in the Brazi lian trade, has failed with liabilities for £ll,OOO. Parties in Washington who have been trying to ascertain the authorship of the Dent-Grant letter, assert that investigation shows its author to be the writer of an article in the Galaxy, to which allusion is made in the let ter, that this writer is also an attache of the New York World, and penned the articles in that paper commenting on the positions of the Dent letter; and, finally, that the writer in the Galaxy is the New York correspondent of the Charleston Courier, in whose communication to that jour nal the letter first appeared. Mr. Bradley, the Boston negro lawyer, who lately distinguished himself as an agitator in Savannah, has been fined $lOO for riotous and disorderly conduct. Jefferson Davis arrived in New Orleans on the evening of the 31st December, when he was met by seve ral hundred people, who greeted him w:th cheers. The Hon. A. H. Stephens, formerly Vice-President of the rebel Government, is preparing a history of the secession move ment, and be is now in Philadelphia. C. W. Brooks has been appointed by the Ja panese Government its Consul-General in San Francisco. The letter of instructions from Japan alludes to the fact that the United States was the first power to conclude a treaty with that country, and as a direct communication has been es'ablishod, trade will increase, and, it is hoped, friendship also. Colonel Nelson, of Jamaica rebellion notoriety, is now Assistant-Adjutant-General at Cork. The last act of the Jamaica Legislature was to pass a unanimous re solution to expend two hundred guineas on a testimonial to that officer. The form in which the testimonial is offered is that of a handsome epergne and candelabrum, designed and manufactured by Messrs. E. and E. Emanuel, of Bur lington-gardens. The symbolical attributes of the island are modelled in frosted silver, two Carib figures, which are the supporters of the Jamaica coat of arms, being the pro minent adornments of the shaft. The alligator is also introduced at several points of the design, and the grace fully flowering sugar-cane is also a conspicuous adjunct. On the several pan els of the tripod which forms the base are the arms of the colony, the crest of Brigadier-General Nelson, and an extract from the vote of the House of Assembly. A negro hanging from a tree, and a coloured gentleman having his back scored by piano-wire, would have been very suggestive illustrations, and much more appropriate than the two Carib figures and the alligator. Judge Poland is the prominent candidate for Vice- President in Vermont. Sherman Hartwell, of Washington, has made some valuable additions to his flock of Cotswold sheep in purchasing four ewes bred by William Hewer, of England, at 409 guineas, or $2OO in gold each. Isaiah Wentworth, well known in Maine, has resigned his office as business manager of the New Glou cester family of Shakers, and accepted a similar position in a New York family. General Butler has abandoned Thaddeus Stevens's doctrine of confiscation. In his late speech to the negroes on New Year's-day he said :—" I doubt whether confisca tion would be desirable. It does not seem to be a good thing to give away land. A thing that does not cost any thing is generally valueless. If the United States were to-day to commence confiscation it would undoubtedly lead to mischief, and to the detriment of the great West." The Selma Messenger (Alabama) says that the supporters of Chief-Justice Chase hope to draw off enough votes from General Grant, to throw the election into the House, whore they feel confident of success. The Spring field Republican terms the scheme preposterous. If General Grant be a candidate, he will be elected by the people ; and if it were possible to defeat such an election, Congress would not dare to disregard the popular will, setting aside the candidate voted for by the North to fill the Presidency for one nominated by the negroes, which would be negro supremacy with a vengeance. " The real Republican platform for 1868 will be Ulysses S. Grant, as embod y in g honesty, executive ability, just ice and generosity to the South, and an earnest purpose to restore the Union. Give us success with him, and we may well drop the worn-out controversies of the past, and leave the battles of the future to be fought when they arise. For the present we shall do well if we hold on and keep what we have already gained." General Bulow is appointed Danish Minister at London. Telegrams from Berlin state that Mr. Bancroft, Minister of the United States, is said to have opened with Count Bismarck negociations bearing upon the extension to bo given to the Prussian war navy. The relations be tween Washington and Berlin are most cordial. On Sunday morning, the 29th December, the Rev. Dr. HarbAugh, Professor in the Theological Semi nary at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, died at his residence in that town, after a somewhat protracted and painful ill ness. At intervals during the last three or four years the Doctor had been serving the German Reformed congrega. tion at Hagerstown , in the absence of a resid ent pastor, where he was much esteemed by a largo circle of friends and acquaintances, who deeply regret the death of so able a divine and genial a gentleman. Elias Howe, father of the late Elias Howe, jun , the so wing machine inventor, and brother of the late William Howe, inventor of the Howe truss bridge, died at his re sidence in Cambridgeport, Saturday, Dec. 28, a ge d 76 , o f a complication of rheumatism and disease of the kidney Capt. Loring Gardner of Farmingdale, Maine, MAILS DUE. is supposed to have fallen a victim to the St. Thomas Tornado. Thomas A. Greene, a Quaker, of a very old and distinguished family, at New Bedford, U.S.A., died on the 17th Dec. last. Susan Howland, ministered, and after an interval Rachel Howland spoke in her usual acceptable manner, and closed by asking ministers of any other deno mination to speak accordingly. Mr. Rickerson and Rev. W. J. Potter delivered funeral discourses. The Richmond Examiner, by way of a New- Year's greeting, thus gloomily speaks of the sad condition of the South at the present moment :—" The accounts which are coming up from nearly all quarters are enough to curdle the blood of every human man. The fairest land under the sun lies in wretchedness and ruin. A domain which has teemed with abundance is now a, region of univer sal pauperism. Frightful destitution everywhere prevails, and gaunt, grim starvation already shows its horrid front, though the winter is but begun. The labour of tho mul titude of the blacks consists in forages on the barns and barnyards of the whites ; the corn and the live stock are disappearing under the operations of the black thieves and robbers, who are organising in bands too numerous to be resisted by their victims, and already formidable even to the military. A war of white and black is imminent, and it will be invested with a complicatiJa of horrors. It will be a war of colours, a war of castes, a war with rob bers, a war over bread. It will appeal to every conside ration which can command the convictions and fire the passions." The streets of London are not the safest places to travel in, as the Registrar-General's report clearly shows. Two days rarely pass without somebody being run over and killed in the street. One hundred and sixty-four deaths from injuries caused by horses or vehicles have been recorded during the past year. How many escape with broken limbs is not known, but the number cannot be small. The most curious fact of all seems to bo that nearly one-half the accidents have been traced to waggons and carts. But on reflecting on the drinking habits of waggoners and carters this fact be comes less surprising. We extract the following from •the Springfield Republican:—" There wore but few Now England manufac turers at the late National Convention at Cleveland, which resolved against all internal taxes except on luxuries. But, under the lead of the Berkshire county manufacturers, they propose a mass meeting at Worcester on the 22d to back the Cleveland Convention. Calls liberally signed are in circulation in this part of New England, and we presume there will result a large, intelligent, and influen tial gathering." A proposition is before the House Committee on Military Affairs to reduce the regular army of the United States, the first heavy reduction to take place when the first Southern State is returned to representation, and the reduction to continue as the military districts are done away with. R. A Filkins, of North Adams, Massachusetts, has refused $16,000 for a steam valve and indicator which he has patented, and will at once begin its manufacture at that place. The total loss of property by fire during 1867 in the United States in conflagrations each destroying over $20,000 was $36,935,000. February, June, and December were the months in which the heaviest losses occurred, each of them exceeding $1,000,000. The total losses by fire during the year, however, were much less than during 1866, when $66,410,000 were destroyed. Marine disasters by fire, wreck, collision, or other accidents at sea, during 1867, happened to 536 American vessels, all of which have been totally lost, and, excluding their cargoes, were valued at $21,742,200. This is a largo falling off from 1866, when 571 vessels, valued at 33,794,300 dols., wore lost at sea. Foreign Mail. Packet List. kustralis and New Zealand, via Southampton Feb. 10. Ditto, via Ramifies 11, Ditto, via Panama Jan. 28. Buenos Ayres, and Monte Video „Feb. 3. Ditto, by French packet Cape Verde, by Brazil packet cape of Good Hope. Asoenaion. and St. Helena Feb. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Feb. 2 Ditto, via Maraeilles .......... Feb. 3 Falkland Islands dobraltar. via Southampton India. via Southampton Ditto, via MarseiLes . ••••• . ...Feb. 7. Malta, ti:gy 3., ,ko. Feb 2 Marseilles Feb. 7. tlaurittus, C,p. of Good Hope, and Natal, via Southampton Feb. 19. but'', Marseilles Feb t 3 Newfouudla nd Feb. 12 Portugal Feb. 3 Ditto, by pri v Lie ship to Oporto ... Ditto t •tto to Lisbon United States, anada, California, &0., by British Feb. 3 packet Ditto, by L Lited States packet Ditto ditto 'New York, Ditto aitto N,..w York) Ditto dit:t (Baltimore) Ditto, by Canadian packet ....................Jan 3!„ West Coast of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe Feb. 3. West ,naies aad (except UCXiJO and Baha- Mak Cub i and Ilexico •.. .Jar 2'. 1.39.11a.naa, via New i Feb. 3. Bermuda, via 11a11.,x . TESTIMONIAL TO TIIE CAPTAIN AND OFFICERS OP THE "ENGLAND."—The following is a copy of an address presented to Captain Thompson, of the National Steam Navigation Company's screw-steamer England, on her arrival with troops at Annesley Bay :—" Although full ex pression has already been given verbally by Gea. Wilby to our feelings on parting with you and the good ship England, still we would wish to leave some more lasting token behind us, to remind you and the officers of the ship of the plea sant voyage we have had together. We have most of us been many voyages with troops; but one and all agree that never have we before experienced such kindness, hos pitality and liberality, or has such care been taken of the health and comfort of the troops, who leave after up wards of a fortnight on board this ship much healthier than when they came, and without a case of sick ness contracted on board. Not a single thing has occurred to disturb the perfect harmony amongst us ; every wish has been met, unnecessary restric tions dispensed with, and perfect order and discipline maintained. Disapproving of these testimonials as a very inconvenient rule, we should be doing violence to our feelings if we omitted in this instance to put on record ov.r unqualified satisfaction with everybody and everything belonging to the good ship England. To Captain W. G. Aldrich, Royal Navy, the Transport Officer, your able coadjutor, who has been associated with you throughout in your endeavours for our comfort, our best thanks are also due. We wish you both God-speed, and that it may be our good fortune, after the Abyssinian Expedition is over, to return home in the good ship England. [Here follow the signature of Brigadier- General Wilby, and all the officers.] (ADVERTISEMENT.]—Du Barry El Delicious Health Restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, which contains three times the nourishment of the best meat, saves fifty times its cost in other remedies, restores perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, healthy liver, refreshing sleep, functional regularity, and energy to the most disordered or enfeebled, removing speedily and effectually indigestion (dyspepsia), habitual constipation, diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, liver complaints, flatulency, nervous, ness, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, colds, influenza noises in the head and ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, erup tions, hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, pal pitation, heartburn, headacne, debility, dropsy, cramps, spasms, nausea, and sickness, sinking fits, coughs, asthma, bronchitis, incipient consumption, scrofula, tightness of the chest, pains at the pit of the stomach, between the shoulders, &c. We quote a few out of 68,000 cures :—The Pope's health restored by Du Barry's Food.—Cure No. 68,413. "Rome, July 21, 1866.—The health of the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, aban doning all other remedies, he has confined himself entirely to Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica Food, of which he consumes a plateful at every meal. It has produced a surprisingly beneft cial effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this excellent food too highly."—From the "Gazette du Midi," July 25. Cure No. 49,832.—" Of fifty years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness at the stomach, and vomiting." Maria Joly, Wortham, Ling, near D:ss, Norfolk.—Cure No. 47,121.—Mi5s Elizabeth Jacobs, of Nazing Vicarage, Waltham Cross, Hells, of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies. Important Caution.—Beware of the many unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, without authority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attached In tins at is. ild.; 1 lb., 2s 9d.; 2 lbs., 4s. 6d, ; 5 lbs. 11s.; 12 lbs., 225.; 24 lbs., 405.— BARRY Du BARRY and Co., No. 7;, Regent-street, London; also Fortnum and Mason, 182, Piccadilly; and at 61, Gracechurch-street; 4, Cheapside; 63, 150, and 289, Oxford-street; 330, Strand; and all grocers and chemists. Births. BARRON- On the 22d inst., at 4, Charles-street, Hyde park, the wife of Herbert Barron, Esq., 72d Highlanders of a son. Bieuir—On the 26th inst., at 2, The Close, Southsea, the wife of Charles J. Bigley, Esq., R.N., of H.M.S. Helicon, of a son. lEADLAM—On the 26th inst., at 24, Norfolk-square, Hyde park, the wife of Edward Headlam, Esq., of a son. Marriages. MARSHALL—DUKE —On the 14th ult., at Trichinoply, Captain Joseph G. Marshall, R.A., to Lonsia Sybella, youngest daughter of Mtljor-General T. A. Duke, com manding Southern Division, Madras Army. NicoLsorr —CrRE.ENFIELD On the 25th inst., at Tor Church, Torquay, A. F. Nicolson, Esq., of Ipswich, 'to Mary Ann, second daughter of the late Thos. Clreenlield; Esq., of Winchester, solicitor. Deaths. ABEL —On the 26th inst., at 40, Bedford-place, Russell square, John Abel, of the Middle Temple, Esq., aged 60. NAPIER —On the nth inst., at 8, Upper Phillimore-gar dens, Kensington, Alexina, youngest daughter of David Napier, Esq., of Glens hellish, Ayrshire, N. 8., aged 29. ' TASKEB,--On the 25th inst., at Dartford, Kent, J. Tasker, Esq., aged 78. TYRCONNEL--011 the 23d inst., at Kiplin, Yorkshire, Sarah, Countess of Tyrconnel, widow of John Delaval, last Earl of Tyrconnel, aged 68. VIVIAN— On the 24th inst., at Park Wern, Swansea, Caro line Elizabeth, wife of Henry Hussey Vivian, Esq., M.P., aged 35. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tag SUN Office, No 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Bliddleaux.—Tuesday, January 28, 1868, BAVARIA MUNICH, JannaTy 20. In my last letter I stated my opinion of the wretched condition the Government and the so-called Representatives of the people have fallen into, and of the growing aliena tion of the people from both. I am now in a position to prove the correctness of this view, and, indeed, even to a greater degree than I had myself expected. During the last few days the Government-partyhas been placed, as it were, though on a small scale, on its trial before the people. The Government, it is true, refused the demand for the convocation of a new Parliament made in very energetically worded addresses by eighteen hundred and sixty-nine Bavarian communes. But now a member of the Chamber, a Government man, being promoted to a higher office, it became necessary, according to the Constitution, that his constituents should declare whether they chose him to continue their representative or not. The affair turned out a regular tilting match between Government and people. The Government exerted itself to the uttermost to retain their member ; the said member went down himself to the town to present himself in person to his constituents, making an oration of an hour's length in defence or in excuse of his Parliamentary shortcomings. He had to thank the influence of the clergy alone for his even obtaining a hearing ; but then fol lowed:and by an immense majority, the con demnatory sentence of the outraged electors. You can scarcely conceive with what jubilee this result has been welcomed by the patriotic party and their organs throughout Bavaria. But it will be more interesting to hear a voice from the enemy's camp in the report of the correspondent of the Frankfort Journal. The correspondent writes as follows : "It was with an intense interest very uncommon in such cases, that the results of the votes for the re-election of the representa tive Hohenadel, was looked forward to here, and in many quarters in Bavaria. Friend and foe awaited the decision as a sign of the state of the political thermometer. Hohenadel had not only irritated the clerical party, but had also made advances to the great Prussian party. Nevertheless two circumstances gave him hope of a successful issue : his own personal amia bility and the notorious repugnance felt, and that in the very highest degree, towards his substitute, especially by the clericals. To this may be added the nature of these so-called re elections, in which the electors have not the right of absolutely electing a new representa tive, but are only called upon to declare in writing by a simple Aye or No* whether they choose to retain the newly-promoted member as their representative. Quite contrary to the ordinary custom, on this occasion, an im mense majority of Noes (38 Ayes and 83 Noes) was the answer given. It would be an illusion to consider that this strengthening of the reactionary tendency were confined alone to the electoral district of Neumarkt (which contains, nevertheless, 88,000 souls ; it must rather be looked upon as a sign of the times, brought about for the most part by the untir ing and restless activity of the great German party. At the general election the clericals were unable to prevent the electio neither of Hohenadel or of his still more anticlerical sub stitute. But to-day, when the people see ender their very eyes, as a consequence of this new fangled prosperity, a fearful stoppage of busi ness—when they are threatened with the too well-known new laws for the reorganization of the army, and when further they see, in dim perspective, an increase of taxation—to-day, indeed, they desire to check the rate of going upon this downward path of Germany's new fangled felicity. It is thought that the lesson just given will not be without its effect on Hohenadel's substitute (Buchner, a notary in Hihpollstein). He has already received a pre cautionary hint, that in case it should be otherwise the good people of the town and district will not employ him to prepare their deeds, and come what may are determined to make an example of him. This temper of mind is much more strongly aroused and more general than is by any means commonly sur mised, both in Bavaria and in Catholic Fran conia. Should a new Chamber be elected now, one might reckon upon its presenting at least a much more marked physiognomy than the present one, and though in truth much more clerical it would at any rate manifest a de cided political character. It appears,'also, that the preparations for the Zollverein Parliament have already awakened forebodings of many a result until now unexpected. Should the clouds gather yet thicker around the political horizon, every party will lose its foot-hold. The fermentation of mind in th e coun t r y i s much more serious than is generally imagined." Another sign of the times, in n p g a s rt, jus ined t de de. , t c ail onn ed e , ct is ed no wi tio t e h d t in he t s h ti:t A e n o g f: b t ur hi g oradsp:r—o Allegemeine inantnhoeunfoollemo wing ent o w f gramme on Z (ki, , tu T t h tg e , behalf of the majority of the Chamber of Re presentatives is expected, touching the elec tions for the Zollverein Parliament.lt recommend, in opposition to the party of pro gress, the non-entrance of Bavaria •into the Northern Northern Confederation in its present form and constitution, as well as the complete avoidance of all steps in that direction. The rumours that the Particularistic (Bavarian patriotic) party, who urge an affiance between Austria and France, are seeking to chive out Prince Hohenlohe, are being continually repeated, and gain ground here. The feelin g in the leading political circles is very uncomfo r table." The majority of the representatives is the tool of the Hohenlohe " t minis ry. It allowed itself to be carried away by the party of pro gress, as Prince Hohenlohe himself was car ried away by it. They would fain now draw in, and set narrower limits to their programme than those hitherto set by the ministry • they would fain appear to sympathise with the temper of the people ' • but this w ill avail them little now they are known ; besides to this hour they have not yet succeeded establish ing unanimity among themselves. Catholic circles here are again discussing Dr. Dollinger, who, for some short time, has done little to get himself talked about. Our venerable archbishop wished the theological faculty here to elect Dr. Brentano, professor of philosophy at Wiirzburg, a still young, but already celebrated man of letters, to a chair in their faculty. Dr. Brentano stands high in the esteem of Dr. Dollinger; nevertheless the latter frustrated the archbishop's plan. He suggested as a reason for opposing this plan that it was not advisable to place a philoso pier in the theological faculty ; experience had taught that by this means conflicts with Rome were almost inevitably brought about. This anxiety of the Provost, Dr. Dollinger, for peace with Rome impressed many of us as something comical. This anxiety was, in truth, carried rather far. A conflict with Rome was brought about, because a professor was allowed to teach un-Catholic doctrine, and now a new conflict with Rome is to be feared by appointing a professor just such as Rome and all the bishops would desire. But without doubt there lay in the background another cause of anxiety besides the one expressed of great weight, the fear, namely, that Dr. Bren tano's teaching should cast into the shade and frustrate the labours of a certain professor in the philosophical faculty, who may, it is true, in his anti-Roman tendencies, go far beyond Dr. Dollinger, but is, nevertheless, zealously protected by him. The line taken by Dr. Dollinger in this matter will certainly not bring him into conflict with the Minister of Instruction, although, as I hear, even in that quarter the merits and the distinguished ability of Dr. Franz Brentano have not been questioned. That minister's department, as we read in the Volksbote, has just issued at Wiirzburg a masterpiece of bureaucratic stupidity and in solence. It has ordered that the students of the Gymnasium should no longer on the Sun- * If the Noes have it, the substitute who was elected at the same time as the principal, takes the seat as of right. COLLAPSE OF A CAL U3EVE Birmingham stated a pa f p ew ers d a o y f a th a e go lB t t h - The following report was published in the 18th instant a stant : Committee, consisting of Messrs. Kynnersley, Goodman, and has has completed been draw i n ts P . oncia, and Dr. Melson, had been constituted to inquire into the charges brought by Mr. Gutteridge of gross immorality in a nunnery. The Commit teefor y, bl' t' • _ _" We, the undersigned, having been requested by uipnquirpuanicleathwenftowing re port Mr. Gutteridge, and by gentlemen representing the Roman Catholic community in this town, to investi gate the truth of the statement made by Mr. Gut teridge in a lecture delivered by him in the Town Hall, on the 13th November last, with reference to alleged immorality in a nunnery, and having ex amined such evidence as Mr. Gutteridge has pro duced in support of his statement, do find— " That the whole statement is untrue, and with out foundation in fact in any one of its details. " Th e narrative, as repeated by Mr. Gutteridge at the Town Hall , together with other details not first related to a member mentioned by him , Was of Mr. Gutteridge's family on the 2d July last. On the following day it was repeated to Mr. Gut teridge, by whom it was taken down in writing. The narrator was a young girl of nineteen years of age, who was employed in Mr. Gutteridge's household as a seamstress, and has continued to be so employed up to the present time. During this period she has again and again repeated her story, with the addition from time to time of pretended occurrences which gave the statement a great ap pearance of reality ; and so recently as three weeks ago, in the most solemn manner, reasserted the truth of all she had said. 4, The young girl appeared before us, and at once declared that the whole p narrative was false and un founded, and entirely her own invention. She firmly a dhered to this de claration under a sev e r e cross examination. "The narrative included details, some of which were capable of corroboration, if true ; others bore on their face manifest improbability. We find that no effort was made by Mr. Gutteridge the truth of any of these statements • to use his to test own words, he never c rossed the threshold to make in quiry. We have still felt it our duty, as far as pos sible, to test such of the alleged facts as were capa ble of inquiry, and have failed to obtain confirma tion in any one instance. " Under these circumstances, therefore, we can arrive at no oth er conclusion than that Mr. Gut teridge's statement was utterl y unt rue, and that he had no grounds whatever for m aking the " T. C. SNEYD KyNNERs LEY, J.Y. J. B. MELSON, M.D. J.P. JOHN PONCIA, J.P. , J. D. GooDmAN, J.P. "Birmingham, January 17, 1868,' , Hereupon the Daily Post I,_ s rem a r - • in a lead ing article : " Mr. Gutteridge's nunnery stor y will . as be seen from a report in ano ther column, has utterly broken down • the result we anticipated' from the moment attention was called to it. Fourmagistrates, three of them Protestalits , and t wo of themr. Gutteridge hi mself, have chosen by M inquired into the story, and their report is 'that the whole statement is untrue, and without foundation details.' To this, as regards Mr. Gutteridge's own co nduct, the committee add that 'he had no grounds whatever for making the charge,' and that he ' made no effort' t o test the grounds he pre tended to have. After f r om such this emphatic declaration, nobody will on any unquestionable authority, we suppose slightest credence It) future occasion attach the any gobe moucherie Mr. Gut teridge may choose to that much credit is publish. We will but add due to Mr. J. D. Goodman and to Mr. Poncia f in bringing this miserable or the trouble they have taken story to the test of in quiry and consequent exposure." We have simply to append to the foregoing extracts the few facts needed to make their import fully understood by our own readers. We have refrained hitherto from noticing Mr. Gutteridge's attack, although we observed that some of our Catholic contemporaries were de voting considerable space to it. We prefer in cases like this to leave the calumny to work itself out, as it is sure to do, especially when, as in the p resen t i ns t ance , the matter is taken up by candid and truth-loving Pro testants. Mr. Goodman is a gentleman who answers to this description. Originally a friend of M r . Gutteridge, he represented strongly to that ardent partizan the unen viable position in which a man leaves him self who, after casting an -unprovoked grievous imputation on a large body of his fellow citizens, refuses, on frivolous pretexts, evrey proposal to test its authenticity. This is what Gutteridge did. Having asserted at a public lecture that he knew as a fact within his own knowledge, that young women were being debauched wholesale by the priests in a certain convent, he refused to give names and veri fications to any persons except Dr. Newman, of the Oratory, Edgbaston, and when that proposal was Gutteridgeasnotaceepted allowedonheus Catholic w a s s id t % all the „