The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-12-04 00:00:00

thoughwe believe they do. As yet the shares have never
paid as much as 5 per cent., so that the question has not
arisen. As the English Government buy shares with
an income thus alienated. for 25 years, it might
be inferred that they could get little or nohing for
that time, but we are informed that the Khedive is
really to pay us 5 per cent, on our advarres till we get
an income from the shares. And the Khedive relin
ep.ishes also the reversion t) them; the right to divi-
dends is not to be extinguished at the end of 90 years
in their case as in that of the others; they are to be
perpetual, as far as the right to dividend is concerned,
like English railway shares. So long, therefore, as the
Khedive is able to pay 5 per cent, we have a good inte-
rest for our advance; and, as we have before shown,
the shares are good holding property. As we elsewhere
show, the Khedive has now an opportunity of reform-
ing hit finances; if he does so, we need not fear any
loss of money; but the degree in which we are con-
cerning ourselves in his affairs, and the extent to ).
we are "indorsing him," are very serious.2--.Eco A is.
The Continental press have been busily occupied. in
discussing the English purchase of the Khedive'd'iu,-,
terest in the Suiz Canal. Mr. J. Lemoinne, Writing,
in the -Journal des Debats, treats the purchase win%
mere preliminary to England acquiring the exclusive
possession of the canal, but considers thatYrancethas,
no serious cause for alarm. Generally the Continental
press speak approvingly of the purchaFe. Slae;of,lthe
French papers display bitterness over the 'matter, and
go so far a, to say that French interests have received
a severe blow.
,re--

,Aicsk, . i

•
Leg:iimi3t Onion speaks in Ny4va tcifins•it
approbation of the share in the Canal -aegiiik*d
_ _

England ; it says : --
" When national interests are at stake, all England has
but one opinion. No commercial interests, but a political
oi,e, has inspired the contract made with the Khedive. . . .
By this coup d'theatre, England re assumes that active policy
which she seemed to have abandoned since the Crimean War.
She takes her place again in the affairs of the world ; she
shows, in short, that she must always be taken into account.
Some people say that her policy is changed. We do not
think so ; we even find that she has obeyed her old traditions
with rare skill and the same constancy. . . . She has changed
her pounds, but not-her policy, like the great nations who
, obey their traditions and who are influenced by their true
national interests."

The Nord (Brussels), speaking of the purchase of the
Suez Canal shares, says :
" we believe that, however great may be the consequences
of this arrangement, it cannot imperil the peace of Europe.
The step taken ley England affects the countries bordering on
the Mediteranean, especially France, and it seems impossible
for the affair to be completed without an international
arrangement. The management of the Suez Canal by Eng-
land, should such be undertaken, would amount to a sheer
act of confiscation. Unless it be de3ired that the civilizing
work of the canal become a mere instrument of trade, arrange-
ments must be made to render this radical change compatible
with the interests of the whole world by means of solid
guarantees,'

In both political and commercial circles in Liverpool
the purchase by the Government of the Suez Canal has
given very great satisfaction. The opening of the Suez
Canal has greatly increased and revived the trade be-
tween Liverpool and the East, which had previously
been declining. Now several lines of steamers sail
regularly from Liverpool for India, China, &c., through
the Canal, besides vessels of private owners carrying
coal cargoes. The majority of the steamers have been
built expressly for passing through the Suez Canal, the
free transit through which has naturally become a
question of vital importance to English commerce,
largely represented as it is by Liverpool.

The Cologne Gazette observes that England, who,
with the shortsighted policy of the late Lord Palmers-
ton, had decried and thwarted in every possible way
M de Lesseps' gigantic scheme, now displays the same
zeal in making the great work redound to her own ad-
vantage. This paper thinks that England will not
shrink from any further outlay that may be required
to obtain the entire possession of the canal. It agrees
with The Times that the measure is one of unusual
boldness, in which the master hand of Mr. Disraeli is
to be clearly discerned. Speaking of the effect abroad
it says, "Unpleasant surprise has been caused in both
France and Russia, though dissembled hy the latter."

The Italian papers have been roueh occupied with the
purchase of the Khedive's Suez shares. They mostly
speak approvingly of the purchase, and consider it
favourable to peace.

M. de Lessens has published a circular addressel to
the agents of the Suez Canal Company, with a view
to allay any anxiety felt by the shareholders in regard
to the action of the English Government. The posi.
tion now taken by England he considers to be only
that which it was his intention and desire to see it
take at the outset of the undertaking. He therefore
regards the union of French and English capital about
to be effected as in the highest degree fortunate and
satisfactory.

Jr
prcimis,

Jill
- 0 ere e

DT,II,

tlh

17.11,

in a ttle-ga, kithssa - - tatti--ttnt=tray.— Unfor-
tunately, however, the plaintiff having taken a fancy
to an oval table, for which £5 was asked, the defend-
ant flew into a violent raion and declared that
the best woman in the world should not ruin him.
Toe quarrel was made up, and it was arranged that
the marriage should take place at;Christrims, the de-
fendant wiehihg a 'year to elapse from the date of his
wife's decease. Some other differences- arose, and in
December the plaintiff left and took lodgings elee-
where. On the Bth January he wrote to the dellt,nd-
ant, reminding him that the tiide named by himself for
the marriage had passed, and saying she would be glad
to know his wishes. The defendant did not reply, and
on the 14th her solic'tor sent a letter, asking if he had
any offer of cotapOisa,tiiin to make to avoid litigation.
On the 18th the defendant's- solicitor wrote, giving an
unqualified denial to the alleged promises, and re-
questing her to return the furniture which she had
taken away without the defendant's permission.
The defence was a.-,total denial of any promise to
marry her, or that liv)led her to suppose he had any
matrimonial intentions. He had walked out with
her.

The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff, damages
one farthing.

DEAN STANLEY AND DR. MOFFATT,

AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
Tuesday, being St. Andrew's Day, a special vrmon we
preached in Westminster Abbey by De in Stanley. the subject
of which was the duty and necessity for united action between
the Establithed Church and Nonconformity. In the evening
Dr. Moffatt addressed a large congregation in the nave, on the
subject of Afrtcau Missions.—The Daily News of We Inesday
gives the following account of the services
For some years past the recurrence of St. Andrew's
Day has been marked in Westminster Abbey by the
holding of speciatservices in behalf of Foreign Missions.
Yesterday the custom was duly observed, and was
made specially memorable by the circumstance that
the evening lecture was delivered by Dr. Moffat, the
Nonconformist minister, who in the year after the
battle of Waterloo began his career as a missionary to
South Africa, and who finally closed his foreign labours
in the year when the battle of Sedan was fought. As
being the first time that a Nonconformist minister had
officiated in Westminster Abbey, the event created
much interest, and lost none of its importance by the
remarkable sermon preached in the afternoon by Dean
Stanley.
The Dean took for his text two verses, one from the
Old Testament, and the other from the New. The
first was from the 45th Psalm, and ran thus : "In-
stead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou
wryest make princes in all the earth." The second was
the 16th verse of the ter th chapter of the Gospel of
St. John: "And other sheep I hate which are not of
this fold ::thent also I mast bring, and they, than hear
my voice; and (here shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Thus the 'verse runs in the ordinary translation,
but the Dean preferred the word "flock" in
place of feld, t:and used it throughout his dis-
course. Forferrileg- to Mr. 'Forster's recent address
at Edinburgh on "Our Colonies," the Dean .ob-
served that the right hon. gentleman had set himself
the lark of considering the question, " What were to
be the future relations of the Mother Country to the
Colonies? The Dean proposed to follow the sinee
course, with this difference; that the empire of ss/,' -
lie had to speak was a'stririii4al empire, aud•the qni
tion he would'censider Was what Ought to be the policy
of the Church of England towards fellow- Christians
separated from it on matters of form. There were,
he said, three eourses open to the Church. There was '
the policy of abstention and isolation; there was the
policy of extermination or absorption; and, thirdly,
there was a middle course, avoiding abstention and not
aiming at absorption, which consisted of holding
friend!y and constant intercourse with Christians of
other Churches, earnestly and lovingly endeavouring to
create as many points of contact as were compatible
with holding fast the truth. The errors of all
religions run into each other, just as their truths do.
There was, no doubt, some exaggeration in the state-
ment of the Roman Catholic authority who declared
that "there is but one bad religion, and that is the
religion of the man who professes what he does not
believe.' But thAre; was no reason why, because
thesChralsli IA had done in times past end
was still doing granll work, that there s'aould be no
place for the Nonconformist. Church people rejoiced,
awl Nonconformists might rejoice, that the prayers
of the Church of *Er gland were enshrined in a
Liturgy redolent with the traditions of a glorious
past. But that was no reason why there should be
no room where good work was being dote for men
who preferred the chances of extemporaneous
prayer—a custom which was of Apostolic origin,
and which perhaps appeared fittest for the exigencies
of special occasions. If some of the extremer Noncon-
formists, desirous of wrapping themselves in the mantle
once worn by Churchmen, and possessed by a love f rr
uniformity so exaggerated that they would tear down
ancient institutions and reduce all Churches to the
same level, there was no reason why Churchmen should
return evil for evil and repay contumely with scorn.
There was a nobler mission for Christians than that of
seeking to exterminate each other, and a higher object
than that of endeavouring to sow the seeds of vulgar
prejudice either against new discoveries or ancient in-
stitutions.

Dean Stanley preached his sermon within the
chancel, and it formed part of the customary after-
noon service of the Church of England. Dr. Moffat
delivered his lecturie in the nave, its simple preface
being the singing of the missionary hymn,. "From
Greenland's icy mountains." On both occasions the
respective portions of the Abbey building were
crowded, though of course Dr. Moffat, speaking in the
nave, had the larger congregation. The distinguished
pioneer of missionary labour in South Africa is now
close upon his eightieth year, bus he seems to have
thriven upon hard work, and last night showed no
signs of physical weakness. His full, rich voice,
musical with a northern accent, which long residence
in South Africa has not robbed of a note, filled every
corner of the long aisle, and no section of the vast
congregation was disappointed by reason of not
hearing. Wearing a plain Geneva robe with the
purple hood of his academic degree, Dr. Moffat
stood at the lectern, which is situated not many pactes
from the grave where his friend and son-in-law, Dr.
Livingstone, lies. Dean Stanley was one of many
clergymen present, and occupied a seat just in front of
the lectern. Dr. Moffat began by protesting that lie
was very nervous because, having been accustomed
for fifty years or more to speak and teach and preach
in a language altogether different from European, he
had contractea a habit- of thinking in that keaguage,
and sometimes found it momentarily difficult to find
the exact expression of his thoughts in English. If
I might," he said, with a touch of dry humour that
frequently lighted up his discourse, "speak to you in
the Betchuana tongue I could get a'ong with ease.
But, .however, I will do what I can,
The lecture resolved itself into a quiet, homely, and
exceedingly interesting chat, chiefly about the Beechin
anas, with whom Dr. Moffat longest laboured. When
he arrived in the country, early in the present cen-
tury, he found the people sunk in the 'densest igno-
rance. Unlike most heathen tribes, they had no idea
of a God, and no notion of
.a hereafter. There was
not an idol to be found in all their province, and
one which the lecturer's daughter once showed to
an•intelligent leader' of the people excited his
liveliest astonishment. He was, indeed, so hope-
leasly removed from a state of civilization that
he ridiculed the notion of any one worshipping a
thing he had made with his. own hands. Dr.
Moffat seems to have been, on the whole, kindly
received by the natives from the outset, though
they could not make out what he wanted there.
A special stumbling block to them was, how it
came to pass that when, as sometimes happened, he
and Mrs. Moffet were disrespectfully treated, they did
not retaliate. But this was satisfactorily explained to
the popular mind by the assertion of a distinguished
member of the community that the foreignel s had run
away from their country, and Were content to bear any
treatment rather than return to their own peoili, who
would infallibly kill them. The great difficulty which
met Dr, and Mrs. Moffat on the threshold of their
mission was their ignorance of the native languee.e.

There were, of coorse, no interpreters, and there was
nothing for it but to grub along, patiently picking up
words as they went. The Betchuans were willing to
teach them as far as they could, occasionally relieving
the monotony of the lesson by a litve j ,ke at
the pup' expetse. Once, Dr. Moffat. told his
hearers, a Asentence ,was written down on a
Piece of poper, and he was instructed to take it to
an aged lair, who. was to give him something that he
was iMneed of. He found the Old lady, who was
scarcoly handsome, and vvs decidedly winkled; , and
nuon presenting the paper 'she blushed very much."
It turned out that the missionary had been the un-
conscious bearer of a message asking the old lay to
hiss him, "which," Dr. Moffatt Akcitted with an earnest
seriousness that appeared to bitgda;te that a sense
of the awkwardness of the position was•
still present .in his mind, "I did not
, want to. do at all." But he -mastered the
I.language at last, and there his .moral mastery. over
• the..strange.people amongst whom he had been thrown
commenced. He found a firm ally in the Queen, who,
first attracted by the flavour of the pills and other
delicacies which he was accustomed to administer to
' her imhis capacity of physician ; became his constmt
and powerful friend; Under her au,pi es Christianity
flourished, and in Betchuana at the present time,
where - once a printed book was regarded
as the white man's charm, thousands now
are able to read and treasure the Bible as once
they. treasured the marks which testified to the
number of enemies they had slain in battle.
Peace reigns where once blood ran, and over a
vast tract of country civilization is closely following
in the footsteps of the missionary. Dr. Moffat con-

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