The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-15 00:00:00

wine-glassful of sherry over all. He handed it
to me with a glass tube about eight inches long.
I was shown how to push this among the lumps of
ice to the bottom, and to suck up throngh it the liquor
there. I did so. The day was excessively hot, and I was
fatigued by my walk and by my exertions in fighting shy
of Mr. Beebee's coal mine. I sucked it up to the last drop.
Then, turning to Captain Parsons, I exclaimed, It is
worth a voyage to New York to enjoy that !' "

We question whether any subsequent draught
of the same delicious beverage could prove compa-
rable to that first nectarian tumbler—under which
impression, will Mr. Beste forgive us for hinting
to him, very execrably, that his aptest motto for
the nonce might have been ne sutor ultra crepidam!
It is pleasant to find the travelled Englishman
paying the following wholesome tribute at once to
the habits and customs of the United States' men,
where ho observes of them :

" Americans are cleaner in their linen and clothes than
Europeans ; and though their sentiments of independence
and common citizenship give them a manner and
tone of equality, yet they also give them a sentiment of
self-respect which prevents them doing what would lower
them in public opinion."

There is one descriptive extract we must per-
force add to those already transferred to our
columns, the extract nobly and impressively de-
scriptive, descriptive in a reverent spirit, in a spirit
at once lofty and humble, of the mightiest of the
many mighty wonders of the New World, namely,
of

" IHE FALLS OF NIAGARA.

" The Great Horseshoe Fall was close before us.
" Nearer—nearer came the waters.
" Majestic, in the majesty with which they had reco-
vered themselves after the hurrying and chafing of the
rapids on this the Canadian side, on—on they come ; a
peaceful, though rapid, river. The channel is here about
half-a-mile broad ; and onwards--onwards came the over-
flow of half the fresh waters on the globe. A rapid and
peaceful river, on they come. Suddenly the earth, the
solid rock-bed, fails beneath them. They spring forwards
unsupported. The sun glances through them ; and they
gleam with hues more than any emerald bright. For a
moment they gleam ; and then down—down--down they
go. A cauldron of froth and spray receives them. Clouds
of white foam uprise from the rook-girt pit below, and hide
whither they are gone, and what has become of them. But
there again—lower down still—one hundred and sixty feet
below the ledge from which they had sprung ; there again
they emerge from the foam-clouds ; dark blue, almost
angry black, though breaking occasionally into short,
curling, flashing waves—on they go indignant, on they
hurry, they roll, they race from the scene of their discom-
fiture. They dig themselves a channel three hundred feet
deep below their own surface ; and onwards, in that wild
but narrow ravine, between those close overhanging rocks,
onwards they hurry, they roll, they race from the scene of
their discomfiture.

" But is it all over ? No ' • not so. Look above. There
where ye marked theta first come on majestically slow;
there where the rock-bed, cut away in the centre in the
shape of a segment of a circle, or of a horse-shoe, fails
beneath them ; there where transparent, emerald-green,
they leapt from the precipice and fell down—down into
the foam-cauldron below ; there onwards, onwards still
they come in their majesty ; there they leap ; there they
fall. A sentiment of infinitude, of eternity, oppresses the
mind. Onwards they ever come ; down, down they ever
fall. So have they done since the world was made; so
will they continue to do while the world endures.
" ' The voice of the Lord is upon the waters ; the
God of majesty speaking in the thunder; the earth
trembled and shook : the Lord ruletla the floods : the
Lord is king for ever.'"

Another passage, a passage of considerably larger
importance, we gladly append to the foregoing, ex-
pressive as it is of the liberality with which
Roman Catholics of real enlightenment can talk
and think upon the subject of religion, remember-
ing, as they do so, the all-embracing tenderness of
true Christianity. It were well for the subjoined
quotations from " The Wabash" to be conned alike,
and that meditatively, by Exeter-hallites and by
Ultramontanists.

" The Catholic religion," writes Mr. Besto, " was mak-
ing immense progress in the state of Ohio. About one-
half of the population of Cincinnatiis Catholic. Besides
the twelve Catholic churches in the town, seven others
were in its immediate vicinity; and the religion seemed to
be going a-head quite as much as everything else in the
country. The archbishop himself being an American, and
a man of business and of zeal tempered by prudent() and
liberality, was highly spoken of by all the people of the
state, and they seemed to be proud of him as a country-
man. His reverend brother partakes his views, and admir-
ably seconds them.
" For however timidly the Catholic hierarchy in Europe
may have allied itself to civil governments, and have al-
lowed itself to be considered the upholder of despotism and
the foe to progress, Catholics in America are able to de-
clare, as M. de Montalembert has declared in France, that
there is nothing in the spirit of their religion opposed to
the spirit of freedom ; that the fullest civil rights may be
asserted and exercised by the most devotional mind ; and
that religion and temporal politics aro quite independent
the one of the other. In the United States of America
all religions have a fair field and no favour ; and Catholics
there ask for nothing more. Where no man is taxed to
support what he believes to be another man's error, reli-
gious charity only can lead one man to interest himself in
the religious opinions of another man. The fire of religious
discord must lack fuel where no religion can boast of state
patronage. Nations and bodies of men do not quarrel or
tight to get to heaven, but for the loaves and fishes to be
eaten on the road, or for the full liberty of going thither
by whichever road they fancy -- or elsewhere. The
political principles of the United States aro in accordance
with these convictions; and amid such the Catholic faith
prospers.
" Let the gods avenge their own wrongs,' wisely
said Tiberius.

" `Lot each one mind his own affairs and pay for his
own priest and doctor if he wants one,' says the states-
man.

" Agreed,' says the religionist—' I agree that the State
shall look upon us as citizens only ; that it shall have no
right to inquire, and shall not inquire, what are cur indi-
vidual opinions, or whether we believe ourselves eve; to
have souls or not ; but I myself do believe in ono parti-
cular religion, and I think it my duty to try and persuade
others to believe it also.'
" Practise, teach, preach whatever you like,' reiterates
the statesman—' I, as a statesman, am not particularly in-
spired to know whether your opinions are right or wrong ;
and as a statesman merely Ido not care. It is no affair
of mine—provided only that you do not disturb the public
peace. If you do, I shall come down upon you all alike.'
" Hurrah, for liberty of conscience !' cries the citizen.
" Magna est veritas et prevalebit—truth is great and
it will prevail !' ejaculates the religionist.
" And, if it is not true, it ought no:, to prevail,' con-
cludes the philosopher.' "

Having encountered the celebrated Father Theo-
bald Mathew at Cincinnatti, our author gives an
account of the appearance presented to him by the
venerable Apostle of Temperance. The account is
rather painful than otherwise, indicating, as it
seems to do, that the lamp of the good man's life is
burning out only too rapidly under the influence of
his exalted and exalting enthusiasm. We are fain
to regard the picture as somewhat over-coloured.
There are several subjects, by the way, upon
which our traveller discourses so very ingeniously,
and with such novelty of argument and freshness
of illustration, that we regret exceedingly the
limits of our space preclude us from submitting
his ideas upon these matters to the scrutiny of our
readers through the medium of adequately ex-
tended quotations. Debarred by the above-men-
tioned reason from transcribing the views enun-
ciated in these instances by Mr. Beste, we must
content ourselves with referring to the opinions
expressed by him at pp. 238-239, "Vol. 1., on the
subject of " Slavery, at pp. 163-164, Vol. 11.,
on that of the " Ballot," immediately afterwards
at pp. 165-166, do., on that of " Universal Suf-
frage," again on the latter subjects at pp. 173-175
of the same volume, later on, at pp. 305-307 upon
the matter of " Religious Equality," and, finally,
in the second volume, at pp. 330-331, upon the
vexed question of a " Decimal Currency." Hap-
pily, more suited to our purpose by its brevity, is the
jocular explanation given by our author of that
noteworthy Americanism—