The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-27 00:00:00

IRISH CHURCH MISSIONS.

(From the Irish Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph.)
DUBLIN, Jan. 25.

The Society for Church Missions in Ireland has met with
a damaging exposure. The Rev. George Webster, rector of
St. Nicholas, Cork, and chancellor of the diocese, in a lec-
ture which he delivered in his church, charged the society
with " bribing its supposed converts." A correspondence
ensued between him and the Rev. H. C. Eade, the secretary
of the society, which throws much light on the way converts
are made in Ireland. " The terrible fact," says Mr. 'Webster,
addressing Mr. Eade, "with which you have to grapple is,
that under your society a Roman Catholic child receives
his bed and breakfast—he is housed and clothed—on the
express condition that he listens to Protestant teaching,
and attends a Protestant place of worship." Mr. Eade's
reply is worthy of Jacobar or Sanchez, or any casuist of the
Sorbonne : " The attraction lies in the teaching, and not
in the food"—a remark which every ono acquainted with
the comparative affection which children manifest for their
catechism and their breakfast will appreciate. He also
admits that in some cases the children " believed at first
they were doing wrong"—m other words, the heresy was
swallowed with the viands provided, and the integrity of
the child was destroyed in the effort to save its soul through
its stomach. Mr. Webster observes upon this that it is
wholly unworthy of Protestantism to make the poverty of
the Roman Catholics an occasion for outbidding or over-
reaching the heads of the Roman Catholic Church—and
therefore " as long as you tempt Roman Catholics, by a re-
gular fixed system of relief, to prefer the interests of this
world to the interests of the world to come, so long must I
feel myself bound to make every protest in my power against
the Irish Church Mission Society." He then notices the
speech of the Bishop of Oxford, and expresses his sor-
row to find that his lordship was misinformed.
Ho would see cause to change his mind if he
was acquainted with the facts which he Mr. 'Webster,
and many other clergymen could have furnished.
He was deeply grieved to see that many other Englishman
had fallen into the same mistake, and had taken up the
notion that the Irish Church Mission is really doing a good
work in Ireland. His only comfort was, that so much of
the machinery of this society is worked by Engl,shmen,
that when in a few years they discover the mischief they
have done, and the very imperfect grounds upon which they
continue to believe they were working with success, they
will not have to charge the Irish clergy with being the
cause of their mistake. Mr. Webster then proceeds to make
the following startling discourses :—" If it were necessary,
I could give instances where the ordained agents of the
Irish Chutcb missions paid Protestants to pretend they
were Roman Catholics at your controversial meetings, and
at these meetings to call those very ordained agents the
hardest names. I could tell you of a school of which it was
reported that there were eighty Roman Catholics in attend-
ance, when the fact was, not a single Roman Catholic
ever entered the place, except some five or
ish
six
wro tched children who were sent from Dublin by
the Ir
Chur ch Mission Society. I could tell you of a scene I once
witnessed at the same establishment, where on a Sunday
picrp,44l- largo quantities of bread were given to Roman

PRICE .4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

Catholics for learning a verse of Holy Scripture, and where
these same people went away cursing the Protestants, and
cursing the very persons who gave them bread and taught
them the verse. I could tell you of agents who were known
to be charged with drunkenness and other vices, who entered
in their report that they were persecuted when they merely
got into broils in their drunkenness, and will were, in spite
of the remonstrances of the parish clergyman, retained in
their offices. I could tell you of a report made by one
ordained agent that he had made fourteen convicts from
komanisru in a certain locality, and who had to acknow-
ledge, when I inquired closely into the matter, that these
fourteen persons did not belong at all to that locality ;
that they had been brought there by this agent himself
from distant places, and lodged in a school-house, and then
represented as converts from the locality, where they bad
been supported for a few weeks. These and many other
facts I could repeat; and there are multitudes of clergymen
in Ireland who are able to bear similar testimony from their
own experience. But I should prefer to confine our present
controversy to the one grand objection—the charge of what I
must call bribery ; which I define to be the giving of any
temporary relief to our fellow-creature for the purpose of
tempting him to do what his conscience condemns." Mr.
Webster then proceeds to observe that multitudes of the
supporters of the society in England would never, he was
quite sure, give their money for the purpose of bribery ; and
that it may be for this reason the society is so careful to
inform the English people that all the money collected in
England is devoted to the " missionary " part of the
work. "Be this as it may," he adds, "it is a remarkable
fact that the society loses no opportunity of declaring
that not one shilling of the money collected in England
is devoted to the purchase of food or clothes ;' but nearly
all the money collected in Ireland is devoted to this purpose;"
and he concludes by truly observing, "In the long run I
believe it will bo discovered that the Irish Church Mission
Society has done irreparable mischief to the Church in Ire-
land." These are bold and sweeping statements, certainly;
and coming from such a respectable and well-informed quar-
ter, will have immense weight if they cannot be clearly and
unquestionably refuted—which I doubt. The Chancellor of
Cork is not a man to make such charges lightly, and his
exposures must, in any case, do a large amount of good.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—Ten years ago the Holy Alliance, which
had through many changes and calamities main-
tained the political system of Central Europe, was
finally broaght to an end by an Austrian army
marching into the Danubian Principalities to take
the place of the Russians, who had entered so
triumphantly a few months before, and were then
retiring in ignominy and humiliation. The most
powerful and dreaded Sovereign in the world had
made the capital blunder of his life, a blunder which,
even if he had lived, he could probably never have
repaired. The greatest revolution, in our time, in
the international relations of the European States
was caused by the pretension of the Emperor Nicho-
las, in the fulness of his power, to take "a material
guarantee" for the performance of engagements said
to have been made by the Porte. A little matter,
one out of the many quarrels about the Holy Places,
led to events of which we are still feeling tee effects.
The love of peace, the respect due to a great Power,
which in former times had made great sacrifices in
the cause of European liberty, did not prevent this
country from taking up arms in a dispute in which
we were originally in no way concerned, because
Russia had committed the unheard-of violence of
of seizing a province in order to further a negotia-
tion. What the late Czar did then Prussia and
Austria are doing now. They are marching their
troops to invade Schleswig, over which they have
no rights, which does not form part of the Ger-
man Confederation, because Denmark is supposed
to have made a breach of engagements entered
into by her in 1851. In other words, they are
about to seize Schleswig, and hold it until the
Danish Government promises to govern it in the
manner which they think fitting, Such a proceed-
ing is even more reprehensible than the worst act of
the late Emperor of Russia's reign, for he claimed,
and really possessed by treaty, a Protectorate over
Alolde-Wallachia, and he had formerly asserted
the very same right of military occupation which
was contested at this time. It is, therefore, to be.
hoped that, in spite of their threats and the
madness of their subjects, the Rulers of Prussia and
Austria will hesitate before shedding blood in this
unjust enterprise. When the act is ozca done it can-
not be recalled. When the lines of the D Anne werk
are once attacked, it may be Impostable to ckeck the
impulses which are urging on all parties to a calami-
tous war. The brains of the Germans will be hotter
when once shots have been exchanged, and though
the soldiers of the two leading Powers are generally
kept well in hand, and are less likely to assert their
own will than the troops of countries with less
sense of responsibility, yet no one can say what
may be the effect on the invading armies or a battle,
whether lost or won. A victory which should drive
the Danes from their position might be followed by
a military outcry for the confiscation of the Duchies
as loud as that which rings through the political
and civilian world of Germany. It can hardly be
doubted that the Pretender would transfer himself
from the :Holstein territory to Schleswig, or to
Flensburg, or to wherever the allied troops had
penetrated, and would there, "es a private indi-
vidual," work his system of agitation among the
people of the Northern Duchies by means of parti-
sans as able as those who have provisionally given
him a throne in Holstein. We do not doubt the
resolution of both Sovereigns to be masters in their
dotniniens. The King of Prussia has proved his
own by prorogping the Prussian Chambers, and the
Emperor of Austria will probably find an ally in
the non-German element in his States and Legisla-

ture, and thus control the enthusiasm of Vienna.
But if the war party have gone so far in their de-
monstrations at present, what would they not do if
a real German victory had been won for the first
time for 50 years? Nations whose military history
is not crowded with events are naturally much ex-
cited by even such a success as 40,000 Austrians and
Prussians might gain over half their number of
Danes; and we may fairly presume that a victory
would render almost impossible the programme of
the two Governments themselves, as stated by M. von
Bismark. Prussia and Austria have laid it down

that a dynastic union between the Duchies and
the Kingdom, analogous to the union between
Norway and Sweden, is a settlement which will
satisfy them, that it was all that they wanted in
1851, and exactly what they thought had been
eonceded when they signed the treaty of 1852. He
must, however, be very credulous who believes that
if the Danes should be driven out of Schleswig by
force of arms, the German people would see the two
Dachies restored to King Christian without a com-
motion that would bring back to us the memories
of 1848. If, then, the Sovereigns wish to govern
their own dominions in peace, they will avoid ex-
citing German ambition by the novel sensation of
victory. It need hardly be said that defeat would
be still more dangerous. Suppose, what is quite
possible, that the Austro-Prussian army is repulsed
from before the Danish works, the pulse of every
nation would beat faster under the influence of the
most exciting news that can be told to them—the
successful resistance of a small army to the forces of
two great and plainly aggressive powers. Defeat
would of course rouse the Germans even more than
success, and it would be impossible for the two
Sovereigns to retreat without having taken a strik-
ing revenge for their humiliation. But the states-
men of the two powers may be invited to reflect on
what would be the feeling among their neighbours
East and West if this contest were to be prolonged,
if the Danes were to hold their own week after
week, while fresh trcops were being sent forward
from Gee many to crush them by main force. Let
not the Germans be too sure that all the great
powers would stand tamely by in such a case. And
even if the allies are allowed to finish successfully
the war which they have begun unjustly, they may
be sure that the advantages of wrongdoing will not
be unmixed with disaster. The war of aggression,
carried on by the two powers against the wishes of
all other nations, will assuredly be the beginning of
new changes in Europe. It often happens in such
cases that the weight of the punishment fallsonthe
less guilty of the accomplices. We do not pretend
to apportion the blame between the two powers
which are now doing this evil of disturbing the Con•
tinent, but so far as can be judged from ap earanies
Austria is less in fault than Prussia. a 'Vienna
_C
Government has been less vacillating and less openly
contemptuousof right. But in the futurTei,Au.stria wie
ll
probably suffer more than her ally
one which has eyerythiriq toEmpq
lions. Prussia is certainly
trett N public cor.;.mo
p2r. State," the
by nn act,. of
ixb-ahlit,lllclsw,ll'en(nleed7no;,nati)leipat the Ring
crentinn of
to lose a protini' e.b at the Austrian
hmaatiyehbaelibtryokwehnietho
irsetnreibtleitnioll,vly
the pieces
Emperor by that
nveewr y prin-
cipleaffects Empire
e f
to defend, If anything wereth wanting to prove to
the Viennese Government
hextreme
which have
unwisdom
of its conduct, it would be thee
been suddenly aroused among alle hopes
teheleade of
"the revolution" and the excitement which is be-
ginning to prevail in the disaffected States of the
Empire. Those stormy petrels of the political
world, M.Mazzini, M. Kossuth, and their brethren,
will be fluttering anew into importance before the

Arsenal.

Geese.-
N't!i;t-y
campaign has begun a week. Italy will no likt
to lose so fair a chance of gaining the lon cCfie,
piece of territory for the sake of which the
the rest of the Peninsula is burdening its resoe aSeta
and submitting to heavy military service. With
so powerful en army the Italians may do great
things; with so eapensive an army they must b
fore long do something. 'There were rumours of
probable movements this year even before the King
of Denmark died, or any one thought that the ene-
mies of Austria would receive from herself so fair
an opportunity. It is hardly likely that the designs
which these enemies cherished when there was the
great obstacle of perfect European quiet against
them will be abandoned now that the imprudence
of the Viennese Government gives them occasion and,
pretext, and, moreover, takes away part of the
Austrian army to the extreme north of Europe.
Everywhere that Austria has a foe there is es pee-
ttv ion and an evident longing that she should atteek
the Dines, Everywhere that revolutionists con-
gregate there is an idea that this enterprise v, ill
further their plans. Can there he a better reason
t hat a Government so much threatened should pause
and reflect?
DAILY NEWs.—lt is important at the present
crisis, and indeed essential to any satisfactory solu-
tion of the difficulty, that the clemend of the Ger-
man Powers on Denmark should be looked at broad!y
is the light of reason and justice, and its real bear-
ing and obvious issues examined according to the
principles of common equity and common sense.
Hitherto there has been on all sides an immense
amount of prolix and unprofitable discussion as to
the precise interpretation of certain phrases in the
friendly and informal correspondence which took.
place between Denmark and Germany twelve years
ago. Bat, however these verbal questions may be
decided, the broad fact remains, that at that period
the German Powers regarded the restoration of
the Provincial Estates of Schleswig, and the en-
largement of their powers, as a complete and satis-
factory fulfilment of the royal promise not to incor-
porate the Duchy with the Kingdom. So far from
a common Constitution having been then regarded
as any violation or infringement of this pledge, it is
notorious that in tha very document containing this
engagement with regard to Schleswig, the King
pledged himself to promulgate such a Constitution
as soon as possible. The Royal Proclamation of
January the 28th, 1852, contained in outline the
scheme of a common Constitution, or central legis-
lative organ for the entire monarchs-, and this
scheme was accepted by the German Powers and
the Diet as perfectly legitimate and satisfactory.
They reoognised the power of providing such a Con-
stitution as one of the essential rights of a sovereign
Stote, and the Diet accepted the proposed scheme,
so far as its competence extended, as being "in con-
formity with the laws and rights of the Confedera-
tion." The Danish Government accordingly matured
and promulgated it, in accordance with the terms
of the Royal promise. This Constitution established
a central organ or general legislative assembly for
the whole monarchy, based upon the equal repre-
sentation of all its parts, according to the ratio of
population and taxation. No sooner, however,
had this Constitution come into operation than
the Diet demanded its abrogation, so far as the
German Duchies were concerned, on the ground
that all its provisions had not been submitted to
the decision of the Provincial Estates: The Danish
Government protested against the legality of this
demand, and pointed out the impreeticabili.ty of
meeting the requirement on which it was founded.
The Estates of Holstein, on being appealed to, con-
firmed this representation of the Danish Govern-
ment by denouncing every scheme of a common
constitution as incompatible with the definitive
rights of the German Duchies. Eventually, under
a threat of Federal execution, the constitution was
withdrawn as far as Holstein and Lauenburg were
concerned. It still, however, remained in force
beyond the limits of Federal territory, being esta-
blished as a constitutional law in Schleswig and.
Denmark Proper. At this point the Diet interfered
again, demanding that there should be no legis-
lation in common affairs before the Danish Govern-
ment had come to a decision with regard to the
future position of the German Duchies in the
monarchy. Under these circumstances, the only
course that remained for the Danish Government
was to bestow complete provincial autonomy on
Holstein and Lauenburg, and provide for the effec-
tive working of the common constitution in the
Danish portions of the monarchy. 1 his latter object
is precisely what was secured by the November Con-
stitution. It seems clear, therefore, that if the
common constitution conflicts in any way with the
royal promise, this is due not to the action of
the Danish Government, but to the action of
the German Powers and the Diet. The Danish
Government having done its utmost to fulfil its
engagements to the letter appears to have been per-
sistently thwarted at every step by the paralysing
action of the Diet. It is essential that the demand
now made by the German Powers should be looked
at broadly in the light of these facts, in order that
its real character and bearing may be clearly under-
stood. It is especially incumbent on statesmen who
arc concerned for the preservation not only of the
peace, but of the public rights of Europe as a system
of independent States, to look t hrough all superficial
pleas and pretexts to the real grounds and actual
issues of such a requirement. The demand now
made by the German Powers denies to Denmark the
right of uniting the purely Danish portions of the
monarchy in a central representative assembly for
legislation in common affairs, and if successful
would inevitably destroy all possibility of united.
action, or indeed of any legislative action at all, on
behaif of common national objects. Now it
scarce;y need be said that the liberty of securing
such united action is for Denmark not only a fun-
damental right, but a paramount political neces-
sity, absolutely essential to her existence as an
independent State. There are a number of ques-
tions, such as the administration of the finances, the
army and navy, the tariffs of the country, the
foreign-office, which are of necessity common to
the Danish portions of the monarchy, and which in
a constitutional country can only, therefore, be pro-
perly decided by a common legislative assembly.
The persistent intervention of the Diet in questions
affecting the German Duchies bas paralysed all
effective constitutional action in the purely Danish
portions of the monarchy for nearly seven years
past. Measures of financial zeform, including tariff
changes designed to stimulate the commerce and
develop the resources of the country, have long since
been prepared, and only await the settlement of the
dispute with the Diet to be submitted to the com-
mon assembly and adopted as law. At length the
time for the revived po itical action of the Danish
State appeared to have arrived. The German
Duchies being virtually abandoned to the Confede-
ration, it was possible to resume political and legis-
lative action for the Danish portion of the monarchy.
At this point the German Powers step in, and de-
mand that the political and legislative paralysis of
the last few years shall be made the chronic and
permanent condition of the Danish State. Stripped
of all disguise this demand amounts to a claim on
the part of the German Powers to break up the
Danish monarchy ; and it is hardly surprising,
therefore, that the Danes should resolve on resist•
anise, and be prepared to entertain very extreme
alternatives before quietly surrendering their terri-
torial integrity and political independence.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

-,

Tho hired transport schooner Richard yesterday com-
menced shipping GS-pounder smooth bore guns, shot, shell,
&c., for Paull's point, in the Humber, from Woolwich

The War Department screw Et clamor Lord Panmure,
T. Moore, commander, is ordered to sail this morning at
daybreak for Leith. She has shipped from Woolwich
3,715 quarter casks and 375 half-barrels of ammunition,
weighing about 150 tons, as well as NI tons of war
stores.

Two of Capt. Blakely's 9-inch guns,
the Armstrong muzzle loaders, with the exception of their
being made of steel instead of wrought iron, were on Friday
received at the proof butt in Woolwich Arsenal. Each
gun was conveyed by a team of IS horses attached to one of
Pickford's heavy trucks. When they were within about 50
yards of the proof butt the road gave way, and the proof
was unavoidably deferred. One of the guns was yesterday
brought under the sheers at the proof butt, and was loaded
with a charge of 451 b of powder, and a cylinder weighing
3 cwt and 1 qr, It was fired one round, when a slight flaw
was discovered in the breech part near the trunnions, and
the proof was ordered to bo discontinued. The other gun
still remains stuck fast in the broken road.

CLOCK WORK IN ENGLAND.—" As a sample of English
clock work on a large scale, the works of this aro probably the
finest finished that have ever been seen in this country—no
chronometer could be fitted with more perfect and carefully
adjusted mechanism."—Times, June 11, IS6'l. Cloaks by the
first artists of the day for the drawing room, dining room,
bed room, library, hall, staircase, bracket, carnage, church
turret, railways, war hone, counting hens-, musical, and
astronomical. Church and turretclocks speeiallyestimated for.
Benson's illustrated pamphlet on clocks tree by post for two
stamps, with descriptions and prices, el ables those who live
in any part of the world to select a. clock. Aso a short pam-
phlet on cathedral and public decks, free for one stmp.
Prize medal and honourable mention in classes 33 and 15.
.1. W. Benscn, 33 and 31, Ludgate-bill, London. Estabtishec
1749. Watch and clock maker, by special warrant of appoint-
ment, to 11.11.11. the Prince of Wales.
ONE THING QUITE UNIVERSAL IN THE MUSICAL
e Vib
SCALE.—It is that the higher cotave no •
t rates
twice as often as the lower. Consequently, if
‘a note
vibrate 32 in a second, the note four octaves above it
ibrates
01
f 6
3t
2i m. es T aosk oe f
ot cony,
otheror 5 l and 512 is surely a multiple
•ou lease, and that inter-
val, when quite correct, is perfectly well settled, scinper,
übique, ct ab omnibus.2i itneirevsa;l 3 p

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S PAY E R.
VW:V*I

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