The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-31 00:00:00

salon. His address was certainly eloquent and
stirring, but it would not serve our purpose to
analyse it. The first sitting was ended by the read-
ing of a telegram in which the Pope sent his
Apostolic blessing to the Assembly. At the follow-
ing meetings many more speeches were delivered.
Cardinal Wiseman spoke with his usual fluency
and strenuousness on the religious and civil con-
dition of English Catholics, and he certainly
gave an amazing account of the increase in the
number of his flock, the augmentation in the list of
bishops and priests, the multiplication of churches,
convents, and religious buildings, and, above all,
the extent of " conversions" from Protestantism.
It certainly seemed that the representative corn-
ing from " heretical" England had fewer com-
plaints to make than his brethren who belong
to Catholic countries. After a glowing eulogy of
the mission fulfilled by the Sisters of Charity
during the Crimean war, the Cardinal ex-
claimed—" We rely on the power of opinion ; in
England the heart of the people is full of prejudices
against the Catholic religion; but, nevertheless, we
have confidence in the justice of our cause, we
have confidence also in the justice of our country-
men." We doubc the grounds of the Cardinal's COD
fidence ; but, if well-founded, does it not prove how
infinitely better a creed will fare if it does not lower
itself to a political alliance with despotic powers ?
French Catholics are wont to speak of their Eng-
lish co-religionists as if they were oppressed and
persecuted, and certainly for no better reason than
that they have not the power of the Government at
their disposal. We make bold to state that English
Catholics, who have only to fight against national
prepossessions, are freer, in fact and in truth, than
their French brethren, who form a domineering
majority and surround the Imperial throne. But,
after all, the laymen played the principal part in
the Congress. There was Prince Ladislas Czartory-
ski, who wished to make it understood that Poland
had become a political martyr for the mere sake of
her Catholic loyalty, and who exclaimed," They
said to King Sobieski; ' Sire, save Christendom !'
answer, if Poland could revive, the Church would
not be where she now is." The friends of Poland
will hardly thank him for the statement, There
was likewise Prince Albert de Broglie, who was
at a loss to describe the impression " which be felt
at the s:ght of that great, free, and religious assem-
bly in a free and religious country, a sight which
must strike a Frenchman as if he came suddenly out
of darkness into the full rays of light." Last, but
by no means least, we have to mention AL de Mon-
talembert, who was greeted with deafening cheer-
ing and the cry " Honour to the son of the Cru-
saders!" This does not infer that the eloquent
Catholic lineally descends from these ancient
knights—it is but a delicate allusion to one of his
famous phrases, The sons of the Crusaders
shall not retreat before the sons of Voltaire."
M. de Montalembert read his speech sitting, saying
that twelve years of silence had deprived him of the
habit of speaking, and that he was not only
able to read in his chair, as before the French Aca-
demy.

EXAMINER.—We have been charged with unfair-
ness for not having noticed a letter in the 'limes,
signed "An African," in reply to M. Jules Gerard's
account of the King of Dahomey, and in vindica-
tion of the character of that respectable monarch.
We confess to some neglect, for the thing is a curio-
sity in its way. The King of Bonny had a poet-
laureate in Mr. Close, and the King of Dahomey has
possibly an official champion in the correspondent of
the Times. Not, indeed, that such an officer is
necessary, for never was there a character so de-
praved as to want an advocate and approver.
Robespierre has had many admirers, Nero is pro-
nounced more sinned against than sinning by a his-
torical critic of the day, and we are in hourly expec-
tation of seeing some apologist of Nana Sahib arise.
To wash the blackamoor white was a foolish at-
tempt, but the better plan practised now is to
whitewash the blackamoor. Begin with the postu-
late that the Devil is not so black as he is painted,
and you may end with exhibiting an angel of light.
And this is the method of" An African." M. Jules
Gerard he charges with having exaggerated vastly
everything connected with the King of Dahomey,
and immediately after this assertion we are told
that those human sacrifices regarded by the French-
man with so much abhorrence, " come under the
same sort of inspiration as that which leads us to
bend the knee in prayer." This comparison of the
very worst impulse with the best is worthy of the
champion of the blood-stained King of Daho-
mey. "An African" next proceeds to show
that a certain officer, who is a sort of
black keeper of the King's conscience, and
who is put to death upon the demise of the
Crown, has not the least objection to having his
throat cut, and would not survive his monarch if
he could. Well, if it be a condition of office for the
Ocrah to go out, as it were, with the King, we will
give up that point to "An African," but what is
one voluntary sacrifice amongst cold-blooded mur-
ders of prisoners out of number ? "An African"
consistently prefers the narrative and conclusions of
Commodore 'Wilmot:to the opposite account of M.
Jules Gerard. One would indeed almost think "An
African" and the credulous Commodore one and the
same. The champion of Dahomey then endeavours
to show that African kings are in advance of their
subjects, but that their power is limited, and the
king alone is unable to do what he likes, There is
a bold homely saying, that "any stick is good
enough to beat a dog," and it seems no less true
that any figment is good enough to flatter a king,
even one of barbarians. So just after" An African"
had exculpated his Dahomean Majesty by asserting
that he could not do as he liked, his power being
limited, he hazards the opposite proposition, that
he has power in his hands verging on despotism,
but nevertheless is served more from love than fear.
Now which of "An African's" stories are we to
believe ? Is his admired monarch in advance of his
people, but obliged " to let I dare not wait upon I
would," and having the will, to want power, or is he
to be next to a despot ? If we adopt the latter of the
two conflicting propositions, how are we to account
for his sable Majesty not doing what seems good
to him, as " An African" vouches for his superior
intellect, and extraordinary capacity for govern-
ment ? With power almost despotic, an intellect
to wield it to the best advantage, and dispositions
in the right direction, how is it to be explained
that no improvement takes place, no abandonment
of barbarous usages ? Simply by the fact that the
King has the power but none of the will for good
attributed to him by "An African," who in the
next breath admits that he is a bigoted Conserva-
tive, attached to himself more than to anything in
the world. Imagine the Christian Government of
England addressing itself to the' satisfaction of the
self-interest of a king delighting in human sacri-
fices, and paddling a pleasure-boat on a lake of
blood, in token of his glory and might. Is it not
somewhere written that we may not league with
evil that good may come of it ? And in this case
what would be the probability of future good, what
the certainty of the horrors of barbarism mean-
while ? The pitch is not to be touched without de-
filement. But we we have no doubt that Commo-
dore Wilmot's views will find supporters, and "An
African" rivals in glorifying the King's talents and
virtues. And before the next session of Parlia-
ment we expect to see Bolingbroke's " Idea of a
Patriot King" eclipsed by a portrait of the real
excellencies of his Majesty of Dahomey. To
describe a female paragon Pope wrote :
Narcissa's tamper tolerably mild,
To make a wash, she'd hardly stew a child.
What the King of Dahomey with his mild temper
would hardly do in the way of torture and destruc-
tion it would tax poetic invention to predicate.
LONDON REVIEW.—When a man has lost his
life by his foolhardiness, it seems cruel to arraign
him for an offence which has cost him and his
family so dear. And, perhaps, if there were
nothing more concerned in the fatality than his
own imprudence, it would be as well to let the
matter pass without comment. But it rarely hap-
pens that we may not learn something from what
we call fatal accidents, which may prevent their re-
currence. Rather more than twenty years ago
Miss Moir threw herself off the Monument, and the
authorities were content to regret her folly and hope
that no one would imitate her example. Not long
afterwards, some one did imitate her example, and
then the authorities thought that it might be as
well to put a stop to this mode of suicide, by erect-
ing a railing which would render it impossible. No
one has thrown himself off the Monument since.
We hope, too, that, for a time at least, we have seen
the last of these constructive suicides against which
the Queen has protested in language which, we
trust, will live in the memory of her subjects. But
there is always some gap to stop. On Monthly last
a man met his death by a balloon accident, under
circumstances which, from the beginning, promised
danger, and which only by something short of a
marvel could end happily, There was a " grand
fete'' given in the park of Mr. North, at Basford,
near Nottingham, for the benefit of the General
Hospital ; and part of the day's pleasure was to
see Mr. Coxwell ascend in his balloon. The bal-
loon was small and new ; and when "the accom-
plished aeronaut" had inflated and tried it, he found
that it would not carry his weight. Thrice he got
into the car, but the balloon, even without ballast,
would not lift him. The specific gravity of the gas
was three times greater than it should have been ;
and as the ascent could not be made without six
bags of ballast, one of the bystanders recommended
that the balloon should he packed up and the ascent
relinquished. Mr. Coxwell, however, was in a
difficultv.
There was the balloon ; and there
was the mob expecting to Pee it go up. The per-
formance was part of the consideration for which
they paid their money ; and if they were disappointed
Alr,Cwavell feared that they might tear his air.ship