The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-15 00:00:00

Opening of the Nunnery at Abbotsleigh,

It is known to many of our readers that for some

time past the Catholics have been preparing a very
large building at Abbotaleigh, about a mile and a
half from Newton Abbot, and within sight of the
South Devon Railway, for a Nunnery. An elegant
chapel has been erected at one end of the building,
and on Tuesday it was consecrated, and yesterday
it was opened with all that form and ceremonial
which marks the principal services in the Catholic
Church. At eleven o'clock a procession entered the
church, when the choir sang "Lutatus Sum ;" and
high mass commenced. This was performed by the
Right Rev. and Hon. Dr. Clifford, Bishop of Clifton,
assisted by the Rev. Dr. Drink water, vice-president)
of the English College at Rome; Canon Wollett
Rev. Mr. Walsh, Rev. Mr. Graham, Rev. Mr.
Meagher, Canon Mansfield, and a number of other
priests. The choir then sang Kyrie Elieson,
vocal fugue by Jomelli, the Gloria in Excelsis by
Sechter. Between the Epistle and Gospel the Hal-
lelujah Chorus, by Handel, was sung. The Right
Rev. Dr. Vaughan, the Bishop of Plymouth, then
preached the sermon, and took his text from the
Book of Chronicles. After the sermon the choir
sang the Credo, from Mozart's No. 12 Mass. Dur •
ing the offertory the Laudi Jerusalem was sung;
Sanctus, Mozart's 12th Mass ; 0 Salutaris, by
Himill ; Agnus Dei, by Mozart.
After the mass was finished the procession re-
formed and left the chapel. The choir was com-
posed of the members of the Plymouth Cathedral,
consisting, besides the boys, of the Revs. Mr. Walsh,
Truman, O'Flaherty, and Trenor ; conductor,
Father Crowther; organist, M. de Prins.
After high mass all the company dined together
at the Nunnery, and at four o'clock the Blessed
Sacrament was carried in procession into the cha-
pel, all the nuns carrying lighted tapers. The
Benediction was performed by the Bishop of Ply.
mouth, which brought the interesting proceedings
to a c lose.—Western Daily 3fercury.

THE PROBLEM OF COMPLEXION made as plain
as Black and White Africans are very dark,
and the inhabitants of Northern Europa very fair, and as,
moreover, the nations of Southern Europe are much darker
than those of Northern Europe,
it is perfectly reasonable
to suppose that climate has a tendency to bleach as well as
to blacken. The thickness of the skulls of the negroes has
been wisely arranged by Providence to defend their brains
from the tropical climate in which they live. If God bad
not given them thick skulls their brains would probably
have become very
much like those of many scientific gentle.
men of the present day. The woolly hair is not considered
by Africans as a mark of inferiority, though some of them
shave it off, but it also answers the purpose of defending
the head from the sun.
VICTOR HUGO'S BETROTHAL—When the gates
were closed Victor wandered on to the boulevards,
overwhelmed with grief and tired of life. [He had just
attended the funeral of his mother in Pore la Chaise.] The
ardent desire of having something still to hope for caused
him to wend his way
towards the Rue du Cherche-Midi,
where the Fouchers lived. It was 11 o'clock at night, and
he expected to find everybody asleep and the lights put out;
but he perceived that the door stood wide open, and that the
courtyard and the windows were brilliantly lighted up. He
was pushed about by a group who entered there, indulging
in shouts of laughter. He wished to make his way out, but
it was impossible to take a step in advance. He paused for
play had just been acted, the stage of
of another tomb.
an instant, and then, impelled. by a strong desire to suffer,
he hastened towards the courtyard, rapidly ascended
the great staircase, and entered into a large deserted
room, where a
which reminded him He saw his face
reflected in a mirror and noticed that-t was deadly pale,
and he also saw the crape round his hat, which he had not
removed from his head. The sight of this brought him
to his senses. Ile fled precipitately and lost himself in
a dark passage, whilst overhead ho heard the sounds of
music and dancing. He could not resist ascending one
flight of stairs, and then another ; knowing, the plan of the
house he directed his course towards a sort of skylight,
which lighted the ball-room from above. There, alone, and
in darkness, his eyes glued to the window pane, he gazed
despairingly on the gay multitude. He soon saw her for
whom he sought. She was dressed in white, crowned with
flowers, and was dancing with a smile on her countenance.
Mademoiselle Foucher had suffered quite as much as Vic-
tor did at the separation that had occurred between the two
families. Her father and mother sought to cheer her by
taking her to every kind of entertainment. The 29th June
was M. Foucher's f'e'e day ;
they had solemnised it to the
best of their ability; they had organised a ball, and had
got up some private theatricals. "Monsieur Guillaume"
was the title of the piece they acted, and Mademoiselle Adele
took the principal female character. On the eve of that
important day M. Foucher heard of the death of his old
friend, whom he had not seen for so long, and whose ill-
ness he had scarcely heard of. He thought of his daughter,
who would be deprived of an entertainment, had she known
of it, and he kept the sad intelligence to himself. The next
day Mademoiselle Foucher, dizzy and tired with the gaiety
of the preceding evening; was sauntering in the gardens
belonging to the War_office, She perceived Victor coming
in, at the eight of whomand of his pale face she knew im-
mediately that some misfortune had happened. She ran
up to him. " What is the matter ?" ' "My mother is dead
I buried her yesterday. "And I was dancing at the
time 1" He saw at once that she had known nothing abou
~
it. They began to sob together, and thus were they be-
trothed.—Madame Hugo's Life of her Husband.

PERILOUS POSITION OF AN AERONAUT, AND
FATAL ACCIDENT.—Last Saturday night a gala was
given in the Piece, hall,
Halifax, and a grand balloon ascent
was announced, in the car of which it was said would be
seated Mr. Young and a lady. A little before 7 o'clock Mr.
Young took his seat, but not the lady, and the balloon com-
menced its ascent. On leaving the hall it came against some
telegraph wires which pass over the hall. This had the
effect of rendering the balance somewhat unsteady. After
it had risen out of the building a slight breeze from the
west carried it against the top of Messrs. Firth and Son's
mill chimney, and there it was held, either by the lightning
conductor or by the net getting fast to the cornice. There
it collapsed. The crowds of spectators were horrified, ex-
pecting every minute that the aeronaut would be precipi-
tated from the top of the chimney, which is about 35 yards
high. Ile, however, retained presence of mind and more
than once waved his hat, of which the people took note and
cheered. A rope was let down out of the car, and eventually
to it was attached a pulley and another rope, which were
drawn into the car. The pulley was fastened to the car,
and the aeronaut was fortunate enough to reach the ground
without being hurt. There the balloon remained all night.
Next day some men ascended to the top of the chimney to
recover the balloon. One of them, a man named Charles
Rawson, had reached to the top, when the rope snapped in
two, he fell to the ground, and was taken up dead. His
body was shockingly mangled. Rawson was 37 years of
age, and has left a family.
AN INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION AT VIENNA
is to take place in 1864, to open on the 15th April,
and to close on the 31st May, and works of art will be re-
ceived only from the 16th of March to the Ist of April, and
must be sent by the artists themselves. There will be eleven
prizes, but only Austrians can receive them. They consist
of three gold medals, seven
prizes of 315 gulden, and ono
prize of 80