The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-26 00:00:00

lawyers, grand jurors, and a variety of other civil
officers. The Governor has done nothing yet against

the non-juring clergymen, and to more than one
person has acknowledged himself powerless to en-
force the law. In the case of lawyers and grand
jurors, however, the Courts have a direct power, and
in several cases gentlemen have been turned out of

court who were conscientiously opposed to taking
the oath. Some smart individuals who were in this

predicament have caught the authorities in a well-
arranged snare. The oath required to be taken makes
the citizen of Missouri swear that at no time since

the beginning of the war has he given aid or com-
fort to the enemies of the State, or even wished
them success. This of course was aimed at the

Southern sympathisers, but was a little too sweeping
in its provisions, for in the early days of the war

the Missouri State Government was itself tinctured

with secession, and the enemies who opposed and

finally overthrew it were the very Radicals who

now wish to force this oath down the throats of the

people. So, early last week, in St. Louis, when the

judges of the courts called upon the lawyers and

grand jurors to file the evidence of their having
taken the oath, a certain John How, who was called
as a grand juror, met the judge of the criminal
court with the following protest :

"In view of Article 111. of tho new constitution which
is referred to in the oath I am required to take as a grand
juror, I wish to state that in the winter of 1860 and spring

Of 1861 I was in constant consultation with other citizens of

St. Louis seeking and preparing to overturn the then State
Government of Missouri ; that, as one of a committee of

safety appointed by President Lincoln, I urged on General
Lyon the use of all his power and arms to depose said
State Government. In short, I was loyal to the United

States and disloyal to the State Government. I would,
therefore, respectfully ask of the honourable court to be
excused from serving as a grand juror.—l am, very respect-
fully, your obedient servant, "JOHN HOW.
" St. Louis, Sept. 4.

"Hon. Judge Primm, Criminal Court."
The judge could do nothing but excuse Mr. How
from serving as a grand juror, and the new phase
of opposition to the oath thus developed has consi-
derably complicated matters. As the oath now cuts
both ways—against Radicals as well as against
every one else—the prospect of its soon becoming a
dead letter is very bright.
The President has lately been importuned by the
Radicals to compel the Southern branches of the
various Churches to reunite with the Northern
ones, and to force the Episcopal bishops in the
South to read the prayers for the health and long
life of the chief magistrate. He has positively re-
fused to interfere in either case, and has strictly en-
joined all subordinates not to even appear to influ-
ence the subject. He told the Radicals the
Constitution gave him no power in the premises,
and he did not see fit to take it. To a prominent
Episcopal layman in New York the President has
written a letter, stating that, while he would in no
case interfere in the matter, he " expressed the hope
that the right hand of fellowship would be given to
the Southern dioceses, in order that at least one of
our great religious denominations might preserve
its national organisation." The President thinks
the example of confraternity among the Episcopal
dioceses will have a powerful influence upon Con-
gress when the Southern members apply for admis-
sion during the coming winter. The Methodists,
North and South, are still hammering away at each
other, and all hope of reunion for them is out of the
question. Their hatred of each other seems inten-
sified by the restoration of peace.
General Steedman, who commands the Federal
military in Georgia, has reported to Washington
that a conflict between the whites and blacks is
imminent, and so incensed are the planters at the
partiality for the negro shown by the Government
that he fears a new insurrection. To counteract
this he has ordered all the citizens of Georgia to
deliver up to the military authorities before Septem-
ber 30 such arms as they possess, and that after the
expiration of that time the provost-marshals shall
seize all they can find. Whether General Steedman's
information be true cannot, of course, bedetermined,
but it is very strange that Georgia should be the only
State requiring rigorous measures to suppress an in-
cipient rebellion. It is quite probable that Steedman's
Radical notions have somewhat warped his judg-
ment. General King, one of his subordinates com-
manding at Augusta, is so much in love with a paper
currency that he has annulled all contracts made in
his district on a gold basis. The people, it seems,
cannot Cell Choir goody
ally safety in receiving.
From Virginia it is reported that the first negro
mail carrier ever employed by the United States has
been awarded the contract for a route near Leesburg
on the Upper Potomac. Destitution still exists in
many parts of Virginia, and it is said that a grand-
daughter of Chief Justice Marshall and a descen-
dant of Thomas Jeffersen are among those who daily
beg their bread of the Federal Commissaries. On
the 4th of September the elections for delegates to
the Reconstruction Convention were held through-
out South Carolina. The Southern Rights ticket
was universally successful, no other being voted in
many places. The more sincere a candidate had been
in his services to the Confederacy the more votes he
received. In Alabama the restrictions upon ship-
ments of cotton to the seaboard have been removed,
and the trade is now free. Large receipts are in
consequence reported at Mobile, and prices are less
firm. At New Orleans, however, the receipts are
said to be decreasing rapidly, and prices are advanc-
ing. General Canby, at New Orleans, who seems
to be pursuing a confiscation policy on his own ac-
count, has forbidden the corporation of the city to
interfere with the sale or lease of the wharves, as he
claims them as captured property of the Government.
All the white soldiers now on garrison duty in Ken-
tucky are to be disbanded and sent home. This is in
accordance with the President's policy of gradually
withdrawing the troops from the Southern States.
At the end of September the only troops in Kentucky
will be 5,000 negroes, and the next State election
will be comparatively free from military interference.
A strong effort is being made by the New York
Chamber of Commerce to procure the passage of a
law by the approaching Congress for the payment
of customs in legal tenders. It is thought, should
such a law be passed, there would be a speedy re-
turn to specie payments. The Chamber of Com-
merce wishes to procure the endorsement of its
views by all the Boards of Trade throughout the
country, but thus far in other countries it has only
developed antagonistic views. Gold and corn
speculators are afraid of a return to a specie basis.
Nothing new is developed in financial circles. Dur-
ing last week $2,500,000 in 5-20ths were sold to
foreign houses, and the orders this week promise to
be quite as heavy.
On the 2d of October the first pitched battle on
the question of negro suffrage will he fought in
Connecticut. On that day the people vote for or
against a constitutional amendment decreeing negro
suffrage throughout the State. There are no side
issues to warp the judgment, and the election will
be a fair test of the vexed question. The Repub-
licans have taken sides for the amendment, the De-
mocrats against it. The Radicals do not seem to
be very sanguine of the early success of their dar-
ling idea, for the New York Tribune argues that,
although there will be present defeat, there will be
ultimate victory, and urges the friends of the negro
to have patience.
the democracy wholnarNe edwissYatoirskfieeditywiathpotrhteiopnlao:
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candidates
dh e a recent
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vention, to be held in New ie-
ork on September 18.
Fernando Wood is at the bottom of the movement,
but the rank and file do not give it much support.
They will ultimately unite in voting for the regular
ticket, or at most will take away but a small num-
ber of votes.
It is announced that Edwin Booth, the tra-
gedian, brother of J. Wilkes Booth, has been per-
suaded to abandon his retirement, and again appear
on the stage. He will appear at the Hinter Garden
Theatre in New York about the Ist of October, and
preparations are being made to give him a magni-
ficent reception.
The Navy Department has recently ordered a gun-
boat to sail by way of the St. Lawrence to Detroit
and the Lakes. This action of the Government is
important, as it confirms the termination of the long-
existing treaty stipulations between Great Britain
and the United States, restricting the naval force on
the Lakes.
The Federal military have driven the hostile In-