The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-03 00:00:00

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Ten till Five, and Seven till Nine.

A general meeting of delegates of the working classes
of the metropolis took place, last evening, at St. Mar-
tin's-hall, " as an organised demonstration of the feelings
and opinions of the labouring population of the metro-
polis in favour of the opening of the Crystal Palace on
Sundays." It was stated that delegates had been elected
from every branch of labour, representing the sentiments
of 92,500 working men. About 100 delegates occupied
the platform, and the body of the hall and spacious gal-
lery were densely crowded with the general public, chiefly
members of the working classes. •
Mr. HENRY MAYHEW was called on to preside amidst
loud cheering. He said the meeting was a remarkable
one, from the numbers present, nearly double the inhabit-
ants of some German principalities ; it was still more
remarkable from its representative 'character, the whole
of the London trades haying been polled, and the dele-
gates represented about 100,000 of their fellow-workmen.
(Cheers.) It was one of the most righteous meetings
ever held. (Cheers.) Their object was not to encourage
Sunday labour or to abridge the poor man's rest, but to
ensure to him the means of rational rest and improve-
ment. (Hear, hear.) The Puritans,--w0u.14 ,have them
believe that this was to commit a national sin. Was
it national righteousness to keep the people bfutally
ignorant and deny them any pleasures more intellec-
tual than gin and tobacco ? A country which d'd
this could be neither nationally righteous nor nation-
ally wise. The question was, Was there to be
any medium attraction on the Lord's-day between
religious exercises and debasing sensuality ? It had been
proved to be impossible to make the people religious
by Act of Parliament ; multitudes would not go to
church ; and it was at least desirable to wean the minds
of such, by intellectual pursuits, from gross and debasing
pleasures. (Cheers.) Some urged that there was a
divine command for the Sabbath to be kept strictly, and
to this consideration they first addressed themselves.
They did not reject the authority of a divine command,
but merely claimed the common Protestant right of in-
terpreting the injunctions of Scripture according to their
consciences. (Cheers.) The theological objection being
the main one in this case, they could not overlook it,
unless at the risk of being charged with playing Hamlet,
and omitting the chief part. (Hear, hear.) Christians,
be it remembered, observed their Sabbath, not on the
seventh day, as commemorative of the rest of the Al-
mighty after the work of creation, but on the first day of
the week, as commemorative of the resurrection of
Christ. The one•was a Jewish, the other a Christian,
observance. Without quibbling, it was impossible to
deny that the Old Testament command referred to Satur-
day. (Hear, hear.) What authority, then, was there
for the present Sabbath law ? It was admitted that the
Saviour enunciated no such law ; the Sabbath of which
he spoke was the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday. Nor did
the Apostles lay down any such injunction; and there
was no evidence that they ever regarded any other than
their Jewish Sabbath, the observance of which was 'be-
lieved to be obligatory on all Jews and Christians till
the destruction of Jerusalem. Some relied on the pas-
sages which spoke of the disciples coming together " on
the first day of the week." But this merely showed
that the early Christians were accustomed to meet
on that clay, not in compliance with any direct
command. There was no injunction to abstain
from labour or worldly enjoyment on that day.
So far from this, the observance of the day was
evidently regarded as one of the " weak and
beggarly elements" of Judaism. During the Ist and 2d
centuries of Christianity, it appeared from a letter of
Pliny, jun., that the Christians were accustomed to meet
for prayer on a certain day of the week ; but there was
no mention of abstaining from labour or worldly occupa-
tion on that day. The same appeared from the writings
of Justin the Martyr and others. As early as Tertul-
lian's time Sunday was observed as a day of Christian
rejoicing, the Christians indulging in mirth and festivity.
(Hear, hear.) A decree of the council of Gangres, in
Paphlagonia, A.D. 357, anathematised those who passed
the Sunday in bodily mortification ; and an edict of Con-
stantine, while exhorting to a general rest from labour,
made an exception in favour of agricultural labourers.
Beza declared that the practice of a total abstinence from
labour on Sunday, though brought in by Constantine
with good intent, was to be condemned, as not abolish-
ing Judaism, but merely shifting it to another day.
The early reformers held similar opinions. Cranmer, in
his Catechism of 1588, claimed for Christians full liberty

to select their own day for religious observances and rest
from labour. Melancthon declared that the non-obser-
vance of such day ought not to be regarded as sin.
Calvin proposed to transfer the observance from Sunday
to Thursday, as a proper exercise of Christian liberty,
at the same time denying any obligation to observe one
day in seven. It was a tradition that when John Knox
visited Calvin on the Sunday, he found his austere coad-
jutor bowling on the bowling-green, and it was custom-
ary with the bishops and clergy to recreate themselves
in this way after divine service. (Cheers and laugh-
ter.) The notion of a strict rest on the Sunday
being obligatory on Christians was first promul-
gated by Dr. Bonn, in 1594 ; it was opposed by many
divines, but was warmly espoused by the Puritans.
The dogma found its way into the " Westminster Cate-
chism," and had thus come down to our day. Paley, in
his " Moral and Political Philosophy," admitted that
there was no injunction by Christ or his Apostles for an
abstinence from labour on the Sunday, but that it was
merely an ordinance of human institution. (Hear.)
Some might say that, even if this were so, the fact
should be withheld from the people, lest it should lead
to a general desecration of the Sabbath. This would be
one of the pious frauds for which bigots were so notori-
ous. (Cheers.) If the strict observance of the day were
an idol of the conventicle, the sooner it was overthrown,
and the institution placed on its right footing (the im-
provement of the body and mind of the labourer), the
better. (Cheers.) The observance should rest on the
necessity of our physical nature for a certain portion of
relaxation, and to those eternal principles of justice,
which were at least as obligatory as Revelation. (Hear.)
The social grounds for the observance of the day he
should postpone till next Wednesday, to which time this
meeting would be adjourned. He would conclude by
reading the declaration of the working men which had
been drawn up and signed. It was as follows :
"1. That the working men wish it to be understand
that they are in no way desirous of questioning the autho-
rity of the decrees upon which the institution of the Sab-
bath in this country is founded, but merely assert for
themselves the right to interpret those decrees as their
conscience dictates.-2. That the mode of observing the,
Sunday among the early Christians proves incontes-
tibly that the present Sabbath is a social rather than
a divine institution.-3. That the Sabbath, whether
viewed as a divine or a 'social institution, is designed
especially for the benefit of the labourer.-4. That while
the working classes are desirous of obtaining such
a relaxation of the present rigorous mode of observing
the Sabbath as will bring it back to its true uses—the re-
creation and refreshing of the labourer—they are likewise
especially anxious to guard the day of rest against any
other encroachment than what is absolutely necessary, and
at the same time to procure for their fellow-workmen who
may be engaged in ministering to their necessities on the
Sunday some other day of rest in the week, so that the
boon of the Sabbath may be equally extended to all.-5.
That the working classes, moreover, desire no infringement
of the day of rest, but such as is absolutely required for
their physical and intellectual necessities.-6. That physi-
cal recreation is as necessary to the working man as food
and drink is to him on the Sabbath.-7. That refined and
intellectual enjoyment, as well as the means of obtaining
information, are even more necessary to the working man
than physical recreation onthe Sabbath ; and that if these
necessities be denied him on the present day of rest, then
two Sabbaths must be appointed in the week, one day to
be observed as a day of mere repose, and the other as a day
for the recreation of the mental and bodily energies of the
labourer."
Mr. PRIDEAUX, a delegate from the cabinet-makers,
moved the adoption of the declaration. He said this was
neither more nor less than a battle with priests and
creedmongers. (Cheers.) It was as though only priests
and publicans were God's ministers on that day. (Cheers.)
They could not regret that Belgravia had turned up its
nose at the Crystal Palace, and compelled it to find a
better site, where it was less tainted by the proximity of
aristocracy. (Cheers.) Immediately the new site was
determined on, the bigots had ransacked the " Clergy
List" to get up an opposition to it ; but they might as
well seek to stop the waves of the Atlantic as to roll
back the tide of intelligence. (Cheers.) The declara-
tion contained no infraction of any individual right ' • it
left every one free to act according to the dictates of his
conscience.
Mr. W. NEwroN seconded the resolution with great
palegasueunsrtteeio,llnaecnotdfu said lie subscribed to every one of the prin-
ciples embodied
paasrtolcrioineafclttrhhienaeettedgiroeuenceslstawtraicaonrtndein,obae.
and
de
necessaryl Ifir benefit. Both
gawouldrßfdoorti
tthhaesavoidppe purely
rptelhleye
theological
physical.;
and
i
their life was not to be one round of brute toil and re.
those who worked every Pose. Notw hoenelrysrs.
Sunday was
bat it would be ob-
themselves or derive melentdaaalyyi
ob-
tained.
forl
i)rc thee improvement.
twelveonlyo. dlr
hours
yll.
could, on s
nwro bet
ley
closing the Crystal Palace that pmaple could be forced to
attend church. (Hear.) If they were debarred from
higher recreations they would seek those of a more de-
basing character. He agreed with Dr. Cumming that

Mr. READ (the bakers' delegate) said that no class
more needed healthful recreation than the trade he
represented. They had hitherto been denied:this needful
rest, by the clergy amongst others ; for the Bishop of
London said that by one baker staying at home twenty
persons were allowed to go to church— (hear, hear)—the
bakers of the metropolis worked from 16 to 21 hours a
day, with short and irregular intervals for rest, and some
at the east end actually worked 144 hours in the week.
It was most important to this body of men that some
additional means of relaxation should be afforded
them. (Hear, hear.) Dr. Cumming admitted that not
more than a dozen bakers, though a large number of
them were Scotchmen, attended his church. (Hear,
hear.)
The resolution was then put and carried, with not
more than seven dissentients. , LOud cheering followed
the announcement of the result.

The Rev. J. T. BAYLEE, secretary of the Lord's-day
Observance Society, who announced himself as a work-
ing clergyman, expressed his wish to speak.
The CHAIRMAN said the meeting was confined to work-
ing men and their representatives, but he was willing to
waivo the rule in favour of the rev, gentleman. (Cheers.)
Mr. BAYLEE said lie claimed the privilege, of an Eng-
lishman to correct some misrepresentations had been
made. The chairman's argument had gone to prove that
the Sabbath was designed both for the recreation of the
working man and for his labour. ("No, no," and in-
terruption.) He was an advocate for every man enjoy-
ing the Sabbath according to his conscience, but let him
do nothing to interfere with another's enjoy.nent of the
same. (Cheers, and cries of " The, bishops.") He for
one never employed his fellow-men on the Sabbath.
(Hear, hear, and cites of "Time.") The meeting be-
coming impatient and somewhat clamorous, the rev.
gentleman exclaimed, "Ah ! you're afraid ; you dare
not listen to argument or to the truth." (Great uproar,
amidst which the rev. gentleman retired.)
Mr. NEWTON announced that the meeting would be
adjourned at its close till Wednesday next.
Mr. WEBSTER proposed a vote of thanks to the chair-
man, which was seconded, and unanimously agreed to.

,
COLLISION ONtTHE MIDLAND RAILWAY.—.a. collision,
causing considerable destruction of property, but hap-
pily unattended with loss of life, occurred on Tuesday
morning on the Midland Railway, about three miles
north of Leicester. Close by the side of that part of
the line where the collision took place is a ballast-hole,
and shortly before nine o'clock a ballast train was leav-
ing this hole, and entering upon the down line of rails
upon the main line. The engine only had got upon the
main line, when a luggage train, which had left Leices-
ter for Derby and the north of England about a quarter
before nine, ran against it; and turned it completely
over. The engine of the luggage trained was turned
upside down, and several of the goods vans were shat-
tered to pieces, scattering their varied contents in, heaps
on the up line. The driver and stoker of the ballast train,
strange to say, escaped uninjured, but those of the lug-
gage train were not so fortunate. They were at
first thought to be very seriously hurt, and were
removed to the Infirmary at Leicester as speedily as pos-
sible. On examination it was found that no bones were
broken, and their injuries were principally bruises of the
legs and hips. After recovering from the shock they were
able to be removed to their homes at Derby, whither
they were sent by the mail' train in the afternoon. One
of the engines, or a goods van,
appears to have been vio-
lently thrown against a telegraphic post, and all the wires
were broken, putting a stop to telegraphic communica-
tion for some hours. At the time of the accident there
was a dense fog, so that it was impossible to see any
object more than twenty yards off. It seems that the
men with the ballast train had turned on the signal,
wlich is situated about 600 yards up the line towards
Leicester, but the goods train had either passed the sig-
nal before it was turned or had not seen it. It is thought
that they had passed it before it was "on." A considera-
ble body o 7 workmen wee soon taken to the spot by
the heads of the various epartrnents at Leicester, and
arrangements were made for meeting each passenger
train with empty carriag , The passengers, by walk-
ing over that part of the line which was rendered im-
passable for the regular t c, were thus enabled to pur-
sue their journies with El le delay. We believe that no
rt
train was delayed more tiatm an hour, and by half-past
two o clock the up line wa l clear, The down line would
not be passable for 13011164 hours later. The damage to
'l
the goods is not so great is it was at first thought to be.
A piano and two bagatelle-boards were smashed, and a
quantity of coffee was spilt. The other goods scattered
upon the line did not app ar much injured
(
ured, but the ex-
tent of the damage canno be ascertained until the pack-
ages are opened. The f continued to be very dense
lin the locality where the ollision took place throughout
the day ; even when the sun was shining
brightly (about
noon), two miles off' it war impossible to see more than
40 or 50 yards.
ESSENTIAL OIL OF AnioNntii.--On Tuesday night Mr.
W. Payne, the coroner, 'held an inquest at the Crown
Tavern, Blackfriar's-road, on the body of Mary John-
son, aged 45, who lived with Christian Poland,
for 25 years. as his wife. On Saturday last, she sat
pro-
prietor of billiard-rooms` at No, 97, Blackfriar's-road,
down at a side-table in i the billiard-room and said to
Mr. Poland, " I have dne it." After that he saw her
with a phial in her hand. As soon as she bad said this
bottle in his hand. When
and she fell
her,ss hh she
e got
tt viinungtpoaatthnedthpwiasestnsimatgeienlththoeortlie passage. He followed
legs
gave
way,
on the floor. Being in alarm, he ran to a surgeon's.
The oil of almonds was n the house ; it was bought for
a sister to be used in Cookery ; but by some means it
was neglected to be used. It bad been in the house for
six months. The bottle was labelled "Essence of bitter
almonds, for the purpo4e of flavouring custards, blanc-
mange, or any kind of confectionary, avoiding the
trouble of pounding Cut almonds, and is less expensive.
In using this article t palate will be the best guide,
&c.—Lowe and Ho blower, 57, Blackfriar's-road."
She lived for about 20 inutes after W. B. Evans was
called in. The surgeon said he had himself administered
in
ammonia to her. On the Saturday morning she, had
been to,his shop for a s all quantity of laudanum, and
rout from the odour arising ro a teacup found, it appeared
that she had poured he laudanum among the oil of
almonds. The jury returned a verdict of " Temporary
iiiwiity." The fore an, en the ' ierdict of the jury,
ti
being 'recorded, said ' h had been requested by his bro-
ther jurymen to expres their disapprobation of the way
rril
in which such bottles as these;were- sold. • 'There :Vvas
nothing on the label to indicate that it was poicon, and
this indiscriminate sale,of it they considered to be highly
improper, 1

(From the Times.)
The readers of Scott's novels will easily remem-
ber the catastrophe created when Richie Moniplies,
in conveying to King James I. an important me-
morial from his master, Lord Glenvarloch, took
occasion to insert between the pages a " bit siffii-
cation of his own" respecting a small account for
butcher's meat long overdue from the Royal house-
hold. The like experiment, nevertheless, has been
recently attempted by no less a personage than Mr.
Richard Cobden, who, in his elaborate exposition
of the relations of Great Britain and France, has
adroitly contrived to insinuate three of his own
private charges against the institutions of his native
country. That the hon. member dislikes our aris-
tocracy, and has a grudge against our church,,is
pretty well understood ; but the artifice by which
these particular grievances were introduced in a
discussion upon French policy must have taken
most people by surprise. Speaking of the abso-
lutism ascribed to the Emperor of the French, Mr.
Cobden observes, in mitigation, that there are three
things which even his supreme and irresponsible
power could never accomplish, and that these
things nevertheless " are all in full force in Eng-
land." The institutions thus dexterously stig-
matised are the Established Church, the Peerage,
with its custom of primogeniture, and the exemp-
tion of real property from probate duty ; so that
three particular objects of Mr. Cobden's clis.cavour
are insensibly put before the reader in pp,ssuig as
abuses of a nature in reality so detesta .1. that the
roost absolute despot in foreign coun X's might
vainly endeavour to establish them. We dpe this
most ingenious piece of tact will not be 16st on" a
discerning public.
With resi)ec:; to the points at issue; we do not
venture to borrow Mr. Cobden's confidence in pre-
dieting so circumstantially what Napoleon 111. can
or cannot accomplish ; but this much we can tell
, him, thrt Napoleon I. did undoubtedly attempt
one of these very objects; that his attempts were
suggested by the notorious desires of the country,
and that, in despite of democratic repugnance, they
were materially successful.' The law of primogeni-
ture as Mr. Cobden correctly observes, was de-
molished by the French revolutionists for the pur-
pose of perpetuating social equality, and these legis-
lators did their wo:k with their usual zeal ; but the
operation of their ordinances was found to involve
such " insupportable tyranny"—we use the very
phrase of French writers—that wilen Napoleon first
succeeded to consular power, after the fall of the
Directory, the removal of this grievance was forced
upon his notice as a popular demand admitting of
no delay. So intolerable, in fact, was the nuisance
of the republican edict, that it was resolved not to
wait even for the systematic remedies of the New
Civil Code, and in the year 1800 an enactment was
hastily passed restoring to all testators a partial,
and to some an entire, right of disposing of their
own property as pleased them best.
English readers, perhaps, may be fortunately un-
conscious of what this matter really means. They
may think that primogeniture, or, in other words,
the settlement of a whole paternal estate on the
eldest son, to the prejudice of the others, is
rather unfair, and productive sometimes of cum-
brous and overgrown properties. Mr. Cobden,
that his doctrines may not lack the farce of an
example, takes occasion to speak of a certain
" walled park " close by his own residence,
" ten miles in circumference," implying, that such
a possession is out of all reason for a single man.
NOI7, we will not enter into the question of the
relative productiveness of unbroken or subdivided
estates, a Tiestion on whichpolitical economists have
expended a vast amount of argument, but we will
just explain, for popular comprehension, what have
been the measures devised for the suppresion of
the custom described. To abolish primogeniture
it is not enough to say that an estate shall not ne-
cessarily go to the eldest son—that our law says
already. So instinctive and common is the desire
in the creator or possessor of a property to keep
this property and the family together by perpetu-
ating some single representative of himself, that
it can only be counteracted by imposing upon all
men alike those testamentary disabilities with which
in tyrannical times, our laws have occasionally
visited certain proscribed or suspected classes. The
abolition of primogeniture, in the "social equality"
sense, means that no man shall have the power of
making a will, but that the Legislature shall make
it for him. To preclude the vision of inherited
estates, so abominable in democratic eyes, the
French revolutionists enacted, that any man hav-
ing children might dispose by will of one-tenth of
his whole possessions, but no more, the rest being
distributed according to their dictation, while, even
if there were no children to inherit at all, a frac-
tion of one-sixth of his property was all that the
la .v permitted a testator to consider his own. The
consequences were easy to foresee. " Primogeni-
ture" was abolished, but at the cost of annoyance
and disorganisation in half the families of the land.
No man could regulate or control the behaviour of
his children by his testamentary dispositions ;
every child knew that, whether dutiful. or unduti-
ful, wise or foolish, thrifty or good for nothing,
he was safe to inherit a certain portion, nei-
ther greater nor less, of his paternal estate.
No man in his age or sickness could promise
a recompense to those who attended him, or be-
queath a legacy to those whose deserts he had
practically ascertained. Possibly ho might have
no kin but cousins or nephews, whom he had never
seen. This, however, signified nothing. The law
stepped in, claimed the distribution of five-sixths of
his property, and left him nothing but the remain-
ing fraction at his own disposal. So hateful had
this tyranny become when Napoleon stepped into
power, that he modified •it instantly by restoring
rights over one-fourth instead of one-tenth of their
possessions to all men ; over one-half to those with-
out children, and over the whole to those without
fitting heirs. The proposal excited the vehement
opposition of the democratic party ; but so detest-
able had been the law, that it was carried by an
immense majority amid the ,applause and congratu-
lations of the whole country.
If it could be said that our custom of primogeni-
ture resulted in a species of social mortmain, so
that half the land of the kingdom was locked up
from the reach of purchasers, the case for reform
would be substantial ; but that nothing like this
is the truth Mr. Cobden must be well aware. He
himself has eagerly made it known that any work-
ing man, from his moderate savings, may become a
county voter and a proprietor ; and, in fact, the
very foundation of the Freehold Land Societies was
the facility offered for advantageous purchases by
the constant occurrence of large land sales. Within
these five or six years wo have seen some of our
noblest houses stripped, not only of their estates,
but of their heirlooms and personalities, down to
the very crockery of the mansion. There is never at
any time a difficulty in converting money into land,
though there may often be both difficulty and loss
in turning land into money. Mr. Cobden harps
on the exemption of real propel ;•,y from probate
duty ; but how does such propel ty fare at any
other transfer ? What does the transfer of 1,000
acres cost, contrasted AN ith the transfer of 50,0001.
Consols ? Of lat a times, indeed, we have heard
considerably more of the burdens of land than of
its privileges ; and, though the outcry perhaps
had no great foundation, it was certainly not
fair to bring forward a single privilege without
a word of the compensations on the other side,
This, however, may be matter of adjustment,
though it savours of absurdity to quote it as an
abomination beyond the power of a despot to in-
troduce ; but with regard to the institutions which
Mr. Cobden, in his horror of aristocracy, would
fain see substituted for our customs, we can use
his own illustration in assuring him of a most in-
contestable truth. No species of tyranny what-
ever, whether exercised by a single autocrat or a
democratic club, would ever be successful in de-
priving Englishmen of the right of testamentary.
disposition. Our laws look with very proper jeal-
ousy on all arrangements tending to lock up estates,
and favour all expedients for cutting off entails, or
t
otherwise releasing encumbered proprietors ;
to go beyond this, and to limit every man's title
in his own property to a simple life-interest, would
t
be an act of oppression infinitely more odious _ 4
the existence of even 10,000 noblemen with park
ten miles round.

(Prom t 1 Morning Post.)
Cobden, Bright, and Wilson are names which
would lend a modern application to an old couplet
without spoiling its metre :
" Then Howard, Home, and Douglas rose
The kindling discord to compose.
Of Mr. Cobden and his peace treatise, we have
already said enough to show the prodigious igno-
rance of history which has encouraged him to be-
come an historical lecturer, and the mis-stated facts
and erroneous assamPtioni on which he builds
rlasonings, more unsound, if possible, than the
basis of them is illusory. ' Men have argued.
coi-
rectly on false data, and incorrectly on true. Either
of these defects would render their counsels &an-
t gerous, and their teaching worthless. Both these

We fear that but very little cheer can be ration-
ally derived from the example cited. The cases are
anything but parallel. Duelling, though an ancient
abuse, was not primaeval. War unfortunately is.
Men may reasonably hope for the termination
of that of which, as a general practice, they
have seen m the midst of history the beg;nning.
Thousands of years existed without duelling. War
is as old as society itself. But independently of
that reasoning, which is superior or exterior
to the passions, and against which they eternally
rebel and. intermittently prevail, there is a logic of
the passions themselves ; and this logic duelling
did not satisfy. War does. In that court where
revenge, or cupidity, or ambition sits on the bench,
war urges pleas more valid than duelling could
prefer. A man wrongs you—therefore he must
shoot you. He has treated you as he would not
have had you treat him—that is, unequally ; there-
fore, you must furnish him with the strictest equa-
lity of terms in a mortal combat, intended as a re-
tributive measure.

In the end, the passions themselves would reject
such logic. They will never reject the logic of war.
Such a province is rich—we think we can take it—
we will try. Such a nation has insulted or wronged
us, we can avenge ourselves—we will. In all this,
be it remembered, we argue on the supposition that
war is always unjust. There may be a just war on
one side of the quarrel. While wickedness exists
anywhere upon the earth, the good may be forced to
defend themselves, to protect their possessions from
rapine, their families from desecration and mur-
der. In the comity of individuals there is a higher
earthly power, that of the State, which discoun-
tenanced duelling. No similar supreme authority
exists in the comity of nations actively repressing
war.

No'one ever denied that war is an enormous
evil ; but to be unprovided with the means of re-
sisting an attack is to invite attack. To be pre-
pared for it is not the worst method of preventing
it. A sufficient 'national armament has a direct
tendency towards the prolongation of peace. The
real question is not about the evils, but about the
possibility, of war. So long as it is possible, the
worse evil it is, the better and the stronger is the
reason for establishing defences. If anything can
avert the visitation they will avert it ; and, if it
must come, then are they necessary indeed.

THE WAR IN MONTENEGRO.

(From the Times.)
Whatever may be the exact and immediate cause
of the renewal of hostilities between the Turks and

the people of Montenegro, it is certain that the wa
has commenced with all the accustomed ferocity of
these contests, and on a scale of very unusual mag-
nitude. When Sir Gardner Wilkinson visited this
curious and unexplored region of Europe, in 1844,
he exerted himself to induce the Vizier of the Her-
zego wine and the Vladika of Montenegro to carry
on their feuds with some some regard to the laws
of civilised warfare, and to desist by mutual con-
sent from the abominable practice of decorating the
spikes on the gateways of Mostar and Tzetinie with
the heads of their respective prisoners. But the
failure of this humane negotiation demonstrated the
irreconcileable hostility of the two races, and every
page of Sir Gardner Wilkinson's valuable work on
Dalmatia and Montenegro (which is the only book
of authority we possess on the subject) shows with
what intensity the ancient hatred of the mar-
tial tribes upon the Dalmatian coast still burns
against their Turkish neighbours and oppres- I
sors. For upwards of ten years Osman Pasha, I
the present Pasha of Scutari, who is himself a
Mohammedan Bosniak of Slavonian origin, has
carried on a petty warfare with the Montenegrin
chiefs, alternately attacking them and expell-
ing them from the islands in the lake to which
they resorted to fish, or cajoling their dependents
by presents and promises of protection. To re-
venge these acts of ill-will the Montenegrin Prince
Daniel made a foray in November last on the small
Turkish fort of Zsabliak, and took it, as it was only
defended by 27 soldiers. It is, indeed, difficult to
suppose that this incident coul have sufficed to
induce the Porte to equip a considerable army and
a squadron of vessels o f war, or that Osman Pasha
has credit at Constantinople to cause himself to be
placed at the head of so important an expedition.
It would seem, however, that the present Turkish
Government is resolved to take every opportunity
of proving its utter indlfference to the public opin-
ion and the policy of f. European States, and that it
has seized with avidity the first opportunity that
las occurred to carry fire and sword into the val

- - -
Heys of an independent Christian tribe. The Vladika
of Montenegro told Sir Gardner Wilkinson, on the

occasion to ;hidh we have referred, that he no 6

be certain the true sentiments of the Turks of the
present day are the same as they were in the time
of Osman or of Bajazet, but that they contrive to
deceive the diplomatists of Europe by professions of
civilisation, just enough to induce us to overlook
their monstrous inhumanities. The consequence, of
course, is that hostilities are carried onwiththe same
ferocity on both sides, and we learn that the Mon-
tenegrins, having been successful in a nocturnal
surprise of a Turkish camp, brought back with
them 317 Turks' heads as the first trophies of the
campaign. This wanton carnage is actually going
on without any adequate provocation, or, indeed,
any definite object. The first attack made on
Montenegro by the Vizier of Antivari, along the
tongue of land which lies between the lake of
Scutari and the sea coast, has failed. The advance
of a second column under Osman Pasha by the
valley of the Moratska, has'not been more e success-
ful. In the north, the village and
se
district of Gra
hovo have been' sicked' and destroye, but the
Woivode is believed to have escaped to the Austrian
di-
territory.- On both sides great exertions have been
made to excite the population of the adjacent pro-