The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-14 00:00:00

DEATH OF COUNT MONTALEMBERT.

PARIS, March 13.
Count de Montalembert died suddenly at eight
o'clock this morning at his house in Paris.
The Standard says Count .Montalembert who died,
who was mercifully released from hopeless suffering,
yesterday morning, held throughout his life, as a
politician and a Roman Catholic, a pcx.,..iCon of the
utmost difficulty. A fervent Catholic, but a sincere
and enthusiastic partisan of political freedom, he bad
all his life to struzgle against the grossest prejudic. s
and misrepresentati,ns, and to bear the hard
cross of being looked upon w:th suspicion and dis-
trust by the great majority of those with whom,
whether as Liberal or as Catholic, he was allied.
But in spite of the inconsistencies with which he was
reprol:ched, Count Montalembrt had conquered,
by the time when disease had laid him lour and de-
prived him of the power of using it,' a position as
influential as well as honourable as any.politician or
polemist ever attained.

Count Montalembert was equally eMinent as a
speaker and as a writer. Ills death is a great loss to
France, although he had practically given up all active
part in political or religious affairs for some years,
and wherever there is respect for high principle, for
genuine devotion, for earnestness, truthfulness, and
eloquence, there will be regret at the premature de-
parture—he was but 59—of the Count Charles de
Montalembert.

Count Charles Forbes de Tyron Montalembert,
says the Daily Telegraph, was born on May 29,1810,
in London, where his father had settled during the
French Revolution. His mother, as may be under-
stood from one of his names, was English. His
connection with the Abbe Lamennais, in the earlier
portion of his career, gave a tone to the whole ten-
our of his life. Accepting the alliance of Catholicism
and Democracy, of which LarnenEafs was the apostle,
Montalembert became a Liberal in politics. lie was
one of the first contributors to the journal called
The Avenir. The condemnation of Lamennais
brought back Montalembert to the most severe ortho-
doxy, and he gave himself up to studies the influence of
which is prominently perceptible in his writings. His
famous " Life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary" was
issued in 1836, and in 1843 he published his " Ma,-
nifeste Catholique," an eloquent and incisive cri:
ticism on the relations between .Church and State.
In the same year he married Mdlle. Merode, the
daughter of a Belgian Minister. Always a de-
fender of oppressed nationalities, he delivered a
funeral oration, at a funeral service, organised in
memory of O'Connell, in 1848. Nearly 'at the
same time he said he gave the Republic three
months to live ; it did not reach el en that
age. After the Revolution of 1818 the Count
was a prominent member of Louis Napo-
leon's Legislattire, and was denounced by
Louis Blanc as an accomplice of " the heir
of Bonaparte." He was elected a member of the
French Academy in 1852, and was returned to the
Corps Legislatif in the same year. Count de Mon-
talembert was the author of a considerable number
of works on what may be called religious politics.
A man of aristocratic birth and liberal tendencies,
an admirer of constitutional government, and espe-
cially of that of England, he occupied a peculiar
position amongst his cotemporai ies. The head of a
small party, which he denominated Catholic empka.-
-tically, he was still a passionate advocate of liberty.
At the present time, when the CEcumenical Council
j engaged in considering a question upon which
he might be said to be an authoritative judge, the
loss of the accomplished and independent statesman
and author is calculated to excite general regret in
the literary and political world.
The Daily News says :—" In the long and animated
discussions which took place on the debateable
question of liberty of education between the parti-
sans of the University and the Church, M. de Mon
tadembert was the ablest advocate of the latter
in the Chamber of Peers, of which he had
become a member on the death of his father. His

;speeches on the liberty of the Church, on liberty of
eu'ucation, and on the liberty of the monastic orders,
contains a defence of the Jesuits, are models
of Par 'iainentary oratory. At this period M. de
Monlak-mbert was the great Ca!holic orator and
champiaLi, and it was his strong Catholic feeling, as
well as his innate love of liberty, that prompted him
to. suppo-t Elle, cause of the Poles, of the Irish, and
Sondcrbund.

AY ExTIIAOEDINAIIT B:11711.—On Wt-dnes:.day
rsfr,lit the wife of a labourer, in the employ of Alc-ssrs.
.; :Oft on and Co., brewcr.,4, Burton-on-Trent, :named Win.
Geri(); residi gin the " Fourteen Houses," Branst• ne-rotel,
gavt*:Oirth to four chddron, all girls. They lave been tap -
tised, .and have received the names of Patience, llaimali,
Mary _Ann, and Elizabeth. Both mother and children are
doing sit,

SKETCHES IN PARLIAMENT.

SATURDAY.

At last we have come to the end of one of the most
wearisome debates on one of the most important measure
that ever occupied the attention of Parliament. -It ha:
lasted for four nights when one would have sufficed. A
member of the Government spoke of the " judicial calm
which hon. members had shewn throughout. " Judicial
calm " is an excellent thing in Parliament, just as " a low
voice is an excellent thing in woman ;" but the one, like
the other, is apt to be just a trifle monotonous,
and a little vehement declamation is as much
a relief in the one case as a little mild scold-
ing is in the other. But let me not anticipate.
Let me refer, first of all, to the main event of the week.
Can the reader of these sketches doubt what that is,
doubt that I refer to the reappearance of our Osborne,
after one session's absence from Parliament, and one
minute's presence in a water tank ? He entered just as
though he had nounpleasantreminiscences of Nottingham
lambs or Waterford Fenians, no unpleasant prospects of
an election inquiry. He came introduced by Mr. Bee-,welt
and Mr. W. H. Gregory, and surely it is superfluous to
add that both sides of the House gave him a most cheery
reception. After that, and again yesterday afternoon,
poor Mr. Cardwell had to undergo incessant catechising
at the hands of gallant members both of the Right and the
Left. There is fighting in store for the Secretary of War.
He will find " above regulation prices " a very tough sub •
ject when he comes to deal with it on Monday, and
there are members, like Major Anson, who sit on th
Ministerial side of the House apparently only the mor
effectually to stab her Majesty's Ministers, and who
will prove very unpleasant foes. Last evening the unfor-
tunate Postmaster-General had his turn also. Bus
why do I say " unfortunate ?" Nothing ever disturbs the
e panimity of the Marquis of Hartington. Were an
"electric storm" to make unintelligible hieroglyphics of
every message in the kingdom, the heir of all the Caven
dishes would not find his digestion impaired or his res
destroyed. He gave the lamest of lame answers yester-
day to Sir Stafford Northcote's, question as to why th
Press Association is not allowed to telegraph the Parlia-
mentaryreports direct from the House ; in fact, it amounted
to this, that because so many journals desired to have
the reports it was more convenient to the Post Office tha
none should have them. There was no little flutter of
curiosity, not prompted, of course, by conscious guilt,
when Mr. Winterbotham, the young and promising
member for Stroud, and Mr. Henderson, M.P., for
Durham, got up to ask the First Lord of the Treasury
what steps he intended to take with regard to Lora
Romilly's charge that certain hon. members had received
£lO,OOO for their services in assisting the passage of a, rail-
way bill in committee. This very serious matter
evaporated .when Mr. Gladstone read a letter _ from
Lord Romilly, by which it appeared that the matter
referred to took place sixteen years ago, about the time of
the Russian war, and Lord Aberdeen, that is—(how long
ago it seems !) ; and that the Mastei of the Rolls did not
believe the charge. Then came question upon question as
to the intentions of the Government with regard to the
course of public business. The answers were not very
definite : but the Premier gave Lord Crichton a
direct challenge to bring forward the case of Mr. Madden
as early as he pleased ; while the comparatively insignifi-
cant licensing question is to be postponed sine die, for
what is the welfare of the people compared with the
dignity of a magistrate? Then we passed to the Irish
Land Bill at a quarter past five.
The debate was reopened by Mr. W. H. Gregory, afore-
time advocate for the American Confederate States. He
quoted Latin and quoted French, but all his polyglot
accomplishments were very tedious, and quite wearied
the House before his hour's speech was over. Lord Elcho
infused liveliness into,the debate almost for the fist time
since the grotesque Mr. Deese sat down amid shouts of
laughter. But if his lordship goes on developing his Con-
servatism at this rapid rate, he will soon be a bigger Tory
than Mr. Hardy himself. I remember him as a Liberal,
I remember him as an Aduliamite (who does not ?), when
he appeared like another Atlas, almost overborne by the
weight of the Constitution which he had to sustain upon
his own shoulders. But now he is a Conservative Cas-
sandra, full of dire prophecies and gloomy forecasts. It is
to his lordship's credit that after a time his spirits rose,
and he was able to indulge in that airy humour for which
this most perfectof dressers is famous. The House laughed
with him (instead of, as in Mr. Dease's ewe, at him), when
he declared that the bill was the product of sentiment and
saltpetre; and that if tenants were to be compensated for evi-
tion, so ought the 24,000 soldiers whom Mr. Cardwell pro-
poses to discharge, the more so as, while the first were
shooters, the second were only shootees (whence it would
seem that Lord Elcho's idea of a soldier is not Mr. Car-
lyle's by any means, but is that the fighting man is a human
target, who has nothing to do but to stand still and be
shot at). His lordship's nickname for the Land
and Labour League, the " Three L's," as they call them-
selves, the "lack-land looters," as he called them, told
well, and so did his quotation from one of. Mr. Lowe's
speeches, a speech delivered when that "right lion. friend"
was in'tho Cave, and which declared that he would never
assent to legislation in Ireland which he would not carry
out in England. Mr. J. G. Potter and the little Radical
coterie near him, cheered the quotation ; they, at all
events, are quite prepared to accept that senti-
ment, and to act upon it, though not quite
in accordance with Lord Elcho's interpreta-
tion of it. The honourable beau sat down
with an ore rotundo appeal to the House
not to facilitate the designs of the communists by passing
such a measure as this, and by the announcement that he
should support the second reading.
Of course Sir Colman O'Loghlen, who was the next
speaker, was not slow to mark this inconsistency.
But he soon passed his airy lordship by, and
went on to deliver the speech which he had evidently
prepared with much care and which was intended to
answer Dr. Ball. It was a rapid, rattling speech, however,
delivered without note. Nor was he disconcerted
when cries of " order, order," greeted him
in the middle, and his chief by pulling his coat-
tails reminded him that he was turning his back upon
the Speaker. The Judge-Advocate took fifty minutes
to polish off "the learned member for the University of
Dublin," which is the tedious parliamentary style and
title of Dr. Ball. I knew what was coming; I had long ago
been prepared for the worst.. Mr. Charley had for some
time past been busily taking notes, and so soon as Sir
Colman sat down up sprang the divinely appointed
punisher of Mr. Gladstone ; but, happily, he was just
the tenth part of a second too late. Alla
Chaplin, of racing fame, and aforetime rival of
the Marquis of Hastings on matters equine and femi-
nine, was up before him, and him the Speaker selected, to
the great relief of hon. members andof your correspondent.
Now, Mr. Chaplin and Mr. Charley are wide as the polls
asunder. The second will go on talking by the hour with-
out a break or a hitch. But then it is such stuff. Mr.
Chaplin has the most terrible pauses ; pauses in which he
quaffa water freely, uses his handkerchief generoxisly,
fumbles in his pocket for papers`that never turn up. But
then when he has started again, he speaks well, has sorat-
thing tO"say worth hearing, and the House would infi-
nitely sooner hear him than the most fluent of Charleys.
So it came to pass that in the midst of a pause
longer and more awful than usual, and when a break-
down seemed - inevitable, both sides gave an
encouraging cheer. A very generous assembly is the House
of Commons, for of course hon. members are not influ-
enced by any selfish considerations. They never break
down, and are therefore never likely to need such en-
couragement. Mr. Chaplin spoke for three-quarters of
an hour, including stoppages, and then no fewer than five
M.P.'s started to their feet, and said simultaneously "Mr.
Speaker." Once more Mr. Charley was destined to ex-

tinction. Alas, hon. friend Charley, that speech of yours
was destined not to be delivered. All your industry and
assiduous sitting out of the debates have been in vain. Yt u
must keepyourself for committee. Mr. Cogan was selected,
and so soon as the Speaker had returned from bolting his chop,

the member for Kiletre delivered himself. He' referred to

the combination between Kilkenny county (Mr. Bryan),

and Kilkenny town (Sir John Gray), and the House
laughed at the obvious reference, but decorously refrained
from " me-owing." As Mr. Cogan went on speaking a litt!e

conference was going on at the second seat behind t4e
Ministerial bench. Recently Mr. Bryan had re-appe4,..Nd

after a long absence, wearing the rarest of posies
in his button-hole as though he were about to lead a
gallant phalanx to certain victory instead of about
to find himself "in a miserable minority." Wit
Sir Colman O'Loghen conversed, and eveiy

one supposed that the mover of the amendment
would ...vithdraw it. It was not till some timo afterwards

hat Captain White appeared, and a fresh conference took
4ce, as we now know, without result. After Mr. C0;,;.2.11

came Mr. McCarthy Downing, who sat nc.t to Mr.

B17&11. and said that if the member for Kilkenny persisted

in going to a division, he (Mr. Downing) wou4
g) into the lobby with him, but he implored his friend not
to divide.

Then there was a cheer, and, 10, Mr. Disraeli was up,
full an hour and a half before the expected time. Indeed,
it vas only ten minutes to ten, and a whole army of Irish
M. P.'s, inducing, I believe, Mr. Bernal Osborne, were
"down "to speak. But Mr. Disraeliwas out of sorts, 111
evidently suffering severely from cold, and wan,'e'.
to go home, and get to bed. Moreover, it wwl,
time to put an end to the sorry spectacle el
one Conservative member after another denouncing
the bill as a violation of all the laws of political econoulYs
and then declaring their intention of supporting it. It scal
time for their leader to put them in a good humour with
themselves, and he did this most admirably. First of al
ho turned the laugh upon Mr. Horsman, who ha'
declared that successive Ministries had trifled 01'
this question. He . reminded the member for Lis
keard how he had once been Chief Secretary
Ireland, and had never brought in a single measure ou
any subject, but had resigned his post because it was r 4
sinecure. Then Mr. Disraeli went on to shew that it was
the Conservative party which ought to have the credit of
this bill, because it was his duty in 1852 to introduce four
measures, which, though rejectedat the time, had all, with
one exception, been carried since. Having thus salveJ
the consciences of his more susceptible followers who fel§
sore at having to support this bill, he, with a happY 944
really wonderfully audacious disregard of consisteneY.
went on to denounce the bill, not, indeed, maliciously of
even seriously, but with abundance of humour which ccal.
vulsed the House. The climax of merriment was reached
when he described the judicial arrangements of tlae.
bill. The., description of an Irish assize —i°
which the judges, " followed by an excited and arahi:
tious bar, with their carriages full of briefs connecte.)
wit 'the trik, of crimes which have excited society for
mmths, and in which they hope to gain immortal honours'
afterwards to be returned for boroughs, to be mach
Solicitor-Generals, to rise to the highest honours of the
bench "—was inimitable, and Sir Colman O'Loghlen, who.
had been nearly rolling off his seat - with laughter, '
at the reference to the Solicitor-General, turned
to his fat neighbour, Mr. Dowse (the new So'
licitor-General for Ireland), and gave him a dig i°
his well-clothed ribs, to the infinite amusement of the spec-
tators. The laughter was mingled with cheers vale°
Mr. Disraeli added, " Well, when they come to the first
town where these great exploits are to be fulfilled and
these-"mighty feats accomplished, where multitudes are
ready to receive them—including galleries full of ladies,
particularly if the cases are of a delicate character-111
this great business is to be arrested, because the first thing
to be brought before the judges of assize are the appeals
from the assistant barristers." The reference to the go-
daunt case was most telling, and was one of the happiest
hits of the evening.
Mr. Disraeli spoke for 95 minutes with evident phYsica!
difficulty. He had to take copious libations of the ice'
Water with which Colonel Wilson-Patten took cue to
have him supplied. At 25 minutes past 11 Mr. Glad'
stone arose, and in a dozera words dispelled the phantom
which had been darkly present on the Conservative
•benches all the evening—the destruction of free-
dom of contract. He acknowledged in handsome tern°
the friendly treatment which he had received from the
Opposition, did not deign to refute the claim (which Mr-
Disraeli himself had refuted) that the Conservative pail
ware the true authors of land legislation in Irelands
answered one by one in a -masterly manner, the
objections, which had been raised by the Conservative
speakers, and then those put forward by the advanced Irish,
party, and concluded with a passionate and
splendid appeal to these last not to bred'
tho unanimity of Parliament by going to a divl
sion. During the last part of his speech he turned full
roand, and addressed the Irish members behind him, and
at length sat down amid great cheering, after having
spoken for an hour and a half. There was a pause for a
few moments. Everyone looked to see if Mr. Bryan
would rise and withdraw his amendment. But he sat still
w:th a smirk upon his face, as though he rather enjoyed
the fun of the situation. Then Mr. M`Carthy Downing
left the House in a passion, .and Sir Patrick O'Brien
got up amid shouts of "'Vide, 'vide," and at
last the Speaker put the question from the chair.
shout of ayes was followed by a feeble chorus of noes frost
four voices. It was just one o'clock when M.P.'s began
to clear out for a division. Several Conservatives left the
House when it was seen that they would have to go into
th.. lobby with the Liberals, but the majority remained; -
%lid as nearly all the M.P.'s were going into one lobby, it •,
took the almost unprecedented time of twenty-six minutes
to complete the division. There was no excitement when
the numbers were announced, at least not inside the
House. There was abundance outside, while cabs and
broughams went rattling off in quick succession, as though
it were high noon instead of half-past one in the morning
that had just sounded' forth from the great bell at West.
minster.

QUALIFICATION OF OHM? CIIWAIMENF.-A bill
presented to the House of Lords by Earl Beauchanll
zontains only one clause, to the effect that no person shall
De ineligible for the office of churchwarden by reason
solely of his not being resident within the parish for
which he is elected, or of his not being a householder
there.

IRISH STATISTICS.—A. return published she 's
that the value of lands sold under the Encumbered Estates
Court and Landed Estates Court of Ireland, to the latest
date, amounts to 33,036,403. seven thousand two hull'
dred and thirty-two persons, making 1,560 families, have
been evicted in Ireland during the three years ending
December 1869. Of these persons 1,267 were read-
mitted. The houses from which they were evicted num'
ber 1,434.

°LUMBER HOUSE. —A striking example of the
vicissitudes of life is furnished by a change which has
happened in connection with the rich and romantic
ancestral domains of the Dukes of Newcastle. We
learn that a successful local manufacturer is likely to
succeed a noble duke in-the occupancy of Clumber House.
The palatial mansion which the young Duke of Nevi'
castle has been unable to hold is to become the residence
of plain Mr. Samuel Fox, of the Stocksbridge Works;
who is to pay a rental of £l,OOO a year.—,she,trac,
Telegraph.

ROBBING THE LONDON RECORDER.—The telt"
lowing anecdote of Sir John Sylvester, Recorder of
London, from 1803 to 1822, is authentically recorded
Sir John was one day robbed of his watch by a thief
whom he tried for petty larceny. During the trial, it ap-
pears, Sir John happened to say aloud that he had for-
gotten his watch or that he had forgotten to bring it with
ld him to the O Bailey. The . thief being acquitted for
want of evidence, immediately, upon quitting the docki
went with the Recorder's love to Lady Sylvester, ana
requested that she would send his watch to him by
constable he had ordered to fetch it. The lie succeeded;
the thief obtained the watch, and thus the Recorder was
Plundered.

A. TIPSY BLUNDEIte--A. few days ago, says the
North Wilts Herald, a waggon of cheese was sent fro'Trowbridge to Shepton Mallett, and on its arrival the
horse was put in a stable of one of the inns.
In an adjoining stall was an old horse waiting
for the knacker to slaughter it, as it was pi)-4
work. This functionary, it seems, had de-
layed carrying his orders into execution, and
happened to put in an appearance at the inn, for his mo'
ing glass, just after the waggon from Trowbridge had.
arrived. The landlord reminded him of his duty, and
after waiting in the public house till his vision had become
somewhat deranged, the knacker proceeded to the stable,
led forth .. ho,; se, and slaughtered it, when, 7,-) 1 it was not
the " old ho,-," but an animal worth £3O, thu property of
Gayton, of Trowbridge, which had previously arrived
with the cheese waggon.

COMFOILT FOIL TEA DRINKERF.—The public have
been much shocked at the revelations made by Dr.
Letheby before the City Courtof Sewers, relatingto a large
parcel of tea now lying under the care of the Customs-
There can be no doubt that this so-called tea should never
leave the Customs for home consumption. It is totally unfit
for human consumption, as we stated in our last issue. But
bad as this rubbish is represented to be, we know that
thousands of pounds of tea (query) are sold by auction jo
Mincing-lane annually much worse than the stuff to which
Dr. Letheby has had his attention drawn. The article to
which we refer is sometimes sold as scented caper, gun-
powder, or siftings, the which is composed of a very mall,
qukntity of tea, the remaining portion being silkworms.
duff° dust, and dirt, to which is added a solution of gum, and
this is the delightful compound called tea, which sells on the
market at prices under 6d. per lb., and the duty levied bl-
the Customs for this nutritious " China mixture " is
per lb. Some tea (?) of a rather curious description is
advertised for sale by public auction next week. We
should like to know of what it is composed as we know'
for a fact that one parcel is valued by several brokers et
20 per lb. If this some of the silkworm and gum mix-
ture ? Here is food for our analytical friends, and also for
the mind of Dr. Letheby.—The Grocer.
AN ASSUIaNCE catizno:r.—everal contributories to
the Empire Assurance Company have applied to Vice-
Chancellor Stuart to have their names removed from the
figt. They were shareholders in the City and
County Assurance Office, which had amalgamated
with the Empire, which is now in course of liquidation.
Ile Vice-Chancellor remarked on the great importance
of the ease as affecting (Altera. The question was Whether
the shareholders were bound by the transfer, which Ed'
'plated that for every two shares they held in the City
and County °Mae they were to hold only one in the
Empire, and to embark in a new description of busineas.
He was of opinion that they were not bound, and orderei
the names of the applicants to be taken off the list C'
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