The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-15 00:00:00

THE LATE M. DE MONTALEMBERT.

The death of M. de Montalembert will be a great los
ti literature, as for nearly thirty years he filled a higl
place in the opinion of the public as a writer and m
orator. He was born in London in 1810. Hi,
father, Marc Mild, Count de Montalembert, hat
been in the army of Conde, and later on was ambassada
at Stockholm. At the age of 18 Charles Monts'ember
formed an intimate acquaintance with the Abbe Lamenais
and shared his opinions concerning the alliance betweez
Catholicism and liberty.
,In 1831 he opened a free schou
in conjunction with Lacordaire, but he was summoner
before the Correctional Police for having taken part in the
affair. During the course of the trial his father died, ant
Montalembert became a peer of France. He claimed hi,
right to be heard before the higher Chamber, of which hs
had become a member, and conducted his own defence in
a speech which gave promise of his future eminence. He
was condemned to pay a fine for having taught without
official permission. When he took his seat in the Chsmbct
his first speech was against restricting the liberty of the
press, and it brought him into collision with the Minis-
try. Montalembert with Lamenais and Lacordaire started
a journal, the Avenir, to give expression to their
peculiar views of Catholicism and Democracy, and they
took a journey to Rome to plead their cause m person, as
their extreme opinions were not well received there. After
some delay the doctrines 'which Lamenais exaggerated
were reprobated by Gregory XVI. in the Encyclical of
June, 1835, as they had been three years before. Lacor
daire and Montalembert submitted to the judgment of th
Pope ; but Lameuais revolted, and from that day all
intercourse ceased between him and his two friends. Monts
lembert—the first of his race, as he more than once said,
whose weapon was the pen—betook himself, with charac-
teristic ardour and perseverance, to study the ideas and
manners of the middle ages, which always had a great
charm for him. He delivered some celebrated speeches in
the Chamber of Peers on the liberty of the Church, the
liberty of instruction, and the liberty of the monastic
orders, during the course of which he declared that the
sons of the Crusaders should never give way before the
sons of Voltaire. He predicted the fall of the
Orleans monarchy, and said that the triumph
of Radicalism was inevitable, and the conse-
quence would be the loss of French liberty.
In 1851 Montalembert frequently voted against his own
party in defence of the President, because he thought the
latter was unfairly attacked. In 1852 he was elected to
the French Academy in place of M. Droz.. His address,
which was replied to by M. Guizot, was an
eloquent eulogy• on his predecessor and as eloquent as
invective against the revolution. I'n 1854 a confidential
letter which he wrote to M. Dupin, commenting severely
on the subserviency of the Chamber, was, by some strange
indiscretion, published in the Belgian papers. It gave
great offence to the Chamber ; authority to prosecute him
was demanded and granted, but it came to nothing. In
the general elections of 1857 Montalcmbert, who
was now looked upon as the declared adversary
of the Empire, was defeated in his own department.
This defeat closed his parliamentary career. He pub-
lished an article in praise of English institutions, which
was in reality a satire on those of France, and for this he
was prosecuted on the usual ground of having used lan-
guage tending to excite hatred against the Imperial insti-
tutions, bringing the laws into contempt, and attacking
the rights which the Constitution had conferred upon
the Sovereign. He was convicted, and sentenced to
six months' imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 f. An appeal
was lodged in the superior court, but the judgment was
confirmed. as regarded the first two counts, the fine was
maintained, and the term of imprisonment was reduced to
three months. No one believed that either for six
or for three months the Emperor would allow
such a man to be sent to prison for such an
offence. Immediately after the first court pro-'
nounced judgment, a few lines in the Ilfoniteur an-
nounced that his Majesty had remitted all the penalties.
He had been a great sufferer for five years, and had given
up all hopes of a permanent cure, but he bore his long
illness with great fortitude. The Countess of Montal-
embert survives her husband, who leaves no son.
tLhirofeugh of Saintoiht
Montalembert's first work "The
Elizabeth, of Hungary,'; went eThe
nt
Or ten editions, and has been illustrated several
times. One of his most famous works was "The Monks of
the West." During his last days, he wrote a protest
against the proposition of the dogma of Infallibility, which
will now possess a peculiar interest as the latest effort of
his genius and public spirit.

The Western Mail reports an accident, illustrative
of the recklessness of colliers' which has occurred at
Merthyr. A collier, who has been in the habit of Mop-
ing a cask of gunpowder under his bed, was removing
some of the explosive material when a spark ignited it.
The roof of the house was blown off, and the man most
seriously injured.

- -
At the Buckinghamshire Assizes, on Saturday,
William Mobbs, farm labourer, aged 20, was found
guilty of murdering a boy named Newbury, by cutting }hip's
throat, at Haversham, near Wolverton. Sentence
of death was passed upon him, but the jury had
coupled with their verdict a recommendation to
mercy, which the judge promised to forward to the
proper
_quarter _

THE THEATRES, &c.

DRURY-LANE—At Seyen,Phobus's Fix. At Eight, Peep o' Day
ADELPIII,--At Seven, Blow for Blow. At Niue, Not Such a Fool
as He Looks

iIIAYNARKEI—At Seven, Popping the Question. At 7.40, Our
American Cousin. And Deaf as a Post.
LYC3USI—At 7.30, Twenty Minutes with a Tiger At 8.16, Chilperic
atintrlc—At Seven, Little Em'ly. The Princess
PanccEss'S—At Seven, Your Life's in Danger. Paul Lafarge. A
Dark Night's Work

GAIETY—At Seven. The Happy Village. At 7.45, The First Nfght.
At Nine, Uncle Dick's .13,.rling
Qn :N's—A4 Seven, Quick March. At 8.15, 'Twixt Axe and Crown
?RAND—At Seven, The Heir at Law. The Toddles. Ind

At 9 15, La Belle