The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 14, 1870,

on, and for halt that time it has been on the verge of com- I of goods from Russia to India vid Aistria, the Austrian
pletion. But the financial crisis has prevented the directors Lloyd Company is to employ two of its steamers exclu-
from "crowning the edifice," and it remains incomplete. sively on the service between Trieste and India. A uni-
The surrounding park is also only partly laid out, and form charge is to be made for goods of every kind sent
though it offers fine opportunities for a beautiful pleasure direct from India to St. Petersburg.
ground, it is little better than a wilderness. All this while

TEE JEWS IN 110173IANLS.

the shareholders have been receiving no return for their
money, and recently they proposed to sell their property
to a building company, who should cut it up into small
lots and lay it out in suburban squares and terraces of the
usual stucco order of architecture. Fortunately the com-
mercial depression has led to the failure of that scheme
also, and negotiations are now on foot for carrying out the
original design.
Mr. Cadman, of Marylebone, has invited the laity of
his parish to meet him to confer upon the best means of
obtaining co-operation between the clergy and laity in
parochial work. Mr. Cadman contends that every layman
is bound to give up some portion of his time to this kind
of work. One of the judges, Baron Pigott, will preside at
the meeting.

The correspondent of the Eastern Budget, at Bucharest,
says that the question of the Jews has placed the Rou-
manian Government in a great difficulty. The guarantee-
ing Powers ask that justice should be done to the Jews,
while the Ministerial supporters in the Chamber urge
severe measures against them. The Prime Minister has
said that the Roumanian Government considered the
Jewish question a purely internal one, and a declaration
to that effect had been made to the diplomatic
agent of a foreign Power a few days ago.
In reply to a proposal that they should
adopt measures against the Jews, the Ministry declared
that they were prevented by the Constitution from taking
the initiative in the matter. A commission of members
was appointed, for the purpose of considepiag the we-
tion.

On Monday night there was a capital amateur perform-
ance at the public rooms in St. John's-wood. The chief
actors were Mr. W.J. Dixon (son of Mr. Hepworth Dixon;
Mr Harry King, and Mr. S. Dawson. The actresses were
also amateurs, and performed most admirably. The prin-
cipal piece was Mr. H. J. Byron's " War to the Knife." It
was followed by the farce of "A Thumping Legacy."
Tho mention of Mr. Hepworth Dixon's name reminds
me to say that his new journal, Light, is at present only a
name. The title has been registered, but Mr. Dixon is too
busy over his Russian book and other work to start a new
journal, at all events for the present. Sir Charles Dilko
is now editing the Athenaum, but Dr. Doran still writes
in that paper. Of other literary news I have none
to-day except that the last number of Meliora has
appeared. The object for which it was started twelve years
ago—the promotion of social science—has, thanks to the
continuous advocacy of that magazine, been so well served
that there is no longer need of a special organ. Social
science is now one of the staple commodities of all our
magazines and newspapers. Certainly Meliora has not
died from want of vigour. The last number was one of
the best. It should be mentioned that this was the first
of the shilling magazines, having been started several
months before Macmillan and the Cornhill were heard of.

EMIGRA77ON CENTRES.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

COUNTY AROUND KANSAS CITY (CONTINUED).

We cannot leave this, the finest block of land in
the United States now open for emigration, with-
out touching on its history, for the emigrant -would
not understand without it the state of society. It
was in Missouri, along where the river separates
that State from Nebraska and Kansas, that the
great struggle between free soil and slavery was
commenced. Indeed the admission of Missouri into
the Union was not effected without a fierce debate
in Congress and a compromise on the subject of
slavery, by which it was agreed that no more Slave
States should be admitted north of the parallel
36.30, and this was the celebrated Missouri com-
promise line which was abrogated in 1850. For
thirty years that truce held, and was respected in
the West, hut, as the parties became embittered
and the final contest approached, the slave owners
of Missouri formed the design of carrying their slave
property through the country back westward as
far as the Rocky Mountains, perhaps even to the
Pacific. The South, although such action openly
violated the law, pledged its aid to these planters,
Ind they commenced by extending the frontier west-
ward from the line drawn north and south through
Kansas City, adding six large counties to their
State. This illegal action passed unnoticed until
the attention of New England was attracted to the
fact that Kansas and Nebraska were about to be
added to the Slave States, which would carry the
slave line as far north as Boston. Then Massa-
chusetts moved, forming a northern emigrant aid
society,and pushed ma ny fervid opponents of slavery,
as settlers into Kansas, determined to vote there a free
Constitution. The first New Englander who crossed
the stream was stopped, turned adrift in the middle of
the river, without food or oars, and a resolution
was carried unanimously at a meeting of Sons of
the South to assist in removing any and all immi-
grants settling in Kansas Territory under the au-
spices of the Northern Emigrant Aid Society, and
this was supplemented by the declaration of this
Squatters' Sovereign, that we, the planters will con-
tinue to lynch and hang, tar and feather, and drown
any white-livered Abolitionist who dares to pollute
our soil." It was not in the nature of these Sons
of the South to bark without biting, and that they
were prepared to bite was soon tested. In July,
1854, thirty well-armed New Englanders crossed in
open boats, and pushing up the Kansas River
founded the city of Lawrence, and the following
month seventy more joined them. Three hundred
and fifty Sons of the South were soon mounted and
before Lawrence, whose inhabitants they gave three
hours to pack up and be off, if they promised never to
return. The answer was a firm, but civil refusal,
and then commenced the events which earned for the
State the mournful name of Bleeding Kansas. To
all intents and purposes a condition of war prevailed,
but the New Englanders maintained their ground
with all the courage and tenacity of the Puritan,
and the frightful persecution to which they were
subjected only kindled within them the enthusiasm
which made martyrs of such men as John Brown.
Lawrence was held through six years of con-
test, its houses seamed with the scars of grape
and canister, and every street of Leavenworth
has been the scene of a fierce fight. In one of these
sonflicts John Brown defeated Captain Clay Pate
and 56 Sons of the South with his band of but 27
Freesoilars, disdaining even to meet his enemy any-
where but in the open field. Nor did he only de-
feat the enemy, but captured the commander with
21 of his men and all the spoils of Palmyra, a Free-
Soil town that Clay Pate had just been looting. It
was not till 1861 that the wounds of Bleeding
Kansas were healed by the State being admitted
into the Union as Free-Soil; and then commenced
the great war, when the strong arm of Uncle Sam,
using all its might dashed into fragments and for
ever annihilated the " Domestic Institution" of the
South, which bas been such a curse to the Con-
tinent. Those then who seek a home in Bleeding
Kansas must expect to hear tales of stirring adven-
ture, of recent strife, the embers of which still
smoulder, and on this frontier they will see ground
which we believe to be the scene of the highest of
all New England's achievements, indeed of one, the
gallantry, the pertinacity, and the high principle
of which, is as yet but little known to the
world. Nor will the settler who moves far to
the West be exempt from the chance of hav-
ing his own blood spilt on his own hearthstone,
and the hair, if he has any on the crown of his
head, wrenched off with the scalp. But he must
go quickly if he has a fancy for such contingencies,
for thelndian is retreating with the buffalo, few being
left, and soon profound peace will reign throughout
the West. In continuing our subject, we cannot
do better than follow in Dr. Bell's footsteps, throw-
ing our further remarks into a review of his work
lately published, perhaps the most interesting which
has appeared in London within recent years on Ame-
rica, New Tracks in N orth America. We may, how-
ever, conclude this portion of our subject by noticing
the rise of such a city as St. Louis, the commercial
emporium of the Mississippi Valley, though not the
State capital of Missouri. It was founded by Pierre
Lascede in 1764 as a trading post, at the junction of
the two great rivers. In that year the country east of
the Mississippi was ceded to England by France, and
the French possessions west of the river were made
over by Louis XV. to Spain. In 1804 Spanish
Louisiana became part of the United States ; in
1815 the first steamboat made its appearance at St.
Louis, and five years later, after a full debate, the
citizens of St. Louis voted to establish slavery, by
which they saddled upon Missouri that pernicious
institution. In 1830 the population of the town wasbut
5,852, which shows that though Chicago was unborn,
still St. Louis was not till then of much account. In
1840 thepopulation was 16,469 ; next decade, 74,439;
in 1859, 185,587 ; in 1866, 204,327 ; in 1867,
220,000. The emigrant will perceive in such rapid
rises the chances open to the early settler who has
the foresight to choose a good location. The man who
owned a few valueless acres in the neighbourhood
of St. Louis 20 years ago, would now possess a con-
siderable fortune, without having improved the
land. The moment slavery ceased, Missouri be-
gan rapidly to rise ; nearly all the uncultivated
land, estimated by Dr. Bell at the close of the
war at 25,000,000 acres, has been taken up, either
under the Homestead Act or by the small pune
chasers from the original great landowners. In
1860, before the war, the corn receipts amounted to
4,250,000 bushels ; in 1863, during the war, they
fell below one million of bushels, and in 1866, after
the war, they reached 7,233,671 bushels. All other
industries have increased in the same ratio, machi-
nery and iron goods being manufactured to a great
extent at St. Louis. Two hundred and sixty
steamers are employed in the carrying trade of that
city, ascending the Mississippi 740 miles to St.
Paul, descending 1,212 to its mouth ; up the Mis-
souri 685 miles to Omaha, and beyond, for 1,166
miles. The Ohio River takes them to Pittsburgh,
1,195 miles, and its branches are navigable to the
oil regions of Pennsylvania. Indeed the Mississippi
and its tributaries represent a navigable length of
12,000 miles, placing St. Louis in communication
with every city of importance in the largest river
basin on the globe. The emigrant therefore, if he
chooses to go to Kansas City by water, can proceed
every yard of the way in a steamboat.

Mr. R. A Holmes, of the British Museum, has been ap-
pointed her Majesty's Librarian at Windsor. There were
hundreds of applicants. Very different was the case when
the late Librarian, Mr. B. B. Woodward got the post.
No one applied for a long time, and when Mr. Woodward
entered the field he at once secured the appointment, being
competent and without competitor. He was at that time
a Dissenting minister at Norwich. Some of Mr. Wood-
ward's friends are raising a subscription for his wife and
children, who are left uprovided for, owing to the sudden
death of their protector. Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, Sir
Antonio Panizzi, Mr. John Ruskin, and others are on the
committee.
A VOYAGE THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL.

Mr. Blon, Marine Superintendent of the North
China Steamship Company, writes from Bombay to
the Times, and gives his experiences of, a voyage
through this new "highway to the East." The
writer started from Greenock in the Sive
Nauzing, a paddle steamer, 722 tons register
on the 11th November, and entered the Suez
Canal, which he describes as a great, long,
straight, deep ditch, on the Ist December. They
went through sometimes steaming eight knots an
hour, but this he considered much too fast for
the safety of the banks of the canal. At three in
the afternoon they grounded on the edge of
the starboard bank at Lake Ballah, a narrow
and difficult part, and got off, after nine
hours' delay, with the assistance of two
small steam tugs. The rest of the voyage
to Suez was completed with safety. Mr. Blon
recommends that paddle steamers should be towad
through, where the banks have been injured by the
wash of the wheels, and thinks the pilots ought to
be better acquainted with the configuration of the
bottom of the canal. The pilots should be men of all
nationalities He combats British prejudice by the ar-
gument that the clays of sailing vessels are numbered,
and that no other nation can compete with her in the
construction of iron steam vessels. For this reason
alone the Suez Canal cannot fail to be of enormous
benefit to England.

THOUSANDS OF PRESENTS.—We strongly recom-
mend the Nobility and Gentry to visit Parkins and
Gotto's extensive show-rooms, where may be seen thou-
sands of useful and elegant articles of English, French
and Austrian manufacture, especially adapted for birthday,
wedding, and christening presents —in fact presents
for every conceivable purpose, at very moderate
prices. This is, without exception, the largest and best
selected stock in Europe : each article is marked in plain
figures, andlin consequence of a rapid sale is perfectly new
and fresh (a great oonsideration in a present). The stock
consists of portrait-albums, writing-eases, dressing-cases,
dressing bags, despatch boxes, envelope cases, and blotting-
books, inkstands, desks, stationery cabinets, handbags, card-
cases, book-slides, glove and handkerchief box(); purses,
pocket-books, cigar-cases, reticules, opera-glasses, scent-
cases, smelling bottles, bronzes, electro-gilt, oxidised and ele,
gently mounted articles for mantelshelf, dining, drawing-
and library table, chess-boards, bagatelle-boards, card-
trays, scrap-books, Bibles, Prayer-books, and Church Ser-
vices, plain and elegantly mounted, besides an endless
variety of other articles to suit every taste, purpose, and
pocket.—rarkla and Gotto, 21 and 25, Oxford-greet1 TY
•

AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THIEVES.

---t---_

The night before last about 220 guests of Ned
Wright were treated to soup and psalm-singing at
a place in the New-cut, which was a penny gaff,
but which vow, under the regenerate name of
Gospel Hall, is used as a sort of chapel and school-
room in one. The audience assembled in Gospel
Hall was a somewhat remarkable company, as will
be understood when it is said that " none but male
thieves who have been convicted" were allowed to
enter. Invitations to the number of 195 had been
issued ; and, in addition to these, as at the late
Lady Palmerston's parties, there was a rush of un-
bidden guests who were allowed to remain. About
ten or twelve were veritable crackamen, who have
reached and passed the dignity of transportation or
penal servitude, seven of these having served an
aggregate of 67 years and upwards in her Ma-
jesty's gaols. But the far greater number present
were stars of inferior magnitude, such as " bluey-
hunters," " smide-pitchers," and ordinary "prigs."
Of a total of 188 thus made up, with 376
convictions among them, a few cases call for
note. As a matter of good faith, we shall of
course withhold names and addresses, though
there can be no harm in saying that Kent-street
seems to be an especially favoured place of resi-
dence for gentlemen in the thieving interest.
G. G., against whom as many as fourteen convic-
tions are scored, and who has passed ten years of a
still young life in prison, has principally been in
trouble for " smashing," and is so good an adept
in the trade that he is able proudly to "give a
reference." J. S., who bas been convicted six-
teen times, and has spent seven years between
Wandsworth and Coldbath Fields, " came out o'
Christmas Eve ;" and J. left prison for the eighth
time " the day afore yesterday." And now, hav-
ing spoken of the feasted, at last night's banquet of
soup and bread, let us find a few words for the
feaster. Looking at Mr. Edward Wright, in the
flesh, and in the plain-cut black clothes and white
necktie of a minister or missionary, it would be
difficult for you to suppose that, like the good cham-
pion of the faith who forcibly converted Colonel
Quagg, he has " belonged to the ungodly order of
men called prize-fighters." It is, nevertheless, per-
fectly true that Ned Wright had both fought a
tough battle of two hours and seventeen minutes,
and taken his trial for cracking a crib, before he
was seventeen. He is, however, a man of such
frank and pleasant presence, and of such open ho-
nesty of face, that we must in reason separate him
from the common run of burglars; and, indeed, it is
plain from his own story that the wildness which
often accompanies rude health and strength led him,
more than mere viciousness and depravity of nature,
into crime. Ile is, for all that, of John Bunyan's
mind, in holding that his early life was passed
entire in the service of the devil, even when
his energy was not directed to any breakage of
the law. He speaks of that early life with un-
affected horror ; but does not shirk allusion to
it or to the unpleasant circumstances of impri-
sonment. When asked whether ~he had been
in the habit of visiting gaols, like his namesake,
the Manchester philanthropist, he answered with
a smile half melancholy and half cheerful, " All
my visits to such places have been against my
will."

It was in managing his decidedly unruly guests
that Ned Wright showed most force of character
last evening. When, a little before six o'clock,
there was an ugly rush at the door, he threw him-
self with admirable promptitude and determina-
tion into the narrow passage, and by sheer strength
turned the tide of a dozen bulking vagabonds
who were endeavouring to push their way in with-
out tickets. It is not likely that Ned Wright
has ever read Hazlitt ; but the idea of dominating
men through their own wills was not the less.
clearly understood by the converted burglar
Finding that many unauthorised entrances had
been made, he told the men with tickets that, un-
less they ejected those who were without, all pro-
mised benefits would be suspended ; and at later
periods of the evening he relied, with perfect
success, on the self-interest of the mass for the
preservation of order. "Now look here," he said
I once, " there are only so many pieces of bread, and
there are only so many persons to eat 'em ; so if
you catch anybody taking two pieces you must
round on him." To which proposition the assent,
66 IVerry proper, too," was growled in chorus.
Halves of half-quartern loaves having been first
distributed—and, by the bye, the avidity with
which they were clutched told plainly that dis-
honesty is not conducive to luxurious living—the
savoury soup was served round in white basins, fur-
nished with tinned iron spoons of an infinitesimal
value. In the majority of cases the meal about this
time of day, if obtained at the personal cost of the
consumer, would have been " a palmer's pint and
three;" or in other words a pint cup of the curious
street-stall coffee and three slices of bread and
butter. There was more nourishment in the soup
and hunk of bread, which had the additional merit
of costing nothing. It would be idle to say that
the task of Ned Wright, in maintaining strict dis.
cipline was, with all his tact and energy, an easy
one. But he ruled, and ruled successfully, more
by friendly words than by sternness. One particu-
larly obnoxious blackguard gave so much trouble
that a cry arose of " Chuck him out !" Where-
upon Ned Wright interposed with " No; don't
chuck him out ; whisper to him kindly, and say,
6 Old fellow, hold your row.' " Thenceforth the
offender was wonderfully subdued and attentive.
A notable and somewhat pathetic appeal from
Wright had also a marked effect upon the whole
assembly. " Let us show our kind visitors on the
platform," said he, " that we really are men, if
rough and desperate ones. Don't let it be said that
we are sunk to the level of brutes." The British
" chaff" relieved any dullness there might have been
at some stage of the proceedings ; and many of the
ready answers and comments of these poor thieves
showed a sharpness of intellect that contradicted
the expression of face which, in many instances,
was that of semi-cretinism. Of Ned Wright's ad-
dress, we can only give a general idea. It was
thoroughly earnest ; and, though we can scarcely
hope that its argumentative piety prevailed with
more than one or two, the small result of good is
somewhat increased by the knowledge that in no
possible case can any harm be done. Moreover,
the genuine conversion of even a single hearer
must in cite season increase and multiply, as is
exemplified in the case of Ned Wright himself,
who was called to righteousness one Sunday
night when he entered a theatre in which a
special service was going on. His homely exhor-
tations to repentance were free from any tinge of
pride, it being observable that in the constant use
of the pronoun " we" he made common cause with
his hearers, and considered his and their interests
alike. "If I were to get into trouble again," he
said, " and should be taken before a magistrate,
my old character would be brought up against
me. There would be a man in a blue coat to say
" He's known, your worship, as a convicted thief ;"
and then, when I went up to the sessions, and
heard the foreman of the jury give in the word
"guilty," I should feel sure that the sentence pro-
nounced by the judge would be harder for that
cruel recollection of a former crime. It's too
true, friends, that, try as you may, in this world,
you can't escape the consequences of having once
sinned. But that's why I want you not to depend
on the mercy of this world. That's why I want
you to come with me to Jesus, to come to Him
as I came, without a plea, bringing all my guilt
with me. There's the difference between this
world's judgments and God's judgments. The
magistrate will and must look to your past faults
as determining your present character; but though
you and I continue to sin against God, what will
He say to us if we go to Him, humbly and truly
penitent? He will say. " Thy sins and thine
iniquities I will remember no more." For the
most part, though homely, the language of Ned
Wright was fairly grammatical; but now and
then he seemed to drop, from positive sympa-
thy, to the habit of speech common to his hearers;
and he stirred them to the depths by a personal re-
miniscence, very creditable to himself, narrated
with manly simplicity. " You remember, some of
you," he said, 44 and I remember too, ah as if it

was yesterday, when six watermen was to row on
the river Thames. Me and young Short, of Ber-
mondsey, was favourites for the coat and badge.
There's men here now, in this hall, who ran along
the river bank that day, up to their knees io
water, and swore vengeance against all who denied
fair play to Ned Wright. Well, in the midst of
the great excitement of that match, a cry was
heard that a boy was in the water. I saw where he
had gone down, in the wake of a steamboat, or a
little abaft the paddle, and I saw the bubbles rise
hat might have been the bubbles of his last breath.
I was pretty usedito getting people out of thewater,
and so, knowing how to go about it, 1 made no
diflieulty about diving and bringing up the body of
tho boy. He was laid on the table of a tap-room,
and hot bricks were got, and hot water, and the
proper restoratives; and after he had seemed quite
dead for six minutes, he began to breathe, and
was clasped in his mother's arms. Some money
was collected for me in a hat that was sent round,
and I, being in the Devil's service, spent it soon
enough. But only think, if I had pleasure, as in-
deed I had, in saving the life of that child, what
happiness would be mine if I could save any of
you, and bring such of you as have mothers back
to their hearts, a blessing instead of a curse." Ano-
ther, and a more painful story of his past life, was
told with force. lie had served in the navy, and,
for some crime which he frankly acknowledged to
have merited punishment, had received two dozen
lashes. It was when referring to the effect of the
preacher's voice upon him, in Astley's Theatre, that
he said, " Though the navy cat could not make my
heart beat, it beat at the sound of the words that
called me to repentance."
After the extraordinary gathering, there was the
usual gospel meeting, to which many—perhaps
half—of the guests were induced to remain, by an
intimation that certain benevolent plans for start-
ing men on an honest way of life would be sub-
sequently discussed. Those plans, as explained by
Mr. Wright, were as promising as any that could
be devised. A proprietor of barrows such as are
used by costermongers had thirty of those vehicles
disengaged. The project of Mr. Wright was to
find thirty men for those thirty barrows, and to
give them each a shilling to begin business. Many
a thriving salesman has risen from as small a capital
to independence.

The Standard publishes a very interesting account of a
supper to thieves, given in the midst of their metropolitan
quarters—the New Cut, Lambeth. The hour was six
o'clock ; the place—what was recently a " penny gaff," and
is now a gospel hall. " Ned Wright, the burglar," is the
chief man of the night. He used to be called " Mickey
Moon " among his associates. His fame amongst his late
fellows, now his " parishioners"—if we may use the
word—is very extended. Some four or five years
ago he became a deeply religious man, abandoned his
burglars' tools, and was not only bent upon becoming
honest himself, but has devoted all his energies to inducing
his former companions to follow his example. Among
the roughs and criminals of the New-cut he has worked
with great succeess. Speaking their language, sympath-
ising with their prejudices, acquainted with all their
dodges, it is probable that his rough-and-ready eloquence
may find its way to their hearts, while the more refined
language of the regular clergy never penetrates beyond
their ears. Encouraged by his measure of success Ned
Wright determined to have a grand field night with the
pickpockets, and he issued invitations to all who would
come, the sole condition being that every person who
desired to attend must have been convicted at least once.
There is something a little startling in the fact—for the
district is not a large one—that not less than five hundred
applications were received; but as not more than two
hundred tickets could be issued the process of selection was
rigorously enforced. In the result the guests of the evening
were roughly analysed thus : There were 183 menand boys
who had altogether served in prison 142 years 4 months and
2 weeks; and there were seven men who had between them
served 67 years and 4 months; or a total of 195 guests who
had undergone nearly 210 years of imprisonment. One
of them had been convicted no less than 16 times, and had
served seven years ; against another 13 convictions and
10 years' imprisonment were on record; and the degree of
criminality gradually dwindled down from those extreme
cases until at the other end of the scale stood a boy of
tender years who had been sent to prison for 14 days for
stealing four turnips when he was hungry.
The Standard reporter had some conversation with Mr.
Wright about the audience which had gathered together
"to eat and listen." 'Wright admitted that, for the most
part, they were " bluey hunters " and " pigeon coves," or
in other words scamps who stole lead off the roofs or bell
handles from doors, and the like petty descriptions of
larceny, but he added that he expected some swell mobs-
men and "opera jumpers " (men who dress well and pick
pockets at the opera), who being down upon their luck would
be glad of a basin of good soup and a half quartern, after
having been reduced for some time to " a palmer's pint
and three "—i.e., a pint of bad coffee and three slices of
bread. Thieves led by no means easy lives, he said, want
and hunger and cold were often daily experiences with
them. It was suggseted that emigration was the only
means of affording them a fresh start. Wright
replied that they were likely to do better in the old
country, because they required to be kept in hand
and under the influence of some visible autho-
rity. The audience itself seems to have been a
surprise. " The first impression occasioned by the assem-
blage was decidedly disappointing in the complete absence
of any typical character about it. One might have sup-
posed that in a company every member of which was
morally a black sheep there would have been some traces
of lawlessness, of cunning, or of vice stamped inde-
libly on the countenances of the guests. Nothing
of the sort. You might have fancied yourself in the
gallery of any of the East end theatres. The bullet-head,
the shifty eyes, the crafty expression, the knavish look,
the uneasy bearing—all the outward and visible signs
which sensational writers are in the habit of attributing
to our criminal classes whenever they attempt the de-
scription of them—were all conspicuous by their absence.
There were some exceptions, it is true. Out of the two
hundred men and lads in the hall it was easy to
pick out twenty or thirty upon whose physiogno-
mies nature had written " thief," or " bully," or
" blackguard," in her plainest characters; but the
majority were neither better nor worse looking
than the ordinary run of men and lads in their class of life.
There was plenty of noise and horseplay in the hall before
the visitors entered; but none, or very little, afterwards.
Ned Wright received around of cheers, mingled with some
good-humoured chaff, which he put a stop to by telling
them, " You're going to have a clinking clump of bread
each, and if you make your jaws ache now they'll be no
use when you get the tommy. Now, there is one piece of
bread for each of you, and if any one sees his neighbour
trying to take two, you must round on him "—an order
that was vigorously hurrahed. The bread, on being passed
round, was snatched and devoured with the avidity of
extreme hunger. The clothes worn were deplorably ragged
and scanty. But, though exceedingly hungry, theyobeyed
orders, and sat patiently in their seats till they were
served in their regular turn. The hot soup was, probably.
a still greater temptation. The waiters were few, and
the basins circulated too slowly for the eager appetite of
the guests, but, as a rule, they put a curb on
their impatience, and abstained from making a rush. One
burly fellow, who was inclined to be demonstrative, looked
thoroughly ashamed when Mr. Wright, pointing to him,
cried, "If our friend in the white jacket were to do that
in Wandsworth, they'd know what to do with him, eh ?"
To which appeal came a general cry of " Three days' bread
and water, sir." Supper over, a hymn—a " revivalist "
hymn, with a quick time and chorus—was sung, and
Mr. 'Wright then addressed his guests. At first
he was told to shut up; but gradually the men became
interested, and listened with the greatest attention.
His opening speech will perhaps give an example of his
style. The hymn had been about "the Eden above," and
Mr. Wright commenced: "Now, would you like to go
there ? Now, I'm going to wrap up what I've got to say, so
as to finish before eight. What have you come here for?
Not only for the soup, but chiefly for the salvation of your
souls. I tell you that, whatever you may think to the
contrary, your souls are as valuable as that of the Queen
that sits on the throne. Some people suppose that men
and lads who subject themselves to thieving are to be lost
sight of—that they are to go down with the tide. But I
say no,' because I am myself an example that, however
bad a man's character may be, there is a chance for him
to recover it. In this world, you and I know very well
that a man's past character will tell against him, but it
is not so with God. Now, before I was seventeen years
old I lived at Rotherhithe, and it was my unhappy
lot to be taken to Newgate to be tried, and I was
found guilty and sent to prison. I know very well the
effect of that. If I was to go outside here to-night and
commit a theft, and was to be taken to Stones-end,
I know that I should not have been there long before a
kind friend, with a blue coat, would come and say,' He is
known. He was convicted before' And then, however
slight the case, the magistrate sends me to the sessions,
and though my last crime may not deserve a year, the
judge says—' I'll give you one year, and six on theback
of it, because of your former conviction, and so the country
remembers, as it were, a man's offence against him
all his life. But when you sin against God, if you
repent, He blots out your sin and remembers it no more."
The effect of this oration the Standard thus described :
Mr. *Wright "certainly carried with him the attention of
the audience. Faces that were careless and mocking at
first gradually grew deepened into seriousness, and
any attempt at ridicule or noise was immediately
suppressed. Another hymn having been sung
and a prayer offered up, the assembly was told
that those who wished to do so might leave ;
but that a promised statement respecting coster-
mongers' barrows would not be made till later in the
evening. It was remarkable and satisfactory to observe
that a considerable portion of the gathering preferred to
remain. The proceedings lasted about two hours; during
the whole of that time we did not hear one blasphemous
or indecent expression from the assembled thieves."

The Duke of Richmond, who, as Chancellor of
the University of Aberdeen, had the casting vote in the
voting of the " nations" for the Lord Rectorship, has de-
cided in favour of Sir William Stirling Maxwell, as against
Mr. Grant Duff, M.P.
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS AT PARKINS AND GOTTO'S.—
Portrait albums, dispatch boxes, writing cases, dressing cases,
dressing bags, envelope cases, blotting books, inkstands, desks,
stationery cabinets, bookslides, work boxes, tea caddies, hand
bags and reticules, card cases, purses, scent bottles, cigar cases,
card trays, pocket books, ornamental articles in chins, bronze
gilt, and elegantly mounted for mantel shelf, drawing and library
tables; bagatelleboards, indoor croquet and indoor games of all
kinds ; Bibles, Prayer-books, and Church Services in every type.
Thousands of the above articles, all perfectly new and fresh.
Small articles carefully selected and sent post paid upon pre-
payment. catalogue:llm

NAVAL AND MALI7ARP IN2ELLIGENCB.

The paddlewheel steamvessel Salamander, 2,
Staff Commander Swain, left Plymouth Sound
on Monday evening for Glasgow, to navigate to
Devonport the new iron armour-plated ship Invin-
cible, 14.

The double-screw steam gunvessel Teazer, 4,
Commander Bloomfield, left Plymouth Sound on
Monday for the Suez Canal, calling at Lisbon.
The screw steamship Bristol, 31, Capt. F. W.
Wilson, recently returned from the West Indies,
was appointed to be removed on Tuesday from
Plymouth Sound to the Devonport Dockyard, is
order to undergo exte9sive repairs.
A draught of the Ist Battalion of the 2d Regi-
ment, selected from the depot at Chatham, is to
leave on Friday, under the command of Lieutenant
Hope-Johnstone, of the 2d Battalion of the 60th
Rifles, to join the service companies in Bombay.
The draught will embark at Southampton in the
Zianzi steamer.

A fire has occurred in the pay-office of the 38th
Company of Royal Engineers at Brompton Box.-
rack, Chatham, which has led to a Court of Inquiry
being held. A number of documents were de-
stroyed by the fire, and the lives of ten men who
were sleeping in a room above were placed in peril.
The inquiry has led to the placing under arrest of
the pay sergeant of the cmnpany (Sergeant Law-
rence), pending further investigations as to the
cause of the disaster.