The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-18 00:00:00

THE STATE OF SICILY.

Professor Carrado Tommasi-Crudeli has addressed a
letter to the Bishop of Argyll and the Isles from Palermo,
in which he enters very fully into the condition of Sicily
at the present time. He complains that the occasional
correspondent of the Times, who has lately written a long
and somewhat unfavourable account of affairs in Palermo,
has been hasty and inaccurate in his judgments. Mat-
ters, according to the Professor, are steadily improving,
and • new life is sheaving itself in commercial
circles. "We all remember well," he says, " the state of
commerce in Palermo before 1860. The goods that issued
from her port in one year amounted to hardly 8,000,000 f. ;
in 1868 they already amounted to 27,000,000 f. Hardly
100 national and foreign steam boats at the former period
entered and quitted this port in the course of a year ; in
1868 they amounted to 1,332. During the last two months
of 1869 the port of Palermo was second in the movement
of its ships only to Genoa in all the Kingdom
of Italy. Neither the port nor the Custom-
house depositories are any longer adequate to
the needs of tho existing state of commerce."
Postal communications with the Continent are carried on
five times a week, and it is no longer possible, as in 1856,
to wait thirty-six days for letters from the Continent.
0 tiler improvements of great importance have been effected.
Palermohasbeenlightedwith gas, drained and paved, while
education has made striking progress. There are in
Palermo 171 primary schools (day and night), 116 being
male, and 55 female ; 12,000 children attend these schools.
This is a change for the better, seeing that in 1860
800 only received primary instruction. Coming
to more general principles, there is still the
Professor admits that among the lower classes the trace of
the old antagonism to superior power is still extant, and the
denunciation of a crime to authority is looked upon as the
greatest dishonour a man can incur. To the lower orders,
the King, the Ministers, Parliament, the magistracy,
local governors, and municipal authorities are all one ; they
confound all in the idea of a mysterious malevolent power
called the police, in memory of the cruel and arbitrary
p)lice known by them in past times. There is hardly ever
an example among thenumerous assaults that occur in the
midst of this easily-excited and revengeful people of a
wounded person denouncing his assaulter. This can only
be hoped to pass away with social and mental progress;
and schools and roads are the greatest wants of Sicily.
The Government, though not having done all it might, has
within the last ten years completed and endowed the univer-
sity of Palermo, and founded several educational institutions
throughout the kingdom. The work of regeneration will
no doubt be long, wearisome, and difficult ; but it will be
lasting, and the writer, who is evidently well acquainted
with his subject, is not only hopeful, but confident of the
result, provided the new policy is persevered in.

DEATH OF PREBENDARY BLACKBURN.—The
death is announced of the Rev. John Blackburn, M.A.,
one of the prebendaries of York Cathedral. In 1817 he
was presented by Canon Sutton to the vicarage of Atter-
cliffe, near Sheffield, and this benefice he held until 1853,
when he was nominated by Lord Cranworth, then Lord
Chancellor, to the rectory of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight,
which now falls to the gift of Lord Hatherley. The pre-
bendal stall of Reccall, in York Cathedral, to which he
was nominated by Archbishop Musgrave in 1851, is in
the gift of the Archbishop of York. Prebendary Black-
burn was the inventor of the parabolic sounding.board,
and the author of several papers in the " Transactions of
the Royal Society."
EARTHQUAKE AT SAN FRANCISCO.—The San
Francisco people were greatly frightened on the 2nd of April
by a sharp shock of earthquake. There was no damage to
life, but intense excitement prevailed for a short time.
The animals were terribly. frightened, and several run-
aways resulted from the fright. The greatest confusion
occurred, the large buildings, such as the City Hall and
Custom House being vacated, and the people crowding
into the streets. Prior to the shock the barometer was
observed to fall very rapidly.

CIIBA.—A general movement of the Spanish troops
against the rebels in the Central Department has begun
in Habana. General Goyemeche is in the mountains
behind Sibanica. He reports that 300 rebels have sur-
rendered there, and he discovered and captured a depot of
artillery, which is supposed to be the only one the insur-
gents possessed, and a number of small arms. His
prisoners report that the insurgent forces are in a state of
dissolution. Two powerful torpedoes have been taken
from under the rails of the Unevitas and Puerto Principe
Railroad, where they had been placed for the purpose of
blowing up passing trains.

MURDERS BY INDIANS.—Six murders by Indians
have been reported from Atlantic City, Wyoming terri-
tory. A. resident of the place was killed in the outskirts,
and a party who went in pursuit of the savages brought
back the bodies of five whites, which had been found near
the Indian trail shockingly mutilated. Four other per-
sons are missing, and are believed to have been butchered
by the savages. Fears are entertained for the safety of
a stage coach, which is overdue at South Pass City, and it
is believed that the Indians have captured it. A. party
of mounted horsemen have set out to inquire into the fate
of the passengers. Some of the people of the city are
calling out for General Sheridan or Colonel Baker.

THE STUART SUCCESSION.—A correspondent says:
" Whether or no the Duke of Alba can prove his legiti-
mate descent from James 11., there can be little doubt
but that there are living descendants of the Stuart family
in a direct line from Charles I. Henrietta Maria, the
younger daughter of that king, married Philip 1., Duke of
Orleans, in 1661. Their younger daughter, Anna Maria,
married Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy and King of
Sardinia. Their great-grandson was a Victor Emmanuel ;
and his eldest daughter, Maria Beatrice, married Francis,
Duke of Modena, and bore him two sons; and the elder,
born June 14, 1819, is now ex-Duke of Modena. He
married, I believe, the sister of Henri, Count de Cham-
bord, who is the legitimate heir in the male line of the
French Bourbons."

BRITISH CoLumnia.—The Legislative Council of
British Columbia was opened on February 16, by com-
mission, the Governor being confined to his bed. The
confederation with Canada is especially referred to in the
address, and the advantages of the arrangement very
plainly stated. Canada is to assume the colonial debt, on
favourable terms. The surveys for a line of railroad are
to be commenced at once, and the line is to be begun
within three years. A waggon road is to be completed
in that time, and the Canadian Government is to guarantee
5 per cent. interest on a loan of 2100,000 for the con-
struction of a dock at Esquimault ; to provide fortnightly
steam communication with San Francisco, regular steam
communication with Nanaimo and the interior ; to build
and maintain a marine hospital and lunatic asylum at
Victoria, and a prison in any part of the colony that
may be advisable ; to pay the Lieutenant Governor, and
Civil List, and defray the expenses of the judicial,
postal, and Custom House departments ; to use all its
influence to retain and equip as a station for her Ma-
jesty's ships, and to the establishment of a volunteer
force in the colony. The same protection and immu-
nities enjoyed by the provinces are to extend to British
Columbia.

M. IYANDELAIIRE AND THE EMPEROR. —M.
D'Andelarre has sent a letter to the Francais which
contains some particulars of the conversation which he
had with the Emperor. He says that if he did not
succeed in persuading the Emperor to give up his proposi-
tion he quitted his presence impressed with the conviction
that he was fully determined to carry out Parliamentary
Government. He placed the first stone of this in No-
vember 1860, looking forward in the meantime to the
establishment of the regime of last January, which has
gained the confidence and excited the hopes of the
country, notwithstanding the complications of the
present period. The marquis believes it is hopeless
to seek to persuade the journals to rectify the mistakes
they have made in criticising his visits, but in considera-
tion of the requests which have been made to him, he
contradicts certain statements which have been put forth.
It was not true that Count Daru proposed to the Emperor
to remain in office if the plebiscitary vote was not resorted
to by the Crown without the consent of the Chambers,
except in a ca...,e that concerned tho Crown or the organi-
sation of power of the Assemblies. Those
.journals have
been badly informed who assert that the Marquis said
anything of the sort with respect to the Left Centre or
with respect to M. Daru. The Marquis con-
cludes by declaring that if any confusion has
arisen in the affair, it must have proceeded from the
circumstance that in dealing with the question he declared
to his friends that though ho did not admit that the
principle of the Phibiscite should be acknowledged in the
rules of the constitution, because it was opposed to the
parliamentary regime, he had no objection to an appeal
being made to the people that they should disallow in
1870 the arbitrary rule to which they acceded in 1851.
It was a salutary crisis which must be passed through to
avoid still greater dangers and which he was convinced
Ow would get through with success.

REMARKABLE RITUALIST SERVICES.

Good Friday in the East End of London, was marked
by a somewhat novel experiment. An ecclesiastical care
mony of a very unusual character in the Church of
England took plaee in the district of Christ Church—a
portion of the parish of St. George's-in-the-East which
some years ago was notorious on account of the riots
which took place there, arising out of what were consi-
dered ritualist development in 's' the parish church.
While the ordinary congregation were attend-
ing the usual morning service in church, the vicar,
the Rev. J. Maconechy, and the Rev. J. F. N. Eyre,
senior curate, conducted a series of seven services in
various streets of the parish. Accompanied by the choir
boys and several lay helpers, they started from a small
. . . _

mission room in Devonshire-street, one of the worst

streets in the metropolis, inhabited principally by fallen
women of the lowest class, by some of the criminal class,
and a sprinkling of the honest poor sunk in the depths of
destitution and misery. The clergy wore the!
cassocks, and were preceded by the choir singing
the hymn " Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, come" to
invoke the Divine blessing. They took up their
position at the foot of the street, where, after
prayer, the first short sermon or address was
given. It was thought desirable not to take
the stations of the Cross, but to confine the addresses to
the facts eonnected with the Crucifixion recorded in the
Gospels, and more especially to our Lord's words from the
Cross, one of which formed the subject of address in each
of the seven streets to which the preachers moved in suc-
cession. Mr. Maconechy spoke on the first and fourth
utterances,—" Father, forgive them," and "Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani." Mr. Eyre on the third and set enth,
" Woman, behold thy son," and " Father, into Thy
hands I commend my spirit ;" while the remain-
ing addresses were given by two laymen, Captain
Dawson, R.N., and Mr. R. Thomas, of the, East
London Collegiate School. Each address was preceded
by a suitable hymn, and followed by an extempore prayer,
offered up by one of the clergy or by a Scriptufe reader
or city missionary. In moving from street to street, the
well-known hymn, "When I survey the woundrths Cross"
was sung on every occasion, and as its constant repetition
rendered it familiar, it was heartily joined in by the people,
among whom copies of the Christian Knowledge Society's
Hymnal were distributed. The other hymn sung were
such well-known ones as "Rock of Ages" and "There is a
fountain filled with blood." The parish of 02nist Church
is perhaps the poorest and most crowded in the East of
London, and the circuit made was through its poorest
streets,—Devonshire, Star, Hungerford, Lower Chap-
man, and Charles Streets (where a very busy market is
held every Sunday morning, despite all the laws
against Sunday trading), ending with Dean-street and
Watney-street where the last address was delivered
opposite the church. Those present were then invited
into church, where the service was ended with the
Litany. Nothing could exceed the quietness and deco-
rum with which the services were received in the vari-
ous streets. Everywhere the addresses were listened
to with marked attention, not only by the bystanders,
but by many at the windows of the houses, and al-
though few, if any, joined in all the seven services,
yet many followed from their own street to the next, or
the next two streets, and probably not less than three
hundred adults, besides children, listened to the various
addresses.

The John Bull gives accounts of the Three Hours'
meditation at St. Paul's, Knightsbridge. St. Barnabas,
Pimlico, churches where the services used to be considered
the ne plus ultra, of ritualisism, but which have been long
left far behind by other more " advanced " churches. At
St. Paul's the service commenced immediately after the
ante-Communion, a sufficient interval being left for
worshippers at the first service to leave before the
second, if they were so minded. The great majority
did leave, and their places were only in part taken
by fresh worshippers. The galleries with which the
church is disfigured were almost empty, and the body
of the building was about half-full. The Holy Table had
been stripped bare of everything save the cross which was
in
vestedcrape. The few choristers who were present
were vested in black cassocks, but not in surplices. The
organ was silent, and it would have been better if the by
no means harmonious harmonium had also been unheard.
In front of the altar rail a chair was placed, and there
sat " Father" Grafton during his addresses, except
occasionally when he stood up at some passage intended
to be peculiarly impressive. The " Father " has
by no means an [esthetic or ascetic appearance, and
unfortunately it was almost impossible to make out
anything that he said. Trying various seats both
downstairs and in the gallery led to no better
result. It soon became evident to you that you were not
the only one suffering from the same misfortune. At the
end of the first address a large number of the congregation
left the church, more left at the end of the second address,
and it seemed likely that in the course of the suc-
ceeding hour Father Grafton would be left to preach
only to the choir. It required a preacher of more than
usual eloquence to render the meditation impressive
in such a church as St. Paul's. It is not an ecclesiastical
structure, according, to modern ideas, and that the con-
gregation was a fashionable one might be inferred from
the costume.

Far otherwise was it at St. Barnabas. That beautiful
church was almost entirsly filled, three-fourths being
women, and both men and women being dressed in
mourning. The east end of the church was hung with
black cloth ; and the altar being vested in black, was
wholly indistinguishable, and might have been absent for
aught that the worshippers could see. The choir were
in their cassocks ; the pulpit also was hung in black, and
the preacher, who delivered his addresses from thence,
and not, as is done in most churches, at this service, from
the chancel steps, wore a plain surplice without hood
or stole. There was no instrumental music,
nevertheless the hymns were sung in good tune
and time. At three o'clock, the hour at which
our Lord yielded up His spirit into His Father's
hand, the great bell tolled forth sonorously and solemnly.
At that time the people were all kneeling during one of
the intervals between the addresses. The sun was
shining very faintly through the richly-coloured glass, and
the chancel forming a dark background, the scene was
very impressive, and not the less so because through the
open door in the south porch could be seen glimpses of
trees bursting forth into brilliant green beneath the
bright sunshine.

At St. Mars Magdalene's, Paddington, there was, in ad-
dition to the Three Hours' Meditation (at which, by the
way, the " Seven Words " were chanted), the Re-
proaches," and these were chanted also at the Evening
Service, as well as the Litany of Penance, from the
" People's Hymnal." There were immense congregations
througout the day, and some of the worshippers remained
in the church throughout a large portion of the day.

Two great fires occurred in London on Good
Friday morning. One was at Doctors' Commons ; the
other broke out in the premises of a paper colouring and
fancy box firm. The latter spread to an adjoining build-
ing,, and then to three houses.

A threatening letter having been served on a
landed proprietor living near Causeway, county Kerry
the magistrates of that district have availed themselves of
the powers given them by the Peace Preservation Act to
examine witnesses without anyone being in custody. The
investigation in this instance has been entirely fruitless.—
Cork Herald.

A CLERICAL QUARTETT.---It is but seldom that
a quartett of clerical vocalists takes part in a public con-
Bert ; but such was the case a few week back at the vil-
lage of Northfleet, when four clergymen, including the
vicar of the parish, sang right well in aid of the schoel
building fund. Such an example cannot be too highly
commended, or too extensively followed, within proper
bounds.—The Choir.

MINERS IN DIFFICULTIES.—A large meeting or
miners was held at Hunslet Moor, Leeds, on'Good Friday,
to consider the question of the strike at present existing
at the Allerton Collieries. Thirty collieries were repre-
sented by delegates. The chairman complained of the
apathy of the large body of miners in West Yorkshire,
and asserted that the masters had taken advantage of
their weakness. Alluding to a current report that the
strike would soon be at an end, the speaker said he hoped
the report might prove to be correct, but expressed his
conviction that no satisfactory settlement was possible,
unless the demands of the men were acceded to. During
the meeting several of the speakers charged the non-
unionists with intimidation.

THE PRIORITY OF RELATIONSHIP.—A singular
case came under the notice of the Greenwich Board of
Guardians at their meeting on Thursday night. The
aunt of two orphan children chargeable to the union had
applied that they might be removed from the district
school at Sutton to a Roman Catholic institute ; but
Mr. Patte, the relieving officer for Deptford,
reported that ho had seen the grandmother of
the children, who is a Protestant, and who had
expressed her wish that the children should not
be removed, as they had been baptized at the parish
church of St. Paul, Deptford. Mr. Saw, the clerk and
solicitor to the board, said there could be no doubt that
the law recognized the grandparents as more nearly related
to the child than uncle or aunt, the former being com-
pelled, if of sufficient ability, to contribute to the support
of grandchildren if they become chargeable to the poor-
rate, whereas no such compulsion rested upon the uncle
or aunt. The board decided to accede to the request of
the grandmother, and the children will consequently be
kept at the Sutton district schools.

A. PRIVILEGED MURDERER.--." Where you shall
be hanged by the neck until you are dead." " Pray
don't say so, my lord," exclaimed the prisoner, "I'm so
ticklish about the neck that it would drive me mad." But
in those days Mr. Bruce was not Home Secretary, and
the pathetic appeal of the murderer was unheeded. Rut-
terford is lucky. He has been convicted of murder, and it
is not alleged that there are any extenuating circumstances.
He happens, however, to have a cicatiice in his neck, and
a medical beard reports that "it will be necessary to
use a very considerable and unusual - amount of con-
stricting force before the rope can be adjusted in such
a manner as to sustain the weight of the prisoner's
body." Thereupon the convict is reprieved. Had we
not better do away with the punishment of death?
How can Mr. Bruce sign the death-warrant of any other
murderer after the reprieve of Rutterford? The next
convict may suffer from a highly sensitive nervous
organisation, and the thought of hanginc, may be terrible
torture. If Rutterford has been spared from extra•mus-
cular suffering, must not the peculiarly sensitive convict
be, red from extra mental and nevous suffering? Per-
haps 51r. Bruce's indisposition to allow the extreme
penalty of the law to be inflicted is in accord with the
views of the public. Then do away with the death punish
ment ; anything is better than the present uncertainty.—
Law Journal.
The Queen of the Belgians is about to pay a visit-to
her brother the Archduke Joseph, at her native city of Pesth.