The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY. 4, 18t9.
QUArav ruin

DONCASTER RACES.

CONSECRATION OF A Baum—At the Chapel
Royal, Whitehall, on Sunday morning, the Very Rev.
Henry Alexander Douglas, late Dean of Cape Town, was
consecrated to the bishopric of Bombay, vacant by the
resignation of Bishop Harding.

CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE. —A year since the
number of Chambers of Agriculture established in Great
Britain was thirty-six ; now it has increased to seventy. At
the close of 1867 the aggregate number of members enrolled
was 10,000 ; now it has increased to 16,000.
The Paris journal Le Menestrel mentions a new
invention which should earn for its author the gratitude of
millions. It consists of an apparatus, which, applied to
any piano, will deaden the sound emitted. There are few
persons who have not been sometimes distracted by the
practising of some too persevering player, and who would
have paid any price for such a " mute " as that described.
The Attorney-General for Ireland has issued an
address to the independent electors of Mallow, asking for
re-election. Ho says :—" If I am returned again to Parlia-
ment as your representative, I shall be faithful to you and
to that great Liberal party which sow sways the destinies
of our country, and which has inaugurated a policy that
comiteud itself to the feelings and sympathies of our
people."

THE BALLOT. —At a meeting held at Derby in
support of Mr. Evans, the Liberal candidate for South
Derbyshire, the Hon. E. W. K. Coke, brother of the Earl
of Leicester, who occupied the chair, referred to the
means by which the last election in the county was lost by
the Liberals. Amid loud cries of " The screw," he de.
dared that he believed the statement was correct ; the
election was lost by the screw. Certainly at one time he
was not in favour of the Ballot, but after the last election
he was decidedly of Mr. Gladstone's opinion, that, come
what would, and they might call it what they pleased,
there was required a system of independent voting.
THE SPECIAL SERVICES AT ST. PA trL'S.
On Sunday evening the special services under the dome
of St. Paul's were commenced, under the auspices, for
the last time, of Dr. Tait, now Archbishop of Canter.
bury. It was thought that his grace would preach the
first sermon of the course, and that his discourse might
he regarded in the light of a farewell sermon to the
diocese of London, but his grace, although in good
health, hardly considered himself justified in undertaking
09 arduous a duty, and he therefore substituted the
Right Rev. Dr. Atlay, the recently-appointed Bishop of
Hereford. There was a full choral service, Mr. Goss pre-
siding at the organ. It was announced that the sermon
next Sunday evening will be preached by the Rev. Dr.
J. C. Miller, vicar of St. Alphege, Greenwich.

THE LATE LORD BROUGHAM AND THE
GREAT SEAL.-Mr. M. D. Hill communicates the follow-
ing incident in connection with 13rongliam's acceptance of
the Great Seal :—" In May 1831 I was counsel for Lord
Aftliorp, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the election
for Northamptonshire, which lasted a fortnight, during
which time I mcre than once dined, and spent the evening
with him 1. c-a-Mte. We conversed respecting the rumours
then afloat as to Lord Brougham having forced himself on
the Ministry. He said the rumour was in direct opposi-

---
tion to the truth. 'My colleagues,' he continued, ' know-
ing there would be difficulty in persuading Brougham to
abandon his position in the House of Commons, which he

had just strengthened by becoming member for Yorkshire,
laid upon me as his intimate friend the task of inducing
him to accept the Great Seal, and a harder task I never had

...
In my life. He alleged his objections with his usual
power and fertility of argument. I determined not to be
led into controversy, feeling certain that if I did I should

be worsted. I limited myself, therefore, to assuring him
that unless he would consent to fill the office of Lord

Chancellor the party could not form a Government ; and
this claim upon him I reiterated in every pause of his

eloquence. The igtrview WAR a very long one, but I cp-

THE DEAN OF WESTMINSTER AND TIM
POST OFFICE VOLUNTEERS.

on Sunday the 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, a corps
composed exclusively of employds of the General Post
Office and its branches, paraded at Somerset House, for
the purpose of attending morning service at Westminster
Abbey. The sermon was preached by the Dean of
Westminster, from Ezekiel i. 16-24. Dr. Stanley
addressed his discourse
„specially to the volunteer regiment
before him, speaking first of the spirit and life of
the institution with which it was connected,
and, secondly, of the spirit and life of indi-
vidual members of that institution. He com-
pared the General Post Office to the working of the
'•wheel in the middle of the wheel," moving with the
motion of the " living creatures," as described by the
prophet, and enlarged upon the blessings conferred upon
mankind by a postal service within reach of the humblest.
To Persia, on the authority of Herodotns, he ascribed the
honour of initiating the system of the transmission of let-
ters which had now spread throughout the civilised world,
and pointed out that the first instance recorded is in Esther,
where it is stated that Ahasuerus "sent letters by post on
horseback and riders and mules, camels and young dro-
medaries." The first seeds of Christian freedom were sown
by the thirteen letters of the great Apostle of the Gentiles,
and it had since been secured by numberless letters of
sages and saints. Considering how much might depend
upon the safe delivery of a single letter, the work of the
Post Office afforded an example of the dignity of human
responsibility. There was a singular coincidence in the
assembling of the servants of the Post Office for Divine
worship within the walls of Westminster Abbey.
St. Martin's-le-Grand was formerly a priory or convent
exactly coeval with the Abbey in its foundation, and
the priory having been merged in Henry Vll.'s
Chapel, William of Wykeham, one of the earliest
deans of Westminster, became also chief of St. Martin's-
le-Grand. The distinction had long since disappeared;
but now, once more, after a lapse of 300 years,
he welcomed back St. Martin's -le - Grand to
those ancient and once familiar walls. Referring
to the duties of a public servant to his fellows and to the
nation, Dr. Stanley spoke of the late Chief Commissioner
of Police as one who died honoured and lamented alike by
those under whom he served and by those who served under
him. With reference to the Post Office Volunteer Corps,
he urged its members to make this new wheel within the
greater wheel instinct with its own life and spirit. It has
been said that every new language a man acquired made
him so many more times a man, and the same might be
said of every new pursuit which opened a new field for
thought, raised now motives for economy of time, and
resistance of temptation to drunkenness, gambling, and
vice, and introduced new bonds of love and duty to
other

The corporation of Doncaster, at their annual meeting,
were asked to increase their grant to the September
race meeting from £1,500 to £2,000 annually. The
grant has been repeatedly increased in the course of years,
the receipts from the races increasing, however, in a
far greater ratio, until they have reached £B,OOO at one
meeting. A minute was read from the Race Committee
of the corporation, recommending that Mr. Richard
Johnson, the clerk of the course, should be empowered
to draw up a programme for the present year's
meeting in accordance with the increased grant. A letter
was then read from Dr. Vaughan, the vicar of Doncaster,
who is also chaplain to the corporation, protesting against
the proposed augmentation. He took the opportunity
of remonstrating respectfully but firmly against the per-
petual renewal of the attempt to levy a heavier burden
upon the borough fund. He did not stay to inquire
whether the corporation could legally make such a grant
whilst rates were being levied in the borough, but wished
to point out the immorality and crime consequent
upon the race meeting. In his opinion the best friend to
the permanent interests of Doncaster was he who laboured
to turn the intelligence and energies of the inhabi-
tants into channels where there was the least possible en-
couragement to vice. In conclusion, he entreated the
mayor to use his influence against a proposition which he
was sure did not meet with the support and wishes of the
independent and disinterested townspeople. A long and
somewhat warm discussion followed the reading of Dr.
Vaughan's remonstrance.—Alderman Hatfield said the
corporation were just in this position—the races had been
bequeathed to them as an institution of the town, and
whatever might be the individual opinions of members,
they were bound to make the best of it. Either they
must continue to ma nage the races themselves, or they
must lease them to somebody else ; but only let them
talk of abolishing the races and they might as well
vacate their seats at that board at once. He
reminded them that had it not been for the races
the corporation could never have made the grants to
the churches, chapels, and schools of the town which they
had done—grants including one item of £lO,OOO to the re-
building of the parish church alone.—Mr. Councillor
Weliborne observed that all classes of the inhabitants were
either directly or indirectly deriving benefit from the
races, and fully 900 out of every 1,003 people would
hold up their hands in favour of them ; and it was his
own individual opinion that Dr. Vaughan's interference
was quite unnecessary.—Alderman Sir Isaac Morley said
that though he was opposed to the races, he should make
no proposition against the increased grant ; he simply
moved that Dr. Vaughan's letter be recorded on the
minutes of the council.—Mr. Councillor 'Waite seconded
this.—Mr. Councillor W. C. Clark moved as an amend-
ment that the letter be not so noticed, and this was
seconded by Mr. Wellborne.---The amendment was carried
by a small majority, and the grant was unanimously
increased to £2,000 a year.