The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-22 00:00:00

Musical Director...., ➢ir. F. JONGFIMANR,

The Comic Department compri,es Messrs. J. BLANcnAnn,
A. B. HOLLINGSWORTH, Master BARRY, G. W. PELL,
CHARLEY Fox, and E. MARSHALL.

The Fine Arts Gallery has been enriched by the addition of
the late John Martin's three Grand Pictures—viz., "THE
GREAT DAY of ITTS WRATH." "THE PLAINS of
HEAVEN," and " TIIE LAST JUDGMENT," on view
until 12 o'clock at Night. •

THE WEATHER.—Sux OFFICE, DEC. 22, 1860.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADS.
34—highest since noon yesterday.
29—lowest this morning and during the night.
32—this day at noon.

BAROMETER--29.81.
Wmn—Northerly ; with dull cold weather, and light
snow falling during last night and this morning.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tate DAY.—Morning, Bh. 39m.—Afternoon, 9h. llm
TO-MORROW.- Morning, 9h. 45m.—Afternoon, 10h. 18m

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THE SUN.

LONDON, SATURDAY, DEC. 22, 1880.

Supposing a French army of invasion were
actually, somehow or other, to effect a landing
on these shores in spite of the vigilence of our
Channel fleet. Supposing this French army of
invasion to have fairly advanced upon London,
by a still more extraordinary evasion of our own
regular army and of our Volunteers. Supposing
the capital of England, the capital of the British
Empire, to have absolutely fallen into the enemy's
P"seseien—juqt as Paris fell into the hands of the
Allies in 1814, and again but one short year
afterwards. Suppo‘ing all these astounding
events to have occurred, and then suppose, as a
sequel to all this, that the Church Property
were announced again after, 300 years, for re-
distribution ! Westminster Abbey again to resound,
after a lapse of three centuries, with the music of
High Mass, to be filled with the fumes of censers,
to vibrate from parapet to basement
with the
discharges of artillery and the toiling of the great
bourdon at the Elevation.

Well—it is pretty nearly a counterpart of this,
that has but just now been witnessed out at the
opposite extremity of this old eastern hemisphere.
Remembering always, of course, that the invaded and
conquered nation is a huge and plastic, and yielding
mass of 400,000,000—instead of an impenetrable and
stubborn, and whollyun-yielding body o f 30,000,000.
With that one— certainly very important--
difference : yonder in the Far East is in a great
measure the very counterpart of what we have
here been Supposing.
After a couple of centuries or so have elapsed
since last the Roman Catholic Missionaries in China
performed the offices of their religion with all
their accustomed pomps and ceremonials in the
great churche's and cathedrals erected there by
those ecclesiastical chiefs and champions of Roman
Catholicism—the Cross' tas been raige4 again to the

the summit of these old Christian edifices—nay, we
now learn from the Moniteur of yesterday, that on the
29th of last October, a Te Deu?n was solemly chanted
in the Cathedral at Pekin, and together with the
Te Deum, the Domino Saloum fao Imperatorentnos-
tram—not, we may be sure HIEN-FLING but—
NAP OLEONEM.

The Moniteur has further announced that all the
churches, all the cemeteries, and all their depen-
dencies (meaning of course by this all the church
lands, schools, &c.), formerly belonging to the
Christians (otherwise the Roman Cathelics, other-
wise the Jesuits) throughout the Chinese Empire
shall be restored to them—through the medium of
the French Ambassador ! No wonder the Cross was
raised in exultation over this grind occurrence to
the summit of the restored Cathedral of Pekin, or
that the Te Deum and the Domine Salvum were
sung there on the 29th of October in celebration
of it ! What a fluttering of the Volscians would
there not be, by the way—supposing this sort of
revivification to be applied nearer home than Chine
and to be thereupon notified by a kindred celebra-
tion ! Take a peep into WILLIAM COBBETT'S cata-
logue of the church lands and edifices portioned
out—and then imagine for a moment the incident
of some such comprehensive reclamation ! "
All
the churches and the cemeteries and their depen-
dencies formerly belonging, Sec., throughout the
United Kingdom, to be returned through the
medium of the Minister of France !" Fancy a
notification like that appearing in an extraordinary
supplement of the London Gazette, or say
of an extraordinary edition of the Moniteur
published in London. Baron GROS is certainly
causing the good teak-built Imperial ship Gallia
to forge ahead of her European convoy out in that
remote and treacherous sea of Chinese diplomacy
—and it will be well, judging of his policy out
there from his own revelation of it in his last de-
spatches to the Imperial Government, it will be
well for France, for the Allies, for Europe, if he
do not advance too far ahead at this rate for the

interests of prudence.
The Ultimatum of Shanghae, the French Minister
writes to the Imperial Government at home, under
date the 7th ultimo, has been accepted. He adds,
moreover, what we know already, but what it is plea-
sant to have reasserted thus all over amain, that an
exchange had taken place of the ratifications of the
Treaty of Tien-tsin, The exact amount of the
indemnity to be paid down to France is also par-
ticularised. It is expressed in the round sum of
30,000,000fr.-3,750,000fr. out of the 30,000,000 fr.
to be paid down in hard cash by the Chinese on
the 30th of November. And added to the intima-
tion of all this, and of the restitution already men-
tioned of churches, and cemeteries, and their de-
pendencies to the Christian population of the empire,
headed by the once more tolerated Christian mis-
sionaries—comes the supplementary announcement
that the emigration of Coolies will be henceforth
permitted by the vanquished Chinese Government.
There is another notification in regard to these
recent tidings from the late seat of war in China,
another notification officially published in the
Illoniteur yet remaining to be especially referred
to. It sets forth with a rather ill-tempered and
thoroughly irritated preamble to the effect that
" Certain organs of the English press persist with
the most inexplicable obstinacy in entertaining
their readers with accounts of fabulous spoil with
which every French soldier will return after the
pretended sack of the Imperial Palace of Pekin"—
that is, of course, the palace of YUEN-MING-YUEN.
In demonstration for once and for all of the now
indisputable fact that these same rumours
of the enormous and excessive spoil seized
upon by the French soldiers, the ,iloniteur
then gives us entire that important despatch
written upon the Bth of October by General MON.
TAUBAN, recounting in a very graphic and explicit
manner the history of the capture and of the sub-
sequent looting of that Summer Palace of the
Chinese Emperor—YUEN-MING-YUEN. In regard
to the wondrous magnificence, of which imperial
residence, writes the French General,—" It is im-
possible, M. le Marechal, for me to describe to you
the wonders of this Imperial habitation. Nothing
in Europe can convey an idea of such luxury.

shall not attempt to describe its splendours in these
hasty lines." While we are yet waiting for the
detailed description of the palace itself and
its treasures, a description that will in all
human likelihood come to hand in our next
China despatches, it is gratifying to know now for
an absolute certainty that French and English
have shared and shared alike in the distribution of
the gorgeous spoil thus secured by the Allied
armaments.

The " triangular duel" of Hungary, Venetia,
and Austria still continues with vigour, Austria of
course occupying the obtuse angle in the affair, and
receiving the fire from both the other angles. Very
different indeed are the weapons at the command
of the two provinces in their fight with the old
archducal province which has so long domineered
over both. Yet, imperfect as their equipment
is, the two against one may prove too
much for the one, Hungary is strong in
herself, in her numbers, and ber legal and
tradititonal rights ; Venetia, strong in her right
also, but makes up for smallness of population by
being part of the 24 millions of Italians who have
GARIBALDI for a general, and VICTOR EMMANUEL

for a constitutional King; and also by the convic•