The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-09 00:00:00

MI?. GLADSTONE ON AMERICA.

A Mr. Lester, of Third Avenue, New York, has had a
correspondence with Mr. Gladstone as to his opinions on
the American war. He seems to have forwarded to him
for his perusal a work entitled " The Gloxy and Shame of
England." Mr. Gladstone's reply as follows is published
in the Kew York Times :

" 11, Carlton-house-terrace, August 8, 1867.
" Sir,—Your letter of November 30, 1866, arrived in
London while I was on the continent of Europe. I did
not receive it till the time when the session of Parliament
began, and I then postponed replying to it in the
hope that by a careful perusal of the work you were
so good as to send me, on " The Glory and Shame of
England,' I might qualify myself to shew, that if not
worthy, I was at least sensible, of your kindness. I have
not yet completed that perusal, in consequence of the
heavy pressure of public duties on my time. But I have
read a good portion of the work, and with great interest.
I am quite satisfied of the justice of its intention
toward my country. lam not so satisfied of the uniform
justice of its execution: But I am aware that arrogance
and self.confidenze are among our national faults ;
that we require to he taken down—so to speak—
by the estimates that others form of us ; that the more
-plain-spoken those estimates are, the better for us ; and
that even if they occasionally err on the side of
severity, *e shall not seriously suffer by the error,
while we may and ought greatly to gain by the criticism
in general. All such criticisms should help every English-
man individually who is called upon to discharge public
duties in forming a strong and earnest resolution
to discharge them with the aid of the Almighty to
the best of his feeble powers. • For this help, I, on my
own part, sincerely thank you. I must also thank you
for the favourable and friendly tone of all such
notices as I have met in the work. They are much
beyond my desert. With respect to the opinion I pub-
licly expressed at a period during the war, that the South
had virtually succeeded in achieving its independence, I
could not be surprised or offended if the expression- of
such an opinion at such a time had been treated
in your work much less kindly than the notices I
find at pages 529-533. I must confess that I was wrong,
that I took too much upon myself in expressing such
an opinion. Yet the motive was not bad. My
' sympathies' were then where they had long before been,
where they are now--with the whole American people.
I, probably like many Europeans, did not understand
the nature and working of the American Union. I
had imbibed, conscientiously if erroneously, an opinion
that twenty or twenty-four millions of the North
would be happier, and would be stronger (of course
assuming that they would hold together) without the
South than with it, and also that the negroes would be
much nearer to emancipation under a Southern govern-
ment than under the old system of the Union, which had
not at that date (August 1862) been abandoned, and which
always appeared to me to place the whole power of
the North at the command of the slaveholding
interest of the South. As far as regards the
special or separate interest of England in the matter,
I, differing from many others, bad always contended that
it was best for our interest that the Union should be left
entire. Forgive these details on a matter which has now
lost its interest. I have only to conclude by renewing my
thanks, and by expressing my most earnest desire that
your country, already so great, may grow, prosper, and
flourish more and more, for its own benefit, and for the
benefit of the world.—Believe me, sir, yours, &c.,
" W. E. GLADSTONE."

At Glasgow, a house proprietor has been con-
victed of giving in false statements to the city assessors
as to the yearly value of certain houses belonging to him.
He was fined by the sheriff in the penalty of £5O, or,
failing payment, imprisonment for three months.
THE NEW YEAR.—If Europe could be but
thoroughly satisfied that peace rests upon a firm basis, and
that capital might securely lend itself to great undertakings,
spring would probably usher in a revival in the commercial
as well as the natural world. Most of the potentialities of
a properous time remain with us. The generel impression
seems to be that we have passed the worst stage of stagna-
tion. To go forward with courage born ofe faith is our
highest wisdom. In this spirit we may welcome with
hearty and hopeful greetings the new-born Eighteen
Hundred and Sixty-nine.—lllustrated News.

A threatened strike amongst the colliers of South
Yorkshire has happily been averted. The Council of the
Trade Association against, it is said, the general feeling of
the men, have come to the conclusion that in view of the de-
pressed state of trade throughout the country it cannot re-
commend the members of the association to take any further
action to obtain the advance. It directs, therefore, that the
question shall be allowed to rest for the present, in the con-
fidence that when trade revives the coal owners will return
the 5 per cent. in the same spirit in which it was conceded
by the men in May last. This resolution the secretaries
have communicated to the masters. •

HEIRS WANTED. —The Scotsman mentions the
death of one David Patullo, a native of Scotland, who
emigrated to New York many years since, and died a few
weeks ago, leaving a fortune of three-quarters of a million
dollars. Mr. Patullo made his fortune by selling whisky
at a place called Cobweb Hall, at six cents a glass. He is
not known to have any relatives, and the public adminis-
trator is about to take steps to appropriate his estate to
the commonwealth. One of the peculiarities of the deceased
was a superstitious reverence for cobwebs, with which his
premises were literally festooned, and none of which he
would suffer to be removed.

SONG AND SERMON. —lt is noted that the obser-
vations by Dr. Vaughan respecting the Established
Church, a few days since, had a curious peroration. The
occasion on which they were delivered was an annual
congregational tea for all classes of the parishioners, of
St. George's, Donc%ster, at which ecclesiastical
parish matters are enlivened between the speeches by
solos and madrigals from the choirs. Dr. Vaughan,
according to his usual custom, made the speech of the
evening, reviewing in detail the parochial events of the
past year, and diverging towards the end into the remarks
which have been so much quoted respecting the possible
decease of Church Establishments. At the close of the
proceedings the local journal relates with unconscious
gravity, " The choir then sang Who killed Cock Robin ?'
after which Dr. Vaughan closed the meeting by a few
seasonable observations on the uncertainty of human life."
THE LATE SIR HERBELT EDWARDES.—The fol-
lowing resolution was passed by the Secretary of State for
India in Council on Thursday last :--" 12e:iolved by the I
Secretary of State in Council (ncneine contrachccnb) that
the death of Major-General Sir Herbert Edwardes,
K.C.8., K.C.S.T., has closed a career of great usefulness
and of great distinction. His earliest achievements
twenty years ago, secured the special recognition of tl;e
Court of Directors of the East India Company and of her
Majesty's Government. His last services deserve no
less signal an acknowledgment. The Secretary of State
for India in Council, in deploring the loss of so devoted and
valued a public servant, feels it a duty to signify his
sense of the ability, daring, and resource which Sir
Herbert Edwardes displayed in times of great difficulty
and of great peril. He desires further, by the creation of
a monument to the memory of this most distinguished
officer, to attest his high appreciation of the example
which Sir Herbert Edwardes has left to all the servants of
the Crewn in India." - •