The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-29 00:00:00

MON SIGNOR EAEER'S SERMON.

Directly all were in their places one of the illollahs in the
Mussulman kiosk, a grave man, with white beard and in
the holy green, commenced the proceedings by reading an
extract from the Koran. Then the Patriarch of Alexandria,
and the priests of his Church, knelt at the altar in the other
kiosk, and offered up prayers, after which the ships in the
harbour fired many volleys, and. then there was a momen-
tary stir among the crowd on the steps, and Monsignor
Bauer, as representative of the Roman Catholic Church,
o;tree forward. The interest culminated now. The whis-
pered remarks of comment or explanation which had
passed hitherto between the Viceroy, the Queen of Hol-
{and, the Empress Eugenie, and the Emperor of Austria,
toased. A great quietness, too, fell upon the crowd, and
so with the turbaned Shicks—one of whom we recognised
as having played a prominent part in the rite of the
I)6seh when the prostrate bodies of the faithful were
- dden over a few days since—gazing curiously from
one kiosk, and the gorgeous and gaudy figures of the
Greek priests gazing down upon him from the other, Mon-
signor Bauer, standing on the steps of the latter building,
began his eloquent oration. The violet beret, robes, and
gloves, the apostolic ring, sonorous voice, and appropriate
action of this ecclesiastic made his every word tell. His
reverence spoke at considerable length, and to this effect,
so modulating his voice that though the space was con-
liklerable between him and his royal hearers, not a
syllable was lost :—` The final hour has struck.
4.t length, then, the problem has been solved which
has formed the thought of ages. An era is closed. East
and West salute each other across the isthmus. Humanity
celebrates its festive day. The material grandeur of tho
enterprise we celebrate is the feature which first strikes
us; but its physical greatness is far less important than its
moral aspect. Through this channel the civilisation of two
worlds will be fused together. It is fitting now to pay
fespect to those who have brought this great work to a
conclusion."

pliments to the Khedive as the regenerator of Egypt,
to the Empress as the consistent patron of the undertak-
ing, and to the Emperor of Austria and to the other poten-
tates asscmbled, the orator paid an eloquent tribute of
respect to M. de Lesseps as the modern Columbus, to whom

the universe owed a debt of gratitude. Monsignor Bauer
wound up his harangue by an appeal to his auditors to
raise their thoughts from this union of two hemispheres to
the yet higher union between man and his Maker, and
by imploring the blessing of Providence upon the fruits of
the Canal, which he formally pronounced to be open.

TRADE AND FINANCE.

SATURDAY EVENING.

Some further steps have been taken in the matter of
the Albert Insurance Company, the liquidators having
made arrangements with the Mutual Insurance Company
to take over such lives as may not object to the transfer. A
special sale of premiums has been adopted, which appears to
be as advantageous to the policy-holders of the defunct com-
pany as could be expected. Holders of policies granted within
the last five years, and at some ages even within ten years.
will have to pay no additional premium, while in many
cases they may obtain policies for the amount of their pre-
sent assurances at even lower premiums than they have
hitherto paid. These, however, are, of course, exceptional
cases, and as a general rule the premiums payable
for insurances in the new office will be consi•
derably in excess of the old payments to the
Albert, so that the policy-holders will be proportionate
'osers. At the same time the alternative exists of reduc
ng the amount insured according to the premium paid
We believe that the plan proposed is a good one, and the
best that could be devised under the circumstances, and
one that offers good facilities to those who have no'
already insured their lives in other offices.
Advices from Paris report a very heavy fall—about EX
forces—in the quotation for Suez Canal shares. All direct
news from Egypt prejudicial to the scheme has been sup-
pressed, but the intelligence received rid London has no 4
been considered encouraging, and a decline has been the
natural result. The Canal is thought to be- far fron'
being in working order, and fears are entertained
that it will not be for a long time to come
if ever, that it will produce the revenue its promoters
thought themselves justified in promising. M. do Losseps'
speech, intimating that more money will be required—
although £16,560,000 has already been expended on the
work—has tended to depress values, and it has be-
come evident that, after all, the recent inaugu
ration cannot be considered successful, if regarded
as anything more than a mere fete. We need scarcely
remark that the recent experience of the Canal has not
raised it in the estimation of commercial circles hero, and
it is not probable that large vessels will avail themselves,
of it. In any event, sailing vessels will probably
continue to go round the Cape, in consequence of
the difficult navigation of the Red Sea, while
the number of steamers plying direct to Bombay and
the other parts of India is but insignificant. Whether the
opening of the canal will create a net' traffic remains to be
seen ; but it will probably not intereferd greatly with the
old. Hopes are entertained of a large coast,::ng trade with
the Mediterranean; but it must be recollected that Me
diterrancan tonnage is quite insignificant at present, and
there appears but little prospect of any considerable
revenue from this source. We have not yet, however, had
sufficient experience to allow us to judge of the real
capacity of the canal, and we would avoid any appearanca
of pre-judgment. We understand that the Peninsular and
Oriental Company have determined not to make use of it
for the present, but the question of insurance on vessel
passing through it, is still under discussion at Lloyd's.

The steamcr Rose, from the Clyde to London
decry, after being in collision with the steamer Cambria
from New York, has gone ashore, and is much damaged.
A telegraphic message from Nice conveys the news
of the death of Lady Blantyre, at Nice, en the evening of
Wednesday last. Lady Blantyre was the second daughter
of George Granville, second Duke of Sutherland, K.G. The
larnenti.d lady leaves a family of four daughters and au
only son, Walti.r. Ifer third daughter, Evelyn, is married tc
Sir David Baird, Bart., of Newoyth, North Britain. The
late Lady Blantyre was sister of the Duchess of Arygli, the
Marchioness of Kildare, and the Marchioness of West
minster.

Some of the clergy in Somerset intend this week
memorializing the Archbishop of Canterbury on the subject
of Dr. Temple's election. In the memorial now being signed
his grace is asked not to proceed to Dr. Temple's consecra-
tion "until such time as the said Dr. Temple shall have
made public satisfaction for public 'offence' by such retrac-
tation and disavowal as shall appear to be sufficient to the
archbishops and bishops of both provinces and tq the two
Houses of the Synod of Canterbury." The Rev. Prebendary
Stephenson is chairman of the memorial committee,