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

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 9, 1'69

called upon to rule. Monarchical predilections are
on the decline among the Spaniards—Republican
ideas are in the ascendant. It is clear enough,
at the same time, that the establishment of
a Republic, pure and simple, so close at
hand, would be eminently repugnant to
the feelings of the Emperor NAPOLEON. A NAPO-
LEON, will think seriously, however, we may be quite
certain of that, before interfering in any way directly
with the dynastic arrangements or the national
wishes of the Spanish people. The solution to the
problem which has now to be worked out must be
arrived at by that people themselves. It will be so
arrived at in due course of time, we may rest as-
sured—now—in this age, which is expressly the age
of non-intervention.

TO-DAY the first meeting of the Conference on the
Eastern Question takes place at Paris. All the
Powers who were party to the Treaty of 1856 will be
represented by their Paris Ambassadors, under the
presidency of the French Foreign Minister. An
envoy from Greece will be admitted, but will
not be allowed to vote, nor, according to the
latest accounts, to make any proposition.
His part in the deliberations will be confined
to debate—to the defence of his Government and the
advocacy of its interests. Thus, with a pretty clear
understanding that no very decisive agreement will
be arrived at, the representatives of the Powers have
at last been brought together. After infinite difficulty
they have agreed to meet on the foregone conclusion
that nothing very serious be attempted. Each
State has entered upon this negotiation more or
less as an interested party, each desirous of
avoiding certain contingencies, and none wholly
devoid of sympathy for one of the two disputants.
The preliminaries have therefore been so surrounded
by safeguards, that the Conference, at the utmost,
can only avert immediate war ; it can neither settle
the difficulty which has become so threatening, nor
avert the danger of an appeal to arms. Such a per-
manently pacific issue could have been secured only by
enlarging the province of the Conference, so as to open
questions which none of the parties was willing to dis-
cuss. The root of the present quarrel could be reached
only by involving all those conflicting interests which
make up the Eastern Question. The rupture between
Turkey and Greece has been brought about by an
attempt on the part of the latter to extend its domi-
nions at the expense of the former, and it is only
by a definite arrangement of the boundaries of
two States that the Powers can finally avoid a con-
flict. The destinies of Crete must be disposed of,
and the territory on the mainland finally appor-
tioned. The insurrection in Crete, which has been so
long fostered by Greek aid, is but the first of a
series of attacks upon the integrity of the Porte.
Greece wishes to expand into an Hellenic Empire,
and unfortunately some of the larger European
States are interested in repressing, others in encou-
raging this ambition. An attempt to settle such a
question, which is, besides, but one phase of the
Eastern difficulties, would have turned the Con-
ference into an abortive debate between hostile
Powers. Hence the deliberations are to be
restricted to the immediate cause of the
present rupture, The latest acts of Greece,
not the principles involved, are to be brought
before the European tribunal. It will consider
whether Greece ought to disperse the bands of volun-
teers now organised for the further invasion of Crete,
whether the blockade-runners should be disarmed, or
at least forbidden to enter a Greek port, and whether
the unhappy Cretans who have emigrated to Greece
should be allowed to return in peace. The more
important points at issue between Turkey and her
troublesome neighbour will be wholly left out of the
discussion. So careful have been the Powers of
avoiding anything likely to give trouble, that they
have refused to consider whether Greece ought to
give a pledge not to violate international law for the
future.

Such is the mission of the Conference, which,
according to Prince NAPOLEON, is sure to be
successful, because it will be so useless. From the
nature of the preliminaries, it is clear that the meet -
nig is but a makeshift. It is true that a discussion
on the Eastern Question in general would have
involved all Europe in angry dispute, if not in war ;
but it is not less true that the meeting which
is arranged can have no lasting result.
It is to decide what has already been
decided. The points submitted merely amount
to a consideration whether Greece for the present
shall be forbidden a threatened breach of interna-
tional law; the future is left wholly open. Public
opinion has already pronounced on the present policy
of Greece, and the ambassadors who meet to-day
will only officially register a foregone conclusion.
There can be no doubt that neither of the two
parties believes in the efficacy of this arbitration.
Both have given unequivocal signs of a desire to
settle the dispute by the sword, and each evidently
concludes that the present is the best time for
action—Turkey because delay may cause the
interference of Russia, Greece because the
risk in case of failure is nil, whilst the
chances of a long and desultory war are considerable.
It is not a reassuring sign that throughout these
negotiations Turkey has been by far the most
intractable party. Its consent has been gained
at the last moment after an obstinate re-
jection of various unpalatable proposals. The
Porte is now seeking to negotiate a large
loan on almost any terms, and is rapidly
mobilising her troops. Greece, on her part, is not
inactive. It is by no means certain that the
Conference will be successful in preventing the
collision. It is quite certain that its greatest
success will be to temporarily avert it. But it is satis-
factory to find that the general disposition of the
Powers is against war. Should the reconciliation be
impossible, the conflict will not be more than a duel
between Turkey and Greece.

AMONG the social questions which have been dis-
cussed during the present off season co-operation has
come up. It might have been thought that such a
history as that which we describe in another column,
the history of the realisation of what was sarcastically
called " the weavers' dream," would have effectually
settled the question as to whether co-operative societies
can be made successful commercially. Yet this is by
no means universally admitted. Mr. DIXON, one of
the members for Birmingham, mentions that where
one society has succeeded ten have failed. The cause
of the failures which he assigns shews that there is
no necessity for them. That cause is simply the want
of proper management. Men have formed an
association to supply themselves with certain
articles, but having no knowledge as to the best
means of purchasing these articles, have bungled,
and the result is that the members of the association
are worse off than they would have been if they had
still continued to pay the grocer the high prices he
demanded. Yet the difficulty was susceptible of an
easy remedy. It was necessary only to obtain the
services of some competent man as a manager, and
all would have gone well. It may be argued that in
that case the co-operators might just as well have kept
to the grocer, since he was nothing more than a com-
petent manager, doing for them the very work which
they wanted done. But this is not so. The grocer who
has a large shop expects something more than the
remuneration which would be given to a manager.
Not only would he need a higher payment for his
time, but he would expect a profit son his capital, and
it is just this which, under the co-•operative system,
goes into the pockets of the purthaser instead of
into that of the seller.

Another objection to co-operrition hp g more force.
It is urged that co-operation selects the safest
articles, destroys all profit on them, and so makes it
impossible for a retail dealer to live; except by the
sale of articles for which there is no t an established
demand. This objection applies pal 'titularly to the
drapery business. Here we find thaw` certain goods
are indispensable, and a sure profit is n;ade on them ;

but a large number of articles involve such great
risk, that were it not for the first the draper could
not venture to invest in the second. Moreover,
co-operation avows that one of its objects
is to abolish competition. But competition
stimulates invention, and if the first is de-
stroyed the second will follow. Yet it is upon
invention that the wages of a large number of our
working class depend. Therefore the inference is,
by encouraging co-operation working men are
really doing a suicidal act, for they are stopping the
wages fund at its source. This seems logical enough
as a piece of reasoning, but then we believe that the
premise is wrong. We disbelieve the statement that
the " risky " articles cannot be sold except in con-
junction with those on which there is a certain profit.
In all large towns there are shops in which only what
we may term fancy goods are sold—muslins, silks,
lace, and the like—shops in which it would be im-
possible to purchase long-cloths and sheetings.
One chief result of co-operation can be obtained
without co-operative stores. The present system of
shopkeeping is essentially objectionable because the
shopkeeper makes the honest purchasers pay for the
dishonest. He reckons that he will have so many
pounds of bad debts during the year, and, in order
that he may get a fair return for his capital, he claps
the amount due from the defaulters upon the bills of
those who pay, not of course directly, but indirectly
in the shape of high charges. This is manifestly unfair
and unsound. In the first place, credit is essentially
bad, and should be restricted as much as possible.
In the next place, so long as the honest have
to pay for the dishonest, the trader will
be careless in looking after the latter class.
Thirdly, a trader who gets his money imme-
diately can afford to charge less than when he has '
to wait for it. There is therefore no reason why
there should be a feud between shopkeepers and
co-operation. If they will, as is now so largely
done in London, agree to allow substantial discount
to all members of a co-operative society dealing
with them (of course on the inexorable condition of
cash payments), both parties will gain—the seller by
getting more purchasers, the buyer by getting his ,
fair discount in addition to the better attendance
which is offered to him at the shop than at the store,
where he has often to make a sacrifice of time that
fully counterbalances the gain in money.

LATEST INTELL EGENCE.

(REITTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

ITALY.
FLORENCE, Jan. 9.
Further disturbances took place yesterday in the
provinces of Ferrara and Bologna.

to the spirit of the world. By the latter class the
characters of holy men are systematically blackened.
Christ prepared His followers for this. "Shall the
disciple,' he said, 'be greater than His Master.'
If he be called Beelzebub, shall ye not be also ?'
Gregory VII., Boniface VIII., St. Thomas
of Canterbury, are all instances of this.
Worldly historians portray them as violent, ava-
ricious, or overbearing. Those of the Church re-
present them as, what in truth they were, inde-
pendent and fearless servants of God. St. Thomas
is held up to odium as arrogant and seditious, as
resisting the lawful authority of the king, and a
traitor to his country. The truth, as recorded by
the Catholic historian, is that he did his duty to
God and the Church as a simple servant of Christ."
The right rev. prelate then proceeded at some
length to argue that the'strength of the (Catholic)
Church lies in her Sacraments, and not in any
human agency. After which he proceeded to say—
" No better example of the withering influence of
undue exercise of human authority in ecclesiastical
matters can be given than the present state of
Constantinople, as contrasted with Rome. The first
Christian Emperor, as the ancient writers assert,
by the special inspiration of God, and, moved by
a sense of Christian fitness, which prevented his
exercising supreme authority in the same city as
the Vicar of Christ, withdrew his Court and Go-
vernment to the shores of the Bosphorus, and
raised Byzantium, then an insignificant marine
village, to the dignity of the imperial capital.
Rome, abandoned by her rulers, became the prey
of the barbarian hordes, but still held fast by the
faith. Constantinople became the seat of empire,
and little by little the Imperial power paralysed the
action of the Church. The Empire put itself into
contention with the Holy See, and the Patriarchate
of Constantinople fell under its influence—fell,
first into heresy, then se,hism, and, lastly, into the
worst of Erastian bondage ; its synods and its
office reduced to slavery, as we see to-day in the
Greek Church, than which no more terrible in-
stance of internal corruption exists. Let us turn
to Rome for the contrast. Rome, having ceased to
be the Church of the martyrs, continued to be the
Church of the confessors. She was troubled by the
rulers of the world, by feuds of rebellious nobles,
and by the divisions of the anti-Popes. She was
driven into exile, but she fought and won the
battle of her liberties, for faith gives freedom, '
and the freedom of the Church is the
best safeguard of the purity of faith. Another I
example, my brethren—and a sadder one—exists,
and nearer home. It is one I scarcely like
to allude to on a day of joy and peace and festival
such as this, lest I should sadden the hearts of my
hearers. It is the contrast of England and Ire-
land. England, in her imperial might, gifted with
all the powers which earth can give, but separated
for three hundred years from the centre of unity,
presents, as regards her religious aspect, a spectacle
so profoundly sad, I will not dwell on it. Who can
calmly look at the state of religion among our se-
parated brethren, endowed as so many of them are
with the noblest gifts of heart and mind, but de-
prived of the truth and unity of Christ ? Not by
their own fault. Three hundred years have passed
since the dLed was done. It was not theirs to create
or choose their position, and they know not what
they do.' But what is the state of the Anglican
Church ? Trammelled by statutes, fettered in its
doctrinal decisions, internal coherence does not and
cannot exist for it. All is confusion and internal
contention. Ireland, on the other hand—poor, per-
secuted, and proscribed ; her sanctuaries deso-
late, her priests offering the Adorable Sacrifice in
the hill-side chapel open to the winds of heaven,
where the mud pravement is the only flour on
which the worshippers may kneel—through all her
poverty, her desolation, her proscription, has held
fast to the faith pure and inviolate she derived from
Rome—the cause for which St. Thomas died.
When our own forefathers first received the faith
the Saxon Church was free. With the childlike
simplicity which distinguished their race they fell t
at the feet of the messengers of the Gospel and
adored Christ and the Holy Trinity, and framed
their laws in exact conformity with the spirit and
letter of the canons of the Church, to which they
submittted heart and soul. St. Thomas was
well versed in the laws of England. Bred up
in their study and traditions, none knew better
than he what were the limits of the kingly power
in matters appertaining to the Church. When
the Norman Conquest brought a new dynasty
to reign over England, the ancient laws remained
still in vigour, and the Norman kings, when
they wished to infringe them, only pleaded ' Norman
customs,' not law, as the excuse for their excesses.
Henry 11. himself never ventured to appeal
to the laws, but to the Norman usages, thereby con-
fessing the injustice of the claims he was attempt-
ing to enforce., and by which he forbade the Church
to excommunicate without his consent, to elect her
own bishops, or to appeal to Rome. The Crown
claimed, too, the control of Church property and
patronage, so that at one time the king held in his
hands four bishoprics, and nine abbeys, and many
other benefices and canonries, keeping them vacant,
to the spiritual destitution of the people. Then
came the great and terrible change by which henry
VIII. swept away the laws and liberties of the
Church, and with them those of the people ; but
the cause of St. Thomas lives on. Then it was
a far-off frontier of the Church, now it is the heart
of Christendom itself. Then it was the liberty of
a single see that was menaced, now it is the inde-
pendence of the Sovereign Pontiff himself—the
supremacy of the Holy See and its freedom, or
or what we aow call the temporal power. Let us profit,
my brethren, by the lesson which is taught us by the
life and death of St. Thomas—in the first place, that
of fidelity or loyalty to the letter and spirit of the
Church. Let us learn from him that spirit of
generosity which scorns subterfuge, .or barter, or
compromise, and without which we are cowards.
Let us learn from him the spirit of fearlessness—
that spirit of Christian courage which casts out
the fear of the world and the desire of favour,
which cannot be bought, bribed, or intimidated.'
Having urged upon his hearers the important duty I
laid upon them of restoring the "desolate sanctuary' I
of St. Thomas at Rome, the Archbishop concluded
as follows The present time is one of great
auxiet. Great as was the triumph the Church
achieved last year, everything indicates that the
struggle is only suspended. The enemy was, in-
deed beaten back from the very gates of Rome, but
clouds are again gathering beneath the horizon,
and the tempest may break again upon the Holy
City at no distant period. Let us, then, prepare
for the conflict ; let us be confident of victory, and
let us putin practice the lessons which St. Thomas's
example has taught us—the lessons of loyalty, of
fearlessness, and reliance on God, and on the
prayers which he offers before Christ crucified for
the Church and the Vicar of Christ, and, for the
land, and for the people he loved so well.

THE EXCELSIOR MUSICAL SOCIETY.--The mem-
bers of this excellent society assembled last evening at the
George Hotel, Aldermanbury—the president, Mr. J. Gil-
lard, Occupying the chair. The programme contained one
or two novelties, the chief and meet praiseworthy being a
new ballad by the veteran Horncastle, the pianist to the
society, entitled, " The Bridal Morn of May." It was
entrusted to Mr. Henry Gillard, who sang it with so much
taste and expression that ho not only succeeded
in eliciting loud applause for himself, but a general con-
gratulation for the composer, who accompanied him. Mr.
Haynes was not quite equal to Arditi's "Stirrup Cup ;"
neither did Mr. Johnson quite do justice to Wallaeo's
"Bell Ringer," and had each gentleman been less ambiti-
ous a better result would have been obtained. Mr. Whit-
field gave a very sweet old song by Arne, and Mr. Pratt
sang " Her bright smile haunts me still" very nicely, but
he would have improved it very much had ho infused a
little more warmth and feeling into it. Mr. Cantle gave
Dr. Leslie's song, "Four Jolly Smiths," in such capital
style that it became one of the features of the evening..
There were, of course, some recitations, but, with the
single exception of "The Charge of the Light Brigade,"
they were dull and pointless. Mr. C. Lynes attempted some-
thing about " Poor Pheaton," but as far as c.mld be beard
it was poor, weak, and ridiculous twaddle. If variety in
the entertainment is required in the programme, why not
organise an instrumental quartette party ; that would be
far preferable to bad writing and worAo reading, and a
step in an onward direction. However, improvement is
developing itself slowly but surely amongst the members,
and when vulgarity and absurdity have found their level,
as in the natural order of things, they both must, the
Excelsior, thanks to the persevering efforts of the com-
mittee and Mr. Hatch, their active secretary, will be one
of the bast musical societies in London.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, FRIDAY, January 8.

Mdlle. Marie de Gentelles has won the favour of the
Pope by a book, in which the luxury of the present gene-
ration of women and the practice of spending extrava-
gant sums in adorning the person are denounced in strong
terms. His Holiness does not believe in too much educa-
tion for women, but he decidedly disapproves of the ex-
treme recklessness in expense which seems generally
to be the result of ignorance. He has written a letter to
Mdlle. de Gentelles, highly applauding her work, and
bestowing upon her his paternal blessing.
Some eighty sat down to a grand dinner at the Tuileries
last evening. The company was composed chiefly of
Ministers, Ambassadors, and Generals.

The Marquis de Moustier remains, I am sorry to say,
in a most alarming state. The last account says that he
passed a quiet night, but it is not able to affirm that he
is any better. Prince Napoleon also is still very ill.
Of another invalid I can give an exceptionally gooa
report. The long-suffering Duke of Brabant is decidedly
better, so much so as to greatly strengthen the hope
which has been entertained for some time of a
permanent cure. The Memorial Diplontatique confirms
my intelligence on this point. It says that the
hopes of the doctors are founded principally
on the circumstance that the young patient has passed
through the most critical period of the disease. " The
doctors had feared the effects of the winter, which would
have obliged the Prince to remain shut up in heated
rooms, without being able to breathe the pure
external air, and that thus the oppression under
which he labours would be intensified ; but the
mildness of the present season, which permits the frequent
ventilation of his apartment, has dissipated that dread,
and the nearer we approach the spring the more progress
the amelioration promises to make." The same paper, I
may add, comes out with one of those extensive
budgets of news which every now and then astonishes
the world. It says that the Cabinet of Florence
sounded the French Government respecting the occupation
of Rome, the accession to power of the Marquis de
Lavalette being thought a convenient opportunity for so
doing. The Chevalier Nigro, is said to have replied that
the Imperial Government felt itself at present,
as previously, bound by the formal engagements
taken by the Minister of State to the Chamber
on the sth December, 1867, and which acquired
a double importance from the vote of the Legislative Body
ratifying them. The Memorial Diplontatique, however,
asserts that the question will again be brought before the
Corps L6gislatif—though what good that will do I cannot
divine. The Corps Ljgislatif, on a matter of polity of
this kind, will only register the decision of the EmNror,
whatever it may be. Further, the übiquitous journal
casts a doubt on the prospects of a marriage
between the King of Bavaria and the Czar's daughter. It
says the negotiations are at present suspended because
the orthodox party is opposed to the Princess embracing
the Catholic religion. It is hardly necessary to remind
your readers that the announcement of the Princess's in-
tention to change her religion has already been made, and
has not been contradicted.

Finally, the Memorial Diplomattque goes at length into
the arrangements for the Conference which is to meet
here to-morrow. It says that all frivolous and irritating
discussion will be eliminated from the debates, and whilst
the diplomatists will strictly confine themselves to the
programme based on the demands of the Porte, they will
try to exhaust it in one sitting, at the end of which a
committee will be appointed to draw up a protocol
destined to give satisfaction to Turkey. At the second
sitting the representatives will be invited to sign this
document, which will lay down V- e line of conduct to
which Greece must conform. " Therefore, the fifth point
of the ultimatum, which Greece rejects as too vague and
without practical signification, will be replaced by a bi-
lateral engagement under the control of the protecting
States, and one of the principal difficulties that could
impede the progress of the deliberation, will be speedily
smoothed down." This is an important bulletin of intel-
ligence, truly. One can hardly refrai❑ from the query,
where did the Memorial Diplomatique get it all from?
On the eve of New Year's Day the number of letters
passing through the Paris post office was ten times t'
average quantity.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-THIS DAL