The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-10 00:00:00

ME7 ROP 0L I TAN G 0 S.V 13— 7 hztrsday

Some years ago when Prince Napo' i n male
celebrated Ajaccio speech, which drew down upon him the
wrath of the Emperor, one of his confidential advisers in
Paris asked me if I could direct public attention to this
speech, as his Imperial Highness was very anxious to
make a tapage. There was no need of any assistance to
produce that result. The speech made " row" enough in
all conscience, and led to his Highness's eclipse for some-
thing like four years. lam reminded of the incident by the
fact that the Prince has made another and still more re-
markable speech, and that this time he has not only incurred
no rebuke, but is by common consent looked upon
as the coming man should his cousin succumb to the
" rheumatism" which is now twinging every Bourse in
Europe. The Prince who was thus prematurely anxious
to get talked about is a very able man. In face he is the
very image of his famous relative the First Napoleon ;
but he is much taller. He has frequently visited England,
and took part in the festivities of the International Exhi-
bition of 1862. He is 47 years of age to-day, and his marriage
with the Princess Clotilda, daughter of the then King of
Sardinia, was the first move of that diplomatic game
which led to the victories of Magenta and Solferino, the
establishment of the Italian Kingdom, and the " revendi-
cation " of Nice and Savoy. Prince Napoleon held an
important command in the Italian war of 1859, but he
contrived to be just in time to be too late for the final
battle. I was travelling in Italy at the time (finding
it, by the way, extremely difficult to get out of
the country, all the railways being seized by the Govern-
ment for the conveyance of troops), and I well remember the
ridicule which was poured down upon Prince " Pion-
pion," as he was nicknamed. He is certainly more of a
statesman than of a soldier, for not only was he late at
Solferino, but he threw up his command in the Crimea.
Should he come to the throne, I suspect that one of his
first acts will be to withdraw the French troops from the
Papal States, and allow his father-in-law and the Pope to
arrange matters by themselves.
Was Mrs. Stowe's article on Lord Byron intended to
make a tapagel If so, the purpose for which it was
written ihas been entirely fulfilled. A new manager
or conductor of that publication has signalised
his accession to the editorial chair of Mac-
millan's Magazine by an event which has brought the
September number to a fourth edition within a week of
publication. It was rather a bold stroke. When the
announcement of the article was first made the solicitors
of Lord Byron's representatives waited upon the pub-
lisher and besought him that it might be stopped.
When he refused their request they endeavoured to get
a legal injunction, but were unable to do so.
And thus the terrible narrative saw the light, and
thus everybody is reading it, and everybody is denouncing
its authoress. I never remember such a unanimity of
opinion on a question of ethics. In the United States,
where the article appeared at the same time as in Eng-
land, the condemnation of Mrs. Stowe is far more vehe-
ment and emphatic even than in England. Speaking of
Macmillan, I may call attention to Mr. Grove's article in the
present number of the magazine, " The New Testament
under a New Aspect." It will, as he says, startle many
persons to know that the story of the woman taken in
adultery recorded in St. John's Gospel is not found in
either of the three chief manuscripts, the Vatican, the
Alexandrine, and the Sinaitic, nor indeed in any manu-
scripts until the middle of the sth century. How it
got into our English Bible, is a question which Mr. Grove
has not answered.

In connection with the Byron sandal I may mention
that the remarkable article which appeared in the Times
on Monday week, aeccepting all Mrs. Stowe's state-
ments, was written by the Hon. Mrs. Norton.
It was written during the absence of Mr.
Delano, and but for that circumstance would
probably not have appeared. At any rate there appeared
a few days later in the same paper a leading article of a
very different purport, and admitting that there was a
good deal to be said on the other side. Let me add here
that the authorship of the famous letter by " An Amateur
Critic," on " Formosa," which appeared in the Times, is
attributed generally to Mr. John Oxenford. This may
seem remarkable, considering that Mr. Oxenford is the
regular dramatic critic of that journal, and that in that
capacity he had spoken favourably of the play. But, here
again, it was necessary to effect a modification in order to
harmonise with the popular tone. One scandal drives
out another ; and Mr. Boucicault has been put into the
shade by Lord Byron.

Have any of your readers noticed the large number of
lady writers now writing in the magazines ? " Gone over
to the women" is the cry raised afresh nearly.every month
by some jealous males. For instance, at the present time
the .St. James's Magazine is edited by Mrs. 'Liddell,
authoress of "George Geith;" the Argosy is edited by
Mrs. H. Wood, authoress of " East Lynne," mid both
ladies are writing several tales in Tinsley 's Magazine;
Miss Yonge, authoress of the " Heir of Redclyffe," is
editing the Monthly Pueet. Airs. S. C. Hall
assists in editing the Art Journal.- Mac.
milieu's Maga:iae contains, besides the article by
Mrs. Stowe, "A Brave Lady," by Mrs. Craik (Miss
Muloch), authoress of " John Hal ifax ;” " Estelle Russell,"
by Miss Olney; "Children's Literature," by Miss Yonge ;
" Lady Duff Gordon," by the Hon. Mrs. Norton. The
story in Temple Bar, "Red as a Rose is She." is by a
lady. Miss A. B. Edwards is the authoress of the principal
story in Good Words, " Debenham's Vow." Miss
Emily Davies has an article in the Centensporary
Review, which used to be par excellence a man's magazine.
The writer of the article on "Bells," in the Churchman's
Shilling Magazine is Miss Stothert, of Bath. Nor is this
the only field in which women are elbowing men out of
the way. The first are now competing with the second
for private secretaryships. The private secretary of Sir
Charles Lyell is a lady, who is preparing a popular edition
of his great work. Sir Francis Goldsmid, M.P. for
Reading, has a lady secretary, known in the literary world
as the translator of Schleiermacher. Who will now say
that women are deprived of their rights?
Relating to magazines I may mention that Mr. Edward
Spender will have *an article on Defoe in the
October number of Meliora, and that Mr. Towns-
bend Mayer's story in the Churchman's Shilling
Magazine. " The Trials of Margaret Brandreth,"
will be brought to a close in the October
number, and will be succeeded in November by a short
story from the authoress of "Son and Heir "and " Kings-
ford." Mr. Mayer will probably retire from the editorship
of this magazine shortly, and will in that case transfer
his services to another periodical of a similar character.
He will be accompanied by several of the present
contributors to the first-mentioned monthly. The
change is induced in some measure by the dissolution
of partnership which takes:place between Messrs. Houlston
and Wright. the publishers of the magazine. Mr. Houlston,
sen., died a abort time ago, and Mr. Wright leaves the
firm. The latter gentleman has given a large sum for the
copyright of Ince and Gilbert's outlines of history.
There are about ten of these little volumes including the
histories of England, France, Scotland, Greece, Rome,
&c.. and the sale of some of them has been enormous.
That of the first, I believe, is about 400,000, and the
Sultan of Turkey has recently ordered 500 copies. A
history of Ireland is to be added to the series.
Still on literary subjects, I may state that the author of
the tourist's sketches of Switzerland in the John Bull is
Mr. Cobb, whose interesting articles ou Russia, which
appeared some years ago in the Western Morning News
and the Churchman's Family Magazine attracted a good
deal of notice at the time. Another item is that the
Partnership between Messrs. Elliott and Vizetelly, pro-
piur
rieto.
Rrs
oboifnEsocnh, of Oxford, oes of the Clubs,
efubs, has been dissolved, and that
no longer writes for that paper.
Another is that the penny Conservative journal Britannia
has been purchased by Mr. Chambers, of the 'English
Churchman. Lastly, let me call your readers notice to the
the interesting article on. " Alnwick Castle" in this
month's Art Journal. ,
Of new books I have not much to say this week.
Russia appears to be the favourite country for
literary travellers just now. While Mr. Hep-
worth Dixon is travelling in one part of the empire,
and Sir Charles Dilke in another, Mr. M. D. Conway, a
frequent contributor to the Fortnightly Review, has fore-
stalled them, and will very shortly publish his notes.
Mr. Maclear's volume in Macmillan's Sunday Library,
" The Apostles of Miditeval Europe," is published to-day.
Messrs. Longman and Co.'s announcements for the new
season include an illustrated edition of the Lord's Prayer,
by P. It. Pickersgill, R.A., and the Brothers
Dalziell ; " Fairy Land," a child's book, illus-
trated by Richard Doyle the " History of
the Norman Kings of England," by Mr. Thomas Cobb ;
the concluding volumes of Mr. Froude's " History of the
Reign of Elizabeth ;" a new biography of Albert Purer,
by W. B. Scott ; new editions of Aristotle's Ethics and
Hume's works ; a book of travels in the Pampas of South
America, by Richard Seymour ; a -Welsh history by Jane
Williams ; " The Mythology of the Aryan Nations," by
George Cox ; " The Geology of England and Wales," by
Mr. D. Mackintosh, P.G.S. ; Students Manuals of Irish
and Indian history, the first by M. F. Cusack, the second
by Col. Meadows Taylor;" The Lif eand Letters of Faraday,"
by Dr. Bence Jones, and the " Life of Oliver Cromwell,"
by J. A. Andrews. Finally, in this department of my
letter I have to record, with regret, the death, from fever,
of Mr, Edward Wood at the early age of 30. Mr. Wood
was the author of " Curiosities of Clocks and Watches,"
"Giants and Dwarfs," and " The Wedding Day in all
Ages and Countries," and was a joint author of the
"History. of Clerkenwell." His writings were certainly
not very original, but they displayed muck industry.

Ecclesiastical matters come next upon my list. Th e
translation of Bishop Wilberforce_ to Winchester is

now taken for granted on all sides, and the income,
it is added, will be £10,509, or more than that of
London. In reality, the income will be £7,000. It may
fairly be asked if the Church would not have been better
served by the division of this enormous diocese, and a
division of the old income. The see of Winchester in-
cludes the whole of London south of the Thames,
except, I believe, Stratford, which, being in
Essex, was transferred to the diocese of Roches-
ter when Dr. Claughton succeeded Dr. Wigram.
It includes also Surrey, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, and
the Channel Islands—a jurisdiction clearly beyond the
capacity of one man, be he even as efficient as Dr.
Wilberforce. There is still nothing definitely stated
about the new Bishop of Oxford, but I have heard nothing
to alter my belief that the Master of Balliol will be chosen.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells has now definitely resigned,
so that Mr. • Gladstone has virtually three mitres to
bestow. Bishops Gilbert and Phillpotts make no sign,
and it is understood that the latter, at all events, means
to continue the administration of his huge diocese from his
bedroom at Torquay. I have not yet heard who will
succeed Lord Auckland, hut I believe Mr. Gladstone
will on this occasion select a Cambridge man, the new
Bishops of Salisbury, Winchester, and Oxford being
Oxonians. Among those whose names are most in favour
are Canon Cooke, of Exeter; Dr. Barry, formerly Head
Master of Cheltenham, and recently appointed Principal of
King's College, London ; Dr. Thompson, who succeeded
Dr. Whewell as Master of Trinity College; and Archdea-
con Bickersteth, the Prolocutor of the Lower
House of Convocation. Canon Miller would stand
a good chance if it were not for the fact
that it is the Cantabs' turn to have a
mitre. In making his appointments Mr. Gladstone will
be guided by the prevailing theological tone of the diocese.
Salisbury is an essentially High Church diocese, and
therefore the selection of Dr. Moberly for that see was
appropriate. Bath and Wells is not very pronounced on
either side, saving that Bath is almost entirely under the
control of Simon's Trustees, and, therefore, ao far as that
city is concerned, a Low Churchman would be
preferred. It is possible, however, that Carlisle will fall
vacant before long, and that Dr. Miller may be reserved
for that diocese which is, perhaps, next to Manchester the
most thoroughly " evangelical" in the kingdom.
The Ritual Commissioners have not yet finished their
labours. But they have agreed to recommend a new
Lectionary, the division of the services, short services on
week days, so that men of business may attend them, and
an alteration in the Burial Service. They have not
entered upon questions of doctrine, but in selecting new
lessons have taken the advice of the Divinity Professors.
They have also determined to call attention to the sale of
livings and to the scandal caused by the non-retirement of
aged and incapacitated incumbents.
The site for the new Roman Catholic cathedral has been
bought, but Archbishop Manning has determined that he
will not lay a single stone until he has sufficient funds in
hand to make great progress with the work. Another
Roman Catholic prelate well known in Rome, Mgr. Nardi,
is now in England, and has just been establishing in Ken-
sington a confraternity of Peter's pence.
Of art matters the principal topic is the International
Exhibition of 1871. The preparations are now so far
advanced that the publication of particulars is authorised.
'Me exhibition will be held in South Kensington,
opened on May 1, and closed on September 30. It will
be the first of a series. The articles exhibited will be of a
less miscellaneous description than in previous exhibitions,
and will be confined to the most important products of
our own and other countries. A certain space will
he allotted to each nation exhibiting, and English
Commissioners will select from the articles submitted to
their choice. There will be no prizes, but every exhibitor
will have a certificate stating that he has had the privilege
of admission. There will be ten distinct classes, and each
year will be more especially devoted to a special class.
Eighteen hundred and seventy-one will be a fine art year.
Subsequent years will be devoted to mechanical inventions,
manufactures, &c. Thus every years's exhibition will be
different until 1881 brings round again the same class as
will be exhibited in 1871. The site of the Exhibition will
be on the ground originally purchased by the Commis-
sioners of the Exhibition of 1851. There will be a glass
cloister on three or four sides of the Royal Horticultural
Gardens communicating with the Albert Hall, which is
now fast approaching completion. Thus Mr. Cole will
once more have the pleasure of seeing Albert Land
thronged with a motley crowd of all nations.

I mentioned in a former letter that this had been one
of the worst years ever known for artists, and yet it has
been the best year ever ever known for the chief of our
picture exhibitions. In 1868 the sum taken at the doors
of the Royal Academy was about £ll,OOO. This year it
was nearly £20,000. The receipts averaged nearly £250 a
day. There are to be two winter exhibitions this year,
one as before at the Dudley Gallery (Egyptian Hall), the
other close by, at the Old Bond-street gallery. The latter
exhibition is being got up by the gentlemen who opened
the supplementary exhibition of rejected pictures.
Still on art matters, I may mention that the Queen has
presented to the Royal Academy the bust of herself,
execßted by the Princess Louise ; that Mr. Durham has
completed the Leigh Hunt memorial, which will be opened
on October 19, and that the omnivorous South Kensing-
ton Museum is going to devour the National Portrait
Gallery.

A very bold inventor, Mr. G. W. Jones, of Essex-
street, Strand, occupies nearly a column and a half of the
smallest type in the Times to describe a marvellous pro-
ject which he styles "Universal Penny Railways." The
principal features of his scheme are that all the main
lines running from London shall be trunk lines ;
and on each of them, at the most convenient
positions, and averaging about sixteen miles apart,
a turnpike or stop-station will be erected. Every
passenger, at starting, will pay one penny (or 3d. second
class, or Gd. first class), and for that payment he will be
conveyed as far as the first turnpike or stop-station (alight.
ing at any intermediate station) on the trunk line. if the
passenger proceeds beyond the turnpike or stop station he
has to pay again (the same toll, ld. or 3d. or Gd.), and
pursues his journey to the next turnpike or stop station,
with the right of leaving the train at any
intermediate station ; and so on throughout the
entire length of the trunk line. The third class
passengers will not have tickets, but will merely pass
through a turnstile and deposit their pennies on passing.
As this class is two-thirds of the whole number of pas-
sengers, a considerable cost now incurred in printing,
issuing, and collecting tickets will be saved. The
railways will become the property of the nation,
so that there will be no intricate cross accounts
to be kept. There will be fast trains run-
ning at double the ordinary speed, and double the
ordinary fare. There will be no excursion trains, the
ordinary fare being so low as to render them unnecessary.
As it would not be possible to purchase the whole of the
£500,000,000 worth of railways at once, Mr. Jones would
have the Government buy up the Irish lines, and also a
few of the pi incipal English lines, such as those from London
to Holyhead and Edinburgh. • Mr. Jones is clearly a firm
believer in his plan, for his advertisement in the Times
must have cost him some £25.

Lovers of the Christy Minstrels may like to know that
the Christy Minstrel Hall at St. James's Hall, London,
has been newly decorated, and has new scenery. Among
other miscellaneous topics I may mention that the
Seyssel Asphalte Company are now laying down one of
their pavements in front of the War Office ; that Mr.
Benjamin Edgington, the well-known tentmaker has just
died, leaving a very large fortune, and that there is likely
to be a very sharp contest for the Lord Mayoralty of
London, on account of Mr. Lawrence's intention to offer
himself for re-election. As Mr. Lawrence is M.P. for
Lambeth, his friends think that it will be useful to have a
Lord Mayor who will be in the House of Commons when
the proposed reform of the metropolitan corporations
comes on.
Mr. Gladstone is gone to Raby Castle, to stay with the
Duke of Cleveland, and so an end is put to the rumour
of his serious illness.

MISCELLANEOUS NEIVS.