The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-04 00:00:00

THE RITUAL JUDGMENT.

" St. Alban's Clergy House, Brooke-sheet, Holborn

E.C., Feast of the Circumcision, 1869.
"My dear Lord Archbishop,—I beg to acknowlet..,,,
with many thanks, your Grace's very kind letter of
December 29, which has since appeared in the Times
newspaper. The subject of it is one which deeply
concerns many, both clergy and laity, and not
myself alone ; it is, moreover, at this time the
matter of their most serious deliberation. Under
these circumstances, I feel sure that your Grace will excuse
me from entering into any detailed discussion of the
question. I cannot, however, close this letter without
specially thanking you for the great personal kindness
and consideration which I have received from your Grace
during the last ten years.—Believe me, my dear Lord
Archbishop, yours very truly and respectfully,
" ALEx. llpnroT 111ACROSOCHIE."

11IR. J. S. MILL ON WORKING-CLASS
REPRESENTATIoN

--.~ss--

I The following correspondence has passed between Mr.
G. Howell, who unsuccessfully contested the borough of
Aylesbury at the late election, and Mr. John Stuart Mill :
"Dear sir, be preased to accept my warmest thanks for
your generous contribution of £lO towards my election
expenses at Aylesbury. The fact that I polled nearly
a third of the constituency proves how thoroughly Libe-
ral the borough is. I was only able to
go to the poll
through the kindly help of those friends to Liberal
movements who are always ready to aid every good and
useful cause. I wish I had been successful, to have had
the honour of placing the seat at your disposal.—l am,
dear sir, your obedient servant, GEORGE HOWELL. To J.
S. Mill, Esq."—Dear sir, I cannot leave unacknowledged
the concluding sentence of your letter. If you had been
returned for Aylesbury, and had made the public-
spirited offer of retiring in my favour, I could not
possibly have accepted it. I attach far too much im-
portance to the representation of the working classes—in
same cases, at least, by the elite of themselves—to have
consented to put myself in the place of one of them if he
had been fortunately elected. The defeat of all the
working-class candidates, and of most of those of any
other class in whom the working classes take especial
interest, would have made my presence in the House
of Commons of far less use than it might perhaps
have been if I had been one of a phalanx of men of
advanced opinions, I hope the working classes will
learn from their fli'esent failure a lesson of organisation ;
and, as the Liberal party can never succeed at a general
election without their active support, will henceforth make
such support conditional on being allowed an equal voice
in the selection of the Liberal candidates, so that where-
ever a constituency returns two members, one of them may
be a man designated by and specially acceptable to the
Liberals of the working classes. I am, dear sir, yours
very truly, J. S. 11111114—To Mr. George Howell."

I NEW YEAR'S TREAT .AT THE CHTUREYS
HOSPITAL.

3 I On Saturday the little patients in the Children's Ilospi-
tal, Great Ormond-street, Queen-square, enjoyed a New-
Year's juvenile f&te. A more touching sight there can
scarcely be than a company of sick children, and nearly
4. one hundred such little ones were gathered together on
this occasion. Kind and thoughtful friends had provided
t! for their enjoyment and amusement, and the hearts of
g I those present were gladdened by the merry shouts of
4 laughter that rang through the wards where the patients,
4
2 except those seriously ill, were collected to witness the
2
wonderful exploits of "Mr. Punch" and his obedient
little dog " Toby "—the latter being a clever animal eight
4 years old, belonging to Mr. Cremer, jun., of Regent-street,
6 who, as in previous years, kindly provided the entertain-
ment gratuitously. Some of the children were lying in
their neat little cots, which were ranged across the ward
so as to command a view of all that was going on ; other
6 little ones were placed on couches near the fire ; others,
again, were held in the arms of the nurses, who really
seem to love the children as they would their own ;
while the low seats in the foreground were
filled with convalescent children and others who
came to visit them. One poor little fellow, suffering
from St. Vitus's dance—scarcely able to remain still a
minute—attracted much attention and sympathy. After
tea and some singing of Christmas carols came the
distribution of presents. The allotment of toys, dolls,
puzzles, waggons and horses, boxes filled with all sorts of
good things, books, and knickknacks of various descrip-
tions caused unqualified delight. The name of each
recipient was attached to the gift he was to receive, and
the eyes, full of eager expectancy, directed to Mr. Clement
D kes, the house surgeon, who discharged the duty of dis-
tributor, told of the interest excited by this part of the treat.
Many of the poor children who had been under treatment
during the year and sent home well were invited to the fête,
and every one of them carried home some memento of the
visit. The wards were gaily decorated with evergreens,
worked into festoons and suitable devices by the willing
hands of the ladies who kindly superintend the nursing
department. A considerable number of the subscribers
and friends of the charity were present, and all joined
heartily in singing the National Anthem, which, with
three cheers for her Majesty the Queen and the Royal
Family, who have always evinced much interest in
the hospital, brought the children's New Year's treat to a
close.

THE ARCHDEACONRY OF WESTMINSTER. —Dean
Stanley has conferred the Archdeaconry of Westminster,
vacant by the preferment of the Venerable C. Words-
worth, D.D., to the bishopric of Lincoln, upon the Rev.
John Jennings, rector of St. John the Evangelist, West-
minster. Archdeacon Jennings has been rector of St.
John during the long period of thirty-six years.
THE MURDER OF A GIRL NEAR WIGAN.--On
Saturday, at the Sessions Court, Wigan, before Messrs.
Lamb and Knowles, county magistrates, Thomas Jones,
a collier, who had been apprehended at Halifax on
suspicion of being concerned in the murder of the little
girl Annie Houghton, at Ackhurst, near Wigan, on the
15th ult., was brought up on remand. As there was not
gufficient evidence against him he was discharged.
TESTIMONIAL TO SIR DANIEL GOOCH, M.P.-_
The officers and brethren of the several lodges of Free-
masons in the province of Berks and Bucks have raised a
handsome fund for the purpose of presenting a testimonial
to Sir Daniel Gooch, M.P., who was recently chosen Grand
Master of the Province. It has been arranged that the
presentation shall take place at the Swindon Lodge, and
it is anticipated that there will be a large and influential
assemblage of Freemasons on the occasion.
HOLBORN VALLEY IMPROVEMENT. —At the top of
Holborn-hill to the south of the new street leading from
the New Market to Holborn building is being actively
carried on. The abutments of the viaduct, which will span
the middle of the valley, are being raised to their proper
height. On the edge of the foot pavement, which the via-
duct will cover, lofty massive pillars of highly polished
granite will be erected, of a handsome and elegant appear-
ance. They will be constructed with single blocks of stone,
and will taper towards the top. The effect will be deci-
dedly pleasing.

CHURCH EXPENSES.—The Bishop of Rochester
has given his opinion that the best course to adopt in the
matter of Church expenses would be to follow the old
rule of making an offering on entering the church. The
collection should he made in a bag, so that the gifts may
not be exposed to criticism. This plan answered at Kid-
derminster, for £9OO a year was collected in three churches.
As an average the sum has never varied, from ]857 to the
present time. The bishop is against the system of seat
rents, which he thinks tends to appropriation, and keeps
the poor from contributing their share.
THE SOLAR ENVELOPE.—The sea of fire round
the sun is subject to great changes of apparent level and
abrapt irregularities; but whether these changes argue
the transmission of actual matter from one height to
another, or whether they only argue irregularity in a heat-
producing agent, is still an open question. Probably,
however, we cannot go far wrong if we imagine that this
sea of fire is frightfully tempestuous in the ordinary sense
of the word. This is confirmed by the photograph of one
of the red flames taken by Major Tennant during the late
eclipse, which exhibits traces of a structural and even
spiral form, giving the idea of an actual carriage of
matter.--The Engineer.

TELEGRAPHS IN RUSSIA.—The first telegraphic
lines were established in Russia in 1853, and ran from St.
Petersburg to Moscow, Cronstadt, Warsaw, and Kwnigs..
berg. With the establishment of this last, for which a con-
vention was signed with Prussia, began the international
correspondence with the other States of Europe. Since that
time the network has united the most important towns of
Russia to each other. In 1865 there were 61,450 versts
(five-eighths of a mile each) of telegraphic lines, with
323 stations ; in that year 1,647,375 telegrams were s
Among the lines which are not yet terminated is that
which is to go to America, through Siberia, and which
cannot be finished before 1870. In the year 1865 a tele-
graphic communication was established with Persia, and
this is now continued ,to India. A telegraphic sta-
tion is established at Pekin, and is beginning to over-
come the aversion felt by the Chinese Government for the
telegraph,

The roliowing is the reply sent by the Rev. A. ii..
Mackonochie, to the letter received from the Archbishop
of Canterbury on the subject of the late decision of the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council :7-