The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-30 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 30, 1869.

have been, by the terrors of the law. lie Emperor
gazes beyond the frontier and sees every cause
for satisfaction in the course of events.
The New World suppresses slavery, "England doe

greater justice to Ireland, and from the assembled
Catholic Bishops at Rome they need only expect a
work of wisdom and conciliation." Further on, the
progress of science brings nations together, and
America joins the Pacific with the Atlantic by a
mighty railroad, while France and Italy are about
to clasp hands through the tunnel of the Alps, and
the waters of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea
mingle already by means of the Suez Canal.

It was observed by a captious critic that France
had nothing to show in this list of achievements, and,
doubtless, many persons may coincide in this view'
but there is yet time for the past to be retrieved
in a great measure, only the opportunity must
not be lost. The last years of the EMPEROR'S reign
may yet be the most successful of his erratic course ;
but for this to be it will be necessary for him to
be more straightforward, and his people to have
more patience. Perhaps the hardest work of all
lies with the Deputies, and they have indeed great
cause for consideration. If they are too hasty a
general confusion may ensue, while, if they are too
tardy, France may lose a good chance of securing
her liberty to a greater degree than she has
enjoyed for a generation at least. It may be that
the Emperor NAPOLEON has met the French Cham-
bers for the last time, his health is precarious
and the prospect of affairs by no means encouraging,
but it is also possible that he may be spared to re-
main at the helm of affairs for some years to come.
The course of events is beyond his control, but if he
a anxious that history should speak well of his name
he must rouse himself, even though it be at the
eleventh hour, and take a steadfast and determined
line of action. If so, he may more than fulfil the
hopes of his friends, and disappoint the expectations
of his enemies ; and his Speech of November, 1869,
will hereafter be looked back to as the beginning of
a new era, the Hegira of the liberties and the progress
of Constitutional France.

WE have the pleasure of announcing another
advance in the way of cheap communication. A
postal convention has just been signed by which the
cost of transmitting letters between England and
France has been reduced to the extent of about one-
half. The rate has been lowered from 4d. to 3d.,
and the weight which can be sent for this
sum has been increased from a quarter
of an ounce to ten grammes. The quarter
ounce represents a very little more than seven
grammes, so that the weight which will pass muster
is nearly one-third greater, whilst the rate is one-
fourth smaller. Thus there will be a material saving
upon the vast correspondence between the two
countries, whilst the necessity of using paper too thin
to bear legible writing will be obviated. This at
once simple and beneficial change has, like
many others of the kind, been long under
consideration. It appears that the authorities on
both sides the Channel made no great difficulty about
the price, but the weight gave rise to an obstinate
controversy which has endured some three years.
The English Office would not take the ten grammes'
weight as the standard, and the French were equally
resolved to have no dealings with our own darling and
absurd half-ounce. They pointed out that the English
avoirdupois system was as much unknown in France
as the Ancient Briton style of reckoning by copper
rings; whilst, on the other hand, the French weights
are known in England, and, indeed, it has long been
a question whether we should not adopt a similar
mode. The French is a decimal system, and repre-
sents progress ; the English is an irregular system,
and represents backwardness. Whether we adopt deci-
mal weights and measures for ourselves or not, there can
be no question that the French plan is the best, it was,
therefore, unreasonable to expect our neighbours to give
way in any compromise of the kind between the two
countries. It is quite time to abandon the notion that
absurdities become sacred because they are English.
The authorities in this country have at length
awakened to this truth. The ten grammes' weight
is to be the standard of postage between the two
countries; and thus we get the formal recognition of
a decimal measure in England. It may he added
that the French copper coin of ten centimes—the
French penny—weighs ten grammes.

A CENTRAL PRESS telegram has informed us that
the Ultramontanes have carried 80 out of 1-54 seats
at the elections for the Chamber of Representatives in
Bavaria. This victory has been followed by a Ministe-
rial crisis, and a change of Government is imminent.
It is not often that Bavarian politics present any fea-
ture of great interest to Englishmen, but the issue
of this electoral contest is of more than usual moment.
The Ultramontanes, who have returned a majority
of 80 against 74, are the anti-Prussian party of
Bavaria. They call themselves the Patriotic party,
and are united to preserve the complete independence
of their State, and to repel all Prussian control over
South German affairs. Their ranks are recruited
from the clerical Ultramontanes, and from the
" Particularists," who are more purely and simply
opposed to the movement in favour of a united Ger-
many. The Liberals, who have been beaten—though
they muster a respectable minority of 74, are made *
up of two shades more or less favourable to German
unity. There is yet a third party, the Democrats,
who are anti-Prussians like the Ultramontanes, but
from the very opposite reason. The Democrats are
in favour of a Federal Republic. They have not,
however, returned a single candidate, and for all
practical purposes their party may be considered
extinct. Thus the fight for power is confined to the
Ultramontanes and Progressists, the former having
the advantage, though not so decisively as to permit
the taking of liberties. But it is sufficient that they
have a more or less complete control over Bavarian
affairs. Their supremacy in the most powerful
South German State signifies that the movement in
favour of one authoritative power in Germany will,
for a time at least, be arrested. Prussia has already
a considerable influence south of the Mein ; it will be
the Ultramontane policy to prevent the extension
of that influence. Of course not even Count
BISMARCK would think of further conquest in
Germany, but it is quite certain that he
entertains the project of converting the Southern
States into Prussian satellites. It is equally a matter
of course that the Ultramontanes should strenuously
oppose this progress of the Protestant power.
Whether the present result will be a gain to the
world, is a question to which there are two sides;
but the Bavarians have, at all events, the right to
decide their own fate.

Two soldiers of the 45th Regiment, named Sad-
ler and Davis, have been found guilty by a district
court-martial, presided over by Major Mould,
R.E., at Chatham, where the men were stationed
with the depot, of a serious offence—robbing a
comrade named Haw of £3 10s. This money Haw
had saved up in order to enjoy a furlough. He put
it into his boot for safety. He treated three com-
rades at the canteen. On his return to his barrack-
room he was set upon, a blanket was thrown over
his head, he was " garotted," and his money was
stolen from his boot. Three men were tried for
the offence, but one, Marshall, was acquitted. The
other two were sentenced to 12 mouths' imprison-
tnen t with hard labour, and afterwards be put under
stoppages for the repayment of the money taken.
Major-General Freeman Murray, commanding the
district, has approved the finding and sentence.

The very extensive Distillery now being erected
at Belfast, with all recent improvements for the manufacture of
Irish whisky, by Messrs. DUNVILLE & Co., who have gained
a world-wide celebrity for their fine old Irish whisky, is to be
called "The Royal Irish Distillery."

LEIIGII WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

MORNING. EVENING;
TUESDAY. `.)O min past 11 48 min past 11
WEDNESDAY 0 min past 19 l2 min past 12
DIVADAY l2 win pascl2 5 min past 1

STBANGE,STOBY FROM INDIA;

Another snr-gver , the Cawnpore massacrd ties, ac-
cording
to the Indian ,Daily News, just been discovered.
Brigadier Sir Hugh Wheeler, who was in command at
Cawnpore at, the time of the liAd two grown-
up daughters. These wore both with him when he was
besieged with the garrison at Cawnpore. On the ar-
rangomerat of terms of capitulations with Nana, the
besieged were conducted by him to the 'river, under pre-
tence of assisting their escape by embarkatiOn. What
actually took place there is a matter' of history. The men
were butchered; and meanwhile the ladies were kept in
confinement. After the mutineers had finished their work
of blood at the ghaut, they fell upon the helpless women
and children, whom they had reserved for a worse fate.
It is needless to suggest how the ladies wore treated ore
they met a merciful deliverance by death. It is known
that one of Wheeler's daughters bravely met her fate,
facing death direct rather than fall into the hands of the
wretches about her. She flung herself into a well. The
other was reported to be missing. Her remains were never
found nor heard of, and the impression was that she must
have suffered the horrible mutilation and death which befell
others at that miserable period. nut it now appears that sht
survived, and is alive at the present time. She survived th,
massacre of Cawnpore, and has lived tho twelve year,
succeeding it; and for aught that appears to the con-
trary may see another score of years. We have said that
the Government must know of the case, and the reasons
for this opinion are the following;—Mr. C—, an official
of high position, while on a tour through his division,
had occasion to encamp near a village called s—.
While there information reached him that the missing
daughter of Hugh Wheeler was in the keeping of a petty
Rajah in the neighbourhood, who came in under the
amnesty, and thereby deprived the gallows of a legitimate
victim. Mr. C— managed to send a verbal message to
Miss Wheeler to the effect that if she wished he would re-
move her from her present position, and restore her to her re-
latives and home. Al issWheeler sent a written reply, in which
she told Mr. C— that she had been for nearly twelve
years living with a native in the degrading position of an
inmate in his harem, had children by him, and could not
muster the moral courage to face one of her own kind,
letting alone her relatives. She wished to be entirely for-
gotten, and to be permitted to remain unnoticed, or if thought
of at all, "to be remembered as one in the grave."

THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND
THE ABOLITION OF TESTS.

A very influential meeting was held on Monday after-
noon at St. John's College, Cambridge, for the purpose of
considering the question of the abolition of university
tests. It was confined to the masters, resident fellows,
or ex fellows of colleges, or university and college officers.
Dr. BATESON, in openixg the proceedings, said that it ap-
peared to him, and to many others, that the time had come
when those in the university who were in favour of legisla-
tion for the removal of tests should confer together, and, in
case there appeared to be sufficient agreement among thcm
should have an opportunity of making their views known
to the Government. He must say that, much as he desired
legislation on this subject, he should almost deprecate such
a measure as the permissive bill introduced last year by
Sir J. Coleridge. He felt that while on the one hand it
could afford but a temporary halting-place, and must be
a step to further legislation, it world disturb the peace
of the university, and give rise to much acrimony and
heartburning. It would place in an awkward situation
many who, while they desired, or at any rate had come
to acquiesce in, and feel the necessity of a final measure
of tests abolition, were reluctant to embark in such a
course of internal agitation as would become necessary if
the permissive bill were passed. A different scheme had
been proposed in the House of Lords by Lord Carnarvon ;
but ho believed that that scheme, interfering as it would
in a sweeping and violent way with the constitution of
colleges, would encounter much greater opposition in Cam-
bridge, and be found to work much worse than a simple
measure abolishing tests.

The Rev. Dr. THOMPSON, Master of Trinity, moved the
following resolution:—" "That the time has come for
settling the question of university tests ; that the mode in
which this question is dealt with in the Permissive Bill in-
troduced by Sir J. Coleridge is open to grave objection;
and that any measure designed to effect such a settle-
ment should include an enactment that no declaration of re-
ligious belief or profession shall be required of any layman
upon obtaining a fellowship, or as a condition of its tenure!,
He said ho believed that they were all convinced that,
while no sufficient cause could be alleged for retaining tests,
there were many reasons of justice, of expediency—he
might almost say of necessity—for their immediate abo-
lition. Agreeing entirely with the views expressed by
the chairman as to the probable result of Sir John
Coleridge's bill, he would point out another very pos
Bible and very undesirable consequence. The col-
leges would avail themselves of the facilities afforded
by the bill in very different degrees and ways. Some
would leave the present tests untouched; some would
partially abolish ti em, and others remove them entirely.
The result of this might be that the new element would
be concentrated in one or two colleges, who thus, in conse-
quence of liberal and unsectarian intentions, might become
practically sectarian. On the other hand, he felt sure
that if tests were abolished in every college at once, the
result would be the substitution everywhere of a tolerant
for an exclusive spirit.
The Rev. Professor SEDGWICK rose to second the resolu•
tion. After giving an account of the share he had himself
taken in the previous agitation, dating back more than
thirty years, and illustrating the extreme bitterness with
which the question was once discussed, by quoting from a
Tory journal of the period the epithets of " sceptic " and
coxcomb," applied to him in consequence of his exertions
in this cause, he went on to say that the restrictions on
fellowships existed but as the wreck of a former age, were
out of harmony with our political Constitution, and
opposed to the fundamental view of the universities. Fears
were expressed as to the possible predominance of Dis-
senters. His only feeling was, that when Dissenters formed
so large a portion of the nation, and included, he would
add, so large a portion of the intellect of the nation, if
they could predominate there they had a right to predomi-
nate. For his pert he had no fears.

Some little discussion was raised by Mr. SEDLEY TAYLOR
as to the wording of the resolution. it was ultimately de-
" person" for "layman," with
cided to substitute the word

the view of leaving the question of clerical fellowships
altogether untouched. Thus altered, the resolution was

I assed unanimously.

Dr. CAnTELL proposed the second resolution, which was
to the effect—" That a committee should be appointed to
embody the opinions expressed in the previous resolution
in a memorial, and that this memorial should be forwarded
to the Prime Illinister." The Master of Christ's, alluding
to the bitter feeling which had been aroused in past years
upon the question of tests, hoped that the subject would
be treated with calmness,
The Rev. Professor MAURICE, in seconding the resolu-

DEPRIVATION OF A •CIERGYMAN:

The Dean of Arches gave judgment 'on Monday in the
suit instituted against the Rev. James John Merist, vicar
of Upton, Snodsbury, by the secretary of the Bishop of
Worcester for simony, and for having been guilty of a

libel to extort money. The defendant did not appear. The
Dean of Arches pronounced him disqualified to hold a
living within the province of Canterbury, and declared the
presentation he had held to be void. He regretted that
the three persons who had been connected with the charge
of simony were all clergymen of the Church of England,
and condemned the defendant in costs.

THE PROSECUTION OF THE REV. JOHN

.PURCHAS.

The prosecution instituted by Colonel Elphinstone
nominally, but by the Church Association really, against
the Rev. John Parches, tho inc:imbent of St. James's
Chapel, Brighton, for Ritualistic practices, was resumed
on Monday before Sir R. Phillimore, Dean of Arches.
Mr. J. Stephens, who, with Dr. Tristram, Mr. Archibald,
and Mr. B. Shaw, appeared for the promoter of the suit,
addressed the court in a long and elaborate argument.
Vestments, he contended, were from the year 1571 down to
the year 1612, regarded as the symbols of an idolatrous and
abolished worship, and as being utterly alien to the simplicity
and spirit of Christian worship. The Canons in force from
1603 all decreed that in reading the prayers and adminis-
tering the sacraments, a surplice, and a surplice only
should be worn ; and it was, said the learned counsel,
Very doubtful if the minister in an ordinary parish
church had any right to wear his academical
hood over his surplice, though, of course, he might do so
over his pulpit gown. Tho Savoy Conference was next
referred to, and it was pointed out that the Nonconformists
having objected to none being able to officiate in parish
Churches who dared not to wear the surplus, the Bishops of
the Church defended its use. They certainly did not
advocate the reintroduction of vestments, but argued that
the rubric ought to remain as it was.
The Dean of Arches : What answer do you conceive the
Bishops made to the objection of the Nonconformists that
the continuance of the rubric as it stood would tend to the
re-introduction of vestments ?
Mr. Stephens : The Bishops treated the objection as one
of little weight.
The Dean of Arches : You know of no definite answer
that they made ?
Mr Stephens replied that he did not, and passed on to
review the judgment which the Dean of Arches had given
in the case of "Martin v. Mackonochie," which he said
confirmed the view he had urged, that from 1566 down to
1662 the advertisements were treated as part of the
statute law of the land. The rubric of 1662 ordered the
retention of the ornaments in use by the ministers of the
Church at the time of the Act of Uniformity, provided, as
the learned counsel contended that they were also mentioned
in the first book of Edward VI.
The Dean of Arches : I suppose, Mr. Stephens, you will
presently address yourself to the judgment in the case of
" Liddell v. Westerton."
Mr. Stephens : I think, my lord, that case has nothing
to do with the present. That case did not deal with the
ornaments of the minister, but of the church.
Ills Lordship read a passage from the judgment in ques-
tion to shew.ths.t the Privy Council held that vestments
were ornaments of the church as well as of the minister.
Mr. Stephens then proceeded to argue that from 1662
down to the present time the surplice had been con-
tinuously recognised as the proper garment to bo worn by
the ministers of the Church of England, and quoted from
a number of visitation articles to shew that the Archbishops
and Bishops were constantly inquiring whether the
ministers in the different parishes were obeying the canons
in that respect. Ho noted as a curious fact that
Fuller, Bishop of London, not only asked if the clergymen
of the churches in his diocese wore the surplice during the
reading of the prayers and the administration of the
Sacraments, but also inquired if they wore a gown for

preaching.
The Dean of Arches: Whore he got his authority for the
gown from I do not know.
Mr. Stophons : The question so appears in the visitation

article.
The Dean of Arches asked Mr. Stephens if it was not on
all hands conceded that there were no visitation articles
in which vestments were ordered to be worn. The first
mention that was made of the use of vestments in a
Bishop's pastoral was, he believed, in one by the late
Bishop of Exeter, some twenty years ago.
After some furtiver discussion, his lordship said he
thought Mr. Stephens might assume that from 1662 down
to a time within present recollection no ordinary had
ordered that vestments should be worn, and, as a matter
of fact, from 1662 down to a few years since they had not
been worn.
Mr. Stephens, continuing his address, argued that the
mixture of water with the wine used in the celebration of
the Eucharist was illegal, as was also the practice adopted
by Mr. Purchas of standing before tho Holy Table
lu: frig the whole time of celebration. Ho then
quoted authorities to substantiate the charge of the in-
troduction of the "Agnus Dei " before the reception by the
congregation of the Eucharist, which, he argued, was
totally opposed by the rubric. He then referred to
the charge that on a certain day the rev. defendant
had allowed the Holy Table to appear without the
covering appointed by the Prayer Book, which was a clear
breach of canon law. The performance by Mr. Purchas of
a mortuary celebration was another of the practices
charged against him.
The Dean of Arches : The prayer for the soul of the
departed of which you complain was introduced in the
ordinary Communion Service, was it not?
Mr. Stephens : It was,
The Dean of Arches : I do not see how that can be
justified.
Mr. Stephens then examined the charge which alleged
that Mr. Purchas had held high celebrations of the Eucha-
rist on certain saints' days not inserted in the Prayer-
Book. On the subject of processions in which incense
was used, and a cross, banners, and candles were carried,
the learned counsel contended that they were altogether
excluded from the rubric. Such ceremonies were clearly
illegal even if they did not take place until after the com-
mencement of morning prayer. These processions, as
explained in the book entitled " The Ritual Reason Why,"
were symbolical, and as such were denouncd by the Church.
Until lately they were never seen in Protestant
places of worship. The singing of the Te Deum after the
evening service, with the " crucifer " standing in front of
the altar, was, it was contended, an introduction that was
illegal, as was also the use of what is known as " the
pascal taper," placed on the floor, on the epistle side of the
altar.
Dr. Tristram addressed the court on the illegal use of
the vestments worn.—His Lordship said the argument cut
both ways. He knew of no authority for the use of the
" back gown."—Mr. Stephens said it depended on the ser-
mon.—Sir R. Phillimore said he would consider the case.
Some of the charges were important and some very trivial.
Judgment reserved.

Mr. T. B. Burcham, one of the magistrates at the
4outhwark Police-court, died on Saturday, in the 61st
year of his age. He received his appointment in 1856, on
;lie death of Mr. Gilbert Abbott a'Beckett. The nomina-
tion of a successor rests with the Home Secretary.
Four Pawnee Indians were lately convicted of
ourder at Omaha, United States. Two of them subse-
[uently escaped from gaol, but one of the fugitives
cropped his blanket in his flight, Veeling sold without it,
:le returned to the gaol to look for it, and liatl ipfedily
recaptured.

A fierce snowstorm has prevailed at Chicago and
extended throughout the North-West, It lasted for forty
sours, and did serious damage to the telegraph wht§. The
storm on the Lake has never been exceeded in fury, the
sea running to a tremendous height, and the snow and
ice being completely blinding.

The Odessa Messenger publishes a letter wrltteii in
:he name of Luka Woukalowitch, the famous chief of Her-
zegovina by his son. It totally denies the authenticity of
the various proclamations, and letters attributed to bim,
stating as evidence of their inaccuracy that the chief
cannot even sign his own name.

The New York Times accept 3 the honours paid
in England to the remains of Mr. Peabody as in part a
compliment to his country. The differences of opinion
which have existed between these nations ought not, it
to render us insensible to the homage now paid to
us, or to the good feeling which prompts so many tributes
of affection and admiration for a man who was almost
universally regarded as a representative American.
A convict has escaped from Georgetown Gaol,
Delaware. He filed off his irons and dug through three
wells. Ho vas helped by outside parties, who had a car-
riage waiting. The Governor of Delaware has issued a
reward for his recapture. The prisoner had been convicted
of murder, and sentenced to be hanged on the tenth of
December.
TUE SPEAKER'S CHAPLAIN.—The Speaker has
appointed the Rev. Henry White, chaplain of the Chapel.
Royal, Savoy, to be his chaplain in succession to the very
Key. Dr. Merivale, Dean of Ely. The new chaplain was.
ordained in 1856 by Archbishop Sumner, and in 1860 was
presented to the Queen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster for nomination to the chaplaincy of her Majesty's
Chapel of the Savoy. The chaplaincy to the Speaker will
not interfere with the fulfilment by Mr. White of his duties
A5Y.44,14 §4TQYt: