The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, ITIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 19, 1.E69.

METROPOLI7 AN GOSSlP—Thursday.

Ministers have dispersed again, and the political
prophets are free to predict what they please. One thing
it needs no prophet to tell us; there is no serious dis-
agreement among the members of the Cabinet, though the
organs of the Opposition have been hinting the contrary.
It may be that they have not yet come to an agree ment,

and that Mr. Gladstone has furnished them only with a
few principles to form the basis of future legislation. This
is probable enough. There certainly has been no time
for the elaboration of details. Moreover, we know that
the Government is waiting for statistics from Ireland.
So it may be concluded with tolerable safety that the
Premier has given his colleagues a sketch forthem to study,
and that when they meet again, which will probably be before
Christmas, he will have the benefit of their opinions, and
of the details which are being collected in Ireland.
Since I last wrote three elections have taken place, the
result in each case being what I foreshadowed last week.
The contest in the Scotch Universities is virtually over,
although the poll continues open, and Mr. Gordon has won
the seat lately occupied by the Lord Advocate. From the
first it was considered hopeless by many Liberals to bring
forward a candidate; for I know for a fact thak but
for the Conservative Government retiring from
office just before the poll closed last year, Mr.
Moncreiff would have been defeated. Mr. Gordon is
deservedly popular, and his return to the House will be
hailed with satisfaction by both political friends and foes-
On all sides I hear complaints of the selection of Mr.
Smith as the Liberal champion. Estimable no doubt he is,
but his name was scarcely ever heard of south of the Tweed
before he was chosen by the Liberal committee. A large
portion of the electors live in London, who wanted to
bring forward Mr. John Stuart Mill—a man essen-
tially suited for such a constituency, but local clan-
nishness prevailed, and Mr. Smith was brought
out to fight a losing battle. Even after he was
selected, and when a great many Liberals who were first
opposed to him consented to vote in his favour, he made
such ridiculous shifts day after day that no spirit whatever
was infused into the contest by the Liberal graduates. Mr.
Gordon's majority will be about 600, the result being a
most crushing defeat to the Liberals. As I
anticipated, young Mr. Gladstone has been re-
elected at Whitby by a considerable majority, although
his opponent succeeded in reducing the gap between them.
The new Junior Lord of the Treasury may congratulate
himself that so far he has been the only Minister
opposed on re-election since the formation of his
father's Government. The contest yesterday at Hastings
was a tough one, and at one time the Liberals
held out signs of distress. • The personal popularity of Mr.
Robertson counteracted a great deal of Liberal feeling, but
the result proves conclusively that Hastings is Liberal,
for although the majority is considerably smaller than at
the general election, it was admitted by the Conservatives
that no other gentleman would stand a chance against
a Liberal candidate. Up to three o'clock the Conservative
returns gave their own man as being ahead, but at four
o'clock they admitted being in a minority of 93, whilst the
Liberals claimed a majority of 137. By Mr. Kay Shuttle-
worth's return, another agricultural implement maker has,
been added to those already in the House of Commons-
the other two being Mr. Samuelson and Mr. Howard.
Several more elections will shortly come off—notably
Ti pperary and Waterford. Mr. Heron will in all likeli-
hood be returned for the former constituency, but who
will be the successful candidate for Waterford it is
impossible to say. The ex-member for Liskeard has
narrowly escaped being brained ; no wonder that his
usual pluck seems to have deserted him, and he has made
up his mind not to appear again before the nomination.
The writs for Lynn and Chester will be issued almost
immediately, A gentleman, writing from Lynn, tells me
that Mr. Young is exceedingly popular, but the Conserva-
tives are believed to be the strongest party. No opposition
is likely to be offered to the return of the Hon. Norman
Grosvenor for Chester, although what his merits are as a
politician remains in obscurity. However, he is a Grosvenor,
and that fact alone covers a multitude of sins. He has gene-
nously told his future constituents that when he has
formed :his political opinions he will communicate them
to the electors. And yet all classes are satisfied at the
selection. Chester must still be considered a pocket
city.

Everybody praises Mr. Gladstone's last ecclesiastical
appointment. Mr. Merivale is altogether an improve-
ment upon the septuagenarian Canon Dale. The new
Dean of Ely is an accomplished scholar, and his
recent double course of Boyle lectures on the
Conversion of the Roman World and of Northern Europe to
Christianity, excited much attention at the time that they
were delivered at 'Whitehall two or three years ago. He
is best known, however, by his "History of the Romans
under the Empire." His elder brq,ther, Mr. Herman Meri-
vale, is also a :very accomplished man, and is Permanent
Under-Secretary at the India Office. The only circum-
stance to be regretted about Canon Dale's refusal of the
deanery is that it makes no vacancy for Professor Maurice.
It.is quite possible, however, that we may yet see him hold
a stall in St. Paul's, for a prebendal stall has just become
vacant by tixo cloo.tla. of Ur. II eorwarta. It will be, not a
little singular to see Mr. Maurice attached to the
capitular body of which his old antagonsat, Mr. Manse', is
the head. The controversy between these two theologians
was exceedingly bitter, as indeed is always the case when
men discuss matters which are, and must be, beyond their
comprehension. The occasion of the quarrel was Mr.
Mansel's! famous Bampton lectures, in which he declared
that we could not know anything of God's nature really,
but conceived of Him simply as He wished us to think of
Him. Thereupon Mr. Maurice waxed very indignant,
declaring that Mr. Mansel's theory was contrary to the
idea of Revelation, and was grossly immoral. In fact this
usually remarkably sweet-tempered theologian was as
violent as Dr. Pusey or Dean M`Neile could be. The world
took small interest in the quarrel, and after it had led to
an interchange of three or four volumes, it expired from
want of fuel to feed the flame.
The special services in London are now in full force. No
fewer than sixty-three churches are taking part in what, I
suppose, may be called the High Church Revival. They
began on Sunday, when hundreds were turned away from
some of the churches for want of room, and they will con-
tinue until the 23rd. They are almost innumerable ; for
instance, at St. Alban's, Holborn, there are no fewer than
five celebrations of the Holy Communion daily. Then there
ars Matins, Meditation, Instruction, Litany (not always
Vie Litany of the Prayer-book), and Mission Services.
One of the most remarkable circumstances is the introduc-
tion of "prayer meetings," as at St. Andrew's, Plaistow ;
at St. Columba's, King,sland (where Mr. Stanton, of St.
Alban's is to officiate) ; and several other churches of an
" advanced " character. It seems as if the High Church
clergy, who were long ago convinced that frequent ,
repetitions of " dearly beloved " were not sufficient to
win the masses from heathendom, were now finding
out that even incessant celebrations of the Com-
munion will not avail, and that they must try
something else. As they have recently been sanctioning
the revival of lay orders, it is quite possible that we may
see before many years are past prayer meetings and class-
rooms distinctive features of Ritualist churches. Of course
the world scoffs at all these attempts to evangelise our
great Babylon. They say that the men and women
("chiefly the latter ") who attend these services have no
need of them ; and that those who do need them are not
there. These censors do not believe in intercession, or
forget what the Laureate has so well said—
" More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of."
I should add that the preachers in the different churches
are not the clergy attached to them, but men specially
chosen, such as Mr. Bennett, of Frome ; Mr. Body, of Wol-
verhampton; Mr. Randall, of Clifton; Mr. Clarke, of
Taunton ; and Provost Fortescue, of Perth.
I 'spent two days at Brighton in the early part of the
week, and found that all' Rotten Row had transported
itself to the seaside, that the antient Route du Itoi (which
is the original name of the unsavoury-sounding London
resort) had removed to the modern King's-road, which is
the chief resort of London-super-mare. Even Hyde Park
in June scarcely presented a denser block of carriages
than did that unrivalled esplanade which stretches along
for three miles of coast. The hotels were not only full, but
overflowing. Forty persons were turned away on one
afternoon from the hotel where I was staying. Altogether,
there were about 60,000 visitors in the place—a large ad-
dition of population to a town whose regular inhabitants
number only 100,000. The town is still increasing rapidly
and prodigiously, along the coast towards Shoreham on
the west and Newhaven on the east, and on the north
up the sides of the steep hills. Brighton has about
26 churches and over 40 dissenting chapels. The first
offer every variety of ritual. St. Paul's in West-street
used to be the most advanced in this respect; but Mr.
Wagner finds himself in some measure outstripped by Mr.
Beanlands and Mr. Perry (one of the Ritual Commissioners)
at St. Michael's, Montpellier. At both churches altar
lights are used, and the eucharistic vestments are worn.
St. Michael's is a most massive and lofty structure, built
by Mr. Gilbert Scott, and, to my thinking, somewhat
heavy. It is to be enlarged. Trinity Chapel, sacred
to the memory of Robertson, has now for its incumbent a
very young, but eloquent clergyman, named Hall,of whom
it is expected the world will hear a good deal before many
years are past. Mr. Purchas, the eccentric incumbent of
St. James's Chapel, who seems to have devised services of
his own invention, is not generally supported by the High
Church party. lie is offering no oppOsition to the suit
which is now being carried on against him in the Arches
Court, by the Church Association. This is, no doubt, very
wise, for unless he should escape by some technicality lie
could scarcely fail to lose his case, and by failing to defend
it he will, it is affirmed, avoid paying the prosecutors'
costs. On the other hand, the prosecutors have shewn
wisdom by selecting Mr. Purchas whose vagaries are
notorious, and abandoning the suit against Mr. Lowder,
who is one of the most popular and devoted of the London
High .Church clergy. In pulpit eloquence Brighton is
badly off, as badly as Bath has been since it lost the pre-
sent Bishop of Peterborough.
Quo of the moat notable reeidenta at Brighton is Kr. i

Ashbury, who stood as a candidate in the Conservative
interest last year. He has made his money in the north,
and: is spending it pretty freely in the south. He has
furnished two houses in Brighton magnificently, his dining
room sideboard alone having cost him £2,000. His yacht
is famous for the number of prizes it has won, and is a
most beautiful vessel, splendidly fitted up. It is now gone
with its owner to the Suez Canal. It seems to be thought
in Brighton that Mr, Ashbury, who was defeated at the
last election by only a narrow majority, although coming
forward at the last moment, will win the next election,
and that Professor Fawcett will have to find a seat else-
where.

From Brighton I Went to Arundel and Chichester.
Arundel is certainly very well worth a visit, though it is
to be wished that more of the Castle were shewn to
strangers on certain days of the week. As it is, you are
allowed to see only the famous old keep, built by the
Saxons, and which during the Parliamentary wars served
the Royalists to very much the same purpose as the Resi-
dency served our belcagureil countrymen in Lucknow a
dozen years ago. The view from the keep is superb,
and stretches to the Isle of Wight in one direction and
to the Surrey Hills in another. As for the town, it
makes one smile to think that it should ever have
returned a member to Parliament ; nevertheless it is
apparently as large, and certainly is a good deal more
active, than another town which I visited not long since,
at the opposite extremity of England, surmounted also by
a castle of Saxon origin, but which still retains its repre-
sentation—Launceston to wit. Chichester Cathedral I
found adorned with the finest modern stained glass in Eng-
land. Wailes, Hardman, Clayton, Bell, and O'Connor are
all represented. Inquiring for the old Bishop, I was
assured that there was not the smallest chance of his
resigning. He is still hale, and was active enough to con-
secrate a church last week in the easternmost part of his
diocese. Dean Hook I met pacing the cloisters,and looking
as portly and good-humoured as he always looks.
Recent letters from America tell me how great a
desire there is in Canada to have Prince Arthur for
sovereign. Fenianism has died out in the Dominion,
and, indeed, is not to be found now even in the
Northern United States. Having served the purpose
of Northern statesmen, the Fenians are now discarded and
despised, and so have become strong Southerners. My
correspondent tells me also the early history of the present
President. A few years ago he was a drunkard on the
streets. His friends set him up in the wood and coal
trade, but he drank away wood, coal, and credit. Then he
became a common street-hawker, carrying wood from the
place where it was disembarked into the town. Having
become somewhat more sober, his father offered him a
place in his tanyard, and there Ulysses Grant worked until
the war. That event was the making of him in eJry way.
He put restraint upon himself, and soon showed such mili-
tary skill that he rose rapidly from step to step until he
became Commander-in-Chief. Although he has given up
drinking, he is a most inveterate smoker.
The Royal Geographical Society may hope for a new
sensation before l.ong. Some time next spring we may
expect to see Mr. Hayward, who has lately reached
India after an exploring expedition in Central Asia. He
underwent great hardships, and was nearly starved. For
six months he was kept in horrible imprisonment by the
Sovereign of Turkestan, who might have cut his head
off without the prisoner's friends being any the wiser.
Mr. Hayward is not content with his experience, but was,
when I heard from India, about to start again in ordor to
fix the whereabouts of some lake which he believes to exist
in Central Asia.

One of the most successful of recent institutions in
London is the Lombard Exchange and News-room. This
magnificent structure stands at the corner of Gracechurch
and Lombard-streets, and is one of the finest buildings of
the kind in London. It was begun at the time that
Londoners seemed to have more money than they knew
what to do with. It was finished just at the very height
of the panic. No one would have it then. Even a wealthy
corporation like the Loudon and County Bank would not
venture to give the price which was wanted, so for some
time this palace, for palace it is, remained empty.
A few months ago it was determined to convert it into a
newsroom and a place for men of business to meet. It has
now about 1,600 members, and it is fast superseding that
wretchedly inconvenient place of resort, 'Change.
In newspaper matters the chief things to mention are
the forthcoming appearance of two new papers. That of
the Civilian I mentioned some months ago, and that of
the Graphic a few weeks ago. While on this subject, I
may add the following items, which may interest some of
your readers. Mr. Delane, editor of the Times, is probably
the hardest-worked man in London. He begins work about
five in the afternoon, and continues until three a.m. He
is currently reported to read every line that goes into his
paper except the advertisements, even down to the
reports ; and, besides this, there is a vast amount of
news and leaders, which, though set up, never appears,
owing to press of matter, but which he has to read. He '
has a magnificent salary ; but he takes so much
work upon himself that it is difficult to know what would
become of the Times if he were laid aside. His principal
coadjutor is Mr. Dasent, the writer on Northern antiquities.
He is a frequent leaaer-writer, and a little while ago was
able to boast that he had written one article in the Times
for every day of that year. Mr. ,Sidney Colvin has suc-
ceeded the late Mr. Burnett Payne as art-esitic of the Pall
Ma 2 Gazette, and the father of the latter-named gentleman
is a frequent writer on educational topics in the same
journal, and Mr. Dutton Cook is its theatrical critic.
Mr. Edward Spender is writing a series of articles
in the Globe on the towns cf England. Professor
Headland, of Chasing-cross Hospital, is a constant leader-
writer in the Standard, and Canon Trevor in the John Bull.
Mr. Saunders, of the Central Press, is gone to Suez to
witness the opening of the canal. The New York Asso-
ciated Press will spend two or three hundred pounds in
telegraphing an account of that event, rid England, to the
-United States.

Mr. Tennyson seems to be in the same state of uncer-
tainty respecting the title of his new poem as he was with
regard to " Enoch Arden." The title of that book was
changed several time, and it seems likely that this will be,
the case with the forthcoming volume. First of all, it was
publishersoksealls " Idylls of the King ;
ers placarded their saencnomn
sceend
sb. tThiei
en
the
bo
win-
dows with the announcement, "Mr. Tennyson's new poem,
' The Birth of King Arthur." Now it is spoken
of as "a new poem" only. Of other books I hear that a
novel will shortly be published, under the title of " Clubs
and Drawing-rooms," by an old magazine contributor, who
will use a nowt-tle-pluthe, inasmuch as he intends to show
up without mercy the deteriorated morals of the upper
circles. Of books which have actually appeared let me
mention especially a most beautiful work, pub-
lished by Messrs. "The Universe, or the Infi-
nitely Great and the Infinitely Little," by F. A. Pouchet,
M.D., a work most sumptuously printed and illustrated.
Mr. Galton's much-expected work on " Hereditary Genius"
has also appeared. So, too, have two lives of Albert Darer
rt
sh. e costly and elaborate volume, by
Heaton, published by Macmillan ; the other
Charlesoneamuch
a cheaper, but still a beautiful volume, written by Mr.
W. B. Scott, and published by Longman. The " Auto-
biography of the late Professor Pryme" is anticipated with
much curiosity by Confabs, on account of the numerous
incidents of university life which it is expected to contain.
Another semi-literary item is, that the only son of Robert
Browning and the late Elizabeth Barrett Browning is an
undergraduate of Christ Church, Oxford, and steered the
college eight last term..
Three months have served to exhaust one edition of the
Report by the Committee on Intemperance appointed by
the Lower House of Convocation for the Province of Can-
terbury. This edition numbered 5,000 copies. The book
is to be issued in a cheaper and amended form. I can
heartily recommend your readers who have not
seen this fine collection of evidence to do so
straightway. All must admit the importance of
the subject dealt with ; and none can impeach the
impartiality and competence of the authority. The pecu-
liar value of the report is that the committee consisted of
a number of clergymen in no way committed to a decision,
and the evidence was taken from every kind of authority
—parochial clergy, magistrates, superintendents of asylums,
gaol governors and chaplains, workhouse masters, recorders,
judges, coroners, and policemen. Yet in spite of this
great diversity, the evidence is singularly decisive and
unanimous, and the report founded upon it is equally so.
Although Mr. Vining, lessee of the Princess's, has just
appeared in the Bankruptcy Court, that incident has not
deterred some speculator from erecting a new theatre in
the Strand, which is already overcrowded with these places.
He has taken the Bentinck club, which was opened a few
months ago for sporting men, but came to grief in conse-
quence of the raid upon the betting agents. It is now
being pulled to pieces by way of preparation for a new
place of entertainment. Another theatre has just been
opened down in Sloane-square, thus giving Chelsea an
opportunity of witnessing the drama, which it has not
hitherto had.

In spite of the fog, a large company assembled to greet
Jenny Lind at Exeter Hall last night. The oratorio per
formed was " Ruth," composed by her husband, Mr. Otto
Goldschmidt. The popular artiste received a warm recep-
tion, and many of those present were struck with the
freshnesss which she still displayed. When it is
remembered that she made her first appearance in London
on the 4th of May, 1847 on which occasion she took the
r'lle of Alice in " Robert le Diable," at Her Majesty's—it
is truly wonderful that twenty-two years after she should
still be able to captivate a critical audience by her vocal
powers.

ADVERTISEMENT. I - Holloway's Fills. Liver Com-
plaints and Disordered Bowels.—lt is impossible to exag-
gerate tli:3 extiaordinary virtue of this medicine in thus
treatment of all affections of the liver or irregularities of
the bowels. In the cases of depraved or superabundant
bile these Pills taken freely have never been known to fail.
I❑ bowel complaints they aro equally efficacious, but they
should then be taken rather more sparingly, for every me-
dicine in the form of au aperient requires caution when '
the bowels are disordered, though a gentler or more genial
aperient than these Pills, in moderate doses, has never yet
been discovered. If taken according to the printed in-
struction; they not only cure the complaint, but imp_rova I
the whole system.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.