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

,'.FEE FREE LOVERS.•

At the annual tslennerhassett feast, a letter was re-a,
from Mr. William Lawson, who is in America, inquiring .
into the economy of those novel communities in which
marriage, and property, and other Old World "notions"
are dispensed with. In the letter, which is dated from
Oneida Creek, he says :—" Now that I have stayed with
the Oneida Creek Communists for three days and four
nights, I must tell you something about them. The cornl
munity numbers about 275 ; but about 25 of this number
are at their settlement of Wallingford, in the State of Con.
necticut, and about 300 miles from here. Of the 250 that
are here there are about as many males as females, of
various ages. They have a farm of about 520 acres
here, on which they conduct the following business:—
Grazing, corn-growing, fruit-growing, preserving fruits,
corn, and vegetables ; shop keeping, silk spinning, iron.
founding, steel-trap making, and the writing, editing,
printing, and publication of a weekly newspaper. For
thirty-four years they have persevered, through many great
difficulties, in publishing and gratuitously circulating a
periodical The clerking, printing, and editing
are done by the female members of the community. The
whole party seems to lead a blameless, industrious, con-
tented, and useful life. They are intensely theological, pro.
foundly scriptural, and enthusiastically Christian; and they
found their practice on their theology,of which one of the vital
points is the doctrine that what they call ' Christ's second
coming' took place at the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D.
70. They consider themselves civilised enough to do with.
out old-fashioned marriage, and they look for God's will
to be ' done in earth as it is in heaven, where they neither
marry nor are given in marriage.' However, they do not
object to marriage for people in the world who know no
better.' In their school I found a party of nineteen re.
markably bright and happy-looking little children. They
have entertained me very kindly, and I believe them to
be constantly kind towards each other and everybody.
Their spiritual leader is Mr. Noyes, a man of deep thought
and great learning. You may be sure that among these
hundreds of Communists there is a great diversity of
talent, disposition, and education. They have no private
property, but have all things in common. They have
meetings every evening in their great hall, for hearing
news, &c., read aloud, and again for conversation. Some.
times they have concerts and theatrical performances here.
Last night one of their members, who is a highly-educated
university man, gave us a lecture on chemistry, illustrated
by experiments. Some business was soon gone through.
' Rule Britannia' and some other songs were beautifully
sung. On Mr. E.'s Raking for criticism, about a dozen
male and female members of the community talked about
Mr. E. one after the other for half an hour, commending
his good and condemning his bad qualities. The criticism
is very highly valued for keeping the members on their
good behaviours and in ro 14....0ns
iuu uauus, auu everybody (of whatever age) is a
student. Some of the ' helps' work ten hours a day, and
some eight ; but the members usually work not more than
eight hours in summer, and four in winter. One man—
who was crippled by a tree falling upon him while work.
ing at the clearing of the farm in its early days—has be.
come a very good shorthand writer and reporter. These
people usually have three meals a day—at six a.m., mid-
day, and six p.m. ; and they scarcely eat any fish or flesh,
but live very much upon a great variety of fruits, and of
faricaneous and vegetable food. They seem to be working
in earnest for the public good. They consider that their
movement is in its infancy, and look forward to having
free university—the greatest and best in the nation."

AFFRAY WITH POACHERS.—A serious collision
has taken place between several poachers and the game.
keepers of Mr. Llewellyn, of Penllergoer. The poachers
made a desperate resistance, and injured two of the
keepers. They subsequently effected their escape, but
four men have since been taken into custody on suspicion
of being the offenders.

DEATH OF A SCOTCH LAIRD.—Mr. Alexander
Cameron Campbell, the head of the clan of that name, has
just died at Leamington, at his residence, Markham
House, York-terrace. Mr. Campbell possessed extensive
estates in Perthshire, and on more than one occasion was
honoured with visits from the late Prince Consort and her
Majesty, at his seat at Monzie. In her Majesty's
"Journal" Mr. Campbell is several times referred to, and
it was with him that the Prince Consort made his first
deer-stalking excursion. Mr. Campbell has for some time
been in failing health, and his death was not unexpected.
M. H. ROCHEFORT.—M. H. Rochefort wrote to
a friend in Perigord on December 29 that he would not
accept the amnesty that was spoken of for the let
January, but that he would become a candidate- for Paris
at the next general election. In the same letter he says
that he received a gold pen in a gold case as a present
from the American clubs, accompanied by an address, in
which he was compared to Lafayette. The German shop-
windows contain his portrait, and the journals are full of
extracts from La Laterne. He received a letter from
Castelar, the head of the Republican party in Spain, and
Mazzini sent him his portrait. " This popularity," he
concludes, " greatly surprises me. I accept it ; but I must
admit I do not merit it."

NEW JorßNaLs IN FRANCE.—It appears that no
less than 139 new journals were started in Paris in the
course of past year— that is, since the law on previous
authorisation was abolished. Of these 104 were literary
and art journals ; fourteen treated on political matters,
six of them appearing daily ; twelve on art applied to in.
dustry and science ; one on magnetism ; one on the rural
police, or gardes champetres ; one on café concerts ; one on
aerial navigation ; one on railroad stations ; and one on
house porters. Soon after the appearance of the Lanterns
thirty-three of the same form and character were started.
They have, some of them, the most out-of-the-way names,
such as the Canzellon, Balaycur d'Aneries, Chaveur
Lumigmon, Concierge, and Punaises dans le Beurre. Of
the 139, only two continue to appear.

A RUNAWAY VISCOUNT.—We find in the Figaro
the following :—" The mysterious disappearance of
Viscount d'Archiac, professor of paleontology at the
Museum of Natural History, continues unexplained. On
the 15th of December he left his residence after having
told the servant he would be back by dinner hour. He
was shabbily dressed at the time, and wore an old office
cap, with the object, perhaps, as much of avoiding recogni-
tion as of encouraging the idea that he was not going to any
distance. He carried under his arm a napkin containing
letters and papers which he threw into the letter-boxof the
Legislative Body. They were farewells to different
friends, as well as to the Minister of Public Instruction,
to the Director of the Museum, and to his notary, to
whom he sent his last instructions. He informed them
all that he would not return, and that he desired hie
departure to be shrouded in as much mystery as possible.
The probability is believed to be that he took one of the
trains which leave the St. Lazare terminus. A trace hae
been found as to his movements, and there is hope the;
some information as to his whcroahonts„ =auk& la
latatiga