The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-13 00:00:00

• •
415, so , ptgh.„„l/4 S4l 4*
4 AP' 444.14/1

LONDON, FRIDAY, SEPT. 13, 1867.

We have certainly just had rn illustration of the
folly of those who cry " peace" where there is no
" peace." The great international Peace Congress,
which lAz beeu 41130',111Cea to take place with 4tich

grandeur and solemnity, has ended in total discomfi-
ture. Certainly GARIBALDI has redeemed in so me
degree the end of his arrival, by his premature de-
parture from the scene of strife. From VII .;
beginning of the affair 'it was evident to, call
that the Congress could not possibly succeedi in
its enterprise, but it was hardly anticipated ti la's it
would have so short an existence and so ignom. mioux
a termination. On Wednesday M. DUPAF iQUIER
was unwise enough to discuss religious topi zs, and
the consequence was most disastrous. lie found
fault with the Assembly, and brought in the; ques-
tion of the American Republic. The next day a
public meeting was held condemning the course pur-
sued by members of the Congress, and declaring
that their tendency was in favour of revolutiot and
socialism. Further on it seems that the Ra Real
party continued to put a stop to the proceedings of
this objectionable Congress by clearing the room in
which they met. 'rue President retired from the
scene of turmoil to draw up a protest. It is long
since so signal a failure has been heard of as this
matter of the Peace Congress, and the excitement
the whole thing has caused in Germany may be
better imagined than described. Reproaches are rife
on all sides, and the Genevese and the foreigners
vie with each other in making complaint for their
mutual timidity and want of management. So ends
this disastrous exhibition; and perhaps, all things
considered, there is not much to regret in the
matter. People will never be the better for all
these make-up patriots, and would-be philosophers
setting out to teach them what they knew very
little or nothing about themselves ; and if the con-
sequence of this direful failure at Geneva is that
for the future more suspicion is entertained for these
undertaking the results will be a fortunate one. So
much fuss and ferment made about nothing is always
to be viewed with a fearless eye, and such indica-
tions of peace are sure to be stormy.

All that relates to the Abyssinian Captives is sure
to possess interest at present; and hence the letter
just received from the Rev. H. A. STERN, by Mrs.
STERN, will be welcome. It is dated " Magdala
Prison, June 29th," and contains full particulars of
the state of things at that time in the dreary place
to which these unfortunates are consigned. This
" Magdala home," as Mr. STERN styles it, has
latelY become noisy and tumultuous. Reports are
constantly reaching them of agitating events, and
information concerning the Royal camp and the
rebel chiefs are brought to them by those
vendors of provisions who come to the
prison, so that their quiet is disturbed by
tales and recitals of the stormy news of the world
without : pillage, triumphs, &c., are being told of
until the inhabitants of the place seem to be pos-
sessed of a warlike feeling themselves. It must be
perceived that the boasted courage of the men is
much ado about nothing, and often proves to be
sham rather than substance. Mr. STERN says that
" a dozen stout Englishmen with a revolver or two
each might easily subdue the whole garrison here,
and set us all at liberty." Fortunately the KING
has been advised to remain at Debra Tabor during
the period of the rainy season, and thus to put off
visiting Magdala until the spring comes on. Mr.
STERN indulges in the hope that he may never see
his face again, or hear him prate of SOLOMON,
Jerusalem, the bishop, and so on, with which themes
he has wearied and worried his white prisoners so
long, and delights his " malicious heart." It is,
indeed, to be hoped that this idea may be realised,
for the captives have had more than enough of him
in all conscience. The rebellious subjects of King
THEODORE are quite on the alert, and call him the
" enemy of GOD and man ;" but the writer of
this letter does not think, however, that much will
come of tho revolt, and very likely all this " brag
and boast " will end in smoke. It would be a more
fra.vourable conjunction of circumstances if the con-
trary proved to be the case, and if his indigenous
people sent the tyrant to the right about. With
respect to the preparations for the Abyssinian Ex-
pedition many suggestions are still being made, and
one counsellor condemns the pack-saddles made at
Woolwich and sent to the Crimea, and hopes
those forwarded to the East are not of simi-
lar construction. It is strange and unsatis-
factory, but also very like our mode of management,
that we should have persisted in not using the
French pack-saddle made in Normandy; the autho-
rities at Woolwich have sought to improve on the
pattern sent to them, and the result has been unfor-
tunate. Maltese carts have been suggested, but it
is said that only Maltose can drive them, and these
latter are not desirable camp followers. A Russian
waggon, drawn by mules, was found to be very
useful in an expedition, and surpassed American
waggons in a great measure. This sort of
waggon is a larger one, and was capable of carry-
ing a great deal of stores and other provisions.
With respect to providing mules for the expedi-
tion, some expense might be spared if less of
these were bought, and if upon arriving in Abys-
sinia the bullocks were taken to aid the transport,
&c., of the stores and ammunition, with the
exercise of care and discretion we do not doubt
that a great deal of the fuss that has been made
about the difficulty of providing for this expedi-
tion will prove to have been unnecessary ; and as
for the dangers of it that have also, in all proba-
bility, been made the most of. It is so much the
fashion nowadays to make the worst of all these
military undertakings that one is fairly puzzled
sometimes to detect the true from the false, and
to decide where temerity ends and prudence begins ;
but it will never do to give way to chimerical sug-
estions.

The conclusion of the annual meetings of the
British Association was arrived at on Wednesday,
when a brilliant and intelligent assembly dispersed
amid mutual congratulations. That much useful
work has been done, as well as many interesting
papers delivered, is amply shown by the list of
grants of money for scientific purposes read by
Professor HIRST. Many of these departments of
inquiry, although purely scientific, are likely to be
of much practical value, such as the study of un-
derground temperature, which has lately been
brought before the public notice in a very painful
manner. Besides the grants of money, there was a
list of recommendations ranging over a very wide
circle. Among them was a request that the Presi-
dent should communicate the report of the com-
mittee appointed to consider the best means of pro-
moting scientific education in schools to the Presi-
dent of the Privy Council, and to the Parliamen-
tary Committee on the part of the Association.
Some of the recommendations involved applications
to Government, one or two of which we are glad to
find concerned Indian affairs. A committee was
appointed to wait on the Secretary of
State for India to represent the desirability
of exploring the district between the Brahma-
pootra, the Upper Irrawaddy, and the
Yang-tze-Ziang, with a view to a route being
established between the navigable parts of those
rivers. This appears to be both a more important
and a more practicable undertaking than the explo-
ration of the area around the North Pole, which the
saeans also recommend. The concluding meeting
passed off very successfully, all the leading members
expressing tbezigelvee highly satifified with the pro.

THE SUN, LUND

ceer dings of 1867. A cordial vote of thanks
'.vas given to the noble duke who had so ably

discharged the duties of President, and to the
authorities of the good town of Dundee, for
their admirable arrangements and genial hos-
pitality. Of course no affair of the kind
in any part of the United Kingdom could terminate
without a substantial feast, and accordingly a grand
banquet was given by the town authorities on
Wednesday evening. Among many other appro-
priate toasts, " The Cause of Education" was given,
coupled with the name of Mr. AIONCREIFF, M.P.,
who replied in an eloquent and forcible speech.
Not without reason, said he, was the cause of edu-
cation made a toast at the end of their sittings, for
they had just had an exhibition of education in its
highest form, of men reading the handwriting of
nature in its most obscure characters, and tracing
her footsteps along her most ancient and hidden
paths. The cause of education was, said Mr.
MONCREIFF, in a more hopeful condition than he
had ever seen it, and he trusted the reformed
Parliament would reform the country. This could
not, however, be done without a strong popular
effort, an expression of public sentiment, and a
sense of public duty strong enough to sweep down
before it all the barriers of political jealousy,
denominational rivalry, and sordid parsimony.
"In the cultivated intellect of the people,"
said the speaker in conclusion, " good Govern-
ment would find its strongest bulwark,
religion her best hand-maiden, and the
economy of the country its truest, best, and
wisest resource." Such assemblies as that which has
just concluded its labours at Dundee, exercise au
imperceptible, but not the less real, influence. They
familiarise the minds of the general public with the
higher branches of education, and insensibly enlarge
their views and extend their mental horizon. We
must get the middle classes to appreciate and value
education more highly than they do before they will
be willing to make the necessary efforts on behalf of
those below them.

The name of Manchester has, during the last
twenty years, been held synonymous with free-trade
principles. The " Manchester school," despite its
follies and shortcomings in other respects, has
always advocated free competition, free exports
and imports—free trade, in short, in every way.
But, strange to say, Manchester itself is the scene
of an unmitigated monopoly, which, among other
strange things, has been brought to light by the
Trades' Unions Commission. Manchester will not
allow the bricksetters to set Ashton bricks. Man-
chester claims a circle of four miles round for
ten districts, or 121 square miles, and Manchester,
says the witness, is too powerful for Ashton, and
the weak always fell to the wall. It used to be said
that the object of these combinations was to pro-
tect the weak against the strong ; but it seems that
matters are changed. A carter, carting bricks out
of the Ashton district into the Manchester district,
was soundly thrashed, and on one occasion was
made to take the bricks back again and put them
in the yard. But the monopoly does no end here.
The city, which is full of machinery, has men
who would stop the employment of ma-
chinery if they could. Some clay was being
ground by a machine, when the men employed
came and said they must not use it. Of course the
means to enforce all such prohibitions is ready at
hand, and bricks are destroyed by the thousand.
But Lancashire union men do not stop at bricks.
They are capable of acts of unmitigated brutality.
What are we to think of breaking into a stable,
tying up a horse by the head, putting shavings
under it, and setting them on fire ? One would
think that the secretaries and managers, and
other gentlemen with fine sounding names,
had been busy ransacking the .Neuvate Calendar
to stimulate their imaginations. If King THEODORE
wants a Minister or two, it is clear he had better
send to Lancashire for them. A boy of 11 was
thrown into a pit of water by two men, as he was
taking a letter to the post for his master, a maker
of bricks by machinery. He was saved by a
mechanic, who happened to coma by, and who,
we may suppose, did not belong to the Union ?
Such revelations are losing their novelty, but
their number increases their startling character.