The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-25 00:00:00

SPAIN.

The Madrid Gazette of the 19th contains an ac-
count of the presentation on the previous day of
M. Barrot to the Queen as French ambassador at
her court. The court carriages, as usual on such
occasions, conveyed the ambassador and the persons
of his suite to the palace, where they were received
with the usual ceremonial. M. Barrot addressed
her Majesty as follows
Madame,—l have the honour of delivering into
your royal hands the letters from my august
Sovereign which accredit me at your court as
his ambassador. These letters give to the mission
which has been confided to me its true character ;
they, in fact, express the sentiments of high esteem
and inviolable friendship with which his Imperial
Majesty is animated towards your royal person,
and the lively desire which he feels to see strength-
ened more and more the bonds of friendship and
good neighbourhood which ought always to unite
France and the fine and noble country over which
you have been called by Providence to reign. The
Emperor is deeply convinced that the development

of the immense resources possessed by Spain aid
France will be the more rapid and the more effi-
cacious when accomplished with the constant accord
of the two governments and the close union of the
two nations. It is towards the realisation of this
great and fruitful idea that my efforts will be con-
stantly directed. I venture to hope that the
august kindness of your Majesty will deign to
encourage them."
Her Majesty replied :

" Monsieur l'Ambassadeur—l receive with the
mostly lively satisfaction the letters by which the
Emperor of the French accredits you as his ambas-
sador near my person. I see with pleasure
reiterated the desires which his Imperial Majesty
has constantly manifested to me to strengthen
the bonds of friendship and of good neighbourhood
which happily unite two nations who have so
many reasons for feeling reciprocal esteem. Ani-
mated by the deep conviction that the close union
of the two nations and harmony between their
Governments must powerfully contribute to the
rapid development of their immense resources, I
shall neglect nothing to secure them. The time, the
civilisation, and the position of the two countries
render the realisation of such noble and exalted
views very easy. Be assured, M. l'AmbaSsadeur,
that you will find in my Government the most
friendly dispositions to facilitate you in the accom-
plishment of the important mission which your
august Sovereign has confided to you. The qualities
which distinguish you, and the honourable antece-
dents which I am pleased to recognise in you, will
contribute to the realisation of so interesting an
object, and will give you a right to my greatest
kindness."

The ambassador then delivered the letters from the
Emperor into her Majesty's hand, and after having.
had an interview with the King, was conveyed
back to the embassy with the same ceremonial as
attended his arrival at the palace. On the same
day, M. Barrot paid a visit to Marshal O'Donnell,
President of the Council, and M. Calderon Col-
lantes, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Gazette
also contains a royal decree enacting that a cathe-
dral in honour of the Immaculate Conception shall
be built in the capital. The Senate had again
been occupied an entire day in a debate on the
address on the Queen's speech, and had again
adjourned the discussion. The only point of in-
terest in the debate was that M. Pacheco, a Mode-
rado ex-Minister, had declared that he would
support the Cabinet, because he believed that for
the present neither the Moderadoes nor the
Progressists are capable of carrying on the
Government. The Monarquia, an Absolutist
journal, had been fined 20,000 reals for a
seditious libel. A telegraghic despatch, mentioning
what the President of the United States had said
in his message on the subject of Cuba, had created
some sensation. The Espana expresses the opinion
that his proposition to purchase that island ought
not to be regarded seriously, inasmuch as it is pro-
bably only made to catch popular applause, and to
obtain re-election. A somewhat extensive decline
had taken place all over the country in the price
of wheat.

According to advices from Vienna, the projected
voyage of Prince Danilo, of Montenegro, to Paris,
is to be postponed until the spring, when it is
expected he hopes to meet the Emperor Alexander
there. Meantime, he has just given his subjects a
Code Danilo, which contains in 30 pages and 95
articles the whole of the Montenegrin Corpus furis
viz., the civil, penal, ecclesiastical, and political
codes. It cannot be said, at least, that the inhabi-
tants of the Black Mountain are likely to lose them-
selves in the labyrinth of their laws.

A letter from Schwerin, in the Duchy of Meck-
lenburg-Schwerin, states that notwithstanding the
failure of the recent conference to come to an un-
derstanding for the reduction of the tolls on the
Elbe, Prussia and Austria have entered into diplo-
matic negotiations with Hanover, Mecklenburg, and
Denmark to obtain the realisation of that object.

A correspondent from Copenhagen, the 20th,
says :—" M. de Levetzan, who was royal commis-
sioner in Holstein in 1857, will fill the sarmi post:at
Itzehoel where the Diet opens in a fortnight ; the
report of his having declined the honour is un-
founded. An important pamphlet has appeared
on the constitutional relations of the Danish mo-
narchy and the Germano-Danish struggle,' from
the pen of M. Itaaslif, a member of the first
Scheele-Hall ministry of Schleswick. M. Scheele
himself has been on a visit to the King for three
weeks, a circumstance which has given rise to un-
founded rumours of intrigues and a probable minis-
terial crisis. The weather, after having been very mild
until the night of the 17th, changed, and there was
a sharp frost. The Diet of the kingdom will close
before Christmas, although a number of bills remain
undisposed of.

SPIRIT-RAPPERS _DISTURBING A

CONGREGATION.

A number of Spirit-rappers in Dudley, Tipton,
and the neighbourhood, have formed a society. On
Sunday afternoon they held a meeting for " prayer
and inspiration," and professed to have held com-
munication with the spirit of John Wesley, who
had commissioned them to preach the doctrines of
John the Baptist in Dudley, promising if they
obeyed this injunction to assist them ; but, if they
failed, threatening them with the deprivation of
the power of speech. Thus. " direeted, a body of
them proceeded to the Primitive Methodist Chapel,
New George-street, Dudley, where the congregation
(about 500) were assembled for evening service.
Mr. Rollason, of Oldbury, was the preacher,. and
was in the midst of his discourse, when a Mrs.
Stocks (a woman well-known in Dudley), seated in
the gallery—the appointed leader of the Spirit-
rappers—extending her right arm, and upturning
her face as if in prayer, with many strange gesti-
culations, burst forth, crying—" Lord, I thank
Thee that Thou hast permitted me to come to this
congregation, and to talk to poor sinners of their
souls!" About twenty other Spirit-rappers simul-
taneously commenced similar displays of ges-
ticulation and action, groaning and shouting.
The minister stopped his discourse ; and the
functionaries of the chapel went about to
the Rappers to endeavour to procure silence
and order, but this only added fuel to the flame ;
the shoutings and noises only became louder, the
Rappers calling on the Deity in the most revolting
way. One man, a carpenter, held one of his arms
upright and stiff, and declared he could not put it
down. One woman, a member of the congregation,
was so much alarmed that she was attacked by
fainting fits, and was carried out. One man asked
Mrs. Stocks how she could so conduct herself, be-
ing one of a " wicked and adulterous generation "
herself. She took no notice, but continued to de-
nounce judgment, &o. So great was the tumult
within that hundreds of persons collected outside
the building ; and some time elapsed before the
riotous Rappers could be ejected and quiet restored.
Mrs. Stocks has been called on to give an explana-
tion, and she says she and her friends did what
was dictated to them, on peril of losing their speech.
The circuit minister of the Primitive Methodist
body, aided by the stewards, is investigating the
matter, and has demanded a public apology for
these unseemly proceedings. If this be refused,
then the Rappers will be brought before the magis-
trates on a charge of disturbing religious worship,
under the act which renders offenders liable to a
penalty of £4O Unless some effectual stop be put
to these strange freaks, it is apprehended that vari-
ous other congregations will receive similar noisy
visits from the Spirit-rappers.—Manchester Guar-
dian.

THE SUEZ CANAL REPUDIATED.—The Presse
(I,' Orient speaks of a circular of the Porte which utterly re-
pudiates all responsibility with respect to subscribers to the
cutting of a canal through the Isthmus of Suez, and adds
that the Sultan has not yet given his approval to the en-
terprise.
ROMAN REMAINS.—Roman remains, (consisting
of fragments a columns more than three feet in diameter,
atones of a large size richly sculptured, portions of walls,
some modals,
.and numerous fragments of pottery, have just
been found lit the park of a gentleman, named Caillau, at
Candes (Indre-re-Loire). According to Gregory of Tours,
a Roman temple stood on that spot, and was demolished by
St. Martin. From the investigations already made, it ap-
pears that the temple must have been about 100 feet long
by about 25 feetwide, At Andelot (Haute-Marne), Roman
baths in a good state of preservation and other antiquities
have been discovered.

THE MISTLETOE.—Mistletoe, formerly called
" All heal," was probably used on account of the respect
paid to it by the Druids. The ancients had a superstition
regarding this custom which it may not be out of place to
mention here. According to their mystic religion, which
gave to every tree its attendant spirit, 'and every grove its
divinity, they believed that the sylvan deities, finding it too
cold in winter in their forest homes, sought a shelter in the
dwellings of man, if prepared for their reception by being
adorndwith evergreens, in which they remained till the
spring, when the people returned the boughs to the forest
from whence they came, trusting that the wood spirits, in
gratitude, would watch over and protect from all danger
those who had afforded them a shelter from the frosts of
wint er.—ampaxion for Youth.

THE MILITARY RIOT AT WOOLWICH

WOOLWICH, FRIDAY EVENING.
The most energetic measures have been taken by
the commandant, Major-General Sir W. F. Wil_
hams, to prevent a repetition of the disgraceful
scenes whieh occurred here last night. This after-
noon the troops in garrison were assembled by
order of the commandant, and informed that any
soldier apprehended for creating a disturbance in the
town would be tried by court:martial, and dealt
with by military law.l to dcputation of tradesmen
residing in those streets in which business was
suspended by the riot of the previous night waited
upon Major-General Sir W. F. Williams in the
course of the day, to represent the serious injury
inflicted upon them in consequence of being com-
pelled to close their shops during business hours.
Major-General Williams, in reply, assured the
deputation of his earnest desire to preserve order
and maintain that good feeling which hadtithei to
prevailed between the military and civilian popu-
lation. He should take immediate repressive
measures, and orders had already been given that
pickets should remain in the streets from sunset to
sunrise.

Several soldiers are now in hospital under
treatment fcr wounds received during the melee of
Thursday night, but all are expected to recover.
It appears that during the height of the riot in
High-street, a number of Antrim Rifles belonging
to the picket of that corps broke away from the
ranks in order to join the combatants, when the
lieutenant in command drew his sword and com-
pelled them to return. A sergeant of Artillery
was made prisoner, and will be tried by court-
martial, for a desperate attack upon this picket,
and during the contest an Artilleryman received a
fearful bayonet wound. As a proof of the bad
feeling which prevails between the regulars and the
militia, this afternoon, at 4 o'clock, the sentry on
duty at the main gate of Woolwich Dockyard,
being an Antrim Rifleman, was assaulted by three
Artillerymen. Police unstable Wright, on duty
at the gate, immediately called a picket from the
militia guard-room, who captured ono of the
offenders, after a smart chase, and he was conveyed
to the Royal Artillery Barracks.