The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENINB, MARCH 21, 1867.

GERMANY AFTER THE WAR OF 1866.

(From the Westminster Gazette.)

The Bishop of Mainz expresses himself with
truly apostolic power in describing the Roman po-
licy of Louis Napoleon. "The eyes of all Catho-
lics," he says, " are at this moment turned
towards Rome, full of anxious expectation of the
events which are there looming in the distance.
For fifteen years we have been witnessing the
preparations carried on for what is now about to
be fulfilled. A policy so hypocritical, so full of
falsehood and baseness that the world has never
seen the like, has there before the eyes of all men,
and under pretence of the greatest reverence and
love for the Holy Father, been laying the nets
and drawing them ever closer and closer to fur-
nish the opportunity of perpetrating this crime.
The successors of St. Peter have had many ene-
mies since ' Christ imposed on them in the person
of Peter the task of feeding His flock; these ene-
mies have often with armed hands pressed onward
to the capital of the world to subject the chief
pastor of Christendom to their savage will. But
until now the Church has never undergone such
a system of hostility as the one unfolding itself to
our eyes. Those German Emperors of old who, in
open warfare with arms in their hands, marched
against Rome, assume in our eyes almost a shape
of greatness when compared to this French Emperor
who has more offended against the Chair of Peter
than ever a Christian prince has done, by casting
around the Holy Father the nets of an insidious
and most crafty policy, to deliver him over to his
worst enemy, whilst at the same time, to the eyes
of the world, wearing the mask of a faithful son.
We can only compare this treason to the Church
and to its chief with the treason and the kiss of
Judas ; as Judas sinned against Christ, in like
manner does this Napoleonic policy sin against the
body of Christ and its visible head.
This is fully the truth ! Nothing but the truth !
As perhaps never before, the world sees repeated,
only with a change of forms and measures, the
cruel spectacle of the Crucifixion.
The little mustard seed, planted by the Hand
of our Divine Master, has sprung up and grown
into a large tree, stretching its branches over the
whole world, a tree that like the tpin ilgOrrrepor
of the ancient Greek Cosmogony, is overshadowed
by guardian wings, the wings of the Holy Spirit.
But beneath the tree the old serpent plays his old
part; beneath the tree lurks, as under the shadow
of the Cross, the murder from the beginning. The
menial tribe that, led by Judas, went out to seize
and crucify Christ, have with the growth of the
tree also grown into a nation, whose king is styled
"Il Gualantaomo." And this already powerful
band of anti-Christian revolutionists has been
joined by the potent King William of Prussia,
the Victor Emmanuel of the North, as Bismarck is
the Cavour of the North. Yes, in sooth are they
faithful allies, as the semi-official organ of the
Prussian Government, the Staats Anzeiger, termed
them, in answer to the Kreutz Zeitung, a paper
which had the audacity, puffed up with the con-
sciousness of old Prussian virtue, to look down con-
temptuously on Italy, as a once discreet wife
might look down on a well-known prostitute. (Von
Gerlach, " die Annexion and der Nord deutsche
Band.") The Prussian Staats Anzeiger is right ;
the cause of Italy has been powerfully aided
by Prussia ; but neither would Prussia without
Italy have been the conqueror of 1866. Thu in
the main it is the same cause that is striven for
by both these " Gualantuomini." Upon their
standards we read the same motto ; but the
translation of Una Italia Sardificata is Una Ger-
mania Borrussificata, and for either the last goal in
the race for victory is Rome !
The only material difference between Sardinia
and Prussia consists in this, that with the one the
process of Piedmontizing the country falls into
the background in comparison with the thorough
unification of Italy, whilst with the other the
Prussification of Germany is the object chiefly
aimed at, and its thorough unification plays but a
subordinate part in the tragedy ; hence the re-
volution in Germany will be marked even by more
hypocrisy and violence than in Italy.
The fixed idea of a Prussianized Germany, as

it has really developed itself into a political
mania, can be best expressed by the word Prusso-
mania. Our right reverend author, who has de-
voted two chapters to this mania, styles it Prussi-
anism. According to him, it is this Prussian-
ism that seduced Prussia to profit by the em-
barrassment, into which the artifices of a Louis
Napoleon, and the pressure of the Revolution
advancing from all sides, had thrown the ancient
Imperial house, to attempt to supplant Austria and
deprive her of her ancient footing in Germany and
to do this under the protection of the nephew
of " mon oncle," with the Revolution in Italy,
yea, and even leagued with the Revolution in
Hungary. It is Prussianism, too, according to
our author, that can alone explain the disgraceful
events of the past year. It is this very Prussian-
ism that filled the heart of our noble prelate with
such poignant sorrow that he felt nothing was left
him but to cover his head and weep bitter tears
over his German Fatherland, over the alliance
of King William with Victor Emmanuel, Gari-
baldi, and Klapka, under the leadership of a Na-
poleon warring against Austria—deeds that, as far
as he knows, have not their like in the history of
the German people.
But we will not deprive our readers of the well-
drawn description of this Prussianism, for which
we have to thank the experience and study, the
clear insight and courage, of our illustrious author.
Let us hear what he says
"By Prussianism we understand a fixed idea as to
the mission of Prussia—a certain misty conception of the
position which it is the task of Prussia to take up in the
world, accompanied by the conviction that this mission
and this task are of absolute necessity, must as necessar-
ily be fulfilled as a rock rent from a hill-top must roll
to the bottom ; and that hence it is unfitting, in the
name of right or of history, to offer any opposition to this
world-wide mission. With these Prussiauists this mis-
sion of Prussia takes precedence of everything, and is
superior to every right. Hence whatever is opposed to
it is wrong. From absolute internal necessity it rolls on-
ward to its consummation. The nature of this Prus-
sian mission takes its colour from the circumstances of its
several votaries. Is the votary an enthusiastic servant
of his King ?—to hint its essence is the rule of an absol-
ute Prussian royalty. Is he a soldier ?—it is a Prussian
military State with its generals. Is he a bureaucrat ?—it is
a glorifying of Prussian bureaucracy. Is lie a divine ?—it
is the spreading of Protestantism under Prussian leader-
ship. And should he be a man of progress, it is the vic-
tory of his party under Prussian headship, the royal head-
ship with him being, of course, only made use of for the
time as a means to gain a party object. All these multi-
farious votaries of Prussianism, however much their
views may vary, have a fixed idea as to a mission of
Prussia, that must of necessity be fulfilled, and has a better
right to fulfilment than any others."

face is known. Those who are to judge the unfor-
tunate people taken in arms, should endeavour to
realise the position of the Irish peasant, and to
measure the inducements, which have almost forced
him into the conspiracy. Around him are those
with whom he has been brought up, animated with
the same feelings of hatred to the Saxon rule. He
has been taught to regard all the miseries of his
country as emanating from the same source ; he
feels his own wretched and hopeless poverty, and he
sees that of all around him. The great estate in his
neighbourhood is owne3 by an English lord he has
never seen, for he is never there, and he is told that
this estate originally belonged to an Irish family,
and was wrested from them by the force of Saxon
arms. On the bleak hills and lonely bogs of the
domain the rough stones of gable ends are all that
remain of cottages and villages where once dwelt his
friends and kinsmen, now exiles in far away coun-
tries, which he only knows from their accounts. Ile
believes that these people have been driven out to
make room for sheep and cattle, more profitable to
the absentee than the potato gardens of the sons of
the soil. He holds that all the Legislative enact-
ments of the Saxon Parliament have been framed by
these alien landlords to crush himself and his race
that they might riot in luxury in London man-
sions. Suddenly the village is all astir by the
arrival of a stranger who tells him that he is
an Irishman who has spent his life abroad,
driven from his country by its poverty and woe.
All the civilised world, he says, sympathise with the
miseries broughtonlreland byEnglishrule; and this
sympathy is most deeply felt in the great nation
across the Atlantic, whose mission it is to elevate
the whole human race, and who are pledged to
emancipate Ireland from the thraldom of English
rule. He states that in this great nation Irishmen
are to be found in hundreds of thousands, men of
influence and wealth, sworn to the redemption of
theircountry. Among them are officers experienced
in war, and in that land exists a brotherhood of
Irishmen who have already unfurled the green flag
which is henceforth to become the emblem of the coun-
try. They have proclaimed, he informs his hearers,
the island a republic, which they have solemnly
sworn to uphold, with life and purse. From the
glowing pictures of the resources at his back, he
turns to his listener, and appeals to his own man-
hood. We, he states, have come from this land
where fortune and fame were open to us, penetrated
with sorrow at your sufferings, to share your dan-
gers, and to lead you to the expulsion of the vam-
pire foe of your race. If you have a drop of blood
1 in your veins to give pulsation to the heart of a man,
you will take the opportunity we offer ; if not, you
are fit only for the place you hold as the drudge
and victim of the stranger, the oppressor of your
race, and the curse of your country. The pea-
sant may have a dim idea that there is a
mighty force of artillery, cavalry, and infantry
massed on the Curragh—that the Dublin
barracks are crowded with soldiers, and that Eng-
land lies but a short way off. But a ready answer
is made to such objections—most of the soldiers are
themselves Irishmen and Fenians, and England is
herself agitated to the core, and her workmen ready
to take part with his Irish brother serf to pull down
the aristocracy that for so many centuries have sat
on the shoulders of the nation. The Irish republic
is formed, and will be recognised as a nation by the
United States of America. These arguments are
backed by the feelings of the people, and the stranger
is welcomed as a patriot, who has left wealth and
honour to throw himself into the coming struggle
for the redemption of the Emerald Isle. This is the
sort of temptation to which the Irish peasantry
have been exposed, and can we wonder that it bears
the fruit of an armed insurrection? Who can tell
what the pressure has been on each individual taken
in arms? Some may have actually been forced into
the ranks. Many of them disliking the work, may
have been propelled by the force of opinion around
them. It is difficult to deal with an insurrection
such as this, but we are satisfied that it is not by
exposing the country to the rigours of martial law
that the seeds of the rebellion can be stamped out.
This generation of Englishmen are paying the
penalty of their forefathers' tyragnY and op-
pression of Ireland. Great sins meet with
great punishments, and centuries of oppres-
sion and of enactments, which will stand
for all time, as a shocking disgrace to England,
cannot soon or easily be obliterated from the
memories of the children of the soil. We know it
to be true that England is now most earnestly
anxious to mete out a full measure of justice to
Ireland—to redeem the past as far as practicable,
in the present and in the future. Many, however,
have forgotten, or never know, what the rule was in
olden days, which has made Ireland what she is.
They only know that the island is at present one of
the best governed countries in the world, and they
rail at the vicious nature of the Celtic mind that
repays generous landlords with the contents of a
blunderbuss, and good laws with the manufacture of
pikes. When foreign nations point to Ireland and
denounce the state of the people as the result of
English misrule, they do not know that these stric-
tures arc grounded on the past history, while their
knowledge is confined to the present condition.
There is still a heavy debt due from England to
Ireland which cannot be wiped out like the liabilities
of a bankrupt, and the knowledge that the account
stands so, should make British rulers deal with the
people with long-suffering kindness and forbear-
ance, and resist every pressure to hand the peasantry
over to the tender mercies of martial law.—Anglo-
American Times.

Railway and Other Companies.

TOTTENHAM AND HAMPSTEAD JUNCTION.

The half-yearly general meeting of this company
was held at the of in Victoria-street, Capt. Arrow
in the chair.

_
The report stated that the railway and stations
under contract were nearly completed, and would
shortly be ready for public traffic. The railway
would be worked by the Great Eastern and Midland
Railway Companies. Independently of local traffic
the railway would offer to Tottenham and Edmon-
ton, and to the crowded population of the Tower
Hamlets a ready access to Hampstead-heath, Kew,
Richmond, Hampton-court, and Windsor. The
company was acquiring land for the junction with
the Midland Railway at Kentish-town, preparatory
t 3 the contract being let. The report of the engi-
neers stated that the permanent way was laid from
Kentish-town station to the junction with the Great
Eastern Railway at Tottenham, and was nearly
finished ; but the unfavourable weather had caused
much delay. The signals at the stations, coal sid-
ings, &c., had been erected, and some slips in the
slopes of the earthwork had been made good by the
contractors. The capital account showed that
£362,971 had been expended to 31st Dec. last.
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report,
which was seconded and carried unanimously.

The retiring directors—Capt. Arrow and Mr. G.
Reed—were re-elected, and also Mr. Notman, the
retiring auditor. A vote of thanks to the chairman
concluded the proceedings.

and would be paid to the shareholders upon its re-
ceipt from that company.

CALLANDER AND OBAN.

The half-yearly general meeting of this company
was held in Glasgow on Monday ; Mr. J. W. Mal-
colm, M.P., in the chair.
The balance-sheet showed that the calls paid up
to Jan. 31 last amounted to £81,124, and the ex-
penditure to £17,936, leaving a balance in hand cf
nearly £63,000. Since last meeting there had been
expended £6,331.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
balance-sheet, stated that since the last meeting
there had been let the first contract, 17i miles iu
length, up to the head of Glen Ogle, including
some of the most difficult work on the whole line.
Part of the line was now nearly ready for ballasting,
and during the next three months the permanent
way would be laid on a portion of it. The directors
hope shortly to be able to let the next contract, so
as to push on the works to Crianlarich or Tyndeum,
in which case they looked forward to carrying the
mails to Fort William and Obau.

The balance sheet was unanimously adopted.

GRAND TRUNK OF CANADA.

The traffic receipts on this company's lines for the
week ending the 23d of February amounted for
passengers to £6,325 ; for mails, &c., to £1,079 ;
and for freight and live stock, to £16,592 ; total,
£23,996, against £22,995 for the corresponding
week last year, showing an increase of £1,041. The
total receipts from the Ist of January to the above
date amounted to £173.197, and for the same
period last year to £179,277, showing a decrease
of £6,080.

VICTORIA GRAVING DOCK.

A meeting of this company (Clark's Hydraulic
Lift) was held on Monday at the offices—Lord Claud
Hamilton, M.P., iu the chair.

The report of the directors, recommending a divi-
dend of 10 per cent. on the ordinary share capital of
the company, and carrying over a balance of £1,500,
was read and approved.
The CHAIRMAN congratulated the shareholders
on the present state and future prospects of the un-
dertaking, in consequence of the preference given
by shipowners to the company's system of docking
vessels. The number of vessels docked during the
year was 155, having an aggregate tonnage of
125,464 tons. The plant and machinery of the
company had been largely increased, and a new
large pontoon had been constructed, making eight
pontoons now in the possession of the company.
The dividend was declared payable on the Ist of
April, and a vote of thanks to the chairman and
directors, and also to Mr. Jones for his careful
management, closed the proceedings.