The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-23 00:00:00

THE suN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER, 23, 1867

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Vining.
TIIIS EVENING, at 7, for the Benefit of Mr. Thos. Roberts,
Acting Manager, GUY MANN ERING, a CONCERT and
ENTERTAINMENT, and UP IN THE WORLD. —On Boxing
Night, Grand Combination of the Two Great Dramas. THE
COLLEEN SAWN, and THE STREETS OF LONDON. Mr.
and Mrs. Dion Boucicault as Myles na Coppaleen and Eily
O'Connor, and Mr. Vining as Badger.
Doors open at half-past 6, commence at 7.

C_ ANTERBURY liALL.-NEW MANAGEMENT.
—W. HOLLAND, Sole Lessee, late Proprietor of Weston's
Music Hall, High Holborn, will RE-OPEN on BOXI \ G NIGHT,
December 26, this favourite old established Music Hall Great
Alterations and Improvements are being made, and an entire
!few Company. comprising most of the popular artistes of the
day, will have the honour of appearing. W. Holland's known
liberality as caterer for the entertainment of the public is a
sufficient guarantee that the amusements will be both novel and
unequalled. A new grand Ballet will be produced, under the
direction of Mr. Fred. Evans, of the Alhambra and Crystal
Palace. Full particulars duly announced. The Bars will he
under entire new management, and every article will be of the
choicest quality, prices of which are greatly reduced. Admission
—Balcony and Atca, 61; Stalls, superbly carpeted, ls.
REMEMBER-BOXING NIGHT.

31All AXLE
131AUKSES_RASUTDRE' SET EXHIBITION,
A Life-size PORTRAIT MODEL it THEODORE, King
of Abyssinia, is now added ; also all the Kings and Queens
of England, American Celebrities, Sze. Room of Horrors.
Open from 11 a.m. till dusk, and front 7 till 10 p.m. Ad-
mittance, is. ; children, under ten, ed. ; extra rooms, Bd.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tins DAY.—Morning, 121 i. ltn. Afternoon, 121 i. 28m.
To-Moßnow.-Morning, 1211. 501 n. Afternoon, lb. 10m.

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_ 410 V LT

O.:VDON, MONDAY, DEC. 23, 1867.

We think the public have every reason to be sa-
tisfied with the course taken by the Government in
respect to the Fenian conspiracy, which is now
causing so much anxiety in all directions. The most
careful precautionary measures have been taken,
and, so far as we can judge, the resources of skill
and judgment have been called into action to coun-
teract the designs and circumvent the policy of
these mischievous and reckless schemers. Yesterday
the authorities prohibited two meetings which were
to have taken place at Clerkenwell. One
was to " expose the treachery of the Fenians," and
the other to consist of a meeting of the men of Ire-
land resident in London. The very names of these
affairs show that they meant mischief, and it is very
fortunate that they were not allowed to take place.
Prevention is better than cure is an old adage that
may well be applied to these Fenian arrangements
whenever and wherever they are met with, and the
sooner they are put down at the outset and crushed
the better for all parties. Those who had called the
meeting together showed their sense by at once
complying with the request of the police, and de-
sisted from their proposed arrangements. It was
supposed, upon good authority, that if they had
been carried out there would have been a disturb-
ance, the inhabitants of Clerkenwell, feeling
justly indignant at the other meeting that had been
held there about the funeral procession, which led,
they thought, to the direful outrage of the other
day. It will be the best thing to do to prevent the
occurrence of disasters to put down by timely
means all attempts at these meetings. They must
do harm in one way or another, and the time for
consideration has passed in respect to these
schemers, and the sooner they understand that they
must keep within the limits that the law permits
the better. So great was the indignation naturally
felt in the neighbourhood of Clerkenwell that the
presence of the police was quite as necessary to
protect the promoters of those meetings from in-
jury as to carry into effect the provisions of the law.
If the Fenian conspirators ever imagined that they
would enlist the sympathies of the poorer classes in
their favour we should think that by this time the
illusion has been dispelled, for they are execrated
everywhere in consequence of their cruelty and total
recklessness of consequences. It is believed that
the Home Secretary is about to introduce a
very desirable change into the present practice
of storing gunpowder in large quantities in the
various magazines of the lines of fortification. It is
proposed instead that the greater part should be
stored in the adjacent depot magazines. The great
advantage of this will be that, in the event of an
intentional or accidental explosion, the depot maga-
zine is situated at some distance from other build-
ings, while the main magazine of a garrison or a
seaport would involve in its destruction the town
in which it is situated, and in all likelihood the
lives of many inhabitants. If this idea be carried
out it will be a very excellent one, and an improve-
ment that will last when this immediate danger is
over. In many of these departmental arrangements
the introduction of common-sense regulations will
often effect a considerable gain. In this instance
the safety of many seems to indicate the necessity
of a change in the right direction, and we are glad
that attention has been directed to it in time. The
necessity for care being taken in all directions is
shown by the wide-spread nature of the
disaffection that exists. In pursuance of au
order that has been sent from the Horse Guards
a general court-martial will be held to-day at Chat-
ham for the purpose of trying two privates of the
Ist Royals, who are charged with uttering Fenian
cries and using seditious language in the streets of
Chatham during last week. An extraordinary
guard has been sent to Osborne, to remain there
during her MAJESTY'S stay, and various other pre-
cautionary measures adopted. The swearing in of
special constables has also been proceeded with. On
Saturday the Lord Mayor, Alderman CARDEN, and
Alderman ROSE, attended at the Guildhall for
the purpose, and by three o'clock 750 were
sworn in. At the Mansion House nearly a thou-
sand were enrolled. In the most dangerous parts
of Westminster the special constables were on duty
all night. A very strong force has been sworn in at
Westminster. Indeed the greatest activity has
been displayed in all quarters to carry out this ne-
cessary arrangement, and it is most fortunate that
it should be so, for we cannot tell when or where their
service may be required. By the adoption of due care
and caution there is every reason to hope that the
recurrence of a calamity like that at Clerkenwell
may be avoided ; but, at the same time, no one can
feel quite secure at the prospects before us. Fore-
warned is forearmed, as we all know, but yet some
continue to forget it now and then notwithstanding.
With the recollection of Friday week, yet so pro-
minently in our minds, there can be no excuse if
anything is left undone that should be done to
prevent disturbances, and show the conspirators
that they are sedulously watched. The defeat of a
' fair-intended scheme will do a great deal to stop
the spread of the mischief, and in a few weeks it
may be put down altogether. To do this effectually,
however, it is imperatively required that the autho-
rities should be duly supported by the aid of the
public, and also by that indirect influence, which
sometimes goes a long way to show the force of
public opinion, and convince the conspirators of
heir error.

The Persia, bringing us news from New York to
;he 11th of the mouth, reports some exciting dis-
cussions. In both Houses of Congress there have
been matters of interest introduced, and the mem-
bers seemed determined to make the most of their
short session before Christmas. The resolution for
the impeachment was, as we knew long since by
the cable, defeated by 108 against 57, and it is not
a little significant that of the majority no less than
66 were Republicans. The common sense of the
more moderate members of the party was naturally
opposed to such a rash and reckless movement,
while they felt moreover that the feeling
of the country would be dead against them.
The lesson of the elections has not been alto-
gether lost even on the unimpressible Radicals.
in the Senate Mr. CHANDLER has been dJing his

bait to set both hemispheres in a blaze. He made
a ilorg speech in favour of the resolution granting
benigennt rights to Abyssinia during the war with
England, strongly denouncing the course pursued
by the British Government during the rebellion.
He declared his belief that if the resolution was
passed ten to 15 privateers would be afloat within
a hundred days. This is likely enough, but ho
forgot to add a few other consequences of
the resolution. The independence of the
Southern States would be one of the
most immediate, as far as America was
concerned, for one of the first objects in case of a
declaration of war between England and America
would be the raising of the Confederate standard.
The people of the South, wearied and disgusted
with the fruits of Radical legislation, would be only
too eager to hail such an opportunity. General
GRANT himself referred to the manifest change
which had taken place in Southern sentiment since
the close of the war. The train is laid ready to be
lighted, and the first appearances of a foreign
army prepared to assist the Southerners in main-
taining their rights against the North would
rekindle all the old fire and impetuosity which
carried the Southern armies through so many
desperate and often successful struggles. The
United States between Canada and the South would
be in a less enviable position than they seem to
imagine, and although our Australian gold ships
may appear a tempting prize, and offer a ready and
convenient method of settling their currency per-
plexities, they would find a war with Great Britain
a good deal more costly and difficult than Mr.
CHANDLER anticipates. It is nol surprising that
Mr. REVERDY JOHNSON, a Senator of no slight
weight and of high legal ability, should have strongly
opposed so preposterous a resolution. It was calcu-
lated, he said, to provoke a needless quarrel with
Great Britain—a result it could hardly fail to attain.
The spirit which the late Fenian outrages have pro-
duced among the English people may teach the
Americans a salutary lesson, and show them that it
will not "do to provoke too far the characteristic
love of peace and placidity of the nation of shop-
keepers." Englishmen have borne a good deal from
American tongues and peas, and have reason to be
considerably dissatisfied with the favour and facili-
ties afforded to Fenianism, but such an offence as
the granting of letters of marque to Abyssinian
privateers could hardly be forgotten or forgiven.

The relations with Canada also came under dis-
cussion in the Senate, and the terms of the new
Treaty were considered. It was proposed that the
fisheries should be free to British and American
subjects alike—a suggestion which can hardly be
censured. Another proposition is likely to meet
with less favour. Canada, according to the reso-
lution, should cede British Columbia to the United
States—the latter to pay six million dollars for the
Hudson's Bay Company. There was once a philo-
sopher who said he could move the world if he had
only got a lever long enough, and in the same way
the Americans appear to think that if they had only
a purse long enough they could buy up the habit-
able globe ! Their recent purchases in the
West Indies have not, one would think, been
calculated to encourage them in making further
experiments. Possibly they think that the
Hudson's Bay teritory is out of reach of the malign
influences which have wellnigh destroyed St.
Thomas's. The proposal to Canada to cede the
magnificent territory of British Columbia is an
amusing instance of American assumption. This
modest and moderate " Resolution" was intro-
duced, but laid over, but the Senate adopted
a resolution of Mr. SUMNER'S for the production
of all correspondence relative to the Alabama claims.
These claims are kept in reserve, and brought up
periodically to keep them fresh in the public mind. Mr.
SEWARD at least will take good care that they are not
forgotten until he sees an opportunity for indulging
his long cherished hatred of England and the English.
We must hope that wiser counsellers will keep him
in check until the gradual enlightenment of the
people in reference to foreign politics removes that
chronic prejudice against Great Britain which too
many American statesmen have done their best to
foster.

In matters of domestic legislation, the House of
Representatives has passed the bill suspending the
authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to
withdraw the United States notes, a piece of in-
terference which Mr. M'CuLLocit will, we pre-
sume, not thank them for. The Radicals can-
not control their tendency to meddle with the
national exchequer. No experience can convince
them that their collective wisdom is not greater
in regard to finances as well as in politics than that
of the most tried and talented official. The bills
to enable negroes to hold office and sit on juries in
the district of Columbia have passed both Houses ;
but General GRANT evidently perceives the neces-
sity of putting some check on the movements of the
negro party, and has given the military district
commanders a suspension order over the Freedmen's
Bureaux. The general officers are at least guided
by some sort of law, and General GRANT himself
keeps a strict supervision over them ; but the officials
of the Freedmen's Bureaux have too often defied all
law and reason.

THE Conference is abandoned, and NAPOLEON is
nishing on his army reorganisation scheme. The
aint hope which we lately entertained that the
cations would agree upon a general disarmament
a extinguished, and on all sides the preparations
'or war go on with renewed vigour. There is
,carcely a nation in Europe which is not strengthen-
ng its armies. Whether this results from the
anticipation of war or merely from the feeling that
f one nation arms all the rest must, we need not
low inquire. The fact that all are arming is suffi-
dent to compel the consideration of our position as
military people. It must bo borne in mind that
,hisis not a question merely of a few thousands of
.coops, more or less. It is far more fundamental
and important than that. France and Prussia-may
:ach have a million of men under arms, without
!ausing us much: anxiety. In fact, they are to a
:ertain extent the police of Europe, whose services
Pre get withqut payment. It is they who in no
imall measure keep back the encroachments of
Etussia, the one thing which would, according to
)ur traditional policy, force us to enter upon a
'oreign war. The real importance of the present
nilitary crisis is that it is a revolution. The Ger-
nan war of 1866 has proved that victory is no
.onger for large standing armies, but for an armed
nation. Austria depended upon a military class to
ight her battles for her ; the Prussian nation fought
`,or itself. NAPOLEON clearly discerns this, and
whatever demerits there may be in his reorganisa-
;ion scheme, it has this one great advantage—it
will give France more men trained for warfare,
without materially increasing the nunier of pro-
!essional soldiery

For U 3 this matter is of intmense importance,
;ince we have come by necessity to the position
which Prussia so long ago occupied voluntarily.
We can no longer recruit our army, as wo used to
10, by voluntary enlistment. There are two rea-
sons why we cannot. The less important one is
she more important politically. Ireland, our great
ceeniiting-ground, is to a large extent closed against
as by the disaffection of the inhabitants. Pre-
viously to this we had experienced great difficulty
in consequence of the large demand for labour.
freland? s superfluous population, instead of taking to
the army as the only resource, camp over to Eng-
land to earn wages, or emigrated to America, where
the•people became landlords. While the soldier's
pay has remained nearly stationary, the pay of the
artisan and the labourer has largely increased.
rho manufacturer and the farmer have become the

MCCOSSIUI competitors of the recruiting sergeant.
Renee it is the ne'er-do-wells who for the most part
3onstitute our army; the men who are too idle and
too vicious to settle down to hard work whom we
entrust with the sacred duty of maintaining the
honour of the ,country—with what success we may
lather from the fact that in seven years we lost
nearly 50,000 men through desertion. This is not
surprising when we remember that these men are
commonly enlisted in a st ate of drunkennes ; in other
words, that they have made a contract of the most
serious kind when incapacitated from making even
the smallest engagement. No one can blame them
if, when they recover their reason, they repudiate
a bargain struck under such circumstances. Even
if we could reckon upon having the use of all the
men who enlist, the number would be infinitely
below our wants. In time of war we should not
have enough to defend our own islands, much less
our Indian Empire and all our colonies. And yet
this inefficient army surely costs us enough. We pay
far more for about 120,000 men than the Prussians
pay for three times that number. Even if we
could get men enough to raise our army to the
Continental standard we could not afford to pay for
them at the present rate of cost. The extra two-
pence a-day which was the ridiculous birth that fol-
lowed the long labour of the Army Commission may
bring us a thousand or two more men than we should
have had otherwise, but what we want is tens, nay,
hundreds of thousands whom we can count upon
in case of need. These are not to be obtained
under the present system.
It is announced that Sir HENRY STORKS is to
attempt some reforms of our military system, from
which increased efficiency and economy are antici-
pated. Mere variations of routine and detail,
however, will not be enough. The- question is,
are we prepared to adopt the Prussian system
Under that, every man is educated for, and liable
to, military service. As we have already said, the
nation is armed. The citizen is, by virtue of his
citizenship, compelled to be a soldier. For three
years he is withdrawn from the avocation which he
intends to follow, and he can scarcely reckon upon
entering a trade or profession before he is 25. In
time of war the military obligation is far more
serious. The writer of an able article in the North
British Review mentions that last year a small
shopkeeper in Pomerania had his two assistants
taken from him, then a substitute whom he had
procured, and at length he himself was compelled
to serve ; and when he returned home after the
campaign he found that his rival had taken all his
business from him. The proprietor of a factory,
employing 3,000 hands, was required to join the
army; he had neither partner nor manager, and he
must have shut up his works and discharged his
men had he complied with the demand. Under
special circumstances such as these the Govern-
ment gave an exemption ; but the exceptions were
very rare. Bankers, sculptors, physicians, law-
yers had to turn soldiers ; no profession or rank
was spared. The inconvenience and loss and
suffering were very great, and to us would seem
intolerable. Yet there is an advantage which to a
great degree counterbalances the hardship. When
every man is liable to serve, war becomes very
unpopular, and wars are made with great hesitation.
Although the Prussians earned such brilliant laurels
in the campaign of 1865, they were not the least
enamoured of military life. In fact, gunpowder
was in such ill odour that the shooting matches of
the present year have throughout Rhenish Prussia
been very badly attended. The late campaign was
a struggle between Prussia and Austria for the
mastery in Germany, and as such the Prussian
people fought it with a minimum of grumbling.
But an ordinary war of aggrandisement upon a
foreign Power would certainly be resisted by the
nation to the uttermost. Such motives as glory
and the preservation of the balance of power lose
their force in a wonderful degree when we ourselves
have to fight for them instead of paying other men
to do so. An armed nation is, therefore, as valu-
able a pledge of peace as a large standing army is a
:ong incentive to war. In the first case the
interests of all are involved in maintaining peace ;
in the second, only those of soldiers are directly in
favour of making war. The banker, the trades-
man, the professional man, have a profitable
calling in their bank, shop, and practice ; but
the soldier wants prize - money and the spoils
of victory. We did to a certain extent
adopt the Prussian system when we set on foot the
volunteer movement. Our volunteers are a citizen
army, and it is just of these materials that our
regular army would be composed if we were to
establish the Prussian system in its entirety. The
question is, whether we ought not to convert this
voluntary into compulsory service. Every year we
shall find a regular army more costly and more
inefficient. It has degenerated terribly both in
physique and morale since the Crimean campaign,
and yet it costs us now far more money in propor-
tion than it did then. By adopting the Prussian
system we should relieve ourselves from the respon-
sibility of defending our possessions. The colonies
would have to follow the example of the mother
country. India alone, perhaps, would have to be
held by an army, for in India the English are but
a handful among a vast subject population. Sooner
or later we shall have to consider this grave matter
seriously and fully, and not stave it off by such
miserable expedients as finding our soldiers with
their washing. The highest form of civilisation,
save one, is in this respect the same as the lowest
form of barbarism—every man fights for himself
instead of by deputy. There is but one highe
stage. and that is when men cease to fight at all.

TESTIMONIAL 70 DR. BEKE.
G
TO TIIE EDITOR. OF TILE SUN.

No. 11 and 12, Charing-cross, Westminster,
S.W., December, 1867.

SIR,—It having been proposed to acknowledge
the services of Dr. Beke in the exploration of Abys-
sinia and Eastern Africa, to which be has devoted
his life, his talents, and his fortune, a committee has
been formed, and the following donations received :
Thomas Baring, Esq., M.P., £lO ; J. Peter Gas-
siot, Esq., F.R.S., £lO ; John Heugh, Esq.,
F.R.G.S., £25 ; David Salmons, Esq., Alderman,
M.P. ; William Silver, Esq., F.R.G.S., £lO 10s. ;
Right Hon. Lord Stanley, M.P., £5 ; William Tite,
M.P., V.P.S.A., .£lO ; Sir C. Wentworth Dilke, Bt.,
M.P., £lO ; B. B. Greene, Esq., £lO ; J. Blyth, Esq.,
£10; Chas. White, Esq., £lO ; Right Hon. the Earl of
Malmesbury, £lO ; Richard Davis, Esq., F.S.A.,
£lO ; C. Newdegate, Esq., M.P., £lO ; J. Tinn,
Esq. (late Consul at Jerusalem), £1 is. ; James
Heywood, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., &c., £lO ; Profes-
sor E. W. Brayley, F.R.S., F.S.A , £3 3s. ; A
friend, by Professor C. W. Brayley, £5 ,ss. ; John
Ball, Esq. (Quilter, Ball, and Co.), £lO 10s. ; J.
Gertenberg, Esq., £1 Is. ; T. Clegg, Esq. (Man-
chester), £5 ss. Further donations will be accepted
by the Treasurer of the Testimonial Fund, the Hon.
Arthur T. Kinnaird, M.P. •, the bankers, Messrs. Ran-
som, Bouverie, and Co., 1, Pall-mall East (S. W.) ;
Messrs. Robarts, Lubbock, and Co., 15, Lubbock-
street (E.C.) ; and also by W. 11. Black, F.S.A.,
Hyde Clarke, LL.D., Honorary Secretaries ; and
John Lincoln, Assistant Secretary.

A HEtto's WoRK. By Mrs. Duffus Hardy. 3
vols. —" Apart, from the ability with which Mrs. Duffus
Hardy discusses what is emphatically a woman's ques-
tion, 'A Hero's Work' is a powerful, interesting., and
well-wrought novel. Lawrence Carlton, who closes
honourably an ignoble life, is skilfully put into contrast
against the faulty hero who ultimately marries Lena,
Mrs. Carlton, the rector's second wife, who, unlike the
conventional step-mother of romance, is the complete
mother of her adopted children, and Dr. Sterndale, are
excellent pieces of portraiture. The book also abounds in
dramatic positions, which are powerful and thoroughly
artistic. "—il thenaum.
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