The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-29 00:00:00

THE _BISHOP OF LONDON'S CEA.. WE.

In the mystical commentary offered by the
Univers upon the Bishop of London's Charge, and
especially upon the views taken by his Lordship
of the practice of Auricular Confession, ET iglish
readers will discern one practical observat
namely, that the Confessional movement a i insti-
tuted by certain priests in the English ' Church
appears to Romanists a very direct step I ;owards
Rome. In such proceedings the Univem very
naturally recognizes its own creed and systi ,m, nor
will its ideas up to this point meet with an iy con-
tradiction in this country. Establish th .e Con- .
feseional and you will establish Popery- —about
that 'there is no question. When oirr French
contemporary, however, proceeds to jiff( r that
the movement thus symbolised is an f tensive
movement, Oat large bodies of our ci ergy are
brought within its attraction, and that Papists
may be sanguine in their anticipation s of the
result, it reckons considerably too fast. We are
thankful to reflect that there is no such. danger.
Foreigners are so apt to be misled by appearances
in this respect that even -M. de Mon talembert,
with all his discernment, did not escape the delu-
sion, though his impressions, perhaps, admit of
easy explanation. He saw that in England there
was genuine religious freedom, and he concluded
accordingly that in such, an atmosphere what he
believed to be the truth must nece. warily prevail.
This is an untelligible view of the matter;
but when tha Unirers foresees the conversion of
England in the vagaries of half-a-do: :en' Church-
men it mistakes altogether the charade-I: of the facts
before it.
That there should be a party in the Church of
England with tendencies to the Church of Rome is
a natural and almost necessary incident, of spiri-
tual vitality. There have been similar divisions
in the Church of Rome itself at all periods of
gious or intellectual agitation. In England they
have appeared at intervals ever since the great
epoch of the Reformation, and if Mr. Poole has
an' opportunity he will probably be able to
show that such doctrines as he maintains have
never wanted professors. We now speak of
High Church and Low Church, but long before
these terms were in use the views which they are
understood to express were in v.etive existence,
and the Church received an impa Ise from each
party in turn. Upon the whole, however, the
balance has been considerably in favour of the
Low Church, or Protestant spirit, insomuch that
the Oxford movement of 1833, the very move-
ment visible to the Univers at this minute, ori-
ginated in a species of despair at the utterly
un-Catholic aspect which the Church was acquiring.
Many persons indeed who did not directly part;ci-
pate in the spirit of the Oxford Tracts felt that the
time had come for some revival in High Church.
quarters, lest the opposite party should carry all
before it, and the via media of the Anglican estab-
lishment be altogether lost. But all that has
been achieved in this direction has been insufficient
to turn the scale. Among the younger members
of the priesthood the doctrines connected with Dr.
Pusey's name made some progress, but they have
never taken the least hold upon the people, and
the Protestantism of the country, growing natprally.
with thcl.growth of freedom, is more-deeidect, and
absolute than at any other period of our history.
It is not, indeed, under institutions like ours that
H-

igh Church tenets could gain advantage; still
less that Popery could make progress. . The spirit
which was rampant under the Stuarts and de-
pressed under William of Orange is not likely to
attain any excessive expansion in the reign of
Queen Victoria. That it has become notable at all
is simply due to the general activity of mind and.
the freedom of discussion by which the present
generation is characterised.

If any person wishes to know what Papists are
really aoing in the way of proselytism, he may at
once assure himself, from the difficulty he will find
in getting information, that they are certainly doing
no mischief. If they had any success to boast of
we should be sure to hear quite enough about it.
Of late years they have been making extraordinary
efforts. They are ready to overbuild themselves
eves y whereupon the slightest opportunity—running
up chapels where there is no congregation, or provid-
ing .1,000 sittings where there is scarcely a demand
for 50. In despite, however, of all the endeavours
and of the entire freedom with which their opera-
tions have been conducted they have never at any
period made the least perceptible impression upon
the Protestantism of England. It may be doubted,
indeed, whether they have ever done anything to
save the decline of their own body-. In the reign
of Elizabeth, after the first broad line of separation
had been thoroughly drawn, they still numbered,
even at the lowest estimate, a third of the whole
population, but the religious and political contro-
versies of the succeeding century so thinned their
ranks, that under King William 111. they consti-
tuted barely 1 per cent. of the people. What my
! be their real numbers now it would be hard to
learn, but, Ireland apart, they probably do not
exceed the proportion last mentioned. At the
census of 1851 it was found that their chapels had.
altogether about 186,000 sittings. In the course of
jhe last 20 years they have secured some proselytes
of mark, and. have made the most of them, but the
aggregate is utterly inconsiderable. More personk
during the same period have quitted their original
congregations to join the Irvingites, and many
more, we regret to say, have become Mormons.
In fact, the Mormonites beat the Papists hollow.
They have only been in existence a few years, they
have no antiquity of tradition or grandeur of
ceremonial, and they call men from their homes
and kindred across a thousand leagues of ocean to
settle in a remote and hardly accessible desert.
Yet they reckon their numbers by tens of thou-
sands, and possess in England and Wales between
200 and 300 places of worship. The truth is
that they outbid the Romanists in those peculiar
pretensions Which attract unstable or distempered
minds.
Our French neighbours may unhesitatingly-
' divest themselves of the belief that England N
verging. towards the doctrines of Popery. To under-
stand the scenes they now witness, the novelties of
ritual and discipline, protests, invectives, appeals
and counter-appeais, they have only to consider
that the Church of England is active, and that
its activity, while it evokes all the energies of its
clergy, excites also centrifugal tendencies, finding
such expression as we see. It could not well be
otherwise, but the danger to the Protestantism of
the country is infinitely less than it would be if
religious feeling were stagnant, altogether. Take
the whole number of persons—laymn as well as
priests—who have embraced Romanism since 1840,
and the aggregate will be absolutely inappreciable
compared with the mass of the nation; On the other
hand, and as a set-off against this apostacy, we see
churches rising everywhere, religious societies mul-
tiplying, and the :condemnation of public opinion
brought instantly to bear upon any Romanising
ceremonial or practice within the Church itself. Re-
ligion, in short, is alive and active, animating the
great bulk of the educated classes to vigorous.exer-
tion, and leavening the masses of society more uni-
formly, if less violently than in the days of Whitfield.
It is a necessary consequence of this vitality that
there, should be occasional excess, but it is not upon
such a condition of opinion that Popery could ever
act with advantage. It may pick up a few prose-
selytes at one end of the chain as Mormonism may
do at the other, but the country remains ,afe be-
tween. The attitude of.the population at the time
.of the Papal aggression showed the true national
spirit, but its demeanour since has been more
convincing still. We thought then, on the impulse
of the moment, that a. protest was needed, and it
was made accordingly on a scale never before seen.
—Times.

THE INDIAN ARMY.—There will shortly be a large
namber of nominations in the patronage of the Right Hon.
the Secretary of State for India and the members of the
Indian Council, to complete the effective strength 'of her
Majesty's military and naval forces in India, which will
probably be divided as follows :—For the Bengal Infantry
about 200; Madras Infantry, about 100; Bombay Infantry
about 50; Bengal and Bombay Cavalry, about 20; Indian
Navy, about 10.—Oreriand Mail, Nov. 26.

TH the Management of Miss Louisa Pyne and Mr. W
Harrison.
For the Benefit of Mr. William Harrison.
THIS EVENING. IL. TROVATORE. Miss L. Pyne,
Miss Susan Pyne, Miss M. Prescott, Mr. Ferdinand Glover,
Mr. J. G. Patey, and Mr. W. Harrison.
Conductor—Mr. Alfred Mellon.
To conclude with a new Ballet Divertissernent, LA FLEUIt
D'A3IOUR : Mesdlles. L. Michelet, Morlacchi, and Pasquale.

rRINCESS',S THEATRE.
ROYAL
Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean.
TIIIS EVENING will be presented Shakspere's Tragedy of
MACBETH.
Macbeth Mr. C. Kean ; Lady Macbeth, Mrs. C. Kean.
Preceded by a new Farce, in one act, entitled
THIRTY-THREE NEXT BIRTHDAY.

THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone.
THL; EVENING will be performed THE RIVALS.
Mr. Buckstone and Miss Reynolds.
• A new Spanish Ballet, THE INFLUENCE OF GRACE,
in which PereaNena will appear.
With WHITEBAIT AT GREENWICH. John Small, by
Sir Wm. Don, Bart.
And ANY PORT IN A STORM. •
Commence at 7.

ItOYAL STRAND THEATRE,
Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, THE LITTLE SAVAGE.
After which THE MAID AND TRH MAGPIE.
WOOING IN JEST AND LOVING IN EARNEST

3liss SN% anborongh.
And THE BONNIE FISH WIFE.
Commence at 7 o'clock.

GREAT NATIONAL STANDARD THEATRE
Shoreditch.
A brilliant Night's Entertainments.
First Night of " Christmas Eve," and a new Original Drama,
by the author of The French Spy, on Wednesday next.
To commence with the Adelphi drama of CHRISTMAS
EVE. Madame Celeste and Paul Bedford.
Followed by THE LITTLE SUTTLER. Madm. Celeste,
supported by the Company.
To conclude with the burletta of LABOUR LOST, in which
Mrs. It. Honner will perform.
No advance in the prices.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE,
Westminster-road.
Sole Lessee, ...fir. William Cooke.

By Special Desire, for Five Nights longer.

THIS EVENING, and during the week, will be presented
Shakspere's Tragedy of KING RICHARD THE THIRD ;
or, The Death of White Surrey, reproduced with all its origi-
nal splendid effects. The Duke of Gloster, Mr. Holloway ;
Richmond, Mr. H. Phillips.
Followed by SCENES IN THE ARENA, and a variety
of inimitable feats of Equitation by tholt talented artistes,
Madame Blanche, Miss Emily Cooke, Madame Fleurette, Mr.
W. Cooke, Mr. Runnels, Mr. W. Cooke, jun., &c.
On Saturday next will be produced, for the first time, anew
grand Spectacle, with most peculiar effects, entitled LIFE
IN THE EAST ; or, The Sepoy Revolt, embracing the entire
strength of this vast Hippodramatic Temple.
No fees to box-keepers. The art of riding taught.
Commence at seven.
Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips.

CANTERBURY HALL, Westminster-road,—
Proprietor—C. MORTON.
The public is most respectfully informed that 'the FINE
ARTS GALLERY, in connection with the above Hall, IS NOW
0 I'EN DAY AND NIGHT, from 11 o'clock a.m. until 12
o'clock p.m. The New Gallery contains an extensive Collec-
tion of Pictures, by Ancient and Modern Masters •and is also
devoted to Art productions generally. The Proprietor feels
he may confidently assert that, viewed altogether, the exist-
ing Music Hall, the New Fine Arts Gallery, and the recently
added Ante-Hall, will present an attraction which, whether
as regards the architectural beauty of the structures them-
selves, or the varied and hitherto unattempted combinations
within, will be found to be wholly without parallel in the
Kingdom.
The MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT commences as usual at
Seven o'clock.

THE WEATHER.—SuN OrricE, Nov. 28.

THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.

54—highest since noon yesterday.
50—lowest this morning and during the night.
54—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-29.19—rising.
WIND, South-Westerly to West; light, with dull raiiy
weather. It rained heavily in the night. Afternoon-:-
fine sunshiny weather.

Nov. 29.
s.s—highest since noon yesterday.
54—lowest this morning and during the night.
54—this day at noon.
BARoMETER-30.28—still rising.
WIND ,South-Westerly; rather fresh, with dull rainy
weather, but promising to brighten up.

THE SUN.

. MONDAY. NOVEMBER 29,_1858.

The fortunate arrival of the long over-due steam-
ship Indian Empire—which happily made her
appearance in port, on Friday last, at Broadhaven
—is an incident in many respects, we conceive,
deserving of particular commemoration. Upwards
of one calendar month—thirty-four days in all—
passed over while the vessel was making her way
laboriously, perilously, across the Atlantic from
New York to her ultimate point of destination.
More than double the ordinary period, therefore,
was consumed in a passage, in many respects ex-
traordinary in some, unprecedented. Sixteen
days' fuel was on board when the ship left
Halifax on the night of the 31st of Octo-
ber abundance, according to the customary
calculations ; but so utterly insufficient, as the
event proved, that they had to tear up the
decks, and gradually consume in the furnace fires,
masts, bulwarks, and part of the cargo, in order to
bring the vessel at last to land. Insomuch was this
deficiency of fuel apparent that the Indian Empire
was still 300 miles from the coast of Galway when
the whole of her sixteen days' store of coal was
entirely consumed. No alternative, therefore, was
left but the above-mentioned destruction of
property—the tearing up of the decks and
the burning of masts, cargo, and bulwarks. From
the 11th of November to the 26th, the day when
the vessel at length steamed into Broadhaven Bay,
the crew and passengers, it is not surprising to
note, were upon short allowance. So remarkable
was the length of the voyage, and so unusual were
the circumstances of it, already narrated, that we
can hardly regard the captain's statement, in re-
ference to the weather, as in any respect
exaggerated, when he asserts that it was
really and truly unprecedented. It was not unrea-
sonably conjectured by those on board the Indian-
Empire, that many casualties must have occurred
to other vessels at that period traversing the
Atlantic—for they fell in, it appears, with great
quantities of floating wreck, and on Mon-
day last spoke the ship Silistria, 115 days
from Callao ! she having been as many as
thirty days within 300 miles of the Irish
coast !! Throughout the whole of this memorable
voyage of the Indian Empire, she encountered ad-
verse
.winds, heavy gales blowing continuously,
and more or less fiercely, from the south-east.
When at a distance of 350 miles from Galway, it
being found that no more than 30 hours' coal re-
mained, it was considered prudent by the gallant
skipper, by reason of the continuance of Ow
" fearful weather," to lie to—which the vessel
then did for an entire week. On board, it should
be remembered, there were 80 passengers, every
one of whom, together with the crew and officers,
came at length into port, not only safe,
but in excellent health. The passengers, it
is not surprising to note, express themselves
highly satisfied—as they obviously have good
reason to be—with the ship, captain, officers, and
crew : while the chief officer (Mr. BARRY) writes of
the passengers thcit great praise was due to them
for their untiring exertions in assisting the crew.
As for the vessel herself, she proved indeed to be a
first-rate sea boat, and one admirably adapted for
Atlantic navigation. Her machinery worked well
—and during the whole stormy voyage it is recorded
that she shipped only one sea. It would be
difficult to speak too highly of the good discipline
of the crew and officers, and of the admirable sea-
manship and diecretiOn of her gallant commander,

Captain COURTEX4Y. Honour to those true-hearted
tars one and all, and especially to their able chief,
the one entrusted with the supreme responsibility.
Had the voyage unhappily closed with a disaster,

Had

it would have demanded sw.ne notice.
the crew proved inefficient and the skipper
incompetent, they would. have illicited some
passing words of reprobation. As the
event in each instance has proved exactly the
reverse, we certai-aly do not feel i a any way either
constrained or disposed to remain silent. And
while we rejoice at the happy arrival in port of
the good ship Indian Empire, we honour and
admire, and would here most co:rdially commend in
a few simple, but earnest, -words, the gallantry,
skill, courage, and unflinching resolution displayed
from first to last by he': trusty crew and her
gallant Captain..

The elaborate diatribes of certain anti-Ministerial
journals, in reference to the publication of Sir JOIN
YOUNG'S despatches, at an untoward period, have
all been thrown away. If the Palmorstonians were
to be credited, a grave mist akehhad been committed,
which would paralyse the energies even of Mr.
GLADSTONE, and send back that distinguished
statesman in a state of burning indignation, at the
fool's errand on which he had been despatched. It
was held forth as a formidable weapon in the
hands of the Opposition, which would inevitably
be supported by all the power and all the elo-
quence of the Member for the University of
Oxford.

But the mare's nest so hastily grasped at has at
length been revealed in its true characteristics.
There is no Minister of State at fault, scarcely a
subordinate official, whose error, if any, was cer•
tainly not a wilful one, but arose from an undue
sense of security and too strong a reliance on the
honour of the friend whom he admitted to an
audience. It is not our practice to speculate on the
facts of a case as yet undecided, or to condemn any
man while the matters of which he is
accused are as yet sub judice. Should ,
Mr. WELLINGTON GREVILLE GUERNSEY be
enabled to prove his innocence none will rejoice
more sincerely than ourselves ; but at present it is
satisfactory to know that the case will receive a
searching judicial investigation, which will digit all
the facts connected therewith. We must here
remind our readers that but one side of the case has
as yet been heard, and that audi alteram partem is
a golden rule of British jurisprudence, which never
has, and, we trust, never will be dispensed with.
It cannot, however, do any harm to the accused
to state a brief summary of the grounds of suspicion
on which he has been committed for trial. It ap-
peared that he had formerly held a commission
in the Turkish Contingent, and has subsequently
been in South America. On his return home he
had applied for employment in the Colonial-office,
and was very much annoyed at his applications
having met with a colder reception than he had
anticipated, holding out threats that the Colonial
Secretary " should repent it." During his career
he had become on terms of acquaintanceship
with Mr. MILLER, sub•librarian at the Colonial-
office, and he paid frequent visits to that gentle-
man. Mr. MILLER has lately been acting for Mr.
MAYER, the principal librarian, during his
vacation, and in that capacity had received
several copies of the despatch from Sir JOHN
YOUNG, which had been printed for confidential
circulation amongst certain high officials. He had
placed them on the right hand side of his table with
other papers, and a heavy book over them. He
had prqbably thus placed them for the purpose of
immediate transmission, and had not the slightest
notion that there would be any interference with
the important documents. Unfoxtunatcly, he was
suddenly called into an antechamber, and during
his absence Mr. GUERNSEY was left alone in the
room. Nothing was, however, at the time missed,
nor was any suspicion excited until the publication
of these despatches in the Daily News,

No blame whatever can be cast on our contem-
porary. The precaution was taken of obtaining a
proper verification. The responsible party for the
production was Mr. GUERNSEY, and all the account
that be would or has condescended to render
after the mischief was effected was, that a person
had left them at his house. Amongst other cir-
cumstances connected with the case was the fact
that sixteen official envelopes, similar to those in use
in the Crimea, and which would have come• into his
hands while on active service, were found in his
possession, and that the enclosure to the Daily
News was contained in one of a like description.
These various points will have to be explained,
if possible. At all events, her MAJESTY'S Govern-
ment are exonerated from all censure, and we
believe that the clerks in the office are also freed
from what must have been a very unpleasant sus-
picion, until the most stringent and searching
inquiry had been instituted into all the circum-
stances of this very untoward transaction.

It was but seldom that prosecutions for commer-
cial frauds, or of absconding bankrupts, appeared
in our criminal courts. They are now, unfortu-
nately, of frequent occurrence, anti the conduct of
the offender proves the necessity of making strik-
ing examples. New modes of deceiving confiding
creditors are daily practised, and few can escape
the ingenious snares spread for their capture. It is
no longer by open violence, or sleight-of-hand, that
parties are plundered. A gang, assuming the
appearances of respectable .tradesmen, or a man
setting up in business for the purpose of fraud,
contrive to obtain goods, which are immediately
converted into cash, and the beguiled creditor de-
prived of the slightest chance of payment. And
these persons have the audacity to think that they
will be regarded as mere debtors, and that they can
escape the penal consequences of their offences
under cover of the laws intended for the protection
of honest, although unfortunate, debtors. They
will, however, speedily discover their mistake ; and
if the precedent afforded by the proceedings of
the Central Criminal Court, on Thursday last,
be properly followed up, the distinction
between the cases:of bona fide debtors and unprinci-
pled swindlers will soon be clearly manifested.
On Thursday, a man named LEWIS LEWIS was
indicted for omitting to surrender on being declared
a bankrupt, and for removing and concealing his
books. After the messenger of the court was in
his house, he had started for New York, carrying
with him property to the extent of about £l,OOO
sterling. He was promptly pursued, and the de-
tective officer was enabled to recover about £377
for his creditors. With extraordinary fatuity he
fancied that the surrender of a portion of his ill-
gotten gains would exempt • him from all further
liability. He returned to the scene of his iniquity,
but was speedily undeceived when a sentence of
six years' penal servitude was accorded as the fit-
ting penalty of his misdeeds.

Another bankrupt, LEWN ZUCKER, was also con-
victed for having made false entries in his books,
and giving untrue evidence before the Commissioner
of Bankruptcy. The fraud was very clearly displayed
in this case. It was proved beyond the possibility
of doubt that the paper on which the entries of
what purported to be his transactions for the three
purchased in 1837, and,
last years had only been

therefore, the books were manifestly concocted fir
a fraudulent purpose. He, too, was sentenced to
six years' penal servitude ; and when the vast im-
portance of commercial rectitude is taken into con-
sideration it will be seen that these delinquents
have escaped more easily than others adopting
similar courses can hope to do. The daring high-
wayman, whose life would be forfeited on convic-
tion, .
could never inflict an equal amount of injury
on society than those dastardly swindlers who,
under false pretences and mendacious professions,
reduce respectable persons to ruin, and blast the
prospects of their future lives. We trust, however,
that the examples of the present session will induce
men of similar dispositions to pause in their
reckless career, and to remember that if there be
present temptations there are also stringent penal-
ties looming in the future,

i:1,,.. ..: . ,
i
a.,
•
)s*?-, 50,T.,,,,,•m4,.' . ffr • •
-:0---r--9._4-,-?,16,-4100
•0‘,„4,. , rili QIN. ;,- • ~; r..,,..,:-. \ 4 ')".".. ...N.
-41/....1*•147 ‘ - .
tier.... . Ali ,\ .Ik.
, . .I*/
,7,.`,' -bltow .' lt,' ~,IL,'
1:. ;001,-;, t 4'-`‘lt
--..
, , -s,