The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-01 00:00:00

present recipients until their promotion, resignation, or
decease.

netting Newfoundland with Cape Breton, establish-
ing a second telegraph line from the Newfoundland
end of the Atlantic cables to New York ; also
the manufacture and laying of a heavy
four-wire cable from Lowestoft to Norderney for
Reuter's Telegram Company, thus giving direct
telegraphic communication between England and
Northern Germany. In addition to the 6,006 miles
of submarine cables of different types previously
laid down by the staff of the company they had,
during the year 1866, manufactured and successfully
submerged 2,167 miles of cable, and satisfactorily
established the company's competency to recover
cables in great oceanic depths. After reserving?
£lO,OOO for maintenance of the Malta and Alex-
andria Telegraph there remained a balance of profit
of £122,426, from which was deducted £13,214,
the interim dividend of 21 per cent. paid to the
proprietors to June 30, 1866, leaving £109,212 for
disposal, which the directors proposed to appropriate
as follows :—To pay -the proprietors the balance of
interest on capital at 5 per cent. £15,265, and a
further dividend at 5 per cent. per annum £30,530,
making up 10 per cent. per annum, free of
income-tax, and out of the balance of £63,418 to
place to the credit of the reserve fund £35,329,
which would at once increase that fund to the maxi-
mum amount—£so,ooo, and to carry £28,089 to
next year's profit and loss account. Iu addition
there remained to be received at the end of the year
1866 from the Atlantic Telegraph Company further
ordinary stock of that company, amounting to
£67,030, which would augment the balance for next
year. The Board had found it necessary to raise
further capital for the more profitable and econo-
mical working of the company's business, and had
decided to make a call of £5 per share, payable by
instalments—viz., £3 per share in May and £2 in
August. The directors bad already this year con-
tracted with the New York, Newfoundland, and
London Telegraph Company for the manufacture
and laying down of about 300 miles of cable between
Placentia (Newfoundland) and Sydney (Nova
Scotia), and they were in treaty for several other
important contracts. The balance-sheet showed that
£609,145 had been paid up on 37,350 shares, and
£60,000 had been raised on debentures. The pro-
perty of the company in premises, leases, goodwills,
pwaetreen
alsot s , Scs cu.
n,
dwr ya ssecurities
estimatedhealdt
bly7tBh4e,BeBoBm.
paTnhyerine
shares and debentures of other companies represent-
ing £129,289.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the re-
port, congratulated the proprietors on the successful
laying of the Atlantic Cable of 1866, and on the
recovery of the cable in 1865. Those impor-
tant works had involved great anxiety on the part
of the directors and great expense on the company.
The Great Eastern had been six weeks knocking
about the Atlantic in adverse weather before they
I were enabled to pick up the cable of 1865. He be-
lieved the expenditure and risk they had incurred in
those operations were more than any other company
would be prepared to undertake. The dividend of 10
per cent. for the year was not so large, owing to the
reserves they had to make, as they originally con-
templated. They had been at considerable expense,
and then came the great and long depression in the
money market. It was thought that, as they had
completed their work so successfully, they would
have been flooded with contracts, but that had not
been the case, and, as prudent men, they thought it
better to improve what they had. They held pro-
perty in the Atlantic Telegraph Company and in the
Anglo-American Company, and as the receipts of
those companies were increasing every day their
securities would go on augmenting in value. They
bad already improved to the extent of 30 per cent.
The successful manner in which their work had been
done must create great confidence in the company.
They found the business required a larger capital
than they thought would be necessary when they
commenced operations, and that was the reason
they made a call of £5 per share. The call would
produce £134,410. They had that day accepted a
contract for a cable from Tasmania to Australia.
They had made a contract with the Italian Govern-
ment for a line from Susa to Suez. They were to
make lines to India, and they would have a right
of way for a telegraph through France. The Go-
-1
vernments of different countries now seemed to be
impressed with the importance of extending tele-
! graphic communication to other countries. They
were in treaty with some of them for laying down
important lines which it would not be advisable to
mention at present. The Atlantic Telegraph cables
were now in receipt of from £1,200 to £1,500 a-day;
it was found that these cables had the capacity of
doing any amount of business, and he was sure they
could defy all competition. He regretted the absence
of Sir R. A. Glass from ill health, but he hoped be-
fore long that he would be so far recovered as to be
with them again. (Hear, hear.) They bad secured
the services of Capt. Shcrard Osborn as managing
director, and from what they knew of him they had
entire and implicit confidence in his ability and ma-

Leave was given to Lord R. MosTAGu to bring in a bill
to consolidate and amend the laws of vaccination.
In committee of supply a vote of £402,000 was agreed
to on account of the new Courts of Justice.
The other business was disposed of, and the House ad-
journed at 8 o'clock until twelve this day.

Railway and other Companies.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST.

The adjourned -Marneliffe meeting of this com-
pany was held yesterday at the International Hotel,
London-bridge ; Col. Barttelot, M.P., in the chair.
The Secretary having read the notice of adjourn-
ment, _ _

The CHAIRMAN moved, in accordance with the
notice read by the secretary, that the meeting be
further adjourned to Thursday, May 16, at that
place. Ile said that at the last meeting he mentioned
that the directors would call a special general meet-
ing to give the shareholders the opportunity of dis-
cussing various matters connected with tho affairs
of the company. A meeting for that purpose would
be held on the 9th May, and he hoped all the share-
holders had received a notice to that effect.
Mr. MACKENZIE seconded the motion.

Mr. GoEz, a member of the committee, said, in
in the absence of Sir J. Jackson, the chairman of
the committee, it was his duty to state that it had
been agreed with the directors to hold the present
meeting for adjournment only, and that no discus-
sion should take place. _ _ _

The meeting then adjourned to May 16.

LONDON, CHATHAM, AND DOVER.
The adjourned half-yearly meeting of this coin
pany was held yesterday at the Victoria Station.
Lord HARRIS, who presided, said that the same
reason which had induced the directors to adjourn
the meeting to that day now existed, and he had to
ask the proprietors to agree to a further adjourn-
ment. As the director!. were not in a position to
state anything with regard to the bill before Parlia-
ment, it was not advisable that there should be any
discussion at the present moment. He then moved
that the meeting stand adjourned until June 17
next, by which time the directors' bill would be suf-
ficiently advanced for their consideration.
Mr. HARTRIDGE said that under the circumstances
he had no objection to second the motion.
Mr. BRISTOW asked if the directors intended to
give the proprietors an opportunity of discussing the
half-year's accounts before the Wharneliffe meeting
was called. He thought some information should be
given the shareholders regarding the arbitration and
other questions.
The same view with regard to holding a general
meetingbeforetheWharncliffe meeting was expressed
by several proprietors, and acquiesced in by Mr.
Baxter, solicitor to the company.
Mr. KNIGHT expressed general distrust of all law
proceedings, and said he believed the law costs for
the bridge over the Thames had amounted to
£BO,OOO, so that if things went on at that rate, and
the directors bad to fight this, that, and the other,
things would be still worse for the shareholders. He
asked the chairman if the guaranteed interest upon
the B and C Metropolitan Extensions was not paid
by Sir M. Peto what steps would the directors take.
Mr. WARTER said that Sir Morton Peto did not
admit his liability to pay this interest.
Mr. KNIGHT said that Sir Morton Peto had paid
some of it.
Mr. WARTER said it was so, and the question
was in statu quo. For his part, he believed there
was nothing binding.
Mr. KNIGHT remarked that the B and C stacks
only were guaranteed by Sir Morton Peto.
Another SHAREHOLDER said these shares were ad-
vertised to the public, on the authority of the direc-
tors, as bearing a 6 per cent. guaranteed dividend,
and he thought the directors ought to test the vali-
dity of the guarantees.
A long conversation ensued with regard to the
directors' bill now before Parliament, and an assur-
ance having been given that an opportunity should
be given the proprietors to meet before the Wharn-
cliffe meeting►, the motion for adjournment was
passed. •
A vote of thanks was given to the chairman, and
the proceedings terminated.

ness they were pursuing, and join themselves to
the swelling procession, and the more careless are
arrested when it stops at some open space, and the
priest, in a few earnest words, exhorts them to
come and attend to the affairs of their soul in this
time of Lent ; and so they proceed, gathering as
they go, and by the very earnestness of their
charity " compel " men to come in with them, that
God's House may be full. At one spot you may
meet a bearded Capuchin, at another a close-shaven
Passsionist, further on an impassioned son of St.
Dominic, or St. Ignatius, but all gesticulating with
genuine Italian earnestness. The Gesit is gene-
rally one of the most remarkable churches on these
occasions. sight services are rare in Rome, and
there is no permanent provision for lighting up the
body of a church. Twelve large tapers, at long
intervals down the vast nave of the Gesit, but just
serve to throw into strong shadow the silhouette
of the assembled thousands, and leave the vast
vault above looking like the sky on a dark night.
Now and then the huge doors are thrown open, and
finishing the last petitions of the Litany begun in
a distant street, there come in the various confra-
ternities, marshalling the flocks of stray sheep they
have gathered, whose crowds are soon lost in the
seerm behindon a pillar, and you
don't hear much of it ; the chances are in the Gesit
you wont hear much, but you have no difficulty in'short, loud, bold,
and sententious
general throng. Then come the Litanies of Loretto
and of the Saints, responded to by the united voices
ofthe
masses,
a .n d
Yout h then a
n a
r
making out the leading idea—some sentences are
sure to be sent rolling along in your direction from
time to time, which give you the subject under
meditation. " Fede, fede, sempre fede !,, will,
perhaps, he the words you catch, and then, per-
haps, nothing more, till the next period winds up
with the same exclamation ; or, perhaps, some
illustration which strikes him as very popular and
irresistible, will make the preacher at pains to
enunciate more distinctly, while being less of an
oratorical effort he is less loud, and you are not
distracted by the reverberation. " After all, faith
is more rational than unbelief. How many of you
are there who could undertake to explain the laws
of gravitation ; how many who never even heard
of them ; yet that does not make you disbelieve
the fact that'if you drop that walking-stick from
your hand it will fall to the ground. You cannot
explain either the great laws of Divine Providence
and government of the universe, yet would you,
on that account, disbelieve that the prayer which
you launch upwards from an earnest heart will
reach the Throne of God ! The one recommends
itself to the mind as naturally as the other." And
then you lose the thread again, till once more you
catch the refrain, " Fede, fede, sempre fede !"
Then follows Benediction, the people managing
the singing all by themselves, and at the end an
Italian hymn, intoned by a priest, the ritornelli
taken up by the people in a sort of wail, " perdona!
mio Dio, perdona !" Persons of all classes are
crowded together without distinction. I noticed
near me the other night a well-known Roman
nobleman with his young wife, and close to them
a most interesting group, consisting of a venerable
old man, with a scarcely less venerable looking
dog, who rested his head on his knee and licked
his hands at intervals all through the sermon, and
a stalwart young mechanic, doubtless his son, who
showed the greatest solicitude in adjusting the old
man's cloak before letting him go out into the

turesque point of view, when all are converted

into Easter sepulchres ; when the pale tapers at
long intervals serve to magnify their proportions
and throw any defects into the shade, standing like

sentinels or silent mourners guarding the approaches
to the tomb, and the polished marble pavements re-
flect their flicker as in a calm lake. The only

relief to the general gloom is the vista afforded
by one chapel adorned by countless lights and bril-
liant floral and vivid images and symbols shaded

by flowing draperies. In the centre of some vast
naves may be another cluster of starry lights beam-
ing rdttnd a Crucifix laid on the ground, which
groups may be of the mighty or affluent, or may be
of the poor or lowly, may be of ragged, barefooted
children, are kissing devoutly, and a salverat the
feet receives the offering of the frequent mite.
The Easter sepulchre is the great school for
children ; the lights, and colours, and pictures,

and flowers attract them, and elicit their inquiries
the source of traditional teaching, as their parents
lead them along from shrine to shrine. I spent a
long time studying such scenes in those churches
lying within the special haunts of the people. In
that eminently popular church, St. Maria de Monti,
where the memory of Venerable Joseph Labre,
the beggar-saint, is so affectionately venerated,
in the lofty pile of St. Lucia in Selce, and at San
Martino a' Monti, where the spacious crypt always
affords opportunity for so faithful a representa-
tion of the tomb in the rock, and the flames
Come and go through the plants of " mermaids'
hair," like watchfires seen through the long grass.
St. Pietro in Vincoli was closed, but repaid the
Ipilgrimage by the sight of the wonderful old stair-
case\ leading up to it, lit only by the tiny Madonnalamp, and the palm-tree opposite standing out
against the moonlit sky—the oil-lamps faintly
twinkling over the declivity below tempt one to de-
. precate the further advance of gas on Roman soil.
I May it remain to light up the busier centres, but
may it never penetrate into such nooks as this.
The pale reflections of the moon and the Italian-
grown olive oil are quite sufficient in an atmos-
phere which glazes the roughest old buildings with
brilliance.
St. Catarina da Siena, emulating San Martino
for beauty of arrangement, attracted a great many
pilgrims. The nuns, behind an elaborate gilt
traceried grille at the west end, were singing
verses of the Vexilla Regis and other Passion
hymns alternately with a small band of• Domini-
cans before the altar. An enthusiast might have
considered the effect entrancing.
At the Cappucini a venerably-bearded frate was
preaching. The nave being encumbered with
listeners, I made my way through the northern
string of side chapels ; in each half-a-dozen monks
were grouped in various effects of chiaroscuro, as
if an artist had been there to place them ; so like
a picture they looked that it seemed quite spec-
tral when they moved to make way for one to
pass in, or to whisper that another meditation
' was shortly to commence when I turned to leave.
As I knelt, a Sacristan bearing a huge black.cross,
supported by two taper-bearing frati, emerged from
the sacristy and stood in front of the altar. "Ecco !
Ecco la Croce 1" exclaimed the preacher, who had
dexterously timed the language of his meditation
to suit this interruption, and all eyes suddenly
became aware of the silent apparitioh. Most
were strained and clouded with tears as he apostro-
phized it in glowing language, and implored the
strengthening of the just, the conversion of the
reprobate.

night air.
Not to neglect the Vatican offices entirely, how-
ever, I attended on Thursday the most interesting
of them, and got to the Piazza at a quarter to 12,
just in time to secure a place for the Benediction
in the shade of St. Peter's statue, for the sun is
already very powerful. I need hardly say that
the Pope's voice was heard loud and strong at
that distance. There was great excitement, as
usual, to catch the indulgence papers as they
fell ; one flew into the hands of a young villano,
who seemed to prize it immensely. An English
tourist standing near offered him up to 21 scudi
for it, but he would not part with the prize. The
ostritch feathers form a fine background to the
chair in which the Pope alternately sits and stands
while giving the Benediction ; when it is over lie
is carried backwards. Then, without a moment's
loss of time, I went to keep -i-ly appointment with-
an Italian friend who had, promised to give me
a view of the ceremonies without going into the
crowd. Near the door of St. Marta we found
admittance to a seemingly interminable corkscrew
staircase, wide enough for three or four people
abreast, and with a view down the centre like the
shaft of a white coal mine. This brought us at last
on to the gallery round the dome, whence we
a framed board in this
ttlhOieenirauthenticated measure-
could look down on to the msuupltpitousdedessitlehonnrtrganiikigs
into the church below. The strange humming
given according to the
lrivioiaeasnr gallerytvsceor
oynafirirenet gihneai
ll
.pk afb ri
preservedbuilding,
from
mode of reckoning of every European country; I
had time to note some of them before the Pope
arrived. One of the most curious is that of the
giro of the cornice, which runs all round the inte-
rior of the building, viz., 1,943 9-25 English feet,
or 11 palms less than half a Roman mile. Ths
height of the letters of the inscription round the
dome, " Tu es Petrus, &C.," is 4 IG-25 feet. The
greatest height (from the pavement to the top of
the cross), 448 3-10 feet; and that of the crypt
below 10 7-100 feet.
The washing of the feet takes place in the south
transept ; the twelve poor priests are ranged
along a sort of couch down the cast side. The Pope
stands first on the estrade of a throne at the south
end, and then advances towards them, and kiss-
ing each, gives him a medal and a purple nosegay,
and dips his feet into a gold basin of water and
wipes them with a napkin. Ile then returns to his
throne, and some short sentences are sung by
the choir. We now made our way over the roof
and down part of the cupola staircase to a seat
contrived in an architectural opening high up
in the wall, and affording a good view of the
was densely packed with visitors to "the eettenl'al7.lleil
Sala over the gre at portico of time .11.giii • • l'• I
long table down one side was tastefully decorated
with flowers and gold ornaments, statues of the
ei in the centre 1 a clear
,skppaocset les,
stronglyand
barricadedA g nus ll
Swiss Guard. Presently the
try the picturesque
appeared in their enrious twelve poor priests
cos-
tume, carrying their
and a scarlet cap
and
places, while the cardinals
poured water and monsignori gathered
round. Then the Pope came, dressed in a cotta
,timid teak tlidY
with a napkin. overe) with a white skull-cap, and l'
the while, while, and handing it back
.hands of each, a prelate
file of bishops The Pope then said a short grace,
without any choral ceremony. Meantime a long
heads of orders had formed,
handing up the • various dishes, or plates rather,
presented by the last of the column on his knees
to the Pope, and handedMean-
timeGospel by him in turn to poor
men at the table ; then, returning down the table,
having likewise been
he poured winand into
e water each glass. purple
ir:engdtlayi,t4:, and attended
being read, andat •
arranged and ate termination, the third course
narrative of the Last Supper was
a short benediction, and retired. Two other courses
in the ceremony, were then handed b got through, the Pope gave
ease of manner.
seem to feel any
garnisiyiesr. relates, all arlelebipeiienngtstadstidefunlolyt
awkwardness about their part
away " the fragments that remained" with perfect
but eat and drank, and carried
The whole scene recals the
" upper chamber"
of Jerusalem as perfectly as
it is possible for anything human to picture forth
anything
DiViue, and the mutual good under-
standing pervading the whole is very edifying. To
an English mind the idea of having your feet
washed and
your table served by the head of the
State, andin public, would suggest a situation
appallingly awkward. Ilere the spirit of the Gos-
pel is understood in a different and more literal
way Not one showed the least sign of any mau-
vaise honte, each, on the contrary, was evidently
possessed by his sense of the sublimity of the re-
presentation in which he had been selected to
take part, and nude it his endeavour to be worthy
of the occasion.
It is on the evening of this day that the churches
of 'Wine appear to greatest advantage from a pie-

Time and space, however, forbid further loiter-
ing amid these congenial scenes ; and, after all,
what is so spirit-stirring to witness it, perhaps,
tedious to read about, or I should like to give you
a few lines about the Good Friday celebration, too;
but that cannot be by this mail, so you must for-.
give me that it will reach you in the depths of
Easter ; visiting these things leaves one little time
for writing.
The washing of the pilgrims' feet at the Trinith
de Pellegrini has been as well attended as usual by
visitors, but there has been an unusually small
number of pilgrims—not forty On the men's side,
and, I hear, a hardly larger number on the women's.
It seems that this is caused by the great celebra-
tion ; for, of course, time and strength could not be
spared for the long pedestrian expeditions so near
together.

On Tuesday, Pere Pettitot, who has taken up the
(Euvre of the French soldier almost as warmly as
the late lamented Pere Villenuave, conducted the'
" Via Crucis" in the Colosseum, for the special
benefit of the French-speaking portion of the Pon-
tifical army, which was very well attended. lle
made a short and fervent address at each Station.
We have had a great deal of talk here about
the Monitor Miantonumock being at Civita Vec-
chia ; its curious appearance has naturally excited
a great deal of attention, and I hear of several
persons having run over to pay it a visit. It is
accompanied by an armour-plated and another
American vessel. There are also at this moment,
in the same port, a Prussian corvette, a Portu-
guese, and a Spanish man-of-war, as well as an
Austrian and a French corvette. All these, as
well as all the foreign ships in harbour, were fes-
tively dressed with their colours on the 19th.—
Correspondent of Westminster Gazette.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC 'JOURNALS.

TIMES.--Faithful to his trust, the Registrar-Ge-
neral presents us with his Quarterly Account of
the actual condition of the people of this kingdom.
There is no gainsaying his authority or quarrelling
with his statistics. When the figures are once given
their import is notorious. If more people die or
fewer people are married than usual, there is some-
thing wrong, if the death rate is low and the mar-
riage rate high, we must be doing well. There may
be local exceptions to the rule, but in the main the
conclusion is, in the present instance, not unfavour-
able. In the last quarter brought to account the
marriages were numerous, and though not quite so
numerous as in the corresponding period of the year
previous, they tended to maintain what has been an
unusually high rate for the last three years. The
deaths, on the other hand, show no increase, and it
is reasonably inferred that, except for the intense
cold of Jantiaty, tritiA swelled the mortality for
the month, there would, upon the whole quarter,
have been an actual decline, indeed, the result
may be still more favourably represented, for,
though the death rate of the quarter expresses pre-
cisely the aVerage of the season according to calcu-
lation, it is really below that of the last three win-
ters. The actual number of deaths in England. and
Wales for the winter quarters of 1864, 1865, 1866,
Old 180? respectively were 142,977, 140,410,
138,233, 134,254, frdth ftbieli figures it would ap-
pear that the public health had be Stettdily
im-
proving for the last three years. This conclusfeti,
indeed, would probably be correct, except for the
epidemic of cholera in 1806, which, though it did
not affect the returns of the winter quarter, raised
• the mortality of the whole twelve, months, it till
be satisfactory to the public to learn that little or
no trade Of this formidable malady has been visible
during the present yak'. Ift one part of Eng-
land only did it assume anything Mid itti epide-
mic form. In Durham it carried off 35 persona,
but before the end of the quarter it had dis-
appeared, and in no other place was there
any alarm. The different districts of the king-
dom, however, show very different rates of ilittrtality;
The Eastern Counties have been very healthy,
Yarmouth and Norwich especially so. The South
Eastern, too, show a good return, but the South
Midland are not so fortunate. In this class are
comprised the counties of Middlesek (excluding the
metropolis), Hertford, Buckingham, Oxford, North-
ampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, and Cambridge, ao
that the University towns appear in the same divi-
sion, and the Registrar-General is puzzled at the
difference between them. Oxford has been healthy,
Cambridge unhealthy, and " it is very desirable,"
says the Report, " that Cambridge should not be
deprived of the hygienic improvements on which
vigour as well as health depends." The Northern
and North-Westeru Counties make, as usual, a bad
return. Durham and Northumberland are " un-
healthier than ever they were," and yet the death
rate in those parts was not so high as in Lancashire
and Cheshire. " lye have a right," adds the Re-
gistrar-General, to expect that these great and
aspiring counties will no longer remain the un-
healthiest communities in the United Kingdom."
The thirteen great towns in the kingdom now re-
ceive a classification of their own. Special reports
are made of London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Man-
chester, Birmingham, Dublin, Leeds, Shetliell,
Edinburgh, Bristol, Newcastle, Salford, and Hull.
Of these, London, of course, is immeasurably the
most populous ; the others descend in the order in
which we have placed them, from Liverpool with
its 492,000 inhabitants to Hull witll its 106,000.

To understand the comparisons now instituted be- English Protestant press dwelling on the F and
these great centres of population the reader antes of the people under such " misrule,'
must know that whereas the annual rate of mor- calling on the Garibaldis, the Mazzinis, the Kos-
tality in the whole kingdom was, for the winter suths, et hoc genus omne, to draw their swords and
quarter, 26 per 1,000, it was 27 for the town, and free their countrymen from such tyranny and in-
-23 for the country districts generally. Now, in justice. But, perhaps, we shall be told that this
London the rate was only 26.78, whereas in New- was the state of Ireland in former days ; but that
castle it was 37.10. In Dublin it was 34.62 ; in there is now no distinction between Catholics and
Manchester it was 33.81 •, in Glasgow and Liverpool Protestants, and no difference in the mode in
slightly less ; in Bristol, 25.50 ; in Birmingham, which justice is measured out to Catholic and Pro-
-25.35 ; and in Hull, only 25.23. It is quite testant in Ireland at the present time. We wish
possible, therefore, for large towns to be not only this were .true, but, unfortunately, it is far from be-
not more unhealthy than other places, but actually ing so. The Catholics are still too often legislated
less so. Birmingham, with its 340,000 inhabitants, for in the old spirit of ascendancy, and are to this
has a lower death rate than all England ; London, very day marked out as the victims of the law.
with its 3,000,00 i), has a rate only a little higher. The minority in Ireland, that is, the Protestant
The prevalent diseases of the quarter were whoop- part of the population, still possesses and exer-
and measles—mainly diseases cises the power of " misrule ' in that Catholic
ing-cough, smallpox,
of children, but the returns from the sub-districts country. From that minority are selected the
attribute great fatality to the cutting north- east overwhelming body of Lord-Lieutenants and
winds in their effect upon the aged and infirm. The Deputy-Lieutenants of counties, and nine-tenths
cold, too, of January was very great, and the change of tne magistracy of that kingdom ; and hence the
in the last week of the month singularly abrupt and power of governing the majority of the people, who
violent. From the Ist to the sth of the month the are Catholic, is reposed by the British Govern-
frost wus severe ; from the 6th to the tenth the ment in the hands of the minority, too often
daily temperature rose to an average excess of seven represented by the bigotry and inhumanity of
degrees. On the 11th the frost returned, and con- the blood-stained Society of Orangeism. Chief
tinned till the 22d, with an average -deficiency in Justice Cockburn has borne testimony to the
the daily temperature of ten degrees. Then, once former system of misrule in Ireland. We shall
more, on the morning of the 23d the weather changed now quote the authority of another judge to prove
again, and with such extraordinary abruptness the present system of injustice and oppression prac-
that the thermometer rose 20 degrees in the 24 tised by those in power upon the Catholics, and
hours, and for five and thirty days the warmth which may be taken as a fair sample of the animus
was such as had never been experienced at that that guides the ascendancy party in their "
mis-
season since the year 1779. No wonder that rule" of Ireland. As we have said, the blood-
such weather should have proved trying to health. stained Orange Society too often represents the
We may infer from the marriage rate—which is feelings of the ascendancy party in that coun-
now returned, not for the winter quarter ending try ; and the sympathy between Orangeism and
with March, but for the autumn quarter ending with those in magisterial authority has been clearly
December—that work must, upon the whole, have by Mr. Justice Keogh, at the Tyrone Assizes, so .
been plentiful and wages good, though there are lately as within the month. 'At those Assizes that
indications of distress in various place's. Ever learned-judge felt it his duty to reprobate, in
since the close of 1864 the general prosperity of strong language, the conduct of certain magistrates
the country has been shown by a high marriage of that county who, in a case of riot that came be-
rate maintained with unusual steadiness, but the foretheir bench, in which Catholics and Protestants
figures for 1866, though above the average, are had been engaged, and where the Protestants were
below those of 1865. The decline was seen in Lou- the firstto outrage the others byplaying party tunes
don, where the number of marriages fell from 9,738 and using insulting expressions—such as to H--
to 9,112—a result, no doubt, of the distress at with the Pope, &c.—opposite the very doors of
the East-end—in the West Midland Counties, in the Catholics; yet the magistrates, on the occasion
the Northern, and in Yorkshire. But in the of six of each party being identified by the con-
manufacturing districts the improvement which had stabulary and summoned before them, dismissed
followed on the revival of the cotton industry was the cases of five of the Protestant rioters, who were
distinctly maintained. It happens uniformly that the aggressors, and sent the six Catholics, who
the last quarter of the year, classed on these returns were acting on the defensive, before his lordship
as the autumn quarter, is that in which there are for trial ! Mr. Justice Keogh sentenced the six
most marriages. There is no exception to this rule, Catholics to severe punishment, and expressed his
and the difference is very great indeed. The guar- regret that the Orangemen—those who really
ter least favourable to marriages is the winter guar- caused the riot—had been screened by the magis-
ter, or that terminating on the 31st of March, trates, and he thereby prevented from adminis-
during which the marriages in all England are about tering the law impartially and punishing them
36,000. The two following quarters are tolerably
also. So that here we have Justice Keogh proving
near each other with about 45,000 each, 'the spring
from the judicial bench, in 1867, that the same sys-
having rather an advantage over the summer. But tem of " Orange misrule" is still kept up in Ireland
in the autumn quarter the numbers jump at once to as Chief Justice Cockburn describes at the close of
55,000 or 56,000, showing an increase of at least 50 the last century—the principle of misgovernment
per cent. over the totals of winter. Whatever may is the same, the difference is only in degree. There
be the explanation of this phenomenon, it is abso- is nothing so well calculated to irritate the public'
lutely invariable. The rate of the whole may be mind, and produce wide-spread dissatisfaction
high or low, but whether it be high or low, or and disorder throughout any country, as the main-
whether the marriages be many or few, it is quite
laws
_of administering others. Both these VICIOUS sy
certain that in the last quarter of the year there " will tuning o fsome unequal and acne-sided mods!
be half as many again as there were in the first. In tems are perpetuated in Ireland. The Irish Catho-
all the statistics which are compiled in these reports lies, without exception, are insulted and injured by
for our edification and guidance, there is no result the laws stilt in force in their country. These un-
which is more constant or conspicuous than this.
just laws affect the Catholic aristocracy, the
TIIE " WESTMINSTER GAZETTE"
IRELAND, AND BRMSII R RULE. One of the people, as we shall demonstrate before we have
JAMAICA, Catholic archbishops, bishops, deans, clergy, and
most profound, erudite, and constitutional charges done with this subject. It is too important to
ever delivered by any judge in these kingdoms be dismissed with a single article, and, therefore,
was that lately addressed to the Grand
at the Central Criminal Court,
by Lord Chief
Justice Cockburn, in the case of the
Qeniiruuery7 we intend to return to it again.
against Colonel Nelson and Lieutenant Brand.
It is not our intention to enter into the question
orof
of the guilt or innocence of these officers,
their superior, Governor Eyre ; but to confine
ourselves to what we consider of much higher im-
portance, namely, the constitutional law of these
realms, as laid down by the learned judge in his
very lucid and elaborate address. We are sure
that this charge has been universally read, and
therefore do not deem it necessary to go through
it in detail ; but there is one great and salutary
constitutional principle contained in it, namely,
" that the prerogative to proclaim martial law
does not belong to the Crown of England "—and
the enunciation of this principle by so high an
authority is, in our mind, of unspeakable advant-
age to the progress of genuine liberty and the
cause of public order at the present time. We
know not what the intentions of the " Jamaica
Committee" are whether it is intended to make
any further exertions to bring the above-named
officers to trial—or whether the committee will rest
satisfied with the public benefit they have already
conferred on her Majesty's subjects throughout the
world by vindicating the right of the meanest to
a fair hearing and to an impartial trial ; but of
this one fact we feel convinced that, after so clear
and solemn a statement of the law of these United
Kingdoms, neither the Government at home, the
Lord Lieutenant in Ireland, nor any of the Queen's
representatives abroad, will be likely so far to yield
to the influence of exaggerated fear, prejudice, or
caprine, as lightly to supersede the civil courts of
justice, and substitute in their stead crude, arbi-
trary, mock tribunals, which are not only declared,
but proved, by the Lord CThilelifs Jisusaticgre
otoatboeh
object
pt
ti r ie
et e
adabnsei
dfft gtaehlenveentetytslai
oennrfml
are
jeyse
anas ofi me d-
constitutional and illegal.
pa col;
ine vgetdh
objyamthaeicapcubolimci;
ipatnuwdbilhlilcobcpeoenaifiptpdwreenillccieahtaaevmdeobanygst
ahtlheueitnhmary,a
lot
x.o apr
eenoagt,
a more impartial administration of the law for the
future. Nothing is more irritatMg,,. either to au
individual or a nation, than to be made to feel that
the law is partially administered. In Jamaica, we
fear, justice has not always been administered in
impartialor tu nma
tae is t
man
colonyer, andinoh
tehetraoedtoo much
tgovernment of
anthat
t no unfortunate
hateful spirit of faction and
of
ascendancy.
England, we must reluctantly kac nowledge, is
somewhat too fond of tilling by means of a mino-
rity, and for their exclusive interests , but the
wisely sooner she abandons this system, and
the masses of her people by the
influence
governs
of affec-
tion rather than fear, the better for her own in-
terests. England's partial system of government has
been, and still is, more fully exemplified i n Ireland
than in any other part of her
vast dominions. She
has now held sway in Ireland for seven hundred
years—and during no part of that immense • d
perio
of time has she ever permitted
the Irish people to
enjoy equal laws with herself. She has never for
one day, out of the seven hundred years, given
rights, them the advantage of the same
and institutions, as she herself privileges,
has enjoyed. Cen-
tury after century the Irish people have been asking
and petitioning for equal rights, laws, privileges,
and institutions, but their demands and their peti-
tions are rejected even to the present hour. The
Catholics of Ireland, during the last three hundred
years, to say nothing of the preceding four hun-
dred, have suffered more injustice at the hands of
Protestant England than any other human beings
of any creed or Colour have suffered at the hands
of any other Government on the face of the earth.
Every scholar in England knows what Ireland has
been made to suffer ; every lawyer knows it ; every
member of Parliament knows it • every man,
Wonian, and child of Irish birth and blood feels it ;
and a very large number of E lishmen, Protestant
as well as Catholic, acknowledges it with pain and
.humiliation ; and yet England, as a nation, boastful
ttS she is of her love of justice, and affecting sym-
pathy with the oppressed of every foreign clime,
has had none to bestow on Ireland, her next-door
neighbour, and, may we not say, her miscalled
Meter I Perhaps some of our readers will object,
" thi§ i§ a severe charge, a sweeping accusation ;
can it be true?" and, if true, is it wise to bring it
at the present moment In our opinion, the case
as against Ireland, since the Fenian outbreak at
has been too exclusively dwelt on ; it is time
now +i lay Iteland's case fairly and fully before the
English public, beet any should doubt the perfect
truth of the historic fad of England's misrule in
Ireland, we shall not ask them to rely on our
thVit niithority ; for some might imagine that,
as Cathelic§; i e have an undue leaning in favour
of Catholic Ireland; lAA iifire will quote for them
the recently-spoken worth* a an eminent Pro-
testant judge, who cannot be suspected of any bias
in that direction. Here are the words of Lord Chief
Justice Cockburn in reference to the mode in
which England has governed Ireland. Speaking
of Ireland, in the charge already referred to, he
calls her " the sister island, where, unhappily,
generations of misrule and political and religious
tyranny and oppression had existed." Here is a
description of the worst species of government
that the wickedness of man could establish for
torturing a people—namely, political and reli-
gious tyranny and oppression," and this tyranny
and oppression continued for " generations !"
Political tyranny and oppression are bad enough ;
religious tyranny and oppression are still worse.
But the combination of both, which formed
the ground-work of English rule, or, to use the
learned judge's more correct expression, of Eng-
land's " misrule" in Ireland, led to the infliction
of every species of refined cruelty and torture that
tyranny, bigotry, and intolerance could suggest.
The English press has not dwelt on these re-
markable words of the Lord Chief Justice as
we think it ought to have done. If such a state-
ment had been made by any high judicial func-
tionary respecting any foreign Catholic country,
we should have leaders without number in the

THE NORTH BRITISH ENGINE-DRIVERS•

At a meeting of the engine-drivers on the Cale-
donian, Glasgow, and South-Western, and North
British Railways, principally the latter, held in
Glasgow, on Saturday evening last, it was resolved
to present a series of resolutions to the directors of
the North British Company to the following
effect :

" That a period of ten hodrs be called a day, the
time after that to be reckoned by the hour ; that
the wages of drivers 'commence at ss. per day for
a pilot driver, Gs. per day for a goods driver, .and
after the first 12 months 6s. 6d., and that passenger
drivers get 7s. per day ; that the wages of firemen
commence at 3s. per day for a pilot fireman, 35. 6d.
for a goods fireman, and 4s. for a passenger fire-
man, and that firemen shall be promoted to be
drivers in rotation according to seniority whenever
a vacancy occurs; that six hours be a shed day,
and any man requiring to run on a shed day to
be paid at the rata of time and a quarter for an
ordinary day's work ; that each engine-driver and
fireman when required to come on duty shall not
be paid less than one day's pay, and shall have
nine hours off duty before required to come on duty
again, or to be paid time and quarter for the time
he is on duty ; that when an engine is repairing the
driver and fireman shall be supplied with another,
or get running wages ; that any driver or fireman
punished for any mistake or error of judgment
shall have a right to appeal to the Board, shall be
paid his full pay till a final decision is given, and
shall if he wishes it be accompanied to the Board
by a deputation of his fellow-workmen ; that no
engine-driver shall be punished for being a member
of the Engine-drivers' and Firemen's United So-
ciety ; that no inspector shall interfere with a driver
or fireman while ou duty, but shall simply report to
the superintendent ; that all Sunday work shall be
paid time and half, and when any driver or fireman
has to be away from home at night he Shall be
allowed 2s. 6d. per night, and when from home over
Sunday he shall have 4s. per day, and shall have
refreshments when going any great distan,:e from
home special; that 100 miles be a day's -work for
goods and mineral, and 130 miles for passenger
trains."
A deputation was appointed to lay these resolu-
tions before the directors, and, while empowered to
•
give way on such matters as the promotion of fire-
men to driverships and the interference of inspectors,
was instructed to insist on such points as wages and
time.