The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-05 00:00:00

4.-... k

under such circumstances what to believe, and the
only thing to do is to wait for confirmation or refu-
tation of the intelligence with as much patience as
we can. It is, of course, needless to say what de-
light will be felt in all directions should this news
prove to be correct ; and, at any rate, it seems
likely that nothing of an untoward nature has
occurred respecting the condition of these captives, or
we should hardly hear such cheering reports of their
condition. Perhaps the worst part of the burden
that must be borne by those whose relatives and
friends are in dangers and difficulties abroad is the
uncertainty that prevails respecting the truth or
falsity of the various reports that reach them. In
this instance of the Abyssinian captives all
nearly or remotely connccted with them may
feel well assured that their anxiety is
shared in a great measure by the nation
at large ; and that if, happily, the certain intel-
ligence of their liberation ever reaches England,
universal rejoicing will be felt by all who have
taken interest in their welfare and deeply deplored
their sad condition through the length of their tedi-
ous captivity, so full of suffering and so fraught
with peril.

Mr. HENLEY is always worth listening to, for he
possesses in no ordinary degree the valuable and
certainly uncommon quality of common sense. Ile
says in a straightforward manner what he means,
and although he is often too liberal in his views
for his own party, and always too Conservative
for advanced Liberals, he is listened to with
respect by all, and often exercises considerable in-
fluence. After long argument and impassioned
declamation pour et contre, Mr. HENLEY comes
in with a few plain words, and puts matters
in a new light. Though not a member of
Lord DERBY'S present Administration, he has
given a cordial support to the Government through-
out the difficulties of the past session, and in his
speech in Oxfordshire, yesterday, Reform was the
subject on which he principally dwelt. The elo-
quence of Mr. HENLEY was cut short by rain,
lightning, and thunder, a form of applause which
was not encouraging to the speaker ; but he made
a few observations very much to the point. He
was one of those, he said, who, having seen suc-
cessive Prime Ministers promise the people, through
the QUEEN, an extension of the franchise, " chose
no longer to play the humbug, and thought it
necessary honestly to settle the question,
if it were possible to do so." Mr. HENLEY expressed
his hope and confidence that the people would use
fairly and properly the trust placed in their hands,
and remarked that those who had lived as long as
be had done could not fail to have witnessed many
changes for the better. Not only had they seen a
material and mental development, but they had also
witnessed a great diminution in the amoant of
crime and drunkenness and immorality. "In the
face of enormous temptations, in the face of an in-
crease of wealth which was an enormous tempta-
tion to abuse, in the face of all dis-
couraging circumstances, those who looked
back forty or fifty years must do so with
great confidence in the people of this country."
It is not very often that we find men who can
carry their retrospect so far back so willing to enter
into the spirit of the present day, to acknowledge
its events, and be willing to grant its wishes. Mr.
HENLEY has a characteristic aversion to what he
bluntly styles " playing the humbug," a part which
some of our most able politicians occasionally fill to
admiration, and in consequence when wavering
members ask, as they sometimes do, " Which way
does Mr. HENLEY go ?" they arc sure of finding a
guile who, whatever his mistakes or his prejudices,
will be certain to adopt the course which appears to
him at the moment the most manly, just, and
patriotic.

On Tuesday the Bishop of Bangor presided at a
meeting held at Pentnaenmawr, for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Mr. GLADSTONE
proposed a resolution, to the effect that the success
which has already attended the efforts of the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
is a " call and an encouragement for increased
liberality on the part of Christians in aiding the
support and extension of its missions." The
right hon. gentleman made a very interesting
speech on the occasion, and informed the meet-
ing that at one period he had himself been
an active agent in promoting and assisting
the Council and the operations of this society in
London. Since then, however, now a period of
thirty years, " other and ruder demands" have
encroached upon his time, and rendered it impos-
sible for him to continue those efforts ; but he
assured them that he still takes an interest in the
matter, and recognised its growing usefulness from
year to year. There seems great reason in what
Mr. GLADSTONE said concerning the particular mis-
sion that seems to have fallen to England in
this respect. Our little island is inferior in popu-
lation and inferior in size to many countries,
but it excels them all in two particulars, namely,
in the extent of its colonial settlements and in the
extent of its commercial operations. "By your
labour, skill, and energy—by the invincible and
resistless tendency to expansion, which seems to be
a property planted in this race beyond all other
races in the world, you are continually putting forth
in foreign lands agencies which are the source of
great wealth and power to this country, but which
likewise have another aspect." This other aspect, he
went ou to say, was the obligation entailed upon
those who set out for foreign lands. Not alone do

they take material treasures, but better possessions
with them, and of these it is their duty to impart

others.
We live, as the right bon. gentleman said, in a

" period of crisis" for the Christian religion, but at
the same time the conviction remains in our minds
that Christianity "continues to be that which ithas
been heretofore—the great medicine for the diseases
of human nature—the great consolation for its sor-
rows—the great stay to its weakness--the main and
only sufficient guide in the wilderness of the world."
It is most encouraging to find this vindication of
the true meaning and real spirit of Christianity
from one so well able to express an opinion alike
from his ability and knowledge, as well as from his
proved devotion to the interests of religion and the
interests and welfare and prosperity of the Church.
Let us abide the issue, says Mr. GLADSTONE, and
not suppose that the trial which has come upon this
age is either new or unhear.l of, because iu former
times the revival of Pagan learning threatened to
seduce and draw away the whole Christian intellect
from the light of the Gospel and the worship of the
SAN' lot:R." No conscientious person can reconcile it
to himself that our countrymen should proceed to
the uttermost parts of the earth and dispense their
wealth, their prudence, and their learning without
imparting that better knowledge, without which all
elso is valueless and insignificant. In the
unchristian States with which we have to do,
and in those waste places of the earth
which our colonies are now gradually filling
.up, there is enough, and more than enough,
for the most able, enterprising, and elevated to ac-
complish and strive for. At a meeting held under
LEY, Archbishop of Can-
the auspices of Dr. Ilow
terbury, thirty years ago, a speech was made by
Dr. 11.4.'i11xu. conceraiDg this sub;ect,