The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-19 00:00:00

RAILWAYS.
Cash.

Orleans
Northern
Lyons and Mediterranean
Southern
Western
Eastern
Sardinian
Austrian
Lombard
North of Spain
Saragossa
Ditto to Barcelona
Roman

LITERATURE.

Beyond the Church. Three Vols.

Blackett.
This is the work of an earnest, thoughtful mind,
and very forcibly are the opinions of the author
illustrated by the narrative. With the result of
'• • •

his opinions we cannot say that we ourselves con-
cur, nor probably will the majority of his readers ;
but the book is well written, and contains little to
offend the taste or feeling of the reader. The scene
opens at Oxford, where, among other gownsmen, we
'ike the acquaintance of Cyril Ponsonby, John
Fordyce, and Edgar Purcell. John Fordyce is the
principal hero of the tale. Startled by a sudden
calamity to a sense of the sin and folly of the " fast"
life that he is leading, John Fordyce ponders
deeply upon life and religion. He is destined for
the Church, but as the time for his ordination
draws near he feels that he cannot conscientiously
become an English Minister. He does not turn
Catholic or Dissenter, but, while attending the or-
dinary public worship, believes in hie heart in a
religion " beyond the Church."
" Where and how may I learn the truth ? How know
what the Church of England holds, and whether she hold
that aright ? Is there no certainty, no assurance ? Is all
to be vague and shadowy and unsettled? Does any party
represent and embrace the Church ? Can I learn the whole
truth fromany one section, be its pretences what they may?
Must I not go deeper and farther for the final great truth,
underlying and pervading in various degrees all these iso-
lated expressions of it. There must be a Church, and
that Church must be universal ; can any National Church
then express and contain that great body of truth en-
shrined in the whole ? How is it that scarcely two of
the clergy agree upon all these vital points ? How is it
that they argue differently—come to opposite conclusions
—and each maintain so stoutly the absolute truth of their
own conclusions ?"

John's refusal to enter the Church and accept the
hereditary living in store for him arouses the fierce
ire and indignation of his father, the reverend rec-
tor of Easimore-cum-Singabed, in the Fens. ". The
comfortable rectory, spacious conservatory, pinery,
melon-pits, and fruitful gardens, the envy of the
country," with an income of eleven hundred per
annum is rejected by John, and his father disowns
him on the spot. Heavy trials await the conscien-
tious thinker, and he finds that the same society
that thought little of his sinful deeds, while he
was indulging in his wild career, look with
very different eyes upon the religious scruples of
his conscience which 'they regard as unpardonable
iniquity. The character of John is very genuine
and earnest, but his religious opinions are assuredly
somewhat misty. If every one followed his religion,
or rather his no-religion, they would be " beyond
the Church," indeed, but in the regions of spiritual
chaos.

" A kingdom of the Just then let it be,
But first consider how those Just agree."

Other types of character and various examples
of clergymen quite indifferent to the responsibilities
of their position, are introduced. The best indivi-
dual in the book is Maxwell of St. Catherine's, a
man of practical religion ; by his side alone bewil-
dered John is enabled to see clearly the
duty of the hour, and to find Comparative
peace. Cyril Ponsonby, the polished, used up
gentleman, is alogether too elegant and refined
to be designated a villain, but altogether too despic-
able to be called anything else. Cyril takes life
easily. When he goes on a Welsh expedition he
thinks mountains "a mistake, and a horrible
nuisance."—
" Why on earth couldn't Nature be content to lie flat
instead of bumping up in hillocks like a school apple-pie ?
It is a waste of energy on her part ; I think a mountain
always means—to me at least—a great deal of fatigue and
a great deal of perspiration, and all for nothing but to be
a few feet nearer the sky than some other Tom fool.
Why not say you have b3en up there, as Sheridan ad-
vised his son about the mine? People tall so many lies
themselves, that they dare not find you out."
Cyril Ponsonby and John Fordyce, cousins as they
are, are throughout their whole career a perfect
contrast to each other, but we will not reveal the
various relations of the story. As an evidence of
the thoughts and feelings which pervade these
pages, let us quote this brief allusion to
THE IRREVOCABLE FAST.
There is nothing so terrible to contemplate as the irre-
vocable Past. Future evils, however near, are softened
and alleviated by hope. Present troubles bring their own
cure by enforcing action ; but for the Past there is neither
hope nor remedy. The Past with its burden of miser-
able sin, of fruitless sorrow and suffering, of
neglected opportunities and wasted hours, with its
ceaseless dirge of " too late," the saddest sound which
language frames, is like an impenetrable granite rock
which no efforts can pierce,.or tears melt.
"It might have been," once could," " If:I had," " Oh,
that I had not", whose life memory is free from these
ghastly echoes of the past ?
As giving a glimpse, a tolerably truthful glimpse,
of some phases of university and clerical life, this
book may be read with interest. It is also a sound
exposition of its writer's thoughts and feelings, as
far as they go, for we hardly think the end is
here.

The coloured population of Nashville celebrated
the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation on the
22d ult., by a large procession, consisting of two regiments
of coloured soldiers and two thousand coloured people.
After their parade they were addressed by Governor
Brownlow, who congratulated them upon their emancipa-
tion.

The Trustees of the Washington National Monu-
ment Society show that, after paying all liabilities against
the fund, there is a balance of nearly $12,000 invested in
good securities for the monument.

A South Carolina planter has sent North for one
hundred German immigrants to work his plantation, and
others propose to do the same.

A special despatch to the New York Times says
that the receipts of the internal revenue, from July Ist,
1865, to February Ist, 1866, reached $200,939,968. It is
estimated that under the present system the receipts for the
balance of the year will amount to $300,000,000.
There are in San Francisco, according to the di-
rectory, 119,000 inhabitants. Of these there are 376
lawyers, 58 apothecaries, and 248 physicians. There are 23
printing offices, 1,722 liquor shops, and 29 breweries.
The important controversy between the Pennsyl-
vania Railway Company and the Atlantic and Great
Western Railway Company has been decided against the
latter, the Court granting an injunction denying the right
of the Catawissa Railroad Company to make a lease with
the Atlantic and Great Western. The decision caused an
immediate transfer of over four thousand shares of the
Catawissa stock. The course which may be adopted by
the Atlantic and Great Western to overcome this obstacle
to their proposed consolidations will be looked to with
much interest.

Both Houses of the Missouri Legislature have
passed resolutions disapproving the President's veto
by a vote, in the House, of 77 to 25; in the Senate, 21
to 5.

The courts of Texas admit negroes to testify like
other persons. They hold that the law against this fell
with the reasons of the law. They also decide that Texas
is not a conquered country, and therefore an unconquered
State of the Union.