The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-04 00:00:00

plan, unmolested, and that there has been no cause
to &ead that an encounter with the army of the
EnTEROR would dim the lustre of the campaign
against Austria. How long this fortunate state of
things for his Prussian MAJESTY may continue we do
not know, but meanwhile no echo to his rejoicing is
heard in France. Great discontent prevails there
with respect to the manoeuvres of Prussia, and each
fresh occuxrence is jealously watched by competent
observers. Bavaria is now supposed to have come
to an understanding with the Berlin Cabinet, and
perhaps there is nothing to wonder at in such a con-
junction under the circumstances. So far from the
" Circular" having given a definite turn to things,
it is now mentioned as not unlikely that M.
MOUSTIER will shortly issue another Circular
Despatch, in which he will endeavour to explain
away those passages in the former one which have
occasioned distrust and anxiety among foreign courts.
In a criticism on this production in the Revue
des Deux illondes, it is truly said, as matter of
regret and condemnation, that the passage should
have appeared in it which talks of the "tendency
of small States to disappear," and the resistless
power which urges on the great migrations which
are periodically made. We hope, at any rate,
that this notion of a new Circular may take its
rise from the desire of the French Government to
do away with the unfavourable impression created
by the reports of its designs upon Belgian inde-
pendence. These rumours have been circu-
lated so far and wide that it becomes
almost imperative to contradict them, and if they
do this in meaning, at least if not in actual words, it
will afford just cause. for rejoicing among all who
value the independence of the little kingdom and
respect the rights of nations.

The opening of the annual session of the Social
Science Congress is always an interesting event.
Coming as it does at a time of the year when the
excitement of political contest is over and men's
minds are free to discuss and consider those less
prominent but not less important questions of social
life which form its especial province, it would be
certain under any circumstances to attract some
degree of attention. The selection of its presidents
and vice-presidents, however, add very considerably
to its influence, since they are generally men of
eminence, whose individual ability and social
position qualify them to discharge their duties
with efficiency. The office of President has this
year devolved upon the Earl of SHAFreseuev, who
has on a former occasion occupied the same posi-
tion. He explained his reappearance by the fact of
Lord STANLEY'S accession to office and by Lord
BROUGHAM'S increased age and infirmities. Lord
SHAFTESBURY, however, needed no apology for his
presence, since no one is better qualified for the
post. He has always taken a warm and practical
interest in all matters of social reform, in ques-
tions affecting the public health, education, and
morals ; and no one in our day has done more sub-
stantial service inraising and elevating his oppressed
fellows from the depths of degradation and misery.
The children in the coal mine, the young girl in the
factories, the ragged little lad in the London streets,
the working men and women in their miserable
hotels, which are the only dwelling-places they can
obtain—all alike have need to bless the name of
Lord SHAFTESBURY for the battles he has won and
is still fighting in their cause. His speech yesterday
was an excellent example of his wide-spread sym-
pathies on behalf of all who toil and suffer, not
narrowed to a class, not restricted to a sect, not
, pausing to ask whether a man's skin be white or
black, and measuring his claim to justice and mercy
accordingly. Lord SHAFTESBURY'S speech gave
got u;rpisyno..)Ainr,o-r:.,,hr-3. orcuallavuo, "auu uutu
the President of the Session can give a very diffe-
reut account of our social condition, the Congress
, justly, in answer to some objections that had
been taken to the prolonged existence of the
society, " that an old thought, an okl fact,
. an old inference dressed up in a new gar-
, meat, and presented in a fresh light, has
all the charm of novelty, even to minds well conver-
t sant with the subject; and hundreds, no doubt, who
would shrink from the dull and solitary pursuit of
facts diffused through numerous and bulky octavos
are fascinated by the human voice in the delivery
of eloquent addresses, or in the lively, vigorous, and
profitable discussions that follow so frequently
, on the close of the several papers." Lord SHAFTES-
, BURY'S own address is an instance of this. Most of
the facts he referred to must have been already
known to those present, yet at its close they
were invested with fresh importance set in
a stronger light, and every one was ask-
ing the question why such monster evils were
left unredressed. It was impossible to hear, un-
moved, of " 1,400,000 children, women, and young
persons still under the slavery of cruel and oppres-
sive trades, who are to this hour without the pale of
legislative protection ;" of thelittlecliminbidnegfiabnocyes
still employed by the chimney sweepers
of law and humanity ; of 600,000 needlewomen,
from the Court dressmaker's apprentice to the poor
slopworker, all more or less suffering from want of
that protection which it is so difficult to give
them. Worst of all was Lord SHAFTESBURY'S
picture of the children in the brickfields. " Lot
the hardest heart that can be found in Eng-
land visit those spots, and if he be not
moved, he must at least be ashamed of his sex
and his country. There the female seems to be
brought to the lowest point of servile ignorance
and degradation. Hundreds of little girls, from
8 to 11 years of age, half naked, and so besmeared
with dirt as to be barely distinguishable from the
soil they stand on, are put to work in these abodes
of oppression. Bearing prodigious burdens of clay
on their heads and in their arms, they totter to and
fro during many hours of toil. When I spoke to
them they either remained aghast with astonish-
ment, or ran away screaming as though some evil
spirit had appeared." Well might such a statement
produce a sensation at the Manchester gathering,
and surely so long as such abuses are possible iu
this Christ= England there is work enough for
tthoethreefeodrmuceartiaonnd
qt.
thieestpiloinilaLntohpirrdosist. iFTEls%Briuthßyregard
to the education question Lord SHAFTESBURY men-
tioned several interesting facts, especially one,
which deserves to be better known than it is—that
the children who work half-time and learn half-
time not only keep pace with the whole-time
scholars, but often outstrip them. This is a most
suggestive fact for teachers and parents in the
higher grades of life. It shows most forcibly the
importance of a cultivation of all the powers, moral
and physical as well as mental. The child or youth
who is allowed to do nothing but learn will infal-
libly be outstripped not only in the great race
of life, but in the very schoolroom itself by him
whose wiser and kindlier training has been more in
accordance with the laws of nature. The difficulties
attending the education of children employed in the
agricultural districts are not yet conquered. They
cannot be well met by the adoption of the half-time
system, and this is one of the points which Lord
SHAFTESBURY especially commends to the attention
of the Congress.

Another very 'important topic, to which the noble
earl referred A some length, wass wbat he jualy

termed " the master evil which nullifies
every effort for the benefit of the work-
ing people—the evil that embraces and in-
tensifies all the others, the hotbed of pauperism,
immorality, disease, and drunkenness ; the evil
that is negative in preventing every improvement,
and positive in maturing every mischief ; that lies
at the root of nineteen-twentieths of the corruptions
that beset our social state, and forms the crowning
abomination of the whole—the domiciliary condi-
tion of many thousands of our people." On this
point Lord SHAFTESBURY spoke with the energy of
one who has himself inspected these miserable
dwellings, where there are hundreds where there
should be tens, and thousands where there should
be hundreds, and who is sensible that the evil, in-
stead of being grappled with and fought back, is
every month, every week, gaining upon us.
" Dirt and disrepair, such as ordinary folks can
form no notion of ; darkness that may be felt ;
odours that may be handled ; faintness that can
hardly be resisted, hold despotic rule in these dens
of despair." Such is the picture of an English
labourer's home, and out of this we expect his
children to come forth clean, decent, healthy, and
orderly members of society ! Lord SHAFTESBURY'S
observations on this matter of over-crowding are
the more valuable because he fully recognises
the practical difficulties arising from the
growing price of land, the necessity of work-
men living near their work ; of the displace-
ments consequent upon metropolitan improvements,
and other causes.

The conclusion of Lord SHAFTESBURY'S able and
eloquent address was an appeal to the mighty force
of public opinion to fight against these great evils,
which are the enemies of the Crown, and Parliament,
and people, and the tenth session of the Social
Science Congress has opened under promising
auspices of future service.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Pants, Wednesday Evening.

The Marquis de Moustier, the new Minister of
Fereign Affairs, has commenced his duties at the
Foreign-office, which have so ably been performed
temporarily by the Minister of the Interior.
The Moniteur contains an announcement that the
Emperor, desirous of developing international rela-
tions, has, upon the proposition of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, decreed various relaxations and
improvements in regard to passport regulations.
Englishmen and other foreigners, by title of reci-
procity, will enjoy all the exceptions and privileges
accorded to French subjects.
The Journal des Debats, alluding to the news
given by the Free Press, of Vienna, that the speedy
conclusion of a treaty of peace between Prussia and
Saxony was certain,alludes to the private correspon-
dence from Berlin of the Times, stating that the
negotiations had been broken off. Referring to the
statement that Prussia requires the cession of
Kcenigstein, it says the belief is that more difficult
conditions will be imposed upon King John than
were anticipated. The Debats has a semi-official
character, and it is evidently embarrassed. It has
not authority to contradict the Times, but it takes
a medium course, and merely says it leaves to that
journal all the responsibility which attaches to the
important statement it makes. The probability
seems to be that, as is generally the case, the infor-
mation of the Times, however it may be doubted for
the moment, will eventually prove to be correct.
M. Benedetti, Ambassador of France to the
Prussian Com t, has arrived at Paris. His visit
may probably have some reference to the rupture of
negotiations between Prussia and Saxony.

The Siecle has a caustic article condemnatory of
the petty spite displayed by Prussia in directing
the prosecution of the Memorial Diplomatique. It
says :—" What ! Is it just after the battle of Sa-
do wa, when the victorious soldiers of Prussia re-
the crowd—when the Prussian territory has been
augmented by kingdoms and duchies, that the
Prussian Government can occupy itself with what
forejma journals say abolit.
against;them ? We are astonished at the susceptibi-
lity of the victorious Government of Prussia. The
prosecutions against the press seem to denote State
rancour. The Memorial Diplomatique was before
and during the war the inveterate defender of
Austria. It contributed to mislead the Austrian
Government. After having promised her splendid
victories, it is quite punished enough by the fright-
ful defeat of Austria. A trial and condemnation
could not add to the effect of these facts. The
Prussian Government therefore, if better inspired,
will withdraw the complaint. It pretends to be at
the head of liberal Germany. The liberalism of
Germany should not merely consist of unmeasured
attacks against France, Frenchmen, and their Go-
vernment. It will be better for the King of Prussia
to improve the condition of Germany."
A murder was committed in a wine shop in the
Rue Ste. Marguerite on Monday night. About a
dozen individuals, chiefly rag-gatherers, were as-
sembled, and a violent dispute took place between
two of them. A man of 23, named Siffert, seized
a knife, which was upon the table, and plunged it
into the shoulder of his comrade. It pierced the
lung, and the man was dead in a few minutes. An
hour afterwards Siffert delivered himself up to the
dpoecliecaes.edlwnraog
answer
suspected him of paying his er to their questions, he said the
ad-
dresses to a woman to whom he was about to be
married, and had provoked him by throwing a glass
in his face, which had injured his eyes.
Almost every day new swindling devices are at-
tempted in Paris. Here is another specimen. There
is always a rush when the evening papers are sold at
the various stations. A young fellow named Mabille
went to the widow Simon, who sells papers on the
of the halfpenny papers. He asked for change for
Boulevards des Varietes, and said he wanted one
a two-franc piece, and the poor woman gave him
39 sous. Instead of a genuine coin he threw her
down a piece of white metal resembling it, and ran
off. In his defence before the magistrate at the
police-office he said he thought the piece was good.
The prosecutrix replied, " yes, as good as you are."
The swindler was sent to prison for a month.
There was an interesting and affecting incident
at the funeral of the Marquis de Boissy. While
the ceremony was being proceeded with at the
cemetery a poor woman was seen running up to the
grave in breathless haste, having a crown of laurel
in her hand. On it were written words in a foreign
language. When interrogated she said she had
come from a long distance to offer her last homage
to the marquis by placing this crown of gratitude
upon his grave. Her husband, who was a Pole, had
been condemned to perpetual banishment to Siberia
for having taken part in the struggle for the inde-
pendence of Poland. The marquis had made the
most earnest and persevering exertions to obtain her
husband's pardon, and those generous efforts had
been attended with success. She therefore came to
offer her grateful thanks upon his grave.
The weather has been again of a very peculiar cha-
racter. A fog has prevailed from early morning
both in and out of Paris. It was not very dense in
Paris, but the streets had the aspect of winter,
although the weather was warm.
The Constitutionnel says :—" We have no news
from Berlin to-day, but if the Presse, of Vienna, is
to be believed, the sudden departure of M. Bismarck
is in Austria as well as in Prussia, the object of
numerous commentaries. The Vienna journal asks
if the head of the Cabinet be really ill or whether
he is in disgrace with the King. It seems inclined
to believe in the latter hypothesis is an explanation
of M. Bismarck's journey."

AN
ALLEGED CUSTOM ON SALVAGE SERVICES.—
In a case, " The Plymouth Rock," before the Court of
Admiralty on Tuesday, on application was made to Dr.
Lishington to distribute the salvage money (£2,500) for
services rendered in the Thames. The crew had been
°gored 15 per cent., according to a "custom," and two had
taken it. The other six had come to the court and denied
the alleged custom. His lordship said he know of no such
custom, and directed 40 per cent, to be paid into court bo
Abidc, the roeult.