The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-20 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, DEC. 20, 18G6.

It may fairly be said that the House of Commons
is on its trial, so far as the opinion of some politi-
cians is concerned, and therefore all that the differ-
ent members of Parliament say on the subject at
meetings and other places naturally engages atten-
tion and creates interest. So great an authority as
Mr. LowE is sure to meet respect, and many will
peruse his speech with curiosity whether they agree
or not with all its sentiments. At a banquet, given
on •Tuesday by the Merchant Taylors' Company,
the right hon. gentleman returned thanks for the
" Two Houses of Parliament" with which his
name was coupled, and prefaced his re-
marks by saying that there had been a time when
no one could have an easier or more pleasant task
imposed upon him than that of returning thanks
for the House of Commons; it was, iu fact, " a sort
of rhetorical bed of roses." All went smoothly for
the orator, the sentiments of those around him coin-
cided with those of the nation around him ; but now
all things are changed. Mr. LOWE declared, in
terms of great eloquence, that what the former
position of the louse of Commons had been, " the
admiration of foreign countries and the pride of our
own," that institution which, for six hundred years,
we have cherished, and which during that period has
is now
been much improved and amplified,
" becom-
ing s scoffing and a bycword among certain classes
iu this country. It has become among these per-
sons the target at which every shaft is aimed, the
Big which they like to drag and trample upon."
This is no exaggeration, but every word of it is
strictly true. Nothing is more absurd and unbe-
coming than the manner in which the noble in-
stitution of the House of Commons is derided
by Mr. BRIGHT and his friends and followers.
They go on from bad to worse, until they
succeed iu sketching a picture frightful to contem-
plate. If one half, or a quarter of what they say
were true, it would be no use to think of altering
or improving the arrangement of it, for it would be
hopelessly irreclaimable and universally injurious.
It is a relief to find so bold A champion stand
forward as the exponent of the merits and the vin- 1

sembled Englishmen to which its glorious past and
its most useful and industrious present fairly entitle
it." The. style which many speakers have adopted
has been indeed most reprehensible, and it seems
strange that their exaggerated remarks should have
met with approval ; but when people get excited
upon any topic they are apt to let prejudice run

away with their judgment, and so it has been in this
instance in a very conspicuous manner.

Mr. LOWE continued to find a good deal to say
in favour of that assembly which has been so vili-

fled and misrepresented in certain quarters. In the
first place, it is an eminently intelligent assembly; in
the next it is eminently business-like ; and it is also
an orderly assembly. It contrives to preserve due
decorum " without the necessity of ringing a

bell, or of suspending its sittings for half
an hour every now and then." " I will say,"

continued the right hon. gentleman,

" that as a

body we are pure, our hands are clean, no ' wire-

pullers,' no lobbyers frequent our lobbies to induce
us to prostitute our high offices for the purpose of
individual gain." It is certainly safer to be too
slow than too fast in making comprehensive changes,
and it is better to be too sparing of criticism than
to deal in sweeping censure and wholesale abuse.
If anything more than another has re-
tarded the result of Reform it has been the
senseless clamour raised by those who have gone
such lengths in their words that cautious folks dread
their acts. As Mr. LowE said, "If you injure the
House of Commons, you injure every department of
the public service, from the highest to the lowest ;
and it is of great consequence to consider not only
the evil thus directly occasioned, but also the great
amount of indirect mischief that would be wrought
by having inconsiderate changes."

The ceremony of inaugurating her MAJESTY'S
ship Chichester, as a training-school for the homeless
boys of London, took place on Tuesday last, in one
of the dry docks in Mr. GREEN'S shipbuilding yards,
Poplar. The occasion was one of some importance,
as well as of considerable interest, for the scheme
not only concerns the welfare of those little City
Arabs whose desolate condition must have moved
the pity of every one familiar with the highways
and byeways of London, but it proposes a very sens-
ible and practical plan for recruiting our navy.
It is now some time since the movement in favour of
the destitute and houseless children of the metropolis
was set on foot. Wise and good men bethought
themselves of giving them industrial instruction as
well as mental and moral training, and thus quali-
fying them for earning an honest living, instead of
being reduced, from sheer idleness and thriftless-
ness, to pilfering and swindling, if nothing more.
In July, 1852, a refuge for homeless and destitute
boys, was opened in Broad-street, Bloomsbury, and
it shows us how much is gained by promptitude in
such matters whe n we remember that the boys who
were then taken under its shelter are now full-
grown men. Without these helping hands stretched
outat the beginning of their friendless careers, what
would have been their fate ? It is not difficult
to guess its character in outline if not in detail, and
the earnest-minded lovers of their kind, who begun
this good work under discouraging auspices, have
reason to be more than satisfied with the result.
So slender were their resources at first that they
could only receive six boys, but as time went on
they prospered more and more, so that in 1857,
five years after the first effort, they were able to
take their present commodious premises in Great
Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields. Seeing the
six were gathered together to the end
of last year 1,016 boys have been ad-
mitted, of whom 758 have left for the navy and
merchant services, for situations at home or for
emigration to the colonies, thus entering on most
active and useful careers, with the prospect of
honour and happiness to themselves and of good
service to the State, instead of swelling the ranks
of the dangerous (because untrained and neglected)
classes.

Since the public were startled at the revelations
concerning the casual wards of our workhouses,
fresh efforts have been made by the promoters of the
refuge since it was proved that boys of tender age
were forced to associate with men of debased cha-
racter. It will be remembered that early% this year
a general invitation was
Given
a good supper at the refuge, ewnittho homeless
a
view
of boys
arriv to
arriving
ng
at some further information respecting them, and
of enlisting the sympathy of the public on their be-
half. Nearly 200 came to the supper, and when
Lord SHAFTESB URY, who was present, asked them
whether they would any of them like to go on board
a ship, nearly every little hand in the room was
held up in answer. The contrast presented to the
ragged crew on that occasion by the trim
little blue-jackets who strutted proudly about
the Chichester on Tuesday was not a little striking
It was a happy thought, and will, we trust, pro-
duce great and lasting good. It shows how much
the vices of the adult population are due to lack
of early training that not a single act of in-
subordination has occurred in the refuge, though
a large number were taken in haphazard, and 70
or 80 have been added every week. The committee
of gentlemen who superintended the supper were
struck with the number who were lame or par-
tially blind, or suffering from some other afflic-
tion. They had, many of them, never known their
parents ; some had lost one or both ; others bad
been deserted. They slept at night in the dreaded
casual wards, or under sheds or waggons, sometimes
on doorsteps, and lived as they could throughout
the day. Many more such boys there are will in
our streets and lanes, but surely they will not be
left much longer. We must pay for them some
way, either in gaol, or workhouse, or infirmary. It
has been estimated that a single professional thief
costs the taxpayers of the country a tolerable fortune
by the time his career is done, and we may fairly
believe that a very large proportion of these little
ragamuffins would have developed into thieves and
burglars if left unaided. Surely this is a work
worth helping on every ground.

The military growth of Prussia is a subject that
engrosses a great deal of attention at present, and
very naturally so, since the changes that have taken
place in Germany of late are of the most striking
and momentous character. In the last number of
the Edinburgh there is a very excellent article on
this subject, which takes a very comprehensive view
of the matter, and puts before us in t n impressive
style some of the chief consequences of the late war.
First of all, a survey is taken of the pst position of

dicator of the rights of the House, as Mr. LOWE Prussia, and it is curious, indeed, to look from the
undoubtedly is, for hitherto the demagogues state of strength and the stronghold of power she
have had nearly all the say on their side now enjoys, to contemplate the picture here drawn
during the recess, and if not contradicted they of her state at the time of the First NAPOLEON.
get more and more extreme and excited in their " Stripped of half her territory, the rest a mere field
assertions and comments. Mr. LOWE declared that for French tax-gatherers, or exercise-ground for
the challenge he had given had never been replied French troops, the policy of Prussia for the next
to, for all he asked for the House of Commons was six years to the outward world seemed to consist
that people should point out, in a definite manner, in different degrees of servility to the master whose
what were the faults that existed in it, and state chains she had no power to shake off ; her revenues
what improvements they wanted. We certainly were swallowed up by foreign exactions, her army
concur in this expression of the right hon. reduced to a mere corps by the decree of NAPOLEON;
gentleman. "In my humble judgment, her means of rising against the oppressor seemed
the House of Commons has not during i hopelessly gone. A sudden change was made from
the recess received that treatment from as- this dreary position when the allied powers proceeded

to make a new division of territory after the peace of
1815, but not satisfied with this advantage the rulers
strove vigorously to increase her military resources,
and thus to confer upon them a power beyond the
natural importance of the territory. This seems, in
truth, to have been the great idea of Prussian states-
men for some time past, and we may fairly presume

their ambitious projects to have culminated in the
late splendid successes of BISMARCK.

We may trace one great evil in the present
system of military arrangement, and that is the

monopoly which is enjoyed by the higher classes in
the possession of appointments in the army. " Many
of the noble families of Prussia are almost without
means except as they may find them in the public
service, and since the civil bureaux have been thrown

open to other classes, the aristocracy are all the
more tenacious of the supposed hereditary right of

their order to the officering of the army." Besides

this it must be taken into account that the Crown

has the privilege of giving a large part of the first
commissions, and of late years the proportion of
these has increased, and it may easily be imagined
that the consequence of this is that there is no simi-
larity of taste or feeling between these officers and
the bulk of the people. It seems a sufficient condem-
nation of the system to mention that not more than
a twelfth part of the officers are of the middle orders.
We quite agree with the opinion here put forth
that " it needs no prophet to foretell the difficulties
which this system will produce in revolutionary
times." It is a great burden upon the people that
they should have to deal with the effrontery of this
military caste ; and nothing can make the thing en-
durable but the prospect of foreign enemies making
themselves obnoxious; and when the time comes for

any remodelling of the odious system now in vogue,
the prejudices which these exclusive and aristocratic
soldiers of fortune feel towards all civil interference
will be very likely to cause a decided collision to
take place between the Crown and the people.
There is a'bundant cause for irritation in the circum-
stances attendant upon this state of things, and it
will need but a spark at an exciting moment to
create such a conflagration as may well be dreaded.
A more exclusive system could hardly prevail
than that which restricts the privileges and hinders
the progress of this great military people, and it is
difficult, indeed, to realise at once all the conse-
quences of the mischievous customs that prevail.
" Promotion from the ranks of the line in Prussia,
in the sense in which it is understood in our service
and that of France, is a thing unknown ;" and we
think this circumstance alone is a fitting answer to
those who have lately taken to magnifying the
merits of the Prussian Government, and extolling
its progress in civilisation and liberty. An able
account is here given of the state of affairs in the
Prussian army, and the great risks which its leaders
are of meeting with disaffection in its ranks. All
did not go on so smoothly as some enthusiasts
would since have had us believe, but, on the con-
trary, the unpopular Minister was as loudly
blamed " in the camps around Glatz and Galitz,
as in the democratic circles of Frankfort or the
Courts of Austria's allies." The arrogant and
audacious Government of Berlin would have found
itself in a very critical state indeed had anything
but a striking success followed upon the attempt of
last summer, but, as we have seen, " on such suc-
cess, BISMARCK staked and threw.'! But it is in-
deed idle to deduce from hence that all his plans
were advisable ones, or that he might regard the
result of his efforts as the consequences of the con-
fidence he inspired in the army. It is, indeed, just
as suitable to come to this conclusion, as it would
be wise to seek for illustrations in the pages of his-
tory and select those who were tyrants and oppres-
sors, and consider that their triumphs were the
meed of their toil or the proof of their merit.
It is truly said here that the .moral must be
a twofold one which our nation should draw
from the recent events in Prussia and the history of
the war. Our statesmen should look into matters
and consider if our system could not be improved ;
so that it might be more available in case of war our
infantry must be armed with the breech-loader and
fitted for its use ; and, moreover, whatever be the
number of the " combatant force " that is main-
tained, there should be kept in readiness and com-
plete equipment and machinery for the service of a
much more considerable one. Other matters natu-
rally present themselves to notice in connection with
this subject of Prussian success. We entirely con-
cur in the observations here made as to the probable
result of the late contest, and in the doubts ex-
pressed as to the accuracy of those prophets who
deem that BISMARCK is only the instrument for
working out the long-cherished scheme of German
unity, and that he will subside into a secondary
state when his work is done. There are signs and
tokens which may well be taken as proofs that the
new empire is not likely to ke kept in the limits
which some lay down for it. It is truly said that
in sketching the historical growth of the military
force of Prussia the writer has done no injustice to
the " patriotism of her princes, the dexterity of
her statesmen, and the value of her armies,"
but that the triumphant success of a great
military conspiracy against the existence of
her own confederates and allies, and the political
results to Northern Germany, " cannot efface the
recollection of the scandalous duplicity and falsehood
on the part of the Prussian Court which marked
every stage of the late transactions." We are glad
to see so eminent an authority thus come forward
to vindicate the majesty of truth, and uphold the
sacred rights of justice which have been too much
slighted by those who join in the hero-worship of
BISMARCK. How forcible is this passage :—" The
unchecked success of Prussia in this enterprise has
given an irreparable blow to political morality, it
has shaken all trust in those public engagements on
which the peace of the world depends ; it has taught
mankind once more the cruel lesson that strength
alone, and not law, can give them security. Great
those Prussian
indeed must be the advantages and political results
aorfmthse
wnehwichsycsatne
system to
compensate
sa t e established
mankind fby theor
po-
sitive
evils." We think that this view of the ques-
tion is the correct one, and before long the position
of affairs will doubtless make it evident to those
who are now too much wrapt up in the success of
BISMARCK to allow themselves to take a fair view of
the question.

CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE.—Her Majesty the
Queen has forwarded, through Sir Thomas Biddulph,
K.C.8., to the treasurers of the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel the sum of £5OO, as the joint contribution of
her Majesty and the Prince Consort towards the memorial
church at Constantinople, which, we understand, is now
rapidly approaching completion.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Wednesday Evening.
The following is the most interesting portion o.
to-day's official news :•

" The Mogador belonging the French Imperial
Marine left Civita Vecchia on Monday evening,
having on board the remainder of the French troops
from the Pontifical territory.

" The Journal l'ltalie asserted the other day that
the Holy See would not enter into any negotiations
upon religious questions with the Envoy of the
Italian Government until after his Holiness was
acquainted with the contents of the Royal Speech
from King Victor Emmanuel. It is, however, now
known that M. Tonello was received at a private
audience by the Pope on the very day of the open-
ing of the Session. This reception was gracious
and cordial."

A young fellow, employed as an assistant cook at
a restaurant in the Palais Royal, has stolen a I,ooof.
note from his master, in acknowledgment of which he
sent him the following cool and off-hand letter :
" Dear and honoured Master,—For a long time I
have been sick of the kitchen, and I now have no
warm feeling for my furnaces. I wanted to change
my trade, but till now I had no opportunity of doing
so. You gave me a I,ooof. note to get changed.
I have not stolen it, but have only borrowed the
amount, and I will repay it, upon my honour. When
you receive this letter I shall have departed, for I
am going to Rome. They tell me there is very
rapid advancement in the regiment of the
Pontifical Zouaves. With my education, my
toupet and my courage, I shall become an officer,
not of the kitchen, but it is well understood.
That is my ambition. Forgive me for my forced
loan. I will retun you the money be assured. And
besides when I return, wearing a brilliant uniform,
with what pleasure you will say to me, That youth
owes to me all his] happiness and all his glory.'—
Your cx and future officer, " ANTOINE W."
As soon as the restaurateur had the honour of re-
ceiving the above letter he decided upon not waiting
to enjoy the delight of seeing his cook in Zouave
uniform, but he gave instant information to the
police. The consequence was that just as the
Zouave officer who was (not) to be was taking his
ticket at the railway station at Lyons on his way
to Rome,the police arrested him, and summarily dis-
turbed his dreams of future greatness and glory by
taking him to a police court, in order to enable him
to enter into fuller explanations in regard to his
" forced loan."

The Empress has sent 500 f. for the relief of the
victims who were on board of the Evening Star.
One of the literary journals says, that in spite of
the supposed authenticity of the head of Cardinal
Richelieu just interred with the remains in the
Church [of the Sorbonne, M. Merimee, Senator,
possesses a similar relic, and that he has also docu-
ments to prove that the head was really that of the
great Cardinal. The circumstance may or may not
support the adage that " two heads are better than
one."

The nocturnal attacks in Paris seem on the in-
crease, and excite unusual alarm. As a young man
was passing along the Avenue Montaigne early on
Monday morning three individuals rushed upon him.
One of them had a knife in his hand and inflicted a
slight:wound. A passer-by saw the attack and gave
an alarm, which led to the appearance of the police.
One of the assailants is a young man of 22, who
says he is a groom. It is evident, from the knife
with which one of the robbers was armed, that they
were bent on mischief, perhaps murder.
There have been two more suicides in Paris since
Sunday.

The weather to-day hag been dull and rather
rainy, but not cold for the season. The Seine still
exhibits a tendency to rise.

The King and Queen of Spain have returned from
their visit to the King of Portugal. They were en-
thusiastically received on reaching Madrid.
A telegram from Copenhagen announces that M.
de Blume, formerly President of the Council of Mi-
nisters of Denmark, died in that capital on Sunday.
There has been an interesting meeting of the Ad-
ministrative Council of the Central Society for pre-
serving Lives in Cases of Shipwreck, under the
presidency of Admiral Rigault de Genouilly. A
report was read giving an account of the labours of
the committee since the last meeting. Some inte-
resting details were given relative to the machines
destined to shoot arrows to communicate with
vessels, according to the system of M. Delvigne.
The number of stations for saving life is now 80.
Various particulars were given in regard to the
augmentation of the means of effecting that great
object. M. Arthur Petit Didier, a shipowner, it
was stated, had made great exertions to forward the
object, and had formed many representatives in
foreign countries, and also subscriptions amounting
to more than 35,000 francs.
A well-known thief, Charles V., in the exercise of
his profession, has caught a Tartar, or rather two.
The night before last he went into a wine shop in a
lonely part of the Batignolles kept by Mdlle. Jose-
phine. He took a glass of brandy and waited until
she was alone. He then rushed at her and said,
",You are in a lonely place; no one can assist you.
I do not like to shed blood. If you make any noise
I will strangle you. lam the chief of the Thugs of
Paris. Open your till and give me all your money."
Mdlle. Josephine did not discover the propriety of
the request, and instead of giving the Thug her
money she seized him by the throat. He, however,
after a violent struggle succeeded in throwing her
down, and then went and took out all the money
which the till contained. Josephine, however, got
up again, and the struggle was renewed. Her cries
brought a woman, a neighbour, to her assistance ;
and they valiantly succeeded in binding the Thug
hand and foot with cords, and waited until a police-
officer should pass. A sergent de ville soon arrived,
and the two ladies consigned the Thug to his sympa-
thetic and tinder mercy.

"SPECIAL ANO URGENT APPEAL."