The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-30 00:00:00

THE SON, LONDON,!''FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 30, 1866.

LITERATURE.

Hidden Depths. Two vols. Edmonston and
Douglas.

" Veritas est major charitas" is the appropriate
motto of this work. It is evidently in a spirit of
charity, of the purest and noblest charity, that the
writer of this eloquent and interesting work has ven-
tured upon a theme which, as he himself admits, is
"no fit theme for a romance." "The great sin of
great cities," as it has been forcibly designated by a
thoughtful writer of our day, is, in fact, the subject-
matter of this work, and the Hiddenpepths, of which
it reveals a few startling glimpses, are those abysses
of misery and shame, which, like the regions they
too closely resemble, are never mentioned " to ears
polite." To write a work, a work of fiction, suffi-
ciently elegant in appearance and graceful in style,
to attain admittance to the boudoir and the draw-
ing-room on such a theme, is a bold undertaking
indeed. To the pure all things are pure, it is said,
and assuredly the high purpose and Christian feel-
ings that had animated the writer have en-
abled him to tread upon delicate ground, and to
touch unseemly materials in such a manner
that no reader's taste can be shocked or his
good feelings offended. In the outset of the work a
regiment is embarking for India, with its gay
Colonel and his young bride. The Colonel's sister,
the gentle Ernestine Courtenay, is on board the
transport ship, taking leave of her brother, when
the following scene occurs :
Suddenly a great noise and confusion was heard at the
lower cud of the vessel. Thei o was a scuffling of feet, a
clamour of voices, and an occasional volley of oaths. A
struggle of some kind was evidently going on, and the
captain called out angrily to know what was the matter.
Ono of the ship's officers came up to him at once—
"A woman, sir, who was found secreted in the hold, and
refuses to go on shore."
" Is she not on the War List, then ?"

" No, sir, she is not a soldier's wife at all. Sergeant
Dale and Private Smith say they know her for an impos-
tor. She tried yesterday to get herself passed among the
women at the depot with false papers."
"Send the jade ashore at once, then, we have no time to
lose ; we must be off in five minutes."
" They are trying to get hor into the boat, sir, but she
won't go. She is like a wild cat, and clings to everything
she can lay hold off. It took three men to get her up from
the hold."

" Oh, bother ! Hoist her overboard with a rope, then.
Threaten her with a ducking for her pains; there aro plenty
of boats to drop her into. I can't have the hands hindered
at their work."

The officer touched his cap and went off to obey orders.
In another moment a shriek so wild and thrilling that it
startled every one on board, rang through the air. A
figure was seen to burst from the crowd of sailors, with
streaming hair and outstretched arms, dashing them aside
with a force which seemed almost superhuman. With ono
bound she broke away, and leapt from the forecastle, fly-
ing rather than running along the deck, up to the stops to
the poop, and on till she flung herself down at Colonel
Courtenay's feet, and clasped his knees with power which
he could not resist. She throw back her head, showing a
face, once beautiful, but now distorted by an intensity of
agony and passion that smote the bystanders with a sense
of terrible mental pain ; her long black hair, wet with the
dews of anguish that stood on her forehead, fell back in
masses from her flushed face ; her dark eyes were full of
wildness ; her whole frame quivered, and her dress, torn
and disordered, was stained with blood, from the injuries
she had received in her struggle with the men.
It was a pitiable spectacle, but it was left to the tone of
her wild mournful voice to convey to the bystanders a
conviction of the utter misery that was desolating the soul
of the unhappy girl.
Her flight from the one end of the vessel to the ether
had been so instantaneous that the breathless impassioned
words she now spoke seemed but the prolongation of the
shriek that still appeared-to echo in thoir ears. Clinging
to Courtenay as if her life depended on the tenacity of her
grasp ; looking at him, speaking to him only, she gasped
out, " George, George, my own George, save me, save me!
—don't let them send me away ; I must go with you, I
will go with you ; I cannot live without you—indeed I
cannot : I have tried it, and I cannot ; I must be with you
—nothing shall tear me from you !"
At this unexpected address, spoken loud enough to be
heard by all present, a look of significant meaning passed
among the officers of Colonel Courtenay's regiment, and
from them to the captain and the men who stood around ;
while Courtenay himself looked down onthe girl at his feet
with an expression of absolute fury.
"Is the woman mad or drunk !" he exclaimed,strug-
gling with a cruel violence to disengage himself from her
convulsive grasp ; "how dare you attack me in this way ?
Here, men, drag this woman off, some of you."
At these words a cry more appalling than that which
had startled them before burst from the poor girl's firs.
She lifted up her eyes to his face, piteous with their ex-
pression of sorrowful dismay—
" 0 George, my dear George, don't you know me ? I
am Lois, your own poor Lois, that you said you would love
for ever and ever. Am Iso changed ? I dare say I am,
for I have cried my heart out after you pretty near ; but
look, it is me myself—here is the ring you gave mo, and
the locket with your own hair in it, and the bracelet—
look !" And the unhappy girl strove with her trembling
hands to show him the trinkets, which she thought might
convince him of the identity he know too well. Courtenay
literally stamped with rage and impatience, especially as
he saw the smile which was appearing on the face of
every man round him, to whom the scene was sufficiently
intelligible.

" The woman is raving mad ;" and he made another
futile attempt to shako her off. "Leave hold, I tell you, or
I'll have you sent to gaol for a month."
The unfortunate, hapless creature is dragged away
by main force, and when the vessel has sailed away
with her betrayer and his bride, the miserable Lois—
" One more unfortunate, weary of breath,
Rashly importunate, gone to her death"—
_

finds rest in a watery grave ! The scene on
board ship leaves a terrible impression upon
the Colonel's young sister, Ernestine ; and
when she learns the sad fate of the outcast, and
when a letter from the drowned woman falls into
her hands, imploring that her sister may be saved
from a fate similar to her own, Ernestine Courtenay,
with a noble purpose, devotes herself to the fulfil-
ment of this wish. It is in following Ernestine in
her search that some few of the horrors of the
hidden depths are revealed to the reader.

The fair young lady is hardly a fitting person to
select for such an investigation, but she threads her
way through labyrinths of sin and shame as a pity-
ing angel scatheless and sorrowful. The writer of
this book, who has written it from the heart—from
a heart burning to do good to the simple and
sorrowful—deplores the system that prevails at most
of the " refuges" and penitentiaries, a system that
is calculated to repel rather than to encourage, to
frighten rather than to reform. The author's re-
marks may be studied with advantage by all who
have a voice in the administration of such abodes.
The spirit of Christian charity which pervades the
whole work commends it to the very kindest consi-
deration.

Bank of England Returns,—Last Evening.

An Account, pursuant to t:
p. 32, for the week ending

:he Act 7th and Bth Victoria,
Wednesday, March 28, 1866.

ISSUE DEPARTMENT.
tes issued .....£28,502,750 Governmt. Debt £11,015,100
Other Securities 3,984,900
Gold Coin and
Bullion
Silver Bullion

£28,502,750

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Tnits.—lf the working classes are deaf to the call of
demagogues, they can show very good reason for their indif-
ference. They have business 'of their own on hand, and
are performing it to some purpose. They are engaged all
over the kingdom, and in almost every trade, in raising
the value of their labour and reducing their working hours,
and with such energy as well as success are they conduct-
ing these operations that scarcely a week now passes with-
out a report of a victory achieved or a struggle commenced.
At this minute the journeymen tailors are on " strike" in
London and Edinburgh, and the house carpenters and
joiners in Aberdeen. The ship joiners were also "out" for
a little while, but have already gained their point. It is
probable, however, that the public have no adequate idea
of the extent to which those trade combinations are carried,
or of the results which within the last two or three years
have been actually brought to pass. We gave our readers
the other day some insight into the case by the aid of
Trade Union Report from the Carpenters' and Joiners' So-
ciety, but that was only one example out of many. The
operative bricklayers—another branch of the groat build-
ing trade—have done just as well as the carpenters, and
have told their story just as frankly. The joiners, it will
be remembered, triumphantly proclaimed that in 52 towns
out of 94 they had obtained an advance of wages for the
members of their union, and in 30 a reduction of time. The
bricklayers now boast that " in 31 different towns in Eng-
land and Scotland the number of resident bricklayers is
2,517; the whole of these men have received and enjoyed
an average advance of 3s. Gd. per week, and a reduction of
two hours per week in their working time." But they are
not satisfied with this bare announcement. They grapple
more closely with the question, and enter into elaborate
calculations to show that the success was very cheap at
the money, and that nothing can be more profitable as an
investment of working men's funds than a well-managed
" strike." The compiler of the case on behalf of the
Operative Bricklayers' Society puts his arguments very
cleverly. He is addressing the " non-society men,"
—that is, the members of the trade who have not yet joined
the union—and he well understands what propositions he
has got to establish, and what presumptions to rebut. It
will be expected, he intimates, that trade unionists should
show some "practical fruits for all the heartbnrnings and
miseries that naturally result from strikes," and this de-
monstration he offers with justifiable confidence in the shape
of the facts above recorded. Then, however, he proceeds
to prove that the cost of the proceeding was so much less
than the profit as to render the bargain advantageous in
the extreme. It is admitted that the process at this point
of the demonstration is conducted by approximation only,
but the calculation is exceedingly curious, and if it repre-
sents anything like the truth will be not a little striking.
" This result," says the document before us, " has been
obtained by 264 of the resident bricklayers, backed up by
the moral influence and pecuniary aid of their society,
having struck for an advance of wages and reduction of
time, the average time the strike lasted for each town
being two weeks and five days." In this statement is con-
veyed the basis of the reckoning which ensues. So much
was lost in wages during the voluntary inaction of so
many men for so many days ; so much has been gained, on
the other hand, by a given increase of wages for the benefit
of a given number of men. Ultimately, and as a net re-
sult, the account is thus presented :

Total gain
Against loss 3io 8 0

Balance in favour £19,516 6 0
This budget, it seems, the bricklayers submitted with na-
tural pride to Professor Fawcett, who observed, in reply,
that " the facts therein contained aro most important, and
show a most advanced state of things, very gratifying
to all interested in the condition of the operative
classes." We concur with the Professor in his esti-
mate of the " state of things." It really is " very ad-
vanced," indeed, but we wonder it did not occur to Mr.
Fawcett that the class which was thus " advancing" itself
to such excellent purpose could not be suffering very much
from political disabilities. The secret of all this extraor-
dinary power is combination ; and we hope the reader
noticed a little incident of the tailors' strike now pending
in London as illustrating the extent to which combination
has been carried. Mr. Poole, the eminent tailor of Saville-
row, having had a difference with his workpeople, sent off
to the continent for journeymen to fill their places. But
the men were too quick for him. The Operative Tailors'
Association telegraphed at once to Continental agents of
their own, and stopped the supply. Promptly, too, did the
secretary of the society address himself to the public
through our columns, and in his letter he says, " So good
is the understanding now among workmen in all parts of
the world that there is no fear of the result of that attempt,
nor of his efforts to get his work done by outworkers, for
they are thoroughly with us." Not only, therefore, are the
tailors combined in England, but they can reckon on the
co-operation of all the tailors in Europe. Indeed the
secretary's language is still more comprehensive, for he
speaks not simply of tailors, but of " workmen" generally,
and if by this he means all the working classes in all trades
together, we believe he is substantially right. They will
all stand by (ma:, other when a chance occurs, and they
have thoroughly learnt how to conduct their operations.
The enormous extent of these combinations tends, of
course,•to enrich the trade treasuries, while the new method
of "striking" economises the application of money. Be it
remembered that these struggles are mere questions of
money from first to last. A strike is a trial of endurance,
in which it has +.9 be seen whether the master can go
longest without As profits or the men without their wages.
In former times capital used commonly to beat labour, for
the slender resoirees of the local trade wore soon ex-
hausted, and ther the men had either to resume work or
starve. But now while the vast extent and unlimited affi-
liation of these unions provide almost inexhaustible funds,
the strike is confined to the fewest possible men at one
time. We have seen that 2,517 bricklayers got their wages
raised by the eats of only 264 of their trade. This little
band, just a tithe of the whole body, fought all the battle
of the rest, and of course, if nine men go on working while
only one is idle, it is easy enough for the one to be sup-
ported by the nire. So Mr. Poole now tells us that the
very men who have left his shop have gone into other
shops, and are working there on the very terms which they
refuse to accept from him. That is only the usual course
of operations. The majority of the society must needs work
in order to support a minority in a strike which really re-
presents the battle of all, but as these contests aro now
managed the outlay is very little, while the gains aro large.
The bricklayers calculate that they have gained nearly
£20,000 by an expenditure of little more than £390. The
carpenters and joiners confess to an investment of some
£2,000 upon their " trade privileges ;" but the return pro-
fit, according to their own showing, must have repaid them
ten times over. There is another view, too, of the case.
Supposing that it does take £l,OOO or £2,000 to secure a
good advance of wages or a reduction of time in 50 or 100
towns, a society like that of the carpenters and joiners
could easily pay the amount out of their reserve without
troubling the members for a sixpence in contribution. If
£3OO, as in the case of the bricklayers, will do the work,
what may not be accomplished by a reserve of £lO,OOO ?
Let us repeat once more that we are not assuming the de-
mands of the men to have been unjustifiable. We wish
only to point out the singular success with which the work-
ing classes have adapted these combinations to their own
particular politics, and the extraordinary power they have
acquired. One inference, too, we may add in conclusion,
and that is, that if Working men all through the country
are thus bettering their incomes by 10 or 20 per cent., their
position as householders must have been bettered too, and
thus their trade unions will introduce them to the electoral
franchise by an insensible operation of events.

HERALD.—SmaII as is said to be the interest which the
question of Parliamentary Reform excites amongst us, it
seems to have just so much claim on our attention as that
it renders us incapable for the moment of dwelling seriously
on any foreign business, however momentous. We are, in
fact, so occupied with the alternative propounded to us,
whether or not we are willing to invite the working class
in England to govern the country, that the rumour of im-
minent war between two of the Groat Powers of Europe is
scarcely sufficient to disturb us. As, however, we know,
from sad experience, that there has never yet been a great
European war of any duration into which we have not
socn been dragged as a principal party on one side or other,
as we feel that dynastic considerations as well as Imperial
interests, combine to render it most difficult to us to remain
quiescent in such a struggle as that which may ensue be-
tween Austria and Prussia, we confess that we are not a
little surprised at the feeling of almost indifference with
which the crisis appears to be regarded on all sides. How-
ever earnestly we may deprecate any deviation from the
strict path of neutrality in the event of such a collision ;
however condemn the policy which should involve us in
such a deplorable quarrel, and repent the error of our an-
cestors, when, by lavish expenditure of the blood and
treasure of England, they built up the throne of Frederick
on the ruins of Maria Theresa, we must remember that
Governments are mortal, that the tendency of the day is
towards popularising our representation, and popular con-
stituencies are generally in favour of war. The spectacle
of Austria and Prussia quarrelling savagely over the spoils
of Denmark, may be, perhaps, an agreeable theme for
the political moralist, and may adorn a tale in
the history of later days. To us it is simply disas-
trous. When Schleswig and Holstein, without our con-
sent, were wrung from Denmark, we hoped we had heard
the last of it, and that the victors in this unequal war
would have been able to make somehow a disposal of their
conquest which should be satisfactory to themselves. It
turns out, however, that while Prussia fought only half
the battle her rulers had set their minds on reaping the
whole of the advantage. The aggrandisement of Prussia
northwards, which might disturb the balance of Germany,
was not desired by Austria, which wished to see a neutral
Ger,--021/1 state established in the southern part of the Danish
peninsula. Tho Prussian Premier, Count Bismarck—in
this point only of all his political programme supported by
the general feeling of the Prussian people—set his mind
from the first on the annexation of the Duchies to Prussia.
From the first the Austrian Government has refused to
consent to this. The compromise concluded last year at
Gastoin gave to Prussia the provincial possession of the
Duchy of Schleswig, while the Austrian Commander, Von
Gablenx, was left to rule in Holstein. Since that time the
pretensions of Prussia kayo been more and more openly

and unreservedly put forward, and the Prussian rule has
been spoken off in North Germany as permanent, the
Austrian as temporary. The arrogance of the Prussian
officials having at last reached the length of an attempt to
dictate to the Austrians the conduct which they should
pursue with regard to the Augustenburg pretender, the
Austrians fairly took the alarm. A proposal, it is said, was
made at this perilous juncture to buy their retirement at a
valuation of 50 million thalers ; the Austrian Government
rejected it and began to arm. So much, at least, we learn
from the very circumstantial and apparently truthful
statements of the German press. That regiment after
regiment, and battery after battery of artillery have been
forwarded in haste to the Bohemian and Galician frontier
merely to protect the Jewish people of those parts from
persecution, is a weak evasion on the part of the Austrian
Government organs. Austria has been threatened by
Prussia with extreme measures, and has, of course, a per-
fect right to defend her frontiers.