The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-08 00:00:00

world, the gates of hell are not to prevail. The
Vicar of Jesus Christ was head and supreme from
the commencement or dawn of Christianity. First of
all, during three hundred years by martyrdom, his spi-
ritual empire, extending among men of all languages,
climes and countries, embraced within it the mightiest
power the world had ever then known, that of
the Pagan Empire of Rome, and afterwards of
Constantinople. After expatiating at some length
alternately upon the Spiritual Power and
upon the Temporal Power, and then upon
both of them together, as inexplicably blent
during the last ten centuries, the Archbishop re-
ferred to what he called the mill-wheel of objections
revolving perpetually with such oppressive mono-
tony, and the iterated discharge from which he said
it was weary work to have, over and over again,
to meet. It was idle, he declared, to confuse
the Spiritual and Temporal authority as in any
way mutually dependent. For three hundred
years the spiritual authority existed alone—the first
three hundred years of the Christian dispensation,
those three centuries of martyrdom. And now,
even though the whole structure of Christendom
were to be dissolved, nay, were to lapse again into
Paganism—that Spiritual Power would still live on.
How could he designate those who imagined that
that spiritual authority was in itself in any way
dependent upon a strip of territory or upon a
heap of bricks and stone called a city. That
indestructible authority was before all temporal
possessions, and will be after them. The
Earthly authority added to the Spiritual, as raiment
is to man, was a mere temporal accident for the
unity of Christendom, which is thereby knit together
in one family of civilised nations under Pastoral
authority. That twofold authority, therefore, he
defined as transcending all other authorities upon
earth. All simply earthly authorities might be ab-
dicated by abuse—being, for example, ambitious,
aggressive, searching - after cohqpests. He was
not enforcing here what was so often and so
contumeliously denounced as the Slavish Doc-
trine of Passive Obedience. Ho was asserting,
however, that all unlawful resistance to rightful
authority was a sin against God. Charges of this
kind could never be directed against the Pontiffs.
Obedience there, consequently, was in answer to
no slavish doctrine—no Pontiff ever having levied
aggressive wars, no Pontiff having ever made un-
just laws, or inflicted excessive and sanguinary pun-
ishments. Speaking
of Pope Pius IX., he espe-
cially
is refined equity and peculiar
particularised
tenderness of heart, the attributes of a true Pastor.
Pius IX. might ask, he said, like Moses, " Whose
ox have 1 taken, 8z9:" Against him not one of his
acts justified the sin of rebellion. If the acts of
other powers could be weighed in the balance during
the last three centuries, how would they appear in
comparison? Dissolve the arch of Christendom, of
Christian soci9ty, by striking out the keystone, and
the civil powers will at once fall into chaotic opposi-
tion. Collision, persecution, despotism, arising the
one out
ut orfeatnhteinnotheargainst despotism, and . Defining Revolution as a
re-
marking that there are powers in the universe
beyond those of electricity or of gravitation—
the application of the principles deduced from which
latter powers resulted in so many of the vaunted
achievements of modern science—the Archbishop
concluded his discourse by calling upon his hearers
to look solely, and to pray solely, for the interposi-
tion of God during this vitally momentous epoch in
the history of the Temporal Power of the Pontiff—
for whose raiment, he said, they are now casting
lots ! Post tres dies resurgam, he added, in the
words of our Lord, and after that yet one other
utterance from the same divine lips, " Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass
away."

SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS.

MAN C lIE STER, Saturday Evening.

With the close of the proceedings to-day the
Congress has accomplished the heavier portion of its
busirelss. The inaugural address this morning was
by the Right Hon. Henry A. Bruce, M.P., president
of the education department. There was a very
large attendance, and the raper excited a good deal
of interest. The departnrdiit in Ala the liverest
discussion took place was that over which the right
hon. gentleman presides. There were voluntary
papers by the Rev. Canon Toole, on " Religion an
essential dementia the school education of the poor;"
by the Rev. W. J. Kennedy, on " The conscience
clause ;" and the Rev. J. Oakley, on the "Religious
difficulty." This opened a very wide field of discus-
sion, and the subjects were taken up with great in-
terest. The section sat in the Crown Court, which
was nearly filled throughout. There was a large
number of ladies present. The dock in this court is
very spacious; and as it is one of the best places from
which to hear and see, it was given up to the fair
sex. The section for the repression of crime continues
to form one of the chief attractions. It has been
filled throughout, and this meeting was so largely
attended that several could not obtain admission.
There were papers, by Sir Walter Crofton, C. 8.,
respecting " Female Convicts, and our efforts to
amend them ;" Miss M. C. Bennett, an interesting
statement of the" Working of the Carlisle Manorial
Refuge ;" Mr. C. Nichol', on " Reformatory
Work ;" by the Rev. J. Fish, relating to the " Re-
formatory and Industrial School Acts ;" and an-
other from the Rev. A. K. DlCallum, on the " Pri-
son Qualification for Admission into a Reforma-
tory." The subjects which were brought under no-
tice in the Health Department were chiefly relating
to localities, such as the high rate of mortality in
Liverpool, the recent epidmic of typhus in Aber-
deen, and one of more general application respect-
ing the attack of cholera in
the east of London.
The latter was from Dr. Bain. There was but a
small number in the Nisi
Prius Court, which
was devoted to the department of economy and
trade, although the topics set down on the paper
were of considerable social
importance. The Rev
H. Solly read one upon Working Men's Clubs and
Institutes in their relation to the upper classes and to
national progress ; Mr. James Airlie advocated
recreative amusement as an agency in social reform ;
and one by Mr. Henry Walker, which was a memo-
randum on the development of wholesale and retail
trade in the metropolis, and on the causes of the
early closing movement. The other sections had
papers brought before them relating to Jamaica
and its resources, on building societies, and burial
clubs; juvenile emigration and the credit system.
To-day a supplementary section was held, under the
chairmanship of Mr. Thomas Bazley, M.P. It was
for the purpose of hearing a paper by Major-General
Sir Arthur Cotton, and read by Major-General
Fredk. Cotton, upon " Famines in India, their
causes and remedies." It entered into the subject
at great length, and stated that famines should be
cprovidedo u r
a gem
ent against,sh o u thesaniet
war, and that full en-
dbe givena irrigation and navi-
gation. If proper measures were adopted famines in
India might be prevented. The works which Go-
vernment had undertaken had already produced
the most beneficial results ; but much more re-
mained to be accomplished.

THE OXFORD MUSIC-HALL—The young sisters
Julia and Julistto Dolepierre, performers on the violin and
zilophone, whose appearance at the Crystal Palace concerts
some seven years an when more children, excited much
attention, terminate their second successful engagement at
" The Oxford" at the close of the present week.
THE ABYSSINIAN PRISONERS.—We are glad to be
able to announce that the Government have resolved on
making a new effort to resell° the unfortunate Englishmen
who are still held in captivity by King Theodore in Abys-
sinia. In a fow days Mr. Flad will leave for the Court of
thit Sovereign, the bearer of a conciliatory and dignified
letter from the Queen, urging the release of our country-
men. Colonel Merewether will follow Mr. Flad, with suit-
able presents for the Abyssinian monarch, as far as Masso-
wah, whore he will await the result of Mr. Flad's mission
befpre ho proceeds further. We sincerely trust this new
effort will be successful, but it is obvious that our country-
men aro completely at the mercy of King Theodore. Any-
thing like a display of force in the inaccessible region of
Abyssinia is out of the question. It would fail to effect
the release of the prisoners, and would almost inevitably
involve us in a costly and resultless war. There is every
reason to believe that Mr. Flad is the most likely person
the Government could have selected to succeed in the mis-
sion they have entrusted to him; and we hope many weeks
will not elapse before he sends us back some good tidings
of our unfortunate countrymen.