The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-23 00:00:00

BANfI OP tisTGLAND.

An Account, pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth Victoria,
cap. 32, for the week ending on Wednesday, the 20th dal
of Feb., 1861:--

isstrE DtPARt3itNT.
NuteB betted .....,..L25,463,725 Government Debt £11,015,100
Other Securities .. 3,459,900
! G old COin & Million 10,240,363
Sliver Bullion .... 848,362

X25,5t13,725

£25,563,'M

BANKING D:
Proprietors' Capi-
tal £14,553,000
Rest
Public Deposits (in-
cluding Exche-
quer, Savings'
. Banks, Commis-
missioners of Na-
tional Debt. and
Dividend Ac-

DEPARTMENT.
1 Goyernment_ Secu-

rides (including*
Dead Weigh tAn-
n nity)
Other Securities
Notes
Gold and Silver

Coin 804,531

counts) 5,554,607
Other Deposits 11,163,279
Seven Day and
other Bills 590,407

Z 35,753,229
_ • M.

£35,753,229
.RSHALL, Chief Cashier.

Dated Feb. 21, 1861.

AVERAGE PRICE OF SUGAR.

The Average Price of Brown or Muscovado Sugar, com-
puted from Returns made in the weekending the 19th day
of Feb., 1861, exclusive of the duties of Customs paid or
payable thereon on the importation thereof into Great
Britain :
Muscovado., the produce of the British pos- PER CWT.
sessions in America. 258 71d
Muscovado, tho produce of the Mauritius .. 29s 2d
Muscovado, the produce of the East Indies.. —s —d
Average price of the foregoing .. 268 11id

THE GALE.

THE METROPOLIS AND SUBURBS.

At the church of St, Mary, Lambeth, which ad-
joins the Archbishop's Palace, the damage has been
most extensive. About 7 o'clock in the evening of
Thursday it was found that the wind had stripped
off about 30 feet of the massive leaden covering over
the nave, dragging with it a portion of the roof.
The lead of the south aisle was 'also torn ff for
about 15 feet, as well as injuring the roof. Shortly
after this a lofty stone chimney was dashed from
the roof of the vestry, and hurled with violence into
the graveyard, where portions of the stone of very
heavy weight were found buried in the earth seve-
ral inches below the surface. In Fore-street and
Vauxhall-street the roadway was strewn with tiles,
bricks, &c., blown from the roofs of the houses.
A very large portion of the picture of Venice at
the Royal Surrey Gardens, extending to nearly the
centre towards the west end, was caught by the
hurricane and hurled to the ground, including the
massive scaffolding. The mass fell towards the
lake, and was torn and damaged to a serious ex-
tent.

About 7 o'clock in the evening a terrific crash
alarmed the inhabitants of Mill-street, Lambeth-
walk, when it was ascertained that a great portion
of the roof of a house in that thoroughfare, belong-
ing to and adjoining the factory of Mr. H. Baker,
coachbuilder, had been blown in. Two children
were in one room, and a man and his wife and one
child in another room on the same floor, when the
gale forced down the stack of chimneys, which fell
on to the roof, crushing it in. The whole of the
fragments fell into the room where these persons
were, all of whom narrowly escaped, but the furni-
ture was extensively damaged.
At the establishment of Messrs. Moses and Son,
Aldgate, the wind forced out the massive sheet of
plate glass in the show-room, the shattered frag-
ments being carried into the street with terrible
force.

During the height of the gale a stack of chimneys
on the house, No. 4, Brighton-place, Brixton road,
was forced down, and fell into the window of the
adjoining house, destroying a great quantity of fur-
niture, and doing considerable damage.
In the Lower Hope two collier vessels were blown
on shore, and below Woolwich Reach a heavily-
laden hoy was sunk, but fortunately no lives were
lost. Two barges, heavily laden, were sunk oppo-
site the Brunswick-pier, Blackwall, and a whole
fleet of barges and lighters might have shared the
same fate but for the prompt measures taken by the
authorities at the East India Docks, who ordered
the main gates to be opened and all craft in danger
were admitted into dock. At Woolwich Dockyard
a considerable portion of the roof of the newly
erected church was blown off, and also the corru-
gated zinc roof of the mast-house, next the river.
An explosion took place on Thursday night at the
gunpowder mills of Messrs. Curtis arid Harvey, near
Hounslow. Messrs. Curtis and Harvey's manufac-
tory, or, more correctly speaking, series of factories,
occupy some miles of ground. The spot on which
the present disaster happened was at Hatton, nearly
two miles distant, the property of the Duke of
Northumberland—Hatton-lane, nearly facing Judge
Pollock's mansion, only separating one description
of work from the other, two pieces of machinery
being driven by the same mill head, the lower flow
supplying two houses. At the works at Hounslow
immense streams of water run between the different
mills and corning houses, and, as was the case at
Hatton, tall trees were so planted that, in the event
of an explosion occurring, they would to some ex-
tent break its force. At the time the hurricane or
gale commenced on Thursday night, the men who
were engaged in five of the mills were ordered to
leave the premises and take shelter for a time in
the Iv atchhouse. Ms they did, and most fortu-
nately they did so, for at 20 minutes after eight
o'clock, while the workpeople were in the watch-
house awaiting the subsiding of the storm, an
explosion, and one of no small magnitude, hap-
pened. The explosion which took place shook
the houses at Teddington and Twicken-
ham to their very foundations ; the inmates
had no sooner got into the streets than another and
still more violent explosion followed, which again
shook the neighbourhood, and portions of trees
were cast across the mill streams in sundry direc-
tions; another, and one still more serious, super-
vened which blew to atoms another corning-house
and two other similar buildings. The machines
weighed on the average about three tons each, and,
owing to their great weight, the working gear was
on' partially destroyed. The men were ordered,
after the storm had somewhat subsided, to resume
their employment in 20 minutes time, but, owing
to the buildings being 20 feet long and 25 feet wide,
the workmen were unable to reach their several
compartments, and thereby their lives were saved.
The engines belonging to the firm, as well as others
of the neighbourhood, were quickly in attendance,
and the machines were set to work from the water
in the mill streams ) the flames were eventually
extinguished, but not until five of the mills were
levelled with the ground and the stock therein con-
sumed, The machinery is also, although not en-
tirely destroyed, extensively damaged by the force
of the explosion. It is hardly necessary to state
that the mills destroyed were uninsured. Taking
the line of the South Western Railway from Wa-
terloo-road to the above spot, something like an
approximate idea of the force of the gale may be
formed--trees, fencings, summer-houses in gentle-
men's gardens, and quickset hedges, have been rent
asunder, and the roofs of various buildings have
been uplifted by the force of the hurricane.

READING, FEB. 22.
The wind blew a fearful hurricane here yester-
day, and extensive mischief has been done. It
was about one o'clock in the morning when people
generally were awoke from their sleep:by sudden
and heavy gusts of wind from the south-west, and
the inmates of old houses were not a little
alarmed at the unpleasant oscillation which
they experienced. At about two o'clock a tre-
mendous crash was heard in the neighbourhood
of K.attsgrove-lane, and it was soon afterwards
ascertained that it was caused by the falling of
from thirty to forty feet of the high chimney
at the extensive ironworks of Messrs. Barrett,
Exall, and Andrewes. It was fortunate that the
accident occurred at a time when the men were not
at work, or the consequences must have been
serious, if not fatal, In the fall the brickwork did
not do so much damage as might have been
imagined from the many tons weight of brick and
iron which formed the fragments. Some portion
of the remaining chimney has been so loosened by
the hurricane that it will have to be removed before
any new work can be added. About the same time
the wind forced down a considerable length of
woodwork in the Forbury, forming the grounds in
the occupation of Messrs. Sutton and Sons, seed-
growers, and damage was done to some of the
adjacent property, but not to any great extent.

But the most material mischief, and what archaeolo-
gists will much regret, is that which has been done
to the fine old Abbey gateway. For a long time
the local authorities have contemplated the resto-
ration of this beautiful specimen of mediaeval
architecture, but as the plans prepared by Mr.
Scott, of London, involved an outlay of above
£l,OOO, which is the amount at their disposal for
the. purpose, the work has been delayed for a modi-
fication of the plans. The principal of the three
arches and the western tower have for a long time
been in such a dilapidated state that it was deemed
to be prudent to shore them up, and stop up the
passage through the gateway. During the last
fortnight workmen have been employed in removing
the lead from the roof, weighing several tons, and
the large oaken beams, which were thought by
some to he too heavy for the tottering state of the
building to sustain. Pour men were at work on
the scaffolding yesterday afternoon, a little before
five o'clock) when the wind again became furious,
and made the building oscillate, As portions of
the walls crumbled and fell down, the men felt
their position to be unsafe, and descended the
scaffold to go to the other side of the archway to
nail up some boards, to prevent persona walking
under the archway, to prevent accident. They had
scarcely left the scaffold five minutes when a sudden
gust of wind came on and blew down a portion of
the western tower, and with it the whole of the
fine , arch of the gateway on the north side fell.
Had the men remained at work on the scaffold they
must inevitably have been killed. When they
heard the crash on the spot which they had left but
a few minutes previously they were greatly
alarmed, and regarded their escape from death as
purely providential. The Abbey gateway, history
states, was built in the reign of Henry 11., about
200 years after the famous Abbey. On removing
the oaken timbers from the roof a few days ago
there was found a record, evidently made by a
workman, of the repair of that building in the year
1702. The partial destruction of this work of an-
tiquity by the hurricane has excited considerable
interest in the town, and the spot has been :visited
by persons throughout the day, At the Great
Western Railway station the hurricane stripped
the roofs of their zinc coverings and broke several
windows. No damage, however, occurred to any
of the carriages or trains.

CHATHAM, FEB. 22.
The gale which prevailed yesterday afternoon
and evening from the S.S.W , and lasted during
nearly the whole night, was one of the most fear-
ful ever experienced in this locality, and more re-
sembled the tornadoes of tropical climates than
anything usually known in these latitudes. The
damage done to the shipping at this port, and also
to the property in the neighbourhood, has been
very considerable. During the time the hurricane
was at its height;two Government lighters, lying
off the dockyard alongside the Elizabeth, Kelso
master, from Moulmein, with timber for this dock-
yard, sank, each of them having a considerable
portion of the cargo of that vessel on board. Im-
mediately the disaster was reported to the officer
commanding the Wellesley, 74, the guardship at
the port, a number of sailors were despatched to
the Elizabeth to render that vessel assistance, or
there is no doubt she would have filled and sank
from the imminent peril in which she stood.
Every precaution was taken on board the vessels
of war in harbour to prevent their dragging or
breaking adrift, but, in consequence of the good
anchorage afforded, the whole of them rode out
the gale in safety. In several parts of the
town, and also in the neighbouring city of
Rochester, the fury of the gale was particu-
larly felt. A large windmill, erected on a very
exposed position at the top of Frindsbury-hill,
belonging to Mr. Kimmins, miller, was partially
swept awa7, two of the large sails and a portion of
a third being blown down and shattered to pieces,
causing considerable damage to the premises be-
neath, on which they fell with a tremendous crash.
The new range of buildings in course of erection for
the Royal Engineers at Brompton Barracks had a
portion of the zinc covering on the roof sti ipped off
by the gale. Considerable fears were entertained
for the safety of the large glasshouse erected at the
top of the building for photographic purposes, but,
every precaution having been taken for its safety,
it experienced no injury. A block of new houses
being erected on the New-road, facing the south,
where they experienced the full effects of the gale,
received much damage, and had a quantity of the
roofing torn off. Several houses in the locality have
been partially stripped of their tiles, and, during
the period the hurricane was at its height, pedes-
trians in the streets stood in the greatest peril from
falling chimney pots, slates, and tiles. In the
country around the effects of the gale are percep-
tible by the number of fine trees which are .up-
rooted and scattered in various directions, many of
them presenting the appearance of having been
torn up and hurled some distance. The gale mode-
rated this morning, and during the afternoon there
was only a light wind from the south-south-west.

WARWICK, FRIDAY.

The gale which prevailed yesterday has been
unprecedently violent, and has done very great
injury to property in Warwick, Leamington, and
the adjoining district. The hurricane blew here
with such fury between the hours of 1 and 3 in the
morning, and again at 9 p.m., as to shake houses so
that few could sleep. While cottages have been
overturned, a church has been partly unroofed
(Emscote), and the damage is greater than ever
previously effected by a gale in this neighbourhood.
Mr. J. Kemp, grocer and chandler, had a most
narrow escape with his family in the Warwick mar-
ket-square. He was sleeping with his wife in the top
story of a house surmounted with a sloping " half-
roof" and two very large stacks of chimneys, and
his two children, who had been aroused from their
sleep by the violence of the hurricane, had scarcely
crept into bed with their father and mother before
one of the chimneys was blown down, and broke
through into the bedroom, and the fragments
prevented all egress from the room in the usual
way. Mr. Kemp fortunately recollected the exis-
tence of a concealed and closed up passage behind
the bedstead, the only part of the room left intact,
and, using a small iron safe as a battering ram,
he at length rescued his wife and children from
their perilous situation. Many ancient cedars
adorning the lawn of Warwick Castle and 50
cedars and elms in the Priory grounds have been
in the same manner destroyed. The violence of
the storm will be regretted by very many excur-
sionists from Birmingham who frequent the summer
picnics and fetes in these beautiful grounds. At
Stratford-upon-Avon, Charlecote, Wellesbourne,
and in fact throughout the southern portion of
'Warwickshire, the damage done to the timber of
this finely-wooded county has been unprecedented
and immense. The road from Leamington to War-
wick has been completely obstructed, so that traffic
was stopped owing to the wrecks of fallen trees.

LEICESTER, FRIDAY.

A gale of almost unexampled soverity visited this
town and district for several hours on Wednesday
night, accompanied with heavy rain. In the town
chimney-pots, tiles, and slates were blown about
like chaff, and the strongest buildings shaken;
hile in the whole county surrounding stacks of
corn were demolished, and some magnificent timber
uprooted. On Thursday evening the wind rose
again, and continued to blow from the same
quarter, with almost equal power, and many small
buildings, walls, fences, and stacks of timber were
overthrown. No serious damage to property or
personal injury has resulted.

BRISTOL, FRIDAY.
Another gale, equal in violence to that of Wed-
nesday night, visited this place last evening. From
5 to 7 p.m. the wind blew with great fury, varying
from S.W. to W.S.W., from which latter point it
continued till about 10 p.m., when its force abated.
The mercury fell till 6 p.m., after which hour it
rose rapidly. Telegraphic communication between
London and the north, and this city is still sus-
pended, the damage done to the wires, previously
uninjured, last night being considerable. A house
in Somerset-square, Cathay, suffered severely from
the violence of the storm, and its inmates narrowly
escaped with their lives. A tall stack of chimneys
in the rear of the premises was blown down, and,
falling on the roof, the fragments forced their way
to the ground floor, destroying the furniture in the
several rooms, and depositing an immense quantity
of bricks, tiles, &c., on the parlour floor. Two
women, who were the only persons living in the
house, had only quitted the room a few moments
before, and thus escaped destruction. The cross of
St. ltaphael's-court, Bedminster, a recently-erected
edifice, together with about half a ton of masonry,
was dislodged. At Clevedon, Keynsham , Shore-
hampton, Thornbury, Mangotsfield, Brislington,
and other places, serious injury resulted from the
storm. At Weston-super-mare, Trinity Church, a
new building, which was nearly finished, has be-
come a complete wreck. Upwards of 25 feet
of the spire was literally dashed to atoms, many
portions falling through the roof and causing !sad

devastation. The scaffolding was blown to the
ground from the violence of the hurricane, and the
damage done at this spot must amount to many
hundred pounds. In the neighbouring villages of
13Ieadcm, Kewstoke, and Worle, the gale was also
severely felt—roofs, trees, and hayricks being scat-
tered in all directions. With all these disasters on
land, it speaks well for the safety of the Bristol
Channel that the casualties reported as arising
from these tremendous gales are few and compara-
tively trifling.

EXETER, FRIDAY.

In Exeter the damage to property is very great.
Houses were partially unroofed, walls were blown
down and a vast number of large treeswere uprooted.
In the Cathedral-yard one of the old elm trees which
stood near the venerable structure was blown down.
In the streets flys and earts were overturned by .he
violence of the gale. At Topsham several
houses were unroofed and windows smashed. The
schooner Par, belonging to Denmark, broke from
her moorings, and so many of the trees in the high-
way were blown down that the road in many places
is impassable. In the rural districts the storm did
much damage to the homesteads. Ricks of corn and
hay were blown down, and great loss has been sus-
tained. At Torquay the hurricane was terrific and
much destruction of property was caused. A cook
in the employ of Mr. Sidgreaves, Falkland Villa,
was killed by a chimney falling through the roof
into the kitchen. A large elm tree fell in upon Torre
Church and demolished the outer porch. The tele-
graphic wires for some distance on the Bristol and
Exeter Railway were blown down, and all commu-
nication stopped. Such destructive gales have not
been remembered for many years.

PLYMOUTH, FRIDAY.
The storm which prevailed here so severely yes-
terday subsided as the night advanced, and this
morning it was comparatively calm. The sea how-
ever continues to run very high. There is a report
that an iron-built ship went ashore last night in
Hamoate. The Belgian brigantine joseph, which
was driven into Patten Bay yesterday by the Hia-
watha, floated off as the tide rose, and is now safe
in Sutton Harbour. Shipwrights are at work on
the schooner Pigeon, laden with gunpowder, which
grounded under the citadel, and hopes are enter-
tained that she will be got off. The fore and aft
schooner which ran on the Batten Ridge is called
the Freedom, of Jersey. If the weather continues
moderate there is a remote chance of her being
saved. The strange barque which fouled the
schooner Devon yesterday afternoon is called the
Fury, Captain Lorentz, a Prussian, from Memel for
Belfast. Having grounded at half-tide she is likely
to come off to-day, as her cargo consists of deals.
When Capt. Fowler observed the barque driving in
an unmanageable state, stern foremost, towards the
Devon, he skilfully hoisted his jib to give the
schooner a cant to the northward, and then veered
out chain. In this condition the blow from the bark,
which went to the southward, fell with less force.
Her foremast caught the schooner's jibboom and
bowsprit, both of whichfortunately gave way with
the foretopmast, and the schooner's ground tackle
held on. She is supplied with Brown and Harfield's,
patent windlass, which much facilitated the process
of veering out cable. Two of her crew were so
much alarmed that they jumped on board the barque
and were stranded in her. Commander Henry
Phelps, Inspecting Commander of Coastguard,
Mr. Bath, and the other officers, and the men under
them, have been very sedulous in their attention
to the wrecked vessels, some of the crews of which
they have saved. No lives were lost yesterday.
During the storm steam was kept up on board the
paddlewheel sloop Geyser, 6, Commander Jackson,
in the Sound, to assist her anchors.

FALMOUTH, FEB. 22,

For the past 48 hours it has blown a succession
of heavy gales with unprecedented severity, and
almost entirely from the southward, accompanied
by rain. The large fleet of merchantmen in the
roads and harbour hallo ridden out well, notwith-
standing they amount to fully 200 sail, with one or
two exceptions of collision ; the Dutch ship Twe
Gesasters, from Batavia, drove foul of the barque
Grecian Queen, from Venice, and each sustained
damage in hull and spars, on the night of the 20th ;
and another collision of less importance took place
on the 19th, between the Norway barque Soerimner
and the barque Woodhouse. These are the total
casualties, in addition to the accident by drowning
of the master of the Dutch brigantine Levant, with
one of the crew, by the capsizing of a boat in going
e test
of the wind and been
sea, to which it out w
off during the gale. The works at the docks have
which has carriedwh l2os a
Sustained no damage whatever by the gales, and
the
breakwater,
th
feet beyond the granite structure, has stood undis-
turbedexposed in full front.

THE COUNTY AND THE BOROUGH

FRANCHISE.

MR. LOCKE KING'S AND MR, BAINES' S BILLS.
The following is the bill brought into the House
of Commons by Mr. Locke King and Mr. Hastings
Russell, to extend the franchise in counties in Eng-
land and Wales :

" Whereas it is expedient to extend the elective franchise
to many of her Majesty's subjects who have not heretofore
enjoyed the same: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's
most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows :
" 1. From and after the passing of this act, every male
person, of full age and not subject to any legal disability,
who occupies, as owner or tenant, any land or tenement
situate without the limits of any city or borough entitled
to return a burgess or burgesses to Parliament of the clear
yearly value, or for which he is liable to a clear yearly rent,
of not less than £lO, and comprising a house of the clear
yearly value of not less than £6, shall be entitled to vote
in the election of a knight or knights of the shire to serve in
any future Parliament for the county, riding, part, or division
of the county, in which such land' or ' tenement' is situate :
" But no such occupier shall be so entitled to vote unless
he be duly registered as such voter, nor shall be entitled to
be so registered in any year, unless he have occupied such
land' or tenement of such value or at such rent as afore-
said for six calendar months at least next before the last
day of July in such year.
" 2. The act passed in the second year of King William
the Fourth, to amend the representation of the people in
England and Wales, and the act passed in the sixth year of
her present Majesty's reign, to amend the law for the regis-
tration of persons entitled to vote, and to define certain
rights of voting, and to regulate certain proceedings in
the election of members to serve in Parliament for Eng-
land and Wales, and the present act shall be construed as
one act."

Mr. Baines' bill, which is backed by Mr. Bazley, Mr.
Scholefield, and Mr. Digby Seymour, is as follows :
" Whereas it is expedient to extend the right of voting
for members of Parliament in cities and boroughs is Eng-
land and Wales : Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Ex-
cellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this pro-
sent Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the
same, as follows :
" 1. The occupation of premises within a city or borough
which returns a member or members to serve in Parlia-
ment, or within a place sharing in the election for such
city or borough, of the clear yearly value of not less than
six pounds, shall confer a right to vote in the election of
such member or members, in like manner as such right is
now conferred in respect of the occupation of premises of
the clear yearly value of not less than ten pounds; and all
provisions now in force concerning such right in respect of
such occupation shall, save as herein otherwise provided,
be applicable to the right hereby conferred, as if six pounds
were mentioned in section 27 of the act of the session holden
in the 2d and 3d years of King William IV., chap. 45, and
were mentioned or referred to in all other the provisions
concerning such right instead of £lO.
" 2. No person shall be entitled under this acti twoivthotane in
an election in respect of his occupation' jointly
land, of any building other than a dwelling-°kotusYe in which
ho himself resides, unless such building separately be of
the clear yearly value of rtot less Borough
3
be cited as The Franchise Act
"This act may
1861."

[ADVERTISEMENT.] Pills and medicine invariably ag•
tied perpetuate diseases; their annoyance, die-
gtavate
appointment, and expense may be avoided by person`
in indifferent health sending only their address to R.
S. Barry, Esq., 77, Regent-street, W., London, and they
will receive gratis and free by post the " INvAwDs' Owl!
GuxDE," or Natural Restorer, without medicine or ex
rnse, of perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, and
refreshing sleep,
to the most enfeebled, insuring the removal
of indigestion (dyspepsia), constipation, liver complaints
nausea, epilepsy, paralysis, debility, nervousness, palpitation,
cough, asthma, Consumption, dressy, flatulency, diarrhoea,
dysentery, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, 001ds,
noises in the ears. rheumatism, gout, Impurities, eruptions,
hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, palpi-
tation, heartburn, headache, despondency, cramps, spasms,
sinking, fits, bronchitis.— "Unquestionably the West Gruido
to health."

The one is a document signed by every English
prelate without exception, censuring a possibly
very censurable volume. The authors of volume
are branded, so far as the expressed opinion of the
whole bench of bishops can brand them, with not
only holding and teaching erroneous opinions, but
with occupying an immoral and indefensible posi-
tion, if not legally, yet as clergymen and gentle-
men.

The other is a statement in your impression of
yesterday, that one of the most influential and best
known of these prelates, himself hut recently trans-
ferred to a seat of great wealth and unusual patron-
age, has presented the very first piece of valuable
preferment which has fallen into his hands to his
own son-in-law and domestic chaplain. No one'
who knows the gentleman in question would wil-
lingly say a word against him. He is allowed to,
be a young man of blameless character and plea-
sant address; but his best friends would not allege
in his behalf any one intellectual or theological
attainment of any kind, or any special zeal or
strength of character. He is totally unknown in .
the diocess of Durham; he has' been but a short
time in orders, and his experience of parochial work
has proportionably been limited and scanty.
Surely the Bishop of Durham might have chosen
a better moment to drive the sharp sword of nepotism
into the vitals of his Church. She needs her life
blood sadly, and cannot afford to spill it thus.
What will be the effect of such an act at such a

moment on the minds of those who are a few, a very-
few years younger than the Bishop's fortunate chap-
lain ly The young men at the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge are no strangers to the questions
agitated in the volume _which has just been con-
demned. The whole future destiny of not a few
depends on the answers which can be given by or
for them to the questions which are there stirred.
And what do they now see On the one hand
they see men for some of whom they care nothing,
and from whose views they shrink, for some of whom
they feel an entire and absorbing veneration, classed
together by the leaders of their Church in one indis-
criminate and almost scornful condemnation. On
the other, they see one after another of those who
occupy this high place, and speak thus in the lan-
guage of authority, falling victims to the one vice
which the young utterly despise—the one sin for
which they make ..no allowance—that of selfish

greed. -
As the undergraduate of 1861 looks round him,
he sees the moat earnest and the most gifted of those
who are a little his senior, hesitating about fulfill-
ing the aim of bis life by taking orders ; and as this
and that phase of intellectual growth passes over
himself, he feels bewildered at announcements like
that made by a well-known bishop last summer,
that the " smallest taint of neology would be fatal
to any candidate for orders."
On the other hand he sees the least gifted, the
least thoughtful, in more than one case the least
respected of his contemporaries, passing almost in
a moment from the aimless, well-dressed undergra-
duate, whose answers at lecture were the College
joke, into the favoured protege, the domestic, and,
as has been more !than once lately the case, the
examing chaplain of this and that powerful bishop,
and the legitimate heir to the comfortable rectory
for which hardworking incumbents have toiled for
years in vain.
This is not the first occasion on which the very
College which is looked on as the stronghold of a
questioning rationalism has had its weak faith
scandalised by these rapid and almost grotesque
transformations.
The Church of England and the Christianity of
England may be approaching a time of trial, and
sifting, and difficulty. The friends of both might
wish these acts of nepotism to be passed over with
a sigh or a groan. But your columns carry them far
and wide, and wherever they are read there will be
a sneer at the Church whose rulers condemn their
brethren readily enough—condemn them unheard,
unwarned, on the strength of an accusation
which they do not trouble themselves to
produce, and then are reported, with the ink scarcely
dry with which they signed their names, to have
been guilty, in one of their representative members,
of grasping at the Church's property with a baste
almost sordid, of treatin,, what has been just com-
mitted to one of their body with solemn vows and
a solemn service as a matter of mere loot, a means
of mere family enrichment. —Your obedient ser-
vant, OxoNIEN sts.
Feb. 21.