The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-22 00:00:00

EDMUND BURKE.

" We hear him in conversation at the club, with
Johnson and Goldsmith, and Reynolds and Wynd-
ham, winding into his subject like a serpent, as
Goldsmith said of him ; bidding some too grave and
anxious gentleman to 'live pleasant;' fascinating the
great-hearted Johnson with ' his knowledge, his
genius, his diffusion and affluence of conversation,'
and making him cry, 'Sir, that fellow calls forth all
my powers.' We see him in the House of Commons,
in his tight brown coat, with his spectacles and a
little bob-wig with curls, beginning his oration with
folded arms and an air of humility, and gradually
rising to thunderous denunciations of the noble
lord in the blue ribbon ; or later on, of those
vain petulant upstarts in a neighbourhood count*
who were wickedly proscribing the sacred
ministers of religion, prosecuting their virtuous
and innocent Sovereign, and covering with
humiliation the august daughter of the Camaro.
We may follow him from the heat and vio-
lence of the House, where drunken lordlings
and squires derided the greatest man of their
time, down to the calm shades of Beaconsfield
where he would with his own hands give food to a
starving beggar, or medicine to a peasant sick of the
ague ; where we would talk of the weather, the
turnips, and the hay with the team men and the
farm bailiff ; and where, in the evening stillness,
he would pace the walk under the trees, and
reflect on the state of Europe and the distrac-
tions of his country. While Fox was squandering
tens of thousands at the gambling- table, we may watch
Burke supporting Barry for several years at Rome ;
anxiously pressi n g his last half-guinea upon the friend-
less Emin ; rescuing Crabbe, though a perfect
stranger to him, from a debtors' prison, and main-
taining him in his own house until a provision was
found for him ; and on every occasion ready to
extend not only sympathy, but a share of his slender
purse, wherever he found penniless genius or worth.
And, finally, we may look with tragic emotion on
the pathos of that crowning scene which left the
remnant of the old man's days so desolate and void."
—John Morley.

GUSTAVE DtmE.—Their Royal Highnesses tho
Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Teck honoured the
Exhibition of Gustave Dore's Paintings at the Egyptian
Hall with their presence yesterday. *
The-Arehbishop of Westminster contradicts tho
statement which appeared in the Manchester Examiner that
the Pope had thanked Mr. Gladstone for his attitude on
the Irish Church question.
The Standard says Viscount Ingestre, formerly
M P. for South Staffordshire, will be brought forward as
the Conservative candidate for Stafford.

The Cork Examiner says that the subscription to
the fund raised for the wife of Captain Mackay amount°
to £2OO.

The Army and Navy Gazette is of opinion that by
this time the Abyssinian expedition must be over, and Sir
R. Napier must either have been repulsed or taken Mag-
dala or the captives, or both.

A correspondent of the Freeman calls attention
to the subjects which are proposed for discussion at the
May meetings about to be held in Dublin, as announced is
the placards and advertisements. As these meetings are
under the auspices and are attended by the highest digai"
taries of the Establishment, it is not very remarkable that
the Irish people should feel aggrieved at being obliged to
pay towards the support of a system which at ever/
opportunity wounds their feelings on the most sensitive
points. The subjects which they propose to discuss are
the following: Is not the Pope Antichrist ? and Rome the
Babylon of the Apocalypse ? 2. Is not the Pope the ma°
of sin, and Rome the mother of harlots ? 3. Has not tb°
Church of Rome borrowed the celibacy of her religious
orders from Paganism ? 4. Romanism is only Paganism
baptised. 5• The Papacy came hot from hell, and its Pro"
sence makes a hell upon earth. 6. Roman Catholics yr.
affectionately requested to attend.

A curious case, which has been talked about fog
some time, was opened on Monday before Vice-Chancellor
Gifford. The plaintiff is an aged widow lady named Lyon,
who seeks to recover money and securities to the value of
£60,000, which she alleges were improperly obtained froul
her by the defendant, Mr. Douglas Home, the well-known
spiritualist. Mrs. Lyon alleges that in 1866 she became to'
painted with soma spiritualists, who lent her books 00
spiritualism, and directed her attention to the great,
medium, Mr. Home, who had just opened an "Athenaeum'
at Sloane-street for the encouragement of the belief. 0°
October 3, 1866, she went to 72, Sloane-street, where the
4.thenteum was, and where Mr. Home resided. Havleg.,
made known the object of her visit, Mr. Home, by the aid
of a table, set the spirits of the other world in motion, end
the consequence was that Mrs. Lyon received some corn'
forting assurances, for which she proposed to reward Or'
Home by a handsome subscription ; but having no cheque,
book with her she postponel the donation till a second
interview, when she was again much cheered by the result
of Mr. Home's inquiries. These were in regard to her
husband, who had died some years before, and they Wel°
to have been worth to Mr. Home, or his Athenaeum, the
sums of £3O and £5O. At a third interview between
Home and the plaintiff at the plaintiff's house, the spirit,
with Home's assistance, communicated the tidings,
love Daniel," meaning presumably Mr. Home; "he iB
to bo your son; he is my son—therefore yours." Ili•
table then ecstatically kicked up its legs. The defendaull
Home, further informed her that it was the will of the
spirit that she should adopt him as her son, that a friend
of Home's named Hall should be sent for, and that sbe
should produce stock receipts for the sum of about £24,000•
Under the influence, as Mrs. Lyon alleges, of Home's sPli
ritual powers and ascendancy, she went, on the 10th of
October, 1866, to the Bank of England, and there trace"
ferred the sum of £24,000 stock to Home. Shortly after
this Home, at another interview, assured her that it Ifi.`,l
the spirit's will that she should destroy her existing 'Will
and make another will bequeathing everything she pos-
sessed to Home, and that a Dr. Hawksley and a Mr. Ruder
were to be the attesting witnesses. The will to this effect
was soon afterwards prepared for the defendant by Wit'ci
Martin Wilkinson, a solicitor of Lincoln's-inn-fields, 3°
was executed by the plaintiff, and attested by Mr. Wait'
son and Mr. Hall. Further sums of money were
after-
wards transferred by her to Mr. Home. The plaintiff
property is said to be worth nearly £150,000.
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