The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-29 00:00:00

THE LATEST MISSIONARY EFFORT.

(Prom the Tomahawk.)
The English people have been lately undergoing
the process of conversion to a great extent. Vigor-
ous and earnest missionaries have been at work
among them, and strange creeds have been propa-
gated with astonishing tact and perseverance—
creeds which, while we were loudly condemning
them, have none the less steadily made head against
every opposition. The old landmarks of politics
and morality are being rapidly swept away by the
tide of advancing intelligence; the old [alphabet
and the well-thumbed grammar of orthodoxy have
been entirely superseded by new text-books. We
have learnt that nothing is what we thought it was ;
that the old names, so familiar to us, with all their
associations, the odours of the past that still hang
about them, are all meaningless gibberish, and there
is nothing left but for those who are young enough
to set to and begin all over again, and for those who
are too old to learn, to lie down and die in their
old ignorance, still cherishing their old prejudices
as the Truth.

This is no doubt a very satisfactory state of
things, and a highly gratifying evidence of our
national progress ; but itlis sad, very sad, for those
who have tried to carry the past with them into the
present, and would fain believe that they can carry
with them some part of it at least into the future.
To learn that a Tory Government means democratic
revolution is a terrible shock to these archaic minds,
upon which bursts at the same time the revelation
that the Honourable House of Commons is a sort of
human bear-pit, with the beasts fighting for the
bones ; and that the high and mighty House of
Lords is but a School for Abuse. But there still
remained one stronghold of their faith : Church
and State were both tottering from the open assaults
of their foes and the secret underminings of their
professed 6iends, but that peril beyond price,
British Morality, still remained intact ; our mothers,
our wives, our daughters, and our sisters were still
miracles of purity ; Society 'A, as gay perhaps, but
always proper ; our amusements were innocent,
our dramas were still purged of all impropriety
by the fatherly supervision of a Christian
and a Lord:Chamberlain. Those horrid, wicked
novels, and those more horrid and more
wicked plays, in which everything good and true
was turned into ridicule, and everything impure
and false exalted and glorified, were written and
read only by the French or some other dreadful fo-
reigners. They would never be tolerated in this
country ; the men and women would rise en masse
and hiss such pieces off our boards had anybody
dared to present them. Alas ! the good souls who
believed this had not marked the signs of the times ;
the great work of conversion was quietly going on
under their noses ; missionaries from without were

4d.
bTAIVIPED 51

at work, aided by thcs3 within, who hal long be-
lieved in secret, and. now were not ashamed to pro-
fess their faith in public.

Pass we over the steps by which the glorious re-
formation advanced : how caterers for public amuse-
ment cleverly availed themselves of the progress of
education, and proved the utility of our public
schools by showing that their pupils really did ma-
nage to take away with them enough classical learn-
ing to know who Venus, and Mar,s and Bacchus,
and Jupiter were, and to appreciate the subtle
humour of a pretty impudent girl, representing one
of these deities, kicking her legs- about in
a breakdown. Then the Music halls were ele-
vating the masses ; and comic songs, in which
vulgarity just stopped short of indecency,
had become household words among us. Finally
came the Paris Exhibition, and thousands of our
countrymen and countrywomen rushed to Paris;
they must of course live there " ong Francy,"—s o,
just as they drank claret at breakfast and took
more chocolate than was good for them, so did they
go and see some of those naughty pieces of Offen-
bach, of which they had heard the music, but not
the words. Many were in raptures. " Schneider
was delightful ! so refined with all her vulgarity—
so full of'sheet;,' as she called it, pronouncing the
word with all the point which utter ignorance of its
meaning could lend. Others confessed that she was
very clever, but did not think it would do over in
England ; others pretended to like it, as they did
absinthe, but the after-taste of both, they confessed
to themselves, was not clean or pleasant ; a very
few sari what both actress and piece really were,
and said' nothing. But the seed was it
only needed perseverance to reap the harvest. Bri-
tish morality was already on the wane. The new
creed would find plenty of converts in chaste Eng-
land if a proper missionary could be procured.
As the envoy is sent with presents to the doomed
barbarian, merely to prepare the way for the general
and his army, so was Finette sent before the all-
conquering Schneider. The mission was, on the
whole, successful. The stalls were crowded during
the performance, and she reaped many honours.
What if some voices were heard in execration of
this recherche remnant of classical times ? Finette
paid, and it was evident that the sect was large and
influential enough to warrant the despatch of the
missionary-in-chief.

A ml so Schneider came, and appeared first as the
Grand Duchess of Gerolsteiu, a vulgar edition of
Catherine of Russia—appeared before the most
brilliant audience that :ever welcomed any aspirant
to the favour of the British public. Royalty, and
every grade of the aristocracy except the spiritual
peers, were present; and even they might have been
present in spirit, if not in the flesh. The great
apostle of the new creed was on the first night rather
modest ; she restrained somewhat the freedom of her
gestures,and only introduced a few pieces of superflu-
ous vulgarity, out of compliment to the English taste.
The experiment was thoroughly successful ; the pro-
fessors of the new creed were in ecstacies ; the
sternly decorous matrons, the bashful, innocent
maidens of England had received their great apostle
with the most perfect cordiality. Alas, for the
blind confidence of mankind ! The great cause was
destined to be betrayed by its greatest champion.
Determined that her new converts should have their
eyes opened to what they were really worshipping,
she gave free vent to her enthusiasm ; she carried
shamelessness to its extremest limits, and abso-
lutely frightened away some of the more timid spec-
tators, who were on the point of falling down be-
fore the new divinity. This was the first check
which the victorious proselytisers received.
It is difficult to speak too highly of Schueider's
honesty, and of her noble truthfulness. She could
lend herself to no artifice. La Belle Ilelene gave
her the opportunity which La Grande Ducitesse but
imperfectly afforded. She seems to have said to
herself, " These foolish English have been told to
fall down and worship me ; they have been told that
lam full of esprit,' of verve,' and what not ; that
they really ought to bring their daughters, their
sisters, their wives, to see me. Poor fools I they
always do what they are told. They shall see me
without any mist of fascination, without any veil
of elegance to hide the real coarseness of my per-
formance ; they do not understand the language in
which I play, therefore I will make my meaning
plain by my gestures. What before I suggested, I
will now describe in action. They shall not be able
to say that, dazzled by my wit or by my grace,
they did not clearly see what it was, they were
applauding."
Bravely she fulfilled her purpose. It was pos-
sible even to invest such a vulgar " travestie" as
La Belle Helene with a sort of spurious refine-
ment which might have blinded people to the gross
indecency of the plot and dialogue. But Schneider
resisted the temptation ; she showed to the noble
and the pure ladies there assembled such a portrait
as probably they had never before had the oppor-
tunity of admiring. Well might the parents and
husbands steal doubtful glances at one another's
faces ; well might their daughters and wives seek
refuge behind an astonished stare, or a sickly smile
of idiotic vacancy. But we must not wrong the
audience by inferring that such conduct was at
all general. No 1 there were scores of women who
watched with eager and delightful faces every move-
ment of La Belle Helene. Such gigantic strides
has the new religion made in this age of enlightened
progress ! It is possible that the new Gospel of In-
decency may not be so popular as its predecessor.
We shall owe it to the courageous frankness of
Mdlle. Schneider if it dawns upon the minds of the
ornaments of Society that they really will be com-
pelled to blush if they go on assisting at such
talentede representations. Royalty was absent on
Monday night, but on Tuesday night they shed the
glory of their presence once more on the goddess of
the nineteenth century. Let the heads of families
devote their holidays to the study of so interesting a
religion. Let us by all means awake and be joyful ;
let us forget the musty precepts of purity and de-
cency which we have been taught in our dreary old
churches. Let us grasp the beautiful creed, let us
worship the beautiful goddess that Imperial France
has sent us. But, for heaven's sake, let us hear no
more of British Morality.

The Berlin correspondent of a contemporary,
writing on the 23rd inst., says :—" The appoint-
ment of Mr. Petro as her Majesty's secretary of
embassy at Berlin has given general satisfaction
throughout the diplomatic body. Though young
in years, Mr. Petre is old in the public service.
Some sixteen years ago he was chargé d'affaires at
Naples, and his despatches, which were published
by order of Parliament, excited great attention at
the time. Mr. Petre belongs to a noble family of
that name, and is connected with all the great
Roman Catholic aristocracy of England. The
Hon. F. Plunkett, son of the Earl of Fingall, has
been named senior secretary in the chancery of the
same embassy. He also, though young, has been
many years in the public service, and is con-
sidered one of the most efficient second secretaries
on the Foreign Office list."

The Paris Liberte of Sunday publishes in con-
spicuous type, and under the heading " Latest In-
telligence," this statement :—" Our London corre-
spondent makes us acquainted with the following
fact, which appears to U 3 worthy of attention
Dr. Pusey, head of the Anglican Church party
which bears his name, has just abjured the Angli-
can faith and been converted to Roman Catholi-
cism. This example has been inuneliately fol-
lowed by Dr. Hamilton, Bishop of Salisbury, who
has also gone over to Catholicism, giving up an
income of £5,000 a year.' "
The newspapers have been lately teeming with refer-
ences to economy in tea by co-operation. Horniman and
Co. have for 30 years co- operated through Agents to
supply tea on more advantageous terms than by the ordinary
channel; their tea reaches the consumer in the same pure
state as it leaves the grocer; as it is secured in packets.

•0

ROYAL A.ROJIZOLOGICAL INSTITUM

The annual congress of the Royal Arclmological lueti•
tote of Great Britain and Ireland was opened on Tuesday
at Lancaster Castle, Colonel Wilson Patten, M.P., Chan-
cellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, presiding, and being
supported by a very able and efficient local committee.
The archaeologists have cast their lines in pleasant places
this year, for, independent of the historical associations
connected with Lancaster and its castle, the locality is sur-
rounded on all sides with " remarkable historical sites and
ancient memorials," to visit which is one of the main objects
of these provincial meetings. Then Lancaster is, as it were,
the gate to the most picturesque and beautiful scenery in
all England, being situate on the very verge of the English
Lake District, while in strong contrast there is on the other
side the teeming industrial population of cottonopolis, and
Morecombe Bay is in its environs. The institute will
sojourn at Lancaster for a full week, and the notables of
the district are combining to make the sojourn pleasant by
invitations to soirees and dejeaners, as affording a wel-
come relief to the professed objects of the gathering. A
programme of the intended doings of the week has been
sketched out, which, however, of course, is subject to
alteration; bat, as at present arranged, on Thursday
there is an excursion to Dalton Castle, Peel Castle, and

Furness Abbey, where a lecture is to be delivered, and the
ruins are to be described by Mr. E. Sharpe. The Mayor
of Barrow also on this day entertains the members at
lunch at Furness Abbey. In the evening the annual
meeting will be held. On Friday there is a meeting of
sections, more excursions, and a conversazione in the even.
ing. Saturday and Monday are devoted to excursions to
Severn Hall, Bolton Abbey, and other historical places,
and on Tuesday the congress will close.

REPRESENTATION OF THE IFORkING
CLASSES.

On Tuesday evening a special meeting of the General
Committee and delegates from branches of the London
Working Men's Association was held at the offices in Bolt-
court, Fleet-street, to consider the measures best
adapted to secure a working-class representation in the
new Parliament. Mr. George Potter occupied the
chair. The chairman said he thought the time
had now arrived for the working men to take
action if they desired to obtain a direct representation
of labour in Parliament, by the return of at least a few
bond fide working men. The subject was surrounded with
great difficulty, but not so great but that it might be
surmounted by a united effort upon the part of the
working men themselves. He thought that effort should
be made, and an appeal at once made to the trades and
other organisations of working men to take action upon
the matter. There was upwards of three months yet
before the elections could come on, and there was ample
time to perfect an organisation by which at least a dozen
working men might be returned for as many boroughs.
Two resolutions would be submitted for consideration,
which, if adopted, would be initiatory of the movement.
Mr. Packer then moved the following resolutions
"That, in the opinion of this committee, it is absolutely
necessary, in the interests of the industrial classes, that
there should be a direct representation of labour in the
new Parliament, and they therefore recommend that a
united effort should be made by the working men of all
sections, but especially by trades unionists, to secure the
return to Parliament at the ensuing general election of at
least a dozen bona fide working men." 2. " That with
the view of ascertaining how far the various trades
councils, trades societies, and other working-class organi-
sations are disposed to co-operate in a movement for the
purpose expressed in the above resolution, a circular be
issued to those councils, societies, and organisations,
requesting their opinion upon the subject, and of the pro.
priety of holding a Labour Parliament early in August,
for the purpose of selecting the twelve candidates and the
twelve boroughs, and to devise the best means of raising a,
fund to defray the necessary expenses of the elections."`
Mr. Harris seconded the resolution. After some discus.
sion respecting the details of the proposed movement, on
which it was urged that if only six out of the twelve can-
didates were returned, a great object would be gained,
the resolutions were adopted, and ordered to be sent at
once to the various organisations named in the resolutions.
A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the pro.
ceedings.