The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-28 00:00:00

IZOEDUCIr ON CAPITAL AND LABOUR SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

On Monday evening Mr. Roebuck addressed an immense
audience of the working men of Sheffield on capital and
labour. The Mayor presided. The address was given on
the invitation of the Chamber of Industry, a newly-
established institution in the town. Some thousands could
hot gain admittance, and the hon. member was unable for
about half an hour to get through the crowd, though
escorted by the police. It was said there was a determina-
tion to prevent him from entering the hall at all. On
account of Mr. Roebuck's well-known opinions respecting
trades unions, popular feeling is rather strong against
him.

After many vague reports, says the Times, and some
little mystery in official circles, the intentions of the
French Government have been revealed by the Montiteor,
which yesterday published M. Magne's report on the
financial condition of the country. For some time past
it has been no secret that there was to be a loan; the only
question was as to its amount and the purposes to which
it was to be devoted. Strange to say, the report will pro-
bably tend rather to dispel than to create apprehension
in France. In that country of eager curiosity and re-
stricted political information the people are always ready
to credit authority with something exaggerated, either
for good or evil. They expect much, and they fear much ;
the deliberations of the Sovereign and of men in power
are watched with a solicitude unknown to us, who are
accustomed to the tentative and timid appeals of English
Ministers to Parliament. In the present instance the
French people have had, as it turns out, an exaggerated
notion of the wants of the State, or rather of the sum
which would be asked for to satisfy them. Of course we
know not how long the supply now demanded will last.
No one can say when the warlike financiers of the empire
will be compelled to confess to more unbalanced
budgets, to deplore more " unforeseen circumstances." But
for the present it is only 440,000,000 f.—that is, £17,000,000
sterling—and not five or six hundred millions, as some
were saying. Where we see a startling addition to national
liabilities, the French, who have been prepared by the
events of the last two years for something serious, will
draw their breath freely, and be thankful that they have
escaped so easily. Glory and influence must be paid for,
and the French are now settling for the past and investing
of tjie future. The Ministers of the Empire always know
how to assume the style of candour. If well-kept books
be the hypocrisy of commerce, an ostentatiously open
manifesto, with just a little air of penitence about it, is
the trick of Imperial finance. The French ought to be
satisfied when they are informed with such precision how
much the Government has spent above its income. On
the Ist of December, 1867, the floating debt amounted to
936,000,000 f. "In consequence of events beyond control,"
the receipts of the budget of 1867 shew a deficit of 26,000,000 f.
"Adding to this," continues the abstract of the report,
"the extraordinary credit voted by the Corps I.6gislatif
on the 31st of May, 1867, of £158,000,000, and the cast of
the expedition to Rome, there is a total of 189,000,000 f.
necessary to cover the outlay of 1867." These figures are
worthy of all attention. The year 1867 may be called an
average year. True, the Mexican expedition was brought
to an end, and so was the renewed interference in 'ltaly,
but under the system of the present Empire it is reason.
able to suppose that there always will be "` exceptional
circumstances" and events beyond control" to disturb
the equilibrium of budgets ; so that, whatever a Minister
may say, we cannot believe the expenditure of 1867 to
have been in any way anomalous. Now, with a floating
debt getting on for a milliard, we find that in the year
1867 the expenditure of France exceeded the very liberal
estimate of her rulers by the sum of seven millions and a
half sterling. Besides this there are various augmenta-
tions of expense which will be felt by the years 1868 and
1869, and will require supplementary resources to the
amount of 82 millions to be shared between them.

Mr. ROEBUCK proceeded to address himself to the subject
of the evening's discussion :-1. Labour—what are its rights,
what are its duties? 2. Capital—what are its rights, what are
its duties? Labour is that human exertion, mental or bodily,
which produces or tends to produce or procure articles
which are destined to human use. Both are needed ; the ,
one without the other is powerless. One important obser-
vation here suggests itself. There is a limit set by the
nature of things to both sides of this division. The limit
to the downward course of wages is this—the labourer
must have sufficient to maintain himself and family after
that fashion to which by his habits he is accustomed.
If he cannot obtain this he disappears ; if he is able he
leaves the country ; if not he starves, and with him
disappears production also ; so that it at once appears that
the subject of his wages is of vital importance to society.
On the other band, by the nature of things, a limit is set
to the downward course of profits. If the share which the
capitalist obtains of the joint produce is not sufficient to
reward him for the forbearance which has led him to save,
and also to pay him for the risk he has run, he ceases to
save—there is no further provision for reproduction, and
again production ceases. The rate of wages depends upon
the number of labourers to be employed and the quantity
of capital ready to employ them. Upon this natural law,
as it is sometimes called, depends eventually the rate of
wages. Now comes the all-important question—Can any-
thing, ought anything, to be done, either by human pru-
dence or by human law, to regulate the proportion of
the reward bestowed on labour and capital ? Men have
in different ages and in different countries adopted
different modes. The Chinese of the present day, the
Greeks in olden time, limited the number of their people
by infanticide. This horrible proceeding cannot be suf-
fered or even contemplated by any Christian country. In
France we are told that the population is kept down, and
certainly it does not there increase, by the prudence which
suggests late marriages. In England the favourite plan
for limiting the number of labourers to be employed seems
to be trades unions, which in my opinion is not the least
cruel of the means employed. (" Oh, oh ! " and " Hear.")
Now, let us see how and why it is that I look upon these
combinationi in this light. The working man in the battle
of life finds himself unprotected and exposed when alone.
Not only is he weak before the capitalist, but he is weak
before Nature herself, and he discovers that by combina-
tion with his fellows he can guard against and ward off
many of the evils by which his lot is beset. I now
arrive at the point when I can make it appear what I
meant when I said trades unions were the means employed
in England to limit the number of the labourers to be
employed. The cruelty thus perpetrated has not, I think,
been sufficienly dwelt upon. One of the favourite means
employed to this end is the limitation imposed by various
trades upon the number of apprentices to be taken by the
master. Let us learn the true character of this proceeding,
which I believe I shall be able to shew to be cruel, selfish,
and grossly unjust. And, first, as to its cruelty. Now,
if there is one privilege which you as working men ought
to hold more sacred than another it is the privilege to pro-
vide, without let or hindrance, for yourself and you,
families by your own honest industry. The limitation of
the field of employment falls at once as an evil upon the
working men. A beneficent Ptovidence has given the man
the wide world upon which to employ himself, and industry
and talent to provide means of subsistence and enjoyment.
Man has too often in his cruelty stepped in and forbidden
his fellow-man using this great boon of God. Let us take
an individual instance, and thus illustrate the force of this
position. I will not take a fictitious instance, but I will
not mention names. The thing I am about to describe
has happened in your midst, and, perhaps, the person who
narrated the facts to me is present. I will endeavour to
be as accurate as I can, and I hope not to over-colour the
transaction. The brother and brother's wife of John
Thomas—the name is fictitious, but I use it for convenience
—both died, leaving a boy of about 10 years of age. John
Thomas felt as a good man should feel, and took the
helpless orphan to his home and cherished him ; but
Thomas was not rich, and the only means of providing
for the boy and enabling him to get his own'bread was to
teach him his own trade. Thomas had a son of his own.
and apprenticed both boys to himself ; he was shortly
afterwards waited on by the authorities of the union, who
said they did not object to his having his son as an ap-
prentice, but that his nephew was not the son of one who
was or had been a member of their trade, and that he
must at once discharge the boy from his indentures.
" But the boy," said Thomas, " is the son of my brother,
who is dead. The boy's mother is also dead, and it is my
duty to protect him, and to provide for him the means of
getting his bread. I can only do this by teaching him my
trade. I have not the means of putting him out else-
where, and if I don't teach him he must grow up in igno-
rance and idleness, and be a burden to himself and all con-
nected with him." " We can't help it," said the deputation ;
" it is against our rules." "And I," answered Thomas,
" can't help that. I will not treat my dead brother's child
thus Cruelly ; I will not desert him." Well, the answer was,
" We shall take all the hands out of Mr. So-and-so's shop
until you comply with our demand and obey our rules
and they were as good as their word. I have not heard
what was the result. Now, consider this case. The first
effect proposed was to shut a poor boy out of an honest
livelihood. The sufferer was one of themselves, one who
had been visited by a terrible calamity, and who, there-
fore, should have been dealt with mercifully and ten-
derly ; but the hearts of those who dealt with
him were as hard as the nether millstone, and
not only were they cruel but they were also pre-eminently
selfish. The poor boy was to suffer, but who was to gain ?

The Morning Post devotes a leader to the same subject.
That this budget will provoke much adverse criticism the
Post takes for granted, but, unless the recent military
policy of the Imperial Government be called in question,
we doubt if it can be successfully assailed. The items of
expenditure are doubtless large, but they are necessary.
The cost of the expedition to Rome may be objected to,
but it will be less on the ground of the addition it has
made to the national outlay than the inexpediency of in-
tervening betwec the Italian people and the complete
vindication of the unity and independence of their country.
To do the Emperor justice, he has of late done his utmost
to check those drains which have hitherto exhausted the
resources of the country. He withdrew from Mexico, and
by so doing wiped out a formidable item which for years
past appeared on the wrong side of the national balance-
sheet. There is not, if we may except the occupation of
the States of the Church, a single instance of foreign in-
tervention at the present moment with which the Opposi.
tion can legitimately reproach the Imperial Government.
The falling off in the revenues will provoke adverse com-
ment, but it is not improbably due to causes over which
the Government have no control.
The Telegraph thinks the most instructive thing about

M. Magne's statement to be, not his facts, but his hints ;
not what he says, but what he suggests. It was known that
the Army Bill would involve fresh expenditure, and that
the wonder-working, Cha,ssepot was not a free gift from
the upper or nether skies, but, on the contrary, a costly
product of human skill and labour. Any reasonable out-
lay on that account, therefore, would have excited no
surprise. The necessity of making so prominent mention
of the fleet, however, is less evident ; and the significant
way in which it is coupled with the defence of the country,
and of the national honour, may for the moment revive
apprehensions that were gi•adually dying out. Convinced
as we are that the Emperor is sincerely bent on peace
and that the nation would second him in that resolve with
positive enthusiasm, we regret the use of any allusions,
officially, that may tend to create a less favourable im-
pression. Hitherto the navy of the Empire has certainly
not been considered a weak point; and it might have been
thought that the changes required by the new conditions
of warfare, whether for offence or resistance, could be
carried out through the ordinary medium of the annual
budget, without being conspicuously paraded as the
reason for a permanent addition to the burdens of the
country.

Any good scheme for the extension of technical educa-
tion must, in the opinion of the Daily News, begin by
including the first rudiments of physical science within
the limits of the ordinary education provided for all classes.
In the schools of primary education the elements of scien-
tific knowledge may be taught to the elder boys, and on
the emergence of such boys into the world of labour they
will be in a position to appreciate the value of scientific
knowledge, and to seek for that special technical instruc
tion which their particular callings require. The diffi-
culty here, no doubt, is, that boys seldom remain in
the primary schools till they are of a sufficiently
mature age to enable the teachers to impart scientific
knowledge of the most elementary character ; but
since we are to be called upon to discuss a scheme
for compulsory education, that difficulty need not
be regarded as insuperable. In middle-class schools no
such difficulty exists, and we apprehend that the demand
of parents to have their children educated with some
regard to the probable requirements of their future modes
of life cannot be much longer resisted. So with the uni-
versities. The pressure of public opinion has induced
those venerable institutions to pay a much greater amount
of attention to the teaching of physical science than for-
merly ; but so long as the chief rewards are kept for
mathematical and classical scholars, students of science
remain at a crushing disadvantage ; men who might with
great advantage to the world have applied themselves to
the study of science are compelled, by the necessity of
obtaining a fellowship, to follow one of the favoured but
less congenial branches of learning. This is an injustioe
to science that will soon be remedied.

Why, the very men who laid down this cruel rule to lessen
their own labour, to increase their own enjoyment, risked
without pity or shame the well-being of the orphan child
of one who had been a fellow working man. I suppose that
these men would have shrunk from infanticide, and would
have called me a libeller if I said they were guilty of a
crime very litt'e, if at all, less black than infant murder.
But what was this cold-blooded cruelty but something very
like murder ? The hon. and learned gentleman concluded
by expressing his b3lief that the most important leg d pro-

vision that was needed was to render clear and to enforce
the law of conspiracy. The best thing the men could do was
in all things t) obey the law, to be gentle and forbearing,
and to be honest.

The meeting listened to the hon. member with, on the
whole, patient attention, but the lecture so abru4ly con-
cluding without dwelling upon the sins of capital, the
audience abandoned themselves for a time to a sort of jury,
The subsequent speakers were impatiently heard, and one
of them was refused a hearing. A vote of thanks to Mr.
Roebuck for his address and undaunted advocacy of the
commercial interests of the country was defeated by a large
majority.

Apropos of education and Mr. Lowe's views thereon, the
Herald presents us with that hon. gentleman's characteris-
tics. Mr. Lowe, it says, is nothing if not extreme. He was
an extreme Radical in Australia, and an extreme—or even
petrified—Tory in the House of Commons. His official
career is almost exclusively associated with the adminis-
tration of the denominational system of education, yet we
now find him coming forward as the advocate of a scheme
which would give the death-blow to that system. He is a
man who can only look at a question from one point of
view at a time. He has no idea of the safety and the
wholesomeness of the via media. He is careless about his
premises, and violent, dogmatic, and overbearing in as-
serting his conclusions. With regard to his scheme of
education, our contemporary expresses an opinion that to
adopt it would be to sacrifice much which is valuable in
that which now prevails, and to con lentrate the intellect
too exclusively, and therefore exhaustively and ineffec-
tively, upon those special branches of training which Mr.
Lowe particularly affects. The experience of practical
educationists is entirely opposed to such a plan, and what-
ever the Liverpool philomaths may think of it, the Herald
does not apprehend that the speech it has been
noticing will tend to make many converts.
In the opinion of the Standard, the French Government
has gained no victory through its prosecutions of the
French press. Our contemporary asks, in the name of all
journalism, why this profitless interference with the liber-
ties of the press ? The Emperor's new Home Minister
exhibits rather more than the necessary zeal. He mis-
takes the time in which he lives. This is not exactly an
age of obedience. This is not precisely the generation
which accepts without questioning the yoke of authority.
We have learned to regard the press as an institution, and
the Third Napoleon might have been expected to think of
it more highly than to permit these petty, purposeless,
and resultless prosecutions. For what becomes of them,
after all ? They abate no hostility; they narrow no oppo-
Aition ; they rather embitter than soften political dif-
ferences. And it is in the essence of their success to fling
down a public challenge. We have not -hitherto thosught
the French Emperor prone to multiply causes of rebuke
against himself. He is too powerful and too popular for
that. But why should he dread the epitomised reports
of debates in a Parliament created by himself ? The
reply is at once to be anticipated. Such reports are
infringements of the Constitution. Well, but is the Con-
stitution so weak that it cannot withstand the effect of
these debates, accurately rendered ? In the interest of
France, we should hope not. There is & wonderful wealth
of journalistic ability in France. It is not against this.
however, that the recent criminal proceedings have been
directed. It is against the simple records of legislative
debate, usually so precise in their trUth (4114 so sparkling
in their vigour.

In seconding a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding,
ROEBUCK said : You have come to hear a discussion
which deeply interests working men. You have come to
hear one express his opinions about it who has no interest
in the matter but the good of his country. I am not a
master manufacturer ; I am not an artisan ; but I have
been for many years before my countrymen. I have studied
deeply all that concerns the good government of my coun-
try—(hear, hear)—and when asked to state my opinions I
have boldly stated them, careless of the result. (Cheers.)
It has been my fate, sir, often to be opposed to what is
called public opinion, but in the long political life
that I have led I have found my countrymen coming
round to my opinions, and never receding from them.
(" Oh, oh ! " and interruption.) Aye, aye ! (Further
interruption.) Now, don't interrupt. lam not going to
trouble you long. It is not my habit to make long-winded
speeches, but I say to you that I, deeply considering this
matter, and having solely the interests of my country at
heart, have told you to-night what I believe to be the
truth ; and I ask you all, yea, one and all, when you go
—"
home, and to-morrow read what I have said, to prove your
own minds, to ask yourselves this question Is he right,
or is he wrong ? (Hear, hear.) Can he be wrong ? Can
he be right? And might I not have been wrong in hooting
him the night before ? " (Cheers.)

On leaving the hall Mr. Roebuck was followed by a
large orowd, who hooted him.

MR. BRIGHT'S CLASSICAL STUDIES.—Mr. Car-
michael informs us, from the unsuspiciou3 testimony of a
colleague, that Mr. Bright, who was his pupil, is an excel-
lent Latin scholar. It is creditable alike to master and
pupil that a warm friendship still exists between them,
and that Mr. Bright in writing has acknowledged the
advantages he derived from his classical studies, pursued
at the %Vaimgate Bar School, York.—Church Tiinu. •

A WOMAN BURNT TO DEATH. —An inquest h
been held at the Middlesex Hospitalron the body of
Catherine Bell, aged 48, who resided with her husband, at
12, Gresse-street, Rathbone-place. Eliza Bell, daughter
of the deceased, aged 8 years, stated that her mother, who
wore a light cotton dress, with a crinoline, was standing
in front of the fire, mid in turning round to thread a
needle her dress became ignited. She tried to double
up her mother's dress, but was unable to extinguish
the flames. The jury returned a verdict of accidental
sle*th.

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 28, 1868.

days and festivals be taken, as hitherto, to
the afternoon service, the chief reason given
for the change being that there was not always
alormon in the afternoon service, and that the
psalmody could not be considered equivalent
to a sermon. This order was signed by Bezold,
a Protestant " Ministerial-rath." Another
Bezold (I really do not know whether he is a
nestling of the same brood, but, when almost
a youngster, he was placed in the professorial
chair, the eggshell still clinging to the down
on his back) has now gained a certain celebrity
for his physiological lectures at Wiirzburg,
that is to say, on account of the naiveté with
which he demonstrates to his hearers the iden-
tity of soul and body. To excite the curiosity
of the students, he announces, once or twice,
with an air of importance, that in the follow-
ing lecture he will treat of the interesting
theme, the nature of the soul. At length
the great hour arrives, and he breaks out upon
the important question as follows :—" What
is the soul ? It has been said that the soul
is an immortal being, which enters the body
at birth and quits it at death. Gentlemen,
this has been said long since, has been often
repeated ; but no one can prove how or where
the soul enters the body, that it departs, or
its being. For science, therefore, this view
has no sort of value. Others say that soul and
body are one, that there is no such thing as a
soul distinct from the body. And, gentle-
men, if we look into the subject closely, it
must be confessed that this view is the correct
one. But to make the subject clearer, I will
explain to you by a similitude in what light
you have to look upon the matter. Suppose
you are contemplating a picture. To the ques-
tion : W hat is that ? I will answer you : That
is wood, canvas, oil, colour-stuff. And yet, at
the same time, it is a picture, a landscape, a
man, a woman, a child, &c. See, gentlemen,
what I first pointed out to you is the semblance;
what last—the reality. Thus is the soul,, the
1 semblance of the body."
From this same university of Wiirzburg,
it is reported here that the present rector, (a
Catholic in name), in a solemn oration in
honour of the Prince Bishop Julius of Wiirz-
burg, has just denied, in plain terms, the exist-
ence of a Creator. This was done in . face of
the assembled corporation, professors and stu-
dents, in the face of the theologians, even in
the presence of the very men who have just
been invited to Rome to assist in the prepa-
rations for the great coming council, the pro-
fessors Dr. Hettinger and Dr. Hergenrother.
We have not heard whether or not they gave
any sign of disapproving this blasphemy (ad-
dressed by a soi-disant Catholic to Catholic
clergy and Catholic students), or whether they
got up and left the hall. Perhaps they will
make a written protest ; I do not know. Dr.
Dollinger, it may be recollected, did not even
protest, when a declared Deist was appointed
to a professorial chair here. To this is it come
in our Catholic universities ; such are the
lights continually imported to us from North
Germany. The few who still survive in the
universal wreck of Christian principles in our
universities, and seek manfully to keep the last
remnants afloat, in hopes of better times, are
thrust into the background, and kept down
by all the means in the hands of the dominant
anti-Christian party ; thus the Catholic pro-
fessor of history in the university here, Dr.
Sepp, a man still in his prime, has just been
pensioned off by the minister. "Dies irae, dies
ilia, solvet regnum' in favilla !"

PROFESSION ?

refer the matter to the courts of law, which he
said were open to us, if we felt ourselves ag-
grieved. He knew very well all the time that
it is as impossible to meet legally as logically
a vague charge, in which neither the names
of those by whom, nor the places where, nor
the dates when, the alleged atrocities are as-
serted to have been committed. Mr. Good-
man, however, to his great honour, refused
to let Mr. Gutteridge off on so obviously un-
just a pretext. Mr. Goodman pinned Gut-
teridge to a proposal he had imprudently ac-
ceded to, that the charge should be investigated
by a committee consisting of several Protestant
gentlemen, and one, only one, Catholic. Our
friend boggled very much about preliminaries;
and thus gave everybody who watched (as
we did) the progress of the affair, a tolerable
certainty that he knew his case to be rotten.
A drowning man will catch at a straw. He
rejected one of the committee whom he had
himself nominated, and selected another.
Amongst his final contortions," he said that
the point to be tried was, not whether what
he had asserted was true or no, but whether
or no he had at the time good reason to think
it true. This explains the severe but just im-
putation in the Report that Gutteridge made
no effort to test the truth of any of his state-
ments.

We are not disposed to apply harsh terms
to Gutteridge. We feel how completely they
are unnecessary. What rhetorical amplifica-
tion could do anything but diminish rather
than augment the effect which the collapse
of a calumny like this ought to produce and
will produce in all -minds not absolutely en-
crusted with bigotry? What that any Catholic
writer can say could intensify the disgust which
just and kind English people must feel at
an, attempt to serve the ends of a base faction
by arousing public indignation against innocent
persons ? Neither are we ignorant of the ex-
cuses that may be made for Gutteridge from
the necessities of his position. If a man will
be an aggressive, intolerant Protestant, he
is perforce driven to calumny as his only
resource. If he looks into solid controversy
he finds his cause without a leg to stand
upon. It is literally impossible to interest a
Protestant audience in the rationalistic subtle-
ties of Chilling-worth, or the historical per-
versions of Mosheim. But a good rattling
accusation against a nunnery in the town itself,
or neighbourhood, is a telling thing, and never
fails to arouse attention and bring pennies at
the doors. Murphy has dealt largely in the
article, and has reaped large gains from the
business. But Murphy always had the dis-
cretion to keep to safe generalities. His
wretched imitator, with all Murphy's ma-
lignity, possessed none of his astuteness, and
has been accordingly squelched. He has, how-
ever, done us good, and not harm, and, in
gratitude, we are bound to render him some
acknowledgment. We will confer renown
on his patronymic, cacophonous though it be.
Henceforward, whenever an anti-Catholic
calumny of more than ordinary vileness is
exploded, let it be denominated a gutteridge.
Ugly word for ugly thing; the inherent fitness
of the term will ensure for the new coinage an
universal adoption.—Westminster Gazette.

ARE AMATEURS INJURIO US TO THE

ligion. On the contrary, they find it tends more
generously to promote it, to waken them to a con-
sciousnes9 of their defects, and teaches them to treat
the opinions of others with respect. Besides, money
is occasionally require(' to complete some new church,
or school, or charitable institution, and when its
promoters would shrink from all aid obtained
through the regular stage, they accept, more or
less willingly, the proceeds of a benefit performance
by amateurs; and thus, again, the line of demarca-
tion is broken.

We do not say there are not other causes at work,
for easy access to France, imparting as it does a
better knowledge of the manners of our neighbours,
is amongst these ; but the dramatic amateurs are
the real champions and best promoters of the inte-
rests of the stage, and to them is owing,in no small
degree, the increased number of our theatres, in
spite of the multiplication of music halls, and the
constant attraction of concerts.—Racing Times.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

From the Anglo-American Times.)

Sir Roderick Murchison has published a telegram
from Mr. Young, the commander of the boat expedition
sent nut to ascertain whether Dr. Livingstone had boen
killed near the head of Lake Nyassa, or had gone on into
the interior. Mr. Young has ascertained that the traveller
had gone on in safety, the Johanna men who reported
his death having deserted him ; and Sir Roderick adds,
that there is no longer the shadow of a doubt that the
white man seen on the west side of the Lake Tanganyika
was Livingstone.

Some New York papers state that the American
Minister in London, Mr. Adams, writes the political
articles on America. This is doubtful, but ho probably fur-
nishes facts for that popular journal on which the articles
are founded.

The following anecdote has recently made it ap-
pearance :—" Longfellow visited London when he was
young and comparatively obscure. He bore a letter of in-
troduction to Balwer from Lewis Gaylord Clark. Calling
at Bulwer's residence, he met the novelist upon the steps,
just going out, and there presented his letter. Bulwor
barely glanced at the signature—said testily Mr. Clark
has no such acquaintance with me as authorizes him to
introduce any one,' and then coolly walked away."

General Carl Schurz and family have gone to
Berlin to visit Mr. Bancroft, American Minister.

Consul Page of Zurich has just returned from a
visit to the United States, where he went on business con-
nected with a matrimonial engagement, which he fulfilled,
bringing home a wife with him.
Commodore James S. Thornton has been de-
tached from duty at Portsmouth (New Hampshire), and
ordered to the command of the Kearsage. Commodore
Thornton was executive officer of the Kearsage in her
fight with the Alabama, and acquitted himself with great
credit.

Colonel J. N. Patterson of Manchester (New
Hampshire) has been appointed Brigadier General of State
Militia, in place of General S. G. Griffin of Keene, re-
signed.

The Republican committee of Maine was or-
ganized at Augusta, Monday, Dec. 30, by the choice of J.
G. Blaine as chairman, and John E. Butler of the Bidde-
ford Journal, secretary. Tho Legislative caucus to elect
delegates to the Chicago Convention was to be held Jan.
22, and the committee intend to meet again in Portland,
April 30.

The Poet Laureate has asked the newspapers to
insert the following notice :—" Mr. Alfred Tennyson re-
grets that it is no longer possible for him to answer the
innumerable letters, or to acknowledge the MS. verses,
which he is in the halt of receiving from strangers."

Governor Humphrey refusesto accept the resig-
nation of Judges Harris and Ellett, of the Supreme Court
of Mississippi, on account of the difficulty of finding law-
yers in the State who can take the test oath.

Jealousy of dramatic amateurs exists in the pro-
fession from an erroneous idea that their represen-
tations are inimical to the interests of the regular
stage. We all know that Thespian clubs are nu-
merous, and, consequently, amateur performances
are almost of nightly occurrence in London and its
vicinity, as also general throughout the country ;
but we doubt much if any of the money thus col-
lected would otherwise find its way into regular
professional exchequers. We question if there be
a paterfamilias who so scrupulously weighs out the
items of Jais expenditure as to say to his daughters,
" My dears, you have spent so much in gloves and
gewgaws that there must be no more balls this sea-
son ; so, therefore, refuse Mrs. Columbia's soiree
dansante, on some plea or other," or to his family
generally—" What ! go and see Wigan in Still
Waters Run Deep, after having witnessed the able
impersonation of Mildmay by our young friend
Hector Sn'yyins! It is really the height of extrava-
gance, and not to be thought of." We say we doubt if
there be such a ch tractor, but if there be we are cer-
tain that all previous balls have but stimulated the
desire of his daughter to assist at Mrs. Columbia's
party, and the acting of Hector Sniygins has but
made them more eager to see his great proto-
type, and more certain that they will over-
come the economical considerations of papa. Ad-
mitting, however, there be such personages—say that
they even exist, on an average, one per cent. of the
general audience„ and all these of the inflexible,
obstinate order, we then affirm that the patronage
of the amateurs compensates for such loss ten times
over. How often will each of these witness some
noted actor in a part he contemplates filling on the
amateur boards? Besides, each one is a sort of
critic, a kind of theatrical oracle to some circle,
large or small, and is the refore compelled to be
familiar with the merits of the various artistes, and
conversant with every new piece brought upon the
stage. Then again, in another point of view, if
amateur dramatic perform antes are injurious, why
should not the same affirmation be made against
concerts—nay, against every description of public
amusement ? Undoubtedly, they all draw
more or less from John Bull's pocket, and
therefore trespass on the supply for the re-
gular actor. These notions are, however, un-
tenable, and their deduction, in consequence,
appears so worthless to us, that we wind it up in
the bold assertion, that no class contributes so
much to the advancement of the interest of the
regular stage as dramatic amateurs.
To establish this, let us go back some centuries,
and recal to our memory the fact that previous to
the Reformation this country was known as Merry
England—that there was no race then fonder of
public amusements than our own. Let us recal this
and remember that ever since, we have been divided
into their patrons and their opponents—into those
who regard popular diversions, especially of the
stage, as salutary and moral, and those who look
on them as prejudicial and corrupt. We know that
between these antagonists there is a medium
class, holding partly with the one and partly
with the other ; some who will extend their patron-
age to oratorios and concerts,—some who will go so
far as to take their families to the Gallery of Illus-
tration, when they would shrink with horror from
a visit to Covent-garden or Drury-lane. We k now
also that for some years, a contention has existed
amongst the congregations of Scotland as to whe-
ther the organ should or should not be allowed in
places of public worship. In fa 3t, we are all aware
that the gradations from one to the other are so
slight as to render ascent or descent all but imper-
ceptible. Yet, nevertheless, there exists an influen-
tial and compact mass of opponents to public amuse-
ments in any shape, that would divide man's time
on earth between money making and religious wor-
ship—a mass that would arrest all scientific research,
all future progress under the plea of securing salva-
tion—a mass that would confine intelligence to
Biblical study, and that under some narrow limit of
doctrinal guidance, which creates a horrid egotism
of self-sufficiency, and yearly consigns numerous
hopeless maniacs to our madhouses. The play-
writer and the play-actor may be justly said to
wage open hostility against this mass, but they ap-
peal alone to those who need no demons tration of
its injurious tendency. They are powerless against
its leaders attired in white linen as token of their
own purity, and co,nfortable black suits, as emblems
of mourning for all who are not of their sects. They
make no way against these Cantwells of the pul-
pit and I\l3.wworina of oar streets, but the
dramatic amateurs do. Many of these, whilst
repudiating this restriction to our intelligence, may
not have entirely broken with the sect of their child-
hood, and when on the boards their sisters and
cousins are drawn to witness their performances,
and a genial warmth is thus diffused through au
entire circle. Cc West que le premier pas qui coute.
The ice is broken, the regular stage is afterwards
visited, and many learn that social enjoyment,
when not abused, is far from being a barrier to re-

A Washington despatch to the New York Post
says :—" Although every attempt to remove Mr. Rollins,
Commissioner of Internal Revenue, has proved a failure,
the seekers for his place seem to be more anxious and
determined to secure it. A number of candidates, how-
ever, who do not possess the very best credentials, have
withdrawn from the contest, leaving the field to a very
few. Another applicant for this position, Colonel C. W.
Moulton, of Cincinnati, has appeared here within a few
days, and will probably prove to be one of the strongest
candidates. Ile is brother-in-law to Senator Sherman, of
Ohio.

Mr. J. B. Rangdale, of Manchester, in the Brazi-
lian trade, has failed with liabilities for £ll,OOO.

Parties in Washington who have been trying to
ascertain the authorship of the Dent-Grant letter, assert
that investigation shows its author to be the writer of an
article in the Galaxy, to which allusion is made in the let-
ter, that this writer is also an attache of the New York
World, and penned the articles in that paper commenting
on the positions of the Dent letter; and, finally, that the
writer in the Galaxy is the New York correspondent of the
Charleston Courier, in whose communication to that jour-
nal the letter first appeared.

Mr. Bradley, the Boston negro lawyer, who
lately distinguished himself as an agitator in Savannah,
has been fined $lOO for riotous and disorderly conduct.
Jefferson Davis arrived in New Orleans on the
evening of the 31st December, when he was met by seve-
ral hundred people, who greeted him w:th cheers. The
Hon. A. H. Stephens, formerly Vice-President of the rebel
Government, is preparing a history of the secession move-
ment, and be is now in Philadelphia.
C. W. Brooks has been appointed by the Ja-
panese Government its Consul-General in San Francisco.
The letter of instructions from Japan alludes to the fact
that the United States was the first power to conclude a
treaty with that country, and as a direct communication
has been es'ablishod, trade will increase, and, it is hoped,
friendship also.
Colonel Nelson, of Jamaica rebellion notoriety,
is now Assistant-Adjutant-General at Cork. The last act
of the Jamaica Legislature was to pass a unanimous re-
solution to expend two hundred guineas on a testimonial
to that officer. The form in which the testimonial is offered
is that of a handsome epergne and candelabrum, designed
and manufactured by Messrs. E. and E. Emanuel, of Bur-
lington-gardens. The symbolical attributes of the island
are modelled in frosted silver, two Carib figures, which are
the supporters of the Jamaica coat of arms, being the pro-
minent adornments of the shaft. The alligator is also
introduced at several points of the design, and the grace-
fully flowering sugar-cane is also a conspicuous adjunct.
On the several pan els of the tripod which forms the base
are the arms of the colony, the crest of Brigadier-General
Nelson, and an extract from the vote of the House of
Assembly. A negro hanging from a tree, and a coloured
gentleman having his back scored by piano-wire, would
have been very suggestive illustrations, and much more
appropriate than the two Carib figures and the alligator.
Judge Poland is the prominent candidate for Vice-
President in Vermont.
Sherman Hartwell, of Washington, has made
some valuable additions to his flock of Cotswold sheep in
purchasing four ewes bred by William Hewer, of England,
at 409 guineas, or $2OO in gold each.
Isaiah Wentworth, well known in Maine, has
resigned his office as business manager of the New Glou-
cester family of Shakers, and accepted a similar position
in a New York family.
General Butler has abandoned Thaddeus Stevens's
doctrine of confiscation. In his late speech to the negroes
on New Year's-day he said :—" I doubt whether confisca-
tion would be desirable. It does not seem to be a good
thing to give away land. A thing that does not cost any-
thing is generally valueless. If the United States were
to-day to commence confiscation it would undoubtedly
lead to mischief, and to the detriment of the great West."
The Selma Messenger (Alabama) says that the
supporters of Chief-Justice Chase hope to draw off enough
votes from General Grant, to throw the election into the
House, whore they feel confident of success. The Spring-
field Republican terms the scheme preposterous. If General
Grant be a candidate, he will be elected by the people ; and
if it were possible to defeat such an election, Congress
would not dare to disregard the popular will, setting aside
the candidate voted for by the North to fill the Presidency
for one nominated by the negroes, which would be negro
supremacy with a vengeance. " The real Republican
platform for 1868 will be Ulysses S. Grant, as embodying
honesty, executive ability, justice and generosity to the
South, and an earnest purpose to restore the Union. Give
us success with him, and we may well drop the worn-out
controversies of the past, and leave the battles of the
future to be fought when they arise. For the present we
shall do well if we hold on and keep what we have already
gained."
General Bulow is appointed Danish Minister at
London.
Telegrams from Berlin state that Mr. Bancroft,
Minister of the United States, is said to have opened with
Count Bismarck negociations bearing upon the extension
to bo given to the Prussian war navy. The relations be-
tween Washington and Berlin are most cordial.
On Sunday morning, the 29th December, the
Rev. Dr. HarbAugh, Professor in the Theological Semi-
nary at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, died at his residence
in that town, after a somewhat protracted and painful ill-
ness. At intervals during the last three or four years the
Doctor had been serving the German Reformed congrega.
tion at Hagerstown, in the absence of a resident pastor,
where he was much esteemed by a largo circle of friends
and acquaintances, who deeply regret the death of so able
a divine and genial a gentleman.
Elias Howe, father of the late Elias Howe, jun , the
sowing machine inventor, and brother of the late William
Howe, inventor of the Howe truss bridge, died at his re-
sidence in Cambridgeport, Saturday, Dec. 28, aged 76, o f
a complication of rheumatism and disease of the kidney
Capt. Loring Gardner of Farmingdale, Maine,

MAILS DUE.

is supposed to have fallen a victim to the St. Thomas
Tornado.

Thomas A. Greene, a Quaker, of a very old and
distinguished family, at New Bedford, U.S.A., died on the
17th Dec. last. Susan Howland, ministered, and after an
interval Rachel Howland spoke in her usual acceptable
manner, and closed by asking ministers of any other deno-
mination to speak accordingly. Mr. Rickerson and Rev.
W. J. Potter delivered funeral discourses.

The Richmond Examiner, by way of a New-
Year's greeting, thus gloomily speaks of the sad condition
of the South at the present moment :—" The accounts
which are coming up from nearly all quarters are enough
to curdle the blood of every human man. The fairest land
under the sun lies in wretchedness and ruin. A domain
which has teemed with abundance is now a, region of univer-
sal pauperism. Frightful destitution everywhere prevails,
and gaunt, grim starvation already shows its horrid front,
though the winter is but begun. The labour of tho mul-
titude of the blacks consists in forages on the barns and
barnyards of the whites ; the corn and the live stock are
disappearing under the operations of the black thieves and
robbers, who are organising in bands too numerous to be
resisted by their victims, and already formidable even to
the military. A war of white and black is imminent, and
it will be invested with a complicatiJa of horrors. It
will be a war of colours, a war of castes, a war with rob-
bers, a war over bread. It will appeal to every conside-
ration which can command the convictions and fire the
passions."

The streets of London are not the safest places
to travel in, as the Registrar-General's report clearly
shows. Two days rarely pass without somebody being
run over and killed in the street. One hundred and
sixty-four deaths from injuries caused by horses or
vehicles have been recorded during the past year.
How many escape with broken limbs is not known, but
the number cannot be small. The most curious fact of all
seems to bo that nearly one-half the accidents have been
traced to waggons and carts. But on reflecting on the
drinking habits of waggoners and carters this fact be-
comes less surprising.

We extract the following from •the Springfield
Republican:—"There wore but few Now England manufac-
turers at the late National Convention at Cleveland, which
resolved against all internal taxes except on luxuries.
But, under the lead of the Berkshire county manufacturers,
they propose a mass meeting at Worcester on the 22d to
back the Cleveland Convention. Calls liberally signed
are in circulation in this part of New England, and we
presume there will result a large, intelligent, and influen-
tial gathering."

A proposition is before the House Committee
on Military Affairs to reduce the regular army of the
United States, the first heavy reduction to take place when
the first Southern State is returned to representation, and
the reduction to continue as the military districts are done
away with.

R. A Filkins, of North Adams, Massachusetts,
has refused $16,000 for a steam valve and indicator which
he has patented, and will at once begin its manufacture at
that place.

The total loss of property by fire during 1867 in
the United States in conflagrations each destroying over
$20,000 was $36,935,000. February, June, and December
were the months in which the heaviest losses occurred,
each of them exceeding $1,000,000. The total losses by
fire during the year, however, were much less than during
1866, when $66,410,000 were destroyed.

Marine disasters by fire, wreck, collision, or other
accidents at sea, during 1867, happened to 536 American
vessels, all of which have been totally lost, and, excluding
their cargoes, were valued at $21,742,200. This is a largo
falling off from 1866, when 571 vessels, valued at 33,794,300
dols., wore lost at sea.

Foreign Mail. Packet List.

kustralis and New Zealand, via Southampton Feb. 10.
Ditto, via Ramifies 11,

Ditto, via Panama Jan. 28.
Buenos Ayres, and Monte Video „Feb. 3.
Ditto, by French packet
Cape Verde, by Brazil packet
cape of Good Hope. Asoenaion. and St. Helena Feb.
China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Feb. 2
Ditto, via Maraeilles .......... Feb. 3
Falkland Islands
dobraltar. via Southampton
India. via Southampton
Ditto, via MarseiLes . ••••• . ...Feb. 7.
Malta, ti:gy 3., ,ko. Feb 2
Marseilles Feb. 7.
tlaurittus, C,p. of Good Hope, and Natal, via
Southampton Feb. 19.
but'', Marseilles Feb t 3
Newfouudla nd Feb. 12
Portugal Feb. 3
Ditto, by pri v Lie ship to Oporto ...
Ditto t •tto to Lisbon
United States, anada, California, &0., by British

Feb. 3

packet
Ditto, by L Lited States packet
Ditto ditto 'New York,
Ditto aitto N,..w York)
Ditto dit:t (Baltimore)
Ditto, by Canadian packet ....................Jan 3!„
West Coast of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe Feb. 3.
West ,naies aad (except UCXiJO and Baha-

Mak
Cub i and Ilexico •...Jar 2'.
1.39.11a.naa, via New i Feb. 3.
Bermuda, via 11a11.,x .

TESTIMONIAL TO TIIE CAPTAIN AND OFFICERS
OP THE "ENGLAND."—The following is a copy of an address
presented to Captain Thompson, of the National Steam
Navigation Company's screw-steamer England, on her
arrival with troops at Annesley Bay :—" Although full ex-
pression has already been given verbally by Gea. Wilby to
our feelings on parting with you and the good ship England,
still we would wish to leave some more lasting token behind
us, to remind you and the officers of the ship of the plea-
sant voyage we have had together. We have most of us
been many voyages with troops; but one and all agree
that never have we before experienced such kindness, hos-
pitality and liberality, or has such care been taken of the
health and comfort of the troops, who leave after up-
wards of a fortnight on board this ship much healthier
than when they came, and without a case of sick-
ness contracted on board. Not a single thing
has occurred to disturb the perfect harmony amongst
us ; every wish has been met, unnecessary restric-
tions dispensed with, and perfect order and discipline
maintained. Disapproving of these testimonials as a very
inconvenient rule, we should be doing violence to our
feelings if we omitted in this instance to put on record ov.r
unqualified satisfaction with everybody and everything
belonging to the good ship England. To Captain W.
G. Aldrich, Royal Navy, the Transport Officer, your able
coadjutor, who has been associated with you throughout
in your endeavours for our comfort, our best thanks are
also due. We wish you both God-speed, and that it may
be our good fortune, after the Abyssinian Expedition is
over, to return home in the good ship England. [Here
follow the signature of Brigadier- General Wilby, and all
the officers.]
(ADVERTISEMENT.]—Du Barry El Delicious Health Restoring
Revalenta Arabica Food, which contains three times the
nourishment of the best meat, saves fifty times its cost in other
remedies, restores perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs,
healthy liver, refreshing sleep, functional regularity, and energy
to the most disordered or enfeebled, removing speedily and
effectually indigestion (dyspepsia), habitual constipation,
diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, liver complaints, flatulency, nervous,
ness, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, colds, influenza-
noises in the head and ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, erup-
tions, hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, pal-
pitation, heartburn, headacne, debility, dropsy, cramps, spasms,
nausea, and sickness, sinking fits, coughs, asthma, bronchitis,
incipient consumption, scrofula, tightness of the chest, pains at
the pit of the stomach, between the shoulders, &c. We quote a
few out of 68,000 cures :—The Pope's health restored by Du
Barry's Food.—Cure No. 68,413. "Rome, July 21, 1866.—The
health of the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, aban
doning all other remedies, he has confined himself entirely to
Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica Food, of which he consumes a
plateful at every meal. It has produced a surprisingly beneft
cial effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this
excellent food too highly."—From the "Gazette du Midi," July
25. Cure No. 49,832.—" Of fifty years' indescribable agony from
dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency,
spasms, sickness at the stomach, and vomiting." Maria Joly,
Wortham, Ling, near D:ss, Norfolk.—Cure No. 47,121.—Mi5s
Elizabeth Jacobs, of Nazing Vicarage, Waltham Cross, Hells,
of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits,
and nervous fancies. Important Caution.—Beware of the many
unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, without
authority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attached
In tins at is. ild.; 1 lb., 2s 9d.; 2 lbs., 4s. 6d, ; 5 lbs. 11s.;
12 lbs., 225.; 24 lbs., 405.— BARRY Du BARRY and Co., No. 7;,
Regent-street, London; also Fortnum and Mason, 182, Piccadilly;
and at 61, Gracechurch-street; 4, Cheapside; 63, 150, and 289,
Oxford-street; 330, Strand; and all grocers and chemists.

Births.
BARRON- On the 22d inst., at 4, Charles-street, Hyde-
park, the wife of Herbert Barron, Esq., 72d Highlanders
of a son.
Bieuir—On the 26th inst., at 2, The Close, Southsea, the
wife of Charles J. Bigley, Esq., R.N., of H.M.S. Helicon,
of a son.
lEADLAM—On the 26th inst., at 24, Norfolk-square, Hyde-
park, the wife of Edward Headlam, Esq., of a son.
Marriages.

MARSHALL—DUKE—On the 14th ult., at Trichinoply,
Captain Joseph G. Marshall, R.A., to Lonsia Sybella,
youngest daughter of Mtljor-General T. A. Duke, com-
manding Southern Division, Madras Army.
NicoLsorr —CrRE.ENFIELD On the 25th inst., at Tor Church,
Torquay, A. F. Nicolson, Esq., of Ipswich, 'to Mary
Ann, second daughter of the late Thos. Clreenlield; Esq.,
of Winchester, solicitor.
Deaths.
ABEL—On the 26th inst., at 40, Bedford-place, Russell-
square, John Abel, of the Middle Temple, Esq., aged 60.
NAPIER —On the nth inst., at 8, Upper Phillimore-gar-
dens, Kensington, Alexina, youngest daughter of David
Napier, Esq., of Glens hellish, Ayrshire, N. 8., aged 29. '
TASKEB,--On the 25th inst., at Dartford, Kent, J. Tasker,
Esq., aged 78.
TYRCONNEL--011 the 23d inst., at Kiplin, Yorkshire, Sarah,
Countess of Tyrconnel, widow of John Delaval, last
Earl of Tyrconnel, aged 68.
VIVIAN— On the 24th inst., at Park Wern, Swansea, Caro-
line Elizabeth, wife of Henry Hussey Vivian, Esq.,
M.P., aged 35.

London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS,
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tag SUN Office, No 112,
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of
Bliddleaux.—Tuesday, January 28, 1868,