The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 8, 1868

AN APPEAL TO ENGLISH CATHOLICS.

The restoration of the ancient church of
St. Thomas of Canterbury in Rome is a work
in which Pope Pius IX. has taken a special
and personal interest, for the commission
whom he has charged with its execution is
composed of his own private Chamberlains,
Mgr. Talbot de Malahide, whom he has named
Protector of the English College, together with
the rector and Mgr. Stonor, who was sent a
year or two ago to collect alms in France
for this very purpose. The Sovereign Pontiff
laid the foundation of this restored church with
his own hands, has contributed to it out of his
private purse, has presented it with vestments,
and is prepared to enrich it with some of the
most precious marbles that have been lately
discovered.

Indeed, the proof of the interest taken in
the restoration of this church by the Holy
Father is sufficiently shown by his having
sent to England his private Chamberlain, with
a special injunction to invite the co-operation
of English Catholics in rebuilding their national
church, dedicated as it is to their patron saint,
and to the cause for which the whole Church
has been for the last twenty years in conflict.
The completion, therefore, of St. Thomas of
Canterbury's Church in Rome is a matter to
which we cannot allow ourselves to feel a mo-
ment's indifference. Various thoughts press
themselves upon us in connection with the
invitation which has been issued to us by Mgr;
Talbot. In another column the historic motives
and traditions which ought to impel us to take
part in this work are set forth ; here, therefore,
we will touch only upon one thought.
It is the depth of that supernatural wisdom
which has bound all Catholic nations to one
centre, and has made that centre not only the
infallible guide in faith and morals, but the
source in which is continually welling up
the sanctity of the Gospel life and spirit.
Rome, as the chosen seat of our Blessed Lord
upon earth, as the Jerusalem and temple of
the new dispensation, as the tender mother
and mistress of all churches, and as the ap-
pointed interpreter and teacher of Christianity,
occupies a position and a relation to all the
nations of the world from which each one of
them derives a peculiar and national benefit.
For Rome, in her capacity of mother and
mistress of all Churches, is continually breath-
ing forth upon each the influence of the Gospel
perfections, and correcting the deformities of
national character.
In proportion as nations have withdrawn
themselves from the action of her life and in-
terests, have they practically so far withdrawn
from the teaching of our Lord Himself. As
soon as the Eastern Churches, through jeal-
ousy, stood aloof from her, they almost ceased
to live. The Greek Church became a bye-
word for ignorance and corruption when it
parted from Rome. It was so in Germany,
where an intellectual jealousy of Rome brought
about Protestantism ; it was the same in Eng-
land, where pride and insubordination begat
Anglicanism ; and in France, where self-suffi-
ciency and national conceit produced a coldness
and reserve towards Rome, and generated
Gallicanism. So also,' in proportion as Spain
and Portugal extracted from the Holy See
exemptions from daily contact with her life and
influence, did religion grow relaxed and ob-
scured among their people, and thus declined
even in the rank of nations.

To show how true this view of the case is,
we have but to notice how, in the present day,
in proportion as nations draw near to Rome
and humbly learn our Lord's teaching at her
feet, does grace descend upon them, and they
return to their primitive fervour. The
Churches in Holland, Belgium, France and
England, are examples of this.
Even common sense comes in to point out
how natural is this result. Nations, like indi-
viduals, have their failings and idiosyncracies
which mar their character and bar their con-
formity with their divine model. While they
wrap themselves up proudly, or disdainfully,
or jealously within themselves, they remain
uninfluenced by their divinely-taught mother
and mistress. They grow into the moral dis-
tortions of their natural and uncorrected cha-
racter. It could not be otherwise.

Now, it is to be guilty of no peculiar dis-
paragement of ourselves to examine what may
be the national tendencies which are most apt
to lead us to a divergence from the Gospel
type of Christianity. No doubt there are many
such ; but we shall confine ourselves to noting
one of those lesser ones, which the present
occasion suggests to our mind.

We Englishmen pride ourselves on being of
a peculiarly practical and utilitarian turn of
mind. We have become the wealthiest nation
on the globe. We have " held the purse "
with a tight and intelligent hand; other nations
have paid into it. We are ever ready to re-
ceive. We are also famous in the world, as
being of all nations the most devoted to
creature comforts and the most successful in
ministering to them. Nothing can exceed
the cosiness of our homes, the nice appoint-
ments of our establishments, the success of our
country houses, and the expenditure of our
London season.

Two consequences flow from this. First, as
a nation, we are apt to view all expenditure
in relation to its material result ; and, secondly,
we are apt to be niggard in giving when we
are not ourselves the centre to be enriched by
the gift. Foreigners perpetually notice this at
home and abroad. Such is our national cha-
racter ; we may personally be tinged by it
without being aware of it.
The appeal for funds to complete the resto-
ration of St. Thomas's Church in Rome, is
just one of these opportunities which touch
this national trait. We could quite imagine
some hard and shrewd man of business say-
ing—" I shall give nothing to this ; there are
plenty of churches in Rome already ; I can't
believe in a church being built for any other
purpose than for a large population that has
no church accommodation. We want churches
aad schools at home. Why give money to St.
Thomas's Church in Rome ! Ad quid perditio
lice° ?" _ _

The fact is, this utilitarian view of every-
thing has become so ingrained in the nation,
that it would not surprise us to hear that
even some good English Catholics might be
found to pride themselves upon their sagacity
in refusing to contribute to an object which
does not bear the material fruit of utility or
English comfort. This practical feature of the
English character, however excellent when
held in moderation, if allowed to run out un-
pruned, tends to the hardness, material utilita-
rianism and calculating avarice of him who,
" holding the bag," was rebuked by Our Lord
for his view of how it should be dispensed.
The woman who bought for a great price an
unguent to pour over Our Lord, received a
promise of praise for her loving generosity to
the end of time. Her example perpetuates
itself in the Church. Our Lord's praises are
the rule of the Church's life. We may be-
hold in a hundred instances how the Sove-
reign Pontiff, pressed by numerous and im-
perative material wants, and dependent upon
alms, follows the example which was praised
by his Divine Master. The Church accom-
plishes her mission by the maintenance and
spread of her great principles, and by the
honours which she inspires for Christian ideas.
The restoration of the Church of St. Thomas
is an instance of her conduct in this respect.
This church is a monuments to the rights
of the Church for which the saint laid down
his life, and for which Pius IX. has for twenty
years contended with the world.
The love of the Sovereign Pontiff for Eng-
land is well known. We have now an oppor-
tunity of showing some slight return of love
by readily taking up the work which he him-
self began in connection with our National
College, and which is so dear on account of
the identity of the struggle which St. Thomas
sustained in England, and Pope Pius sustains
throughout the world in this our day.
Our interests as Catholics are identical with
those of the Holy See gladly will English

Catholics testify to this identity on the present
occasion. It is but a small sum of money
which is required, and the work is done. We
must raise it before Mgr. Talbot returns to his
post by the side of the Holy Father.
A meeting to consider this subject will be
held in Hanover-squareßooms, at three o'clock
on Monday, the 13th July. We trust that there
will be present a large and sympathizing
attendance.—lVestininster Gllzette.

union. between the two countries ; and we hope that
these words will come more and more into the minds
of Americans as they celebrate in future years, the
birthday of their nation.—Anglo-American Times.

SIR HENRY STORKS.

--+ -

Except on the occasion of a national triumph, we
have seldom seen a more unanimous feeling of satis-
faction expressed than when, some few months
since, it was announced that Sir Henry Storks was
appointed to the War-office as Comptroller-in-Chief
of the Supply Departments of the Army. It was
understood that he had powers so full, in regard, in
the first instance, to the reorganisation of these de-
partments, and, in the next, to their control when
cor,solidated and reorganised, that nothing but
the constitutional authority of the Secretary of
State could limit them. The public knew that
he was an active member of Lord Strath-
nairn's committee ; they knew that the recom-
mendations of that committee tended to simplify
administration, to bring under one head certain
departments closely associated in their work, but
ill fitting in their shape, and when it was believed
that head was to be Sir Henry Storks the satisfac-
tion was great. Sir Henry Storks had turned chaos
into system in what fell under his charge during the
Crimean war. He hal succeeded in everything he
had undertaken, and what he had undertaken was
not easy an every-day affair. He was a man of
business, as well as a man of war, and his presence
in Pall-Mall with what were understood to be full
powers to reform and administer was held to be a
guarantee that the end had come of the greatest
reproach to our military system—the unwieldy,
cumbersome, ill-organised collection of departments
known as the War-office.

We regret to say that these fair hopes will not be
fulfilled. Sir Henry Storks' plans have met with
many small and some great obstructions ; and, as
they are mutilated by the Treasury, they will show
that the snake of circumlocution has yet abundance
of life in it. The scheme, as now sanctioned by
the Treasury, provides that the departments of
stores, commissariat, purveyors, and barracks shall
be placed under the Comptroller, but that that
officer shall have nothing to do with finance. It
assumes that the appointment of Sir Henry Storks
will be only temporary, and provides that on his
relinquishing his position the new Comptroller
shall have the rank only of an Assistant Uuder
Secretary of State, instead of that of an Under-
Secretary, as at present; that there shall be a
financial officer, who shall be a civilian, of co-equal
position with the Comptroller, enjoying the same
salary—viz., £1,500, and it enjoins that this office
shall be always filled by a gentleman of well-proved
financial qualifications. The Comptroller himself
may be a military man or a civilian, as the Secre-
tary of State for the time being may deem most
desirable. Any step taken by the Comptroller in-
volving expenditure is to be submitted to his finan-
cial colleague, who is enjoined to comment freely
thereupon, and advise the Secretary of State gene-
rally regarding it. The Under-Secretaries of State
(after Sir H. Stork's retirement) will be, as up to
the time of his appointment, two in number, the
Parliamentary and the permanent Under-Secre-
tary ; the latter to be generally, but not invariably,
a soldier, competent to advise the Secretary of State
upon all military matters.

Now, at a first view the plan may seem in some
respects fair enough as merely providing a proper
safeguard against extravagance. But when looked
at closely it will be seen that it strikes fatally at
what is the very essential value of the Comptroller.
It knocks over his authority as the executive officer
of the Secretary of State, and leaves him simply a
suggester whose views may be adopted, modified,
or rejected by the new financial officer. We should
premise that we think the separation of the financial
from the control duties is sound in every way. The
Comptroller has quite enough to do without looking
after accounts; his duties are of a different kind.
Nor can it be for a moment objected that, when the
Comptroller makes arrangements involving expense,
those arrangements should be submitted to an in-
dependent financial authority, and be reported upon
by him as regards their cost. Thus when the Comp-
troller proposes a certain establishment, at a certain
cost, it would more properly fall to the financial
officer of the Secretary of State to say if the
Comptroller's estimate was sound and not likely to
be exceeded, as far as his financial experience, enabled
him to judge. So far•all would be just, and, no doubt,
wholesome. But, according to the Treasury view,
incredible as it may seem, the financial officer is to
advise not only upon the financial effect of the Comp-
troller's projects, but upon these projects generally.
The Comptroller may want a certain staff, or a
certain quantity of supplies, or a certain number of
carts, at a particular station. The financial man
has the r ight to interpose and say that a lesser
number of officers, of stores, or of carts are suffi-
cient. Thus, the experience of the Comptroller
is entirely lost to the public service, and a
civilian not brought up to the business,
and not supposed to have any knowledge of the
business, is to control the Comptoller in his
own particular department. This is certainly
not the way to secure that unity of
administration, that concentration of authority,
conterminous with responsibility, so sorely required,
which it was the object of Lord Strathnairn's com-
mittee to bring about, and which we all hoped the
presence of Sir 11. Storks at the War-office had all
but accomplished. The levelling down of the
Comptroller to the position of the financial officer
at once impairs his authority to an extent we
should say fatal to his usefulness, and deprives the
public service of one of its very ablest men. The
Treasury expects that after a very little time
a Comptroller on a reduced salary of £1,500 a
year may be substituted for the present Comp-
troller, and my lords are guilty of the superb
folly of turning out of the service after a few
months the man to whom every one was looking as
the War-office reformer, par excellence. Is is a small
consolation that we are at the same time, ap-
parently, to get rid of Captain Galton, whose
place, we are told, is to be filled by a man of proved
financial ability. Captain Galton is a man of
microscopic mind, who will write yards of minutes
and scores of references about a matter of twopence-
halfpenny, while the way is stopped for transactions
of importance. He apparently subsists upon minutes,
and his most charming new sensation would be
the erection of a department above the Treasury,
to which further references and reports might
be made as to whether Private Jones is entitled
to a scuttleful of coals. Although a military man,
Captain Galton is scarcely a military administrator,
and since he left the barrack department for the
Assistant Under-Secretaryship of War, his time has
been largely occupied with the Railway Commis-
sion. He appears to possess the unhappy faculty
of not being able to get on with any of his official
associates. We shall be glad to see his place filled
by a civilian of proved financial ability. But we
must express a hope that there is yet sense enough
left in the House of Commons to stop this most un-
fortunate and mischievous Treasury Minute, which
emasculates a useful reform and stops the official
career of the very man who, of all others, a retrench-
ing Minister could most profitably consult were he
desirous of effecting a large reduction in the Esti-
mates with the least injury to the object for which
the country pays the large sum which these esti-
mates represent. —Army and Navy Gazette.

The Portland and Rochester Railroad Company
had $51,000 receipts last year, and it is thought
that had the road been in good order the Company
would have divided $26,572 on a capital of
$560,000 ; as it was, the expenses about ate up the
receipts.
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these be srared.

THE IRISH CHURCH.

The following letter has been forwarded to us
for publication :

" NAVAN, July 2.

" Dear Sir,—ln your speech in the House of
Commons on March 30, 1868, you mentioned the
cases of Kilmoylan and Newton-lennan as benefices
then recently appointed to, though with but four
Anglicans to each, with a view to show the pro-
priety of preventing the growth of new vested
interests.' When interrogated by a member of
the house respecting your authority for your
assertion you gave my name as that of your in-
formant. The Lord Chancellor (Lord Cairns), on
the 29th of June stated that the whole story was
an entire delusion.' The delusion, however, lies
almost wholly with his lordship's own statement.
He says thatyou affirmed that within the last month
two benefices had been manufactured,' although
you did not use the words month' and manu-
factured,' but gave the years 1867 and 1868.
Moreover, you did not say that the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners were the manufacturers of those
benefices, although at a somewhat later period of
the debate you again alluded to them and said,—
For aught I know the Commissioners may be
this very day erecting new beuefices of four
Anglicans.' Even if you had intended to insinuate
that the Commissioners had something to do with
the erection of those very benefices, you would
have had ample grounds for such an insinuation in
the case of one of them at least. To neither of
those benefices is the Lord Chancellor's description
applicable—namely, that two old benefices had
been joined together by the Act of 1833, or some
other act of that kind, by order of the Privy
Council in Dublin.' Newton-lennan was part of
an episcopal union, formed in 1801 and dissolved
in 1867. Kilmoylan-with-Cummer was once part
of an ancient episcopal union, and was erected into
a second benefice in 1852 or thereabouts, when
Moylough union was broken up. At that time
Moylough one part of the union —became a
separate benefice ; Kilmoylan vicarage and Cum-
mer were erected into another ; while Kilmoylan
prebend was absorbed by the Ecclesiastical Com-
missioners, who should have suspended Kilmoylan
vicarage, and would have done so, but that Bishop
Plunkett, himself a Commissioner, chose to keep
it for his private secretaries, his own newhews.
Kilmoylan is without a church, and has four
Anglicans and 2,769 Roman Catholics, and its nett
income is £291. Newton-lennan has four Angli-
caw, 1,443 Roman Catholics, and £331 nett, but
no church. There have been four distinct appoint-
ments to Kilmoylan since the Temporalities Act of
1833. But Lord Cairns not only denounces the
whole story as an entire delusion,' but actually- as-
serts that 'the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have no
more power to create benefices in Ireland than any
of the Peers in Parliament.' If his Lordship be
right, then certain important clauses of the Tem-
poralities Acts must have been repealed, or are no-
thing but an entire delusion.' Section 106 of that
Act says that Commissioners may divide parishes
in certain cases ;' and section 97 enacts that all
sueh churches, curacies, or chapels which shall at
any time be augmented by the said Commissioners
shall be, and are hereby declared and established
to be, from the time of such augmentation, per-
petual cures and benefices.' If these clauses do
not give the power of creating new benefices, then
they are an entire delusion.'

" The wisdom of perpetuating such benefices as
have but four Anglicans, and have had no greater
number of Anglicans since 1834, may be apparent
to the parties concerned in maintaining them. But
to many persons a Suspensory Bill to prevent the
creation of such vested interests will commend
itself as just and proper, and especially so if re-
distribution of Church funds should be contem-
plated. An instance occurs to me which almost
demonstrates the necessity of suspending appoint-
ments if reform be really intended. There are two
contiguous parishes in a neighbourhood well known
to me. One has a church, a congregation, but no
glebe or glebe house, and but £9O yearly. The
other has a glebe and glebe house and about £3OO
yearly, but neither church nor congregation. There
used to be a parish clerk, but he, perhaps, has
been suspended. For a score of years the bishop
and the people have waited for an amalgamation
of these livings, to remove the double anomaly of
an idle parson in a good living and a pauper one
in the other. Both livings have been twice vacant
during the last twenty years, so that four oppor-
tunities for amalgamation were lost. The rich one
when vacant, was not given by the bishop to the
incumbent of the poor one, as his clerical standing
was small. When the poor living was vacant it
was pressed upon the incumbent of the richer one
to be held in addition to his own, but he refused to
take it. This state of things may go on for
another score of years until some happy accident
shall cause both livings to be vacated at the same
time. The bishop is of course obliged to present
to either when a vacancy offers, else the Com-
missioners would absorb the revenues. But the
church population may be gone before the remedy
arrives. Within the last thirty years the Angli-
cans in those two benefices have diminished from
nearly 400 to somewhat more than six score.
" I am, Sir, your fathful servant,
"W. MAZIERE BRADY, D.D.
“To the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, &c."

THE PUNJAUB AS A BATTLE-HELD.

No. 11.

(From the Anglo-American Tim s.)

The country grows wilder, the bare, bleak-looking
hills are now skirted, now penetrated by the flying
column, and the mountains that had before run like
a wall to the right begin to sweep round to the
front, and are even seen in distant peaks to the left.
The streams which had hitherto been flowing in the
direction opposite to the march are now flowing
with the troops, showing that the water-line has
been passed, and the fall of the country which had
been towards the Jhelum is now toward the Indus.
An old ruined castle, not unlike a feudal structure of
Europe, is left behind, but such are rarely seen, for
the land is devoid of houses, of trees, ani of any
general sign of habitation. The only trace of
labour in road-making is a way paved with huge
blocks through a defile. The Field Force is en-
camped at the entrance of a wide valley which
stretches far towards the high ranges, but as usual
without trees and with a barren aspect. Before the
tents runs a rivulet, shaded by willows and fringed
with long grass. Fish are sporting in the clear
water, and darting when alarmed, under cover of
the bank—a charming sight to Indian eyes, for that
European picture is never reproduced on the plains
of Ilindoostan. On the other side is a ruined Serai,
and further down are some temples, surrounded by
trees, which shade tanks where sport thousands of
sacred fish. On the peak of a mountain behind
the camp is a white tomb which attracts the eye as
the only conspicuous object of the handiwork of
man. Up that broad valley is the road to Cash-
mere, beyond which the force has now passed, and
this is Wah, meaning beautiful, one of the halting
places described in " Lalla Rookh."
Again the troops are on the banks of a big river,
encamped on a sandy flat, and when they look up
the bed they see masses of white sand with blue
streaks for miles and miles till lost in the rugged
ranges. A little higher the Cabul enters, but a
chain of hills on the opposite bank intercepts all
view of the valley of I'eshawur. On the left of
the camp there is a low range of hills, which the
Force had skirted on its last march, and on the end
peak overhanging the river rises the fortress tof
Attock. The Indus, gathering its waters from the
sandy expanse over which they had meandered in
the open country, and joined by the Cabul, makes
a rush through the defile which appears as if cleft
out of the range. The huge river then acts like a
playful rivulet, rushing into the dark defile, tum-
bling, and rolling, and foaming on its course over its
rocky bed. The Sepoy now stands at the extreme
limit of the country which he is forbidden to cross,
and the other bank is regarded by the Affghan as his
own. The bridge of boats had been cut away by
Dost Mahomet's men, but so great was their hurry
and so rapid had been Sir W. Gilbert's advance with
the cavalry and horse artillery, that it was from the
right bank instead of from the left, and had therefore

swung round to the British side. As there could be no
fording, and boats are not plentiful on that part, had
it been otherwise, a considerable check would have
been met at Attock.

The column is now emerging from tjie Jackall
Pass, and the Valley of Peshawur spreads
out before them. It is a basin on every
side surrounded by hills, a broad river running
through it. Everywhere the eye alights on snowy
peaks with lower :ranges forming the rim of the
valley. In the immediate neighbourhood the ground
is barren, a mass of shingle, as if it all had been
the bed of mountain torrents which had swept it of
its soil, leaving only stones. Beyond this the country
comes out rich and green, and rich and green it is,
being one of the most fertile tracts on earth. Among
the hills to the right is the Swat Valley, one of the
only spots where, if tradition be true, Alexander
the Great met with a severe repulse. Some few
years ago it was the scene of a desperate contest
in which many Englishmen fell. Among the moun-
tains to the left Sir Charles Napier was destined
shortly to commence a campaign, and some thirty
miles or more in front, although the mountains in
the distance look like a wall, is the Khyber Pass, the
road to Cahoot where once a British army entered,
but never returned. It is late in April, but though
it is hot during the day it is still bitterly cold at
night. In the valley, water abounds, and the rich
soil and vegetation gives a slimy luxuriance to the
ground from which the sun's heat extracts disagree-
able odours. Kaffilalas of Affghans have frequently
been 'passed, generally conveying horses to India.
The men are strong, sturdy fellows, with a mass of
hair and turbans, with sheep-skin coats, the woolly
side in, broad trousers drawn in at the ankle, with
match-lock and scimitar, dirt rendering indis-
tinguishable the colour of their skin. As the troops
approach the city they begin to realize disagreeably
the nature of the inhabitants. In one night twelve
camp followers are brought in, some of them actu-
ally cut in two. Sentries are found hacked to pieces
at their posts ; horses are stolen from the midst of
the camp, and woe betide the " infidel," whether
Hindoo or Christian, at whom the " true believer"
can with safety to himself get a stroke of his
scimitar. Every night brings its own tale of
murder, and the audacity and the ingenuity
with which the inhabitants steal, form an end-
less topic of conversation and of wonder. The
city is passed, and the whole force is drawn up
opposite the Khyber Pass, which is approached
over a wide-spread bed of shingle, with a fort
standing. before the entrance. The weather has at
times been growing hot, and the rays of the sun at
mid-day are very powerful, for it is May. But
the hot weather seemed suddenly to follow on a
violent thunderstorm, accompanied by a shower of
hailstones, some sufficiently large to kill baggage
ponies.

It is a Sunday in July, and one of the strongest
of the European regiments is drawn up foi church
parade. The place is a garden surrounded on all
ides by a huge mud wall and numerous buildings,
one of which occupies a large space, and is taste-
fully painted and decorated. The ground is covered
with fruit trees, oranges, mulberries, pomegranates,
and intersected with water courses. Not a fourth
of the men who were in the ranks of the regiment
when with the flying column, are now on parade ;
and though the service lasts but twenty minutes
they are falling out from every side of the square,
some fainting, and others too faint to stand. The
atmosphere has that dancing, wavy appearance
which, in colder climates, can only be seen over a
furnace. Bitterly cold as Peshawur is for some
seven months of the year, during five there is said
to be but a piece of brown paper between it and the
infernal regions. The officers get into holes under
ground, where they have a chance of being in some
degree screened from the glare, the roaring heat
parching the whole earth above. Yet as the sun
sets in its blaze of fiery heat, its rays still sparkle on
glistening fields of snow, and the eyes of men, wast-
ing under the influence of the scorching ordeal, are
fastened on the summits of the Hindoo Coocb,
which to them forcibly recalls Moore's line—

"Beholding heaxon and feeling hell."
This is the Wuzeer-bagh, or the Gardens of the
Wuzeer, pretty to look at but death to dwell na•
Mohamet Khan left it in ruins and the abode
of all manner of reptiles. At night to put a
finger on a mud wall is to take the chance
of a contact with a black scorpion. Twenty and
thirty might be seen at once, and one fears
to touch any object without a careful examination.
The air is alive with wasps and musical with mos-
quitoes, and as he who rode but a short distance into
the country does so at the imminent risk of his
life, the first residence of the troops at Peshawur
is far from being a delightful episode to any
of them. A great cantonment now lies between
the city and the Pass massed in a square, with
guards around and every foot the beat of a sentry or
the path of a patrol, for the Affghan knife is still
the silent messenger of death, and hill robbers even
to this hour, in spite of guards, patrols, and sentries,
steal horses from the stable and gallop under a
fusillade from the station. The country, so pain-
fully traversed by the flying column, is now the line
of a splendid military road planned and formed by
Sir Robert Napier, the engineer General who haS
just made himself famous in Abyssinia, and even
the track for a railroad has been surveyed. But
the ground is to the last degree difficult for the
operation of armies, the plains of India only com-
mencing from the Jhelum. Six great rivers have
to be crossed ere the left bank of the Sutlej
gained, and although the climate for six months is
splendid, for the other six perhaps nowhere else 10
the heat more intense. Alexander the Great, when
be penetrated to the Chunab, made the mistake of
attempting to retrace his steps through Beloochis-
tan, and lost his army in the .arid deserts. There
is no other path to India but by the Khyber and
the Bholan, and all conquerors have passed at
Attock. Those who imagine that when the ItuS-
man army debouch from the hills at the Peshawur
end of the Khyber Pass they enter upon the plains
of India are greatly mistaken. They come from 3
more difficult to a less difficult country. They
penetrate through tremendous ranges and narrov.l
gorges into minor ranges and lesser gorges, until
they get into the Doab between the Jhelum and the
Chenab, where the Seikhs fought the last campaign
against the British. There is but one road to guard+,
one line of country to occupy. The attention o!
the General cannot be diverted from the spot c!1
vital importance by any manoeuvre, nor can 131
flank be turned. No troops can get on this line of
communication except as mere bands of robbers+
for the country cannot be penetrated to the right
or to the left by any regular force. It may have
been a mistake to have occupied Peshawur, and
doubtless the Valley would have been restored to
the Affghans from whom the Seikhs had wrenched
it had it not been that Dost Mahomet aided them
their last campaign against British India.
Beyond the Jhelum the country is worthless, and
at any rate the Indus ought to be the utmost
boundary. Now the great battle must, we pre-,
sume, if it has to be fought, be fought in Peshawur •
but the post is already too far advanced without
multiplying the difficulties indefinitely by the °cow
pation of Cabool, Candahar, and Herat.

The Hungarian Diet is about to have laid before
it a marriage bill similar to that just passed in Aus-
tria. The Liberal and irreligious party at Pesti"'
entertain little doubt that the measure will pass, but
the clergy are organising an active opposition to it,
which there is good reason to believe will succeed
in defeating it.