The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-31 00:00:00

THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

Letters from their special correspondents in Abyssinia
have been published in the morning papers. The latest
date from the camp, near Antalo, is March 8.
The Daily News letter says: " The uniform good health
Of the troops is probp,bly the point on which we should.
most congratulate ourselves in connection with the ex-
pedition ; but next to that the most cheering fact in
its history has been the 'abundance of the supplies
found near Antalo. Captain Shewell, who is the
chief, officer of the commissariat stationed here, and
whose earlier exertions at Zoola have procured
him this post in advance, has either had extraor-
dinary fortune in lighting, upon an exceptionally
fertile district, or else he possesses some magnetic power
of drawing in the produce of the country, which a large
party have always maintained was considerable if we
could only discover the knack of utilising it. The opinion
that the country must be barren because hitherto our
supplies were meagre has also had its advocates, and must
doubtless have been communicated home. My individual
opinion has always been that the resources of the country
were ample for our wants, but that the task of inducing
;t to flow to our camps was not without its difficul-
ties. Great quantities of bread are daily purchased ;
and' 15,2001 b. of flour were bought on the sth. Grain
alone, which- averages about 5,0001 b. per diem, falls
below what we would wish. The ghee obtained suffices for
our consumption, so that except in tea, sugar, ruin, and
rice, the camp is not only self-supporting, but is in the
article of flour making a rapid accumulation of stores. On
the evening, of the 4th there were 300,000 rations of this
last article piled up ; hence, as meat can always be ob-
tained, we have the necessaries of life for 5,000 men for
two months. In smaller points, such as onions and coffee,
the 'commissariat have 'also been tolerably successful in
their purchases."
The same writer furnishes the following incident :
"We are gaining some experience of Abyssinian fires, as
an average of two or three in the twenty-four put in an
appearance. Their origin is variously attributed to the
results of hostility, accident, or a wish on the part of the
farmers to clear and manure the ground, in order to facili-

tate the growth of the young grass. A few days ago the
fire alarm was sounded through camp, and a thick cloud
of smoke, rising a quarter of a mile from our lines, pointed
out the spot at which the efforts of the troops were required.
The 33rd and Artillery, the first with sticks, the latter with
their saddle•covers, ran, without attempting to keep any
order, to the scene. On getting near, two thin lines of
flame, about 400 yards in length, could be distinguished:
the one to the windward of where the grass must have first
been lit, burned very feebly, and was at once got under ;
that to leeward blazed about three feet high, and fought
against its enemies for ten minutes, the infantry
trampling with their feet, or beating with sticks the
kindled herbage, while the gunners smothered it with
their tarpaulins, some of the regimental bheesties (water
carriers) assisting with the contents of their mussocks.
The grass covering a space of about a dozen acres was
consumed. Although the conflagration was but a small
affair, it imparted a useful little lesson, as it shewed how
quickly such fires can arise, and if taken early, to use the
physicians' phrase, how easily they can be stamped out.
The herbage which caught fire, probably from the negli-
gence of a muleteer, had never been thick, and for the last
two weeks was much grazed upon. Had it been as luxu-
riant as it is in many places, and had it had another hour's
start, we could not have extinguished it although we might
have kept it off certain positions."
The Post correspondent is a very frank gentleman, as
will be seen by this extract :—" You will doubtless
eagerly look for the latest news. I.low am Ito give it to
you ? We. live in an atmosphere of lies ! No twoaccounts
from one place ever tally in the smallest degree. The road
is good—the road is bad ; the natives are friendly—they
are quite the reverse ; provisions are abundant—there is
not a morsel of food to be had within fifty miles ; Theodore
is advancing on Magdala—Theodore is retreating to
Tala,nta ; the prisoners have been released—the pri-
soners have been murdered ; Wagshum is 'hasten-
ing to welcome us—Wag,shuni has joined the forces
of the tyrant ; the war will be over in April ; the war
will last two years. These are the promising materials from
which your correspondent has to extracts his facts ;' and
if those facts prove erroneous he is liable to be ' hauled
over the coals' for wilful misrepresentation. Let me be
candid ; the real ' fact' is that we know nothing. Theo-
dore may be close, or 150 miles off ; the remainder of our
march may be easy or impracticable ; the tribes may be
friendly, or implacably hostile, but we know nothing-about
it ; it is j ast as well to tell the truth as to invent theories
concerning our future proceedings which have no founda-
tion."

The Herald correspondent speaks of an order issued to
the effect that the army would he compelled to go forward
without either rum, tea, or sugar:—" Of course everyone is
prepared to make great sacrifices, and to submit to every
hardship which may be absolutely necessary. Every
reduction of kit, the dismissal of the native followers, and
the diminution of carriage, has been received not only
without a murmur, but with actual satisfaction by every-
one. But this order to proceed without tea, rum, or sugar
was received with the gravest dissatisfaction by men and
officers.of all ranks. It was not as a matter of comfort it
was objected to, but as a matter of health. Rum is an
article difficult of carriage and can be dispensed with ;
sugar also might be done without, but tea is, upon a cam-
paign like. this, an absolute necessity if the men are to
have no rum. It is not that the tea is nice, for it cer-
tainly is not ; it is . positively nasty. It bears
no resemblance whatever to the herb we drink in Eng-
land as tea ; at the same time it is an absolute essential.
Were the water good the results might not have been so
disastrous, but it is almost always drawn from stagnant
pools, and is the reverse of wholesome. The privation of
their rum would, therefore, in itself be much felt among
the men. They have all been some years in India, where
rum forms part of a soldier's regular ration. They are
accustomed to its use, and no doubt would feel somewhat
its sudden privation. Had they been troops fresh from
England it would have mattered comparatively little.
Our adjutant-general, Colonel Thesiger, is a total ab-
stainer. Of course his theory is that men are much
better without spirits, and the present will be a great
opportunity for testing the effects of a Maine Law. I
believe, however, that officers and men would give up their
rum and their sugar without a murmur were tea but
allowed them ; but I am sure that bad water alone will lay
up half the troops."

The Cork Katiaince says that the example which
Limerick has set, in protesting against the continuance of
the Established Church, is about to be followed by Cork.
" Arrangements are in progress," it adds, " for holding a
great aggregate Meeting, which shall help to repel the
slander, already so well answered by our neighbours of the
north-west, that the Catholics are contented to wear a
badge of inferiority. In a very short time we hope to
afford our readers fall particulars onthis important subject.
In the.meautime it is considered expedient that an emphatic
expreSsion of Catholic opinion regarding the Establishment
should be.recordee a.s soon as possible, and with that view
petitions will be laid for signature in the various churches
in the diocese."

ESTABLISHED CHURCHES.

None are more opposed than Catholics to the
disestablishment of National Churches, to the
confiscation of property set aside for religious
uses, and to the severance of religion, as em-
bodied in a State Church, from the State.
Catholics have no sympathy with the irreligious
principle of modern society, which aims at
making religion a matter of private concern,
and excludes the Church from taking part in
the public life of nations. The intimate and
cordial union of Church and State is a Catho-
lic principle. Even in non-Catholic nations
the public recognition by the State of a reli-
gion is, according to Catholic views, a condi-
tion of things infinitely superior to the irreli-
gious theories of modern Libeyalism regarding
the relations of religion and politics. Hence
it is out of no sympathy with the " Libera-
tion Society," or with revolutionary Liberalism
that Catholics demand the disestablishment
of the Protestant Church in Ireland. This
demand is in nowise opposed to Catholic prin-
ciples ; if it were we should not find it insisted
upon by the Catholic episcopate of Ireland.
But, putting the weight of authority aside, it
is superabundantly evident that the disestab-
lishment of the Protestant Church in Ireland
is not opposed to Catholic principles.

The Protestant Church is not- the National
Church, but an alien Church, forced upon an
unwilling people. Its existence as an Estab-
lished Church is a violation of justice, and of
the rights of the national conscience. Although
Catholics uphold the principle of Established
Churches they only do so because they believe
the public recognition of religion is pleasing
to God, beneficial to the people, useful to the
Church, and a duty on the part of the State.
But in the case of the Established Church in
Ireland none of these conditions are fulfilled;
on the contrary, they are, every one of them,
violated. Such an act of injustice as the sub-
stitution of an alien Church fot the Church
of the people—not to say of a false religion in
the place of the true—cannot be an act pleasing
to the God of Justice and Truth. Instead of
being beneficial to the people the establish-
ment of Protestantism in Catholic Ireland is
the fruitful source of disaffection and discon-
tent. It is an insult offered in the name of
religion. It is a badge of conquest flaunted
in every parish before the eyes of a sensitive
and high-spirited people. In what its utility
to the nation consists the best friends of the
Establishment would find it difficult to specify.
Since it offends the conscience of the nation its
disestablishment would promote religion, and,
consequently, it is the bounden duty of the
State, in its own interests, and on behalf of
justice and religion, to separate itself from
such an institution. Catholics, therefore, on
their own principles are bound to insist on the
disestablishment by the State of the Protestant
Church in Ireland.

On the other hand it may be argued that
the State on Catholic principles is bound to
endow and establish the Catholic Church as
the National Church of Ireland, and that the
Church is under the correlative obligation of
accepting such a public recognition at the
hands of the State. We would readily agree
to the proposition, provided under the actual
circumstances of Ireland such establishment
or endowment of the Catholic Church would
be for the benefit of religion. If, however, such
relations with the State—owing to abnormal
circumstances—would not promote the salva-
tion of souls, then the general principle of the
Church's acting in co-operation with the State
must be relinquished. But who are the ap-
pointed judges of what is good for religion,
under the actual state of things in Ireland, if
not the Irish Episcopate ? The endowment of
the Church is one of those matters which espe-
cially fall under their jurisdiction.. They are
entitled to pronounce their judgment, and it
is the duty of Catholics to accept and act upon
their decision without afterthought or reserve.
The Irish bishops have unanimously declared
that they would not a ccept any endowment of
the Catholic Church at the hands of the State.
They will not touch any part of the revenues
of the Establishment. After such a decision
it is plainly the duty of Catholics to give no
countenance to any scheme which the State
may propose by way pf endowing the Catholic
Church. What the bishops and the Catholics
of Ireland demand, in the interests of religion
and in the name of justice, is the disestab-
lishment of Protestantism in Catholic Ireland,
and the non-endowment by the State of the
Catholic Church.
We have endeavourpd to show that Catholics
in so acting do not in the least contravene
their own principles, nor countenance in the
slightest the irreligious Liberalism which is
everywhere opposed, under every conceivable
circumstance, to the public endowment of reli-
gion and to the principle of State Churches.
Catholics, on the other hand, maintain that the
endowment of religion is a public duty, and
that the union of a National Church with the
State is the normal condition of things. But
Ireland, according to the unanimous judgment
of the Irish bishops, is an exception to the
general rule. Therefore, without the least
sacrifice of principle, we have the right to
demand the disestablishment of Protestantism
in Ireland, the recognition of the Catholic
religion, and the non-endowment of the Catho-
lic Church.—Westminster Gazette.

THE EAST KENT ELECTION.

Mr. E. Welby Pugin has addressed the
following letter to the chairman of Major Pem-
berton's committee :

is with much regret that I find myself
compelled to decline the honour of forming one of
your committee ; but after the statements made by
your candidate on the Irish question, I have no
alternative but to do so.

Major Pemberton tells us, in his address to the
electors, ".that Fenianism is exceptional and of
foreign growth, and that its existence is no suffi-
cient reason for the absolute overthrow of the
Irish Church, or for immediate action upon ques-
tions which have been suffered to slumber by former
Governments."

Your candidate has evidently learnt to appre-
ciate how soon one precedent creates another, and
that what yesterday was theory, to-day is dogma.
We, however, have yet to learn how example can
justify dangerous procrastination. It is true that
this has been the course adopted by both the Whig
and Tory party, and it has invariably been the policy
of those in power; but it is equally true that the
time has now come to put an end once and for
ever to an anomaly, which is equally a gross in-
justice to the Irish, a scandal in the eyes of the
world, and a disgrace—not to say the chief cause
of weakness—to our country.

Major• Pemberton knows full well that subter-
fuge regarding the Irish Church is not only a
tower of strength to' him—among many of the
landed gentry and agricultural classes-but is also
the sharpest instrument of discomfort to his adver•
caries. Subterfuge, however, cannot save that
which is doomed, and I would urge •upon my fellow
electors that we should not lose the opportunity
of earning our share of credit by doing our utmost
to have accorded to others a fair portion of the
liberty which we ourselves enjoy.
It is folly to expect equal loyalty where justice
is unequally administered. It is still greater folly
to talk of Fenianism as " exceptionsl and of
foreign growth." It may be that discontent in the
form of Fenianism is so; but this does not explain
away the fact that five millions of people are discon-
tented to 'the heart's core.

I do not pretend to say that there is any possi-
bility of satisfying the demands of those misguided
men, the leaders of the Fenian movement ; but I
do say that it would be not only possible, but easy,
by a very moderate measure of justice, to make
the mass of the population of Ireland so loyal
that the success of any anti-social movement would
be morally impossible.
How can we look to find loyalty in a country
where a vast proportion of the inhabitants- are in
a state little better than serfdom ? How can we