The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-11 00:00:00

will have to be done before judges.
The budget of election stories seems inexhaustible. I
am afraid to weary your readers, but the following are
incidents worth relating. At Bolton, Mr. Samuel Pope,
one of the Liberal candidates, thought that he would
endeavour to raise the tone of electioneering by imparting
a little useful information to the electors. So, having
devoted his first speech to the usual personal matters,
he discussed in his second the principle of taxa-
tion. He had not gone far when a lusty Lan-
cashire man standing just before him bawled out "Drop
that, and pitch into Billy Gray "—" Billy Gray" standing
for Colonel Gray, the Conservative candidate. This was
rather discomposing, and so Mr. Pope had to give up the
attempt to educate the constituency. At Dewsbury two
Liberals opposed each other. Not the less did party feeling
pervade the new constituency. It prevailed to such an
extent that even the butchers arrayed themselves under the
banner of Cossham or that of Simon, and called their joints
after the rival candidates. On one occasion a woman
went into a butcher's shop to purchase a pig's head.
Being uncertain of the meatman's politics, she asked " Is
that a Simon head ?" "No;it is a Cossham head," was
the reply. "But I want a Simon head," rejoined the
woman, and she was on the point of leaving the shop,
when the butcher stopped her, and said, " Iwill soon make
it a Simon head," and scooping out the brains, sarcastically
presented the brainless cranium to the ardent female
politician.
Rarely have laymen or Churchmen witnessed such a
scene as that which took place at Freemasons' Tavern
on Tuesday. About 1,500 persons, of whom ten to
one were clerics, managed to find their way in, but a large
number could not get beyond the staircase, some not so
far as this, and these wisely paired off and went away
The others made a great uproar, and vainly endeavoured
to force an entrance. But as two bodies cannot occupy
the same space at the same time, these efforts were
ineffectual except to squeeze the happy (or unhappy)
occupants, into a most unclerical state of deshabille. A
barrier had been erected on the stairs, and at this place
everyone was required to spew his circular before he could
pass on. Reporters were admitted for the first time.
The word " Colenso " seemed to arouse the audience to
frenzy, especially if the word " Bishop" preceded it. The
reception given to Canon Miller was simply disgraceful,
and if it had not been for Archbishop Thomson's firmness
and threat to dissolve the meeting, the vicar of Greenwich
would have been unable to obtain a hearing. The result
of the ballot took everyone by surprise, especially as the
show of hands was largely the other way. When the
result was made known, Archdeacon Denison and his
friends charged the platform in the endeavour to get the
vote set aside. Altogether it was a scene that quiet
country clergymen will remember for many a year.
There is a great feud going on just now in the English
Church Union. The Conservative members complain
bitterly that the president, Mr. Wood, took an active
part in the county elections in Yorkshire. Mr. Wood and
his friends claim that he bad a perfect right to do so.
The Union, no doubt, is politically a neutral body, but the
members of the Union do not surrender their rights as
citizens. They vote, whether for Liberals or Conservatives,
as individual electors, not as members of the. Union.
However; the Conservative party are by no means
appeased, and it is not unlikely that the society will
witness a large secession.
" Reform Tree " in Hyde Park has had a narrow escape
this week. During the frightful gale which visited London
on Sunday night, the tree next to the Reform Leaguers'
tryst had a large portion sliced off by the wind. "Reform
Tree "is of greater girth than the other, but it is very
venerable, and, whenever the wind blows strong, Mr.
Beales, M.A., should petition YEolus to " spare that tree."
The Echo has at last made its appearance, and a very
creditable one•it is. The delay which has taken place
arose through the difficulty of working the printing
machines. They are of French construction, and it became
necessary to send for some machine-men in Paris to make
the apparatus work. They declined to come unless they
were paid a handsome amount per diem, and having been
promised this, were in no hurry to complete the job. But
at length all difficulties have been surmounted,. and the
new halfpenny journal- is now being thrust upon street-
passers by an army of boys dressed up in uniform. Clearly
the publishers mean to succeed. They have spared. no
expense in advertising and bringing their paper before the
public notice. In this respect they have adopted a very
different course from the proprietors of the Morning
Summary, which was started about three weeks ago. These
neither advertised nor pushed, and the consequence is
that the new Conservative organ died in a fortnight. The
new Liberal organ will certainly have a longer life than
that.
Many of your readers will be interested in the play at
the meeting of the British Chess Association. The pre-
liminary meeting, presided over by Lord Lyttelton, was
held on the 23rd of November, and since then the play in the
various tournaments has been carried at the various London
clubs, and at St. James's Hall. For the grand challenge
cup several of the competitors have finished, but as some
of the rest have not well begun, it is impossible at present
to predict the issue. The clerical competitors, who at one
time looked so formidable, have come to grief,
without' exception. The Rev. G. Owen, of Cheshire,
who won six games in succession, followed this
feat by losing four, and has no chance of success. The
Rev. G. A. Macdonald, one of the strongest amateurs
in Europe, has been thrown out of all the tournaments,
and so has the Rev. Mr. Newham, a noted provincial,
The game between the Rev. G. Owen and the Rev. A. B.
Shipworth was a case of Greek against Greek. It lasted
thirteen hours, and so exhausted both competitors that
neither has won a game since. The highest scorers for the
challenge cup at present are Mr. Blackburne, who has
won five games and lost none, and Mr. Wisker, of
Hull, who has won four and lost one. Sir John Trelawny,
who made such a gallant fight when the cup was competed
for on the last occasion, has not entered the lists
this time, though the association still has his support. The
Newcastle amateur, Mr. Duffy, does not play for the cup,
but he took part in a consulation game at St. James's
Hall, in which the Rev. G. A. Macdonald, Messrs. Duffy and
Ewart played against Messrs. Blackburne, Stewart, and
Wisker. The latter trio won. On Friday evening there
WRSa match by telegraph between London and Bristol,
and a display of blindfold play-
Two new clubs are about to be established : one to be
called the " Ladies' Club," at Newman-street, Oxford-
street, which owes its existence chiefly to the energy of the
Countess of Portsmouth ; and the other a debating society
for the Inns of Court, similar to the Oxford and Cambridge
Unions.
I have before now called attention to the absurd rigour
of the examinations at London University. This strict.
ness has been again manifested during the last few days.
At the examination for doctor of medicine only seven
passed out of fourteen candidates who originally entered
their names. This, be it remembered, was not an honours
examination, which, of course, may be made as hard as
the examiners like, but a pass examination. So, too,
with regard to the doctorship of literature ; it is so
extravagantly rigorous that not more than two persons
hold that degree.
Literary news is wonderfully scanty for this usually