The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-07 00:00:00

THE BRITISH WORKMEN AT THE PARIS
EXHIBITION.

A soiree was held yesterday evening at the Cavendish
Rooms, Mortimer-street, under the presidency of Mr.
Cole, of the South Kensington Museum. The object was
the presentation of an address to Mr. H. Pratt, the vice-
president of the Paris Excursion Committee, from the
workmen and others who had availed themselves of the
arrangements of the committee for the purpose of a visit
to the Paris Exhibition. Besides the chairman, there
were present Mr. H. Pratt, Messrs. H. and C. Hoare,
Patteson, Oliver, Howell, Haselden, &c. The address
bore 1,000 signatures, of which 108 were from the factory
of Messrs. Broadwood, and 120 signatures from Yorkshire
also testified approbation of the address, which was pre-
sented in a handsome album. The address recounted the
difficulties which the committee had had to encounter, all
of which were surmounted mainly through the exertions of
Mr. Pratt. It concluded with a warm expression of thanks
to that gentleman
The address, having detailed the history of the Paris
Excursion Committee and the labours of Pratt,
pi-Jen:led to state that the committee had caused the
erection of a series of wooden houses close to the Exhi-
>ition, for accommodation in which, together with the fare
from London and back, 30s. was charged to the workmen,
103. more to be paid for a second week. Under the aus-
pices of the committee the artisans visited several French
factories, in all of which they were treated with the
utmost courtesy and hospitality. The total number of
factories visited was 050, and of the British artisans
visiting, 700. The total number of British workmen who
visited Paris was 3,200. A guarantee fund had been esta-
blished for the purposes of the committee, and it would
be necessary to call on the guarantors for a small quota
towards the expenses. The address concluded with an
expression of thanks to Mr. Henry Hoare for having ad-
vanced £4OO for the purposes of the committee.
The CHAIRMAN made a few observations on the advan-
tages which this country had derived from the visit of the
British workmen to Paris. He had been taunted, he said,
for having put the country to an expense of £lOO,OOO for
the Paris Exhibition, but he contended that if that money
had had no other return but this visit of the workmen to
Paris the money would have been exceedingly well spent.
That visit had opened their eyes to the immense advance
which was being made by continental workmen in all the
useful arts. In conclusion, he called upon the meeting to
endorse the committee's address to Mr. Pratt.

Mr. HOWARD seconded the address, and bore warm tes-
timony to the advantages which he amongst other English
working men had derived from the labours of the Excur-
sion Committee. He should preserve as long as he lived
pleasant recollections of his visit to Paris. He had learnt
there that they had much to learn from the French work-
men. The Frenchman went all for beauty, the English.
man for solidity, and each had therefore something to
learn from the other. He believed that the Peace Society
could not have desired any better precaution against war
than the visit of the British workmen to Paris. (Cheers.)
Mr. HERBERT supported the address, which was pre-
sented to Mr. Pratt. That gentleman returned thanks,
and expressed his acknowledgments to Mr. Henry Hoare
and his friends for the guarantee fund, without which
the objects of the committee could never have open came,
out.

SAVAGE ATTACK ON A MAGISTRATE. —A corre-
spondent of Saunders's News Letter has brought to light a
murderous attack made on Colonel Forbes, a magistrate
of the county of Galway, at his residence, Etusheen Carna,
by a man with his face blackened and otherwise disguised.
Colonel Forbes lies in a precarious state. His residence is
about fifty miles from the town of Galway, in a very
lonely part of the country. Colonel Forbes's housekeeper
was thrown downstairs by the perpetrator of the outrage,
and considerably hurt.
DEATH ON THE SCOTCH HtLLg.—James Cheyne,
an old man belonging to Sandness, lost his life on the hills
between Walls and Sandness a few days ago. It seems he
had left home to meet a son whom ho was expecting to
return from Lunnasting with some sheep, and after pro-
ceeding seven or eight miles without meeting him he
turned back, and was last seen at Broadster, on the east
side of Walls. Two days were spent in searching for the
body of the old man, as it was feared that he must have
perished owing to the severity of the weather, and on
Monday the body was found in a burn which he had been
unable to cross. His son returned only a short time after
the body of his father had been carried in. There are
about six or seven miles of mossy hills between Walls and
Sandness, and not a single house in sight all the way ;
there is no road, and several utrsons have lost their lives
in the trackless waste.
SUSPECTED MURDER OF .kli• ENGINE DRIVER AT
PENSIIER.—Four pitmen have been apprehended at Pen-
sher, in Durham, charged with being concerned in the
death of Thomas Walker, an engine-driver on the Lamb-
ton coal line. It appears that Walker on New Year's
night was at a supper held in the Ship Inn. The four pri-
soners were all in the house, and in the course of the night
a quarrel arose between them and another man. Walker
went into the room and sat down on the end of the table
in the centre, when Kirtley felled him with his fist to the
floor. The prisoners suddenly disappeared, and on Friday
morning, while Mr. Thomas Humphrey, the parish con-
Stable, was crossing a field, he heard what he thought to be
the groans of a man, and on looking down a quarry saw
the body of a man lying at the bottom. He descended,
and found Walker lying in a state of insensibility. He
lingered on and died about ten o'clock on Friday night. It
is not exactly known how the deceased has met his death.
By some it is thought that he has met with foul play ; and
by others that he has fallen irk the ,;ua,rry in the dark.—
Northern Daily Express.

VIOLENT DEATHS OF 1 ,ANERICAN REPRE-
SENTATIVES.—Two of the members of the House of Repre-
sentatives of the Fortieth Congress have come to a violent
end. Hon. Elijah Hise, of Kentucky, shot out his brains
because, as ho declared in a note found on his body, he
could not bear to look upon the destruction of the Ame-
rican Republic. On Sunday the Hon. C. T. Hamilton,
representing the Eighth District of Ohio, was killed by a
son said to be insane. Mr. Hamilton was engaged in
feeding his cattle when his son approached from behind
and struck him a violent blow with a piece of planking.
The blow took effect upon the head, and the victim fell
dead to the ground. The maniac seized an axe and ran
towards his mother to kill her, but she escaped ; he then
attacked his younger brother, wounding him severely.
After killing his father the young man covered up the body
with cornstalks. A significant commentary is this, made
by the telegraph : " Mr. Hamilton was elected in October,
1866. Aspirants are already named as eager for the suc-
cession." Mr. Hamilton had intended to take his ion to
an asylum for lunatics. He was a member of the Repub-
lican party.
PROPOSED ANTI-FENIAN DEMONSTRATION. --A
crowded meeting of the members of the Metropolitan
Working Men's Conservative Association has been held
for the purpose of making arrangements for the proposed
anti-Fenian demonstration. Mr. Jonas presided. Mr. Digby
Seymour, Q.C., Mr. Kimber, Mr. C. J. Murray, Mr.
Townshend Mayor, Mr. Nasmyth, and others were present.
The chairman said it had been considered by some people
that the proposed meeting should not have been convened
by a political association, but, as no one felt inclined to take
the initiative, the association thought it their duty to take
the first step, and they were most anxious that parties of
all shades of political opinion should co-operate with them.
Mr. Jarvis (the secretary) read a letter from the Duke of
Northumberland, stating that he should have very great
pleasure in presiding and taking part in the proposed
meeting on Thursday next. A discussion ensued as to the
time and place of the proposed demonstration, and it was
suggested that the meeting should be held in Exeter Hall
within a week or a fortnight. Mr. Digby Seymour moved,
" That the proposed anti-Fenian demonstration be deferred
until after the meeting of loyal Irishmen." The motion
was carried, a vote of thanks was passed to the chairman,
and the meeting was adjourned.

ROMAN CATHOLICISM IN GREAT BRITAIN. —The
Cath,o!;c Directory for 1868, just issued permissu superiorum,
gives some details in reference to the present position of
the Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain. There ap-
Pears to be a considerable increase in the Catholic clergy,
churches, chapels, convents, and monasteries since last
year. The total number of Catholic bishops is the same—
namely, one archbishop and 12 bishops (besides three re-
tired bishops) in England, and four bishops in Scotland.
The number of priests in Great Britain amounts to 1,639,
against 1,608 last year; the number of churches and
chapels is 1,283, against 1,207 when the last Direct ry was
published. The convents of women are now 227 in
number, whereas last year they were 220, and the monas-
teries number 67, against 63 last year. Total increase, 31
priests, 76 churches and chapels, 7 convents of women,
and 4 monasteries of men. Of the 76 churches and
chapels, which are more this year than last, about a dozen
are private chapels of convents and of various individuals.
Of the four increase in the number of monasteries, three
are merely houses in which two or three of the regular
clergy dwell together for missionary work ; the fourth is
the new Dominican Priory at Haverstock-hill. In the
convents, or religious houses of women, the increase has
been very great during the last few years, but it has been
altogether, or with very few exceptions, among the non-
cloistered or active orders, such as Sisters of Charity,
Sisters of Mercy, and the like. The cloistered or contem-
plative orders hardly seem to increase at all, or very
slightly, in this country. The number of colleges and
large preparatory schools is 21. Of the 227 convents up-
wards of 200 are for the education of girls, either rich,
poor, 4r middle class,