OUR LONDON LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 3960, 3 November 1875, Page 3

OUR LONDON LETTER.

(Concluded.) London, Peptenrb r 6. The great event of the month, a;.d the one on which the eyes of all F'hirope i- fastened, ia the spread of t'ue im-nm-chion in Herzegovina. Those who know what Turks themselveß end'ire from their government may form :-.ome idea, perhapi, of what Christians have to put up wi hj. Added to the rapacity and ciuolty of p-shaa who-;e employment ia to extort the l,v,t fa.'thing practicable, there ia tho hatred of race and reli-Jon ;• Hub wonder, ti en, that the Iletz.-;-..'ovi."i ns hiv. at laVc been stum.; to rebellion. I'hu situation is a *'ory c .medicate I "n;\ In point of me-.: numbers the r-.-b- y do riot amount t•: mu.li ; but then the oo nlry i. ;■ very diffi-.'it-i' o c, and the ■ or.- h.,ri! to get at. ;'e:idi:s the populations -..f .-;•■■'. i:i, Monteengm, r.nd ot'ier feudatorj- .tate-. of Turkey sym/atbisj with the: rub;- 1 ion, their i-uf.rj to r!ee!:ire their ind neo and joiu th rebrla. For the pre t n". reroaine nomiria'y neutral, but in init posi tion she is encbied lo refuao the , a-.save of Turkish troopa through her terii y, whiclis a great advantage to the V-ciz jjjv'vn ma. Until a few day.- ai.,o the rebels wn ; b. aiet'ing Trebnj«," tho would have enaukd them to bre.i «t >; peil the of r J'urkißh troop? fr i th-''sea-board. In this attempt, how: ver, f cy laiio i, and s'dwqt.u.-nt'y they ■. to th;: mounta'rs '.vere Turkey in t;o'-:l credit it might aid her materially in su,,; • the outbreak but her treasury is bo; .lis'y ineolvent For tlio pre-.ent Austr ;i, Sat sh, and Germany coueut with ourselvot) in endeavoring to prevent the matrer eveiopir.,/ into a iiuropean war. Kussia n\A Austria watch each other with jealous eyea, aud

each feeling unprepared to clutch the coveted prize, each wishes to postpone the day when it will fall. Germany has enough on her hands in battling the Ultramontane*, and, besides preferring peace for its own sake, does not wish to be mixed up in a fight which rn'ght give to France the opportunity for revenge. An for us we havo icasous enough fo" desiring the maintenance of peace, but all our sympathy with Turkey is dcv.'d and buried. She has been offered opporiunities of amendment, but has net shown the smallest symptom of profiting by them. The onl/ sentiment now manifested towards her ia one of disgust, as being a barbarous, brutal, and stupid despotism. Ever since the Crimean wardhj Porte has been getting deeper into the mire of indebtedness, and now owes something like a hundred and fifty millions sterling. This has been borrowed largely on the specious plea of "reproductive works •' and so forth ; but the bulk of it has gone to purchase a set of costly and ur.Oess ironclads, and to minister to the pleasures of the Sultan's seraglio. The case of the country has become hopeless, and though it i? impossible to forsee tho time or manner of the expulsion of the Turk from Europe, its certainty is no longer doubtful. Out he must go, whether by the gradual breaking away of his provinces and their becoming independent States, or by more immediate process The " Eastern question" is now once more on tho ground, and your readers may judge with what interest it will be watched by ? nqlish statesmen. Doubtless every effort will be made to keep out ef war, for when oace one is started none can foresee its rosult, and it is this consideration that makes the three Emperors so anxious to avoid intervention. Your readers may perhaps remember that a few months ago an attempt was made by some I'oman Catholics to revive the mediaaval praties cf pilgrimage*. Instead, however, of performing the journey barefooted, or with peas in thair boot», exposed to the weather, or waddling on their knees to the tomb of some saint, these modern imitators performed their so-called " pilgrimage" in commodious nrstclass carriages, stayed at hotels supplied with eveiy comfort, and, iedeed, under the guise of a pious purpose, treated themselves to a very enjoyable excureion and change of air. Such an absurd aping of medieval customs | occasioned naturally a good deal of amuse- [ ment, but, presuming that the "pilgrims " did not mind being laughed at, they were probably none the worse. A " pilgrimage " has, however, been started iu Germany which embodies rather more element, of folly than could easily have been conceived. At Lourdes, in France, is the shrine of somo saint or other, who is supposed to be peculiarly interested in the well-being of that country. He or she ii supposed to look after its prosperity, and promote it by such means aa saints may have at their disposal It ia to this quarter accordingly that the French addres-s their prayers f*r revenge, *c. It may tbereforo lie readily understood with what feelings Germany views the intention of her children to make theßaid pilgrimage. It is regarded in no other light than n.n open and direct expression of sympathy with the hereditary foo of Germany, and a wish that that foe may be successful in her next attack. If the "pilgrims" were bent on nothing j -more than such fooling as their English ' brethren, they might have accomplished i their object without going out of Germany, j a country which possesses a goodly supply of j saints of domestic manufacture. As the j "pilgrims " do not dare to in Germany j they have appointed Mons in Belgium, aa ; their starting point, thus preparing anicelittle | difficulty fo • the Government of that country < should it think fit to allow the in:ended ! manifestation to take place in its territory, i J! course the Germ-nn Press is tierce with ' indignation, some journals urging i:ho do- i vo nment to v\ ov, the " pilgrim?" t-i leave, ' but to prohibit their return. T in far. ; however, the Government his manif- ste i no ; inclination to take: ac:ion, but wc may b-„ sure that il is carefully noting (lovai t:ie ; names of tho>e who thus e-perd, proclaim them.elves traitors and enemies to their country. That the Ultramontane party ' shotdd have made such a mistake as to bet j on foot this demonstration is, perhaps a ; little singula -. it may be remembered : with what fi rco energy, about a year aco, i l'rinco Bismarck denounced the "insidious : policy of Kome, declaring thut tho awful , war o" 1870 was her work, that it was h.«r i influence which turned the scale and caused the vacillating Emperor to rush into war. Sirce then, he said, Rome had been the lif-.* and soul of reaction. All her efforts had been directed towards the dismemberment of Germany, and to sapping the allegiance of German Catholics. Proofs of these assertions the Prince did not stop to supply. Perhaps he deemed the facts to-- notorious to need any. 1 ut v/hat Bismarck disdained to furnish is now abundantly supplied by the cone action of this .Lourdes pilgrimage ; which is admittedly the work of the Ultramontane faction. Anything more directly calculated to strengthen the hands of Bismarck it i 3 diffbuit to conceive, and whene\er a reason may be desired for justifying stern measures in dealing with the Catholic Church, this "pilgrimage" business will furnish a sufficient excuse. I mentioned in my 1 ist letter the decision given by Sir Robert Phiilimore in the celebrated Keet case, in which he upheld the clergyman in his refusal to sanction the title of " Reverend" to a Wesleyan minister on a tombstone. Since then the case ha-i made no far.her progress ; but another equally interesting has cropped up, another clergyman of the Church of England having refused permission to allow the erection of any tombstone unless it bore a cross upon it ! L A s I write this, the news has come in of the sinking of the Vanguard, one of tho finest ircnelada in the Royal navy. Four of these magnificent vessels had been visiting Kingstown, and were steaming southward about twenty five miles from Dublin Bay, when tbey were overtaken by a fog. which completely concealed them from each ot*er. The Vanguard is said to have been steaming at the rate of about seven miles an hour, when a large tabiug vessel w«s descried ahead. The_ he'm was immediately starboarded, causing tho Vanguard to turn to the left in a direction approaching a light angle to her ori.m 1 course. in this p-isilion tlrj bowsprit; of the Iron Duke was suddenly seen on the. port or left lrmd side, and the iv.-x' instant the mighty ironclad crashed into ;;ei sister hhip, striking her 4ft below the. wator-line with tremendous force. Wi'bout a moment's 10-a of tiin.u the buk-hcads of the Vanguard wen :,huf down, but no terrible was the blow that . water kept pouring in, and 'he only resu'-t oi the c .meartmeut.i wu3 to t\An\ tho inevitable catastrophe. By this means'', however, an invaluable fifty mii.utes \wv gained, which enabled tho entire cr..\v to be taken eff in safety, oo far uj disuipimo wan concerned, the accident nothii g : tit: ■ ho more satisfactory or m,vre magnificent. ''■ he captain of the Vangu ird stood < n the bridge of his ship and crlied out to the men that if Ih'-.y obeyed orders all would •>(■ s:wed, but that if tbey broke discipline all might be lost. Bis caution, however, wise a-i it was, sterns to have b en scarcely needed. The men ranged themselves in their places, and none ttiirccl or spoke without orders. t'o its from both vessels were svvdtly lower d, and the whole shi.Vs company taken on board the Iron i'uk*. without any further mishap than an injury to a man's hand who got it crushed between a boAt and the side of one of the vessels.

Thug far, there is room for some congratulation. With the terrible fate of the Cap tain in our recollection, which sank to the bottom with 500 brave fellows, it is something to be thankful for that no similar catastrophe befel the crew of the Vanguard. But there remains to be digested the loss of the ship. The Vanguard was one of the. finest ironclads afloat. She was of 6,(00 ton?, had engines of 5,H12 horse-power, and carried ten guns of twelvs tons each. She could sail as we'd as steam, and at a push ion!d go at the rate ot fourteen miles an hour. Her cost is set down at i : ".00,000. At present it wou-d bo out of place to pr. judge the ciust-a of the accident, but wo may take nolo of some things we are to'.d, and of tome we are uot told, The ships, we are informed were j.iroc3edi'ig at the rate of thirteen knots an hour. T\ow it has been held thvt in a fog it is the duty of a steamship to g > as slo.viy as is compatible with having steerage w:y, and to stop and anchor as suon as a safe anchorage can be found. iu the Baltic five miles an hour has baai deemed an unlawful rate of speed to be maiutamed during a fog, and in our own courts it has been laid down that a steamer proceeding at moderate I a eed in a fog and hearing a whistle indicating the proximity of another steamer, is bound to reverse her engines and come to a standstill without waiting to discover the whereabouts of the other vessel. By the ordeis in Council, which give effect to the rules agreed upon by the maritiue nations, it is laid down that sailing ships under way during a fog are to i;eep a horn coostant'y sout.ded. Stoj'.m vessels under similar circums ances are to use their whistle?, whilst all vessels at anchor ae to keep riugi'g a bell. Now in the hi counts thus far to hand, we are t»ld that the first indication of the approaching disaster was the jibbooni of the Iron Duke being seen looming towards the Vanguard's side. We have not as yet been told that anything was heard on board either ship, and it wi'l therefore form a most important point for inquiry whether the fog whistles were going. ;he place where the Vanguard sank is in the centre of a much frequented channel, so that the ill-fated vessel must be g--t out of the way. She lies in about 120 ft of water, with her topgallant masts just above its level. Preparations havo been made, we are told, with a view t > raising her. but the hopes of success must be remote | indeed • a similar attempt, or anything approaching it, having never been made.