The Sun. — London, England, 1870-05-11 00:00:00

WAR OFFICE BILL. Their lordships, on the motion of Lord NORTHBROOK went into Committee on this bill, and Earl Grey moved an amendment to the second clause. The original proposition was that the person appointed to the surveyor-generalship of the Ordnance should vacate his seat ; but the Financial Secretary was not required to do so ; he confessed he could not understand such an arrangement. He therefore moved an amendment to assimilate the regulations with respect to the two offices, so that neither of the persons would be required to give up their seats on appointment. Earl GRANVILLE thought that as the matter was one that concerned the House of Commons, it would be as well if their lordships left the matter in the hands of that House. Earl GREY said he could not understand such a line of argument, and therefore he should press his amendment. Their lordships then divided, when the amendment was carried by a majority of 5, the numbers being for the amendment, 33 ; against it, 28. The remainder of the clauses were agreed to without amendment, and the bill passed through committee, and was reported. MEDICAL ACT (1858) AMENDMENT BILL. This bill went through committee pro forma, in order to enable Earl de Grey to introduce amendments to meet certain objections that had been raised against the bill. The re-commital of the bill was arranged to take place the first sitting after the Whitsuntide holidays. INVERNESS COUNTY, &c., BOUNDARIES j BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. Their lordships then adjourned at ten minutes to six. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—TUESDAY. The Speaker took the chair at five minutes before four o'clock. EAST INDIA RAILWAYS. Sir CHARLES WINGFIELD moved an address for a return exhibiting the amount sanctioned for the home establish ments of the different guaranteed railway companies in India, and the manner of its disbursement ; distinguish ing the sum allowed to the board of directors and the sums paid to the mannging directors, secretary, consulting engineer, and auditors, and fGr the office establishment ; together with the amount of capital and revenue at the respective periods of 1859 and 1869. The motion was agreed to. ILLEGAL LOTTERIES. Mr. CHARLEY gave notice that on the 7th of June he should move the following resolution :—" That the power claimed and exercised by the Home Secretary countenancing illegal lotteries on the ground of the goodness of their objects, after having warned the promo ters of their illegality, is unsound in principle, unsatisfae tory in practice, and ought to be withdrawn." PENSIONS. Mr. MONK asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there was any objection to the provisions of the Pensions Commutation Act (1869), being extended to the Civil Service generally. Mr. STANSFELD said the action of the Pensions Com mutation Act had been purposely limited, and the Govern- ment were not at the present moment prepared to say that it would be advisable to extend it to the Civil Service. LIGHT DUES. Mr. GRAVES asked the Secretary to the Board of Trade whether it was true that the Board of Trade had decided on reducing the "light dues" now levied on shipping ; and, if so, if he would state the extent and nature of the proposed reduction. Mr. LEFEVRE said in consequence of the flourishing condition of the Mercantile Marine Fund it was proposed to make a reduction in the light dues. The reductions would come into operation on the Ist of October next, and the proposed alteration of the rates would not affect the expenditure for new works. THE NAWAB OF BENGAL. Mr. HAVILAND-BURKE asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the memorial of the Nawab Nazim, dated the 28th of July 1869, and forwarded by the Secretary of State in Council to the Governor-General of India on the 28th October following, was received by the Governer-General earlier than the month of March 1870, and if earlier, at what date. Mr. GRANT DUFF was understood to say there hadbeen some delay in this matter, but that it had arisen through the papers getting mislaid. THREATENING AT MANCHESTER. Mr. GILPIN asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention had been called to a state ment in the Times newspaper that a manufacturer at Manchester was unable to sleep in his own house, or to let it be publicly known where he resided, for fear of outrage on the part of workmen of a trades union ; that the said gentleman bad been refused the protection of the Man chester police except on the payment of Bd. per hour for each man ; and if he could state if such report be correct, and, if so, if the Government intended to take any steps to put a stop to such a state of things, Mr. BRUCE said he had read the report referred to, but he could not say whether it was correct or not. He was now in communication with the local magistrates on the subject, and he had, on the part of the Government, offered a reward of £lOO and a free pardon to any person giving information that would lead to the dis covery of the perpetrators of the outrage on Mr. Johnson. The local authorities, he thought, had power to deal with ordinary cases, and where additional strength was required, they could send for troops. He had received no complaints that the local authorities said the police had not done their duty. EMIGRATION. Sir JAMES LAWRENCE asked the Secretary of the Admi ralty whether he could state the number of applications received from workmen discharged from the dockyards for passages for themselves and families in the troop ships about to proceed to Canada, and when the troop ships Tamar and Crocodile would sail. Mr. CHILDERS said the number connected with the dockyards was 445 souls ; but there were others from the Arsenal at Woolwich and the War Office, over which the Admiralty had no control. The Tamar would sail on the Ist June, and the Crocodile on the 7th. THE PLOVER AND VENEZUELAN. Mr. EUSTACE SMITH asked the Secretary to the Admi ralty whether the statement in the Times of the 9th inst., on the authority of the Liverpool Albion, is correct that Her Majesty's ship Plover fell in with the steamship Venezuelan in want of assistance, and that the captain of the Plover refused to enter into any agreement with regard to remuneration for the services required, and abandoned the Venezuelan to her fate. Mr. CHILDERS said he had received information on the subject, but the captain of the Plover would be commu nicated with through the commander of the station. SOUTH KENSINGTON. Sir JOHN PAKINGTON asked the First Lord of the Treasury how soon that part of the new buildings at South Kensington to be appropriated to the Royal School of Naval Architecture was likely to be completed and roofed in. Mr. GLADSTONE said the money for the building at South Kensington was limited to the present year, and his friend the First Commissioner of Works was engaged in considering what was the best application to make of the money. The right hon. baronet was perfectly accurate in stating that the materials to a considerable extent were lying on the ground at South Kensington, and they were no doubt likely to become deteriorated by long exposure to the weather. His right hon. friend was quite sensible of the fact, and would take the most desirable measure. THE GREEK MURDERERS. Mr. A. HERBERT asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if the G-oveenment would think it right to take steps to obtain the postponement of the execution of any brigands now in prison in Athens until such an investigation had been held of the circumstances connected with the late massacre of captives as may be considered satisfactory by the Government. Mr. OTWAY assured the hon. gentleman that her Ma jesty's Government fully appreciated the interest and anxiety he had shewn in the matter, and desired that the investigation into all these lamentable circumstances should be as complete as possible, and with that view they had sent a telegraphic communication to Mr. Erskine empowering him to obtain the best legal assist ance he could possibly procure. The Secretary of State had also sent a telegraphic communication in almost the words of the hon. gentleman's question. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS.--:-TuEsDAY. The Lord Chancellor took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. SECOND READINGS. The London, and Blackwall, and Millwall Extension Railway, Newport Pagnell Railway, and Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Bills were read a second time. THIRD READINGS, The Great Eastern Railway (General Powers), Paisley Gas, and Fosdyke Bridge Bills were read a third time and passed, THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1870. of England to elevate and civilise those nations with whom it came in contact ; but instead of that we had afflicted China with the greatest possible evils, and in his opinion, " according to the doctrine of retributive Provi dence, and those principles of justice and right, would suffer as a nation." Mr. C. B. DENISON said that eight millions sterling of the revenue of India was derived from opium. What would be the result, he asked, if they cut off so large a portion of revenue ? In the words of a previous speaker, they must remember that if they took a high moral view view of the question they must be prepared to suppress entirely the cultivation of opium. Not only would the revenue suffer in the extreme, but the trade of England, India, and China would become disorganised. He urged all those who had the interests of the three countries at heart to pause ere they voted for the motion. He believed that the loss of so much revenue would lead to the stop page of public works in India. Mr. W. FOWLER remarked that if the House were con vinced that the action of the Government was wrong they ought to stop it, and let the trade of the country take care of itself. He believed that they would not be able to go on spending £6,000,000 on public works if they were suddenly to lose the revenue from opium ; but never theless he hoped that the House would by an emphatic vote declare that it would not sanction what it believed to be wrong for the sake of money or trade. Mr. MONTAGUE CHAMBERS supported the motion in a very cordial manner, and declared that the Chinese Go vernment had remonstrated with England on the subject of the opium trade, and we actually had had a war with China in consequence. He hoped the House would say by resolution that the British nation did not countenance the cultivation of opium. Mr. GRANT-DUFF said the member for Carlisle asked them to take one of the gravest steps they could with re ference to our position in Asia. He did not know whether the hon. member himself was aware of the tre mendous character of the proposition which he had sub mitted. He was very sure, and some of his supporters were not. The Indian opium during the five years the ac counts had been laid before Parliament brought in, after all expenses were paid, an average net revenue of £5,781,890. In the year 1867-8 the net revenue was £7,049,447. One of 'three results must follow from the beneficence of the hon. member. In the first place, India must receive from an extraneous quarter another subsidy equal in extent to that sum which the hon. member wished to withdraw from the revenue, or, in the next place, an enormous new tax must be levied upon India. The third alteanative was that instead of proceeding with public works in India as they now did, the progress would be so slow that every well-wisher of the country would be driven to the verge of despair. With regard to the first alterna tive, he did not believe that the already heavily burdened British taxpayers would submit to pay £6,000,000 annually as a subsidy to India. With regard to the second, he asked whether it would be tolerable to impose a heavy tax upon the people merely to enforce views of morality ? With regard to giving up the enormous lever for assisting the prosperity of India which they possessed in the opium trade he asked whether it would not be wise to reconsider our con nection with india. Even now we were surrounded by difficulties, and the question would be whether it would not be adisable to give up an empire which we could no longer properly support for want of means. If the revenue derived from opium were suddenly taken away India would be on the verge of bankruptcy, and even the gradual diminution of the revenue could not but be regarded in the gravest manner. The right hon. gentleman described the sources of revenue derived from opium. He ques tioned whether injurious results arose from the moderate use of opium, and cited authorities in support of his opinion. Opium, he said, was not so black as it was painted, and he moved the previous question. Mr. KINNAIRD supported the original motion. He re marked that he had no objection to the cultivation of opium in India, but he wished to free the country from the responsibility of cultivating it. Mr. D. DALRYMPLE said if the hon. member for Carlisle would only let the matter rest, the moral stigma which was attempted to be cast upon the Indian Government would cure itself by the Chinese becoming their own pro ducers. Mr. GLADSTONE said that if • the House were prepared to affirm the motion they ought to prepare to enter into a matter of account with the Indian Government and Council, to settle and determine upon its own responsi bility in what way those relations were to be reconciled, which would undoubtedly be disturbed if the motion were carried. The proposition ought not to be adopted, at all events not without a previous and careful Parliamentary enquiry ; an enquiry which must embrace many points upon which the hon. gentleman had hardly touched, such as the nature of opium, and how far the use was necessar ily connected with the abuse. Few things could be more discreditable to the House than to pass a vote which either, on the one hand, must remain an idle expression of opinion without any practical results; or else if it had, must simply have the effect of throwing the finances of India into confusion, and greatly compromise the condi tion, the welfare, and even possibly the peace and security of that country. His hon. friend did not wish them to stop the cultivation of opium, but to cease to derive re venue from it. Mr. HENLEY expressed his opinion that people in Eng land made " beasts" of themselves by drinking gin, as much as did the Chinese by opium. Sir WILFRED LAWSON, in reply, reminded the P remier that he had quoted from medical authorities to show that opium was injurious. It was not his duty to show how the loss might be made up, and he thought the country would be astonished to hear the political morality which had been enunciated from the Treasury benches. A division took place on the proposition " that the question be now put." The result was : Ayes Noes The previous question was negatived. THE INCOME TAX. Mr. WHALLEY moved that a Select Committee be ap pointed to inquire into the mode of assessing the income tax under Schedule B, and as to the practicability of providing for the revenue raised therefrom, whereby, having due re gard to existing liabilities, the injury resulting alike to indivduuls and the public under the present system may be avoided. Mr. STANSFELD, on the part of the Government, opposed the motion, which was negatived. THE REPRESENTATION OF SLIGO. CO:011e1 FIUNCH moved that the Speaker issue his war rant to the Clerk of the Crown in Ireland to make out a new writ for the electing of a burgess to serve in the present Parliament for the borough of Sligo, in the room of Major Knox, whose election had been determined to be void. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL for IRELAND said the matter was under the consideration of the Government, and iu the course cf a few days they would be prepared to state what course they would take. The motion was ultimately withdrawn. CONVEST UAL AND MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. The following were nominated by Mr. Gladstone the Select Committee on Conventual and Monastic Institutions —Mr. Villiers, Mr. Newdegate, Mr. Jessel, Mr. Thomas Chambers, Mr. Matthews, Mr. Howes, Mr. Cogan, Mr. Pem berton, The O'Conor Don, Mr. Bourke, Mr. Sherlock, Mr. John Gilbert Talbot, Mr. Pease, Mi. George Gregory, and Sir John Ogilvy. Mr. EYKYN moved that it be an instruction to the com mittee that within the scope of their inquiries they shall include Anglican and all other so-called religious institutions throughout Great Britain, of a conventual or monastic order." The motion was agreed to. Mr. MATTHEWS moved "that it be an instruction to the committee not to inquire into matters which would involve a criminal charge against any person, or the forfeiture of any legal or equitable interest in property ; that it be an in struction to the committee to inquire and report in the first instance on the state of the law respecting conventual and monastic iestitthions or societies in Great Britain, before proceeding with the other subjects of inquiry referred to them." His object was to prevent the inquiry being turned into an inquisition ; that they should not put witnesses before the committee and es them to furnish details a d f cti which wou d en , ble some mischievous perso i to cause a fort.itu a of Lb it titl to proi ert' . Mr. SYNA seconded the motion. Mr N woi GA E thought t e apprehensions of the hon gentleman rrere groundless. He regard d the motion as an att•em}t to limit the scope of the inquiry. Mr. GLADSTO E thought the motion was a most unfort - nate on , and he was extremely sorry it had been brought forward it appeared like a dispositi ,n to check an inquiry which bad be n d tided u ol by a large m jority of the Ho se. As the n ember for North Warwick-h re had said the bon. m mber's fears were groundless M . HSADLAM thought they might rely on the discretion f the committee. Mr. CHARLEY said, acc rding tl Parliamentary practice. the witne sea would be protec ed from any statemen a they might make. Mr HERLOCK remark d tli tape son might decli eto tell what his t tle to the 0p92 ty might be After some remarks from 'Mr: Syrian, who was very im pe_fectly h ard, . . . Mr Mat h Ws withdrew his moti n WINE AND B ERHOUSE AC i r (1 69) AMENDMENT i It L The House went into c mmittee on this bil , whi h having been amen ed, pas ed thr ugh ommitte,. TRAMWAYS ILL S ver 1 verbal amendm is wer nia e in committee on this bill, which passed. The House having isposed f several orders, djourned at ten minutes t two. THE POOR-LAWS. Sir M. LOPEZ asked the President of the Poor Law Board, when the twenty-second annual report of the Poor Law Board for 1869-70 would be laid upon the table of the House. Mr. PEEL replied that all the materials had been col lected, and everything was in a state for immediate pub lication. THE PROSECUTION AGAINST SIR HENRY EDWARDS. Mr. HORSMAN drew attention to the prosecution against Sir Henry Edwards, and to the statement of the Attorney General, that he had instituted the proceedings against the baronet on the recommendation of the Beverley Com missioners. That letter was very strongly contradicted in a letter which appeared in the Times of that day. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in reply to the hon. member, said the Corrupt Practices Act of 1863 contained a provi sion to the effect that the report of the Commissioners and the evidence against any persons who hsd not received a certificate of indemnity, should be laid before the Attorney-General with the view to his instituting a pro secution if he were of opinion that the evidence was suffi cient to sustain a prosecution. He should have been extremely glad if he could have deferred instituting proceedings against Sir Henry Edwards and other per sons, until he had had an opportunity of taking the opinion of the House, and of being directed by the House to prosecute. But there was a statute which limited the institution of a prosecution to twelve months after the offence had been committed. The last election took place in . 1868, and consequently the time for instituting -pro ceedings expired in November 1869. Under these circum stances, for him to have deferred taking proceedings would have been to decline to prosecute at all. The com missioners, being aware of this state of the law, made a preliminary or interim report to him before the time for prosecuting elapsed, calling his attention to the cases against certain persons, with the view of his instituting a prosecution, if he thought fit, before the time expired. The Beverley and Bridgwater Commissioners reported directly to him, and it was in that sense only that he used the expression that they had recommended certain per sons to be prosecuted. PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, Sir D. WEDDERBURN moved for a select committee to inquire into the present system of conducting public prose cutions in Scotland with the view of amending that system, if necessary, and of extending to other parts of the United Kingdom the institution of public prosecutors. If the committee were granted he should limit his inquiry strictly to the investigation of those particular cases of prosecutors appointed and paid by the public to investi gate cases of suspected crime. There seemed at present to be cause for inquiry and amendment in the law of Scot land relating to this subject. He could not see any ad vantage in the secret system of inquiry now adopted, although the Lord Advocate might tell the House there was. Mr. MILLER thought that however admirable the system in Scotland had been at one time, it required alteration now. He seconded the motion. Mr. GRIEVE supported the motion, and hoped the Lord Advocate would give the subject his attention. After some further discussion, The LORD ADVOCATE said he must resist the appoint ment of a select committee, not because there was any thing in the present system of conducting public prosecu tions in Scotland, which he should desire to conceal, but because that system was well-known to 'any one who .had_ taken an interest in the subject, and the means of obtain ing satisfactory and accurate information upon it, were within the reach of any one who cared about the matter. With regard to the secret system of preliminary examina tions, it was not part of the public prosecution system ; it held equally as to private prosecutions, and was a part of the criminal law of Scotland of which he would at once say he could not approve. It was not a defensible practice that an investigation involving issues so important as to whether an individual should be set at liberty or committed for trial should be made behind his back, and that evidence taken behind his back should be kept un known by him. Mr. GORDON said he quite concurred in the view taken by the Lord Advocate, as to the inadvisability of ap pointing the committee. He thought it would be the best course to adhere to a system that had hitherto worked well. The criminal law worked ad mirably in Scotland, and he hoped that any attempt to interfere with the treatment, of secret examination of witnesses would not be made until the matter had been well and maturely considered, because up to the present time it had produced good, and prevented a miscarriage of justice. After a short discussion, the motion was negatived with out a division. EAST INDIA OPIUM REVENUE. Sir WILFRID LAWSON then rose to move the following resolution :—" That this House condemns the system by which a large portion of the Indian revenue is raised from opium." The hon. baronet said he was induced to bring the subject forward in consequence of a chal lenge that had been thrown out when the Indian budget was last under diseussion, and further because he thought that that which was morally wrong could not be politically right. The subject under the attention of the House had not been before it for twenty-seven years, dur ing which time there had been great changes in the government of the country ; they had a new Parliament, elected on a new franchise, and he thought they might take a very different view of the matter to that which had hitherto existed. The hon. baronet then proceeded to detail the pernicious effects produced by the consumption of the opium prepared and sold by the Indian Government, and also to read extracts from the opinions of Sir B. Brodie, Mr. Marjoribanks, Mr. Montgomery Martin, and others, all of whom testi fied to the fatal effects produced by the use of opium, and dwelt strongly on that of a native writer, who said it was not the man consuming the opium, but the opium con suming the man. It was said, remarked the hon. member, that the opium trade was no worse than the spirit trade at home. He was not competent to judge on that point : he had seen the horrors of the drink traffic at home. Two blacks did not make a white. He then pointed out that the Government themselves were the dealers in opium ; they grew it and sold it to the highest bidder. He strongly condemned the policy which had been pursued by the country with regard to the opium trade in China, and said so much misery as it produced could not be justified on fiscal grounds. Mr. ROBERT FOWLER seconded the motion, and main tained that the evils produced by the use of opium were greater than that produced by wines and spirits, fearful as the latter were. The action of the Government in refe rence to the two trades was entirely distinct. By imposing duties upon spirits they restricted their consumption, but the whole policy of the Government had been to do every thing in its power jto increase the consumption of opium among the Chinese. The hon. gentleman said that some of the most fertile lands in India were devoted to the cultivation of opium, and Government had as sisted the cultivation by every means in its power. Ha went on to show that the consumption of opium in India was productive of great demoralisation. He quoted several passages from authorities on the subject in support of his argument. He incidentally alluded to the famine in India, and suggested that the Government were to a considerable extent responsible by continuing to appropriate such large tracts of land to the cultivation of opium. He asked whether it were consistent to go to a country with the Bible in one hand and a poisonous drug in another. Sir CHARLES WINGFIELD said it was just as immoral to raise revenue from opium grown spontaneously by the people as from opium grown by the Government. There fore it should be clearly understood that the condemna tion of the opium trade on moral grounds involved the suppression of the cultivation of the article and the re linquishment of all revenue from so impure a source. But were they bound by the dictates of morality to withhold opium from the Chinese ? He ventured to think that neither the Chinese Government nor the people thought so. He contended that the moderate use of opium was not more injurious than the moderate use of alcoholic drinks. Mr. MACARTHUR expressed his opinion that the coun try were indebted to the hon. member who had brought forward the motion. The hon. gentleman who had just sat down had said that there was no opposition to the opium traffic in China ; but according to the authority of distinguished men throughout all China there was the greatest opposition to the trade. He believed the revenue from opium would decline more and more, and also be lieved that the traffic in the poisonous drug was injurious not only to our connection with China, but our Indian empire, and was exercising a most pernicious influence upon the resources of that country. It was the mission THE BRIDGWATER AND NORWICH BRIBERY CASES. " REGINA V. FENNELLy." The Court of Queen's Bench having on Monday heard the evidence and addresses of counsel in Mr. Fennelly's case, their lordships deferred judgment till the whole of the bribery cases were disposed of. " REGINA V. DR. KINGLAKE," Which was an indictment on a similar charge of bribery at the Bridgwater election. The notes at the trial were read, Sir John Karslake putting in affidavits to contra dict the evidence and addressing the court in mitigation of sentence. On Tuesday Sir J. Coleridge (the Solicitor-General) resumed his address, praying for sentence on behalf of the Crown on Dr. Kinglake. With regard to that gentleman's health not allowing him to be present to receive sentence, the learned counsel quoted cases to chew that sentence had. been passed in the absence of the defendant. At the con clusion of the Solicitor-General's speech, The court called upon the next bribery case. The Attorney-General then prayed judgment in " REGINA V. ROBERT HARDIMENT," Which was an indictment against the defendant for bribing the municipal voters at Norwich. He was tried before Mr. Justice Byles and convicted. Mr. Buiwer, Q.C., addressed the Court in mitigation of sentence, The Lord Chief Justice called upon the next case. The Attorney-General then formally prayed judgment " REGINA V. JOHN HUGHES HULME." The defendant was convicted at the last Norwich Assizes for bribing the electors of Norwich to secure the return of Sir Henry Stacey. Affidavits were now read from the medical attendants of Mr. Hulme, which stated that he was suffering from a tumour of a cancerous nature in the glands of the neck. The Attorney-General said it was impossible not to feel commiseration for the defendant, and if the Court should think fit to pass sentence of imprisonment it would be in the discretion of the Home Secretary to grant him a reprieve. Their lordships having consulted in their private room for some time, on their return into court, The Lord Chief Justice proceeded to pass sentence upon the persons convicted. SENTENCE ON MR. FENNELLY. His lordship, in passing sentence on Mr. Fennelly, said he had been convicted of an offence of a very grave and serious nature. It was one that sapped the very foundations of the representative system, which led the voter who had a trust committed to him to be exercised for the benefit of the community to look upon upon it only as a matter of mercenary and sordid gain, and which tended therefore to destroy his attach ment to the institutions of the country. For two centuries Acts of Parliament had been passed to suppress bribery, but this plague spot in the representative system was still as black as ever. Men of wealth who would shrink from violating the'law in other respects did not scruple to break it when au election came round when they could exercise bribery. It was t rue th a t a more rigorous appli cation of the law should be made to prevent the perpetration of so serious an offence. Mr. Fennelly's case was not aggravated by his being the candidate, or he would act as a lawgiver—against whom a much severer sentence would be passed—but he was one of those friends and partisans of candidates who paid money in the expectation that it would be repaid by the candidate at a future time, when all dangers had passed away. Mr. Fennelly had not done this rashly and inconsiderately as had been urged by his counsel, but by a series of artful contrivances he had, got the money. The Court had no doubt that Mr. Fennelly had deliberately expended the money for the corruption of the electors of Bridgwater. The court regretted that persons equally guilty with Mr. Fennelly, excepting that they had not found the money, had not been brought up for sentence. In his case they took into consideration that such practices had been loosely dealt with hitherto, but they had no hesitation in saying that after the opportunity which Mr. Fennelly's case afforded the public of a warning they would make a most rigorous application of the law in future against all persons who might be sent to the Court of Queen's Bench for sentence for bribery. Considering that this was the first instance in which any one had been brought to the Court of Queen's Bench upon a conviction for bribery, they would not inflict upon Mr. Fennelly the degrading and humiliating punishment which they had made up their minds to inflict upon all future offenders, viz., to sentence them to imprisonment, not as first-class, but as second-class misdemeanants Mr. Fennelly's offence had been aggravated by the fact that he had committed himself immediately after a statute had been passed shewing the serious and earnest determination of Parliament to put down bribery. The sentence of the court was that Mr. Fennelly be imprisoned for twelve calendar months—and for the reasons given— as a first-class misdemeanant, to pay £l,OOO fine to her Majesty, and be further imprisoned until that was paid. SENTENCE ON DR. KINGLAKE. The Lord Chief Justice said in this case there could be no doubt that Dr. Kinglake had entered into a credit en gagement with Mr. Lovibond to find some £l,OOO to be used in bribery and corrupt practices at Bridgwater, but they were perfectly satisfied on the evidence of Dr. Kinglake's affi davit, and the two corroborative affidavits of Mrs. King lake, the defendant's wife, and Mr. Kinglake his brother, that before anything was done to carry that credit into effect, he repented him of that which he had done, and took the earliest steps in his power to prevent anything being done in furtherance of the guilty contract into which he had entered with Mr. Lovibond. It appeared that until the nomination day Dr. Kinglake said he had every reason to believe that at all eventf for once a Bridgwater election would be carried on " purity principles." On the nomination day, coming over to Bridgwater, Dr. King lake met Mr. Lovibond, and he was induced by that gentleman's persnasions to agree to find the money for corrupt practices. It was very much to be lamented that a man of Dr. King lake's character and position should have lent himself to such a purpose, but it appeared to have been done at the moment when he had not much time for reflection and consideration, and therefore they must make some allow ance for the manner in which he was taken by surprise. There was no doubt how the money was intended to be employed. It was because the court believed that Dr. Kinglake after havinc , entered into the engagement to bribe had repented of the evil, and took the earliest and most effectual meths in his power to prevent any results arising from the engagement into which he had entered that they did not think it necessary to impose more than a moderate fine which would amply meet the justice of the case. The defendant would have to pay a fine of £2OO without imprisonment, unless such fine was not paid. SENTENCE ON MR. MARDIMENT. Mr. Justice Blackburn pronounced the sentence of the court in this case, which was that taking the two months' imprisonment into consideration the defendant had suffered, he should be further imprisoned for 10 calendar months from this date, making twelve calendar months' imprisonment altogether. Four of those months he should be a second-class misdemeanant according to the previous sentence, and six months as a first-class misdemeanant. Then, considering that he was a poor man, they would inflict only a fine of £lOO. Mr. Soper applied to the court for a respite of the sen tence against Mr. Fennelly for a week, in order that h e might have an opportunity of conferring with the Home Secretary. The Lord Chief Justice said an application of that kind would have to be made elsewhere, otherwise it would ap pear that they sanctioned the proceeding. EXPLOSION ON BOARD A STEAMER.—The London screw steamer J. M. Strachan, from Newcastle toLondon, put into Great Yarmouth roadstead to land a seaman named Fairbrother. It appears that gas, generated from the coal carried by the steamear, exploded, and Fairbrother was much burned ; one of his legs was also broken. He was conveyed to the Great Yarmouth Hospital, where he lies in a precarious state. Two other men were also injured. The steamer was not much damaged, and proceeded. THE MARRIAGE OF LORD DERBY.—A London correspondent of the Leeds Mercury says :—Like one or two other distinguished members of the nobility, Lord Derby had for so many years shewn himself indifferent to the feminine charms of society, that the idea had become universal that he would never change his condition. The lady to whom it is now announced that he is shortly to be married is well known in London society. She is the stepmother, not the mother, of Lord Salisbury, and is two years older than Lord Derby. As to Lord Derby's age, only those who are in the habit of consulting " Dod " and " Debrett" can have any idea of what it really is. When in the House of Commons, he looked at least as old as Mr. Disraeli or Mr. Gladstone, and those, therefore, who have judged him by his appearance will be astonished to hear that he has not yet reached his 45th year. The day has gone by in which marriages had much political significance. Indeed, durinc , the past eighteen months we have seen some remarkable alliances amongst families consistently opposed to each other in politics. It is, therefore, rather as an agree able social surprise than as anything more important, that the announcement made is to be regarded. WATER FOR THE GARDEN.—The water of a river or pond, and the water of a tank filled by rainfall, may as a rule be considered the best possible for every purpose in the garden • but water procured from a we ll is a l mos t certain to be more or less hard, and therefore unfavourable to vegetable life, according to the nature of the soil from which it is derived. It is a matter of fact that rain water was scarce throughout the summer of 1868, and that crops supplied with water obtained from deep wells perished, while similar crops on the same ground that had no water prospered un affected by the drought. There can be no doubt that water is of vast importance even in our most ordinary seasons. Last year heavy crops of rye-grass were ob tained from pure sand that was constantly irrigated. When, however, the water supply is limited, and newly , planted shrubs require aid, much more good may be done by frequently sprinkling it over the foliage than by apply ing it to the roots. Indeed, growing crops of all kinds receive an immense amount of benefit from having the foliage sprinkled, even when copious supplies are available for the roots. The manner of watering is of equal importance as to the quantity and the time. It is a singular fact that all summer crops are planted or sown, as the case may be, on the ordinary level, thus rendering it a matter of extreme difficulty to reach their roots with water. We have frequently in these pages urged the importance of sowing peas and beans, and planting lettuce, in trenches, and we fail to see why all summer crops should not be planted in trenches. —The Gardener's Magazine. SACRED SUBJECTS AND THE NEWS- PAPERS. A great institution of the United States is what is called the religious press. There is a religious press in England also, but it has never attained to the proportions of that in America, nor are the two alike. In England the papers are the organs of sects, and, whether Catholic or Protestant, repre sent shades of opinion. In America sects have their organs too, but there are leading rsEwspapers which are termed religious, which mix up the things of this world and the next. If asked to name the leading characteristics of these papers, we would answer Mammon; for though - there are many exceptions, the majority might take as their motto part of verse fourteen of the 24th chapter of Num bers,—Come, therefore, and 1 will advertise thee. That is the general cry, coupled with earnest appeals to their friends to get up clubs for sub scriptions, to encourage at all times the increased circulation among neig'bours and acquaintances, to attract attention to the premiums offered, but, above all, for prompt remittances. One ad , lresses the publishers in such a way as this—" See what nice no tices and reviews we give of books, and consider how large is our circulation among a reading and thoughtful class." In other words, that paper said, " Advertise extensively with us, and we will puff your works," or, " Come and 1 will advertise thee at 25 cents a line." Religious papers are nearly always edited by clergymen, who so get into the habit of collecting money from all classes for the pro motion of Christianity and objects of charity that they carry the cry for cash into the editorial chair. At any rate, these appeals more abound in religious I apers than in secular sheets, and give a mate rialistic air, which grates on the reader who looks for something very different. But if this sort of charity abounds, other sorts are by no means so common. The organ of one sect handles without gloves another sect, and rival papers of the same persuasion keep up a lively skirinisli. The great reli gious paper is the New York Independent, and on it the brethren pour out many vials of wrath. Lately it has been compelled by what a leading Boston paper terms the indignant feeling which its reckless utter aaces have called for, to enter on a laboured ex planation of its religious sentiments and belief : " It proposed to settle for evermore its character vs a representative of Evangelical Christianity by publishing before the world a ► Confession of Faith' which would challenge the severest criticism. It called upon all concerned to witness to its unim peachable,orthodoxy, as seen in its solemnly avowed creed, and thereafter followed, word for word, the. sermon which CHRIST uttered on the Mount." 1 hen the Independent stopped, and no nagging has succeeded in extracting from it anything more. It is in New England that' the religiouspress flourishes, and many excellent papers are published there. Many of these discuss secular matters, and give all the news, political as well as religious. Generally speaking, they are strongly anti-Papist, Leing of the straitest sect of the Puritan, and it is with dismay they find Romanism on the increase in what they re gard as the stronghold of Protestantism, and no small degree too of immorality prevailing. The conflict on the Bible in Schools' question has ranged ell that c as, of papers on one side. The movement is reg arded as a device of the enemy to break down the National system, and to establish sectarian schools. One says that the controversy has brought this fact to light, that that portion of Cincinnati where crimes most abound cast the heaviest vote against the Bible, while exactly in proportion as the Wards improved in intelligence and good conduct was the Bible sustained ; and, calling attention to this fact, it asks the thoughtless persons joining the party for its expu'sionto consider the sortof company they are keeping. It is slid that there are 10,000,000 of children in the Union between the ages of five and 15, of whom 4,000,000 do not attend Sunday school, the average being not over that even in Massachu setts ; and this is us , 2cl as an argument for the reading of the Bible in the common day-schools., From the whole tone of the religious press, which exercises so powerful an influence in America, it is clear that the Evangelical world has set its foot firmly down on the principle that, the Bible shall be read in the public schools, and perhaps there ate no men more difficult to drive from a po-' . sit ion they have resolutely and deliberat ely,taken up. In New York meetings and petitions are nume rous against the Jesuitical movement, as the reli gious press term the Catholic attempts to obtain appropriations from the State for their schools, in which they have been to a small extent successful, in that State as well as in California. At San Francisco, however, the money voted was not paid by the Treasurer on the plea that the funds N ere not in the Treasury. The High and Low Church Episcopalians of New York have split, the osten sible cause of the quarrel being a charitable in stitution in New York City called "The Sheltering Arms." A bazaar was to have been held for its benefit, and a question arose as to the part to be taken in it by the High-Church party, for the Low Churchmen, alleging anti-Protestant- . ism, indeed Popery, against the Sisterhood of St. liary, which controlled the institution, compelle I them 'to resign: One of these accusations was that tee Sisters practised confession to the Rev. Dr. Dix, chaplain to the institution. The High Church party is wealthy and influential, and they regard this as an insidious movement at the insti gation of the two TYNGS and the Rev. JOHN C. SMITH. The Episcopalian merely announces that, a bazaar for the benefit of The Sheltering Arms was to be held on the 18th April, but it does not allude, so far as we can see, to a quarrel which has assumed considerable importance, though it discusses the High Mass at St. Alban's, and the departure from that plainness and simplicity which formerly charac terised the Episcopal Churches. What the Episcopa lian does, however, with a will, is to censure in the strongest way the habit of some of the New York dailies "which subsist on sensations of one kind and another, to devote the greater part of their Mon day's issue to rehashed reports of what are (some times facetiously) called, Sunday sermons. For the most part they consist of the spasm() _lie and dis jointed m terances of persons of very loose notions of religion, theology, and Christian morals even, and include the whole range of the modern mental anar chy which covers the whole ground between French Positivism and Spiritualism and Rationalism." While admitting their motives to be good, it is asserted that the most imprudent and mischievous things are done every day with the best intentions, and if the editors were aware of the injury ensuing they would discontinue the practice. The preface of " Reverend" to some of the names only adds to the mischief by throwing the unwary off their guard. But the most extraordinary of the rhapso dies of blasphemy is that uttered by GEORGE FRAN CIS TRAIN. The New York Star thus heads its account of what it terms " the valedictory sermon of the Rev. GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN, being the seventeenth discourse given by this original cler gyman :" "A crowded house and a slashing sermon - Enthusiasm of the congregatien—A brilliant going out of the sensa tional divine—Effective hits at every head." The Star has thus arranged its front page—Easter Services, Religion in New York, Brooklyn, and Jersey, all the principal churches being mentioned of every denomination, with their decorations and the leading points of the sermon, which, as might be expected, take up four columns in small type. Then come M'FARLAND'S trial and TRAIN'S ser mon. When religion is thus treated, it is time for such journals as the Episcopalian to speak out. The increasing observance of Easter in America was strikingly exemplified by the decorations of 'the -churches, and even the houses on Easter Sun day. Americans are passionately fond of flowers, and - they were lavishly expended in ornamenting the churches. The cost of floral ,decorations in Trimly alone was said to be £2OO, and other wealthy l' n. rishes were equally liberal, even Mr. B EECIIEN . S 12 1 tl in Puritanical pulpit presenting the appearance Of 3 conservatory. We may add, too, that II ot Cross Buns made their appearance in New York . en Good Friday.—Anglo-American Times. A DEBATE ON THE TARIFF 1 lie Nation gives an arousing account of a debate on the Tariff, showing how glibly people talk oar subjects of which they know next to nothing, b ut we fear the same charge might be retorted by legi-lators on journalists. The question of tile duty on Manilla grass at $25 per ton, Russia" hemp being $4O per ton, was debated with refer ence to the infringement cf the treaty by wine!! Russia is conceded the rights of the mo s t tavoure nation. The point was whether Manila gr;;S3 hemp. Mr. Schenck said it is not, that it had alwaYb been called grass. Mr. Morgan sho,ved that h. Wl °3 inktaken, as, in 1842, the Tariff alluded to it as liel"P: The Russian Minister's protest was read to t:'' House, wherein the destruction was termed lexical subtlety." This annoyed the House, al - ", the paper was pronounced to be an attempt on t he part of Russia "to dictAte legislat:on." On t he part of Kentucky the attempt to lower the du Y was said to be "an nutrage on humanity." 0 " the part of California it was shov,n that unl.ss t he duty were lowered, Congress would, in fact, ;ay the pe tple on the Pacific coast that they not manufacture hemp into rope or anything e' se ' Finally, neither duty was altered, and the Russi' la grievance remains unadjusted. Jute • butts was next discussed in connection with hemp, but scarcely anybody knew what jute was or how used. Al!' Kelley believed that it " makes bunches for women! hair, and that it adapts itself to every colonr• Mr. Strong showed it was used by tl.e MaJl a paper manufacturers and in gunny-bags, and it Iv a; explained that jute is the lower part of the bark of the jute-tree, and export, d principally from Cal cutta. " Gunny" raised a storm. General Butler, wanted cheap jute to make cheap bags to nt . ° ll ' corn. Mr. Schenck said jute was never made Int ° gunny-bags at all, nor was corn moved in bats , any kind. Mr. Kelley backed this statement, ad d ! : ing that gunny-bagging is unfit to cover grain. 111 ' advised bagging for cotton to be made of Westin flax tow for the protection it gave against C9id tion, and Mr. Schenck asserted that the rate (' insurance w„s through it reduced by one-third, while the weight of the material rather made 5 gain to the planter, as no allowance is given f°., tare, a principle, adds the Nation, similar to itla, lizing the putting of a big stone into the untie € 4 the bale_ Both members were told that they kneW nothing of what they were talking about, ant M r ; Butler added that gunny-bigs, gunny-cloth, tn" - jute . butts had no more to do with flax than gr . Schenck hal with the East In lies. Another melo - prefaced what he said by stating that Le kne W all about this matter of cotton. baling, and W 53 going to upset all the fine theories of the gent le i .n from Alabama. T wo y ar d s an d a half ° bagging, he observed, were required to put uP bale of cotton, but the Representative was Monne that it took six, when he confessed that he did " 0 " remember the precise number of yards : st ill be maintained that the planter g ot t w i ce a s 'much O r . his tare than he gave for hi s b agg i ng , b u t the pp ° thing was extinguished by a R e p resen tative, asked him what the quantity was of gunny manufactured in America. A triangular duel vg-- fought over the jute butts between the supporte' s of the paper manufacturers, the cotton guowelst. and -the hemp producers of the West ; but 1 1 evident, although a whole day was consumed in th " discussion, that the House was profoundly igno rant about that East Indian production called jutt. A Gcrtnin p tper says that - the simplest Post office in the world is to be fr,und on the southern extremity' of America. For some years past a small barrel has beet' fastened by an iron chain to the outermost rock o f tile mountains overhanging the Straits of Magellan, opP"b il Tierra del Fuego. It is opened by every ship wl' ic " passes through the Straits, either to place letters in it ur to, take letters from it. This post-office, therefore, tal' ° care of itself ; it is confided to the protection of sesfatels, and there is no example of any breach of this trust basing occurred. Each ship undertakes the voluntary transmis sion of the contents of the barrel if their destiaation within the limit of its voyage. The Detroit Tribune says:—"An ex-slave on INIP Stowe's place in Florida says the plantation is haunt s ` , , by a ghost which resembles Lord Byron in,his latter days. We know not whether the ghost made its appearanc e ° Steinway Hall on the 18th April, when Mayne Reid, " i° 6 pair of light-brown pants, closely buttoned coat, and can al '? kids, carrying an eye-glass at his button h o l e , his face d"r e l and forehead square, his carriage graceful and easy,' l e ` tared what the Herald calls "a fine a ucien ce ," the T imes " a highly rebpeetable," the Tribu n e "criti ca l," the Ow' d "select and fashionable," and the Star "of a slitti charac ter." At any rate a bust of the great English bard don; pied a prominent position on the platform, on wh ic c i beautiful women and thoughtful men gazed. Mr. Bel t , assured his hearers that however carefully they search in the long-suspected closet, instead of a skcle t % they would find only the purse of the defamer. 13 5 1° ,, hated despotism and overstrained Christianity. furor felt the sting of his honest pen. Ireland and A m erce 11 ! never rebuked. Be had only one weak spot in his arn;Ogr.to but he was no worse than nine-tenths of the n.cn "f " ' :n i t day. Be was generous and brave, and a ll time e' l " 1) sweep away the sweet memories which cluster areun b " ' sr name. His frailties cannot be called crimes, and his fa t ') virtues completely overshadow his few vices. He heli ele in Republican ideas, and he was a true apostle of lib ertY. He gave his money and his genius to th e cause of WI and had he lived we would not o nly k now hi m as 3 g soldier, but as a great stat es m an . H ere th e l ectu rer sP ci f - o o f of him as a poet, and, to ill us t ra t e , h e consume d the res" - the hour in reciting several well-known passages. .1 he spirit is confident that if the breeze is st r(ii f fi the Sappho will win the match against the Cambria. T" - . 0 Captain Dick Brown, the sailing master of Mr. Dytig k :,. yacht there is no better man to handle a f o re-and-a l ' n , "The new English schooner, built at Gosport by the 0 "" 0 structor of the famous Aline, is an object of much int er ' ba there, and good judges of model and rig predict that s e , will be very fast. The fact that there are tweitty-uld, schooners, fiftecen sloops, and four steamers in the scl u4 to ron of the New York Yacht Club this year, sbeW s i , g what a large extent this fine sport and recreation obtained. Besides the vessels which belong to this c l "' t there are those of the Brooklyn Club, the Atlantic 'P e Club, the .Jersey City Yacht Club, &c., all belonging to 0° waters. The larger yachts, and many of the little dand ie ; are being paiuted,put all-a-taut) t-o and prepared for sail ing ' Of the horse races to b e h e ld i n P rospect Park on 31st 3 1 ° and Ist and 2nd June, the Spirit says: -" The as s°c ,l i ; tion offers prethiums amounting to $10,500, distribure(lo-0 six purses. On the first day there will be a purse of s l ' o f for horses that have never trotted for money; a nd „ ( , ) , l i i , o for $1,500 for double teams. On the second day, $ l ," - tha t horses that never beat 2m. 405.; and $2,000 for horses t.se never beat 2m.265. On the third, there is $1,500 for 1'° 2 1 ', ) , 0 that never beat 2m. 305.; and $3,500 open to all. of entries are to close on the 20th of May, at the romns.,,d the association. There is no doubt they will fill well, °P...h excellent sport may be anticipated. The drive thronN Prospect Park to the course is a very fine one. Th e trio p is fast and safe. The Club House is a splendid buildlj and when the beauties of New York and BroolilYn fill balconies the scene is superb." BIRTHS.fiII° On the Bth inst.. at Edgeborough, Guildford, the Wu.° - Rev. J. H. Robson, of a son. i f e of On the Bth inst., Merlewook, Bickley, Kent, the 117 Wiliam J. Harris, of a daughter. of l '` On the Bth May, at 47, Brook street, Lady Lindell,'" daughter. .3IARRIAGES. , bir, On the 9th May, at St. Dominic's Priory, Haverstoo' Haithe . Ho ßev John B. Bagshawe, Henry Latter ? 13 1" to bourne use High Halden, Ashford, ICeuh'ove, Catherine Monica, ' fourth daughter of Henry R. 133 gs - R.O. No cards. joie, Oa the 27th ult., Mr. Edward Furness HornseY , t° l are , eldest daughter of Mr. David Derrin, 'Myddelton -s9l Pentonville. DEATHS. On the 6th inst., Chafes John Duncum, of Wig6g)re street, aged 26 years. On , the 7th inst., at his residence, Neckinger 31rusiff Neckinger-road, Bermondsey, Mr. Martin Ray, Age d f oci' On the 9th inst , sUddenly, the effects of a carriage of dent, Anne, the be:oved wife of William Keartland, Bsci" 22, Brixton-place, Brixton. of 29 ' On the 6th inst., suddenly, H. A. Wilder, Eucl , Bouverie-square, Folkestone. . , - ----- , u t;iB r it' , London: Printed and Published by WILLIAM. AN- 1 1,.. - 02, of NO. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office -L' 9 ',.,, c,t Strand, in the Precinct of -1 the Savoy, in the 'Collo', Middlesex.--Wednesday, May 11, 1870. ,✓ '4 ~...,,,,, -_ • _,_ K' Or , r Pr e. the IVA a t o ble TrIE 40 0 , tiatu r , B Pare c kreis be g e( nt kit 411,81 e it C ot k i d a t'O , FIN Th e o x ,„, l' the ,',. If l ; lIENI ASS b i nd Ohs 1 3aI via od °pet exact T°°4l t,„, the