The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-16 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TIMLS.—A nunaber of cceeur, ant ied;ce isess
prove only too clearly that the last desperate etruggle
of the Polish nation is drawing, to 9. conclusion. One
by one the insurgent leaders are captured, their
bands dispersed, and themselves consigned, after a
decent interval of a few days, to the gibbet or to the
bullet. It is rather mortifying to reflect that the
present success of the Russians is in a great measure
owing to the misappropriation of a loan contracted
ostensibly for the purpose of restoring the value of
their currency. Still, if the insurrection is to fail,
the shorter the agony the better. No one can hear
without regret and indignation of the cruelties and
enormities that have been perpetrated, and we may
reasonably hope that at least the extremity of
rigour will cease with the cessation of the cause
whence it arose. Assuming, however, that the
Emperor has successfully disposed of the question
of serfdom and of the Polish insurection, he has yet
to deal with another problem perhaps more diffi-
cult than either of its predecessors, Russia expects
from the hands of its present monarch a Constitu-
tion, and he is under some engagement to meet her
expectations. Now, Russia is a country to frame
a Constitution for which would, we think, have
very seriously puzzled even the Abbe Keyes. The
Emperor, in granting a Constitution, has not, we
believe, the slightest intention of doing what in
most cases is nearly identical—effecting a vast re-
volution. He professes himself friendly to progress
and:willing to allow his people a voice in their own
affairs, but we have no idea that he means for
one moment to divest himself of absolute power,
or to descend from the position of Emperor, Auto-
crat, Head of the Church, and almost a Deity on
earth, to that of a chief magistrate, exercising cer-
tain delegated attribut ons under the advice of Mini-
sters responsible to a freely-elected Parliament.
The first question the Emperor of Russia will have
to consider is how he means to treat his aristocracy,
Is he prepared to place the supreme powers of go-
vernment virtually in their hands? Such an act
would be one of signal self-sacrifice; but, supposing
the objections of the Emperor to despoil himself of
absolute power have been overcome, it is quite cer-
tain that the good of the country would be pro-
moted by an act which would give it many masters
instead of one? The Emperor may call to his aid
the most enlightened advice, and when he has ascer-
tained what is best to be done he is so immeasurably
raised above his subject that there would seem to
be nothing to disturb his judgment. Would this
state of thines be mended by placing the supreme
power in the hands of an aristocracy hitherto,
for the most part, inexperienced in public affairs,
and having little knowledge of any profession
except the use of arms ? Of course the removal
of a supreme authority would at once split the
aristocracy into factions, and the direction of
public affairs would be contested with a cor-
ruption and violence exaggerated by the magni-
tude of the stake, the uncivilised state of the mass
of the people, and the great power placed in the
hands of the combatants. For the present century
the Russian aristocracy has renounced the privilege
of tempering autocracy by assassination. Is it quite
certain that the Crown could enter into partnership
with this powerful body without running some risk
of a recurrence to ancient practices ? Shall, then,
the Emperor create a House of Commons, to vote
the Supplies and share with himself and the nobility
the powers of legislation ? For such a body, in the
English sense of the term, we fear there are in Russia
no materials. The Russian middle class can hardly
yet be said to have any existence. The House that
would be elected would repre3cat the peasants ; it
would naturally be bitterly hostile to the nobility
from whose hands it had only lately been eman':,pate'd
and would probably seek to place the Ec.peror at
its head with a view to changes in a is-Sommunistic
sense. Looked at even in this general way, the
prospect is not at first sight very encouraging. The
difficulty of finding a Constitution for Russia is,
however, very greatly increased when we consider
the vast numbers of the population, and the im-
mense space 'of land over which they are spread.
In many of the western provinces, for instance, the
opinion of the educated part of the community is
so decidedly Polish that popular Assemblies could
not be relied on even for the first essential requisite
of loyalty to the Crown. In Siberia, whore there
are no nobles, the landowners are said to be animated
by a free and independent spirit very different
from the slavish ideas which have so long prevailed
in European Russia. What is to be done with
Poland ? Can Russia afford to leave her out of the
scheme of the Constitution, or will she venture to
include her in it ? The first would be anomalous,
the second highly, dangerous. There is indeed a
solution which we believe has been thought of, but
to which the Emperor is understood to be opposed,
that is, to avoid the difficulties arising from dis-
cordant political opinions and jarring interests by
placing power in the hands of a class which, sunk
in ignorance and till lately in slavery, is below
the region of politics, and would find, as we have
said, in the Emperor its natural guide and pro-
tector. No doubt, for the present at least, if the
Emperor chose to ally himself with those who
were lately eerfs, he might, under the form of a
free constitution, be nearly as absolute as ever.
Universal suffrage would in this, as in most
other eases, evince its affinity for arbitrary power,
and its hostility to every class that intervehes
between the lowest and the highest. Yet the
Emperor may well pause before he exchanges his
position is the head of a brilliant aristocracy and
the earthly Providence of so vast a nation for the
Dictatorship of an enormous predial democracy,
ignorant, fanatical, inconstant, and unreasonableao
be indulged with the extreme of license, or kept
within bounds only by military violence. Among
so many difficulties it is not wonderful that the
Russian Government should hesitate, and though
pledged to give a Constitution in the early part of
the present year, should be still deliberating what
that Constitution is to be. It is not unlikely that
the result may be the abandonment of the idea of a
general Legislative Body for the whole Empire, and
the substitution for it of some sort of local machi

eery. Nay, it is, we believe, not improbable that
provincial Parliaments will, be found nearly as im-
practicable as Imperial Asserablies, and that the
Russian Constitution may, after all, end in the ap-
pointment of Councils to manage the affairs of every
parish. We are far from undervaluing even such
a concession as this, for which the machinery
already exists in every Russian village. But doubt-
less a proposal for a new Constitution which should
end in the appointment of a number of select veetries
would hardly escape the ridicule which attaches to
an anti-climax. The truth is that a Constitution
which is intended to work ought to be the refiem
and result of the existing state of society in the,
nation for which it is intended. To invest
12,000,000 slaves just emancipated, and perhaps
three or four times as many persons-who can neither
read nor write, with political power, would be to
give influence in the Government to classes which
have es yet been able to assert for themselves no
social influence at all, and to surrenderpower which
ought to be confided to rational and skilful hands
to something worse than blind chance—to igno-
rance, stupidity, and brutality. And yet a Consti-
tution which pointedly excluded the whole body of
the people must appear •ridiculous in the eyes of
foreign countries, and illusory in the eyes of that
people themselves. Serfdom may be abolished by a
change of law, Poland may be subdued by the sabre
and the bayonet, bat Russia has still to contend
against her own internal barbarism, and that will
neither yield to laws nor suffer itself to be dragooned
into intelligence. Before he can give a satisfactory
Constitution, the Emperor must educate a new
generation to understand its rights and perform
its duties.
DAILY NEWS.—At length the Duke of Cam-
bridge has published his remarks on the Crawley
Court-martial. The result is that whilst Colonel
Crawley is directed "to resume the command of the
6th InniskillingDragoons," Major Swindley, Lieu-
tenant Fitzsimon, and Surgeon Turnbull are re-
moved from the regiment. Nothing is said of the
other officers, non-commissioned officers and men.
But the Commander-in. Chief " trusts that the
Colonel will prove by tact and judgment in the per-
formance of his duties, that he appreciates the im-
portance of his position as a commanding officer,
and that the painful experience of the past will not
be lost upon him." Under circumstances so pectsliar
there must be every disposition to put such a con-
struction upon the conduct of the Horse Guards
as will make it, if possible, consistent. But the
task is far from easy. According to the " re
marks," Colonel Crawley has been fully and
honourably acquitted" by the court—its proceedings
have been confirmed and approved, and the verdict
we are told, " should now be carried out." "Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Crawley will therefore resume the
command" of his regiment. But why ? How did
the Duke of Cambridge arrive at this conclusion ?
The fitness of Colonel Crawley for command was
never before the Court-martial at all. That officer
has been tried upon two charges, and upon two
charges only—excessive severity toward Sergeant-
Major Lil'ey, and uttering a false charge against
Adjutant Fitzsimon. It certainly must have oc-
curred to the Duke, as it did occur to many reason-
able people, that Colonel Crawley might well be
acquitted of both those charges, and might never-
theless be utterly unfit to command a regiment.
Surely there are many things less heinous than
toriuring a sergeant-major and slandering an ad-
jutant which ought to disqualify a man for the
command of a regiment. But what thinks the Duae
of Cambridge on this question ? It is difficult to say.
If the Duke thinks that because Colonel Crawley
has been fully and honourably acquitted of the two
heinous charges for which he was tried he has proved
himself fit fig commod,:why cloys he Allude "to the

pai.aful es.pc:rience of the past ? ' If, on the othei •
hand, the Duke thinks that it is only by a happy
zzimoinati.4n of tercpt.r, aci's dizere.t;,,n
that the comnaand c a regiment can be properly
conducted, what evidence has been furnished dur-
ing the late court martial Co!. Crawley pos,-
sesqes those essential qualiacations ? One of two
things—either the Commander in Chief has admi-
nietLred a rebuke to Col. Crawley which is unde-
served, or he has replaced that officer in command
of a regiment without duo :consideration, and in
violation of all consistency. Contrast for a moment
his treatment of Major Swindley with that of Major
Swindley's Colonel. In the remarks just published,
the Commander in Chief says:—"The Court has
remarked on the animus displayed by Major Swind-
ley in giving his evidence. He has not ceased to
entertain feelings which strike at the root of all
discipline :" " and Major Swindley will be removed
from the regiment accordingly." Only six months
ago the Commander in Chief said—" Col. Crawley's
rejoinder to Mr. Smales's defence his Royal High-
ness considered as exceedingly vindictive, and likely
to raise a spirit of resistance among his officers."
But, notwithstanding, his Royal Highness pro-
ceeds to say that he will allow the Colonel to re-
main at the head of his regiment. Thus the Major
who displays animus against his Colonel in giving
evidence is removed from his regiment because such
feelings strike at the root of all discipline, whilst
the commanding officer of this Major, whose con-
duct is denounced as exceedingly vindictive, and
likely to raise the spirit of resistance, is retained
in command. The army and the • public have just
been reminded, by command of his Royal Highness
the Field-Marshal Commanding in Chief, that
without discipline an army is worse than useless,
and that under all circumstances it must and will
be maintained. It might seem superAttous to re-
mind a Commander in Chief that discipline, how-
ever essential, Cannot be maintained unless the
chief has mind enough to distinguish be-
tween justice and injustice, and firmness
enough to act upon this distinction. But the
painful inconsistencies of which the Duke of
Cambridge has been guilty in dealing with the
Inniskilling Dragoons prove that principles so
elementary are either ignored or forgotten. After
all, however, neither the weakness and inconsis-
tencies of the Commander-in-Chief, the alleged
tyranny of Colonel Crawley, nor even the sufferings
endured by Lilley and his wife, are the real ques-
tions at issue. The real question is, whether the
law of the land can be overridden, and the rights of
the soldier violated in India or elsewhere with
impunity. There is no doubt whatever that three
non-commissioned officers were kept under arrest
from the 26th of April until the 25th of May, 1862‘.
And it has been admitted by Lord Hartington in
the House of Commons, by the Judge Advocate, and
the official prosecutor at Aldershot, that this con-
tinued arrest was illegal by the Articles of War, and
by the Mutiny Act. By the 99th article of war,
" when any soldier or officer commits an offence
deserving of punishment he shall be ordered into
arrest or confinement until released by lawful
authority ; and no officer or soldier shall continue
in such arrest or confinement more than eight clays,
or until such time as a court-martial care conve-
niently be held." The 79th article art' 60 says :
" Whosoever shall unnecessarily
detPfen any prisoner
in confinement without bringir--
g him to trial shall,
if an officer, be liable to h'
such other punishment as, by the judgment of a
cashiered, or to suffer
general courtemart;:el, may
three sergeant..., were in be awarded." Now, the
e-
eight da
.1 di and not one of them was tried by court-
- Aeal. This was a grossly illegal act committed by
some person. Who committed this illegal act was the
question originally raised in Parliament by Mr.For-
teseue and others? That question has not yet been
answered. On the contrary, the utmost care has
been taken that it shall not be answered. It is
our conviction, as it has been throughout, that the
officer really responsible for this grievous wrong is
Lieut.-Colonel Crawley, but he has never been
distinctly tried upon this charge. At all events,
the responsibility lies between three men—Colonel
Crawley, General Farrell, and Sir William Mans-
field. It is for the Commander-in-Chief and the
War Secretary to find out and to punish the officer
who is really guilty. The penalties attached to
keeping an officer unnecessarily in confinement
furnish conclusive proof of the serious character of
the charge which some person or other is now bound
to answer. There is no such thing known to the
law of England as arbitrary arrest or imprisonment
for an indefinite period. It is needless at this time
of day for civilians to insist upon the necessity of
visitingthose who violate its provisions with condign
punishment. Soldiers aro equally entitled to the
like privileges. Those who have dared to violate
them at Mhow must be dragged to the light, and
the common soldiers and non-commissioned officers
must be assured that their rights are to be guarded
with as much jealousy as the rights of the most
illustrious man who ever grasped a marshal's
truncheon ; and unless Parliament is content to
abdicate its functions it will see that right is done.

WILLS AND BEQUESTS.

(From the Illustrated London _News.)

The will of Bellamy Dobree, Esq., a city merchant, and a
director and late Governor of the Bank of England, was
proved in London on the 20th ult., by his only son,Bonamy
Dobree, Esq., sole executor, 'Use personalty was swornunder
£70,000. The will bears date 1841, leaving his personal
estate between his son and two daughters. In a codicil,
deated Dee. 11, 1860, attested by Alfred Lytham, Esq., then
Deputy• Governor of the Bank of England, and Henry
Freshfield, Esq. of Bank-buildings, the testator states that,
" whilst holding the office of Governor of the Bank of Eng-
land, I received from his Majesty the Emperor of Russia a
malachite vase, with an inscription, in acknowledgment of
the services which his Imperial Majesty considered had been
rendered to him by the Corporation of the Bank of England,
and also of the care which his Majesty was pleased to con-
sider I had individually bestowed in his interest." The
testator, highly prizising this memorial, has requested that
it should be held as an heirloom In his family, and has be-
queathed it on tbose terms to his son and to his issue.
The 'will of Thos. Brown Young, Esq., of Clapham road,
was proved in London under £20,000 personalty. The bulk
of the property is to be held by the legatees for each of their
respective lives, and the reversions, as each life falls off, will
revert to certain charities enumerated in the will, the
amounts varying from £4,000 to £2,000. The residue, which
is left to the testator's three brothers-in-law, is held in like
manner ; the share of each, expiring at his death, will re-
veet to the Infirmary for Children and Widows, Waterloo •
Bridge-road. The other societies are the Dreadnought,
Cancer Hospital, British Lying in Hospital, Royal Infir-
mary for Asthma and Consumption, City-road ; Royal Free
Hospital, East London Hospital, Victoria Park; Surrey
Die[tensary, and Middlesex Hospital.
The will of Thos. Peters, Esq., of the Grange, St, John's-
wood, was proved in .London under £140,000 personalty,
the executors and trustees being his three sons—John W.
Peters, Wm. W. Peters, and Joseph Peters, Esqrs., toge-
ther with Thos. Gasccigne Norcutt, Esq. The will was
executed in 1859, and two codicils in 1861 and 1863. To
his executors he leaves .Ll,OOO ; to St. Paul's Chapel
Schools, Kilburn, and the Operative Coachmakera' Bene-
volent Society, each £lOO. There are legacies to his
nephews, nieces, and grandchildren, and to his servants, To
his daughter he leaves the sum of £30,000, and the residue
of his property to his three sons before named.

Shocking Occurrence at the Fishmongers'
Almshouses,

Yesterday evening an occurrence of a painful nature took
place at the almshouses erected by the Fishmongers' Com-
pany in the Wandsworth-road for decayed members Of their
company, which created considerable excitement amongst
the peaceful inhabitants of those buildings. The age of the
sufferer, and the still more advanced age of her husband,
added considerably to the sympathy expressed by all to
whom the occurrence became knewn.

lc appears that Mr, Mecham, formerly of Newington-
butts, now aged 87, and who has for the last 12 years been
a recipient of the bounty of the above liberal and wealthy
company, being very infirm, had requested his wife, herself
74 years of age, to fetch him a pillow, and whilst upstairs
for that purpose her clothes unfortunately became ignited
by the candle she was carrying. Her screams aroused her
husband, who in spite of his infirmity, hurried upstairs as
promptly as he could, and endeavoured, but in vain, to ex-
tinguish the flames. He then went to call the assistance of
neighbours, and by their joint exertions the burning clothes
were got away from the poor old lady. The Lady Superin-
tendent sent at once for Dr. March, of St• John's-hill, who
with a medical friend who chanced to be with him, at once
attended, and did everything which experience could sug-
gest to allay present suffering, and, if possible, prevent a
fatal termination to the case. The great age of the sufferer,
however, leaves but little hope that her system can recover
from the severe shock consequent upon the extensive inju-
ries she has sustained.

MORE INCENDIARISM IN YORKSIIIRE.—On Mon-
day a fire broke out in the stack...yard belonging to
Mr. Daniel Gibson, the Grange, 0 ttringhana, Holderness, in
such a manner as to lead t o the belief that it was the work of
an incendiary. In the yard there were 11 sucks, and the fire
commenced in the centre one. On tho alarm being given
Mr. Gibson and his men took steps to prevent the spread of
the fire by covering the adjoining stacks with wet blankets,
&c. A telegraphic message was sent to Hull for a fire-engine,
and after the lapse of about an hour and a half the engine
belonging to the Local Board of Health was on the spot.
There was a good supply of water, and the large number of
labourers who collected from the adjoining farms rendered
good service. Fortunately, the flames were confined to the
stack in which they originated, but it was totally destroyed.
A man had been seen lurking about the place in the early
morning, and he was apprehended near the spot by Super-
intendent Wilkinson, of the East Ridin COnittiblllarYl On
snspieim 9 PeiDg the