The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-06 00:00:00

THE StIN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 6, 1864,

Federal or Confederate : I didn't care. 1 have a wife and
children. That is the only reason that keeps me at home.
I receive nothing to keep me here. When this conversation
about his going over to Calais was going on Mr Greathead
and Mr Rumble's son were present. I believe Mr Greathead
is at Malta. Mr Rumble's son, I believe, is away. I don't
know. I was not examined before the magistrates.
The Lord Chief Justice—l suppose we must go on with
the case for the Crown. If you want to make an applica-
tion to postpone havllag this evidence:suddenly sprung upon
you, you must do so tc-morrow morning.

The observation arose from the opposite side having had
no notice of this evidence, and had no opportunity of ob-
taining the evidence of the witnesses who were present at
this interview.

Re-examined—My tug did not take out the Scylla while
I was on board. I was not on board that night,
His Lordship said—As to the postponement, I think it is
only reasonable that it should be so, as this evidence must
take the defendant by surprise ; and I think that as it must
be, it had better be done at once, and that the evidence for
the Crown had better not be gone further into.
The case was then postponed until the sittings after next
term, which will be in February next.

outside. She was in the same position, and also on the day
following, when they again visited her. Witness went to
Revel, then to St. Petersburg, and back to Cronstadt, and
made a protest at Revel. _

By Mr Sleigh—There had been some rough weather on
the voyage. They were in the Baltic when the tackle was
ordered to be got ready for the boats. He had heard the
Baltic was a difficult place to navigate. He swore to a
protest which was read to him. (Mr Sleigh read a portion
of the protest, in which it was stated that all that could be
done was done to save the vessel and prevent her from
striking on the reef, but it was of no avail ) The witness
said that was what was stated in the protest, and he swore
to it; but it did notsay how she made water. The carpen-
ter, mate, and the captain and another seaman were present.
By Mr Lewis—When witness went to sign the protest it
was already prepared, and he was asked by the mate to sign
it. It was read over to him. It was not made out by wit-
ness's instructions. It was onlp read over to him, and they
were asked no questions, but whether they were ready to
sign it.

Wm. Middleton, a seaman on board the Snowdrop, said
he was on deck when the ship struck on the morning of Oct.
4. Before she struck he sung out " Breakers ahead," and
as he was saying so she struck. She struck twice. He
heard the carpenter report twice that the vessel was not
making any water. He remembered the anchor being hung
over the stern of the longboat. At that time the vessel had
not made any water. He should say it was about four and
a half hours after she struck. After the anchor was got in
again he heard some one say the vessel Was making water.
No attempt was made to pump. He signed tho protest at
Revel, and was asked by the mate to do so. The captain,
mate, boatswain, and carpenter were present at the time he
signed it. He saw the vessel standing in the same position
seven days after she struck.
Captain Drummond said he was special agent for Lloyd's
underwriters. On
_Nov. 14 Craig, the carpenter, went to
his office in Fenchurch-strcet and made a statement. He
afterwards saw the steward, who also wade a statement, and
he reduced the statement of each to writing. They related
to the Snowdrop. He produced the certified copy of the
I regieter of the ship. _

Herbert Brayne, an underwriter in the Australasian In-
surance Company, said the Snowdrop was insured at his
office for the sum of £5OO. The insurance was effected on
Sept. 6 against all risks.

Cyril Wright, a clerk in the Alliance, of Capel•court,
produced a policy of £5OO on the Snowdrop, free of particu-
lar average, that was to say, only against the total loss of
the ship.
Mr Lewis asked for another remand,

Mr Sleigh addressed his lordship with a viow to induce
him to admit his client to bail, and Mr Beard made a
similar application, but the Lord Mayor said the penalties
were so severe in case a conviction should take place, that
he did not feel justified in taking the responsibility, and de-
clined to accede to the application.

The Murder and Attempted Suicide at
Shirley.

SOUTHAMPTON, Monday.
This dreadful tragedy, of which a very brief account has
already appeared, has created intense excitement through-
out this district. Of the unhappy murderer, whose name
is George Broomfield, and age about 47 years, little or
nothing is of course known here, but all the other parties
to the tragedy of Saturday are well known and highly
respected in the locality. The Hampshire _lndependent
this morning, in a second edition, gives the following par-
ticulars as to the unfortunate young woman whose life was
so ruthlessly sacrificed on Saturday evening :
" Mr Powell, of the Shirley Hotel, and also in an exten-
sive way of business as a plumber and painter, has employed
from his youth the husband of the unfortunate deceased,
Frederick Colborne, about 24 or 25 years of ago, the son of
a tailor at Ringwood, and he has always conducted himself
in a way which gained for him not only the confidence of
his employer, but the respect and esteem of all his acquaint.
ances, He was received almost as a member of Mr. Powell's
family, by whom also his poor deceased wife was always
gladly welcomed. She had attained, at her death, the age
of 23 years. She formerly lived in service with Mr Bur-
rows, of Shirley, her maiden name being Wing, and her
aged father, who has already sustained a severe family
affliction within a very recent period, is a hard-working man,
gaining his living as a plasterer. She is described as a
young woman of agreeable manners and affectionate dispo-
sition, and of an amiability of temper which rendered her
beloved by all who knew her. Almost from childhood she
and Colborne had been attached to each other ; their love
and affection seemed to increase with their growth, and,
though the deceased changed her place of service, they kept
up a continued correspondence, and looked forward to the
time when circumstances would enable them to be married.
The poor girl removed from Shirley to the residence of Mr
Guildford Onslow, M.P., at Upton House, Alresford,where
she filled the position of lady's-maid, and her services were
highly valued. Here she for the first time met Geo. Broom-
field, a man now 47 years of age, who hold a responsible
situation in the house as butler, and who it has since been
proved was a married man, though the deceased does not
appear at the time to have been aware of the fact. He was
well to do in the world, having saved a considerable sum
of money from his earnings in the situations
which he had filled, and among his other sources
of income he is said to have an annuity of £2O a year,
which had been left him by a military officer in whose
service be hid lived in the south of Ireland. Broomfield, to
the girl's great annoyance, began to pay her marked atten-
tions, but she frankly told him that her affections were en-
gaged, and that even if they we,re not, there was such a dis-
parity between their ages that she could in no way encou-
rage his advances, He seems, however, to have still
persisted in paying his attentions to her, and rather than
continuo to be subject to his importunities she left her ser-
vice and returned to Shirley, where, in May last, Colborne
made her his wife, and they went to reside in the Union.
road, at Shirley, where she could be near her mother, in
one of the portions of a double cottage, of which there aro
several in that locality, the remaining half of the building
being occupied by a working man named Harris and his
family. Here they lived happily and comfortably together,
looking forward with anxiety to their domestic happiness
being increased by her becoming a mother, an event shortly
expected." _ . _

It appears that on Saturday afternoon Broomfield came
down from London by the 3 o'clock train, which reaches
Southampton at 5.20, and immediately made his way to
Shirley, which is about two miles from this town, and ho
soon found out the deceased's residence, where ho called
shortly after 7 o'clock. His appearance here was of course
very distasteful, and much alarmed poor Blrs Colborne, but
detcheeashersewhere he conversed for
and her husband, and her
, shoemi ne stiismt eed
wo
it
he n ttehrei ng
mother, Mra Wing, was also present part of the time. His
conversation is stated to have been rational and coherent,
and his manner quite cool and collected. Ho appeared
anxious to be on friendly terms with Mr and Mrs Col-
borne, and told them of his intended movements for the
future, as referred to in one of the letters given below.
Broomfielde told one of the medical
em
nate victim to go to America with him, but she would not
gentlemen
athimself
the
infirmary subsequently
that
he wanted his unfortu -
listen to him for a moment. After some little time had
passed Mr Colborne said to his wife that they had bet-
ter go out to do their usua
"Don't go out and leave
usual Saturday evening's market-
ing,me here alone, but if you go your wife had better stop here
with
me."and her husband went out together, leaving Bloomfield alone
when
This Broomfield
w mafise, l d o f said,
course,
objected to, and deceased
in the house. While they were out they called at Mr
Powell's,w here the deceased expressedherself as being uneasy
and uncomfortable about Broomfield's presence. They got
home a little after 9 o'clock, and during their absence it ap-
pears that Broomfield employed himself in writing, in which
he was also engaged part of the time that his unfortunate
victim was at home. Soon after their return Mrs Colborne
commenced ft ying some sausages for supper, and during the
temporary absence of the husband to fetch some ale two or
three shots were heard by some neighbours, one of whom, a
woman named Harris, living next door, immediately ran to
the house, and was soon followed by others. Tho first
thing that presented itself to view was the body of the poor
young woman Colborne, lying on some bricks ab
from the back door, weltering in blood, and just inside
Broomfield was lying on the fl ior, apparently mortally
wounded. A revolver with five chambers was lying on the
floor, two barrels of which were still loaded, so that the
other three had in all probability been fired. It is the opi-
nion of Mrs Harris, who first raised the poor young woman
from the:ground, that she was then dead—but Mr Wheeler,
who carried the body into the room, thinks that she
breathed once or twice afterwards. She was placed in a
sitting posture on the floor, in the arms of her friends, and
never spoke a word. On examination it was found that the
bullet had entered her left breast and apparently passed
through the heart, and two medical gentlemen who were
soon on the spot, Drs Weston and Mott, pronounced her
death to have been instantaneous.
It was next found, on examining Broomfield, that he had
also been shot in the left breast, and as the bullet had appa-
rently passed into his lungs, the -medical gentlemen gave it
as their opinion that the wound was mortal, and that his
recc very was next to an impossibility. The murderer's coat
was lying near, and his hat was on the sideboard. After
some consultation it was determined to send Broomfieldinto
the Royal South Hants Infirmary, in this town, whither ho
was removed in charge of Police-sergeant Cheyney, of the
Hants Constabulary.
The unfortunate husband of the murdered woman was one
of the earliest among the crowds who rushed to the house
on the alarm being given, and was driven almost to madness
by the desolating scene before him. It was with difficulty
he was restrained, in hie first moments of excitement, from
inflicting personal vengeance on the wretched man then
lying on the floor before him, who had thus in a few short
minutes put an end to his happiness, and deprived him of
the society of his deeply lived wife. He has since been in a
sad state of mind, overpowered with his irreparable loss.
Notwithstanding the man Broomfield was so desperately
wounded ho had lost but little blood, and was able to con.
verse. He said ho had been a fellow-servant with the de-
ceased, and that he was a married rcan, his wife living at
Bishop's-terrace, Nawington-green, Islington; but the de-
seased, he said, knew that he was fond of her. He added
that he intended to go to America to join the Federal army,

and to desert from it to go to that of the Confederates, but
ho adopted the plan of joining the Federals first in order to
get to America. He then said that what he had suffered no
one could tell; that ho did it for love; and that he had no
intention of doing it when he came there. Police-sergeant
Cheyney found upon him £5 lOs in gold, a £5 note, 9e in
silver, and 4d in coppers ; also a prospectus or report of tho
Eastern Bengal Railway Company, addressed to "G
Broomfield, Esq., 7, South Molton-street, Grosvenor-square
W." He talked occasionally to Cheyney, though with diffi-
culty, and begged him not to leave him, telling him he had
been in an unsettled state of mind about the deceased, and
he had come to Southampton to settle what property ho had
upon her.
Several documents were found in his pocket, one of
which was a memorandum to this effect :—" I got Mrs.
Colburn to write this note, as I felt too ill to do so.—G. D.
B.;" and the address on the letter is Miss Riddler, 7,
Bishop's-terrace, Newington-green, Islington. My dear
wife is with her, if not dead."
The letter referred to appears to be in the handwriting of
a lady of superior education, and runs in these terms :
" My dear, dear Anne,—These are the last words you will
ever hear from me. I feel I have broken your heart, I
deserve to die, if I should reach America, in the Confederate
army, that is if I can reach the Confederate by first joining
the Northern, then desert for the Confederates, for I feel
theylare the people that deserve fighting for. Oh, my dar-
ling Ann, I shall not have your kind and affectionate eyes
and [the word following appears to be hens.] to watch over
me as you ever have done, particularly the last nine months,
night and day. Had I never gone to Alresford my happy
home would never have been broken up. With my kind
affectionate love to all, particularly to those who have been
kind and affectionate to mo under my heavy afflictions. I
left all my affairs in the hands of Mr Brown and Mr Cooper.
You will find my will and papers and about 50 or 60 pounds
in the cashbox, I hope all will bo carried out as I have
left it to be. I hope the doctor, Mr Tweed, will go to you,
as I ordered him, immediately. Dear Sarah, render all the
assistance you can to my dear wife ; tell her not to fret
about me ; lam not worthy of her doing so. Good-bye."
An addition is made to the letter, apparently by Broom-
field himself, who first signs his name, and adds--
My dear Ann—l felt, when I left, you was dying, and I
feel it all through my affection not being what it ought to
be towards you.—G. D. B."
And ho adds in another part of the letter—
" I have my watch with me and about £l,OOO in money.
I name this as there might be some unpleasantness, and the
watch I have named in my will."
Another letter was evidently written immediately before

the tragic occurrence. It is in a tremulous hand, and it is
sometimes difficult to trace the writing ; but reference is
clearly made to the unfortunate deceased's having written
for him the note given above, and it is addressed to the
husband of the deceased in these terms :

"My dear Mr Coburn—You must bear up under this
heavy trial same as one that I have left. She is dieing
through the heavy trial I have brought upon her. I have
always thought since I have been so ill I cannot rest night
or day. I . . constantly ringimg in my ears that
Carrey must die with . . . Heel wee shall boath meet
you and my poor deare and affectionate dieing wife. Yours
will not be hafe the trial as the one I have left as gone
through, and is now going through. I hopo you will get
some ono to talagraph to say lam dead. I wish you to do
so, or some one, to Mr Brown, 47, Great Marlehone-street,
Portland-place. Good-bye and God bless you and support
us all under this heavy trial.—G.D.B.
" I hope you will forgive me, and let us boath lay to-
gether till that we shall be called forth to meet Christ.
Then all sorroe and trouble will be at an end. I have
changed my mind in going away since dear Carrey wrote
the note, as I feel she must die with me.' v_.
Since his removal to the infirmary Broomfield has had
every medical care, but his recovery is not expected. He is
under the surveillance of police sergeant Cheyney. Among
other statements Broomfield has made to the house surgeon
at the infirmary he says that some years ago ho was shot in
the head by a gentleman with whom he then lived, and that
he has since been subject to fits of mental derangement.
Tho wife of the wretched man visited him at the infirmary
yesterday.

THE SUNNINGHILL MURDER.—Yesterday at noon
Frederick Croft, alias William Smith, the tramp suspected
of the mut der of Eliz %both Butler, at Mr Crutchley's lodge,
Sunninghill-park, was brought before Messrs C. Sawyer
(chairman), J. H,rcy, T. J. Herey, C. 3. Palmer, C. C.
Ferrard, and J. J. Pocock, the sitting county magistrates
at the Maidenhead County Police-court, for re-exami-
nation, the prisoner having been remanded from last Mon-
day. The court was densely crowded, while the exterior of
the building was surrounded with people anxious to get a
glimpse of the prisoner, who was brought into court by Mr
Superintendent Iremonger, shortly after the magistrates
had taken their seats on the bench. During the prisoner's
remand fresh evidence had been collected by the Barks con-
stabulary, and Colonel Blaudy, the chief constable for the
county, was again in attendance to press the charge against
the prisoner. The first witness examined was Margaret
ateytiek, who said she was a Scripture reader, and lived at
No. '2, Cambridge-terrace, Windsor. On the evening of the
15th of October she heard screams issuing from the arch-
ways of the Great Western Railway and cries of " Murder!"
These arches wore about 200 yards' distance from her resi-
dence. She opened her window, but not hearing any other
cries shut it down again, That was between 11 and 12
o'clock at night. On Sunday morning, the 16th Oct., about
10 minutes past 11, while elle was going to church, she heard
a mart and woman quarrelling under the same archway, but
nearer the gas-house. When she went down the turning
opposite the water and leading to the river Thames she saw
the man and woman again, and distinctly hoard the woman
call the man "a murderous villein," upon which the man
advanced towards the woman as if ho was going to strike
her, but stopped and did not do so. The woman then said,
"You know you arc a murderer,"and the man turned towards
the woman, and said something which the witness did not
hear. The woman said in a crying tone, "You'll soon be
somewhere where you won't be able to kill people." That
was all witness hoard, and she remained near the spot as a
protection to the woman, They were more than 100 yards
distautewheu she first saw them, but they were nearer when
she heard what was said. Witness on being asked if she
could identify the prisoner said she was in doubt. The
man appeared darker, had more whiskers about his face, and
looked dirtier than the prisoner. It will bo remembered
that Croft had boon in gaol a month. Witness continued,
she thought he had a pink striped or plaid shirt on when
she saw the man, but witness looked more at the woman
than the man. She was a stout, full-faced woman, but was
not near enough for the witness to notice any marks on the
face, The woman was of medium height, but she was not
near enough to her to notice if she were pock-marked. On
the Saturday morning she noticed a woman with a pretty
little dog—a brown terrier. She thought it was the same
woman with it then whom she saw on the next day. To the
best of her belief the prisoner at the bar was the man she
had seen with the woman referred to. The prisoner on
being asked if he had auy questions to ask the witness re-
plied in the negative. Mr Superintendent Iremonger, of the
Berks constabulary, was next examined, and stated that
about 11 o'clock on the 15th Oct. ho received information
of the murder of Elizabeth Butler, at Winkficld, and imme-
diately drove over and was shown the body of the deceased
in the room on the left side of the lodge. He saw a large
quantity of blood just inside the front door. There was also
blood upon the panels and doorpost of the larder. He made
an examination of the premises, but could not find that
anything had been tampered with, or that the drawers and
boxes had been disturbed. He then looked round the out-
side of the house, but could not find any footmarks, nor any
weapon with which the murder could have been committed.
From further inquiries he apprehended the prisoner on
the 26th November, at Aylesbury, on his release from the
gaol. Witness on taking him into custody said to him, "I
apprehend you upon the charge of murdering Elizabeth
Butler, in the parish of Winkfield, on the 15th October. It
is my duty to caution you as to what you say, for what you
do say I shall give in evidence before the magistrates," upon
which the prisoner exclaimed, "I am innocent—l never
was at Winkfield, and don't know where Winkfield
Witness tank from the prisoner the old slop he was wear-
ing, which he produced, and on the front of which, to the
boat of his belief, there as a spot of blood. Tho prisoner
was then asked by • the chairman if he had any
questions to ask this witness, and he replied,
"No, sir; I've ,nothing to say." Dr Hewitt (the
surgeon, who was called to see the body of the deceased
when the murder was discovered) examined the supposed
spot of blood, and at first said it looked more like a grease
spot. Dr Hewitt after this was placed in the witness-box,
and was examined. lie then said the spot upon the smock
had the appearance of mud. He had made a post mortem
examination of the body of Elizabeth Butler, and came to
the conclusion that death had been caused by the blows in-
flicted on the head of the deceased woman. 'rho murder
could not have been committed more than half an hour be•
fore the crime was discovered. A short stout stick would
have caused the injuries which the deceased had received.
This was the whole of the evidence produced upon the pre-
sent occasion, at the close of which the magistrates retired
to their private room for consultation, and on their return
to the court remanded the prisoner for three days. Croft,
who on his appearance in court appeared slightly flushed,
and had seemed somewhat moved as Mrs Moyrick, the
Scripture reader, gave her evidence, was then removed by
Mr Superintendent Iremonger to the police cell.
THE FALMOUTH MURDER.—AIbert Julius

helm Rudolf, the German charged with stabbing J.
Timmins, of Penryn, in a street quarrel at Falmouth, was
on Saturday brought up on remand, before Mr Wm. Came
(Mayor) and Mr John Freeman, and committed to take
his trial at the nest Cornwall assizes for wilful murder, and
eluting the day ho was removed to the county gaol at Bod-
min. Mr Superintendent Julyan, of the borough police
force, was bound over to prosecute, and 16 witnesses were
also bound to give evidence at the trial—among the number
are five foreigners. The evidence adduced on Friday even-
ing was to the effect that the prisoner's coat and cap which
he wore on the night of the murder was found on some tim-
ber near the dry dock on Sunday, having apparently been
recently washed. The evidence of Heiman, belonging to her
Majesty's ship Si. George, which the prisoner desired to be
given, was not of the least importance, and his deposition
was not taken. He was not on the spot until soma time after
the murder was committed.— Western Morning Zrew3,

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—Lord Clarence Paget found the electors
of Deal in a very good humour last Friday, and he
inproved the occasion by saying a good word for
himself, his department, his colleagues, and the Go-
vernment generally. Like Mr Childers at Ponte•
fract, he seemed to think the subject of the Navy

somewhat closely connected with the subject of
Finance, as no doubt it is ' • and so, before entering
upon questions immediately concerning our naval
administration, he expatiated with couniderable
satisfaction on our fiscal policy generally. We have
had eleven millions of taxes remitted within the

last four years. The National Debt has been re- 1
duced by six millions, and, besides this, the process I
of converting permanent into terminable charges
has been steadly, though slowly, going on. Such
results, achieved in the teeth of a terrible expendi-
ture, Lord Clarence thinks highly creditable to the
Government, and challenges our admiration for the
"extraordinary wisdom of its financial measures."
We hope all this talk about reductions is not pre-
paratory to new demands; but Lord Clarence
speaks somewhat ominously when he comes to the
interesting topic of the impending estimates. These,
he tells us in the usual terms, " will be framed with
the utmost regard to economy," but he feels ob-
liged to add that certain views recently expressed
with regard to " great and sweeping reductions"
will not be entertained. He even lets us into the
secret a little further, and warns us more particu-
larly to expect " a considerable increase in the votes
for the docks and basins of this country." After
this glimpse, however, of the future we are whisked
back to the present, and Lord Clarence is very
anxious to have his say upon "some late criticisms
of the Press." The Press has talked a good deal about
the Victoria, just sent as flagship to the Mediterra-
nean, about the difficulty of manning her, and her
uselessness when manned, The Press has also
asked why the Royal Sovereign was putout of corap
mission so abruptly, and why this single specimen
of the turret system was not more patiently tried.
The conduct of the Admiralty in these particulars
had been made the subject of " very constant
criticisms," but Lord Clarence is so well
acquainted with the "love of fair play among Eng-
lishmen" that he knows he may anticipate a "can.
did and impartial hearing" for his explanations. ,
This he shall certainly have, and though one of his
colleagues has already forestalled him to no great
purpose, the public shall see what the Secretary of
the Admiralty himself can say for these proceedings
of his department. The Victoria, being a wooden
three-decker, carrying upwards of 100 guns, and
requiring at least 1,000 men to fight them, has been
sent to one of our chief naval stations, there to carry
the flag of the Admiral in command of the fleet.
Now, at the beginning of this very speech Lord
Clarence had justified the late heavy expenditure
upon the Navy by explaining the necessity which
had existed for reconstructing it, and substituting
armour-plated ships for wooden vessels, as the only
ships by which our position at sea could be upheld.
It was this inevitable obligation that cost us all the
money that Lord Clarence spoke of, and therefore
the press, and the public too, felt much surprise at
seeing one of the most extravagant specimens of the
condemned fleet brought forward at an enormous
cost for active service. This proceeding Lord C. Paget
now explains by telling us that the Victoria was
wanted in the Mediterranean fleet, not for mere
stateliness or dignity's sake, nor yet solely for the
accommodation of the Admirals Stuff, but for the
reception of supernumeraries for the service of the
squadron. A large fleet requires constant reinforce-
ments, by fresh draughts of seamen, and these men
are all sent in the first instance to the flagship, thence
to be distributed among the other vessels of the
squadron as occasion may require. It might happen
that as many as 200 sailors at a time would need
lodging in this way, and what, asks Lord Clarence,
would the country say if pestilence were bred among
these men by their being cramped up on board
a ship "only fit to go immediately into action"—
that is to say, an ironclad ? To this we reply that
the argument raises a most important point ; and
that if our ironclads are only fit for the mere work
of a battle, and are not habitable vessels, the sooner
our naval architects are apprised of this defeet the
better ; but this will not in the least degree help
the Admiralty out of their difficulty. Let us admit,
for the sake of argument, that every squadron on
active service requires a large floating barrack for
the accommodation of draughts from home and the

transaction of general business; we must then ask
why this barrack, or clerks' office, or Admiral's
residence, or whatever it is to be considered, should
be regarded also as a fighting ship, when, by the
admission of the argument itself, she is nothing of
the kind. Why should this floating hotel carry 100
guns and upwards of 1,000 men to work these guns,
especially when such a crew would occupy and
absorb the very space which is wanted for others ?
If the Victoria were nothing more than a little
floating Admiralty we could understand the matter;
but she pretends also to be a fighting ship, and in
that capacity carries an immense complement of
righting men and guns. Lord Clarence declares that
these men were provided for her without difficulty ;
but ho does not tell us from what ships they were
taken, nor how the matter would have been managed
had no vessels been put conveniently out of com-
mission just at that time. There, however, is the
fact that a ship which Lord Clarence Paget does
not attempt to say is fit for action, and which Mr.
Childers thinks adapted for duty mainly because
there is no expectation of war, is sent out with an
array of men and guns suitable only to a fighting
ship of the first class. Both Mr. Childers and Lord
Clarence excuse this unlucky vessel as only designed
for civil duties, forgetting that she is rated, manned,
and armed as a first-rate man-of-war, and entails
upon the country and the service a corresponding
charge. Apart from this business of the Victoria
and the question of the Royal Sovereign, which
the Secretary of the Admiralty handles with par-
tiality rather than prejudice, the Navy seems in a
" satisfactory" condition—at least, so Lord Clarence
thinks. But he forgets that the people in
,afice
always think so, and that it is the people succeed-
ing them who are invariably dissatisfied with the
bequests of their predecessors. We shall feel a
good deal more confidence on this head when a
Conservative Secretary says as much for Lord
Clarence as Lord Clarence has said for him-
self, and we get a somewhat unpleasant glimpse of
contingencies in a little sentence of this very speech.
Lord Clarence positively assures us that the Royal
Sovereign had as fair and full a trial as possible, and
not only that, but that, in his opinion, she proved
herself a great success, insomuch, ho added, that
" we have now under consideration the conversion
of one of our large armour plated ships, which is
now ander construction, into a ship upon that prin-
ciple." Ibis is rather alarming. It opens a pros•
pect of _one more " reconstruction." We have, as
the Secretary tells us, no less than 30 armour-plated
ships built or building, and of these at least 25 are
vessels of some description or other on the broadside
principle. But if there are already such misgivings
of this principle that we are beginning to " convert"
one of the most costly specimens before it is com-
pleted, it is evident that a future Secretary of the
Admiralty may possibly come to condemn our whole
iron fleet. If the superiority of the turret system
should be established, the comparative inefficiency
of the broadside system will be established also, and
there will be all our work to do over again once
more. Lord Clarence has now said almost too much
for himself. If the turret principle contained all
this potential value, the Royal Sovereign should
have been launched a good deal earlier, and a spe-
cimen of her kind better adapted for sea-going
should have been commenced long ago. It is by
neglecting inventions too long that we incur such
heavy charges. The turret system may be better
or worse than the broadside system, but we ought
to have ascertained the fact before we adopted the
broadside system for five-sixths of our new and
costly navy.
POST.—The Austrian Reichsrach is outstripping
the Imperial Government in its pursuit of the
policy of domestic conciliation which it declared a
few days ago to be the counterpart of its desire for
" the consolidation of a lasting European peace."
Both is Venetia and Galicia a state of siege has
hitherto prevailed. The Government, however,
terminated a few days ago that condition of affairs
in Venetia ; and the Reichsrath has now con-
demned, in terms quite intelligible, though not in
those of direct censure, its continuance in Galicia
also. M. de Schmerlitig is too prudent and too con-
ciliatory to do otherwise than adopt the views of
the Chamber, which are really essential to the con-
summation of his own policy. He is held to imper-
sonate the principle of a combination of representa-
tion with centralisation in the Austrian empire, and
that idea is the idea also of the leading and more
liberal of the purely Austrian statesmen. It has
been, no doubt, from first to last a hazardous scheme,
and a very doubtful problem. But it was at the
same time the only scheme of centralisation for that
composite empire that was not plainly impossible.
Many attempts have been made at different times to
centralise Austria. The two most notable of them
were of Joseph 11. during his novennium from 1780
to 1789, and that of Prince Sahwartzenberg, his
successor Count Buol, and the colleague of either of
them as Minister of the Interior, Baron Bach, dur-
ing the ten years between the subjugation of Hun-
gary and the outbreak of the Italian war, 1810.59.
Both attempts, however, proceeded one false basis.
The latter, in particular, was simply a centralisation
by means of military despotism—in other words,
something akin to a permanent state of siege. Hos-
tile nations, each with its own traditions and its own
suppressed constitution, were indiscriminately go-
verned like conquered provinces by a German
bureaucracy with German bayonets at their hack.
The only question then was, not whether, but when,

iii

such a system would break down. At length an in'
genious scheme was devised for combining the cane
tralisation which the Court desired, and the exigen•
cies of Government absolutely demanded, with the
representative system necessary to its acceptance by
the people. The traditions of each nation of the
empire were to be preserved; the people were to share
in legislation ; but the whole imperial paver was to
be centred at Vienna. To do this the Hungarian and
other local Diets were called again into existence; but
they were made subordinate to a central Parliament,
which would be chiefly composed of their delegates.
This was the present but still imperfect Reichsrath.
But from the moment that this plan was deter'
mined on, it was plain that its essence consisted io
a policy of force being replaced by a policy of cone
ciliation. The difficulty rested in the means of lo"
ducing the Hungarians, the Galicians, the Croats,
and the Venetians to accept the compromise, and to
send their delegates to Vienna, so as to form the
Reichsrath. It was an instance of the old story 01
leading a horse to water without being able to make
him drink. Even now, as we have already said'
the Reichsrath is not fully constituted, though it
appears to be sufficiently so to enable it to perform
legislative functions for the empire, and to arrogate
great weight to its deliberations both with the
Austrian Government and oven with the whole of
Europe. In this juncture of the progress of the
Austrian Constitution a great change has suddenly
taken place in the character and policy of the 00'
vernment. The old Court notions, military fancies,
and aristocratic prejudices of the high Austrian
party, which were impersonated in Count Rechberg,
have given way. Popular ideas, pacific sentiments',
and a disposition to accept the existing state of
things, have forced their ground, and have apps'
rently taken more or less complete possession of the
Austrian Government. It is, in fact, in this coy
version of the Government by the Reichsrath thet
the latter has gained at once the most recent and
most striking illustration of its moral authority.
Time heals many sores. The discomfiture of 1859
rankled for a long time in the breasts of Austrian
politicians. No one could wonder that it should be
so. But since that time the great Italian Kingdom
has been gradually establishing itself. The Court
of Turin, in proportion as it has consolidated its
internal power, has become more conservative in its
foreign relations, and more and more disposed to
content itself with whatever fortune a purely pacific
policy may bring. It has thus become more prse"
ticable for Austria and Italy to meet upon friendly
terms ; and the change of feeling and policy which
has thus been brought about by the reciprocal
concessions of both parties can only have Re
result in the recognition of the Italian king'
dom by the Austrian Government. Perhaps the
greatest importance of this tendency to peace
and conciliation between Italy and Austria
is that it means a policy of disarmament on both
sides. The time is come when both parties are ripe
for this declaration. Each wants to consolidate its
own government. Each wants also to curtail its ev
penditure—aud Italy and Austria both know that
by a formal understanding of this kind they might
strike off between a hundred and a hundred and.,
fifty thousand men from their muster rolls—and
thus, while they afford a substantial pledge for
future peace, at once solve the financial difficulties
with which they are both beset. This done, Austria
would concentrate her attention on the reconciliEli
Lion of Hungary and Galicia with her own rule---se
Italy, on the other hand, would devote herself to
the complete subordination of the South to the
House of Savoy and the new Government at the
Florentine capital. What both Governments equallY
need and desire it seems difficult to believe Cis!
they will not obtain. The formal completion o',
friendly relations with the Italian kingdom is all
that Austria requires in order to give full effect to
the recommendations of the Reichsrath, which M.(1,.°
Schmerling has, for the most part, endorsed. Ile
appears, indeed, to offer some opposition to the.
Reichsrath on the subject of the state of siege that
has prevailed in Galicia; but this seems to be the
main point of difference. To a great extent, Couo
Mansdorff and M. de Schmerling appear to rePre:
sent the popular view as to the line of foreign aou,'
domestic policy that Austria should pnrsue--o"
we believe tbat that policy is one which is in the
common interest of Austria and Italy.