The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-28 00:00:00

if it do not exasperate, the South. He declared
that the peaceful re-election of Mr Lincoln was
a proof that the Government was embalmed in the
hearts of the people, and that consequently it was
the strongest Government on earth. He thought
that hereafter it would be considered more honour,.
able to be draughted than to volunteer to fight the
battles of a Government so beneficent—a sentiment
in which it is not likely that many Americans, or
many Irishmen or Germans, will be found to par•
ticipate when the draught has to be enforced. He at
the same time expressed another opinion which no
one in either section of the once United States or in
Europe is likely to controvert—that a "black man
would fill as large a grave if he fell in battle as if
his colour were white." Mr. Lincoln was no longer
he said, the President of a minority, but of an over°
whelming majority of the American people, and
being such he had a great opportunity to hold out
the olive branch to the South. "Now was the

any defects have arisen from the recent shipment
and nnshipment of her screw propeller, !Should
the inspection prove satisfactory, she will be un-

docked during the present spring tides, and, after
making her official trial of speed at the Maplin
Sands, take her place in the first division of the

. _
steam reserve, to await the orders from the Admi-

ralty.
The screw gunvessel Torch, 6, fitting in No. 4
dock at Chatham for•the steam reserve, has shipped
her six boilers, which have undergone a thorough
overhaul and repair, and will complete her other
repairs in the course of a few days, when she will
be undocked.

The first annual report of the Association for pro•
viding Lodgings for Soldiers' Wives and Families at
Aldershott has just been issued, The object of the
association is to provide lodgings at a cheaper rate
than they could be obtained by the ordinary means,

and, owing to the high rents at Aldershott, it may
be considered mast valuable for the benefit of the
married soldier. When the former report was
issued only 40 lodgings were available in that
part of Aldershott called North-lane, or New-
town, but in January the committee took three
houses in Albert-street, West end, at a rent of £65
per annum, including rates, repairs, &c., by which
17 lodgings were added to the others, with the
rents at the low figure of ls. 10d. to 2s. 2d. per
week for each room, partly furnished. 99 soldiers
wives and 72 children have been benefited by the
lodgings since these were opened, and all the

time," he thought, " when it might be said to the
deluded people, ' Come back, come back ! This is
the last time of asking. Come back ! Leave feed•
ing upon husks and live with us upon the fat of the
land ! Let bygones be bygones, and our country
shall be at peace for ever !' " He went on to state
that he would not only offer complete oblivion of
the past to the whole Southern people, but uncondi•
tional pardon and amnesty to the leaders. It is to be
supposed, as he made no exception that he included
in this magnanimous offer of mercy Mr. Jefferson
Davis, whom in the Electoral College of 1856 he
strenuously supported as the most befitting candi.
date for the Presidency. But, knowing that the
Southern people and their leaders will refuse to
come back, General Butler went on to explain what
he would propose to do after his fair and final offers
were rejected. On his own behalf and that of all
who voted for Mr. Lin coin, he offered subjugation,
confiscation, and eater mination,—war to the hilt,
war until not a man should be left in the South
except the negroes. " Let it be understood,"
he said, if this final offer be rejected, that here•
after we (the North) shall pay no more bounties,
but taking counsel from the Roman method
of carrying on war, that we shall say to oar
young men, Look to the fair fields of the
sunny South, and, unless they take our
amnesty, share these fair fields out among you, to
belong to you and to your heirs for ever !' " The

enants continue to express their satisfaction with

the quarters provided for them. There is a rule
most rigidly adhered to by the committee, which
excludes from the benefits of the association the
wives of the soldiers married without leave, but if

a sufficient number of women married with leave do
not apply for the lodgings then those married with•

out leave who can obtain recommendations from

their commanding officer are admitted. The accounts
show a total balance of £74 7s 61-,d to the credit of
the association. Besides a long list of donors the
report gives the names of 48 guarantors of sums
from £4 to £3O each, who hold themselves respons-
ible for the rent of any premises taken by the asso.
elation up to June next. The total sum guaranteed
this year amounts to £425. The names of the gua-
rantors have increased by seven since the half
yearly report was issued in January, and include
those of the Earl of Shaftesbury, Lieut. General
Knollys, Col. the lion. Lord George Lennox, Vis-
count Eversley, Lord Calthorpe, Sir Harry Verney,
Miss Nightingale, Major General Brook Taylor,
Russell, Hodge, and Bates, &c. The association
contemplates the extension of its operations when
the funds shall be adequate.
Col. Elmhirst, late 2d battalion 9th Regiment,

ladies waved their white handkerchiefs and the
gentlemen clapped their white-gloved hands in tes-
timony of their approval of this trenchant and truc-
ulent proposal. At the close of the speech the Rev.
H. W. Beecher, one of the most delighted of the
auditory, unable to restrain his enthusiasm, pro-
claimed that Benjamin F: Butler was the true man
to be President of the United States, and then and
there nominated him as successor to Mr Lincoln in

having been appointed to a depot battalion, has
joined the 9tII depot battalion at Colchester, in suc-
cession to Col. Knox, C. 8., who has received an
appointment in Japan. The Rev. C. Woollett has
succeeded the Rev. Dr Barry as Roman Catholic
chaplain to the troops at Colchester. Leave of ab-
sence has been granted to Col. Laye, of the 9th
depot battalion, and commander of the troops sta-
tioned at Harwich and Landguard Fort, from Dec.
1, 1864, to January 31, 1865. Capt. Cotton, of
the 97th, has proceeded to Landguard Fort to
take the command during the absence of Col.
Laye. Lieut.-Col. Gleig, R. A., Assist.-Inspector of
Army Schools, concluded on Friday his annual in.
spection of the schools at Colchester.
We have to announce the death of Gen, Wyn-
yard, C. 8., colonel of the 58th Regiment of Foot,
which occurred on Thursday last. The late General
Buckley Wynyard was formerly in the Grenadier
Guards, and, obtaining the rank of colonel of that
regiment, was.appointed aide-decamp to William
IV. He served with the army in Sicily from 1808
to March, 1810, when he was severely wounded at
the attack on Santa Maura, for which ho subse-
quently obtained the brevet rank of major. He
was also present and on the staff with the force that
occupied Ischia and Procida. He was made a
Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1846, and
was appointed Colonel of the 58th (Rutlandshire)
Regiment of Foot in January, 1851, which of course
becomes at the disposal of the Duke of Cambridge.
His commissions bore date as follows :—Ensign,
December 17, 1803—Lieut. and Captain, January
7, :808—Brevet :Major, March 25, 1813—Captain
and Lieut. Colonel, April 28,1814—Colonel, July
22, 1830—Major General, November 23, 1811—
Lieut. General, November 13, 1831—and General,
January 28, 1860.
The death is announced at Jersey of Dr. Park,
surgeon of the 16th Lancers. The deceased left Col-
chester on Saturday week on a leave of absence for
two months. rlnd
.neoceedea
I only nerPrea m.r..1 a iuw ucur.s when he died. Dr.
Park had an attack of paralysis some time since.
The following appointments were made on Satura
day at the Admiralty :—Dr T. Milne, assist.-surg.,
to the Jackal—Dyes Duckworth, Alfred Brand, and
Philip Cowen, assist.-surgs., to the Royal Adelaide,
for Plymouth Hospital—Conrad C. Wimberley,
Archibald T. Robertson, and E. W. Doyld, acting
assist.- surgs., to the Victory, for Hislar Hospital
W. Sutton (B), chief engineer to the Cum•
berland, for the Serpent—W. It. Lesson, engineer,
to the Indus, for the Bann—and W. Roberts, engi-
neer, to the Indus, for the Asp,

1868- " I beg you all distinctly to understand,"
added Mr Beecher with his customary jocosity,
" that Ido not nominate him." On this arose cries

from all parts of the room of " You do, you do !''

" Butler fqr President !" "Butler for ever I" Mr.
H. Greeley, having been observed in the crowd was
called upon in the usual manner for a speech ; but
the philosopher was too discreet to commit himself,
and disappeared, like Beecher, behind the conve.
nient hoops of applauding beauty. The General
himself, and his more intimate associates, took ad.
vantage of the lull to withdraw to the dinner which
awaited them. What passed at the table history
may perhaps record hereafter. At present nothing
is known of the proceedings, except that the Gene-
ral's health was drunk with all the honours as the
"coming man" of America—the next and the great-
est of all the Presidents, Geo. Washington alone exs
cepted. There may be a doubt in some minds of the
General's fitness for the place ; but there can scarcely
be a doubt that, fit or unfit, the Northern people
deserve him.
The state of military affairs may be very briefly
described. Ail is quiet before Petersburg and Rich-
mond, bat an offensive 'movement oa the part of
Gen. Grant is daily anticipated. General Sheridan
holds the upper portion of the Shenandoah Valley,
but his tenure is precarious. The grand naval
assault upon Wilmington, in consequence of the
inability of General Grant to spare a co-operating
land force, has been postponed, if not abandoned ;
and General Sherman, without destroying and
evacuating Atlanta, es was erroneously reported,
has disappeared with his whole army, and gone no
one knows whither. His mysterious movement is
differently interpreted. Some military critics assert
that he is advancing upon Charleston, a long, a
weary, and a dangerous march from Chattanooga.
Others, both military and civilian, insist that Sa-
vannah is his object. Others, again, will listen to
explanation thaA will not Adrnit_MoltileL to be

pazo liettitrisTWHlTe a rti FIT(ITATo
of the mystified public declares that Lynchburg,
the real key to Richmond, is to be seized,and that
General Sherman, with that instrument in his pos-
session, will forthwith unlock the gates of the Con
federate capital, and march into it from the one side
while General Grant enters from the other. The
Southern journals hint at great events as likely to
occur immediately in Georgia—so that on both
sides of the Potomac the expectations of the public
are excited, and, the party politics of the election
having bad their day, attention again reverts to
the war and to the closing scenes of the not very
brilliant or decisive campaign of 1864.

The Loss of the William Graham.

OFFICIAL REPORT.

To the Right Honourable the Lords Olthe Committee of
Privy Council for Trade.

My Lords,—l beg to report, for the information of your
inquiry which I have held, in
nj un
c
Harris and Baker as nautical
lordships,coconjunction
n the
with result
Captains
assessors, into the loss of the ship William Graham, which
was wrecked in R 95803 Bay, on the coast of Donegal, on the
in 1859, registered in Liverpool of 653 tons,
19th October last. The William Graham was built of wood,
Mr John Ritchie, of the same place. She
aant
dB lt
wasi more ,
owned y
sailed from Miramichi the 28th Sept., with a full cargo of
timber, bound for Belfast. She was commanded by Mr G.
Hewison, who holds a certificate of service, dated in 1851,
and had a crew of 16, all told, and carded as passengers
one woman and three children. On the 18th 02tobar the
ship at noon was, by observation, in lat 55 28 N. long 12 35
W., from which pcsition a course was steered S.E. and by
E., at about six knots an hour, for the coast of Ireland;
but it does not appear from the evidence of the chief mate,
or from the statement of the captain,
that the bearing and
distance of any of the headlands were calculated. At 6 a,m.
on the 19th the Irish coast was sighted, and by the cross
bearings of the Island of Aranmore and Bloody Foreland the
ship's position was ascertained to be about 26 miles S.E. of
the latter. At this time the wind had fallen light, varying
to the eastward, and the ship
thick land was lost sight of tillW3aB3o pgoi
ng
the starboard tack, with all plain sail set. At 8 a.m. the ship
was tacked to the southward and eastward, the breeze gra-
dually increasing from the N.E. The weather becoming
about
when
lt
ey madknotse
na
lighthouse on the starboard bow, which the master took to be
the Faunet Light, at the entrance to Loughswilly. As the
weather was threatening
and the ship making water, the
master determined to anchor for the night. Some time
after having rounded the headland, a boat was seen right
ahead, making for the ship. This proved to be the boat of a
man named M'Aaby, who came within hail. Sung out to
them to back the mainyard, but ho failed in an attempt to
board the vessel. In a very short time afterwards another
boat came alongside) belonging to man named O'Donnell,
who succeeded in getting on board, and announced himself
as a local pilot for the Rosses and Rutland Harbour. He
informed the master that ho was mistaken in supposing he
was running into Loughswilly, telling him that he was 40
miles to the westward of that port, and that it was Aran-
more Island that was on his starboard hand. He offered
to pilot him to a safe passage up the bay, which ho in.
formed him was Reeser Bay. The master, however, do-
dined his services, on the plea that he was not a licensed
pilot, and that
ho would run his ship in himself. Some
further conversation took place as they proceeded up tho
bay, and, when abreast of the perch, the master asked
O'Donnell for what sum he would take charge of the vessel,
who said that he would leave his remuneration to the autho-
rities on shore, adding that it was too late then, and that he
would have his ship aground in five minutes, but that if he
gave him charge he would ground her in a safer place than
she was making for.
At this point, for the first time,
according to the evidence of the mate and the statement
of the master, the lead was ordered to be hove, and, as the
master went to his cabin to consult his charts, the result
of the cast told him that they were in five fathoms. They
then began to reduce sail, with the intention of anchor-
ing ; but, perceiving a rock a head, the helm was put
hard a-starboard by order of the chief mate, and almost
at the same moment the ship took the ground, and even-
tually became a total wreck. The cargo was subsequently
discharged. in commenting upon this case, it must be re-
marked that the master was navigating his vessel by an
old chart of 1858, and consequently could have no notice
of the new lighthouse on Aranmore, which is advertised
to be let on the Ist of February next, Notwithstanding
his previous calculations, which would seem to have
been correct, upon seeing
the new lighthouse he rushed

rHE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 28, 1864.

to a conclusion that they were erroneous; that ho
was at the entrance of Loughswilly, and that the lighthouse
in question was that on Fannet Point, whereupon he deter-
mined to run in to anchor for the nigh+. The master and
the mate both appear to have been unacquainted with
Loughswilly, and may therefore more readily have fallen
into the error which proved so fatal. But I cannot exone •
rate the master, in that, when ho was subsequently in-
formed of his position and warned of his danger, he obsti-
nately persisted in boldly standing on up an unknown bay
without keeping his lead going, or even taking a cast till
it was too late to be of the slightest avail, a rock being
right ahead and the ship on the point of striking. I feel
bound, therefore, to pronounce the master in default, as
he neglected to exercise that prudent caution which was
necessary under the circumstances, and which it is incum-
bent on every master of a ship to observe. Taking all these
circumstances into consideration, and bearing in mind that
the master is a man of mature age, and produced before
the court excellent testimonials to character, I have
not been disposed to pass a severe sentence, but I have
suspended his certificate for six calendar months,--I
have, &0.,

T. S. RArrLEs, Police, Magistrato.
Liverpool, Nov. 21, 1864.
We concur in this report.
H. ILuturs,
Nautical Assessors;
R. B. BAKER,

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE 4 LONDON REVIEW" ON DR. S➢IETHURST.—
The Muller discussion has—somewhat unnecessarily
—dragged again into daylight the figure of a man
to whom obscurity and oblivion might have been a
welcome boon. Dr. Smethurst has been in death's
antechamber, the condemned cell, and has re-
turned from it safe and sound into the outer
world. Twelve jurymen, upon the evi•
deuce presented to them, some years ago
considered Ena guilty of a base and villainous
murder; but the Secretary of State, with the con-
currence of careful and wise advisers, hesitated as to
the conclusiveness of the proof, and Dr. Smethurst
was allowed to come back again among his fellow-
men. The incidental mention of his case in a
leading article has given him voice and courage
to speak, and after the lapse of some time he
once more dares the English public to say that
he has been guilty. That veadict the English
public, once upon a time, pronounced with-
out much hesitation. An afterthought, the re-

suit either of mat urer reflection or of administrative
irresolution, caused it to be unsaid, and left Dr.
Smethurst in the attitude of a man suspended be-

tween innocence and guilt. No newspaper discussion
can alter his delicate position. When all has been
said that can be said, the conclusion must still be
the same. It is not certain that Dr. Smethurst
foully and in cold blood poisoned the woman he had
shamefully seduced : otherwise he would before now
have met the fate of Muller. On the other hand,
it is not certain that he did not poison her; other-
wise he would never have been so near death as
the condemned cell. Between the two extremities
of certainty lies a whole misty region of probabili-
ties. Whether, on the whole, Dr Smethust must be
regarded as a lucky or an unlucky person, is a
question that will be answered differently by every
one, according to his familiarity with the precise
facts of Dr. Smethurst's case. There is only one
person living who can make sure of answering it
correctly, and that person is Dr. Smethurst himself.
A discussion which, at most, can end in nothing
more than the state of doubt above described, is
hardly worth prolonging. Against the Old Bailey
jurymen and Dr. Taylor, Dr. Smethurst is entitled
to set-off the " not proven" verdict of Sir G. Grey
and Sir Benjamin Brodie. But it is ridiculous,
after an interval of some years, to ask the readers
of the Times to arbitrate decisively between those
who sent Dr. Smethurst to the gallows and those
who saved him from it, The materials are wanting
for an exhaustive review of his case. If they were
all exhumed again, they would only plunge us into
the same difficulties as before. For the question is
not whether Dr. Smethurst can prove his innocence
that he cannot pretend to do. Positive evidence in
his favour there is next to none, owing possibly, it

may be said, to the singular circumstances of his
story. He can only repeat, therefore, that his crime
has not been proved, and so much, after a pardon
from the Crown, he has fairly a right to maintain.
The exact distance at which he stands, and ought
to stand, from conviction is a quantity that has no
measure. The law of England requires no man to
raeasur9 it. We shall not attempt to do so, and he
has a right to the benefit of the darkness in which
his history is involved. Dr. Smethurst,indeed, seems
to ba dissatisfied with bring left by his fellowmen
under this necessary cloud. That is a matter not be-
tween Dr. Smethurst and the press, but between Dr.
Smethurst and his acquaintances. If his character
and habits are such as to outweigh all the suspi-
cious circumstances of the death of the unhappy
Miss Binkes, it is probable that he has the full
benefit of an unblemished life and temper, when-
ever those about him bum up the evidence on both
sides in the recesses of their own minds, In ordi-
nary lire men are obliged continually to act upon
far less evidence than the law requires for the con-

viction and condemnation of a criminal. They have
to act upon rumour and hearsay, suspicion arid
instinct. So long as there is as much against him
as there is, 1)r. Smethurst may ask the werld not
to pronounce him guilty, but can hardly expect
vici.ety_ to welcome him into its drawing-rooms.
oocluty crnatn, 171,11 1:7 sift.
it. It punishes not so much dishonour as the sue.
pie,ion of dishonour. It strips cff a reputation with
little ceremony, long before the reputation is abso-
lutely threadbare, dealing out a rough and ready
justice, and often sacrificing an individual for the
sake of its own paramount interest. The theory of
the law is that every one is to be presumed inno-
cent till shown satisfactorily to be the reverse.
This is not the theory of society ; if it were, we
should have our houses filled with unconvicted or

reviled villains, and oar wives and daughters
mixing from morning to night in the polluted at-
mosphere of undetected vice. The cordon which men
draw round themselves in private life for self-pro-
tection, is stricter the cordon drawn around them
by justice and the police ; and if Dr. Smethurst
has a right to all civil privileges till he is demon-
strated to be a murderer, ho will find he loses most
of his social privileges until he demonstrates his
fnnocence. This is not a hardship upon him in
particular—it is a necessity arising from the
nature of things, which his expostulations to the
Polished or violent will fail altogether to re-
move. Nor is it even in Dr. Smethurst's
case necessary for society to discuss the balance
of probabilities, either for him or against
him. Dr Smethurst may not be a murderer, nor have
we a right to call him one; but ho has, at all events,
a past history, which travels with him in his train.
An assassin the law does not consider him, nor do
we cast a stone against him ; but he is an adulterer,
a perjured person, a seducer, and a bigamist. Miss
Bankes may not have been poisoned. At any rat;
she was seduced, just as Smethurst's own wife was
deserted and deceived. This is enough for most men,
and would perhaps render cautious people disin-
clined for the gentleman's acquaintance, Because a
man commits one crime, the law certainly does not
infer that he is likely to commit another. In ordi-
nary life people are sometimes in this respect less
charitable than the law ; but let that pass. There
can, however, be no doubt that a catalogue of sins
ought, upon the whole, to be a drawback to a medi-
mil man's progress in his profession; aryl the taint,
of which Dr Smethurst complains as enveloping him
and his, might not be entirely removed if an angel
from heaven descended at Westminster Hall to in-
form the Lord Chief Baron and the public that Miss
Bankes had administered arsenic and antimony to
herself. Miss Bankes, at all events, did not seduce
herself. Even a sham ceremony of marriage requires
two persons to go through with it. Nor was it Miss
Bankes who upon her deathbed wrote a letter to
the bedridden Mrs Smethurst to say that she might
expect the Doctor home again presently. The in-
soluble problem, then, of Dr Smethurst's guilt or
innocence of the capital charge is a less practical
one than at first sight might appear. It is enough
for quiet observers if he is condemned upon the
minor counts in the indictment. The social punish-
ment which he is undergoing may be severe, but is
not altogether undeserved. If in suffering it he is
not expiating one offence, ho is doubtless expiating
another.
THE 4‘ SATURDAY REVIEW" ON REDUCTION OF
EXPENDITURE.—There is probably some truth in
the rumour that the Army and Navy Estimates are
to be reduced ; but the zealous interpreters and advo-
cates of aMinisterial policy which is yet undisclosed
are imprudent, as well as premature, in their argue
ments for sudden economy. The Government is not
likely to proclaim its complete conversion to the
doctrines of its most bitter adversaries by adopting
the language, as well as the policy, of the Peace
Society. Parliament, even on the eve of a general
election, will be indisposed to declare by its votes
that an extensive naval and military organisation
has become unnecessary, because public opinion was
a year ago utterly opposed to an unjust and inexpe-
dient rupture with Germany. As long as Lord
Palmerston remains at the head of the Government,
there will be no formal and professed disarmament.
Like other politicians, the Prime Minister has re-
peatedly exposed himself to the charge of inconsise
tency in dealing with questions which others might
consider of primary importance. Reform Bills and
Church Rates involve serious issues of principle and
practice, but they concern Lord Palmerston only as
the choice of an opera might concern a manager who
had no ear for music. It is his business not to gratify
a personal preference, but to consult the tasteofhis
audience, and to make his theatre pay. Ina period
of violent domestic or constitutional controversies,
Lord Palmereton would not have been for ten years