The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-20 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1864.

The rather questionable advantages held out to
society by that wonderful little Divorce Court,
established, not so very many years
originally
judicial holes and corners hid
since, in one of those
away yonder dawn at Westminster—have been
rather curiously illustrated within the last few
(lave
by the result of the case of HOPLEY versus
lioPixr. The case was in itself, no doubt, a very
curious
y thank GoD, we may even add,
we believe quite confidently, one in its whole
character entirely and absolutely exceptional.
Into its merits (to
employ a current phrase that
seems to drop i
tit° its place here, by the way,
rather oddly) into its merits, so-oalled, we don't
propose in any way to
enter. We refer toit, or
rather to the decision that it has led to, ato one
of the latest and, beyond an instant's doubt, one 0i
the strongest illustrations of the
system
it is mainly valuable as it is
also most
zs-o stc thh
the glorious
fnaB painfully
interesting as an illustration.
ely,
as a truly astounding illustration of
uncertainty of the law as it is revealed to our con,
temptation at work, there in these later "d
Divorce Court, in Simple truth, days
in
the
the ne plus
ultra of non sequiturs ! It shows to us—.as we should
certainly never have expected to have shown to us
by any even the most eccentric scheme of judicial
a young wife can prove to
arrangements—How
absolute demonstration, can prove beyond all
sibility of denial (as shown by the summing up of
the judge, as shown by the unanimous
verdict of the jury)—How, we say, a young
wife can prove to absolute demonstration
the fact of her having been subkoted to a series of
the most revolting cruelties by her husband, and

yet hotv that unhappy wife may completely con.
done those proven cruelties by the affectionate
prattle of her correspondence. In itself, one of thr ,
most distressing cases that has ever been brough t
under the consideration of the Divorce Court sine 0
that court was first opened down at Westminster
it is, in iti 3 result, about the very strangest that could
have beer s easily imagined. We all know the old
rhyming proverb about the woman, the whelp, ane .
the wal ant tree, to the effect that the more yo, .1
whip them the better they'll be ! And certaiul y
the cc r respondence brought to light by means of
this c vie of HOPLEY versus HOPLEY is entirely au d
essent daily a very case in.point. In its tenderness
of all 'ection, indicated by the lady in this instance,
the pamphlet that has come to 118—prig in ( aly
marl :ed private, but with ,the word private aow
very carefully scratched out—might vie with any
equal number of pages that might be selected from
the Yelverton Correspondence. Yet the incentives
1 to these manifestations of tender affection rhppear to
have been of the oddest kind in any way conceiv-
able 1 What those instances were our reports of
the case of HOPLEY ;versus HOPLEY will
have shown the reader rather distressingly
from day to day as the trial proceeded. The
defendant's peculiarities were then brought out as
case opened to view pretty plainly, as every one who
at all watched the case will be prepared to admit.
His history is the history of a theorist, and, what is
more, of aphilanthropical theorist. His was a theory
of a threefold kind, and one, moreover, that had a
threefold illustration. His project has been so to
develope an educational scheme of his own
that, as applied successively to a boy-
pupil, to a newly-married wife, and to
a newly-born infant it should produce—a model
pupil, a model wife (And mother), and a model
child. The worst of it has been that one of the
Theorist's intended model pupils was, somehow or
another, whipped to death—that one of the Theorist's
intended model children evidenced, somehow or
another, very early and very unmistakeable
signs of idiotcy that the Theorist's model
wife, somehow or another, was led in the
end to bring an action against him for
cruelty. But, in the latter instance, there was
(by reason of the truth expressed in the old rhyming
a dage already alluded to) the possibility of these
proven cruelties being effectually condoned.
Happily for any other theorist's purpose who might
aspire to contrive means for having the rod
spared to the walnut tree, or (let us say
under MARTIN'S Act, for ,instance), to the
whelp—neither the walnut tree nor the whelp
could condone cruelties as caa the woman (vide this
henceforth of course leading case of HOPLEY v.
HOPLEY) namely, by writing—after all sorts of
curious little eccentric proceedings on the part of
the Theorist, spittings in the face, kicks in the
back during the period of pregnancy, hammerings
on the head, and so furth—completely and most
effectually condone these and sundry other acts
of cruelty, any one of them worse than whipping,
by entering afterwards into a prattling correspon-
dence with the Theorist !

There aro few points on which Englishmen of all
creeds and parties are more unanimous than detes-
tation of the slave trade. Until they discovered that
the civil war in America was a war of independence
rather than of emancipation, and that the difference
between ABRAHAM LINCOLN and JEFFERSON DAVIS
had in reality no concern with the liberty of the
negro, this feeling enlisted the sympathies of most
of our countrymen on the Federal side. Even now,
when they fully recognise and shrink from the hypo-
crisy which would make emancipation a political
tool to ba used or not according as occasion serves,
the Southern advocacy of the barbarous traffic in
human beings militates against their full satisfac-
tion in the prospect of Confederate success. It is
not that they put any faith in the proclamations of
the Northern President, or believe that, were the
Union re-established to-morrow, slavery would
suffer from its resuscitation, but the presence of so
discordant an element in the body politic prevents
their having that full sympathy in the Southern
cause which otherwise they would have felt in the
efforts of a brave and self-devoted people struggling
for their independence. It is, therefore, not sur-
prising, when this is the prevailing sentiment of
the English nation, that one of the most venerable
and learned of our statesmen should rise in his place
in the House of Peers and declare that in looking
back over a Parliamentary life of nearly half a cen-
tury, there was no matter upon which he reflected
with so mach satisfaction as the part which he had
taken in the abolition of the slave trade. Such a
declaration is doubly emphatic coming from the
lips of a man like Lord BROUGHAM, distinguished
for his share in many another legal, social, and poli-
tical reform. The noble lord mentioned, in evi-
dence of the unquestionable success attending the
efforts of this country in behalf of the slaves in her
colonies, that three years ago a petition was pre•
rented to that House from a district in Jamaica,
which was signed by 800 liberated slaves, 793 of
whom had written their names with their own
hands. But notwithstanding all the work that was
done by that earlier generation to which Lord
BROUGHAM may claim to belong, the satisfac-
tory results of their labours and the undiminished
interest which England still takes in the welfare
of the unhappy negro, there is much still to be
done. The conduct of Spain in this matter is on all
hands admitted to be most reprehensible. By every
obligation of right, of honour, and of gratitude,
she is bound to suspend the traffic, but in spite of
all she persists in evading the treaty and in giving
every encouragement to the traffic. Cuba is the
stronghold of the slave trade, and so long as it
remains so under the open protection of the Spanish
Government, all our efforts for the abolition of the
trade will bs fruitless. It is perfectly useless to
waste the lives of our men in watching the un-
healthy shores of Africa, when the high prices
given at Cuba for slaves stimulate slavers to run
any risk. By such a course we only increase the
horrors of the middle passage by inducing the
slave-dealer to make every effort to conceal his
illegal cargo. It is an unvarying rule of political
economy that so long as there is a demand there
will be a supply, but et once let us stop the market
and we shall soon dispose of the traffic. Let our
Government boldly insist on the Spaniards fulfilling
their treaty obligations; or, if not, let them demand
payment of the large debt due to us from that
country. As Lord BROUGHAM very truly observed
the other evening, the giving of the large. sum
of £eloo,ooo is the only part of the treaty
Spain has yet fulfilled, She has in-
deed
few timorous and inefficient
a whichtsw
which were a
erenever intended to serve their pre-
fessed purpose, but she has done no more, and the
consequence is manifested in the fact that initmhpeolr.
18
years between 1842 and 1860, the annual
tation et slaves into Cuba has increased from 13,000
to 40,000. The Spanish Governors of the island
have, it is commonly
reported, been bribed to
connive at the trade, and although there have been
of course some favourable exceptions to this rule,
among which the name of VALDEZ stands honour-
ably prominent, still the
that Lord EROUGHAIt of
actually gives the rate
system is so well assured
profit. Three doubloons a head for the slaves
imported into the island is the char; , and in cons

sequence of this easy way of making money, one
Governor amassed a comfortable fortune of about
£lOO,OOO. The Governorship of Cuba has, accord•
ing to Lord BROUGHAM, become a recognised
method for mending the fortunes of any needy
Spanish noble, and even when a Governor like the
present endeavours to check the traffic, he finds
local interests too strong for him. The reform must
begin at head-quarters, and it is quite time that
some decisive effort were made. Our West India
planters justly complain of having to compete with
Cuban slave-grown sugar, so that our weak
indulgence towards Spain not only injures
the negro, but our own colonists as well.
Lord RUSSELL'S explanation of the matter
is that every successive Foreign Secretary
has remonstrated with Spain, and that Government
has always professed its willingness to carry out
the treaty, but owing to the strength of private
interests in Cuba, and itn reluctance to offend those
interested in the maintenance of the trade, we have
never been able to obtain efficient aid from it. This
has gone on quite long enough. If it is worth
while to send men to die of fever on the African
coast and expend the large sums which we give for
keeping up our naval force there, it is surely worth
while to put a little more energy into our dealings
with Spain. Half the men and money spent profit-
lessly in the one quarter would have effectually
settled the slave trade if properly applied in the
other. Let our Government insist upon the imme.
diate fulfilment of the Treaty or the liquidation of
the debt, and let them not accept empty words but
demand that an English official shall be placed in
each of the Cuban ports, with the right of searching
vessels—a method which will soon produce an effec.
tual change. Lord PALMERSTON can very readily
stigmatise the conduct of Brazil as "flagrant," and
our Cabinet can easily show a bold front to a weak
Power; but when once European interests are in-
volved, a very great alteration is perceptible in
tone and manner. The interests of humanity de-
mand immediate action, or has England sunk so
low from her ancient position that she fears the
frowns of Spain ?

It is to be Loped that due attention will be paid
to the act for the prevention of employing young
boys as chimneysweeps. It has now received the
sanction of Parliament, and a more wise and neces-
sary regulation has seldom been made concerning
social affairs. The refinement of cruelty would
appear to have reached its climax in the mode
adopted for the training of these wretehed little
victims, and it is only surprising that before this
some stringent enactments have not been made to
prevent such a scandal being practised among us.
This pernicious habit has been so widely spread
that it would seem to have taken root in the minds
of those who ought to know better. The other day
it was mentioned by some who take an interest in
the putting down of the barbarous practice, that in
places where above all others regard should be paid
to the law, the open violation of the enactment took
place. At a prison one poor boy was employed,
and he suffered so greatly from the injuries he re.
ceived that he died in consequence. Another instance
was given of the practice occurring at the house of
some member of Parliament, whose infringement of
the laws was curious and most unsuitable. Time
after time the evil is done in secret, or in such a
manner that no one is likely to take note of it.
In some of the old chimneys it is fancied
by the prejudiced that machines and instruments
are not efficient for the purpose of thoroughly
cleaning them. If this be true, there is a very easy
remedy in having them altered, but in most cases it
is only obstinacy and the tenacity with which many
cling to old notions, and think all improvements
are newfangled absurdities. The cause of humanity
is not strong enough to plead far these little victims
who are exposed to such cruel suffering at an early
age. It is of great consequence that the stern voice
of the law should interfere, and that strict heed be
paid as to the due observance of the regulations that
aro decreed. If proper attention is given to the
law now passed, no possible opportunity can occur
in which a poor child is tortured and injured by
the barbarous practice of chimney-sweeping, but
the mischief often happens through inadvertence on,
the part of householders. Let these now set their
faces against the inhuman habit, and from hence.
forth let the cruelty be banished from among us.
No possible excuse can bo made on the plea of
ignorance, because the subject has been so much
discussed that by this time everyone must be pretty
well familiarised with its details, and the neglect of
watchfulness will be nearly as culpable as the open
commission of the error on the part of others. Too
much care cannot be given to the prevention of a
practice that is a disgrace to all who are engaged
in it remotely or immediately.

The last days of the Session are approaching, and
it is doubtless with very great satisfaction that the
occupants of the Ministerial benches behold the close
of their probation. It must appear, however, to
those who attentively survey the passing events,
that even in small matters, or what may be termed
so, comparatively speaking, great cause may be
found for reprehension, concerning the manner in
which the Government has acted. A vote moved
in supply, by Lord C. PAGET, may serve to suggest
reflections of a peculiar character. It concerned
the purchase of the steam rams, and the noble lord's
offer to make any explanations that might be res
quired, appears to have been unprefited by, and the
vote agreed to in silence. For several reasons it
is desirable that the observers of public events should
not imitate this quiescence, and copy this tacit ap-
proval of an act which is a disgrace to the adminis-
tration of the country. It was one of the most
poltroon affairs in which a British Minister has ever
been engaged. When we contrast the aspect which
this case has assumed at the commencement and
close of the Session, a warning is given to the public
for the future, not to trust overmuch to the profess
sions of statesmen, especially when their statements
are very verbose, and their language unusually
vehement. Who but a skilled judge in such mat-
ters, or a very cynic in faith and confidence, but
would have thought that the noble Secretary for
Foreign Affairs meant something when he die.
coursed upon the steam rams at the outset of the
Parliamentary campaign. When he so deprecated
discussion, and deplored arguments concerning
them, and above all, when he fired up and de-
nounced as unfair and illegal the attempts made to
force information from him when the whole facts
were about to be brought into a court of law, aid
to comment upon them prematurely would occasion
damage to the cause of,, justice, it is strange to
think that another and a very different solution
was at hand. How much more consistent it would
have been if, instead of all that palaver, the Go-
vernment had purchased the rams at first, or at
least abstained from making so much parade about
matters that they did not intend to see the light.
It is quite evident that if they had had such a gocd
case against the vessels in dispute as they professed
that they had, they would not have shrunk
from inquiry, and beat so hasty and undignified a
retreat. The purchase of these vessels is alike a
confession of impotence on their part as prosecutors,
to carry out the part they pretended to be well
versed in, and an instance of weakness as regarded
the Feder4l Government, because they did hot feel

induced to controvert their wishes. It may be as
well to let the matter pass in silence, so far as re-
gards the House of Commons, because the question
has already been debated there at sufficient length
on divers occasions, but a more striking proof of
Ministerial incapacity and official blundering has
seldom been put on record. It may be very con-
venient to turn a deaf ear to the voice of reproof,
but the judgment of the country must be against
a course of procedure which thus compromises the
free and independent spirit that has always charac-
terised our dealirgs with foreign nations, and our
transactions with our own citizens.