The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-25 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1864.

While we are, here in England, loOking forward
to the imminent probability of war between our-
selves and Germany—the abortive Conference
bolding its final meeting this afternoon, and the
Ministerial explanations therefore being pledged,
both in the Lords and in the Commons, for
Monday_tidings eg-lio come to us from
beyond the Atlantic of the steady and
fierce centinuanco of that dreadful struggle in
North Anaer:ce, that has now been going on
during these last four frightful years zonseeutively.
" News of Battle" the American news still con-
tinuos to be., with terrible earnestness. Nat—of
sham fights, or of mere iirirmishings, or of bloodless
strategic movements. But—of strenuous col.
lisicns between, or of desperate shiftings
of, whole divisions, sometimes whole armies of
those living chessmen! Every collision, every shift-
ing, marked in characters of blood at once upon
the soil and upon the annals of that great republic,
known during the best part of a century, but
known now no longer, and we may be quite certain
never to he known again, as the United States.
Once more the tidings brought to ns ftonz those _

sanguinary battlefields are of failure and loss on
the numerically stronger aide, the side of the
Federals—of success, of victory upon victory, on
the numerically weaker side, the side of the
Confederates. Says one account brought to us
per the Australasian—" The Federal expedition
under STURGISS, which left Memphis in SHERIIAN'S
rear, was defeated by FORREST at Guntown, Ten-
nessee, with loss of his artillery and many pri-
soners." The telegram adding, " STURGISS was
killed." Another account of the same occurrence
making the result yet more unmistakably
one adverse to the Federal interests, and in the
interests of the Confederates. As thus :—" A
Federal expedition, 8,000 strong, under General
STURGISS, which left Memphis on the Ist instant,
has been defeated at Guntown, West Tennessee,
byiGeneral FORREST, with loss of all its artillery
trains, ammunition, and many prisoners." This
faller account, observing Set further that the rem-
nant of the expedition had returned to Memphis.
The " remnant" of it, observe ! All the military
trains, all the ammunition, and many prisoners,
having been captured—and a remnant (out of a II
force of eight thousand) alone escaping from
of the victorious grasp of General FORREST and his
Confederates. Certainly, when the South does win
a victory it generally contrives to do so, in two
senses of the word, with a vengeance !

Few things are so unsatisfactory as when a dee
cided advance has been made in advocating the
claims of the oppressed, for a retrogade movement
to be taken, and much of the desired object to be
lost. It was felt by all competent persons that such
an untoward incident had occurred when Sir G.
GREY succeeded in getting his committee appointed
to consider the case of Mr. BEWICKE, instead of the
original intention of Mr. BERKELEY being carried
out to allow the House to pronounce an opinion on
the matter. The result has more than realised the
fears of the unfortunate sufferer and his friends. The
committee have virtually left things in much the
same state as they were before, or, if anything,
it may be said that they have made bad worse by
thus sanctioning the measures taken by the autho-
rities, and establishing the dangerous precedent
that the State is not bound to compensate for inju-
ries received from the mistakes of the "law or its
agents. Nothing can be more disastrous in its effect
than for this notion to gain ground among us.
It lays the foundation of tyranny, injustice,
and oppression ; and abounds with dangerous
doctrines which are sure to make themselves
apparent in due course. The more the whole
features of the case are considered attentively, the
greater astonishment will prevail at the supine-
ness that has distinguished those who have had to
deal with this affair. At all times it is a sad and
solemn business when a man has been unjustly con-
demned to a severe sentence, but in the instance of
Mr. BEWICKE every possible aggravation seemed
to attend his course. His life has been utterly
changed, his prcspects ruined, his property confis-
cated, and all for want of due care and consideration
on the part of those who should have known better.
In reply to the urgent appeal for justice, the victim
is to look for the' favourable consideration of the
Crown." This is not the way to deal with such a
matter. If an injury has been proved to have been
done to any one itis the bounden duty of all who have
been parties to its infliction to do their utmost in
the way of reparation and atonement. The words,
" If I have done wrong to any man I restore him
fourfold," are worthy tests for the contemplation of
all who call themselves Christians, and cannot too
often serve as models for example, and precepts for
guidance. Allowing that Mr. i3awlCKE's conduct
was extremely foolish and decidedly unwise, the
follies and faults of one person do not excuse or
justify the commission of crime and the committal
of injuries by others. The men who swore away
Mr. BEWICKE'S reputation had themselves none to
lose. One was, indeed, a defaulter himself, and had
been convicted of perjury previously. No matter
how interest and prejudice may seek to hush up
Matters, these facts are known to be tine, and it is
an insult to the common sense, the good taste, anti
the right feeling of the community to allow such a
course to continue much longer. We have all heard
a.great deal of the merits of English law, but no
foreign land can excel such arbitrary regulations as
those enforced against Mr. BEWICKE. The secret
of nearly all this confusion arises from the mistaken
idea that has gained ground in so many influential
quarters, that property must be protected at all
hazards, and for this purpose all the myrmidons of
the law seem to be considered saved in the execu-
tion of their duty. A more fatal blunder cannot be
made; the very importance of the nature of their
office should call for attention and demand careful-
ness, and all who fall short of this desideratum
ought to be reprehended. Why does no one inquire
more particularly into the cause of the men employed
being so unfit for their position. It was the
bounden duty of the sheriff to look to this matter.
The rights of her MAJESTY'S subjects are at stake
if this laxity is to continue. Thera was great cul-
pability somewhere, and this seems to have entirely
escaped the attention of the committee. What the
magistrates were about, not to make themselves ac-
quainted with the character of their witnesses is
also incomprehensible. The whole thing is most
mysterious from beginning to end. It is very
unfortunate, as regards the solution of the case,
that Mr. BEWICKE should have so compromised
himself by his strange demeanour on several cm-
alone ; but it must be borne in mind that the ends
of justice will not be answered if due care and
elution be _
not exercised to meet the emergency.
The work
iNgli of the law are so often of a harsh and
arbitrary nature, that persons who have not been
in the habit of
exercising self-control may very
readily make mistakes and fall into errors, from
acting on the impulse of the moment, instead of
conforming themselves tocircumstances. It is,
besides, an acknowledged (11,,
6 that Mr. BEWICKE
has been treated unfairly,. and unjustly
condemned
to losses and annoyances. The dignity of the
State is seriously compromised by wrong being
perpetrated on the subject, and that
subject being
prevented from seeking a remedy. It
is to the
c: edit of Lord JOHN MANNERS, and thosee
who sup.
ported him, that they advocated a different course,
and proposed that five thousand pounds should be

paid to the injured individual. It is really necea•

nary that all this unsatisfactory condition of our
laws and statutes be taken into consideration, for
no one can deny that as at present matters stand an
innocent man may be deprived of all that makes life
enjoyable, and when shattered in health, broken in
spirit-, and penniless in means, be told that the
State, which was not tee hasty to make a mistake,

aor too harsh to drive matters to extremities, is too

mean to make reparation, and too self-conceited

to acknowledge an error, and in the only way that

it eau to make restitution and atonement.

There is no part of our constitutional traditions
more zealously upheld and more resolutely clung
to than the privileges of municipal corporations.
We have in our own day seen the failure of seve-
ral attempts at restriction and reform when they
trenched too closely on the rights of the City and
the citizens. The moat remarkable of these efforts
was the Government measure for amalgamating the
City Police with the Metropoliio face, An effort

whose signal discomfiture did not occasion much
regret. In many instances it is to the advantage
of the public that such rights and privileges should
be maintained intact, and anything that tends to
neutralise or to counteract that spirit of centraliz-
ation which gives the first blow to public liberty
and individual freedom is in itself beneficial. These
old forms and customs, which now appear meaning-
less and cumbersome, have proved in sterner times
the bulwarks of constitutional law, and have
given a vantage grcund to men who were boldly
resisting the encroacnments of despotic authority.
So that, on tho whole, the public looks with a
kindly eye upon the forms and privileges of our
good citizens, paying a sort of deference to the
jealous guerding of its rights, and seldom counte-
nancing any active measures for the despoiling or
curtailing of so formidable a:part of the community.
The City is no longer looked upon with effected
contempt or professed dislike by would-be fashion-
able or distinguished assemblies. In our matter-
of-fact and business times things are very different,
and the general tendency is rather unduly to elevate
the world of money making than unjustiy to depre.
elate its importance. Still questions are sometimes
raised in which the privileges of the City clash
so evidently with the pablio interests that a
different result is visible, and we should not
be surprised if Mr. CRAWFORD'S Bill, which
came on for discussion last Thursday, had
to undergo material alterations before it be
read a third time. The bill referred to the right
which the Corporation have hitherto possessed
of measuring all the grain brought into the port of
London, and of claiming all emoluments and profits
resulting from that office. Owing to the recent
Customs and Inland Revenue Act, the duties on
grain will henceforward be levied by weight and
not by measure; and in order to preserve their pro-
fitable privilege under this change of circumstances
the Weight of Grain (Port of London) Bill has
been laid before the House. Mr. CRAWFORD, in
moving the second reading, dwelt much upon the
immemorial right of the Corporation to the fulfil-
ment of this function, and remarked that by cer-
tain proposed alterations the City would lose some
£5,000 a year, and pointed out several reasons for
the adoption of the measure. The hon. member
failed to show, however, by what reason the Cor-
poration were entitled to the maintenance of a
privilege affecting the public interests, and calling
upon them for partial and irregular fulfilment of
the duties specified. It is one thing to uphold the
rights of the City to manage its own affairs and to
stand upon points of order and questions of pre-
cedence, and another to submit to all those com-

fortable little arrangements by which the public
purse is made to contribute to the City exchequer.
Mr. AYRTON, who was somewhat severe upon the
Corporation generally, maintained that the measure
ought really to be considered a private bill, since
its object was to gain a private advantage for the
Corporation of London, and in principle there was
really no difference between it and g bill promoted
by a railway company or any other trading asso-
ciation. The truth of the matter, he said, was that
the Corporation had hitherto been receiving £13,000
a year from this duty without making any adequate
return ; and in consideration of this profit it had
allowed a monopoly to grow up with respect to

the corn market, which kept it in the hands of a
few traders. He denied that the measure was
favourably regarded by the general body of corn
dealers and others concerned, and held that the
trade was not fairly represented by the monopolists
referred to. The bill enacts that for every hundred-
weight of grain brought into the port of London
there should be paid to the Mayor and Commonalty
the sum of three-eighths of a penny, and this tax
is to bs paid whether service ba performed or not.

It is provided that the grain shall be weighed if
any one desires it, but it by no means specifies that
grain not weighed shall not be paid for. It pro-
vides that the weighing shall only be done by the
fellowship porters, but they shall be paid for what
they do, not for what grain arrives, whether
weighed or not, so that it is the Corporation who
are confessedly to make a very unnecessary and
uncalled-for profit. It may be urged on the part of
the City that there is no reason why the Corpo-
ration should abdicate its long. established rights
because a law has been passed affecting
the general system of computing grain
throughout the country. But, on the other
hand, it may be justly urged that the pre•
sent opportunity gives a favourable occasion for
abolition of an ex-official tax which ought never
to have been imposed, and on whose behalf no valid
reason can be brought forward. It seems certainly
somewhat unreasonable that vessels loaded with
grain going on to another port should have to pay
duty on it, although they may not unload any part
of it within the jurisdiction of the City. The Go-
vernment have taken an impartial course, declining
to pledge themselves to support the bill, but under-
taking that the corporation should not be defeated
on account of the late period of the session. Perhaps
they think they have had enough to do with civic
legislation. As the matter stands, however, the
public will generally believe that, in Mr. GLAD.

STONE'S words, " the fair presumption is agains

this sort of civio revenue," and until much clearer
cause is shown in its favour, we trust our represen-
tatives will not submit to the maintenance of this
unwarrantable toll for the benefit of a corporation
which cannot certainly plead limited resources or
scanty revenue in its defence.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, as visitor of All
Souls. College, Oxford, has fixed Monday, the 27th
inst.. at 11 a.m., for the hearing at Lambeth Palace of the
appeal respecting the conduct of election to Fellowships in
that College. Sir John Coleridge (who was op.* of the late
University Commissioners) will sit as assessor to the visitor.
Mr J D. Coleridge, Q.C., and Mr C. C. Bowen, of the
Western Circuit, will appear for tbr, appellant. Fellows—
Mr A. G. Watson, and the lt;';', W. H Freraantle, The
College will also be represor,ted by counsel.
HOMELY ROMAINC.',"B, FROM A REPORTER'S NOTE-
BOOK.—Mr Wa':ls, the reporter at Marlborough-
street Police-co%rt, has for some time past been catefully
jotting dowr.:y the more extraordinary cases which have come
before " liis worship" during several years. He has thrown
these 'notes "of the curiosities and eccentricities of life in
thy, metropolis" into a small volume, and it will be pub-
lished under the title of " London Life at the Police-courts."
Many years ago, a Mr Wright issued a little book which
was famous in its day--" Mornings in Bow-street."
Cruikshank contributed some illustrations, and a third or
fourth edition was attained. A sequel, however, under the
title of "More Mornings in Bow-street," broke the charm,
and the little work lost for a time its popularity. Nowadays,
it is much sought after by collectors of Cruikshankiana.—
Zendon Review.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE'S FUNERAL.—A co r•
respcndent sends us the following little account of
Hawthorne's funeral :—" Hawthorne died, when five days
absent from home, in the same way that Thackeray died--
found dead with a smile upon his face. A friend was with
him. He had lived at Concord, and his funeral there was
a beautiful one. The church was heaped with flowers, the
music admirable, the grave dug in a sod literally alive with
violets, under singing pines,
and bordered with a wreath of
white lilies. He was borne to the body's rest by a troop of
literary friends of the Atlantic Club--Emerson and Long-
fellow walking first ; Agassiz, Holmes, Lowell, &c., after-
wards. Fields carried his last unfinished manuscript in his
rbl —hand. All the young women of the place brought wreaths,
apple-blossoms, and
birdsall the promise
uli wa
of t
cur
spring.
winds in cho i
Thre
day was lovely—the
.
They say it seemed a festival of life rather than the ceremony
elosysoem
of death."—The 17eader.

BACON'S AMERICAN WAR MAPS.--Two new
maps of Richmond and the country 50 miles round
it have just been published. They are both well and clearly
executed, and will be feund very coeiul at the present
149 WW.