The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-14 00:00:00

THE UN, LONDON, MONDAY EVE 11 ING, MARCH 14, 1864.

WESTMINSTER.

UNPROVOKED ASSAULT UPON A MAN AND HIS WIFE.—
Henry Wright was charged with assaulting Richard Buck-
land, of 31, Medway-street, and also with assaulting his
wife.

Complainant said that at 9 o'clock last night he was
with his wife walking through St. George's-road, Pimlico,
when the defendant came up and asked him for a shilling
that he owed him, and upon his replying that he could not
then pay him as he had only 10d., the defendant struck
him two violent brows on the face with a can ; after this
he also struck the complainant's wife.

Mr. Selfe—How long have you owed him the shil-
ling ?

Complainant—l borrowed it of him about three weeks
ago.

Defendant—l never lent the man a shilling in my life.
He came up amd gave me a smack in the mouth without
any reason.

Henrietta Buckland said she was with her husband, and
had an infant in her arms. Defendant abruptly came up
and demanded a shilling of her husband, and on his offering
to give him 10d., which was all that he had, defendant
struck him several times with a beer can in the face. She
interposed, when the defendant also gave her a blow with
the can.

Mr. Selfe—Had you the child in your arms then 1'

Mrs. Buckland—l had.

Defendant—l never lent him a.shilling. I lent it to
another man to buy a chain he had to sell. He ran up
against me last night, or I should not have known him,and
then he gave me a backhanded blow across the mouth.

Police-constable 288 B —Complainant came to the station
with her face cove red with blood, and I Wok the man,
Defendant was fined 20s. or 10 days.

THAMES.

A MOST DESPERATE LOVER.—Thomas Hanson, a
solemn-looking man, about 25 years of age, the manager
of a common lodging-house, in Gower's-walk, White-
chapel, was brought before Mr. Paget, charged with de-
molishing the shutters of the parlour window of Mrs.
Ann Webb, a widow, No. 7, Gower's-row.
The complainant, a laundress, said the prisoner bad
been paying his addresses to her daughter, but owing to
his dissipated habits her daughter rejected his advances,
and determined not to marry him or have any thingwnre
to do with him.

Mr. Paget—A very wise resolve on the part of a
young woman.

Mrs. Webb continued. Mr. Hanson came on Saturday
night after I and my daughter had gone to bed. He de-
manded an interview with her. He was refused admix•
sion, and then.kioked loudly at the door and tried to break
it down. He failed, and then procured a shovel and broke
in the shutters, and would have entered the house if he had
not been prevented by the police. The shutters could not
be repaired. They were completely broken in, and an en-
tirely new pair were required.
Sate Webb, a quiet and interesting looking girl, like her
mother in deep mourning, confirmed her mother's statement,
and said she was fast asleep when the prisoner began to
kick at the door. She looked out of the window and saw
people dragging him away. She then came down stairs
and opened the door, and on peeping out she saw him with
a shovel leaving the adjoining house. She closed the door
again, and went up stairs and called for the police. The
prisoner had threatened her, and said ho was determined to
be hung for her.

Mr. Paget—Oh no, he won't, unless you are foolish
enough to marry him.

Witness—l will not do that. I have given him up in
consequence of his drunken habits.
Mr. Paget—l am very glad to hear that. A drunken
husband is very bad. Nothing can be worse.
Enos Barnatt, a polite-constable, No. 56 H, said he saw
the prisoner in Evans-walk at half-past 10 o'clock on
Saturday night, and he was in a furious passion and sur-
rounded by a disorderly mob lie took the prisoner into
custody, and he acted in a very turbulent manner, and said
he only wanted to see the young woman.
Mr. Paget sentenced the prisoner to pay a fine of 16s, the
price of new shutters, and a fine of 20s in addition, or be
iwprieoned for 14 days.

PITMEN'S STRIKES.—The pitmen employed at
Seghill Colliery, in the Northumberland Steam
Coalfields, struck work for an advance on Thursday. The
Steam Coal Owners' At:scciation have held two meetings
recently to consider the demands made by pitmen, when
after a good deal of deliberation it was determined to resist
unreasonable demands that might be made on collieries in
the trade, and "a call" was made upon the whole of the
pits in the association, which will raise a large sum of
money ; and it was resolved to support them with those
collieries that might be stopped through the unreasonable
demands of the men. The 6th of April is about the time
when the yearly and monthly bonds will be entered into
by the pitmen of the North, and it is anticipated that
there will be a good deal of agitation in some districts
about Was.

WOOL.

The public sales of colonel wool have been well attended
since we last wrote, and home manufacturers have con-
tinued to purchase freely. The export demand is, however,
of very moderato extent; nevertheless, prices pre 1191 T id

The Turf and the Scotch, their Courses,
Management, and Sport.

(From Bell's Life in London.)

The racing campaigns in Scotland are the last to begin,
almost the last finish, certainly the last in great results, and
the last to be reviewed ; it may be compared to a screwish
"bad doer"-in a stable, who does not always "train on,"
and whose performances are consequently as variable as
they are disappointing and unpleasant. It is therefore re-
quisite to elucidate the meaning of such an unhappy state
of affairs, to probe out the hidden seat of disease, and lay
bare the insidious evil which prevents the realisation of
successful results.

It is really as amusing as it is painfully ridiculous to
observe the peculiarities of mannerism in which the Scotch
persistently stick to ill-founded prejudice against many
things, and equestrian pleasures in particular. The fol-
lowing may be taken in illustration :—The time was
when prejudice set its austere, rigid features against
female equitation as an unfeminine accomplishment;
however the elite of society patronised its exhilirating plea-
sures, and the ridiculous notion succumbed under popular
prestige. There are, however, still some to be found suffi-
ciently straitlaced who assert that although a ride may be
taken at a walk, or a gentle canter, on an equally gentle
horse at an equestrian promenade, under the Argus. eye of
a chaperon, trotting is a vulgar infringement on deport-
ment, and their sexual position in society, which
no lady should indulge in, and a gentle gallop a violent im-
propriety. It must, however, be admitted that while in-
troducing this as one of the biassed opinions of the past,
there are few now left in support of the once popular theory ;
and the bevies of ladies who daily exhibit their fair forms,
wrapped in the graceful folds of their riding habits, and in-
dulging in all sorts of paces, are most substantial proofs of
its popularity and health -giving properties, as well as the
death-dealing blow to one of the detrimental peculiarities
of the past. Hunting is, perhaps, now considered by
our rigorous friends the least sinful of all manly
sports in which the horse bears a part ; but although it
has latterly, to some extent, grown into a fashionable re-
creation for the elite of society in Scotland, it is still consi-
dered questionable by doubting bigots whether, and to what
extent, professional gentlemen and traders of position and
money ought to indulge their " horsy" proclivities. Pre-
judice is here again succumbing; but however much the
sport may be rising into general popularity it is to be re-
gretted that its votaries do not sufficiently patronise with
their presence and purse hunt club races and steeplechase
meetings, which help to promote an improvement in breed-
ing horses for the purposes which they specially delight in.
Is it then to be wondered at, in the existing state of Scottish
peculiarities, that racing—although there is nothing in itself
to offend or mislead the most fastidious or sensitive—should
continue at such a low ebb, when it is also taken into consi-
deration that many who would like to indulge their natural
desires to witness the exciting struggles for supremacy by
the useful and willing slaves to man's pleasure and profits dare
not do so in face of that characteristic bias which rules the
roast throughout the country ? Many say, in other words,
that they cannot do so without making themselves martyrs
to popular prejudice, and liken themselves to Esau with
his mess of pottage, the one sacrificing his birthright, the
other a social position ; there is surely an inherent weak-
ness of mind in crouchingly submitting, like a well-whipped
hound, to the lash of fanatical clamour ; such principles
are like vitiated air, which fumigates the atmosphere of
truth with foulness, and firmly holds down the weak who
breathe its sickening exhalations in abject subjection. The
unbiassed of " position" are, however, beyond its power—
they smell the nauseous taint without submitting to its
influence, and their social health remains. It is of itself
quite sufficient to know that the Turf may, like everything
else, be polluted by occasional abuses without having the
fingers of fanatics and semi-religious bigots scornfully
pointing it out as a foul blot on the escutcheon of their
ideal supposition of respectability. The aristocracy who
patronise racing live and have their being in society after-
wards. Why cannot it at once be admitted that others can go
and do likewise ? The bare facts are here simply stated ;it
is for others to reconcile them. False prejudice is a phari-
saical phantom, evanescent as a shadow, which would dis-
appear with the rapidity of one of Professor Pepper's ghosts
if a little more fashion were to head the van and load the
war against it. Racing at Perth, Ayr, and other places is
considered a cardinal sin, but an introduction to the family
of that noble sportsman at Floors Castle in October, with a
consequent attendance on the Grand Stand at Kelso to wit-
ness the Isthmian games, would be a pleasurable and self-
congratulatory source of enjoyment to many who would
flauntingly disdain to appear at such exhibitions elsewhere,
and as it is customary for royalty, the aristocracy, and the
leading families of England and Ireland to patronise such
sports, it must be left to the calm, unbiassed judgment of
those who have their country's weal at heart to say why it
cannot be more generally accepted as a social branch of the
world's pleasures in Scotland, bearing good or bad fruits
according to the cultivation bestowed on it.
The sports of the past season do not, on the whole, exhibit
any improvement on previous years. " Orange Blossom,"
in his rhyming retrospect of the season, thus summarily
disposes of the matter :
"Of Scottish racing little, save the name, remains, alas I
I merely say Perth sport was bad, and let the matter pass ;
Still hoping that reform may put on such abuse her strain,
And the days of good Lord Eglinton re-blossom once
again 1"
Eut little as the sports may have been, it is through the im-
pediments of misconception previously described that the
ragged remnants are as full of darkening shadows as Dela-
croix's picture of " Dante and Virgil entering the Infernal
regions ;" for instead of the joyous saturnalias of the Turf
having their reflection in the countenances of out cautious
friends (as exhibited by the Turf-loving people of merrie
England and ould Ireland), there are thousands here
go to such such meetings with the slyness of area
sneaks indulging in stolen pleasures, and return from
the enjoyment of such festivities with lack-lustre
stolid features, but with an internal chuckling sense of gra-
tification. Can it then be wondered at that the progress of
this noble institution should have been so slow, and that
money is wanting to bring it out in all its greatness and
integrity ? The patricians of the country are, however, now
gaining a glimmering of its aims and pleasures, and in con-
sequence, there will here and there be found some sunny
bits in the picture to relieve the sombre background. Many
say they would attend the meetings if the sports were
better. But hush I a whisper in the ears of those who
croak so much and do so little; let each and all, according
to their means, contribute to the funds, and an increase in
value of stakes will be followed by an equivalent in the class
of competitors, for past experience proves that money
brings to this side of the border the best of English race-
horses and their performances are naturally regarded in a
somewhat different light from those of local merit—the ex•
petted appearances of thorough breds from the South who
have gained a reputation by their performances, are, in
themselves, sufficient at least to arouse the curiosity of the
people as to their appearance, ace and call for the desire to
witness the abilities of those equine representatives of speed.
Now,
accepting such to be an undeniable fact, with the in-
teresting result of producing the best effect on the minds of
a non-racing people. Kelso and Edinburgh are examples
to other places, as they must be regarded as the most flou-
rishing condition of the Scottish Turf, owing to theirmono-
tary value, and annual competition of English horses on
their courses, and the consequent aristocratic and general
public patronage they receive. If some of the officials else-
where would lay aside their " masterly inactivity," inaugu-
rate a wholesome 2.egiinc, and canvass with the same zeal,
they might each raise their meeting to a similar position.
Reis) is at present the pick of the basket, with Edinburgh
rapidly budding into an equivalent in monetary value and
prestige; taking then the two as to the best exponents of
that partially awakened feeling for the uses and delights of
racing, it is only fair that they should, without prejudice to
other places, do their best in the good cause—be held pro-
minently forward as beacons to light up the paths on which
others may unflinchingly tread with similar hopes for suc-
cess; but whatever system may be adopted, it must be inevi-
table that small stakes can only realise competition from local
horses, without being productive of improvement and those
great results for which the turf was inaugurated. It will
therefore be observed that the elements of strength are re-
presented by the quality and quantity of equine blood before
the starter's 113 g, with money to make the stakes sufficiently
tempting, and a judicious filming of the fixtures as attrac-
tive loadstones to bring southern horses there, for with the
8 or 20 horses usually training at Gullane, and the few
kept in private elsewhere the interest of the subject is
swamped; it adds not one iota to the improvement of blood
stock, neither does it leave OA the minds of the people a kr,e- 1

SECOND EDITION.