The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-16 00:00:00

which particular the company has been very suc-
cessful this year—and a reduction in working ex-
penses and interest charges that the position of the
ordinary proprietors can be ameliorated, The
management has of late, however, unmistakeably
improved, and by degrees the at present unsatis-
factory dividends received by the holders of ordinary
stock may also improve.

Murder of a Non-Commissioned Officer

at Malta.

MALTA.—On Tuesday, the 6th of September,
John Burns, aged 22, years, born in Ireland, a
soldier of the Ist battalion 22d Regiment, was ar-
raigned on the charge of wilful murder, which
crime he committed on the 16th of August lost inthe
barracks at Floriana, by having maliciously and
with the intention of putting the life of Sergeant
Thomas Ludgate of the same corps, in manifest
danger, and of killing him, caused the instactaceous
death of the said Ludgate by firing at him with his
rifle, and inflicting on him a wound in the right
side of his neck. The Crown Advocate, Sir A.
Dingli, C. 8., who conducted the prosecution, in-
voked the punishment of death against the prisoner,
as provided for in article 205 of the Criminal Laws.
The prisoner having pleaded not guilty to the
charge, the Crown Advocate opened the case by
briefly stating to the jury the principal facts of this
awful crime, which were afterwards deposed to by
the witnesses ; and after calling on the jurors to
consider well the two points submitted to them—
that is, whether the murder had been committed by
the prisoner at the bar, and whether he had the in,
tention of killing—he concluded by appealing to
the impartiality and firmness of the jury.
The following witnesses for the prosecution were
then called and examined on oath:—

Dr Pisani, Dr Grillet, and Dr Welch, Assistant-
Surgeon, Ist Battalion 22d Regiment, who deposed
that they had been called to examine the corpse of
Sergeant Thomas Ludgate, 22d Regiment. Dr
Welch was the first to see the sergeant in the bar-
room at Floriaaa. He was perfectly dead, and had
a wound iu the neck, caused by a firearm. Death
must have necessarily ensued.
Sub-Inspector Wright said he was called on the

16th of August, at half-past three, and told that a
soldier had shot a seageant. He went to the barracks
and found the sergeant lying dead on his bed with a
wound in the neck. In the evening an inquest was
held, when a piece of leaden ball and a piece of
wood were given witness by a sergeant. 'When these
pieces were found the prisoner was present, but
did not say anything. Witness spoke once to the
prisoner, who complained of having been ill-
treated by Sergeant Ludgate.
Richard Pratt, private, let Battalion 22d Regi-
ment, deposed that on the 16th of August he was in
the barrack-room, and having heard the report of
firearms he ran' to the end of the room, and saw the
prisoner placing his rifle against the wall. Ser-
geant Ludgate was lying motionless on his betl,
with a wound under his right ear.
Sergeant William Lapthom, Ist Battalion 22d
Regiment, said Private Pratt gave him a piece of a
ball which he had found near the prisoner's bed. It
was the one exhibited to him in court.

Lance-Corporal Hobson, 15t Battalion 22d Regi-
ment, stated that on the 16th of August, at about
3 o'clock in the afternoon, he was in his room at the
barracks when he heard an explosion in the next
room. He ran to the room, and was told by the
men that the prisoner had shot Sergeant Ludgate.
He went to look at the sergeant, who was lying
dead on his bed with a wound under his right ear.
He found the rifle with which the sergeant was
shot. It was numbered 442, and belonged to the
prisoner at the bar.
Sergeant Henry 111'Leod, let Battalion 22d Re.

meat, deposed that he knew the rifle which be-
longed to Private Burrs. He recognised it from
the number. Sergeant Ludgate was shot on Aug.
10, at about 3.10 p.m., and it was then that he saw
the rifle, which was in the hands of Corporal Hob
son. He examined the pouch of Private Burns, and
found a cartridge deficient.
John Gray, private, Ist Battalion 22d Regiment.
said he was charged to write out tickets for each
packet of cartridges belonging to No. 6 and 7 com-
panies. He recognised the ticket existing on the
packet of Burns ' cartridges (No. 1,181).
Sergeant" Major A. King, Ist Battalion 22d Re-
giment, deposed that, during the time he was in the
service, no cartridges were ever foutil deficient.
Lieutenant S. H. Himersley, Adjutant, Ist Bat-
talion 223 Regiment, identified the Defaulters'
Sheet, existing in the proceedings, from which it
appears that Sergeant Ludgate had reported Burns
several times, even lately before his death, for
breaches of regulations.
Capt. A. Monk, Ist Battalion 22d Regiment, also
identified the Defaulters' Sheet. He said that in

Tune last Burns was reported once, and in August
three times, on two of which occasions by Sergeant
Nl.Gregor and Sergeant Ludgate, and on another

by Sergeant Ludgate alone. The last report was

made on the 16th of the same month. Burns was
sentenced to two days' drill and two days' con•
finement in the barracks. He recognised the pri-
soner at the bar.
John Melville, private, 15A-Battaliot, 22d Regii
ment, said he knew the prisoner, who belonged to
No. 6 company. Sergeant Ludgate belonged to the
same company. On the;l6th of August, at about
10 minutes to three in the afternoon, witness went
to the room where Ludgate and Burns were, to hand

a book to Corporal Harrington, and found the pri-
soner standing with the rifle in his right hand.
Ludgate was lying on his bed at about three yards
distance from witness. When handing the book to
Corporal Harrington he heard an explosion, and on
turning round (as he had his face towards Harring•
ton) he saw the prisoner with his rifle levelled
against Ludgate. The prisoner soon afterwards
said, " I have dune that, and I will go now to the
guard room," and then placed his rifle against the
wall. Witness said, "My God, he has killed him."

Corporal John Harrington, Ist Battalion 22d

Regiment, said he lived in the room of the 6th com-
pany, where Sergeant Ludgate had his bed. He
knew that the sergeant was shot on the 16th of
August, at about ten minutes before three in the
afternoon. He knew the prisoner, who was then in
the room. When he saw him after the explosion, he
(Burns) held his rifle as if it came down from the
"present," and he subsequently placed it against
the wall. The interval between the explosion and
the time when he saw him in that position was al-
most instantaneous. He saw smoke issuing from
the rifle. Prisoner looked at Sergeant Ludgate,
who was lying lifeless on his bed, and said, " There,
you b-."

John Macnulties, private of the Ist Battalion 22d
Regiment, said he slept in the same room with Ser•
geant Ludgate and Burns. On the 16th of August,
at about 10 minutes to 3 in the afternoon, he beard
an explosion, and soon afterwards one of the men
said "My God, the man is shot." He looked round
and found the prisoner with the rifle in his hand.
He then seized hold of him and took him to the
guard-room. On arriving there the prisoner said,
If Sergeant M'Clregor had been there I would have
shot him also."

John Williams, private, Ist Battalion, 22d Regi-
ment, knew the prisoner as well as Sergeant Ludgate.
On the 16th of August, at 10 minutes to 3 in the
afternoon, he was in the barrack-room lying on hi-2
bed, and saw the prisoner holding his rifle as if he
were cleaning it. Soon afterwards he heard the re-
port of firearms, looked round, and saw the prisoner
with his rifle levelled at Sergeant Ludgate. lie then
placed the rifle against the wall, and looked at the
sergeant, saying " That will do for you." When
being conveyed to the guard-room the prisoner said
"That is the crime for which you should confine me."
Charles Hargreaves, private, Ist battalion 22d
Regiment, deposed that on the afternoon of Aug. 6,
at about 10 minutes to 3, he was lying on his bed
at the end of the barrack room; where Sergt. Lit l-
one B,:lyh'o's Arrest es
iatu B
w urns."
gate and Private Burns were, when ho heard the
reporti T
thene o f fi
arrestedrearms
and
the some
prisoner,
have been g:d if he had killed the other sergeant.
Sergeant M'Gregor, Ist Battalion 22d 1-1,-giment,
said that he had occasion to report the prisoner re-
cently before Sergeant Ludgate's death.
Dr. Mariani then addressed the jury for the de-
fence. He said that they should not look to the
atrocity of the crime, but only to the feet whether

the prisoner was guilty or not: It was true that
there was very strong circumstantial evidence
against the prisoner, but it was not proved that the
prisoner bad loaded his rifle for the purpose of kill-
ing the unfortunate sergeant, nor did it appear that
the cartridge found dtficient had been taken by the
prisoner, himself from his packet, inasmuch as his
pouch was not kept by him but was accessible to the
other men—which facts showed that if the prisoner
committed the murder he did so accidentally. He
said that the punishments awarded him by his supe-
riors could not have been the cause of the crime, and
concluded by recommending the prisoner to the
jury, owing to his youth and good conduct.
The learned President summed up the chief
evidence to the jury, and said that the present case
wes a very simple one for their consideration, re-
marking that the words uttered by the accused and
the principal circumstances depoeed to by some of
the witnesses left no doubt as to the guilt of the
prisoner. He warned the jury that if any of them
were of opinion that the punishments inflicted on
the prisoner had provoked him into the commission
of the crime, this V 7,13 not admissible by law, inas-
much as those punishments were legal and accord-
ing to the provisions of the law.
The jury then withdrew, and soon afterreturned
the followed verdict :—" The jury unanimously de-
clare that John Burns is guilty of the crime with
which he stands charged in the indictment. The
jury, however, recommend him to mercy owing to
his youth."
On this verdict the Court sentenced the prisoner,
John Burns, to the punishment of death, which was
carried into execution at about half-past six on
the morning of the 10th of September, outside the
Conradino Prison. The prisoner being a Roman
Catholic and not having been confirmed, was at-
tended on for this purpose on the evening preced-
ing the execution by the Lord Bishop of Malts.
The Rev. Dr. Coghlan. the newly appointed
Roman Catholic military chaplain, and two elaltese
Capuchin friars, afforded him spiritual consolation
to the last moment.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The following is from a correspondent at Malta :—" The
Orlando returned to port on the 6th, having on the morn-
ing preceding at 9 o'clock, when off the coast of Sicily,
near Trapani, been struck by a severe white squall, which
hove her bodily on her beam ends, and when in this position
her main and fore yards were carried away, both breakit g
off at about 4ft from the end. As she was at the time of the
accident considerably ahead of the rest of the squadron,
Capt. Randolph waited for the Marlborough to come up,
and when Admiral Smart heard what had happened, he at
once ordered her back to Malta to replace her lost yards.
The other ships would have reached Palermo on the 6th,
and after two days' stay will proceed to Naples. Her Ma-
jesty's steamsloop Trident left on the 3d for the Piraeus of
Athens. The paymaster of this vessel was dismissed the
service on the Ist of Sept. by sentence of a naval court-
martial of which Capt. Provost, of her Majesty's ship Gib-
raltar, sat as president, which was held on board of her Ma-
jesty's Chip Ilibernia. Her Majesty's screw steam corvette
Racer, from Woolwich, Falmouth, Gibraltar, and Algiers,
having in company (the greatest part of the voyage in
tow) the Syrian and Wizard screw steam gunboats, on the
application by telegraph to the Commander-in-Chief at
Palermo of the representative of Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and
Co., is preparing to put to sea to assist the screw steamer
Fanny Lambert, which left for Bengazi on the Bth, in lift-
ing, to seek the ruptured part, repairing, and submerging
the telegraphic submarine cable between Bengazi and Alex-
andria, which ceased' speaking' on the night of the Gth of
September. The position of the break is said to bo from
180 to 200 miles rom Bengazi, from which last mentioned
place to Malta communication is uninterrupted. Her Ma-
jesty's despatch steamer Pyache lett for Palermo on the
forenoon of the Bth, with despatches for the Admiral and
mails for the ships accorepanyiag him to hand from Eng-
land, via Marseilles, by the Peninsular and Oriental ,Com-
panyis mail steamer the Ellora. The present distribution
of the Me literranean squadron, composed of 30 steam and
one sailing vessels--namely, four screw steamships of the
line, four steam frigates, two ironclad screw steam frigates,
four screw steam corvettes, eight screw steam gunboats,
one steam sloop, two surveying steam vessels, two de-
spatch steam vessels, two steam tugs, one line-of-battlere-
ceiving ship, and one sailing gunboat, tender to same, is
as follows :—Tbe Marlborough screw steam line-of-battle
ship, bearing the flag of the Commander-in-Chief, Vice-
Admiral R. Smart, K H., with the Gibraltar, 81, screw
steam line-of-battle ship, the Royal Oak, 35, and Resist-
ance, 16, ironclad screw steam frigates, are on a cruise to
the p ,rts of Sicily and Naples, and this morning were at
Palermo. Tue Revenge, bearing the fl ►g of It 3ar-A.dmi •
ral R. H. Yelverton, C. 8., with the Chanticleer, 17, screw
steam corvette, is in the Bay of Tunis. The Phoebe, 35,
screw steam frigate, and the Foxhound, 1, screw steam
gun'toat, are at Suss. The Pelican, 17, screw steam cor-
vette, is at Sfax. The Firefly, 3, surveying steam sloop
off the coast of Sieilly, near Marsala—the Wanderer, 4,
screw steam gunboat, at Corfu—•the Magicienne, 16,paddle-
whe 1 steam frigate, and the Hydra, 1 paddlewheel steam
survey inn coop, are at Patras—the Liffey, 39, screw steam
frigate—the Surprise, 4, screw steam gunboat —and the
Trident, 3, paddlewheel steam sloop, at the Pirecus of
Athens—the Cockatrice, 2, screw steam gunboat, is in the
Danube—the Caradoc, 2, paddlewheel steam despatch ves-
sel at Constantinople—the Cossack, 20, screw steam cor-
vette, at Beyrout—the Ilibernia receiving ship, bearing the
flag of Rear-Admiral Horatio Thos. Austin, C. 8., Super-
intendent of Malta Dockyard—the Orlando,46, screw steam
frigate—the Racer, 16, screw steam corvet tc—the Weser, 6
—the Ta rian and Wizard, screw steam gunboats—and the
Azof sailing gunboat, and Hearty steam tug are at Malta
—the Mceanee, GO, screw steam lini) of battle ship—and
Procris, 2, screw steam gunboat, and Redpele, 1, screw
steam tug at Gibraltar—and the Psyche despatch steamer,
is on her way to Palermo from Malta."
The armament for the screw corvette Cadmus, 21, 400 ,
porse power, sh'pped from the Chatham ordnance-wharf
on board the War Department transport Bomarsund, was
landed at the dockyard yesterday, and will be placed on
board to-day. The Cadmus takes 16 of the 8-inch GO
pounder cast iron smooth bore guns, for throwing hollow
shot, four 40 pounder naval Armstrongs, and one 110
pounder 84 cwt. naval Armstrong, together with the
usual complement of light Armstrongs and brass
guns for field and boat service. In consequence of the amount
of work still remaining to be executed on board the corvette
in the way of fitting, the Cadmus will not be sufficiently
advanced to leave the dock during the present spring tides,
but it is probable she will be so far completed as to allow of
her being ffiated out of dock by the end of the present
tn- nth. The sum originally ordered to be expended on the
Cadmus in the way of repairs—£lo,oo0—will be very con-
siderably exceeded, in consequence of the additional work
which it was found necessary should be executed as the re-
pairs were in progress. It is understood that the Cadmus
will join the West India squadron, under the command of
Commodore P. Cracroft, C.B.

The whole of the 100-pounder wrought iron smooth-bore
guns with which the iron-clad frigate Achilles, 20, 1,250
horse power, will be armed have been despatched from the
Chatham gun wharf to that vessel in the War Department
cutters employed on that duty. Although the Achilles ori-
ginally figured in the Navy List as a 40 gun frigate, her
armament has since been cut down to 20 guns, the whole of
which were to have been of the new kind of 100-pounders.
Within the last few days, however, the authorities at
Whitehall have again decided on some alterations in the
armament of the Achilles, and instead of the iron frigate
carrying 20 of the 100-pounders, in accordance with previ-
ously received orders at Chatham, it is now intended she
shall mount only 16 of that description of guns, the remain-
der of her complement of guns being made up, according to
existing intentions, of several of the 100-pounders which
are to undergo the process of rifling. The decision of the
Admiralty not to place any of the 300-pounders on board
the Achilles has created considerable surprise in naval circles
especially when it is considered that in any future naval
engagements in which our iron-clads will take part every
other description of armament, with the exception of the
300 pounder and 600 pounders, will be comparatively in-
effective against armour plated shiPs•
The first step on the part of the Admiralty to dispense
with the expensive system of hand labour in the manufac-
ture of ships' cables and ropes,
and permit the number of
workmen thus released to be employed on some more profit-
able labour in our royal dockyards, has just been carried
into effect at the ropemaking establishment at Chatham
dockyard, where a number of the largest and most expen-
sive of the spinning jennies for preparing the hemp for the
manufacture of the largest kind of rope cables are now in
course of erection. The machines in question have been
constructed for the Admiralty by Messrs Faiibairn and Co.
of Leeds, who have erected a considerable portion of the
machinery used in preparing the iron work for the armour
clad ships under construction at the same dockyard, and aro
of the most approved design and finish. Eight of the new
machines are to be erected in the first instance, and addi-
tional machinery of a similar kind will be brought into use
as the resources of the establishment demand it.
An announcement has be en received at Chatham of th
intention of the Lords of the Admiralty to shortly make
some important alterations in the rig of the whole of the
vessels composing the squadron of ironelads, the recent ex-
perimental cruise of the iron plated fleet, both under sail
and steam, having adduced some important results as regards
the sailing capabilities of the iron ships with their present
form of rig, It has now become a recognised fact that in
future the rig of our vessels of war must play a subordinate
part to the steaming capabilities of each ship, In our no.
dern system of naval warfare the ultimate victory will un-

doubtedly inellne to that vessel which can beat her antago-
nist, in manoeuvring and in superiority of steaming, should
the latter be even as small as a fraction of a knot per hour,
Acting on tLis well understood principle the Admiralty
have decided on doing away with much of the riE.E,,in; which

crowds most of the ships of the ironclad squadron, and
giving each a lighter rig, the fact of the Enterprise and the
Defence beating all the other ships of the Channel Fleet on
a wind, when under full sail, having induced the Board to
take the necessary steps for altering the other vessels of the
squadron to the description of rig of the vessels mentioned.
The machinery of the screw steam frigate Constance, 39,
at Devonport, which is in charge of Chief Engineer Joseph
H Fllis, is undergoing some alteration. When completed
she will no doubt be put in commission.
The iron screw steamship Defence, 16, Capt. Augustus
Phillim3re, from Bristol, which arrived in Plymouth Sound
on Wednesday, embarked yesterday a number of men for
the Channel Squadron, and will probably leave to-day to join
the flag of Admiral Dacres at Portland or Torbay.
Yesterday morning the Ist battalion of the Scots Fusileer
Guards, under the command of Col. Hepburn, Col. Gordon,
and Lieut.-Col, Hay, left the Sheet-street Barracks, Wind-
sor, for the Windsor-station of the Great Western Railway,
en route for the Tower of London. The battalion, which
consists of 17 officers, 693 non- commissioned officers and
privates, 96 women, and 110 children, proceeded to town in
three divisions (the trains starting respec`ively at 7 10, 7 40,
and 8 15 a.m. from Windsor), via the Great Western and
Metropolitan Railway to the Farringdon-street terminus,
whence the troops marched through the city to the Tower.
The 2d battalion Coldstream Guards, from the Wellington
Barracks, numbering 10 officers and 604 non-commissioned
officers and men, commanded by Col. St. George Stepney,
C. 8., left the Victoria Station, Pimlico, at 8 10 a.m. yester-
day, and proceeded by special train, via the Great Western
Railway, to Windsor, where it , relieves the let battalion
Scots Fusilier Guards. The battalion on leaving the station
marched at once to the Sheet-street Barracks, which it
now occupies.

The following detail of officers and men belonging to the
Ist battalion sth Fusileers from the Tower yesterday
marched into Woolwich garrison and took up their winter
quarters at the Royal Artillery Barracks, vacated on the pre-
vious day by the three batteries of the 13th brigade garrison
artillery on their removal to Dover :-2 field officers, 5
captains, 10 subalterns, 3 staf officers, 27 sergeants, 17
drummers, and 424 rank And file—namely Lieut. and
Brevet-Col. William C. Master, C. 8., in command ; Major
William Lyons, Capts. Thomas S. Bigge, William H. P.
Mears, Brevet-Major Edwin J, Oldfield, Edward Town-
shell], and J. J. Mathew— Lieuts. G. Herrick, J. Hartley,
A. Nichols, and A. M. Hill—Ensigns H. R. W. Miles, J.
H. Clutterbuck, T. A, Cook, J. Marker, J. J. Dakin, and
J. B. Kempta Tynte—Paymaster F, B. Forster, Lieut. and
Adjt. W. Enderby, and Quartermaster F, Drake-65 women
and 75 children.

The departure of the head-quarters of the 13th brigade
Royal Artillery, in command of Col. D a mley, from Wool-
wich to Dover, is deferred until the 28th inst.

Major-Gen. A. F. Crawford died at Jersey on Saturday
last. The deceased General entered the Royal Artillery as
Second-Lieut. Aug. 17, 1803, and became Lieut. Sept. 12
following. He served in the lines in front of Sobral, Portu-
gal, in 1809, and was made Capt. Aug. 3, 1810. He was
next engaged at the capture of Genoa in 1814, and subsea
quently in the American war, including the taking of
Washington and engagements before New Orleans. His
commissions bear date as Major July 22, 1830—Lieut.-Col.
Jan. 10, 1837—C01. July 20, 1847—and Major-Gen. Nov.
28, 1861.

The following appointments have been made in the Royal
Naval Reserve :—To be Lieuts., William Kingcome and
Francis Duncan ; to be Hon. Lieut., Richard Wrankmore.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Temss.—Fifteen railway accidents, with their
causes, incidents, and results, are carefully chro-
nicled and philosophically discussed in a paper now
before us, issued from the Board of Trade. It hes
become a regular practice, which ought to be very
satisfactory to the human freight of excursion wag-
gons, that as soon as a smash has happened, and
while the delinquent engine is yet hissing and-splut-
tering among the ruins of the broken carriages,
Captain Tyler, or Captain Rich, or Colonel Yolland
appears upon the scene, and with full powers and
all the necessary knowledge of every mystery ot
railway craft inquires into the whole mischief, and
makes a full and lucid report of it to the Board of
Trade. What " my Lords" do upon receiving this
report does not clearly appear. It would be reason-
able to suppose that they have some powers, for it
seems scarcely possible that so important a body
as " my Lords" of tt e Board of Trade should exist
as a railway jurisdiction only in order to receive re-
ports of accidents, and to send copies of those re-
ports to the homicidal corporation against which
they are directed. We fear, however, that they
can only act by this variety of that mysterious force,
called "moral influence," which forms so important
a weapon in the armoury of the Foreign.office. How
little eff4ct it has upon a Railway Company we
need not explain. For ourselves, we prefer the
effective responsibility enforced by Lord C,mpbtli's
Act. Whether, indeed, anybody ever reads these
really valuable reports, whether they are much
studied at the Beard of Trade, or by the secretaries
and directors to whom copies are addressed, may,
as we fear, be doubted. Inconvenient statements
seldom attract much- attention unless under the
dread that they may be bat the preceding shadows of
disagreeable acts. Tne probOeitity is that Col. Ill-
land and Capt. Ty ler, although writing always what
well deserves careful attention, write bat too often
for the waste-paper basket. Yet, if there should
be an intending excursionist of unstrung nerves just
contemplating the purchase of a cheap ticket to
some far-off place, and doubtful as to the nature of
the danger to which he is about to subject himself,
we can recommend to him these thirty-seven pages
of descriptive matter and these three diagrams of
the fragments of exploded engines as good sensa-
tional reading between the purchase of the ticket
and the day of departure. With very small talent
for generalisation, he will be able, after turning
over the pages, to class the pails he is about to
affront. First, there are the perils of the perma-
nent way, and he will learn that " longitudinal
irregularity in the level of the rails" is an ordinary
reason for the engine "leaving the rails,'' and that
Captain Tyler is constantly reporting upon acci-
dents arising from " trenail fastenings," which
seem to be specially productive of this longitudinal
irregularity. As Captain Tyler's reports have
hitherto failed to extirpate the trenail fastenings,
we do not see what is to be done under this bead by
the excursionist except to put up a prayer against
trenail fastenings in general and every longitudinal
irregularity in particular. Having made up his
mind to endure the risk of the permanent rail, the
danger from a recalcitrant locomotive will next
come before him. These diagrams will show him
exactly how they burst. It may, however, be con-
solatory to him to know that Captain Tyler thinks
" there is ro reason. in the present state of our
knowledge, for the explosion of a locomotive from
any cause." But the occurrence of three explo.
sions in one month on passenger railways shows,
nevertheless, that they do explode. There is an
instance of a smash occurring from a " flying
shunt," which will be very pleasant reading to our
nervous friend. A flying shunt is defined to be " the
sudden turning the engine upon one line and the
waggons upon another, while all are in motion"—a
very delicate operation, upon the success of which
our excursionist may be made to stake his life
without his consent being asked to the wager.
Then come the countless dangers arising from the
trains being late. In cases of collisions and flying
shunts the trains are always late. Our friend had
better shut his eyes to this class of perils, and com-
fort himself by recollecting that in railway accident
actions a sensible juryman invariably now asks
whether the train was late, and, if it was, trebles
the damages he would otherwise have given. It is
too terrible a reflection that if during all the six
weeks of our friend's projected tour any one signal-
man should omit to make the signal at the proper
moment, or any one engine-driver should omit to
sea it at the proper moment, then our friend may
never come back again. His fate momentarily
depends upon the manipulation of those little lever
handles he will be constantly passing. Under these
circumstances he will naturally take some interest
in the description given in this paper of how these
levers are sometimes managed, and how the c isual
workmen on the line and the guards of the trains
are accustomed to arrange these delicate operations
by vague shouts and promiscous exhortations. Cap.
Lain Tyler says, in accounting for the meeting of
two trains near Preston :—"The goods engine
would have proceeded along the down line without
getting in the way of the passenger train, if it had
not been for the interference of a foreman platelayer
who happened to be standing close to the lever by
which these points were worked. This man had
been putting in a new crossing, and had just com-
pleted his work. He was about to leave the spot to
go over his 'own length,' which was on the other
side of the Preston Junction, when he heard, or be-
lieves that he heard, some one say, Turn them
across.' He has no idea from whom this instruction
came, but he pushed the lover of the cross-over road
points over, and turned the goods engine across to
the up line as the passenger train was approach.
ing ; and he thus caused the collision which I have
described." It is clear, therefore, that it was not
considered an unpardonable offence for a labourer to
touch the lever, and that it was not an unexpected
thing fur him to get an order from the guard, or
some one, to do so. With all these chances against
the railway traveller, the wonder would seem to be
that he ever gets to his journey's end with his bones
unbroken. It would appear that, after calculating
for the temptation to cheapness and bad workman-
ship, acrd for low wages and the ignorance of the
class, which alone low wages can buy, the wonder-
ful fact is that sooner or later the passenger geee.
rally does get to his journey's end, and that the
evils so possible arc in r eality scarcely appreciable,
What it might ho if there were no Lord Cemphell's
Act we leave to any inalgintaion in want of a eubject

of calculation, but what it is with coroners'juries and
Lord Campbell's Act is of a very mild and limited
character. If our friend the excursionist will push
his inquiries into the statistics of railway travelling
he will find that the chances of his coming back
safe, so far as the rail is concerned, are quite a mil-
lion to one in his favour. What were the chances
when we used to hold on tight by the seat while
the Engineer, the Quicksilver, or the Victoria,
swinging and rocking like cockboats, were racing
down Shap Fells or over Hartford Bridge Flat in
the last days of coaching opposition ? The fair bet-
ting was about ten to one against a spill, and the
guard always had stirring stories to tell of the last
upset of his rival. The risk by rail is now practi-
cally nothing, and from these reports we obtain a
further and a most valuable fact—that these rail-
way accidents, rare as they are, are never unavoid-
able. When they occur, if men are killed and share-
holders baulked of their dividend, it is because the
way has not been properly repaired, or the engines
and carriages properly examined, or the time pro•
perly kept, or the signals made and observed. The
railway system itself is not, like ocean travelling,
subject to dangers which human prudence cannot
always provide against, and to natural forces which
human reason cannot always control.
DAILY NEWS.—Of all the consequences of the
war in Denmark one of the most interesting to the
English people, with their domestic tastes, is per.
haps the destination in marriage of the royal children
of King Christian. When the Princess of Wales
came over for her wedding, attended by her family,
we were told that her sister was to marry the heir
of the Russian Empire. Ihe engagement has now
been made public; and with it comes the news that
the King of Greece is to marry a daughter of the
Czar. Without giving way too much to feelings of
compassion for these children of a happy home—
feelings natural to the English heart, which cares
so much more for welfare than for glory—we may
permit ourselves to glance into the murky future of
an empire now reaching a great crisis of its history,
and to shape out the life and experience of these
young people, who were reared in the most modest
of princely homes, and are now to fill two of the
most conspicuous thrones in Christendom, and to
prosper or pine, or stand or fall, with the fortunes
of the Russian empire. Most of us feel that this is
as true in the case of the King of Greece as of his
sister; for nothing can be plainer than the object
of Russia in attaching Greece to her interests. So
young a Sovereign of Greece, a son-in-law of the
Czer, is the best instrument available for keeping
access to the Mediterranean open for Russia. The
southern gate thus guarded, the western is pro.
tected by the other marriage. Those who are sur-
prised at the first moment that the Emperor of All
the Russias should take a son and a daughter-in-law
from the most reduced and bitterly humbled of
reigning houses, have forgotten that the conquerors
of Denmark are precisely the powers most
formidable to Russia in their unscrupulous long-
ing for ports in the Baltic, and for the command
of the entrance from the North Sea. The more
the German Powers triumph over Denmark,
the stronger grows their cupidity of dominion
over the sea; and again, the more they tyrannise
over their victim, the stronger becomes, in the
opinion of the Czar, the probability of a Scandina-
vian Union, strengthening Sweden, already hostile,
endangering his possession of Finland and putting
to hazard his freedom, of the Baltic. Before tl e
treaty of 1852 was formed, we used to hear mourn-
ful bodings about the Russian claims to the throne
of Denmark, and the certainty that they would be
well maintained on account of the Russian interest
in the passage out of the Baltic; and this interest
may well explain the supposed condescension of
Russia to Denmark in the hour of Danish humilia-
tion. But how does this consist, some people ask,
with the terms the Czar is supposed to be on with
the enemies of Denmark ? Whether Lord Russell
be right or wrong in his confidence that the day is
past for Holy Alliances, there can be no doubt that
the idea and feeling embodied in such an allianee is
in full force in the three military Powers which
have held such frequent and close consultations of
late. The uppermost apprehension of all the three
Sovereigns—of Austria, Prussia, and Russia—is
now, more than ever, of what they call " the Re-
volution." Anxious as the Czar's agents are to dis-
claim any special relations, any private alliance
with Austria and Prussia, there can be no doubt
whatever that they have a common aim in putting
down all attempts of their victims and dependents
and their proper subjects to obtain any increase of
freedom. While this sympathy does not prevent
them quarrelling among themselves, and being
jealous of each other about the Baltic or the Adri-
atic or the Levant, it opens a prospect of keen heart.
sorrow for the chiltiren of Denmark, as for all of
the rising generation who are growing up in a
free country, where aspirations for liberty are rz-
garded as a virtue—not as a crime. If the young
Princess, who is to be Empress by and by,
hears of the trials going on in Poland, what
can she think of them ? What can she think
of putting irons on Polish ladies, who are shut up
in fortress prisons, wearing iron for vindictive pur-
poses and not for security ? What can be thought
by any modern young people of the vengeance on
the Circassians—of the whoesnle extirpation of
enemies which takes place under the immediate
alders of the Czar ? It is the Czar's notion of keep-
ing things safe and quiet to root up whole popula.
tions, and carry them by brutal methods to places
hopelessly remote, and set them down there to live
or die as may happen. His father did this; and he
does it, more than ever, though finding the ill effects
of the policy wherever the victims have been carried.
It cannot but strike everybody that his son again
will have to reap the whirlwind from this sowing of
the wind. Polish children sent to Georgia after the
catastrophe of 1831 have grown into men—not lov-
ing Russia. Tens of thousands of Poles, and of men
and women of other nations, have been peopling
Siberia from that time to this; and well-informed
persons tell us that thence will arise, at no very
distant date, the disruption of the Empire. It is
the place of banishment of a choice selection of the
best political minds of Europe. In that vast region,
where they are settled in groups, nothing can pre.
vent their holding intercourse, though they cannot
escape. Sooner or later that vast dominion will
separate itself from European Russia, and its inha-
bitanSs will repeat the institutions they have left
behind. This, at least, is what they believe ; and
the design forms a part of the prospect of the Im-
perial family, whether it is to be baffled or to suc-
ceed. Not only will the ghosts of: Polish insur-
rections thus arise to scare the reigning house,
but there will be a remnant of the people of the
Caucasus, as truly indomitable as their fathers,
and ready to draw their swords in any company
against Russia. The Hungarians have unpar-
donable injuries to avenge. The Cossacks of the
Don are not yet won over ; and the Czar knows
it. His fears of the Fins are unconcealable. The
only land frontiers on which he can feel anything
like safety are the wild regions adjoining to Cen-
tral Asia, and those which border on Austria and
Prussia. He would fain render his European fron-
tier safe by Russianising it ; but he cannot carry
this point, which indeed none but a Czar would
have attempted. He can render villages, towns,
and districts desolate; but he cannot fill up the
emptiness with loyal subjects. Nobody will buy the
lands, and nobody will live on any terms in the
vacated towns. To people reared in freedom there
is something appalling in the thought of passing,
never to return, into an empire fenced in by a
desolation like this. And the empire is no oasis
lying in the midst of barren wastes. There is
more to fear within than without after all that we
have seen. The Emperor's agents and advocates
extol the Russian polity as democratic when the
object is to flatter the Americans or to stop rumours
of a Holy Alliance; and it is considered enough to
show that it is not an aristocratic Government.
Whatever its description, it is a polity as favour-
able to revolution as to tyranny, and the most
wonderful breeder of corruption on record. The
Czars themselves proclaim this, one after another,
in the anguish of their hearts, when they can find
no good service in an hour of extremity, At pre-
sent the interior of Russia presents a spectacle
which awes those who will never set foot on its soil.
No middle class is there, and therefore no life in
the social or political organisation. There is no
money, either in the Treasury or in private hands.
Commerce is at a stand ; public works of the most
indispensable character are standing still. The
landed proprietors can do nothing with their crops ;
many have no crops because of the drought, and
others have lost all they reaped by incendiary
fires. In many places the freed serfs are main-
taining themselves and giving no trouble; but in
others they make the nobles weary of their lives.
After six years' rest from the conscription the raising
of soldiers is as difficult as ever ; and there is no mo-
ney to pay them. Under all these troubles, and many
more, there is felt to be moving an explosive force
which may at any hour throw into ruins the defec-
tive structure of Russian society—and when the
chances of the only possible method of attaining to
safety and soundness are calculated, tho most san-
guine of observers will hardly say that there is
time for the empire to be saved. Things cannot
remain as they are. Great changes must be at

hand; and wh.n the change must come upon an
empire which has no principle of unity in it, which
is so full of corruption as to have no room for liberty,
there can be no doubt as to the fearfulness of the
spectacle. The only way of escaping the dread of
it is—not to look heneftth the surface of court and
city life, which is gay enough for those who are
lightminded enough to enjoy it. Beneath
and beyond thin the stoutest-hearted of Russian
Frinces may well shriek from looking,. The child_
rut of Denmark will doubtless be wooed to look
another way.