The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-26 00:00:00

THE BALLOT SOCIETY.

The weekly meeting of the committee was held
on Tuesday last. The recent election at Andover
was considered, and it .was resolved to call the at-
tention of the constituencies to the following ex-
tract from the speech of Mr. Hawkshaw, the de-
feated candidate :

" You will remember that to-day one of the sub-
jects mentioned by me was that of the Ballot. That
is a subject that I have long thought of, and I saw so
many difficulties in the way at one time that when
I issued my address I did not mention it. But, es I
told you to•day, the result of my canvass was to
produce a conviction in the mind that if the vote by
ballot were adopted in Andover the Liberal cause
would be much benefited thereby. I will tell you
why I say this. Since I came to Andover I
have heard and seen more exercise of undue in-
fluence than I could have conceived possible. There
have been many observations and animadversions
made on the conduct of some gentlemen connected
with my cause. All I can say is, that if any one
has a right to complain of undue influence, it is the
Liberals of Andover. I have sten and heard cases
that have made my heart bleed. I have seen
tradesmen—little tradesmen—l have seen working
men men dependent on their employment
for their daily bread—who dared not vote in
accordance with their principles, lest they should
suffer in their circumstances in consequence.
Therefore, to-day, I made the observation on
the hustings, and I repeat it again, and I hope
it will come to the ears of those gentlemen who
have said and written charges of a similar kind
against gentlemen on my side, if they are honest in
the professions they make of a desire to relieve you
of undue pressure, their only way of so doing is to
give you vote by ballot. You will have heard the
replies made to-day to this. You have heard it said
in reply, ' I hate the ballot.' rbose gentlemen who
oppose the ballot on such grounds do so upon a pre-
tence so fallacious that I am surprised that men of
intellect dare come before intelligent beings and
make use of such an argument. The ballot, they
say, is un-English. In answer to this, I say that
there is no gentleman, no man of scientific attain-
ments, no man of literary acquirements, who in his
club, his scientific or literary society, does not take
refuge under the protection of the ballot. Why,
then, should they claim for themselves the exercise
of a privilege which they would deny to you."

THE DEVILISH RUSSIAN KNOUT.—The knout had
a short massive handle, and a heavy leather lash
about Bft. long. It resembled those tremendous whips with
which the Cossacks of the Ukraine, when they have brought
a wolf to bay, can kill him at a single blow. The lash was
formed of leather, curved so as to give two sharp edges
alone its whole length, and sometimes bound with wire
thread, the end terminated in a little iron hook. It had no
handle, but one end was left supple, so that the executioner
could wind it round his wrist. At every blow the sharp
edges of the stiff curved lash fell on the criminal's back, and
cut him as with eight yards of a pliant double-edged sword.
The executioner, subtle in his cruelty, had learnt not to
roughly withdraw the lash, but to draw it towards him, so as
to remove long flaky bands of flesh, the hook being devised
with devilish ingenuity for this detestable purpose. The

lash was also purposely long, that it lapped round the body
and cut deep into the chest at the same time that it de-
stroyed the whole of the back. Indeed, to tell you the frank
truth, my dear sir, it was well known that the executioner
could, if he chose, kill any man at one blow of the knout,
by lapping him round the lungs and heart; but, as the
" Bourreau" was generally bribed, ho seldom put forth his
whole force. When the knout was honestly used, the
criminal, if he survived the first blow, usually fainted at
the third, arid died about the fifth. A ukase of Peter the
Great fixed the maximum of blows at one hundred and one
(we Russians have a superstitious respect for odd numbers);
but whether the knout became heavier, or we became more
effeminate, the hundred and one blows—which, of course,
implied death—were never given in the Emperor Nicholas's
time.—Dickens's "All the Year Round."
EXTRAORDINARY WILL.—An English lady of
quality made the following singular will :—" Con-
vinced that my dog has been the most faithful of my friends,
I declare him the sole executor of this my last will and testa-
ment, and to him I trust the disposal of all my fortune. I
have great cause of complaint against the men ; they are of
no value, either physical or moral ; my lovers are fickle and
deceitful; my so-called friends, false and perfidious. Of
all the creatures that surround me I have found none to
possess good qualities but " Fidele." I dispose of all my
property in his favour ; and direct that legacies may be
given to all those on whom he voluntarily bestows his
caresses, or distinguishes by wagging his tail." When,
the Rev. Sir Charles Stagemore, a rector in the
county of Leicester, died, during the reign of
Charles the First, there was found amongst his papers
a will to this purpose :—" I leave to nay heirs 50 dogs of
shoes, 100 pair of boots, 80 wigs, 80 waggons
been
pitchforks,
75
ast
various breeds and colours, 100 pair of breeocnhseasn,
d4oeoarptaeir3oof
nwehe ee arr
ando w7so,
p2looou
gspadeslat
ennid
:shovels,asto
ns audmdbl eesr aenf de ha
na
er
s-
owh pickaxesi which h a have
db evei
andz so
;I i
6t tol ebsutri
ec
ekss
at
no
dw l
akr
es with,2o
ladders, and 3) bayonets, swords, and pistols, item : a
large waggon full of books in quires, and a little casket in
which there is £l,OOO in cash, and sundry trinkets." This
eccentric parson had a man and a maid servant, whom he
The last thing he was accustomed to do before he
used to lock up in their respective rooms at 8 o'clock in the
ewvaennt to i ng.bed was to fire off a pistol, and to let loose his entire
pack
of c10g5...." Essay on 'Wills" in the _Dublin University
Magazine.

LAW REPORTING..--in accordance with a re-
qnisition, the Attorney-Lieneral,
Palmer, has invited the members of the bar to meet him in
Sir Roundel].
Lincoln's-inn Hall on an early day in December, "for the
purpose of ascertaining the opinion of the bar as to the ex-
• fisting system of law reporting, and with a view to its
amendment."
11 HE MILITARY FORCE OF FRANCE.—The effec-
tive force (it has now been ascertained precisely),
exclusive of reserves, consists of 436,986 men, upwards of
50,000 being on foreign service, nearly 60,000 in Algeria,
and the remainder in France. The reserves consist of
217,261 in additiion, making altogether 654,247 men. The
report issued by the military authorities gives a most
favourable account of the general discipline among the
troops. Out of 458,123 men, only 3,887, or lin 133, have
been punished. Of 58 sentences of death, 14 only were
really carried out, the other 44 were changed into hard
labour. Of desertion before the enemy there was only one
instance ; of treason and espionage, none at all.

A NEW COMEDY, " RECRILIT AND POET," hag
been brought out at the Hamburg Stadt-Theatre, the sub-
ject of which is the first interview of Goethe with the Land-
gravine Caroline of Hesse Goethe's type
Mr, Schucking, from whose novel the piece was taken) for
Lenore in Tasso. (according to