The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-28 00:00:00

(No. 4.)

" MR. ELLIOT TO EARL RUSSELL—(Received October 25
" Turin, Oct. 11.
_

"My Lord,—As it appeared from Sir J, Hudson's des-
patch, marked separate, of the 4th inst., that he had stated
to the King that his reason for resigning his mission was
that he was under an engagement to your Lordship to do so
when duo for a pension, I thought it right in tho course of
my conversation with his Majesty, to assure him that Sir
James had laboured under an entire misapprehension in
entertaining the bel.;.ef that you wished to remove him from
Turin.
" I informed the King that your Lordship had officially
conveyed to Sir James the entire approval of her Majesty's
Government of his conduct during the time he had repre-
sented her Majesty at this Court, and that it was with much
regret that you had consented to his request to ho allowed
to retice.—l have, Sce. 6 4 j-j G. ELLIOT."

* Reporting his having. asked for an athlience.

MADAME TUSSAUD'S.--A visit to this public place
of instruction will well repay not only the wonder-seeker
but even the man of science, while every lover of the arts
must feel delighted at the perfection which the enterprising
proprietors of this most interesting exhibition have brought
their models. We do not know of any place in this great
metropolis in which so much instruction end amusement
are combined as can be met wit Et at Madame Tussaud s;
and to any person net having yet visited it, we would say,
go without delay.

THE GIANT BALLOON.

The following letter (No. 2) Written by M. I
Eugene d'Arnoult tc, the Nation, contains the
fullest account that has yet appeared of the adven-
tures of the balloon in Belgium, Holland, and
Germany :
"We passed I know not how much time in contemplat-
ing the enchanting scene around us—but at length we all
felt the necessity of going downwards to see where we were.
Presently the balloon came so near to the earth that we
could readily distinguish the tall chimneys of a great many
flaming furnaces. If We were to fall upon some of them,'
said Mongolfier, anxiously. These furnaces told us very
clearly that we were in Belgium, and, besides, the Flemish
songs that continually reached our ears left no doubt upon
the point. Godard, Nadar, all of us, called out frequently
to the people below, Where are we ?' but got no other
answer than shouts of laughter. There were two bells in
the car, and Yon and myself rang them as hard as we could,
while Nadar roared through his speaking trumpet. I had
an opportunity of observing that the purity of the air in no
degree attenuates the quantity of false notes lodged in the
throats of certain individuals. Our serial Charivari at
length provoked a corresponding one on earth,and we could
hear dogs barking, ducks quacking, men swearing, and
women screaming. All this had a droll effect; but time
went on, the wind blew hard, it was dark night, and our
balloon drove on with prodigious rapidity, and we were not
able to tell exactly where we were. I could not see my
compass, and we were not allowed to light a lucifer match
under any pretext whatsoever. From the direction in
which we had passed over Lille, we judged that we must
be going towards the sea—Louis Godard fancied that he
could see lighthouses. We descended again to within
150 yards of the earth. Beneath us we saw a flat marshy
country of sinister aspect, and indicating plainly the neigh-
bourhood of the coast. Every one listened with
all his ears, and many fancied they heard the murmurs of
the sea. The further we went on the more desert the
country became—there was no light whatever, and it be-
came more and more difficult to guess where we were going.
' I am entirely out of my reckoning,' exclaimed Louis
Godard, and my opinion is that the only thing we have to
do is to descend at once.' What, here in the marshes ?'
remonstrated all of us ; ' and suppose we are driven into the
sea.' The balloon went driving on still. "We cannot de-
scend here,' said Jules Godard, 'we are over water.' Two
or three of us looked over the edge of the car, and affirmed
that we were not over water, but trees, It is water,' Jules
Godard persisted, Every one now looked out attentively.
and as the balloon descended a little, we saw plainly that
there was no water, but without being able to say positively
whether there were trees or not. At the moment when Jules
Godard thought he saw water, Nadar exclaimed, I see a
railway.' It turned out that what Nadar took for a railway
was a canal running towards the Scheldt, which we had
passed over a few minutes before. Hurrah for balloons I
They are things to travel in—rivers, mountains, custom-
houses—all are passed without let or hindrance. But every
medal has its reverse; and if we were delighted at having
safely got over the Scheldt, we by no means relished the
prospect of going on to the Zuyder Zee. ' Shall we go
down ?' asked Louis Godard. There was a moment's pause.
We consulted together; suddenly I uttered a cry of joy;
the position of the needle of my compass indicated that
the balloon had made a half turn to the right, and was
now going due east. The aspect of the stars confirmed
this assertion. Forward I' was now the cry, We threw
out a little ballast, mounted higher, and started with
new vigour with our backs turned to the deprecated Zuyder
Zee. It was now three in the morning, and none of us
had slept. Just as we began to try to sleep a little my
diabolic compass showed that the balloon was turning
back again. Where are you going to take us to ?' cried
out Yon to the immense mass of canvas which was °sell.
lating above our heads. Louis Godard again proposed to
descend ; but we said 'No ; forward, forward I"rwo hours
sped away without our being able to tell where we were.
At five o'clock day broke, and broad daylight came on with
marvellous rapidity. It is true that we were at a height of
980 metres. Novel writers and others have so much abused
descriptions of sunrise on mountains and on the ocean that
I shall say little about this one, although it is not a com-
mon thing to see the horizon of fire below the clouds. The
finest Venetian paintings could only give an idea of the luxu-
riant tones of the heavens that we saw. Such dazzling
magnificence led me to wonder that there is no revival of
sun worship, since men must necessarily have some mate-
rial representation of the Divinity. It is true the sun is not
made in man's image I We now had beneath us an immense
plain, the same probably that we had passed over in the
night. There is nothing more pleasant at first sight, nor
more monotonous in the long run, than the sort of country
which forms at least one-third of Holland. There are
miniature woods the size of bouquets, fields admirably cul-
tivated and divided into little patches like gardens, rivers
with extraordinary windings, microscopic roads, coquettish-
looking villages, so white and so clean that I think the
Dutch housewives must scour the very roofs of their houses
every morning. In the midst of every village there is a
jewel of a church with a shining steeple. While riding
along at a height of 700 metres we had beneath us a picture
of Paul Potter's 50 leagues square. All at once the tableau
became animated. The people below had perceived the
balloon. We heard cries expressive of astonishment,
fright, and even of anger, but the feeling of fright seemed
to predominate. We distinctly saw women in their
chemises look hurriedly out of windows and then rush
back again. We saw chubby boys looking at us, and
blubbering as if they were mad. Some men, more de-
termined than the rest, fired off guns at us. I saw seve
ral mammas pointing us out to stubborn babies, with
an attitude which seemed to say that our balloon was Old
Bogy. Old women raised their hands against us, and at
their signal many ran away, making the sign of the gross.
It is evident that in some of these villages we were taken
to be the devil in person. On this point it is apropos to
cite a letter communicated to me which has been addressed
to the Courrier de lianovre. I translate it textually :
" ' This morning at about six o'clock we saw passing over
our heads, at a prodigious height, an immense round form,
to which was suspended something which looked like a
square house of a red colour. Some people pretend to have
seen animated beings in this strange machine, and to have
heard issuing from it superhuman cries. What think you,
Mr. Editor ? The whole country is in a state of alarm, and
it will be long before our people recover their equanimity.'
"At 7 a.m. we crossed over a lake near Yesel ; the wind
then again pushed us in a new direction, nearly at right
angles with that which we were taking before. In less
than a quarter of an hour the balloon got into Westphalia,
near Renheim ; then we crossed the great river Ems, the
towns of Rheine and Ibbenburrhen, and returned to Han-
over a little above Osnabruck ; we traversed, without deign-
ing to take notice of them, a little chain of mountains, and
by way no doubt of relaxation after so long a journey went
all round a lake, which is called in German Dummersse.
We then got into a great plain, through which runs a road.
At this time the balloon became almost motionless. The
reason of this was that the heat of the sun had caused the
gas to expand. Louis Godard was very uneasy about this
dilation. After two or three oscillations our aerial courser
decided upon going off, rapidly in an eastern direction, with
about two degrees variation towards the north. This course
would have taken us to Hamburg and the Baltic, but we
were all so completely absorbed by the splendour of the
tableau before us that we took little notice of the change.
Our hippogriff passed over Wagenfeld-Steyerberg, where
there is a river which flows into the Weser. We came
within sight of the great river and Nienburg, a considerable
town on one of its banks. We saw a steamboat going down
the river from the town ; the view here was charming. A
rustling of the silk of our balloon made us look upwards,
the monster, under the influence of the sun, now very hot,
was palpably swelling. As it would have been supremely
ridiculous, after having made such a first-rate journey, to
have treated the inhabitants of Nienburg with the spectacle
of seeing us blown up—to say nothing of the consequences
of such a catastrophe to our own limbs—we resolved to
come down. The remaining bags of ballast were got in
order, the ropes and anchors prepared, and Godard opened
the safety valve. ' The monster is disgorging I' exclaimed
Thirion. And the balloon did vomit forth its gas with a
tremendous noise, which may be compared to the snor-
ing of some gigantic animal. While our companion made
this observation, we were descending at the rate of
two metres to the second. To the ropes Ito the ropes I—
hold on well I' cried the brothers Godard, who seemed quite
in their element; 'take care of the shock.' Every one
climbed up to the ropes which attach the car to the circular
handles underneath the balloon. Madame Nadar, whose
sang frola was truly magnificent, grasped two large ropes
with her delicate hands. Nader did the like, but at the
same time put his arms round his wife so as to protect her
body. I was on one side towards the middle of the sort of
hurdle which serves as a balcony. I was on my knees and
clinging to two ropes. Montgolfier, Thirion, and St. Felix
were near ie. The balloon descended so rapidly that it gave
us the vertigo. The air, which we had left so calm above,
became a violent wind as we neared the earth. We are
going to throw down the anchors,' said Godard, ' hold
tight.' Ali I the car struck the earth with tremendous vio-
lence. I cannot imagine how it was that my arms were not
broken. After the first terrible shock the balloon went up
again, but the safety valve was opened—it again fell—and
we suffered a second shock, if not more violent at least more
painful to us than the first. Up we went again—the balloon
dragged its anchors. Several times we thought we should be
thrown out. The anchors are broken,' exclaimed Godard.
The balloon beat the ground with its head like a kite when
it falls down. It was horrible. On we went towards Nien-
burg, at the rate of ten leagues an hour.* Three large
trees were cut through by the clr as clean as if by a
ve
wood-
man's hatchet. One small anchor remained to us. v
threw it down, and it carried away the roof of a house.
If the balloou had dragged us through the town
i rose a
inevitably have been cut to pieces. But forntudnwith
as much
against ateiwye t should
little, and then bumped a the
violence as before. Everyonnset
of these
rope of the
our limbs I To complete our misfortunes the wrenched
and tyro
Eafety.alve shut-
safety-valve got loose from ,
uSau
emptying itself.' It
ling up we lost all hope of the
went on by bounds of 25, 30, and balloon
40 metres from the earth,
two places, that
Godard ,
* A letter of M. Louis aBsad3'rsi' in
ven by the wind at
the balloon, when descendin,, :A
r • but this is provably a mis-
the rate of 60 leagues an hour ,
print.

and continued to fall upon its head. Everything that stood
in the way of the oar was dashed to pieces. Every minute
brought a new danger, and what danger ! Now lam terri-
fied to think of it; but I declare upon my honour that at
the time not one of us entertained a thought of saving his
own life at the expense of the community. Several times
some one of us might have jumped out, and then the bal-
loon, being lightened of a considerable weight, would have
ascended, to the great peril of the, others. Madame Nadar
was supported by her husband, and I can affirm that our
greatest moral suffering was to see her frail form so terribly
knocked about—and yet this poor woman never uttered a
cry. During these terrible moments when all our bones
were cracking, she looked at her husband and at us so
calmly and so sweetly, that we would all willingly have
been crushed to have saved her."

The above letter, it will be observed, does not describe
the actual descent; it is probably intended to be followed
by a third.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—In the course of last year's Session Sir
M. Peto protested,with just indignation, against the
lenient punishments inflicted upon the perpetrators
of savage assaults in oar Police-courts. Sir G.
Grey, in his reply, admitted the fact, and we might
have hoped that the attention since given to the
treatment of criminals would have secured us
against a relapse into this all but direct encourage-
ment of street outrages. We cannot say that any
such expectation has been justified. Every day
the same class of crimes fills the reports of our
Police-courts, and every month a long list of them,
representing only the very worst, appears in the
calendar of the Middlesex Sessions or the Central
Criminal Court. Yet the apparent partiality of
magistrates and judges for ruffians who have re.
venged themselves for a taunt with the knife, or
beaten unoffending persons within an inch of their
lives, continues unabated. While fraud, embezzle-
ment, and other offences against property, are
visited with relentless severity, acts which indicate
the highest degree of wickedness, which occasion
the highest degree of suffering to the victims, and
which naturany inspire the highest degree of ter-
ror among others, are treated as if they were the
most venial of misdemeanours. It is high time
that this perverse and mischievous inconsistency
should be traced to its true cause, if it has any
other cause than judicial caprice, and that those
who are guilty of it should be made to feel their
responsibility towards the public. A. few specimens
of the sentences passed at Clerkenwell during the
past fortnight were lately furnished by one of our
correspondents. A person convicted of receiving
certain medals belonging to an officer, knowing
them to have been stolen, was sentenced to four
years' imprisonment; a man who had smashed
both his wife's eyes at different times, thereby
depriving her of sight, and had so brutally
maltreated her for years as to make it a won-
der that she had lived through it, was
imprisoned for two years. For stealing a watch,
after former convictions, another prisoner got four
years' imprisonment. For a vile assault upon a child
twelve months were considered an adequate penalty.
Another correspondent, in a letter wnich we pub-
lished yesterday, proves that the same standard of
gailt is recognised in Cornwall. " William James,
convicted of stealing a pair of boots, was sentenced
to nine months' hard labour ; John Green, only 16
years of age, found guilty of stealing a shirt, was
sentenced to three years' penal servitude." Oa the
other hand, " John Willcocke, aged 34, a labourer,
was charged with 'violently assaulting' a child two
years and a half old with a leather strap and
' buckle,' after which he threw it, face foremost, into
its cradle. The surgeon found its arms, thighs, and
back "covered with seep bruises," and the mother
believed it at the time to have been killed, as it well
might have been. "The prisoner was sentenced to
three months' imprisonment." We have only to
turn to the police reports in our next column to find
parallel instances. One man gets a month's impri-
sonment at Marlborough-street for knocking down
a constable in the execution of his duty ; another
gets two months at the same court for striking a
policeman on the back of the head with a stone,
while he called on his associates to " knife him,"
and vowed he would do so himself " when it was
dark." At the same time and place, " William Payne
and Samuel Webb were fined £3 each for being
drunk and exciting the mob to assault the police."',
A pork butcher, convicted of making a disturbance,
together with other rowdies, in the course of which
indecent assaults were committed on young women,
was fined 20s. by Mr. D'Eyncourt, when he was
liable to a penalty of £7. Another young man, to
whom an assault of this kind was brought home, was
fined lOs by Mr. Combe. Lastly, Thomas Hammell,
who had struck one gentleman a furious blow in
the face, had made the most violent resistance to
being arrested, had sprung from the dock while the
charge was being taken at the policeeoffice, and
knocked another gentleman down, and had been
three times convicted of felony, was condemned by
Mr. Partridge to one month's imprisonment with
bard labour. We are willing to suppose that in one
or two of these cases there may have been extenu-
ating circumstances which were not published. We
are further willing to make allowances for the
variety of theories held by experienced magistrates
on such questions as the policy of punishing first
of severely. Still, after all the deductions and
concessions that can be made, we are struck by the
monstrous iniquity of these sentences. No weaker
word will fitly express the wrong done to
society by an administration of the law which
jealously vindicates the rights of property, whilst it
give us no tolerable protection against personal
violence. It is the characteristic of barbarous codes
that they are more indulgent to the murderer than
to the thief. Civilized Government ought to adopt
the very contrary principle, and to place the security
of life and limb above the security of property,
however valuable. There is no test of criminality
which can be applied to these two kinds of guilt
which will not establish the greater atrocity of
personal violence. Cruelty is the most detestable
of vices, and the nearest approach to pure and per-
fect wickedness of which human nature is capable.
It is possible that a starving man may be tempted
to pick a pocket to pass a bad, shilling, or to obtain
money by false pretences, out of sheer misery and
despair. It is impossible—nay, it is inconceivable
—that any man can deliberately inflict horrible suf-
fering on a fellow-creature, still more on a wife or
a child, without having a heart so bad as to deprive
him of all claim to mercy. Such cases are by no
ramie rare, and yet how seldom is a proper sense of
their enormity shown by those who try them, or
the utmost rigour of the law employed to prevent
their recurrence ! But it is not only the depth of
depravity evidenced by the deed that should be the
measure of retribution ; we are bound also to con-
sider the feelings of the victims. Now, there is
really no comparison between violent assaults
and common larcenies in respect of the pain
and loss which they respectively produce. It
makes one's blood boil to read of a man receiving
bat half the punishment for nearly killing a
poor girl that was inflicted on another for
breaking a pane of glass. Who would not rather
have his purse stolen than get a black eye ? And if
this would be the estimate of an ablebodied man,
what would be that of weaker members of the com-
munity ?
We have a right to demand that the com-
mission of the more grievous outrage shall not be
rendered the less hazardous, and, therefore the
more common by the decisions of our magistrates.
It argues a strange insensibility on their part to
the moral aspects of criminal justice that any such
tendency should have manifested itself. It would
argue a still stranger indifference on ours to the
safety and comfort of ourselves and our fellow citi-
zens if we failed to point out its inevitable effect in
multiplying crimes of violence and defeating the
efforts of the Legislature to check them.
POST.—At a time whet; German ambition
threatens the peace of Northern Europe it may not
be out of place to inquire whether every possible
step has been taken by those specialy interested in
the maintenance of tranquillity to avoid hostilities.
The power of Germany preponderates sr; vastly over
that of Denmark that it might seem supeefluous to
say that the Danish Government have done every-
thing in their power to appease their angry neigh-
bours, and to prevent a war in which, singlehandede
they would be obliged to succumb. Bat although
this is undoubtedly so, still the strong claims svfhtit
Denmark can advance to the protectionsnletibly
principal European Powers might just
poreossmopftinhehrortooortesstisrtenjgustht
.demlfain)do
and rob ably
sistance Sweden and Great Britain,
that in the day of trial she can mammon to her as-
boutpthe
France, she may feel as indifferent
siamasartilrai ssecciPonnstic-igeutB);
hew ere
herself a first-class Power.
em-
ployment of measures of conActiltiahteiopnraeas
senift juncture,
and before any of these Statetsaerreeffiorneallnyeopelsesdagreyd
tto
inquire whether Denmarkl o
take up her quarrel,
er mo
it is
do therefore
d not th. ink heasoefvianrcbei
thatdtraamthe lonereadinessthreatenedexecution
effect, bat such an event is not impossible. The
present is the time for deliberation, for no sooner
will the advanced guard of the German army cross,
or attempt to cross, the Eider, than Denmark's shins
must determine on the course they will adopt. How-
over
interested the maritime Powers of Europe may
be in obtaining the integrity of the Danish monar-
chy, they have a right to demand that they will
l have
be compelled to take part in a qaarrel which, by m
the exhibition of a little forbearance, •
been avoided. Let us then inquire whether, ifthis
t
Federal execution, and the war which it un !.
doubtediy occasion, are inevitable. Denmark,
‘
those who have counselled Denmark, have done theirt
utmost to avert the catastrophe. This question has
been critically and ably discussed in the reading

Danish journal, the Dagbladet; and in the extract
which we published yesterday the subject may be
said to be exhausted. The Diet have, as is well
known, based their present complaint against the
Danish Sovereign on the publication by him of a
royal ordinance in the month of March last, which
gave to the population of Holstein a constitution to
which, in respect to comprehensiveness, it would be
impossible to find a counterpart in Germany. But
why, it may be asked, if the boon is rejected by the
Federation, does the Danish Government endeavour
to force it on their acceptance ; why not rather with-
draw the despised gift, and remove the pretext for
Federal intervention ? if the threatened aggres-
sion could be averted by cancelling the royal ordi"
nance of March, the refusal of the Danish Govern-
ment to do so would certainly be inexcusable. But
such a result would not follow, because on the re-
peal of the royal ordinance the Danish Sovereign
would of course resume his absolute and unrestric-
ted authority in the duchy, and the status quo would.
be restored which led to the Federal resolutions of
March, 1860, and February, 1861, withthe demands
incorporated in which the constitution given to
Holstein in March last was intended to be an act of
compliance. If, three years since, a Federal execu-
tion was threatened because the Danish Sovereign
would do nothing, the ground for intervention
would exist unaffected if he were now to repeal
what he has since done. The question at issae
does not, as stated in the Danish journal, affect the
autonomy of Holstein, but that of the Danish
kingdom and provinces; and whether the Federa-
tion are satisfied or not with the constitution given
to Holstein, they have no right to dictate a form
of government to be adopted in territories entirely
independent of their control. In truth, however,
there can be no question that Denmark would.
willingly adopt any measures consistent with the
'preservation
of her sovereign rights to retain
friendly relations with the German Federation.
Proposals without number have emanated from
the Danish Government, with a view of obtaining
a satisfactory solution of the long-pending dispute ;
but they have invariably been met with counter
proposals, which were alone made because they
were known to be untenable. In the second de-
spatch transmitted by the British Foreign Secre-
tary to the Federal Diet the latter are reminded
that the Danish Government are willing to modify
the ordinance of the 30th March to the sense of the
resolution passed by the Diet in March, 1860, and
to make that ordinance provisional until the
definite position of Holstein with regard to Ger-
many has been settled. To such a proposal as
this it is difficult to understand what objections
could be offered by the German powers, seeing that
by this arrangement the Holstein Estates would.
retain their constitutional privileges pending the
settlement of their final status. The fact, how-
ever, that even this arrangement finds no favour
with the Diet affords an additional proof that
Holstein and its government are not the objects
of the threatened execution. If the German
Powers are inclined to overlook the immediate
consequences of attempting to occupy Holstein
in leaguing against themselves the chief mari-
time Powers of Europe, they ought not to
disregard the inevitable complications with
which in any event the Holstein question will be
thereby invested. Even assuming, as Earl Russell
points out, that the execution was confined to the
latter duchy, the Danish Government would make
reprisals by instituting a blockade, which could not
but prove highly injurious to German commerce.
" The war," writes the Foreign Secretary, " would
thus become embittered, claims for damages would
arise on both sides, and new difficulties stand in the
way of a peaceful settlement." In the event of the
war extending to the Danish territories, then, in
accordance with the treaty of 1852, not alone Great
Britain, but Austria and Prussia, would be bound
to interpose to preserve the integrity of Denmark,
and, as Earl Russell pithily remarks, " this obliga-
tion would of course be fulfilled, but might bring
about fresh complications at Frankfort." However
the proposed policy of the German Powers is re-
garded, the difficulties which it must occasion are
so great that it is scarcely possible to believe any
rational or responsible Government advocating its
adoption. None other than the German Diet would
ever counsel an aggression of Denmark at the pre-
sent time, and no other people but the Germans
would hail their decision with satisfaction. As to
Denmark, both the Sovereign and his subjects are
of one accord as to the course to be pursued. The
King has recently made a very remarkable speech,
in which he has evinced his determination, if aided
by his people, to resist the whole power of Germany
—and finally, when worsted in the unequal contest,
to descend from his throne and proclaim a republic.
" History shall not tell that the last of the Olden-
burgs parcelled out Denmark. If, however, in the
course of time we must succumb as being the
weakest, and France and Sweden permit the most
southern province of Scandinavia—the old Jutland
of the south—to share the fate of Galicia, of Poland,
and of Northern Italy, by being overpowered and
suppressed by German Governments, then I will
descend from the throne and proclaim the re-
public." The King of Denmark need be under no
apprehensions—neither France nor Sweden, nor,
for that matter, Great Britain, nill permit Den-
mark to be expunged from the map of Europe,
simply to gratify the insensate ambition of Ger-
many.