The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-07 00:00:00

TEE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 7, 1863.

soner to hard labour if this is to be the state
of things in the prison ? What is the result ?
Look at it in any light you please, either
as respects the prisoner, or'as regards the judge, it
must have a very bad effect." He truly stated that
as concerned the men themselves who were under
sentence it was a perfect mockery, the inflictions
imposed by the Court with due solemnity and
gravity, went for nothing in the minds of those who
had been committed like those last before him-18,
20, and 25 times. His lordship then went on to
speak of the diet, which belongs to the sentence as
much as hard labour does. His own words will best

explain his meaning.
" lam not one of those who are in favour of harsh and cruel
rae isures towards criminals. I am not in favour of a star-
vation diet, but I think that what has hitherto been for.
gotten or practically ignored in these discussions is the
consideration that there is a medium between a starvation

and an excessive diet. While I would give such a dietary
as should sustain fairly the bodily vigour of prisoners, I
would studiously refrain from giving anything like a luxu-
rious diet. I certainly think that the scale of dietary laid
down in 1858 did not err on the side of starvation ; but
even if it did, that dietary has been revised, and you will
find that all the changes have been on the side of relaxa-
tion, and there has been a considerable increase in the
amount of the meat given to the prisoners, who now have
meat five days out of the seven. But that is not all; for
there exists a system of extra diet, and that has grown to
such an extent, that out of 300 or 320 prisoners the number
on extra diet is no less than 59. I do not say that that
extra diet is wrongly given, but I do say that we ought
thoroughly to understand the principle upon which it is
given ; for I assure this Court that, if they compare the
prison diet with the workhouse diet, it will be found that
the comparison is far from being in favour of the work-
house diet ; and I must say that when a poor man without
a blot on his reputation, who has perhaps lived a long life
without the slightest shadow of suspicion attaching to him,
is at last obliged, either through misfortune or through old
age, to resort to the workhouse and receive hardly sufficient
to keep body and soul together, while the sturdy felon, who
has been committed over and over again, is well fed and
comfortably cared for, it is dealing with guilt and innocence
in a most unsatisfactory manner."
The force and truth of this, all must allow, and it
is, indeed, a crying evil that the workhouses in
general are so mismanaged. When the serious
evil of the penal system has been remedied by the
intervention of Parliament, it is to be hoped that
the workhouse question will subsequently come
under consideration. His lordship concluded his
eloquent oration by stating that the consequence of
all these indulgencies has been that during the last
two weeks they have been on the brink of a serious
conspiracy, which would inevitably have led to an
outbreak occasioning bloodshed, and loss of life.
He declared that his object was to see the system of
prison discipline brought down to the level to which
it ought to be. "We have rushed, as it were, from
a system of excessive severity into one of excessive
lenity and indulgence." It is eminently satisfac-
tory to know that the Committee was carried,
though by a very small number. Lord CARNAR-
VON must be well pleased at the result of his efforts,
and he deserves to be appreciated by all well-
wishers of the community for his zeal and discre-
tion in proposing the highly desirable reform.
In this important movement, which will be one of
the chief domestic questions of the ensuing session,
he stands out the pioneer of progress, and it is to
be hoped that he will be deservedly estimated,
and that many lovers of the high and holy function
of justice will bear in mind the well-known adage—
" Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur."
Mercy is quite another thing to inconsiderate
clemency, and the evils and abuses that have sprung
up, partly from mistaken motives and partly from
carelessness in our prison system, must be remedied
at once with a strong hand, and the result cannot
be otherwise than a benefit to the country and a
blessing to the community.

The King of PRUSSIA'S New Year's Day was
probably not a very agreeable one. His loyal Ber-
liners have offered him, as a New Year's gift, a homily
which he will fully understand, possibly respond to
in angry or martinet style, but which will probably
more encourage the representatives of the people in
a firm course than soften the stubbornness of the
wilful monarch. With expressions as courteous as
those with which the Parliamentary patriots of
CHARLES L's reign approached their Sovereign, the
Berliners address the Prussian STUART. But they
declare it their duty to be frank, and frankness re-
quires them to tell him that they look to him to
put an end to the " serious complications "—the
"lamentable conflict" with which the year termi-
nates. They apprise him that it is a conflict which
confuses the minds of the people, by rendering
doubtful the " bases of the constitution," which
lowers Prussia in the eyes of other nations, whose
respect must rest on " the union of the King and
People." " May it please your MAJESTY," they
say, " to enter on a path which will take from us
discord, and lead to conciliation ;" and thus they
hope for the scattering of dissensions and illusions
by the justice of their SOVEREIGN, and to see a new
year a year of internal prosperity and external
respect.

We trust the KING will have many such New
Year's salutations from the larger towns of the
kingdom. They will be a suitable response from
the centres of wealth and intelligence, to the hole
and corner addresses got up by little bands of reac-
tionaries in obscure localities. They will teach the
KING, if he be indeed capable of learning, that he
is quarrelling with the very strength of his king-
dom, Already he has taught the smaller states of
Germany to look to Austria as more likely to sup-
port constitutional liberty than Prussia, for the
(EMPEROR has listened to his Reiclasrath, on the very
points on which the KING has broken with his par-
liament. The KING is irritated beyond measure
that the Northern, and even Protestant states should
desert him, and Herr von BISMARK blusters to the
Austrian ambassador respecting occupying, without
warning, the States of Hanover and Hesse, and re-
calling Prussia's representative from the German
Diet. But it is all bluster. He dare not do it.
His own people would be against him. They them-
selves do not wish Prussia to lead Northern Ger-
many as a despotic, but as a genuinely constitu-
tional power. They point the KING themselves, in
the address of the Berlin Municipality, to the only
condition on which Prussia can be a leading Ger-
man power. The KING must no longer fight with
his people's Representatives, twice elected to tell
him the same truths—the monarch must govern the
people by yielding to the people, not by persisting
in the right divine of Royal obstinacy.

Frances Anne Marchioness of Londonderry is
suffering from indisposition, at Wynyard Park, Stockton-
on. Tees.

Viscount Palmerston arrived in town yesterday
morning. His lordship returned in the afternoon to his
seat, Broadlands, Hants.
The Earl andr l Countess osfeaPt,orßtalernl
hinegima
tonpblaavetee,i‘lei frt.
the Duke
r
Wynyard Park, Stockton-on-Tees.
Lord and Lady Arthur Hay are staying a
and Lady Charlotte Sturt's seat, Critchill House, Vim-
bourn, Dorset.
The Hon. George Barrington comes to town to-
day from visitisg the Earl and Countess of Westmoreland,
at Apethorpe.
LATEST FROM SPIRIT LAND.—Our able contem.
porary, Punch, has a capital illustration represent-
ing the ghost of George the Third asking an awkward
question of President Washington :.-- •" Well,
Mr. Wash-
ington, what do you think of your fine Republic now,
Eh P—What d'ye think ? What d'ye think, Eh ?" To
which the great Republican returns no answer but the ex-
presliTe monosyllable—" bumph I"

THE PRINCE OF WALES.

WOLFERTON, TEESDAY AFTERNOON.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, accompanied
by Lieut.-General Knollys, Captain Grey, and suite, ar-
rived here by special train at 3.30, en route for Sandring-
ham Hall, the new shioting-box of his Royal Highness,
the rest of the journey being undertaken by the private
carriages which were in waiting. The scenery where the
Royal party dismounted is most picturesque.
The greatest excitement prevailed at Lynn and 9.t the
various stages of the Royal journey, but the curiosity of
the vast crowd was doomed to disappointment, as the
"special" did not stop at all. The greater part of his
Royal Highness's household arrived on Saturday. It is
confidently asserted that his Royal Highness joins the
Nast Norfolk hounds to-morrow, the meet being at Hun-
stanton, and the draw being at Sandringham.

The Approaching Marriage of the Prince of
Wales.

We have authority to state that upon the occasion of the
arrival in this country of her Royal Highness the Princess
Alexandra of Denmark, previous to her marriage early in
March with his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, her
Royal Highness will land from her Majesty's yacht Vic-
toria and Albert at Gravesend, where her Royal Highness
will be received by the Prince of Wales.

Their Royal Highnesses will then proceed to London,
and will be convoyed in her Majesty's carriages, with mili-
tary escort, through the metropolis to Windsor Castle.
We have also authority to state that it is the Queen's
intention that, in the course of the year, Levees shall be
held, on the part of her Majesty, by his Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales; and that Drawing-rooms shall also be
held, on her Majesty's behalf, by one of their Royal High-
nesses the Princesses, her Majesty's daughters; or, after
her marriage, by her Royal Highness the Princess of
Wales.

It is also the Queen's intention that, shortly after their
marriage, the Prince and Princess of Wales shall hold, in
her Majesty's name, an Evening Reception at St. James's
Palace, at which the ladies and gentlemen invited by the
Lord Chamberlain, by the Queen's command, shall have
an opportunity of offering their congratulations to their
Royal Highnesses.

FATAL STEAMBOAT ACCIDENT.

THIS DAY.

About ten o'clock this morning a shocking accident
occurred through the dangerous practice that has been so
general amongst young men arriving by those steamboats
in the morning at all the City of jumping off
the boat before she is properly secured. The young man
who lost his life this morning was on board the Lotus
penny steamboat, which, as usual at that period of the morn-
ing, was crowded with clerk and others engaged in the dif-
ferent commercial firms in the City, As the vessel approached
the All Hallows-pier, the dangerous and reprehensiLle
practice commenced; several safely reached the shore, but
just as the rope was being made secure, preparatory to its
being thrown to the piermen, the unfortunate young man
attempted to jump from the fore sponson. In doing so his
foot struck against the edge of the barge, and fell back, his
head coming in contact with the paddle- wheel of the Lotus,
when he sunk under the water, and was seen no more. The
Thames Conservancy piermen lost no time in taking the
most active steps to recover the body through the instru-
mentality of the drags, but up to half-past Il o'clock they
had not been successful. The hat worn by the young man
was picked up, and in the interior of it were the
words " Victor Company." Just at the moment when the
young man lost his life, a number of other passengers were
engaged in the same dangerous and reprehensible practice
in the after part of the vessel, one of whom narrowly escaped
death by drowning. In jumping from the vessel his foot
slipped, and he fell from the boat ; however he had the
good fortune to seize one of the chains hanging from the
steamer, and thus his life was saved.

THE EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH AND THE LADIES
OF MILAN.—When in 1859 Milan was delivered
from the hands of Austria through the active intervention
of France, the ladies of that city formed a committee for
the execution of a marble group to be presented to the Em-
press of the French as a mark of gratitude to the nation
that had so generously spilt its blood for the Italian cause.
M. Vela, the sculptor, was entrusted with the task, and
the conception of his genius, after having been exhibited for
a few days in the rooms of the Albertine Academy at Milan,
is now on its way to Paris. The group, entitled " The
Kiss of Italy to France," represents two females, of the
size of life—one being France, the other Italy, the latter in
the attitude of imprinting on the former the kiss of grati-
tude. The figure of Italy is bare to the waist, the remain-
der of the person being concealed by the rich folds of a
mantle spangled with stars : her hands are folded in an
attitude of thankfulness. The figure of France is entirely
covered with well-conceived drapery ; her left arm rests
lovingly on the shoulder of Italy, while her right hand
gathers some of the folds of her Imperial mantle. The
group is of a single block of the purest marble, and the
whole is described as unrivalled both in execution and
conception.
The Monarchic Nazionale of Turin announces
the presence of Mr. Smith O'Brien in that city,
and hints at his intention to deliver a "Lecture on America"
there. This lecture was read originally to a number of
mechanics in Dublin, and took the Federal and North side.
Mr. O'Brien is also to go to Greece, for what purpose is not
known. A Dublin journal jocularly asks—ls he about to
offer himself for the gilded chair of Otho ?
Mr. John Pender, the representative of Totnes.
has placed at the disposal of a committee the sum of one
thousand pounds,
to be applied as they may see fit for the
general welfare of the inhabitants of that borough.
LOAN FOR TILE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT.--
It is understood that a member of the Confederate

government has ar:ived in Liverpool, having the necessary
official documents and full power to negotiate a loan in this
country, It is proposed to raise the loan upon the security
of cotton stored in the Southern States.

SERIOUS RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT KNOTTINGLEY.
—TWELTE PERSONS INJURED.--We learn from the
second edition of the Leeds Mercury that a serious collision
took place yesterday morning at the Knottingley Junction,
between the first Great Northern up •trains from York and
Leeds. The s'ation is approached in a direct line from
Leeds, but the York trains run into the main line by a loop
from Burton Salmon. The weather was foggy, and on the
two trains coming up to the junction, they ran into each
other with great violence. Two carriages were smashed to
atom,,, and about twelve persons were injured, several re-
ceiving severe fractures. Medical aid was immediately
obtained from Pontefract, and the sufferers were attended
to. The up-line was blocked, and the trains, it was under-
stood, only running as far as Pontefract when this account
was written.

VOLUNTEERS' SALUTES.—The following War-
office Circular has been addressed to commanding
officers of Artillery Volunteers :—" Sir,—Complaints hav-
ing been made of the danger arising from firing salutes
from heavy guns in small batteries belonging to Artillery
Volunteers, I am directed by Secretary Sir G. Lewis to in-
form you that in all cases in which blank ammunition is
fired from garrison batteries in use by Volunteers, which
consist of less than four guns, the intervals between the
firing should under no circumstances be less than 25 se-
conds, and that especial care should be taken in such case
in sponging out the guns and serving the vent, with the
view of obviating, as far as possible, any chance of acci-
dent.—l hays the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant
DE GREY AND RIPON."

PIRACY IN THE SHANNON.—The Limerick corre-
spondent of the Freeman's Journal says :—" On the
night of the 31st ult., while a boat laden with turf from
Kilrush was lying at anchor at Coonagh Point, in the river
Shannon, two of her crew who were in the hatchway
thought they heard a noise as if turf was falling. One of
them, named Flaherty, looked up and saw a man armed
with a gun, which he discharged at him and wounded him
with some shot in his head. Flaherty immediately drew back,
when the top of the hatchway was fastened down, during
which time about eight loads of turf were taken away in
boats by some persons unknown. Flaherty's wounds are
not dangerous, but he had a most Providential escape.
Through the aid of a comrade he forced up the hatches, and
discovered the turf to be stolen."

SALMON IN IRELAND.LA fish-walk has been
made for two miles over the rocky ground between
Lough Corrib and Lough Mask, in the county Galway, at
a cost of £650. By this means salmon are now enabled to
pass up and down freely. The Galway Express says :
" Within the last four weeks Mr. Miller has collected and
deposited no less than 770,000 salmon ova in the streams of
Lough Mask, in addition to those of last year, making a
total of 1,429,000 ova. But in addition to this large
supply, Mr. Miller has conveyed 40 adult salmon alive a
distance of 23 miles in a large tub of water, and, by fre-
quently renewing the water on the way, they arrived as
lively at the end of their journey as they were at the begin-
ning. Those were the first salmon that were ever known to
inhabit the river Robe, a tributary of Lough Mask, which
covers an area of ground thirty miles by ten."
THE METROPOLITAN RAlLWAY.—Yesterday the
experimental traffic on this line was resumed with
the greatest success. Trial trains, consisting of first and
second class carriages, each compartment well lighted with
gas jets, which are supplied from the reservoirs on the roofs
of the cars, were despatched regularly every quarter of an
hour, under the direction of Mr. Tanner, the traffic super-
intendent, from the termini of Paddington and Farringdon-
street, commencing at 9 a.m., and continuing during the
day till about 2.15 p.m. All the trains were regularly
timed, the strictest punctuality being observed in their
starting and the time allowed for stoppages. In the course
of the afternoon Mr. Fowler, the engineer, with a party of
friends, made a trip along the line by special train. Every-
thing worked smoothly and well. The rail way will be
opened to the public on Saturday next. About 21 minutes
were occupied by each train in performing the whole dis-
tance.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

AMERICA.

(Per Edinburgh, via Roche's Point, January 7,

11.20 a.m.)
NEW YORK, DEC. 27.

Great frauds have been discovered on the Go-
vernment in the matter of army debts. Many mer-
chants and brokers in New York are involved. A
secret investigation has been in progress for two
months. The loss sustained by the GoNernment
amounts, as far as known, to about 1,000,000 dols.

The evidence given in the Court of Inquiry on
General M'Dowell continues to show that all the
insinuations against his loyalty and military capa-
city were without any foundation.

A decision of the Attorney-General, Mr. Bates,
fully establishes that colour is no bar to citizen-
ship under the United States constitution.

Orders for supplies for the French army in
Mexico oontinue to be received here.

RUSSIA.

The St. Petersburg Gazette announces the return
of the Emperor and Empress from Moscow to St.
Petersburg, where they met with the most enthu-
siastic reception. St. Petersburg was brilliantly
illuminated in the evening.