The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-06 00:00:00

ASCENT OP NADAR'S BALLOON,

A letter dated Paris, Sunday night, says :—Science
has run a match to-day against sport, and the
former, " steered" by M. Nader, has won easily.
The event came off on the Champ de Mars, from which
densely-crowded plain Le Geant ascended at five
o'clock. Before speaking of the balloon I must say
a few words of M. Nader, whose photographic esta-
blishment ail your readers who visit Paris, and
especially those who go to the Grand Hotel, will
certainly know. M. Nadar has got that which Lord
Melbourne used to say " would make any ono a bore
if it did not ruin him outright"—an idea. He be-
lieves that, in a time not far distant, men will mount
the air on "screws" attached to small umbrellas,
and sail away through the sky, rather shaming the
birds. All that is wanting is a beginning ; to get
that beginning money is required; to get that money
M. Nadar has built the largest balloon on record ;
intends to exhibit it throughout the world, and,
with the proceeds of the exhibition, the modern
Icarus means to build the screw balloon, which is,to
carry out his idea. Do you smile ? So men smiled
at gas, at railways, at electric telegraphs. The bal-
loon—that is the inflated globe—seems to me to be
much like other balloons, only larger. There are
in it, for instance, 20,000 yards of silk, which cost
£6,500 ; but the car is curious and ingenious. It
is of wicker work—a square-shaped basket, about
20 feet high, and 15 feet long, by 12 wide. It con-
tains two storeys; a rez dechausee—stop! can there
be such a thing in the air ?—let us say a ground
floor and a terrace. The ground floor is divided
into a " captain's cabin," a washing room, four
cabins, with separate berths, a printing office, and a
photographic studio, with dark chamber. " They are
not large," remark sceptical readers ; but there is
space for what is required—space to sleep, space to
photograph. The cabins are fitted with air beds,
suspended on cords ; nothing lighter, nothing more
comfortable. The " terrace" has glasses of great
power. The outside of this quaint aerial craft
is decked like Robinson Crusoe's hut—which,
indeed, it resembles in many things—with
guns, wheels to carry off the car when it lands, axes
to cut its way through the forest in which it may
fall, and tubes, which equally act as " buffers" while
landing or as life-buoys if the course of the balloon
should
the
eh outsidei
e k W
echangens elements. To-day, before starting,
as also embellished with legs of mut-
ton,, vegetables, and bouquets. Now I
must trouble you with a few statistics—only a few
—for I dislike them as much as your readers. The
balloon when inflated was exactly fourteen yards
lower than the Tower of Notre Dame. There are
two balloons, one within the other. The gas in-
flated amounts to 6,098 cubic metres, and it is cal-
culated to support a weight of frctn three to three
tons and a half. The walk from the Place de .is
Concorde, by the Avenue de la Motte Picquet, to
the Champ de Mars, was a curious scene. I can
only compare it to the walk from Doncaster to the
Town Moor on a very great Leger day. The Geant
was towering in the centre of an enclosure within
two other enclosures on the great review ground in
face of the cavalry barracks. To enter the outer
circle you paid one franc, to the, second two francs,
innermost
w
and then came the
money
oruinldg—notthe teadmit, ner
police,
science—to
i f t
whichbey
could possibly help it ; and here let
me pause for a minute, and abuse the French police.
Insolent to foreigners, they are tyrannical to their
own countrymen ; are never in the way when they
are wanted, always in the way when theya
laug hin
are not ;
a disgrace to a free country, and
for one who has ever been brought in contaegt-
hapgiteanl.tleman ,
withky
the"
passof an„y oat
shkeer
de i
av i IFi sreedn
ee
ed hat a
"Are ,
civilly—nay, meekly—of a hero in a erceenkre,
sword, and his moustache a PEmp
you comfortable there ?" thundered out the official.
" Pas ma]," replied the gentleman. ~ Then stay
there, and be contented," shrieked the police gene
tleman. "If the public are unreasonable, we shall
interfere." "They are boasts, the police," later
obtseerrfeveer.
and"‘
elderly' lady, who had asked her way
out of the ground, and I beg to endorse her
opinion. Of course the ground was kept
ysoldiers; first
a
first infantry, but later a troop of
do
picket of Spahis took possession
h ra
oonsi in
of the Champ de Mars, and held it against all
corners. At four o'elocreksetnhetebdalaloocaurwioaussfuslilgyhitn-:
flated. The ground p
thousands of pop--n
withoutl the central enclosure;
within, the vast. globe held to earth by a company
of engineers , the
" car"—or rather "castle"—
. . :
crowded with curious visitors; the beau monde of
Paris
standing round, admiring with that lazy rap-
ture peculiarci to "good society,"
amused, and
acorns to be astonished
_chei cannot
eencewhizo t
and literature of the metropolis ;
with
them the be
the Annamite Embassy, a swarm of Spahis, some
',Farces, and a few T
Turks. When the engineers
moved the vast inflated monster towards the car,
excitement W intense. When they let it eIQWIY i

height. Then "Ls Geat
mount, and attached it tto„
stohaerecciaru,piat wliatstlea,tanitds
blundered down among the people "Not gas
-•
wlo but soonseen a,,mscaenu,
rriunngnitnhge enough"t waso
in the
with ahieei lctnd,
" They were waiting for a forgotten parcel.
W hat' Well; perhaps a pate. " Now it mounts!
vdiai
'tiers! c'est joli But down it comes again, and
the crowd begins to doubt. At five o'clock, as the
military bands are playing " Malbrook s'en va," M.
Nadar and his eleven friends rise and Boat away
from Paris on a strong south-westerly breeze, which
seemed to get More weaterly ss they rose. They
expect to be in the upper air in a few hours, and to
stay there four days! They have circulars printed
in German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and
Dutch, which they mean to scatter to the winds,
and which they hope will be sent to the telegraph
offices, and keep their route before the public. 'I
must not omit to tell you that an English advertis-
ing tradesman has been in treaty with M. Nadar
for a contract for the scattering to the winds some
millions of handbills. M. Nadar was interrupted
when telling me the story, so I am unable to say if
they came to terms.

I must add, in conclusion, that this event has
created the most extraordinary sensation. There
could not have been less than half a million of spec-
tators. The streets were more densely crowded
than on the night of the Fete Napoleon, and M.
Nadar and his balloon were "household words"
throughout Paris. The day was cloudy, with a
good deal of wind and a cold air, which I should
think has found out our balloonatices before this
time.

Galignani's Messenger says :—" At the moment
of going to press a communication has reached us,
signed by the captain, M. Nadar, and all those who
had taken places in the balloon, stating that on
alighting yesterday evening at 9 o'clock, at Barcy,
near Meaux (Seine-et-Marne), three severe shocks
were experienced which had the effect of com-
pletely capsizing the balloon and inflicting on its
occupants several rather severe contusions."

The State of Bethnal-Green.—Alleged
Defamation on the Parish.

Last night, at the weekly meeting of the board
of guardians of the parish of Bethnal-green, in the
board-room, Waterloo-road, Victoria Park, the fol-
lowing proceedings took place with reference to the
recent disclosures as to the state of the district.
Mr. Collins occupied the chair.

Mr. COLLINS (addressing Dr. Moore, who had
given evidence on the inquest)—Dr. Moore, Mrs'
Ward, the mother of the child on whom the inquest
was held in Hollybush• place, complains that though
you attended her child nine days you refused to
give a :certificate of death. The board wishes to
know why you refused.

Dr. MOORE—Because I was not satisfied as to
the cause of death, and I wished to have an inves-
tigation into the case.

Mr. COLLINS asked what was the first entry in
the book as to the illness of the child.
Dr. MOORE said dentition with regard
to the
youngest child, and there was debility in the case
of the other child. But children did not usually die
of teething. That child died from the impure
atmosphere. There was no specific disease. He
never asked the coroner's officer to get up the case.
He went to the coroner and told him the facts-
The
coroner said that if the cause of death was not clear
a post-mortem examination should be made.
Mr. COLLINS—WouId it not have been more
satisfactory if you had had another medical man
with you upon the post-mortem examination ?
The
verdict of the jury was given on your unsupported
testimony and without the jury visiting the pre-
raises for themselves.

Dr. MooRE—I would have wished to
get one,
but I was qualified to make the pst•rn3rtem exami-
nation myself. But I had no time to get a doctor
—the body was decomposing.
Mr. COLLINS—Don't tell the board that,
doctor.
You had time to run about to the Fountain
Tavern
and to the London Hospital after the coroner.
Dr. MooRB said he was always glad to have
assistance, but he was not bound to get it.
The report of the doctor's evidence before the
coroner was read ; and Dr. Moore said
that there
were some verbal inaccuracies—it was principally
correct. _

Dr. MooRE said that he had attended the children
of Butterfield and the Mandrells in
liollybush-
place. Ho said before the coroner that the children
had died from similar causes as the child of the
Wards. Dr. Brotherton attended for him
and he gave a certificate that the child of the But-
terfields, eleven days old, died from asphyxia. Dr.
Brotherton thought that the death was from blood-
poisoning ; but he gave a certificate
which was a term that involved of asphyxia,
poisoning from
impure air, &c. He (Dr. Moore) gave a certificate
in the case of the Mandrells' children,
because there
had originally been a disease, scarlatina. Scarla-
tina was a disease that can be generated sponta-
neously by foul air, and then propagated by con-
tagion.

that the children died from blood-poisoning, and we
Mr. COLLINS—You stated bfore the coroner
wish to show from your own certificates that they
died from other causes. .

Dr. MOORE said that he believed that all the
children had been affected by the Same
influence,
but he was clear that the children died from poisons
from the foul atmosphere.
Mr. COLLINS—You have stated that you were
inspector, and that owing to
appointed sanitary
your troublesome reports you were dismissed.
When were you appointed ?
Dr. MOORE said that he had be en directed by
the board to examine and report on the state of
nuisances, &I, in the parish.
He and his colleague
did so, but the result was that before Dr. Pierce
was elected to the paid office the board put forward
an advertisement expressly escluding every gentle-
man that held an appointment under the board from
the post. That was a virtual dismissal, and several
members of the board told him tat the object was
to shut out all those doctors whose reports were
troublesome, and who were running about " stink
hunting" in the parish.
Several members denied that such an advertise-
ment had been
published, but Dr. Moore was posi-
tive on the point.

Dr. PIERCE said that in justice to Dr. Moore he
wished to state that he had heard in 1856 that no
one who then held the
position of sanitary inspector
should hold the ;
paid appointment.
The Wards, the Mandrells, and the Butterfields
were then called in with a view to Chow that the
deaths were from scarlatina, or other natural disease,
and also apparently to show that Dr. Moore had
been guilty of" neglecting his patients," because Dr.
Brotherton, who had frequently attended in his
absence, was not his legally-appointed deputy.
The man WARD said that Mr. Englehart, one of
the board, had come down to his room and behaved
in an impertinent and overbearing manner. He said
that the place was a beautiful one, that the view
was like Finsbury.rquare, and that he would not
take a lie from any one.
Mr. ENGLEHART said that he only said he would
not be misled by any one. He was certainly sur-
prised when he looked out and saw the flowers in
gardens round about.
WARD said the nuisances were in another direc-
tion, and they were shocking. No Government in-
spector visited the place.
Mr. PEREIRA asked why he remained in the
Place.
endangered I h e
h(eNl
sr Pereira)
h.
ould consider
la b family'se ml lives
s aluvgAhßt
De r
siafi
ah et
hdai
td
hneo tw
aso v me.
not
Der a. s ipl
PIERCE
E pl a
medic. shoemaker, and could
al officer of health, said that
There were only 50 cows in the
cow
were worse than
the o
housesyb ua h
w- pa lsa cleB.
Hlished, not 66.
yards, not 8. He had directed some alterations to
be made. Each person in Hollybush-place had 250
feet of air; children and all.

Mr. GOODWIN, vice-chairman, complained that
the parish had been maligned, and that Dr. Moore
was at the bottom of it.

Mr. AUSTIN, landlord of Hollybush-place, said
that misstatements iiad been made about his pro-
perty. He admitted, however, that some of the
el9oolB were not trapped; the drains were, (ma he

Was now repairing the place. The place was not
very clean, but it was not very bad.
After some further discussion the meeting was
adjourned.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS—Oct. 5.

(Before the Assistant-Judge.)

The October gen3ral quarter sessions of the peace for the
county of Midalasex commenced this morning, at the Ses-
sions House, Clerkenwell-green, before Mr. Bodkin, the
Assistant-Judge, and a bench of magistrates.
The calendar contains the names of 73 prisoners com-
mitted for trial, 61 being indicted for felony, and 9 for mis-
demeanour.

The grand jury having been sworn, the Assistant-judge
briefly addressed them en the nature of their duties.
_ _

John Bailey, 27, gardener, was indicted for stealing 23
brooches, and other articles, value £B, the property of James
Bradfield Millard.

The prisoner was in the employ of Mr. E. T. Smith, the
proprietor of Cremorne Garden, as gasman, and at a quarter
to 4 o'clock on the morning of the 19th of September police-
constable Mayhew, 319 V, who was on duty in the gardens,
saw the prisoner passing a glove-shop which is in the gar-
dens. The hinges of the door leading to the shop had been
unscrewed, and shortly afterwards, on pulling the door
aside, he found the prisoner inside the shop. He said to
him, "Hallo, what aro you doing there ?" and he said it
was all right, and seeing the door unfastened he had gone in
there to lie down. The policeman said he knew they did
not allow persons to lie down there, and that he must tell
him a better tale than that. The policeman then wanted to
know what he had got in his pocket, and he said it was all
right. The policeman said it was not all right, and that he
must go with him to the station-house, upon which the pri-
soner struck him a blow in the face. He laid hold of the
prisoner by the neckerchief and collar. The prisoner had a
knife in his hand, and having seized the policeman by the
hair ho kept "jobbing" at hint with the knife,and they were
up and down struggling together for about 20 minutes. The
policeman received several cuts and scratches about the face
and hands, While they were struggling together the pri-
soner cut his neckerchief through with his knife,and having
succeeded in throwing the policeman to the ground, got away
and contrived to escape out of the gardens. The policeman
pursued him ; but he was stopped by another police-constable
about 150 yards from the gardens. The prisoner was taken
to the station-house, and, being searched there, brooches,
bracelets, pins, and other jewellery were found in the pri-
soner's pockets. The property belonged to Mr. Millard, of
No. 2, Piccadilly, dealer in French gloves and fancy articles,
and he had also a stand for such things in Cremorne-
gardens.
-

The prisoner pleaded guilty to the indictment, and begged
the compassion of the Court for the sake of his wife and
family, who would be altogether without support while he
waa in gaol, and this would be a severe lesson to him for
the rest of his life.

The Assistant-Judge said he did not sit there to provide
for his wife and family, and the prisoner himself ought to
have thought of them before ho made up his mind to rob
his master.

The police-constable Mayhew said the prisoner struggled
very violently with him, and kept continually jobbing at
him with the knife he held in his hand. He was quite
sober at the time. •

The Assistant-Judge sentenced him to bo imprisoned and
kept to hard labour for six months.
Henry Platt, 39, porter, and Henry Darcy, 24, porter,
were indicted for stealing a bronze figure of the Emperor
Napoleon 1,, value £l5, the property of Geo. Attenborough,
Mr. Platt prosecuted ; Mr. Ribton appeared for Platt,
and the other prisoner was undefended.
The prosecutor, a dealer in curiosities, living at No. 72,
Strand, missed from his stock on the 29th of August last a
bronze figure of the Emperor Napoleon 1., and upon in-
quiries found that the last.time it was seen on the premises
was on the 20th of August. He wrote a description of it
and sent it round to the police and pawnbrokers. A few
hours after the publication of it he received an intimation
that it had been pledged with Mr. Aldous, a pawnbroker,
of Berwick-street, Soho. The figure was taken from a
gutter on the roof of the house, where it had been placed
for the pur
value of £l5.
pose of improving its appearance, and was of the

Enoch Cook, police-sergeant 7 C, proved that on Sept. 21
he was called to the shop of Mr. Aldous to take the prisoner
Platt into custody, and he said he was one of the men who
had pledged the figure of the Emperor Napoleon, and that
the other man's name was Darcy. On the evening of the
21st ult. he went to 71, Strand, and saw the prisoner Darcy.
Witness told him that he was a police-sergeant, and asked
him if he knew anything about a bronze figure, and he said
that he did. Witness told him that he should take him into
custody, and anything he said might be used against him.
He then stated that he went to Platt and told him that there
was a bronze figure on the roof of a house, and he thought
they could sell or dispose of it. Platt went with him to look
at it, and when ho got to the door of 71, Strand, he said ho
would not allow Platt to go upstairs, and so he fetched it
down himself.

Both prisoners wore found Guilty.
The Assistant-Judge sentenced them to be imprisoned
and kept to hard labour for four months.
I hos. Cornell, 35, Thos. Tebboth, 35, and Chas. Salloes,
18, were indicted for stealing three tons of rags, value £65,
the property of Messrs. Dickinson and Co., papermakers, of
the Old Bailey.

Mr. Metcalfe (instructed by Mr. T. Beard) prosecuted.
The prisoners were undefended.
Thos. Jones, a police-constable, 274 D, said about a quar-
ter past nine o'clock on the night of Sept. 9 he saw the three
prisoners together in the Harrow-road. Tebboth was draw-
ing a truck, and Cornell and Salloes were pushing behind.
In the truck were two bags of rags, and having his sus-
picions he saw an officer who was in uniform, and told
him to follow him. He saw the prisoners in the Harrow-
road, near to the Paddington Vestry-hall, and they were
going towards town over the railway bridge. When the
prisoners saw witness speak to a police-constable, Cornell
and Salloes ran away, and he took febboth. In the truck
were two bags of rags weighing about 4 cwt., and he had
shown them to Mr. Cole, the foreman of Messrs. Dickin-
son and Co., who identified them as having been stolen from
their stores. He asked Tebboth where he got the rags from,
and he said he was called by the other men to assist to bring
them from the towing-path, but he did not know where they
were going to. The two other men who were with Tebboth
he had seen on the previous Thursday with a truck in which
were three bags of rags, and having some suspicion he called
the attention of a police-constable to them, and told him to
watch them. Oa that occasion they went towards Maida-
hill. On the morning of the Bth witness went to the place
and found an entry had been effected under the door, and
that then access had been gained to the place where the rags
were, He took Salloes an the following Thursday, and on
telling him the charge, he said, " I expected it. I'll go
quietly."

Mr. Cole, foreman to Messrs. Dickinson and Co., said on
the police-constable coming to him he went to the station-
house and saw two bags of rags there. They were part of
their stores at No. 16 Wharf, at Paddington. He went to
the place on the following day, and missed three or four
tons of rags, in 40 or 50 bundles, and they were worth about
£65. He found a box of Lucifers and a piece of candle in the
loft, which had not been left there by any one belonging to
the premises, as there was no use whatever for them.
Charles Brooks said his father kept a shop near the Har-
row-road, and he knew the prisoner Salloes hired a truck
two or three times a week. The truck was the same one
that had been stopped by the officer.

The jury found all the prisoners guilty.
A previous conviction Was proved against Salloes.
The Assistant-Tadge sentenced Salloes to be imprisoned
and kept to hard labour for 18 months, and Cornell and
Tebboth to 12 months each.

(Before 'Air. Payne.)
William John Cumming, 48, surgeon, of superior educa-
tion, was charged with stealing a printed book, the property
of Win. Henry Smith and another.

The prisoner pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Poland appeared for the prosecution. The prisoner
was undefended.

Mr. Poland, in his--- opening address, said this was a prose-
cution by Messrs
-smith
and the prisoner was cha'rmed with stealing one of their books
Railway Station the well known railway booksellers,
under circumstances which he would mention to the jury.
The prosecutor kept a book-stall at the Great Northern
per-
son of the name of French. On the day in question he
(French) had noticed the defendant about the station and
, and the stall in question was kept by a
close to the stall. From the suspicious manner of the pri-
soner a detective officer was requested to watch, and in con-
sequence of such instructions he watched the prisoner, and
ob erved him make an attempt to reach a book from the
stall. He afterwards walked away a little distance, the de
tective having observed him remove a book from the stall,
The prisoner walked through the booking-office and was
making his way into the street. The detective then went
up to him and asked him for the book, to which he replied,
" I have not got it," and on being searched a book called the
"Alpine Guide" was found upon him. He was taken into
the superintendent's office, and the stall-keeper, having
heard of his apprehension, gave him into custody.
Josiah Thorogood said be was a constable stationed at the
Great Northern Railway Station. About half-past three on
the afternoon of Saturday, the 12th September, he saw the
prisoner on the downside of the platform at the King's-cross
Station, and watched him closely. The prisoner put his
hand twice towards a book on the stall, which was covered,
and drew it back as if conscious that some one was looking
at him. Ho went round the booking-office and came back
again. lie put his hand on some books which were on the
stall, and the one produced was standing up in the rack.
The prisoner took the book, and afterwards concealed it
under his coat. He walked through the booking-office and
was making his way out of the station when witness spoke
to the keeper of the stall, and the prisoner was shortly
afterwards apprehended. When stopped he (Thorogood)
said to him, " I shall charge you with stealing a book."
The prisoner replied " I've no book." Witness put his
hand into the prisoner's pocket and took the book in ques-
tion from it, the prisoner remarking " I only took it to
read." Re was told he would have to go to the police-office
and give his explanation there. On going down the plat-
form the prisoner said, " Having got your book, pray let me
go." Ile Ma viituese that he liveci at a CafQo-11911$0 WOO

by. Ile (Thorogood) went there and examined the huuse,
but no money was found, only some letters.
Win. Seymour French said he lived at No. 46, Liverpool-
streei, King's-cross, and was a clerk at Messrs. Smith and
Son's book stall, at the King's-cross Station, and on the
morning in question the witness Thorogood spoke to him,
and they both went into the booking office. The detective
and the prisoner were a little distance past the first-class
waiting room in the booking office. The prisoner, when
charged with the robbery, said,' Oh,what nonsense; I was
going to read it." That book was the only one in stock.
The prisoner, when called upon for his defence, said on
the day in question while at the station, in front of the stall,
having been to the railway to see a friend off, he observed
the book called the Alpine Guide, and some Limo ago having
had a book of a similar description, he wished to ascertain
whether it was the same or another edition. lie took the
book from the stall, and while examining it the detective
cone up and seizad him by the collar, charging him with
stealing the book, of which charge he was entirely innocent.
Ho ',the prisoner) wished, if the book had been a new work,
at some future time to have purchased it. The letters which
were found on him would give him an excellent character,
and he trusted the jury would deem him a man utterly in-
capable of committing such an act.

The jury, having consulted together for a few minutes,
returned a verdict of guilty.
Mr. Poland said the jury having given their ♦erdict, he
would state that on Nov. 12 the stall was left in the care of
a boy, Mr. French being engaged elsewhere. The prisoner
came up, and took a book off one of the shelves. He asked
the.price, when the boy observed him about to place the book
in his pocket. He was asked whether ho wanted to buy it.
The boy not suspecting him, owing to his being respectably
dressed, said nothing to any person.
The learned Judge then sentenced him to be imprisoned
in the House of Correction for six calendar months.
James M'Mahon, 22, labourer, was charged with unlaw-
fully and maliciously committing damage to a pane of glass,
value £l5, the property of John Thompson Gideon.
The prisoner pleaded not guilty,
James Pocock said he was a barman at the Prince Albert
Tavern, Kentish-town, in the service of the prosecutor. On
the 21st of September, in the afternoon, the prisoner came
into the shop with several other raen. The prisoner was
drunk, and having been there for some short time, began
wrestling with another man, who was standing at the bar.
He (the prisoner) required some drink, but being riotous
was refused. A struggle ensued, and he was ejected from
the premises, and afterwards pushed his fist through a thick
pane of glass.

Roymon Bosley, police-constable 124 S, said he took the
prisoner into custody. He was drunk, and said nothing.
The prisoner, in his defence, said he had no intention to
break the window.

The jury immediately retarnel a verdict of guilty.
Mr. Payne, in passing sentence, said he was ccnstantly
in the habit of remarking as to the evils arising from intem-
perance ; and here was another instance. Hero was a man
who, being drunk, goes into a house and wishes to be
served with drink, and the barman, very properly, seeing
his condition, zefused him, when the prisoner gave vent to his
feelings by smashing the window. It being highly desirable
that shopkeepers should be protected from these attacks—
an act of Parliament having been framed for that special
purpose—he (Mr. Payne) trusted the sentence ho was about
to pass would act both as a warning to him and to ethers.
The sentence of the Court was, that he be imprisoned and
kept to hard labour in the House of Correction for nine
calendar months.

Charles Roper, 19, shoemaker, was indicted for stealing a
coat, value £2, the property of James Adams.
The prosecutor is a van proprietor, and on the 30th ot
August he was about leaving home for a drive. Ho took off
his coat and put it on a dog-cart outside the stable-door.
He went into the stable for a short time and on his return
he found that it was gone.
Mary Ann Western, of No. 10, Ogle-mews, said the pri-
soner took a coat to her and asked the value of it, and she
told him that she thought it would fetch 10s. by_daylight.
He took it away. It was the coat produced.
Alfred Hebburn, assistant to Mr. Crouch, pawnbroker, of
No. 35, Sussex street, produced a coat pawned by a female
on the 31st of August last.

John Bell, police-constable 104 E, proved receiving the
prisoner into custody on this charge.
_ _

The Jury found the prisoner guilty, and, when about to
be sentenced,

The prisoner said he was engaged by a cab proprietor to
work in his stable, and had been in that situation for some
time, when a policeman of the C division happened to find
him out and told his master that he had had four months'
imprisonment, upon which his master immediately dis-
charged him.
Mr. Payne said he should like that fact to be ascertained,
and told Mr. Lockyer, the prison officer, to make inquiries
as to the truth of the prisoner's statement, and also to ascer-
tain his antecedents. Having conferred with the other ma-
gistrates on the bench, his lordship said that he should
defer passing sentence until next session, when he would be
brought up for judgment.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TmrEs.—A recovery of 2 or 3 per cent. in the
quotations of the Confederate Loan, and a revival of
the rumours respecting the recognition of the South
by France, are the natural consequences of the
last news from America. A defeat in Tennessee, a
check in Texas, a pause, to say the least, in the
siege of Charleston, and the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act in the North, are more than
enough to disturb the money-market on both sides
of the Atlantic. Such fluctuations do not always
represent the sober calculations of far-sighted men,
but the efforts of speculators to make a profit by the
hopes and fears of more nervous capitalists. The
next mail may possibly bring intelligence of a Fe-
deral victory, and then the " movement" will be
reversed. In the meantime, however, there is one
circumstance favourable to the Confederate cause
which does not depend for its importance on these
oscillations in the fortunes of war. The position of
France in Mexico, and the conditional acceptance of
the Crown by the Archduke Maximilian, amount to
something more than a diversion in favour of the
south, inasmuch as they are a forcible and practi-
cal protest against the idea of one dominant Repub-
lic on the North American Continent. If an inde-
pendent Monarchy be established in Mexico, the
motive for subjugating the Confederate States is
sensibly weakened, and who can say but that the
princip'e of a balance of power may be borrowed
from Europe, and introduced into the New World !
At all events, the growing antagonism between the
interests of the Federal States and those of France,
coincident with fresh successes of the Southern
armies, will afford a fair opportunity of testing
the charitable estimate of our policy that seems
to be accepted by the war party in America.
According to the organs of this party, the
blindest self-interest governs alternately with the
basest cowardice the conduct of the British
Government. When they thought they could bully
the United States with impunity they made no
secret of their Southern proclivities; when they
heard chat Vicksburg had fallen, that L2e had re-
treated, and that Charleston was threatened, they
laid an embargo on the steam rams at Birkenhead,
and gave Mr. Mason the cold shoulder. It remains
to beeseen, therefore, whether the tidings which
sent up gold to 42 prem. at New York will produce
a corresponding effect on the language of Earl Rus-
sell and the public opinion of England; whether
Lord Wharncliffe and his friends will be allowed to
have their own way, and Mr. Mason invited to
come back; and, if nothing of this kind happens,
what new unworthy motive will be attiibuted to
us by our American critics. It is, perhaps, unknown
to these gentlemen, but it is a fact, that our country-
men resident in the Southern States are just now
loud in their indignation against the English Go-
vernment for truckling as they allege, to the Cabinet
of Washington. Their grievance is that their pro-
perty is not respected by the invading Federals, but
seized or destroyed with as little scruple as though
it belonged to Confederate owners, and that Lord
-Russell has omitted to exact, or even to demand,
any reparation for it. The hardship of their position
has been brought home to them still more painfully
by the eesult of an application made by certain
British capitalists on their °wit behalf to the State
Department at IVishmond. What they requested
was that the Confederate Government should un-
dertake to guarantee cotton purchased by British
subjects, and stored in the interior of the country,
against the risk of destruction by order of the
Confederate commanders to prevent its falling into
the hands of the enemy. Mr. Benjamin answered,
in effect, that he could not consent to involve his
Government in any such responsibility, unless he
received the corresponding assurance that restitu-
tion would be rigorously enforced from the Federal
Government by that of Great Britain if the
cotton should be destroyed or confiscated by the
Northern Generals. Moreover, he astutely ex-
plained that it would not be enough for the
captors to reimburse to the neutral proprietors
the value of the cotton at the time and place of
seizure, inasmuch as that value might be no more
than a fifth of its worth in the United States, so
that they might profit to the extent of 400 per cent.
by the act of spoliation. Unless, therefore, the
enemy could be effectually bound over to lease such
stores of cotton untouched, he could not pledge
the
Confederacy to idemnify their owners against its
destruction by Southern hands for military reasons.
We cannot be surprised that this reply—coupled
with the fact that no interference on their behalf
had been promised by ',the British Government,
though a representation was made so long ago as
August, 1862—should have excited a good deal of
irritation among English merchants in the South.
Before, however, we condemn Lord Russell for not
making a peremptory demand that would probably
have been resisted, it is right that we should advert
to one or two material points which the parties in-
terested may not have sufficiently considered. In
the first place, it is clear from a letter of Mr. Ben-
juain to Mr.Matigh that the operatione c mtemplated

had been suggested by the Confederate Government,
and were intended to benefit the State quite as much
as the neutral speculators. " In order to prevent the
monopoly by the Northern States of the accumu-
lated staples now held by our people, no measure
seems less objectionable nor more appropriate than
to encourage the merchants of neutral nations to
purchase In advance these products, and to leave
them here in depot till the ports are opened." We
do not mean to say that this ruse was not perfectly
legitimate, or that the legal character of the owner-
ship would be affected by it ; but we can well under-
stand why the adviser of her 'Majesty's Govern-
ment should have hesitated to give it their direct
sanction. Nor must it be forgotten that the gua-
rantee demanded was prospective. Lord Russell
was requested to engage beforehand to give all such
property effectual protection if it should fall into
Federal hands. Now, the laws of war with respect
to private property found in the territory of an
enemy are by no means so " unquestionable " as
Mr. Benjamin seems to think. Dr. Phillimore's
proposition, that neutrals have a right to trade
with helligeren to, which he quotes as conclusive, does
not touch the difficulty at all, and we can well con-
ceive cases in which an invading army would be fully
justified in converting the goods of a neutral land-
owner or householder to its own use. This may or
may not be one of them; but at all events the in-
tervention of our Government should be reserved
for the redress of actual injuries, and not bespoken
in advance for hypothetical contingencies. The
pressure to which this country is now subjected
on every side to depart from the path it
has laid down is no more than every wise man
must have foreseen. This is just what is meant
when we speak of the danger of being dragged
into a war. No nation ever was or ever could
be dragged into a war in the sense in which an
Irishman may be dragged—that is, bodily—into
a faction fight. What happens is that a multitude
of passions and interests, veiling themselves under
specious names, invariably possess the popular mind
and ally themselves with the instinct of pugnacity
which no civilization has yet extirpated, obscuring
and keeping out of sight the colossal evils which
war ever brings upon the victors no less than upon
the vanquished. It is at such times that Governments
are often wiser than peoples, and when we can look
back calmly on the part layed by England dur-
ing the American war we shall see that experience
and statesmanship are worth something, after all, in
foreign policy. Had feelings alone, however natural
and honourable, governed onrconduct as a nation, we
should long before this have been goaded by the in-
sulting tone of Northern demagogues and journalists
into some deviation from impartiality, Let us con-
tinue to practise the same forbearance and self-re-
straint when we are taunted by the South with undue
subservience. Taunts are no more like arguments
than threats, and arguments of the gravest and
most solid kind are the only considerations which
can properly be addressed to a great nation in mat-
ters of such moment. Lord Russell's speech at
Blairgowrie defined in clear and dignified terms the
proper attitude of Great Britain towards the two
American belligerents. We have hitherto had good
reasons for remaining neutral to the extent of ab-
staining from recognition. When those reasons fail
—and we are neither bound nor disposed to specify
beforehand upon what conditions that failure de-
pends—it will be time to change our ground. If
this time should ever come, we shall at least have
the satisfaction of feeling that we have acted upon
our own judgment, as we must needs act upon our
own responsibility.
HERALD.—The last report of the Chief Engineer
to the Metropolitan Board of Works proves that
our cloaca maxima, if not actually approaching com-
pletion, is at least giving satisfactory signs of pro-
gress. Those only who knew by experience the diffi-
culties and delays which have to be encountered and
overcome in a work upon such a scale can rightly
estimate the labour and incessant vigilance which
is required to keep dilatory contractors up to the
mark, and to prevent idle or dishonest contractors
from playing tricks with the public money. Still
more so is such the case when operations, as in the
present instance, have to be conducted upon a scale
which precludes their being entrusted to a single
firm, and when half a dozen different establishments
have accordingly contracted for as many different
portions of the great scheme. Much delay has
also been the result of the uncertainty which pre-
vailed for so long a time as to the course which
Parliament would ultimately adopt with respect to
the Thames embankment. Until this was finally
determined, it was impossible to decide defini-
tively upon the course to be token by the Low-
Level Sewer on the north bank of the Thames,
which drains, in all probability, the largest area
assigned to any single artery, and the completion
of which, under any other circumstances, would
probably have been attended with a greater amount
of inconvenience, and consequent expense, than that
which has been occasioned by any other portion of
the work. We are now, however, as it would appear,
in a fair way to witness the accomplishment of this
magnum opus. The plans for the embankment from
Waterloo-bridge to the east end of the Temple 'gar-
dens have been at length passed by the committee
and approved of by the board. The portion of it be-
tween Westminster and Waterloo bridges has been
already let by public tender to Mr. Ridley, and will
be proceeded with as soon as the necessary bonds
have been prepared and executed. Within two years
at farthest we are promised that the whole shall be
in working order, and that roadway above and
sewer beneath shall both be applicable to their
respective purposes. Meanwhile, a substantial ad-
vance has been made with all those portions of the
undertaking which affect the land alone. Messrs.
Brassey and Co. have actually completed about ten
miles and a half of the Middle Level Sewer and of
its numerous feeders. From Old Ford, up to
Clerkenwell Sessions House, the line is now com-
plete, with the exception of a few trifling breaks
caused by local obstructions, and the fixings of the
wrought iron aqueduct by which the Metropolitan
Railway will be crossed at Victoria-street. The Fleet
Sewer is in course of diversion from its ancient
channel, and the difficulties presented by the nature
of the ground, and of the tenements by which it is
covered, are rapidly being surmounted. Of the
Western Sewer, which is in the hands of Messrs.
Moron, more than two miles have been actually
finished. The Northern Outfall Sewer, five miles
and a quarter in length, is actually a fait accompli.
Some portions of the earthwork of the embank-
ment still remain to be finished, the bridges are at
present without their parapets, and the apron has
still to be fixed in the bed of the river; but the
sewage of the High and Middle Level Sewers has
now been permanently turned into a portion of it,
and is discharged through the tumbling bay direct
into the Thames at Barking Creek. The temporary
measures adopted during the summer for the diver-
, sion of the sewage from the river Lea have thus been
superseded by its conveyance through the proper
channels ; and it is satisfactory to learn that the
change has been effected without the slightest
symptom of leakage having manifested itself,
either from the ironwork or the brickwork. One
compartment of the great reservoir at the exit
of the Northern Outfall Sewer is already finished,
and another is in a forward state. The founda-
tions of the remainder have been commenced,
and all will be in readiness long before the time that
their services are likely to be actively called into
requisition. At the pumping station, also, all the
works are fast progressing. In fact, from one end
to the other, upon the northern side of the Thames,
there are the signs of a healthy activity which pro •
miss well for the future. The Southern Low Level
Sewer is less advanced. A mile and a quarter of the
main channel has been constructed by Mr. Webster,
and three miles of the portion entrusted to Messrs.
Aird and Co. have been completed in Bermondsey.
Between Great Guildford- street and the Blackfriars-
road progress is also making. But the low level
at which the whole of the work has to be carried
on is adverse to expedition, and upon the whole
less relative advance has been made upon the
south than upon the north bank of the Thames.
Into the cost of the whole operation we do not now
propose to enter. Work has already been certified
as actually performed to a value exceeding that of
a million and a quarter, and it is needless to say
that under this item cannot be classed at present a
single yard of the Thames Embankment. The
drainage of London and its environs is in every
sense of the word the most stupendous operation of
the kind which has ever been attempted by science,
whether we look to the amount of superficial area
which has to be drained, the costly character of the
necessary works, or the numerical ratio of the popu-
lation which will be affected by them. When com-
pleted, they will be the greatest improvement
which England has witnessed during the present
century, the drainage of the Lincolnshire Fens and
of the Bedford Level not excepted. Our noble river
will at least have reached the first stage of its trans-
formation from a state in which it is a public
pest and eyesore to that of being the ornament of
the city through which it flows. If there is any
faith to be placed in sanatory science, the health of
London will be vastly improved by the change. In-
deed, the first result of it is that one of the most
magnificent of the stately edifices which it is hoped
will now again line the banks of the Thames is to
be the new hospital at Stangate, located here at
the express recommendation of the medical mem-
bers of the board. In convenience and appearance
there will be no comparison possible between the
regime which is and that which is to be. Whether
fish will, as we are told, be again caught " between
the bridges," or apprentices have to revive the
clause in their indentures which prohibited their
being surfeited with salmon, is a problee-
..a which
remains to be solved. But we pm-
these, and even strAnaPr '• no reason why
, - clings than these, should
not
°91:9• liiihuto Tie him occupied our-

London : Prinze.d and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS,
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TUE Sim Office No. 112 ,
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, 134 the county of
biltidlesex,—TlM4AY•Mt9DOr 6,_1563.