The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-30 00:00:00

TIM SUN. LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 30, 1863

AGENTS REQUIRED.
SH E ROYAL INSURANCE COMPANY is
prepared to entertain applications tor Agency AppoLifeint-
ments from gentleman having command
ot F and
Business.
The Royal has alwaNs been conspicuous for its liberality
and promptitude in the settlement of c1aim5........
500,(101
Its annual Income is now over ............. f.
Andits funds in hand exceed ..................... ..£1,00u,000
Transfers of Policies from other Companies received with-
Out charge for Policy, whatever the amount.
Address. JOlll4 B. JOHNSTON, Secretary.
Royal InsuranceComPauY'2o,ll-street.

O
1/Ali ENGLISH OPERA,
COVENT-GARDEN. •
Under the nanalir \
ement at Miss Louisa Pyne and
V Harrison.
Trris EvEstis•G, to commence with the Second Act of
I3alle's popular oper-3,
THE BOHEMIAN GIRL.
After which, a Grand Christmas Vantomime, on a scale of
uikurecedented ma.2ntficence, entitled
vA.R.LEQUIN ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.
Doors open at half-past Six— _ommence at Seven.

TaiAMR ROYAL 1) U R Y-L AN E.
Managers, Messrs. Edmond Falconer and
I'. B. Chatterton.
THIS EVENING, the Farce of A ROLAND Fort AN
OLIVER. 3les, rs. Walter Lacy, Addison, G. Belmore,
the Misses Heath, R. Leclercq, Murray.
To conclude with the new Grand Christmas Comic Panto-
mime of SINBAD THE SAILOR ; or, The Seven Wonders
of the World. Clo wns, Messrs. H. Boleno and C. Lauri ;
harlequins, Messrs. J. Cormack and S. Saville ; Pantaloons,
Messrs. W. A. Barn e.s and J. aiorris ; Columbines, Madame
Boleno and Misses Gunniss.
Prices as usual. Box Office open from 10 till 5 daily.

ROYAL LY CEUM THEATRE.I
Under the Sole Management of Mr. Fechter.
BEL DE3IONIO (a Triumphant Success) will be repeated
Every Evening. during the Week.
THIS EVENING, the performance will commence with a
New and Original Farce, entitled THE LOST CHILD :
Messrs. If. Widdicombe, Shore, Garden, F. Charles Collett,
Moreland; Misses Percy, Pauline Le,derca, Wood, Mrs. Lee,
and Miss E. Lavenu.
After which, at Eight o'clock, BEL DEI4IONIO, a Love
Story, in Twe.lve Tableaux, taken from Stendhal's " Italian
Chronicle ~" b.y Mr. John Brougaam. Principal charac-
ter by Mr. Fechter, supported by Messrs. Jordan, Charles,
Brougham, Em ery, Raymond, Moreland, Smith, Clifford,
Collett, Sims ; Miss Kate Terry, E. Lavenu, yrs.
Lee, and
Miss Elsworthy..
The Public ar.3 entreated to take notice that No Charg-e is
made to the occit minis of Boxes, Box laces, or Stalls, either
for play bills or .for the safe keepint, of hat= and cloaks, and
teat the attendants in all parts of the house are forbidden to
receive any graft iities whatever.
Box-office °I ten daily from 11 to 5. Commence at 7.

THEATRE ROYAL HAYNIARIiET.
Sole Les see and Manager, Mr, Buckstone.
THIS EVENING, OUR AMERICAN COUSIN : Messrs.
Sothern, Buckstoi le, Chippendale, Braid, Gordon, Rogers_
Clark. Cullentord, ac. ; Mesdames angel, Snowden, Terry:
Lindley, Ilia, &c
R ; or The Days and Knights
After which, KU CG ARTHU
of the Round rabl ?.. Messrs. Chippendale, Compton, Braid,
Clark, Rogers, Tilbairy, Sze. ; Mesdames L. Keeley, Brou,h
Wright, Terry, Lin dley, Rogers, &e. ,
Commence at 7.

ROYAL pRINCESS'S THEATRE.-
Sole Lesce and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining.
open for the Season.
THIS EVENING-, THE HONEYMOON.
after which, ii_ARL:QU.D. LITTLE TOM TUCKER;
or The Fine Lady of Banbury Cross, and the Old Woman
ice din a shoe and Had so Many Children she didn't
who -
know what to do.

ROYAL ST, JAMES'S THEATRE, under the
Management of Mr. B. WEBSTER.
" THIS EVENING, the new Comic Drama of the HEN
Aril) CHICKENS: Mrs. Stirling in her original character.
Atter which, a Comical Conglome7ative Christmas Absur-
dity, by Henry J Byron, Esq., and entitled 1863 ; or, THE
SENSATIONS OF THE PAST SEASON, with a Shameful
Revele.tion of Lad, Somebody's Secret. New Scenery by
Danson and Sons. Appointments by Mr. Ireland. Music by
M. Wallerstein. Principal characters by 311. J. L. Toole,
Mr. Paul Bedford, Miss Cottrell, Miss Fanny .Tosephs,
And the BIRTHPLACE OF DODGERS : Mr. J. L. Toole
n his original character.

YEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHL-
-4,..1 ^ Sole Proprietor and Manager, M. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, THE SPITALFIELDS WEAVER :
air. J. L. Toole.
to Eight, the New Drama of LEAH : Miss Bate-
man, supported by Messrs. Arthur Stirling, R. Phillips,
Bil-
ington, Stuart, Stephenson, Eburne ; Miss H. Simms, and
Mrs. Eillington.
To conclude with LADY BELLE BELLE; or, Fortunio
and his Seven Maio Men. Messrs. J. Clarke, it. Phillips,
Stephenson ; Miss Woolgar, Miss K. Kelly, Miss _Patti
Josephs, Miss L. Laidlaw, Miss Seaman.
• -

Commence at 7,

LEAH.-EVERY NIGHT,

likrSS BATEMAN.—LEAH.—Tnis EVENING,
the 77th appearance of the great Tragic Actress, Miss
BATEMAN, in the character of LEAH. In consequence of
the unbounded success with which Miss Bateman's imperso-
nation of the principal character in the new Five Act Drama
of LEAH has been attended. Mr Pirebstei• begs to announce
that it will be performed EVERY EVENING until further
notice.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
INI anag•er, Mr. W. H. Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, OBSERVATION AND FLIRTA-
TION.
After which, the Grand Christmas Burlesque, ORPHEUS
AND FURY L) fCE : Messrs. Honey, Wood, James Fenton,
3fesdames Swanborough, Marie Wilton, Hughes, &c.
To conclude with TURN 11131 OUr.
Commence at 7.

711 HE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN,"
Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
zari be had Every Evening, of
G. It. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT,
No. 4, Connaught-terrace, llyde-park.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS' DA IN—Morning, sh. lOrn.—Afternoon, sh. 26m,
To-tioxito--w.-Monaing, oh. 46;1:I.—Afternoon. sh. 59 n,

The Weather—Sun Office, Dec. 30, 1863.

THERMOMETER.

This day at Two o'clock 5O

Barometer-30.15.
Wind—N.-Westerly ; moderate, and fine.

Y',4l
tel.•
44,4
Zfir 1).
i 4,04147%
t 14;fonNZ.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 30, 1863

The a„._. .
Home
setti:tion arrived at by the right hon. the
in regard to the wretched criminal
TOWNLEI,„I7'
appears to us to be one likely to prove in
the highest
alarming in its conseauences.
As constituting of
announet:tselt, now that it has been defi-
nitively precedent,it holds out
a frightful Prospect
13f immunity to any future
criminals (like TowNt.. 'f) of the blackest dye well
imaginable. Amore .11 utarl, a more dastardly
murder--a murder more deliberately done in cold
blood—than that perpetratedlal
of. this miserable man l, by the hands
found mentioned among all nowhere to be
Newgate the cruel deeds
recorded in the
murderer, GEORGE VICTOR Towm:ldar• The
mangy of
,„.t,thehdate
education, a man even of ability, and, a;
to
w
of his crime, enjoying among those who
reputation for refinement, though the deed,,,i bilm a
blood
itself proved the refinement to be 0111 Y a
merit of cruelty—has, by what appears to us h„,4%;
weak concession on the part of the authorities, ;4
answer to a maudlin local clamour for a respite,'
been allowed to escape from the penalties of the
law, to the weight of which he had been most
justly declared to have rendered himself amenable.
It is not that we would be understood

to be here arguing in any way out of a sanguinar;
yearning to see vengeance done upon this wretched
man, according to the old pitiless dispensation of
the Mosaic code—wherein an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life, each in its
turn, was, as a rule, regarded as indispensable.
All
we are here desirous of insisting upon, in
the instance of this educated assassin, this gentle
'orderer, is that while other condemned con-
victs are brought to the gallows and inexorably
hung
outy,tshooe neck. there until they are dead, for
w,_
ean:lvldti,iu no way worse of their kind, in no
should aa.
outraged
atrocious deliberation, jubtice
of
alicwitagb
tliitraged by the flagrant inconsistency
perpetrator of a crime of double
blackness and t
"'Pie infamy to esc3pe from a punish.
mint to which leaser
criminals are, as already in-
sisted upon, pitilessly d„
The particular..q TowNtuatela, to the death.
s crime need here
no sort of recapitulation.
It was a murder as
eool4' thought
out and ,
planned as any mur-
der that wag ever perpetrated.
Previously
perpetration, not a
to the date of its
sanity
had
been entertained in regard to the
of the man
now declared to be 72 Of compos mentia,
auac criminal
lunatic, a homicidal Inonon.
'l' conduct
upon the occasion of the murder never gob any
one
who saw him, or spoke with ilia], an impression
that he was deranged. Throughout his lone and

patient trial by a jury of his fellow-countrymen— 3
honest, intelligent, and impartial Englishmen (we
at least may be allowed to speak of them thu 5,
seeing that the trial is long since over, and f nat
we never had any brief in this case con fided
to us)—honest, intelligent, impartial EngliF
,hmen,
who were sworn to do this miserable man j' astice—
throughout the whole of the long and pat lent trial
of TowNLEY for the murder of Miss GoC ,DWIN, we
say, the jury were in no way brought to believe,
nor yet was the judge upon the beF3 ch who di-
rectAl the verdict, and who pronou ,t iced the sera-
:enee, led to believe, that the pris iner at the bar
was an irresponsible agent—that h a was mad, or at
any rate so far touched with madr ,esa as to be irre-
sponsible. Atter the trial has 'lnen complete,l,
after the verdict has been delive red in by the jury,
after the sentence of death ha a been pronounced
upon the condemned criminal by the lips of the
Judge, then, but not until al, J,, a morbid agitation
is set on foot in the coun' ,-:,T tainted by his pre-
sence, an agitation most morbid of its kind, as it ap,
pears to us, the promoters of which agitation are i
bent upon persuading the. authorities to do for this
man of education, this revited gentleman of refine-
ment, what it would be utterly pre_ osterous to have
attempted doing for an illiterate mechanic or a horny-
handed agricultural labourer. The endeavour has
been just now successfu.ly carried out. Miss GOOD-
WIN' s murderer has received a respite. Commissioners
of lunacy have examined into the state of the mind
'of GEORGE TOWNLEY. They have presented their
report to the Home Secretary. It is subsequent to
the receipt of that report, and, of course, quite ob-
viously consequent upon it, that the criminal has
been reprievei. All the regular forms have been com-
plied with—we don't doubt that in the least. Neither

do We for one moment doubt that any single

000 among those who have in any way
whatever, directly or indirectly, had a hand
in bringing about this result, namely, the
reprieve of TOWNLEY, upon the eve of
his execution, has acted otherwise than from
motives the most unimpeachably conscientious.
Yet, while saying this quite frankly and un-
reservedly, we say, also, none the less frankly,
none the less unreservedly, that we look upon
the whole transaction, we look upon the whole
of this morbid interference with the course of
justice, as not only most feeble in itself, but as cal-
culated to prove also, in its consequences, and in
its character as a precedent, nothing less than most
calamitous.

Great strides have been made in shipbuilding of
late years for augmenting the size of our ships of war,
which has led to the construction of some splendid
specimens of naval architecture. Despite the in-
cumbrance of their ponderous armour-plating, the
Warrior, Black Prince, and their fellow leviathans,
are handsome vessels, but they are all wanting in a
most important requisite, namely, free ventilation.
All steamers are more or less likely to be hot below
from the presence of the furnaces and the boilers,
and in iron-plated ships the impossibility of ventila-
tion,through the sides below the batteries is a great
drawback. Many attempts have been made, with
more cr less success, to neutralise this, by creating
draughts by means of fans and hollow masts; but
for all this the unfortunate stokers and firemen on
board of many of our ships pass a portion of their
existence in a semi roasted state. In the late trial
of the Hector, at Portsmouth, notwithstanding that
it is almost the last of our iron frigates launched,
was specially designed by the Comptroller of the
Navy, and is, we believe, to be one of the ships
which he promised should ecliim) all ships afloat,
the temperature during the runs over the measured
mile in the engineers' and stokers,' quarters was ex-
cessive, notwithstanding that the day was cold.
The following are the temperatures taken during

he first run :—On. deck, 46 deg. ; engine-room,

fore part, 75 deg. ; middle part, 72 deg. ; aft, 76
deg. Stokehole, Ist run—Forepart, 70 deg. ; middle,
117 deg. ; aft, 100 deg. 6th run—Fore part, 76
deg.; middle, 130 deg.; aft, 107 deg. If this is
the atmosphere that our engineeers are to be subs
jetted to merely during a trial trip in cold weather,
what are they to expect when the ship is in action ?
and, instead of pure air being forced down between
decks, smoke and sulphur will be added to their
already close atmosphere. It is high time that the
Admiralty bestirred themselves in this matter. We
do not wish to detract from the merits of Mr. REED,
He has undertaken to remodel our navy, and to turn
out ships which shall in fact combine economy in
construction, great speed, and immense strength.
We cannot compliment 'aim on the performances of
the Hector at her rece trial, seeing that the

Royal Oak and Warrior both excel her in speed—
the former by more than a knot an hour,

while the ventilation is most faulty. Great

allowance must be made for the archi-
tect when he is trying experiments to find
out the most advantageous mode of constructing a
ship to carry heavy guns and impenetrable armour-
plating; but as the ventilation throughout our
steam navy is very defective, why should not the
Government offer a priza worth contending for, for
a pan which should render the ventilation of
steam ships a reality and not an idea? We believe
that much of the excessive heat experienced on
board our ships is occasioned by the fact of having
the fires facing each other, so that the stokers work
in a narrow passage with some dozen or more fires
on each side of them. Now, were the boilers so

arranged that the mouths of the furnaces faced the

coal bunkers ou either side of the ship, time and
labour would ba saved, and the health of the fire-
men not endangered. This may be one step in the

right direction, but we doubt not that many other
improvements may be made if proper encouragement
be given to engineering talent and enterprise by the
?overgiment. We read with horror of the suffer-
'°%d of the unfortunate victims who perished in the
Ilkw4
~
hole of Calcutta, without thinking what is
tho elate of the stokeholes of our own men-of-war,
espeeimv.,
i
nteresting just at the present time.

There is ,j----------
a‘
coounting for prejudice. When once
it takes root Ixt
men's minds no argument seems
capabie
of uPlZatulug,it, and no efforts can induce
convincedletvaui edn regard to the
,tr hhee pnotion
e rthat
has
I,t'
Australia has been so
deeply rooted
send-
ing of convictst h
atet Watetstl4,:u
tit
has been allowed to
gain the day,
and to prevail against the dictates of
...ni na of a timely
faowreissieghPtr. 'led that such a
udletnicse,graesadtlythteo B:::e_t__,.:,
project should have been abandoned,
sincethe
it pro-
mised so well for the furtherance of best in-
terests of those concerned, and it also t'''Alsed to
confer essential service on those athome, b
~y
re0,,,,,_
ing to another sphere the unfortunate being"loo,
left on our shores, would infallibly have returned to
their old courses, and exemplified the state of that
man whose latter end was worse than his begin-
ning. A letter to the 7imes of yesterday very pro-
perly takes up the question, and points out some of
the fallacies of those who so vehemently support the
opposition to the project of Western Australia being
selected as the receptacle of onr convicts. The writer
very truly declares that one authenticated instance
of an escaped convict committing serious crimes at
Adelaide or Melbourne would go further to support
the case than ail the high sounding declamations
that have been uttered against the idea, There

save been innumerable proofs afforded during the
discussion of this vexed question that incalculable
advantages would accrue to all parties immediately
connected with the affair, and that no detriment
could occur to the colonies that are ir. so much tri-
bulation at the notion, owing to the immense dis-
tance that lies between, and the other impediments
that bar the passage of the unwelcome visitors from
one place to the other. A passage is quoted from a
letter of the Crown Solicitor to the Colony, who
once resided in Adelaide, and he states that he gives
it as his decided opinion, after mature reflection and
ample opportunity of forming a judgment, that the
transportation system to Western Australia is a great
advantage to both the convicts and the population,
and that he also believes the plan to be innocuous
so far as regards the remaining Australian Colonies.
Nothing that can be adduced in the way of testi-
money, however, seems to have been of any avail,
and the consequence is that, as usual, the
cause of improvement has been checked, and the
services that might have been rendered to a class
which pre-eminently require all the adventitious
aids that can be given them, are lost for the present
at all events, and the kindly wishes and energetic
schemes thrust churlishly back on their propounders.
It seems a cruel wrong to inflict upon the convicts
themselves thus to debar them from a great privi-
lege, and to shut the door upon all efforts to amelio-
rate their position and deprive them of the benefit
of entering into a new sphere of action, and seeking
a new world, as it were, where they might more
easily put off the sins that so readily beset
them in the old one. This is a sad reflection to
dwell upon, and it seems desirable to consider
whether it cannot be contrived that something
should be done to mitigate the evil, and thus lessen
the extent of the disappointment which such a
decision as that referred to must inevitably occasion.
If the spot that was selected is not to be permitted
to remain the trial-ground of the system to the
degree proposed, why not seek a fresh sphere, and
discover new opportunities for carrying on the good
work that has been checked and stopped in the
desired localities. There are vast tracts of fertile
country in the north-west and ncrth of Australia, as
yet but partially explored, but enough of these
parts is already known to inform us of their value.
Why should not convict labour open up the resources
of these districts the same way that it developed
those of New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queens-
land ? Why should the colonists of New South
Wales and other districts remote from Swan River
act the part of the dog in the manger ? Govern-
ment have restricted the number of convicts to the
old quota. Let them be satisfied with this, and
remain quiescent for the future, and let the Govern-
ment turn to account the district above referred to.
The life may be hard perhaps, and the results may
not be appreciated for years to come, but one great
object will have been effected, England will be
freed to some extent from long-service criminals,
and the foundation of new empires will have been
laid.

The statistics of the Registrar-General are no
less interesting than important. The thousands
who die annually from preventible causes are con-
tinual reproaches to our social reformers, and afford
but too conclusive evidence that much remains to
be done in spreading education among the masses,
and also in enforcing the observance of sanitary
laws. The rapid increase of the population renders
tue observance of such precautions especially neces-
sary among us, seeing that the increase in London
alone is reckoned at 121 daily, or, taking merely
the excess of births over deaths, at 72 daily.
The English registration shows an addition
to its numbers of a population equal to
the present inhabitants of London and York-
shire, and this within the comparatively
short space of time that elapsed since the establish-
ment of the registratio❑ ay stem of 1837. It is cal-
culated that in every five years there is an increase
of a million, and in the middle of 1861 the popula-
tion of England was reckoned at 20,110,496. There
is, therefore, little reason to fear any diminution of
oar numerical strength, but the wise man will look
not only to the actual number of the population
but to its vigour and endurance. Health and
power are not less important considerations than
the number of individuals that form the State. The
quality of the water consumed is known to have a
powerful effect on the general health, and Dr.
FARR, in the report we have been speaking of,
attributes disastrous consequences to the habitual
consumption of impure water. He says, " The ova
of worms and the seeds of various diseases are thus
diffused among children ; while great numbers of
men and women in the prime of life also suffer, and
often die of the maladies which are the inevitable
consequences of violations of natural laws." Dr.
ACLAND, the Regius Professor of Medicine in the
University of Oxford, in writing on the subject,
also speaks strongly as to the evils attending im-
pure water and its effect in encouraging fever of a
typhoid kind. The Registrar wisely and kindly
adds a warning to his list of the deaths from this
source, in which he insists upon the necessity of
c:eanliness and ventilation in the dwellings of the
poor, if the ravages of typhus under its many
various forms are to be kept within moderate
limits. Such advice is specially needed by the
poor, pent up in close workshops or small and un-
healthy homes; but, in truth, the dwellings of the
rich are not altogether free from blame in such re-
spects, and people seem to be almost as much
afraid of a breath of fresh evening air as of typhus
itself. In many other cases much lies within the
power of the public, such as in the instance of
smallpox, which is now said to exist only by
sufferance, though unfortunately the ignorant pre•
judice of many of the lower classes hinders much
of the good that might be done in this respect.
There are several other points of interest in this
report as affecting the condition of the national
education, the peculiarities of the marriages, &c.,
but these points which affect the public health
concerns us all more nearly.

CHAMPAGNE should be not only cool but cold,
and, if it be not kept in a temperature sufficiently
low, it must be iced. In a hot room, even in winter, the
coolness is pleasant ; but when the bottle is allowed to re-
main in the ice-pail until the wine becomes nearly as cold
as the ice itself, it is wasting fine champagne to give it in
that state,; for flavour ar d taste become what wine-mer-
chants call " locked up," Ten minutes' iceing, or, as the
French call it, frappe, does not deteriorate the wine; but
even then it is not equal to that which is fresh brought out
of a cold cellar, where it has lain long undisturbed. The
practice of putting pieces of ice into the wine itself shows
that a cool refreshing drink is wanted, but it is destructive
to the quality.—Shaw's Wine, Vine, and Cellar.
THE OLD MAN'S ARCH, Arcus Sinihs —A
white ring on the outside of the pupil of the eye so
known to physicians and anatomists. The nature and im-
port of this sign of senility has only been lately understood.
This ring, on being submitted to tho analysing powers of the
microscope, shows itself tol be composed of fatty matter in
the substance of the cornea. The ring itself seems to be of
no consequence ; but it is found to be an indication of what
"I,l3enerally going on in the body Modern research has
Bin4°oll9n.
tthoadt one of the ways in which. old age reveals itself
This e,,,,xv:r is by the fatty degeneration of the tissues.
of the ortaussioin into fat gradually diminishes the integrity
their
it occurs—and at last leads to the
cessation of
Are:sanctions, Where this process of fatty
idnedgjecuaeteratthi°ant th,satain_ one organ, it is found generally to
Hence the arcus same change is going on in other organs.
bu4;.laralte
iksind may be going on in
cation that change.„t ttoe_e"Gois to the physician an indi
of the
neglected. This condition
~ of the
a secret sign not to be
system is not without
remedy—and by juoicious treatment the disastrous effects
of a fatty degeueration of the ties
'ma may be averted, ed.
other organs