The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TIMES.—The case of Mr. Bewicke is one of those
in which the honesty and compassion of the public
have a deeper wisdom than the caution of official
persons. It is not wonderful, it is not even blam-
able, that gentlemen in the position of Sir G. Grey
and the Solicitor-General should look at a matter
of this kind in its relation to the general adminis
tration of justice, that they should fear to establish
a troublesome precedent, to excite hopes in others
which they would have afterwards to disappoint,
and, in fact, by giving compensation for one glaring
wrong, to break down the principle that no person
has a claim to compensation for anything he suffers
through the process of criminal justice. In their
eyes Mr. Bewicke's is merely a hard case, and
they are unwilling that it should bring forth bad
law. But though opposing Mr. Berkeley's motion
through a sense of official responsibility, they are
unable to deny the greatness of the victim's injury,
and the scandal which such a wrong, if unremedied,
brings upon the administration of English criminal
law. We think that their reasoning and their con-
clusion were unsound, and that Mr. Bewicke might
be compensated for his extraordinary misfortune
without any breach of sound jurisprudence, or any
chance of the Treasury being besieged by a legion
of claimants. Although the outline of the case will
dwell in the remembrance of our readers, we may
once more mention the principal circumstances :
Mr. Bewicke, of Threepwood-hall, in Northumber-
land, was defeated in an action at law, and the
sheriff proceeded to levy on his property. How this
functionary brought together his assistants does not
appear, but they are alleged to have been men of
the most villainous character. Felons, perjurers,
ife-beaters, drunkards, were, according to Mr.
Berkeley, the executors of the law in that distant
county. The sheriff's officers went to Mr.
Bewieke's, but he refused, as he had a perfect
right to do, to admit them to the house, and told
them that there was sufficient for the levy outside.
One of them then produced a pair of pistols,
and Mr. Bewicke, seeing this, went for a revol-
ver. He barricaded himself in the house
while the bailiffs remained in possession outside.
The next day he wanted to fire the pistol out of the
window that it might be clean. He told them what
he was about to do. They answered, " All right,
Sir," and he fired it, doing no harm, and, of course,
thought no more about it. But this act gave, the
ruffians the idea of bringing an accusatiorvit at-
tempted murder against him, probablyl
the
the matter
intention of extorting money. Mr. Bewickew was
held to bail, but thought too lightly
to take proper steps to defend hirnse If. of
The sheriff's
officers swore up to the mark, he wa, and
seated to four years' penal servitufdes convicted
The Trustees
e md
alonrddsgoootds asanor tho'seseize Of a
to the value of £1,600
of
Mr. Greenwich
B ewi ke ' Bewicke's ofurnitureasty
convicted felon.
or £l,BOO was sold for £430. At last, after remain-
ing more than a year in prison, n, and beingdeplorably
weakened both in body and mind, Mr. Bewicke's
innocence was made apparent. His housekeeper
came to London, laid the case before Mr. Sergeant
Shee, who recommended her to an active attorney,
and the result was the issuingof warrants against
the whole gang, and the conviction of three of them
for conspiracy or pLrjury, one having turned Queen's
evidence We cannot but think that, according to
the dictates of natural law, a man has a right to be

STAMPED ....sd.

compensated by the comm
and
look
accidentally
upon
r o lassesn ahe
person
ieunrns undergoes
the
wrongly
ommunityun
justice which the community
benefit. To the merciltes legal doctrinaires oes through suet a failure of the
administers for the
forsufferingsits
who
convictedf as one crushed
workingwouold a necessarily imper-
fect machine, and who
aside with the excuse, ~ It can't
put
be ev
ery such case
helped," we
would observe that the Legislaturealready
sanctioned the principle of compensation hasL
Mr. Barber the stun of 1:5,000.
wrongfully convicted of being concerned in a whl
forgery some ;ears ago; he was trz.nsuorted, and.
when his innocence was established the Legishture,
lifter much consideration, deter mined that he should
receive from the country which condemned him by a
jury of its citizens compeuation for his unjust punish.
ment and his professional ruin. Mr. Be w:clie's case
clearly comes under that of Mr. Barber, and is even'
stronger, inasmuch as Mr. Barber was really con-
victed on circumstantial evidence, was really the
victim of that "unavoidable possibility of miscar-
riage in the administration of justice" of which the
Solicitor-General speaks; while Mr. Bewicke had
his liberty, character, wealth, and property sworn
away by a set of miscreants, who, by the negligence
of a public functionary, were entrusted with the exe-
cution of legal acts in the county of Northumber-
land.

HERALD.—The news we publish this morning
confirms that received by the last mail. Vicksburg
has really fallen, after a resistance which will im-
mortalise in history the name of that gallant little
city. Even the Yankees, who have never before
shown themselves capable of anything like gene-
rosity, are forced to acknowledge and to admire the
desperate valour which has held out so long against
a powerful flotilla and an army of 100,000 men.
The North has not much to be proud of. After suf-
fering so severely that we are told that the accounts
already given only revealed half the truth, Vicks-
burg has surrendered to famine and not to the foe.
without supplies, without ammunition, disappointed
of the hopes so long cherished of assistance from
Gen. Johnstone, the garrison has at last capitulated
on honourable terms. Such, at least, is the Northern
account; and if this be true it is apparent that all
the stories which have reached us, also from Northern
sources, of communications open between Vicksburg
and the right bank of the Mississippi, and also of
abundant supplies stored in the city, have been un-
true. A full and reliable history of the siege and the
surrender will probably reach us, ere long, from
Southern authority. In the meantime all that is
certain is, that the victory is more profitable
than glorious to the Federal army. They have
failed, after repeated efforts, to storm the place ;
its fall is due not to their exertions, but to the
original weakness of the garrison, in the want of
adequate stores to stand a siege. But the price,
however acquired, is one of the highest vane.
Only one strong point on the whole course of
the Mississippi is new held by the Confederates,
and when that is gone—if, that is to say, Port
Hudson share the fate of Vicksburg—the
Confederacy will be cut in two. The States east of
the river will be blockaded on all sides, and will
find it almost as difficult to obtain supplies from
Texas and Arkansas as from Europe. This is a
serious calamity, but we must not exaggerate its
severity. The States of the West will not be lost
to the Confederacy. The Federal flotilla will not
be able to prevent communication, and not even, in
all cases, to hinder the crossing of the troops.
Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana will have to fight
their own battle ; but their immense extent, their
martial population, and their indomitable resolution,
will make it as impossible for the Federals to sub-
due them as to conquer their sister States of the
East ; and when the war is over, if the Confederates
succeed—and no one doubts that they must succeed
—in establishing their freedom, these States will be
at once abandoned by the North and re-united to
their sisters. Nor is the Mississippi really opened
to the commerce of the West. Iv hile the war lasts
no trading vessels can safely navigate that river
except under convoy. They may be fired upon
from the banks; they may be set in flames; they
may be captured by the daring guerillas of the
South-West. The worst evil in the fall of Vicks-
burg is that it sets tree an army said to number a
hundred thousand men, to buru, plunder, and mur-
der, as they march through Mississippi, either to
fall on the rear of General Bragg, to assist- Banks
at Port Hudson, to ravage Alabama, or to complete
the establishment of military tyranny in Louisiana.
It is a significant fact that the news of the fall of
Vicksburg and the repulse of Lee was instantly fol-
towed by au order for a conscription, to take effect
immediately. It is clear that the Federal Govern-
ment was in desperate straits; that a victory had
become necessary to its very existence ; and that if
none had occurred it would have been driven to in-
vent one. Men must be had if the war is to go
on ; and even in presence of a Southern inva-
sion men will not come forward, and the
Government dare not take them, except at the
lucky moment when good news has excited the
people to a fit of warlike enthusiasm. As it is,
the draft has been resisted—a riot has occurred in
New York, on the nature of which the gravest
issues depend. If it have been serious and success-
ful it will probably receive the support of Governor
Seymour, and with his support riot would become
revolution, When the mail left two great battles
were impending ; one between Lee and Meade, one
between popular liberty and Federal usurpation in
the Empire City. If the Federal power be worsted
in either of these engagements, there is a hope of
peace—if unsuccessful in both, it may prolong the
war till the South is devastated, the North ruined,
and Lancashire reduced to bankruptcy—but the
issue of the ear remains as certain as ever, and
the independence of the Confederacy is still an
accomplished fact.
POST.—The despatch of Marshal Foray from the
Mexican capital to the Emperor of the French re-
presents the Mexican people in a new character.
Hitherto we have known them as for the most part
opposed,to their invaders. But as the French arms
advance, either they come upon sections of the com-
munity differing in opinion from those of Puebla
and Vere Cruz ; or otherwise the tide of invasion
has carried before it all the opposition with which
it was before threatened. It appears that in
Mexico itself, Vie reception which has been given
to the French marshal and his army has been one
continuous ovation. Nor are we at all surprised
that this should be so. Hitherto there have been no
means of arriving at the opinions of the inhabitants
of the capital. They were crushed by the worst of
all despotisms—a corrupt military (or rather a
brigand) usurpation, without justice and without
even laws for any one. This was, in a word, the
Government of Mexico. It must have been detested
by every one bearing the spirit of freedom or pos-
sessing the mere instinct of security and right.
But it is a part of such a Government to with-
hold any expression of the popular will. Fill:ilia,.
Mexican to assert a will of his own in p-
affairs was as inadmissible as to assert that
hie
private property was not liable to sequestration and
seizure by the State. From this statet f
e oney hand,
that insecurity, while it was clear,
that public opinion could not
te:fascertained, it
easy to infer
was. Mean-
was, on the other hand, PreY
what that public opinion really
that this hile, however, it was perplexing show itself at
pub-
lic feeling did not distinctly on e moment it had
Orizaba and at Puebla. At
MexicansA were resolved to
appeared as though
at all costs, and Bide even with their
resent invasion
than with the European invader.
usurper rather
Now, however, all is changed. In place of the
slow marches which marked the earlier part of the
campaign,
the French advance from Puebla to
Mexico has
been as rapid as it has been triumphant.
Juarez has not even attempted to contest the posses-
sion of the capital. The inhabitants of Mexico
have received Marshal Forey as their deliverer from
an intolerable bondage. In place of the artillery
and small arms of Puebla, the French have been
assailed by storms of garlands and bouquets flung
from every window. To judge from the language
of theCommander-in-Chiet, who is no boaster, the
reception thus given to them must have been very
remarkable and significant. Nor was this all. The
municipality came forward to ask Marshal Foray
for the blessings of justice, order, and moderate
liberty—that is, for a complete political revolution.
The marshal did not attempt to abridge or shrink
from his imperial master's programme. He pro-
mised the municipality of Mexico all these things.
We assume, therefore, that he is still prepared to
put this question of their political future before the
Mexican people, and not to leave them until that
question simll have been solved and the political
future of Mexico be called into present existence.
A people may prefer to owe the benefit of good go-
vernment to themselves rather than to a conqueror.
But they may also fairly prefer to owe it
to a conqueror than not to enjoy it at all.
It now appears that Juarez has but 6,000 men to
support him, With this remnant he has retired
northwards, it is stated, to San Luis Potosi ; but it
would be more correct to say simply in that (Erec-
tion ; for he did not appear to have retreated to any
great distance from Mexico when Marshal Forey's
despatch of the 10th of J une left Mee:ice. This

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