The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-29 00:00:00

THE ''SUN, 1.011)011, TUESDAY, EVE NING, JULY 29, .1862.

policy at home. It is the special characteristic of
German princes that they dread, above everything,
the tendencies to unity and freedom. To combat
these tendencies, the Prussian court did not scruple
to betray the Duchies, to send the flower of German
youth, as it rere, to the shambles, c conclude a
treacherous armistice with Denmark in opposition to
the will of the German nation, and lastly, to force
the Schleswig-Holsteiners by means of an army of
intervention to which the House of Hapsburg also
sent its contingent, to lay down their arms, and
have the Danish yoke reimposed on their necks !
This cessation of the Schleswig-Holstein war of
independence through the intervention of the Prus-
sian and Austrian dynasties must not be forgotten
in order to understand the present state of things.
It was in return for that despicable sbirri service
which Frederick William and Francis Joseph per-
formed, that Denmark pledged herself in 1851-52
to respect to a certain degree some of the constitu-
tional privileges of Holstein ; to refrain from the
formal incorporation of Schleswig; to allow equa-
lity to Schleswig with the other parts of the mo•
narchy in matters political ; and to grant equal
rights to the German and Danish nationalities with
regard to language.
Yet even these paltry engagements with the
Court of Copenhagen, according to Earl Russell's
saying, is "in honour bound" to fulfil, have been
disgracefully broken through. Attempts have been
repeatedly made to incorporate, first, Schleswig
and Holstein together, and when this failed, Schles-
wig alone, with the Danish monarchy proper. To
effect this end the press has been gagged; the
right of meeting abolished, a network of espionage
spread over the country; an unbearable tyranny
exercised in matters of language in school and
church ; the youth of the country drafted into
foreign regiments, and Danish garrisons sent into
Schleswig-Holstein; the banners and emblems of
the Duchies prohibited ; the very name of the
country declared a treasonable application ; people
arbitrarily deprived of their franchise; men im-
prisoned wholesale for no other offence than having
handed about the documents emanating from their
own parliaments; diets of the Duchies dissolved
whenever they wanted to make a statement of
grievances; the country inundated with tools of
tyranny than whom none could be found lower in
morality; in short a mode of government esta-
blished which English ambassadors and con-
sular agents abroad have justly stigmatised
as a system of terrorism" and intimida-
tion—as an unbearable tyranny" "quite at variance
e"--as an odious oppression
with the spirit of the age"—as
calculated to render the country " the scene of agi-
tation, perhaps of tumult and revolt." (See Blue-
book, correspondence respecting the Affairs of the
Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, 1860-61.
Letter of Mr. Consul-General Ward to Lord John
Russell, p. 29. Letter of Mr. Howard to Lord J.
Russell, p. 91. Lord John Russell's despatch to
Mr. Howard, p. 99.)
Do I lay stress on these facts with any desire to
see German Governments, as at present constituted,
again interferingby means of arms in the Schleswig-
Holstein affair ? Far be it from me to do so. We
German democrats know too well that our monarchs
are not the proper agents to work out freedom and
independence anywhere. We have no faith in their
sincerity ; we are perfectly convinced that they
only take the question of the Duchies occasionally
in hand in order to occupy the public mind, and
to prevent the spontaneous popular movement get-
ting the start of their own dynastic statecraft. But
ought Englishmen to conclude that the demands
of the Schleswig-Holstein people are unjustifiable
because the conduct and the motives of the Court
of Prussia, or of the Frankfort conclave of princely
delegates, are utterly worthless ?
The cause of the Duchies is virtually the same
as that of Venice, and, a short time since, of Lom-
bardy also ; or it may be compared, if any one
chooses to prefer constitutional ground, to that of
Hungary, in its resistance against the despotic,
centralising efforts of the Court of Vienna. In
race, in language, in manners, and in political ten-
dencies,the people of Schleswig-Holstein are mainly
German. In point of ancient law, such as laid
down in their charters, they have an established
right to insist on their country remaining " united
and indivisible," , with a distinct existence, apart
from the Danish monarchy proper. It was under
this condition alone that, many centuries ago, the
Duchies consented to be ruled over by the same
dynasty with Denmark ; and even as it would
have been a gross injustice had an attempt
been made, at the time England and Hanover
were under the same dynasty, to render Hanover
English or England Hanoverian; even as it was a
violation of solemn pledges in the House of Haps-
burg to attempt rendering Hungary a mere " pro-
vince of the " Austrian Empire"—so also is it a
perjurious proceeding in the Court of Copenhagen
to try a forcible fusion of its Danish and German
dominions by means of successive coups d'etat.
I state these things not as a believer in the ex-
clusive virtue of ancient charters. I believe in the
natural right of man to attain the highest state of
freedom in spite of all vested privileges; bat I
think also that even the insufficient liberties that
are recorded on the parchment of bygone ages are
preferable, at any rate, to the bon plaieir rule of
unbridled despotism. I am, moreover, of opinion
that such antique records are frequently an indica-
tion of a series of popular aspirations. It is so,
surely, in the case of the Duchies. The Schleswig
Holsteiners have shown, by long and courageous
resistance, both on constitutional ground and on
the field of battle, that they will not tamely sub-
mit to a policy of encroachment which is an attack
on their liberties, an insult to Germany, and a
danger, prospectively, to Europe in general, and to
this country in particular.
Let me, sir, bring to recollection here that Ring
Christian VIII., in 1846, by his arbitrary Letter
Patent, declared the Danish law of succession to
henceforth apply equally to Schleswig-Holstein.
Thus the Duchies were threatened, from the want
of direct issue in the Royal family, with becoming,
at no distant time, the inheritance of the Russian
Czar ! Russia, in this contingency, would, as it
were, transplant her frontiers to the gates of Ham-
burg, and join the dominion of the Baltic to a strong
position at the German Ocean, facing the English
shores !

Is this a consummation to be wished for by
British statesmen ? And is it to be wondered at
that already, in 1846, the Schleswigers called out,
in their Parliament, for the reception of their en-
dangered country into the German Confederacy ?
One of the first results of the establishment of
Schleswig-Holstein independence would be, that
the Eider Canal, so long neglected by the Danish
Government for unworthy political motives, would
I be made an easy, short, safe, and cheap thorough-
fare for large ships from the German Ocean into
the Baltic. •, • This is
a matter specially interesting
\ to
England. On the other hand, so long as Den-
mark i 5 allowed to pursue herpolicy of • tion and de, •
rationalisation, she will, with fatal ne-
cessity, bedpl/inent -to injure both the commercial
and
Eider
rests of this country ; for the
neglect of the
the maintenance of the
Csucaohlipeaemul'he, and the collusion be-
tween
Russian successiotoif
the Courts
oppression
and Paris, are the
eobssion of the Duchies. 1
the dwellers
that. the
1 inevitable results of the
It will be seen from these
their
fact, Irzhave to
in that
people of Schleswig_ -Holsteic....„
Anglo-Saxon land from which the „.„_li,, ,
sprung a
s—wweelrle ,
as
so
0,,,nn the
a battleg i.
ea
t of degree
England
carrying on ttieir war of independence fro_ h
m 184n8
to 1851. How soon that struggle will be
resumed
depends on the development of affairs in Germany
at large. This much, however, is sure, that the
infatuation of German princes, and particularly of
that monarch (in whom simple-minded men had so
erroneously placed hopes for the regeneration of
the whole country), is driving matters to a point
from whence there will be no issue, except by an
appeal to those natural rights of man, before which
the crowns that have been " taken from the table
of the Lord" are as nothing.
Already we have, so to say, returned to the years
just previous to 1848. The eonsequences will follow
in due time. In the meanwhile, allow me to ex- '
press to you, sir, the thanks of many political
friends for the sympathy you have shown to our
efforts under trying circumstances, and for the ,
---

readiness you have exhibited in defending a cause
which ignorance and incessantly labour to
abuse.—l remain, dear sir, yours most respectfully,
KARL BLIND.
John M'Adam, Esq.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES.

ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL.

The committee on this bill, the object of which
is to authorise the governors of St. Thomas's Hos-
pital to convey the site of the present hospital to
the Charing-cross Railway Company, to acquire a
new site for the hospital, and for other purposes,
met yesterday; Mr. J. W. Buller in the chair. The
other members of the committee were Mr. Benyon,
Mr. George, and Mr. Brown.
Mr. Phinn, Q C., and Mr. Johnson appeared on
behalf of the promoters of the bill ; Mr. Drew, soli-
citor, for the parish of Bermondsey; and Mr. Stur-
my for the parish of St. Saviour, Southwark.
Mr. Phinn, in opening the case, said this was the
last bill of the session, and one of the most interest-
ing. The preamble, after reciting certain ancient
charters, recited the Charing-cross Railway Act of
1859, authorising the construction of a railway
from London-bridge to Hungerford amarket, and the
taking of a portion of St. Thomas's Hospital, the
reference of arbitration, and the award of £296,000
to the hospital. It then recited the existence of
certain doubts as to whether the governors could
make a good title ; the desirability of authorising
them to purchase a new site and erect buildings
thereon ; the order of the Court of Chancery ap-
proving of the bill as introduced into the House of
Lords, and the fact of due notice having been given
to the Attorney-General. The learned gentleman
then proceeded to direct the attention of the com-
mittee to the history of, the hospital and the pro-
visions contained in its various charters. The site
of the hospital was originally the Priory of Ber-
mondsey. In the year 1215, it was remodelled by
the then Bishop of Winchester, who turned it into
a foundation for canons regular. In 1538 there was
a valuation of all religious houses for the purpose
of the then King. The valuation was fixed at
£266 17s. 6d., and the institution was then surren-
dered to Henry VIII. It was then purchased by
the citizens of London and repaired for old and
diseased persons. In August, 1551, a charter
was granted by Edward VI., by which the hos-
pital was not devoted for mere local benefit, but
for the benefit of the whole of the poor, whether
belonging to the metropolis or resorting to the
metropolis. Two years afterwards there was an
indenture of covenants between King Edward VI.
and the corporation of London, by which the corpo-
ration covenanted " that they shall not only content
and pay all such debts and duties as are now
due by the said hospital, but also at their proper
costs and charges shall at their discretion, in some
convenient part of the said manor-house and place
of Bridewell, or in any other of the hospitals now
erected in London or in the borough of Southwark,
or in one of them, prepare sufficient lodging from
time to time for the comfort, aid, and relief of
poor wayfaring men and strangers ; and the same
shall lodge, harbour, and intreat, and entertain
from time to time, in such good manner and form
as the same wayfaring men and strangers have been
accustomed to be lodged, harboured, and intreated
within the said late hospital of the Savoy." That
and other passages in the charter and the indenture
showed that the objects contemplated were not
local, but general. In 1553, under a further char-
ter a vast quantity of land was granted to the cor-
poration of London to be applied to charitable pur-
poses. These charters contained grants and
declarations of the uses to which they were to be
applied in consideration of the concessions made by
the Crown, also the designation of the mode in
which they were to be governed and the funds to
be applied. Having stated that he believed the
hospitals of the City of London might challenge
comparison with any hospitals in the world, the
learned gentleman called the attention of the
committee to the mode in which the govern-
ing body was constituted. It consisted of the Lord
Mayor and the Court of Aldermen, 12 common
councilmen, and 167 gentlemen elected from all
classes in the City and suburbs. From that body
30 gentlemen were periodically elected, and they,
together with a president and treasurer, consti-
tuted the grand committee of the hospital. That
committee met once a month, and the general
body once a quarter, and all important matters
were left to the decision of the general body. The
site of the hospital consisted of 18,672 square yards,
of which 8,936 were granted under the old char-
ters, and 9,736 were more recent acquisitions. The
revenues of the hospital from all sources in 1861
were (including a balance of £3,167 lls. 6d. in
the hands of the treasurer) £37,108 18s. 6d., and
the expenditure £32,756 7s. 9d., leaving a balance
of £4,352 10s. 9d. The hospital was capable of
accommodating 440 patients, and in the course of
last year the number of in-patients was 3,948, and
the number of out-patients 41,814. The revenues
of the hospital were fixed and permanent, the dona-
tions and benefactions last year not exceeding £214
18s. 11d. The hospital being in that thriving con-
dition, the railway bill was introduced, and not-
withstanding the opposition made by the governors
it became law. The Charing-cross company then
gave notice of their intention to take such portion
of the hospital as suited their purpose, including a
portion of the underground building. Proceedings
were eventually instituted in Chancery, and Vice-
Chancellor Page Wood decided that if the company
took part of the property they must take the whole,
but he stated, although the 92d section of the
Lands Clauses Consolidation Act gave them power
to convey, he doubted whether it gave them power
to convey more than was absolutely necessary for
the construction of the railway. Unless this point
were settled by Parliament enormous inconvenience
and delay might be experienced, for the £296,000
which had been awarded, and which was now in the
Court of Chancery, could not be paid over until
the title was made good. The governors were bound
to give up possession on the 26th July, and accord-
ing to their agreement possession was given
on Saturday last, and all the patients had been re-
moved. By the first clause of the bill it was pro-
posed to obviate the difficulty pointed out by the
Vice-Chancellor, and to give the governors the
power to convey the buildings to the company. The
seoond clause empowered them to purchase by agree-
ment any lands which might be approved of by the
Court of Chancery on a summary application at the
chambers of one of the judges of that court, of which
application the Attorney-General should have notice,
fot a new site for the said hospital, &c., not exceed-
ing 50 acres. The other clauses provided for the
making of temporary arrangements for carrying on
the hospital, for the borrowing of £50,000, for a
residence for the minister of St. Thomas's Church,
and other minor matters. As the bill was originally
introduced the new site for the hospital was limited
to the counties of Surrey and Kent; but Lord Redes-
dale considered it unwise to fetter the discretion of
the governors and the Court of Chancery, believing
that if such limit was fixed an immense rise in the
value of all the available sites would immediately
take place. A proposition was also made to limit
the site to the south side of the Thames, but such
limitation was quite unnecessary, as the governors
had no intention of going from the south side of the
river. With respect to the temporary arrangements
which had been made, the learned gentleman stated

that accommodation had been provided at Guy's

Hospital for 100 patients. The temporary arrange-

naents at the Surrey Gardens would afford accommo-

Wasttheir
nar necessary.dodesaitrion,
dation for 250 in-patients and all the out-door
patients, for the museum, the operating rooms
and for the servants whose residence on the spot
etre: Ike trusted the committee would
consider that the governors had exercised a
think
soundona discretion in providing this temporary ac-
and would consider it an earnest of
e proper arrangements for a new
site for the hospital.
Mr. George I •
tal had been v you said that the old hospi-
tal
Mr.
in actual Phpossessioninn—Yee,
.and
the railway company are

Richard Baggedly, the treasurer of the hos-
Mr. Ric
was examined in proof of the facts stated by
*tal
/ .
phinn, and stated that the agreement for the
Mr.
Surrey Gardena was for two years and a half, to be

r,

extended, if necessary, for six or twe

.ve months

more.

Mr. Tile, ALP,, one of the governors of the hos-
pital, was next examined. He said—l believe this
bill is necessary for the purpose of putting an end
to the doubts which exist as to the power of con-
veying the property. I think it would be most un-
desirable to limit the discretion of the governors in
the selection of a new site, because any such limit
would point out to those who have land to sell that
we are going to them, and they would instantly
raise the price. I do not know a more able, or more
discreet, or more benevolent body than the board,
who are guided by a sound discretion and a desire
to do what is right. Nothing can be done without
the sanction of the whole body of the governors.
Every £1,00') additional per acre would shut out
two patients for ever. I see no reason why we
should not have a hospital capable of containing
1,000 patients, with all the appliances of modern
science. I think we ought to have 30 acres of
ground at least.

Mr. H. A. Hunt, surveyor of public works and
buildings, concurred with Mr. Tite in thinking that
a limit ought not to he fixed_
Mr. Drew submitted, on behalf of his clients, that
if the benefit of the hospital was not originally in-
tended to be local, the inhabitants of_ the district
had acquired a prescriptive right, which having
existed 300 years ought not to be taken away, and
proposed the insertion of the words in the pre-
amble of the bill limiting the area of selection to
within a mile and a half of the Elephant and Castle.

Mr_ Sturrny supported the limitation.
The committee, however, decided against the in-
sertion of the words, and declared the preamble to
have been proved.

The clauses were then agreed to, and the pro-
ceedings terminated.

COMMITTEE FOR PRIVILEGES.

HOUSE OF LORDS, JULY 28.

Their lordships sat to-day as a committee for
privileges ; Lord Redesdale in the chair.

THE DUNDONALD PEERAGE.

The further hearing of this claim was resumed
this morning. _ _ _

Mr. Fleming and Mr. Kay were counsel for the
petitioner ; Mr. Archbold represented Captain the
Hon. A. L. P. Cochrane; the Attorney-General
watched the case on behalf of the Crown.
On the last occasion the Countess Dowager of
Dundona'd gave evidence in support of the peti-
tioner's claim, and its further consideration was
adjourned for the production of additional evidence
of a witness who was too ill to attend at the bar.
Mr. Macqueen, Q.C., was appointed a commissioner
for the purpose, and their lordships directed that
the examination should be zeturned to the house on
Friday, in order that the claim should be further
considered on Monday next.

CULLEN V. THOMSON AND OTHERS.-JUDGMENT.

Their lordship;-atting judicially, the Lord
ChancellJr, Lord Wensleydale, and Viscount Dun-
gannon, gave judgment in this case, which was an
appeal from the Court of Session in Scotland, in
an action brought by the appellant against Sir Wil-
liam Johnstone, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Kerr, the
former being one of the directors and the two lat-
ter being respectively the manager and secretary
of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Bank. The Court
below—the judgment of which was appealed
against—had pronounced certain interlocutors
which dismissed Thomson and Kerr from the suit.

The Lord Chancellor, in delivering judgment,
said that the decision of the Court below was based
on the assumption that the manager and the secre-
tary were servants of the company, and acted under
their control, and that the fraudulent misrepresen-
tation in the reports was made by the directors,
and not by the manager or secretary. He thought
that both those positions were unfounded, and
therefore he would advise that the interlocutors
should be reversed and the cause remitted. In that
opinion Lord. Cranworth, who had heard the argu-
ment, had requested him to state that he agreed.
Lord Wensleydale concurred.
Judgment accordingly.

second time where the fire was, and he then said that
it was a stack that was on fire, and that he had set
fire to it with a lucifer match. He then took the
prisoner into custody, and as they IN era going to the
police station he inquired of the prisoner what he
did it for, and he said that was his business. The
prisoner was searched and nothing was found on
him but two pieces of paper. The charge was en-
tered against him at the police-station, and, after he
had been cautioned, he was again asked how he
came to do it, and he then said he had done it
through want The prisoner afterwards said that
when he set fire to the stack he did not think it
would have blazed so, and he asked Mr. Martin,
superintendent of police, whether he thought he
should he transported for what he had done.
The prisoner, when called upon for his defence,
replied that he had nothing to say.
The learned Judge having summed up, the Jury
returned a verdict of guilty.
The prisoner was then tried upon the charge of
wilful murder.
Mr. Biron, in opening the case, said this charge
arose from the fact of an unhappy person being
sleeping in a barn adjoining the stack at the time
it was set fire to by the prisoner, and he explained
that the law held that every person committing
a wrongful and felonious act was responsible
for all the consequences ; and, although the
prisoner, when he set fire to the stack, was
probably entirely ignorant that any person was
inside the barn adjacent; still, as he had com-
mitted a felony by setting fire to the stack, and
the death or the unfortunate man was the
consequence, be was in law guilty of the crime of
wilful murder, if the evidence established the facts
to which he had referred.
The police-constable was then again examined,
and he repeated the evidence he had given in the
former case, as to meeting the pi isener. He added
that, upon going to the farm of the prosecutor he
found a stack of straw, two sheds, and a barn in
flames, and heard some one shouting for assistance
from one of the sheds, and this turned out to be the
deceased. His clothes were all in flames, and he
screamed for help, but it was impossible to render
him any, and he was burned to death. The pri-
soner was present, and he wanted to go to the as-
sistance of the deceased, but the witness told him
he could do no good, and refused to allow him.
The prisoner, when called upon to answer the
charge, said that on the night in question he went
to lay down to sleep outside the stack, and being
very cold he set fire to a small quantity of straw to
warm himself, and it spread to the stack and set it
on fire. He declared that he had no intention of
causing the mischief that had taken place.
Mr. Baron Bramwell, in summing up, said that
the law had been very correctly laid down by the
learned counsel for the prosecution, but he would
add this to the observations he had made, that in
his opinion there should be proof that the person
who lost his life was in the building at the time
the felonious act of setting fire to it was committed,
and that if he had merely gone into it from curi-
osity, or with a view to assist in extinguishing the
fire after it had broken out, in that ease the prisoner
would not be responsible for his death.
The jury, after a short deliberation, returned a
verdict of Not Guilty.
The learned judge deferred passing sentence upon
the conviction for arson.
Walter Naylor and Jacob Hales were charged
with feloniously throwing a stone upon the South-
Eastern Railway, at Sittingbourne, with intent to
cause injury to the carriages and passengers travel-
ling upon the line.
Mr. Round and Mr. Kaye conducted the prose-
cution ; Mr. Ribton was counsel for the defence.
It appeared that on the day named in the indict-
ment, as a train was passing under one of the
bridges near Sittingbourne, a stone was dropped
upon it, which remained on the top of one of the
carriages. The prisoners were seen near the spot,
and there was very little doubt that one or other of
them had dropped the stone u;. on the train ; but
there was no evidence to show under what circum-
stances the act was committed.
His Lordship, upon these facts, expressed his
opinion that there was not sufficient evidence to
support either of the felonious intents imputed to
the prisoners by the present indictment ; and the
jury therefore, under his direction, returned a ver-
dict of not guilty.
The prisoners were then tried upon another in-
dictment for misdemeanour, in having unlawfully
done an act that was calculated to endanger the
safety of passengers travelling upon the railway.
The evidence in this case was the same as in the
former.

Mr. Ribton made an ingenious address to the
jury on behalf of the defendants, and he contended
that not only was there wss no conclusive evidence
that either of them was that person who threw the
stone upon the railway, but that even if this fact
had been established, there was nothing to show
that the occurrence was not the result of accident.
The jury, after some deliberation, again returned
a verdict of not guilty.
The learned Judge told the defendants to be cau-
tious in future. The offence with which they had
been charged was a most serious one, and if they
had been convicted of the felony they might have
been sentenced to a long period of penal servitude.