The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 20, 1862.

tainly have swung from the gallows as ever Dr.
DODD or FAUNTLEROY.

Extraordinary trials are not confined to old
Europe. We have just read of one in America, in
which the license of counsel, and that too against
the mighty powers of Washington, was assumed to
an extent perhaps unknown before under such a
despotism as that which now reigns in Federalism.
It should be remembered that Mr. LINCOLN is
able, at pleasure, to send any one to Fort Lafay-
ette, no reason being assigned, no habeas corpus
being available. The counsel, therefore, in this
case, attacked the Government in terms rarely
heard, at his peril ; though probably he knew that

the bolder his speech the less the danger.
Boston, the city of WM. CHANNING, is, as our
readers may be aware, not only the literary city—
the Athens—of America, it is intensely abolitionist,
and repays with equal bitterness the bitter Southern
hatred of the North. Some merchants in it, how-
ever, of the name of GORDON, father and son, do
not appear to there to the full the sentiments of
the educated many of Boston. At one of the re-
joicings for some Federal success they failed to
hoist the Federal flag, or to join in the rejoic-
ings. Worse still, one of the firm had
boldly ventured an opinion, that " Mr. LINCOLN
and his Administration were imbeciles, and that
the rule of JEFFERSON DAVIS was preferable to
theirs." An opinion which, if the ability of the
respective rulers were the ground of the preference,
probably would not be called in question through-
out Europe. If moral qualities were the test,

doubtless the prize must be awarded to the man
who has earned the name of " Honest ABE," while
JEFF. DAVIS is only the " Clever fellow." The
language was, however, held to be treasonable, and
forthwith the GORDONS were arrested on a charge

of treason against the Federal Government.

The GORDONS, however, had the means of self-
defence. The right of free speech was in question.
Professional aid was obtained, and it was, it
appears, of a character before which the State law
officers quailed when the case came on. Mr. R. H.
DANA, the district attorney, appeared, and on the
ground that no overt acts were proved, and that
expressions of hostility to the Government merely,
or only receiving intelligence from the South did
not come up to the statutable definitions of treason,
he declined to prosecute, and entered a nolle pro-

se gut.

But the counsel for the GORDONS, —like Mr.
OSBORNE the other day, on the fortification busi-
ness—was not to be cheated out of delivering a first
rate speech of first rate Yankee eloquence. He
asserted his right, notwithstanding the withdrawal
of the Government from the prosecution, to vindi-
cate the character of his clients, and he proved his
right by using it. Mr. SENNOTT, for that was
the name of the American ERSKINE, very well
knew that his clients needed no vindication—he had
come prepared to mount the top of the ladder by an
oration on freedom of speech, the sovereignty of
the people, and the servitude of the Government.
He declared he valued free speech more than
his life—a very safe declaration just then—
he abused the "Yankee sneaks," who informed
and prosecuted—he denounced leading men as
worse than the cruel LEDBETTER and the conspira-
tor FLOYD. Mr. SUMNER himself and Governor
ANDREWS are castigated for advising " their
friends to put their feet on the necks of those who
differ from them ; they are a few small conspirators
in agreement with the principal Thugs of Washing-
ton." He openly declared that he had a right to
talk what treason he pleased. " Democratic prin-
ciples gave him that right—the word of GOD him-
self gave it to him !" As to the Secretary SEWARD,
he and Mr. SUMNER were the Fox and the Gander
in the illustrations of the celebrated German story
of Beinecke .Fuchs.
But SENNOTT washy no means content with perso-
nal abuse worthy of an Old Bailey barrister, he went
into the philosophy of the case. What if his client had
found fault with the Government, with its " swag-
gering imbecility," while managing a war of life
and death, he was, as a Sovereign, but finding fault
with his servants, which he had surely a perfect
right to do." Shall my Government—that is to say,
my servant, my creature—waste my money, and
even let it be stolen, and stop my paper, and in-
terrupt my business. and violate my constitution,
and starve and kill my soldiers out of pure neglect,
and gain only disaster and defeat for me by all this
folly ? And shall I say nothing ? If I am to
put up with this, and more, and say nothing, or
else be shut up by order of W. H. SEWARD, I
want to know, seriously and calmly, what
shall I fight JEFF. DAVIS for? What shall I
fight JEFF DAVIS for ? What worse can he do to
me than SEWARD or STANTON have done already ?
What, indeed—when their want of sense and want
of energy have made him everything that he is !
Lost money may be regained, lost armies may be
replaced out of our swarms of men, but who shall
give us back the time we have fooled away' before
the dirt heaps of Manassas ?"
In this style did the worthy counsel for the
GORDONS do his best to follow up, in regard to
freedom of speech, the defence of unlicensed printing
by our MILTON ; and it must at least be owned that
ho defended freedom of speech by speech as free as
could ever be desired.

But, alas, in this case, the battle is to the strong,
or at least to the rich. We read in the same com-
munication from America, of a poor painter at New
York, who could not afford to employ counsel,
but who, inspired, it is also believed, by a little
whisky, had freely expressed his opinion at New
York that Stonewall JACKSON was the best
soldier and general in the war ; Mr. LINCOLN a
humbug, and that JEFFERSON DAVIS would make
a better President. He also was arrested. He was
charged with treason, but no Mr. SENT OTT could be
paid to defend him. The magistrate was perplexed.
Not knowing what to do with him, he telegraphed
to Mr. SEWARD, and short work truly the Secre-
tary of War made of it. He took on himself the
functions of both judge and jury, and sentenced
him, first, to take the oath of allegiance, and then
to choose between Fort Lafayette, as a state pri-
soner, and the army ! The poor painter chcse the
army, doubtless intending, at the first opportunity,
to be numbered with the " missing," and_ give the
Confederates the benefit of his professional or his
military attainments. The writer who communi-
cates these facts justly asks whether such is justice
in New York. Quite certain is it that had any
artisan in Old Monarchical England been dealt
with in this style, his fellow-citizens would not
have allowed him to want counsel, who would have
made our proudest Prime Minister tremble. If
Mr. SEWARD'S regime be Republican Liberty,
we should like some better description of slavery
to despots.

political
ToNis
wratrsd are
"We are all proud of him"—the verdict of a
virearatherablli,np
otlpeonent, on the merits of Lord PALMER-
which all his countrymen have
accepted eve, since,
that the Cinque p We do not wonder, therefore,
had one historic " proud of him." They
got
tr in the great Duke, they
have to a certainty
Lord PA tehrheappse,rscounaro-f
LMERSTON.
relied with his individual acts
turns, we could

each lay our finger on something which has pro-
voked ns—and yet each of these very mis-
deeds as we think them, were English in
their misdoing. All the scrapes he has
got us into, as some would deem them,
in Syria, in China, in America, all were English
throughout, and we had to come to him to get us
English style. There is
outnEont
goal fi
stphhumeb
al
manßussian
living ar in
who is so altogether an
n. AnwaLord PALMERSTON has the
good luck to be the Englishman, without acting a
part, although beyond question he is an Irishman.
He is in fact in some points an Irishman, too'; not
least of all in his being liable to capsize when the
popular breeze is too propitious and strong, but also
in the geniality which ho never fails to maintain,
through good and bad fortune, almost equally. We
suppose we must say that Lord PALMERSTON is
a Union man, for how few have united in them-
selves so well the better qualities of the English-
man and the Irishman. Whether our brethren
' north of the Tweed will lay claim to any share
of his personality, we do not know. If they can,
like England and Ireland they, too, will be
" proud of him."

So the town of Dover yesterday showed its
pride. The mysterious portrait which was to be
presented by the corporation, which knew no-
thing about it before it was ready for presenta-
tion—a corporation which was to give what it
had never purchased, but somehow to give its
own, because it was, in copyhold fashion,
surrendered to it for his Lordship's benefit—
this mysterious picture was brought forward now
mysteriously draped to the last, in crimson cloth
All the processional honours which Dover and the
Cinque Ports could muster were collected, and a
public address, aimed to impress on his lordship
that he had in the long list of wardens, at least,
two predecessors worthy of his fellowship—a rather
meagre number certainly for so old an institution.
We are sorry to add that never was the insignifi-
cance of an officer better illustrated than in the
memorial and the Premier's reply. There was
nothing in the former —there was as little
in the latter. It seemed as if the whole
affair was a kind of warning that the antiquated
Wardenship of the Cinque Ports, which his lord-
ship took, in truth, because it went begging, had
better terminate with the distinguished man who
now holds it. It is not likely to be buried with
greater honour. And we should suggest to all
concerned—that the plate on the frame of the pic-
ture should record of Lord PALMERSTON, that he
was " last Warden of the Cinque Ports." We
should add that Lord PALMERSTON'S Wardenship,
like that of the Duke of WELLINGTON, will be
commemorated at Dover not only by a picture but
also by a bridge. The " Palmerston Bridge" and
the " Wellington Bridge" will be in close associa-

tion at Dover. How often the Duke and the -Vis-
count have each in their respective departments
bridged the public difficulties of the day, we need
not recount. The House of Commons will think
the emblem appropriate enough, to a man who
bridges the distance, not very great, between Whig
Liberals and Liberal Conservatives, and makes
them, practically, one body.

We regret to hear that Mr. John Lewis Ricardo,
M.P. for Stoke-upon-Trent, is seriously ill, and that his
condition excites the greatest apprehension amongst his
friends.

SOUTHAMPTON, Wednesday.—Lord Palmerston
has consented to attend and take a leading part in the open-
ing ceremonial of the Hartley Institution, the foundation-
stone of which building was laid by his lordship on the
Bth of January, 1861. The inauguration will take place at
the latter end of the ensuing month of September, and the
arrangements making by the mayor of the borough (Mr.
Frederick Perkins) will insure a literary and scientific
gathering worthy of the occasion and of the noble Premier
who, for the second time in the course of two years,
honours the town with his presence in connection
with educational progress. Dr. Francis T. Bond, late
Professor of Chymistry and Dean of the Faculty in
Queen's College, Birmingham, has been elected by the
Town Council to the once of Principal Librarian and
Curator, and the working machinery of the institution
will soon be put in operation.
THE LONDON SCOTTISH VOLUNTEERS.—The
prizes of Nos. 2 and 4 companies of the London Scottish
Volunteers, fired for on the 16th, were as follows :—No. 2,
seven shots at 200 and 400 and five at 500 yards.—A Kerr
small bore rifle won by Mr. Starke, 49 marks ; an opera
glass by Mr. Maclagan, 44 ; a gold pencil case by Sergeant
Bowers, 41; Mr. Greig made the large score of 42 marks
in competing for the Elcho Company's challenge Cup, won
by No. 4 company. In No. 4 company, five shots at 200,
400, and 500 yards, a small bore rifle and an Armoury Com-
pany's rifle, Mr. J. Anderson and Mr. F. Puckle, tied at
32 marks. A silver medal presented by Corporal Berri, five
shots at 300 and 500 yards, won by Mr. J. Anderson.
NEW PARK FOR LONDON.—A scheme has been
set on foot for the establishment of a new park close to
Hornsey, a pretty suburb of London, lying on the Great
Northern Railway. The prospectus of the new company,
the "North London Park and Land Company," says :
"Arrangements have been made bywhich possession has been
secured to the company of a magnificent estate, comprising
upwards of 458 acres of land splendidly timbered, well sup-
plied with water, and commanding picturesque views of the
surrounding country. The property is within five miles of
the metropolis, and close to Hornsey village. The Wood
Green station of the Great Northern Railway, by which
the park will be reached in about 10 or 12 minutes, is on the
estate. The Metrop Titan Railway, which is advertised to
be opened on the Ist Oct. next, will afford direct means of
access to the park from the very heart of London. On this
estate, which requires very little to develop its natural beau-
ties, it is proposed to enclose a park of about 200 acres, to
form gardens and ornamental grounds, and erect such build-
ings as may be required."
THE PREPARATION OF FLAX.—A new process is
recommended for conducting this operation, which com-
bines the advantages of being extremely simple, remark-
ably expeditious, and perfectly effective. The mode pro-
posed consists in heating the raw material for a sufficient
length of time, seldom exceeding three hours, by steam
raised to an adequate temperature—about 300 degs. answer-
ing the purpose—and the infusion of cold water at the re-
gulated moment. When dried, the fibre can be easily dis-
engaged by retting, while the article produced proves sound
in quality on account of the absence of steeping, and bright
in colour owing to partial bleaching.—Lublin Evening

DEATH OF A CELEBRATED ENGRAVER.—The
death is announced of a Mr. Erin Corr. As an engraver he
had obtained the highest European reputation. He was a
native of Brussels, member of the principal scientific and
artistic societies of that city, director of the School of En-
gravings at Antwerp, and professor of the burin art in the
Academy. His principal works are the "Saviour," from
Leonardo da Vinci ; "Christ upoa the Cross," from Van-
dyke ; the " Queen of Holland," from Scheffer ; and
" King Leopold," from Waffers. He spent the last ten
years in Paris, occupied with an engraving from the "De-
scent from the Cross." Throughout the Continent his
works hold the highest place amongst amateurs of en-
gravings.

THE MATTERHORN STILL UNSCALED.—The
Atheneum has the following about the recent attempts to
scale the Matterhorn :—The Alpine climbers who went
forth, early in June, to add the last triumph of skill and
daring to be won in the Swiss mountains, have again been
defeated. The peak defies all attempts. Mr. Whimper,
one of the Alpine Club, reached a higher point than had
hitherto been f eached ; but an accidental fall, which may be
truly described as one of the most miraculous escapes from
instant death on record, caused him to abandon for the pre-
sent, and perhaps for ever, all further assaults on the virgin
summit. In ascending the mass, of ice and snow, Mr.
Whimper, who was alone, was compelled in one place to cut
a series of steps in the ice. Knowing there was no further
difficulty of that kind to be feared, he left his hatchet be-
hind him, and OR his returning from his baffled attempt to
mount he found, to his horror, that his steps were gone.
The sun had melted them away. As his hatchet could not
be recovered, ho leant over the precipice and began to prod
at the ice with his alphenstock. Some snow gave way, and
he rolled over the ledge, brazing his face and body on the
rocks and ridges, crash, crash down the sides of a chasm
SOO feet deep. By a happy chance, he was cast on a rough
bed of rock on the crest of a precipice scarcely equalled in
the Alps, and there remained for an instant stunned and
bleeding, though not seriously hurt. He is slowly recover-
ing from the shock and from his wounds. A few days
later Professor Tyndal reappeared in the scene of his last
year's adventures. Mr. Whimper's tools and experience
were placed at his disposal, and the conqueror of the Riffel
set off full of confidence and courage. But his courage and
his endurance were taxed in vain. Again and again he
risked his life. Higher than any one has ever yet been up
the peak he crept and clamb—higher than Mr. Whimper ;
but the steepness of the highest peak repulsed him, and the
undaunted but unsuccessful mountaineer left the Matter-
horn unsealed.

LATEST NEWS.