The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-05 00:00:00

EXAMINE THE PRISONER !

M. Macaire, on the contrary, placed between two gen-
darmes, is the very essence of vitality. He is the centre
actor of the whole piece. M. le Premier President is always
asking him questions, and he himself is always answering
those questions, or making little speeches, or interrupting
witnesses, or being interrupted. Sometimes, indeed,
he grows hot and violent, and gets into personal alter-
cation with M. le Premier President, with the result
of being dragged a little roughly from the room by his two
gendarmes. But, on the whole, it is certain that M.
Macaire is regularly tried as M. Macaire, and that he has
such a trial as could not take place in the absence of
M. Macaire ; whereas, the other gentleman, his fellow-
creature in misfortune, Mr. Wild, is merely a puppet on
trial, ornamenting the vacuity of the dock. This is rather
a curious difference, and the result is no less curious. This
opposite treatment, in our country, arises from a certain
sacredness with which the character of criminal is invested.
That every man is presumed innocent until proved to be
guilty, is the grand maxim ; which is yet developed further,
into every guilty man is presumed innocent, until his
neighbour shall prove him guilty. The law watchesf
he
over
him tenderly and affectionately, checks him,
i
would speak, pretends not to hear him if he has
spoken, sets him free if he has been adroit enough to com -
mit his crime in the absence
of of witnesses, or what may be
called the dumb testimony circunastances. With M;
Macaire, on the contrary, there is no such tenderness. At
every damning piece of evidence the president asks him,
" Accused, what do you say to that If accused be inno-
cent, he will thankfully accept the opportunity, and will
probably give a satisfactory explanation. If he be guilty,
and the statement be really embarrassing, he will invent a
lie on the spot, which will be inconsistent with some
other part of his statement, and will have the effect of en-
tangling him still further. He will be allowed, eventually,
to explain whatever share he took in the transaction. On
the supposition of M. Macaire's being innocent, such a
statement, however unsupported. will be satisfactory so far
as it goes ; and, if it be fair and candid and straightforward,r
will be very welcome to a jury. If he be guilty,such a
statement must necessarily be an artificial view the
case,
only
and being sure to be full of contradiction, will become
another proof of guilt.—Dickens's " 411 the Yearßeund''

EXTRAORDINARY GALLANTRY OF FRENCH Hus
BANDS.—A French
_manager has hit upon a beautiful ex-
pedient for filling his theatre ; which was formerly not
patronised at all. He has advertised that ladies shall be
admitted at half-price, the children at quarter price, and
babies for nothing 1 The consequence is, that the wives
force their husbands to take them. All the cals. and Wa-
rnings in the town are quite deserted,—Putsch,

PLYMOUTH, Tuesday.—The Orient, 1,032 tons,
belonging to Messrs. James Thomson and Co., London,
sailed last evening, with 60 cabin and intermediate passen-
gers, a full general carp, and 36 valuable rams, for Ade-

!aide. This is the ship the cargo of which (2,400 bales o

Australian wool) ignited spontaneously on the 2d of Jan.,
last year, shortly after touching at the Cape of Good Hope.
_ _ _ .

When the ship was-cleared out in the London Docks 12 of
her timbers and five beams were found so much burnt and
charred that they had to be replaced, as well as all the main
deck from the main hatchway forword. Her repairs, which
were most complete, cost about £2,000. When the fire broke
out the passengers were transferred to a Dutch merchant•
man commanded by Captain Vanzanten. Capt. Lawrence
then poured water into the hold until he smothered the
fire. He ran the vessel to Ascension and discharged the
injured portion of his cargo there. In recognition of ser-
♦ices rendered on this occasion, the Board of Trade pre..
sented Captain Vanzanten with a gold chronometer worth
£lOO, and various insurance companies presented one piece
of plate to Captain Barnard, Governor of Ascension, an-
other to Captain Lawrence, and the sum of £BOO for distri-
bution among the master, officers, and crew of the Orient.
The wool is supposed to have ignited in consequence of its
being packed in a damp state when pressed or " dumped"
by hydraulic machinery for stowage on board ship.
_

GRAND VOLUNTEER REVIEW ON WHIT MONDAY.
Yesterday the final arrangements were completed with the
Great Northern Railway Company for conveying a great
muster of volunteers from London and intermediate stations

to Hertingfordbury, near Hertford, to take part in a review
and field day at Penshanger Park. Lord Cowper having
made extensive arrangements for a great volunteer display
in his beautiful park on Whit-Monday, the above railway
company have consented to run special trains at 11 30 and
11 40 a.m., returning at 6 45 and 7 p.m., at the low fare of
Is., to the entrance of the park and back. The following
corps with others have promised to attend, and are expected
to muster very strong on the occasion :—The South Mid-
dlesex Rifles, under the command of Lord Ranelagh; the
West Middlesex, under Lord Radstock ; the North Middle-
sex, under the new commandant, Lieut.-Col. Whitehead;
the Second Administrative Battalion, under Col. Wilkin-
son ; the St. George's, under Col. Lindsay ; the Central
London, under Col. Money; the Artists; the Six Foot
Guards, under Col. Somerset; and the let Middlesex En-
gineers, under Col. M‘Leod. Lords Ranelagh and Cowper
take the command, and a sham fight has been arranged to
come off on an extensive scale, including pontooning across
the rivers by the Engineers, with skirmishing and light
infantry movements, for which the pictureque grounds of
Penshanger are peculiarly adapted.
EXPORT OF FIREARMS FROM BELGIUM.—The
export of firearms from Belgium, which in the first four
months of 1860 amounted in value to 3,399,000 fr., and in
the year 1861 to 4,397,000 fr., has in the same period of this
year reached the sum of 7,040,000 fr., being an iacrease of
ande a
60 per cent. on 1861, and of 100 per cent. on 1860. From
the returns published by the _Belgian Moniteur, it is itnpos_
Bible to know to what countries those arms have gone, as t
n
amount of 2,565,000 fr. is set down as having been sent
the France, where the import of them is prohibited
can consequently have only gone there in transitu. lley
Eng-
land has, moreover, taken for a sum of 1,300,000 fr. ; n
t to
Zollverein for 1,000,000 fr., and the United States for
1,000,000 fr.
The new line of railway from Toni
rejeau has just been officially examined and Toulouse
approved e do
of Mont.b;
W
the Administration of Public Works, and will be opened of
Monday next.
A Marseilles letter 8
: says —" M. Lambert, the
envoy of the King of Madagascar,
stay in Rome, as he has
he r hase in
thenot C
madeapr
Capri."
a,
',N long
An accident, which returnedmight have terminated
fatally,
Occurred a few daysi back in the railway which tra-
verses the town of Nantes. The driver of an omnibus,
persisting in crossing the line just before the arrival of a
train,
in spite of injunctions to the
contrary, got fixed in the
rails, and although the breaks were used in the train, a
slight collision could not be prevented ; the omnibus was
overturned, and several passengers and one of the horses
injured.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PICTURE.—The San
Francisco papers state that snows and frosts continue to
keep back adventurers to the Salmon River mines, while
the supply of provisions was so scanty that untold misery
and death were threatening. Indeed, many already on the
spot are unable to work tor the snows, and dreading star-
vation, were leaving the mines for a time. Considerable
sickness existed among them. A similar story may be told
of the Cariboo mines in British Columbia. The rivers and
interior country continued to be bound up by frost, and pro-
visions had at many places risen to a famine price. Flour, at
Yale, was said to be 75 dole. a barrel, while it was seriously
reported that Chinamen there were paying as high as 5
dole. for dogs and cats to keep themselves from starvation.
As to the gold prospects, nothing particularly new
is mentioned. The lucky fellows write letters to the
newspapers, dilating on their 100 or 500 dole. a day, to the
hand ; while the unlucky ones, having nothing to say,
" grin and bear it," hoping for better times soon. Some
correspondents, however, do express a fear that the diggings
are by no means so extensive as at first believed, nor so rich
as interested parties such as steamboat men, teamsters,
farmers, and speculators generally—report.