The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-06 00:00:00

was in custody, they could give him the names of
all his companions. The police added, that there
were in Kidderminster at that time four or five
gangs of men, who went out at night marauding
and taking possession of game, whosesoever pro-
perty it might be ; that they were known to the
police, who also knew their rendezvous, and saw
them nightly returning with the booty into Kidder-
minster, but that such was the state of the law they
(the police) could not interfere, the law was
powerless, and the men could not be taken." Upon
this naturally followed his appeal of honest indig-
nation against some of the press. "He appealed
to anybody of sense whether the jargon that they
saw in many of the newspapers of the present day,
and some of it would probably follow in conse-
quence of that discussion, whether the jargon as to
' aristocratic game preservers' and the accidental
killing of a hare by an innocent peasant' was to be
an answer to such facts as he had mentioned, whe-
ther it was possible for the evil to exist without
producing demoralisation and serious effects on the
people of the country."
It is, of course, with diffidence that we venture
a remark or two, on the speeches and memorials of
nobility, clergy, gentry, and ex-ministers. We
must, however, observe that we doubt whether the
country will deduce the same inferences from the
facts of the memorial and the speeches as did the
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE for Worcestershire. These
gentlemen saw nothing in them but further protec-
tion for game ; their Chairman gave a hint of some-
thing better, but even he introduced the memorial
which points only to " arming the police with such
additional powers as the case demands." We ap-
prehend it will be found that even the House of
Commons dare not do anything worse than is now
done for the protection of game. The " aristocratic
game preservers," doubtless, would like to do it ; but
there is a public and an unpurchaseable press,
and its " jargon" intimidates even those who
abuse it. The press is but too well aware,
in the fulfilment of its duties, that it has to record
what proves that poaching must be a trade exten-
sively carried on, and that it is a training school
to vice and even violence, hardly inf€rior to smug-
gling.

The Press and the country, however, see no pos-
sible remedy but that just mentioned in a passing
way by the Chairman—the diminution of the tempta-
tion. It is in that way that smuggling is prevented.
The best preventive service in the world, as Sir
JOHN well knows, can never put down smuggling
when the profit is fifty per cent. Tobacco is the
article most frequently smuggled now. And while
preserves make game catching so easy, and the pro
fit on the outlay, as well as the pleasurable excite-
ment of the chase is so great, no laws which the
country will tolerate can put down poaching.
Stricter laws might make men more cunning and
more desperate—but given the preserve, and a
demand at a high price for its produce on the
tables of the country—and poachers there will be,
and in abundance too.

We must confess we regret to hear Sir JOHN
PAKINGTON taking a course unworthy, we think,
of his standing as a student of " Social Science,"
and a legislator generally leaning to the side of the
amelioration of our penal code. We ought to have
found him beginning at the other end. He ought
to have lectured the game preservers rather than
have encouraged them to hope for more stringent
laws in defence of their effeminate sport. A suffi-
cient amount of game for manly sport, watched by
a well-treated tenantry and peasantry, would be
little temptation to the poacher. It is the system
which makes a plantation a kind of poultry-yard,
and reduces shooting to little better than firing at
a target, or at pigeons from a trap, which creates
the poacher. The thousand poachers of Worces-
tershire are far more of a disgrace to the magis-
trate class than to the working class. The gen-
tlemen who create criminals by the thousand—
not to satisfy the necessities of trade or
agriculture, but rather to the ruin of the latter,
and solely to gratify a depraved form of a
noble pleasure—these are the persons who
must bear the infamy of a thousand poachers
in one not very large county. Instead of coming
whining for more protection to the Legislature, we
must bid them look around themselves, and act like
men. To talk of coming for " morality and order,"
while for a merely degrading form of sport they
nurture immorality and disorder, is, we are reluc-
tant to say it, no better than cant,

As to Sir MEIN PAKINGTON'S notion of making
game property, we wish him joy of it. It was not
endorsed at the meeting; it will only be laughed at
by lawyers and the public. It would not alter the
state of the case, since no law could create the con-
viction in the public mind, that a pheasant and a
partridge had the same relation to an owner as a
turkey and a hen.

INTERESTING PROCEEDINGS AT THE

OXFORD MUSIC HALL,

A Testimonial—the spontaneous expression of
the good will of the professional ladies and gc ntle-
men engaged at the Oxford and Canterbury Music
Halls—was presented, on Saturdayafternoon, at the
Oxford, to Mr. Ferdinand Jonghmans, the Musical
Director, in the presence of every member of the
company. The offering, consisting of an elegant
silver salver, bore the following inscription :
"Presented to Ferdinand Jonghmans, Esq., by the
artists of the Oxford and Canterbury Music Halls,
as a sincere mark of their respect and esteem, and
in appreciation of his conduct and talent as Musi-
cal Director, January 4th, 1862." Mr. C. Morton,
of the Oxford; assented to become the medium of
presentation, and paid a glowing tribute to the
untiring energy and skill of Mr. Jonghmans, which
had contributed largely towards bringing, first the
Canterbury, and subsequently the Oxford Music
Halls, to their present state of musical excellence.
Mr. Morton was followed by Mr. Caulfield, who, in
a few manly and unaffected sentences, pointed out
Mr. Jonghmans' services to the profession and to
the public. Mr. Jonghmans replied to these praises
in modest and suitable terms, reflecting the credit
back again upon the company under his baton, and
eulogising them for their professional z• al. Mr.
Russell, the father of the prima donna, followed ;
and, in the course of this very agreeable reunion of
the artists, a toast to the health of Mrs. Charles
Morton—whose birthday it happened to be—was
greeted with much enthusiasm.

The MINISTRY.—Lord Palmerston has been
gradually recovering during the week from his attack of
gout, but is still weak in his feet. The noble viscount has,
however, daily taken a carriage drive, and throughout his

illness, now extending to several weeks, has never been
prevented from transacting official business. Sir G. C.
Lewis, the Duke of Newcastle, the Duke of Somerset, Sir
G. Grey, Mr. Milner Gibson, the Duke of Argyll, and Mr.
Villiers are staying in London. Mr. Gladstone is expected
to arrive in town this clay (Monday.) Lord Granville is
also in London, and as Lord President of the Council, will
proceed to-morrow with other members of the Cabinet, to
attend the Privy Council appointed to be held by her Ma-
jesty at Osborne.—Observer.
_ _

T lIE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. —A Privy
Council will be held this day at her Majesty's marine re-
sidence, Osborne, Isle of Wight, for the further proroga-

tion of Parliament. On the 4th December last Parliament
was further prorogued to the 7th January. It is expected
that upon the present occasion the day for the meeting of
Parliament will be determined on, and that a proclamation
will be issued, summoning the Lords and Commons to
meet for the despatch of public business.—Observer.
SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY, EXETER-lIALL.
Haydn's Creation will he performed on Friday next, ;an.
10, when Mr. Sims Reeves will appear for the first time
since his tour with Madame Lind, Miss Parepa and Signor
Belletti sustaining the soprano and. bass solos.