The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-18 00:00:00

SADLE.RS' WELLS.

On the occasion of the benefit of Mr. Dudley, the
stage manager, two new candidates for metropo-
litan favour made their appearance here, viz., Mr_
Henry Manley and Miss Jane Manley. The gen-
tleman as Tom Tug, and the lady as Wilhelmina,
in the little piece, " The Waterman," chosen no
doubt to afford the talented couple an opportunity
of singing some capital songs. There is no doubt
that Mr. Manley is a muscian in the true sense of
the term, and the manner in which he gave the
well-known songs allotted to the part proved be-
yond a doubt that he possesses a tenor voice of first-
rate excellence. Miss Manley is a vocalist of much
ability, and also a seriocomic actress of more than
ordinary merit. The applause elicited by the
talented couple was loud and enthusiastic, and the
their appearance was altogether a very great
success.

NORTH AMERICAN JUSTICE.

The following incident, which is noticed with
approval by the press, and the principle of which
is recommended for application to persons more
important than its humble hero, occurred last week
in this city, and shows how little liberty the war
has left to the American people, as well as how
little they resent its loss_ A poor working man, a
house painter, named Gregory, who had, perhaps,
been indulging in a " morning smile," in the shape
of an extra glass of Bourbon whisky, was heard
discoursing at the corner of a street in Broadway to
a few persons who had gathered around him. He
expressed his settled opinion that " Stonewall"
Jackson was the best soldier and General in the
war, that Mr. Lincoln was a humbug, and that
Jefferson Davis would make a much better Presi-
dent. One of the officious six feet high policemen
of tae city, whose principal business seems to be
that of assisting ladies in and out of the omnibuses,
happened to hear these daring words, and forth •
with took the offender into custody on a charge of
treason, but the magistrate before whom the case
was brought was puzzled to know how to deal
with it. If it had occurred in St. Petersburg, the
knout would have been prepared for the bare back
of the oiEnder, and Russian justice would have
been satisfied with a couple of hundred lashes. But
the lash has not yet been introduced for white
shoulders in this country, so a telegraphic despatch,
was sent to Mr. Seward, at Washington, to ask
the advice of a statesman whose wit, like the
trunk of an elephant, can rend an oak or
pick up a pin with equal facility. The reply came
in due course. Mr. Seward did not recommend, as
he ought to have done, the summary conviction of
the man under the Police Act, for inciting to a
breach of the peace, neither did he recommend his
committal on a charge of treason, to take his triali
before the constituted authorities; but, assuming
the functions of judge and jury, and without hear-
ing witnesses, or calling on the culprit to speak in.
self defence, he sentenced him, through the tele-
graph, to take the oath of allegiance in the first
place, and afterwards to decide whe'cher he would.
go to Fort Lafayette a prisoner of State, or join
the army of INl'Clellan. The poor painter chose
the more perilous horn of the alternative, and was
sent to the Peninsula, whence if fever or the rifle
bullets of his Confederate friends do not shorten his
career, he will probably desert at the first oppor-
tunity. And this is justice in the State of New York t.
In Boston a similar case assumed a more dignified
aspect, for Boston, like all the cities of New Eng-
land, is intensely abolitionist, and hates the South
as bitterly as the South hates the Yankees (and out
of Pandemonium the force of hatred can go no
further). A merchant in that city, named Gor-
don, and his son, partners with him in business,
were accused of refusing to hoist the " stars and
stripes" over their store, when all the rest of the in-
habitants were rejoicing at some Federal victory in
Missouri or Tennessee. Worse still, one of the firm
had publicly declared that Mr. Lincoln and his Ad-
ministration were imbeciles, and that the rule of
fferson Davis was preferrable to theirs. It was
also alleged that either the father or one
of the sons had cheered when the news of
M'Clellan's defeat reached Boston. These things,
if uttered by a respectable merchant, and not by a
poor painter, might have been endured in New
York, where there are thousands of people in good
position who entertain similar opinions, but were
not to be tolerated in a city of strong-minded
women, rabid lecturers, sentimental poets, and
ultra-abolitionists such as Boston ; and the Gordcrns
were therefore arrested on a charge of treason and
committed to prison. Fortunately they had both.
the means and the courage to defend themselves
and were not to be treated like the painter. Last
week the case came on for trial. Their counsel,
Mr. Sennott, made a telling speech on behalf of
the right of free discussion. Taking the broad
ground that in the United States the people were
sovereign—that his clients were as much sovereigns
as any one else, and that the members of the Execu-
tive Government were, according to the Constitu-
tion, the servants of the Imperial people--he de-
clared that if his clients had committed treason, he
would commit treason himself—then and there—
in presence of the judge and jury. " What," he
asked,
" If I am frank enough t. ado I am sick of the swagger-
ing imbecility with which the Government tape managed
this war of life and death ? Is that treasonable ? 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 interrupt my business, and violate my Constitu-
tion, and kill my soldiers out of pure neglect, and gain only
anddsaisyasntoetrhing ?
defleaft
I allmtoarmteobpyutup it
hwisfholtlhyis?,
andA more,nasha
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 worse can he do to me than Seward
or Stanton have done already ?"
This was bold speaking fcr Boston, and it was
successful. The Cordons were triumphantly ac-
quitted, the Court holding that in Massachussetts a
man might talk treason, but could not be allowed to
act it.

The question arises, if in Massachussetts fhere is
still law enough left to consign cases of alleged
treason to the ordinary action of the tribunals, why
New York should be placed out of the pale of the
Constitution and governed by the despotism of Mr.
Seward and Mr. Lincoln ? Had such a case as
Gregory's occurred in England, Scotland, or Ire-
land in our day, or in those of John Hampden, in
our own civil wars, Gregory would have become a
popular hero. At the very least, a public subscrip-
tion would have been raised on his behalf to enable
him to engage and fee the most eminent counsel in
the country to try the right against the Minister.
And, if the Americans are not in reality the slow
and passionless people which Secession seems to have
made them, this course will yet be pursued ; and Mr.
Sennott, or some other counsel equally fearless, will
sooner or later be engaged in the cause celebre of
" Gregory versus Seward." But in all probability
poor Gregory will perish of scurvy, fever, or rifle
bullet, under the glorious banner of M'Clellan, and
there will be an end both of him and of his griev-
ance. And so little does the public or the press
seem to understand the principle involved that Mr.
Seward is publicly urged to submit Mr. Wendell
Philips to the same course of discipline, for having
publicly recommended that not another dollar or
another man should be contributed to the war
until the President shall decree the abolition of
slavery. Mr. Seward, however, is too prudent
to tackle such a formidable antagonist as Mr.
Philips would prove to be, and will discreetly let
him alone.

The great question of discussion and of interest
at this moment is the draught or conscription, which
will assuredly stir lit, this people, if anything will-
Making it my business to learn the opinions of the
working classes--who must form the bulk of the
armies of the Republic, if new armies are to be
raised, or the old ones maintained on their nominal
footing,--I find one universal sentiment of opposi-
tion to the idea of compulsory service. Already the
threPA has sent some thousands of Irish and Ger-
me.ns from New York and New England into Canada),
where they will escape taxation and conscriptions
and live in a free country. The Irish are particu-
larly indignant at the idea of being draughted, and
make anxious inquiries of Englishmen whether any
length of residence in America converts them ipso
facto into American citizens, if they have not takeo,
the oath of allegiance, or applied for letters of
ut
if i a
as a feeling among them is such
h
be enforced in New Yer
tnaat
conscriptiont naturalisation.
there will be danger of riots ; and, as great numbers
of the police are themselves of Irish birth, and cern-
paratively new to the country, it is not at all or:
tain that in such riots their sympathies would no:
be 011 th lee
e popular side. Nor are the Germans
hostile, While seated yesterday in a well-known
and luxurious establishment in Broadway, under
going the manipulation of an expert artiste in
th
art of haircutting, a lieutenant without an arm., apa
looking as if he could not long survive the weakness
nI
of fever and exhaustion, was led into the room b,
his father poor
nee
I could not avoid saying,
low ! and what is it all for ?"The German's g
say
was immediately unloosened. You may ccell
nc, is
that, sir. It is a wicked and useless war,
to live
bi
ruining the country, and making it
1 would s,edpetnli:
in. II I was a Southern man,
last drop of my blood in the cause at .nhe
deuce."