The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-15 00:00:00

Oxford and the Great Western Railway.

The following paper on this subject has been
issued by Mr. Charles Neate, M.P. :
" Mr. Goldwin Smith, in the paper which has been cir-
culated nuclei the above title, has, I think, pressed a littlo
too far the claims of the University on the city, and the
obligation of the latter to confine its growth and regulate
its pursuits according to the convenience of the former.
"It is, no doubt, true that Oxford would be but littlo
known to fame were it not for the University ; but it still
would have been a flourishing and considerable place if left
to itself from the natural advantages of its position. Before
the University can be properly said to have existed Oxford
was already of sufficient importance to be frequently re-
sorted to as the residence of the Sovereign. The University
grew up at first under the shelter and protection of the city,
and if the citizens are now too plainly told that the posi-
tions are reversed, many of them may be tempted to regret
that their predecessors were not left to enjoy the advantages
of a more humble but more independent position. ..
The citizens of their own accord are apt enough to re-
member the ties both of interest and feeling which binds
them to the University, but with regard at least to their
own interests they claim to be the best judges, and in this
instance they believe that the addition to the population of
a considerable number of the highest class of workmen, the
constant demand throughout the year for skilled labour,
will be a benefit, not only to the tradesman, who will have
to supply a new demand, but to the workmen and artisans,
who will have new and higher modes of employment open
to them.

"It is said that the railway company will, in the first in-
stance, bring their own workmen to their new quarter, but
it is not probable that they will even begin with none but
foreigners, still less is it likely that these will continuo to be
recruited from their own ranks, like an Indian caste. There
will be some interchange of employment between them and
the Oxford artisans, according to the tastes and capacities
of each, and there will bo opportunities given to the clever
youth of the poorer classes in Oxford which they do not
now possess.

"It is assumed—l. know not on what grounds—that the

new colony will have now shops, or co-operative stores of
their own. If it be so, the Oxford workmen at any rate may
learn a useful lesson from them ; but, from what I hear,
this is not likely to be the case at all generally. They can-
not, at any rate, build or furnish their own houses, nor is it
likely that they will either kill their own meat or grow their
own vegetables; and, as to the opposition objection—that
the new demand will cause a rise of price in such articles—
I believe that a more steady and continuous demand' will
rather act the other way, by giving the producer a greater
certainty of return and a longer time to make his profit in.
"As to the probable increase of pauperism with which
the citizens are threatened,they may well make light of that,
knowing how very insignificant has been the burden hitherto
thrown upon them in that way by the settlement of the
Great Western Railway among us, how very much more
they have gained from them in the way of rates than they
have had to spend on their account in relief ; and they rather
look to a diminution, at any rate, in the comparative rate of
pauperism, from the example of a more industrious and
sober class of working men than those which they now owe
to the presence of the University. I don't mention this as a.
reproach to the University—it is the necessary result of the
residence in Oxford, during six months of the year only, of
an idle and luxurious class ; but the University would do
well to remember what is the class which it chiefly contri-
butes to the population of the city before it objects to the
introduction of such a body of men as the workmen of the
Great Western Railway Company are likely to prove.
" I have hitherto written as a citizen. I would now say
something as to the interests of the University in the matter,
which the citizens, I am sure, are far from disregarding.
As a member of the University, I don't see what there is to
alarm us so much in the prospect of the threatened invasion,
and if there is any inconvenience likely to arise from it, it
is what we have no right to shrink from, but must meet in
the best way we can.
" The population of Oxford is now over 30,000. It is
proposed to increase it by about 5,000, probably not so
many, and those of a class above the average of the present
working men among us. No doubt any increase in the size
of the town, or in the number of its inhabitants, seems
likely, at first sight, to increase the difficulty of maintain-
ing discipline as it is now maintained ; but we do not
over-rate the benefit of that discipline, the necessity of
maintaining it all by University authorities, and, as a.
Oxford emi eant tceyr,
wof rfho
imf
ea
het'thhaehs
considerably greater than that with which we are now
ashvaepr
very
p eh agrnt
eeddaitis
nci inptchlrieenaleas
seltoi
3ns to t
yhi
enea
rFunrleinant
ictorneeasffioe-f
threatened ?

" The new colony will be settled apart from the Univer-
sity portion of the town, close upon the great city recreation
ground, where they will find their natural outlet in holiday
times , and if we may meet them occasionally in our own
more usual walks, there are I hope not many among us
who would object to it.
"We may think, indeed, that the world is getting too
full ; we may wish, at least, that it were less so, but we
have no right to decline our share of the general burden ;
and if there is any benefit to be derived, as I hope and
believe there is, from the moral influences of Oxford,
from the facilities of edlinatir. fnr .11 r 0.„,,„,,
abound, from the very sight, as Mr. Goldwin Smith thinks,
of the buildings in which our work has been carried on
for ages, we should be loath to deprive of that benefit
those by whose work wo are so ready to profit for our
own convenience.
This is not the first time that a groundless panic has
been raised in Oxford about the Great Western Railway.
The first approaches of our great modern benefactor were
met by us in the same distrustful spirit in which we now
resist its further advances, and the opposition we then
offered to the passage of the railway in its natural line
proved, unhappily, but too successful.
"We are all of us, I believe, sorry for the mischief which
we then did to ourselves in the loss of convenient communi-
cation, to the country in the great waste.of its capital, and,
above all, to the city, which we are now reproaching with.
the benefits which we have conferred on it. _

" It is now too late to repair our error ; but let us at least
remember it as a warning against the counsels of those whot
would advise us to repeat it."

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1865.

The correspondence between Earl RUSSELL, Sir
F. BRUCE, and Mr. ADAMS respecting the assassina-
tion of President LINCOLN is now before the public,
and although it is very brief, and merely contains
the expression of the general regret and indignation
couched in the stately terms of diplomatic courtesy,
it is not unimportant. The American people must
have received with gratification the prompt expres-
sion of the unanimous feeling of England, and the
sympathy simultaneously shown by the Crown,
the Parliament, the press, and the people. Ameri-
cans of the Northern States have been well aware
during the progress of the war that the majority
in this country regarded the secession of the
South as perfectly justifiable, and that the
reckless severity with which the North prosecuted
the Wax tune generally condemned by the calmer
and more merciful English. Impatient of anything
like censure or opposition, they chose to believe that
England was jealous of their success, and looked
with pleasure on their misfortunes; and the timid
subservience of her Ministers only seemed to pro-
voke them to further arrogance. But on the occa-
sion of Mr. LINCOLN'S Sudden and terrible end all
difference and disputes between the two countries
1V C r e forgotten, and the English people of every
rank, and of every shade of party, united in express-
ing their abhorrence of the crime and their sympathy
w itli the political perplexities which it occasioned.
The _Americans could not regard the sentithent
shown at that time as other than profound
and
genuine, and it is to be hoped that the cordial sym-
pathy felt for their grief will induce them to lend
a more attentive ear to the remonstrances which are
now addressed to them across the Atlantic. The
fortune of war, by one of those saddens turns which
history sometimes records, has given to the North
sudden and complete success. Without doubt the
representatives of Federal policy occupy a most
trying position. With the feelings of the people
incensed and irritated by the murder of their Pre-
sident, and the attempted assassination of their
principal fitategman, they have to deal with ad Nu-

quered and prostrated foe. Had the South thought
it advisable to make terms while yet the power of
resistance remained to them, the case might have
been different : but, unhappily, the surrender of
the Southern armies, and the evacuation of the
Southern capital, were almost identical with the
cruel murder of Mr. LINCOLN, and under the double
excitement much allowance ought naturally to
be made for the first expressions of feeling on the
part of the North. The Americans are not a mag-
nanimous people. Moderation and forbearance are
by no means their primary virtues as a nation,
though, of course, many of their more thinking
and reflective men possess those qualities in a.
high degree. The crisis through which the States
are now passing is one which especially needs the
exercise of those very qualities in which the Ameri-
cans, as a race, are deficient ; and the difficulties
attending the pacification of the South and the
reconstruction of the Union are certainly great and
complicated enough to appal the most adventurous.
But the unfortunate good fortune of the North has
culminated all their perplexities in the chance which
gave into the hands of Northern rulers the life of
the Southern President. A wiser Government, more
experienced in the changes of nations, and valuing
more accurately the moral position and character of
a nation would have avoided any such dilemma, by
stopping the pursuit after DAVIS instead of stimu-
lating it by offers of reward. Having been un-
lucky enough to capture him, they would at once
have despatched him from the country with a sen-
tence of exile or confiscation, if they thought it
necessary to make a show of severity. The Federal
Government, on the other hand, seem to be making
every effort to increase their own dangers and diffi-
culties. They must needs take up the absurd charge
of treason, and treat a ruler of equal rank and pre-
tensions with their own President, elected, like him,
by the will of his fellow-countrymen to the
supreme direction of affairs, as a felon guilty
of some great offence. The hardships to which
Mr. DAVIS has been condemned are such as no
criminal in this country is called upon to endure,
even when convicted ; and they would have been
out of place even had JEFFERSON DAVIS been only
the ringleader of a local riot instead of the undis-
puted ruler of several millions of people. The right
of the Confederates to the position of recognised
belligerents is ably discussed by lllsTonlcus in a
letter on " Rebellion and Civil War." He shows
very clearly the limits of a rebellion, whose pro-
moters cannot claim the protection of the laws of
war, and points out the impossibility of a struggle
of the extent and character of the American
contest being classed as mere temporary rebel-
lion. He strengthens his arguments by copi-
ous quotations from VATTEL, an admitted
authority on all matters of international law and
justice, and the great jurist's dictum on the point
at issue is clear and unmistakable. " When a
nation," he says, " becomes divided into two parties,
absolutely independent, and no longer acknow-
ledging a common superior, the State is dissolved,
and the war between the two parties stands on the
same ground in every respect as a public war be-
tween two different nations. . . . There exist in
the State two separate bodies who pretend to abso-
lute independence, and between whom there is no
judge. They decide their quarrel by arms as two
different nations would do. The obligation to ob-
serve the common laws of war towards each other
is therefore absolute, indispensably binding on both
parties, and the same which the law of nature im-
poses on all nations in transactions between State
and State." VATTEL certainly never admitted that
one party had a right to treat the recognised head
of the other as a common felon, or to condemn him
to death for the political offence of rebelling against
the Government. The execution of JEFFERSON
DAVIS cannot possibly be defended on any grounds
of political right, and, as a matter of expediency, it
would be the most fatal mistake that the Federal
authorities could commit. So cruel and unjust an
exercise of arbitrary power would not fail to alienate
the sympa,thies of the better clam of their
own partizans, while the whole people of the
South would naturally by deeply incensed at the
outrage and the insult. The sentiments of Europe
on this subject have been expressed with so much
force and unanimity that we hope they will not be
altogether without effect, now that the first madness
of passion has subsided. As " Ilistoricus" ably
puts it, " The American Government and the
American people are standing on the brink of a great
offence against the conscience of mankind. It is
one of those occasions which determine the charac-
ter of nations, and with their character determine
their destiny." Let us hope then that our kinsmen
may awake to the nature of their responsibilities,
and of the great political crime to the commission of
which a vindictive and selfish Government is leading
them. The Americans, in the course of their brief
history, have won many victories, but they never
suffered so damaging areverso as they will inflict on
their own fortunes and character by the exercise of
unwarrantable severity.

The state of affairs in Prussia affords constant
opportunity for observation and reflection. On
Tuesday, in the Chamber of Deputies, the bill re-
ferring to the expenses of the war with Denmark
was discussed. Herr WAGENER proposed, as an
amendment, that the Government be requested to
endeavour to bring about the annexation of the
Duchies to Prussia, even by indemnifying if neces-
sary any claimant to their possession. The Govern-
ment bill was rejected, and the proposals of the
committee were agreed to by a large majority. The
amendment was also rejected. It is a decided rebuff
to the Ministers thus to find themselves opposed on
such an essential point as this war with Den-
mark ; and they must be mortified in the
extreme that the world should thus see dis-
union and strife among them and the represen-
tatives of the people upon a topic on which
they professed such unanimity to exist. Herr Bis-
MARK'S speech on this occasion is very peculiar,
and exhibits something more of his real intentions
than he ordinarily suffers to appear in his discourses
to the Senate. His remarks cout:erning the Duke of
AtiGUSTENBURG are very significant, and would be
ludicrous if the consequences of this matter were not
so serious. Herr BISMARK states that they have
now carried out their programme for the solution
of the question of the Duchies, except as regards
the Duke of AUGUSTENBURG being installed as the
Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. The delay is occa-
sioned by the Prime Minister not having yet
proved his hereditary rights to the Duchies. If he
were to succeed in doing so, he could be put in
possession any day. Now, does it not seem strange
and inconsistent that the Berlin Government should
go to war proclaiming it their express intention to
instal the Duke as sovereign of the disputed
Duchies, and then, when the time comes for their
fulfilment of that design, for them to turn round
and declare that he has not yet proved his claim in a
satisfactory manner. Common sense and justice alike
proclaim that this should have been ascertained before
so many arrangements were made, and such con-
fusion caused in his name.

It appears also that the Duke himself is gating
tired of all this humbug and shuffling, and, according
to Herr Vox BISMARK, has spoken out pretty plainly
on tlics §ubjeci, There great truth in the

observations of the Duke, and they form a good
criticism on the inconsistent cause of the Prussians.
d: 'Why did you come to the Duchies ? " demanded
th. e Duke of Herr BISMARK ; "we did not call you,
m: titters would have been settled without Prussia."
TI its is more true than polite or pleasant, when it
w as so plainly declared that the assistance of the
•German powers was greatly needed. It was the
"best proof of the correctness of opinion of those who
.all along mistrusted the sincerity of Prussia thus to
witness the contretemps and confusion that prevails
now that the settling-day has arrived. When several
parties are mixed up in an affair and joined together
to forward an undertaking, there is sure to be mis-
chief and misunderstanding unless all agree and
make a common cause of the matter. Such a con-
summation is far off in the present instance, and
the other nations of Europe, that last year were
shocked at the arbitrary proceedings of Prussia in
conjunction with her ally, are now scandalised to
witness the altercations which are taking place, and
the disgraceful spectacle which that country pre-
sents—tumult among its counsellors and discords
with its allies. Herr BISMARK intimates his inten-
tion to go on in his pre-determined course, for he
states that the Duke of AUGUSTENBURG, having
refused their " moderate demands," they will
now be justified in subsequently increasing
them. This is always the end of every-
thing with the Ministers of Prussia. When
their hard and harsh requirements are not complied
with, and when any protest is entered, even of the
mildest character, against their encroachments, then
they turn round and declare that they will be mode-
rate no longer, but increase their demands and in-
sist on their being complied with. The King of
PRUSSIA, of course, accompanied by Herr BISMARK,
will shortly proceed to Carlsbad, where he will
meet the Emperor of AUSTRIA, and his Prime
Minister, Count MENSDORFF. These worthies will
have plenty to discuss when they do assemble, and,
doubtless, it would be very edifying to hear what is
said at these congratulations. It is a reproach to
the whole of the party that last year this same sub-
ject of the Duchies was discussed when the EMPE-
ROR and KING met last year, and the question is still
in abeyance. Such a course of proceeding is quite out
of character, and incompatible with the dignity and
decorum that should distinguish the rulers of
mighty kingdoms and the statesmen of great
people ; but we see now very plainly that high
principle, chivalrous sentiments, and heroic feelings
are far removed from the counsels and considera-
tion of the Germans at this juncture. All their
policy is to get as much as possible into their
possession, and if force and fraud can ac-
complish this great desideratum, they are
welcomed eagerly, and pressed into the ser-
vice as aids and auxiliaries, instead of being
spurned and despised as being beneath the notice
and as unworthy of the character of a great people.
Now that this question of Schleswig-Holstein has
assumed such formidable proportions, and its solu-
tion is still threatened with delay, we may well
consider the circumstances of last year. We regret
the resolves which were then made by those in au-
thority, and unfortunately acceded to by the ma-
jority of the house of Commons. Had our
Ministers and Legislature taken a more decided
course, and endeavoured to convince Prussia of the
folly of her conduct, very different would have been
the consequences to many, and even to Prussia
itself advantages would have accrued, because
the Ministers would have been prevented from
making an exhibition of themselves before the
world, and bringing disgrace upon the country—.
now, in the eyes of its contemporaries ; hereafter,
in the pages of history. It is quite certain now
that Prussia had but one object in view from the
outset of these attempts on Schleswig-Holstein,
and that that object was to obtain possession of the
Duchies for herself at any cost and at any price.
It is a significant sign of the times that no one is
now found to take up the cause of the
German Powers, and that none of those zealous
advocates who last year were so ready and resolute
in the matter now give themselves any trouble
about it. The evil is done, however ; and, while on
one hand Denmark is virtually ruined, on the other
the States of Germany and the Duchies are threat-
ened with war, and the general peace and prosperity
of the rest of Europe likely to be assailed through
their agency. That the present Cabinet of Berlin
is losing its hold upon the confidence of the people
is very evident from all the accounts that reach us
of the doings in the Chamber of Deputies. Only
yesterday a proposal, which Herr Von BISMARK, in
the name of the Ministry, combated, was agreed to
by a very large majority, thus adding another to
the long list of rebuffs and defeats sustained by
Ministers this session. It would be difficult to decide
who are the gainers in this affair as yet, or who
are likely to be so in the long run. It is one of the
most striking instances of the folly of these unwar-
rantable designs upon the rights of nations and the
liberties of the people that has been adduced in
modern times. What did Prussia want with more
territory, and why did the Austrians so eagerly join
with her to despoil and depredate? Their plots and
plans have utterly failed in increasing their real
strength, and immense sums have been squandered
to no purpose. The Schleswig-Holstein affair is
likely to live long in the memory of all concerned,
and while it has entailed great losses on Denmark,
the injuries which the German Powers will have to
sustain will be far more serious in the end, for they
will lose the respect and forfeit the goodwill of
other countries without having acquired anything to
serve as an equivalent.

THE ATTEMPTED MURDER AT CHATTIAM.—Yes-
Herday the prisoner Thomas Lock, who stands
charged with having attempted to murder Susannah Emma
Williams, aged 19, to whom he was about to be married,
by discharging a loaded pistol at her, under the circum-
stances previously reported, underwent a lengthened exa-
mination at the Chatham Police-court. The prisoner, on
being placed in the dock, presented a deplorable appearance,
his features being scarcely discernible,while both his upper
and lower left ja,wboneswere broken, and his face, hand, and
arms severely injured from the bursting of the pistol with
which ho fired at his intended victim. The prosecutrix,
who, as well as the prisoner, has been confined in St. Bar-
tholomew's Hospital, Rochester, over since the occurrence,
was also in an exceedingly weak condition, the marks
where the shots and slugs took effect on her being clearly
discernible. According to her evidence it appeared that she
is the daughter of a warrant-officer belonging to her Ma-
jesty's ship Wellesley, 72, at Chatham, and that she had
known the prisoner for about a month before the attempt
on her life by working with him at the same sowing-
machine establishment. They were engaged to be married,
and the banns had been published, but the prosecutrix had
subsequently wished prisoner to release her from her promise.
This, however, ho refused to do, although the prosecutrix
repeatedly told him she would never marry him. On the 24th
of May she was in the house with aMrs. Kcal°, inGoldston's-
court, High-street, Chatham, where she was in the habit of
taking her dinner, when Lock came in, and having stated
that ho had not been to work, asked the mistress of the house
to send for some beer for the prosecutrix and himself. This
she refused to do, Lock still remaining in the room. Tho
prosecutrix then proceeded to put on her hat, with the in-
tention of leaving the house, when the prisoner took from
his pocket a large pistol and, pointing it at her, discharged
its contents at her head, the prosecutrix falling insensible
to the ground, most of the shots taking effect in her head
and face. The pistol burst at the moment of the discharge,
inflicting on Lock the injuries already stated, and they were
both conveyed in a cab to the hospital. Tho prisoner with
difficulty cross-examined the prosecutrix to show that they
were on terms of groat intimacy before the occurrence.
Mrs. Keafe, at whose house tho attempt at murder was
made, fully corroborated tho evidence of the prosecutrix ;
and after the Bench had examined the medical witnesses
concerned the prisoner was fully committed to take his
trial at the next i9K4CIat.