The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-08 00:00:00

SHOOTING THE MOON.

"Au acquaintance of mine, who had been quartered
some months in the same town on the continent with
myself, came to England. I found him domiciled in a
second floor in London ; he was then on half-pay, and
having no further means, had placed his landlady so
long on no pay, that though, in the month of January,
she had stopped all issues of coals to him, he found his
apartments, in the common phrase, ' too hot to hold
him.' A leather portmanteau contained all his kit.
This he knew the sentry in the shop would not allow to
pass. So, one night, when the enemy were at mess,
alias supper, availing himself of a long cord brought for
the purpose, he quietly lowered his baggage from the
window, which a friend, stationed as outpost, received.
Our soldier, then, did not beat, but made a silent re-
treat ; and, between the two friends, his necessaries were
conveyed somewhere in the neighbourhood of Covent
Garden, and a fair friend gave shelter to the enterprising
soldier, who, like an able general, lost none of the ma-
terial of war in the retreat. He shortly afterwards
married a rich widow, and honourably paid his land-
lady, greatly, no doubt, to her satisfaction, and, pro-
bably, no little to her surprise."
Another time he tells us pleasantly enough of the
summary way in which a civil friend of his acted in

artirb

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock.

TATTER'SALL'S.

(THIS EVENING.)

The business transacted was on too limited a scale to
require quotation. 10 to 1 was taken in the City about
Peggy, and 5 to 4 was betted on her agst Aldford.

LATEST CITY BETTING.
CHESTER CIIP.
10 to 1 agst Peggy (taken).
12 to 1 agst Aldford (taken).
16 to 1 agst Baalbec (taken).
20 to 1 agst Acrobat.
20 to 1 agst Newminster (taken).
20 to 1 agst Dr. O'Toole (taken).
20 to 1 agst Domino (taken).
25 to 1 agst Catspaw (taken).
25 to 1 agst Sandhurst (taken).
25 to 1 agst Indian Warrior (t to some money).
25 to 1 agst Joe Miller (taken freely).
25 to 1 agst Tom (taken).
33 to 1 ag,st Star of Surrey (taken freely).
40 to 1 agst Llanforda.
40 to 1 agst Epaminondas.
sto 4on Peggy agst Aldford.
ADDITIONAL ARRIVALS. _ _

Eva, Cestrea,Alonzo, Lily, Mirabeau, Jujube, Punch-
box, Dear Me, Texture, Lough Bawn, Lord Lieutenant,
Indian Warrior, Surgeon-General, Bright Phcebus,
Usurer, Baalbec, Talfourd, Helena, Lord Alfred, Mid-
dlesborough, Lord Oswald, Gabriel, Robin Hood,
Red Lion, Gorin, General, Annie Sutherland, Miss
Peddie, Tom, Blame, Myrtle, Rataplan, Alas, Epami-
nondas, Brown Brandy, Domino, Orpheus, Jessamine,
Lioness, Nightshade, Anteverta, Bro. to King of Troy,
Grananthus, Bianca, Erycina, Billy Richardson, -v7L-
derdecken, Stiletto.

SCRATCHINGS.—The following horses are scratched for
all their engagements :—Dan Cupid, Merry Monk,
Rinaldo, Ringleader, Alexia, Dewdrop.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-(THIS EVENING.)

The house met at the usual hour. .
The Earl of EGLINTON presented a petition from
16 of the surviving soldiers of the last Peninsular war,
praying for an inquiry into their cases, relative to the
distribution of medals.

The LORD CHANCELLOR presented a petition
from several mercantile firms in Edinburgh against the
assimilation of the bankruptcy law of Scotland to that of
England.
The Earl of EGLINTON supported the prayer of the
petition, and expressed a hope that a full opportunity
would be given for the consideration of the bill.
Lord BROUGHAM considered that the opposition to
the bill was founded altogether on wrong impressions.
He believed that the bill would confer great advantages
upon Scotland, and that it would be received with
general satisfaction. On to-morrow he would state what
his intentions were with regard to the further progress of
the measure.
COMM.UTATION OF SENTENCE OF DEATH IN
IRELAND. ,

The Marquis of WESTMEATH moved for a copy of
any memorial or petition to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ire-
land in favour of a commutation of the sentence of death
passed upon Hugh Tierney for murder, at the late Spring
Assizes for the county of Westmeath, with the signa-
ture attached thereto ; also, a copy of the notes taken
for the Crown of the address made by the Chief Justice
Monaghan, when passing sentence upon the convict ;
and also a transcript of any note or observation made
by the Chief Justice IVloliaghan, or any memorial ,
or petition which had been forwarded to the Irish Go-
vernment in favour of a commutation of the sentence on
Hugh Tierney aforesaid. The noble marquis said the
prisoner was convicted on the clearest possible evidence
of an atrocious murder; and the learned judge, in pass-
ing sentence, held out not the slightest possible hope of
his life being spared, and the people in the county of
Westmeath were quite thunderstruck when they heard
that the Lord-Lieutenant had commuted the punishment,
though the day of execution had been fixed. He
understood that the only reason why the me-
morial in favour of the prisoner was got up was
that they were against an execution taking place in the
town. The Government were bound to state what mo-
tive they had for obstructing the ordinary course of
justice in this case. The noble lord then alluded to
other cases in which sentences were set aside, and com-
plained that the landlords in the county, the protection
of whose property depended upon the rigorous execu-
tion of the law, had not been consulted.

The Earl of ABERDEEN explained that, when the
memorial was received by the Lord Lieutenant, he trans-
mitted it to Chief Justice Monaghan for his opinion.
After full consideration, and making further inquiries
into the case, the learned judge recommended to the
Lord Lieutenant to commute the sentence of death to
transportation for life. He did so on the ground that,
though death ensued, the intention of the prisoner was
clearly robbery and not murder, and that death
did not take place at the time of the robbery,
for it appeared that the deceased was able to walk after-
wards, and never complained of any personal injury.
Was there any of their lordships who would say that the
Lord-Lieutenant should have hung the man, notwith-
standing the recommendation of the judge ? The Lord-
Lieutenant could not have done anything else than
act on such recommendation. He had ne objection
to the return with the exception of the note of the Chief
Justice to the Lord-Lieutenant, which, being of a con-
fidential nature, he could not consent to produce.
Lord CAMPBELL hoped the noble marquis would
be satisfied with the answer of the noble earl.
[LEFT SITTING.]

ROUSE OF COMMONS—(THIS EVENING.)
The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock.
NEW MEMBER.
The Hon. C: FITZWILLIAM took the oaths and his seat
for Mahon.