The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-03 00:00:00

position in which he had been placed by the Minister of
War that he possessed neither provisions nor ammunition.
His men, he added, had eaten nothing for the past two
days ; and should he not receive within twenty-four hours
supplies both of pros isions and ammunition he would
deliver himself up to the Prussians. He made five copies
of this letter, and sent them by five different agents,
ordering them to take such roads as would of necessity
result in their arrestation. Two of these messengers were
speedily intercepted, and fell into the hands of
Prince Charles, who immediately determined to
attack Bazaine before the completion of the twenty-
four hours. Bazaine knew every movement of the Prince,
and placed a regiment in a position which he knew that
Prince Charles must pass. This regiment had orders to
retreat precipitately when they knew that the Prussians
were near. Prince Charles, believing that the whole army
was en debandade, pushed on with all his force, and all at
once found himself surrounded by all Bazaine's army,
who, as you know, cut almost all his cavalry to pieces.
The Prince narrowly escaped being taken, and was forced
to retreat with precipitation."

JUDICIAL MISMANAGEMENT IN IRELAND.
We are so engaged in deploring the folly and ignorance
of the uneducated classes that it is to be feared no atten-
tion is paid to the hardships too often inflicted on the
objects of our pity and contempt by the folly and igno-
rance of their betters. A statement is made in the forty-
eighth report of the Inspectors-General of Prisons in
Ireland lately issued which would be incredible but that
experience has shown that authorities in a civilized coun-
try are capable of any barbarity, more especially under
the influence of " rigid economy." It seems that in the
majority of country districts in Ireland petty session
courts are held fortnightly, in many only once
a month, and sometimes from the failure of
attendance of magistrates further adjournments
are made. Hence great hardships are inflicted
on persons charged with offences of a very
trifling nature, from the frequent removals of the accused
in charge of the constabulary by road, on remand, to and
from the petty sessions courts and bridewells of the dis-
tricts. In January, 1866, a woman removed from Dun-
gannon bridewdl to Cookstown petty sessions and thence
to Omagh gaol, without sufficient, food or clothing, lost
her life from the sufferings which she endured on that
occasion on account of the severity of the weather ; and
'in January of the present year two women charged with
stealing a bundle of hay, value sixpence, from a field at
Athlone, were marched in charge of the constabulary
four times backwards and forwards between Athlone
and Moate bridewell, travelling altogether eighty
statute miles along the public road, and were
compelled to walk the entire distance except
when conveyed a few miles on a common car.
Yet when finally brought for trial they were discharged
and no sentence inflicted on them. A railway runs be-
tween Athlone and Monte; the fare for the journey—
third class—is tenpence, and the time occupied by the
journey twenty-one to twenty-five minutes. In March of
the present year prisoners sentenced for insubordination
in the workhouse at Athlone to an imprisonment of one
mouth in the county gaol at Mullingar, were marched the
entire distance (twenty-seven statute miles) from Athlone
to Mullingar by road in charge of a constabulary escort,
who were thus compelled to walk fifty-four miles to and
from the gaol before they returned to their barracks.
The escort of the cavalry in the case of :the two females
above referred to musthave travelled 160 miles in the diffe-
rent journeys. The railway fare between Mullingar gaol and
Athlone is 2s. 3d. third-class, and the time occupied in
the journey one hour and five minutes ; yet magistrates
and grand juries in many parts of Ireland prefer that
prisoners and their escorts should be sent by road on foot,
a journey often of two days going and two returning,
rather than pay a few shillings for a conveyance, by which
the transmission would be made in a short time and
without unnecessary hardships. At the very time the
report of the Inspectors-General was passing through the
press, in June last, four prisoners, committed from
Magherafelt petty sessions to the county gaol at London-
derry, a distance of thirty miles, three for assault, the
fourth for deserting his wife, handcuffed together, were
marched thirteen miles on foot. Afterwards, one of
the prisoners subscribing three shillings, cars were
procured by the police to carry them seventeen
miles, the remainder of the distance ; but on arriving at
the gaol late at night, 10.30 p.m., one of the prisoners
fainted. In the appendix to the report other cases in
which prisoners and constabulary escorts were similarly
compelled to march by the side of railways are mentioned,
and in the report on county Limerick gaol is fully detailed
the case of a boy thirteen years of age, sentenced to pay a
fine of one shilling and five shillings costs, or twenty-four
hours' imprisonment, who was actually compelled to-travel
on foot in the month of September, barefoot and miser-
ably clad, from Kilfinane petty sessions to the county
gaol at Limerick, a distance of twenty-six miles, escorted
by two policemen, who must have marched fifty-two
miles on the double journey to and from their
barracks. It is not surprising that the inspectors urge
that in any future legislation on prisons magistrates should
be compelled to facilitate the transfer of prisoners to the
county gaols, that workhouse offenders, vagrants, and un-
convicted juveniles and women should not be subjected to a
punishment which the law does not sanction, and likewise
that the constabulary force should not be unnecessarily over-
worked in the discharge of their duties. In the meantime
, it is to be hoped that until the magistrates are forbidden
by law to confound economy with brutality, they will
study the accounts of the treatment of the French
prisoners by the Prussians, in which they will find nothing
equivalent to their own treatment of the unhappy captives
who fall into their clutches.—Pall Mall Gazette.

The Civilian is responsible for the following :
" Sixteen packages, containing a portion of the plate of
the Emperor Napoleon, vere on Monday last deposited in
the Queen's Warehouse, Custom House. The plate was
valued at £B,OOO by the agent, who is desirous that the
packages should be retained unopened by the Customs
authorities for a term of three months."
FRAUD.—Frederick Hammond, a smart young man
who said he had been second officer in the Peninsular and
Oriental Company's service, was charged at the
Thames Police-court with obtaining goods by fraud. A
few days since the prisoner waited upon Mr. John Neat,
furniture dealer, of 160, Jubilee-street, Stepney, and
represented that he was a clerk in the service of the
London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company,
and that he had £ll to receive for wages due to him on
the following Saturday night. He selected goods to the
amount of £8 3s. ld., and on the faith of the prisoner's
representations he gave him credit for them on the
promise of payment on the following Saturday. Payment
was never made, and, on inquiries being instituted, it was
ascertained that prisoner was not a clerk in the Brighten
Rdollway Company, and that he had no resources. The
prisoner had raised money on the property at the pawn-
broker's. The magistrate said there must be direct
evidence that the prisoner was, not in the service of the
Brighton Railway Company before he committed him for
trial, and remanded him for a week.
THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY.—An American traveller
writes to a contemporary as follows :—" A recent visit to
the above named most interesting place made known to
me a practice to which it seems a stop should be put, and
I take the liberty of calling the attention of the public to
ifth rough your columns. I refer to the fact of portions of the
Causeway, sometimes of considerable size, being taken by
the guide and sold to visitors. Ido not know to whom
the property belongs, and I cannot believe that the
owner knows or would sanction any such vandalism.
Even if he did, it seems to me that as the Cause-
way is one of the great natural curiosities of the
world, the nation on whose shores it lies is to
a certain extent its guardian, and public opinion might
justly be appealed to to protect it from any further
spoliation." The Giant's Causeway is the property of the
Earl of Antrim. The late earl prohibited the removal of
the pillars, which are nevertheless sold with little secrecy
by the guides and boatmen, who remove them at night.
A prosecution at Petty Sessions• might put a stop to this
disgraceful trade.