The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-27 00:00:00

.111flifls)A1-1E.

LONDON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1846.

Thanks to the intelligence of our fellow-country-
men, we have frequently had occasion to rejoice over
the progress of enlightenment in these islands. We
have repeatedly rejoiced over the opportunity of con-
gratulating the community upon the progress of
civilisation, and upon the signal manner in which
the vestiges of past ignorance and of bygone super-
stition were being eradicated from society. With
the gradual realisation of civil liberty we have exulted
over the widening acknowledgment of the blessings
derivable from religious tolerance. The many and
grievous wrongs inflicted upon mankind by fana-
ticism; the despicable consequences of sectarian
bigotry ; the narrow-minded and evil-hearted zealots
of the conventicle were, to our intense gladness,
becoming as rare as the white crow and the king-
fisher. We endeavoured to persuade ourselves, indeed,
that they would ultimately become extinct, and that
their memories would only be chronicled among the
curiosities of literature, just as the skeletons of the
mastodon and the megatherium are treasured in our
geological museums. Our exultation has been lament-
ably premature. Our anticipations have been totally
contradicted. It is w ith the deepest sorrow we are
compelled to make this acknowledgment, and we
must add that the circumstance which has elicited
this declaration has inspired us with the most ex-
treme indignation. That circumstance may be briefly
mentioned, and when mentioned it will be a sufficient
testimony that, instead of advancing in enlighten-
ment and toleration, we are retrograding in bigotry
and fanaticism.
From the sixteenth proximo, in the year of the
Redemption One Thousand Eight Hundred and
Forty-six;the Sunday passengers' trains on the Edin-
burgh and Glasgow Railway will be permanently
discontinued—by order of the directors ! Let it be
especially observed that this resolution has been
passed solely on the authority of the directors of that
railway ; that since its opening, in February, 1842,
up to the present period, Sunday trains have been
uniformly running along the line on Sundays ; and
that, notwithstanding the periodical pertinacity of
Sir ANDREW AGNEW, notwithstanding the impor-
tunities of certain jolter-headed religionists, and in
spite of the fanatical resignation of a former chair-
man, the shareholders have been throughout most
solicitous for the continuance of this Sunday
travelling. Let these things be especially remem-
bered, and it will be manifest that this piousresolu-
tion of the directors is altogether a piece of gratuitous
tyranny. What ! simply for the purpose of

appeasing the very narrow and very ignoble
consciences of a score or so of gentlemen,
are the religious liberties, the municipal prero-
gatives, and the associated rights of the people to be
set at naught ? Are these things to be effected, we
repeat it, simply for the purpose of appeasing the
very narrow and very ignoble consciences of some
half-dozen gentlemen ? For none but men with the
narrowest understandings and the most ignoble
notions of religion could endeavour, and endeavour
so effectually, to render the seventh day of every
week—the day peculiarly set apart by Christians as
a most noble and beautiful festival—to render, we
say, that seventh day most hateful instead of most
welcome to the population. It has been observed by
a great philosopher, that supposing mankind had
not been restricted from labour on the
Sabbath, according to the beneficent institution
of the Christian Church, that in that case
some such a regulation would have been absolutely
required from our human legislators. Some relaxa-
tio a is imperatively required from physical and mental
exertion. The bow, unless unstrung, gradually lases
its tension, however tough or elastic its materials.
As the human body is only preserved in health by
the refreshing intervals of the quiescence produced
by sleep, so does society require for the preservation
of its vigour such periodical cessations from toil as
those afforded us by Sundays.
In the vicinity of the Glasgow terminus there are
somewhere about 350,000 :souls ; at the Edinburgh
terminus there are upwards of 200,000 souls.
Reflecting for a moment upon the thousands of in-
dustrious artizans comprised in that calculation ;
upon the men, women, and children, who are there
pent up in the confined and unhealthy bye-streets and
courts of Edinburgh and Glasgow ; upon the six
weary days of labour, living hand to mouth, breath-
ing nothing but polluted atmosphere, seeing nothing
but smoke and bricks, hearing nothing but the roar
and clatter of industry ; remembering the many limbs
that must ache in those two great cities on the
seventh day, the many brows that must burn with the
toil of the preceding
.week, the many hearts that
must sicken with the breath of the factory and the
workshop.—it is impossible to regard this restriction
on the part of the railway directors otherwise than
as a most cruel and unjust transaction. •

We do not presume to interfere with the doctrinal
differences of any one; but we would earnestly de-
mand that these enemies to Sunday travelling should
only possess the power of legislating for themselves.
The true apostles of Christianity coerce no man to
their creed. We have always understood that the
rubrics of a church are enforcible only by moral and
not by physical agency. Much less should men be
empowered to dominate over the multitude for the
satisfaction of some extravagant ecclesiastical whim.
With the proper observance of the Sabbath these Sunday
trains; have not the remotest connexion ; on the con-
trary, their continuance has been an extraordinary
boon to hundreds, who would have been otherwise
without any means of attending Divine service. We
are assured that through their instrumentality many
hundreds of Roman Catholics were enabled to reach their
chapels in Glasgow every Sunday from a considerable
distance in the country ; and Christians of various
other denominations have been benefited in like
manner. By the stoppage of these trains every
means of communication between the two principal
towns of Scotland will be entirely destroyed, coaches
and postchaises having been long since abolished on the
high road, in consequence of the facilities of steam
transit. These highly religious directors have thus
debarred the poorer and even the middle classes of
the inhabitants from breathing the pure air of the
country ; and be that noble saying never forgotten,
that man made the town, but GOD made the country !
We should be disposed to comment in more strin-
gent language upon this monstrous specimen of in-
tolerance, but that we remember that its very per •
petration must inevitably produce its own punish-
ment. The directors will find that they have a
higher, and, we hope, a more 'enlightened authority
in the shareholders; and we call upon those share-
holders, for the sake of the health of the community,
for the sake of civilisation, for the sake of civil and
-religious liberty, to rescind this extraordinary and
bigoted enactment.

It is the constitutional privilege of every British
subject that he shall be deemed innocent of any offence
charged against him until he shall have been convicted
thereof by a jury of his countrymen ; and in case the
circumstances should admit of a reasonable doubt, the
presumption in favour of innocence should prevail,
the accused should receive the benefit of that doubt,
and be discharged from any of the penal consequences
of an act that had not been clearly and distinctly
brought home to him. This right of trial by jury is
the great palladium of the liberties of Englishmen,
and any derogation therefrom must necessarily be
regarded with the utmost jealousy.
The Legislature has of late years frequently taken
from this right. In many instances it has given to
magistrates a power of summary conviction, a right to
hear and decide a certain class of cases, to exercise
the functions of judge and jury, to decide whether the
person accused is innocent or guilty of the offence
laid to his charge, and, if guilty, to pronounce the
punishment of fine or imprisonment within certain
specified limits. Should the evidence be conflicting
in its nature, the magistrate has, generally speaking,
the option of sending it before another tribunal, where
it will be investigated before a jury of twelve men on
their oaths, which he may also do if it appears deserv-
ing of greater punishment than that within his power
to inflict; but, should he take it upon himself to
decide the question, he should act as a jury would be
directed by the presiding judge to do, and he should
give the accused the benefit of any doubt, and
certainly he ought not to decide, as in a civil case,
according to the weight or balance of evidence. In
conceding this great and unconstitutional power, the
Legislature was actuated by considerations of public
convenience. In many trivial cases the sending of a
person for trial would be a far greater punishment
than the infliction of a small fine, and much time and
expense would also be saved to the complaining
parties by the obtaining of an immediate decision.
It was also influenced by the high respectability of
the gentlemen on whom it conferred this power, and
the knowledge of the force of public opinion that
would be brought to bear upon any person by whom
the power was abused. It is peculiarly the province
and the duty of the public press to call the public
attention to any case in which the presiding magis-
trate appears to have acted on erroneous principles, in
order to prevent the recurrence of a similar mistake
on another occasion.
It will be in the recollection of our readers that a
case was brought before Mr. BROUGUTON, the magis-
trate of Worship-street Police-court, on Wednesday,
the 14th instant, against a young man named WIL-
LIAM SCOTT, who was charged with " drunkenness
and disorderly conduct, and obstructing the police in
the discharge of their duty." The case was a
peculiarly unpleasant one, inasmuch as it involved
swearing of the most contradictory character—In-
spector JULIAN and several policemen, six in all,
declaring that SCOTT was intoxicated, and that he
was exceedingly noisy and turbulent, while, on the
other side, a surgeon, two respectable tradesmen, and
another witness, whose station in life was not stated,
came forward, and positively swore that the young man
was not intoxicated, and that he was perfectly quiet
and orderly. The witnesses for the defence also de-
scribed the conduct of Inspector JULIAN as of the
most outrageous description ; that he rode furiously
backwards and forwards, goading his horse so that it
was by a miracle he escaped trampling on and severely
hurting some of the lookers-on. On this evidence
Mr. BROUGHTON was called upon to adjudicate, and
his decision, and the grounds on which it was given,
appeared to us at the time to be of a most extra-
ordinary character. He stated " that the balance of
evidence was in favour of SCOTT'S intoxication, and
that therefore he would fine him 55., or a week's im-
prisonment, for being drunk, and that he would leave
out of consideration the allegation of intem-
perance and violence against the inspector, as it was
not formally before him fur adjudication." Now in
this the most objectionable principles were involved.
In the first place, he expressed a doubt, not merely
in words, when he spoke of the balance of evidence,
but also in the quantum of punishment, and in de-
clining to consider the conduct of the complainant.
If he was not perfectly satisfied and thoroughly con-
vinced of SCOTT'S guilt, he should not have sentenced
him to any punishment, however slight, which might
involve much more serious consequences than the

pecuniary penalty. He was not justified in omitting
so important an element as the conduct of the com-
plainant in coming to a conclusion on the case, and if
he really believed the accusation, the fine of ss. was
perfectly inadequate for the offence. In either
case, therefore, the magistrate was wrong. In
fact, it appeared a sort of compromise which never
should be tolerated on the bench of justice. If SCOTT
was discharged, it would be a serious rebuke to the
police, whose testimony the magistrates, we regret to
say, are generally disposed to place greater depen-
dance on than that of any private individuals, how-
ever respectable ; and a weighty punishment could
not be pronounced in the face of such evidence as
came forward on the occasion, and which should have
insured the dismissal of the charge. We, however,
abstained from comment, inasmuch as a further in-
vestigation was to take place respecting the conduct
of Inspector JULIAN on the occasion. This has since
taken place—Mr. THOMAS BLAKE, a watchmaker, one
of SCOTT'S witnesses, having preferred a charge
against the inspector of having attempted to ride
over him (BLAKE), and having put him in bodily fear,
The affair received the fullest investigation. A num-
ber of respectable persons corroborated the statement
of the complainant, that the inspector, without the
slightest cause, made his horse plunge; that he ad-
dressed BLAKE, who was standing quietly, and
galloped after him, nearly riding over him. They
dscribed BLAKE as having been under the neck of the
horse, which was rearing and plunging furiously ;
that his escape was a most fortunate one, and that
he was nearly paralysed by fright. They also stated
that the attack was decidedly premeditated ; that the
horse was wantonly urged on by his rider ; that
there was no noise or any interruption given to the
police. Mr. BROUGHTON, in giving judgment, de-
clared that he firmly believed everything that was
stated by the witnesses, and that he could not view
the affair in any other light than as most
extraordinary and unwarrantable behaviour, and
that he would fine the inspector in the
full penalty of 51. and costs. After this decision, in
which every disinterested person must have concurred,
we are convinced that Mr. BROUGHTON must be
satisfied that he inflicted a serious injury on poor
SCOTT, and that he owes him the only reparation in
his power, viz., a public acknowledgment of his error.
And we trust that the lesson may not be lost to him
during his continuance in the magisterial office, and
that he may not again sentence any person to punish-
ment urless fully satisfied of his guilt. The conduct of
Inspector JULIAN and of the police who so stoutly sup-
ported him by their evidence is, we think, deserving of
the most serious consideration of the police authori-
ties. It is painful to see, as in the Dagenham case,
a body of men prepared to make any statement at the
desire of their superior. If they can explain or jus-
tify their conduct they should have an opportunity of
doing so ; if not, we cannot conceive that they are fit
persons to be entrusted with powers that may be so
greatly abused.

Letters from I3erne of the 21st state that the Sar-
dinian Government has ordered two regiments to
march to the Swiss frontier.

We have received the Paris papers of Sunday.
They are filled with accounts of the dreadful dis-
asters occasioned throughout France by the floods.
The Loire and other rivers," says the Journal des
Debuts, "are continuing to subside; and the mails
and diligences can come up from Tours, Nantes, and
Angers. It is, however, apprehended that, if the
present rain be protracted, the retiring of the waters
will be delayed. The accounts that reach us from the
inundated country are still most melancholy." " Our
most recent advices from the Upper Loire," says the
C'onstitulionnel, "state that the waters are retiring
but slowly, and successively exhibiting the enormous
losses inflicted by the inundation. A notion may be
formed of its extent by the fact that at the Pertuiset-
bridge, which has resisted, the water rose, between
noon and six in the afternoon, from six
metres to fourteen metres forty centimetres !
Before it had risen to this inconceivable
height, the Loire had done unheard-uf damage.
Never had its levees given way ; they had
always stood the most violent rises ; they have
now been broken through at two or three places."
The ravages committed by the Loire in the districts
of Aurec, Andrezieux, and Roanne were fearful. At
Andrezieux it had partially destroyed the St. Etienne
Railway. Boats laden with merchandise of the value
of upwards of 1,000,000 francs had been sunk in the
Canal of Digoin. Among this merchandise there
wee 1,000 hogsheads of brandy and 1,500 casks of
wine. At Pouilly 1,700 hogsheads of via ordinaire
had been carried away by the flood. The Indian
mail, in consequence of the floods, was de-
layed twenty-four hours, and did not ar-
rive in Paris until Sunday. The Bordeaux mail
was delayed from the same cause, so that we are
without any further intelligence from Spain. It
is said that the Due D'AuatALE has arrived at Ba-

yonne.
It would appear that M. GUIZOT has reckoned
without
he Northern
inimagining
Courts to his Spanish
that he could obtain
h
marriage policy. It is said, that the answers which
he has received to his notes from the Courts,
both northern and southern to which he ap-
tes support
o hisr t host,of
ap-
pealed against the pretest of England, have
been anything but satisfactory. So far from acknow-
ledging
Queen IsABELLA, these Courts emphatically
repeat that they know no Sovereign of Spain but
the Count DE MONTEDIOLIN, and they accompany
this declaration by an unqualified expression of their
hostility to the arrival of any French Prince at
sovereign power in Spain. The Austrian Cabinet
has, according to the Universal German Gazette,
gone still further. It has openly expressed its great
displeasure at the readiness with which the POPE
granted the marriage dispensations. His HOLINESS,
not having recognised the Government of Queen
ISABELLA, might, they say, have withheld his assent,
and thus defeated the intrigue of the French and
Spanish Courts ; instead of which, he sent off the
dispensations by return of post.
The seven ships of war which had sailed with
troops and stores for Otaheite, were driven back to
Brest on the 23d, by stress of weather.

It is said that the Carlists have, for the present,
abandoned their intended
allo
fipdEreoaijaeoyefet,thohefavakeninipdnu,sbubiruirstehete
Ftd,i
eoyna
in the north of Spain. The officers of that party,
pd on riecsloanraertisinthecitadel
disclaiming
add that, as faithful subjects of CHARLES VI., they
are now and ever ready to obey his Majesty's orders.
Subscriptions to aid the sufferers from the inun-
dations have been opened in Paris.
The administration of the Customs had published
the returns of the import duties collected during the
month of September last, and which amounted to
13,839,732 f. They had produced, in 1844, 12,463,402 f.,
and in 1845, 12,088,980 f. The receipts of the nine
months of 1846, ending on the Ist of October, were
114,395,806 E showing an increase of 1,101,826 f. as
compared with those of the corresponding period of
1845, and 1,622,707 over 1844.
The firmness of our Money market on Friday
—Dutch Rhenish,LO
pro-
duced a rise in French stock in Paris on Sunday.
The Three per Cents. were done at 82f. 70c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
Bel an Eastern Junction, 14%—Direct Bombay and Madras,
Con-
stituted, 4
Flanders, Northern of France
—Luxembourg, l —Namur and Liege, 3
Constituted, 111,
.—Orleans and Tierzon, 13 —Orleans and Bordeaux,
NDO,NxiS_TEO.CsKt
lEndXiCanII,AxNGE, OCTOBER 26.
N 4 Paris and Lyons Constituted, bi,---
._pielastaNnVdesstetrrnasbßoeunrggacl,ony:
'Lis:Rouen and Havre, 26%—Sambre and 3leuse, s—West

THE CABINET.—Lord Grey has arrived in town
residence to-morrow
from the north. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is
expected to arrive this evening from his country seat.
Lord 'Lansdowne is also expected from Bowood.
Most of the other members of the Cabinet are in
town, and the meeting at Lord John Russell's private
(Wednesday) evening is ex-
pected to be very fully attended by the Ministers in-
vited to the Cabinet dinner.

WEST
Glou-
cestershire, in
Liberal, and brother-in-law of the Duke of Beaufort, is
GLOUCESTERSHIRE. -- Colonel Kingscote,
spoken of as not unlikely to,be a candidate for West
the room of Mr. arantley Berkeley,—
Cheltenham paper.
TRANSPORTS TO INDIA.—The Ann Armstrong,
having on board the head-quarters of the Bth regiment
of Foot, and, about which some anxiety had been felt,
arrived safe at Bombay on the 28th of August ; the
P s
oietieorvse,rweiigthn
andthe head
.m-qounartersi of the 24th Regiment,
arrived at Calcutta on the 26th of August ; and the Bri-
tish
Er, da bt ry, with detachment of
the 32d Regiment, also arrived at Calcutta, the first on
the 23d, and the second on the 28th of August, and the i
Duchess of Northumberland same day.