The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 26, 1870

riIHEA i•RE ROYAL ADELPHI.
Sole Pr p ietor and Manager, Mr. B. WEBSTER.
This EVENING, at Seven, TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING:
Messrs. It. Phillips and Ashley; and Miss Maria and Miss Nelly
Harris.

After which, at 15 to 8, THE PROMPTER'S BOX; A Story of
the Footlights and the Fireside. Mr. Benjamin Webster, Mr
H. J. Byron, Mr. J. D. Beveridge, Mr. R. Phillips, Mr. Stuart, Mr
J. G. Taylor, Mr. C. J. Smith, Mr. Ashley, Mr. W. Eburne, Miss
Furtado, Mrs. L. Murray, and Mrs. Alfred 11ellon.
To be followed by THE ENCHANTED WOOD: Mr. J. G.
Taylor, Mr. Ashley; Mrs. Alfred Mellon, Miss Patti Josephs, and
Miss Clara Thorne.

- - Box Office open daily, from 10 till 5. No fees for booking.
Places can be secured a fortnight in advance

OLYMPIC THEATRE.-MISS BArEMAN.-
THIS EVENING, at 8, MARY WARNER: Mary Warner,
Miss Bateman; assisted by Messrs. Vernon, D. Fisher, Blakeley,
Roberts, Elliott, Vaughan, and Belmore.
receded by, at 7, MUSIC HATH CHARMS: Miss Mattie
Reinhardt.

To conclude with THE 'VARSITY BOAT RACE. Mr. Geo,
Belmore.

LYCEUM THEATRE (under the management
of Messrs. Mansell).
THIS EVENING, at 7.30, HIS OWN RIVAL. Mr. F.
Charles and Miss L. Morgan.
At 8, BREAKING THE SPELL.
After which, at 8.30, LITTLE FAUST: Mr. T. Maclagan, M.
Marius, Mr. Aynsley Cook, Mr. Odell, and Mr. Wilmot; Mdlle.
Debreux, Mesdames Lennox Grey, Lawson, Lee, and Emily
Soldene.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs. Swanborough.
THIS ENENING, at 7 o'clock, LOVING HEARTS. Messrs
Edward Teary and Turner ; Mesdames Bnfton and Santley.
Followed by SIR GEORGE AND A DRAGON. Messrs. James,
Terry, Fenton; Mesdames Santley, Dashwood, Goodall, Hughes,
Anstiss, and Metcalfe.

VAUDEVILLE THEATRE, STRAND.-
Lessees—Messrs H. J. Montague, D. James, and T,
Thorne.—THlS EVENING, at 7 80, an original Comedy, by A.
Halliday, entitled FOR LOVE OR MONEY. At 9.45, the new
Burlesque, by Conway Edwardee, entitled DON CARLOS; or,
The Infante in Arms. Supported by the following Company:—
Messrs H. J. Montague, G. Honey, H. Irving, W. H. Stephens, C.
Garthorne, E. Elton, and Thos. Thorne ; Mesdames Nelly Power,
Cavendish, Amy Fawsitt, K Irwin, L. Claire, J. Beauclerc, R.
Evelyn, Kemp, T. Lavis, F. Garthwaite, R. Power.

THE LATE EDITION of " THE SUN" at
Mr. BEAUMONT'S, " The Wellington," Wellington-street,
Strand.

THE SUN.—LATEST EDITION to be seen
every Evening, at Eight o'clock, at Mr. GILMAN'S, "The
Wheatsheaf," High-street, Camden-town.

THE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN "
supplied, as soon as published, Every Evening, by W.
AL ESA N DER (late Brooks), Newspaper Agent, IN o. 4, Old
Cavendish street, Oxford-street

rpHE LATE EDITION of " THE SUN" at
J. W. SMITH'S " Camden Stores," 78, Park-street, Camden-

town.

THE THEATRES, &c.

HAYMABKET—At Seven, No Song No Supper. Barwise's Book.

And A Kiss in the Dark.
PRINCE OF WALEs's—At 7.80. Quite by Accident. M.P. Dearest

Mamma.
LYCEUM—At 7.30, His Own Rival, Breaking the Spell. At 8.30,

Little Faust.
AuELPm.—At Seven, Too Much of a Good Thing. The Prompter's

Box. The Enchanted Wood.
OLYMPIC -At Seven, Music hath Charms. At 8, Mary Warner.
rhe 'Varsity Boat Race.
OLIETY—At Seven, The Man of Quality. The Princess of Tre-
bizonde.

QUEEN'S—At Seven, sdy Wife's Dentist. 'Twist Axe and Crown,
STRAND—At Seven, Loving Hearts, Sir George and a Dragon.
VAUDEVILLE—For Love or Money. Don Carlos.

ST. JAMES'S—At Seven, Frou Frou. La Belle Sauvage,
WOODIN'S CARPET-BAG AND SKETCH BOOK. Egyptian Hall, Pic-
cadilly, every Kvening (except Saturday), at 8; Saturday Morn-
ings at 3, Admission is, 2s, 3s.

CHRISTY MINSTRELS, St. James's Hall, Every Night, at 8; Wed-
nesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and 8 all the year round.
MADAME TIISSAUD'S EXHIBITION, Baker-street, from 11 a.m. till
5.30 p.m., and from 7 till 10 p.m. Admission, Is.; extra
rooms, 6d.

OOLOGICAL GARDENS, Regent's-park. Open daily (except Sun-
days). Admission, is.; on Mondays, 6d. Children under
twelve, 6d.

191 K, fr.,-4,VrAVON

EVENING EDITION.

LONDON, 7HURSDAY, 111AY 26, 1870.

Purism and pruriency appear to be just now in
very startling, as they have certainly been, once or
twice of late, in very painful competition. Purism
often, by the way, being a mere synonym for pru-
riency. The latter, it may be said, very recently,
bore off the bell at one of our Police Courts—
namely, in the instance of that throng of well-
dressed persons who attended day after day, listen-
ing eagerly for hours together to investigations of
the most 'revolting character, with no evi-
dence whatever of disgust at abominations that
holy lips eighteen centuries ago averred ought not
to be so much as named amongst us. In striking
contrast to this most flagrant violation of all decency
—a violation of decency so flagrant that one has been
almost tempted (with a view to its prevention) to pub-
lish, at the head of these police cases, the names
of the fashionable habitués there occupying so
sedulously the front places ; indulging in indecorous
laughter at evidence, over the record of which the
very reporters and the presiding magistrate have
shuddered ; and twisting the ends of their waxed
moustaches between their lavender kids with a cruel
indifference, or adjusting their lorgnettes for the better
examination of the prisoners at the bar, with as tran-
quil a deliberation as though they were scrutinizing
some new soprano or contralto at the opera-house—
in striking contrast to all this we had on Tuesday
night that astounding incident of a Purist emptying
all the galleries of the House of Commons, so that
the debate on Mr. FOWLER'S notice of motion, as
to the advisability of our repealing the Contagious
Diseases Acts of 1866 and 1869, might be
conducted within closed doors, more particularly out
of bearing of the Argus-eyed and Briareus-handed
Gallery of the Reporters. According to Mr. CRAU-
FURD, the member for Ayr burghs, we may legislate
on this most delicate (meaning, in point of fact, on this
most revolting) question, but we must not forsooth
presume to discuss it openly ! Than these Acts of
1866 and 1869, we have never had more astounding
instances of one-sided. legislation. Some at least
of those who sympathise with Mr. FOWLER want to
sweep these acts of one-sided legislation from the
statute-book, or to render them consistently appli-
cable to both sexes. A learned philosopher like Dr.
PLAYFAIR may reason as he pleases about the results
deducible from these and from those sta istics.
But it is hardly like his name reversed that
the compulsory examinations, under the Acts com-
plained of, should be enforced solely and exclusively
upon the weaker class of profligates, upon those
poor miserable professional unfortunates—the " dark
sex," as the Leader of the Opposition, fantastically,but
in this instance, appropriately calls it, in his books
and in his speeches, passing altogether scatheless,
coming not in the least within reach of the pains
and penalties imposed upon others by either of these
astounding Acts of Parliament.

In one of the most masterly of his reviews in the
Edinburgh, Lord NIACAULAY referred, with the scorn
of a true satirist-humorist, to the lovers depicted in
the verse of the then Poet Laureate, ROBERT
SOUTHEY, saying of them that they never appeared in
the juste milieu as human beings, but either loved like
Seraphim or loved like Cattle. Parliament would seem
to alternate between similar extremes in the spirit of its
legislation in regard to Men and in regard to Women,
dealing with the latter as if they were Cattle and
with the former as if they were Seraphim. Earnestly

do we hope, in the interests of public decency and of
national morality, that before the adjourned debate
of Tuesday night shall be renewed on Friday, the
24th of June—very earnestly, indeed, do we
hope that the House of Commons will be prepared
to reconsider, and to discuss then openly, this ques-
tion of really vital importance to the well-being of
the whole community, in the.spirit of a race not
altogether dead to all sense of decorum, and alive
heart and soul to the divine influences of Chris-
tianity.

During the last few months public attention has
been directed to the Telegraph system, and the sub-
ject has acquired peculiar interest on account of the
important change that has taken place in its ar-
rangements. Proportionately with the satisfaction
experienced at its progress will be the indignation
felt at any wanton hindrance which may impede its
course. The letter which Mr. SC UDAMORE has ad-
dressed to us in conformity with the directions of the
Postmaster-General, is well calculated to cause sur-
prise and displeasure. It appears that the telegraphs
of the United Kingdom are subject to con-
tinual injury from the " wanton attacks
of idle and mischievous persons, who
amuse themselves by throwing stones at the in-
sulators on the telegraph posts." He addresses state-
ments in proof of this assertion, which show how
wide-spread is the evil complained of, and how pertina-
cious is the persecution that is carried on. An engi-
neer of the department near Newcastle reports that
five hundred insulators had been wantonly broken in
six weeks. Another witness, from a different part,
declares that it is "a Sunday morning's entertain-
ment for idle persons to throw stones at the insulators
on the lines outside towns and villages." From Eng-
land, Scotland, and IN ales comes the same story
with varieties of incident but identity in result.
One records that " a large number of the
insulators had been broken wilfully," another in the
neighbourhood of London, adds that " most of the
contacts, which, of course, cause interruptions of
communication, are brought about by the breakage
of insulators by stone throwers." Another engi-
neer reports that, whereas he had " entirely re-
insulated the line between Loughborough and Lei-
cester, within six weeks from the time of the reinsu-
lation no less than 150 insulators had been broken by
stone throwing." It is not surprising to hear that,
under these circumstances, the Postmaster-General
has taken steps to have the telegraph lines watched,
and to have persons detected in the act of causing
wilful injury prosecuted under the Malicious Injuries
Act. With the assistance of the Home Office he has
fortunately been able to obtain several convictions.
Lord HARTINGTON wisely thinks, however, that
much inconvenience and expense would be saved
if the public would co operate with him and act,
so far, as the guardians of their own property.
He truly says that " the telegraphs of the United
Kindom are now the property of the nation, and
every member of the community is interested, in
their maintenance and preservation." It isallowable
to suppose that many of those who commit these
injuries to the telegraphs are ignorant of the mischief
they cause, or, at any rate, do not estimate its
extent and character. If the intelligent members of
the community set themselves to work in earnest,
for the protection of the national property, no doubt
most beneficial results would follow. They could
give timely warning to those whom they may chance
to findindulging in their mischievous propensities, and
if these preventive efforts failed, they might report the
offender to the proper authorities This duty must
be specially enjoined on all those who have the
charge of boys or youths, for this class figures the
most prominently in the list of offenders. The fears
of a prosecution at law may exercise a deterrent in-
fluence if admonitions are of no avail. In conclu-
sion, Lord HARTINGTON intimates that the import-
ance of perfect telegraphic communication is so
generally admitted, while the inconvenience that re-
sults from its interruption is so serious, that he has
no hesitation in asking for the co-operation of all
the intelligent members of the community to aid him
in the preservation of that property. It is indeed
high time that the strong arm of the law should be
interposed and that a decisive check should be put
on the disgraceful proceedings of these social pirates.
It is impossible to estimate the evil that may be
wrought, not from want of thought but want of self-
control; and surely the time of the public must not be
wasted to suit the vagaries of wanton destroyers. We
have just had a striking instance of the mischief
which results from unrestrained recklessness iu the
esclandre at Oxford, and what with one thing and
another the public have pretty well determined to see
the last of such untimely freaks and unbecoming ex-
hibitions. It is a scandal to the community that such
destructive practices should flourish among us, and
the perpetrators of the outrages may rest assured that
if the present means of restriction should not avail,
more stringent measures will be resorted to, and the
offenders will be treated with a severity proportionate
to the culpability of their reiterated outrages.

THE Oxford authorities have made the best of the
very bad Christ Church job. For a long time the
University " code of honour " prevented any of the
students from revealing the authors of that most
senseless and deplorable mutilation of works of art.
But it was found that if the truth was not told a
worse thing might befall the guilty parties. The
authorities were resolute ; a prosecution was threat-
ened ; and an inquiry in a court of law would be tole-
rably certain to disclose the facts, whilst the
punishment inflicted would be not less severe.
Having carefully considered these points, the under-
graduates gave full particulars of the outrage, on con-
dition that no prosecution was undertaken. There is
something at once ridiculous and grave in this deli-
beration on the part of young scholars as to whether
they shall do their duty or not, and their treating
with their superiors as if the two parties formed two
hostile camps. But at any rate the interests of j us-
tice have been served. Three of the ringleaders
have been expelled, two have been banished for a
lengthy period, and others are condemned to confine-
ment within the college walls. These penalties are
undoubtedly substantial. The offenders are of good
families, and the disgrace of dismissal cannot fail to
be severely felt in after life. The stigma is one
which much good conduit will be needed to wipe
away. The ends of justice are thus met in the most
eflicient manner. It is much better that the punish-
ment should be inflicted by the University authori-
ties than by a court of law, for it is useless and
unjust to heap unnecessary shame on men who have
paid the full penalty of their crime, and it is
desirable, morever, that the University should retain
the control of its own discipline. It will be a de-
plorable falling off if policemen and magistrates
have to be called upon to supplement the authority
of the college heads. _ _ _

The most gloomy feature of this unfortunate affair

is the attitude of the general body of undergraduates.
It would appear that all the sympathy of the stu-
dents, or at least of the younger portion, is reserved for
the perpetrators of this gross offence. They are, it
is thought, hardly treated in being first threatened
with " a felon's dock," and afterwards visited
with severe punishment at the hands of the
authorities. It was nothing worse than a joke ; the
culprits were young; they might not have been clear
in their perceptive faculties through over indulgence.
The sympathetic undergraduates do not state what
punishment they would deem sufficient; but to most
people the proper course of conduct will be clear.
If the college heads were disposed to award an a de-
quate penalty, the " felon's dock" might be dis-
pensed with ; but on no other condition. The Vandals
had committed an outrage for which any ordinary
person would have been lodged in prison, and it does
not appear that Any sufficient excuse was forth-
coming. It is usually allowed that young gentlemen
who reside at universities are given to practical
joking ; but this propensity must be kept within
limits, and the stupid wantonness .of the
Christ Church affair was unpardonable. Drunkenness
is never admitted as an excuse ; and in the
case of university students it may not unreasonably
be held to exaggerate rather than condone the
offences committed under its influence. The Christ
Church outrage indicates a propensity for brutal and
senseless excitement. It betrays a flagrant disregard of
the most primitive obligations which might be ex-
pected to bind young men of good social position;
and it is exceedingly deplorable to find that the fate
of the offenders excites so much commiseration. It
is a hard but perfectly just fate. If the
authorities failed to make a stand against
such a barbarous procedure as the one in
question, the office of the University would be gone,
and it would be high time to put up the
shutters. As it is, it is difficult to
divine the special use of university training, if
the time and opportunities of such a career are
devoted to converting gentlemen into second-rate
cricketers and billiard players, or loose, dissolute
characters, in no degree above the level of the
very different class of young men who frequent the
German• institutions.

FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

THE incident which took place in the House of
Commons on Tuesday, was not without precedent,
but it was very unusual. We believe that the last
occasion on which it happened was in connection with
a kindred subject to Mr. William Fowler'S motion—
we refer to Mr. Spooner's bill for the protection
of women, something less than twenty-five
years ago. A. little prior to that Daniel O'Connell,
having quarrelled with tha reporters, made the same
observation that Mr. Craufurd made on Tuesday,
and obtained their exclusion. But the reception
which the Liberator met with in the attempt to
avenge a fancied personal wrong upon the whole
nation was not of such a nature as to encou-
rage a repetition of the experiment. Nor is
Mr. Cranford likely to repeat his " observation."
If the unauthorised report which appears in the
papers be correct, Mr. Gladstone gave the hon. and
bulky member a very severe lecture, by which
it is to be hoped he will profit. In
truth Mr. Craufurd's attempt to conceal
the discussion on the Contagious Diseases Act
comes altogether too late. When the newspapers
have been full of letters and articles any time these
twelve months, when indignation meetings have been
held in every important town of the kingdom, when
ladies have issued broadsides by the million and
have even addressed public audiences on this topic,
it is the most extravagant squeamishness to object to
the presence of ladies, still more to that of
reporters during the debate upon the Act in
question. The objection was more than absurd;
it was unconstitutional. The Act confers
very unusual powers upon the Executive. A
larger number of persons think, rightly or wrongly,
that these powers are dangerous to the liberty of the
subject, and the exercise of them a piece of. tyranny ;
they think that the Act was passed in a hurry,
without a full understanding of its purport
by their representatives, and they demand a
thorough investigation, and a searching debate. It
is not too much to say that at the present moment
the Contagious Diseases Act excites more interest
than any other question, more even than the Educa-
tion Bill. Yet because one of the representatives of
the most profligate portion of the kingdom is shame-
faced, the whole nation is to be kept in ignorance of
what its representatives think and say upon this
matter. No doubt the Act in question is not a
pleasant topic, is not one that we would willingly
discuss, but to say the discussion is dangerous to
morals is perfectly absurd. There is many a novel,
many a drama which is so, and public opinion does
not forbid women to read the one or to see the other.
No one is likely to be allured into sin by a discussion
on the loathsome and appalling disease which is its
fearful punishment.

r It

The Marquis of Westminster has nominated the
Rev. J. R: Williams, M.A., lector of Hedsor, to the
rectory of Pulford, near Wrexham.
THE TAILORS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.—The
thirty-second anniversary of this institution for the relief of
aged and infirm journeymen tailors was celebrated last night
by a dinner at the Freemasons' Tavern. Mr W. H. Smith,
M.P , presided. The amount subscribed during dinner was
upwards of £5OO.
THE EXCLUSION OF STRANGERS FROM THE HOUSE
OF CoMMONB. —Mr. Gilpin has given notice that, on an
early day, he will move " That, in the opinion of this
House, it is undesirable that it should continue in the power
of any individual member to exclude the public and press
from debates iu the House by observing that there are
strangers present."

-- - -
VISIT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES TO READING -
Yesterday morning the Mayor of Reading received a com-
munication from Marlborough House, announcing the in-
tention of the Prince of Wales to visit Reading on Tuesday,
the sth of July, for the purpose of laying the foundation-
stone of the new grammar school about to b, erected on the
Re Rands estate, at a cost of £20,000.

EMIGRATION To CANADA. —Another party of
about 28 emigrants lift the Euston station last night, per
9.15 p.m. train, to join the ship Austrian, which sails from
Liverpool to-day for Canada. These emigrants are sent
out by the British and Colonial Emigration Fund, West-
minster-chambers, who contribute half the fare of each, the
remainder being paid by themselves. The Hon. Reginald
Capel, one of the committee, went down in charge of the
party.

DUNVILLE and Co., Belfast, are the largest holders
of whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is recommended
by the medical profession in preference to French brand . Sup-
piled in casks and cases for home use or exportation. Quotations
on application to Messrs DUNVILLE & t 0., Royal Irish Dis-
tilleries, Belfast ; or at their London Offices, 4, Beaufort Buildings
Strand, W.C.