The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 13, 1870,

teaching another, and is inclined to separate the two.
The denominational system was only a temporary
expedient, he hints, which must be super-
seded by some more complete plan. If his
reasoning—that " the minister and the religious
association of the place of worship is a sufficient
organisation for teaching religion in the sense which
is meant by those who say that education is of no
value, unless it be taught alongside of and mixed up
with distinct religious teaching "—be carried to its
full consummation, it looks very much like the adop-
tion of the League proposals—an intention of which
the Cabinet has as yet given no sign.
The address becomes more and more precise as it
goes on, until Mr. BRIGHT is quite himself
again. His exposure of the " Reciprocity " fallacy
was all the more vigorous and unsparing since the
question admits of no hesitation. A cry so foolish
and illogical has met with no countenance from any
of the Conservative leaders, and therefore it is not
likely to involve " Ministerial responsibility." The
only hope of the new agitation lay in
persuading the British people that " Reci-
procity " meant something different from Protec-
tion, and this its advocates have utterly failed to
establish. That the interests of Englishmen who
have goods to sell in foreign countries can
be promoted by prohibiting other English-
men from buying from those countries is
an ignorant and barbarous doctrine, worthy only of
the dark ages ; and the notion that because our
imports are greater than our exports we must be
growing poorer, is still worse. It remains to add
that Mr. BRIGHT shares the general doubt whether
a completed Education Bill will be got
through this year, that he looks for the Ballot at an
early date, and still believes that the free breakfast-
table is not an impossibility. His peroration is one
of his masterly appeals to the class which, he espe-
cially represents. It chews that Mr. BRIGHT'S prac-
tical experience in legislation has given him a profound
conviction that while the Government can do much for
the people, the people can do much more for them-
selves. "It is a fact that no Government, that
no Administration, that no laws, that no amount
of industry or of commerce, that no extent
of freedom can give prosperity and solidity and com-
fort in the homes of the people, unless there be in those
homes economy, temperance, and the practice of
virtue. This which lam now preaching is needful
for all ; but it is especially needful, most needful in
some respects, for those whose possessions
are the least abundant and the least secure.
If we could abstract from the ignorance, the
poverty, the suffering, the sickness, and the crime
which are now witnessed among us the ignorance, the
poverty, the suffering, the sickness, and the crime
which are caused by the one single but most prevalent
bad habit or vice of drinking needlessly that which
destroys body and mind, home and family—do we nct
all feel that this country would be so changed, and
so changed for the better, that it would be impossible
almost for us to know it again?"

THE LOSS OF THE KING LEAR AND
THIRTY-FIVE LIVES.

The Western Morning News gives some details of the
loss of the;King Lear, with its capfAin and thirty-four
other persons —" The wrecked eiiip was the King Lear,
Captain Baker, bound from Waif to Hong Kong with
coals, 1,360 tons register, but having a burthen of 1,855
tons, owned by Mr. Soamei, of Blackwell. She was 19
years old, and was insured at Lloyd's in the first class,
American built, at first designed for a pass'enger ship. The
King Learleft Cardiff early in the morning of last Monday
week, and had strong westerly winds on her way down
Channel. On Thursday night she encountered a violent
hurricane from the south-west, at times almost engulph
ing the vessel. She rolled and lurched frightfully, and
so shipped water that she remained for hours lurching
on her side. The seas swept the decks, and the stoutest
heart quailed. The water gained rapidly on the pumps,
and it was discovered that the vessel had sprung
a leak. Everyone then looked to his own safety.
The successive breakers completely waterloggedthe vessel,
anp after one or two "agony lurches " she quietly and
rapidly settled down. The scene on board was fearful.
Several of the crew were lashed to the vessel and cried
piteously with loud and fervent prayers. All attempts of
the crew to save themselves by the boats were useless.
Two of the ship's boats were out of repair, and the third
was found to be inextricably entangled in the wreck.
The ship went down suddenly on Friday morning at
ten o'clock, being then about ten miles off the north coast
of Devon. All the crew went down with her, except seven
—the chief mate, Charles Duncan, of the Isle of Man ; the
second mate, Jacques ; the third mate, and Richard
Skinner, Hans Loddmann, David Veitch, and another
named Munroe. These men, being strong swimmers. rose
to the surface when the ship went down, and combatted
against the avalanches of water that almost suffocated
them. Finding a piece of the poop deck floating they caught
hold of it. It was at first thirty feet long, but unfor-
tunately broke in two pieces, and then they clung to
one piece about ten feet long and seven feet in width.
To this they lashed themselves, and on this small raft
they were alone, without equipments or provisions,
with no boots, but fortunately having saved their
overcoats. They were entirely at the mercy of
the terrible waves. All that day they drifted with
a W.N.W. wind, right across Channel, and on Saturday
they were still in the same sad plight, gnawing the
very wood of the raft in their hunger. On Sunday
morning about four o'clock a brig was seen about a
quarter of a mile distant, but all attempts to hail her
were fruitless. The men were rapidly becoming exhausted;
three of them went mad, and threw themselves into the
sea, '_and were drowned; one exclaimed that he was
going to swim ashore. The land being then ten
miles distant. At this time the raft was approaching
Lundy Island, when, unfortunately,the wind veered round
the N.W., and blew them off the land again. Eight
fishing smacks were seen about half a mile off, but the
attention of those on board could not be attracted. The
wind, which had moderated, then increased, and the chief
mate was washed from the raft three times, and was as
many times fastened to it by the man Skinner. Strange to
say, the men frequently slept on the raft, being unable to
keep awake. Between six and seven o'clock on Monday
night the screw steamer Chester, Captain Pentney, for
Plymouth, with coals for Mr. Brogden, came near the raft,
and the look out man heard voices shouting. The ship's
lifeboat was quickly lowered and manned, the raft was
descried, and with great difficulty the poor fellows were
taken on board. the vessel, where every attention was paid
them.

THE RUNNING DOWN OF THE ST. BEDE.
An affecting narrative is given by James Dinning, the
only survivor of the running down of the St. Bede steam-
ship. Tho St. Bede, as already reported, was bound from
Newcastle to Huelva, laden with coals, and sailed from
the Tyne on Thursday night. She had a crew of 19, all
told. Dinning was in the mate's (Mr. Hodgson's) watch, and
he came on duty at five o'clock on Friday morning, when
the master was relieved and went below ; and Dinning, being
an able seaman, proceeded on to the bridge to keep a look
out. James Carnie and Alexander Fenton were at the
wheel, and the vessel was then steering S. and by E. E.,
Flamborough Head E. S., distance nine miles. About
half-past five o'clock, Dinning observed a steamer's
masthead and green light 2i points on the port
bow. He had kept his eyes on her, and saw that she
was taking a N.W. course for the land. She never
seemed to alter her course until she was 2i points
on the St. Bede's starboard bow, when her helm appeared
to be put hard a-port. The officers of the watch on board
the St. Bede then shouted to their men at the wheel to
put their helm hard-a-port; but in the hurry they had
misunderstood their orders, and put it hard-a-starboard
instead. The Black Swan was under full steam, and
all her canvass up, and was going at the rate of 12
knots an hour, and the St. Bede six, when the Black
Swan ran into the St. Bede on the starboard side,
in the way of the fore rigging, and cut her through to the
port fore hatch combings. Indeed, she nearly severed her
in two parts, and the St. Bede instantly sank, and within
two minutes of being struck she was out of sight. She
took her crew down with her ; and, no doubt, those who
were sleeping in the bunks would be instantly drowned;
but as far as Dinning could judge some eight or nine of
his shipmates came to the surface of the water with him.
He laid hold of a piece of wood and floated with it,
having taken off his monkey jacket when he saw
a collision was inevitable, the better to enable him to
swim. He heard the shouts around him for help, and at
that time the Black Swan was lying close to; in fact, he
could touch her sides. Men in the water shouted " Ropes :
throw us ropes ;" others cried, "Get out the boats, and come
to us," and others were imploring the Almighty for help.
Some one from the Black Swan (Dinning thinks it was the
master, Mr. Knowles) shouted, "Keep your hearts up, my
men—you shall have help;" but as far as he (Dinning)
could see, neither a rope was thrown nor was a boat
lowered. The Black Swan had not her canvas taken off
her, and she gradually drifted to the leeward, and Din-
ning ultimately saw her lights disappear. The poor
fellows drowning about him continued to cry for assist-
ance ; but slowly, yet certainly, he heard the voices
grow fewer and fewer, until there was only one
left, and he heard that it was the master's. He
shouted to him, " Hold fast, Mr. Brown ; surely help
will come soon." But none did : and Mr. Brown's voice
was heard no more. Dinning being now left alone, float-
ing upon the tempestuous sea in half a gale of wind,
upon the frail piece of wreck, he states that he lived
his life over and over again ; but he was of brave
heart, and a strong man, and held on. He had been
in the water about an hour, and was benumbed
with cold and fatigue, as hie long immersion was
rapidly overcoming the vital forces, and he at last gave
himself up as lost, when he descried a vessel's lights ahead,
and as it seemed to be upon his course he took heart again.
He made it out to be a smack, and he called upon the men
to "lull." They heard him, and ran forward,
and as the little craft ran up to him they
caught him and hauled him on board. The poor fellow
was nearly dead, but they took him below, stripped
him, rubbed him well down, and then gave him all the
clothes they could spare and got him to bed, and supplied
him with hot tea, the gratifying result being that he
gradually recovered. The little vessel which performed
her task of humanity so nobly was the smack
Mary, of Grimsby, from the Dogger Bank, with
fish, and bound to Grimsby ; and it is to be hoped
that her master and crew will be rewarded, for they
behaved like brave good men to Dinning. He was landed
at Grimsby during the day, and was taken every care of
by the agent of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society and
the seafaring inhabitants of the place. The mayor treated
Dinning in a handsome manner, and had him comfortably
rigged in a new, warm yea jacket before he left by train
foi his home.

The Birmingham Gazette says the United Watch-
makers' Association of London, Dublin, and Manchester
are taking steps to prevent manufacturers supplying watches
by wholesale to persons out of the trade. At Liverpool it
has been decided to establish a watch manufacturers' com-
pany upon the limited liability principle, with a capital of
£lOO,OOO.

Lord Monck has written to Archdeacon Redmona,
the promoter of the recent tenant right meeting at Wick-
low, declining to attend, on the ground that at similar
meetings irrelevant topics have been discussed, from which
he should feel bound to dissent. He states his opinion that
the land in its natural condition is rightfully the property of
the landlord, and that any additional value which the tenant
has given to the land is in point of equity his property, and
ought to be vested in him by law.

An extraordinary discovery of the dead body of
a woman 'was made at Derby yesterday morn-
ing. An elderly woman, about fifty years of age, named
Ann Greatorex, lived by herself in a small house up a
court known as the "Ten Bells," Yard, St. Mary's Gate,
and was a person of very eccentric habits. The shutters
at the house have remained closed, and tho blinds
drawn for many weeks past. Suspicion at last became
excited, and yesterday morning, Detective Inspector
Fearn and Inspector Green proceeded to the house
and knocked very loudly. No one answering, the officers
at once obtained a ladder, and proceeding up it as far as the
chamber window, at once noticed the dead body of the woman
leaning with her head downwards beside the bed. It was
quite apparent, from her decomposed state, that she had been
there some three or four weeks. Poverty could not have
been the cause of death, as there was money and food found
In the house. The affair has caused a, feneatiCtli in the
UeidCPCllltoQd. •

LAW INTELLIGENCE—(This Day.)

(Before Vice-Chancellor Malins.)
SMITH V. EDGAR.

Mr. Glasse, Q.C., moved in this case for an in-
junction to restrain the defendant, who is the lessee
of Sadler's Wells Theatre, from performing a piece
called " Toodles," by the plaintiff. It was arranged
that the motion should stand over until next seal,
the defendant undertaking that the piece in ques-
tion should not be played at his theatre until it had
been heard.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.—This Day.

(Before the Recorder.)

The trial of Moss Benjamin, and Nathan Ben-
jamin, his son, who stood indicted with receiving a
large number of opera glasses, the produce of a
burglary at the shop of Mr. Stanley, an optician,
in Great Turnstile, Holborn, was resumed this
morning.

The prisoner, Moss Benjamin, kept a coffee shop
in Eagle-street near Holborn, and from matters
which transpired when three persons, named Thomas
Williams, Elizabeth Williams, and Robert Hart,
were arrested for the commital of a number of
burglaries in various parts of London, the police
went to Benjamin's house and told him they wanted
him for buying stolen property consisting of opera
glasses and spectacles. Benjamin told the police
they need not search his house as they would not
find them, but if they would square the matter he
would stand a thousand pounds between them, five
hundred of which be would pay down in half an
hour. He further told them he would take them
to where the glasses were to be found, namely, the
shop of his son Nathan, in the Old Kent.road, but
that they must pull him through clean, which they
could easily by placing the stolen property in the
room of a man whose name he mentioned, and
whose conviction, he said, could be done without
much trouble. The police told Benjamin it was no
use, they wanted the glasses and not his money,
and they were determined to have the latter. Ben-
jamin then said he would show them where the
stuff was, and they all went in a cab to the son's
house, where the property was,found in a carpet-
bag under the bed. The younger prisoner said his
old man had sent the property over to him, as he
did'nt know what the bag contained, but on being
further questioned he said he would not " round"
on his father.

After the examination of a number of witnesses,
the jury returned a verdict of guilty.

Chamberlain, the detective officer, and other
constables said the prisoner Moss Benjamin had
been a notorious receiver of stolen goods for years,
but from his extreme cleverness they had never
been able to fix him until the present indictment.
He had previously undergone a sentence of penal
servitude for five years, and since bis term expired
he had bought stolen property to an almost unli-
mited extent.

The other prisoners, Thomas Williams, Elizabeth
Williams, and Robert Hart, who had been found
guilty on a former day of burglary, were then
placed by the side of the Benjamins.
The learned Judge remarked on the extensive sys-
tem of robbery that had been carried on, and the faci-
lity Moss Benjamin had offered for the disposal
of the produce. He then sentenced Moss Benjamin
to 15 years' penal servitude, Thomas Williams to
15 years',penal servitude, Elizabeth Williams to 7
years' penal servitude, Robert Hart to 9 months'
imprisonment, and Nathan Benjamin to 6 months'
imprisonment, with hard labour.

The case of Dickeson, who was indicted for con-
spiring to defraud the London and Brighton Rail-
way Company of £250, by falsely representing
himself to have received injuries on their line on
the 23d of June laat, occupied the Common Ser-
geant, and a case of alleged fraudulent bankruptcy
➢ir. Justice Byles, in neither of which had a verdict
been returned.

POLICE .11V7ELLIUENCE.-7his Day.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

THE EFFECT OF A BAD EXAMPLE.—George
Templeman, a boy about 12 years of age, was
charged before Mr. Knox with robbing his father,
Henry Templowan, a leather dresser, of Dudley-
street.

The prosecutor said that on Tuesday morning,
having taken a glass too much, he asked the pri-
soner to get up and light the fire lle did so, and
took a two chilling piece off the mantelpiece, and
went away, it being the sixth time the prisoner had
robbed him.

Mr. Knox—You say you were drunk. If you set
your boy such an exaniple, how can you expect him
to pursue a proper course ?
A constable said he took the prisoner into custody,
and had found that his mother was dead, that his
father was living with a woman, and that they were
of drunken habits.

Mr. Knox—The boy will go to destruction if left
in such hands. The beat thing will be to send the
boy to Feltbam, and the father will have to pay
towards his support.

- -
The boy was then ordered to be sent to Feltham

WESTMINSTER.

SINGULAR AFFAIR.—A gir of 16 was charged with
stealing a cash box containing £2l odd in gold and
silver, a blank cheque book, and other valuables,
in the dwelling house of her master, Mr. Thomas
Edward Croft, a grocer and wine merchant, 6,
Oxford-terrace, Chelsea.
The box was put safe in Mr. Croft's dressing-
room on Sunday morning at one o'clock, and at
midnight on Sunday was missed ; the prisoner, with
others in the house, was interrogated, but no trace
of it discovered until yesterday at half-past two,
when the cash-box, broken open, was found empty
in a disused oven, and the money, cheque book,
&c., were discovered in the boiler of the same range.
The police were sent for, and when the girl was
asked again about it she preserved a tacit silence,
and was taken to the station, where she said
nothing.
In reply to the magistrate, Mr. Croft said the
others in the house were four children, his wife,
and a youth of sixteen.
Mr. Arnold remanded her for a week, offering to
take bail in £4O for her appearance.

THAMES.
A LAZY PAUPER THAT WONT WORK.—George
Helsey, an able-bodied pauper, was charged with
refusing to do the work assigned to him in the
Mile-end Old Town Workhouse.
Mr. Thomas Davis, labour master, said the pri-
soner came to the casual last night, was admitted,
received the usual ration for his supper, provided
with a bed in a ward well ventilated and warmed,
and a breakfast this morning was provided for
him. The prisoner was asked to do a little work
in return for his supper, lodging, and breakfast, on
which he shrugged his shoulders, and exclaimed,
" Vork, I didn't come here to vork ; vy, I have no
idea of such a thing." He required the prisoner to
break half a bushel of stones. The prisoner, " No,
indeed ; I've coined here for bread, and you give
me stones."
Mr. Lusbington asked the prisoner why he did
not do the work required of him.