The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JUNE 11, 1870.

THE CHARITY. CHILDREN AT ST. PAUL'S

CATHEDRAL.

On Thursday afternoon, an interesting gathering was
held under the venerable old dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.
The charity children held their usual annual festival, .and
nearly 5,000 children assembled, besides a vast con-
course of visitors, including the Lord Mayor and
aldermen, the cathedral body being represented by
the Dean and Canon Melville. The service commenced
at twelve o'clock by the children singing the old
metrical version of the 100th Psalin, accompanied by the
great organ in the south bay, also by two trumpets, two
cornets, and a pair of kettle drums. The prayers were
intoned by the Rev. J. H. Coward, M.A., and the lessons
were read by the Rev. J. V. Povah, 8.D., both gentlemen
minor canons of the cathedral. The psalms for the day
were sung by the choir, which was augmented by voices
from the Chapel Royal, St. James's, St. George's Chapel,
Windsor, Westminster Abbey, and other places, the
children joining in the Glorias at the end of each
psalm. "It is not an easy thing, says the Post, for those
who were not present to realise the effect of the multitude
of children's voices singing with one accord such phrases
as ' God save the King," and ' May the King live for
ever,' to the sublimely simple strain to which Handel
has set these words, or to imagine the awful grandeur
produced by a body of voices in unison, for though
many of the peculiarities of local intonation and
pronunciation were doubtless to be distinguished,
yet the combination of sound was too magnificent
to allow the thought that arose clncerning details to hold
place:for a moment. The Hallelujah Chorus, with all its
great effects for a limited and educated choir, rarely
brings about such a result as that obtained at these gather-
ings, and the chorales never seem to be so full of beauty
as when emitted from the 5,000 throats of these poor
and happy children. The sight, too, is one that could
not possibly be obtained under any other circumstance,
or in any other place. The noble proportions
of the majestic building are better understood after a
sight of the little ones ranged in their galleries round the
area of the dome. The quaint and Old World character
of the headdresses worn by the girls, speaking of the
fashions of a bygone day ; the various colours of the
uniforms, relievedby the different hue of the ribbons, make
the children appear, not like the hackneyed simile of a
paterre of flowers, but like a soil cleared for cultivation,
with a few obstinate weeds shewing themselves in their
most attractive form ; and when, during certain portions
of the service, the boys bow their heads, or the girls raise
their mitten or white linen covered arms to their
faces by one consent at a given signal, the sight is
like the shadow of a cloud passing over the surface
of a party-coloured ground, with here and there a streak
of sunshine seen as it were through a rent in the cloud,
so that, with the singing and the spectacle, the meet-
ing of the charity children at St. Paul's is a sight as
affecting as it is unique. For several months before the
service takes place the children of the various schools are
trained in sections under the immediate super-
intendence of Mr. James Shoubridge, vicar-
choral of the cathedral, so that the mere direc-
tion of the large body of voices undertaken by that
gentleman in the cathedral—where, mounted on a high
pulpit and in his surplice, he guides the voices by the
motion of his arm—represents but a very small portion of
the work necessary to the production of so beautiful and
one-minded an effect as that heard on Thursday ; and as
the singing was more than usually successful, and with
less variation and wavering from the time of the organ
accompaniment, it is only reasonable to conclude that
more than ordinary pains have been taken to bring about
such a success. The sermon, which on this occasion is
generally a short one, was delivered by the Right
Rev. the Bishop of Worcester, and the collections made
at the doors amounted to a considerable sum, but one
that was somewhat below the usual average. The
occasion was unusually interesting, as it is rumoured
that it is the last meeting of the sort that will be allowed
to take place in the cathedral, some colour being given
to the rumour from the fact of the more recently
appointed and influential members of the chapter being
absent; but whether the rumour be correct or not, it is
to be hoped that the change will not be made after the
manner that many of the recent alterations at the cathedral
have been effected, and that no change will be instituted
for the mere sake of change. If the meeting takes place
another year, it may be thought desirable to have the
children taught to sing the ancient plain song of the re-
sponses, instead of Tallis's added melody ; the effect would
be more consistent, and would, besides, be easier for them
to sing ; and, again, as the service takes place after twelve
o'clock, it has perhaps escaped the attention of the Society
of Patrons that the morning prayers and lessons are less
appropriate than those belonging to the evening service
under those circumstances.

STARVING A CHILD.—A man named Smith and
his wife have been committed for trial, at Wolverhampton,
on a charge of illtreating and starving their child.

A great meeting of Nonconformists on the Govern-
ment Education Bill is to be held at Exeter Hall on
Monday next, under the presidency of Mr. M'Arthur,
M.P.

A Bristol Liberal paper speaking of the coming
election in that city, says : " The Liberal party in Bristol
wants no more test ballots. These may be considered a
method of getting over a difficulty, but experience has
proved that they are a sure source of division."

At the General Assembly of the Irish Pres-
byterian Church, held at Belfast, the question of the sus-
tentation of the Ministry was introduced. Thirty thou-
sand pounds was the sum said to be wanted, of which
£22,000 was subscribed on the spot.

Baron Liebig who has, for some time, been suffering
from nervous headache, is now laid up with carbuncle.
his physicians consider that he is likely to do well as his
health, for many years, has been excellent. The Baron is
now sixty-seven years O
old.
The Duke of Devonshire has liberally made
arrangements for the erection of new buildings for the
Eastbourne College, of which he is president. The site
of this college, between the sea and the Sussex Downs,
is favourably known to many visitors to the south coast.
Her Majesty, with their Royal Highnesses Prin-
cesses Louise and Beatrice, and attended by the Court, is
expected to leave Balmoral next week, and return to
Windsor Castle on or about Saturday, the 18th instant.
Prince Leopold, who remains in somewhat delicate health,
is still at Windsor Castle.

SIR JAMES VALLENTIN'S COLLECTION OF OB-
JECTS OF ART, JEWELS, AND PLATE.—The valuable col-
lection of ancient silver and silver-gilt plate, objects of
art, and jewellery of the late Sir James Vallentin, Sheriff
of London, has been finally dispersed at the rooms of
Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods, in King-street, St.
James's. Among the more valuable objects included in
the last day's sale were the following jewels :—A bril-
liant flower pattern brooch, with pendants ; a gold bracelet
with black enamel ornaments and brilliant centre ; a
brooch, pendant, and pair of earrings to match-130gs.
A fine old pendant, formed as a Cupid, beautifully
modelled in gold, partly enamelled, and set with rubies
and table diamonds-74gs. A kneeling figure of an angel,
set with rubies and diamonds-56gs. A pair of large gold
pendants, set with emeralds ; a pair of earrings to match,
with cut emerald drops ; a cross formed of large emeralds,
the back enamelled in colours ; and an enamelled gold
necklace, with cross-66gs. A splendid single-stone bril-
liant ring, in richly-enamelled gold setting, weighing 6i
carats—.£2ll. The whole produced upwards of £6,000.

THE ANGLO-CANADIAN FOUR-OARED RACE.—
The amended articles of the international four-oared
match for £5OO a-side were received by Renforth on
Thursday. The race comes off on the St. Lawrence
River, near Montreal, Canada, on the 15th day
of September, 1870 ; the distance to be six
miles, three up river from Lachine and back
again. The St. John Paris crew to row without a
coxswain, and the Tyne crew to have the right of rowing
with or without one as they may see fit.
At a meeting of the supporters of the Tyne Champion
Crew, on Thursday night, the following resolutions were
unanimously agreed to :—" That Thomas Winship be re-
called from,Lancaster, and that the crew go into immediate
training ; that Robert Jewitt, J. H. Clasper, or any other
builder be empowered to construct a four-oared boat, to be
rowed without a coxswain, and that the signature of the
articles and the engagement of an extra man be considered
at another meeting of the supporters of the crew, to be
held in a few days." The Ord Arms, Scotswood, will be
the training quarters of the crew, and there James Ren-
forth, James Taylor, and Martin will immediately locate
themselves. The men have determined to row without a
coxswain, Taylor being quite capable of working a rudder
from his place in the bow, and the boat will, of course, be
constructed accordingly.—Northern Daily Express..
NOTABLE MBN AT THE DERBY.—Mr. Edmund
Yates, in his weekly letter to the Western Mail, says—M.
Gustave Dor6 was in an open waggonette at the Derby.
The carriage was on the hill immediately opposite the
Grand Stand. He made a few rapid sketches of the
position of various objects of interest, but devoted the
greater portion of his time to keen observation, his
memory being, as I am told, marvellously retentive.
With him were Mr. Blanchard Jerrold, who is to
write the letterpress' accompanying the great French
artist's drawing; Mr. Parkinson, the well-known special
correspondent of the Daily News, and several gentlemen
of social position. Another gentlemen, who was combin-
ing business with pleasure, was Mr. Sala, who was in a
carriage drawn up close to Tattenham Corner, and whose
description of the day will shortly appear in his new periodi-
cal, England in the Nineteenth Century. Mr. Millais was
there, and M. Carlo Pellegrini, who first drew those admir-
able caricatures of " Our Statesmen " in ti anity Fair.
They are now drawn by Mr. Alfred Thompson, but, though
clever, have not the go and verve of the first series. The
reporters made much of the presence of Mr. Gladstone at
the race, but I saw even a more unlikely person—viz., the
Right Hon. Acton Ayrton, First Commissioner of Her
Majesty's Works, who looked about as much in his element
as a dolphin in a sentry-box, and as happy as a tomtit on
bird-lime. The defeat of Macgregor was a most fortunate
thing for the ring, one of the principal members of which
stood, it is said, within a week of the race, to lose
£150,000 if the favourite had carried off the prize. To
spew the science of betting, I hear that one of a well-
known firm of bookmakers—an individual who, from the
rotundity of his figure, rejoices in the nick-name of
" Tubby "—had so skilfully balanced his book that he
could not win less than £lO,OOO whatever animal might
have come in first.

THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

The Select Committee of the House of Commons ap-
pointed to inquire into the reason of the dis-
crepancy between the estimate and the actual
cost of the Abyssinian expedition, resumed
their sittings on Friday. afternoon, Mr. Candlish in the
chair.—Major Willoughby, an officer in the Commissariat
department of the Indian Government, stated that he was
sent to Egypt to purchase transport animals. He left
India on the 31st of August, 1867, and went on direct to
Suez, where he arrived on the 27th of September. His
instructions to purchase animals were afterwards extended
to the purchase of stores and provisions, and letters
of instruction to that effect reached him from
the Secretary of the Government of Bombay,
from the Consul-General of Egypt, and subsequently
from the commander-in-chief himself. He made his head
quarters, Suez, and he admitted, that at Suez, there was
no market for the disposal of animals, or any merchants
who could undertake their supply. Moreover, that Suez
was 100 miles from the cultivated portion of Egypt, and
was in fact in the desert. At the same time the nature
of their duties compelled them to live at Suez, and
they knew very well the proper place from which
to draw the supplies. Cairo was the place to which all
the produce of Upper Egypt came, and although most of
the accounts produced were those of merchants of Alex-
andria, it did not follow that the purchases were made in
Alexandria, or that the stores and animals were drawn
from thence. His duties were not only to pur-
chase, but to receive the animals on board the
ships at Suez. He stated that shortly after he
arrived he received a telegram from India asking the
rates at which purchases could be made, and after he had
forwarded them he received instructions, which he carried
out, to purchase at those rates. He did not purchase
animals till February, 1868 ; in October of that year he
purchased forage, including beans, barley, and straw,
_to
the extent of £26,000. The purchase was made of Mr.
Fredericson, a commission agent, at Alexandria. The pur-
chase was not made by competition. He did not know that at
that time he was or professed to be an architect. He had
been employed by the Government in building a sana-
torium, but he thought it was not commenced till after-
wards. He had a guarantee to the-extent of 10 per cent.
that the contract would be properly carried out. The
£26,000 was lodged in the bank. He did not think it ne-
cessary. to make any inquiries into the antecedents of Mr.
Fredericson ; and looking at the matter now, he was
convinced that he could not have purchased those stores
at a cheaper rate than he did. After some further evi-
dence respecting the manner in which stores were 'pur-
chased, the committee adjourned.

LAW AND POLICE.

THE CHARGE OF SHOOTING AT CONSTABLES. —Leed-
ham, the man who is charged with having fired at three
police constables in the East-end a few nights ago, has
been committed for trial for shooting with intent to mur-
der or do grievous bodily harm.

SERIOUS CHARGE AGAINST A SCHOOL GGVERNESS.—The
body of a newly-born child was discovered on Tuesday
concealed in one of ehe desks of the Bardsley School, near
Ashton-under-Lyne, and consequent upon information ob-
tained, the police arrested the governess of the school,
Ann Mercer, on a charge of concealment of birth. At the
direction of the coroner a post mortem examination of the
body was made by Dr. Gardner, who states that the child
might have lived for some time, but that it bore some
peculiar malformation which rendered it impossible for it
to have lived any length of time. The accused has been
committed for trial on the charge of concealment of birth.
THE RIVER AIRE.—An appeal has been heard in the
Court of Chancery from a decree of Vice Chancellor
James restraining the corporation of Leeds, the defendant
in the case, from opening any further communications
with the existing outfall into the river Aire, and from con-
tinuing the outpouring of the sewage into it
after a specified time. Their lordships, how-
ever, were of opinion that the order of the
Vice-Chancellor was right, and that the corporation had
no power to execute the works in question so as to create
a nuisance. The question of delay had been raised, but
the court held the simple fact of forbearing for a certain
time to interfere had not barred the right of the relators
to interfere, and was not such an amount of lathes as to
lead the court to say that the evil ought not now to be
arrested. The conclusions of the Vice-Chancellor were,
in their lordships' opinions, right, and the decree would,
therefore, be affirmed.
CURIOUS CASE IN BANKRUPTCY.—An application WaS
made to the Chief Judge in Bankruptcy under the follow-
ing peculiar circumstances :—A Mr. Impey, builder, of
Bromley, Essex, bankrupt under the late Act, had been
last year sentenced by Mr. Commissioner Winslow to
two months' imprisonment, on the ground of having put
his creditors to unnecessary expense by vexatiously de-
fending an action ; a warrant was issued, and placed
in the hands of the messenger of the Court, but the
bankrupt absconded, and his apprehension had never been
effected. Information had now been obtained of Mr.
Impey's return to this country, and the question was
whether, notwithstanding the change in the law, the
warrant was still in force.. The Chief Judge directed a
formal application to be made notice of, which must be
given to the bankrupt.
FRAUDS ON A RAILWAY COMPANY.—Two labouring men
named Steele and Simmonds were indicted at the Central
Criminal Court for a conspiracy to defraud the London
and South-Western Railway Company. They were also
charged with obtaining money by false pretences under
circumstances that evidenced considerable ingenuity. The
prisoner Steele was the ganger of a number of men at
Hounslow, and substantially the offence with which he
was charged was that he placed in his list the names of
men who were not at work ih his gancr, and thus appro-
priated the pay that appeared to 'be due to these
supposititious persons. On inquiries being made the other
prisoner was brought forward, and he represented himself
to the paymaster as one of Steele's gang ; but this was
proved by the other labourers to be untrue. There was
also a charge against a man named Henry Wood, the in-
spector of several gangs, including Steele's, but he bad
absconded, and a warrant was out against him. They
were found guilty, and sentenced, Steele to six months',
and Simmonds to three months' hard labour.

THE PERSONAL LIABILITY OF kCHURCHWARDENS.—An
important case, as affecting the personal liability of
churchwardens for matters connected with their official
duties, came before the Court of Queen's Bench in the
form of an appeal from the judgment of a county
court judge. The action was brought by a parish
registrar named Veley against the churchwardens
of his parish, to recover his fees and expenses
in attending the visitation of the archdeacon ; and the
churchwardens denied their personal liability, while at
the same time they pleaded that they had no fund arising
from church rates. The Court of Common Pleas and
Exchequer Chamber had held that a similar action was
maintainable, in so far as to the fees being recoverable ;
and the question now before the court was whether the
wardens could be made to pay the amount out of
their own pockets, in the absence' of Church-
rates. The Solicitor-General cited cases to shew that
corporations were held to be liable even where the special
fund chargeable did not exist. On the other hand, it was
denied that the services rendered were for the benefit of
the churchwardens. The counsel argued that the fees
were properly chargeable to the parish. The court held
that the liability was one affecting the parish, and not the
churchwardens individually. The decision was, therefore,
in favour of the defendants.
BEQUEST OF PROPERTY BY WILL.—In the Court of
Chancery, Sir R. Malins has delivered judgment in a
matter respecting the bequest of property by will, upon
which various authorities have differed. A gentleman
executed a will, by which he bequeathed certain pro-
perty to his four children, with remainder to their issue.
He diet not die for a considerable period, and he sur-
viyed one of his children, who left one child,
the issue of a legitimate marriage. The question was
whether this child was barred from the benefit of his
mother's interest in the property in consequence of his
parent not surviving the testator. The Vice-Chancellor
held in the negative both on the principles of law and
equity, it being clear that the testator did not require that
the interest of the grandchildren should be dependent
upon the accidental circumstance of the whole of the chil-
dren surviving his death.

THE ASSIGNMENT OF CONTRACTS.—in. the Lord Chan-
cellor's Court an appeal was heard against a deci-
sion of the Master of the Rolls, who a short time since in
a suit instituted by the official liquidator of the
Birmingham Banking Company, made Sir William
Foster, Bart., liable for the loss sustained
by the bank by reason of his neglect of a
notice that the party with whom he had contracted
for the assignment of a lease had assigned the benefit of
the contract to the bank. The Lord Chancellor reversed
the decision of Lord Romilly, on the ground that the case
involved an entirely new equity, in support of which there
was no recognised authority, and which it would be ex-
tremely inconvenient to establish.

SACRILEGE AT WIMBLEDON.-At Wandsworth, Frede-
rick Smith, aged eighteen, and Thomas Street, aged seven-
teen, were brought up on remand, charged with being in
the unlawful possession of sixty-five crossed cheques,
which had been stolen from Christchurch, Ridgway,
Wimbledon. The constable went to Christchurch, and
found the wirework removed from a window,
the frame bent, and a pane of glass broken.
On examining the interior of the church he
found a bottle of wine by the door, a cup-
board in the vestry forced open, a robe on the ground
and the contribution boxes removed, one of which had
been forced open. The cheques belonged to the trustees
of the church, and had all been paid. The prisoners de-
clared that they were innocent of the robbery at the
church. Mr. Dayman said they had not given a satis-
factory account of the possession of the cheques. He
committed them to prison for two months with hard
labour.
SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS AT AN INQUEST.-At an inquest
held at Stepney respecting the death of Mrs. Sarah
Tuson, aged 25, some serious revelations were made. The
deceased was a performer at the Alhambra Music Hall,
Shoreditch, where she appeared under the name of " Miss
George. " She had had two children, and told her husband she
would have had a third,but shewent to 'a doctor at Greenwich,
who has since been sentenced to fifteen years penal
servitude for his mal-practices. A few weeks afterwards
she told a witness that she was going to a man in the City-
road, who would help her to get rid of her child, as she
wanted to play Mazeppa at the music halls, and
in that part she had to throw herself upon
the stage down a stone staircase. She went to
the house of a retired medical practitioner, named
Harding, in Windsor-terrace, City-road, and on her return
home she was taken ill, and died in great agony. Hard-
ing is now in custody on a charge of being concerned in
causing the woman's death. The coroner said that he had
himself knowledge of a fact which, if it could be estab-
lished by legal evidence, would be of great importance.
It did not bear so much against Harding as against other
persons. The inquiry was adjourned in order that further
investigation might be made.

The diamond known as the "Star of South
Africa," the consignment of which from the Cape of Good
Hope to Messrs. Mosenthal and Co. was reported in July
last, having been cut, has proved a matchless stone, of
most resplendent quality, of about 186 grains weight. It
is understood to have been sold on behalf of the con-
signees by the brokers, Messrs. Ochs Brothers, of London
and Paris, to a jeweller in London.

The sixteenth anniversary of the opening of the
Crystal Palace has just passed away. During the sixteen
yeais it has been open it has been visited by 24,655,712
persons.. The last great Flower Show (with display of
table decorations, &c.,) takes place to-day (Saturday).
The show will be an unusually fine one. The full band
of the Coldstream Guards will attend and co-operate with
the orchestral band of the company.

According to the Liberte, a bootmaker has just in-
vented a boot with small wheels, which will enable any
one to go as rapidly as a horse, with the facility of stop-
ping at a moment's notice. What is this, however, but
skating on wheels, which we have all seen at the Crystal
Palace or elsewhere'? It is a curious and no doubt plea-
sent recreative mode of locomotion, or velocipedestrianism
but can it be made suitable to roads ? That is the ques-
tion.

The Church Review says that on Friday, the 17th
inst., the Judicial Committee a the Privy Council will
resume their sittings, and the case " Elphinstone v.
Purchas " will be mentioned for a new promoter. The
appeal of the Rev. Mr. Voysey from the Chancery Court
of York, is pending, but there seems to be no likelihood
of its being heard during the next sitting, as the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury is not expected to attend, and the
Privy Councillors on the Episcopal Bench cannot take
part in the proeeedings.
The Civilian states that a committee is now sitting
to consider the means by which the junior clerks in the Ad-
miralty may be compensated for their scant prospects of
promotion, owing to the reduction of the senior classes.
An entirely original scheme—something quite new to the
service—is likely to be the result. The reforms in the
Customs' department are also beginning to assume defi-
nite shape, and considerable reductions in numbers and
salaries will shortly be effected in the " Supplementary
Establishment" of the. Treasury.

IGN ORANT EDITORS.

It seems English editors are as ignorant of our internal
improvements as of our geography. They have conceived
the solemn, not to say startling notion, that all our rail-
roads are managed like the Erie, and that there are Fisks
and Goulds who " retain Judges of the Supreme Court,"
and carry municipal authorities in their breeches pockets,
in every railroad directory. Falling into the error of the
London Times, the Pall Mall Gazette speaks of the Northern
Pacific Railroad as starting from the head waters of Lake
Superior, " and terminating at Puget's Sound and Port-
land, Oregon—localities which inquisitive investors will
have some difficulty in discovering on ordinary maps."
Evidently, if we are to study English maps ; but if the
editor will consult the Gazetteer he may learn that Port-
land was a city of 4,500 inhabitants away back in 1864,
and that it has a peculiarity observable in other Western
towns and Western States, of doubling its population
every five years or so. —New York Tribune.