The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-15 00:00:00

Messrs. Baring Bro-

thers _ £lO6 0 0
Messrs. N. M. Roth-
schild and Sons .. 105 0 0
Messrs. Brown, Ship-
ley, and C 0... ... 105 0 0
Messrs. Rathbone
Brothers ........ 100 0 0
Charles M'lver, Esq. 50 0 0
Stephen Guion, Dsq. 50 0 0
Samuel Smith, Esq. 60 0 0
Messrs. Pratt Bro-
thers and Farmer 5 0 0
R. B. Litchfield,
Esq. ..., ..... 1 0 0
Miss Rosa Hersee .. 1 0 0
Jas. Maclaren, Esq. 2 2 0

NEW C R O S S, S.L.-COMFORTABLE
APARTMENTS, suitable for a Gentleman engaged during
the day, to be Let in the House of a Private Family.
Address R. A., 35, St. John's-road, Lewisham High-road, New
Cross, S.E.

VALUE OF WEEDS.—The drought has been so
great about London, and forage so scare, that cow-keepers
are eagerly purchasing the weeds grown in the Royal
Horticultural Society's gardens at Chiswick, for cattle
food. The weeds are unusuallf fine, certainly, having
been undisturbed for the last year or two ; and it is
gratifying to see how even its misfortunes can be turned
to good account for the society's benefit. —Journal of
Horticulture.

A LAMENTABLE EVENT.—A Madrid paper pub-
lished in the Liberte recounts the death of an English
sailor at Cadiz under very unfortunate circumstances.
The man, who was named Samuel Brown, a gunner on
board the British corvette Cruiser, being prevented at
night from returning to his ship by stormy weather then
prevailing, applied to a police officer to direct him to an
inn where he could lodge. The officer could not under-
stand him, and took him to the police station ; but Brown
insisted upon being allowed to depart. The chief officer
and another seized him, and a struggle, ensued in the course
of which the sailor received several wounds which caused
his death within a few minutes. A demand for an inves-
tigation was made to the authorities by the captain of the
Cruiser and by the British Consul. The funeral, which
was a grand one, was attended by all the chief personages
in Cadiz.

LAUNCH OF THE PLUCKY.—The twin screw iron
gun vessel Plucky was launched on Wednesday morning
at Portsmouth dockyard into the steam basin under the
superintendence of Mr. Robinson, master shipwright,
She is sister vessel to the Stanch, intended for the coast
defence and to carry one gun of large calibre. The cere-
mony of christening this little craft was performed by
Miss Amy Hope, daughter of Sir George Hope and niece
of the admiral, in the presence of Admiral Sir J. Hope,
K.C.8., and Miss Hope, Rear-Admiral Loring and Mrs.
Loring, Captains Hancock, Comniere and Boys, and
several ladies. The dimensions of the vessel are :—Length.
80ft. ; extreme breadth, 25ft. • depth in hold, 7ft. 9in. ;
and burthen in tons, 211 81-94. She will be fitted with
engines of 25-horse power nominal, to be supplied by the
Avonside Engineering Company, and her draft of water
when ready for sea. is intended to be 6ft. lin. aft, and sft.
7in. forward.
RicaAnD WEAVER ON ms DEFENCE.—Richard
Weaver has issued a circular in connection with the recent
affiliation case in which he was concerned, which, among
other passages, has the following :—" It is not for me to
try to justify myself. lam God's servant,. Clrist Jesus
is my master, and my reputation is with Him, not with
max. The woman made Joseph's garment a witness
against him, and this poor girl has made the same of my.
kindness. . . . Let me beg an interest in all Chris-
tians' prayers at this time of trial, for my dear wife, who
is belied with myself, and for our five children, that God
may bless us. Th-e is a cloud of gloom over our home at
the present time, that for seventeen years has been one of
the happiest homes in this world • but the sun will shine
again, and sorrow and sadness Will flee away. Joy will
return. My wife and I have still the quiet calm of
Christ's presence with us. . . . I leave my case in
the hands of God, only crying, ' Plead tlion my cause, 0
Lord.'"

The proceedings of the afternoon opened with the pre-
'tr4mitan,of- 41no-intral sr-of petitions
from various parts of the kingdom. One petition was so
large that
.it had to be wound around a sort of wooden
drum, and having been decorated with coloured fastenings,
it was borne in by Sir Wilfred Lawson and Mr. Candlish,
just as once upon a time Joshua and Caleb bore the clusters
of grapes after their tour of exploration into the Pomised
Land. At the openingof the proceedings there was not a
single Minister on the Treasury bench nor a single chief
on the front Opposition bench. This was fortunate, as it
frustrated Mr. Cavendish Bentinck's attempt to get up a
discussion about the Continental crisis. In striking con-
trast with the absence of the parliamentary leaders—a
prudential absence, without doubt—in striking contrast,
too, with the absolutely deserted peers' gallery,
was the thronged and overflowing state of the Speaker's
and, strangers' galleries. The parliamentary leaders
think that the wisest course for them just now is to watch
events, and not oppose themselves to what may turn out
to be a great'popular question, which, being unconnected
with party politics, either party may exploiter to its own
advantage. As for the Peers, they are "up in a bal-
loon "so far as this topic is concerned. They have no
idea of the strength of feeling which it excites among the
people, though they might have formed some idea if they
had been present yesterday and looked at the intent eager
faces of the middle and working class company who filled
the galleries, and the groups of excited working men who
stood in Palace-yard waiting to know the result of the divi-
sion.

There was one notice on the paper before the Per-
misiive Bill. It was Mr. Osborne Morgan's bill for facili-
tating the purchase of sites for schools and places of
worship. One half of his measure had been provided for
under the Education Bill, and so he, being one of the
Warmest supporters of the Permissive Bill, was easily
indUced to withdraw his measure, and let Sir Wilfrid
LaWson proceed to business. This he did at
twenty !hinnies past two, and in a temperate and earnest
speech of forty minutes the Cumberland baronet 'set
befOre his audience the reasons which had led him
to urge forward this subject at this late period of the ses-
sion. He pointed out that the Permissive Bill was not a
licensing bill, but that, whereas under the present system
the magistrates were the licensing body, and they pro-
fessed to be guided by the wants of a locality, this bill
would enable them to ascertain this point in the most cer-
tain manner. He quoted Mr. Bright's words,
in which he strongly supported the principle -of
popular representation in the licensing boards.
Sir Wilfrid then made very short work of the
antiquated objection against making people sober by Act
of Parliament, and asked if people were not made healthy
by Act of Parliament. The permissive principle he
shewed had been admitted by Sir George Grey's Night-
houses Act. As for interference with the liberty of the
subject, was there any Act f>f Parliament which did not
interfere with the liberty of the subject ? At three
o'clOck Lord Claud Hamilton the elder rose to second
the bill. He bore witness to the strong feeling that there
was in favour of it in Ireland among all classes and
all religions. He spoke for sixteen minutes, and
then some one got up from the bench behind
the chief Conservative "bench, and in a few moments we
soon found ourselves listening to the " old familiar strain "
I can hardly finish the quotation, no say that for it—
" I.Tntired we ask, and as again."
. .

In truth, one is very tired of it—this making people
sober by Act of Parliament ; " unequal justice in closing
the public-house and keeping open the club-house ; and
the wretch—