The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON: THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 22, 1851.

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.
Sir G. CLERK wi.;hed to ask the RiOlt llon. Ger-
tle't an at the head of the Bard of Trade what steps Ind
been taken by the Rail Ti ay Board in relation to the tv%o
late railway accidents ; and whether, if the Railway
Board bad not power to adopt regulations for the public
safety, it was the intention of the Right Hon. Gentle-
' man to introduce a Bill for the purpose of enabling that
Board to interfere for the safety of life and limb to the
public ? _ _

Mr. LABOUCHERE said the subject had been for
some time, and was still under the consideration of the
Railway Board. With regard to the first accident, a very
able report had been presented to the Commissioners on
the subject by the gentleman who hid been sent down for
the purpose, which report he should feel it his duty to
lay upon the table of the House.—(Hear, hear.)
An inspector had also been sent down to attend
the inquest on the second when it took place. With
regard to the most material part of the Right Hon.
Baronet's inquiry, the propriety of the Railway Com-
missioners undertaking the special control of railway ar-
rangements, in order to ensure public safety, he would
take the liberty of asking the House to be very cautions
before they adopted the opinion that the public safety
would be increased by being placed under the control of
a railway board.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.

Mr. EWART rose to move that it is expedient that
the mitigations which have been made in the laws in-
flicting capital punishment in England be extended to
Scotland, and (as far as possible) to the colonial posses-
sions of this country. He thought there could, at all
events, be no objection on the part of the House to in-
stitute an inquiry into the law of Scotland on this sub-
ject. With regard to the colonies, he observed that the
laws of several of them presented many anomalies
as compared with those of England. In St.
Lucia the penal laws of Louis the XlVth.
were now in force; in Ceylon the Dutch laws prevailed,
and arson, coining, homicide, receiving stolen property,
and other offences were punishable by death. At the
Cape of Good Hope the same enactments existed which
were introduced in the time of Charles V., and
by them; the crimes of coining, forgery, housebreaking,
rioting, and stealing, were visited with capital punish-
ment. There still remained, also, at Malta, a remnant of
i the Justinian code, and among other offences punished by
death were attempts to poison, and even the breaking of
the quarantine laws. He believed that many of our colonies
had themselves effected considerable changes in their
laws, but he was anxious that the laws of all the colonies
should be made conformable to the laws of England.
—(Hear, hear.) He was not aware whether
the House had power to do this. It might be that
the principle on which it acted was first to improve
the constitution of the colonies, and then allow them to
make laws for themselves—a principle to which he was
favourable, but he thought, at the same time, that a
suggestion made by the House in the shape of a
resolution such as ho proposed, would have con-
siderable influence in the colonial legislative assemblies.
Many governors of colonies had already expressed an
anxious wish that the law should be assimilated, and he
hoped, therefore, that no opposition would be offered to
his motion.—(Hear.)
Mr. FOX MAULE said he could himself really see
no objection to the proposition of the Hon. Member
viz., that the law of Scotland and the colonies should be
assimilated to that of England, but he questioned very
much the propriety of the House adopting a resolution
of such a vague character. As regarded the colonies,
the House could not legislate for them in these matters,
and they were themselves the best judges of that which
best suited their internal arrangements.
Mr. HUME did not think the Right Hon. Gentleman
had done justice to the motion of the lion. Member.
With regard to Scotland, he should like to see what was
practicable done by Jaw ; but in reference to the
colonies, where they had the right of self-government,
he was disposed to leave the matter in their own hands.
Many colonies, however, did not enjoy that privi-
lege ; and in so far as he was concerned, he
thought their criminal laws ought to be assimilated to
our own. He hoped, therefore, the Home Secretary
would take up the subject and call for the opinion of the
Hous, upon it.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. HAWES did not deprecate discussion upon this
subject, but he certainly was adverse to legislating
upon it at present. The motion, however, was defective
• so far as it related to Scotland, because the proper mode
of proceeding for altering the law of Scotland was by
Bill, and not by resolution. Considering all the House
had heard of late on the question of local self-
government, he did think it would be highly impolitic
to adopt that part of the motion which had reterence;to the
colonies. But, in point of fact, as regarded the majority of
our colonies, there was no necessity for this species of le-
gislation, because their criminal codes, as nearly as
was possible or expedient, had already been assimilated
to those of the mother country. In proof of this ho need
only refer to the papers which had been laid before the
House in the course of the present session, wherein it
would be found that even in colonies whose codes
were severer than our own, a desire was always ma-
nifested by the authorities to follow the example
of the mother country, and adopt a system of transpor-
tation in preference to resorting to the punishment of
death.—(Hear, hear.)
Sir G. GREY was understood to say that instructions
had been forwarded to Scotland to make the law there
in criminal cases as lenient as it is in England,—(Hear.)
Mr. EWART said the purpose of his motion had been
answered by the discussion which it had given rise to,
and he would not, therefore, put the House to the trou-
ble of dividing upon it.
The motion was accordingly withdrawn with leave.
SECULAR EDUCATION.
Mr. W. J. FOX then rose, pursuant to notice, to
move that it was expedient to promote the education of
the people, in England and Wales, by the establishment
of free schools for secular instruction, to be supported
by local rates, and managed by committees, elected
speeially for that purpose by the ratepayers. He said
he rose with some encouragement to make this proposi-
tion, because, at the recent anniversary of the British
and Foreign School Society, the Noble Lord at the head
of the Government, who presided over the meeting, ex-
pressed his conviction that the present was a fitting
time for making additional efforts to promote the educa-
tion of the people. The proposition, therefore, that
he was now making to the House was not in its object
ill-timed. He did not, however, think the Noble Lord's
language was sufficient to warrant him in expecting that
the Noble Lord would honour this motion with his sup-
port, but it did warrant him in expecting that it would
be received in no obstructive spirit by the Government.
He thought this was peculiary the time when efforts for
education were necessary, because passing events
were such as to make them sensible of the
position of their country in this particular. In
almost every department, military, constitutional,
and literary, there was room for self-congratulation, but
on this one of education, it was not a question whether
England was first amone, the nations, but ninth, tenth,
or twelfth. If they looked, too, at their
own internal condition—at the mass of pauperism
and crime which existed among them, they
would also see what necessity these was for an educa-
tional movement. They heard a great deal of the
over-crowded state of the labour-market, but if they
looked at the report of the inspectors they would find
that in many iiistricts, while there was a super-
fluity of uneducated labour, there was a great
deficiency of that which required skill and education.
The constitution of the country supposed knowledge and
education in all subjects, and called upon all citizens to
discharge duties which could not be discharged by un-
educated men. The means now pursued fur the promo-
tion of education were not sufficient to carry out a
system of education sufficient for the wants of the peo-
ple. To prove this, he would rely enly on the reports
of the Government Inspectors themselves; all cf which
were nothing more than a continued illustration of
the necessity of some measure being introduced for the
compulsory adoption of a general system of education.
He did not mean to charge the committee with inten-
tional partiality, but apparent and inevitable partiality
was inherent in the system. There was another point
which gave the appearance of partiality to the adminis-
tration of these grants. Of all the school inspectors ap-
poin'ed there were only .3 who did not belong to
one profession, and that was the Church. There
was also another show of partiality induced by the in-
structions which the committee of council laid down in
regard to the bestowment of grants. Money
was given, not in proportion to the educational
wants of a district or locality, but the amount of volun-
tary subscriptions which were collected for the purposes
of education. He found that an application for a grant
was refused, because no particular religious education
was given in the school, )et in many schools of
this description, a more sound and really moral
and religious education, was afforded than in many
establishments professing to be of a higher character.
In rural districts the greatest difficulties had to be
encountered in the formation of charitable schools,
and the owners and occupiers of land contributed
very trifling sums towards the funds required for the
purpose. Hence the necessity became apparent of the
i terposition of the Government to make all classes pay
not ac
In preport:
co
napioi:i tio their means to the education of the
people. Another reason why the present system could
that a
the purposes of a national education was
religious
difficulty stood in the way, and that
people refu dle to -
puy for that which did not agree with
their religious tenets.

The Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung has the follow-
ing paragraph, probably one of the last that will ap-
pear, on the Dresden Conferences :
" After their formal close they will be forgotten as a
total failure, and the re-organization of Germany will
immediately bo discussed at Warsaw by the Monarchs
in person, and the Presidents of their respective Ca-
binets. All the agitation, labour, and exchange of notes
has only led to the recognition of the old Constitution
innovationsfuture,en and
and the old Diet as the basis and body of the political
bystem. The reforms, improvements, andde
lie still veiled in the deepest obscurity of the
will first become visible is the second half of the present
month. Perhaps conditions may be made in Warsaw
that may favour one State at the cost of another; now
is the right moment for Prussia to beware, lest under
the appearance of an increase of power over the small
States it is not itself placed in the rank of secondary
tt owers."

SERVIA.
A misunderstanding is said to have arisen between
the Porte and the Servian Government. The Porte
asserts that the insurrection in Turkish Croatia has
been aided and abetted by Servia.
IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

3rriteatcyeeriip7hrasof
'S
111:41;:-----The following le
VAN DIEME----""
(
been received by lAkrd
My Lord, I have the holZitt°o276:3lWrthedranitgesehmarhli
your Lordship's letter of the 14th '—°
tion to the Queen from the wo
ration to that colony,
iteling a peti-
laid the same,
praying the discontinuance of teanal Van Diemen's Land
to have
and to acquaint your Lordship that`
before her Majesty. I have the honour 1207,,:
Lordship's obedient servant, G. GRET.,, imy : Lord, your
QUIN'S INCOHERENT STORY.—Quin issosaniite'l
betted Foote a wager that he would speak
which Foote could not repeat off-hand after biro. 4Q.ncr'il_ue
produced the following string of incoherencies:— ruin
went into the garden to pick a cabbage-leaf to make
j
apple-pie of! and a she-bear coming up the street , put herl
head into the shop and said, 'Do you smell any snap?' s,
she died, and very imprudently married the barbei • ; and the
powder fell out of the counsellor's wig, and poor 'Mrs. Mac-
kay's puddings were quite entirely spoilt; and there was
present the Garnelies, and the Gobilies, and Piennes, and
the great Pangendrum himself, with the little round button
at top; they played at the ancient game of `C latch who
catch can' till boo „ , the gunpowder ran out of the heel iof their
... —.Notes and Queries.
at the
Disco ERIC OF A NEW PLANET.—MT. J. Hind
has just discovered
ticorpii and Libe; an
Scorpio,
aboutered another new planet in the constellation
light is about equal time
eight degrees north of the ecliptic, And form-
ingequilateral triangle with tie stars
It is of a pale bluish coloav, rand its i
PZTERHEAD. tor that of a star of the ninth :magnitude.
seals. A d. Pomona, Greenland, with 7,00 u i

LitßwicK,—..Sld. Enterprise, Davis's Straits.

don, he being the holder of the warrants ; hence the last ? Witness—Three or four minutes, your Wor-
present issue. It appeared that the ten casks of nut- ship.
megs were lying at Brewer's Quay-wharf, and that if Air. BROUGHTON—Do you really believe there
delivered for home consumption about 2091. would were as many passengers as you have stated ? Wit-
have to be paid as duty, but if they were exported of ness—l do, Sir; but of course I had no opportunity
course no duty would be payable. of counting them at the time.
Mr. LOCKE submitted that the plaintiff's case could Defendant, when asked by the magistrate what he
not be sustained, as the attachment was against ten had to say, replied that the passengers numbered no
casks of' nutmegs which had never been in his posses- more than twenty-two, which was just one more than
sion, he being merely the holder of the warrants. The the vehicle was licensed to carry ; the near horse was
latter, and not the goods, should have been attached. a " jib," and he did not whip him more than two or
The RECORDER, held that the nutmegs were in three times ; be had no witnesses to call.
Mr. Scott's possession really, though not actually, in Mr. BROUGHTON remarked, that the case had been
the same manner that a person who had money at a very properly taken up by a useful society, and fined
banker's was in possession of that money. the defendant 203. and costs, or in default of payment
Mr. LOCKE then addressed the jury, and urged that 14 days' imprisonment. If it had been shown that he
unless they were thoroughly satisfied, from the evi- had been brought up upon any former occasio❑ for
dense that the nutmegs were actually in Mr. Scott's conduct of a similar nature, he would now have been
possession, they could not find for the plaintiff, more severely dealt with.
The Learned Counsel then put in as evidence a WORSHIP-STREET.
deed of assignment, executed by Cleland and Day, at Yesterday James Hurley and George Cator were
Boston, on the failure in December, to show that when placed at the bar for re-examination before Mr.
the attachment was issued in February, the nutmegs Seeker, charged with a daring assault and robbery
had been formally assigned to Mr. Scott and other upon the person of Mr. Benjamin Collins, a blind
creditors, for the benefit of the creditors generally. man, carrying on business as an ironmonger in High-
The names of Mr. Posuo, Turkish Consul at Ant- street, Shoreditch.
weep, and Mr. Da Pests, Turkish Consul General at The circumstances which led to the detection and
Brussels, appeared as parties to the deed. It ap- apprehension of the prisoners were of a somewhat
peered, however, that the deed had not been executed singular character. It appeared that on the afternoon
until after the issue of the attachment. of Monday, the 9th instant, as the prosecutor was
The jury, witb.out hesitation, found that the gar- passing through New Inn-yard, Shoreditch, under
niskee had in his possession ten casks of nutmegs be- the guidance of his daughter, a child eight years old,
longing to the defendants—which was a verdict for be suddenly received a severe kick on the back of the
the plaintiff. leg, which flung him forward upon his face, but he
was immediately raised up by two men, one of whom,
while affecting to commiserate his misfortunes, sud-
denly thrust his hand into his waistcoat pocket, from
which he abstracted his watch with a violent jerk that
detached it from the guard, and both of them in-
stantly made off with their booty. He gave imme-
diate information to the police, and having been sub-
sequently apprised that a man was in custody charged
with a murderous assault upon a married woman,
who had denounced him as one of the gang who had
robbed him of his wateh, he proceeded to the station-
house, where he was confronted with the prisoner
Hurley, and at once recognised him, by the pecu-
liarity of his voice, as one of his assailants.
Ellen Wateman, the wife of a bedstead-maker, in
Christopher-square, Shoreditch, in whose house Hur-
ley had formerly lodged, was then examined, and de-
posed that she accidentally witnessed the robbery
while proceeding through New Inn-yard, on the
afternoon in question, and having described the par-
ticulars in the same terms as they had been detailed
by the prosecutor, and thoroughly identified the pri-
soners as the perpetrators, proceeded to state that she
met Hurley again, near her own residence, on the
same evening, and after an exulting observation upon
the daring character of the transaction, he informed
her that he had since sold the watch for 16s. to a Jew
receiver. Witness remarked that it was a cruel act
to commit such a robbery upon a poor blind man, and
told him that she had a good mind to communicate
the circumstances to the police, to which he replied
that he would certainly cut her throat if she ven-
tured to do so. In consequence of these threats she
was deterred from divulging what she had seen, but
carefully avoided all further communication with the
prisoner, and kept out of his way until the night of
Saturday se'nnight, when he followed her home, and
commenced a most unmerciful attack upon her, de-
claring that he would have her life, and after striking
her repeatedly on the face, he seized her by the throat,
and attempted to strangle her, but her cries of
" Murder" were fortunately heard by a policeman,
who rescued her from further ill-usage, and conveyed
him to the station-house. Witness then preferred
the charge of robbery against him, and furnished the
police with further information, which resulted in
the apprehension of the other prisoner.
The prisoners, who denied the charge, were or-
dered to be remanded for the completion of the depo-
sition, but on being removed by the gaoler they
turned fiercely round upon the female witness, and
assailed ber with a volley of imprecations for giving
evidence against them.
SOUTHWARK.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, May 21.
(Before the CHIEF COMMISSIONER.)
IN RE RICHARD JOHN MOSCROP.
This insolvent, who was a corn-dealer at Holloway,
was opposed by Mr. Sargood for Messrs. Charring-
ton. He had no counsel.
An objection was taken to the petition in this case,
which was filed under the Protection Act, on the
ground that the debts exceeded 3001.
It appeared that the insolvent had given a Mr.
Bilton a bill of sale for 1101., which, with his present
debts, would make them exceed 300/. It was, how-
ever, alleged that Mr. Bilton had taken possession of
the property secured by the deed, and had realised
the same, which was in effect an extinguishment of
the claim. The deed was exhibited in court, and ap-
peared to be a mortgage.
Mr. SARGOOD submitted that the deed to Mr. Bil-
ton had not been extinguished, and that it must be
calculated in the amount. Therefore the debts ex-
ceeded 300/. and the petition must be dismissed.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER concurred in the view
taken by the Learned Counsel, and dismissed the
petition.
The petition was accordingly dismissed.
His HONOUR granted several final orders, and
heard other applications, neither of which presented
any feature of public importance.