The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-15 00:00:00

et Mind 111 L

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 1851.

We feel it our duty to direct public attention to
certain portions of the judgment delivered by Mr.
SECKER, the magistrate, at the Greenwich Police-
court, on Saturday last, in dismissing a charge
brought by certain of the servants of the South-
Eastern Railway Company against Lord RANELAGH
and Mr. ROWAND for an assault and for obstructing
them in the execution of their duty. In thus di-
recting the attention of our readers to certain dicta of
Mr. SECKEE, we beg it to be distinctly understood
that we cautiously abstain from giving any opinion
on the subject of the charge brought by the railway
servants against Lord RANELAGH, or on the cross
charge brought by hie Lordship against them,
which last will have to be investigated by a
jury, to whom alone it belongs to determine, amidst the
mass of conflicting evidence, to whose statements
and to what extent they choose to attach credit, and
who will possess the great advantage of being enabled
to watch the manner of the witnesses as they re-
spectively give their evidence. The dictum of Mr.
&CHER, however, has nothing whatever to do with
the credibility of the witnesses on one side or on the
other ; it proceeds upon the assumption that whosoever
has purchased a railway ticket has thereby acquired
an absolute right to be upon the platform of the
railway, and to force himself into any train into
which it may please him to force himself, and
that, regardless of the fact, that such rushing to the
platform, and such forcing into the train, may, in
many instances must, endanger human life. In giving
his judgment, Mr. SECKEE states that " the first part
of the transaction is a conflict arising between some
passengers at a railway station, and the officers who
are there placed to execute certain duties," and he
then proceeds as follows :
" With respect to the first, I am called upon to con-
vict two passengers, what their condition in life may be
it matters not, for assaulting and obstructing officers of
the railway while its the execution of their duty. In order
to convict them of any such offence, it seems to me that I
mast first believe that those officers were in the execution
of their duty, and that, being so, they were obstructed
by the defendants. Now, in my opinion, the officers
were not in the execution of their duty; and it is for
this reason that I have had it put in evidence that
these parties who presented themselves at the railway,
and who are accused of attacking the officers, are en-
titled by the payment of a certain sum to be carried by
the railway company. By that payment the railway
company contracted an obligation to admit them to the
platform,, so that they might avail themselves of the
license to travel by their train, which they by such pay-
ment had obtained; consequently, these passengers were
entitled to have free ingress to the station and egress
from it, in order to make use of the train in the fulfil-
ment of that contract. These passengers, then, having
been permitted to pass the outer barrier, had a right to
expect that the coast would be clear, and that they
would not find any one interiering with them. If, then,
these passengers, having thus acquired this right to
pass, were improperly interfered with, can it be said
that those officers who were guilty of such interference
were in the execution of their duty? I think not. There-
fore, with respect to this charge, in which I am asked to
convict Lord Ranelagh and Mr. Michael Row and, t-or
that they did unlawfully and wilfully obstruct William
Price and Thomas Widdows, being fficers of the South-
Eastern Railway Company, they being in the due exe-
cution of their duty, I am of opinion that those men
were not in the execution of their duty, and therefore
the iniormatlon must be dismissed, and I dismiss the
complaint accordingly."

If Mr. SECIEER be right in his judgment, then must
all railway companies in self-defence cease to issue
day-tickets; but we think that on reconsideration Mr.
SECKER himself will be inclined to greatly modify
his conclusions. The purchase of a day-ticket, for
example, gives the purchaser a right of conveyance
from the place of purchase to some other place and
back again within the period to which the ticket is
limited; it gives him a right of passage across the
platform to the train by which he is to be con-
veyed to the plaoe of his destination, but it is with
the company, and not with the passenger, that the
decision rests as to what that train shall be ; and the
right of transit across the platform for a specific pur-
pose, gives no right of abiding on the platform, still
less does it give the ticket-holder any right to force
his way on to the platform when he has been dis •
tinctly told that the train about to start is full, and
that there is no room for him. Let us suppose for a
moment that Mr. SEcLLn is right in his view, and
then let us see " the confusion worse confounded"
which would in such case be the normal state of every
railway platform in the kingdom. A train comes
up and stops at a station, the persons on
the platform make a general rush and scramble to-
wards it ; it is in vain that the officers endeavour to
preserve order, all these persons have paid for their
tickets, and have, by such payment, acquired, ac-
cording to Mr. SECKER, the right of remaining upon
the platform, and of having free ingress and egress to
the train ; it is in vain for the passengers already in
the train to remonstrate with the platformers, or to de-
clare that the train is full; the platformers have a right
to intrude themselves, and the police have not, accord-
ing to Mr. SECILER, any right to interfere to preserve
order. If Mr. SECKER be right then will every railway
platform become the scene of the most disorderly
and dangerous confusion, then shall we be horrified
by accounts of shocking accidents occurring through
the frantic eagerness and crass ignorance of plat-
formers, wilfully rushing into danger, notwithstand-
ing the remonstrances of the railway officials, who,
thanks to the decision of Mr. SECKER, will be unable
to do anything more effectual than to offer remon-
strances, and then will the columns of our
anti-railway company contemporaries be filled
with the indignant remonstrances of persons
who, intending to go to Windsor, insisted upon their
right of ensconcing themselves in the next train,
which proved to be a Southampton one, and of others
who found themselves at Greenwich when they in-
tended to go to Brighton. Such must necessarily be
the result of depriving the railway officials of all
right of regulating admission to the platform, and of
giving the purchaser of a ticket immediate right of in-
gress and egress, whether the train about to start be
or be not the one intended for his conveyance. In
the meantime we would suggest to the directors of
the railways the adoption of a plan which would
do much to prevent the recurrence of any more
RANELAGH adventures. We would suggest that the
passengers should be placed in large waiting-rooms,
in which notice should be posted, whenever a train is
full, that no more persons can be admitted on
the platform, but that another train will
start at such a time, in which precedence
will be given to those then in waiting
over those who may come afterwards. 'We are certain
that the adoption of some such plan as this would tend
materially to the comfort of the passengers, and
would at the same time facilitate to the officers of the
company the performance of the very onerous duties
which now devolve on them.

We wonder whether any members of the Peace
Congress were present at the recent review given
in Paris, in honour of the London visitors, and
if so, what impressions were made upon their minds
by that splendid display of military power. Up-
wards of 40,000 troops, in the highest condition of
discipline, executing a series of brilliant manoeuvres
with rapidity and precision, to the ecstatic delight
of the countless mass of spectators, must have shown
them rather forcibly that warlike preparations and
warlike ta,,te are by no means at a discount in the
capital of France. It can have been no very encou-
raging prospect for the reception of their visionary
projects among our gallant neighbours. A single
city is found to turn out for a field-day almost as
many regular soldiers as are appropriated to garrison
toe entire of the British islands ; and with this visible
display of warlike force, and knowing the immense
resources possessed by the Republic, and by the
other Powers of Europe, we are gravely
besought to reduce our comparatively insignifi-
cant armament to a contemptible handful, and to
leave ourselves at the mercy of others, relying wholly
orneptehlelingirpacific and fraternal sympathies, and ostenta-1
t
ously divesting ourselves of the legitimate means of
a gßrsioeistsionn. As to the idea of maintaining
the high position which England holds among
nations—a
position won by the energy and lifeblood
th
of her worn--that is, wee
presume, abhorrent to their

sensitiveness as savouring of an insane chivalric
pride, and, in that expanded spirit of philanthropy
which would remove all bars and bolts from a dwell-
ing-house, induce the owner to leave all his drawers
and coffers unlocked, and to walk about the streets
with his handkerchief and the end of his purse hang-
ing out of his pocket in amiable reliance on the meek-
ness and integrity of his fellows, they regard as
musty and unworthy of an enlightened confidence
that time honoured adage—"Si vis pacem, bellum para."
Seriously speaking, those gentlemen are—giving them
full credit for sincerity of purpose and absence of
sinister design—political quacks. They seem to
think that PUOVIDENCE has fallen asleep, and that it
is their province to undertake the regeneration of the
human race. That a time will yet come in the world's
history when the principles of peace will be
triumphant, when there will be a genuine brother-
hood of nations united in the bonds of a prevailing
Christianity, and co-operating in the development of
the arts of civilization and peace, we as dutifully be-
lieve as they can ; but it is a mere piece of blind
absurdity to suppose, that, in the present ominous con-
dition of continental Europe, transitionary to catas-
trophes which it is not for us to determine, the
dogmas of any school can magically alter the current
of affairs, and instantaneously lull the conflicting
passions of humanity. It will not do for us to be
Quixotic to the risk of our own undoing.
The amelioration of human nature is not
to be precipitated by instruments however
well-meaning, nor will it, we grievously suspect, be
found to be materially pushed forward by any self-
lauded nostrum, whether it be clairvoyance, vege-
tarianism, or Peace- Congressism.

If our well-intentioned friends would devote their
exertions to matters of practical utility, and to the
furtherance of practicable objects, we should un-
feignedly rejoice at beholding their estimable qualities
directed into commendable and profitable channels.
Without striving to drag ASTRIEA back on earth
before her time—constituting themselves a sect of
moral " jumpers"—there are matters which it be-
hoves Reformers, deserving of the appellation, to
take i❑ hand with an earnestness of purpose, to work
out in a persevering and business-like manner, not
with desultory and fitful mouth-service. The bulk
of the people require to be clearly enlightened as to the
crying necessity of financial reform. The inequalities,
hardships, and absurdities of the existing fiscal system
are paralysing the well-being of the middle and
lower classes. Electoral reform is imperatively de-
manded commensurate with the progress of the na-
tion. The latter, indeed, should be strenuously
agitated during the recess, for the admission made by
the PREMIER of his disapproval of the continuance of
that abominable absurdity—the property qualifica-
tion for Members, and the support given to the in-
troduction of the ballot by several Members of her
MAJESTY'S Government render the abolition of the
one, and the adoption of the other, matters of certain
attainment at no distant day. The more emphatically
the voice of popular urgency makes itself heard in
high places, the more speedy and facile will be the
legislation of two points in that scheme of reform,
which, sooner or later, with, or despite of Whig aid
and Conservative opposition, must become the
law of the land. Extension of the suffrage, on
the broad, honest principle that every man
directly contributing his quota towards the na-
tional exigencies should likewise have the
privilege, or more properly speaking, the right of di-
rectly participating in the selection of the represen-
tatives of the people in the Commons House of Par-
liament; an equitable arrangement of electoral
districts, whereby the representation may be duly
apportioned, and popular sentiment satisfactorily
enunciated,—these, and such like measures, are pro-
perly the immediate objects for active consideration
on the part of those who are desirous of working for
the substantial benefit of their countrymen. Who-
ever will direct his energies to the promotion of con-
stitutional freedom, and the diminution of the bur-
dens of taxation, will effect far more good in his gene-
ration, and contribute more towards the substantial
happiness of his brethren, than if he were to harangue
by the hour on the blessings of defencelessness, and
the infernalism of gunpowder, in Exeter-hall, Frank-
fort-on-the- Maine, or wherever the prosers of the
Peace Congress may yet prefer to pitch their
platform:

ROBBERY BY AN OFFICIAL AT THE GREAT Ez-
lIIIITION.—A new person hag been appointed to a most lu

crativa situation in the Great ExhibifiCm, occasioned by the
sudden dismissal of one of its officers, who, it appeared, was
placed in a department where the money proceeds of each
day were deposited. A watch was set upon the individual
in question in consequence of his suspicious conduct, and one
of the Sappers and Miners detected him purloining the
money. The " man of war" instantly apprised one of that
most useful class, " the detectives," of the fact, and in a short

time afterwards the officer hinted to the delinquent that he
must search his pockets. This having been done the guilt of
the entrusted Glacial was discovered, and Superintendent
Pearce set the electric telegraph at work to know from
Windsor what was to be done in the matter, but, strange to
say, the answer received amounted to not to detain the pri-
soner. Such being the case, he, of course, instantly left the
Exhibition out of custody, but appeared at his station yes-
terday (Thursday) morning, when he was instantly ordered
to leave the building, contrary, apparently, to his expecta-
tions, for he had thought that " influence" would have re-
stored him.

DEATH OF DR. STANFORD.—This well-known
gentleman died at Windsor on the 6th inst. The deceased was
much and deservedly respected in professional and private
life, and had very successfully practised as a physician in
that town for the last 30 years. Dr. Stanford served with
the expedition to Hanover in 1805; at the capture of Ma-
deira in 1807; and subsequently in the Peninsula, with the
Buffs and the 29th. He was present in Sir John Moore's re-
treat from Corunna, in the battles of Talavera, Busaco,
and Albuhuera, in retreat to and defence of the lines of
Torres Vedras, the pursuit of Messina, the actions of
Pombal, Redinha, and Campo Mayor, and first siege of
Badajos. I❑ 1814 he accompanied the expedition to
America, and was present at the attack and capture of the
forts of Castine and Machina. He served also in the
campaign of 1815, including the capture of Paris. Dr.
St .nford was professionally employed at Cooling during the
epidemic fever in 1812. He received a medal and clasps for
the battles of Talave a and Albuhuera, in Spain. An in-
stance of his uncompromising spirit in the discharge of his
duty was displayed during the retreat from 1 alavera. The
wounded of the division was sent to the rear, and the doctor
bad charge of the men of th, brigade to which he belonged.
A Spaniard complained that the wounded mai were trouble-
some, and the commandant ordered them .o be encamped as
a punishment. The doctor represented the danger of such
an arrangement, declaring that the men were so badly
wounded as to render it likely that exposure to the cold
night air, after the hot days, would prove fatal to them.
The men were kept in quarters, and not one of them died,
whilst in the brigades that were encamped several men
perished. Dr. Stanford had attained his 69th year, and has
lett no family. J. F Stanford, liiq., M.P. for Reading, is
the nephew of the deceased, but it is understood that his
property has been bequeathed to the hon. gentleman's brother,
Sir Robert Standford.

TEMPEST IN LOWESTOPT.—(From a Corregpon-
dent.)—On Wednesday afternoon, at four o'clock, the at-
mosphere became oppressive, the clouds increasing from the
south-west. The lightning began about half-past eight
o'clock P.M. Between nine and ten o'clock the electrical
corruscatiens were incessant; a smart shower fell for half an
hour. At twenty minutes before ten o'clock a severe flash
of lurked lightning, and at the same time a ball of fire fell
into the sea, which was followed by a loud continued ro 1 of
thunder. The brilliancy of the electricity was so gi eat that
ships might be distinctly seen at a distance of three miles.
This might be termed an electrical exhibition of the hea-
vens. There were many persona to ♦iew its effects on the
sea, the lightning displaying various colours. At times it
gradually passed to the north-east. The moon shone bright
at eleven o'clock ; the wind during the time was from the
south-west and light. The barometer fell in the afternoon.
The lightning continued to play in the distance until after
midnight. I have not heard of any damage done by the
storm. Thursday, 10 A.M., wind fresh, breeze west, with
rising clouds. _ _ _

FATAL ACCIDENT.—An inquest was held yester-
day by Mr. Bedford, at Charing-eross Hospital, on the body
of William John Leitch, who met his death under the follow--
iug circumstances :—Deceased, who was a carpenter, was em-
ployed, on Monday week, at Professor de Waldeck's new
theatre of optical illusions, at Hungerford-hall. He had oc-
casion during his work to go to the roof of the building in-
side to fix a block, when he fell through the ceiling to the
ground, a height of thirty-three feet. When taken up he
was insensible, but after recovering at the hospital he stated
that when he got up to the roof the heat was so suffocating
that he fainted away, and lost his foothold. Mr. Dalton, the
house-surgeon, stated that, in addition to other severe inju-
ries, he had suffered compound fracture of the spine. The
jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death."

-----
LIVERPOOL DOCK COMMITTEE. LIVERPOOL,
THURSDAY.-At the meeting of the new dock committee,
to-day, Mr. Charles Turner was elected chairman, and Mr.
Francis Shand, deputy chairman. In our report yester-
day we gave the names of Mr. Charles Saunders and Mr.
Wye Williams as having been elected. On a revision of
the voting•list, however, Mr. William Nicol was found to
have 366 votes, and Mr. John Lockett, 348; while Mr.
Charles Saunders had 342 and Mr. C. Wye Williams 3'4.
The two latter, therefore, lost their election.—Marning Paper.
STATE or TRADE.—MANCHESTER, AUG. 14.—The
market is fully as active as on Tuesday, and in some de-
scriptions of goods there is even more business doing, with
a continued hardening of prices. Longcloths and T cloths
continue to move off, and the business of some of the fa-
vourite makers is only limited by their power to supply the
havedemand, a
ls 0
aind sffie
cv
ue
lrtayl
in
no us nu tpsp
supplying
yn'
ga r
tni2, e
rs
wwael l
wants
sa
without
t h, b
givingu yers
higher prices, and are not able to purchase for immediate
delivery even at a alight advance. The Germans are giving
out orders more freely for yarns, and for the Levant and for
the Russian markets there is also a fair inquiry. Printing
cloths and narrow shirtings fully sustain last quotations,
and the demand of most kinds appears to be fully equal to
the production.

IVI6ST INDIA COTTON.—A vessel just arrived from
Barbadoes has brought twenty-four bales of cotton as A por-
tion of Jg cargo of West India produce.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The Gazette de France announces a new candidate
for the Presidency in the person of M. DE LAROCEI-
JAQUELEIN. He is put forward by the honest section
of the Legitimatists, as contradistinguished from the
Jesuit and Parti•pretre section, who fight under the
banners of BeimEu, DE FALLOTJX, and DE MONTA.
LEMBEET. These latter gentlemen are in a state of
great alarm lest the Prince DE JOINYILLE bhould start
as a candidate. Their organ, the Union, thus descants
on the subject :
" Three parties would be greatly agitated by the elec-
tion of the Prince de Joinville—the Republican, which
detests so heartily the royalty of July; the Legitimatist,
to which an audacious and insolent challenge would be
given, and the party of the Ely 4 which would behold
with grief so fine a booty carried off, when it seemed
almost within its grasp. We do not speak of the So-
cialist party, which would leap with joy at the idea of a
coming dispute between the monarchical soldiers. Coali-
tions amongst them would be inevitable, and the three
minorities which the President would have triumphed
over the day before, united against him after the victory,
would constitute in the Assembly a hostile majority.
Such would be the first result of the accession of the
Prince de Joinville to the office of President; that result
would be war between the two priucip.l powers of the
state—war without truce or mercy—war without any
other possible issue but.riots on one side and coups-d'icat
on the other."

The Dibats temporizes, and the Ordre boldly an-
announces the Prince DE JOINYILLE as its candidate.
The Ordre publishes the following letter addressed to
its editor, M. DE CHAMBOLLE, by M. ROGER (du
Nord) :
" My dear Colleague,--Some journals have attributed
to me a mission from our friends in Paris to the Prince
de Joinville. I have, in fact, been to England and to
Scotland. I have had the nonour of seeing the Princes
of the Royal Family of Orleans and their august mother.
I never received a mission from any one to go to Eng-
land, and on my return I never made myself the organ
of any one. If it is wished to know my opinion on the
question which appears to excite so much attention , I
will say that it is ro-4h deep and personal conviction that
if the country calls for the devotedness of the Prince
de Joinville, he will never be found wanting to France
—Accept, &c.,

(Signed)
" Paris, August 14, 1851."

"ROGER (du Nord).

The Messager says :
" It is positively stated that the President of the Re-
public will leave Paris between the 20th and 25th of the
present month, for a toar in the departments. The
President will go to Bordeaux. He is to stop two days
at Angouleme, and three or four days at Bordeaux,
where he will receive deputations from Toulouse, Agen,
Montabau, Aucb, Carcassonne, Montpellier, acc. From
Bordeaux the President will go to Rochelle and Rech-
tort, and will return by Perigueux, Limoges, Moulins,
and Fevers. This journey will occupy from ten to
twelve days. He will be accompanied by the Ministers
of the Interior, Finance, and War. The prefects of the
different localities were yesterday informed of the in-
tended visit of the President, which, it is said, was de-
cided on in a Council of Ministers before the separation
of the assembly. It appears that the President of the
Republic has renounotd the idea of passing ten days at
the Camp of Luneville, as he at first intended."
The Univers continues its laudation of the King
of NapLa3 as the worthiest of Monarch!, and attacks
Mr. GLADsToNIi as a sort of ultra-LEDRD ROLLIN.
The Patrie of last evening says :—" We are happy
to be able to rectify the details which have been
given relative to the accident in the church of the
Invalides during the funeral ceremony of Marshal
SYBASTIANI. From precise information we are
enabled to state that only five fl igs were entirely de-
stroyed and sixteen seriously injured. The celebrated
umbrella of ADDER. RHAMAN, taken at the battle of
Isly, has somewhat suffered. The flags taken in
Algeria and in Spain, and placed on the left side of
the nave, are those which the fire more particularly
reached."
There was so little business transacted at the Bourse,
that it was scarcely worth the trouble of going through
the form of op,- fling the doors. The Five per Cents.
opened at 95f. 60c., and closed at 95f. 50c. for the end
of the month; the Thr. e per Cents. closed at 57f. 15o.;
Orleans Railroad Shares, 8771. 50c ; Rouen, 605,.;
Havre, 243 f. 75c.; Avignon, 202 f. 50o.; Vierzun, 436 f.
25c.; Basle, 153 f. 75c.; Bordeaux, 3951. ; Paris and
Strasburg, 365'.; Tours and Nantes, 273 f. 75c. ; Amieas
to Boulogne, 270 f.

BUSINESS E IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, AUG. 14.
Central of France k Orleans and Vierzon), 174—East
Indian, 18%—Great Indian Peninsula, 4—Namur and Liege,
6—Northern of France, 14 —Sambre and Meuse, VA.

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