The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-08 00:00:00

MR. ROEBUCK ON THE ARREST OE
MURPHY.

Mr. Roebuck wrote a letter to the recent meeting held
in Exeter Hall to protest against the arrest of Murphy,
the " No-Popery" agitator. The following is the
concluding passage of a very long epistle devoted
to proving it to be most impolitic that Mr. Murphy
should be stopped :—" It may Le said that in the
case of shutting up the lecture-rooms of Mr.
Murphy and preventing his meetings, no law was
broken, as an old, obsolete, despotic law sanctioned the
Proceeding. This is true. But the acting upon this
obsolete law was in reality a breach of the law, as it
has been acted on ever since the now obsolete law was
passed. The law was passed in times of great danger
and alarm, and has always, by that party to which Mr.
Bruce belongs, been deemed a gross violation of constitu-
tional freedom. And it must surprise and shock every
thoughtful man, that in these the palmy days of liberty,
when we have a Prime Minister who is par excellence
a Liberal, that the despotic law of a Minister should
be dug up from the grave to which public prudence,
shame, and indignation had assigned it, for the purpose
of silencing a speaker whom you could or would not

answer."

The Weannouth colliery strike, by which about
3,000 men and boy s have been out of employ, has just ter-
minated.

The remains of Admiral Sir William Bowles were
on Wednesday buried at Kensal green Cemetery. The pro-
ceedings were as private er perrible, Lut a great many naval
cite ors were present at the ccmitery.

The extent to which Cheshire suffered by the cattle
plague was demonstrated in a statement made by Mr. Laird,
jun., at the meeting of the Dhkenhead Commissioners on
Tuesday. No fewer than 73,000 cattle were slauel.tered dur-
ing the epidemic, and the amount of compensation paid for
those destroyed after the passing of the Cattle Plague Aet
(35,000) was nearly a quarter of a million sterl'ng.
The Guardian states that Mr. Edwd. S:uart Talbot,
student and lecturer of Christ Church, has accepted the
princiralship of Keble College. It is hoped that he will be
installed on April,2s, 1870. Mr.W. Gibbs has given £ 00. Sir
J. T. Coleridge .£3O (in addition to a previous £110) to ill.,
cillege; and Mr. Eutterfiele, a second £lOO to tho temporary

chapA.

At a meeting of a number of the leading Liberals
of Manchester, held on Tuesday at the Town Hall, to con-
sider the proceedings in the House of Lords with reference
to the Irish Church Bill, resolutions were passed condemn-
ing the Lords' amendments, which proposed concurrent en-
dowment in Ireland, and expressing regret at the attempts
being made to effect such changes in the bill as would
frustrate, in many important respects, the purpose of its
framers, and vtclatg the principimak,liging equOY. ,

THE GREAT SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMOND.

The magnificent diamond which has for many weeks
been the talk of the colony—the " Star of South Africa"—
belonging to Messrs. Lilienfeld, Brothers, of Hope Town,
variously valued at from £20,000 to £IO,COO, was brought
down to Cape Town in the Royal Mail steamer Celt, on
Tuesday, the Ist of June. As our readers have heard, it
is the intention of the owners to send the great diamond to
turope by this fortnight's mail, and after satisfying the
curiosity of Port Elizabeth, and rendering very material
service to one of the most deserving institutions of that
town, it was forwarded on board the Celt for its destination.
On Tuesday morning, soon after the steamer's arrival, it
was shewn to the Colonial Secretary, and the lower room
of the Commercial Exchange building having been kindly
lent for the purpose, it was exhibited on Wednesday from
eleven o'clock in the forenoon until two, at a charge
of Is. 641. per head to visitors, and the proceeds of the
exhibition given to the Ladies' Benevolent Society.
".Nickerk's Pandeloque," or the " Star of South
Africa," or the " South African Diamond " (for it is
a curiosity of ninny names), was an object for the inves-
tigation of many curious citizens. It can have disap-
pointed no one, as its purity and brilliancy are
unquestionable. Within its sealed glass case, enclosing
a yet smaller case, in which the precious object lay
snug in velvet, in the full show of its beauty, and in the
custody of the inspector of police, who had two other
officers at his elbows, besides one each at the inner and
outer doors, while the Secretary of the Chamber of Com-
merce attended to the financial part of the arrangements,
the diamond that is to startle Mr. Gregory and convince
Mr. Harry Emanuel looked quite equal to its mission.
Speaking plainly, it is about the size of an ordinary
"valnut, with an unspoiled surface, though irregular out-
line, but no flaw to detract from the value. At first sight
it does not appear especially brilliant—not so bright,
perhaps, as other diamonds which have come down from
the same neighbourhood ; still, when cut it may rival even
the far-famed " Koh-i-noor " for beauty, although not
equalling it in size. The sum realised by the exhibition
on Wednesday was, we understand, £25 18s. 6d. On
Thursday, through the courtesy of those who have it in
charge, it was again shewn at the Exchange from 10
until 12, when the sum of £6 2s. ed. was taken.—Cape
Standard.