The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, - JUNE 28, 1869,

THEATRE-ROYAL, HOLBORN.

TTITS EVENING, at 7.30, THE SMOKED MISER. After which,
THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL : 111 r. Barry Sullivan, Mr. J.
C. Con per, Mr. G. Honey, Mr. C. Coghlav, Mrs. HermannVeziu,
Mrs. C. Horsnian, .Cc.

PRINCE OF WALES'S ROYAL TIIEATIIE.
Under the Management of Miss Mario Wilton

SCHOOL: Messrs. Hare, H. J. Montague,
Addison, Glover. and Bancroft; Mrs. Buckingham White. Miss
C. Addison, and Miss Marie Wilton. After which, A WINNING
HAZARD. And A LAME EXCUSE.

ST. GEORGE'S THEATRE, REGENT STREET.
Trite EVENING, at 8, THE ROYAL ORIGINAL CHRISTY'S
MINSTRELS' Ethiopian Entertainment. Immense Success of
BARGE BLUE. The Only Leon

CHRISTY MINSTRELS, St. James's Hall, Every Night, at 8
Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 And 8 all the year round.

ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. THREE BALLETS
Promenade Concert. Band of 60. Begin at 8. ls. Box-office
open from 11 to 4.

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, Regent's-park, OPEN daily (ex-
cept Sundays). Admission, Is.; on Mondays, Gd. Children
under twelve. Gd.

4-
Wir AVM,
ty

LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1869.

His Highness the Pacha or Viceroy of Egypt, now
the guest of England, has this afternoon witnessed,
as the especial guest of the QUEEN at Windsor, a
Grand Review of the British Troops in the Great
Park. A magnificent day, the presence of Her I%.IA-
JESTY, and of the Heir Apparent, and of H.R.H.'s
Princess, together with the assembling there of a
vast number of civilians as spectators—combine to
render this an exceptional gala occasion during the
stay of his Highness in this country. Housed
in Buckingham Palace during his sojourn in
London, the Egyptian Viceroy cannot but
finil himself somewhat more befittingly re-
ceived by the Court and by the Uountry
than he was at the period of his first visit to England)
when, by an accidental coincidence, he arrived simul-
taneously with his liege Suzeraine, the Sultan Caliph,
ABDUL-AZIZ. Apart altogether from our remem-
brance of the noble hospitality with which the Prince
and Princess of WALES were entertained during the
time of their recent visit to Cairo, it is impossible
that we should not have, nationally speaking, a
remorseful sense that England has had in
some sort expiation to make to his • Highness
the PACIIA in her recollection of the paltry
manner in which he was welcomed (if his former
receptions here in the metropolis could really be
dignified with the title of a reception at all) when he
last entered the capital of the wealthiest and vastest
empire in the world. Only for the generous and
munificent, and we will even say princely, interposi-
tion of the Earl of, DUDLEY, the nation would have
had the poignant consciousness ever since of having
allowed the Pacha of EGYPT to be housed at that
period in a public hotel, with the additional mean-
ness, and almost impertinence, on the part of
England, of afterwards paying her honoured (?)
guest's hotel bill. Happily, that disgrace-
ful recollection was spared to us by the op-
portune proffering, to the Pacha of EGYPT, of Dud-
ley House, in Park-lane, as his Highness's London
residence for the time being, by its noble owner.
Coming, as he does now, while the SULTAN is not
here, and while the QUEEN is, according to her wont
of late years, absent from her own metropolis, the
Viceroy finds himself at last treated en Prince by
the nation, and not by an individual, now that he
has placed at his disposal the Palace of the
Reigning SOVEREIGN. Throughout the whole of
the rest of his stay in England, it is earnestly to be
hoped that his Highness will be treated as alone
befits his own dignity and the reputation of England
for National hospitality. The QUEEN and Court,
the Government and the People, ought to vie with
each other in according to him the honour to which
he is in many ways so justly and so conspicuously
entitled.

Tiu new amendments of the Irish Church Bill
placed upon the Lords' papers ought to be carefully 'I
studied by all persons who take any interest in the
great question now before the country. No greater
mistake could be made than to suppose that the
subject was settled, or approached anything
like a settlement, this day week. The only
point which was then determined was that the
Church was to be disestablished. All the rest will
have to be fought out, and with a far more doubtful
result than that which attended the battle in the
Lower liouse. There is not a point decisively settled
there by large majorities which will not be raised
again in the House where the Ministry has a
minority. Running down the list of amendments,
the substance of which we give in -another column,
we find two important classes : those which affect
the disendowment of the Church, and those which
affect the redistribution of the surplus funds. There
are others of minor importance to which the
Government will probably give way. Such, we take
it, is the postponement of the operation of the bill
for another year, so as to give time for the constitu-
tion of that new representative body which will
henceforth be charged with the government of the
Church. But concession will be far more difficult
when the Government comes to the amendments of
vital importance.
Taking the first class we have mentioned, we find
that if Ministers assent to these amendments they
will have to give to the Church the whole of the
private endowments between 1500 and 1660, as well
as those subsequent to the latter date; that the par-
sonages will be handed over without charge ;
that in calculating the value of incum-
bents' incomes no deduction will be made
for the stipend paid to a curate; that in the event
of a living being worth less than £2OO a year the
incumbent will, nevertheless, receive that full
amount ; that curates; however short a time they
have served, are to get not less than £3OO in the way
of compensation, and £lOO a year up to 15; that any
land granted as glebes by royal grant or letters patent
will be retained by the Church. In other words, as
Mr. GLADSTONE said, the " poor afflicted Irish Church"
is, after having endured the sufferings of Jon, to
receive JOB'S reward. Having been stripped by the '
Challe us of Westminster, and left naked and empty,
it is to be re-clothed and re-endowed far more richly
than before. How can the Government accept such
proposals ?
If these are inadmissible, what shall be said of the
amendments which refer to the disposal of the sur-
plus funds ? Of course, if the first are carried, we
need not trouble ourselves about the second, for
there will be no surplus funds to dispose of. But
assuming that the proposals of the three archbishops
and Lord SALISBURY are not pressed to a division,
or are defeated, what will Ministers say to the pro-
positions made by Earl GREY, Earl RUSSELL, the
Duke of CLEVELAND, and Lord LIFFORD ? The
three first of them are influential Liberal peers, and
their action is therefore the more serious, represent-
ing as it does a serious defection from the ranks of
the Liberal party. Yet though backed by their
authority, and probably supported by not a few other
members of the party, we do not see how Lord
GRANViLLE can agree at this late hour of the day to
adopt the policy of levelling up. That policy was
expressly denounced by the Liberal party on the
hustings last autumn ; the suspicion that the Con-
servatives meant to adopt it did them irre-
trievable damage, and it was necessary to shelve
the Minister who first enounced it, by sending
him to India. To adopt it now would be
a breach of faith, unless, indeed, the
nation were itself to declare for it. But
he who supposes that there is the smallest chance of
such a change of feeling as that must know abso-
lutely nothing of the popular sentiment, nay, rather
the popular conscience, for it is much more than a
sentiment. We do not deny that there are some

advantages to be obtained from a oncurrent endow-
ment. Among them would be the bringing of the
Roman Catholic priesthood more ender the control
of the State. But for that very rearm the priesthood
will not hear of such endowment. Even, therefore,
if the nation were as warmly in fa-our of it as it is
bitterly opposed to it, what god purpose can be
served by offering a gift which be flung back in
the face of the giver ? Aboveall, there stands
the undeniable fact that the county, whether rightly
or wrongly, is opposed to any furter experiments in
the way of a connection between he State and the
Church. For many years past tis current has been
setting in steadily against the Side endowment of
religion. It was never stronger that it is now. That the
Lords should think they are able to stem it shews
only how far off they still are from being in accord
with the nation.

As a nation we have long been famous for waiting
to experience the worst possibe effects of a bad
system before attempting to reform it. Changes in
our naval and military organisaion have often been
preceded by some great disaste], We have seen the
refusal to moderately extend tht franchise result in
a very large extension, aid the tradition
runs that the mismanagement and neglect which
lead to fatal accidents can nev.v receive attention
until they have proved fatal b a bishop. In the
same way there is now too mud reason to fear that
the OVEREND, GURNEY, and Cc prosecution will do
nothing more than conclusively ?rove what has been
proved again and again—that our criminal juris-
prudence is altogether out of font through the lack
of a Public Prosecutor. It will be remembered that
the inquiry into the conduct )f the directors who
invited the public to buy the insolvent discount
business was undertaken by a givate individual, Dr.
Tnom. This gentleman had been a shareholder in
the company whose only business has been to pay
i,ne det,ba ur a privaLe,tirrn, and he Traa, therefore, a
considerable loser. He naturally felt desirous that such
a flagrant scandal should be exposed, but as he could
entertain no hope of recovering his losses, and as
very many families throughout England had suffered
from the same cause, the duty he undertook
was justly considered in great measure a public
duty. Much applause greeted his determination to
bring the directors before the LORD MAYOR. Seldom
has a case excited greater interest. The memorable
story of the two deeds, the endless tergiversations by
which the directors strove to conceal their real
position from the public, the remarkable
narrative by which Mr. WATKIN EDWARDS
secured a lasting fame at a rather high
price, are treasures of commercial history which I
would have remained in secret but for Dr. THOM.
The decision of the magistrates to submit the case to
a superior court gave general satisfaction; for,
whether the directors be punishable or not, it
was clear that their transactions were such as to
demand judicial investigation.
It was hoped that this case would serve to shew
that there was a limit to the success of nefarious
transactions even in commercial life, but the hope
seems to have been premature. English justice is not,
it seems, to be brought to this course of plain sailing.
The OVEREND, GURNEY, and Co. case has come to
a deadlock. Dr. THOM, after spending a consider-
able sum of money without the remotest hopes of
benefit, except to the general public, hesitates before
committing himself to further cost. The examina-
tion before the magistrates involved outlay ;
the actual trial will be a much more serious affair.
Dr. Thom is not unwilling to do the nation's duty,
but he thinks that he might, at least, be allowed
to save the fees of counsel by pleading in
person. This the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE cannot
permit. Dr. THOM has applied to the Home Office
for assistance in the shape of counsel, but has been
refused, for reasons which Mr. BRUCE might gratify
a benighted country by explaining. The LORD
MAYOR has bound Dr. THOM to continue
the prosecution in recognizances of £5,000;
and there is a probability either that the
prosecutor must continue a trial, the cost of
which he cannot and ought not to bear,
or forfeit the surety demanded by the City
magistrate.. There can be no hesitation
in stigmatising this affair as a national disgrace.
It has been eaid by some that Dr. Timm
ought not to have opened the case unless
he felt himself in a position to complete it; but the
slightest consideration will suffice to expose the
injustice of such a plea. Even if the trial become
the discreditable farce with which we are threatened
at present, the examination already gone
through will not have been in vain,
though far short of meeting the ends of justice.
Moreover, Dr. THOM might have justly concluded
that if he commenced the case the Government might
justly complete the work which ought never to have
been left to a private individual. If after all it
did prove finally impossible to persuade the
Executive or Judicature to take any notice of fraud
under the guise of commerce, the voluntary assist-
ance of the
public might have been fairly ex-
pected.
A public subscription will be decidedly preferable
to the collapse which seems imminent just now,
but there ought to be no necessity for any
such course. It is -within the power of the
Home Office to comply with Dr. THOM'S request;
and the refusal he has already met with, to
whatever motive it may be owing, cannot be
founded on want of authority. Indeed, similar cases
have already arisen, and the money for the prosecu-
tion has been supplied from the Treasury. The
Government spent £38,000 in prosecuting the
directors of the Royal British Bank ; and
surely the case of OVEREND, GURNEY, and
Co. (Limited) warrants even an economical
Ministry to undertake an outlay which would cer-
tainly be much smaller. There can be no excuse for
allowing such a prosecution to fall through. But
whether the fiasco at present looming in the distance
be realised or not, the duty of the Legislature to pro-
vide a public prosecutor and avoid the chance of such
scandals in future will not be the less clear. There
is abundant scope for a just medium between the
stringent public system of France and the absolute
encouragement held out to guilt in England.

The Viceroy of Egypt has felt himself obliged by
his numerous engagements to decline the invitation to visit
Manchester.

A French provincial paper states that the Emperor
has announced to 11. de Lesseps his intention to create him
Duke of Suez.

The improved weather of the last day or two has
materially brightened the prospects of agriculturists, espe-
cially in tho Eastern counties.
It was so dark in Manchester on Thursday that for
several hours gas-light was necessary to any one who
wished either to read or write. There was no thunderstorm,
no rain, and no fog.

On Wednesday afternoon a boiler explosion oc-
curred at the extensive ironworks of the Monkland Iron and
Steel Company, situated at Calderbank, about two wiles
from Airdrie, whereby two men were killed and three
severely injured.

_
It is the intention of her Majesty, it is
stated, to confer the honour of knighthood on Mr. Meek,
who was mayor of York during the visit of the Prince and
Princess of Wales to York in 1866 ; and on Mr. Heron, the
town clerk of Manchester, for his services to the munici-
pality of that city for many years.
The Bishop of Winchester is proceeding with his
case against the Itev. It. Hooker Wix, M.A., vicar of St.
Michael's, Swanmore, Isle of Wight, which will very shortly
come before the Court of Arches. Mr. Wix still persists in
continuing the objectionable practice against which the
bishop's monition was directed.
Dr. Stanley, l)ean of Westminster, has subscribed
to a fund which is being raised to defend Mr. Voysey. The
Dean, in a letter he has written states that, while
strongly deprecating Mr. Voysey's mole of treating
Biblical and sacred subjects, he could not but be aware
that it is an exaggeration caused by equally reprehensible
exaggerations of another kind, and while at the same time
he condemns and regrtts much that Mr. Voysey's sermons
contains, he recognises in them no less a rare honesty of
purpose, as well as a humble and devout faith, which seems
to him to demand the utmost sympathy for the frame of
mind which has led to 'results in other respects to be
lamented.

OBTAINING REDRESS.

_ •
The following appears in the Ilera7d :—" There are dif-
ferent modes of obtaining redress for injuries wrought by the
bands of new spaper editors. The ion. F. Cadogan is trying
one—and the. most recognised—an application to a jury
for damages. Lord Carington has, we understand, adopted
a readier and a more decided remedy, the argument um
baculinum. It appears that the noble lord was aggrieved by
some comments which appeared in a weekly paper, reflect-
ing not only upon himself, but on his father, and resolved
to have recourse to that last mode of procuring satis-
faction which the law takes cognisance of as assault and
battery. Wo have not a word to say in defence of the
provocation. Tho wonder is that it has been left to Lord
Carington to take it up. But we are curious to see the
issue. According to some authorities we are to have the
ordinary summons, from Marlborough-street, the usual de-
fence, and a fine. According to others, nothing less than
a meeting on Calais sands will settle tho affair. There aro
folks so much behind their time and so weak-minded as
to think that the only way of giving a check to the forcible
language and the physical demonstrations in vogue now-
a- days is an invitation across the water, and a measure-
ment of twelve paces. .A t any rate it will be interesting
to watch the denouement. At present the peer has the best
of it."

PARLIAMENTARY AND MUNICIPAL

ELECTIONS COMMITTEE.

At the sitting of the Parliamentary and Municipal
Elections Committee on Friday, Sir Charles Wentworth
lke, M.P., furnished some interesting evidence as to the
French system of elections. To assist him in his labours the
deputy returning-officer of the district selects four electors,
two being the oldest and two the youngest on the register,
who sit withhim in the room where the votes are recorded.
The ballot-box is opened in the presence of the commis-
sion thus formed, and the key placed in the hands of the
oldest elector. Each voter is furnished with a
polling-card, on personal or written application, during the
three days prior to the day of the election. On that day
no cards can be obtained. About two-thirds of the
electors of Paris take care to. provide themselves with
cards, though votes can be recorded without them.
As the electors enter the room, they are met by the touts
of the canumabes, ya.
upon them, and hand them voting papers inscribed with
their different names. These papers are not all of the
same thickness, and the witness stated that in some dis-
tricts the voters will erase the name of the Government
candidate and write in the name of the candidate he
favours; and as he hands in the paper to the persons pre-
siding at the ballot-boxes, it is thought, from its thick-
ness, to be for the Government candidate. When the
voting closes, any elector who likes can place his seal on
the ballot-box. The growing feeling in France is against
continuing the voting for two days. The prochs-verbal,whieh
is issued after the election, details the proceedings which h ave
taken place at the time of voting, and the manner in
which the scrutiny bas been conducted. There are five
classes of rejected visiting papers, viz.-1. Those which are
utterly bad. 2. Those on which the names of the candi-
dates cannot be read. 3. Those on which there is not a
sufficient description. 4. Those in which the voters
have made their names known ; and 5. Those contain-
ing the names of candidates who have not taken the pre-
scribed oath. As these invalid voting papers are
taken out of the ballot • box they are placed in
different coloured envelopes, and are afterwards destroyed.
No nomination beyond that of the candidate himself is
required in France. In Paris the expense of the ballot
falls on the city. The expense is trifling. The expenses
of M. Thiers and of M. Favre, at the last election, were
about £4OO each, the amount being chiefly expended in
printing. Referring to New York, the witness said
that the system adopted there is very similar to
that in vogue in France, though the elections are not
conducted with so much care, impersonation prevailing to
a large extent. In Massachusetts, as there had been a
good deal of fraud, especially amongst the Irish
voters, a law had been passed establishing secret
voting.' The plan adopted was the envelope system
used at the test of the ballot in Manchester lately. It
was found, however, that fraud still prevailed, and
so a repeal of the law was effected, and elections
are now conducted as they are in France. Bribery in
New York is conducted through the medium of ward
managers, a species of contract being made with them to
secure the votes of the bribeable people, who are tho-
roughly well known.
In answer to questions by the committee, the witness
said that secret voting is practised in the Australian
colonies. In Tasmania a great deal of shuffling goes
on with the voting-papers, one paper often being
substituted for another. In Victoria the return.
ing officer is always sworn to secrecy. The
hon. member was strongly of opinion that the best
mode of voting by ballot would be by means
of balls, there being many objections to the
use of papers. The evil of what is known as after-
noon bribery might, ho thought, be done away with, even
without the Ballot, by the abolition of check clerks. Nor,
he believed, would the Ballot prevent that kind of bribery,
prevailing in small constituencies, which may be described
as paying for results.
The next witness called was Mr. Arthur Arnold, who
was present at the last election in Greece. The voting
was secret. Each candidate had a Separate ballot-box,
and the balls were put in iu the same manner as is
I done in the clubs iu England, the names
of the candidates being legibly inscribed over
them. There were five vacancies and thirty candidates,
and the plan pursued was for the attendant in the booth
to go round with the voter with a bowl containing
thirty bullets. As each of the thirty bullet.
boxes were reached the name of the candidate was called
out, and the elector, taking a bullet, deposited it in the
half of each of the boxes inscribed "Yes" or "No," as he
I desired.

A malicious attempt to destroy the boilers of the
North of England Waggon Works at Preston has just been
discovered. The supply pipes connected with the boilers
receive their water from a large well in the yard, and
during the evening some persons bavo entered tho yard
unseen by the watchman on duty there. A large quantity
of stones, bricks, wood, and other materials were gathered
together and thrust into the pipes, totally disabling the
boilers from being used at the present, and damaging them
to a considerable extent. A large number of men were un-
able to work in consequence thereof.
THE BOILER EXPLOSION IN SOUTH WALES.
The adjourned inquest on the bodies of the four men
killed at the boiler explosion at the Abergwawr Colliery.
on the 31st of May, has been held by Mr. Overton, at the
Rock Inn, Aberaman. Mr. Wales, the Government in-
spector, attributed the explosion to the fire end of the
boiler, partly from long use, but principally from faulty
construction. A letter from Mr. Fletcher, chief engineer
of the Manchester Steam Users' Association, was read,
which stated that the boiler was twenty-three years old,
and that after it had been in use three years it was con-
verted from an internally-fired boiler to one fired exter-
nally, while, in addition, the furnace-tube was taken out.
These alterations were a great mistake. Competent
inspection would have detected the danger. The jury
returned a verdict of " Accidental death."

AN AGED ACTRESS. —Dramatic necrology has
lately recorded the decease, at a good old age, of the
humorous comedian and excellent man Robert Keeley ;
and more recently, at the ripe age of seventy-five, of the
intelligent and painstaking Shakspearian actor, Mr.
Drinkwater Meadows. And now, from the United
States, we learn that Mrs. Vernon—an actress of great
personal merit, who had for seventeen years played the
" first old women " at Wallack's Theatre, New York—
died in•hat city on the 4th instant, in the seventy-eighth
year of her age. She was an Englishwoman, but had
emigrated to America so far back as 1827. For several
months before her death she was quite deaf, and s) nearly
blind that she had to be led upon the stage ; yet her
acting had lost none of its vivacity and spirit, and she
remained a favourite to the last.

THE ATTEMPT TO SHOOT IN IRELAND. —At
Dublin, Thomas Shea, described as a veterinary surgeon,
has been charged with attempting to shoot Mr. A. S.
Foster, of Cappagh House, Finglas. From the evidence
of Mr. Foster it appeared that on the preceding evening,
in consequence of a message brought through his coach.
man, he walked down the avenue leading from his house,
where he met the prisoner, Thomas Shea. The prisoner
said, " Mr. Foster, I hear the Misses O'Reilly have come
to live with you." Mr. Foster said, "Mr. O'Shea, I
cannot allow you to proceed up to my house. You have
treated me very badly, and promised to pay me the money
I advanced to you ; but, when once a man deceives me, I
have done with him." After an altercation, Mr. Foster
asked prisoner to withdraw, and Le said, "Do you mean
it?" to which the prosecutor replied, " I do." The
prisoner, who was on horseback, turned his horse round,
and appeared to be feeling in his pocket for something, at
the same time dropping a piece of paper which Mr
Foster handed to him, and again requested him to with.
draw. Shea then quickly turned his horse towards Mr.
Foster, and charged him at a distance of eight or ten
yards. Mr. Foster seized the bridle in his hands, and
stopped the horse, when the prisoner, as alleged, presented
a pistol at him, and drew the trigger. The cap exploded,
but the weapon missed fire. Mr. Foster sprang forward,
dragged him off the horse, threw him on the ground, and
a struggle ensued, in the course of which Mr. Foster sue.
ceeded in wresting the pistol from the prisoner, which on
examination was found to be loaded. The struggle was
only terminated by the arrival of the coachman. Mr.
O'Donnell, the magistrate, decided on remanding the
prisQuer.