The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-19 00:00:00

TITA.MES.

DARING HIGHWAY ROBBERY. —John Gamble, a shoo-
black, aged 17 years, not belonging to any of the regular
brigades, was charged with stealing a purse cortaining
£1 17s. 6d., from the person of John Lauaberg in Upper
East Smithfield, near the Loudon Dock.

On Thursday, the sth iust., the sailor, who belongs to
the ship Winged Arrow, was lighting his pip., when
the prisoner suddenly accosted hint, struck him, and
before the foreigner could recover from his sur-
rise, put his hand in his pocket and took from
it a purse cmitaining £1 17s. 6d., with which ho ran
away, with the fleetness of a greyhound, and escaped. lie
was then without shoes or stockings, and had only a few
rags on his back.

Foster, an intelligent palice-constable of the detective
force, saw the prisoner a few days afterwards with new
boots and new clothes on. He suspected him at once, and
said, " You robbed that foreign sailor the other day, and
have been having a new rig out with the money." The
prisoner admitted that was so.

The sailor now identified Lim, and said he could not
stop on shore to prosecute, for the Winged Arrow sailed
this evening.

The prisoner pleaded guilty, and said it was his first
offence.

Foster said the prisoner had been twice summarily con-
♦icted of small offences.
The magistrate sentenced the prisoner to six months'
imprisonment and hard labour, and said he would have
been committed for trial and probably sentenced to penal
servitude for a long period if the prosecutor was not going
to sea.

NAVAL AND 1111LIJARY INTELLIGENCE

At the recent meeting of the county of Cheshire
Rifle Association, six prizes, of the value of £2O,
were presented to the 2d Battalion of the 4th King's
Own Regiment, in garrison at Chester, for com-
petition. The prizes were divide 1 into two series--
the first, open to all marksmen, were shot for
at the 500, GOO, and 700 yards ranges, five
shots at each, with Snider rifles ; and the sec3nd
open only to first-class shots, were shot for at 200,
500, and 600 yards, also with the regulation Snider.
The winners of the marksmen's prizes were-
-Ist prize, Private Wheeler, 31 points (11 at 500,
nine at 600, and 11 at 700 yards) ; 2d prize,
Private Caesar, 24 points ; Private Searle, 22 points ;
and Sergeant Poulton, 21 points. The shooting
of Sergeant Poulton was very remarkable, as
in the first range out of five shots he failed to score
a single point ; he made up for it, however, at the
longest range, by the highest score, 14. The win-
ners of the first-class prizes were—Private Hopper,
26 points (9 at 200, 12 at 500, and 5 at 600 yards) ;
Private Tipper, 20 ; Private Denison, 19 ; and
Private Hilditch, 19.

A serious accident occurred to a member of the
3d Essex Artillery Volunteers on Saturday after-
noon last, at the Government Battery, Plutnstead
Marshes, while carrying on gun practice. After
the gun had been made ready to fire, through some
neglect the tangent scale was left up, and a man,
stepping on to the platform to put it down, the
gun was unfortunately fired while he was in the act
of doing so, and in recoil the carriage struck against
the man's leg, and fractured it.

Major-Gen. Lord G. A. F. Paget, K.C.8., the
Inspector-General of Cavalry, made his inspection
of the 14th Hussars yesterday, in drill marching
order at the Curragh Camp. The Inspector-Gene-
ral expressed his entire satisfaction with the ap-
pearance of the regiment on parade, and also with
the precision and steadiness with which the diffe-
rent movements were performed. The regiment
was under the command of Col. P. Scott l'homp•
son, C.B.
The Channel Squalron is under orders to leave
Plymouth o❑ Monday next for Gibraltar.
The Monarch turret ship, Capt. J. E. Commerell,
V.C., remains at Spithead anchorage, requiring
certain alterations and repairs to be made in the
carriages of her turret guns, resulting from the
recent experimental firing in the Channel.

The 15th Hussars have been disembarked from
her Majesty's screw troopship Sirnoom, Captain S.
B. Lethbridge, at Portsmouth, and have taken
possession of quarters at Chichester, where they
will remain until their departure for India in one
of her Majesty's screw troopships, via Alexandria.
The Siwoom is coaling, and is expected to sail im-
wediately on further troop service to the Cape of
Good Hope.

PARIS CORRESPONDENCE.
IVEbNrspe.y.

The chorus of congratulation Al. the amnesty to all
political offenders has not yet ceased. The act was so
complete, so well-timed, so truly statesmanlike that it
has awakened the gratitude of all moderate men, And
won the admiration even of the Emperor's bitterest
enemies. There ought, indeed, to be no stint in
praising the most important act of tho Emperor's
reign, and the one which will contribute more
to tho establishment of his dynasty than the
conquest of a fair province. The pardon was made at the
very moment when it was likely to have the best effects.
The hesitation manifest in the first message to the
Chamber announcing the reforms had pro luced an un-
favourable impression. The discontent was increased by
the sudden prorogation of the Corps Legislatif, announced
by the President with scant ceremony from the window
of his carriage. But these errors--the obscurity of the
Imperial message, and the disrespectful prorogation—have
been well redeemed. The draft of the reforms submitted
to the Senate spewed clearly that they were of very
liberal character. Succeeding explanations and discussions
have still further proved that the Emperor has made a
real concession, and has not given with the one hand to
take back with the other. Finally, on the eve of the one-
hundredth anniversary of Napoleon Buonaparte's birth,
the prison doors have been opened, and the hundreds who
were confined for political offences have been set free.
It is not too much to say that this measure had a per-
ceptibly good effect on the day of the Fetes. The amnesty
seemed to gladden the hearts of all men, even those who
cared nothing for politics, and had never been connected in
any way with a political offence. The crowd was more
lightsome, the fun was more unrestrained, and, what is more,
the festivities were more identified with the Imperial house
than any of the kind that I have known before. One
question was debated with much curiosity. How would
the amnesty affect Rochefort ? It was found that so far as
political offences are concerned, the lampooner's many and
long terms of imprisonment were wiped out; but, unfor-
tunately for himself, Rochefort has been guilty of thrash-
ing a printer, and for this criminal offence, which does
not fall within the political amnesty, he has still to undergo
three months in gaol. But the amnesty frees him from
sentences amounting altogether to more than two years'
imprisonment.

The scene at the release of the St. Etienne miner;
to which I have already alluded, was very interesting.
These men, imprisoned for violence when on strike, had
been pardoned just before the amnesty was signed. M.
Cuisson, who went to implore the clemency of the
Sovereign on their behalf, thus describes the release :
"The hour was that fixed for the prisoners to receive
visits, and wives, mothers, and children were all waiting
in the outside court for permission to enter the prison. On
my appearance, What news do you bring?' said they.
' Their pardon,' I replied. And then they threw them-
selves upon me with cries of joyand bursts of tears. In the
inner yard the scene was, if possible, still more affecting.
A hundred arms were extended towards me, and a hun-
dred hands sought mine. I wished to speak, but my emo-
tion choked me. Take it as you please ; but it was one of
the bright days of my existence.'
There is not much political news to tell, for our period
of expectation is not yet at an end, but it is thought that
it will terminate to-morrow. The Ministers are then ex-
pected to lay before the Senate Commission the final
recommendations of the Council as to the modification:,
proposed in the second article of the reforms. This article
as you know, is a little embarrassing in its, construction,
for it states that the Ministers arc responsible, whilst it
adds that they " depend only on the Emperor."
This material question has been reserved by the
Commission, and was discussed yesterday by the
inisters. The Temps thinks there ought to be no diffi-
culty- whatever. Ministerial responsibility, it says, is the
natural result of the third article, which permits Ministers
to be members of either House. It must be practically
impossible for a Ministry to remain in office if it is in a
minority. The responsibility is not a principle, but an
effect of the principle that members of the Government
may sit in the popular Assembly.
M. Jules Favre paid a visit to Algiers the other day. In
a conversation lie gave his opinion that the reforms are the
expression of the effect produced by the elections, and as
such they ought to be made the most of. Considering that
the political wind was in the Liberal quarter, it was not
at all improbable, he thought, for a really substantial mea-
sure of liberty to come even from such a Conservative
assembly as the Senate.
The Emperor's health is a subject of considerablt,
anxiety at present ; but the Liberte pronounces him better,
and so does the Pattie. "The rheumatic pains have lost
their acuteness." The Journal (*cid, on the other hand,
is silent, and in some quarters it is affirmed that the Chief
of the State can get out of doors only in his carriage.
The Empress is going to Lyons on the 25th, and the
Emperor contemplates leaving for Chalons on the same
day.
One of the finest paintings of Philippe de Champagne
has just been discovered stowed away in a corner of a
church. It «113 covered with dust, and wrapped in old
rags. The cure was about to sell it as lumber, when the
discovery was made through the agency of a lady.
It is expected that Lord Clarendon will visit Paris in
the early days of October. There he will meet Count
Beust, who does not find the waters of Biarritz essential
to his health now that the Imperial Family of France do
not intend going there.