The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 27, 1869.

now, "perhaps, of the priviite hangman. Up to the
line of SHEWARD'S stringulation in the prison-
yard at Norwich, it was a matter of the
greatest uncertainty whether, after all, his life
might not have been spared. Not—observe !—be-
. cause of the discovery on the trial or afterwar,ls of
anything like mitigating or extenuating circum-
stances. Nothing whatever of the kind. But simply
and solely because a morbid interest was aroused in
the wretched murderer's behalf, because, forsooth, he
had been found guilty, after these eighteen years of
unsuspected guilt, exclusively on his own confession,
on his own self accusation ! Simultaneously with the
announcement of the fact of his having been
hanged, in fulfilment of the terms of the
sentence pronounced upon him by the judge
in open court, there appeared a detailed account
dictated by the murderer himself on the eve of his
execution, an appallingly minute description of the
mode in which he had mutilated the body of his mar-
dered wife, and got rid of it, piecemeal, such as must,
surely, from the especial atrocity of the particulars
narrated, demonstrate the utter folly, to say the very
least of it, of the morbid sympathy apparently felt
in his behalf only the other thy by a considerable
number of certainly very weak-minded individuals.
As to that other murder already referred to as hav-
ing been committedionly very recently by a miser-
able wretch of the name of WILTSHIRE, we all
know now that in that instance there has been a
terrible failure of justice. The man was tried and,
upon the clearest evidence, was found guilty of one
of the most atrocious murders ever perpetrated. The
jury found him guilty. The Judge sentenced him to
death. Slihznrijiantly 4." _
all but murdered one of the warders in charge of him
in the condemned cell. And yet, after this, there was
a commutation of the sentence by reason of the in-
terference of the right hon. gentleman the Home
Secretary. There came a reprieve—the sentence
of death was changed into penal servi-
tude for life. Immediately the fact that it
was so became known, there was not un- '
naturally awakened in the minds of many people
a sense of burning indignation that, without any
apparent reason whatever, justice should thus have
been allowe3;to miscarry, in the instance of a criminal
whose atrocity was notoriously, almost, one might
s iy, preternatural, in its character. Mr. BRUCE was
challenged to explain in the House of Commons the
reasons which had actuated him in interposing thus
between the murderer WiursiltEF. and the gallows
Immediately the Home Secretary's reasons were given
it was understood at once that the responsibility of

this astounding transformation of the sentence of
death to penal servitude for life devolved, from himself,
upon the Judge and the Jury. Upon second thoughts
both judge and jury appeared to think that the ver-
dict ought not to have been Guilty, and that the sen-
tence ought not to have been Death. " Second
thoughts," according to the ungrammatical old pro-
verb, are said to be bt,st." Ttiey were certainly
not, in this instance, for hardly had they been thrust
upon the attention of the Home Secretary, hardly
had they constrained him (as they, of course, did)
to decide that IVlLTsnirtE should not be hanged by
the neck until he was dead—when that inhuman mur-
derer made a cold-blooded and most deliberate state-
ment of the circumstances undcr which the crime had
been committed, such as leaves now not one shadow
of doubt that never was verdict of guilty more
justifiably arrived at than it was in this instance,
and that never was sentence of death more justifiably
pronounced. There are crimes th.►t hanging is said
to be too good for. And this was one of them. Yet,

having been found guilty, having been sentenced to

death, having been set aside for execution—
the murderer is saved from the gallows at

he eleienth hour, because of so:ne bewildering

;econd though's, both on the part of the judge .who

.ried him, and on the part of the jurymen before
diem he was tried. What were the judge and jury
bout in this instance ? For, here, is the criminal

making bad worse by the very manner in which he

volunteers his hideous statement, and hugging him-

self with delight at the same moment because of hii

having had his life thus spared in a manner th

most unexpected and the most astounding.

THE elections which have taken plaCe since the
great conflict of last autumn have by no means
altered the verdict which the country then gave. The
question before the constituencies then was, Will you
have your rulers men pledged to do justice to Ire-
land and to reduce the public expediture, or men
pledged not to do the first, and not pledged to do the
second? The result we all know. For the first time
within the present generation a Minister did not venture
to meet the Parliament which he himself had called.
Since then the new Minister has fulfilled his promise.
He has brought in the first of the measures which is
to restore justice to Ireland, and he has effected a
saving of over two millions sterling in the army and
the navy estimates. The Opposition find themselves
beaten night after night in the House of Commons,
and with no other resource but protest against what
they are pleased to term a " brute majority" and
assertion that if the country were appealed to again,
it would, now that it has become acquainted with Mr.

LA D STONE'S Irish Church scheme, pronounce against
him. Facts do not bear out the prophecy. We say
nothing of the circumstance that all the Ministers
who had seats in the House of Commons were re-
re-elected without a contest, and that seats were found
for the two who had been defeated in November ;
for these elections took place before the Ministerial
measure was introduced. But we can appeal to

the other elections, which have been caused either by
death or by the unseating of members. Seventeen
members have been returned since Parliament
assembled, and instead of the constituencies having
changed their minds, they have so far ratified their
former decision that the net result is again of one seat
to the Liberal party. We do not attach parti-
cular importance to the cases in which a change
has taken place. Wareham returned a Liberal at
the general election, simply because two Conserva-
tives opposed each other; and when the Liberal died,
the Conservatives male up their quarrel and won
back the seat. In London the death of Mr. BELL
deprived the Conservatives of the minority seat;
in Taunton, the Conservative having been unseated
on petition, a scrutiny seated a Liberal. In
Brecon, which is no doubt a really Liberal
constituency, as almost all the Welsh boroughs are,
Lord HYDE was returned by a large majority over
Lord C. llAmiuroN, because the disturbing influence
of Mr. HOWEL GWYN'S gold was no longer felt.
Only in Dumfriesshire can much importance be
attached to the alteration of representation which
has taken 'place; and there it was due rather
to terrAorial than political influences. As for
the other constituencies, they are as they were,
save that some of them,like Beverley and Cashel, have
robablywitnessed their last election, and will speedily
join the Inglorious company of Lancaster, Yarmouth,
Fotnes, and Reigate. The simple fact remains that
the country which chose Mr. GLADU'ONE upon trust
has, since it rnlde acquaintance with his policy, rati-
fied that confidence. The nation is well pleased with
the PREMIER to whom it gave such a Inagua:cent
majority.

THERE does not seem at first sight to be much
connection between volunteering and the " Quarto-
deciman heresy." Some of our readers who have

undergone the discipline of the goose-step may never
even have heard of tlte heresy. For their informa-

tion we may mention briefly that it was the custom
of observing Easter on the fourteenth day of the first
Jewish month, which was adopted by the Eastern
Church. It gave rise to a bitter controversy, and, toge-
ther with a dispute about the " double procession;" it

ledtothatruptureof ChristetidomwhichseparatedEas;
from West, and which still keeps them apart, " A

Volunteer" now rushes in where theologians may
fairly fear to tread, and argues, in the Daily News, in
behalf of a change of date for the celebration of the
chief Christian festival. The final cause of this change is
the hurricane which took place on Easter Monday, and
which exposed some 15,000 volunteers to the pelting
of the hail and the curses of the COMMANDER-IN-
CHIEF. But the writer has Dther reasons. Easter at
present is a moveable feast . it may occur as early
as March 22, or as late as April 25,
and thus great inconvenence is caused. More-
over, when it occurs early, we are still often in the
depth of winter, although ;he sun has touched the
Southern tropic, and is travelling back from the
goat to the crab. ;The oarlier period breaks up
the schoolboys' and the students' terms too early; it
divides the parliamentary sesion unequally; and then
the Volunteer Review—tlat in itself is sufficient
reason for the change. Against it he can imagine
no possible argument except " the mere moonshine
of sentimental feeling "—the sentiment that England
is keeping Easter at the same time as the great
majority of Christendom.
We suspect that " A Volunteer" will find "senti-
ment " a rather more powerful obstacle than he sup-
poses it to be. Most of us are Christians, very few
of us are volunteers. Most of us like to feel that the
Western Church, and we would fain think the
Eastern Church also, was celebrating the greatest event
in the world's history simultaneously. The modern
tendency is rather towards finding some means by
which Easterns and Westerns can be united, than
towards setting up a new use of our own. Perhaps in
this desire " A Volunteer" nay see the opportunity he
wishes. Why should he not be sent to the forth-
coming Men meninn 1 Conn eil charged. by. the
archbishops and the bishops of the United
Church of England and Ireland to arrange
with the Sovereign PONTIFF and the ARCH-
mum!, of Moscow for the transference of Easter
Day to St. Mark's Day ; or why not say the
Festival of St. Philip and St. James—Mayday—itself ?
We must make one stipulation, however : he must
arrange that Good Friday shall not occur on a Mon-
day; that might be awkward. It would be more
puzzling even than finding out the " golden number."

-...
KtOrtilLit
„..., . 4,
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HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, April 26.
The Queen, accompanied by Princess Louise,
drove out yesterday afternoon.
Her Majesty, accompanied by Princess Christian,
drove out this morning.
Princess Louise, Princess 13.,!atrice, and Prince
Leopol I went out.

LAI'EST INTELL tGENCE

R E tr'ER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

NEW YoRK, Ap: il 2G.

Gold closed at 1335. The highest quotation
during the thy was 1338 ; the lowest 1338. Ster-
ling Exchange on London, 1081 ; Five-Twenty
United States Bonds, 1882, 1211 ; ditto, 1885,
1188 ; ditto,lBG7, 1158 ;.Ten-Forty Bonds, 106- ;
Illinois, 1431 ; Erie, 331. Cotton—middling up-
land, 288 c. Petroleum—standard white, 322 c.
Flour—extra State, $5 70c. to $6 30c. Corn—old
mixed, 82c.

PORTUGAL.

LISBON, Ap"il 26

The King opened the session of the Corns to-
day. In his speech from the throne, his Majesty
said that the Budget as presented would require
important alterations. Alluding to the mutiny
which occurred lately in the regiment under orders
to embark for the coast of uibiqoe, the King
stated that the Government had promptly restored
order.

In reference to the state of the finances his Ma-
jesty said that it clernan.led the serious attcnt;on
of the members since the excess of the expenditure
over the revenue was a source of anxiety. Effica-
cious measures for the payment of the floating
debt, for the reduction of the deficit, and for a just
and equal distribution of the burdens arising from
taxation would be introduced by the Government.

CHINA.

SHANGHAI, March 31.

_A despatch from Sir Rutherford Alcock to the
British Consul at this port has been published on
the subject of the introduction of railways and
telegraphs into China. Sir Rutherford says that
notwithstanding the promises made by the Bur-
lingame mission to Europe and America, the
Central Government of Pekin show no desire for
progress, but, on the contrary, will not yield to the
introduction of any such projects except under
pressure and coercion.

GALLE, April 21.

Contradictory private advices have been received
from Java reporting the outbreak of a general in-
surrectim 12 miles from Batavia. Same Europeans
are said to have been killed.

The Batavian newspapers have been prohibited
from publishing particulars of the outbreak.

FRANCE.

BOURSE, April 26.—Three o'clock—The market
closed as follows
:-
4 per Cent.
End of month... Ital'an Fives 56 20
3 per Cent
End of month 7l 35 Mexican Loan ...
Credit Mobilier 75 Do. Bonds

End of month... 255
Credit Foncier -.1528
End of month...

_
Spanish Threes _ 30 25
Rome Debt —
Deferred —
Cash.
Orleans
Northern 1075
Lyons and Mediterranean
Southern__ 6lO
Western ...................
Eastern ............
Sardinian
LAustrian ............. . ............... .........
ombard ...................................
North of Spain
Saragossa
Roman ................................
......

nAILWAi

511
695
477;
__.. 59

Jib

77-111: FRENCH PLAYS.

The French plays commenced last night at the
St. James's Theatre. The house was filled by a
brilliant and distinguished audience, who appeared
to be justly satisfied with the entertainment pro-
vided for them. The piece selected for the oc-
casion was the comedy of "Le Marquis de
Villemer," by George Sand, which some years
since attracted such popularity at Paris, when
brought out at the Odeon. The plot is of the
simplest character. There are no striking or sen-
sational incidents or situations ; but the dialogue is
brilliant and witty, and the acting was entitled to
the highest praise. Without any other aid than
the sparkling wit with which it charmed, and the
talent of the performers, who played their parts,
the attention of the auditory never flagged, while
bursts of laughter were produced by the acting of
Mr. Brindeau as the Due d'Aluca, a wild spend-
thrift, who, although arrived at the solemn
age of forty, laughs,•atni makes all who hear and
see him laugh too, at his impecunio,ity and the
hopeless prospects before him. He, however, finally
comes " all right," by marrying an eccentric young
and rich heiress, who chivalrously determines to
bestow her hand and fortune only "on a ruined
man." We must congratulate Mr. Raphael Felix
on the happy commencement of his third season,
which we cannot doubt, from the talents of his
company, will prove as attractive and profitable as
his best friends could desire.

MR. BENJAMIN HIGGS

The select committee cf the House of Commons ap-
pointed to inquire into the various bills affecting the gas
companies of the metropolis resumed their sittings on
Monday. Mr. Chatteris, the auditor of the Great Central
Gas Company, was again examined at great length. He
said that Mr. Wyld was the chief accountant, and Higgs
was the subordinate clerk. It was the duty of the accoun-
tant to enter the sums paid into the bankers in the
ledger; but Higgs managed, some way, to get the
cash from the clerk. Since Mr. Chatteris last made an
audit Higgs had abstracted £4,561 from the residual
products' account. In cross-examination the witness said:
If the system of bookkeeping had been properly carried
out by the clerks of the Company, the frauds of Higgs
would have been detected. The system, if properly
carried out, was perfect. The frauds were no fault of a
deficient. audit, but of the manner of keeping the books.
Mr. Higgs appears to have relieved other gentlemen
in the works of their duties, and to have kept
the books in many cases himself. It never struck me
until after Higgs had absconded that the balance of " arrears''
was becoming very disproportionate, and I never heard
any remark made on the subject byany one connnected with
the company. In the discharge of my duties I examined
the whole of the principal books of the company.
These frauds have arisen from the manipulation of
the subsidiary books which were kept in the accountant's
office, and which my colleague and myself could not
check. If the attention of anyone had been partim
larly directed to the gradual growth of the " arrears,"
and an examination had taken place, the frauds
must have been detected. At the end of the year 1862,
which was the year in which Higgs commenced his opera-
tions, the total consumption of gas was £74,180, and the
arrears £30,066 ; for the year 1863, rental, £74,180,
arrears £31,953 ; 1864, £77,643, arrears £38,281; 1865,
£82,690, arrears £40,750 ; 1866, £78,708, arrears £46,559 ;
1867, £84,041, arrears £65,287 ; and for the year ending
the 31st of December, 1868, the rental was £85,765,
and the arrears £65,507. For the year ending 1860,
before the frauds commenced, the total rentals were
£63,489, and the arrears £29,003. It did not strike me
tnae -
from the end of the year 1862 would not justify an
increase of £34,000 in the "arrears." I did not consider
it any part of my business to question the propriety
of the directors, or their correct judgment, in giving such
largely-increased credits.—Mr. IVyld, the accountant,
was also examined, and then Mr. Alderman Dakin was
called. and his examination was not completed when the
committee adjourned.