The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 27, 1860.

HANWELL COLLEGE SCHOOL, MIDDLE-
SEX.—The Vacation Closes on the 27th instant. A
Prospectus may be obtained OR application to the ReT. J. A.
Emerton, D.D., Principal.
-

G_REAT WESTERN RAILWAY.-
EXCURSION to the NORTH at LOW FARES.—
On SATURDAY, September 1, an Excursion Train will leave
Paddington at 10.20 a.m., for Oxford (fares Os 6d and 4s);
Banbury (88 and ss) ; Leamington and Warwick (10s 6d and
6s) ; Birmingham (12s and 7s ); West Bromwich, Wednesbury,
and Bilston (12s 6d. and 7s 6d) ; Wolverhampton (13s and 8s) ;
Wellington and Shrewsbury (17s and 10s) ; Oswestry, Llan-
gollen Road, Wrexham, and Chester (18s 6d and 11s); Bir-
kenhead and Liverpool (21s and 12s 6d), returning on THURS-
DAY, September 6, from Liverpool at 10.30 a,m., and inter-
mediate stations as per handbills. This train will take pas-
sengers from Reading for stations north of Leamington
inclusive.

TREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.-
CHEAP EXCURSION to SOUTH WALES and the
SOUTH of IRELAND.-On MONDAY, Sept. 3, an Excursion
Train will leave Paddington at 8 a.m., and Reading at 9.10
a.m., for Chepstow, fares 16s. and 10s.; Newport, 19s. and 125.;
Cardiff, 21s. and 13s. ; Bridgend, 225. and 14s. ; Port Talbot,
13s. and 15s. ; Neath, 245. and 15s. 6d. ; Landbre and Swansea,
6d. and 165.; Llanelly, 265. and 16s. 6d.; Carmarthen Junc-
tion, 275. and 17s. ; Narberth Road and Haverfordwest, 295.
and 17s. ed. ; Milford Road and Milford, 30s. and 18s. ; Cork
or Waterford, 40s. and 30s. ; stations on the Waterford and
Limerick Railway, 455. and 355. ; stations on the Waterford
and Kilkenny Railway, 425. 6d. and 325. 6d. Passengers to
South Wales return by a special train, le Lying Milford at 10
a.m. on the 13th of September ; and Irish passengers by the
11.15 a.m. Train from Milford up to the 18th of September.
-The time can be extended upon payment of a per centage.
Passengers can go to Killarney by rail from Waterford, or by
cars from Cork, at reduced fares.
The " Great Eastern " is expected at Milford before the
end of August.
For full particulars of the above see bills.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—(SATuRvAy.)
LOSSES IN THE
USE PAPER TRADE AND THE
HO OF .
Mr: J. WHITE, who had the following questions on
the notice paper, rose to ask whether the attention of her
Majesty Government had been called to the losses that had
been incurred by persons in the paper trade, in consequence
of their hiring relied upon the finality, of the votes of the
House of Commons in providing the ways and nieans for
the service of the Crown, and whether any mode could be
entertained for compensating the parties in question ; and
secondly, whether, as a precedent had been established for
the revision by the House of Lords of the provision an.
nually made by this house for the service of the Crown, it
would bo in future expedient to obtain the concurrence of
the House of Lords before any proposal of the remission of
taxation was made to this house ? The hon. member was

stopped by
The SPEAKER, who, in reference to the second ques-
tion, said that had the notice been brought to him when he
was in tbe house it would have been his duty to have asked

the hon. member whether it was really intended as a serious
expression of opinion or in an ironical sense, and if in the
latter case, he should have informed him that questions
placed on the paper and intended to be of an ironical nature
were out of order, and could not with propriety be put.
Mr. J. WHITE said it was his intention to put the
last of the questions in an ironical sense, and he asked it
more in sorrow than in anger. There was an impression
that, owing to the " gigantic innovation" made by the
House of Lords, by which trade had been embarrassed and
commerce impeded, neither the present nor any future go •
vernratnts would presume to bring forward any question of
remission of taxation, until they first consulted the House
of Lords as to its expediency or not. (Oh, oh.) A very
large interest had suffered by the course adopted by the
House of Lords. Had the paper-makers been peers or
priests, or proctors or lawyers, they would have received
ample compensation, The persons engaged in that trade
had a right to believe that the bill for the repeal of the paper
duty would have been passed by the Lords, and they were
justified, therefore, in entering into those engagements
which they had done. The country was now paying a tax
levied against the will of the House of Commons, and raised
solely upon the authority of the House of Lords. A noble
lord in another place had not only appeared to think that it
was his duty " to stem the tide of democracy," but also to
make a fearful encroachment upon the privileges of the
House of Commons. The present House of Commons would
be memorable in the annals of this country for the cowardly
abandonment of its privileges and the gigantic expenditure
which it had authorised. (Oh, oh.) The conviction on his
own mind of the state of things was such that he intended
to appeal to the gentleman who sat at the table of the house,
and beg of him, in any future edition of his " Parliamentary
Practice," to revise that part relating to the privileges of the
house, in order that the people out of doors might know what
had really been effected by the House of Lords. He would
not now re-argue the question, which had been rendered
memorable by the glorious eloquence of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer ; but he would simply in sober serious-
ness place these questions on the paper, believing that largo
interests had been endangered by the course pursued.
Mr. E. JAMES said that if the hon. member for Brighton
had accurately observed what had taken place in this house
and in the other house during the last few days, he would
have seen that there was hardly any necessity for the re-
vival of this question. No doubt the public viewed the
matter with a jealous feeling, but he could not agree in that
part of the question which assumed that a precedent had
been established by the House of Lords for, a revision by
that house of the provisions made by the House of Com-
mons for the service of the year. The hon. member must
have known that the house had protested against the course
taken by the Lords, and their protest was upon record in
the journals of the house. He thought that the hon. mem-
ber ought to be satisfied with the course which had been
taken, and he (Mr. James) believed that there was no de-
sire on the part of the other house to interfere in any re-
spect with the privileges of the House of Commons, for
only last evening the noble and learned lord on the wool-
sack had pronounced an opinion favourable to the course
which this house had pursued, and the noble and learned
lord further stated that there was no desire on the part of
the House of Lords to interfere with the privileges of the
Commons.
Sir G. C. LEWIS said although he had spoken on the
motion before the house he would offer a few observations.
The house would not expect him to offer any excuse for
not reviving a discussion on the general question of the
paper duty, and of the action of the house with regard to that
subject. With respect to the statement of the hon. mem-
ber, that there was a defect in the legal power for raising
the paper duty, he would merely state that that duty was
levied under an act of Parliament, which in former years
had passed both houses and received the royal assent, and
therefore, so far as the legal question was concerned, there
was precisely the same authority for raising the paper duty
as for levying and collecting any other branch of the
Queen's taxes. The hon. member stated that the present
House of Commons had distinguished itself by its large
votes for expenditure, and seemed to infer from that that
it was unreasonable to retain this branch of revenue. Now
if the grants for expenditure had been unusually large, it
was scarcely, perhaps, a logical inference that it was de-
sirable to diminish our revenue. (Hear.) With respect to
compensation to the paper makers the hon. members would
no doubt recollect that the measure with respect to the cus-
toms duty on paper, which was very fully debated, and
passed through both houses, proceeded for the most part on
the supposition that the excise duty involved scarcely any
appreciable loss to the paper interest. If that wore correct it
could hardly be said that the paper makers had any claim
for compensation. (Hear, hear.) He was not aware that any
such claim had been advanced, and if it had been it was clear
that, no vote having been passed by the House of Commons
for the purpose, the Treasury would have no means of mak-
ing any compensation, he would even go further and say that
he could not see upon what possible ground any such claim
could be put forward. (Hear.) No such precedent had
been established as that referred to by the hon. member as
effecting a change in the constitution. Those who promoted
this measure in the other house knew that it was an extraor-
dinary remedy to meet an extraordinary evil. A noble lord
most favourable to the course pursued considered that it was
defensible as a medicine, though it could not be justified as
daily food. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) It was clear that
no precedent for any change of system had been established,
and even if such a thing wero attempted, he did not see how
it would be mended by resorting to the course indicated by
the hon. member for Brighton. (Hear, hear.)
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY thought the House of Com-
mons would be always ready i o vindicate their privileges if
they were really invaded by the Lords. The moral to be
drawn from this state of the paper duty question was that
the House of Commons should not hastily embark in any
extensive reduction of taxation until it was aware of the
expenditure which would be required. The only effect of
he hasty course adopted was that the revenue had sus-
ained the loss of probably not less than a quarter of a mil-
ion, which showed that the house had been guilty of great
imprudence in repealing this tax. (Hear, hear.)

PROPOSEDNEW STREET FROM COVENTRY-STREET.
—A. plan is under consideration for a new street commenc-
ing from Coventry street, passing south of Leicester-square,
and in a south-east direction, and continuing along Orange-
street at the back of the National Gallery, and in a line
with King William-street. The plan has the support of
the parishes of St. James and St. Martin. Funds to carry
it out are in hand.—Budder.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Depression of Spirits—Debility.—
Some defect in digestion is generally the cause of mental
depression. On rectifying the disordered stomach the long
list of gloomy thoughts retire, and are succeeded by more
hopeful and happier feelings. Holloway's pills have been
renowned far and wide for effecting this desirable change.
They remove all obstructions, replete all secretions, and
correct depraved humours, by purifying the blood and in-
vigorating the stomach. Their medicinal virtues reach,
relieve, and stimulate every organ and gland in the body ;
whereby the entire system is renovated. No medicine ever
before discovered acts so directly and beneficially upon the
blood and circulation as Holloway's celebrated pills ; which
combine the rare merits of efficiency and harmlessness,

FLORAL BALL

The concert on Saturday night, the first part of
which consisted of a selection from the works of
Mendelssohn, was as successful as the lovers of
good music could have desired. The unpropitious
weather failed to rob the familiar name of its attrac-

tion ; and, though it rained all day without inter-
mission, the doors of Floral Hall were not long
thrown open before an immense crowd had assem-
bled. Mr. Alfred Mellon may be complimented on
his programme, which, besides being marked by
excellence and variety, was so arranged that each
succeeding piece afforded an agreeable contrast to
its immediate predecessor :
Overture—" A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Part-song—" Oh hills and vales."
Concerto—Pianoforte (No. 1, in G minor).
Air—" When the Evening Bells are Chiming."
Symphony in A major (Italian).
Finale from the opera of "Lorley."

The performance, from first to last, was worthy
of the music, and the audience thoroughly appre-
ciated both. The overture to Shakspeare s immortal
fairy play, which, though an inspiration of early
youth, is one of the most original and imaginative
productions of its composer, was given with
a delicacy and precision quite marvellous, the
enormous area and configuration of Floral Hall
taken into account. But—as was shown later, in
a still more elaborate work—the band of the Royal

Italian Opera, with a director at its head like Mr.
Mellon, is capable of achieving difficulties under
any Cireximstancea short of absiolutely antagonistic.
Nothing could come morertritppilratatsesa piece so
full of energy and movement as the overture, than
the part song—perhaps the most universally popu-
lar thing of its kind—au image of repose such as
music has seldom reflected, a dream of the setting
sun throwing its last rays on the quiet hills, a bit
of harmonious landscape, in short, " the spirit of
whose beauty" (to quote the English paraphrase of
the words that inspired it) " can never fade away."
After this the attention of the hearers was diverted
into an altogether different channel by the impetu-
ous concerto in G minor—another example of Men-
delssohn's astonishingly precocious talent—executed
by Mr. George Russell, a young and rising pianist,
if not precisely with the "impetuosity" most con-
genial to its character, at least with spirit, clear-
ness, and well-sustained. brilliancy. A trifle more
of sentiment would not have been unwelcome in
the slow movement; but Mr. Russell was probably
of opinion that very nice shades of expression might
be lost under the dome of Bow-street Crystal
Palace, and so designedly eschewed them. The
accompaniments to the concerto were carefully
played by the band, and at the conclusion Mr. Rus-
sell left the orchestra amid warm and honourably
earned plaudits. The song from " Heimkehr"
(known in England as " Son and Stranger")—an
opera composed by Mendelssohn to commemorate
what the Germans call the "silver wedding" of their
father and mother (25th anniversary of their union)
—is as full of character as it is charming. This,
introduced last winter with great success by Herr
Reichardt at the Monday Popular Concerts (St.
James's-hall), and equally welcome on the present
occasion, was delivered with genuine artistic feeling
by Mr. Wilbye Cooper. The tranquil opening
phrase is finely relieved by the episode describing,
the night-watch of the soldier, so appropriately an-
nounced by the trumpet, and the whole was well
adapted to separate the pianoforte concerto from
the orchestral symphony, with neither of which it
has the smallest feature in common. The Italian
symphony was given entire, with the repeat of the
first part of the allegro vivace—exactly, indeed, as
the composer intended. On the whole, we can
scarely remember a more satisfactory performance
of this fresh and genial work. The profoundly
touching andante—of which it was said years long
past that in writing it Mendelssohn had composed
his own " Requiem"—might have gained some-
thing by being taken a little slower, but here ob-
jection ends, The remainder, especially the last
movement, to which alone the symphony is indebted
geographicalfaocreetphteed(u
t
expletive now conventionally
of
by Mendelssohn himself,
who simply entitled it "Symphony in A major")—
the restless " Saltarello," suggesting by its preculiar
n r (undreamt
rhythm and colour the idea of a Neapolitan carnival,
with all the contingent bustle and excitement—was
beyond criticism. How thoroughly the whole was
appreciated may be gathered from the fact that the
movement in question was re-demanded. With the
finale of " Lorley " before him, nevertheless, Mr.
Mellon did wisely in withholding compliance, and
resting content with the unanimous applause
elicited. In this colossal piece—a splendid pledge
of the dramatic genius of its composer, and of the
triumphs he was likely to achieve had he been
spared to labour for the stage as earnestly as he
laboured for the choir, the orchestra, and the cham-
ber—all concerned won laurels. Band, chorus,
principal singer, and conductor, were alike assi-
duous in their duties, and with a like result. It
was the last performance, and also the best, in a
concert:where everything was good. Never were
the sole's of Leonora—who devotes herself to the
spirits of the Rhine in order to acquire the means
of being avenged on a fickle lover (a Leonora
promiSing to rival the still incomparable
Leonora of Beethoven)—declaimed with more fire
and vigour than by Miss Parepa, who (as every-
body might have concluded) has just the voice for
the part, and (as everybody might not have
concluded) a true and forcible conception of it.
The audience were so delighted that, without
awaiting the final notes, they burst into such a storm
of applause as almost drowned in its vehemence the
united efforts of the voices and instruments, which
go on accumulating power and grandeur to the
climax. As another " Mendelssohn night" is an-
nounced, the finale from " Lorley," as a matter of
course, will be repeated. Meanwhile we are glad
to learn that Mr. Howard Glover's picturesque and
admirable cantata of " Tam O'Shanter" is to be
produced at these concerts, that special nights are
to be given to Mozart and Beethoven, and, last not
least, that Handel's " Messiah" will be performed
on Friday.

TUE MURDER IN THE QUEEII-PARK,

EDINBURGII.

All authentic information regarding the actual
facts evolved by the judicial inquiry into this most
distressing affair being sedulously concealed by the
authorities officially engaged in the investigation,
many unfounded and often exaggerated rumours
have been propagated respecting it, and these, not-
withstanding every care taken, have in some cases
found their way into the public prints. We have
received the following, however, on what we con-
sider good authority :—On Thursday a woman came
forward and informed the authorities that, about
three o'clock on Sunday morning, she passed a cor-
poral of the 13th Light Dragoons and a young girl
standing close to the wall at the Clock-Mill Bridge,
near to the spot where the switch was found.
The soldier, it was stated, seemed to be threatening
the girl, and ordering her to go away, when the
latter said, "I will follow you into the barracks if
you go there." To this the soldier replied, with an
oath, " Well, I am going there now, but if you fol-
low mo I will do for you." The woman who gave
this information describes very minutely and cor-
rectly the girl's appearance and dress, and is quite
positive that the man seen with her was a corporal,
having two stripes on his arm, and a " good-con-
duct" or " service" stripe on his wrist, Witness
stated that she was accompanied by a young woman,
and on Friday her companion came forward and
corroborated her statements. Measures are being
taken by the authorities to identify the "cor-
poral" to whom the statements refer ; and
as no corporal is missing from Piershill,
if the information of the women be correct, he
ought to be found there. A pair of gloves, said to
be such as are worn by the dragoons, were found
on the parade-ground on Friday and brought to the
authorities ; but no circumstance has yet arisen to
connect them with the tragedy of Sunday morning.
On Saturday morning an order was given for the
liberation of the prisoner Tanner, it being consi-
dered by the authorities that no evidence sufficient
to justify his committal had been obtained. The
absence of identification of the prisoner within three
hours before the murder, and the fact that on his
clothing no trace of blood was to be found (which,
considering the state in which deceased was found,
was to be expected on the real culprit), left the
authorities no alternative but to liberate the pri-
soner. The body of the deceased was buried on
Saturday.

THE ROAD MYSTERY.

No further direct clue has been discovered likely

,o lead to the unravelment of the mystery which

hangs over this cruel child murder.
There is one point, and one alone, which, accord-
ing to the evidence already given, requires to be
cleared up, and that is with respect to the missing
night-dress of Miss Constance, the daughter, who
was charged with the commission of the murder,

but against whom the evidence broke down, and

who is now under the recognisance of her father to
appear 'whenever called upon. The facts of the
case, as far as they are already known, show an in-
nocent child of four years old, the idol of his father
and mother, taken out of his cot while sleeping in
the room with his nurse, murdered, and his

body thrown down the common privy or cess-
pool. No person could expect to derive any
pecuniary or other benefit froth the death of the
child, and all motive of that kind may be at once
put out of consideration. The murder was no doubt

committed by some person or persons resident or
secreted in the house for the purpose, for the condi-
tion of the doors and windows clearly proved that
the house could not have been entered from outside

during the night. The window of the room on the
ground floor was found open, but the shutters inside

were closed, and if any person had gone out through
the window he clearly could not have closed the
shutters behind him. The window must have been
opened as a mere blind to throw off suspicion, but
the person who opened it from the inside strangely
enough closed the shutters afterwards. No
stranger would have entered the house to murder a
child whom he did not know. The nurse and ser-
vants had apparently no object to serve by such
an act. The parents were fond to excess of the boy
and 'it is difficult to believe that any one short
of a son or daughter of a Herod could have delibe-
rately and in the dead of the night taken a sleeping
child from his bed and murdered him. Neverthe-

less, it is perfectly clear that such a person mus t
have been under the roof at the time. All attempts
to fix the guilt upon any person have hitherto
failed, and some severe reflections have been made
upon the police officers entrusted with the investi-
gation of this extraordinary case. Sir G. Bowyer,
in the House of Commons, commented upon the
conduct of the police in causing Miss Constance
Kent to be arrested, merely, as he said, because
" one of her night-gowns happened to be missing."
The loss of a night-dress, per se, may be a very
trifling affair, but the circumstances under which
it disappeared might be of the very gravest cha-
racter. The Home Secretary, however, ;in re-
ply to Sir George Bowyer, stated that he had
been " apprised of all the facts of the case," and
that in his opinion no ground existed for imputing
any misconduct to the police, and that there were
circumstances with regard to the young lady which,
in a case of such peculiar mystery and horror, jus-
tified her arrest. Moreover, he took it upon him-
self to say, from a knowledge of the facts of the
case, that the officer was justified in the course
which he adopted.
The story of the missing night-gown is a some-
what remarkable one, and is scarcely less myste-
rious than the murder itself. So far as can be
gathered from the evidence, Miss Constance had in
her possession on the night of the murder three
night-dresses, one of which was in wear, and the
other two were clean in a chest of drawers in her
own room. After the murder she had but two, and
she herself told Inspector Whither " the other was
lost at the wash the week after the murder." It is
thus clearly established that the night-dress was
lost at a most critical period—namely, after the
murder. The housemaid states positively that a
night-dress of Miss Constance was put into the
clothes-basket on the Monday following the mur-
der, while the laundress and her two daughters both
positively swear that when they received the dirty
clothes on the same day there was no night-dress
of Miss Constance's among them. As regards the
statement of these persons there can be no mistake,
for in the small village there had been a rumour
spread that a night-dress had been taken away
by the police, and curiosity was therefore excited
to examine the clothes brought from Mr. Kent's,
to see if there was any truth in the report. They
heard that a night-dress was lost, and they opened
the basket within five minutes after they got home
and found that one was missing. The night-
dress which the gossips of the village had said
was missing was not, however, one of Miss Con-
stance's, but of the elder Miss Kent, and it had been
taken away by the police, because it presented cer-
tain appearances which proved upon examination
to have no connection whatever with the murder.
The housemaid, it will be remembered, stated posi-
tively that the night-dress of Miss Constance was
put into the basket about 11 o'clock on Monday,
and the evidence of the laundress and her daughters
proves that it was •not in the basket of clothes
brought to their house an hour after. How and
when was it removed ? The housemaid states that
she called the elder Miss Kent to enter the number
of the clothes in the washing book while she placed
them in the basket. When the clothes were col-
lected together and duly entered in the washing
book, Miss Constance made her appearance, and
asked the housemaid to look among the linen for
her " slip," to see if she had left her purse in the
pocket. The clothes were turned out of the
basket, and there was no purse found. Miss
Constance then asked her to fetch her a glass of
water, and followed her to the top of the back
stairs as she left the room, and in returning
the housemaid found her young mistress on the
spot she had left her. Miss Constance drank the
water and returned to her room. There is no
further evidence upon this part of the case. One
point in the evidence of Mr. Parsons, the surgeon,
deserves attention. He says that when he accom-
panied Inspecter Foley in his search through the
house on the morning after the murder he saw the
night-dress of Miss Constance lying on the bed,
that it was "very clean," and that he made a re-
mark to Foley. the nature of which was not stated
in court, as it was not made in the preence of
Miss Constance. He said he did not know
how long it had been worn, hut in his cross-
examination by the counsel for the prisoner he
said that it might have been worn a week.
Had the impression of the surgeon that the
night-dress was " very clean" Jed to Miss Constance
being called upon to produce her three night-
dresses, it is probable that there might have been
no grounds for the subsequent arrest of that young
lady. As to the motive for the murder of an unof-
fending child, the only one which appears on the
face of the evidence, as given on the examination,
is that of jealousy on the part of Miss Constance of
the boy. Constance had complained, while at
school, of the partiality shown by her father