The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-25 00:00:00

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kil/gt - Vitty

THEATRE-ROYAL, lIAYMARKET.
THIS EVENING, RAIING THE WIND: Messrs. Kendal
Buckstone. jun., Miss Laws, &c. Afier which, HOME: Sothern.
Chippendale, &c.; Mesdames Cavendish, Burke, &c. Followed
by BOX AND COX. Concluding with A KISS IN THE
DARK. Commencm at 7.

PRINCESS S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Mantger, Mr. Vining.
THIs EVENING, at 7, to commence with THE SECRET. At a
quarter to 8, MARIE ANTOINETTE : Mr W. Rignold, Mr.
G. Shore, Miss Lydia Howard; Mdlle. Beatrice. Concluding
with A CIIP OF TPA: Mdlie.Beatrice

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 25, 1869.

is at unity about the Irish Church. Mr. GLADSTONE
is the very opposite of Lord MELBOURNE, and has a
perfect hunger for work. The party must be very
badly off which can find no other source of consola-
tion than an historical incident which has no bearing
upon the present position.
In truth, it is best for the Conservatives as well
as for the Liberals that the first should remain out
of office for the present. Ireland is discontented, dis-
loyal. It has to be made the reverse, and
for that work the Conservatives are quite
incompetent. Mr. HARDY, who may be con-
sidered the real leader of his party so far as
this question is concerned, and whose speech
was expected to be the real defence of the Irish
Church, had not a single suggestion to offer. His
oration was one long accusation against the Irish
people, which, even if it were true, was useless,
because it did not shew how they were to be
made any different or better. If he could devise no
legislation to amend that state of things which his
colleague, Lord STANLEY, declared to be dangerous
and disgraceful, we know not who on that side of
the House could. If, as Mr. GLADSTONE pointed
out, the report of the royal commission was
treated as waste paper by its chief author, Dr.
BALL, and if, as is undeniable, this and Lord MAYO'S
policy of levelling-up are the only alternatives that
have ever been suggested by the Conservatives,
both of which are now abandoned, it is inevitable
that the nation will not . have for its leaders men
so inadequate to the present great occasion. On the
other hand, the plan put forward by the Government
is simple, thorough, honest. Everybody can under-
stand it ; the great majority of the nation approves
it. No one knows this better than the Minister who
resigned rather than meet the forces arrayed against
him. No one has better reason to wish this
question finally disposed of. The return of
the Conservative party is impossible until that be
accomplished. Mr. GLADSTONE may repeat Mr.
DISRAELI'S own words, " Pass this bill, and turn us
out to-morrow,"—only perhaps he will add the words
" if you can."

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HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, March 24.

The Queen, accompanied by Princes Beatrice,
and attended by the Duchess of Roxburghe, drove
out yesterday afternoon.
ir Majesty,
drove accompanied by Princess Beatrice,
walked
in the grounds this morning.
lean
Princess Louise and Prince Leopold also went
out.

LATEST INTELL MENGE

(REU^'ER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE BRIEBLEY HILL ACCIDENT.

That a man just snatched from the very jaws of aeatb
should immediately begin a course of dissipation seems nearly
impossible. But in the Black Country the people seem bent
on showing the nineteenth century, notwithstanding
civilisation, there are still heathens in the world, and
heathens, too, surrounded by that which is called the cul-
tured and refined. Take the case of the man Skid-
more, for instance, who has just been saved from dying
at. Brierley Hill. This is the account given of him by the
Birmingham Post: —" Of Skidmore (bettor known as Mug-
house) the fighting man, a sad tale of folly and ingratitude
for the help which saved his life, has to be told. Wo have
already told of his conduct when brought to the surface,
but, though unseemly, it did not appear to be rudely meant.
He owed his wonderful condition, it is understood, to
the fact that he was in training, and it enabled him to
practise what may ultimately cost him a danger-
ous illness or his life. After lie had been at home for a
shot t time, ho sallied cut into the streets and commenced
drinking. He, of course, was at once surrounded by a
crowd of eager sight-seers, and offers of liquor, and even
money, were numerous. linforlunately he accepted the, to
him, poisonous draughts, and he became intoxicatid. He
entered one inn in Brierley Hill, hut the landlord very pro-
perly refused to allow him to have anything to drink,
took him into a private room, and made him promise
to go straight home. This Skidmore promised faithfully to
do, but he called at a beerhouse on his road home, and had
more to drink. The police carefully watched him to pre-
vent his falling into danger during the night thus spent.
During the night he was very unwell, but yester-
day morning he was again in the streets, to all appear-
ance in good health. It is believed, however, that another
night like that of Monday will so seriously interfere with
him that deplorable results may follow." The men who
are recovering have begun to tell their stories. Although
perhaps they add much by way of detail, there is very little
now in what they say. Of Ashman, who went mad, quite
a tragedy in itself is told. It is said that he had
previously suffered from slight abberrations of the
mind. It is a well known fact among his
mates that he was afraid of working in a "stall"
by himself, and always begged for companionship when he
found they were working a-head of him. At night-time,
if his mates found an easy piece of coal in their street,
and pushed forward rapidly, the deceased would call to
some of them, and beg or offer a pipe of tobacco or a
little drink, in order that ho might have some ono
near hint. This habit led to some disagreeable rumours
as to his antecedent:, and a dark story, in which he is said
to have been a prominent actor, is told glibly to any per-
son who may care to boar it. Of the truth of this story
nothing can be learned ; but if it be true, a more complete
assertion of the power of conscience could not possibly be
found

WARLIKE PREPARATIONS IN u.HICEY.

The Pall Mall Gazette is not satisfied with the recent
statement that the quarrel between Turkey and Persia
was to be peacefully settled. It says that the dispute
about the frontier question is beginning to look threatening.
Midhat Pasha, one of the ablest and most energetic of the
Turkish governors, has been despatched to Bagdad with full
powers and instructions to settle the difficulty by force of arms
if necessary. Numerous reinforcements of troops and artil-
lery have been sent to the frontier, and it is said that
the Viceroy of Egypt has promised to assist the Sultan,
in case of war, with a military contingent, which
would proceed to Bagdad by the Red Sea and
Bassorah. In its home administration, too, the
Ottoman Government is shelving an energy and
activity which have hitherto been very unusual among
Turkish functionaries. Strict instructions have been
issued to the local authorities to suppress all attempts at
revolutionary agitation, and in some districts these
instructions have been carried out with extreme severity.
At Toultcha, in Bulgaria, the police, having found a
small quantity of gunpowder in a shop, arrested the
proprietors, two young men 20 years of age, for con-
spiracy. They were condemned to four years' hard labour.
and, though the French Consul warmly interceded in their
behalf, the sentence was confirmed by the governor.
Shortly after one of the young men became ill, and died
in irons on the day he was taken to the hospital. This
affair is said to have caused great excitement among the
Bulgarians, and the French, English, and Austrian Con-
suls have made representations to Constantinople on the
subject.

A long inquiry took place on Wednesday before Mr.
Carter, the coroner, on the death of Annie Burden, who, it
was supposed, had been wilfully pushed into the Thames and
drowned, under the circumstances already r„ ported. The
jury eventually found that the death was accidental.
EASTER, 1809.—The Rev. Francis Pigou, in-
cumbent of St. Philip's, Regent-street, writes :—" It may
interest such of your readers as are not already aware of
the fact, to know that the Jewish Feast of Passover
happens this year on precisely the same day as that on
which it was observed at the time of the crucifixion of our
Lord."

ANOTHER SCANDAL IN HIGH LlFE.—Proceedings
in the Divorce Court are imminent in the case of a War-
wickshire county family, of great antiquity, and having
large territorial possessions. The paternity of the lady's
child is denied by the husband. The establishment is to
be broken up, and the husband will go abroad. Several
aristocratic personages are unpleasantly mentioned iu con-
nection with this affair.—Telegraph.

IN SACKCLOTH AND ASHES.—The following
extraordinary announcement appears in the last
number of the London Sootsman, in regular course
among the births notified in that periodical:—" Forbes.
—At 334, City-road, Islington, on March Di, the wife
of Mr. Archibald Forbes, a daughter.—Mr. Forbes
requests the prayers of his friends and acquaintances in
this his sore affliction.

The Western Daily Press publishes a second
threatening letter to a master buih!or in Bristol in the same
handwriting and similar in many respects to the one we
have already published. It warns the master, Mr. Barnier,
of Cathay, to. beware "Afore Friday night or the week
over," and is signed "A Ilungly One." The trade societies
in the town repudiate any complicity in the writing or any
knowledge of the letter.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, at a meeting of the
DuLlin Corporation on Tuesday, expressed the pleasure he
felt at the reception ho had from her Majesty and the mora-
-1 ers of the Ministry upon the occasion of his recent visit to
Loudon, to present petitions and addresses. The reply of the
Duke of Abercorn, which was very graciously expressed, to
the address of the Corporation was road, and ordered to be
inserted on the minutes. A communication from the Lord-
Lieutenant was read, announcing the intended visit of his
Royal Highness Prince Arthur to Dublin. A committee of
the whole houso was then formed, and an address to his
Royal Highness Prince Arthur was adopted.
SANG FROID.—The Deccan Herald chronicles the
execution of two natives in the following fashion :—" Sus-
pense :—Two natives were suspended from a beam in front
of the city gaol on the morning of Saturday last. Death
ensued in the way which it usually does when strangulation
is resorted to for the purpose of terminating life. The men
met their fate with that degree of quietness which, in the
absence of true religion, answers exceedingly well as a
sedative."

MORTALITY AMONG BARONETS.—NO less than
14 baronets have died since the beginning of this year,
namely, Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis, Sir Charles Slings-
by, Sir John K. James, Sir Robert Shaw, Sir J. Vanden
Bempde Johnstone, Sir Robert S. Adair, Sir John P.
Boileau, Sir James Emerson Tennent, Sir William Clay,
Admiral Sir Charles C. Parker, Sir H. M. Jervis White
Jervis, the Rev. Sir Frederick Shelly, Sir John Thomas
Selwin, and Sir John Hadley D'Oyly. Of the above
baronets two—Slingsby and Johnstone—were killed
while out hunting.

SOUTHERN ITALY. —A Neapolitan correspondent
writes :—" For a fortninght all the scourges of the elements
have been let loose upon us. Rain, hail, snow, thunder,
lightning, and tempestuous winds have assailed us from
day to day, astonishing everyone by the strangeness of
the phenomena. One day last week Naples was covered
with a light yellow dust which hid no affinity with any-
thing on Vesuvius. The report of pending eruption got
about, but Professor Palmieri announced that the moun-
tain was In its normal state, and that the dust or sand was
brought by the tempestuous south-east wind from Africa.
A similar incident, noted by a German writer, occurred
some years ago."
MURDER OF A 'WARDER BY A CONVICT AT PORT-
r„kNIL—A most brutal murder has been p;:rpetrated by a
convict, named Dethridge, the victim being an assistant
w Lrder of the Portland Convict Prison, named Joseph
Trevitt. It appears that the warder was in charge
of a gang of convicts who were at work in the
quarries. Whether there was any dispute between
the convict and the deceased has not transpired,
but the convict suddenly raised the pickaxe with
which he was working and struck the warder on.
the head, inflicting a most frightful wound. This blow
laid the poor fellow prostratc,and the convict was secured
before he had time to inflict a second. Trevitt was
immediately removed to the prison infirmary, where he
received every atfeation at the hands of the medical staff,
but he never regained consciousness, and expired about
t,:ree, o'clock in the afternoon. The unfortunate man was
a most kind and forbearing officer, and it is said has never
reported a convict since he has been at Portland. Ho
leaves a widow and three children. The prisoner, who is
a middle-aged man, it is said bears but a very indifferent
baracter.