The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-11 00:00:00

DON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 11, 1869.

the law in order to detain the Birkenhead rams. At
all events, it is clear that claims like that which Mr.
SITMNER has advised, and -.which, it is under-
stood, Mr. MOTLEY will make, are not to be
only from one side. The Canadian bill is certainly
of more modest proportions ; but it is not at all
likely that the United States would agree to allow
it; even in the impossible supposition of our allowing
their bill, for such admission on the part of the
Washington statesmen would be a confession of
wrongdoing that would be a greater sacrifice of
American pride than would be compensated for by
British cash.

Mr. GALT'S speech should not only make the
United States more cautious in putting forward these
extravagant demands, it should warn the politicians
of the Republic that there is not the smallest wish
on the part of our Canadian fellow - subjects to
transfer their allegiance from ' QITEEN VICTORIA to
President GRANT. Among Mr. CHANDLER'S wild
suggestions was one to the effect that British North
America should be given up, by way of settling the
little bill which is to be sent in. But Mr.
CHANDLER, for a statesman, is strangely forget-
ful of the fact that in a transfer of this
kind there are three parties to be consulted, the
transferer, the transferee, and the transferred. It
would have been of small avail though the first and the
second had agreed if the third had not also consented.
Nations are not cargoes. No one has power to
change their owners without their permission. Even
NAPOLEON is compelled to go through the form of a
plebiscite in Savoy. Such an appeal to our
subjects between Newfoundland and Vancouver's
Island would be likely to produce a result by no
means tending to the glory of the stars and
stripes. However willing the Dominion had been
to assent to the " manifest destiny " in store for
it, the terms under which Mr. CHANDLER proposes
to carry out the change are particularly uninviting.
If Canada- does not join the United States, England
is to pay half of the States' national debt ; if Canada
does join, no such payment is to be made. In other
words, Canada is offered by way of inducement to
partnership her share of a debt of £300,000,000,

which will become " bad" by the very fact of her
entering the firm. This may be statesmanship ; it is
certainly not business.

El f,,fifzr-
- .
11.

TIER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLF, Ali y 10.

The Queen, attended by the Marchioness of
Ely, walked and drove in the grounds this morn-
ing.

The other members of the Royal Family also
went out.

DEATH OF SIR CHAS. DILKE, BART.

We exceedingly regret to announce—on the au-
thority of a telegram, just received from St. Peters-
burg—the death, occurring at last rather suddenly,
after an illness of several months duration, Of Sir
C, Wentworth Dilke, Bart.late member for Wal-
lingford. His succe sor in the baronetcy, his son,
now the second Sir Charles Dilke, M.P. for Chelsea,
will not arrive in the Russian Capital until some few
days after his father's demise. The following mem rir
of thelatebaronet is taken from "Men of the Times'. :
—He was son of the late Mr. C. W. Dilke, who was
principal proprietor and many years editor of the
A thenteuni, was born in London 1810, and was edu-
cated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Ile was one of
the earliest promoters of the Great Exhibition of
1851, and entered as the leading member of the Exe-
cutive Committee. When rewards were conferred
on various members of that body for their services,
Mr. Dilke was offered the honour of knighthood,
which he declined. He also refused all pecuniary
reward for his assistance, wishing his public services
to be purely honorary. The resuscitation of the
Horticultural Society of Loudon is understood to be
in great part due to iris exertions, as one of the vice-
presidents. Among other public movements with
which be is associated, we may mention the Second
Great Exhibition of 1862, of which he was appointed
by her Majesty one of the five Royal Commissioners.
In January, 1862, her Majesty was pleased to confer
a baronetcy on him.

The late Sir Ch ries Wentworth Duke was out,
there, at 6z. l'etershurgh, as the repres..mitative of
Et%lard at the great Ilus.q,-tu Horticultural Exhi-

bition.

THE DEATH OP ill?. CHARLES WESCOMB.

-

(From the Ex;der and P:vmouth Gazette.)
Painful is it at all times to chronicle the death of
an able, and useful, acid estimable man. Trebly
painful is it to perform the melancholy task of re-
cording the removal of an intimate friend, with
whom we have been associated iu business and in
pleasure, and who is cut down almost at our side
iu the prime of his days. But that duty we have
now to perform, and sure we are that many a
kindly heart in Devonshire Will sympathise with
us when we say we announce with poignant regret
the death of Mr. Charles Wescomb, the High Sheriff
of Exeter.

On Thursday Mr. Wescomb was at Exeter and
seemed to be in vigorous health ; and far from the
thoughts of those who conversed with him during
the day was the anticipation that their bright-
spiritel friend, who looked so hale and hearty, had
but a few short hours to live.

Ten years since Mr. Wescomb became proprietor
of the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette; and within the
last rive years purchased in succession the Maid-
stone Journal, the London Globe, and the Edinburgh
Courant ; but having entrusted the Globe to other
hands, he returned gladly to Devonshire, and only
last Monday entered into the occupation of his new
residence in Southernhay.

From men of all political opinions we have re-
ceived expressions of heartfelt sympathy with the
deceased's family on their sudden bereavement, and
earnest tributes to his merits as a public man.
At the Police-court, on Saturday, the Mayor on
taking his seat, formally announced the melan-
choly event. lie said Mr. Wesconib was a man
whom they all admired. his ability in public
affairs was unquestioned, his general urbanity was
admired by all, and his goodness of heart endeared
him to his friends and even to many of his political
opponents.

The Rev. George Henry Shield, rector of Holy
Trinity, in his sermon at morning service, made a
most affecting reference to the High Sheriff's
death, and said all concurred in giving earnest
testimony to his public and private worth, to the
honourable and successful industry which marked
his useful life, and to the good qualities of head and
heart which characterised him. _

At St. Stephen's Church, where Mr. Wescomb
worshipped for many years, there was a large con •
gregation yesterday morning, it being expected that
some reference would be made to his sudden decease.
The Rev. J. G. Davis preached, taking for his text
the llth verse of the 2d chapter of the 2d Book of
Kings. In concluding his discourse he spoke of the
sudden decease of Mr. Wescomb, and said he who
was a Inc inber of that colgregation, and whose place
of business was in that parish, had within the last
few days been called away from amongst them, and
his place would know him no more. Sorge of them
had esteemed him as a friend, whilst others had re-
spected him for those qualities which made him so
useful a member of society. In the evening the
Rev. J. W. Heclgelancl, the rector, preached, and
also touchingly alluded to the death of Mr. Wes-
comb.

At the evening service at St. Mary Major's, the
Rev. if. Bromley, in allusion to the sudden death
of the High Sheriff, spoke of Mr. Wescomb as one
much respected and beloved, and who had done
❑such good in the city. At the conclusion of the
service the Dead March was played on the organ.

The funeral.of the late Mr. Charles Weseomb
takes place next Wednesday, in the family vault in
St. Sidwell's Churchyard.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, MONDAY, May 10.
M. de Lesseps has proved himself one of the greatest of
living engineers, but as a politician he is evidently a
failure. He was confident of being returned for Marseilles,
as he had three Opposition candidates opposed to him,
but he has already greatly impaired his chances of success.
A numerous delegation of workmen, not fewer than 1,200,
have waited upon him to protest against threats of dis-
missal by their employers if they did not vote
for the hero of the Suez Canal. This demonstra-
tion produced an effect very unfavourable to M. de
Lesseps. He attended an electoral meeting the same evening,
but was very coldly received—even hissed. He got
excited, and fiercely renounced all official patronage in
language by no means of the drawing-room order. He has
thus thrown away official support without getting that of
the Opposition in return.
The approach of the balloting-day has had the effect of
rapidly thinning the list of candidates. Men who had no
chance have retired, and left the field to their superiors.
This is particularly noticeable in Paris. M. Allou,
who intended to contest the seat of Mr. Jules
Favre, though of the same shade of politics, has at length
convinced himself that he cannot turn out the great
orator, and has retired. Similarly M. Ulysse Parent has
thrown up the sponge to M. Ernest Picard, who is now
the only candidate in Paris who has no competitor. He is
the most popular of the Opposition deputies, and his elec-
tion was always certain.
Marshal Niel is much struck with the injury to the
morale of the army wrought by the wine-shops on
Sundays. The French soldiers are, indeed, much given
to imbibing via ordintare whenever they can get
it ; but Sunday, as in England, is the great day of
intoxication. Frenchmen are by no means so intemperate,
as a body, as the English, and the stuff they drink is far
less injurious than the fiery, adulterated potions con-
sumed in England ; but then the Frenchman is not
so happily constituted in 'respect of the faculty
for taking large quantities of alcohol without
mental collapse, and, moreover, he is a far more
excitable being. Hence the fights and disturbances in the
vast army of France on Sundays are very numerous.
Marshal Niel has devised a remedy for this evil. He has
issued a circular to all the generals and chiefs of corps; enjoin-
ing that reviews should be held as frequently as possible
on Sundays, in order to keep the soldiers from the wine-
shops. As Sunday is the day when the Frenchman most
enjoys a review, the Marshal thinks he will improve the ;
morals of the troops and gratify the military instincts
of the people at the same time. Sunday indeed
is the day selected in France for every
possible occupation, except those immediately bearing on
business. It is the day Par excellence for every species of
amusement, and likewise for politics. No fewer than
fourteen public meetings were yesterday held in the eight
circumscriptions of Paris.

The confidence and eagerness with which the humbler
grades of France entrust their savings to the public funds is
remarkable. The new Paris loan, which is to be raised to
pay off the illegal extravagance of Baron Haussmann,
will probably be subscribed two or three times over. Yes-
terday and on Saturday morning a large number of per-
sons, anxious to be enrolled as subscribers, collected at
the gates of all the Mairies in Paris. Some of them had
passed the entire night in the open air waiting to get the
first chance.

A case of interest to English readers has just come
before the Civil Tribunal of Lyons. It relates to a
demand made by the heirs of a Major Martin on
the municipality of that town. The details are very
curious. Major Martin in the last century entered the
service of the East India Company in Bengal as a private
soldier, rose rapidly to the grade of major, and died
at Lucknow in September 1800, aged 65, leaving
a fortune estimated at £480,000. In a long will, dated
January 1, 1800, he distributed a portion of his
property amongst his relatives, but devoted the greater
part to works of charity; notably for the profit of the
cities of Lucknow, Calcutta, and Lyons. By one of the
numerous clauses of this document, the city of Lyons was
bound to dedicate annually a sum of 4,000 sicca rupees
(about £480) to the liberation of prisoners for debt.
But in July 1867 a law was passed suppressing personal
imprisonment in civil and commercial cases, and the heirs
of the Major maintain that the capital which was en-
trusted to the city for the purpose of liberating persons
from imprisonment for debt ought to be returned to
them. Major Martin, they urge, left money to provide
a remedy for a grievance which is no longer felt. People
cannot be released from imprisonment for debt when that
punishment is no longer inflicted. The heirs argue,
therefore, that the money ought to pass to them. The
city resists this claim. The trial, which raises some very
important questions, will last some time,
The police of the Loir-et-Cher department have for
some months past been occupied in unravelling the
mystery of a murder which was committed in the begin.
Ling of January near Vendome. A rich farmer was found
murdered in his bedroom, with the marks of two gunshot
wounds and several bruises on the head. lie was a
widower, and had one son to whom he was much attached.
The son wished to marry a young girl of sixteen without
fortune, but the father refused his consent, and even
threatened to take a second wife if the young people
persisted in their project. The girl has been proved
to have purchased powder and ball ; and a musket, broken
on the head of the victim, as also the wadding, appear to
have belonged to the young man. Both have been arrested,
but they deny energetically the charges brought against
them. The case, however, is well-nigh complete, and the
trial will commence at the next assizes.

Last September M. Lecocq, secretary to M. Jules
Favre, disappeared mysteriously whilst travelling in
Piedmont. The remains of a traveller were found a day
or two ago near a forest at Compiglia, in Piedmont, and
these are believed to be all that is left of the unfortunate
secretary.