The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-27 00:00:00

DEATH OF MR. ERNEST JONES-

There is something inexpressibly sad in the death of Mr.
Ernest Jones, which we have to announce to-day. The
ambition of his life was almost accomplished. He was, to
all appearances, but a few weeks from the time when he
would be able to add to his name the much-coveted
letters " M.P." But just as it was in his grasp
the prize which he had so long striven for most
energetically was taken from his hand by death. His very
last speech strangely foreshadowed the event which has
just taken place. Addressing the working men of Hulme
and Chorlton, he said : " There was a personal reason
why he desired soon to get into the House of Com-
mons, and that was that he could not afford to
wait very long. What little work there was in him
must be taken out speedily, or it would soon be lost
altogether." At that very meeting he caught the cold
which led to his death. Inflammation of the lungs, succeeded
by pleurisy, followed, and under these diseases he gradually
succumbed. His life was really a romantic one. He was
born in Berlin in January, 1819, his father being a major
of the 15th Hussars, and equerry to the late Duke of
Cumberland. The Duke of Cumberland—subsequently
King of Hanover, was his godfather. Ernest was bred in
Holstein on the borders of the Black Forest, and shelved
early the signs of a poetic imagination. It was this which
led him, when only eleven years of age, to leave his
home, without his father's knowledge, to go off
to help tLe P01.e3, who had just then risen.
He was educated at the College of St. Michael's,
Luneberg, and returned to England with his family iu
1838. Between this time and 1844, when he entered the
bar, he occupied his time with a romance called "The
Wood Spirit," and some song-poems. His political
opinions were formed on the extremest model, and these
led him from the profession of the law to take
part in the celebrated Chartist agitation. The history of
that period need not be repeated. How Birmingham and
Monmouth first suffered, how Frost and others were
arrested, how the agitation rose to its highest point and
failed altogether in the proposed demonstration on Ken-
nington Common, are well known. Mr. Ernest Jones
was arrested for a speech at Manchester which the law
officers of the Crown thought seditious. He was sentenced
to two years' solitary confinement. While in prison he
composed an epic, published after his release in 1851,
entitled " The Revolt of If indostan," written with his
blood on the leaves of the prison prayer-books. In
1853 Mr. Jones unsuccessfully contested Nottingham,
and in 1857 he again tried his fortunes in that borough,
but without avail. Meanwhile his name had come before
the public as the author of several poems, and amongst
these were " The Battle Day," " The Painter of Florence,"
" The Emperor's Vigil," " Beldagon t hurch," and
" Corayda." After the extinction of Chartism, Mr. Jones
returned to his practice on the Northern Circuit, and his
name will be remembered in connection with the defence
of Allen, Gould, and Larkin, who were tried at Man-
chester in November, 1867, for the murder of Police-
sergeant Brett. At Manchester at the last election lie
was the " minority candidate," on Radical principles,
being defeated by Mr. Birley, who, as the " minority
member," seems likely to be unseated for not observing
a point of form as to Government contracts. Mr. Jones
has been prominent in the last few days as being connected
with the Ballot experiment. The Ballot, as one of the
" five points of the Charter," was one of the principles he
was most anxious to see generally accepted, and by this
last public act of his he certainly has not done damage
to it.

A sad accident is reported from Bradford. A man
entered a boiler in the use of an ammonial liquor manu-
facturer, and immediately was overpowered by the gas.
Another man followed to recover bim, but he also succumbed.
A third man was more successful, and managed to bring one
of the men out. The latter, however, is not expected to re-
cover, and the first man is dead.

An accident which occurred at the Magpie lead
mine, Derbyshire, on Friday last, by which two men lost
their lives, has raised a novel point ; namely, has the Go-
vernment Inspector jurisdiction over lead mines? The
manager of the mine expressed a decided opinion that he
had not. Mr. Evans was not present and the inquiry was
adjourned from yesterday to Saturday next, when we shall
probably hear more about the moot point.

The Maidstone Journal says : It affords us great
pleasure to announce that Mr. William Hart Dyke, one of
the Conservative members for Mid Kent has been appointed
to the honourable office of Assistant Whipper-in to the Con-
servative party. Upon the recent resignation of Colonel
Taylor as Head Whip, the vacancy was filled by the Hon.
Mr: Noel, who had previously acted as assistant.
Mr. Stefanos Xenos contradicts a good many of
the statements made by Mr. Edwards in the Overend
and Gurney examination. He says that he was " com-
pelled " to pay Mr. Edwards £5OO a year, and that he
gave him a yacht costing about £2,000 "mulch in the
same way as the dove gives herself to the hawk." He
asserts that he has been one of the greatest sufferers in the
affair, and that he has determined to publish a book
which will disclose some of the secrets of the " Corner
House," hitherto as dark as the Dodonian mysteries.

The Lcndon correspondent of the Leeds lltreary
says :—There is a very uneasy feeling w:th respect to the
coming events in the 111,4. I hear the t at the Conference
the bearing and conduct of M. Raugabe, tho Greek
representative, produced a very unfavourable impression,
even upon the Russian Minister. M. Rangabe was for-
merly Professor of Archwology at the University of
Athens, and has nothing of the diplomatist in his manners
or appearance. His abrupt demeanour more than once
gave great offence to thos3 associated with him at the Con-
ference, and on one occasion a very stormy " scene" took
place. The general impression is that Greeco will soon be
without a monarch, King George having prepared for flight,
p.nd his warlike people being bent upon hostilities.