The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-17 00:00:00

THE SOMERSET AND DORSET. RAILWAY
COMPANY.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The Times cannot suppose that any member of the
House of Lords will be misled by any idle terror from
examining the question before him. What he has to ask
himself with reference to the Irish Church Bill is only
what he has to ask himself with reference to every bill—
Is it for the good of the nation that it should become
law .And this question depends upon the three
,subsidiary issues, whether it is consistent with
the principles of justice, whether it promises to
be productive of national benefits, whether it is approved
by the mind and conscience of the nation. The Times
finds it difficult to understand how anyone, freeing his
mind from prejudice and honestly examining these ques-
tions, can answer each otherwise than in the affirmative;
and is satisfied that after years will approve the wisdom
and justice of this reply, and of the consequent acceptance
of the Irish Church Bill.
The llerald says the most valuable allies of the Govern-
ment insist that the attitude of stolid obstinacy which
srried all before it in the House of Commons is an utter
mistake in the face of a majority in the House of Peers.
If the Government think the occasion is one for a compro-
mise, it will be their truest wisdom to say so frankly, and
to indicate how far they are disposed to go in the path of
concession. The Archbishop of Canterbury has sketched
out a series of amendments conceived much in the spirit
which suggested the proposals of the Conservative party
in the Lower House, and Lord Grey has expressed his
belief that they afford something like a basis
for a settlement. The only response elicited up to this
time is the vague and worthless assurance that any
amendments which may be proposed will receive
" the most respectful consideration of the Government."
This amounts to nothing. It may be questioned whether
it can be said to justify the course which Earl Grey intends
to pursue. Still less does it afford a ground for inviting the
Conservative peers to reconsider their decision. If the
Government are disposed to come to an arrangement by
which the bill may be reserved for consideration in com-
mittee, it is for them to make the first advance, more espe-
cially when the duty is urged upon them by their most
influential supporters. At present the Government have
held out no inducement whatever which should lead the
Conservative party to swerve from their original purpose,
and if they should feel themselves hound to persevere in
rejecting the bill on the_second reading, the consequences
mil rest upon the Ministry which steadfastly refused to
offer them any reasonable alternative.
The Standard observes that Lord Grey, if anyone,
might be expected to look with prima facie favour on a
measure of whose necessity he declares that he was con-
vinced in 1834. He urgently deprecates its rejection; but
he insists on amendments such as have hitherto been
denounced as equivalent to rejection. He would
pass the bill, but only that the Lords may shape it into
what it is not—a satisfactory settlement of the ,
great question which Mr. Gladstone has chosen to
raise. Such is the language of those who, on Saturday
morning, will go into the lobby with the Ministers.
Almost every one of them to whose opinion the least
value attaches would in the House of Commons have
voted with Mr. Gathorne Hardy and Sir R. Palmer.
Their authority is altogether against the Government
scheme, yet so feeble is the Government in debate,
so hopelessly in the wrong does it feel, that they
are welcomed as auxiliaries and friends, and Lord
Grey's speech, those sentences especially in which
he expressed his conviction that it was in the power
of the Lords to amend the bill in such a manner as to
make it a satisfactory compromise, was eagerly
applauded by the Ministers—applauded with a signifi-
cance of tone which was evidently meant to convey the
idea that they were willing to accept the proffered terms.
The haughty and arrogant tone which they have hitherto
adopted has been manifestly abated by the unparalleled
demonstrations against the bill, by the altered tendency
of opinion out of doors, and by the overwhelming weight A FINANCIAL AGENT.— A financial agent, named Jones,
of authority against them in the House of Lords. It is brought an action in the Court of Exchequer, on Wednes-
for the Peers to make good use of the opportunity thus day, for breach of contract against Captain Hamilton, an
afforded them. At present there seems little doubt tha ofliect on half pay. Captain Hamilton, who is only 23,
the Government is embarrassed and alarmed, and their wished to leave the army and find some civil employment.
alarm may give to Lord Granville's promises a practical He saw the plaintiff's advertisements, and had an
significance which they would not otherwise possess. interview with him. In consideration of the sum of £750
The Post remarks that Sir H. Hoare's recent motion being paid within six months, Mr. Jones undertook to
respecting the Yeomanry Cavalry drew attention to the instruct Captain Hamilton in all the mysteries of finance
subject, and, although not to he disbanded, the force is to agency, and to pay him £230 a year for three years'
be rearmed. This, at any rate, is right. They are the apprenticeship. He represented his business as
large and lucrative, as he negotiated loans for
only remaining visible tokens of a great spontaneous
great companies, arranged partnerships, the sale of
national movement that few amongst us can remember.
estates, &c., a great intimacy sprung up between the
With the subsidence of the danger the rest of the impro-
plaintiff and defendant, but nevertheless the latter
vised volunteer army melted away. The Yeomanry have
retired from the office at the end of six weeks and
in a praiseworthy manner maintained their organisation,
They have linked the present with the past. Clearly, renounced his contract. The plaintiff, when cross-
then, it would be a barbarism to abolish them. It would examined, gave an amusing history of his career.
seem that a wise decision has been come to in respect of He was originally in the tobacco trade in Moor-
nate-street, but though turning between £40,000 and
converting them into mounted rifles. Already we
have amongst the volunteers several exceedingly fine £50,000 a year, he was driven to the Bankruptcy Court by
corps of this description. At the last Volunteer Review unfortunate building speculations. After that, he
took to authorship, wrote a tregedy and a bur-
the Hants Mounted Rifles appeared to be a very service-
Portsmouth, as we had occasion to remark at the time
lesque, and published "Jones's One Hundred Lee-
able
Lures." About four years since he became a financial
able and useful body. Hunting men, mounted on hunters,
agent, and had made between i 2,1.00 and £3,000 a year.
and capable of shooting with precision, they were the
The result of his six weeks' tuition was, that the defen-
beau ideal of Volunteer Cavalry. Men of this sort abound
dant went forth "an accomplished finance agent." The
throughout the country. Accustomed to ride to hounds,
defendant said the business done at the office in the six
skilled in the use of firearms, intelligent and spirited,
they would, as mounted riflemen, be useful to their friends weeks, at the outside, did not realise £lOO. Only one
and troublesome to their foes in a close and friendly application for a loan was made by a suspicious person,
country. Hence we think that the House of Commons who refused his address, and the greater part of his time
acted wisely in retaining the services of the Yeomanry, was occupied with religious arguments with the plaintiff.
although there was sufficient room for improvement in The jury found at once for the defendant.
their organisation to justify the question raised by Sir CAsE OF MR. Oscoore—ln the Exchequer Chamber,
Henry Hoare. the case of Mr. Osgood, the registrar of the Sheriff's
Court of the City of London, came on an appeal from the
The Star thinks that the proceedings of Convocation are judgment of the Court of Queen's Bench. The uestion
chiefly valuable as indicating the prevailing temper of the q
ruling parties of the Church of England. .We see there was whether he had been lawfully removed from his office
reflected, as in a mirror, the opinions of the various orders by the Corporation of London. The court held that they
of ecclesiastics who, under the sanction and at the expense could do no other than affirm the decision of the court
of the State, provide religious instruction for the nation.
The most notable chataeterestic of this body is its horror below. The judgment was therefore affirmed.
of change. Even when its members are apparently con- TILE WORKSHOPS ACT. —At Marlborough-street,
vinced that reforms are necessary to bring the Church Madame Devey, dressmaker, was summoned for employ--
more into harmony with the feelings of the laity who
worship within its pale, they yet shrink from takinn in; escearkwomen during prohibited hours. The defence
any definite step. They are afraid to alter one line 07 was that there being a pressure of work on Saturday, all
the Prayer-book ; to countenance a signal change in the hands were kept on, it being intended to let the young
the order or form of the services ; even to soften the
damnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed. The people have the holiday another day. Dr. Aldis, medical
discussion on the latter subject which took place in the officer of the district, said that there should be a fixed
"Upper House on Tuesday last was full of significance. holiday. Mr. Tyrwhtt thought that a fine of 10s. would be
Even so able a man as Dr. Harold Browne—while admit- sufficient, but he was in favour of the holiday being fixed
ting that there were " exaggerations " in the Creed, and
for Saturday.—Mrs. Graham, dressmaker, Conduit-street,
that it gave offence to many Churchmen, yet refused to
support the prayer of a petition which was signed, with, pleaded guilty to two summonses for a similar offence, and
nut distinction of party, by a large number of the clergy was fined 40s. and costs in each case.
and laity of his own diocese. It is all very well for CHARGE OF MURDER.—On Wednesday, James Dalton,
sundry of the prelates to urge the value of " explanations"
as a means of overcoming the difficulties which confessedly a labourer, who stands charged with the wilful murder of
perplex many persons ; but all the " explanations "in the Henry Johnson, by beating him on the head with a poker,
world cannot get rid of the impression which the Creed as was committed to Newgate for trial from the Southwark
it stands is calculated to produce on the minds of honest
and unsophisticated men who are unfamiliar with the Police-court.
subtleties of Jesuitical reasoning.
The Times believes that the promised report of the THE SIIEDDEN LEGITIMACY CASE.—Sir John
Royal Commission on British Coalfields will be reassur-
ing in its character. Five sub-committees have been ap-
pointed to report on five distinct points—the possible a decree nisi for a new trial in the case of "Shedden
depth of coal-workings, the alleged waste in the consump- and another v. The Attorney General and Patrick (cited)."
Lion of coal, the alleged waste in the production of coal,
the supposed existence of coalfields under more recent The learned gentleman founds his application on
strata, and the probable future consumption of coal. :he statement that documents most important to the final
Whether the fields hitherto unknown are really issue of the cause were forged and mutilated; and yesterday
accessible or
rations capable of being worked must depend hie was occupied in endeavouring to show the motives
on conside within the province of the first
sub-committee, for it is vain to congratulate which actuated the parties to alter and forge the instru-
ourselves on the existence of inexhaustible mines :rents alluded to. After hearing the arguments, his lord-
of wealth, only to be exhumed at a temperature beyond ship reserved his decision.
the endurance of man. The same remark applies to
another inquiry of more immediate interest which has THE " EDMUNDS SCANDAL " CASE.—The ques-
been
owners— wise
thlye inquiry into the p entrusted to some orofbable e the ost eminent coal- lions as to the terms of reference to an open court of arbi-
mxtent omf
fields now in work. Mr. Vivian's statement on this point tration of all matters in dispute between Mr. Leonard
is so eminently gratifying that, had it not been made under Edmunds and the Crown have at last been settled, and
a sense of responsibility, we might regard it as too good to the court of arbitration constituted. It will be recol-
lected that at the last hearing in open court Lord
be true :—'"the only district completely finished was that
which embraced the Bristol, Somersetshire, and
Gloucestershire coalfields ; of this only one-seventy- Chief Justice Bovill undertook himself to settle the terms
ninth, or one-fortieth, according to the depth taken, had of the "rule" for constituting the proposed court. The
matter was heard
fully
his lordship in Chambers on the Bth
been exhausted pp
suosing the national consumption
to maintain a n average of 100,000,000 tons a year, the instant, was then argued by counsel, and the "rule"
h been since finally settled. The court ie to sit in public.
supply from this district alone might he regarded as
practically inexhaustible." Befcre, however, we can bees
justified in reposing upon this assurance, we ought to have Mr. Edmunds, being the assailant, has the carriage of the
an approximate calculation of that very uncertain and
ar Lion.
DY POLSON.—Dr. Simpson, coroner for
conjectural element—the probable increase of future con; hLtura ittv i
suniption. We are quite right, therefore, in economising
coal in every way that science can suggest, and that
whether the stock be sufficient to last 2.000 years, as was Pontefract, concluded an inquest on Wednesday on the
formerly supposed, or only 100 years, as we have lately body of Rebecca Horsfall, a domestic servant with a
been warned.
, farmer near Pontefract. The deceased died about a fort-
The Daily News declares that the independent mem- night ago, after having drunk something out of a bottle
hers had quite a field day on Wednesday. They gathered presented to her by a young man, a labourer, named
in considerable strength on both sides of the House William Pickersgill, who wished to be her sweetheart,
though chiefly on the Liberal side, and not only fritter!
vised in a revolt against their leaders, but inflicted on but whom she rejected. As soon as lie had given her the
them overwhelming defeat. The leaders of the revolt bottle and got her to drink some of the liquid, saying it
were Mr. Charles Reed on the Liberal side, and Mr. '
S. R. Graves on the Conservative side, and the was rum and water, be ran away, but he has since been
object of it was a bill to exempt Sunday and apprehended. Time medical and scientific evidence shewed
ragged-schools from local taxation. Mr. Reed pleaded that she had died from poison, and arsenic was found in
the cause of his numerous clients with considerable effect, her stomach. The jury returned a verdict of Wilful
and the very cordial reception his speech met with shewed „ .
....tinter against William Pickersgill, and he was committed
that he spoke the general feeling of the House. lie had, '
indeed, a case of real hardship to state. The argnmenre for trial at the ensuing assizes at Leeds.
he adduced for this exemption were from his point of view
PREHISTORIC AN.—We have heard lately
irresistible. All places of worship are exempted, with the
schools which are actually annexe,' to then) ; all the almost too much about the prehistoric inan,and the supply
imperial buildings and the universities enjoy like exemp of flint implements-, perforated shells, and split marrow.
tin)). Y
ng separatedet if a raggedromhaoplace of w l or a Sim, lay-sc
rShip, ithool
is i.-
no w held
sII bones benins to exceed the demand ; but a recent dis.
buildi foub.
ject to rates. Such schools are the only universities of convey in the I),pal Lenient de la Dordogne of human
the poorest po,ir, and are k:•l,t up by the free services of skeletons coeval with the mammoths and undeniably
nearly half a million of teaeln rs, pyr e,•nt. whom ! appertaining to the earliest citn:ternary period presents
have themselves been scholars in the school. The argu features of such unusual interest that the French
ments from the value of the institutions themselves
were warmly received by the House, and were Government have sent M. Lartet, the distin-
calved by Mr. Graves, who declared that Sunday I guished palaeontologist, to make a report on the subject.
schools were outworks of places of worship lie reports that the bones of five skeletons have
and ragged - schools outworks of the workhouse '
Probably the Government itself does not very greatly been discovered, and that they belong to some gigantic
regret this victory of good feeling over statesmanship. Jr . race whose limbs, both in size and form, must have
committee the definition of the exempted institutions ),-•I
have to he male clear, and precautions taken againstresembled those of the gorilla. But the simian organ of
abuse ; but hatever ameildwe"tB the measure‘'itial ! man must not be inferred from these analogies, as the
undergo, its principle has been affirmed by Parliament ! skulls, of which only three are perfect, afford testimony
not Lt-cause the 1-louse believes in exemptions, but simpl3 •
from a profound sympathy with the philanthropic effort to this theory, having evidently contained very
which so many excellent people are making to stipple voluminous brains. The skulls are now in the hands of a
went in some humble way our defective system of aationa committee of sccvans, who are preparing an exhaustive
education. craniological reuort.—Pult Male Gazette.

In the Court of Exchequer on Wednesday the case of Sir E.
B. Baker v. Reed came ou. It was an action by Sir Edward B.
Baker against Mr. George Reed, a co-directur in the Somerset
and Dorset Railway Company, to recover a sum of about
£50,000, being his share of certain liabilities of the company,
which the plaintiff had been obliged to meet. It seemed
that the railway company was in an insolvent state, and that
the plaintiff, as well as Mr. John Clavell Hansel and three
other directors, had rendered themselves personally respons-
ible for its debts. Sir Edward Baker, as already stated, had
to pay £50,000, and Mr. Hansel had to satisfy debts to a
much larger amount, and they sought to recover from the
other directors their share of these sums. After some dis-
cussion the parties agreed to refer the whole matters in dif-
ference between t hem to an arbitrator, who should havopower
to fiLa,ly determine questions both of fact and law. A ver-
dict was then entered for the plaintiff, subject to reference in
this action, as well as in the case of Mann]. v. Reed. in which
£32,835 was claimed.

ATTACK BY SUPPOSED FENIANS.

--- - -

A telegram from Cork states that on Tuesday night a
resident at Bailinlough, near Cork, saw armed men entering
the grounds. Two of the ruffians made prisoners of the
servants, while others attacked the premises andkept watch.
The leader of the band followed Mrs. Grey into the room
where lay Mr. Grey (who was lying ill), threatened
them, and demanded arms. Mr. Grey dischargel a revolver
at the fellow, and the second shot took effect in the abdo-
men. His companions then retreated, taking with them
his pistol, and leaving their leader wounded upon the
ground. The ruffian was humanely treated until the
police came to convey him to the Cork Infirmary, where
he arrived in a dangerous condition this morning. He
gave as his name Alexander Campbell, but refuses to
disclose the names of his confederates. Two men were
arrested on suspicion, but discharged, The police, how-
ever, have the clue to another man.

THE ALLEGED CONFESSION OF MURDER
AT HULL.

- -•r-

A very sensational paragraph has gone the round
of the papers about a confession of murder at Hull.
The compiler of it may be congratulated on the possession
of a fervid imagination. As the story went, one Jenny
Lidster had been murdered thirty-five years ago.
She mysteriously disappeared from Stockton, and
in consequence of her having shortly before this hap-
pened to borrow a razor of a neighbour, it was
thought that she must have committed suicide. Some
months passed away, however, and the body of the de-
ceased woman was found in a hedge. An inquest was
held on the body before the district coroner, and the
deceased's son was examined (suspicion having fallen upon
him as being implicated in the death), but he was ac-
quitted, there being no evidence against him. Then the
climax of the story was reached. Lidster, very recently,
the newspaper paragraph went on to say, being conscience-
stricken, and it was supposed on his deathbed, confessed
to the people around him that he had some time ago mur-
dered his mother in the plantation referred to. The
whole of the story now turns out to be true—except the
confession. William Lidster, the man to whom the para-
graph refers, was brought up at Hull on Tuesday, charged
with murder, and declared he knew nothing about the
confession or the murder. There being no evidence against
him he was discharged.

LAW AND POLICE.