The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,
_THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 25, 1858,

mere pageant, and one by no means creditable to
Ireland, on which it stamps a character of Pro-
vincialism, preventing it from being regarded as
an integral part of the United Kingdom.

We confess that we should wish to see every 1
distinction abolished ; to behold England, Ireland,
and Scotland one and the same, governed by the
same laws and principles. Why should not an Eng-
lish barrister be entitled to practice in Ireland, or
an Irish one in England, or either in Scotland ?
Why should not a duly qualified physician of
Edinburgh be justified in prescribing for one of
his compatriots at this side of the Tweed, or an
M. R.C.S. perform a surgical operation in Lothian?
These are absurdities that should be got rid of,
and the first step is the annihilation of the Brum-
magem Court—the pinchbeck imitation of the
sterling local metal. With gentlemen wishing
to trot out their daughters, and placehunters gene-
rally we have but little sympathy with. Shop-
keepers "of credit and renown," wishing to
extend their business have better claims. But
there are other towns in Ireland besides Dublin;
and what goes into the pocket of the inhabitant of
Dame Street or Grafton Street, is generally pre-

♦ented from finding its way to that of his pro-
vincial brother ; and surely Cork, or Limerick,
Belfast, or Waterford are entitled to equal
consideration with Dublin. There is, thank
GOD, no longer a question of loyalty, for her
MAJESTY has no more devoted or loving subjects
than the natives of the Emerald Isle. We should
wish to see " the legal fiction" discarded for the
sake of the community at large, but more especi-
ally from considering the effect it must have on
the honour, dignity, and welfare of the Sister
Kingdom.

"We have no case ; abuse the plaintiff's coun-
sel." Never was the reason more sound, and the

advice better acted on, than in the opposition to
the Bill just introduced by Lord BURY. There is
literally "no case" for prohibiting marriage with
the sister of a deceased wife ; and accordingly
Mr. DIVETT, and one or two journals, have duly
abused the plaintiff's counsel. An association,
confessed to be composed of respectable indivi-
duals, of the very class of persons who enjoy es-
pecial confidence in England—the upper section
of the middle classes—endeavours by means of
pamphlets, of the daily and weekly press, of intel-
ligent agents throughout the country, and by
every means so familiar to us in this land of free-
dom, but so dreaded by despots abroad—this asso-
ciation endeavours, by these means, to bring
public opinion to bear on the Legislature. Of all
courses which could be taken, this would seem to
be the most legitimate. If a law be a bad one,
who in England would not thank the men who
gave their time, their labour, and their money to
procure its repeal, and who sought the repeal, not
by any underhand means, but by opening an office,
inviting communications, publishing information,
and watching legal proceedings in connection with
the objectionable law ? Of course, the association
may be wrong in its opinion, but their mode of
endeavouring to give effect to it cannot be C)D-
demned, unless we wish to exchange our whole
system for the imperial one of our neighbours, and
to place the initiative of reforms in the hands, nut
of. the people, but of the Senate's Master. As
England is not prepared for this just yet, the
tirades of Mr. DIVETT, and of one or two jour-
nalists, against an association of gentlemen as re-
spectable at least as their angry denouncers, are
something worse than unfair—they are the spite
of vanquished bigotry.
We may truly say now that there is no case
for the prohibition. We insist on that. No one
demands a law parallel to that of the Jews, which
requires a brother to marry the widow of his de-
ceased brother. NJ one asks that any one in
the event of his wife's death shall be required to
marry her sister, if she have one surviving and
unmarried. It is simply insisted on that there is
no case whatever for interfering in this respect
with a widower's liberty. We challenge our oppo-
nents to produce an argument, religious or moral,
which can stand a moment's investigation. What
to us are the musty old catalogues of degrees in-
vented by the Chancery of Rome, first to bring
money, for dispensations, into its coffers ? What
care we for the Popish lists transferred by half
Romish ecclesiastics into the ecclesiastical code of
the Church of England ? More than half of the
worshippers of this nation are not worshippers at
Church of England altars, and are they to be
bound by the list of degrees of matrimony any
more than by her articles and her Liturgy ?
By the statute law of the land as it stands at
this moment, the degrees of matrimony are dis-
tinctly stated to be those ordained by God's law ;
it is explicitly affirmed by the only act in force
on the subject, that " BY TIIIS ACT WE DECLARE

ALL PERSONS TO BE LAWFUL THAT BE NOT PROHI-
BITED BY GOD'S LAW TO MARRY," 32 lIEN. VIII.,

c. 38. This fact cannot be too strongly insisted

on. It establishes the legal validity of the mar-
riages in question at the present moment. It
enables a man to make a solemn declaration that
he knows of no just cause or impediment to mar-
riage with his deceased wife's sister, even in the

legal sense of the words ; for he may appeal
to the only statute which legislates on pro•
hibited degrees, and with a clear conscience
affirm that his intended marriage is not forhil-
den by God's word. And, even if the present bill
should fail to triumph over Episcopal bigotry, a
decision of the Law Lords will ere long override
the misinterpretations on the subject of narrow-
minded ecclesiastics.
But, further, so far as the interpretation of cer-
tain verses in the Bible is a theological matter,
the Houses of Parliament and the Courts of Law
must, if they wish to notice existing statute law
at all, give themselves to a theological discussion.
It is, in truth, a question of what was GOD'S law
for the Jews. On that the Act of HENRY VIII.
builds. It declares that law the law of England.
It does not rehearse the details of the Jewish law
in the matter, but refers to it as a whole. Some
repealed Acts did, it is true, decide some of the
details, but even these acts always adverted to
the law of GOD as their basis. They are, however,
repealed. The Act we have referred to now
stands, and for 300 years has stood alone, as the
law on the subject. And it refers us, not to
ancient laws, not to the Articles of the Church of
England, not to the degrees as laid down by civil
or ecclesiastical law, but to the law of God. This,
at such a time, was very remarkable, and it is
clear evidence that the Legislature intended that
no Englishman should lie under any disability in
regard to matrimony not imposed on him by the
SUPREME RULER. With this liberty Churchmen
have long unjustly interfered, but Englishmen
live not under the Popish Canons of the Church,
butaeleualry Act
dteorthestatute law of the land, and they
intend now to claim their rights. Lard BURY'S
it is not the onlyw 011 l be the shortest curse, but
one.
I It is amusing to see h"7 all the
i Tuesday wished to sake
get rid. of the theology rs
on
que,tion, as well they might. But how of the
get away from it, when a corrupt theoleoagyn they
was
the root of the whole mischief?
,The laws of
nature, the instincts of conscience, have no share
in the fatherhood of the prohibition, we repu.

diate. An anti-Christian priesthood assuming to
be holier than GOD himself, invented innumerable

prohibitions of this kind for the poor ignorant
laity, and then fathered the illegitimate offspring
of their own corrupt fancies on the word of GOD
itself. In attacking the ecclesiastical superstition
in question, we are dragged into an attack on their
corrupt theology also ; and, until the Houses of
Parliament will boldly liberate laymen from the
yoke imposed on them by ecclesiastical bigotry,
they must be pestered with theological discus-
cussions. The worthy county member, Mr.
PULLER, actually was so far ignorant of the pre-
sent state of Oriental studies as to affirm that the
Reformers understood Hebrew better than we do
What will Prince ALBERT and his learned Ger-
mans say to this ?

A contemporary, we see, tells us that the relief
proposed by Lord BURY can by no ingenuity be
" twisted and tortured into any connection with
civil and religious liberty l"—Hem I—A. B. The
Dissenter believes that GOD permits him to marry
his deceased wife's sister ;—C. D. the Roinanising
Churchman believes that he may not do the
same thing. C. D., by the aid of the mitres and
lawn sleeves in the House of Lords, has got a
law made prohibiting A. B. from marrying accord-
ing to his own views of religion, and compels him
to an abstinence which A. B. thinks sheer super-
stition, or rather impious interference between
him and his GOD. And then it is no question of
religious liberty when A. B. demands of the Le-
gislature that C. D.'s heavy penalties may be
removed from the statute-book 1 The question is
essentially and inevitably a question of religious
liberty. The restriction was imposed by monkish
superstition in the name of religion ; and Protes-
tant Christian liberty demands that the man
of crosses, bowing, genuflexions, fastings, altar
candles, and the whole host of mediesvalities,
shall no longer tyrannise over his fellow-citizen,
who prefers his Bible to liturgies and canons, and
the laws of GOD to musty old canons.
As to the debate, it was, of course, a triumph.
All were ready to commend the noble young
member for Norwich, for the ability with which
he opened it. Mr. Fox placed the matter on its
true ground in repudiating Leviticus for Chris-
tians, and altogether the argument was assuredly
wholly on one side. Pretended social mischiefs
were met by evidence of fargreater mischiefs from
prohibition ; but the absurd nonsense of social
evils could never have been even dreamed of,
except in defence of a superstition in possession of
power. The comparison with Mormonism and
polygamy is simple rant, unworthy of serious
answer. The marriages in question are clearly
approved by the most moral and best portion of
society, while they are so in accordance with
nature and the dictates of canscience and can be so
easily celebrated without the knowledge of the
official who marries, that nothing can prevent
them, and, the only question is whether priest-
craft shall continue to ride roughshod over us by
legal penalties ; and, if we refuse obedience to its
impious assumptions, shall deliver over us and
our children, as of oil, " to the secular arm."

It is very encouraging and very consolatory to
know for certain that the Rigged School System
--a system of such recent origin—is, in two
senses of the phrase, Fast Flourishing. It appears,
in other words, to be both securely established
amongst us, and to be at the same time in process
of rapid development. The daydream of honest
Cobbler POUNDS is already in a great measure
realised. The little urchins far and wide through-
out England, but especially in this swarming
Metropolis of ours, are being gathered together,
here and there, in clusters, and drilled into habits
of thrift and industry. They are taken out of

the kennel, and educated. They are taken out
of the mud, and washed. They are, in many
instances, stripped of their rags, and clothed.
Mr. OAPSTIOK'S humane but preposterous notion
has been carried into operation rationally. Instead
of catching St. G►les and putting into one of his
dirty hands a basket lined with flannel, and into

the other a little tinkling bell, and saying to him
certly, as we thrust him over the doorstep,
" There, go and cry muffins, and be happy 1"—
we have collected little groups of these poor chil-
dren about us, and taught them simultaneously how
to pick up knowledge and halfpence. A sentiment
of self-respect has been 'wakened in them, and
with that also a moderate and reasonable feeling
of self.dependence. In delightful evidenc3 of all
this, do we not meet them now-a-days at every
turn—these little reclaimed spawn of the very
poorest, and hitherto the most neglected, classes
of the population ? Several years ago CHARLES
KNIGHT, in 0113 of his pleasant, gossipping publi-
cations, a certain archeaJlogical, topographical,
anecdotal book about London, described the once
familiar cry of " Clean your honour's shoes" to
be among the obsolete street-cries of tile metro-
polis. And certainly, until very recently, it was
without question one of the many social peculiari-
ties living only in the whimsical couplets of the
manner-painters of the past—couplets such as
those making up the delightful total of GAY'S
Tiivia. Latterly, however, the streets of London
have resounded continually with the call of the
Shoeblack Redivivus. " Clean your boots, Sir,".
is the petition now proffered, brush in hand, by
healthy little urchins, clad in tunics of orange or
scarlet. The occupation gone from the great-
great•great-grand father's—has returned to their
remote descendants in a later and a more econo-
mic generation. It has returned under happier
auspices, and with a prospect before it now of far
happier consequences. The shoeblack brigades,
indeed, are thriving so well under their new
organisation that they are even now adventu-
rously taking in a wider range of business—the
broom is being added to the brush—the ragged
schoolboys, ragged now no longer, are entrusted
with the care not only of boots but crossings. Here,
again, is a twofold improvement—every money-
box into which a humane wayfarer drops his
halfpenny at a street corner not only goes t) the
encouragement of the industrious little shoeblack
who has charge of it, but tends, also, directly to
the suppression of the wretched social gangrene
of mendicancy. Heretofore the crossing-sweeper
has been some sturdy squalid pauper exacting
blackmail by importunities addressed to the foot-
passengers in our public thoroughfares. The
copper doles hitherto yielded to these city free-
booters have gone, we all know that wall enough,
either to the pewter counter of the gin-palace, or

to aid the revels at some beggars' feast in a back
slum famdiar to the pattEner and the
gaberlunzie. Now the case is, indeed, in
every respect very different. The halfpenny
given at a street crossing swells a fund
dev,t3d to the moral and social advance-
ment of a new generation. After nightfall the
little fellows are gathered together, and taught

for an hour or two the rudiments of education.
that
All this appears to u% very admirable and very
deserving of encouragement. It is beginning
and,
as
an squalor, and penury, and ignorance—
wisely at the beginning. By so tutoring these
,therwise abandoned and neglected children w©
rte training
up to honesty and industry a race
at
would otherwise be doomed, like their fore-
fathers, to
inevitable consequence, la the vast

majority of instances, to the county gaol and the
convict prison, if not to the gallows, cer-
tainly to long years of penal servitude. Honour,
then, to the originators and promoters of the
industrial brigades of our boy-ihoeblacki and our
boy-crossing-sweepen,. Success to the benevolent
enterprise. GOD speed them in these their labours
of Christian charity— in themselves labours of
love—in their results labours of genuine and prac-
tical philanthropy.

EA NTEST NEWS.

[BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
PARIS, THURSDAY MORNING.
The Moniteur of this morning contains the fol-

lowing paragraph :
" It is endevoured by the evil disposed to excite
misgivings with respect to the application of the
law of public safety, by misrepresenting the inten-
tions of the Government. The culpable expectations
which followed the attempt of the 14th January,
imposed on the Government the duty of protecting
the public security, and for this has sufficed the
arrest of a few men notoriously dangerous. As
for those who remain within the limits of the law,
if they do not render them elves guilty by fresh
misdeeds, they have nothing to fear from the effects
of the law."

By the arrival of the Levant mail, at Mar-
seilles yesterday, we have received news from
Constantinople to the 14th.
Eight hundred Montenegrins have violated the
Austrian territory and penetrated the Herzt%o-
vine. Forty of them entered Sutorina and have
burnt everything.
The lonian Press is again becoming insolent,
and encouraging the lonians to resistance. It
enumerates a catalogue of grievances against Eng-
land. The lonians, it says, demand a national
Parliament, and will not permit themselves to be
merged in the English Parliament ! The relations
of society, they say, secure the domination of
England in Corfu, which should be declared a
colony.
In Malta the Press is engaged in fierce disputes
respecting the religion and nationality of the
employes of the British Government.

BERNE, MARCH 24.

Tile GovernmeLt of Neufchatel has replied to
the Federal Council that it would rather there
should have been no French Consul at Chaux•de-
Fonds, but that nevertheless it defers on this
point to the decision of the Federal Council.

HAMBURG, MARCH 24.

The Danish Ministerial journal, the Dagblad,
announces that the propositions which M. de
Bulow is commissioned to make at Frankfort con-
sist in submitting the first six paragraphs of the
Constitution to the States of Holstein, and to
secure a decision of the German difficulty by means
of a mixed commission.

FRANCE.
PARIS, WEDNESDAY.

Preparations are being made at the Pal4ce of
St. Cloud fur the reception of the Emperor and
Empress.

M. Boittelle, the new Prefect of Police, yester-
day received the commissaries of pr lic and peace
officers. He afterwards visited M. Hebert, the
peace officer who wa4 wounded on the 14th Jan.,
and expressed a hope to witne.s a speedy recovery.
It appears that the ani,ouncement of Count Per-
signy's arrival in Paris was premature, as the count
intends remaining in London until his successor
shall have entered on his duties.

The Patrie, in commenting on the sentence pro-
nounced by default on the leaders of the conspiracy
at Genoa, exclaims :
" Does not the security afforded by England to
Mazzini, under cover of which he orpoises his
plots, deserve to arouse the serious att,.ntion of
the English people ? Is it not this security which
gives strength to him, as well as to other dema-
gogues of his stamp ? Would they bring the same
perseverance to bear on their revolutionary at-
tempts, were the latter not surrounded with appa-
rent impunity ?'
Toe Union contains the following reflections on
Indian affairs : _ _

" An insurrectien which has lasted nearly a year,
which has given way neither to the prestige of
bravery, nor to the superiority of tactics, nor
before the presence of heroism, hears a strict re-
semblance to a regular war, only that it is cha-
racteris -d by acts of atrocity, and by repris ils
saveurfng of barbarism, and is consequently the
more implacable. If the rebel.; have been van-
quished in certain places, in others they remain
unsubdued. The population is every where excited,
and it is with a feeling of alarm that the small
European armies march through districts which
are in appearance most submissive. The ablest
commanders hesitate, demand reinforcements, and
temporise. Every day brings fresh trials and
perils. The climate is a terrible ally of the revolt
and conspires against the troops of Queen Vic
toria. We are now approaching the murderou 5
heats which devour Europeans. That England,
trout a sentiment of national pride, which we
covet,
ldshi;iunlgd
the
eareenteUrlgl
energy
aconcealpreciahteer
sores,and teLtn
she
of her unconquerable will and the vast resources of
her devotion to lead on the struggle, encoun!ers
our approval, for we are not of those who affect dis-
dam or anger towards these great efforts of a nati .n
battling with adversity. But we place above the
sentiments of imparttality, which command even
the esteem of rivals, a firm belief iu the designs of
Providence and a respectful attention to the lessons
it affords. Th events in India figure among,t
those warnings given by the Most High for the
benefit of nations."

Our conttmporary then dwells on the iniquities
committel by the East India Company, and
grounds its remarks on a work on India published
by one William Bolts in 1772.
BOURSE, March 24.—The appointment of the
Duke of Malakoff as ambassador at the Court of
St. Jatnes's took speculators by surprise, and there
was at fiat some hesitation in the market ; prices,
however, afterwards rallied, and aro now tirm
L irg,e purchases have been effected in the R:-mts
and the principal securities. The following were
the closing quotations :

41 per Cents —
Do. end month —
3 per Cent. .....
Do. end month 69 75
13 ink Sh tres
Credit Mobilier
Do. Account BO7 50

Credit Foncier
Belgian
Pieduiontese (Z)

RAIL'
Orloam;
Northers
New Ditto
Lyon and Mediteran. 832,
New Ditto 790
Geneva

, -
itotuln
Austrian
Si.nuish Threes
Home Debt 37i

55')
Western G6O
Strasburg
Grand Central
S,rdinian
Austrian

MONTENEGRO.

The Agrant Gazette gives the following details of
the capture by the Montenegrins of two Turkish
boats, containing arms and ammunition, on the
lake of Scutari, already mentioned :
" The Montenegrins having learnt on the 2d
March that Turkish barques containing ammuni-
tion had left Scutari for the island of Lesandro,
which is near the Montenegrin territory, emb irked
towards evening to the number of 50 in three
brats and rowed towards Lesandro. On arriving
near the island, they withdrew to a small bay,
where they concealed themselves. After a while
three of their number went forth in a small boat
to wards the Turkish vessels, and ficed on them.
Thirty Turks in a boat pursued them. By this
ruse de guerre, the greater portion of the Turks
were separated from the island and were pursued
by the other Montenegrin boats. The Turkish ves-
sel defended itself, but was boarded by the Monte-
negrins, and after a combat the Turks were de-
feated ; the heads of 20 of them, taken prisons rs,
were cut off, and 10 others were drowned. The
Montenegtius had 7 killed and 14 wounded. In
the bark were 20 quintals of gunpowder, a great
quantity of balls, and three shells."

NAPLES.
NAPLES, March 20.—The most recent and most
important intelligence from Naples is the libera ion
of our countryman Watt, who leaves to-day for
England. Unsound in mind, it is true Leis ; but
new associations will possibly restore him, th,,ugh
the reminiscence of a Neapolitan prison will doubt
less haunt him for a. long time to come. Very
shortly after the official intimation of the fact had
been sent to Mr. Barbar, he called on Watt, and
made it known to him. The only manifestation
of feeling he made was indicated by greit un-
easiness, and by his observing "It is all over
then." For some days he has been getting
more suspicious and obstinate, and " I ex-
pected," said his medical adviser, "that he
would refuse to go to England. He doubts every-
ttsiog and every person, 'and one day he said to a
friend, "I wish I could get rid of this," touching
his forehead at the same moment. A Civisliomanu3,
therefore, will shortly be with you, who, in his

own person, has borne the insults which have been
offered to every Riglishman.
Thu rescript which gives permission to Watt to
return to E:,gland is thus expre-sed :
" Hi, M.--,jo,ty our L been i,f,ruted thy,
the Egg•isi-, euginet.r, Mr. Wa,r, is Ad+ in the boApita!
iii tui~ capita!, and that 04: uu:di, a! then 11(,
been able up to the pre.e. t time to f rift a decide°
opinion on the state of his health, at the same
time reporting well of his general healtl, having
learnt too that the Grand Special Court of Salerno
considers that the prods in which Watt is implicated
should be prosecuted for all the other accus,d, and ha-
admitted the accusation independently of the said en-
gineer, wto for the present has been excluded from the
proceedings now pending, which decision has been, and
still is being executed, his Maj,sty, wi-hing to give n
proof of deference to.vards a eurject of her Briannic
Majesty, has deigned to permit that Watt may return to
England, or to his own country, where he may receive
such care and assistance as circumstances may require."

'OLICE INTELLIGENCE.— (This Day.)

MA EILBOR011“ El-STREET.

UTTERING A FORGED CHEQUE.—Edward Boucher, a
rt-sp,c;aoiy-t!ist..ed wen, was placed at the bar before
Mr. Ritgtiato, chard wi•h obiaming a coat by means
tor.ed cheque. f 001 Mr. Benjamin, tailor, No. 74,
Quadrant, Rtgon.t-stree.t.
George Jordon, as-istaat to the prosecutor, said that,
on the evening of the 2d of March, the prisoner came
into their shop and asked for some clothes. Altera short
time be said he would have a coat, which witness served
riim with, the price being 2/. He pulled out a
cheque for 7/. 10s. saying he had no other money, and
asked me to cash it. The cheque was upon the Joint-
St ck Mutual Banking Associate, in Leicester-square.
Witness asked him several questions, and the prisoner
t ok away the coat, and was to call the.next day for the
difference after deducting the price of the coat. The
prisoner wrote his flame on the back of the cheque. The
que, which was drawn by Richard D. Brown, of
tuenzei-house, was returned by the banker, marked
i•no off-c s." Information waei given and the prisoner
was taken cut,t.idy.
Iu an.wer to Mr. Brigham, the witness said prisoner
never called again after obtaining the coat.
CoarleB Coie, 317 H. a very active detective officer,
.aid he !ook the prisoner into custody in Tennyson-
street, Lambeth. Told him it was for obtaining a coat
from Mr. Betjaruiit's, of Regent-street. The prisoner
said he would go with him. He said he bad the cheqte,.
not did not know it was forged. He said Mr. Brown,
of Somermet-hone, gave it him at a clothier's, in the
Strand. On searchin4 his lodgings found three dupli-
cdtes relating to coats, but no coat. He gave his address
in Cheapeide, hut he had never lived there. He after-
,rarde found him out in Tennyson-street, and their took
him _ _ _

the pri on, r said he received the cheque ae he had
stated from Mr. Richard D. Brown, of the Admiralty,
Soinerse—bouse.

Tike prbouer was remanded fer a week.

THE PRETENDED ITALIAN CONFERENCES.

Yesterday Mr. J. B. Langley, the manager of the
Morning Star, a penny paper, attended before Mr.
Henry, at Bow-stieet, to prefer a charge of obtain-
ing money under false pretences, against a person
calling himself Alex. Vitalimmoßorromeo, who had
been summoned, but did not appear to answer the
charge.
Mr. Shaen, the complainant's solicitor, applied
for a warrant to apprehend the defendant. He
should prove that Borromeo called on the manager
and stated that he w,rs in a position to furnish re-
ports of the meetings of certain Italian delegates.
He . ffrred to supply the " copy" at a certain price.
Tire otler was accr-pted, the copy supplied and in-
serted, arid the m ney l aid. Circumstances led to
si,spirion, and inquiries were instituted, in which
Mr. Laugh y was d by two Italian gentlemen,
t, e Cdvaliere G-1 enga and the Count Arrivabens.
T..e result of those inquiries was that the reports
were entirely fictitious, and that the whol_e affair
wiis a ho lx.
Mr. Henry ordered the information to be taken
and a warrant to be issued for Borromeo's appre-
hension.

TR Li; BANK OF ENGLAND.

1858.—The following is the House List of Governors f
and Directors cf the Bank of England for the year en-

suing, viz.:—

FOR GOVERNORS.
SHEFFIELD NEAVE E-q , Governor.
BoNAmv Doi TILE, E q., Deputy-Governor.