The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-09 00:00:00

THE C.RO WN JEWELS.

(From the Times.)
The jewels aro to be sent back to Hanover. The
arbiters—Lord Wensleydale, Sir Page Wood, and
Sir Laurence Peel—compelled to act according to
the strict law of the case, have decided that the
patriotic feelings of George 11., George 111., and
old Queen Charlotte must be indulged, and the
jewels, consequently, be given up. Let us be
thankful it is no worse. Could the desires of these
royal personages, for whom England and the Eng-
lish people had done so little, have been fulfilled,
every cupboard in Windsor Castle would have been
swept out, and the sweepings despatched to Hano-
ver, for fear of mistakes. Wo ought to be duly
grateful for what we have received. The advantages
of the union between that lovely Electorate and
tho Three Kingdoms were so obviously on our side
that we must not grumble if our departed bene-
factors hold us to the letter of the bond. Bet for
the assistance which Hanover so lavishly afforded
to us daring our continental wars it might have
fared but badly with the English flag. During the
reigns of the first two Georges the interest of the
Electorate were kept strictly subservient to the in-

terests of Great Britain. Our fathers wore never

embroiled in hostilities for the benefit of Hanover.

All our military operations in the north of Ger-
many were conducted with an entire disregard of
what might befal the hereditary dominions of the

House of Biuuswick.

No adventurers from that

interesting part of the world ever found grace or
favour in the sight of English Sovereigns to the pre-
judice of their adopted subjects. The en-
deavour seems always to have been to bestow
the most anxious care upon the interests of
the country which had called them to the
barren honours of an inglorious throne, while
their own native subjects Hanoverians born
and bred—were dismissed by their own Electors
from their presence with unnatural indifference.
Every student of English history is well aware of
the extraordinary difficulties against which every
English Minister from 1714 to 1760 had to contend
when it was necessary to persuade either the First
or Seoond George to avert his anxious gaze for a
while from English policy, and to bestow one pass-
ing glance upon the important destinies of his own
people. They could scarcely be persuaded to visit
Hanover. For our good they had come among us,
and they would not—however their hearts might
be inwardly wrung—spend one hour in Hanover
which they could possibly avoid. George 111.,
again, gloried in the name of Briton, and while he
remained a responsible agent never bestowed a
thought upon Hanover which England might have
claimed. Of that Sovereign, however, we would
say but little ; when so heavy a calamity as he was
afflicted with has fallen upon any man, pity bids us
stand aside and refrain from criticism which might
be construed as a reflection upon his memory.
Queen Charlotte, however, knew very well what she
was about, and, like other previous members of the
family into which she had married, was careful in
all things to dissociate things English from things
German. To so high a point did the Consort of
George 111. push this excellent principle, that
when she was dead it was found that the very
clothes with which she had been furnished when
she came among us had been packed up in various
trunks, and were directed by her will to be re-
turned to Germany. She would not insult us with
any of her leavings,—a Royal and a gracious
thought. What wonder, then, that the jewels
which she had purchased out of the savings of her

income—and from what sources that income was
derived we need not say—were also assigned to
follow in the wake of the rejected garments
England had done so little for her husband,
her sons, and herself. The change was so incon-
siderable from that glorious Principality which
had the honour of her birth to the English thron e
that indeed there was no great reason why she
should have been particularly chary in the matter.
For half a century, or thereabout 4, she discharged
the painful duties of an English Queen; so, clearly,
the obligation was not on her side. Besides, various
members of her family must from time to time have
given her many an anxious thought, and, as the
British Parliament invariably refused all requests
to clear them from the consequences of their extra-
vagance, the Royal matron was compelled to draw
upon her private resources, which she frequently
did, as is sufficiently notorious, and with no spar-
ing hand. Let us, then, console ourselves for the
loss of these jewels ; we bad no right to expect that
either George 11. or Queen Charlotte should do
anything for the ungrateful nation which had done
se little for them. The matter, as we before re-
marked, might have been worse. Had these illus-
trious personages possessed the power, as they had
the will, no doubt all the Regalia of England would
many years back have been safely lodged in the
Green Vaults of one or other of those powerful
States which gave them birth. We may, however,
disabuse the English public of any such apprehen-
sion. The Regalia of England are intact. Neither
the earlier Georges nor Queen Charlotte, happily,
could lay their hands upon them. The jewels of
which we are about to be deprived are not those
old historical ornaments in the Tower of London,
which it would have been shameful to us as a na-
tion to resign. The Hanoverian " loot" is of the
value of about 100,0001. The jewels of which it
consists are those which are worn upon half-
State occasions. They can be easily replaced, for
no historic value attaches to them other than
their connexion with Hanover and Queen Char-
lotte. Painful as it is to disconnect ourselves from
associations such as these, the trial must be borne.
To speak seriously for a moment, we would
say that there is not an Englishman who
will not hear with , the highest satisfaction that
this trumpery has been packed off to Hanover,-
and with it the last bond which united us to that
famous Principality. We have done with Hanover
and things Hanoverian. Se let us beg lad, and re-
joice that we English people can henceforth hare
our insignificant country to ourselves, and let us
leave all German Principalities to the grandeur
they have inherited and the jewels they have won.
A Hanoverian Potentate bas put Colonel Blood to
shame—much good may he gain by his successful
foray.
_

- ,
Tun LITIATHAN. —Th e launching of the monster was
continued as usual throughout yesterday. At the close
of the day the result was an advance of 12 feet 8 inches
aft, and 11 feet forward. Beyond this bare fact nothing
worthy of mention took place, except, perhaps, that the
vibration of the earth consequent upon each slip of the
vessel was more violent and more continuous than has
ever been experienced at the yard hitherto.

The information (indictment) against the mates
of the Lady Bird and the Champion, framed on
the 239th section of the Merchant Shipping Act,
was tried before Judge Barry on the 24th and 25th
October. Mr. Chapman defended the former ; Dr.
Sewell the latter. The Crown put up the former
first, as they seemed to have assumed that it was
the stronger case ; but after an investigation of 8
hours and a-half, and an adverse summing up by
the learned judge, the jury acquitted the defendants.
On the following day the mate of the Champion
was tried, but the witnesses contradicted their evi-
dence of the previous day, and were contradicted
by other testimony, and the judge stopped the
case, and directed an acquittal. It would be tedious
and useless to go over the whole around again, and
there can be no doubt that the ()tears on board of
both ►essels were greatly to blame ; but the case
was not fully and completely got up.
The press very naturally complains of the absurd
conclusion that, after a collision between two
steamers on a clear night with all their lights pro-
perly burning and avowedly seen nine miles off,
"no one is to blame." So far as the jury was con-
cerned, however, it cannot be denied that they were
entitled to expect better evidence. This decision
will not protect the owners from actions for pecu-
niary compensation at the suits of the personal
representatives of deceased passengers. We have
in this colony a recent instance of a civil jury hav-
ing given several thousand pounds damages to a
widow after a verdict of acquittal for manslaughter.
The Assembly met again on the 3d of November,
and has since then been chiefly occupied in giving
completion to Bills which it had previously passed,
and which have since been returned, with trifling
amendments, by the Upper House. The most im-
portant feature of the session is, that the two
Houses will have passed all the necessary legislation
for the prosecution of two lines of railway ; one to
Sandhurst vis Castlemaine, and the other to Ballarat
from Geelong.
Last Monday was our Lord Mayor's-day, and Mr.
John Thomas Smith was chosen Mayor of Mel-
bourne for the fifth time.

A good deal of not unreasonable alarm has been
excited among all classes of our population in con-
sequence of the appearance of smallpox in the city.
A ship called the Commodore Parry arrived about
a month ago, having had several cases of smallpox
on board. This fact was, however, concealed
from the health officer who boarded her at
the Heads, and the ship was passed. Not long
after, first one and then another pawn was at-
tacked by smallpox, and it was ascertained that
they had belonged to the Commodore Parry. The
ship was then sent into quarantine, and the cap-
tain and surgeon were arrested, but the magis-
trates dismissed the case against them. In
the meantime fresh cases occurred, and are still
occurring, in the suburbs of Melbourne ; and it is
said one or two have made their appearance at a
distance.

The state of trade is not satisfactory. The sup-
ply of almost all kinds of goods, except the produce
of the East, has been for some time getting ahead
of the demand, and the stock of goods in first
hands is now very large. The supply of gold keeps
well up.