The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-26 00:00:00

SHOCKING DEATH OF A CHILD IN

HOLBORN.

(The following appeared in our third edition of yea-
terday evening.)
Dr. Lankester held an inquest this afternoon
at the King's Head, Broad-street, Bloomsbury,
into the circumstances connected with the death
of John Willmer, a child about three years of
age, whose extraordinary disappearance from home
agreat r t
snetme ree:tta
were
u a neighbourhood.ted by the
for more than a fortnight has been the cause of
father,Billa wanhdo
ethceirc
carried on the business of a tailor at 191, Holborn, all
to no purpose until last Tuesday afternoon, when a
labourer engaged in pulling down the premises
lately in the occupation of Camerer, Kuss, and
Tritschler, 201, Holborn, discovered the body of
the unfortunate child in the cesspool of the house.
The firm had given up possession of the premises
some time before the child was missed, and
they were, therefore, unoccupied. Between No.
201 and the adjoining house, also being pulled
down, a gateway leads to the back of the premises
of the two houses, and it is supposed that the poor
child strayed down the passage, and, as the doors
were all open, he went into the closet of 201 and
accidentally fell into the cesspool beneath,
and there met with a horrible death. Dr.
llarvey, the surgeon of the F division of police,
stated that he was called to see the unfortunate
child before it was taken from the cesspool, and it
was his opinion that the child, from the position in
which be saw him, must have climbed upon the seat
and then unfortunately fallen through the hole.
The place was in a most disgusting and filthy state.
The Coroner said he entirely agreed with him in that
opinion. It was most desirable to see who was re-
sponsible for the condition of the cesspools of both
the houses, because had they been in a proper state
the poor child could not have fallen through.
'd Dr. Harvey was of opinion that the death of the
child was caused by suffocation. Dr. Lankester
. thought it would be advisable to adjourn the
inquiry in order that the most searching inquiry
might be made relative to the abominable state of
the back premises of both houses. The jury coin-
cided in that opinion, and the inquiry was accord-
ingly adjourned for a week. Inspector Brannan,
of the F division, attended to watch the proceedings
on the part of the Commissioners of Yohcb.

Bank of England Returns.—Last Ever'

An Account, pursumit to t
cap. 32, for the week ending'

`\\r
t "ith and Bth
1867VictoriA,
eduAc osdv, April 24,.

ISSUE DE
Notes issued ....£33,226,2G5

'AILVIENT.
Govcrnint. Debt.£ll,ols,loo
Other Securities 3,981,U00
Gold Coiu and
Bullion
Silver Bullion

.03,226,263

£33,226,265
BINKING) 1).

L'ARTMENT.
Uovernmt. Secu-
rities(including
Dead Weight
Anuuity) .... £12,876,158
Other Securities..
1018,249,706
Notes ............... ,100,88 U
Gold and Silver
Coin .......... 1,110,662

Proprietors' Capi-
tal £14,553,0001
Rest
Public Deposits
(including Ex-
chequer, Sat-
ings' Banks,
Commissioners
of National
Debt, and Div
Accounts) 6,345,829
Other Deposits 17,883,892
Seven Day and
other bills

£423337,406

£42,337,406

Railway Traffic Returns for the Week.

Niles Opened. Receipts.
1866.1867
18 66-.,
X z
01 2.248 2.154
Belfast and N. Counties ..... . 941, 9 „7 6,2
liellast and County Down....
Blyth and Tyne............. .
Brecon and Merthyr ........ 634? C:-. 441
21:22' 21:25:84
121 i O,lltSl 6,7 4
Bristol and Exeter -. 131 i „ 31,476 3
.7 8
Caledonian, Scottish Central. 57,51
a?
Camb.ian ..... . .............
ezi,„Butaitilun,t . I:.e.n. r. 1.1.1! . . 133210'1) 31,1; 2:1411:519 2'434'5545:
6 160 NI
Cottjerri, Blatekrock, & l'aaaage... 58 1
Cork and Limerick Dir,...t .. I 5 2a"
3' 9 330
Cornwall • 65i 651 1,763
1 1.7;
3510
eemide , 17 17 '4
D
Do Extension
Dublin & 14eLtarit,J unction .... 63 63 1,353 1.337
Dublin and Drogheda 75 75 1,6!9 1.583
Dublin and 3leath
Dub. & Wicklow and Wextd lO6 156 2,813 2,571
Forth and Cly de Junction
Furueaa, &c • 85 85 4,871 5,202
Glasgow & South-Western 219 C. 49 1.1,078 11,1(3
Gt. Eastern,Nrik.,&E.Union 7OJI 70 i 33.242 31,831
Great Northern 422 4.2 36, i. 5 37,317
Great North of Scotland 242 24, 3,'i41 2,772
lit. Nortitn. & Weatn.(lrel.) Bll 711 832 750
'lt.Soutltn. &IVestn.(lrlnd.) 4191 4101 9,C 41 8,635
Great Wemtern 131.4 12601 71010 73,101
Highland
Hoylake •••• 5l
Irish North-Western 145
Isle of Wig ht ....... ..... .. 12
Lancashire & Yorkshire 4u3
Limerick and Ennis..
Limerick aud l 40oynea 261
i
Ll:welly*
Llynvi Valley
London & North-Western
London & South-Western
Lund. Brighton, &S. Coast 315
London, t.;hatliain, & Dover; i 1351
all Metropolitan r.xtensiou 1 131
Du. Kent , oast
Lon., Tiibury, & Southend
Loutiouderry and Coleraine 301
Itan.,Sheilieid.aL.incolusu
Rauch. 6.J un.& Altriucharn V}
Ilarypurt and Carlisle
Metropolitan
Illdland (incl. N.- Western) 697
Midland Gt. %V estn. ot hind 2501
ilonmoutlish. Rail. & Canal 44
North British, Edin., I'crtn
and Dundee
N-Easteru and Stook. & Danl 12201
North London II
North Staffordshire l6B
Pembroke and Tenby 271
Ithyinney 221
Scottish North-Eastern ll3
Somerset and Dorset 66
South Devon
South-Eastern 330
rail* Vale. 63
Water
Vale ol Clwyd.
Waterford and Kilkenny 3l
Waterford aud _Limerick 77
West Cork
%., rexham )fold, &c l.
W 'nay eti,Cleator,& Eta runt lO lb
N'OREIGN AND COLONIAL..
Austrian B2i 828
Bahia and an Francisco ...„ 761 701
Belgian Eastern .ft unction ..••
:100 a 254 .gi
Bombay, Ilai•otta,& t cu. India ~
Detroit awl Alilwsukle lO9 to
16:),11.,:ct I.lr!lTier.ll•l7,ltiti
il 1
l .'igii
ILtsioteirinidtii.e,ukga.
.. . :.. . .......
..
..
IT 11.tii097 • .
_irand Trunk ot Canada .
15 2 '5
t; real Central of Belgium.. • • - .
....5
it.te: :
ii
,t
tt;
.1,1,4.
in, i
ul
0' cuDrign b.
..
......
it'..:; i 167.112 i 440,..02.
7,4: 3,1:51 1
Arent 6outtie..n i•l' tinlia ..••
;-•,,, 3 5 •.. 701
,rest ‘1 ",..stern or Canada.. . •
.t.: 14,207 13,176
i ~,Nll:ltoo:tr:rr:74,ilirrtin::al e'411rrr:ii.:u6a..,.:.,0°,,r.,11.:C.4.1;;:r.61:3311:1:c1.‘ate ! cr.
aill n.c. ::::a...T 1
..!1;3;8-1:34875:473tj
27. ;419161:46111 1962.
8,7 .0:
1 I I'6?
:,C.: 671
°I
.1
67,214 63,967
8.,3 9,5
'.ina and 4,irleaTiß
:teed'. and San Fraziseu.&e... 771 .‘7
Se ride .._
1,,,i I(9i
iouttiern of France
West a. N-Wn. of France 25
12185 i 7,205 5
Victoria
wt•Il old
ifs 2:,4 ,0
7,1818 8,823
1350 122 lr 4

1867.

115 2,051
2,COt
8 239 15J
403 43.992 13,,,70
241 211 209
261 139 329
161 Bd2 C 63
30, 665 6 6
12:111 114(7 115, 63
49G 23,
4 1,091 26,603
293/ it.,BLin 24241
iz,4 ( 9,234 9,422
12 j 2,.83 2..68
27 --

1,2,9 1,547
3)(/ 3P
10,691 19,tzi3
1001 ~141
1,446 1,590
4,7 z 5,851
60,2 6' 47, 04
5,:6,
3,09/ 2,54 L

13/ Ti
2601

7173/4
12)7

:5,951 24,615
70.69 66,%28
4.595 4.i01
8.27 t .8.102
257 103
1,281 1,786

63 1,03; 1,130
96 4.200 4, 50
Itt; 23,035 23. 66
63 6,817 6,4:6
05i 3.039 2 004
10 HS 117
31 401 41#7
77 1,0 6 I,;t,
83

86-6 97=

36.0.3 29,118
62, 8 8
311 367
7,366 7001
7 6, ,1 7
5,t..9 4.181
73,51:, ;0,476
2,471 8,015

2N,5t32 23,703

144,6 0 !43,7A5
21.0,10 bi,513

RAILWAY ACCIDENT.--A fatal accident occurred
on the Midland Railway, near Normauton, on Wednesday
last. The Liverpool, Manchester, and Lcndon express
was pas:sing Methley at the usual speed when the engine
suddenly left the rails, and, pitching into some waggons
by the main lino *side, turned over on its side and killed
the engine-driver, and it is feared mortally wounded the
fireman. Tho train consisted of engine end tender, two
first-class carriages, two second-class ditto, and two vane.
L The passengers were very much bruised wad shaken.

THE LUXEMBURG QUESTION.

(F 1 am the Times' Correspondent.)
LUXEMBURG, April 22.

If the humorous idea of a recent author were car-
ried out, and, by way of increasing the European
" chaos," the fate of nations were to be decided by
committees of Political ethnologists, what work it
would give them to fix the destiny of Luxemburg !
The Walloon portion of the old Duchy is appro-
priately enough annexed to Belgium, but what
ought to be done with the so-called German portion
—the Grind Duchy of Luxemburg of the present
day? The local writers admit that the Luxem-
burgers are of Teutonic race; but so, they say, are
the Dutch. This, according to M. Groen, and to
M. Vreede, the Professor of International Lamy at
the University of Utrecht, is no reason why Hol-
land should be absorbed in the Prussian monarchy ;
and the Luxemburgers argue in the same manner
that the fact of their lingo (I cannot call it a lan-
guage) containing, besides Flemish and French, a
large number of German words, ought not, neces-
sarily, to condemn them to a similar end. What,
however, are you to do with a people one of whose
favourite exclamations is " Zaperlott !" who for
" half-and.half" say " halef an halef ;" for " Your
servant," " Vot zerviter ;" for "to pass the even-
ing," " soiree passiren ;" and who, wishing to con-
vey the idea that a man speaks " with a strong Eng-
lish accent," makes use of these words, "Mat engem
utreerten Euglenneschen Akzent 7" These Letze-
burgers, with their " unversteindlisches Kauder-
walsch," teach us, at all events, that language is no
sure test of race. In the case of Luxemburg it is
at once a geographical sign and an historical monu-
ment. Ihe chief town of the Duchy is about the
same distance, and that distance only a good walk,
from the frontier of Germany on the one hand and
of France on the other. The country, as long as it
was under the dominion of the House of Austria,
was governed as a province of the Netherlands ; but
almost every strong Continental Power has had
Luemburg at some time or other, and the traces of
foreign rule are to be found in its language, as well
as in its laws.

On the question of race the ethnologists would, no
doubt, give judgment in favour of Germany. On the
language question they would fight; and when men
of science begin to fight, their combats, as we all
know, last some time. If the question of manners
were to be considered, the Luxemburgers would cer-
tainly not be classed with the North Germans,whom
they in no way resemble ; but rather with the French
populations of Lorraine and Alsace, or, perhaps, NV ith
the South Germans of some petty, and, until now,
paternally governed State, in which the inhabitants
love ease, and bate the high-pressure system of go-
vernment as practised by Prussia. As to religion,
the Luxemburgers are devout Catholics, and were
included for centuries in the diocese of Treves. At
present Luxemburg is under the spiritual govern-
ment of a Vicar Apostolic, who is Bishop somewhere
in partibus infideliurn—at Halicarnassus, I think.
Duchinski, who carries his ethnological investiga-
tions into all the details of private life,would expect
me to state what the Luxemburgers eat, drink, and
avoid, whether they make their beds in the French
or German fashion, whether their wine comes from
the Rhine, the Marne, or the Moselle ; whether they
prefer wine to beer, or beer to wine, and in the latter
case whether their malt liquor is of the Belgian, the
Bavarian, or the Strasburg type ; whether their
clothes are made of French or of German materials
and pattern ; whether the courage of the men is of a
light and chivalrous or of a solid and business-like
description; finally, whether the beauty of the
women is oneof form and colour, or only of manner,
and whether they are principally remirkable for good
nature and sympathetic qualities generally, or for
vivacity, conversational powers, and love of admira-
tion.

I air in a position to answer all these questions,
besides others which M. Daehiuski would never have
thought of putting. I accept only the one relating to
the courage of the men, who, though rather noisy in
their mirth, do not seem quarrelsome, and whc have
had nothing to fight about since I have been here. .
First of all, as a proof of the willingness of the
Luxemburgers to oblige every one and to accom-
modate themselves to every taste, let me mention
that they set their railway clocks by four different
meridians, and that each clock has three hands. The
Prussian who has just arrived at Luxemburg by the
train from Treves or from Cologne, and who is, of
course, iu favour of annexation to Prussia, is pleased
to see that the clock marks with one of its three
hands the hour according to Cologne. The French-
man from Metz, looking upon the Grand Duchy as
so much French territory in fitturo, is charmed to
find that the Luxemburg clocks have already learnt
to keep French time. The Belgian, who, in nine
cases out of ten, thinks that the proper thing to do
with Luxemburg is to give it back to Belgium, dis-
covers a proof of Belgian tendencies in the existence,
on the face of the station clock, of a Brussels minute-
hand. _I came to Luxemburg by a train which was
due at one in the afternoon. It seemed to me, on
reaching the terminus, that we were ten minutes
late. I looked at the cloth, but at first I could make
nothing of it. One minute-hand pointed to XII,
the other to while the hand for indicating the
hour rested impartially upon I. It was one o'clock
by Brussels, ten minutes past one by Luxemburg
time. A French writer who recently visited Luxem-
burg, and declares (very incorrectly) that the Luxein-
burgers praise the Prussians to those who speak to
them i❑ German, and the French to those who
address them in French, might have regarded this
Janus-like clock as a symbol.
It is impossible, then, to decide the question of
the nationality or national tendencies of the Luxem-
burgers by means of their railway clocks. With
regard to some other points bearing upon this ques-
tion, on which I have not yet touched, I may state
that the coinage of the Grand Duchy (it has a sepa-
rate coinage of its own) consists of francs and cen-
times, and that the pieces are stamped with in-
scriptions in the French language. I have already
said in a previous letter that French is the official
language, and I ought to have added that it has been
so for centuries. Under the rule of the German
Emperors, before the invention of centralisatioe,
when provincial distinctions were fully recognised,
ant when religious persecution had not yet been re-
placed by the equally odious persecution of Govern-
ment functionaries, the Luxemburg_yrs were allowed
to use the French language in all public affairs, and
the GoVernor of the Lower Countries corresponded
with the local authorities in the tongue. When
Louis XIV. took Luxemburg he found a French
administration already established in the place.
When, by the Treaty of Utrecht, it passed back into
the hands of the German Emperors no change was
malls, in the local government, which was still car-
ried on in French until 1794. In that year the Aus-
trian military Governor of 'Luxemburg took leave
of the people in a very cordial letter written in the
French language ; and the government of the Grand
Duchy, transformed into the Department of Forests,
then became French in a fall political sense. In
fact, it is only from 1815, when the Grand Duchy
was given to Holland, until 1830, the year of the
Belgian Revolution, that French ever ceased to be
the legal official language of Luxemburg. Even dur-
ing those 15 years French was practically the lan-
guage of public affairs, and in all official documents
sent to Luxemburg from the Hague French and
Dutch were used side by side.

I have said enough about the language of Luxem-
burg, popular, literary, and official. L t me add,
however, that, as it seems to inn, the extent to which
French is employed in the city of Luxonmurg no
more proves that the Grand Duchy ought to be, or
ev,m that it wishes to be, annexed to France than
the extent to which French is en)ployed in Brussels
proves the sAme thing in respect to Belgium.
But it nanst not be supposed that French, the offi-
cial language everywhere, is only used as a conver-
sational language in the chief of the Luxemburg
towns. There are whole villages of Luxemburgers
who speak the same sort of French that one- hears
from the Alsatian water-carriers iu Paris, and I have
',keepers who speak French
come across several shopkeepers
with purity. Among the upper classes the use of the
French language is a tradition am} a habit ; but I
was unable, without assistance, to make out how it
happened that French was so familiar to men who
could not have learnt it as children, and who had

no need of it for conversing with those generally
surrounding them. This is the solution of the
enigma :—The true capital of the Grand Duchy is
not Luxemburg, its provincial chief town, but Paris.
Paris is the ideal city to which the aspirations of all
Luxemburgers tend. Everybody here who can
afford to make a long journey goes, in the first
place, to Paris, as everybody who wants to make a
short journey in the neighbourhood goes to Metz
rather than to the far more interesting city of Treves.
The French-speaking workmen visit Paris regularly
every year, returning here at the end of the season,
and remaining with their families during the period
of chOmage until their money is spent and the time
for recommencing work has arrived. Workmen of
a superior kind go to Paris to perfect themselves in
their particular calling, and also because Paris is, to
their idea, the greatest place in the world. Young
men whose parents have means, after being educated
at a French or Belgian gymnasium, go to some
French university to complete their studies. Those
who wish for a military career enter the French or
the Belgian army, but for the most part the French.
The Federal contingent of Luxemburg consists (for
it has survived the Confederation) of only 1,700
men, and offers no career to a warrior of ambition ;
but Luxemburg has contributed its contingent of
volunteers to the Belgian Legion which was formed
for service in Mexico, and to the permanent Foreign
Legion of France. A man must be desperately in
want of military glory to enter the French Foreign
Legion. A certain number of Luxemburgers, how-
ever, have done so, others have become naturalised
in France, and have entered the French regular
army. It can be seen from the tombstones in the
cemeteries that Luxemburgers were killed fighting
on the-French side in the Crimean and Italian cam-
paigns. But no Luxemburger took part in the great
German war, which was terminated without the
Luxemburg Contingent of 1,700 men being called
into the field at all.

There is no movement on the part of workmen or
students or aspirants for military fame towards Ger-
many ; all which proves not that the Luxemburgers
are French, but most decidedly that they are not
German.

As for their general mode of life—to return to
the minor tests in the Duchinski system—their
cookery is partly French, partly German, and they
drink Moselle, which is half a French half a Garman
wine. They have French beds with German eider
downs upon them. Their horses seem to be a cross
between the Flemish and the old French post-horse.
The men clothe themselves, but do not drew, and
that personage in a recent French comedy who
longed for the *day when he might walk about with
his waistceat unbuttoned would have found him-
self quite at home in Luxemburg. As for the
women, they resemble in mint' respects the admir-
able women of Strasburg—awiable Germans, vivi-
fied by a French spirit.

APRIL 23.

People in England, as in other parts of the world,
musthave been surfeited with news from Luxemburg
—I mean of incidents supposed to have happened
there. Established Governments, or their agent.i,
have shown themselves as fertile in invention as the
much-abused " European revolutionists," who
used to concoct such wonderful telegrams about
Italian, and, above all, Polish affairs. I thought on
arriving here that if I did not succeed in discover-
ing what had, I should at least he able to find out
what had not, taken place—what was the truth
about the petitions for and against annexation to
France? what about the revolt of the " Nassauers'
in garrison here ? what about the proclamations in
favour of annexation to France posted up on the
walls at night by French agents to be torn down
the nett morning by indignant inhabitants? what
about the black flags carried through the streets on
the anniversary of the battle of Sadowa ? what
about the visit of M. de Lavalette to Luxem-
burg ? what about the visit of the Baron
de Tornaco to Paris ? All I knew about the
affairs of Luxemburg on reaching this city—in
addition, of course, to the bare fact that the King of
Holland had proposed to ce le the Grand Duchy for
a pecuniary consideration to the Emperor Napo-
leon, and that Count Bistnark, or the King of Prus-
sia, had forbidden the sale, was baSed upon the facts
suggested by the above inquiries.
The scaffolding was a treacherous one, and for the
most part rotten. Two petitions, one for the main •
tenance of Luxemburg in its present position, the
other approving, by implication, the proposed an-
nexation to France, have been circulated and signed.
As for the " Nassauers," by which was meant the
Nassau regiment, forming about one-half of the gar-
rison, they did not revolt, nor had they anything to
revolt about. .1 have been puzzling myself for some
time to find out why this fable of the revolt of the
Sassauers was spread so industriously all over
Europe, but must now give it up as a bad job.
With regard to the proclamations, if they were
posted up at night, when as a rule it is dark, who
can prove that they were posted up by French
agents? Ido not see why the French Government
should send agents to Luxemburg at all, for every
Luxemburger you meet is a self- constituted French
agent already. I cannot speak positively of my own
knowledge, but every one that I have asked has given
me the same answer on the subject—that the ad-
dresses iu favour of France were posted on the walls
and dropped about the streets by the students and
other young men of the town-4es jeunes yens, as a
class, in fact. Grave persons admit that it was very
unbecoming to do anything of the kind, inasmuch as
the country is still under the government of the
King of Holland, but they deny that French agents
were in any way concerned in the matter. If the
farce of universal suffrage should really be played in
connection with the proposed cession of Luxemburg,
the French will no doubt look after their own inte-
rests and their own ballot boxes, and without resort-
ing to any unfair play they might, if the question
was understood to be one between entering the
North German Federation and being annexed to
France, count on obtaining an enormous majority.
But I don't think they have made any attempts to
influence the sentiments of the people hitherto, and
why should they? I have bought some dozen books
on the history, laws, and local religious ceremonies
of the Luxemburgers. They are all in French, and
three out of four contain sarcasms against the Ger-
mans. The two most celebrated works in Luxem-
burg literature aie the learned flescription of the
Grand Duchy by the Bishop of La Basse-Mouturie,
and,its too complete history, in eight stupendous
quartos, by the Jesuit, Father Bertholet. Ido not
pretend to have read either of these productions;
but I have looked through Bertholet's appended
" Dictionary of Illustrious Men produced by the
Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, whose names are not
introduced in this history," and I can certify that
both the works I have mentioned are written in
French. If the historians of the last century, writ-
ing at a time when the Grand Duchy still formed
part of the Holy Roman Empire, used the French
language, and if, as is the case, the guide-books and
pamphlels of the present day are also published in
that tongue, then it is really very difficult to under-
stand what need there can be to stimulate the
Luxemburgers in their very evident inclination
towards France.

There have been officers and non-commissioned
officers here, however, from the neighbouring forti-
fied town of Metz. The officers, after sending their
cards to the proper authorities and requesting per-
mission to see the works of the fortress, were natu-
rally enough refused. But the new forts protecting
the railway, and other military buildings erected by
the Prrt-sians were sketched all the saw. Indeed,
though printed notices are exhibited forbidding the
approach to certain points in the fortifications, there
are no sentinels to enforce compliance with the in-
junctions. The gartispn is said to be at its mini-
mum ; and this would Certainly seem to point to at
least the possibility of a painful solution of the
Luxemburg question. A batter sign still is that of
late no additional works have been constructed, and
that no new artillery has been brought into the
fortress.

French functionaries, too, have visited Luxem-
burg in their offi,ial capacity, and with the view
of reporting to their Government ou the condition
of the Grand Duchy generally. A Prefect from a
neighbouring department, irs ho h s large estates
here, was the first to arrive. Sum minor officials
came with the special view of st.►dying the eera.