The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PDBLIO JOURNALS.

The pirate junks were all burnt in spite of the
fact that some of them contained opium and other
valuable cargo. It is, of course, impossible for the
gun-boats, short handed as they are, to make prizes,
except on a small scale, every now and then under
favourable circumstances. The day after the action,
on a Thursday, the crews destroyed the piratical
village of Sa-ma, and then, after spending the rest
of the day, and part of Friday, " wooding and
watering," the two little vessels started on Friday
night on their return voyage. They came straight
across, out of sight of land, and reached Hong Kong
on Monday morning.

Extraordinary Swindling Career of an Ex-
Officer.

esterday, at the Windsor Guildhall, Richard Bayleywas
charged with several cases of swindling and robbery. The
prisoner's real name is Richard Albert Warkin Bayley, late
ensign in her Majesty's 35th Regiment, and he was quar-
tered with the depot at Colchester. He is a son of Major-
Gen. Bayley, who commanded the Bombay contingent dur-
ing the Indian mutiny, and who, having retired from the
army, resides in Wales. In early manhood the prisoner en-
listed as aprivato soldier during a wild freak, and servedin
his regiment a twelvemonth, when his father bought him
out and purchased a commission for him in the 35th Regi-
ment. But his waywardness and general misconduct wore
so incorrigible that in Juno last he was cashiered and su-
perseded while absent from his regiment without leave.
During May and June he was staying in Paris, at the
Hotel de Lille et d'Albion, where ho assumed the name of
Captain Watkins, of the Royal Horse Artillery. In Paris
he drew cheques on Sir John Kirkland and Co., tho army
agent; of London, purporting to be drawn by Ensign
Bayley, in favour of Capt. Watkins, Royal Horso Artillery,
and uttered them, after having endorsed them with the
name of Capt. Watkins. This being a forgery, the French
Government, upon the application of the money changers
whom he victimised, have made an application for his
extradition, that he may be tried in Paris. Among
those whom he swindled in Paris is Mr. Webb, a money
changer, residing in the Rue de Rivoli, who cashed some
of his cheques upon Sir John Kirkland and Co. It is an
offence against the French code to live under an assumed
name. " Captain Watkins" represented himself as a second
captain of the Royal Horse Artillery; that he had fought
with his regiment at Lucknow, Delhi, &c ; that during the
4ndian mutiny he had three horses shot under him ; that
he was the only officer of the troop who escaped with his
life ; and that he received a ball in the knee, and a wound
in his face from the splinter of a shell. Ho had a wound in
the cheek, not yet healed. After getttng as much money
as he could by means of false cheques, and borrowing
money of the gentlemen staying at the Hotel de Lille, he
disappeared, leaving behind him an empty portmanteau and
an unsettled account to t'he amount of I,ooof. or 1,200 f.
At this time he had with him a companion, whose real
name is believed to be Donny. This individual, an Irish-
man, with a Yankee cast of countenance, raised money and
credit to a large amount upon the representation that his
name was William L. Howard—a scion of the Yorkshire
Howards ; that his father had £20,000 per annum ; and
that ho himself intended to stand for the representation of
the North Riding of Yorkshire at the next election, as he
would shortly have £12,000 a year. From one gentleman
this individual borrowed upwards of £2OO. The Chief Su-
perintendent of the Windsor police has had forwarded to
him excellect photographs of the prisoner and his com-
panion, executed by Clement Lagriffe, the photographer
of the Rue St. Honore. On leaving Paris the prisoner
made his appearance at the Horns Tavern, at Kennington
on July 9. He stated that he had been playing cricket at
the Oval, and, remaining at the house until July 29, he ran
up an account of £6. He assumed the name of Captain
Watkins. When he left he pretended to be going to get a
cheque cashed, and said that he would return and pay his
bill. He never returned, and soon of ter ho had gone it was
discovered that ho had stolen the landlady's gold watch
from a drawer in her bedroom. After his apprehension,
he told Mr. Whitty, the landlord of the Horns, where ho
had pawned the watch, and that he had destroyed the
ticket. It is fortunate for Mr. Whitty that he refused to cash
a cheque for £l5 on Sir John Kirkland and Co. on the re-
presentation that the prisoner was Captain Watkins, of the
22d brigade of Royal Artillery, stationed at Shorncliffe.
At Kew, the prisoner got a boat from Mr. Williams, and
rowed up the Thames to Caversham, near Reading. At
Caversham he put up at the White Hart Hotel, and had only
left that establishment a couple of hours when a person sent
in search of him by Mr. Williams arrived from Kew. Eton
was his next place of rendezvous ; and Mr. John Harding,
of the Crown and Cushion Inn, was honoured with his com-
pany. The "captain" left suddenly without paying his bill.
While here he was " Captain Heneage, of the Royal Artil-
lery," and he casually made the acquaintance of Mr. Bur-
row; a London medical gentleman, staying in Adelaide-
square, at Windsor. informing that gentleman that ho
was a visitor at the house of one of the masters of Eton
College. Mr. Burrows invited "the captain " to supper
on several occasion; and to join in a fishing party. The
" captain" obtained a rod, bait, can, &c., from Mr. R. Smith,
the fishing tackle maker, near the bridge that joins Eton
to Windsor, stating ho had no ready money, and would
pay Mr. Smith when- he got a cheque cashed at Messrs.
Nevile, Reid, and Co.'s, the Windsor Bank. Instead of
joining the fishing party, the prisoner went to Mr. Bur-
rows' apartments, obtained access by means of a plausible
excuse that he had permission to write some letter; and
stole £4 in cash and several articles that could be easily
appropriated. He was disappointed in a sum of £4O that he
knew Mr. Burrows had in the house, but which that gentle-
man had fortunately removed. From Windsor "Captain
Heneage" wont to Egham, and stayed at the house of Mr.
Dickinson, the Angler's Rest, where he slept from the
Monday to Wednesday. Mr. Dickinson suspected his cus-
tomer, and on the Wednesday night locked him in
his bedroom. Next morning it was found that " the
captain" had decamped, after 'ransacking the room,
stealing a clothes brush, and jumping from a window
thirteen feet above the ground. Next, "the captain''
went to the Bells of Ouseley, at Old Windsor, where
he hired a cart, and was driven to a good fishing spot on
the banks of the Thames, and he spent the remainder of
the day fishing. At this time Mr. Eager, the chief superin-
tendent of the Windsor borough police, and Mr. Biddle:-
comb; of the Swan Hotel, at Chertsey (formerly superin-
tendent of the Surrey constabulary), were on his track, and
he was discovered by them fishing in the midst of a pour-
ing rain, from a punt on the Thames, midway between
Chertsey and Weybridge. The captain was brought back
to Windsor in custody. After his remand he made a cunning
attempt to escape from the strong room in which ho was
confined at the borough gaol, by tampering with the hinges
of the door. This attempt was discovered, and since then
ho has had an officer of the gaol with him constantly in the
apartment.

As Mr. Burrows, the surgeon, was not in attendance
yesterday, the Mayor further remanded the prisoner for
another week. Inspector Pearman and Police Constable
Crichton, of the Bucks Constabulary, were in waiting to
apprehend the prisoner, if ho should be discharged, for
his frauds in Eton. Mr. W. H. Hand, of 5, Cleveland-
row, St. James's, was also present, on behalf of his client,
M. Webb, of the Rue de Rivoli, Paris, with a view to the
prisoner's ulimate removal to Paris for trial upon the
charges of fraud and forgery preferred against him.

HALF-CItOWNS are no longer, it appears, coined
at the Mint, so at least says a recently-published Parlia-
mentary paper. Florins have taken the place of these
pieces in the issue. In like manner, the threepenny-piece
is superseding the silver groat ; no such coin as the latter
has been sent out since March, L 865.

nafts.—The Circular of the Marquis de Lavalette
is a document of twofold import. It is intended as
a Manifesto to the French people no less than as
an address to the nations of Europe and their Go-
vernments. To the subjects of his vast Empire
Napoleon 111. felt that some explanations were due
—some vindication of, or apology for, the conduct
pursued by him before and after the short but mo-
mentous war of which we have just seen the close.
It was necessary for the Emperor to allay an ex-
citement of public opinion to which, it could not be
denied, his own words at Auxerre and his letter to
M. Drouyn de Lhuys had contributed to give rise.
It was necessary to meet the outcry raised by the
Opposition on arguments—it would be vain to gain-
say it—drawn from tolerably explicit declarations
on the part of the Imperial Cabinet itself. It was
necessary to unsay much of what had been said, or,
rather, to ignore and seem to forget it ; to gain all
the credit of a peaceful policy when it was inex-
pedient " to rush suddenly into the risks of a great
war ;" to show surprise and even displeasure at the
"reaction of the past upon the future," by which
the natural allies of France were looked upon as her
enemies; and to rejoice at the agrandisement of
Eastern and Southern neighbours, although the de-
mands for " compensation" or "rectification" had
been met with a respectful but decided refusal. All
this was the main task of the Imperial statesman,
and great, it must be avowed, are the tact and
ability with which he has acquitted himself of it.
The perusal of the Note of September renders any
reference to the utterance of June a rather ardu-
ous effort of memory ; to establish identity between
the same Monarch and Cabinet of the two different
epochs requires no little ingenuity; nor, for our
part, would it answer any useful purpose. That
part of the Circular is addressed to the French
people—a people by no means remarkable for any
tenacity of recollection, and greatly to be swayed
by speciousness of argument and subtlety of doc-
trine. To us on this side of the Channel, and to
other nations beyond the Alps and the Rhine, the
Emperor had no account to give. There was not one
of us that took part with the French Opposition ;
not one that blamed him for not " violating his
promised and proclaimed neutrality ;" not one, ex-
cept, perhaps, Austria and the minor German
Princes, that wished him to quarrel with Prussian
or Italian aggrandisement. On the contrary, most
of us were delighted with the issue of the war ; we
rejoiced as much as he did at the rise of two great
nations destined to run with France in the race of
common progress, and placed beyond all possible
necessity of ever crossing her path. To us the Em-
peror owed no explanation, and he gives none ; but
there are some large views, both retrospective and
prospective, on the subject of general European
policy, by which the Emperor, or his State Secre-
tary, places himself far above the passing crisis which
suggested the present Circular, and on these points
this Note possesses in our eyes an interest superior
to that of any paper hitherto published by the Im-
perial Foreign-office. The biographer of Julius
Caesar condescends to read us a lecture on history.
The expounder of " Napoleonian Ideas" assures us
that his present policy is only the sequel of " his
ancient convictions and the traditions of his race.
Napoleon 1.," he urges, " foresaw the changes which
are now taking place upon the European continent.
He planted the germs of new nationalities in the
Peninsula by creating the kingdom of Italy ; in
Germany by causing the disappearance of 253 inde-
pendent States." We must be allowed to express
our opinion that the present French Emperor is a
far more discreet and disinterested politician than
the founder of his dynasty ever was. The kingdom
of Italy that the First Napoleon created was some-
thing very different from the present monarchy of
Victor Emmanuel. Napoleon I. gave the name of
" Italian kingdom" to Milan, Venice, and Bologna,
but even that fraction of the Peninsula he placed
under the rule of his stepson, while Turin, Florence,
Lucca, Rome, and Naples obeyed the sway of his
several relatives, and the whole Peninsula was
only a vast appendage of the French Empire ;
while if in Germany the great conqueror me-
diatized 253 minor Princes, he at the same time fol-
lowed up the old policy of Louis XIV. by dealing a
deathblow to the empire, and setting up that score
or so of petty Kings and Grand Dukes who bartered
the independence of their fatherland for the paltry
diadems with which a foreign despot tempted their
ambition. The system of the First Napoleon, be it
said with the good leave of his illustrious nephew,
was in perfect opposition to that which the spirit of
our age is visibly developing. It aimed at making
France a sun, with all the nations of the Continent
revolving around it as planets and satellites. Per-
haps extreme veneration for the great man's ideas
at first inclined the present Emperor to follow in
his footsteps, and it is to that feeling that we are in-
debted for the Peace of Zurich, for the projected
protectorate of France over the Latin races, and
the scheme for claiming the Mediterranean as a
French lake. But the Third Napoleon, we repeat,
is a far more practical, less absolute and inflexible
man than the First. He recognises the " irresistible
power which impels peoples to unite themselves in
great masses," and he consents, not to a sham king-
dom of Italy or a counterfeit Confederation of the
Rhine, but to a genuine united Italy and a united
Germany on a footing of equality with France, and
claiming " freedom of alliances." It is on this in-
dependence of action, not on the subserviency of
small States to a Central Empire, that France now
relies for the fulfilment of the destinies of the
world ; for the Emperor favours us with a lesson of
statistics and geography no less than of history, and
reckons that at the head of 40 millions in France,
37 in Germany, 35 in Austria, 26 in Italy, and 18
in Spain, he may at any time be equal to the 100
millions which the monster empire in the East and
the monster republic in the west may within a cen-
tury muster up on either side to the detriment of
the liberties of Europe. That mere hint at the vast
growing power of Russia and America, and their
possible co-operation in the forthcoming crisis of the
Ottoman empire, constitutes the most serious
point in the Emperor's Circular, although it greatly
qualifies his sanguine expectations about " the
appearance of the European horizon cleared of all
menacing eventualities." Should Europe, as it is
by no means improbable, he called upon to dispose
of that Eastern question which once irore looms so
ominously before her in the distance, we shall, no
doubt, have good reason to congratulate ourselves
that " the nations of Central Europe should not re-
main parcelled out into so many different States,
without strength and without public spirit." What
the Emperor here unfolds is sound, generous, as
well as provident policy; it is in this mere glimpse
of the possibility of a federation of the Western and
Central European States in any emergency arising
from Eastern complications-that lies the real import-
ance of this singular diplomatic document. Were
the hour of need at any time to come, the Emperor
might find out that it was hardly fair, if, as we are
unwilling to believe, it had been intentional to leave
England altogether out of the future European con-
cert by him so cleverly planned. England, in all
probability, the Emperor thought, he was always
sure to have with him. The present Circular only
takes into consideration the modifications intro-
duced into the balance of power on the continent.
Between England and France there is nothing
changed. There are hardly any questions in the
West of Europe, and absolutely none in the East,
in which these two countries would not, in any con-
tingency, be called upon to act with as perfect an
accord as they did at the time of the Crimean war.
Far from feeling hurt, we are not even surprised at
the omission of England's name in M. de Lava-
lette's Note. There is nothing in its contents that
could naturally suggest the mention of this country.
Nothing has occurred for many years to cause any
estrangement between Great Britain and the Sove-
reign who, if he has been consistent in anything,
has been decidedly so in his earnest desire to be at
peace and amity with the nation in the midst of
which he lived so long, and with whose character
he became so intimately acquainted. Neither, on
the other hand, do we feel inclined to put any
sinister construction upon what the Emperor says
about the " irresistible power which impels peoples
to unite themselves in great masses by causing
the disappearance of minor States," or about "an-
nexations dictated by an absolute necessity of unit-
ing to the country populations having the same
customs, the same national spirit as ourselves." The
Emperor has in repeated instances given the best
assurance of his good will towards the King of the
Belgians, and of his friendship and gratitude to the
Swiss Republic. He, we feel sure, harbours no evil
thoughts against the independence of those inoffen-
sive no less than defenceless neighbours. To impute
such designs to .him is almost as wicked as it would
be on his part to entertain them.
DAILY NEWS.—.Whatever difference of opinion
may exist on other points, it will be generally ad-
mitted that the Circular which bears the name of
the Marquis de Lavalette is one of the ablest State
papers with which the French Foreign-office has of
late years enriched diplomatic literature. We have
evidently in this document the most mature thoughts
of the Emperor of the French. The occasion was
too serious to admit of any delegation of responsi-
bility. In form the Circular is an explanation of
French policy to the representatives of the Empire
abroad. In reality the Imperial writer throughout
addresses the French people, to reconcile them to
results which are in no sense the result of French
policy, but which, on the contrary, are distinctly
opposed to expectations not long since expressed by
M. Drouyn de l'Huys, the Emperor's late Minister
for Foreign Affairs. The Circular is a review of the
state of Europe as modified by the recent war, in-
troductory to the conclusion of the French Govern-
ment that there is nothing in the changes Which have