The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TBUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 11, 18C6.

LONDON, 7.IIUI?SDAY, JAN. 11, 1866.

The West India and Pacific Company's steamer
Hayti has arrived with dates from Colon to the 9th
and Kingston to the 18th. A bill had been read a
first time in the llouse of Assembly, which pur-
ported to transfer the colony of Jamaica to the
Home Government on the 12th of December. A
despatch from Mr. CARDWELL to Governor EYRE
was read, which expressed the concern experienced
by Her MAJESTY'S Government at the rebellion,
and, after deploring the barbarities and loss of life,
recognised with satisfaction " the alacrity with
which the authorities, naval and military officers,
the police, the volunteers, and the citizens had
combined for the preservation of order.,,
'Lie despatch also praises the conduct of the Ma-
roons. Can anything be more absurd and incon-
sistent than such a communication being read in
the llouse of Assembly, and immediately after-
wards for the Governor to be suspended ? Such a
course of proceeding is not at all calculated to
rake the character or increase the influence of the
home Government in the colonies ; and it will, on
the contrary, confuse the judgment and perplex the
minds of People. The truth of the matter must be
that Mr. CARDWELL expressed his own opinions,
which were mostrational, butwhich were afterwards
most unfortunately overruled by the Premier.
Were the subject not one of so much importance, it
would be curious to notice how completely the terms

of this despatch contradict :the statements made
and the assertions put forth by the alarmists and
agitators at home. The intelligence which reached
this country, and which filled the minds of the Anti-
Slavery Society, the Radical members, thepeace party,
and others with horror, scorn, and indignation,
was that which called forth those recognitions of the
high service rendered by the authorities, officers,
volunteers, &c., of Jamaica, made by Mr. CARD-
WELL in this despatch. The accounts of the trans-
actions in Jamaica assumed a different aspect, and
were seen in a different light by the several parties
who read them.

In fact, we cannot find any particular point upon
which the faction at home expressed themselves with
violent indignation and vehement abuse that is not
here spoken of in terms of the highest appreciation
by_Mr. CARDWELL. It is true that the right hon.
gentleman has been so far consistent that
the other day at Oxford he recorded a similar
opinion of the merit of the authorities, and also
declared that we owed the speedy suppression of
the outbreak to the skill and alacrity displayed by
them at the outset of the affair. But what is the
use of this we may well ask, when the words of the
Colonial Secretary are contradicted in toto by the
acts of the Ministry ? It is insulting the common
sense of the country for the Government to go on
like this. There cannot be that concord and agree-
ment which ought to exist among the
leading members of a Government when such
contrary opinions are given, and such a
game of cross purposes is being played
out. How can we reconcile this despatch of Mr.
CARDWELL'S with the speech made by Earl RUSSELL
to the deputation which waited upon him. Here
we have, on one hand, the Colonial Secretary's
despatch read to the House of Assembly, which
commends the conduct of the authorities of Jamaica,
during the outbreak, and goes so far as to praise
all those concerned, in a remarkable manner, in the
suppression of the outbreak; and, on the other hand,
we hear the Prime Minister declaring, to an im-
portant and influential deputation in England,
that he cannot wonder at the strong feeling of
indignation which the news from Jamaica had in-
spired in this country, nor at the meetings which
had been held to denounce the course pursued.
That course being the very one which Mr. CARD-
WELL in his despatch alludes to and
recognises with satisfaction. To crown all,
the Governor is suspended before the com-
mendatory expressions about his conduct are
read to the House of Assembly in Jamaica. If
this is to be the course pursued by her MAJESTY'S
Ministers, if this is to be an indication of their
policy and an illustration of their purposes, their
existence will not be one of a very prolonged dura-
tion. Their party will shrivel up to nothing, and
their power vanish into thin air, if they change
about according to the manner in which they have
done in this Jamaica business.

Earl RUSSELL has compromised himself so much
that we can hardly see how he can get out of the
affair with anything like credit. Had he expe-
rienced the feelings which he expressed to the depu-
tation upon the receipt of the intelligence of the
Jamaica outbreak, why did he sanction
Mr. CARDWELL'S commendatory despatch, and
why did he not instead declare that it was
the duty of Her MAJESTY'S Government
to suspend the Governor? If, as was most probably
the case, he did not attend to the matter particu-
larly, but left it in the hands of Mr. CARDWELL,
why did he afterwards interfere is a question which he
will have to answer, and how he can do so in a
manner at all creditable to himself, or to the satis-
faction of his country, might well puzzle the most
astute. If he refuse to do so, it will remain for the
house to decide whether such a course is the one
for the Minister of this country to pursue.
The Government is always too prone to fall back
upon the excuse of its not being advisable to esta-
blish a precedent in such and such cases, and this is
certainly an affair which it would be most disastrous
for us to allow to be construed into one. While
one thing is said one day, and another the next,
without any reason being given, or any new circum-
stance occurring, to justify the charge of procedure,
the lookers-on have evert right to draw their own
inferences, and in this case they are conclusions
which throw great discredit upon the Ministry, and
cast great obloquy upon them. It would have been
inconsistent enough, in all conscience, for an in-

quiry to have been made into the conduct of the
Governor after a despatch had been forwarded by
the Colonial Secretary, eulogising his conduct and
congratulating him upon its results ; but for the
inquiry to be preceded by his suspension is such an
extraordinary and unprecedented occurrence that

we may ransack the archives of colonial history in
vain for its parallel. Ignorant of the real
state of the case, uninformed as to the meaning of

martial law, the faction took things for granted
when it suited them to do so, ignored entirely what
they did not think favourable to their arguments,
and set out on a course of vituperation, slander,
and misrepresentation worthy of the darkest days
of intolerance and the most benighted rule of pre-

judice. So far as they are concerned such conduct

mattered little ; they would soon have been put
down by the all-powerful expression of dissent
with which the country would have met their vitu-

perations , but it was quite otherwise when they

gained for an ally the Prime Minister himself.

The prosecution of Governor EYRE, the

aspersions cast upon those who assisted

him, changed their tone and character from being

a party and sectarian affair ; they assumed an in-

flueirtial character, and invoked the reputation of
the rulers of the land. Inasmuch as the Govern-
ment under *he auspices of Earl RUSSELL have
pandered to the mean and mischievous schemes of

those who originated the movement against the
authorities in Jamaica, they have shown themselves
unworthy of their high position and unmindful of
the lofty trust reposed in them, and it is incumbent

upon the members of the Legislature to demand
from them an explanation of their conduct, and

then to decide if such a course as that which they
have pursued entitles them to the confidence of the

House, and whether the partisans of a faction are
fitted to administer the affairs of the country in a
right spirit ?

The Damascus brings us news from New York
to the 30th ult. The progress of the PRESIDENT'S
reconstruction policy seems to be satisfactory, at
least so far as the general interests of the country
are concerned, though very possibly the Radical
party would be better pleased if ' it were less suc-
cessful. It is said that Senator WILSON, a member
of the extreme Republican party, had an interview
with President JOHNSON on the :subject of his re-
construction policy. Mr. WILSON informed the
PRESIDENT that the Radicals disapproved of it,
and would not support him if he interfered with
Congressional legislation on the subject; that is to
say, if he used his influence or authority to secure
the just and equitable representation of the whole
United States in the national assembly. Happily
for himself, and for the whole body politic, Mr.
JOHNSON is not a man to be influenced by party
threats or manoeuvres. He replied in characteristic
fashion by expressing his confidence in the present
and future success of his policy, awl A efused to give

any assurance that he would refrain from interfe-
rence. Certainly the specimen he has had of the
Radical intentions is not likely to give him much
confidence in either their humanity, their judgment,
or their patriotism. Bent on the immediate attain-
ment of an extreme object, they endeavour to place
the uneducated negro not merely on an equality
with le whites, but actually above him, so
far as the Southern States are concerned.
It is obvious that such a course would
be alike disastrous to the interests of both
white and black, since while it would degrade and
irritate the one it would thrust the other into a re-
sponsibility for which he is totally unprepared, and
while inflaming his vanity and encouraging his idle-
ness, really leave him in the same position as before.
The first duty to the negro at present is to care for
his physical wants, to guard him as far as possible
against the inroads of want, disease, and even actual

famine? The best and most effectual means of do-
ing this is to provide him with suitable employment,
work to which he has been accustomed, and for
which he is naturallygifted, not such as will demand
long and tedious application. If once the great
truth can be impressed upon the negro's mind that,
whether free or slave, every man must work if he
would eat, a great step will have been gained to-
wards the elevation of his race. Let him by all
means be protected by watchful legislation against
the tyranny or cupidity of unscrupulous whites, but
do not let him think that his colour gives him a right
to be supported 24 the expense of other men's labour.
The admission of negro evidence in courts of law is
an indispensable condition of a better state of things,
and this must be insisted upon in all the States, if
the negro is to be really protected. But, undoubt-
edly, as Mr. JOHNSON observes, the readiest and
most suitable means of providing employ-
ment for the negro is on the Southern
plantations, where his work will be beneficial alike
to his master and himself. In some parts of the
South large numbers of negroes have already gone
back to their former masters, to the advantage of
both sides. Such a course would tend to restore
American commerce to its former condition, since
the now desolated States cannot possibly be made
productive without labour, and the landowners are
too poor to import men at high wages from the
North to do the work formerly done by the negroes.
When once the physical condition of the black man
has been cared for, and he has been put in the way
of independence and comfort, the next great work
will be to educate him, to admit him to a full share
in that public education so liberally enjoyed in
America, and by the gradual cultivation of his
faculties to fit him for the comprehension of those
great questions of political and national interest
which an elector may fairly be supposed to under-
stand, at least in some measure. If he does not
the vote can certainly be of no use to himself, as it
will be of very little good to his fellows, since he
will be at the mercy of the loudest and most emphatic
mob orator who addresses him. Political equality
will follow slowly but surely on the social indepen-
dence and mental cultivation of the negro, and when
he has in these important particulars reached
the level of the white man it will be quite time
enough to give him the suffrage. To indiscrimi-
nately bestow political power on the millions of
half starved, idle blacks, just set free from the bond-
age and restraint of a lifetime, would be as foolish
as unjust, for it would not benefit the negro, but
really add so much to the strength of that extreme
political party which finds scope for the exercise of
political tyranny even in free America.
As for the Mexican question, it is currently re-
ported at Washington that the French Government
has assured the United States that the French will
withdraw from Mexico provided that the Federal
Government will give an assurance that they in
their turn will not interfere with MAXIMILIAN'S
occupancy of the Mexican throne. This is not
official, but it would be really the simplest and most
reasonable method of settling a very troublesome
matter. If the French troops are withdrawn the
Congress will not be able to complain of the ob-
noxious pressure of a European force, while the
Mexicans may very fairly be left to settle their own
affairs in whatever fashion they may think most
conducive to their interests.

The year of grace 1866 is certainly making a
stormy entrance, and the loss of life and destruc-
tion of property have made the new year but a sad
epoch for many. North, south, east, and west have
the agents of destruction been busy. The sheltered
streets of the metropolis have been visited by gales
which have unroofed houses, injured spires and
steeples, and inflicted very serious damage on the
more exposed and fragile establishments. At
Woolwich the pavilibn of the new Herbert Hos-
pital for Invalidsis converted into a scene of ruin and
disaster. Broken beams, shattered glass, smashed
stoves and fittings, all testify to the violence of
the wind. All round our coasts the story is still
sadder, and every day brings fresh reports of wrecks
and loss of life. Even the brave crews of the life-
boats have nut. escaped, as the melancholy catas-
trophe at the Lizard gives evidence. There seems
little prospect of any immediate amelioration in the
weather. The Coast-guard at Weymouth received
orders to hoist the storm signal drum again on
Tuesday, and certainly the weather since then has
certainly confirmed the prophecy.

This morning Londoners witnessed an unusual
spectacle, whose beauty at first sight almost made
them forget its inconvenience. The dark and dingy
metropolis seemed suddenly converted into a fairy
world, so bright and pure were its snowy robes.
Before the inexorable shovels sent the white coating
from the roofs, and the busy feet and busier spades
cleared the pavements, the sight was really beautiful
owing to the extreme depth of this sudden fall,
which averages from four to five inches. It ap-
pears from various accounts, and from the meteoro-
logical signals, to be very general over the country,
and, indeed, is supposed to include an area of a
thousand miles square. Such a change in the face
of nature is not without its beneficial uses, even
though the sparrows flying round our houses re-
mind us that to the hungry and houseless the soft
white flakes bring tidings of cruel hardships.

MR. GLADSTONE AND REFORM.—In the course of
last week the Norwich Political Union transmitted
to Mr. Gladstone copies of resolutions in which confidence
was expressed in the Governrm nit of Ear] Russell, and a
hope that the forthcoming Reform Bill would extend the
franchise to every industrious and intelligent working man
On Tuesday evening tho followiz g reply from Mr. Glad-
stone was read at an adjourned a eeting of the Union :
"Downing-street, Jan. B.—Sir, I am directed by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer to ad tnowledge the receipt of
your letter of the 3d inst., and to inform you that he is
sure that his colleagues will bo gratified by the expression
of confidence by the Norwich Political Union.—l am, Sir,
your obedient servant, W. B. GURDON.—O. J. Bunting,

HER MAJESTY'S OPPOSITION.--The leader of the
Conservatives in the House of Commons has just
issued the following circular to his supporters : " Hugh-
enden Manor, Jan. 4, 1866.—The meeting of Parliament
is fixed for the Ist of next month, w hen the members of
the House of Commons will proceed tc► elect their Speaker,
and then to take the oaths. Her Mal,esty's speech will be
delivered on Tuesday, the 6th of February, and I beg leave
to request your attendance in yoiir place on that day, as
business of great importance may be under consideration.
—I have the honour to remain, yoar fait:aful servant, B
DISRAELI."

The Maharajah Dhuleep Singh hoz, just been on
another visit to his Suffolk estate, Eldon ri,all, fora shoot-
ing and hawking excursion.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Wednesday Evening.
The insurrection in Spain is not yet over as
the Paris papers told us two days ago. The
Monteur again publishes despatches announcing
movements against the insurgents, whose numbers
appear to increase rather than diminish. There
have been some riotous proceedings at Barcelona.
The Congress of Deputies have voted an address
of loyalty and devotion to the Queen, similar to that
adopted by the Senate. The communications
of Marshal O'Donnell to the latter body con-
firm my information as to the gravity of the
movement. The Marshal does not attempt to
conceal the fact. Many arrests are daily made at
Madrid, and the domiciliary visits continue.
A shocking murder has been committed in the Rue
de la Ville 1' Evegne. On Monday night an indivi-
dual residing in the same house as a girl of immoral
habits went down from his room to pay her a visit.
At the moment when he opened the door an indivi-
dual rushed out suddenly and nearly knocked him
down. On entering the girl's room a shocking
spectacle presented itself. The light was burning.
The unfortunate girl was stretched upon the bed.
Her throat had been cut with a razor and the head
was nearly severed from the body. The murderer
is supposed to be a soldier, as the girl was seen with
one shortly before her return home.

The weather at Paris continues to be very tem-
pestuous, and various minor accidents are recorded
arising from the tremendous wind prevalent last
night. Branches of trees have been carried away,
and great damage has been done to the roofs of
houses. I do not hear of any injury to per-
sons. Accounts have arrived of casualties at
sea. The Antelope, a screw steamer, serving
the line between Havre and Antwerp, on
leaving the mouth of the Scheldt, ran into the
Panthene, which had just arrived at her destina-
tion from Havre. The crew were saved, but the
engineer of the Parthene was seriously injured.
Both vessels were much damaged. The Partheno
was sunk, but was insured for 115,000 f.
Another English lady thief has been arrested.
While an English gentleman and his wife were
walking in the Palais Royal the latter was pushed
against violently by a young woman going in
another direction. The lady at the moment felt
her pocket, and found that her purse was gone.
On being stopped the purse was found upon her.
She ingenuously admitted that she had only arrived
at Paris from London the previous evening, and.
said that a young girl, her cousin, a skilful pick-
pocket, had induced her to come, by assuring her
that they could live in style by the profes-
sion, which she said she would teach her. The
adroit pickpocket, of course, declined to give the
address of her obliging cousin.
The death is announced of an Italian lady, the
Countess de Millefiori, of a cancerous tumour.
The lady is better known in Italy as Madame
Rosina, and gossip ascribes to her the power of
exercising much political and other influence over
the King Victor Emmanuel. She was 42, and leaves
two children. The countess was about to take up
her residence in Tuscany, where a splendid mansion
had been prepared for her. There was what is
called a morganatic marriage between this lady and
the King of Italy, who hastened to be present at her
last moments at Mandria.

The Moniteur of this evening contains a list of
regulations relative to the Great Exhibition of 1867,
to the effect that the historical gallery will receive
productions from the most distant period to the end
of the 18th century. Objects connected with the
history of each nation will be placed in a distinct
portion of the gallery. The exhibition of the foreign
nations will be under the care of the commissioners
charged with organising the participation of each
country at the Universal Exhibition of 1867.

A special commission is charged with organising
for the French section the exhibition of products
characterising the different epochs of the history of
national labour, and to submit to the approbation
of the Imperial Commission the rules and instruc-
tions to be published with this view.

The President is M. Nieuwerkerke, Superinten-
dent of the Fine Arts. Members—Count Laborde,
M. de Longperier, M. de Sommerard, M. Lartet,
M. Alphonse de Rothschild.

A Commission may be aided by special commit-
tees to be named by it.

THE DEPUTY RECORDERSHIP OF THE CITY OF
LONDON.—Some little misunderstanding has arisen
within the last few days in City circles, it having been
stated that Mr. Forsyth, Q:C. and M.P.,. had been ap-
pointed' Deputy-Recorder. The facts aro that Mr. T.
Chambers, Q.C. and M.P., the Common Sergeant, has
been appointed to act as Deputy-Recorder pro tem., and
that Mr. Forsyth only acts for the Recorder in the Lord
Mayor's Court during that gentleman's temporary absence
on the Jamaica inquiry.

MR. JUSTICE Lusa.—Last evening upwards of
125 members of the Home Circuit met at the Albion
in Aldersgate-street, to do honour to the appointment of
Mr. Justice Lush as one of her Majesty's judges of the
Court of Queen's Bench. Mr. Montague Chambers, Q.C.,
presided, and was supported by the presence of Mr. Jus-
tice Willes, Mr. Baron Bramwell, and Mr. Baron Channel],
all of whom were formerly members of the Home Circuit.
There was also a large attendance of the leaders of the bar
upon this circuit, amongst whom may be numbered Mr.
Denman, Q.C.; Mr. Bovill, Q.C.; Mr. Wordsworth, Q.C.;
Mr. J. Brown, Q.C.; Mr. Sergeant Dowling, Mr. Sergeant
Robinson, Sir George Honeyman, Bart. ; Sir G. Young
Bart. ; the Hon. Dudley Campbell, Mr. Alfred Thesiger,
and all the more distinguished members of this honourable
association of gentlemen. The evening was passed in the
utmost hilarity, amidst reminiscences of former gatherings,
when Sir W. Sherman, one of the judges of the Queen's
Bench, and Sir Joseph Arnold, Chief Justice of the High
Court of Judicature at Bombay, were the subjects of
similar ovations on the part of the members of the Home
Circuit: The dinner, provided by Mr. Staples, was of the
most recherché description, and well sustained the reputa-
tion of the Albion, of which he continues to be the liberal
host.

CHILD MURDER AT HALIFAX.-- it the seeds
Assizes on Tuesday, before Mr. Justice Shee, Jane
Currie, 30, servant, was charged with the wilful murder of
her female child, at Halifax, on the 10th of December.
.0n
the 9th of December sho was engaged as cook at Mr.
North's eating-house, and when her master ITent down-
stairs, between six and seven o'clock in the ;corning, he
heard something underneath the stair step; and, on re-
moving a rug, found the body of a newly-born child.
Mr. North had some conversation with the prisoner, who
was then running about the kitchen attending to her work
and she acknowledged that the child was hers. She asked
him to call a cab, and he did so, telling her "to do what
was right" with the infant. The following day, at Bath
Parade-bridge, she was seen to throw a child into the
water. The body was recovered the next day. The jury
found the prisoner not guilty, after being in deliberation
nearly an hour.
SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF A YOUNG WOMAN.—
Yesterday an inquest was held at the village of Cholsey,
near Wallingford, before Mr. A. D. Bartlett, coroner for
the lower division of Berks, on the body of a young un-
married woman, named Harriett Ann Sawyer, whose death
created a great deal of excitement in that neighbourhood,
as it was supposed to have resulted from a very severe
beating she received at the hands of a soldier stationed at
Aldershot, where Sawyer led a dissolute life for eight or
nine weeks. The deceased returned home soon afterwards
complaining very much of pains in the bowels. Evidence
was given by the mother of the deceased, and also by Mr,
Breach, surgeon, of Cholsey, who had been unable to find
any external marks of violence. The jury found a verdict
—" that deceased died from inflammation of the bowels,
but whether from violence or not there was no evidence to
show ; at the same time, however, they thought it a very
suspicious case." Mr. Inspector Johnson, of the Berks
constabulary, who had made every possible inquiry into
the case, was presont at the inquiry.

FATAL OMNIBUS ACCIDENT. Yesterday Dr.
Lankester held an inquiry at the Middlesex Hospital rela-
tive to the death of John George Barker, aged 11, who
was killed on Monday by being run over by an omnibus.
It appeared in evidence that a Bayswater omnibus was
proceeding along Oxford-street at the rate of about three
miles an hour, and going in an opposite direction was a
cart laden with furniture. The carriage-way being densely
crowded with vehicles the decaased got behind the cart!
and when as he thought a good opportunity offered for
crossing darted fm ward to do so. He was immediately
caught by the wheels of an omnibus, both of which passed
over his body, fracturing his ribs, and crushing his liver
to pieces. His death was instantaneous. The Coroner
remarked that it was a most dangerous practice to cross
the street behind a vehicle. A great many street accidents
occurred through the carelessness of people in crossing
the streets. He thought that if bridges were placed in the
centre of streets many accidents would be prevented. He
strongly condemned the practice of putting passengers
down from omnibuses in the middle of the street. A
'verdict of "Accidental Death" was returned.

LIIERATURE.

A Noble Life. By the Author of " John Halifax,"
" Christian's Mistake," &c. Two vols. Hurst
and Blackett.
We cannot but think that the earnest and elo-
quent author of " Christian's Mistake " has here
herself committed a mistake, a grievous mistake, as,
an artist and as a tale-teller, in the choice of the
subject of this " Noble Life." The story is in-
teresting and it is beautifully written, and the
noblest moral lessons are most earnestly enforced
—it could not be otherwise in a book from
the author of " John Halifax." The mistake to
which we allude is this. The hero of this " noble
life" is one truly noble not by birth alone, for he is
born Earl of Cairnforth, but by the possession of
every high and heroic sentiment that can ennoble
human nature. This noble spirit is enshrined in an
earthly tabernacle that can hardly be dignified with
the name of human. In order to enforce the
worth of the soul irrespective of the body, in order
to show the difficulty of the spirit encumbered with
more than the ordinary share of " the ills that flesh
is heir to," the author might have described her
hero as blind, or helplessly invalided, even the
cripple and the hunchback come within the range
of our common sympathies, but she has, with a re-
finement of cruelty (cruelty to the reader
of her work we mean, for every description
of the hero's infirmities inflicts new pain on
the beholder)—with a refinement of cruelty she has
selected as a hero, gifted with every pure and ele-
vated sentiment, a miniature deformity, resembling
some anatomical curiosity preserved in spirits in a
surgical museum ! Such beings may be, but they
are rare, almost to the verge of impossibility. Why,
then, select such a theme for close study and minute
investigation? The object at heart might have
been enforced far more powerfully and far more
touchingly by bringing the Earl of Cairnforth
within the ordinary limits of human suffering and
affliction. Lest we may be supposed to exagge-
rate, let us give our readers some idea of this dis-
tressing object :
THE LAST EARL OF CAIRNFORTIL
He did not succeed to the title ; he was born Earl of
Cairnforth; his father having been drowned iu the loch a
month before—the wretched Countess herself beholding
the sight from her Castle windows. She lived but to know
she had a son and heir—to whom she desired might be
given his father's name : then she died—more glad than
sorry to depart, for she had loved her husband all her life,
and had only been married to him a year. Perhaps, had
she once seen her son, she might have wished less to die
than to live, if only for his sake ; however, it was not
God's will that this should be. So, at two days old, the
" poor little Earl"—as from his very birth people began
compassionately to call him—was left alone in the world,
without a single near relative or connection—his parents
having both been only children; but with his title, his
estate, and twenty thousand a-year.
The day after the death of the countess Mr. Card-
rose, the parish minister, is summoned to the castle,
by the earl's lawyer, and is introduced to the new
earl :

Mr. Cardross followed upstairs towards the magnificent
nursery, which had been prepared months before, with a
loving eagerness of anticipation, and a merciful blindness
of futurity, for the expected heir of the Earls of Cairnforth.
For, as before said, the only hope of the lineal continuance
of the race was in this one child. It lay in a cradle re-
splendent with white satin hangings and lace curtains, and
beside it sat the nurse. The minister shook hands with
her silently—she had gone through sore affliction—but the
lawyer addressed her in his quick, sharp, business tone,
under which he often disguised more emotion than he
liked to show.
" You have not been dressing the child ? Dr. Hamilton
told you not to attempt it."
" Na, nay sir, I didna try," answered Janet, sadly and

_ .
gently.
" That was well. I'm a father of a family myself,"
added Mr. Menteith, more gently : "I've six of them ; but,
thank the Lord, ue'er a one of them like this. Take it on
your lap, nurse, and let the minister look at it ! Ay, here
comes Dr. Hamilton !"
Mr. Cardross knew Dr. Hamilton by repute—as who did
not ? since at that period it was the widest-known name
in the whole medical profession in Scotland. And the
first sight of him confirmed the reputation, and made even
a stranger recognise that his fame was both natural and
justifiable. But the minister had scarcely time to cast a
glance on the acute, benevolent, wonderfully powerful and
thoughtful head, when his attention was attracted by the
poor infant, whom Janet was carefully unswathing from
his innumerable folds of cotton wool.
Mrs. Campbell was a widow of only a month, and her
mistress, to whom she had been much attached, lay dead
in the next room, yet she had still a few tears left, and
they were drooping like rain over her mistress's child.
No wonder. It lay on her lap, the smallest, saddest
specimen of infantile deformity. It had a large head—
larger than most infants have—but its body was thin, elfish,
' and distorted, every joint and limb being twisted in some
way or other. You could not say that any portion of the
child was natural or perfect, except the head or face.
Whether it had the power of motion or not seemed doubt-
ful ; at any rate it made no attempt to move, except feebly
turning its head from side to side. It lay with its large
eyes wide open, and at last opened its poor little mouth
also, and uttered a loud pathetic wail.
" It greets, doctor, ye hoar," said the nurse, eagerly ;
"'Deed, an' it greets fine whiles."
" A good sign," observed Dr. Hamilton. " Perhaps it
may live after all; though one scarcely knows whether to
desire it."
" I'll gar it live, doctor," cried Janet, as she rocked and
patted it, and at last managed to lay it to her motherly
breast ; " I'll gar it live, ye'll see ! That is, God willing."
The child does live. The first ten years of his life
are passed in seclusion in Edinburgh, in the house
of the physician, and then, all hope of effecting any
physical improvement being at an end, he comes
home to Cairnforth. The Sunday after his arrival
the magnificent family carriage is brought out to
convey the Earl of Cairnforth to the parish kirk.
Here is the description of the hero at ten years of

age:—