The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-19 00:00:00

Liverpool Cotton Market—This Day.

The market opens quiet. Sales probably 8,000
or 10,000 bales.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

-

THE " EXAMINER" ON TIIE CONDE3INED FENIANS
IN CANAISA.—The fate of the Fenians under sen-
tence of death in Canada should be decided without
any regard to the construction that may be put on
an act of grace. Men are not to be hung because
sparing their lives might be falsely attributed to fear.
The. judgment of the Government should be un-
swayed by the foolish rants and threats in the United
States. But some respect is surely due to the feel-
ings of the American Government. The men might
not have been captured if the American Govern-
ment had not faithfully and vigorously enforced its
laws against piratical enterprises. And this fact
warrants intercession, and entitles it at least to re-
spectful consideration. The inference in the course
of justice in an independent State is not like that of
the King of Prussia, who solicited the reprieve of
the assassin Muller because he was a countryman.
The fact that the blood-stained wretch was a German
gave the King of Prussia no right of appeal against
British justice. The President of the American
Union may fairly claim to intercede for mercy, qn
the ground that by the help of his power the pri-
soners had fallen into the hands of their enemies.
But the question of the disposal of these men is not
to be determined by influences, permissible or not,
but by higher considerations. It has become a law
of the land that life should not be taken for any crime
but murder. Frost levied war against the Queen,
and incurred the penalties of treason, but he was
not put to death. Smith O'Brien and his fellow
rebels were transported, though they had put their
necks fairly within the halter. In both these in-
stances it may be said that the folly of the enter-
prises made it impossible to deal with them with
tragical rigour ; but if folly excuses, there is cer-
tainly no lack of it in the Fenian case. The truth
is, however, that the sentiment of the country would
not have endured the enforcement of the extreme
penalty for treason in the instances named. In the
Fenian case the closest analogy is to piracy,, but how
long is it since piracy was punished with death ? It
is true that their offence might involve all other
crimes, murder, arson, robbery; but justice deals
with acts, not with contingencies or possible con-
sequences. A man who fires a house is punished for
the arson, but not hung because some one might
have been burnt to death. We have seen it argued
that to show we are not afraid of the Americans, we
ought to act as if we were in great fear of the
Fenians, and make an example of the captured
offenders. But fear should have nothing to do with
the question, least of all the fear of being thought
afraid. Let the criminals suffer suitable punish-
ment for their unprovoked outrage, but not the
penalty reserved exclusively for murder. If they
had done on our own shores what they had done ou
the Canadian frontier they would have been shot
and.bayoneted on the field, but when captured they
would not have been hung by process of law. A long
term of penal servitude would satisfy justice and
keep her on good terms with humanity.
THE " LONDON REVIEW" ON CELESTIAL WASTE
OR WEALTH.---Early on Tuesday or Wednesday
morning some 240,000 small bodies called shooting
stars passed the earth in a cluster, penetrating the
upper regions of its atmosphere, and exhibiting the
most brilliant colours--red, white, and blue. There
is no doubt that somewhere between the 11th and
14th November the earth shoots through a ring of
innumerable fragments of planetary matter, many
of which pass so near us that, revolving as they do
round the sun with an average velocity of some 35
miles a second—say 3,600 times more rapidly than
an ordinary express train—through the excessively
rarefied air at a height of from 50 to 70 miles above
the earth, they produce by their sudden con-
densation of that air the light which we call the
light of shooting stars. The spectacle produced
when these phenomena are clearly seen and in their
greatest abundance, as they were on Tuesday
night, is like a brilliant display of celestial fireworks.
Humboldt and Bonpland, who were at Cumana (in
Venezuela, South America) on the 12th November
in the last year of the last century (1799), tell us
that between two and five iu the morning the sky
was covered with innumerable luminous trains
which incessantly traversed the sky from north to
south, presenting the appearance of fireworks let
off at an enormous height,—large meteors, having
sometimes au apparent diameter of one and a half
times that of the moon, blending their trains with
the long luminous and phosphorescent paths of the
shooting stars. The same splendid spectacle was
witnessed in Brazil, Labrador, Greenland parts of
Germany, and French Guiana.* Mr. Newton, an
American astronomer, believes, after careful obser-
vation and calculations, there are some seven millions
and a half of these small bodies which traverse the at-
mosphere daily, and which would be visible on a clear
night to an observer somewhere or other on the
surface of the naked eye alone ; nay, that if all the
meteors which could be seen in one clear, dark night,
supposing the globe of the earth were a single living
retina, and were aided by a powerful telescope ap-
plied all round it, were numbered, they could not
be fewer than 400,000,000. The 240,000 or so
which we see in such splendid masses somewhere
near the 13th of November are but a single, closely
concentrated group, apparently belonging to the
same fragment of planet. It is calculated that within
the space occupied by the earth with its atmosphere
there are always at any single moment. some 13,000
small bodies called shooting stars, which would be
under favourable circumstances visible to the naked
eye, and at least forty times as many visible to
telescopic observers under the same circumstances.
And all these, it must be remembered, touch the
margin of the terrestrial atmosphere, for it is by the
collision with it that the light is emitted. They are
far too near the earth to catch the light of the sun
during our night. Not a few such planetary frag-
ments may, it is believed, have been attracted out
of their own solar orbits into the earth's sphere of
attraction, and become permanent satellites attend-
ing upon us, though too small and too near for
ordinary observation. M. Guihemin tells us in his
book on " The Heavens" that a French astronomer,
M. Petit, of Toulouse, assigns to one such body a
period of revolution round the earth of three hours
and twenty minutes at a distance of 5,000 miles.
So that, if he is right, we have a little satellite
at a distance of not much above a single radius
of the earth—not so far from its surface as Cal-
cutta is from London—which whirls round us
in less than a sixth part of our own day. And if lie
is light in this case, the chances are that there are
many more such minute specks whirling round our
heads at greater or less distances. The magnitudes
of these most diminutive of all known planets—the
existence of which we for the most part should not
suspect but for their flashing fire when they meet
our atmosphere—are exceedingly trifling., 0,11
Herschel believes most shooting stars to i
\'‘
calculated
meteor more than two ounces; and the largest
meteor is said to weigh about two.
hundredweight.at. these minute
What strikes us most in considering a
crmous amount
astronomical phenomenon is the
of apparently waste planetaryenmoatter lavished
there
upon space by the divine
ago,
when
plan. "on Now,
was a time, and that not very
g to talk
it was thought almost irreligious
at all.
of waste material in the universe
The moon, which is, of course, vastly bigger than
11 the enormous number of terrestrial meteors put
a
together, is, as almost all astronomers now believe,
a great cinder, where no life is ; but then the moon
is considered as answering the clearpurpose of light-
ing up the terrestrial night for half the year or so,
so that even though not subservient to any lunar
life of its own, it is fitted with a purpose which pre-

vents its being classed as waste material. But it
will scarcely be supposed that the meteors which in
such enormous numbers penetrate our atmosphere,
and-are so seldom seen, being too scattered in space
and time indeed to attract much notice except at
one or two remarkable periods, exist only for the sake
of `the celestial fireworks which are now and then
visible on a moonless August and November night.
They are really to the astronomical universe what
the mites which dance in the sunbeam are to a single
ray of light,—for the most part unobserved and
unobservable. If they are not to be called waste
astronomical material, it is only because there is
nothing waste in the universe at all. But at all
events they are to the organised 'matter of worlds
like ours what the sparks of metal which a smith
strikes out of the red-hot iron on his anvil, anJ which
fly off to mingle again with the crust of the earth,
are to the moulded iron which enters into the ma-
chinery of civilisation, and is used to plough that
crust so as to render it infinitely mote produc-
tive and fuller of vital stimulus to human
power. " Waste," may be, no doubt, as
we were all taught in childhood, a false and profane
idea. Still it has a meaning. Though nothing be
absolutely wasted, that which is mere potentiality
is waste as compared with that which is in full use.
The desert is waste compared with land which bears
much fruit. The undiscovered mine is waste power
compared with the worked and discovered mine.
The sea was waste while no one knew how to sail
on it, as compared with the same sea when it became
the pathway of nations. And in this sense, at.
least, the scattered billions of ounces of meteoric
matter which make occasional shows of fireworks
in autumn nights, are waste compared with the
same matter organised into worlds capable of sus-
taining such life as that of our earth.

RE OPENING THE ALABAMA QUESTION.
For example, they will be quite justified, in our
opinion, if they re-open the question of the Ala-
bama with the present Government; and the pre-
sent Government will du both a graceful and an
equitable thing if they prevent that move on the
part of the American Government, and themselves
take the initiative in it. Lord Stanley is not bound
by the acts of Lord Clarendon and Lord Russell
in a matter like this. A treaty contracted by either
of these noblemen he would, of course, hold sacred ; '
but a negotiation about a matter of moral right or
wrong between the two nations may, with perfect
propriety, be opened and re-opened till it shall be
settled to the satisfaction of both parties. Let us
not, however, be misunderstood. We are not
charging either Lord Russell or Lord Clarendon
with conduct unjust in itself or contradictory to the
letter of the law. According to the letter of
' the law they were right ; and looking to the
wayin which the United States behaved, under cir-
cumstances still more vexatious, to the Portuguese,
Lord Russell was justified in quoting American
acts against American argument. But the heat of
that controversy is over, and now that both parties
are able and willing to look rather to the future
than to the past, an etcellent opportunity is afforded
us of doing the right thing in such a way as shall
add to, not detract from, the dignity of our posi-
tion. Admitting the fact that the Alabama got to
sea solely through the inopportune illness of the
Queen's Advocate, we are scarcely justified in de-
clining to refer the matter in dispute between our
Government and that of the United States to be
impartial arbitration. By all means let a commis-
sion investigate and report; but a final reference
to the only court capable of deciding between the
high litigant parties wojild on our part be an act of
grace, by which we should gain in prestige infinitely
more than we might lose in hard cash, or other
material compensation, the award going against us.
—Blackwood's Magazine for November.

Central Criminal Court—This Day.

OLD COURT.

The November sessions of tho Central Criminal Cour
commenced this morning before the Lord Mayor, the Re•
corder, and Sheriffs

In charging the grand jury, the Recorder said in conse-
quence of the short interval since the Court last met the
cases were not very numerous. The first case to which
he felt it his duty to refer was the indictment against
William Scott for the murder of a woman said to have been
his wife. They lived together, and both seemed to be ad-
dicted to habits of intoxication, and the question the grand
jury would have to consider was whether the injuries
which appeared to have been inflicted were committed by
the prisoner, and that they caused the death of the woman.
The medical gentlemen had no doubt that the death was
caused by violence, and it was impossible to keep out of
consideration the declaration made by the prisoner that he
would do for her, and that she had lived too long. The
learned gentleman then proceeded to enter into the details
of the case, and, having done so, proceeded to notice the
indictment against a parson named Young and others who
stand indicted for causing the death of a lad named Wl-
inott in a sparring match with gloves at a publichouse
kept by Shaw. The, law, as laid down by act of Parlia-
ment, was that in sports unlawful or productive ;of 'danger
a party killing atiother was guilty of manslaughter. Such
exercise, however, as tended to give agility in the use of
the arms were not deemed unlawful, but boxing matches,
and other sports of a similar kind, which were not got up
fcr lucre, did not come under this description. In the pre-
sent instance the match took place in a publichouse, the
combatants were engaged by the keeper of that house, and
a sum of money was charged for admission. If the circum-
stances were such as he had stated, it would be their duty
to find a true bill. There was another case of manslaughter
caused by furious driving, and a third case 'of the same
kind was as follows. It appeared the deceased had
some difference with the prisoner Allen, who kept a pub-
lic-house, and on the night in question he went to the
houso and forced his way into it. The prisoner ejected
him, and the charge was that in doing so he had used more
force than was necessary for the purpose, but struck him
a blow, on which the deceased fell, and in so doing re-
ceived such injuries that death ensued. If they came to
the conclusion that the blow was not struck in self-defence,
but in the moment of irritation, they would find a true
bill. There was a charge of manslaughter against a
woman named Power, of having caused the death of her
child by failing to give it proper nourishment. The next
case referred to by the learned Recorder was that made
against a person named Brookes, for misdemeanour,
the offence consisting of disobedience of an Act
of Parliament. The Act alleged to have been violated was
an Act relating to the proving of guns, and forbidding the
use of such arms as had not been proved, and the prisoner
was said to have sold and offered for sale a number of
guns of which the barrels had not been proved. The
offnce charged was not named amongst those which con-
stituted a misdemeanour, but was classified with those
subject to a penalty, and the prisoner was not, therefore,
liable to be indicted for misdemeanour. The only other
charge which he thought it necessary to refer to was one
against a person named Elders for receiving into his house
a lunatic for board and hire, the prisoner not being
licensed for that purpose. It was well that the
public should know that no person could receive
into his house a lunatic for board and hire with-
out the necessary authority, and persons so doing
rendered themselves liable to punishment. The other
cases were of the ordinary description to which it was not
at all necessary for him to refer to.

The grand jury then retired to their room.
THE ROBBERIES ON THE GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY.

The trial of Buckle and his wife, who stood indicted
for receiving stolen prop erty, on the application of Mr.
Metcalf, was postponed until next session, on the ground
that some fresh cases were springing up.

Mr. Munyard ac
nmorE.
LowoF cioaxnscir
rArceln*
'
of conspiring
to obtain a bill of exchange from Frederic
tiered to a charge
Thomas, for £7O, drawn by Michael Brennan on the Im-
perial Bank of Jersey.
No evidence was offered and the jury immediately
returned a verdict of not guilty.
Sergeant Parry, who appeared for the
d ursued in
efence, made
some observations on the course that had n p
bee
the case, in which the two gentlemen now
before the court
had been subjected to the greatest hardships. When the
case was before the magistrate it was at once dismissed ;
but the present indictment had been framed under a recent
Act of Parliament, and he felt the indictment was preferred
simply for the purposes of extorting money.
The Recorder thought the ]earned sergeant had better

not say that.
Sergeant t 0
00bwe tpootbhl
publicly
tki m
noaNtv
inonthoatf
Mr. Munyard and Mr. Cowland had been no parties to the
his
iordship , Parry
but
ho NvLult i d i
t aoughtt o nc
e
withdrawal of the case. On the contrary, they were most
desirous of meeting the charge with an unequivocal denial.
CHARGE OF LIBEL.
Edward Sheridan surrendered to an indictment charging
him with publishing a libel on a Brazilian gentleman
named Albertquerque. Ire pleaded guilty to the second
indictment.
Mr. Sergeant Parry, who appeared for the prosecution,
said it was felt that Sheridan was not the author but
merely the publisher of the 1:1121, au 1, although the prose-
cutor, who was a gentleman of the highest respectability,
n he did not
wish defendant.
ots
hadbteenps.eubsjtehetee
matter
atouethrenun
greatest
hsttanoyance, e

Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., appeared for the defendant, said it
was acting under his advice that the defendant had adopted
the course he had done.

The defendant was then called upon to enter into his
own recognisances for £4OO, and to find ono surety for
£lOO to come up for judgment when called upon.

SPAWNING IN THE PERTHSHIRE RIVERS. —The
present is expected to be a superior spawning season. In
consequence of the heavy water for a considerable time
past there is an unusual abundance of fish in all the upper
waters. The Earn is well stocked, and carefully preserved
by river watchers.