The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-06 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES. —The Army Estimates are necessarily re-
garded from two very different points of view by
soldiers and the general public. Both, of course,
think of the efficiency of the service, but the former
are naturally led to consider the professional inte-
rests of those engaged in it, the effect which this or
that change will produce on a complicated organisa-
tion, and the parts of the system that may have to
be rearranged if the force is increased or diminished.
The public, on the other hand, is apt to look at the
matter in the gross, and, leaving details and techni-
calities, to ask what is the amount *hich the nation
must pay for the coming year. It may be an un-
reasonable temper, or an " ignorant impatience of
taxation," which possesses people, but undoubtedly
they couple efficient administration both of the
army and navy with a reduction of the expenditure.
This year, we fear, the Government estimates will
be received with a certain feeling of disappoint-
ment. The country has indulged the hope that the
great armaments which for 12 years have pressed
upon us were about to be materially lessened. The
rumours of a reduction in the army gave rise to the
belief that a substantial diminution of expenditure
would be announced for the year 1866. We are at
peace with all the world; even the Caffre is leaving
us alone, and the New Zealand colonists are settling
with the Maori without our help. India is quiet, and
becoming very rich ; the disputes and petty revolu-
tions of the Continent cannot affect us—our only
trouble—Fenianism—is now likely to die out with-
out the necessity of any appeal to force. But with
all this the nation is paying 14 millions a year for
its army, almost as much as both army and navy
cost in days which are not long past. What, it will
be asked, is the use of extended education, increased
commerce, and the union of nations by the new tics
which our time has produced, if we are to go on
thus, year after year, defying each other with these
costly armaments in a time of profound peace?
Lord Hartington's speech was such an answer to
these natural complaints as the Head of a Depart-
ment, master of all his details, would produce. He
made an able and elaborate statement, and showed
.that he will be quite able to meet any advocate of
economy who may rashly attack him. The nation
ought, we suppose, to be content to spend any
amount of money when it sees what pains are taken
to account for it all, just as creditors are mollified
by the sight of a bankrupt's well-kept books. The
country is informed that the Estimates show a re-
duction of over £250,000 as compared with last
year, but it is admitted that this is a reduction on
the Estimates which the house will be called upon
to vote, and not on the net sum which will be re-
quired. The reduction on the net charge of the
army will be only £6,500, since there has been a
diminution of the payments which were:expected
from the Governments of India and New Zealand.
In short, the actual cost of the army to the country
will be almost precisely the same as last year. But,
though the cost is not diminished at present, there
is reason to believe that the recent changes will
eventually have this effect. A reduction of the
actual number of men has been made. The strength
of the army will be decreased by 4,523 men, and 82
captains and 164 subalterns will be placed on half-
pay. The causes which still maintain the cost of the
army at its former standard are, according to the
Secretary for War, first, the increased price of
meat, which has made a considerable increase in the
Commissariat;:secondly, the expenditure of a larger
sum on the militia, in consequence of certain
charges which it was impossible to control having
fallen due this year; thirdly, an increase in the cost
of the Volunteer force, through the number of effec-
tives having been considerably increased • and,
fourthly, the construction of military works. The
first item is unhappily unavoidable ; and, indeed,
no impartial critic will make light of the argument
used by Mr. Laing the other night, that the increase
of expenditure on the two warlike services is in a
great degree caused by the rise in prices. Not only
meat, but clothing, the building and repair of bar-
racks, the construction of military works—in short,
everything into which the price of materials or labour
enters—must be more expensive every year. We
have, of course, the satisfaction of knowing that
other countries share almost equally with ourselves
thiS increase of burdens, and it may be that this
common pressure may some day bring us all to a
common resolution to retrench. There is one item
of increased expenditure, however, which will not
be grudged. The account Lord Hartington gave of
the Volunteer Force is full of interest for the coun-
try. The excess of the vote this year over-last is
£13.200, and is entirely caused by the increased
number of men who are entitled to claim the allow-
ances of £1 and £1 10s. for efficiency and for extra
acquirements. On the Ist of December last year
there were 178,000 enrolled Volunteers, compared
with 170,000 at the same date of the preceding
year. The number of efficients last year was
133,000, compared with 123,000 in 1864, and
66,000 were entitled to claim the extra 10s., com-
pared with 52,000 in 1864. Nothing can be more
satisfactory than to find that time has brought no
weariness to the Volunteers, and that though nearly
seven years have elapsed since the first regiments
Were established, the number has been and still is
steadily increasing. As fast as the older members
resign or relax in their assiduity their places are
taken by a younger class, and there must now be
at least a quarter of a million of Englishmen who
have received some kind of military training through
their connexion with the Volunteer body. While,
however, the Volunteers are flourishing, recruiting
for the army itself does not go on so prosperously
as could be wished. The two things are quite
reconcilable, and, indeed, the one would rather
lead us to expect the other. The Volunteer
body increases owing to the general prosperity and
contentment of the country, and gives proof that a
large proportion of the youth of the country have
leisure and means for patriotic exertion. The same
causes lessen the number of those who care for re-
gular enlistment. The rate of wages is rising
through the comparative abundance of employment;
emigration has taken away the Irish peasantry
which used to fill our armies ; and, consequently,
there is a short supply of men. Lord Hartington
announced that there is to be a commission on the
subject, and though no inquiry can remove the
main causes of the present embarrassment, still it is
possible that the inducements to a military life may
be presented more attractively to the class from
which the army is recruited. The service is, indeed,
much better than is generally thought, and there
are few unskilled labourers who might not improve
their condition and prospects by taking the Queen's
shilling. Any reasonable bounty which may be
necessary to fill the ranks will not be grudged by
the country. The explanation regarding Fenianism
will tend, we hope, to reassure the loyal population
in Ireland. No one will believe that the fidelity of
the army is really endangered, but it is so certain
that in several regiments there is a Fenian element,
which not only encourages the audacity of the con-
spirators, but spreads distrust in the army, that we
are glad to learn the Government does not neglect
it. The suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act has
had its effect upon the civil conspirators, and it may
have convinced the more sensible of the disaffected
soldiers that their schemes are desperate ; but some-
thing more than the power of arrest is necessary to
frighten men who are always under discipline, and
we trust the authorities will not shrink from sup-
pressing at all cost treason in the army. It'is hard
indeed if, after paying fourteen millions for a
national defence by land, we are to find that they
bring us a menace, and not a protection.
HERALD.—In a work of fiction here and there we
find one of the most lamentable foibles of human
nature turned to account as the basis of a painful
story ; and when the story is artistically told, and
the hard, ugly facts are toned down with a left-
handed attention to the moralities, society enters a
mild proh pudor protest, shrugs its shoulders, and
perhaps pronouws the book a deeply interesting
one after all. This toned down, this attention to
what we may call 'flora; probability, must, however,
be prominent features of
.the production. It will
not do to exhibit vice running riot for nothing, and
shamelessness exchanging fine linen merely for foul
rags. A gross of green spectaeleg is a better bargain

than a handful of dust, or hands completely empty
after going to market. The novelist knows this, and
so he or she takes care that the heroine does not sin
altogether without cause, though that cause may be
born of mistake or delusion. Even with this care
the story is unpalatable to many readers, for there
are minds that regard with considerable distaste the
use of such painful material for the mere purpose of
amusement. They will scarcely admit the existence
of social treacheries of the kind in real life ; but, if
they are driven to the admission by pertinent in-
stances, they would at least keep such " real life"
out of the circulating libraries. The least straight-
laced of us are disposed to be incredulous, however,
of guilt without cause, of lapses from truth and.
honour, apparently for caprice or through a
morbid leaning towards domestic wickedness. We
can understand how the greatly tempted may
greatly err, but it is difficult to comprehend the
rationale of a false step which is, in every possible
sense, a descent, and which, from the lowest point
of view—that of mere every-day comfort and con-
venience—is a wilful exchange of good for bad.
We look for a motive, for a ray of light, to make
the dismal fall less obscure and mysterious ; and
when we find that the very last thing a woman
could be expected to do she has done, and only
too thoroughly, the riddle seems inexplicable. It is
impossible to avoid this train of thought when a
case like the cause celebre of " Cavendish v. Caven-
dish and Gordon," makes its appearance in the
records of the Divorce Court ; for that painful story
of deceit and marital wrong discloses acts that on
one side at least have the most inadequate of causes,
or, to speak more plainly, no palpable cause at all.
A young wife, the mother of three children, and
united to a gentleman of good family position, leaves
her home to accompany a man of 60 years of age,
whose circumstances appear to have been inade-
quate even to his own support. She is shown to
have lived happily enough with her husband, in the
ordinary sense of happiness, and to have been up to
the very moment of her departure on the best of
terms with him and his family. Yet with all this
she perpetrates towards him the cruellest wrong of
all, and elopes with a sexagentan, married and
the father of nine children, to live at Nice under
the questionable shield of an assumed name. Truth
is here, indeed, stranger than fiction ; for no
periodical pander to the demand for sensational
reading would have dared to outrage probability
by picturing so lamentable and perverse a history.
The facts are these :—On the 24th of April, 1856,
Mr. Francis William Henry Cavendish married
Lady Eleanor Sophia Diana Fitzgibbon, a daughter
of the Earl and Countess of Clare. The lady's half
sister was allied to Lord Cecil James Gordon, and
thus a close intimacy sprung up between the latter
and the husband he was to outrage and the wife
he was to ruin. In 1864 Lord Gordon while on a
visit to Mr. and Lady Cavendish at Silverlands
was taken ill, was nursed with the greatest atten-
tion there, and even laid under " obligations" of
a pecuniary nature. This visit led to his taking a
house near Silverlands, and residing there—with
what object subsequent events go far to explain.
Naturally, the close intimacy of this old man of
sixty with the young wife of twenty-seven was re-
garded without the least suspicion. There was not
the slightest idea of harm in the occasional associa-
tion of a gentleman of mature age with a lady re-
lated to him by marriage, and the wife of a friend
upon whose association he had so largely drawn.
Lord Gordon was bound by every tie of honour to
respect the sanctity of the roof that had sheltered
him ; while the fact of his being a married man
with a large family no doubt went a great way
towards ensuring for him a freedom of action that
might have been denied to a less responsible person.
However' on the 30th of January, Lord Cecil James
Gordon dined for the last time at Silverlands, and
on the 2d of February Lady Eleanor Cavendish, on
the pretence of visiting her mother in town, left her
home for the new and degraded life she had chosen.
There was no letter, no leave-taking, on her part ;
but after a time her inexplicable absence was ac-
counted for by her being traced to Nice, where she
was residing with Lord Gordon, under the name of
Graham. By this miserable elopement two families
of high position have been grievously wronged.
Lady Cavendish left her husband and three young
children to bear the burden of her infamy ;
and Lord Gordon deserted his wife and nine chil-
dren to afflict them with a grief that will not easily
be cured. A poor man himself, he has been con-
demned by a jury to pay the large but not exces-
sive sum of £lO,OOO damages ; so that the co-
respondent, who is described as " a man of plea-
sure," will possibly feel some of the pains and penal-
ties of social treachery. Certainly he and the
unhappy woman from whom Mr. Cavendish has
just been properly severed have done harm enough
to call down upon them the severest retribution ;
and it would be a sad failure to justice should
they escape some of the usual consequences
of deeds which have been rightly described as gross
beyond measure. That, however, as the case stands,
belongs to a higher dispensation, and will depend
upon an event over which earthly justice has no con-
trol. It was suggested that Lord Gordon, in break-
ing up the home of a bosom friend, and plunging
his own family into the deepest grief, had one
motive, a mercenary one ' • and that he contemplated
enjoying the "bountiful fortune" which will fall to
the partner of his guilt on the decease of her mother.
This may have been so, and, indeed, from any other
point of view Lord Gordon's proceedings have an
air of careless vice about them not at all in conso-
nance with his age and experience. But if he had
this motive Lady Cavendish had none that can be
understood by ordinary minds. Plainly and unmis-
takeably, she left good for evil, youth for age,
family and a position of honour for a wandering
life of shame. There is not one feature of the whole
story that affords her so much as a bad excuse ; and
it is no wonder that, in his summing up, the Judge
Ordinary used the strongest possible language to
denounce her heartless treachery to a husband
against whom she did not allege the slightest com-
plaint. " They could," said Sir James Wilde,
"hardly find any case where the obligations violated
were so numerous and so strong, or in which the
consequences were so painful." This is unfortu-
nately true. The case of " Cavendish v. Caven-
dish and Gordon" will be remembered as one dis-
playing a cruel perversity of mind, and a heartless
indulgence in passion, unparalleled even in that
terrible record of wrong which the Divorce Court
,roduces.

Oxford and Cambridge Athletic SportF.

OXFORD, Saturday Evening.

The Oxford University sports, from which, as at Cam-
bridge, the representatives of the "dark blue" will be chosen
for the inter-University competitions on the 10th of March,
were concluded at the Christchurch Ground this afternoon,
in the presence of a very large number of spectators. The
entries for the various events were not so numerous as last
year, but the quality of the competitors in the majority of
cases was better, and the Oxonians may congratulate them-
selves in having such good men to uphold their honour as
E. Nolan, Johnson, Knight, Darbyshire, Colmore, Vidal,
Morgan, and Laing, who are all of them first-class pedes-
trians, and will take a deal of beating, especially the first
and last.

The final heat of the Hundred Yards was the first event
set down for decision in the programme, and shortly be-
fore two the firsts and the seconds of the previous day
came to the scratch, viz., Colmore, Brasenose ; Darby-
shire, Wadham ; E. Nolan, St. John's; R. W. Vidal, St.
John's ; and D. Morgan, Magdalen Hall. Darbyshire,
although beaten on his beat yesterday by Colmore, was the
favourite, while Nolan, Colmore, and Vidal came in for a
fair share of support. The men got oft to a very bad start,
Colmore getting a manifest advantage, Nolan, Vidal, and
Morgan getting much the worse of it. Darbyshire struggled
hard to reach Colmore, but wasquite unsuccessful, the lat-
ter running in one and a half;yards in advance, in 10 secs.
3-sths. Vidal, although behind at the start, ran on with
wonderful determination, and got within a foot of Darby-
shire at the finish. Nolan slipped at the start, and was out
of the hunt. The winner has taken part in the University
sports on two previous occasions, when he won his heats,
but generally met with the same fate as his compeers in the
present race. He appears much improved since last year'
and, having acquired the art of starting well, must prove a
good man man for Oxford on the 10th. Darbyshire was not
at all himself this afternoon, and although he ran second
we understand he will resign the honour of representing
Oxford in company with Mr. Colmore to some one else,
perhaps Mr. E. Nolan or Mr. Vidal.
LONG Jmur.-1, Toswill, Oriel, 18ft 11in ; 2, Williamson,
Pembroke, 18ft lin. Mr. Toswill was the favourite, and
Mr. Williamson was the only other competitor. Mr. Mait-
land, of Christ Church, was compelled to leave Oxford on
family matters, and could take no part in the sports, but it
is hoped he will go in with Mr. Toswill for the long jump
against Cambridge. The winner has done much better in
his college sports and practice, but considering the ground
was very heavy and slippery, the performance is not a bad
one. Mr. Gooch, the Oxford winner of last year, has gone
down.

QUARTER-MILE FLATRACE.—This race caused more ex-
citement and speculation than either of the other events,
as it brought out those clipping runners B. Darbyshiro, of
Wadham (who won the 100 yards and quarter mile races
against Cambridge, in 1864, in fine style), G. Knight, Mag-
dalen (who represented Oxford in the quarter mile against
Cambridge last year, and has carried everything before
him this term in his college sports), E. Nolan, St. John's
(who has gained a variety of open prizes at 300 yards and
quarter of a mile, defeating, amongst other good men, the
celebrated P. M. Thornton of Jesus College, Cambridge,
at the former distance), and C. Y. Fell, of St. John's (who
was victorious in the quarter mile and 250 hurdles, at Wal-
ham-green, London, about a fortnight ago). The betting
between the supporters of Darbyshire and Nolan was very
spirited, and even when they had won their respective
hoots inth had an equal number of admiral. Xaight was

backed at 3 to 1, and Fell at 4 to 1. Nolan had the outside
place allotted to him, but notwithstanding this apparent
disadvantage he gained the lead before he had traversed 50
yards, and took the inside station, with Knight second,
and Darbyshire third. In this order they proceeded up the
hill (the hurdle course), where Nolan's immense stride told
amazingly, and he held a clear lead of four or five yards.
On rounding the top and last turn, Knight made a gallant
but ineffectual spurt, and though he lessened the gap be-
tween himself and Mr. Nolan by several yards,
he could
never reach him, and the St. John's champion was declared
the winner of the prize amidst tremendous cheering. Dar-
byshire spurted at the top, but was beaten by several yards
for second place. He has hardly run up to his trials or his
form of 1864, which is accounted for by the fact of his hav-
ing been unwell since yesterday. Nolan and Knight will
undoubtedly represent Oxford against Cambrid go next
week, when Mr. Pelham must look to his laurels. The
time of the winner was 55 seconds, which, considering the
nature of the ground, must be regarded as highly satisfac-

tory.
HURDLE RACE 250 YARDS OVER 10 FLIGHTS.—HEATS.
This event brought mostly the same competitors as in the
short hurdles, and finished in almost the same planner.
Fell (St. John's) easily gained the first heat. Hillyard
(Pembroke) and Bladon (Worcester) running a dead heat
for second place ; time, 351 seconds. Morgan
(Magdalen
Hall) and King (Merton) were the only runners in the
second heat, and as first and second were eligible for rho
final tussle, neither tried to win. Vidal easily defeated
Rawnsley (Corpus), Powell (Brasenose), and Philpott
(Magdalen) in the third heat. The final heat afforded
some s peculation, Morgan and Vidal being freely
backed at 2 to 1, and 4 to 1 was accepted about Sing
The latter went off beautifully, and had a clear lead half-
way down; but the favourities were at him from this dis-
tance, and as Vidal was getting up to him he stumbled at
a hurdle, and Vidal took the lead and was an easy
winner
at the finish by four yards. Morgan made up a lot of
ground at the finish and gained second honours. Tim°
32i seconds.
PUTTING THE STONE—Morgan, Magdalen Hall, 301 t
llin ; 2, Coates,Queen's, 30ft 41in ; 3, Crokor,Triuity, 30ft
31in.
Two MILE FLAT RACE.—Laing, Christ Church, 1; John-
son, Exeter, 2 ; Bowman, University, 3 ; Charlton, Christ
Church, 4 ; Ewell, St. John's, 0 ; Fletcher, Pembroke, 0 ;
King, Merton, 0 ; Moncton, Christ Church, 0 . Nina'
Christ Church, 0; Rawnsley, Corpus, 0; Smith, Worcester
0 : Turner, Queen's, 0 ; Wright, Wadham, 0.
Betting—. 6 to 4on Laing, 3to 1 agst Johnson, Bowman
backed for a place. Johnson was at one time the favourito
for the two-mile encounter, but Laing having won Christ
Church mile and two-mile, and the mile so easily on Fri
day, and done some good trials, he was easily supported at
the above odds. Smith led for a short time, but was Passed
by Johnson in the first lap. At the half-mile the fa,vourito
took the lead, and although Johnson stuck manfully to
him ho was never able to live with hint throughout the
remainder of the race, as Laing improved his advantaga
gradually, and came in an easy winner by 50 yards. Julie-
son, 2; Bowman ran well at the finish, and secured his
backers their money; Charlton, 4. Time, 10 min. 26 see'
This is thought good enough for Cambridge, and Laing
will find plenty of backers on the memorable 10th.
THE SACK RACE fell to Forster, New College, who upset
a great pot in Hall, of Christ Church.
THE CONSOLATION RACE, 300 yards, open to those wile
had not won a prize, was won by Mr. Fell of St. John's'
the favourite, who had a hard fight with Mr. Thomas'
Christ Church. Time, 35 secs.
A 100 YARDS MATCH between Mr. Hankey, of Corris/
and Mr. Cookson, of New Inn Hall, which was won eaV,l
by the former; and another 100 yards spin between .I.'l- d
Colmore, of Brasenose, the winner of the 100 yards, an
Captain Chadwick, who was present to witness the sports'
and which terminated in an easy victory for Mr. Color
concluded the amusements, which on the whole passed °
most satisfactorily.

- _
THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BIL-

HARD MATCHES.

OXFORD, Saturday Evening.
The devotees of the beautiful and scentific Pule of
billiards will be happy to learn that the annual tourney
between the champion billiard players of Oxford and Cain"
bridge will take place as usual during the boat-race week'
Practice has been going on at both universities for some
weeks past, and at Oxford, on Saturday night, the question
of superiority was brcught to trial between Messrs. Witt_its
Russell, of Christ Church (who played last year for 01-W`i
against Cambridge in the double match, which Oxf°,o
won), and Mr. Rogers, of Exeter College, a gentleman
has come into residence since the last match. Mr. Besse
from the prestige attached to his name as a first-class ava
teur billiard player, was made the favourite, but the
fin
play of Mr. Rodgers in practice, and his defeat of his 00°.
nents in the ties in which he has played, gained for le°
numerous admirers, who readily took 6to 4. The attend
ance of undergraduates at Mr. Russell's large room, wker°,
the match took place was unusually large, every availaln°
inch of ground being occupied, while ladders; windows,
and door handles afforded temporary convenience for wit-
nessing the interesting event. The match proved one e'
the most exciting and interesting it has ever been our lot,
to chronicle, the players being neck and neck from begia-
ning to end (500 up). Without going into detail, we giv°
below the progress of the players throughout the gant°'
and showing their relative positiols at each 100.
Rodgers. Russell.
99 102
114
201 •
••• •.• • • 193
219 • ''• 200
•• ••• .• •••
300 301
398 •.•
...............401
400 ••• ••• ••• •.•
• 416
••• •
• ••• ••• •••
500 482
••• •00 •• ••• •••
It will be seen Rogers, the non-favourito, was the victor
by 18, which is much to his credit, seeing that he was °?"
wards of 30 behind his opponent in the last 100. Jou
The:winner was vociferously applauded at the conelos—i4
of the game. It is not yet settled if Mr. Stokes (who ,t
superior to either of the above players) will go agaiu,,:t
Cambridge this year, but he is still eligible to take 1)-
against Cambridge should he elect to do so.