The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-06 00:00:00

PERSECUTION.

The Minister of Justice in Belgium, M. Tesch, has, says
the Brussels journals, been made the victim of a singular
piece of persecution. He some time ago dismissed aM.
Mastricau from the post of clerk to the judge de pain at
Brussels, and the dismissed official having money and time
to spare, resolved to be avenged. M. Tesch, having obtained
leave of absence, proceeded to Ostend. On entering a rail-
way carriage he was followed by M. Mastricau, who,
after bowing politely, seated himself by his side. To the
hotel at Ostend at which the Minister put up, M. Mastricau
also went ; when the Minister bathed in the sea he saw M.
Mastricau doing the same at a few yards from him ; if
he took a walk on the dyke, Mastricau was seen to follow
him; when he visited the casino, there he found his pur-
suer ; in short, wherever he went the discharged clerk either
met or followed him. At last M. Teach became seriously
alarmed lest his persecutor should commit violence, and at
his request M. Mastricau was placed under the surveillance
of a police officer and a gendarme. But to be constantly
followed by those two men seemed not to annoy Mastricau
in the least, and he continued as before to throw himself
constantly in M. Tench's way, and to salute him pro-
I foundly, afterwards bowing with the utmost politeness both
to the policeman and the gendarme. At length the perse-
cution to which the Minister was subjected became known
in the town, and excited much amusement among the
visitors. Whenever M. Teach appeared, with Mastricau in
attendance, and the latter followed by the gendarme and
policeman, the visitors wished to see the fun, and formed
lines for them to pass through, at the same time laugh-
ing loudly. A few days back, M. Mastricau, whilst
pursuing his victim, took it into his head to salute
the people on either side of him ; this increased their
amusement, and they raised loud cheers. M. Tesch, who,
as may be supposed, was greatly irritated, hurried away to
escape, but Mastricau kept close to him, and the crowd fol-
lowed; the Minister at last fairly took to his heels, but
Mastricau ran likewise—the gendarme and policeman fol-
lowing, and the crowd after them. Eventually, amidst
shouts of laughter, the Minister sought refuge in the Casino.
In the dead of night he left for Baden, but to his horror and
dismay, the first person he saw on entering the conversation
room after his arrival, was M. Mastricau, who, hat in hand
and smiling agreeably, saluted him with great gravity.
The Brussels journals go no further with the story.

THE MURDER IN DEAN FOREST.—On Monday
the four men charged with the murder of Samuel Beard, a
sergeant in the Gloucestershire Constabulary stationed in
Dean Forest—Thomas Cooper, George Cocper, Thomas
Gwilliam, and Richard Roberts—were brought up before
the magistrates of the district of Littledean Prison. Our
readers will remember that at the coroner's inquest two of
the men accused described the whole of the particulars con-
nected with the man's death, but the public will be surprised
to hear that, notwithstanding all that has been made public,
and that the clergyman of the parish and another person in
no way connected in the case, were allowed to be present,
the reporters were ordered to withdraw. Our correspondent
at Gloucester adds :—" The four prisoners, strongly guarded,
were brought to the County Prison this morning, and I
have ascertained that they have all been committed for wil-
ful murder, and that little, if any, additional evidence was
given before the magistrates."— Weston Daily Press.
ROYAL ORTHOPCEDIC HOSPITAL.—The half-yearly
court of the governors of this institution for the treatment
of club-foot, spinal, and other deformities, was held yester-
day at the hospital, Oxford-street; Mr. Quarles Harris in
the chair. The report, which was read by the secretary,
gave a satisfactory account of the progress of the institution,
and showed that 27,812 persons had been relieved by it
since its formation, of whom 1,105 were received during the
past year. Many of the patients were 50 years old and up -
wards, and some afflicted in almost every limb, and al-
though a perfect cure could not be effected in every in-
stance, all derived material benefit, and several of them
were successfully treated after enduring severe and even
helpless deformity for many years. In younger patients
the cures in ordinary cases have been most complete, some
who a few years ago entered the wards of the hospital crip-
pled pauper boys now serving as sailors and soldiers, while
in the case of very young children the treatment adopted is
the means of preventing as well as curing deformities, of
which there are thousands of instances. Although the re-
ceipts have increased during the past year, the expenses
have been very considerable, as various improvements have
been made in the building, &c., and the funds are inade-
quate for the reception of upwards of 200 applicants, who
are waiting to be admittedm to thdcult of cure e wards, and w thee
longer
cases
are every day becoming ore t
they have to wait. Several liberal donations have been re
ceived by the committee in furtherance of their efforts to
pay off a portion of the mortgage debt. The report having
been adopted, and some further business of a mere formal
he
character transacted, a vote of thanks was passed to t
chatirmau, and the proceedings terminated.