The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 5, 1861,

THE NA r.Y.

The following letter, dated Valetta, Dee. 29, is from our
Malta correspondent :
" Her Majesty's gunboat Foxhound, Commander A.
Mitchell, arrived here on the 25th inst., from Corfu five
days, and Zante four days, to repair damages sustained
during her last trip from Malta to Corfu. The gunboat
Assurance, Commander A ynesley, is daily expected from
Corfu with despatches and to take back the English mail
for the fleet, and despatches for the Commander-in-Chief.
" Our harbour at present is unusually bare of men-of-
war. There are now in port the Victor Emmanuel line-of-
battle ship, the Melpomene frigates and the Foxhound
gunboat, all under repair; the Egyptian frigate Scergehat,
bound for Liverpool, to be fitted with a screw propeller;
and the French transport Sevres, arrived yesterday morn-
ing with 75 military invalids from Rekrout, on her way to
Toulon."

A naval court-martial assembled yesterday on board the
Formidable, 84, lying in the Medway, composed of the fol-
lowing officers—viz., Capt. C. Wise„ president ; Capt. F.
Schomberg, Capt. W. G. Luard, Commander T. H.-
Lysaght, and Commander 0. M. C. Read, for the trial of
Privates John Cummings and Patrick Hurley, of the Royal
Marines Light Infantry, serving on. board her Majesty's
ship Wellesley, 74, at Chatham, on the following charges:—

" 1. For that the said John Cummings and Patrick Hur-
ley, privates, Royal Marines, serving an board her Majesty's
ship Wellesley, did on or about the morning of the 24th of
December, 1860, forsake their staticans, John Cummings
being sentry on the forecastle, and Patrick Hurley being
sentry on the after cock-pit. 2, For that they, the said
John Cummings and Patrick Hurley, while serving on
board her Majesty's ship Wellesley,
_did on or about the
2 ith day -of December, 1860, attempt to break open the
wardroom wine store, on the port side .of the said ship, with
intent to commit a felony."

Capt. G. Goldsmith, C. 8., of the 'Wellesley, prosecuted;
and Mr. Knight, of the firm of Essell,, Knight, and Arnold,
solicitors, Rochester, officiated as Dep'at•y-Judge-Advocate.
The Court, after hearing the evide n.ce for the prosecu-
tion, and also what the prisoners hat I to say in their de-
fence, found them guilty on both charges. The prisoner
Cummings, who has been before tritA by court .martial,
was sentenced to 12 months' hard labour ; and the prisoner
Hurley to be reduced to the second cla.ss, and to be impri-
soned for six months in the county ga.cd at Maidstone.

'reparations were yesterday commenced at Chatham
Dockyard for laying down a 21-gun ;screw corvette, to be
named the Menai, which is to be built on the same slip as
that from which the Undaunted, 51, was recently launched.
Thenew war steamer is to be of the following dimensions :
Extreme length, 226 ft. ; length between perpendiculars
197tt. ; extreme breadth, 40ft. ; brendh moulded, 39ft. ;
burden in tons, 1,705. She is to be :fitted with engines of
40

10-horse power, and will be furnishe d with 20 Bin. guns,
each of 60 cwt., and Bft. 10in. long ; and one pivot 68-
pounder gun, of 95 cwt., and 10ft. lorg. The Menai is to
be completed with all despatch.
Yesterday the examination of the candidates for appren-

ticeship in Chatham dockyard was commenced at that
establishment before one of the Civil Service Commis-

sioners,

The Immortalite, 51, screw steammr, Captain Hancock,
bent sails yesterday in Portsmouth harbour, and proceeds
to Spithead to-day.
The Edgar, 91, screw steamer, Captain James Katon,
bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral J. E. Erskine, also bent
sails yesterday in Portsmouth harbour., and on Mondayjoins
the fleet at Spithead.
The Stork gunboat, tender to her Majesty's steamer
Excellent, steamed out of Portsmou.:th harbour yesterday
with a ship's pinnace in tow, and proceeded off into deep
water, where practice was made fro;tn a gun with two de-
scriptions of carriages, mounted in tb,e boat, for the purpose
of testing their suitabill,ty for carrying the rifled gun on
boat service. The experiments are empected to be resumed.
The following steam vessels commissioned at Woolwich
are ordered to return to that docky:ard to be paid off :-
Ardent, Commander Parish, South-east Coast of America;
Niger, Captain Cracroft, Australia ; Triton, Commander
Burton, Africa; Lyra, Commander Oldfield,Cape of Good
Hope; Vixen, Commander Richards ; Spitfire, Comman-
der Allingham; and Jasper, Commander Pym.
The St. George, 91, screw, Captaha Hon. F. Egerton,
arrived at Spithead yesterday from Plymouth Sound.
This makes a force of three line-of-battle ships and a
frigate of the most powerful class. Six new gunboats
have been ordered to be built underneath the sheds at
the gunboat yard, Hasler. The keels of two of them
aro already laid, and a portion of their frame in
position. The remaining four will The laid down imme-
diately the blocks have been prepared for them. Theywill
be fitted with condensing engines of 60-horse power, and
be of an improved form as compared with the class now
under Hasler sheds, and which gained such unenviable
notoriety. The following will be their principal dimen-
sions:-Length between the perpe,adiculars, 120 feet ;
length of keel for tonnage, 105 feet Tic inches ;. extreme
breadth, 22 feet ; breadth for tonnage., 21 feet 10 inches ;
breadth, moulded, 21 feet 4 inches ; depth in hold, 9 feet
6 inches ; burden in tons, 267 82-91.
It appears from the last official return, recently published,
that there are at present being built in the various dock-
Yards for her Majesty's Government 4:3 vessels of war, car•
rying from 1 to 91 guns respectively, and each of from 80 to
1,250 horse-power, viz., Eleven at Pernbroke-the Aurora,
51 guns, the Defiance, 91, the Nassau, 4, the Newport, 5,
the Pandora, 1, the Perseus, 17, the Shearwater, 11, the
Tartarus, 4, the Triumph, 91, the Tweed, 51, and the
Zealous, 91; seven at Woolwich-th e Alligator, 22, the
Bristol, 51, Caledonia, 91, the Dartmouth, 36, the Repulse,
91, the Sylvia, 4, and the Wolverine, 2'l; six at Chatham-
the Belvidere, 51, the Bulwark, 91; the Myrmidon, 4, the
Rattlesnake, 21, the Reindeer, 17, and the Royal Oak, 91;
five at Deptford-the Columbine, 11, tho Endymion, 36,
the Favourite, 22, the Rattler, 17, and the Speedwell, 5 ;
four at Devonport-the Africa, 11, the Ister, 36, the Ocean,
91, and the Robust, 91; four at Portsmouth-the Chan-
ticleer, 17, the Dryad, 51, the Glasgow, 51, and the Royal
Alfred, 91 ; at Millwall, the Lily, 4; at Glasgow, the
Black Prince, 36; at Jarrow, New-castle-on-Tyne, the
Defence, 22 ; at Sheerness, the North Star, 22 ; at Poplar,
the Resistance, 16 ; and at Newhaven, the Tyrian gunboat.
During the last three months 11 men-of-war have been com-
pleted and launched-viz., four from Deptford-the New-
castle, 51, the Rapid, 11, the Rosario, 11, the Zebra,
17 ; from Millwall, the Eclipse, 4, and the Star, 4 ; from
Devonport, the Liverpool, 51, and the Petrel, 11; from
Chatham, the Undaunted, 51; from Blackwall, the iron-
plated frigate Warrior, 36 ; and from Plymouth, the Trin-
et& gunboat.
The screw steamship Centurion, 80, Capt. H. D. Rogers,
from Lisbon, is expected shortly at Plymouth.
The screw steam sloop Flying Fish, 6, Commander Chas.
W. Hope, was appointed to leave Hamoaze yesterday for
Plymouth Sound.
Her Majesty's paddlewheel steam yacht Black Eagle
(tender to the flagship), Master Commander John E. Petley,
sailed from Woolwich yesterday at 3 p.m. for Ostend, under
telegraphic orders from the Admiralty, to embark his Royal
Highness Prince Alfred on his return to Osborne, prepara-
tory to joining his ship the St. George, 90 guns, Capt. the
Hon. Francis Egerton, at Spithead.
Capt. Alfred P. Ryder is appointed to her Majesty's ship
Hero, vice Capt. George H. Seymour, C. 8., who is super-
seded at his own request.
Vice-Admiral the Hon. Sir Richard S. Dundas, K.C.8.,
has returned to town from Viscount Melville's seat in Scot-
land, and has resumed his duties at the Admiralty.
Rear-Admiral Lord Clarence Paget, M.P., First Secre-
tary of the Admiralty, has returned to his official residence
at the Admiralty from Wales.

THE PAB7RI EVI('TIoNs.—EXAMINA-

TION OF THE BISHOP.

The Dublin Morning News of Thursday pub-
lishes the following extraordinary report of pro-
ceedings which have been taken in the above case:
B ALLINROBE, FRIDAY NIGHT.
Considerable excitement was created here this
morning at the arrival of Bishop Plunket to give
evidence in some eviction cases from unfortunate

Partry. .•
One Matthew Lally and. Pat. Walsh were pro-
cessed -for " overholifiing" and "non-title." The
case came on. Service was proved by agent and
bailiff, when Bishop Plunket was examined by
Mr. Griffin.

Mr. Griffin—My Lord, this is cAd weather to
be turned out on the ditch side—eh ?
Bishop—Well ?
Mr. Griffin—You would not like to be driven
adrift yourself, my lord ?
Bishop—No.
Mr. Griffin—And you are after flinging on the
world in this terrific weather 70 human beings
in those unfortunate snow•covered mountains be-
yond in Partry ? But is it really for the pur-
pose of evicting those unfortunate people that you
have brought these actions ?
Bishop—Certainly. (Sensation in court.)
Mr. Griffin—ls it not, then, for non-payment of
rent ?

Bishop—No. (Sensation.)
Mr. Griffin—They owe nu rent
Bishop—l am not aware.
Mr. Griffin—Oh, ny lord, " not aware ?" Would
von not be made aware of it were they to owe you
the rent?
Bishop —Well, I suppose so,
Mr. Griffin—Thee, in'point of fact, the agent has
not reported to you any defalcation of this kind
Bishop—No.
Mr. Griffin—So that, in point of fact, the sole
object you have'in view is to evict those wretched
people, and drive them on the world ?
Bishop—Certainly. (Sensation.)
Mr. Griffin—Well, my lord, did you not evict
this unfortunate Lally More ?
Bishop—Yes, He was an exceedingly bad cha-
racter.

Mr. Griffin—Oh, bad character. Did he ever
send his children, my lord, to those famous schools
over there ?
•
Bishop—Well, I believe not.
Mr. Griffin—Ha, I thought so, my lord; and so
he is a most wicked character. Come, my lord, by
the virtue of your solemn oath, had he sent his chil-
dren to the schools would he have been ever evicted,
or would those unfortunate creatures, whose cries
and lamentations still ring in our horrified ears,
and vibrate through our frames—would they, my
lord, be now outcasts had they sent their children
to these proselytising schools ? Come now.
Bishop—Well, I solemnly swear that I never di-
rectly or indirectly, interfered with the religion of
the tenants; but my sole object was to stripe the
land, and to prevent the interference of Mr. Lavelle,
who was acting as landlord. (Fearful sensation.)
Mr. Griffin—Oh ! you never interfered, directly
or indirectly. What, then, means the establishment
of these schools at all ? What means so many Scrip-
ture readers, and lads of that kind ? What means
those constant visits amongst the tenantry, the
threats of eviction, the breaking of doors, the hid-
ing of parents ? Is all this " non-interference ?"
But you say, my lord, that your object was to
stripe the land ?
Bishop—Yes.
Here Mr. Griffin took what he called his printed
brief, and began to read out the names of the
evicted tenants whose land was already striped, but
he was interrupted.
Mr. Griffin—Well, my lord, you say it was all
for striping the land, but on looking over this
printed list (Mr. Lavelle's pamphlet), I find the
land of every single person is striped, but that of
two. How, then, could the object be to stripe the
land P—No answer. _

Mr. Griffin—Really, this is something extraordi-
nary. Well, my lord, you see the Rev. Mr. Lavelle
here ; I dare say you have no particular affection
for him.
Bishop—Well,l ha.e no greatreason. (Laughter.)
Mr. Griffin—No; he has exposed to an indignant
world the vile workings of proselytism, and canting,
and soul jobbing carried on in Partry. I believe I
am correct in stating that on his arrival in the parish
these cherished schools of yours were full up of
children.
Bishop—Yes; I believe there was a very large
number in attendance there.
Mr. Griffin—Has that number decreased since ?
Bishop—Well, yes.
Mr. Griffin—Now, my lord, by the virtue of
your oath, has not this numerous attendance of the
young Papist children of your tenantry dwindled
down to the insignificant number of three—namely,
the master, the mistress, and the Tourmakeady
piggery-boy ? (Shouts of laughter.)—No answer.
Mr. Griffin—Come now, my lord, is not that a
fact that the master, the mistress, and the piggery-
boy make up the sum total of attendance this day
at those schools ?
Bishop—Really, I don't know.
Mr. Griffin—You don't know ! Why, do you
mean, my lord, to imply that during your two years'
absence from Partry land you never made any in-
quiries about the progress of these schools ?
Bishop—Well, really, I don't know.
Mr. Griffin—l take it then as a fact that things
are as I say; and no wonder therefore that you
should cherish no feeling of special predilection for
my rev, client. But, my lord, you said you did not
interfere directly or indirectly with the religion of
your tenants—that you did not force them to send
their children to your schools— that word " force" is
rather strong, and sounds badly. But did you ever
impress your " earnest desire" on the parents that
the children should go to your schools? And did
you impress this " earnest desire" upon them at
every opportunity ?
Bishop (warmly)—l did, and will continue to do
so. (Fearful sensation in court.)
Mr. Griffin—You, a landlord of tenants-at-will, -
impress your " earnest desire" upon them that they
should send their little ones to these proselytising
schools.
Bishop—l did, and I will. (Renewed sensation.)
Mr. Griffin—Schools in which the Protestant
religion is taught to those children. Good heavens!
do I hear aright ? Are they not what are called
" Irish Church Mission Schools ?" And is it to these
schools that you would impress upon your tenantry
at every opportunity your " earnest desire" of send-
ing their unfortunate children ?
Bishop—Yes ; the Bible is read in them.
Mr. Griffin—Oh, my lord, this is fearful. Every
word of this will ring through the 2inzes, and your
lordship has got into the nmes already. Do you
perceive any real difference, my lord, between the
" earnest desire" of a landlord, such as your lord-
ship, " impressed" as it has been on his tenantry,
and the most positive command ?
Bishop—No, it is no command.
Mr. Griffin—Oh no, not in words. But, my lord,
I think, and evade it as you will, every right-minded
man breathing will pronounce it nothing less than
a most stringent command. How would you like
yourself, my lord, that one who had power of life
and death over you, would impress such an earnest
desire on you to bring up your children in the
abominations of Popery ? This is really fearful.
Above all when you bear in mind what agencies
carried out this earnest desire. But, my lord, as
you talk of the Bible, may I ask are you wellversed
in the writings of Chillingworth ? (Great merri-
ment.) •
No answer.
Mr. Griffin—Does he not define the Protestant
religion to be the Bible ? (Continued laughter.)
Here the learned barrister interfered, as Chilling-
worth had nothing to do with the case.
Mr. Griffin—Your worship, sure I only. wanted
to show, from his own admissions, that in these
schools were the young Papists of Partry crammed
down with the Protestant religion, which the illus-
trious divine has defined in one word to be nothing
more nor less than the Bible. (Roars of laughter.)
Well, sir, as I'll not be allowed to invoke Chilling-
worth, of course there can be no objection to St.
Paul. (Taking up the Bible ;, again roars of laugh-
ter.) Here now, my lord, in St. Paul to Timothy,
First Epistle, c. iii., and again to Titus—(great
laughter)—we find a description of what a good
bishop ought to be. I now beg to read the pas-
sages, and to apply the marks to your lordship,
with all due respect of course. (Objected to amid
peals of laughter.) Well, my lord, at any rate, St.
Paul, if he lived, would not be turning the people
out in the snow—pcople that owed no rent, and
merely asked leave to live, but would not gratify
that earnest desire of your lordship, and bring up
their children in your faith, according to the dog-
mas of the infallible Irish Church Mission Society.
This closed his lordship's examination, which

was listened to with alternate feelings of woncler
and amusement.

The Rev. Mr. Lavelle was then examined by D.
E. Blake, Esq.
Mr. Blake—You are the administrator of Partry ?
Mr. Lavelle—Yes.
Mr. Blake--When were you appointed ?
M. Lavelle—ln October, '5B.
Mr. Blake—l dare say you found, on your ap-
pointment, these schools, of which the world has
heard so much, full of the children of his lordship's
tenantry ?
Mr. Lavelle—l did.

Mr. Blake—You felt it your duty, as their pas-
tor, to prevent, to the best of your power, the fur-
ther attendance of the children ?
Mr. Lavelle—Of course I did.
Mr. Blake—And, in point of fact, you succeeded
in emptying the schools ?
Mr. Lavelle—Yes, they are emptied.
Mr. Blake—You heard Lord Plunket swear here,
just now, that in the recent ejectments his only aim
was to stripe the land. Now, to your knowledge, is
the land out of which the poor people have been
evicted already striped ?
Mr. Lavelle—All the land has been long since
striped, except two holdings (objected to by the
chairman as being irrelevant to the issue).
Mr, Lavelle (to the barrister)—Your worship,
Lord Plunket has made a statement inculpating
me, and justly so, if true, that I " acted as land-
lord" on his property. Now, your worship, I think
it is only justice, or at least equity (and this is as
much a court of equity as of justice)—
The Barrister (good humouredly)—Oh, no, it is
not a court of equity.
Mr. Lavelle— Well, your worship, when there is
no equity, there cannot be justice; hut putting aside
technicalities, your worship, I think it only fair I
should explain what Lord Plunket alludes to, and
puts down as a crime against me. (The barrister
nodded assent.) Well, your worship, the thing oc-
curred thus : Sometime in Oct., 1858, a large party,
consisting of some members of his lordship's family,
whom I do not wish to name, with the agent here
present, and others, collected a number of the ten-
ants one day at the schoolhouse, and required them
each separately to send their children to the school.
The tenants refused, and were on the spot told they
would be evicted. In a few days after the same mem-
bers of his lordship's family, with the same agent,
came into the village, again assembled the tenants,
and again demanded the children on pain of evic-
tion. They were a gain refused. whereupon they,
on the spot, ordered the agent to come next day
and take possession of the laud, for that Lord
Plunket would have no tenants who would not send
their children to school. Next day the agent did
come, and demanded possession according to the
threat, and I advised tne people to refuse—a thing
I would do again to-morrow under similar circum-
stances,

Mr. Blake So that, in point of fact, all your
interference was to prevent the children going to
school ?

----
Mr. Lavelle—That was my sole object ; and
were it not for the schools and the means adopted
to get children for them, I should never have
moved in the matter. _

After a few words in reference to the period of
Mr. Lavelle's giving up the house to Lally, the case
closed. Decrees were, of course, obtained against
the unfortunate creatures. The case nilled as
against Mr. Lavelle.

DISGRACEFUL GAME LAW PROSE-

CUTION.

At the Cirencester Petty Sessions, a few days
since—the magistrates present being the Rev.
Henry Cripps (chairman), and Messrs. Cripps,
Morris, and Hartland—Thomas Hall, a simple-
looking countryman, who appeared bordering on
starvation, and whose clothes hung about him in
rags, was brought up in custody, charged with
being in pursuit of game in the preserves of Earl
Bathurst.

The information was laid by King, the head
gamekeeper to Lord Bathurst, and he called a wit-
ness, who deposed that he met the prisoner at 12
o'clock at night, and went with him through the
woods in search of pheasants. Saw him shoot at
a bird which was roosting in a tree. He struck it
but did not kill it. He fired several shots at it but
with the same result.
Prisoner, on being called on for his defence, said
he was in bed in his own cottage on the night in
question, that the last witness came and knocked
him up, and asked him to go with him and shoot a
pheasant, adding that he was very " hard up," and
that he had shot a hare the evening before, and sold
it for 2s. 6d. in Cirencester, and if prisoner would
come and shoot him a pheasant, he would be very
glad. Witness was a stranger to him, and he had
never seen him before. He (prisoner) had no gun,
but the witness produced a gun and loaded it and
as they were going along the witness pointed to a
pheasant in one of the trees and asked him to shoot
it. He shot, but did not hit it, and the witness
loaded the gun three or four times for him (pri-
soner) to fire, but he killed nothing. He should
not have thought of going out if the witness had not
called him up and brought the gun and loaded it
for him.
The Chairman saidl the bench considered the
case proved. The prisoner admitted that he shot
at the pheasants. He had been convicted for
poaching in 1858, and the sentence now was
that he be 'committed to prison for three months,
and at the expiration of that time find sureties for
his good behaviour for a further period of six
months.
The prisoner was again charged with a similar
offence in shooting a rabbit in Lord Bathurst's
preserves.
King, the gamekeeper, deposed that on Sunday
afternoon he saw the prisoner and another man
going along one of the drives. They appeared as
though they were looking for game, but they were
too far off for him to see whether they had a gun
or not.
Mr. Morris inquired how it was the other man
was not included in the charge.
King replied that the other man was his witness.
The same witness was called again in corro-
boration.
He stated that he went along with the prisoner
by the side of the hedge and pointed him out a
rabbit ; the prisoner shot at it and killed it, and
afterwards put it in his pocket and went away
with it. _ _ _

Prisoner, in his defence, declared that he only
went out at the particular request of the man who
now appeared against him as a witness ; that the
witness pointed out the rabbit, which he shot, and
that the witness himself put it into his pocket and
carried it away. He (prisoner) never touched it
at all.
The magistrates were consultin g on the case, when
Mr. William Boodle, who happened to be in
court on another case, asked to be allowed to say a
few words. He did not speak as an attorney, but
as an Englishman, and he thought any man with
English feeling must feel indignant at the manner
in which this poor starving wretch had been
trapped into crime. This witness had been brought
from a distant part of the country to tempt this
poor man ; he had basely lent himself to the pur-
pose ; he had called the poor fellow out of bed,
begged as a favour that he would go with him,
had himself produced the gun and ammunition,
and was in fact the prime instigator of the offence
with which the prisoner was charged. He (Mr.
Boodle) had hoped that the system pursued by
Jonathan Wild, of first making men thieves and
then taking blood-money for their apprehension,
had been extinct in this country since that worthy
was executed. But he was sorry to find it was not so.
Mr. Boodle then asked the witness if he had a
license, and witness said " No." He then asked
him for his address ; but Mr. Bevir, the magistrates'
clerk, told him not to answer the question.
Mr. Boodle said what he had got out was quite
enough. The witness admitted having shot a hare,
and being present when the prisoner shot the
pheasant and the rabbit, and for each of these acts,
not having a license, he was liable to a penalty of
£2O. He (Mr. Boodle) would turn common infor-
mer to enforce these penalties if nobody else would.
Mr. Boodle then formally applied for an infor-
mation against the l‘itness.
The witness refused to give his address, but ad-
mitted that he had been brought up from a distant
part of the country for the express purpose of catch.
ing men as he had caught the prisoner.
An officer of Inland Revenue, who happened to
be present, backed Mr. Boodle's application, and
said he should certainly bring the matter under
the notice of the commissioners.
Mr. Boodle said he would lay the information
himself, and the revenue officer might have the
whole of the penalties, or they might be given to
objects of charity, or laid out for the benefit of the
poor victim of this man's base conduct.
After what had passed, the magistrates refused to
convict in the second case, and so great was the
excitement against the witness by the parties in
court that he had to be taken under the protection
of the police, and let out through a side loor.
Mr. Boodle raid he had never witnessed such dis-