The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-21 00:00:00

, 7'4
„ .
f-4
• / 9
• "0"c 4
t •
-
-*c7l/1 . „
, -
• -P4r 44.; ?fi
oit •
IREL AN sr.
ibt
, •
4.40 40, , $.
-sc,tv Apott7/1. 0 _
•
DUBLIN, MoNDAY.
THE IRISH CHIEF SECRETAIIySHIP.
, .

Speculating he pr ilmbiiity of Mr. Bernal
Osborne bent.; the success 1' of Mr. ElOratis4n
the office of Irish Secretary, the '.Zl'arthern Whig
observes:—
"If Mr. Bernal Osbornels to be Secretary for Irelao4
the change will be an unmixed blessing. Mr; Osbortn
is not an Irishman—and, perhape, Secrete/tick lex Iv e.
land ought to be foreigners—but he marriect Into a
Irish family, and in character he is peculiarly fitted for
political success in this country. Mr. Osborne is .bold
and frank, and in all respects the reverse of Mr. Hors-
! man, whose diplomatic cautiousness was something ttir re
than offensive, inasmuch as it is said to 14 ave deterred a
great number of gentlemen from business.' Mr. Os-
berne, not only as proprietor of large :estates in Tip.
perary, but as familiar with Irish questions in his cape.
city of aide-de-camp to a Lord Lieutenant—a position
which he long filled, we believe, to the great advantage
of Dublin society—would make an adtnirab,le Irish See
cretary. He is a Liberal of the most genuine character.
We believe that he would at once make the effort to
settle the tenant-right quest on ; and his opinions about
the Irish Church establishment are well known."
Meanwhile it appears that speculation in the case
has been at fault, and the Dublin journals now say
that the report of Mr. B.,,rsman's restnation is at
least prematur.‘. The Freeman, of this morning,
however, insists that the resignation of the Chief
Secretaryship was actually tendered' to Lord Pal-
merston, and that for a short time the office was
vacant. Hare is the story of the affair;:—
" We believe the difference between Laid Palmerston
and the member for Stroud has, fur the present, been
arranged, and that the public w;11 :have the benefit of
Mr. Horstnan's continuance in office. The. cause of
discontent, we have heard, was the protracted absence
of the Chief Secretary during a very critical period, when
his direction of the Irish elections was eyed more neces-
sary to the Government than the Jischarge of his ordi-
nary duties. Among the. very first members returned
for Enelsnd was Mr. Horstnao. It was reasonably ex-
pected that his mind, relieved from the troubles incident
to his own election, would beettractedte Iceland, where
York was greatly wanted.' But York retired to Scot-
land to look after his own affairs, leaving Irish candidat,
and Irish elections to take care of themselves. Para-
graphs in the London journals to the effect that the Irish
elections had been mismanaged ruffled the usually good
temper of Lord Palmerston, and Mr. Horsman wa a .eked
fOr an explanation. What may have transpired we know
not; but the upshot was a determination on the part of
Mr. Horsmaa to vacate his office. This resolution first
appeared in the Scotsman, and our London corres-
pondent confirmed the resignation, with the additional
fic; that Mr. Bernal 03borne was to be his suc-
cessor. However, for the present, Mr. Horsman re-
tains the office. We are not aware that his presence
could have contributed more than his absence to render
the result of the Irish elections very different. Go-
vernment was very well though quietly served by an
Irish nobleman and gentleman, both skilled in elec-
tioneering practices. We may, in justice to Lord
Carlisle, remark that the zeal attributed to him by the
Irish Tory party was far less fervent than they describe.
He was not insensible to the necessity of seeking addi-
tional support for his Government, but he did not play
the frantic tricks which Tory imagination has conjured
up in the shape of 'Viceregal canvassers thronging the
courts of justice, the public-offices, and ball-rooms,' and
200 barristers, at the very least,' issuing 'forth on a
grand scurry through the alleys of Dublin." '

[PRICE 4D. STAMPED 51)

GRIME IN IRAK CE.

At a moment when the provisions of our criminal
laware under snch anxious consideration it may con-
duce to, the edification of the public if we exhibit
some part'culars of the con iition and treatment.ef
crime in France. This we are enabled to do_ very
ciroumstantirilly by the aid of a repd•rt recently
emanating from the Ministry of Justice in that,
country'; indeed, the statistics of our neighbours
are so marvellously elaborated, and the accounts
or their various, tribunals are kept and digested
with such extreme care, that the results. b,Cerite
occasionally bewildering by their very minute-
ness; - and :it will he necessary to throw
them into s'mplec and More' general forms
to render there popularly intelligible. On the
other side of the • Channel -there are three broad'
graduations of offences—the-first and most serious
class, being brought before the Courts of Assize ;
the second before the " Correctional" Tribunals ;
and the third before the tribunals of simple police.
It will at once show the relationship in which these
classes stand to ea h. other if we state that the
number of persons implicated under the three ca-
t-geries respr,ctively were -6,480, 24363," and
510,873. Our neighbours return in these matters
the numbers not only of the offenders, but of the
cases; fie
.that a robbery, for instance, in y:hioh.
half-a-dolen teirglar3 had boen concerned -Yitu'd
figare in one column as a single example only. We
shall, not, however, refer to the latter figures, but
confine ourselves to the personal staristms exclu-
sively. The returns, it must be understood, are
for the year 1855 throughout.
The first thing that strikes us after the.gradua-
tion of offences is the classification of punishments.
'T,he sentences pronounced by the Courts of Aisize
upon those (4,857'1 of the 6,480 prisoners who
were found guilty comprise penalties diYided
into two distinct kinds, one importing afflic-
tive or degrading punishments, the other . cor-
rectional punidiments. Under the former head
are reckoned death, transportation, hard labour,
either for life or for shorter periods (travauo6foi6es),
and imprisonment when accompanieil with 'labour
or inflicted in a fortress. Of the whole number

convicted more than half (2,soo)incurredpenalti;
of this description, but it is a remarkable illustra-
tion of the difference between the French system
and our own that yvhereas 61 were sentenced to
death (though only 28 were actually executed) no
more than 20 received sentence. of transportation.
Of the rest 1,358 were condemned to hard labour
(228 for life), end 1,061 to imprisonment, of whom
21 were sent to fortresses. As a general deduction,
it is observed that the amount of crime under this
head had considerably d -dined in comparison with
the returns of former years, but forgeries and frau-
dulent bankruptcies were more numerous than in
1854. Altogether offences against property more
than doubled those against persons.
Under the succeeding category of correctional
offences the sttttistics are very curious. Here the
numbers, as might be expected, increase in propor-
tion. as the gravity of the delinquencies declines. It
will probably surprise our readers to learn that' no
fewer than 28,650 persons, were apprehended in
France during the year 1855 upon charges of
poaching and shooting without a licence ; and to
theSe ewes were added 4,443 fog violations of the
fishery laws, and 60,473 for violation of the forest
laws, though in the latter instance 'the proceedings
probably concerned the preservation, of wood rather
than of game. On the other hand, the offences
(we are here computing charges, not convic-
tiens) against the laws and regulations on
Customs, indirect taxes, and octrots, were only
3,086 'in number, while those arising from the
adulteration of goods and the employment of false
weights and measures were as- many as 10,698.
Distinctions again appear drawn not only from
the nature of the crimes themselves, but from the
persons against whom they are committed. Thus,
outrages and violence to public functionaries are
.separated from ordinary cases of that kind, and
" offences against religion and outrages of monsters
of religion" constitute a class of themselves. The
numbers in the former case are 7;150; in the latter
274. The general lightnes4, however, of the offences
proved tinder this head is shown. by the sentences
recorded. As many as 122,438 were dismissed with
fine only, and 76,765 were imprisoned for termsshort
of a twelvemonth. The highest penalty inflicted by
the Correctional Courts seems to be incarceration
for a year or upwards, and it IS remarked that the
number sentenced to this punishment (11,661),
though not a very large proportion out of 234,363,
is somewhat in excess of former years. In only
two specific offences, however, is the number of
offenders returned as greater than in 1854, and
these are the adulteration of goods and the employ-
ment of postage' stamps previously used and de-
faced. Of the third class of delinqnencierbrought
within the cog,nisance of simple police courts very
little need be said. The persons implicated were,
of course, very many—no fewer than 510,873, but
in. 449,484 of the cases the ends of justice were
thought to be attained by the infliction of a fine.
In proceeding to the, generalities of these statis-
tics we Shalt discover some remarkable results,
especially in comparing the sentences of imprison;
ment with those of transportation. The whole
number of the former in the year 1855 was not
much short of 100,000 (93,152), including those of
hard labour. Twenty criminals only, as we
have said, were left for transportation, and the
returns of the previous year were more singular
still, for in • that period one 'offender only was
ordered to be transported, though 79 received
sentence of death. Moreover, although upwards
of half of those sentenced to death in 1855 re-
ceived a 'commutation of punishment, it was in
every case to hard labour or imprisonment for life,
and not to transportation ; so that under the. French
code incarceration with labour represents the next
penalty to the guillotine. It is observed that
capital punishments, though fewer in 1855 than in
1854, when they were 42 in number, show an in-
crease over the years 1851 and 1853, when they
were only 11 and 12 respectively. In 1852 they
were 26. Of the 28 who suffered in 1855 as
many as 19 had committed murder sipsply as a
prelude to robbery. With respect to the degree of
education discernible in the higher class of of-
fenders it is said that of the 6,480 persons
chat ged under the first category 306 had received
superior instruction, 880 could read and write
well, 2,486 had been imperfectly taught in these
respects, and 2,808 were completely illiterate. In
the second class of offences it is remarked that the
criminality of women had increased, and bad shown
a similar tendency in preceding, years—an explaua-

THE COLLIERY EXPLOSION: AND LOSS OP
FIVE LIVES AT STOCKPORT.

The adjourned inquiry into the circumstances
which led to the explosion of the fire damp in the
Bradbury New Pit, near this town, took place
on Monday morning, at the Rising Sun Inn,
Bredbury.' The men were at work as usual
on Thursday,: the 9th instant, and when they
left they noticed nothing that induced them to sup-
pose that the air in the pit was bad. The follow-
ing day being Good Friday they did not work, but
they resume i at the usual hour on Saturday morn-
iug, the 11th instant. At six o'clock on that morn-
ing they assembled at the mouth of the pit and.
were let down in the "cage 4 " and it appears that
Samuel Platt proceeded with his work in No.
level with an exposed candle. The statements on.
this point differed. Some of the colliers who were
in the pit asserted that he was working with a
naked candle, without any lamp whatever. Platt's
own s•aternent is that he had a lamp; but that after
he had about half-filled his first waggon-load of coal,
he removed the top of it, and th tt the explosion
immediately took place. 'lt appeared. that the men
had been down in the pit from half to three quar-
ters of an hour, making it nearly 7 o'clock, when
they were startled by a terrific explosion in the No,
7 level. The report was also beard for some dis-
tance outside the pit, and brought many-persons to
the spot. 'Heathcote, oue of the cbunty constabu-
lary force, who lives about 100 yards from the
Mouth of the shaft, was awoke by the report and by
the shock, the.noise being like that produced by an
extensive blast. The colliers ill the pit knew at
once what had occurred, and they immediately corn-
menced groping their way to the mouth of the shaft.
Platt, being in the level where the explosion oc-
curred, was frightfully burnt by the ignited air,
which was wafted along the various workings.
NeverthelesQ, he contrived to reach the month of
the shaft. The dense sulphurous vapours which fol-
lowed upon the exeks'on so filled the pit, that the
operations of the' men who were engaged in res-
cuing the sufferers were stopped. Toe apparatus
for the ventilation of the pit had been blown down
by the explosion ; and the air had to be purified,
an operation which occupied more than two hours.
At the expiration. of that time, about' half-past 10
o'clock, the bodies of Howarth and his sons were
brought to the surface. The father breathed once
afterward; but the sons were quite dead. The
former with one of his sons appeared to have been
suffocated by the sulphurous vapour, but the second
son was frightfully knocked about and disfigured.
The jury returned the following verdict ::"W are
of opinion that the five deceased met with their
deaths by accident; but we wish, tbrough the
coroner, to call the attention of the proprietors to.:
the ventilation, which we consider defective, an 1
we hope that in future it will be better attended to."

•
THE .RUSSIAN RAI tWAY ROBBERY
SCHEME.

The introduction of the Russian Railway scheme
has been attended by some revelations which
perhaps will not surpri'e the public, except in so far
as they show a want of that adroit management
expected from the well-practised contiuentel
financiers and speculators who have committed
themselves to its success. That every effort would
be made to drive the shares to a premium, before
the date of allotment was scarcely to be doubted,
but, looking at the extraordinary facilities afforded,
by a combination which includes most of the prin-
cipal operators on the European Bourses, it was
considered improbable that the opinion onthis point
would ever be allowed to assume any form beyond
that of a general inference. It appears, however,
that facts have already transpired which among
prudent minds will impart to the matter miich of
the force of certainty. Of course, it is always pos-
sible for the concoctors of companies, by seeking to
buy shares in anticipation of the allotment, to send
them to a premium sufficieet to render them at-
tractive to the public, and to induce a flood of
applications, and the process becomes more easy in
proportion to the number of European markets
open for de dings in them, as the electric telegraph
ihstantly communicates to all the effect produced
upon any one. Under these circumstances most of
the respectable dealers in the London Stock Ex-
change have resolved to exercise great caution with
respect to the present scheme, and to refuse to
enter into transactions previously to the rvgular
issue of the shares. How far this resolution is ne-
cessary may be judged by the following facts' :—A
respectable stockbroker's firm having received an
order from a Protestant clergyman at Brtissels to
invest 20,0001. in Russian Railway shares, deemed
it expedient to make impfiry, and found that'their
client the clergyman was not the principal in the
transaction, but had sent the order in his own name
to oblige a very rich and influential friend in that
capital. A further developement remains. Having
mentioned the circumstance to a friend, they ascer-
tained that another order for the purchase of 20,000/.
had been transmitted by a clergyman through a
mercantile house. Their first impression was that it
must have been the same individual in each 'Cale.
On inquiry, however, they gathered that in this in-
stance it was an English clergyman, although the
resemblance was Will perfect, since that gentleman.
also has since admitted that he was acting merely
as an agent. Thus the matter stands. The in.
quiries for the shares consequent, apparently, on
these devices has had the effect of tempting rime
few of the dealers to make a price for them to-
day of IF to 1 premium. It will be for the pub-
lic to judge the value of such quotations. The
whole story seems almost incredible, but in case
any denial of it should be hazarded, those from
whom it proceeds will, it is said, be found ready
partioular.—Tintea
to
City it in every

tion of which fact is tendere-cf in a remark that
women are now more frequently prosecuted for
commercial frauds than formerly, and are, more-
over, impelled to mendicity (one of the delinquen-
cies pertaining to this category) as well as robbery
by the excesAive prices of food. In the case of very
young prisoners extenuation is admitted, for in the
first class of offenders 45, and in the second, 4,068,
" being children of less than 16, were acquitted as
having acted without discernment," though in the
former instance all, and in the latter more than
half, were sent to penitentiaries or houses of cor-
rection. How far this policy was followed by per-
manent amendment we do not learn, but of the
whole number of persons (240,843) tried before the
two high r Courts we are toldtbat 38,771 had been
previously convicted, and—what is more—that the
number of such cases was increasing. Upon the
whole, however, Vie aspect of these affairs in
France is considered both satisfactory and promis-
ing,-and our readers will probably be able to make
an interesting application of such clear statistics to
the questions before us at home.—Times.

NEW BISHO.PRIO FOE NEW Z
the Colonies,
agbivoeun-
chere, the Secretary of State for Colonies, h
his consent for the immediate creation of another
bishopric in New Zealand, to include the provinces of
Wellington and Nelson. The right hon. gentleman has
nominated the Venerable Archdeacon Hadfield to the
new bishopric.
THE CASE OF BACON AND HIS WIFE.—It is understood
that the two prisoners will be jointly tried for the mur-
der of their children, and that in such case the state-
ment of the wife that her husband committed the murder
may be used as evidence against herself. It is expected
that a joint defence will be made, and that this defence
will be that the act of murder was committed by Mrs.
Bacon while in an unsound state of mind, and that she
is consequently not criminally responsible, and that the
husband had nothing whatever to do with the same. If
this defence should be successful, and Bacon should be
acquitted, he will then be removed to the country to
take his trial at the summer assizes for the murder of
his mother. It appears that since the committal of the
prisoners they have both been in a very low desponding
way, I articularly Bacon himself, and they are never left
alone, six additional turnkeys being employed, three
women and three men to watch them, two during the
night, and one during the day.
[ADVERTISEMENT].—Kidneys, Bladder, and Prostrate Glands
—their complications, Diabetes Albuminuria, or Brights
Disease, &c.—their connexion with the Stomach, Liver, &e.,
and intimate association with 'the Ganglionic, or groat cen-
tral or solar plexus of nerves, by Dr. Denis Cronin, price 2s
" To a sound theoretical knowledge of the painful and die•
tressiug diseases on which he writes, Dr. Cronin adds the ex-
, perieuce derived from a large and successful practice."
" News." Smith and Son, 52, Long Acre.

THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES CONVENTION.—Our
readers need not be told that we condemned the New.
foundland Fishery Treaty as an act of gross injustice to
our and of gratuitous surrender of their inte•
rests colonists,tstotheFrench. We are happy to be able tome
nounce that the treaty has been abandoned by tiliiirt4o
nial-office. Whether this resolution bas been 444 ih
consequence of its rejection at St. John's, or from the
representations of its injurious effects made at home, it
is not, perhaps, for us to say. The fact is so, and we.
congratulate all those interested in this important brae&
of colonial industry upon Mr. Diboucheree determine
Um—Shipping aggftte..