The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-09 00:00:00

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
SOUTHAMPTON, Friday Morning.

Wind S.W., rain,

Arrived.—Polymena, from Hamburg ; Ondine, steamer,
from Dublin; Delight, from Seaham; Ocean, from New-
castle; Henry, from Swansea • Ann, from Portsmouth.
Sailed.—"Vectis, for Leith ; .J. P. Taylor, for Glasgow ;
Atalanta, steamer, for Jersey ; Ondine, steamer, for Lon-
don; Astrea, for Cardiff.
LIVERPOOL, Friday Morning.

Wind W.

Arrived.—Simonds, from Akyab ; American Union and
Baltic, from St. John's, New Brunswick : Compromise,
from Miramichi

Sailed.—Roderick Dhu, for Rio Janeiro ; Wilton Wood,
[or River Plate.

(BY SUBMARINE AND BRITISH TELEGRAPH.)
GRAVESEND, Friday Morning.
Wind W. ; tide 21 hours' flood • weather fine.
Arrived, Sept. B.—Hercules, from Archangel ; Loden
Celia, from Porto Rico ; Susan Dixon, from St. Peters-
burg; Hope On, from Leghorn; Augusta, from Memel;
Minna, from Archangel; Marthine, from Pngwash ; Roman,
from Riga ; Concordia, from Rotterdam.
Arrived, Sept. 9.—Dannebrog, from Cronstadt ; Morn-
ingtoa, from Hamburg ; Alfred and Mary, from Faro
Isles ; General Wyndham, from Demerara ; Berbidor, from
St. Petersburg ; Matilda Wattenback, from Bombay ;
Brow Diewke, from Wormun ' • Eleanore, from Memel ;
Ninue, from St. Petersburg; Catharine, from St. Peters-
burg ; Vanessa, from Cronstadt ; Anna, from Dantsic.
Sailed, Sept. 9—Surrey, for Calcutta; Victoria Regina,
for Sydney.

DEAL, Friday Morning.

Wind S.W., strong.
Anchored—Selina, from London, for Port Natal; Susan-
nah, from London, for Havre ; Madeira Pet, from London,
for Guernsey ; Antonio Maria, from Shields, for Leghorn.
Sailed—Galilee, French war steamer, for Dunkirk.

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.—The renewal of the
lease of this theatre was yesterday signed by the solicitors
of the committee of management and Mr. E. T. Smith, the
present lessee, for the term of eight years, at an advanced
rental of £4,500 per annum, and £l,OOO premium.
THE MEDITERRANEAN. MALTA, SEPT. 3.
By the last mail from England, orders most unexpectedly
came for the immediate return of Sir J. Pennefather to
England, to assume the command of the northern district,
and that the command of the troops would be for the future
vested in the Governor, making Malta a Military command,
as it was before the appointment of Mr. O'Ferrall as civil
governor ; and that Sir Gaspard Lechonhart was promoted
to the local rank of lieutenant-general. During Sir John
Pennefather's command he has made himself very popular,
and directly it became known, steps were taken to present
Lady Pennefather with a piece of plate previous to her
quitting Malta.
THE MUTINOUS SEAMEN OF THE MARLBOROGB.
—On Saturday morning the condemned sailors were brought
up for the infliction of the flogging part of their punish-
ment, when they proved to be so much the worse for
liquor, supplied to them surreptitiously, as we understand,
by some of their shipmates, that the punishment had to be
pastponed. On Monday morning, at half-past seven o'clock,
they received on board the Marlborough the number of
stripes awarded them by the court, and a few minutes after-
wards (we trust after their backs had been dressed, for
blood was visible on their shirts), were conveyed on board
half
-past
sametroo pship Urgent, which vessel left at
morning
for Portsmoth, having
on board other fourteen military and naval convicts, eight
maniacs, a number of invalids, women and children, and
others.—Malta Times.
CONFESSION OF THE LEEDS MURDER.—The pri-
soner Charles Normington, the evidence against whom we
have already reported, made a statement to Mr. English,
chief constable of Leeds, after the examination on Tuesday.
As already reported, Normington said, as he passed through
the crowd in the corridor, that " he would tell all about it
before he had done with it ;" and when he got into the
police office he called Mr. English aside, and said he had
something to communicate. Mr. English called in two
clerks, and there was also pi esent Mr. Barr, clerk to the
magistrates. The prisoner then volunteerel a confession
of some length. After giving an account of his being
in company with another man, whom he fully de-
scribes, he states that the murderous blows were not
w
struck by himself but by his companion ; that he was then
distant from Mr. Broughton a number of yards, and that
aguftett, rt thefor
tahtteacsktiohkewriteh wfusehdieh to travelthe blows in company
ere
struwictkh
was
pal" again. This is tantamount to a confession of his own
his own, and he is found dealing with the t* k t pawn e imme-
diately afterwards, or rather the same evening. Mr. Eng-
lish subsequently gave a description of the second man to
Mr. Superintendent Pollard of the West Riding police, who
at once proceeded to 'Wakefield and saw Colonel Cobbe, the
chief constable of the West Riding, in relation to the sub-
ject. We may add that the evidence against the second man
is very strong, and that he is expected to be speedily car"
tured.—Manchester Guardian.
DEATH FROM FOUL AIR IN A WELL.—Yester-
day afternoon great excitement prevailed in the neighbour-
hood of Walworth-common, in consequence of a report that
several persons had been suffocated in a well upon the pre-
mises of Mr. Wood, proprietor of the Havelock ormen. busoesn,
which run from Camberwell-gate to c
tahat Kir. Willi
inquiry on the spot, it was ascertained
am
Plummor, aged 28 years, of the Albany-road, Camberwell,
an engineer, who had been engaged
__
-c utting in the superintendence
of the fitting-up of a steam
chaff-cutting
his life bymachine,which he
had sold to Mr. Wood, hadlost suffocation,
through foul air in a well, which he had volunteered to
.de-
scend for the purpose of stopping a leak. His brother,
John Plummer, aged 20 years, and four other persons,
three of whom
were in the employ of Wood, had narrowly
escaped with their lives, having suffered severe injuries in
their attempts to rescue the deceased. From the latest in-
uiries, it had been ascertained that John Plummer is still
in a serious condition, but the othermen are in a fair way of
reeovery.
THE CORONER IN A Fix.—Some weeks since,
as Mr. Fry, the coroner, was holding an inquest on an
Irishman, named M'Clancy, at Congresbury, three jury-
men, all named George Baker, appeared on the panel.
Senior and junior might do very well, but then about the
third George Baker. A moment's thought allowed him to
designate them Geo. Ist, Geo.2d, and Geo. 3d, when George
Baker, the witty foreman, assured him that George the 4th
was expected to arrive shortly.—. Bath Chroniele.

CO UR TOF CRIMINAL APPEIL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY NEWS.
Sir,-It is now a period of three years since I ad-
dressed the public, through the medium of your
journal, on the subject of a grave defect in our cri-
minal imispradence. A long familiarity with
courts of law, and with the machinery to which we
resort for the detection and punishment of crime, as
well as ferthe establishment of innocence when ex-
posed to unjust accu.sation, had previously impressed
me strongly with a conviction of this defect ; and I
had endeavoured, both by published writings, and
in the discharge of my judicial duties as a Recorder,
to arouse public attention to it. Tie defect of
which I speak is the want of a supreme judicial tri-
bunal wherein the issue of criminal trials may. be
re-considered in the event of fresh evidence coming
to light after the verdict, or of the verdict itself not
according with the evidence, or of circumstances
generally transpiring which may render desirable a
review of the proceedings. At the period of which
I speak—namely, in 1856—three foreigners were
tried and condemned for murder at Winchester.
The youngest of these, a youth of 18, solemnly pro-
tested his innocence; his was not the hand which
dealt the fatal blow, and one of the elder prisoners
protested from the first that he himself was guilty,
but that his younger companion had acted, entirely
under his compulsion, on fear of personal violence to
himself. This doubtless in a felonions act would be
no justification whatever generally ; but neverthe-
less it may be taken as a mitigating circumstance, as
the French law calls it, " one circonstance attenu-
ante " in awarding punishment. The authorities
of the gaol, and especially the humane chaplain, ad-
dressed themselves to the Heme-office with a view of
obtaining a reprieve for the young man; the day of
_ execution was rapidly approaching ; the Assizes on
the Western Circuit had been somewhat protracted.
The month of August had arrived, and the Secre-
tary of State was not in London. A formal ,reply
was received from the Under Secretary, and the
law was left to take its course. I contended in the
letter I addressed to you on that occasion that had
there been a Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal,
this young man's life would most probably have
been spared. I mentioned at the same time
another case which had occurred not long pre-
viously, where a poor woman, exasperated by a
long course of brutal usage, of personal violence,
and of threats, took at last a deadly revenge upon
her husband, and expiated her guilt upon the
scaffold.
The case of Dr. Smethurst, unfortunate as it
may be in giving a shock to the administration of
justice under the present imperfection of its fabric,
is most fortunate, as more powerfully than ten
thousand arguments, it must certainly lead at the
first possible opportunity to an alteration in the
law. Far be it from me to impugn the wisdom,
sagacity, upright intentions, and sense of justice
which animate the able men who preside over the
Home-office, both in the capacity of Secretary or
Under-Secretaries. What I maintain is, that no
single individual, however eminent his talents or ex-
alted his position, ought to be charged with the
gravest of all responsibilities, namely, that of
deciding on the life of a fellow-creature. What
are to be the data of such decision ? The
notes of the judge who tried the cause, and
who naturally must be biassed in favour of his
own opinion, or the brief of the counsel for the
prosecution, who can seldom be expected to enter-
tain the most favourable views towards a prisoner.
No wonder that with such materials fer a calm re-
consideration of the question the Secretary of
State, even if he were a jurist, which is not always
the case, should be distracted and torn asunder
with difficulties and doubts. I have seen it sug-
gested that such a tribunal as I have advocated
should belong equally to the accuser as to the ac-
cused. God forbid that that sacred principle of
our law, " Nemo bis vexari debet pro eadem
taus'," should ever be infringed. Better that a hun-
dred guilty persons escape than that the liberties
of men should thus be jeopardised, and that perse-
cution should stand in the place of prosecution. But,
exclaim the opponents of criminal appeal in cases
of conviction, the prerogative of the Crown will be
interfered with. Never in the annals of our history
has the prerogative of mercy rested in better or
purer hands than it does now; but there is a regal
qualification, higher than even that of mercy—
namely, justice, to which the meanest and most
humble of her Majesty's subjects has a right. If a
prisoner has been unjustly condemned, to offer him
a pardon can never cancel that injustice, for a par-
don is of grace ; his claim is of justice, as a debt.
This difficulty will, doubtless, be sorely felt at the
present. time ; for, if Miss Bankes died a natural
death, the " corpus delicti," as we lawyers term it,
fails, and Dr. Smethurst is entitled, as of right, to
his discharge. But, it will be urged that, if a supreme
tribunal be erected, the authority of juries will be
impairedrand they will not be so careful in future to
arrive at a correct conclusion when they know that
their decision is not always final and conclusive.
The common feeling and experience of human nature
rather point to the other side. Never are men so
anxious to discharge their duty faithfully to society.
and -to their fellow- men as when their actions and
conduct are directly responsible to others, and when
they are sensible that the judgment they have passed
is liable to be reversed. On the other hand, there
would be this security in the knowledge of the pos-
sibility of ulterior discussion, that in very grave
offences submitted to them, they would not be so
disposed to go out of their way in favour of acquit-
tal, almost against their conscience, as they would
be if they felt that their decision could not be re-
voked. The last objection I shall mention to a
court of criminal appeal is, that it would give the
rich man an undue advantage over the poor man.
This objection might prevail in countries where
venality and corruption exist; but in our own land,
of which one of the highest beasts is its unsullied
and purely-intentioned administration of justice, the
voice of public opinion would denounce and over-
whelm any attempt, if such should be made, to
blacken and defile its source ; while a generous
hand would always be held out to extricate the
• needy and friendless, if innocent, from the conse-
quences of a wrongful conviction.
It only remains to consider what form of tribunal
would best answer the required purpose ; and here
we cannot do better than resort to that wonderful
monument of genius and wisdom, the Code Napo-
leon, for our model. The Cour de Cassation in
France presents in its form of structure the simplest
and most admirable institution of ultimate appeal,
implying by its name that it breaks to pieces and
annalsthejudgment of the inferior court. Unlike the
appellatejurisdiction proposed by Mr. M'Mahon in
the session of Parliament just terminated, whereby
a strained.analogy was sought to be enforced be-
tween criminal and civil causes, and an appeal was
given to the ordinary and permanent judicature of
the Court of Queen's Bench, the Cour de Cassation
is composed of two distinct courts, an inner and an
outer, the judges of which sit by rotation, except the
President, giving their assistance at fixed intervals
in each court. The Cour de Cessation in neither
of ,its departments investigates facts, but its
functions are to see that the law has been properly
admininistered the court below, and that the facts
rag already elicited justify the sentence. If the
(Alter or preliminary tribunal (the French name
I do not recollect at this moment), composed
as it is of several judges, considers that
suffi:cient grounds have been established for
re-opening the judgment, the case is remit-
ted tce, the inner and superior court, where it is
dealt ss-ith in the last instance. In almost all cases
where We judgment is not confirmed, a new trial is
ordered .to take place, but never before the same
tribunal where it first occurred. In France the
Institution of the Cour de Cessation is one attended
with considerable expense. The judges composing
it 'receive salaries large for France, but not as com-
pared with those paid to the judges of the English
superior courts.
Aids country the establishment of a court of
eruninitl, appeal need not be attended with any ex-
pense at all. The fifteen judges might sit in rota-
tion, in such
aon e court de Cessation
d bl as the Cour
without aniningt,,
England
of their salaries, the Lord Chief
Justice of being perpetual president of this
high tribunal., and without any great apprehension
that their labours would be much increased.. _ The
sitting of the present Court of Appeal in matters of
law justify no such apprehension. But, even if we
did not constitute a court after the model of the
French Cour de Cassation, the
Powers of the ex-
isting Court of Appeal might be extended and en-
larged, so as to embrace the functions now defec-
tively devolving upon the Home-office.
Whatever
be the court established, not the least of its duties
-would be to award public compensation to persons
and whose innocence should
'wrongfully convicted,
be afterwards satisfactorily made out.
Closely alongside the question of a court of cri-
n tinaq appeal lies that of a public prosecutor—a re•
y limn:Cent more clearly manifested than ever by the
do lective and doubtful character of the medical_efvi-
de lice on ti:e late trial. Although the demand oir
stn. Ii an officiel has been latterly loud and genez
and frequent failure of justice ensues from e
pnesdu it system, yz4 session after session is allowed
to NA 4 by, and not one of the law officers of the
crown: much less private members thirsting for dis-
tinction , either has leisure or thinks it worth his
while to deserve the thanks of the country by the
intsodueL ion of a measure for the appointment of a
public pro, secutor. While energy and oratory are
squatidered , on a turnpike act or a gas bill, improve-
ments which concern the lives and liberties of our
fellovs.subie s,
L lying athwart the path of our sena-
tors, are Zeck: I. aside and neglected.
There is rise d, 'epartment of justice, voted at least
two years ago un, anx=iously by the House of Com-
mons, sun the sub.l 'ect of discussion, perhaps result-