The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-08 00:00:00

those batteries had been made the rebellion was raging in
India, and that there was no prospect of its being imme-
diately quelled. Now, however, that India lay prostrate at
our feet and that her financial embarrassments were so great,
it was, he thought, highly inexpedient to encumber her
with an additional force of 3,000 men, who would be obliged
to go into cantonments and would be insufficiently pro-
vided with barrack accommodation. (Hear, hear.)
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY thought great care should be
taken not to throw any unnecessary expense on the finances
of India.
Sir DE L. EVANS wished to know what was the date
of the requisition which had been referred to. For his own
part, he was of opinion that even one-half of the 12 batteries
in question ought not to be sent out to India. (Hear, hear.)
Nobody who was acquainted with the subject could for-
one moment doubt the efficiency of the artillery employed
by the East India Company, to the admirable quality of
which both the late Lord Hardinge and Sir C. Napier had.
borne testimony. He could not help thinking under those
circumstances that there were strong objections to the dis-
continuance of the local artillery in India. (General Peel.
—" Nobody proposes to do that.") He was under the im-
pression that it was proposed to discontinue the European
artillery now in India, and if he were right in that view he
should beg the gallant general to bear in mind that any
artillery force which might ba sent out from England to-
supply its place must for a time be comparatively inefficient,.
owing to the non-acquaintance of the officers and men with.
the language and habits of the natives. He might also ob- -
serve that during the recent rebellion 400 pieces of cannon
and about 1,000,000 stand of arms had been taken from the
enemy, that 800 forts had been destroyed—so that the fact,
in reality was that the artillery in India was in excess of
what was required. That being so, it would, he thought,
be a most unwise proceeding at a moment when the aspect
of Europe was so ominous to send out even the reduced
number of 36 guns, as he understood was now proposed.
For his own part, he strongly objected to the diminution of
the artillery force in this country by even a single gun.
(hear, hear), and he should suggest the expediency of post-
poning compliance with the requisition of the Indian Go-
vernment on the subject until the report of the commio-
sioners on army organisation had been received and cons i-
dered. (Hear.) If her Majesty's Ministers were to act
otherwise, and carry out their present intention, he must
say that they would, in his opinion, commit a great blun-
der. Having said thus much on that point, he might be
permitted to draw the attention of the Government to the
circumstance that the policy of establishing, at a great ex-
pense, an iron foundry at Woolwich for the manufactinv of
large cannon was open to much doubt. There was a ( ;on-
siderable number of similar establishments in the cow atry
which furnished excellent cannon of that description at a
fair price, and, besides, there was a large number of t hose
guns in store. The foundry to which he alluded was,
therefore, unnecessary, and he should suggest that in: stead
of being maintained for the present purpose, at an expense
of £150,000, it should be handed over to the use of Sir W.
Armstrong. (Hear, hear.)
Lord STANLEY said he thought some misapprehension
prevailed as to the reason why it was in contemplation to
send out the artillery in question to India. It seemed to
be supposed that it was intended to send it out as a force in
excess of that which had existed in that country before the
mutiny. Such, however, was not the case. The fact was,
that a large portion of the native artillery of Bengal had
mutinied during the recent outbreak. A deficiency had
therefore been created in that province in that particular
arm of the service, and in August last Lord Canning had
written home a statement of his opinions as to what ought.
to be the amount of the artillery force which sl iould be
maintained in India. Now, if there was one point in refer-
ence to which there was a greater concurrence of opinion
among military authorities both at home and in In dia than
another, that point was that the great bulk of the artillery
in that country should be European, and not native. It was
necessary to fill up the void caused by the destruction of
the native artillery of Bengal. There was no question that
that would be filled up by Europeans, but there was a ques-
tion whether it should be supplied by a local European ar-
tillery or by a reinforcement of the artillery of the. line. So
far from prejudging the report of the commission the course
which was pursued had been expressly intended to avoid
Prejudging the matter. There was already a certain amount
of the Royal Artillery serving in India, and to increase the
force to some extent was not at all introducing a new prin-
ciple, and the only question was whether the addition should
be local or Royal Artillery, or how much of each. Pending
the report of the commission it was determined in a manner
to compromise the matter, and to supply the immediate and
at that time pressing demand of the Indian Government
by sending out a nearly equal proportion of artillery
of the line. Since that time, however, the state
of India had so improved beyond what could have
been expected in August last, and the military
condition of India was very satisfactory, while, he regretted
to say, the financial condition was just the contrary. For
both these reasons the Government had determined, al.
though their decision had not yet been announced to the
Indian Government, to reduce the number of artillery to be
sent out by one half. With respect to the guns, he might
observe that they were not to be sent out. The guns were
in India and would be handed over to the troops on arrival
in that country.
Sir DE L. EVANS asked the date of the requisition.
Lord STANLEY said it was a minute of the Governor-
General, dated in August last.
Sir E. PERRY had heard with the deepest regret that
the noble lord did not intend to comply with what was the
real requisition of the Governor-General—viz, to recruit
the local European Artillery from this country. (Hear,
hear.) It was quite true that a large portion of the native
artillery mutinied and had disappeared, but the officers still
remained. (Hear.) If six batteries of Royal Artillery
were sent out the officers would, of course, accompany their
men, and thus an additional and unnecessary charge would
be imposed upon the finances of India, besides which the
younger officers sent out would pass over the heads of the
older officers of the native artillery and stop their promo-
tion. (Hear, hear.)
Lord STANLEY observed that even if the 12 batteries
originally intended had been sent out the force of artillery
in India would still be below the usual amount before the
rebellion.
Colonel SYKES reminded the noble lord that the void
caused in,the Bengal army by the destruction of the native
artillery had been already supplied. He hoped for the sake
of the finances of India that the Government would not
persevere in their intention.
Sir DE L. EVANS wished to hear the opinion of the
right hon. and gallant general on the Treasury bench.
General PEEL hoped that he should be able to lay upon
the table of the house before its prorogation the report of
the commission on the re-organisation of the army in India.
(Hear, hear.) IHe thought it would not be right to prejudge
the question by entering into details before they had seen
the report. (Hear, hear.) With respect to the hon. and
gallant general's proposition to hand the Woolwich gun-
factory to Sir W. Armstrong he (General Peel) could not
give his assent. So far from there being an excess of guns
on hand, he could assure the committee that requisitions
for 68-pounders from many of our most important garrisons
still remained unfulfilled.

Sir DE L. EVANS thought the Government was prac-
tically prejudging the question by sending out artillery
before the report of the commission had been presented.
(Hear.) The requisition of the Governor-General was
made in August, when India was in the midst of a fearful
struggle, and the Government were now going to comply
with it to the extent of one half when the war had corn-
pletely ceased. There were some persons who desired to
get rid of the local force altogether, and the public could not
help thinking the Government must have some other rea-
sons for the course they were taking than those which had
been stated.

General PEEL thought the hon. and gallant member had
no right to impute improper motives to the Government.
Let the gallant general wait until he saw the report of the
commissioners before he accused the Government of acting
in defiance of it. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. KINNAIRD wished to know what was to be done
with the officers of the late Bengal Native Artillery ?
Lord STANLEY was not aware that there was at pre-
sent any considerable number of unemployed officers. He
apprehended that most of the officers referred to had found
employment, some in the new levies and some in civil
employ.

Col. FRENCH asked whether it was intended to break
up the fine artillery service of the late East India Company.
General PEEL replied in the negative.
Sir E. PERRY appealed to the Government to suspend
their order for the embarkation of the six batteries until the
whole question had been considered and decided.
The vote was then agreed to ; the CHAIRMAN reported
progress, and the house resumed.

MEDICAL ACT (1858) AMENDMENT BILL.
The Lords' amendments to this bill were taken into con-
siderable, and some of them agreed to and others dis-
agreed to.
TRAMWAYS (IRELAND) BILL.
This bill was read a third time and passed.
SUPERANUATION BILL.
This bill was read a third time and passed.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPPLEMENTAL BILL.
• This bill was read a second time.
PAUPERS MAINTENANCE BILL.
This bill was read a second time.

NAVAL MEDICAL SUPPLEMENTAL FUND
SOCIETY ANNUITIES &•., ACT CONTINUANCE

BHA
This bill also was read a second time.
EVIDENCE BY COMMISSION BILL.

The Lords' amendments to this bill were considered and
agreed to.
RAILWAY TICKET TRANSFER BILL.

This bill was read a second time.
POOR RELIEF (IRELAND) ACT AMENDMENT
BILL.

The order for the resumption of the adjourned debate on
the second reading of this bill was read and discharged, and
the bill was withdrawn.

NEWSPAPERS, &c., BILL.
The house having gone into committee on this bill,
Mr. S. ESTCOURT said that the provisions of the
several statutes which it was intended to repeal might be
divided into two classes—those which referred to security,
and those which provided for registration. The Solicitor-
General had on a previous evening stated that he was per-
fectly ready to agTee to the repeal of the statutes, or parts
of statutes, which referred to security. With regard to
registration, all persons were agreed that it should only be
maintained so far as it protected the public against the pub-
lication of blasphemous, indecent, slanderous, or libellous
matter ; and that all provisions referring to special circum-
stances, such as those directed against Jacobins, which had
now become obsolete, should be repealed. He was, there-
fore, prepared to propose to the hon. member for the Tower
Hamlets that this bill should be withdrawn, and that
during the recess the Government would consider the
matter, and would in the next session of Parliament pro-•
prose or agree to the repeal of all Acts or parts of Acts
which were not essential to the protection of the public
against publications which all admitted to be centre tones
mores, and pernicious to public morals.;
Mr. E JAMES said that the only security required by
the public was that which was provided for by the 6th and
7th of William IV., chap. 76, which rendered necessary
registration, and that the name of the printer should be
printed upon every newspaper, and he suggested that
appending the name of the printer to each publication
would be amply sufficient. In all cases of criminal infor-
mations he was the party who was made amenable and re-
sponsible.
Mr. M. GIBSON said there was nothing novel in the
proposition before the house. In 1855 the right hon. mem-
ber for Oxford University proposed a bill, with the consent
of the then Government, to abolish the security and re-
gistration required of newspapers. No rule should be
applied to newspapers that was not to be applied to all
other publications.
Mr. AYRTON said that, after the offer which had been
made to him by the Home Secretary, he would not press
the bill further.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL observed that all parties
were agreed that tho statutes which required security to be
given ought to be repealed, and that those which required
the printer's name to be attached should be retained. The
only point for consideration was, whether the law which
required newspapers to be registered at Somerset-house
ought to be repealed or not. He admitted that there were
no means of enforcing that law ; but, on the other hand,
it wa possible to provide goo better MOBS of registzatioa•

The hon. and learned gentleman concluded by movin g that
the chairman should leave the chair, which, he said, would
terminate the bill for the present session.
The motion was agreed to, and the bill acco)rdingly
allowed to drop.
COMBINATION OF WORKMEN BILL. .
' This bill was passed through committee.
THE IRISH .YACHT CLUB.

Mr. COGAN rose to call attention to a matter which, he
said, involved the very existence of the Roya 1 Western
Yacht Club of Ireland. That club consisted of nearly 400
members, and posessed about 130 yachts. In 1 832 it was
authorised by Royal warrant to wear the white ensign, but
by a letter from the Admiralty, dated the 26 th of June,
1858, that privilege was withdrawn, on the ground that the
white ensign was restricted to the Royal Yacht Squadron.
He denied, however, on the authority of the right hon.
gentleman the member for Carlisle, that the Royal Yacht
Squadron ever had the exclusive right of using the white
ensign, and what he wanted to know was, why the
Admiralty had revoked the warrant of 1832. Ho
thought that after all that had taken place it was a harsh
proceeding to withdraw the white ensign from the Royal
Western Yacht Club of Ireland. It might appear ridiculous
to make so much fuss about the matter, but it should be
borne in mind that this was a point of honour with. yachts-
men. He trusted that the Admiralty would, on reconsidera-
tion, revoke the decision at which they had arrivl3d. The
hon. member concluded by moving for copies of correspon-
dence and memorials relating to the warrant granted to the
Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland in reference to the
permission to wear the white ensign.
Lord BURGHLEY expressed a hope that the Admiralty
would reconsider their decision in this matter.

Mr. LYGON said that the Admiralty had no objection to
the production of the correspondence moved for, and though
he:could hardly say that they were prepared to reverse the
decision arrived at, they would be anxious to meet the views
of the hon. gentleman as far as they could consistently with
their duty. (Hear, hear.)
Sir J. GRAHAM said that when at the Admiralty in
1832 he advised that the white flag should be extended to
the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland, and he was
sorry that the decision then come to had been revoked with-
out any allegation of improper conduct on the part of the
club being borne out. If the Admiralty reconsidered the
matter he hoped that the flag would be given back.
Colonel FRENCH said that no reason had been assigned
for revoking the permission granted to the Royal "Western
Yacht Club of Ireland, and he trusted that the white
ensign would be restored to them.

The motion was agreed to.
The house then adjourned.

EXECUTION OF THE MURDERER
PRENTICE AT MAIDSTONE.

The last penalty of the law was yesterday car-
ried into effect in the front of the county gaol at
Maidstone, upon Frederick Prentice, who was con-
victed at the late assizes for the county of Kent,
before Mr. Baron Martin, of a very cruel murder,
committed upon a young girl, named Emma Cop-
pins, by cutting her throat with a razor.
The facts will be fresh in the recollection of the
public. The prisoner was a labouring man, only
just 20 years of age, and the deceased was only 17
years old at the time she came to her untimely end.
She was the daughter of poor but respectable people
living at Queenborough, in Kent, and she had for-
merly been servant at a public-house at that, place,
which the prisoner was in the habit of frequenting,
and it seemed that he became very much attached
to her, and his companions frequently joked him
upon the subject. The young woman, however,
did not seem to desire to have anything to do with
him, and it appears that she left her place princi-
pally. on his account, and went to live in a private
family at Queenborough, and here she was followed
by the prisoner, who continued to force his atten-
tions upon her. It was her habit to go to a public-
house every evening about half-past eight o'clock,
to fetch the beer for supper, and the prisoner way-
laid her and cut her throat with a razor in such a
fearful manner that her death must have been
instantaneous. After the commission of the dreadful
act the prisoner wandered about the neighbour-
hood, and he was taken into custody three miles
off, and he at once avowed his guilt ; and, when he
was brought up for trial he resolutely pleaded
guilty to the charge of wilful murder, and was
thereupon sentenced to death.
He appears to have behaved exceedingly well
since he has been in confinement, and it was evident
that from the moment of his committal he did not
entertain the slightest hope of escaping the forfeit
of his life for the crime he had committed; and in
the repeated conversations he has had with the
Rev. Watson King, the chaplain of the prison, he
always expressed himself to the effect that his life
was justly forfeited, and that he was perfectly
ready to meet the fate which he knew inevitably
awaited him.

Yesterday morning at eight o'clock the culprit
got up, and the chaplain was very soon afterwards
with him, and they both prayed together for a
considerable time. At the request of the pri-
soner the chaplain wrote a letter to a friend at
Queenborough, in which he requested him to exhort
his companions and associates to avoid drunkenness
and Sabbath-breaking, also not to go poaching, all
which acts he said he had himself been guilty of,
and he believed they had been the means of placing
him in his present position. It appears that the
name of the prisoner is not Prentice, but he told
the chaplain shortly before 'his execution his real
name, and where he came from ; and it appears
that he is a native of the county of Essex. He first
came to Queenborough about two years and a half
ago, and was originally employed as a farm labourer,
but subsequently he was engaged as a " navvy,"
and he was engaged in that occupation at the time
the crime was committed.

The prisoner was engaged on Wednesday even-
ing in reading and praying until a late hour, and
at his request he was permitted to leave his cell, to
take a last look, as he said, of the heavensby night.
He shortly afterwards undressed himself and retired
to rest, and slept soundly until seven o'clock in the
morning.

Mr. C. Palmer, the acting under sheriff, arrived
at the prison shortly before twelve o'cock, accom-
panied by the usual officials, and they proceeded to
the prisoner's cell, where the ceremony of pinion-
ing was performed by Caicraft, the executioner,
and while it was going on the prisoner exhibited
the same calm and composed demeanour that cha-
racterised him during the whole period that he has
been in the prison. He had in his hand a Prayer-
book, which he retained until he mounted the
scaffold, and he prayed audibly until the drop fell.
He appeared to die almost immediately, and the
body, after hanging the usual time, one hour, was
cut down and removed into the prison, where it was
shortly afterwards buried, according to the terms
of the sentence.

The County Quarter Sessions were being held
at the time the execution was proceeding. It has
been customary to adjourn the court when an exe-
tion has happened to be appointed for the same
day, but on this occasion the justices proceeded
with the business before them. A considerable
crowd was present to witness the execution, and
among them were a good many women and chil-
dren, principally of the lower classes ; but through
the excellent arrangements made by the borough
police, under the direction of Mr. Blundell, the
head constable, more than the usual decorum on
such occasions was preserved.

ASTOUNDING FEAT AT NIAGARA.

(From the Hew, York Spirit of the Times.)

Since the fatal leap of the famous Sam Patch, no
feat of daring has equalled the one recently accom-
plished at Niagara by Andrew Greenleaf, of Con-
necticut. A correspondent gives the following
graphic account of it :
" One evening, about a week ago, while sitting
in the saloon of the International Hotel, I became
interested in an animated conversation which was
in progress between two persons, of whom one
seemed to be a Southerner and the other an Italian.
The latter had registered bis name as Signor
Morelli, but I have since learnt that he is really a
Yankee boy ; that he was born and raised near
Stonington, Connecticut, and dubbed by his
affectionate parents Andrew Greenleaf. As he
grew older he was afflicted with an intense desire
to become a circus performer, and finally ran
away from home to connect himself with some
strolling company. He was for a while a member
of Barnum's immense 'show,' and his astonishing
performances upon stilts will be remembered by
thousands. He had before this time assumed the
name he now bears, as well to escape recognition
as to avoid the fate of a prophet in his own coun-
try.' He is a handsome, frank-looking man, of
about 25, has a fair complexion, and wears a small
black moustache. At present he is staying here
without an engagement. The conversation referred
to was a discussion upon the possible feats which
might be accomplished by a man upon stilts.
Signor Morelli (as I will call him), asserted his
ability to do many things, a belef in which
required considerable faith. The Southerner,
who is a well known sporting gentleman
of New Orleans, evidently thought the Sig-
nor was lying pretty hard, and at his last
announcement he laughed long and loud. Morelli
had, in fact, expressed his conviction that he could
cross the Niagara river, walking upon stilts, amid
the foaming and unsounded rapids that whirl be-
tween Goat Island and the Falls.
" I'll bet you a thousand dollars to fifty it can't
be done,' exclaimed the Southerner.
" I accept the challenge,' answered Morelli,
quietly.
" The astonishment of his hearers at this reply
may be imagined.
" When do you propose to attempt it P' inquired
the challenger.
" On Saturday- morning, the 12th of February,'
tranquilly replied. Morelli.
" The assurance with which he spoke filled every
one with surprise, which was not lessened when he
produced the money for his deposit. The stakes
were handed over to Mr. Augustus Train of
Baltic', and the company separated to await the