The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-21 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1850.

" Pz ince Louis NAPOLEON rides well"—such is the
estimates farmed by France of her chief magistrate.
The circumstance is not less fantastic than charac •
teristic. It accords admirably with the general bear-
ing of the nation, of whom it has been said that they
would dance over an earthquake. Other men have
been chosen, it is true, for less heroic qualities.
lILTTON was favoured by ELIZABETH, because he
could " foot it " with more than ordinary agility.
OLivira was beloved by Louts XI , because he hap-
pened to be, in more senses than one, a decidedly
" clever shaver." GEORGE IV. took an interest in
BAUMMELL, scarcely less for the adroit disposition
of his neckcloth than for his carriage as a consummate
gentleman. Innumerable instances of infatuation not a
jot less remarkable might be adduced from the historical
records of humanity. Yet such corroborative evi-
dence would most assuredly be superfluous, consider-
ing that every person, more or less, can from their
own remembrance find proofs of the frequency of the
principle recently carried out in the popular accept-
ance of LOUIS NAPOLEON. Two years have elapsed
since his election, on the 10th of December, and the
unanimous opinion of the community who then ele-
vated him to the supreme rank of President is—that
"he rides well !" The estimate, we grant, is pecu
liarly characteristic ; but apart from the circumstance
of its being in this respect a genuine bon mot, we
cannot but regard it as an expression not
merely unjust towards the Prince, but absolutely
ungrateful. LOUIS NAPOLEON does something more
than ride well. Witness this the tranquillity se-
cured to France during no less than four-and-twenty
months of his government ; witness this the increasing
prosperity of the country in most of i,s industrial de-
partments; witness this the constitutional working of
the republican form of administration, preservative at
once of order and democracy, of freedom and of mo-
rality; witness this the re-establishment of those
only secure and reliable foundations of society which
had hitherto appeared to be crumbled away under
the pressure of undue license and exagge-
rated fanaticism, under the depressing influence
of Socialist and Communist ideas. The condition of
France at the present moment, bearing in mind the
deteriorating effects of the Orleans system, immedi-
ately prior to the revolution of February, and pre-
serving yet more in recollection the ruinous conduct
of the anarchists and Red Republicans immediately
after that great political explosion—the condition of
France we say at this moment (bearing those things
in consideration) is a sufficient testimony that the
Prince LOUIS NAPOLEON is capable of something
more than merely riding well ; that he is sagacious
as v,ell as accomplished, a statesman as well as an
equestrian.

Speaking bluntly, however, the phrase to which
we have alluded as being just now on the lips of most
Frenchmen, is but another evidence of their fickle-
ness. It reveals a disposition on the part of some, at
least, to upset the rule exercised:over the young Re-
public by the Elys6e through the dexterous employ-
ment of that most formidable of all weapons among
the Parisians —ridicule or caricature. Let the laugh
be once rai3ed against a man in rower and he is
effectually " done for" among the intriguers of that
metropolis. It was the constant churivari directed
against old " pear-head" that led as much
as anything to the downfall of the last monarchy.
It was the jocularity with which the political arti-
zans collected together in the Luxembourg were
treated that caused the abandonment betimes of their
great scheme for the organization of labour, and the
ultimate expatriation of its originator. It was the
admirable juke against LANIARTINE, that he was
nothing less than an incendiary transformed into a
fireman, which prepared the way for the dissolu•
tion of his authority, an authority at one
time nothing less than that usually wielded by
a Dictator. So it has been in innumerable
other instances among Frenchmen, and so it will
doubtless continue to be as long, at least, as their
temperament remains unchanged. Aware of this the
mere witty among the intriguers at Paris have been
long cudgelling their brains for the detection of a
vulnerable part in the character of the PRESIDENT, or,
rather, an assailable point in his proceedings. Un-
fortunately for them the task has been somewhat
difficult, for hitherto the PRINCE has in no way ren-
dered himself ridiculous. He may hare, and doubt-
less has, blundered in the direction of his Govern-
ment, but hitherto, at least, we repeat, be has not
rendered himself ridiculous. Indeed this is avowedly
the most conspicuous merit of his Administration.
It has tended not a little to surprise the majority of
observers to find one who had previously so very
often laid himself open to the shafts of derision
evincing in every act and expression the soundest
judgment. That a knight of the Eglinton tournament,
the " Pretender" at Strasbourg, and the invader at
Boulogne, should, ou escending the Presidential
chair of the French Republic, in no one par.
ticular afford an opportunity for the skill of
the caricaturist, must be remembered among
not the least bewildering facts recorded
in the annals of the " great nation." Yet such has
indisputably been the consequence of the memorable
election of the 10. h of December, insomuch that we
are compelled in justice to remember the former
events in the career cf Louis NAPOLEON, such as his
proceedings at Strasbourg and Boulogne, as nothing
more nor less than the sowing of his political wild-
oats ! On his elevation to the chief magistracy
of the It-public, the l'areCE had satisfied
his wild humours to the full, and had not only
sobered down and reformed from an ac:ven-
hirer into a statesman, but had accomplished this,
be it remembered, with the acquisition of experience.
Whatever, therefore, the joke-mongers of Paris niay
say with a view to diminish the respect inspired by
his ac's towards his judgment—it mug' be confessed,
honestly and explicitly confessed, that LOUIS NAPo.
LEON " rides vveli," not merely on the Boulevards,

but over the destinies of France, not merely on the
favourite charger stabled in the outhouses of the Elysee,
but over also the storms of political commotion and
the whirlwinds yet agitating a Republic born of a
Revolution.

Where is Mrs. SLOANE ? Our anticipations have
unfortunately proved but too well-founded. She has
absconded from her usual place of residence, and is
not forthcoming to abide the investigation into the
enormous outrage, or rather series of outrages, laid
to her charge. It would indeed have been miracu-
lous bed she done sc—she could not hope to explain
away or rebut the damning evidences of her
guilt. They were but too plainly written in
the attenuated appearance and enfeebled con-
dition of her victim, " the most perfect livings
skeleton" ever seen by Dr. MARSDEN. Every stale-
ment put forward by the unfortunate girl, nay the
very objections made by the Counsel for the male de-
fendant, tended to fix the crime on her shoulders, to
render a conviction certain ; and yet, with that irre-
sistible testimony fully before him, with a perfect
knowledge of all the horrible and disgusting facts and
circumstances of the case, Aldermen ITuatersaay
sends a summons (I !!) to the chief delinquent
to spear before him. As well might a summons
have been served on Mrs. MANNING, then
she was discovered at Edinburgh, cr a polite
intimation forwarded to Mr. RUSH that his attend-
ance before the magistrates was particularly re-
quested ! We really believe that there would have
been as great a probability of its being respected in
the latter cases as in the former. It is true that the
crimes were nominally greater, that more stringent
punishment awaited the murderers on conviction,
than could be assigned to Mrs. SLOANE, but we deny
that the moral guilt was greater than that of the cold-
blooded torturer cf her fellow-creature, who practised
a refinement of cruelty on the friendless orphan such
as has ne'ver hitherto been brought to light. Mrs.
MANNING speedily destroyed her victim, but Mrs.
SLOANE continued her unceasing persecution for
many successive months, until the miserable child was
brought to death's door, until she was placed in the
most imminent peril—when, according to Dr.
MAnspaze, "she must have died but for the interfer-
ence of Mr. PHILLIMORE," for " she could
not have remained in that state many days
longer." Had it not been for the humane
and laudable conduct of that gentleman
the miseries of the unfortunate JANE IVILBRED would
have long since terminated, and her infamous mis-
tress might have had to expiate her offence upon the
scaffold. It was by mere accident that these results
were avoided, and yet, even when the poor girl was
by no means out of danger, when Alderman ITuat-
PIIERT apparently hesitated whether he would admit
the far lese guilty defendant to bail, he issued his
snianzons to Mrs. SLOANE to appear at the
adjourned inquiry, with almost the certainty that it
would be trt need with the most contemptuous disre-
gard, that it would, in feet, be regarded as a friendly
warning► to the delinquent to znelse her escape wilt
all convenient speed. Even whe❑ she disobeyed the
first summons, and her contumacy Co soy nothing
of the horrible outrages that had been brought home
to her) would have justified any severity, the
worthy Alderman was satisfied with the ridiculous
excuse that " she had is jured her leg by
slipping through an area railing ! and that she
could mint leave her bed without great danger"! !
There was no evidence to support that assertion, not
even a medical certificate c f her illness. The blr-
rister in attendance was informed by the defendant's
attorney, who most probably received his instructions
to that effect from the defendant himself. But this
frivolous apology, this transparent humbug, contented
Alderman HUMDLIERY, who would not act so harshly
as to send off a warrant at once, but issued it with
an intimation " that it would be put in force as soon
as Mrs. SLOANE was in a fit state to leave her bed."
Was justice ever administered in so " rose-water" a
fashion, so calculated to bring the majesty of the law
into contempt and disrepute ?

It is not, as we have already stated, our habit to
offer any observations on a case while it is yet
sui judice ; but the flight of Mrs. SLOANE is a vir-
tual confession of her guilt; and as she has evaded
its penal consequences, she cannot feel surprised if we
give expression to the feelings of indignant horror
that must arise on bearing the unpraileled and unna-
tural brutalities thus tardily brought to light. We could
not have believed that a female could have so acted
towards one of her own sex. There is some rede-:m-
ing fel:011re perceptible in almost the most degraded,
some womanly feeling that casts a ray of light
upon the picture ; but here all is darkness and
gloom, there is nothing to relieve the visior, or to
struggle through the surrounding murkiness. The
Roman law could not recognise the crime of parri-
cide. The senators could not conceive such mons4rous
guilt, and there was no punishment for the crimi-
nal beyond that which awaited ordinary persons.
There is a similar deficiency in the English law.
The crime of Mrs. SLOANE cannot be adequately
expiated ; but that is no reason why she should be
permitted to escape with impunity, and to avoid even
the utterly insufficient punishment assigned to the
offence for which she may be indicted. Mrs. BIRD,
who was an angel of light in comparison, was not
treated with such leniency ; there was unfortunate!y
no JOHN GEORGE PHILLIMORE in the neighbourhood
of Bideford to protect and rescue her victim—that
miserable girl perished under her sufferings ; but the
constant flsgellations to which she was subjected were
as nothing compared to the unutterable brutalities of
the female fiend of Pump-court.

We have been credibly informed that it is the in-
tention of her Majesty to visit Dublin early in the ensuing
summer, by the way of Holyhead.— Carnarren Herald.

APOTIIECAUIES' HALL—The following gentlemen
passed their examination in the science and practice of me-
dicine, and received certificates to practise, on Thursil .y :
W. Sutherland; Nathaniel Clement Wood, Norfolk; James
Hereford Jepwood ;-nohert Bolton ; John Morton, Norfolk;
Nathaniel Stenson Wood ; Robert Bohan Kidd, Norwich ;
Robert Rooke Prance, Adelaide; Alfred Beckett, Thorne;
John Gabriel French, Burton-on-Trent.

ST. IVES, DEC. 18 —The corpse of a man, mea-
suring six feet two inches, dressed in a blue coat, waistcoat,
and trou-ers, supposed to be that of the late master of the
Queen schooner, of London, wrecked on the Gurtheon beach,
has come on shore.

ILLNESS OF VISCOUNT ALFORD, M P.—We deeply
regret to hear from undoubted authority that the illness
(consumption) of this respected young nobleman has assumed
such a shape as to preclude all hopes of recovery; indeed, we
are sorry to say that, probably, ere this year expires, we
shall have to announce his death. His Lordship is confined
to his bed at Ashbridge Park, his seat in Bedfordshire,
where he is most assiduously and affectionately attended by
his afflicted lady. Hardly two years have elapsed since his
Lordship came into possession of the princely income be-
queathed to him by the late Duke of Bridgewater, a circum-
stance which we announced to our readers at the time. We
understand that the will will be disputed, and already have
some of our most eminent lawyers received retainers in the
cause. Lord Viscount Alford, M.P. for Bedfordshire, eldest
son of Earl Brownlow, Lord-Lieutenant of Linco'nshire, was
born October, 1812, and married in February, 1841, the Lady
Marian Compton, eldest daughter of the Marquis of North-
ampton ; by this marriage his Lordship has issue two sons,
John William Spencer Brownlow, born 28th March, 1842, and
Adelbert Wellington, born 19th August, 1846.—Lineovisliire
Chronicle.

FIRE AT CLAPIIAAL—Last night (Friday) the
neighbourhood of Clapham was thrown into a state of excite-
ment owing to the sudden outbreak of a fire in a range of
workshops belonging to Captain Ross, situate in New-square,
Clapham-common. The building was upwards of 50 feet
long and 40 wide. It was used by the numerous workmen
employed on the estate in erecting the various houses belong-
ing to the above-named gentleman. It was nearly four
hours after the outbreak before the fire could be extinguished,
and not until the premises in which the disaster commenced
were levelled with the ground, and the stacks of timber in
the open yard destroyed. The total loss is very consider-
able, and unfortunately Captain Ross was insured for only
5001. in the Union Fire-eflice. Respecting the origin cf the
fire nothing certain is known, but there is strong ground for
supposing that it was the work of an incendiary, as no lights
of any description were allowed in the building after dark.
THE SEWER ACCIDENT IN SCOTLAND-YARD

Yesterday morning a portion of the premises of Messr;.Ro-
bins, Aspden, and Co., the cement manufacturers in Scot-
land-yard, fell in close to the spot where, some days ago, the
tide broke through and drowned two men. It seems that the
water filling into the sewer had swept away a portion of the
foundation on which the wall which has given way rested.
This accident is, therefore, a natural and unavoidable conse-
quence of the former one; but, happily, has not been at-
tended with the same disastrous results. Mr. Gotto, the
surveyor of the district, visited the spot in the course of the
day, and arranged with Messrs. Robins, Aspden, and Co., as
to the manner in which the injury to their premises should
be repaired. At present, and while the whole subject is
under regular investigation, it would be improper to enter into
details which might compromise individuals. The whole
neighbourhood, however, which appears to be entirely in the
hands of excavators, seems to feel deeply alarmed at the
amount of boring and tunneling going on beneath their ha-
bitations, and not unwilling to believe that the Commis-
sioners of Sewers have some unexplained sinister design
against their property and lives.

,TIE VACANT CATALIIY REGIMENT..—Rurnour
gives his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge the
colanelcy cf the Ist Dragoon Guarde, vacant by the decease
cf 6ir William Lumley. If this arrangement is carried into
(ffect the Commander-in-Chief will have the 17th Lancers at
his disposal. At all events the Duke of Cambridge is in
town.— United Service Gazette.