The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-10 00:00:00

high promontory, running with a steep angle into the
basin made by the River St. Lawrence, of which it is no
exaggeration to say that the water is as clear, bright,
and above all, green as any emerald; here, upon I be-
lieve the most imperial site in the world, stand the cita-
del and city of Quebec; the shipping was lying in great
quantity close under the rocky steep, and was dotted for
a considerable way along the shining river; in front was
the island of Orleans, well-shaped and full-peopled;
ridge upon ridge beyond, ending with Cape Tourment,
descended on the river; the shore on either side gleamed
with white villages, and the town below seemed to climb
or almost leap up the straight precipice, broken with
high cement roofs and glittering tinned spires. The flag
of England waved upon the highest bastion that crowned
the rock, the band of the Queen's Guards was playing in
the garden, the clearest blue of western skies was above
my head, and rising above the whole glowing scene was
the commemorative pillar to that General Wolfe, who on
this spot transferred to usEnglishmen, by his own victory
and death, and with the loss of 45 men, the mastery of a
continent. [Lord Catiisle here sketched another scene,
which he witnessed in the centre of Like Huron, on
one of its countless islands.] Entering the United
States again, I made a rapid journey by Lakes Champ-
lain and George, by Ticonderoga and Saratoga, historic
names; spent four very delightful days in most attrac-
tive society in a New England village, reviewed the
beauteous impressions of the Hudson, and taking leave
of friends not soon to be forgotten, on the quay of New
Ycrk, left the hospitable shores. You will have per-
ceived that in these desultory notes I have not attempted
to pronounce any formal judgment upon the American
people, or the great experiment they are conducting in
the face of the world. The extreme diversity of habits,
manners, opinions, feelings, rece. and origin, in the se-
veral parts of the wide extent of country I traversed,
would render the difficulty, great in any case, of such an
undertaking, still more subtle and complicated. The
striking contrasts in such a shifting and variegated as-
pect of society make me feel that any such general and
dashing summary could only be attempted after the
fashion cf a passage which I have always much admired
in Gibbon, where, wishing to give a fair view of the
poetical character of Claudian, he sums up separately
his merits and defects, and leaves his reader to strike
the just balance. In some such mode it might he
stated that North America, viewed at first
with resen:ct to her natural surface exhibits a
series of scenery, various, rich, and, in some
of its features, unp-aralleled ; though she cannot, on the
whole, equal Europe in her m3untain elevations, how.
infinitely, does she surpass her in her rivers, estuaries,
and lakes. This variegated surface of earth and water
is seen undt r a sky warm, sofa and balmy in summer,
clear, blue, and brilliant in all its latitudes, with a trans-
parency of atmosphere which Italy does not reach, with
varieties of forest growth and foliage unknown to
Europe, and with a splendour of hues in autumn before
which painting must ile,pair. With respect to the
moral aspect, I naturally feel the difficulty of any sue-
einc: or comprehensive summary infinitely heightened.
The feature which is the most obvious, and probably the
'nest enviable, is the nearly entire absence, certainly of
the appearance, and in a great degree of the reality of
poverty; in no part of the world, I imagine, is there so
much general ease, mad comfort among the great bulk 4 f
the people, aed a gushing abundance struck me as the
prominent characteristic of the land. It is net eeay to
describe hew far this consideration goes to brighten he
faee of nature, and give room for its undisturbed enjoy-
ment. Within a mere span of time, as compared with
the general growth and progress of nations, the industry
at once steady and persevering, of the in-
habitants, has cleared enormous tracts of fo-
rest, reared among their uetrodeea glades spa-
eiens a:el stetly cities, opened new highways
through the swelep and the desert, covered their un-
equalled rivers with fleets of steam-boats and craft of
every form, given an extension to cabals beyend all
previous experience, end filled land arid water with lasting
miracles of successful enterprise. Tile traveller, wafted
with marvellous ease by steam heats and railways over
prodigious spaces, cannot but indulge in what may ap-
pear a mere sups: ficial satisfaction at the accommodation
he meets with in the hotels of the principal cities, which
ere regulated on a scale and with a splendour and even
cleanliness which he will find scarcely rivalled in the
capitals of Europe. However absorbed in the pursuits
of business, agriculture, and trcde the citizens of these
young Republics may be, and though it would seem to
be their obvious vocation in life to cultivate almost bound-
less wastes, and connect almost interminable distances,
circles arenevertheless to be found among them in which
in point of refined and egret able intercourse, of literary
taste and general accomplishment, it would be difficult
for the great capitals of the elder world to surpass; the
bench and bar, as welt as other professions, can boast
well of the solid and brilliant qu dities by which they are
adorned; and while much occurs in Congress that must
be deemed rough and uraTemly, the chords of high and
generous feeling are frequently struck within its walls
to accents of noble eloquence : in the universal fluency
of their public speaking they undoubtedly surpass our-
seise,. In rural life I doubt whether the world east
produce more examples of quiet simplicity and prospe-
rous conteut than would be found, I might say most
prteninently, in the embowered villages of New Eng-
loud, or or the sunny valleys of Pennsylvania. I am
sure that I am not wanting in rcspect for the operative
classes of the district, but I cannot conceal from myself
:hat the appearance of the female factory population of
Lowell presents some points of favourable contrast.
Among the more opulent portion of society, an idle man
without regular profession or fixed pursuit is the excep-
tion which excites observation and surprise. The pu-
rity of the feraale character stands deservedly high, and
society has been deemed by some to be rendered loss
agreeable by the rigid devotion of the young married
women to their households end nurseries. It is some..
thim: to have travelled nearly over the whole extent of
the Union without having encountered a single specimen
either of servility or incivility cf manner—by the last I
intend to denote intentional rudeness. Elections may
seem the universal business, topic, and passion of life, but
they are, at least with but few exceptions, carried on
without any approach to tumult, rudeness, or disorder ;
those which I happened to see were the most sedate, un-
impassioned processes I can imagine. In the free states,
at least, the people at large bear an active, and, I believe
on the whole, a useful part in all the concerns of internal
government and practical daily life; men of all classes,
and especially of the more wealthy and instructed, take
a zealous share in almost every pursuit of usefulness and
philanthropy; they visit the hospitals and asylums, they
attend the daily instructions of the schools, and give
lectures at lyceums and institutes. I am glad to think
that I may be treading in their footsteps on this oeca-
sion. I have already mentioned with just praise the
universal diffusion and excellent quality of popular edu-
cation, as established especially in the states of New
England, the powerful empire state of New York, and I
may add the prosperous and aspiring state of Ohio.
Without venturing to weigh the preponderating recom-
mendations or deficiencies of the voluntary system, 1 may,
fairly ask what other communities are so amply sup-
plied with the facilities of public worship for all their
members; the towns, old and young, bristle with
churches; they are almost always well filled; the
Sabbath, in the eastern and northern states at
least, is scrupulously observed, and with the most
unbounded freedom of conscience, and a nearly
complete absence of polemical strife and bitter-
ness, there is apparently a close unity of feeling
and practice in rendering homage to God. Though
it would appear difficult, and most certainly be nn-
graeious, to paint the reverse side of such a country
and such a people, a severe observer would not be long
at fault. With respect to their scenery itself, while he
could not deny that within its vast expanses it contained
at times both sublimity and beauty, he might establish
against a charge of monotony, to which the immense con-
tinuances of the same surfaces, whether of hill, valley,
wood, lake, or river—the Btraght unbroken skirt of
forest, the entire absence of single trees, the square
parallelograms of the cleared spaces, the uniform line
of gig-sag fences, the staring squareness of the now
wooden towns, all powerfully contribute. In regard to
climate, without dwelling on such partial influences as
the malaria, which desolates the stunted pine-barrens of
North Carolina, and banishes every white native
of South Carolina from their rich-plains during the
entire summer, the hot damps which festoon the trees
on the southern coast with a funeral drapery of grey
moss, the yellow fever which decimates the quays of
New Orleans, and the feverish agues which line the
banks of the Mississippi, it would lee impossible to deny
the violent alternations of temperature which have a
more general prevalence, and it is certain that much fewer
robust forms and ruddy complexions are to be seen
than in our own more even latitudes. Passing from the
physical to the moral atmosphere, amidst all the vaunted
equality of the American freemen, there seemed to be a
moreimplicit deference to custom, a more passive sub-
mission to what is assumed to be the public opinion of
the day or hour, than would be paralleled in many
aristocratic or. even despotic communities. This quiet
acquiescence in the prevailing tone, this complete abne-
gation of individual sentiment, is naturally most percep-
tible in the domain of politics, but I thought that it also
in no inconsiderable degree pervaded the social circle,
biassed the decisions of the judicial bench, and even
infected the solemn teachings of the pulpit. To this
source may probably in some measure be traced the re-
markable similarity in the manners, deportment, conver-
sation, and tone of feeling, which has so generally struck
travellers from abroad in American society. Who that
has seen can ever forget the slow end melancholy silence
of the couples who walk arns-inn arm to the. tables of
the great hotels, or of the unsocial groups who gather
round the greasy meal of the steam-boats, lap up the
five minutes' mettle, come like shadows, so depart? One
of their able public men made an observation to me,
which struck me as pungent, and perhaps true, that it
was probably the country in which there was less misery
and less happiness than in any other of the world. There
are other points of manners on which I am not inclined
to dilate, but to which it would at least require time to
be reconciled. I may just intimate that their native
plant, tobacco, lies at the root of much that we might
think objectionable. However necessary and laudable
tfhicinaliiibeussainnedssejorfelelsifein
the general devotion to habits of industry, and the prac-
mwhayichben,o
grace,and tnhoou'cishharroth,erneo ttrac-
complishment are wanting, yet it cannot
among the nation at large, be denied, that
the empire of dollars Cent*
csieseaya,tapnrdestheeatt
butart amandeatilfeel itbsieraainndorf
and material interests, holds Li very preponderating
zl
eslitruimetaeidiiiteiefisueexze-.
IF we ascend from social to political life, and from man-
ner; to institutions, we should find that the endless
cycles of electioneering preparations and
contests
be carried on for the
most par;
walitthhoeuugthiththeeyrionitelys turbu.ence or overt bribery by
which they ere sometimes but. too notoriously disgraced
among ourselves, still leave no intermission for repose in
the
publich mind;
enter into all the. relations of existence;
subordinate to themselves every other, question of in-
ternal and foreign policy; lead their public men, I
,will
not say their best, but the average of them, to pander th
e
worst
prejudices, the meanest tastes, the most malignant
resentments-of the people; at each change of adminiw

tration incite the new rulers to carry the spirit of pro-
scription into every department of the public service,
from the Minister at a great fer.,ign court to the post-
master of some half-barbarous outpost—thus tending to
render those whom, functions ought to withdraw them the
most completely from party influences the most unscru-
pulous partisans; and would make large masses welcome
war and even acquiesce in ruin, if it appeared that they
could thus counteract the antagonist tactics, humiliate
the rival leader, or remotely influence the election of
the next President. It is already painfully felt that as '
far as the universal choice of the people was relied on
to secure for the highest office of the state the most
commending ability or the most signal merit, it may be
pronounced to have failed. There may be less habitual
and actual noise in Congress than in our own Parlia-
ment, but the time of the House of Representatives,
not without cost to the constituent body which pays
for their services, is continually taken np, when not
engrossed by a speech of some days duration, with
wrangles apon points of order and angry recrimina-
tions ; the language used in debate has occasionally
sounded the lowest depths of coarse and virulent acri-
mony, as the floor of the Legislative-hall has actually
been the scene of violent personal rencounter. The
manners of the barely eiviliz-d West, where it has
been known that counsel challenge judges on the bench,
and members of the Legislature fire off rifles at the
Speaker as he sits in the chair, would appear to be gra-
dually invading the very inner shrine of the constitu-
tion. Having done justice to the strictness and purity of
morals which distinguish many of the more settled por-
tions of the continent, it cannot be concealed that the
reckless nctions and habits of the vagrant pioneers of
the West, evinced as these are by the practices of gam-
bling, drinking, and licentiousness, by an habitual dis-
regard of the Sabbath, and by more constant swearing
than I over heard anywhere else, fearfuily disfigure that
great valley of the Mississippi, destined inevitably, at
no distant day, to be the preponderating section of the
entire Union. It is at this day impossible to go into any
society, especially of the older and more thoughtful
tarn, some of whom may themselves have borne
an eminent part in the earlier struggles and
service of the commonwealth, without hearing the
degeneracy of modern times, and the downward ten-
dency of all things, despondingly insisted upon. At
the period of my visit, besides the numerous instances
of individual bankruptcy and insolvency, not, alas !
peculiar to the new world, the doctrines of repudia-
tion, officially promulgated by sovereign states, had
given an unpteasing confirmation to what is perhaps the
prevailing tendency among retired politicians. I have
reserved for the last topic of animadversion the crowning
evil—the capital denser—the moral plague-spot—
sdavory. 1 have not disclaimed the origieal responsi-
bility of my own country in introducing and riveting it
upon her dependencies; I do not disguise the portenteui
difficulties in the way of adequate remedy to the great
and growing disease; but what I cannot *hut my eyes
en is, that while it lasts, it must still continue, in addi-
tion to the actual amount of suffering and wrong which
it entails on the enslaved, to operate with terrible re-
action on the dominant class; to blunt the moral cenee,
to sap domestic virtue, to degrade independent industry,
to check the onwerd march of enterpri,e, to sow the
seeds of suspicion, alarm, and vengeance in both internal
and external intercourse, to,distract the national coun-
cils, to threaten the permanence of the Union, and to
leave a brand, a bye-word, and a jest up,,ri the name
or freedom.—(Loud applause.) Having thus endea-
voured without consciousness of nay thing misstated
or exaggerated, though of much that is wanting and
incomplete on either side, to sum up the good
and the bad, I leave my hearers to draw their
own conclusions from the whole. There are large ma-
tt rials both for approc al and attack-ample grounds
both for hope and tear. Causes are occasionally at work
which almost appear to portend a disruption of the Fe-
deral Union; at the same time a strong sentiment of
pride about it, arising partly from an honest patriotism,
partly from a feeling of complacency in its very size and
extent, may tend indefinitely to postpone any such
pregnant results; but whatever may be the solution of
that question, whatever the issue of the future destinies
eesigued to the great American Republic, it is impos
Bible to have contemplated her extent, her resources, the
raco that has mainly peopled her, the institutions she
has derive 1 or originated, the liberty which has been
their life-blood, the industry which has bee:i their off-
spring, and the free Gospel which has been published on
her wide plains and wafted by her thousand streams,
without nourishing the belief and the hope that it is
reserved for her to do much, in the coming generations,
for the good of man and the glory of God.—(The
Noble Lord resumed his seat amidst loud and long-con-
tinued applause.)
When the cheering had in some degree subsided,
Mr. GOODMAN, Mayor of Leeds, came forward, and
moved the following resolution:—
" That the warmest thanks of this meeting be given to
the Earl of Carlisle, not only for his two remarkable and
highly instructive lectures, but especially for the empha-
tic intimation he has thus spontaneously and spiritedly
given, that there is no social rank, nor official position,
nor public eminence, however distinguished, that may not
with honohr to itself recognise amongst its duties the
promotion of these admirable institutions for completing
the education, and raising the moral and intellectual
character of the people."
' Mr. BECKETT, M.P., seconded the motion, which was
' carried unanimously, amidst enthusiastic applause.
The Noble Earl briefly acknowledged the compliment,
and the meeting then separated.

MR. DISRAELI'S CHARLES I.
Just ready, complete in 2 vols. Bvo., 28s. bound,
THE LIFE AND REIGN OF
CHARLES THE FIRST,
KING OF ENGLAND.
By J. DISRAELI.
A New and Revised Edition, Edited, with a Preface,
By B. DISRAELI, M.P.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.
Orders received by all Booksellers.

base, orselfish, could breathe at ease." Besides these,
Lord CiRLISLE has a word of kindly recognition for '
Mr. BFYANT, the well-known poet, for Mr. Lorac-
FELLOV, a writer more entitled to the epithet of bard,
for Mr BANCROFT, the historian of his country, for
Mr. licx.Nort, the ablest of the critics on Spanish
authorities, for Mr. EMERSON, the distinguished lec-
turer tad essayist, and "last not least "for Mr. Peas-
coTT, the celebrated annalist, one of the brightest •
names in the whole range of American literature.
Glancing at the various towns and cities scattered
over the newly-peopled continent, Lord CARLISLE
sketches the principal amongst them in colours at once
vivid and natural. New York he regards "rs some.
thing of a fusion between Paris and Liverpool."
Every one there seems to him " to be eating oysters all
day long." Washington, called by somebody else
" a city of magnificent distances," he describes as look-
ing like a spot where " it had rained houses at ran-
dom, or like half a dozen indifferent villages scattered
over a goose common." Boston is an especial object
of his admiration, and Philadelphia a wonderful place
—where the streets, built at right angles with each
other, bear the names of the different trees of the
country, where the houses of red brick are adorned
with marble door-steps and silver knockers—looking
like a city built by Quakers, it is true, but by
Quakers who have become rather dandified."
Aided by these brilliant and animated word-pic-
tures, we are enabled to follow the Noble Lecturer
throughout the whole of his prolonged and delightful
tour, now in the rice-fields, now in the sugar or
coffee plantations, now in the senate-house, now in
the prairie, now on the Canadian lakes, now in the
back forests during the days of autumn, when the gor-
geous colouring of the foliage is as bright as the dyes of
a prism and as varied as these of a chamelion, a dying
dolphin, or the plumage of a peacock. An
enthusiast in the majesty of Nature, such
as the Earl of CARLISLE is, by this time, gene-
rally known to be, could scarcely be expected to slur
over a topic like the Falls of Niagara without some
effort, however incidental, at description and pane-
gyric. One observation made by him on this some-
what hackneyed but altogether inexhaustible theme,
is too excellent of its kind to be passed by without espe-
cial consideration. It is where, alluding to the remark
that the cataract is not considered to be picturesque,
he exclaims, " When on the spot you would no more
think of complaining that Niagara was not pic-
turesque, than you would remark in the shock and clang
of battle that a trumpet sounded out of tune." Again
it is nobly said by the Earl, when pursuing the same
thread of ideas, " Living at Niagara was not like.
ordinary life; it's not over I;ud but constant, solemn
roar has, in itself a mysterious sound : is not the
highest Voice to which the Universe can ever listen
compared by inspiration to the sound of many
waters?' Seoing that the Noble Lecturer-
neglected in this portion of his discourse
to quote the bold and beautiful verses written
by himself to that great wonder of creation, it may
not b 3 uninteresting to revive them here ourselves,
coupled with these prose tributes of awe and astonish-
ment. The following, therefore, was the strain in
which that nobleman, when Lord MORPETH, ejacu-
lated his homage to Niagara—
" There's nothing great or bright, thou glorious Fall!
Thou mayst not to the fancy's sense recall—
The thunder-riven cloud, the lightning's leap,
The siirring of the chambers of the deep,
Earth's emerald green and many tinted dyes,
The fleecy whiteness of the upper skies,
The tread of armies thickening as they come,
The boom of cannon and the beat of drum,
The brow of beauty and the form of grace,
The passion and the prowess of our race,
The song of Homer in its loftiest hour,
The unresisted sweep of Roman power,
Britannia's trident on the azure sea,
America's young shout of liberty!
Oh! may the wars that madden in thy deeps
There spend their rage, nor climb the encircling steeps,
And till the conflict of thy surges cease
The nations on thy banks repose in peace.'
Quaint as well as beautiful delineations are
crowded by Lord CARLISLE into his account of
America, as where, speaking of the Cuban carriages,
he says, " they were called volantes, and looked as if
they were intended to carry Don QuixoTn." A
multitude of interesting particulars are likewise
squandered through the lectures—particulars such as
the mention of the tomb of WASHINGTON above the
noble Potomac, where are preserved the keys of the
Bastille, sent to the Founder of American Republi-
canism by General LAFAYETTE, and the sword sent to
him by the GREAT FREDERICM with this message,
" From the oldest General of the ego to the best," as
the accompanying compliment.

If_TER MAJESTY'S THEATRE,
a.m.. THE GRAND NATIONAL CONCERTS.

THIS EVENING.
The LAST WEEK BUT ONE of the present season.

Mr. Howard Glover's Grand Selection from " HERO and LEAN
DER," for the second time, this evening. _ _

Grand Selection from a MS. Opera, entitled" Hero and Leander,"
preceded by an Original Overture, composed expressly for three (`en
certs, by Mr. Howard Glover. The principal parts will be sustained
by Aldlle. Angri, Miss Poole, Mrs. Alexander Newton, Mr. Frank
I3odda, and Mr. Sims Peeves, with a full English Chorus.
Overture to William Tell - P.ossini.
Grand Selectioh from llalevy's opera, La Tempesta—L. Negri.
Lablteky's Quadrille of" All Nations."
The Solos in " God Save the Queen," in the Great Quadrille of All
Nations, will be sung by Madlle. Angri. The Military Bands, the
Corps of Side Drums, and the English Choristers.
Itossini's Stabat Mater will be produced To-morrow Evening.
Musical Director, Composer, and Conductor—M. Belle.
Conductor of La Musique de Danse—Herr Laisitzky.
Promenade (admitting to the Half-Circles, Gallery}l 6
and Pit Stalls) .. .. • •
_ . _ • .__

Whatever is repulsive in the United States' society
the Earl of CARLISLE very suggestively and senten-
tiously attributes to—tobacco. Gcnerally speaking
he appears to commend the aspect and bearing of the
population. Compared with our own, he considers
their frames to be less robust and healthy ; but if
physically deficient in one respect, they are unques-
tionably superior to us in many others, moral and
socially. Hear, for instance, that emphatic sentence
pronounced by the NobleLecturer,vvhen he observes :
"It is something to have travelled nearly over the
whole extent of the Union without having encountered
a single specimen either of servility or of incivility."
Commenting, also, upon their capabilities of religious
improvement, be remarks, with an air of delight, that
amongst them is visible the truest and the largest
toleration. This occurs, moreover, without the
citizens having pledged themselves to the adoption of
the voluntary system entirely—the Earl observing.
upon this enlightened freedom—" There certainly is
a breadth and universality of religious liberty which
I do not regard without some degree of envy I"
Various other topics are expatiated on with consum-
mate skill, and sometimes with incomnarable
earnestness, as where allusion is made to slavery—
that diabolical system of slavery which, in
the United States, is " a brand,- a bye-word, and a
jest upon the name of freedom," but further refer-
ence to these particular passages would be super-
fluous, seeing tliat all alike may read the detailed report
of the lecture itself precisely as it fell from the lips
of the lecturer. To him the country will not fail to
look with increasing regard and admiration, now that
tot he &Me of a lettered and liberal patrician he adds
the glory of a true and practical friend of general
education.

The Doors open at Half-past Seven, and the Concerts Will com-
mence at Eight, and terminate about Eleven.
Boxes and Stalls to be had at the Box-office, where Programmes
of the performance n ay be obtained.
Mr. Thomas Master a of the Polytechnic Institution, the Colesenm,
and Royal Botanic and Zoological Gardens, will supply the Refresh-
ments and Wines, &c., So.

The trial of the Abbe GOTIILAND and of Madame
Du SABLON, for the alleged murder of the aged do-
mestic of the male prisoner, has been brought to a
conclusion. After a protracted investigation, con-
tinued during many successive days, the jury
returned a verdict of " Guilty, with extenuating
circumstances," against the abbe, and acquitted the
female of any participation in the offence. The con-
victed party was then sentenced to expiate the enor-
mous atrocity of which he had been con-
victed by hard labour in the galleys for life.
The extraordinary and revolting circumstances
attending the entire transaction, the intense interest
excited in the public mind respecting every portion
of the case, has led to the production of a more
copious and detailed report of the proceedings than
is usually given of criminal trials in other countries.
We are, therefore, enabled to compare the practice
and proceedure with what it would have been in
England, under similar circumstances ; and we are
convinced that the most ardent and enthusiastic
advocate for legal reform will freely admit
that so far as the administration of the
criminal law is concerned, we are immeasura-
bly before our continental neighbours; that there is
greater fair play shown to the accused, and conse-
quently less danger of the unmerited punishment
of an innocent person, while there is at the same time
a dignity and impartiality more becoming the solem-
nity of the occasion, which is never suffered to
assume that dramatic appearance which is so percep-
tible in trials before the French tribunals.
We do not find that searching cross-ex-
amination of the accused, that earnest
desire to convict him out of his own mouth, to detect
and expose his inaccuracies and inconsistencies, to
browbeat and bully the person whose life is involved
in the issue, which is calculated to prejudice the
stupid innocent man, and to serve the clever scoun-
drel—to lead to the undue conviction of the
former and the undeserved acquittal of the latter,
while it deprives the beach of that appearance of im-
partiality which is so essential. The sole oh-
jeet—•of the presiding judge seems to be the
conviction of the prisoner by any means, per
fag ant nefas. In ,place of holding the
scales -of justice with an even hand, .and
accurately weighing the various circumstances for

TAR SUN, LONDON, TEJESDA EVENINC-3, DECEMBER 10, 185

and against, favourable and unfavourable , and giving
the accused the benefit of any reasonal doubt, he
is made to act the pert of the me et strenuous
and enthusiastic advocate for the prose cutkn. His
words and opinions, therefore, do not pos-
sess that weight and influence that would
otherwise attach to them. Unseemly theatrical tableaux,
are got up for the purpose of interesting the juries in
favour of the accused, and counteractin g the judge's
charge : whole families accompany the prisoner to
the tribunal, as if the innocent were on tr ial along with
the guilty, that the sympathy excite, d in favour of
the one may be extended to the other, while
advocates, forgetting their true characte r and position,
fling themselves into the arms of their clients,
embracing and caressing the in ost atrocious
criminals, and address them in terms of the most
ridiculous and almost blasphemous adulation.
We shall not now allude to the fact, s and circum-
stances of this most atrocious case. They have
already appeared in extensa in cur col: emns, and the
duty was sufficiently painful ani 'I disgusting,
without unnecessarily recalling the horrible par-
ticulars. But we must express our este )nisinnent how
any body of men could discover " ztenuating cir-
' cumstances" in the conduct of the Abl )6 GOTHLAND•
lie was either innocent or guilt, le If inno-
cent he should have been dismiss ed free and
scatheless, without censure or pu•aishment ; but
if guilty the majesty of the law s.la mild have been
fully vindicated, and its extreme penal ty carried into
execution upon one of the m, est atrocious
miscreants ever called upon to answer for his
crimes before an earthly tribunal. His offence
was the highest known to the law, and effected by
the most infamous means. It was wil ful, deliberate,
and cold-blooded murder, secretly plan ned, while his
victim was living under his own roof; with
his own hands he drugged the poi meneci chalice,
and with words of kindness and char ity on his lips,
and a sympathising and benevolent smile on his
countenance, delivered the fatal cup that was
to consign the aged woman to a lingering
and painful death. And what w: as the " ex-
tenuating circumstance" that she, teld mitigate
the penalty justly attached to his outr: ige against the
laws divine and human ? That he,,, an ordained
minister of the Gospel, bad violated 1 he solemn oath
of chastity which he had taken—tl net be was an
adulterer as well as a murderer a base and
treacherous poisoner.
As to the alleged companion in his guilt, we
shall not interfere with the verdie t, the merciful
verdict, of the jury. She has be en exonerated
from all participation in the crii ne. Let her
receive the full benefit of the a fecision. Her
feelings cannot, even under the in ost favourable
circumstances, be very enviable. To s person of any
degree of sensibility the exposure t hat has taken
place—the ripping up of the most sec! !et transactions
of her life, and the position in whiei the has been
placed—must have entailed sufferings of no ordinary
magnitude. We must, however, prot: !st against the
assumption that the double crime et' suicide and
murder, from which she was barely stescued, should
be regarded as a demonstration of her innocence, and
as arising from the natural ebullitions, of a sensitive
and honourable mind when suffering i under the pres-
sure of unmerited suspicion and false 'accusation.
It is scarcely necessary to allude to the admis-
sion of necessary evidence, and the bringing up the
fellow-prisoners of the miserable man on trial
to detail the gossip of the :gaol, and the
trifling conversations and demeanour of the accused
during his detention. They must be condemned by
'all right-minded men, who, .so far :is the criminal
code of England is concerned, will join us in ex-
claiming with the Barons of Runnymede, "/Volumes
leges Anglia mutari."

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

We have received the Paris journalsof yesterday.

The Journal des Debats, which on all 'natters re-
lating to the funds may be considered as a high au-
thority, has the following on the decree authorizing
the sale of two millions additional of :Rentes
"The announcement of this adjudication appears to
have caused some surprise in the financial world ;
it appears to us, however, that it was a thing which
they rather ought to have expected. On opening
the general discussion of the Beget, can the 18th July
last, the Minister of Finance positively declared that
he should not wait for the end of the year to make
use of the power of selling granted to him by the law
of 18th May. The funds in question, moreover, stood
foremost in the number of r4.....-cos of which, in spi-
t • •••• forth the t,inancial plan of 1850, ho reeknoned on
ay.iin; himself, in order to. beep the floating debt
:list limits. The different Bills for supple-
within ite
recently voted, particularly that rela-
men tary c reditb'
tive to the levy of 40,000 men, must have warned
e
these limits would be reached,
if not exceeded. The min.:ster declares that it is the
opening of these several credits which has decided him
to proceed to the adjudication, and his motive is
evi-
dently just. There are two other caus:.4 which might
naturally influence him—the price of rente the ;
se-
curity of offers of stock. He was right to avail himself
of so many opportune circumstances."
It would seem from the tenor of the following,
which appears in the Constitutionnel, as if the Bona-
partist: were becoming aware that their .only chance
of retaining power was by maintaining a republic, and
that they now aimed, not so much at destroying as at
corrupting republican institutions, so as to bend them
to their own purposes. To parody the words of LA-
FAYETTE " they would fain make of the Republic the best
of Empires." The article is curious, as showing the
present tactics of the Bonapartists. It purports to
be a criticism on M. GUIZOT'S recently published
works on MONK and WASHINGTON. The article con-
cludes as follows :

We have only hitherto had two kinds of Republicans in
France—those of 1793, who were demagogues, rational-
ists, insurrectionists, persecutors, and atheists; and
those of 1848, who are socialists and communists. The
republic of the one is as impossible and as in-
tolerable as that of the other. With such doctrines the
foundation destroys the form. Doubtless a republic of
Christians, of honest men, fathers of familier moral
and industrious citizens, men, in short, who found their
liberty on the respect due from one to the other,
and who see in the law the common rule of
order, peace, and civilization—such a republid
may be established, may endure, and produce great na-
tions. The United States is an example; but, so long as
immoral, sanguinary, spoiliatory, and senseless utopian
schemes are connected with the Republican forms of
Government, it will naturally alarm the world. Such
is, therefore, the opinion which the history of our
country gives us on the great and difficult problem
pointed out by the publication of M. Guizot."
The Bourse was animated, and Govenment
Stock, which was offered at the commencement of
business, rose considerably at the close. The Five per
Cents. opened at 93f. 60c., fell to 93f, 55c., and
rose subsequently to 94f. 30c., at which price they
closed ; the Three per Cents. closed at 56f. 70c. ;
Orleans Railroad Shares, 811 f. 25c. ; Rouen, 610 f. ;
Havre, 242 f. 50c.; Great Northern, 462 50c. ;
Avignon, 187 f. 50c. ; Vierzon, 385 f. ; Bourdeaux,
383 f. 75c. ; Paris and Strasburg, 341 f. 25c. ; Tours
and Nantes, 242 f. 50c.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DEC. 9.
Central of France (Orleans and Vierzon), 314—Great
Indian Peninsula, 1% —Luxembourg, 2—Namur and Liege,
714—Northern of France 141h—Paris and Strasburg, 8%
Rouen and Havre, 93/4.