The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-08 00:00:00

A PAUPER'S DEATH.

An inquest has been held at Hackney respecting
the death of a man named Charles Savery, who
was stated to be 69 years of age. He had been a
collector of herbs, but in his old age he became very
destitute, and then entered the Hackney workhouse.
He was found to be suffering from disease of the heart
and from senile imbecility. The doctor had him placed
in the imbecile ward, and he was found to be rather
troublesome there. He had a habit of leaving his bed at
night, and taking the clothes of the other paupers. At
times he applied to the doctoi for permission to leave the
house, but the doctor, knowing him to be ill, refused.
He then applied for his discharge to the master, saying
that he was going to his daughter's house. The master
persuaded him to stay in the house until he could go be.
fore the board and obtain an allowance of out-relief. The
board gave him 25., a loaf, 2oz. of tea, and half a pound
of sugar, and with that provision the old man left the
workhouse. He was very infirm at the time. The same
night he was found in the Spread Eagle public-house. He
was evidently very in. Two men who saw him there
carried him to the workhouse gate. After the men had
r ung the bell three times, the gatekeeper answered them,
and the master was sent for. He was told that the old
man was in a dying state, but he refused to admit him,
and threatened the men that if they did not take him
away they should both be given in charge. The master
was called as a witness, and stated that he did all he could
to persuade the deceased not to leave the house. Ile could
not readmit him on the same day that he had left the
house with money and provisions. The door of the work-
house was shut in the face of the men who bad carried de-
ceased there. He was laid on the pathway, being unable
to stand, and died there in a very short time. The jury
returned a verdict to the following effect : " That the
deceased died from disease of the heart from natural
causes, and the jurors consider that a discretionary power
should be given, and that it be incumbent on the master
of the workhouse, in the case of a pauper discharging him-
self with outdoor relief in a known state of ill-health, and
being brought back on the same day or night in a dying or
drunken state, either to admit him at once or call in
medical aid forthwith."

The extraordinary and protracted tumult which pre•
vailed in the House of Commons after the passing of Mr.
Gladstone's resolutions on Thursday night, the frequent
scenes of 'confusion, the number of motions and cross
motions, the incessant appeals to the Chairman on points
of order, the unusually violent language on both sides,
have combined to widen the chasm of party contention
which previously existed, and to make it more and more
improbable that the Government and the Opposition can
work harmoniously together in clearing off the necessary
Public business with a view to a speedy dissolution. There
was something positively scathing fn Mr. Bright's denun-
ciation of the Prime Minister, when he charged that
right hon. gentleman with being a traitor to his Sovereign
and to his country in the course which he had thought
proper to pursue in placing the Sovereign in the front of a
great struggle like that on which parties are about to
enter. Rarely has such invective been concentrated into
a few sentences as in those which closed Mr. Bright's speech,
and there can be no question that, coming from such a
quarter, aimed at such an eminent man, and delivered
with all that power of which the member for Birmingham
is master, his observations made a profound impression on
the House, and added to the excitement which had pre-
viously existed.
Now that the resolutions are passed, and now that the
Commons have adopted an address to the Crown, in thn
face of the most determined opposition of the Ministry',
what will the Government do ? According to the Post, thy
Cabinet will be told, on the high authority of Lord Cairn
that without inconsistency or dereliction of duty, thej
may advise the Sovereign to give her consent to the in-
troduction of a bill of which, nevertheless, every member
of that Cabinet totally disapproves. The Post assume
that the object of this is to send the measure up
to the Lords, Where it is certain to be defeated,
and the Government would thus be relieved from
any further embarrasments on this question during
the rest of the session. But here a grave question arises.
The Home Secretary has distinctly stated that he will
never he a member of an Administration which assents to
the passing of a bill striking at the existence of the Irish
Church. If the Cabinet decided to advise the Queen in
the way indicated by Lord Cairns, it would be impossible
for Mr. Hardy to remain on the Treasury bench. The
chances are that the right hon. gentleman would not leave
Downing-street singly and unsupported, but that one or
two of his colleagues would accompany him.
lhould the information of our contemporary be correct,
a most important point of constitutional usage would be
raised. The acts of the Sovereign are conclusively presumed
to be the acts of her Ministers, and the latter are directly
accountable for those acts to the nation. It is clear,
therefore, that Ministers can never counsel their Sove-
reign to adopt a course of which in their consciences
they disapprove, since by so doing they would not
only betray the trust reposed in them by the Queen,
but render themselves accountable to the nation for a
course of action which they themselves heartily condemn.
It might therefore be argued, a priori, that since the
present Administration disapprove of the disestablishment
of the Irish Church, they must, when the forthcoming ad-
dress to the Crown is presented, advise her Majesty to
refuse compliance with its prayer, and thus produce a
dead-lock which Would leave them no alternative between
resignation and immediate dissolution.

Already the more eager partisans begin to count the
days and hours which must elapse before the final struggle
can take place. Should the Crown, on the advice of the
Cabinet, return an unfavourable reply to the address, it
may safely be anticipated that a most important step will
at once be taken by the Commons. The reproaches which
Mr. Ayrton, Mr. 'form-Inn, Sir George Grey, and other
members addressed to the Prime Minister in the course of
the discussion, and the relentless invective of Mr. Bright,
who, amid the loudest cheering, not obscurely imputed to
Mr. Disraeli some of the gravest offences which the re-
sponsible adviser of a constitutional monarch can possess
shew how grave the present crisis is.
The London correspondent of the Independance Bclge
says that the Queen, following the precedent of 1842
(? 1846), when she consulted the veterans of opposite parties,
the Marquis of Lansdowne and the Duke of Wellington,
consulted last week Lord Derby and the Earl of
Clarendon with respect to the political situation.
Of course her Majesty has the power to consult Privy
Councillors who do not happen to be her Ministers,
and sometimes valuable advice may be tendered by states-
men who, not being in office, will be less likely to be in-
fluenced by party considerations. Whether Lord Derby
would be sufficiently removed from the strife to see clearly
what is going on is doubtful. Moreover, it does not
appear from the Court Circular that either noblemen
went to Osborne last week, and as this was not a
matter in which the telegraph could be used,
and there was no time for written communications, it may
fairly be concluded that the story is unfounded. The
foreign papers comment upon the personal preference
which the Queen is supposed to have strewn for Mr.
Disraeli. That the Premier is a favourite with the Heir
Apparent is a matter of common belief.

The following letter, appears in the Post :—" My
attention has been called to a paragraph respecting my
daughter, Madlle. Adelina Patti, which appeared in yout
paper of May 6, purporting to be copied from the Park
Figaro. I beg to say that the statement as to my daughte,
having been married is totally untrue.---Your obedier.
servant, SALVATOR PATTI."
CRIME IN SCOTLAND.—An abstract of the Scot-
tish criminal returns for 1867 has been published. The
total number of offenders against whom charges were pre-
ferred was 3,305, of whom 2,510 were convicted, 18 were
outlawed, 6 were found to be insane, and 771 were
acquitted or discharged. , The majority of the offences
were committed against property, but without violence ;
and in the classification of offences those against the per.
son stand next in point of numbers. Although there were
17 persons charged with murder, only 4 were convicted ;
of these but one was sentenced to death, and in that case
the sentence was commuted to penal servitude.
FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT.—Emily Johnson, a girl
only six years of age, the daughter of parents who reside
in Leeds, and a member of the ballet troupe performing
in the pantomime " The Fair One with the Golden
Locks," now being produced under the management of
Mr. John Coleman, at the York Theatre, has been the
subject of a frightful accident. The pantomime had
advanced to a part where a " demon's dance" is intro-
duced by Mr. Royce, one of the effects brought to bear
on which is the lime light. The person who had the
management of this light had a candle placed near
him at one of the wings at which Miss Johnson was
standing. Her feet and body were in graceful motion to
the music of the band, when her muslin dress came into
contact with the candle in question, at once ignited, and
enveloped her in flames. The calamity was witnessed by
Mr. Royce from the opposite wing. and he at once rushed
to her rescue. He first seized the poor girl and rolled
over with her, and then he enveloped her in an old coat
which was at hand, and extinguished the flames. This,
however, was not done before the child had been
frightfully burnt about the arms, leg, back, and other parts
of her person. Her chest and face escaped. Surgical
assistance was speedily at hand, and the sufferer was re-
moved to York County Hospital, where she now lies in a
critical condition. Mr. Royce himself was also burnt from
the ignition of an article called licopodium, which was on
the front of his red tight-fittirg dress. His injuries are
ovly ou tin lower part of his face; and aro tot serious, •

, ,

HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, May 7.
The Queen, accompanied by Princess Louise,
drove out yesterday afternoon.
Her Majesty, accompanied by Princess Beatrice,
walked in the grounds this morning.
The other members of the Royal Family also
went out.