The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-28 00:00:00

TIIE GREENOCK STOWAWAYS.

The trial of the captain and the mate of the ship
Arran for their barbarous treatment of the Greenock
" stowaways" has ended in the former being found
guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced to eighteen
months' imprisonment, and in the latter being found
guilty of the minor offence of assault, and sentenced
to four months' imprisonment. The evidence in this
long trial La 3 been of the most painful cha-
racter, revealing a protracted system of cruelty. The
boys were severely beaten, and at last compelled to
make a perilous journey on unsafe ice to get
to land, during which they were drowned. The
jury actually recommended the captain to mercy,
on the plea that received the highest testimony as
to his character. When the sentence upon him was
pronounced by the Lord Justice Clerk, in a crowded
Ind excited court, it St' aSt received with hisseo7-mrbiall
were continued while the prisoner was being removed,
and protracted, for the benefit of his lordship, until
ho left the bench. Such expressions of feeling are
not allowable in a court of law, but it is at
least a healthy sign of public opinion, that it will
not allow the dying cries •of these poor boys to be
drowned in the chorus of voices raised in commenda-
tion of the captain's respectability. The Lord Jus-
tice Clerk relieved the jury from serving again for
two years, in consideration of their services. Ms
lordship did well ; and ,when the oppressor is next
brought to justice, may the judge be some other than
the Lord Justice Clerk.

NEW PEERS.

The air is thick with rumours. Every man button-
holes his neighbour at the street-corner, with the
determination of telling him the newest wonder. To
his great disappointment his friend extinguishes him
with a tale more wonderful still. The Times gives
currency to a report that the Premier intends to
create ten or twelve new peers. Our contemporary is
cautious enough to remark that it may be as baseless
es any other rumour, but at the same time it
points out the impolicy of such a course.
We can hardly give Mr. Disraeli credit for such a
step. Even now Lord Derby's power in the
Upper House is enormous. It is so Conservative as
to be at total variance with the representatives of the
people, and these creations would only exasperate the
enemies of the peerage. Should Mr. Gladstone con-
template creating a number strong enough to carry
his bill through. the Lords, he would have to make
ten or a dozen more new peers, and deluge the House
with novi homines.
MR. GLADSTONE'S DEFEAT IN LANCASHIRE.

Speaking at a dinner held in honour of the Liberal
candidates for the Eastern Division of the West
Biding—the polling in which takes place to-day—Sir
Francis Crossley alluded to the great disappoint-
ment which had been expressed at the result
of the contest in South-West Lancashire.
But he believed that, though it looked like
a defeat, it would eventually prove to the Liberal
party a blessing in disguise. He declared that it was
much better that Mr. Gladstone should be returned
for Greenwich by a large majority than be
re-elected for Lancashire by a narrow one ; because
he would, when he came into office, have to
go through the same process again. Mr. Forster,
the member for Bradford, also addressed the
assembly, and stated his belief that although Lan-
cashire had fallen back from the ranks of Liberalism,
the county of Yorkshire would still prove that the
principles of the Liberal party were in tbr
ascendant.