The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 27, 1868.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, SUNDAY, April 26.
" Disarmament " is the word in every mouth. re it
true ? What does it mean? What will our Government do?
arc the questions that one hears on all hands. It is noticed
that the Prussian papers explain to-day's news by saying
that the Government found it necessary to retrench
in consequence of the dearness of provisions. In other
wards, Bismarck wishes it to be understood that
he does not make the reductions in consequence
of any representations on the part of France, but solely
fur domestic reasons. At the same time he lets it be seen
that he is not afraid of France or of Austria, even though
one country has reorganised its army and the other is
about to do so. The truth is, that the disarmament does
not amount to much. The Prussian military system
enables an army to be placed on a war footing at the
shortest notice, and granting furloughs means merely that
the war is not expected at present. This, of course, is a
favourable sign, since the longer the crisis is delayed the
greater is the chance that it may be avoided.
A nether favourable symptom is the (unofficial) announce-
ment that M. Magne will not want to borrow snore than
the 12.17,400,000 at first spoken of. You will remember it was
said a little while ago that our Finance Minister had
been deceived, and that the demands of Marshal Niel and
Admiral Genouilly made it incumbent upon him to
ask for more money than he at first mentioned,
and that the discovery had made him very angry. If he

can do without it the inference will be that he has brought
his colleagues to reason. This is the great subject of
sptculation. The optimists declare that there will be a
reduction of a million sterling in the military estimates.
I doubt it very much, for M. Magne himself is said

to believe that war must come sooner or later, and
that he differs only from Marshal Niel as to its proximity.
In connection with this matter a singular anecdote is
told. When the Ministers were before the Budget Com-
mission, Marshal Niel, while combating any reductions,
said last year war was resolved upon for a whole week.
M. Itouher attempted to explain away this avowal by
saying " The Marshal is quite right ; war was resolved
upon by Prussia." The Minister of War then saw' how
indiscreet he had been, and added, " Yes, of course by
Prussia."

We hare news from Luxembourg that great agitation
has been caused there by the announced intention of start-
ing a French paper to support annexation to France. The
matter gave rise to so much excitement that our Govern-
ment has promised to discountenance the project.
Parisians are by no means in good humour just now
with Italy. The enthusiastic reception given to the Prince
of Prussia, " the conqueror of Sadowa," is bitterly con-
trasted with the freezing silence in which Prince Napoleon
has been received ; and there is much angry comment
upon Italian ingratitude. Yet it was hardly to be
expected that the Italians would forget that it was French
troops which kept them out of Rome last year, and that
it was a French Minister who declared that they should
never enter that city.

The Government is making strenuous efforts to win the
impending elections, and has now resumed its bad habit of
interfering with them openly and officially. The Prjfet
of the Seine Inf6rieure has addressed a circular to the
maims of his depart!nents, pointing- out that the Govern-
ment desires tle elccti n of M. CorLei!le, and I e. eves that
the electors will do their duty. _ Ile is opposed by M.
Denoyelle, and the Oppo:.4itiod journals are calling upon
the people to elect him. M. Cibiat, the second but inde-
`pendent Ministerial candidate, has been induced to retire
at Dordogne in behalf of the official candidate, M. de
4 on, brother of the Secretary-General of the Ministry
of the Interior.

A rather amusing and somewhat embarrassing cere-
mony takes place to-morrow. M. Jules Favre will,
according to the usual rule, have to present to the Emperor
his address on taking his seat in the Academy. The
address was virtually a manifesto by the Opposition against
the Government. M. Favre will be introduced by M.
Prevost-Paradol, one of the ablest opponents of the
Government.

We have bad news from Algeria. It has been necessary
to call out troops to defend the crops against the starving
Arabs. In order to quiet the people the exportation of
corn from Algerine ports has been forbidden.
M. Nelaton, the famous surgeon, has just returned from
Sweden, where he has been excising a tumour from Mar-
shal Haepner. Neflaton's fee was £4,000.

There is no doubt now that Baron Budberg will be
recalled. The new Russian Ainbamador will be Couut
Stcckelberg.

The news from England dur:ng the last few hours bas caused
considerable excitemAit. The evening papers yesterday
announced the attempted assassination of the D ake of
Edinburgh, and to clay's papers tell us that Sir B.
Napier has recaptured the European prisoners and
stormed Theodore's stronghold, and that Theodore has
committed suicide.

The Berlin official military paper confirms the news
already given with reg .rd to reductions in the Prussian
army, but almost destroys the value of the announcement
by declaring that these reductions will be of small impor-
tance. The Krenz Zcitang, however, gives details which
do not seem to bear out the statement of its military con-
temporary. It says that furloughs have been given in the
following proportions :—To 15 out of every company of
artillery in garrison ; to 64 out of every battalion of
Chasseurs ; to one sub-officer and two horsemen per
squadron ; and to one workman in every company of
infantry. It may be added that the strength of a Prus-
sian battalion in peace is 518 men, which in war is raised
to 1,002 men. divided into four companies. In con-
sequence of a recent adverse vote which Bismarck has
sustained in the Reichstag with respect to a loan of ten
' million thalers for the development of the Prussian navy,
he has ordered all the works which had been commenced
'to be stopped. Suspicious persons say that this is the
surest way of getting them completed ; for the Prussians
are so determined to have a powerful navy that they will
give Bismarck all that ho.wants rather than imperil this
great national work.

The foreign papers_and one or two of the English con-
tain accounts of the royal marriage at Turin. It took
place in the cathedral. The church was decorated with
the national colours, and the altar overhung with blue
drapery and stars. The King was the first to enter the
cathedral, giving his arm to the bride. After the King
came the Duchess of Genoa, the bride's mother, then the
bridegroom, his brother the Duke of Aosta, the
Prince of Carignano, and the Prince of Prussia. On
the other side of the altar were the Queen of Portugal, the
Princess Clotilda, and Prince Thomas, the bride's brother.
The Archbishop of Turin, who has for some time been out of
favour at Court, officiated, and endeavoured to make his

•
peace by uttering a somewhat fulsome eulogium upon the
royal family. The bride was dressed in white and silver ;
the Duchess of Genoa, her mother, in pale lilac ; the
Duchess of Aosta, her sister-in-law, in pale pink. The
King and the Princes were in military uniform. The bride
curtsied to her mother at the period in the ceremony
where the maternal assent had to be obtained. At the
conclusion of the service the newly-married pair entered a
carriage and drove off alone to one of the most sequestered
outskirts in the neighbourhood of Turin. There they were
seen by a few country folk, who, like so many satyrs, hid
behind the trees laughing at the blushing bride and her
embarrassed husband.

A grand ball took place in the evening, of which we have
a most amusing description. The Queen of Portugal, very
much fatigued, and the Duchess of Aosta, who is in
mourning for her mother, were absent. The rest of the
royal party were present, including the bride and the
bridegroom. Prince Napoleon was very reserved, and
stood by the side of the King, with eyes fixed, and
silent. It was noticed that he scarcely spoke to
the Prince of Prussia, who, the very opposite of .the
French Prince, gaily talked with all the ladies, and seemed
desirous of acquiring the character of gallantry in the
lighter, as he had preciously attained it in the graver sense
of the word. In fact, the " conqueror of Sadowa" has been
quite the hero of the day, and has been more cheered
than any of the visitors. In the official quadrille
were the Prince of Prussia with the Princess Clotilda
for his partner (who seemed a.s though she wore dancing
by order, and put on an air of resignation, no doubt, in
order to express the sentiments of her husband, Prince
Napoleon, towards: the Prussian Prince), the Duke of
Aosta, and his new sister-in-law, the bride. By the side
of this quadrille was another, in which General Menabrea
took part and made a great bungle of the figures. After
the quadrille, the bride waltzed with the banker Cas.
sano, who managed to tear his partner's dress. • Great
emotion among the ladies, in the midst of which the
Prince of Prussia appeared, and, opening a little
itortemonnaie, took from it a pair of scissors,
knelt on one knee; cut off the torn piece of lace,
placed the precious relic upon his heart, an 1 then into
portmonnaie. The WI was followed the next day
by a carousal in au immense amphitheatre containing
30,000 spectators, and covered with flags, decorations, and
fLecers. There were some splendid costumes of the
fifteenth century, and certain feats were performed by the
young men who wore the dresses.
The new Spanish Ministry says that it will continue the
policy of Narvaez, and that the shade of the late Minister
presides over the present Cabinet. It seems doubtful if
this will be found practicable. The reactionary party are
daily more and more obtaining possession of the Govei:n.
ment, and the most important military commands in
Spain have been entrusted to the officers of this

THE FENIAN TRIALS AT THE CENTRAL
CRIMINAL COURT.-THIS DAY.- -

Pale, haggard, and with the aspect or men completely
worn out by excitement and anxiety, the four Fenian
prisoners—William Desmond, Timothy Desmond, Nicholas
English, and Michael Barrett— took their places in the dock
for the seventh time this morning. Eagerness to hear the
charge of the Lord Chief Justice filled the Central
Criminal Court long before the hour at which the proceed-
ings commenced, and numbers had to he refused admittance.
Assoon as the learned judges arrived, the Attorney-General
resumed his address to the jury, interrupted by the rising
of the court on Saturday. He first referred to the alibi
attempted to be set up in the case of Barrett, pointed out
how easy it was to set up such a defence, and how diffi-
cult it was to refute the evidence adduced to maintain
it. In the present instance he believed it would
be demonstrated beyond a doubt, when the letter from
Barrett when in prison at Millbank came to be scanned by
the jury, that the idea of the alibi emanated from Barrett
himself, and was intended to furnish the clue for the de-
fence now set up. Calling attention to the precise terms
in which the letter was couched, the learned counsel
pointed out that there was no intimation in the docu-
ment that Mullins had introduced the prisoner to
M'Nulty. The story now told was that N'Nulty,
a journeyman shoemaker, had Barrett brought to his
house by a friend named Mullins for the purpose of
getting a small job done to his boots, which job Mullins,
himself a shoemaker in the habit of doing repairs, was
unable to perform. Was it not remarkable that Barrett,
a man working on the quay, should have spent so much
time on three distinct days in looking after the repair of
his shoes ? Was it not further remarkable that the quarrel
said to have taken place between Barrett and M'Nulty
should not have come to the knowledge, or have
been heard of, by the two men who came in and did the
boots ? The only circumstance which these two witnesses
remembered was the reading from the paper of the
account of the explosion, and both of them were compelled
to admit that they knew of the outrage in the early part
of the day. Attention was then called to the evidence of
the witness Peak, one of the men who professed to have
assisted in mending the shoes, and it was contended that
in the whole of the time he was in the witness-box
he carefully avoided speaking specifically to any
one incident that occurred during the day. Not
a word did lie say of the altercation that had taken
place between Barrett and M'Nulty, and it was a suspi-
cious ciremnstance that he could not mention with any de-
gree of distinctness any other place than If 'Nulty's house
where he had been daring the day after he had been paid
for his work at Neesorn's shop. Having dealt with the
evidence of the witness Welsh, which was of a character
similar to that of Peak, the Attorney-General next came
to the statement of the police-superintendent Wean', who
having received a copy of Barrett's letter from London,
paid a visit to M'Nulty, and questioned him upon it. On
that occasion it would be in the recollection of the jury
that M'Nulty denied having taken any part in such pro,
ceedings as the letter suggested. Supposing it were so,
that the explanation given by M'Nulty that he was led into
a mistake by the superintendent asking if a person had
called to have a pair of boots " buttoned," instead of
"bottomed," there still remained the fact that he told
M'Catir thet he had known of the explosion from is paper
left at his house by O'Neill, and yet it was stated as a
special eSrcumetance in Barrett's letter that the first infor-
mation of the outrage wak conveyed to M'Nulty and those
in his house by the passage read from the paper by the
stranger. On the second portion of the alibi, that which
Mr. INl'Cerrie, the editor of the Irish Catholic Banner, was
called to support, the attention of the jury was directed
to the character of the articles which appeared in
the journal in question. Those articles the learned
Attorney - General stigmatised as most pernicious
and seditious, and expressed it as his opinion that
anyone who degraded the office of journalist by exciting
the passions of those who committed crimes was morally
as guilty as they were. The character of the witness
spoken of as a respectable journalist would be judged of
by the jury when they had had an opportunity of inspecting
his writings. The most remarkable fact in connection
with the alibi was that not a single person was called to
prove where Barrett had lodged at the time he was said
to Lave been in Glasgow, and it was scarcely less curious
that he should say in his letter to M`Manus, " I trust you
do not think I am guilty," when, if the theory of the de-
fence were true, M`Manus must have known he could not
have been guilty, because at the time the
crime was committed he was in his company in
Glasgow. Supposing it were true that Barrett had been
present at the meeting of the 13th December, would
not he have called the attention of M`Manus to it in the
letter, and asked him to search out Mr. M'Corrie and
others who had taken part in the proceedings ? If the
witnesses for the prosecution had spoken the truth, those
for the alibi had given false evidence, knowing it to Lo
false. It would be for the jury to decide between the two.
In conclusion, the learned Attorney-General observed
that while in accordance with the suggestion of
the Lord Chief Justice lie had consented to withdraw the
case as against Justice and O'Keefe, there not being suffi-
cient evidence upon which to ask for a conviction, he could
never have been guilty of the weakness which lie was
asked to shew by the counsel for Barrett, by refusing, in
consequence of the evidence produced for the defence, to
ask for a verdict against him. He left it to the jury to
say whether the case for the Crown had not been suffi-
ciently established against the whole of the prisoners.
During the whole of the learned Attorney-General's
address the prisoner English sat with his head resting on
his hands below the level of the railing of the dock. When
the Lord Chief Justice commenced his charge to the
jury, he and all the other prisoners listened with almost
undivided attention.
His lordship commenced his charge at a few minutes to
twelve o'clock. He began by explaining the state of
the law of England in relation to complicity in a
MC of murdeL, and reminded the jury that if
those who blew up
the prison wall did so well-knowing
that they might thereby occasion loss of life, they were
guilty of the deaths which resulted by the act. Passing to
the evidence, there could be no doubt that the man Mul-
lany, upon whose testimony the case of conspiracy sought
to be established by the Crown mainly rested, had been an
accomplice, and such testimony, especially in reference to
those he sought to incriminate, must be corroborated. But
it need not be confirmed in every minute particular by dis-
interested persons ; it would be sufficient if its general fea-
tureawere established by those who could not be impeached.
The Lord Chief Justice then passed in review the" various
items of Mullany's evidence, dwelling at length upon the
letter brought by Mrs. Barry to Murphy at M ullany's
house. No one could doubt the letter was Burke's, and
it was by the aid of copperas that its contents were made
a
apparent. That letter, Mullany said, was shewn to
Barrett, and subsequently to the other prisoners.
At the meeting which followed, which must have
been held earlier than Mullany said, another
mcaseettlien-gyarwl It must
as
rrheldtuindecaideroifomtheiy
could believe Mullany's testimony that the prisoners were
present on that occasion. It was a somewhat curious factn
sntgbe d fo
e left to atond the jury
that when Mullany was told that a quantity of gunpowder
was to be bought, he asked what it was for, when, accord-
ing to his statement, he had been told wheat was to be
done. When examined, he explained the matter by saying
that he did not know so much was to be obtained, and,
further, that while talking it was noticed that a strange
man was present who was not in their counsel. Of the
meeting said to have been held at William Desmond's,
his lordship remarked that here it was asserted that the
details of the explosion were arranged. But how was
Mullany confirmed I' There was the evidence in reference
to the letter from Burke, that an attempt was made to
convey to Burke portions of copperas in one of his stock-
ings, and also that when arrested there was found upon
him a bulb containing a substance by which a letter
could be written, which, till the copperas was applied,
would be invissible. In reference to the powder, there
was the oorreborative testimony of the shopman who sold
it and the carman who delivered it. Again, there was the
conduct of Burke in the exercising ground of the prison on
the afternoon prior ho the day of the explosion, to show
that a well-arranged plot to blow down the wall had been
devised, and there were the two balls, one thrown
over the wall each day, to prove that Burke knew
what had been arranged. The facts of the 12th
and 13th still more strongly confirmed the witness.
This, of course, left untouched the question whether he
was correct in the evidence lie gave to associate the pri-
soners with the crime. Of the attempt at explosion made
on the 12th Mullany could say nothing, for he would not
risk his life in the neighbourhood, but there was abundant
evidence on the point, time whole of evhich his lordship
referred to in detail. Coming back to Mullany,
if he could be believed, the very night of time
attempted explosion he saw Barrett, and heard
from him the determination to light the squib
the next day. Referring to the next witness, Vaughan,
time Lord Chief Justice remarkmal that though he could
not say he was are accomplice, he was certainly no better.
He was a man who came forward only fur the sake of time
reward, had been degraded front the rank of corporal in
time army-, had then deserted, and, judging front all that
had been stated, liamt been addicted to habits of intempe
ranee. The evidence of such a man, especially as it was
evidence referring not to facts but to converse,
tious, must be received with the utmost caution
The conversation stated to have been held with 'Timothy
Desmond, his lordship could not but regard as being
involved in great uncertainty. The events of the 13th,
the day of time explosion, were next made the subject of
comment ; and the evidence of Alien, a woman who was
blown down by the explosion, the boy Moseley, the boy
Wheeler

Continued in our Late Edition.

'_'l:R DIT LOX

SUN OFFICE, 7 o'CLocK.