The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-12 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

FATTENING IN SHEFFIELD.-At the Sheffield Town LTall
Joseph Bradshaw was charged with being in the Young
Grinding Wheel, Forge-lane, Sheffield, for the purpose of
committing a felony or rattening. On Monday night, the
4th inst., three men were seen to lift the prisoner through
a window into the wheel, and on the police following he
was found in a hull rented by two men named Morton and
Sharpe. He was sitting near the fireplace, pretending to
be asleep, and by his side were some wheel-bands rolled
up. Morton and Sharpe were behind in their con-
tributions to the Union. Bradshaw was on the "box,"
and the conclusion was at once arrived at that he had been
" commissioned" to fetch the bands. Morton now came
forward and gave the following perfectly unexpected evi-
dence. He said that both his and Sharpe's bands required
greasing, and that they themselves had taken them off the
wheels, rolled them up, and left them where they were
found by the police. The magistrates were of opinion that
the prisoner was in the wheel for the purpose of com-
mitting a felony, but after this evidence they felt it unable
;-.o convict him. He was therefore sentenced to three
months' imprisonment for being on the premises for an
unlawful purpose.

NEGLECTING TO MAKE RETURNS OF INCOME.—In the
Court of Exchequer, the case of the Attorney-General
v. Stevens was heard. It was an information filed against
the defendant for failing to make periodical returns of his
income. The defendant, a printer, made a claim for com-
pensation for the removal of his business, and the Com-
missioners of Income Tax deemed the returns made by him
insufficient. As the defendant was perfectly willing that his
books should be examined, a verdict for two penalties
in £5O each was taken as a matter of form.

ACTION FOR INJURIES.—In the same court, an attorney's
clerk named Oldham sued an omnibus driver named
Smith for injuries received when getting into his omnibus.
It seemed that before he had fairly done so the conductor
shut the door, and the plaintiff's thumb was much
injured. It was maintained that the injuries would not
have been occasioned had the plaintiff exercised an ordi-
nary amount of care in getting into the 'bus. The jury
took this view of the case, and gave a verdict for the
defendant.

TIIE QUESTION OF MARRIAGE FEES.—In the Exchequer
Chamber judgment was given in the case of Bryant
v. Foot. The defendant, a rector in Buckinghamshire,
claimed 10s. for himself and ss. for his clerk, as fees
upon any marriage solemnised in his parish. The plain-
tiff asked that his fees might be returned, as they were
illegal. The case was argued in the Court of Queen's
Bench, when the judges, with one dissentient, gave judg-
ment for the plaintiff. The Lord Chief Baron
now delivered the judgment of tbo majority of
the court. It appeared, he said, that from 1804
to 1854 these fees had been paid, and the question
was whether they should hold that the claim
was made out by prescription, and they were of opinion
that the judgment of the Court of Queen's Bench should
be affirmed. In order to shew that a claim to such a fee
was legal, it must be shewn to have existed from the time
of legal memory (Richard I.) The payment must have
been made from time immemorial, and it must have been
the same amount of money ; and it was impossible to sup-
pose that in the time of Richard I. such a fee as 13s. was
charged.
A QUESTION OF TOLLAGE.—In the Court of Error the
case of Lawrence v. Flitch was heard. This was an
action brought by the plaintiff as the lessee of the street
tolls of the manor of Cheltenham, to recover from the
defendant tolls due on divers goods exposed for sale in the
public streets and places in the manor and town of Chel-
tenham. The defendant pleaded not guilty, and said that
the plaintiff was not lessee and that no such tolls were
due. The case came on for trial at the Gloucester Assizes,
when a verdict was entered for the plaintiff subject to the
judgment of the Court of Queen's Bench ni o t a special
case. The special case was afterwards argued in the
Court of Queen's Bench, when the court gave judgment
for the defendant. Then there was a writ of error, and,
after argument in this court, time was taken for conside-
ration. On Monday morning the Lord Chief Baron
delivered the judgment of the court, and it was considered
that the toll was properly demandable and payable, and
that the judgment of the Court of Queen's Bench must
be reversed. —Judgment reversed.

A MOUNTAIN SLTP. —An extensive mountain
slip took place a few days ba-dc in the village of Ober-
bilten, canton of Glarus, in Switzerland. The inhabitants,
warned in time, had left their houses, which, for the most
part, have been overwhelmed. Large masses continue to
fall, accompanied by loud reports.

LEAP DOWN A COAL PIT.—A girl named Mary
Cartwright, daughter of a miner at Bloxwich, having been
beaten by her brother, rushed out of the house and leaped
down the shalt of a pit at Sott's Hole. Assistance was
immediately procured, and the girl brought out and con-
veyed to her home, where she was examined by a surgeon,
who ascertained that she bad sustained serious injury of
the spine. The depth of the shaft is sixty-six feet.
DEATH BY LiouTNING.—A communication from
Edinburgh, dated Monday, says :—" To-day, during a
thunderstorm, a man named Donald Mathison, about
30 years of age, was killed by lightning while walking
on the Pad:cal•road, Salisbury Crags. One of the wit-
nesses of the event saw a flash of forked lightning come
down upon the unfortunate man, who raised his hand
to the back of his head and fell to the ground. His
whiskers and hair on the upper part of his head were
burnt. His coat, trousers, boots, and stockings were also
burnt awl torn."

The annual meeting of the British and Foreign
School Society was held on Monday, at the Borough-road
school. The previous examination of the children took
place in the presence of Lord Lyveden and many other
friends of the institution. It had been announced that the
chair at the meeting would be taken by Earl Russell, but
his lordship was prevented from attending by indisposition.
A note from the countess to the secretary, dated Pem-
broke Lodge, Richmond, in which she expre 3sed, on the noble
earl's behalf and her own, deep regret that for the reason
before mentioned they could not be present, was read to the
meeting.

It seems not improbable that the noble defend-
ant in the somewhat too conspicuous suit of D'Alteyra,c
v. Willoughby swill before long be involved in a yet more
difficult case. In 1853, under the "Drummond Restitu-
tion Act," Lord Perth regained his ancient family
honours ; and it is rumoured that he contemplates an at-
tempt to substantiate his claim to the family estates now
in the possession of Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, in right
of his mother. Lord Perth, it is said, has hitherto re-
frained from prosecuting his claims from feelings of per-
sonal regard for the late Lord and Lady Willoughby. The
Lincolnshire and other property enjoyed by Lord Wil-
loughby as representative of the Duke of Ancaster would
not of course be affected by the proceedings in question.—
Telegraph.

MR. VAncus.—The Whip has an office. Ho has
six or seven clerks and scouts. He has a private printing
press. But, above all, he has one responsible deputy, who
is the real Whip, whose efficiency is the basis of every
majority, upon whom he depends, who in reality is what
Colonel Taylor or Mr. Glyn only seems. The present
holder of this post has held it, if we mistake not, between
thirty and forty years. It is not a highly-paid office. Yet
upon the diligence and perfection with which its duties
are fulfilled depends perpetually the fate of Ministries.
Understand, the Whip does not, like the Patronage Secre-
tary of the Treasury, go in and out of office with Minis-
ters. The Whip who drummed up sixty too few for Mr.
Disraeli this year is the same who the year before last
drummed up eleven too few for Mr. Gladstone. He has
no political feelings, or shews none. His one object in
life is to get a good majority for whatever Government is
in. At night he is at the Hoes ; in the daytime he is at
Ln office in King-street. Thence proceed almost every day
circulars to every supporter of the Government, telling
them what there is to watch for in •the Government
interest. Besides these circulars there are many special
messages on which he has to send his scouts. In fact;
there are few places in London where more business is
(lone or done quicker or at greater pressure than in this
little King-street office. —court Journal.
AN INSANE GYMNAST. —Thomas Hanlon, one of
the Hanlon Brothers, gymnasts, had a fall lately at
Louisville, from which he became insane. Arriving at
llarrisburg on the 3rd ult., he attempted to kill two boys
uid to drown himself, and was put in gaol for safety. The
gaoler brought him his dinner on a pewter plate, which he
,eized, broke in two pieces, and attempted to cut his
throat with the rough edges. Fearing he would Lang himself
ni some iron hooks, he was removed to a cell lined with
,nards and containing no furniture. On the floor were
rcn heating-pipes, with a large brass nut projecting at a
~future. When left alone in this cell he attempted to
•ornmit suicide by a method of which none but a gymnast
vould think. Ile sprang into the air about five feet, and,
urning, came down with his head oil the brass pro-
jection. He repeated this terrible feat several times,
mil when assistance arrived the floor was covered
with blood. Six strong men were unable to hold him.
threw them off with the greatest ease, drove them out
id the cells and cut one over the eye and broke another's
nose. 'When his cell was cleared he repeated his horrible
performance. His scalp was cut in a number of places,
awl hung over his forehead and face. Haulon's strength
now began to wane from great loss of blood. The physicians
who arrived administered chloroform; he was bound down
to a bench, handcuffed, and his wounds dressed, He is
since dead.

READERS.

A great deal is written from time to time
about public speaking, preaching, and lectur-
ing—how the voice should be modulated, the
words expressed, the composition put together.
How boldness should never swell into effron-
tery-, nor gentleness invite the contempt of a
rough, surging crowd. How in the pulpit
the Word of God should be handled as some-
thing sacred and almost awful, and how the
eloquence of the preacher should principally
show itself in impressing the audience that he
is the minister—the loving, earnest minister
of a God eloquent in deed as well as word ;
of a Christ, preaching to the world from the
wooden pulpit of the Cross. What books have
not been written, giving rules how to make
men eloquent, as if by the complication of a
mechanical process, on the supposition that a
bashful youth could carry in his mind, and
go through a most complicated process of in-
flections, pauses, modulations, and gesticula-
tions, when he is ready to sink into the earth
in fear of the dread blank which may present
itself to his mental vision when the whole of
what he has learnt by heart, with painful effort,
shifts away from him in a moment, and leaves
him with his hands raised to the heavens, a
dumb orator ! Books full of rules can do little
for a man who has felt the sensation of coming
suddenly to a dead lock just as he is mounting
the last step of a climax. Coming events cast
their shadows before. And, indeed, little
under any circumstances can be done by mere
trick or acting. Speaking is from the heart ;
eloquence is the full flower of a splendid mind
—the glancing expression of the highest gift
of the creature as it is manifested to his fellow-
man. Men may write books, men may read.
them—they may be some help—but a man can
no more pick up the gift of rousinc, hearts and
bending stubborn minds by Whately or by
Blair, than a poet can be made to order, or an
understanding purchased for a sum of money.
Enough has been written—possibly too much
—of these things ; but there is a point on
which very many remarks are not offered to
the public.
Men not only have to speak in public, but
they have to read in public too. The study of
the habits of that species of " animal rationale"
is an interesting one. It far surpasses in in-
terest, and is more curious by far, than many
other studies in natural history to which people
dedicate much time. The very way the book
is opened, or the place is found, has its sig-
nificance. Some of these various creatures
seize the volume with avidity, hold it straight
on its back, open it suddenly in the middle,
and then, with a wet finger, violently turn over
the leaves, giving the finger a refresher at the
turn of every leaf. Then they take a sudden
start, and turn over rapidly to the left, then
the right again, till at length their heads all at
once drop, like a lark to its nest, on the desired
spot. There is another kind which reads the
title first, then looks at the back, then the table
of contents, and after turning down the leaves
in different directions, drops the book alto-
gether. Others have an instinct to pitch on
the place almost at once, and with a long finger
and serious face, with a frown of the forehead,
and a pout of the lips, follow down the printed
lines quickly, as if reading with the finger,
turning over with a jerk, and. down the next
side, till the journey seems over, and the finger
leaves ibs mark, and the mind begins to work.
Some have an instinct just in the other way.
They can never find the place. Sometimes
because they have the wrong volume, some-
times because they have forgotten what they
are in search of, sometimes because they are
too eager, and so the leaves are twisted back-
ward and forward, increasing in velocity in
proportion to the eagerness of the reader and
the distance from the attainment of the desired
result. Others don't care to find any place at
all. They contentedly settle down where the
book opens, and read a bit here and a bit there,
and that, often enough, without knowing who
is the author, what is the title, and on what
subject it is written. Some care for the pre-
face, others love the index, a few the name of
the publisher, and the general idea of what it
is about. These are curious beings, these
readers. There are as many ways of opening
a book as of reading one. One species,
for instance, grasping the volume wide open
with each hand, hold it at arm's length,
begin
countenanceto read as ifalttolgieeytheliv.. Others
dshrtaeres
putheir heads on one side, but preserve
iaintn: t
the rest the same attitude as the others,
and allow the different emotions suggested by
the narrative to play upon their countenances:
scit uul enko ba snedr voevde lry; inn otlhveacsomrnileer,
sboef-
,niTivniangsmalimleo,
'ale mouth, steals gently -
but masterfully up
and round the lips. The neighbourhood catches
the infection, the lips give -
the qui rive, they laug, the face joins in, the
book is brought to the knees,
and shut with a
slap, and the creature exclaims audibly—Ha !
ha ! ha ! He begins again,the lips
contract
and expand, and the Ivo ume continues to the
end to play in its varied ways
upon the face
that is staring into it. We thinking are of
suggesting that this practice be brought to per-
fection, so that men may have the benefit of
reading a book in the countenance of another,
like the stars of heaven and the clouds above
can be read a thousand fathoms down in the
bosom of a lake. This might be called the
power of reading without an " immediate in-
tuition. Others,
again, are very different ;
they seem angry all the time,•
and rip the volume
open with a paper knife, as if it had done some
irreparable injury to the family. Who has not
seen that species which wears spectacles on the
forehead, and buries nose, mouth, and chin in
the pages, and in place of moving the eyes
along the lines, move the whole head •
quietly
from left to right, and back with a jerk, and so
on, as if done by a trick made of wire and
springs? Others, elbows on table, hands lost
in their hair, frown down on the unhappy
volume as if they had been hunting it for days,
had at length overtaken it,
and
were looking
with angry triumph on the helplessness of their ,
victim. Others, cross-legged, hold the book
in one hand and lick a paper-cutter in the
other, and suddenly every now and then make
a mark of admiration on the • margin, or
put " nonsense," " folly," or " fool " to
what they disagree to, and three black marks
of the pencil wherever they are pleased, or not
too lazy to show their approbation. Others,
once more, no sooner get a book into their
hand. than " they are off in a moment ;" the
book falls, a snore, a jerk of the neck back-
wards and forwards ; a stare of the eyes ; a
sullen picking up of the volume, and a repe-
tition of the same, till the reader in im-
patience throws the book down, gapes, and
goes away. Some read to get to sleep—others
read to keep awake ; some read to drive away
thought—others read to suggest thought.
Some read on the principle of the tabula rasa,
beginning without an impression in their
minds, and ending with as perfect a blank as
they began with. Some read, and master the
book—those are men with principles in their
brains—men who have anchor and ballast, and
don't carry too much sail. Others read and
are run away with—men who are like light
craft surged and swayed, blown and tossed
by every wind and every wave. They believe
in the last book they have read, and come out
amongst their friends with sonic clever argu-
ment, as they think—a ripple from the shallow
of an empty brain, thrown into forcible lan-
guage, and put with point—and imagine that
they are beginning to set the small world on
fire in which they live ; the small world all the
while (it could be seen in the corner of their
eyes) knowing well enough out of what pan
the flash was stolen. Others read, looking out
for " principles," and summing up the book
as they read, putting it under some one cate-
gory before conceived, and gibbeting the
author or holding him up to glory, according
as lie reaclles or deflects from their standard of
right. Men who read to amuse themselves are
passive readers—are operated on by the emo-
tions thrown into print, to be melted into their
own mind and to set it in warmth of motion