The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-19 00:00:00

A ROMANTIC LAW CASE.

The courts of law will in all probability be occupied
early in the ensuing session with one of those remarkable
cases which so often occur in romances, and so seldom in
real life. It appears that about a hundred and twenty
years ago a large estate close to one of the most important
of English manufacturing towns was in the possession of
the great grandfather of the parties to the present litiga-
tion. Since that time the land has been built upon to a
great extent, and now forms the most wealthy suburb of
the town in question. At the death of the owner, his eldest
son, finding that there was no will, naturally claimed the
estate. The children of a second marriage, however, who
had never lived on good terms with their half brother,
protested against his title on the ground that his parents
had never married, and that he was consequently illegi-
timate. It seemed at first that there was no ground for
this statement. The parents had always been received in
society, and no one had ever heard of any scandal in con•
nection with them. On making inquiry it was, however,
found impossible to discover any trace of the marriage,
and the eldest son was forced to submit and to leave the
home he had always considered his own, without a
shilling. He went into town and embarked in trade,
apparently without much success, for his grandson
is at the present time a shoemaker in a back
street, and in a very small way of business. The
tradition of the lost estate has, however, always been
preserved, and some time since this descendant of the elder
son recommenced the search for proof of the marriage in
question. After much trouble he succeeded in getting at
the copies of the registers which are preserved in the
Chancery of Chester, and there, in the index, he discovered,
somewhat earlier than was expected, the names of the
original possessor of the estate and his first wife. There
was, however, no such entry in the body of the book. At
last, however, on going through it for the last time it was
discovered that two leaves had been fastened together, and
on their being separated a copy of the entry of the marriage
from the books of a Manchester church was duly found.
On referring back to the church itself the book was pro-
duced, but the entry was not there. Further examina-
tion shewed, however, that this book had also been
tampered with, but in a different way—a leaf had been
cut out with scissors, and the marks were even then
distinctly visible. On these facts the action will be
brought, and when it is remembered that the present
family have been in possession for nearly a century, and
that they are highly respected, and their members married
amongst the wealthiest people in the county, it may
readily be imagined that the matter is creating a good deal
of interest. The value of the property at stake is between
one and two hundred thousand pounds.

A man at Bradford, suprosel to be insane, has cut
his own and his wife's throats. He Las been apprehended,
and removed to the hospital.

At the Guildhall, yesterday, Augustus Byrne
was placed at the bar, on remand, before Alderman Hale,
charged with Leing in possession of a number of gun barrels,
sword bayonets, and other arms, supposed to bo for an un-
lawful purpose. Evidence having been given in support of
the charge, ho was again remanded.

A correspondent informs us that Mr. Peek, the
Conservative candidate for Mid-Surrey, has declared his in.
tention to oppose Lord Sbaftesbury's obnoxious Vestmente
Bill, or any alteration in the Prayer Book. We cull upon
Churchmen to give t4i9.gontlernan Weir, bearty mostrz
Church Timm,

. . _
fp OYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Vining.
T FITS EVENING, at 7, A CHARMING PAIR.
After which (at 8 o'clock), Dion Boucicault's new drama, in
f. nit- acts, entitled AFTER DARK, a Tale of London Life.
M,,,rs. Vining, Walter Lacy, Dominick Murray, H. J. Montague,
J. Shore; Miss Tressy Marston, and Miss Rose Leclercq.
Entirely new Scenery by Mr. F. Lloyds and assistants.
To conclude with MASTER JONES'S BIRTHDAY.
1),,,rs open at half-past 6, commence at 7. Box-office open
tidily from 10 till 5.

OYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and .Manageress, Mrs Swanborough.
TLIIS EVENING. at 7.30, SISTERLY SERVICE. Messrs.
I;o1ford, Harcourt; Miss Sheridan
After which, THE FIELD Ok' THE CLOTH OF GOLD.
Mo3srs. Thorne, James, and Robson; Mesdames Sheridan,
k oo tall. Hughes, Newton, kc.
'l'o conclude pith MARRIAGE AT ANY PRICE.

ROYAL AMPIIIII3E6AR.!.;RE AND CIRCUS,

Increased Novelties and Attractions.
ONT RA, every evening, in his unapproachable Trapeze Act, in-
tn hieing an entirely new feat never attempted, much less
•I:ieved, by any other artiste, viz., a TWISTING DOUBLE SOmEn-
s i'LT from the Flying Bar.
Reappearance of FRANK PASTOR, the Champion American
Equestrian, who has just returned from a starring engagement
i u Vienna.
The incomparable Scenes in the Arena as usual, including M.
Sainwell's wonderful performing Dogs. The CLOWN Doe, the
gre:ltest Comedian of the day, having rehearsed several new
:tad amusing tricks, will perform them every evening.
Open at Seven, commence at half-past Seven. Morning Per-
formance, Wednesday and Saturday, at Half-past Two. Children
under ten, half-price to morning performance only.

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tv~~~u,

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPT. 19, 1868.

Mr. CHILDERS' answer to the answers of his
former speech has not been very successful, for he
has done little mere than reiterate his already dis-
proved assertions, and totally ignores the facts put
before him, that the seemingly economical expendi-
ture of the preceding Government was in reality a
sham, since provisions were made and arrange-
ments were entered into which infallibly laid heavy
burdens on future years. To say the least of it,
this mode of comparing rival systems is most
disingenuous, and the affair is worse when the
criticism is merged into a trial of strength at a
general election. It is a poor look out for the
Liberals that they cannot originate for themselves,
but must rest their claims for general support upon
damaging their opponents, and contradicting all that
they have done, while giving them the responsi-
bility of their own failures. Mr. CHILDERS had
better look at home before he declares
that never were more " errors" crowded to-
gether in one short statement than there
were in the answer given to his attack. After ex-
pending a great deal of ingenuity on the point of
proving that all the cheap years were Mr. GLAD-
STONE'S and all the dear ones Mr. DisitaELt's, the
hon. member wound up his impressive passage by
declaring that " a weak Government had found it
more agreeable to say yes' and no' to the ever-
increasing demands on the public purse." To this
we may fairly retort, that the strong Government
which preceded the last one bid fair to make the
country a very weak one so far as its defences were
concerned. If we can make anything out of Mr.
CHILDERs' policy in the matter of what should have
been done instead of the far easier task of deciding
what should not have been done, it seems to amount
to this, that the reductions of Mr. GLADSTONE'S Ad-
ministration were not carried out. At any rate
there is no doubt that the present Administration
are not to blame for not reducing the army after
the fashio❑ proposed. To have done this would
not have been the way to carry out the recommen-
dations of the Commission.
Mr. CIIILDERS thinks we have come to a very
critical time in the history of the country, and that
it is very necessary to keep our beads cool. This
may be true, but something more is required from
legislators and statesmen than that they should
keep their heads cool, for it is equally, if not more,
important that they should be " clear," and their
views made comprehensible. Putting party con-
siderations aside, it will never answer to lay down
particular rules for general emergencies ; and if we
are to take the explanations given in this speech
as illustrative of Mr. GLADSTONE'S policy, it must
be said, without any disrespect, that the country
has been well quit of his services for the
last two years. It appears that whatever
necessary augmentation be made in the
Estimates, he would have made a corresponding
decrease necessary or not, we may presume, as the
case may be. In short, the right boa. gentleman's
far-famed and world-wido financial policy is so
very much like the bed of PROCRUSTES, and things
must be made to fit it, for it cannot condescend to

be elastic as the occasion requires. Suppose he
had staid in office, and made the necessary im-
provements in the army any navy, it is curious to
imagine what measures he might have considered it
his duty to effect to meet the corresponding addi-
tions. It may be very ingenious to prop up a re-
putation by such means, but the representatives of
the interests that may suffer thereby will hardly
designate it as statesmanlike, and as carrying out a
comprehensive and national policy. If we are
forced into mixing with a European war,
and have to defend some distant part of our
possesiions, and nothing is ready, it will be
but a poor consolation that the balance sheets of the
Exchequer have been most neatly arranged, and
that no outlay has appeared that has not been met
by a corresponding reduction. Mr. CHILDERS re-
members to forget that the late Government re-
signed office leaving affairs in a very peculiar, not
to say precarious, state, and that their successors
must either have supplied the deficiencies or left the
defences of the countrfain a most melancholy condi-
tion. It is true that they might have declined to
undertake the task at all, and professed their ina-
bility, and perhaps this was their end after all ;
and it is useless to go farther to find out in what way
they offended so as to draw down upon them such
overwhelming censure, and to subject their deeds to
such condemnatory criticism.
In connection with the subject of political
shortcomings, it is interesting to glance at
the " New Political Catechism " that has been
placarded at Whitby, and which offers a very good
comparison of the doings and achievements of the
last ten years or thereabouts. The Liberals, it is
shown, got us into a war with China, built ships
and did not man them, built forts and put no guns
or men in them, passed a grinding and iniquitous
Poor-law, led Denmark into war and then forsook
her, caused the Abyssinian war, had a majority in
the House of Commons and did not pass a Reform
Bill. 1V hereas the other side of the shield shows
that the Conservatives passed a comprehensive
Reform Bill, saved Europe from a war on the Lux-
einburg question, demanded and obtained from Spain
an apology for insult to England, grappled with the
Alabama claims, and prevented a war with America,
and vindicated English honour and rescued English-
men from slavery in Abyssinia. Who factiously op-
pos .d the Reform Bill which has given every ratepayer
a vote ?" it is asked, in conclusion, and the answer is
—" The GLADSTONES, father and son." Granting
that this criticism is couleur de rose in one part,
and has the brown shade cast over the other—that
the compiler has been very kind to the virtues of
the Conservatives, and a little blind to their faults,
and vice versa as regards the Liberals, still a good
deal of truth remains which e!ectors may mark
and learn with profit. One striking proof of merit

It is necessary to receive with some caution the
statements which reach us from New York respect-
ing the disturbances in the Southern States, since
it has become part of the regular electioneering
programme of both sides to bring forward terrible
stories. According to the Radical canvassers it is
scarcely safe for a loyal white man to be seen in
some parts of the South, and every individual case
of accident or murder becomes the massacre of a
body of Notherners. The Democrats, on the other
hand, are quite ready to cap these assertions with
terrible tales of negro violence, and, according to
the pictures thus drawn, the Southern States
just now are a kind of pandemonium. It is for-
tunate for all concerned that the facts of the case
fall very far short of these fearful narratives.
There can be no question that there is a great
deal of local disturbance and angry feelings,
and there are grounds, too, for apprehensions
that the systematic agitation of the Radical agents
will end by exciting the negroes to acts of violence
and insubordination, which they will be powerless
to control. At the same time it is suspicious that
the most alarming stories usually come from those
remote regions, like Arkansas and Texas, with
which the communication is uncertain and dilatory.
The disturbances reported from the Southern States
more immediately within reach of the capital are
described in the news of this morning as unim-
portant, though numerous. The Secretary of War,
whose office is just now no sinecure, with the diffi-
culty of deciding between the conflicting appeals
for his aid or his interference, has directed General
THOMAS to furnish military assistance to the
Courts of Law in the parts of Kentucky where the
execution of the processes has been resisted by armed
mobs. In Louisiana there have been some singular
changes in the Legislature. The House of Repre •
sentatives, in which the Radical element is clearly
predominant, ousted a Democratic member, and gave
his seat to the Radical candidate, who happened to
be a negro. Whether this step proved to be too
strong for the moderate members, or whether, as is
usually the case, the Radicals themselves disliked
the personal association with the black man is not
stated, but it is certain that it was afterwards re-
considered, and it was resolved to declare the seat
vacant. A reaction of this kind is inevitable
wherever the Radical doctrines are actually put
into practice, but much mischief may be done be-
fore the mass of the people are convinced of their

extravagance.

The members of the committee appointed by
Congress to report ou the expediency of renewing
the Reciprocity Treaty with Canada returned yes-
terday from a visit to Nova Scotia. Mr. BUTLER
is one of these members, and this fact, coupled with
the selection of Nova Scotia for their visit, does
not indicate a very favourable inclination towards
the renewal of the Treaty. So perverse and
opinionated are the Radicals who dominate in Con-
gress that neither the remonstrances of the com-
mercial interest, nor the examination of facts and
figures, will be likely to affect their decision. It is
quite possible that the mere fact of the PRESIDENT
and the Cabinet inclining in favour of the renewal
may predispose them to decide against it. At the
time when the notice of termination was given to
Canada there was much angry feeling in the
States against England, and Canada naturally
was considered as, representing English in-
terests. It was a favourite project with
the soldiers of fortune whom the war had left with-
out an occupation or source of profit to arrange an
expedition against Canada. Happily the common
sense of the country never allowed this scheme to
get further than talk, and the sentiments of the
people have altogether changed. No one
now dreams of a war with England.
Why, then, should the States on either side
of the St. Lawrence be deprived of the advantages
of a free commercial interchange?

From Ottawa we learn that the trial of WHELAN
for the murder of Mr. DARCY M'GEE commenced
on the 7th, and strong circumstantial evidence of
his guilt had been brought forward. The Fenians
were making great efforts to save him, several
head centres having arrived in Ottawa from the
States with funds to assist his defence, and some
members of the fraternity, we may presume, re-
sorted to stronger measures, since the witnesses
against him received threatening letters. The At-
lantic Cable has since the departure of this news
announced to us WHELAN's conviction and con-
demnation, so that fortunately those unworthy
attempts to frustrate the course of justice have
proved ineffectual.

The festivities attending the majority of the
Marquis of BUTE have been of such unusual splen-
dour that they have attracted a goad deal of atten-
tion. The young heir succeeds to such enormous
wealth, and will exercise from his position so ex-
tended an influence, that his future course is one
of deep interest to thousands of persons. In Scot-
land he owns vast hereditary estates which
connect him closely with the agricultural
interest. In Rothesay, too, he claims an intimate
alliance with the manufacturers of the town, while
in :Wales his father well-nigh created the now impor-
tant seaport of Cardiff. The vast mineral wealth of
the Valley of the Taff needed an outlet, which the
energy and enterprise of the late Marquis
gave it by the caustruction of the docks
which bear his name. This great work was
not undertaken without a corresponding outlay,
and Lord BUTE embarked his whole fortune in the
enterprise. Its success has been ample, and Cardiff,
which owes its prosperity to his efforts, has put on
its gayest attire to do honour to the birthday of his
son. The late Marquis's useful public career was
prematurely closed, but during the long minority of
his son his trustees have continued the works with
spirit and prudence, so that they are able to con-
, gratulate the young heir on his accession to a