The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-06 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

( FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, WEDNESDAY, Feb. 5.

The French Press Bill may be considered as now vir-
tually law. It is an extension of liberty which will leave
France behind most of the States of Europe, Russia and
Turkey being the principal exceptions, in respect to free•
dom, of publiCation, but it is still a step is the right
direction. Rumours have been current that M. Rouher
and M. Pinard had resigned their seats on account of their
being unwilling to modify the press law to suit the Arca-
dians. Persigny, Jerome David, and General Fleury
were named as the ornaments of a reactionist Ministry
to succeed the present. The Bourse fell slightly
in consequence of these rumours, but it is now plain that
they were without foundation. At the same time it was
supposed here that the Stock Exchange in London was
under some bad influence. It was reported that Consols
were lower, and the spectre of the Eastern question was
believed to have been seen by speculators. We are now
told that neither Fenian alarms nor Ru3sian designs had
anytking to do with it, and the Bourse is again quiet.
As to M. Rouher and the Ministers, they aro safe, and the
debate on the Press Bill is hardly worth following. That
the bill will be materially altered, or its punitive clauses
made less severe., I do not expect.

A report from Madrid states that the Queen of Spain
has determined to send 10,000 men as auxiliary troops for
the Holy Father.

Another Royal present. The Emperor has transmitted
to the Queen of Prussia two splendid vases of Sevres
porcelain. It seems these vases attracted the Queen's
attention at the Exposition.

A grand banquet was held a few clays ago at the French
Embassy in Berlin. The magnificent bouquet presented
by M. Benedetti to the Queen of Prussia was got up in
Paris. It was composed entirely of violettes de Parme, and
cost 140 f. (25125.) A'grand ball is to come off at the
Hotel de Ville on the 13th. A brilliant reception took
place yesterday at M. Magne's.

According to a letter from Athens, dated 30th ult., a
Russian frigate had landed 1,200 Cretan women and chil-
dren at the Piraeus. The Greek Government has given an
order for 10,000 Chassepot rifles.

The Havas Agency have forwarded to the papers a
Japanese official document, intended to explain to
foreigners events that have recently transpired in that
empire. The Tycoon's address reads like a communiqué.
He states that he has resigned his authority into the
hands of the Mikado, " to warn the public against com-
ments which could only cause disquiet." The Tycoon had,
however, come to the conclusion that unity of power was
essential to good government, and he preferred to sacrifice
himself to the public weal. Foreign Powers are assured
that treaties will be faithfully carried out, and their for-
bearance is asked for during the operation of the changes
in the government of the country.
The Moniteur contains an interesting resume of facts
lately published in England of the wealth and pauperism
of the United Kingdom. The article admits that the
poverty existing in the large towns is only a social (not a
political) danger. Efforts, the writer thinks, should be
made to employ more of the people in agriculture.
The mail steamers bring us frightful pictures of the
condition of nearly all the Spanish republics in South
America. War or revolution appears to be everywhere.
The last rising seems to he in Bolivia, where General Acha
is seeking supremacy. The Nacion Argentina professes to
give the secret of the power of Lopez in Paraguay. Ac-
cording to the Nacion, the Dictator has had an enormous
cage of iron constructed, in which he keeps ten jaguars.
The bodies of those who are accused of treason are em-
ployed to nourish the jaguars. A decisive battle was be-
lieved to be imminent ut, the date of these advices.
Almost the only good news we have is that an excellent
harvest has been gathered in Chili.
M. Emile Augier is to be made a commander of the
Legion of Honour.

Count Bismarck has announced in the Prussian Chain.
ber another step in a liberal direction. It is the inaugura-
tion of a scheme to give to each prince of the Confedera-
tion the manageme,nt in part of its own finances. This
was announced as a matter of high importance, tending
towards a large and wise measure of decentralisation.

A Florence telegram appears in the continental papers,
which may explain the recent mission of Lord Clarendon
to Italy. It states that a daughter of his lordship is about
to be married to Mr. Odo Russell.

The famine in Tunis is producing dreadful effects. The
crops in the Regency have failed for two years in succession,
and the inhabitants are reduced to the last degree of desti-
tution. A letter is published, written by Mr. Wood, her
Majesty's Consul-General at Tunis, relative to the suffer-
ings among the Arabs in the Regency. He states that
" the famine is hurrying thousands of our fellow-beings
to their graves from sheer starvation. In the streets of
the town, on the roadsides, in the fields, the corpses of the
:wretched Arabs are found in frightful numbers. A
!ghastly harvest is gathered in the morning of those who
have died in the night." In some cases parents have de-
serted their children on the roads, being no longer able
to find food for them, and in others they have
_sold them for a few shillings to buy food for them-
selves. In the city of Tunis alone the mortality from.
starvation amounts to 100 per day, and as private charity
becomes exhausted the number will, it is feared, go on in-
creasing. The famine extends to the cattle, the grass
having disappeared from the fields. Notwithstanding
the severity of the calamity, no disturbances or acts of
violence have been reported. Steamers from Glasgow
touch at Tunis, and Mr. Wood undertakes to distribute
any relief that may be sent to him.

Rebellions and revolutions are the principal political
phenomena of Mexico, as they have ever been. Yucatan
has been favoured with a pronunciamento and a forced
loan by Don Villafana, and the country placed by the
Government of Juarez in a state of siege. The butcher
Escobedo has perpetrated a series of executions to suppress
mutinies among his soldiers. One Sunday morning he
had thirty-three of them shot and a number flogged.
Most of the northern part of the country seems to be in a
state of revolt. Bandits and kidnappers pervade the
whole of Mexico. A gentleman was recently seized
near the capital, and was only released on payment
of $15,000. A child was carried off to the moun-
tains, and as parents were told that unless a ransom
of $2,000 were sent the child would be killed. For the ransom
of a banker $60,003 dollars were, it is said, extorted. It
is supposed that Juarez will ask Congress to invest him
with the " ample faculties " be lately resigned, on the plea
that the country needs a Dictator. The Government
sets a bad example to its subjects. The British Legation
had no sooner left Mexico than the Government seized a
sum of money in the hands of Barron, Forbes, and Co.,
belonging to the English conventional bondholders. They
pretend to acknowledge the validity of the debt, and allege
that they will pay it over to its owners. Perhaps Lord
Stanley will see to that.

The Herald is enabled to state that Sir Charles J. Selwyn
Q.C., M.P. for the University of Cambridge, has suc-
ceeded to the Lord Justiceship of Appeal in Chancery,
vatted by Sir John Rolt, and declined by Sir Roundell
Palmer. The new Lord Justice is a son of the late Mr.
William Selwyn, Q.C., of Richmond, in Surrey. He is a
brother to the new Bishop of Lichfield, to Dr. Selwyn, Mar-
garet Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University, and to
Captain Jasper Selwyn, R.N. He was born in 1813, and
was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge,
where he graduated M.A. In 1340 he was called to the
bar at Lincoln's Inn, of which he is a bencher, in 1856 he
was made a Queen's Counsel, and for several years has
enjoyed a leading practice in the Rolls Court. He was
appointed .Solicitor-General on the elevation of Sir John
Rolt to the Lord Justiceship in July last, and the conse-
quent promotion of Sir John Karslole to the post of
Attorney-General.

The changes in the Court of Chancery Appeal since the
accession of the Conservatives to power have been of a
most remarkable character. Before Lord Derby took
office for the third time, the Lords Justices Knight Bruce
and Turner sat together year after year as regularly as
term succeeded term, until they almost came to be
regarded as permanent fixtures in Lincoln's Inn. They
sat out three Parliaments, and while they heard argu-
ments and delivered elaborate judgments, no fewer than
five Administrations came into existence and passed away.
They witnessed the transfer of power from the hands
of Lord Aberdeen to those of Lord Palmerston, from
Lord Palmerston to Lord Derby, from Lord Derby back
to Lord Palmerston again, from Lord Palmerston to Earl
Russell, and from Lord Russell to Lord Derby. No
wonder that rising equity barristers made the longevity of
the judges a proverb in their courts. Lord Derby had
not been in office a quarter of a year before Lord Justice
Knight Bruce bent beneath Ilia weight of years, surren-
dered his post, and died within a fortnight of his retire.
ucnt. Eight months afterwards the bell of Lincoln's-
Inn for the memory of the colleague with
whom Sir James Knight Bruce has sat so long, and with
elecisions he so generally concurred. Sir John
Itch, who succeeded Lord Justice Turner, enjoyed the
reward of a long and laborious professional life only six
month s , when he was stricken with paralysis and obliged
to resign that which he had so deservedly won. It is
earnestly to be hoped that with two comparatively young
men on the bench, the Court of Chancery Appeal will
now be able to make some progress with the business be-
fore it. Lord Cairns is six years younger than Sir Charles
Selwyn; he was called to the bar four years later, and
received his silk gown in the same year which saw his
colleague invested with the dignity o:

LAW INTELLIGENCE.—This Lay.

MURRAY V. WEBSTER.— This case was concluded in the
Bail Court to-day, before Mr. Justice Shee and a common
jury. The action was brought against the lessee of the
Olympic Theatre, upon a contract. It appeared that in
1866 the plaintiff was engaged at the Olympic, when under
the management of Mr. Horace Wigan, to play first low
comedian, and Irish parts, at a salary of £8 per week, and
a clear half-benefit. When the defendant became the
lessee of the Olympic, the plaintiff entered into an engage-
ment for a salary of £7 per week. The engagement was
for the season, a period which depended upon the manager
and the success of the piece ; and it was generally termi_
nated by a notice put up in the green-room. In the begin-
ning of July plaintiffasked Mr. Kinloch, the acting manager,
when he was to take his benefit. Mr. Kinloch suggested his
applying to the (Wend:int, and he accordingly wrote to
the defendant to fix his I:enefit. The defendant admitted
that ho had received the letter, and it had escaped his
memory. The plaintiff, receiving no answer; made an
engagement for the ensuing season to perform at
the New Queen's Theatre. On the 3rd August a
notice was posted up in the green-room to the
following effect :—" Those ladies and gentlemen who
are desirous of renewing their engagement for the ensuing
season are requested to make their application in writing
to Mr. Kinloch" an intimation that the season was draw-
ing to a close ; and as by the rules of the theatre thrree
weeks' notice was required to be given to the manager
before a benefit could come Gff, the plaintiff contended
that he would not be allowed sufficient time in which to
make his arrangements, and be according spoke again to
Mr. Kinloch, and again pressed him to fix his benefit.
He afterwards saw the defendant and spoke to him about
it. Defendant complained that he thought the plaintiff
had not acted fairly or courteously towards him in not
giving him the refusal of his services when the mistake
with reference to the letter *as explained. On the fol-
lowing day plaintiff asked the defendant to arrange
about the benefit, and he was told to apply to
the manager. He pressed the manager to fix a
time, but he said he could not without Mr. Web.
ster's consent ; no benefit was offered, and no day wasfixed.
_ _

" The Two Puddifoots " was cast, and the character of
Bugles was cast to him, on the ground that it was not first
comedy. Mr. Wigan said he was much annoyed with the
plaintiff for so doing, and, in reference to the benefit, all
Mr. Wigan said was, "As you will not play Bugles, I
shall fine you a week's salary, and not allow you to make
any change in the programme." Five benefits had taken
place prior to this date, and the actors and actresses had the
invariable privilege of changing the programme and select-
ing their pieces, subject to the approval of the manager.
Plaintiff estimated a clear half benefit to be worth between
£6O and £7O at the Olympic. The part of Bugles, in " The
Two Puddifoots," was not a first comedy part, but de-
cidedly a farce old man. Puddifoot, jun., was the first low
comedy part. That character was assigned to Mr. Horace
Wigan. The farce had been cast three times at the
Adelphi, and Bugles had been cast for Mr. Stephenson.
Mr. John Clarke read the farce, and considered
Puddifoot, jun., was his part. The defence was that
the character of Bugles was the only low comedy
part in the piece, and that plaintiff himself re-
fused to take his benefit.—His Lordship asked the jury
the three following questions :-Ist. Did the defendant
offer the plaintiff a benefit during the season, and,
if so, in what piece? 2nd. Did he, by the rules
of the theatre, give the defendant three weeks' notice?
and 3rd. Did the plaintiff refuse to play in " The Two
Puddiforts," and if so was Bugles a first low comedy
part ? And in the event of their finding for the plaintiff
with regard to that benefit, what damages had been sus-
tained ?—The jury having answered the questionsin favour
of the plaintiff, the learned judge directed a verdict to be
entered for the plaintiff for £7 for the week's salary, and
£5O damages for the clear half benefit, with leave to the
defendant to move on the question of the benefit.

ANOTHER ACTION AGAINST THE LONDON AND NORTH-
WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY.—In the Court of Common
Pleas, before Lord Chief Justice Bovill and a special jury,
the case of Hunt v. the London and North-Western
Railway Company came on for hearing. This was an
action to recover damages for injuries sustained upon the
defendants' line.—Mr. Prentice, Q.C., and Mr. Matthews
appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Giffard, Q.C„ and Mr.
Staveley Hill for the defendants.—The plaintiff was a
secretary to four of the Starr Bowkett building societies
and last summer he was in the course of establishing two
more of such societies, to which he was to be secretary.
On the night of the Ist July he was returning from Bushey,
he having been to Watford to attend a meeting of one
of the new societies, when the train ran into an
engine which was upon the line. The plaintiff said that
he was shot forward as though from a gun, and fell upon
the floor. He got upon the seat, and after a short delay
he went on his way to London. When he was examined,
it was found that there was a skin wound on the leg, and
the plaintiff felt pain all down one side of his body, and had
great difficulty in walking. For six or seven weeks he
could not attend to his business, and then, when he went
to his books, he suffered from headache, and was unable to
work as he had done before. These symptoms continued
in a mitigated form down to the present time. As to
pecuniary loss, the plaintiff had to give up the two social&
which he was in the course of forming, and his income from
those already established was in three instances about
£6O, and another £5O a year. He had paid £lO for as-
sistance in his work during his incapacity ; and in
addition there were the charges for medical attendance.—
Mr. Jenkins, a surgeon, and Dr. Buzzard were examined
in reference to the plaintiff's injuries, and it was said that
a medical man of eminence had examined him, but this
gentleman was not called as a witness because he required
twenty guineas as a fee for attending in court.-a-The jury
found for the plaintiff ; damages, £125.
DAMAGES FOR AN ASSAULT.—MUSICIANS IN COURT.—
In the Sheriff's Court, Red Lion-square, before Mr.
Under-Sheriff Burchell and a special jury, the case of
Cooper v. Best came before the court. This was an action
in the Exchequer brought by Mr. Wilbye Cooper, the
vocalist, against Mr. William Best, the organist of St.
George's Hall, Liverpool, to recover compensation for an
assault. The defendant had allowed judgment to go
by default, and the only question for the special jury
(required by the plaintiff) was the amount to be awarded.
The damages were laid at £2oo.—Sir George Honyman,
Q.C., with whom was Mr. Roger Gadsden, appeared for
the plaintiff ; Mr. Digby Seymour, Q.C., and Mr. Butler
Rigby for the defendant.— Mr. Gadsden opened the case.
—Sir George Honyman proceeded to narrate the circum-
stances under which the action was brought. Mr. Wilbye
Cooper was the well-known public singer, and had
belonged to the choir of the Temple Church. The
action was brought for a most brutal assault com-
mitted by Mr. Best, who was the organist at St. George's
Hall, Liverpool, at a salary of about £4OO or £5OO a year.
The "Messiah" was to be performed. When Handel
composed the oratorio there was an accompaniment of the
solo parts by the organ, and when Mozart's accompaniment
was played the organ did not play. On the occasion in
question Mr. Best insisted on playing, and when Madame
Rudersdorff was to sing her well-known air, "I know that
my Redeemer liveth," Mr. Best still played, and that
lady sent him a message. There was some dissatisfaction
in the hall, and the people did not seem to appreciate Mr.
Best as he appreciated himself. Mr. Cooper was annoyed,
as well as Madame Rudersdorff, at the defendant's insisting
on playing the organ, and Mr. Cooper said the way in which
he was playing was " perfectly beastly." After the perform-
ance some conversation took place in the library between
Madame Rudersdorff and the defendant, and he told her she
was an impertinent woman. She appealed to Mr. Cooper,
who forbore expressing any opinion ; but when requested
to say what he had stated he gave his opinion, upon which
the defendant rushed upon him and struck him. Mr.
Cooper felt much hurt, and it` was with pain he fulfilled
his other engagements at Edinburgh and Glasgow.—The
jury gave a verdict for 250.
PRE PERILS OF WRIT•SERVING.— At the Marylebone
Police-court, Charles Thompson, milliner, was charged on
a summons for violently assaulting a solicitor's clerk in
the employ of Mr. Cooper, of 6, Portman-street, Port-
man-square.—Mr. Wilding, of Tichborne-street, Edgware-
road, defended.—Frederick William Perkins, the clerk,
said he was ordered by Mr. Cooper to serve defendant with
a writ. He had twice evaded him. On the 29th ult. he
went again, and saw him in the window placing out the
goods. - He (complainant) was about to enter the door
when defendant struck him and caused his mouth and
nose to bleed. He had told defendant he had a writ for
him to appear in the Court of Common Pleas. On the
previous day complainant saw defendant, and he then said
he was not Mr. Thompson.—He was fined 40s. and costs.