The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-07 00:00:00

13PIMIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Times notices that the Queen goes to the Alps for
the first time. For the first time she will see the transcen-
dent beauties of the Lake of the Four Cantons, the Righi
and Pilaus, with the distant mountain ranges which shut
in the view ; for the first time she will explore those shores
where every turn discloses something grand and rare,
unparalleled, at least, in these regions of the globe. How
much the Queen feels the charm of mountain scenery those
who have read her " Journals in the Highlands " need not
be told. Her surprise and delight at the objects which
she met in those northern tours are expressed with the
utmost simplicity and sincerity. If, then, the brown hills
of Scotland affected her with such emotion, what must be
her pleasure in looking for the first time on the mighty
masses of the Alps, with their clothing of snow and
glacier, their waterfalls, their pine forests, and all those
natural features which once seen are never forgotten ! We
sincerely hope that the Queen will have strength and
spirits to see a good deal of Switzerland. As the
" Countess of Kent" travels for the benefit of her health,
and for that reason dispenses with the courtesies which
foreign authorities would offer, we hope that English
tourists will respect the privacy of the royal party.
Loya'ty is no doubt a very excellent sentiment, but it
can be cherished without invading its exalted object
at every turn of her daily walks ; nor has it, indeed, '
any real connection with that vulgar curiosity which
makes a well-dressed English mob rush after a Prince as
if he were some extraordinary animal, exhibited for the
first time. It is not unnecessary to make these remarks,
since the fact that the Queen is at Lucerne, and that only
well-to-do English people are likely to be found there,
may be no protection to her ; fur, unhappily, respectable
people are the greatest offenders iu this respect. The
Queen has gone on a tour which we all hope will be a
pleasant one ; let all assist in making it so, by abstaining
from importunate loyalty. Sovereigns seldom have the
opportunity of laying aside their majesty with their crown
and robes ; on these rare occasions,then, let them have the
agreeable freedom of a lower station.
The Star fears for her Majesty's comfort and privacy in
Switzerland. Royalty has to pay a heavy penalty for
its greatness. "The giants," says Thackeray, "are
always lonely." Perhaps so of the giants of intellect, and
in their intellect ; but the giants of rank are seldom
let alone. We fear that from all quarters this season
there will be a rush upon Lucerne. There will
be a gathering compared with which the famous
assembly immortalised by Schiller's verse and
Itossini's music would seem small indeed. In
the height of the ordinary season Lucerne is
always crowded to excess, and English people make up
the bulk of the crowd. This year, who can doubt that a
wild additional eagerness to pour into the town will spring
up, has already sprung up, from the fact that the Queen has
chosen it for the scene of her holiday ? When the Prince
and Princess of Wales were at Wiesbaden last year, a
regular stampede of English tourists from all parts of
Germany was made towards the favoured spot. The
Lucerne hotel-keepers, not ignorant otherwise of the
art of charging, may reap a double harvest this year.
The Queen's face will bring grace to them indeed. We
can only again express a hope that the Queen may not
be mobbed, however Lucerne may be ; that she may be
allowed sometimes the charm of loneliness, cr at least of
retirement ; that she may not be condemned to keep
within the limits of her own grounds, to save herself from
unofficial and amateur trains-attendant ; that the divinity
which hedges a king and was declared to be fence strong
enough to keep treason from more than peeping in, may
be found equally strong in this case to protect against
the pryings and the persecutions of demonstrative
curiosity.

The Times remarks that Mr. Gladstone has hit the righ;
style when he boldly challenges his opponents to explain
to the electors how the national expenditure has increased
three millions during the very little more than two years
of a Conservative Government. Mr. Hunt, of course, will
lose no time in supplying these gentlemen with as many
items and figures as can be easily remembered in the face of
a British constituency, and delivered with some chance of
being understood and remembered. Of course, it may he
asked what the leader of the Opposition was about when
he allowed it ; and it certainly is the fact that much of the
increase bad the hearty concurrence of Parliament, either
as necessary or justified by the general rise in prices ; but
Mr. Gladstone has only availed himself of the usual elec-
tioneering license in throwing his antagonists upon their

defence.
The Post attaches peculiar importance to Mr. Glad-
stone's speech, as being an announcement of the Liberal
platform, addressed not only to his constituents but to the
country. " Justice to Ireland" is the main point in that
policy. The gist of Mr. Gladstone's address is that he and
his party will sedulously devote themselves to the sacred
duty of doing for Ireland what, as be expresses it, we would
expect that Ireland, if our positions were reversed, would
do for us. If generosity of sentiment could be accepted
as a pledge of filth! e generosity of action, the Irish
people ought forthwith to hail Mr. Gladstone as their
greatest champion ; but although our experience of man-
kind, and especially of politicians, should lead us to pause
until words have been followed ty deeds, we may still
applaud the justly Liberal policy which Mr. Gladstone
has enunciated, and trust that, when the opportunity
presents itself, he and those with whom he acts will do
everything that in them lies to carry that policy to a
triumphant conclusion.

The Herald says that Mr. Gladstone is anxious that the
electors should question his opponents upon the point.
Let them do it by all means. There is a very easy answer,
an answer given to Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Childers, and the
Marquis of Ifartington in the House of Commons, and to
which they did not dare to offer any rejoinder. This in-
crease of expenditure was necessitated in the largest part
by the scandalous mismanagement and paltry parsimony
of Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues. To enable
the Minister to bring forward his scheme of
reducing the debt, and so sacrifice several branches of
revenue raised without any burden to the community, or
any disturbance of trade, the army and navy were
starved ; we had neither guns, ships, nor men. When the
Conservative Government came into office it had to repair
the effects of this disgraceful maladministration ; it had
further to expend large sums of money in the supply of the
weapons and the ammunition which the lessons of the war
of 1863 permitted no delay in providing ; it has, with, the
consent of Parliament, increased the pay of the troops,
and provided the vessels and guns which are absolutely
alecessary to enable us to maintain our position as a naval
Power.

The Dai/y News, in criticising Mr. Gladztone's address,
draws particular attention to the Reform Bill, which it
considers little more than a " rough sketch."

The Standard comments upon Mr. Gladstone's career
and his late address. It is the boast of a certain section
of the Liberal party that they have " educated " their
leader, and there is some truth in the boast. When Mr.
Gladstone, in 1859, finally made his election, and threw in
his lot for ever with the Whig-Radical Coalition against
the party in whose ranks he was born and brought up, he
still retained some Conservative opinions, some traces of
his early training under Sir Robert Peel, and of his long
and intimate connection with the University of Oxford.
He was counted by the more moderate section of
the Liberals as one of themselves ; he was believed by
the public to be one of the least Radical members in Lord
Palmerston's Cabinet. But it very soon became evident
that this was not to be his permanent position. He was
an ambitions man, and ill-disposed to accept contentedly
a subordinate situation. He aspired to leadership ; and
it was plain that he could not attain his object through a
connection with the " I•eft Centre." The Whig element
was predominant in that section ; and the Whigs, in the
first place, did not like him, and in the next place had
men of their own whom they preferred to him. lle has
been gradually making friends with the extreme Radicals,
and the last barrier between them, the Church, has been
cast away. The tone of Mr. Gladstone's speech through.
out is venomous in its malice towards opponents ; disin-
genuous in its statements ; unscrupulous in its suppressions
of fact ; shallow, uncandid, unsound, from first to last.

The Telegraph has a leader mainly relating to that part of 1
Mr. Gladstone's speech which refers to the Irish Church.
Not even now can Mr. Gladstone conceal from himself
the great difficulties of his task. When the country
endorses his policy, and sends him up a House of Com-
mons of his own, if we may use the expression, his hardest
work will only have begun. Even when the principle of
disestablishment is granted, the details arc full of
the most complicated considerations, and nice, knotty,
delicate points of adjustment. If we leave any-
thing—churches or glebes—to the Episcopal Protes-
tants of Ireland, we must define what an Episco-
pal Protestant is—no very easy task. We must
disentangle State and private endowments, sometimes
curiously dovetailed in many parishes. We must take care
that no honest life interest suffers injustice. We must do
this, not on a clear road, but on a path bristling with the
embittered opposition of Tory foes, fighting 'fiercely for
irliat they call their faith. But the highest praise we
could give idr. Glitil.itime is the expression of our belief
that he is equal to the task. lie has undertaken the work,
and he will "put it through."

THE PRINCESS Louis OF llEssE.—The acconche-
ment of her Royal Highness the Princess Alice, Princess
Louis of Hesse, is expected in November. Her Royal
Highness has, on previous occasions, availed herself of the
services of Dr. Priestley ; but,i in Cons:aeration of the
increasing engagements of that physician, she has con.
siderately allowed his place to ba filled this year by Dr.
Brodie, who will be enabled to stioy during the month with
lek3e!Ri.4c.e,=-Eri!wi Jox:nat. •

A BRUSH WITH PIRATE.

The China Mail gives a description of a real. battle with
pirates. The gunboat Algerine, Lieutenant Doraville
commander, was the victor. One junk bad already been
captured. At daylight, on Sunday, the 31st May, the
gunboat again set out, this time directing her course from
Stanley to the west coast. Dodging into Macao for fur-
ther information and fresh water, she afterwards made
direct for Namoa, and it was on her return from that
place (between Namoa and St. John's) that she met her
opponents in the shape of a large fleet of eight heavily-armed
piratical craft. This was on Wednesday the 3rd, about three
o'clock in the afternoon. On bailing the junks, and asking
" whither bound and where from ?" Lieutenant Dom-
vine received the reply " From Macao to Hainan ;"
but, on being asked for their papers, they refused point-
blank, defied the gunboat, and threatened to blow the
diminutive " Fan-kwwei" out of the water. This was,
however, a task not quite so easy of accomplishment ; and
the little gunboat at once sent a " feeler" in the shal e
of a shot between two of the pirates' junks. Thus
challenged, the pirates, now in fu'.l line, immediately
opened a brisk fire upon the gunboat, which was
returned by the Algcrine in a general sort of way,
with shot and shell, for about four hours, at the end of
which time the little gunboat was as far from being blown
off the scene as ever. All this time the gunboat was
rolling heavily, but, in spite of this, her gunnery told with
considerable effect upon the sails and hulls of the
opposing junks. One of the latter, while trying to skulk
in towards the land, was cut off and boarded ; her papers
were found in a measure correct, but as she had been
also engaged, her guns were tumbled overboard, and her
captain taken prisoner on board the gunboat. The
Algerine next gave chase to the remainder of the fleet,
which in the interim had sheered off to the westward,
and came up to them about dusk, when it appears
one of the briskest engagements with Chinese on record
ensued. Having bailed the pirates with the same result
as before, Lieutenant Domville and his men began work
in earnest at close quarters ; the Algerine's fire was quickly
returned, the result of which was that some sails were cut
and the fore-rigging was considerably damaged, and this
lasted for about an hour and a half. During the early part
of this scrimmage the pirates are said to have manoeuvred
their craft with considerable skill, but the volleys of grape
and canister from the big gun of the Algerine at point-
blank range appear to have Leen too much for them. As
darkness was now coming on, and they were getting into

shallow water, while at the same time the Chinese were
beginning to show signs of having had quite enough of it,
the chase was given up. The junk which had been

crippled at the commencement of the action was now
found to be trying to get off to seaward ; but the gunboat,
too quick for her, immediately gave chase and succeeded
in capturing her about two hours after dark. She was found
to be well armed, with eight guns and 21 of a crew, besides
the captain previously captured, and to have on board a
miscellaneous cargo of about $7,000 in value. At mid-
night she arrived in tow of the gunboat. The pri-
soners are a sorry-looking set of fellows, as they now appear
on board bound to various places on deck, and two of them
are severely wounded by the bursting of shells. They will
most probably be forwarded to the Chinese authorities.
It is said that the Chinese have never been seen to stick
to their guns so pluckily as they did on the present occa-
sion, they having fought well, and never whispered of
surrendering. Considering the long odds between the com-
batants, the result is, to say the least, most satisfactory, and
reflects no small credit upon the lieutenant commanding
and the officers and men of the Algerine. That no
casualty occurred on board the gunboat is owing to the
fact that the pirates fired at much too high a range, an&
consequently damaged the rigging only. It is calculated
that the Chinese must have numbered over SOO men and
about 130 guns, while the Algerine, with her "Big Ben"
and two small guns, has a complement of only eighteen or
twenty, all told.

LAW AND POLICE.

.4-

HEAVY DAMAGES AGAINST A RAILWAY COMPANY.—At
the Wells Assizes an action has been brought by Mr.
Thatcher, a commercial traveller, against the Cambrian
Railway Company for injuries sustained by him through
the negligence of the company. The plaintiff was a pas-
senger on the defendants' line in May last, and
when at Welchpool a serious collision occurred, in which
he sustained injuries. The company admitted that they
had been panty of negligence, and the only question was
as to the amount of compensation, which it was ultimately
agreed should be 21,750.
MURDER OF A WIFE.—At the same assizes William
Hayward was indicted for the wilful murder of Ann Hay-
ward on the 7th of May last. On the day in question the
prisoner, the deceased, and her brother had taken break-
fast, when the latter went out of the house, but in a short
time was called back by the accused. Best (the brother)
was alarmed, and going inside the house he saw his sister
sitting on a chair, quite dead ; her dress was on fire,
smoking. He immediately gave an alarm, and several
persons came to the house. Upon a hasty examination it
appeared that the poor woman had been shot. One of
the persons said, " Well, William, you have done it now."
He replied, " Yes, it can't be helped." There was
a gun in the room which had been recently
discharged, and there was a strong smell of powder
in the room. Best said to the prisoner, " You
rogue, you have shot my sister !" The prisoner replied,
" Have I?" The gun had been unloaded some ten days
previously; there were caps and powder and shot in a
drawer in the pantry. It was proved most conc'.usivtly
that the prisoner was of unsound mind, and such being
the case he was. ordered to be detained during her
Majesty's pleasure.
STRANGE CASES OF PERJURY. —At the same assizes,
three young men, named Payne, Hooper, and Woodland,
were indicted for perjury. The prosecutor, Mr.
Hawkins, was a gentleman who devotes much of
his time to scientific researches, and bad a boy named
Bowden in his employ, whom he dismissed.
Soon afterwards the boy's mother took out a summons
against the prisoner for immoral conduct, which was dis-
missed without Mr. Hawkins being called on for his
defence. The prosecutor then summoned Bowden for
attempting to extort money. That charge was dismissed,
but directly after Bowden and Payne, one of the
prisoners in the present case, took out separate sum-
monses for indecent assaults against Mr. Hawkins, but at
the hearing Payne was committed for perjury, and the other
prisoner, who had given evidence for Payne, was also
indicted. After the case bad proceeded some way, Mr.
Trevor, the clerk of the county magistrates for the division
of Bridgwater, was called to produce the information and
depositions of Payne which contained the alleged perjury,
when it appeared from the evidence of Mr. Trevor that
the deposition of Payne had never been read over to Min
by the magistrates or their clerk before he signed it. The
learned judge thereupon decided that the indictments
could not be sustained, and the prisoners were acquitted.
Mr. Justice Mellor expressed his surprise at the care-
lesiness of the magistrates, and remarked that the case
did not fail on its merits, but on technical objections.
ACTION AGAINST THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN
RAILWAY.—At the Manchester Assizes an action was
brought against the above named company for injuries
sustained by a collision on their line. The plaintiff was a
passenger by the defendants' train from Hindley Green to
Wigan on the 14th of December last, and after proceeding
until within 300 or 400 yards of Wigan Station the train
ran into a luggage train, and the consequence was that the
plaintiff had his head severely cut, his knees contused, and
suffered other injuries of a general character. The jury
gave £455 damages.
ATTEMPTING TO ADMINISTER POISON.—At the same.

assizes, Robert Wilkinson was indicted for attempting to
administer poison to a man named Wolfenden. The
prisoner's mother held a policy of assurance en the life of
the prosecutor, and on the day in question the accused
waited for Wolfenden till he left work, and then accom-
panied him to a, public-house, where they partook of ale.
The prisoner offered to pay for a glass for Wolfenden,
and went out of the room, but almost immediately
reappeared with a glass of ale, but Wolfenden noticed
something floating on the top, and refused to drink it. It
was ascertained by an analytical test that the ale contained
sufficient opium to cause death. The prisoner was
sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment with hard
labour.

ALLEGED MURDER BY A SOLDIER.—At the Westminster
Police•court, John Bowler, a private in the Grenadier
Guards, was charged with causing the death of William
Pemberton, a comrade. The parties were in the canteen,
and after having some high words the deceased made use
of an offensive epithet, when the accused knocked him
down and kicked him with sufficient violence to cause
death. It was elicited that the cause of the quarrel was
the deceased kissing a woman in the canteen. The
accused was remanded on a charge of wilful murder.
• hIFORTANT ACTION FOR LIBEL.—The action fcr libel
raised by Sir Joseph M'Kcnna against Mr. Usborne, a
large shareholder in the National Dank, has been com-
menced at Cork. Mr. Sullivan, Q.C., in opening the case,
said that Mr. Usborne had urged Sir J. Maenna to ad-
vance him £lO,OOO of the bank money, to be applied in
enhancing the shares of the bank in the market; . and• on
S:r J. M`Kenna refusing to sanction this proposition, Mr.
Usborne addressed a letter to the directors of the bank,
stating that Sir Joseph M`Kenna's name appeared as
director in connection with certain disreputable schemes.
The case has not concluded.

Tho Liverpool Town Council have resolved to
increase the salary of Major Greig, the head constable
from VA to gljcQo Res2a.