The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-22 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

DECISIONS ON ELECTION PETITIONS. —The question
which was raised as to whether the payment of one sum
of £l,OOO was sufficient security where two seats were
assailed in one petition, has been decided by Justice
Willes, who holds the opinion that the one payment is
sufficient. It has, however, been decided that it is illegal
for petitioners to be sureties, but he allowed five days fox
those who stood in that position to find others to act as
sureties.

DAMAGES AGAINST RAILWAY COMPANIES.—Chief Justice
Bovill, in the Common Pleas, has directed a verdict in
favour of a clerk named Peglar, in the employment of
Messrs. Penn and Sons, the eminent engineers. The in.
jury for which compensation was claimed was sustained
on the South-Eastern Railway as far back as
September 1866. This was a second trial directed
by the full court. The sum of £625 was awarded, to covet
expenses incurred by plaintiff in endeavouring to recover
his health ; and the case has been referred to an eminent
eye doctor to say what further damages should be allowed
for an injury to the plaintiff's eye.
WORKMEN'S RAILWAY TICKETS.—A case of considerable
importance to railway companies and to working men was
brought-before Mr. Newton on Monday at Worship-stree4
Police-court. A compositor, named Henry Marks, in
the employment of Messrs. Waterlow, summoned Mr.
William Mansell, the general manager of the North London
Railway Terminus at Broad-street, to answer a charge of
having neglected and refused to issue a workman's ticket
within a reasonable time after being required to do so.
These weekly tickets allowed of workmen travelling to
and from Dalston station and the City by certain trains
each day, at a cost of only ls. weekly. The clerk
at the station had first stated that workmen's
tickets were discontinued, afterwards that they were
only issued on Monday mornings, the result
being that one day's journey cost the complainant six-
pence. Objection was taken that the company were
entitled to such sufficient notice before issuing workmen's
tickets as would enable them to make satisfactory
inquiries, if they felt so inclined, into the position in life
of the applicant; and the magistrate held the objection
valid, dismissing the charge.

A man named Weager has been brought up at the
Liverpool assizes, charged with personating a voter at the
election. The prosecutor, however, did not cress the charge,
and the man was discharged on his own recognizances to
appear when called upon.

On Saturday a landslip occurred on a very
precipitous portion of the Dublin and Wicklow Railway
running above the sea and cliffs at Killiney. The slip
was consequent on extraordinary high tides and heavy
trains. The traffic, however, has not been interfered witl,
by the casualty.

Dr. Magee, the newly-appointed Bishop of
Peterborough, was present on Monday at the reopening
of the church at Math°lm, a village contiguous to Milton,
the ancient seat of the Fitzwilliam family. This church
has recently been restored at the cost of the Hon. G. N.
Fitzwilliam, and the reopening sermon was preached by
the Bishop, the prayers being read by the Rev. R. S.
Blacker, the present incumbent.

A NEW REASON FOR NOT VOTING.— A local
paper says that at North Wilts election, a fortnight ago,
% voter who resides in a small county town not far from
Corsham was applied to several times for his vote. This,
however; he resolutely refused to give, "For," said he,
" directly after I voted last time the braid rose ! and I
made up my mind from that time that I'd never vote
sny more."

A STALACTITE CAVE.—A stalactite cave has been
jiscovered in the rocks near the Clifton station of the
Bristol Port and Pier Railway. The cave has been
explored to the distance of some twenty or thirty yards,
ander the superintendence of Mr. Wilkinson, the manager
)f the line, and many beautiful stalactites have been dis-
31osed, some of them extending from the roof to the earth
beneath, and which from their size have for the present
Drevented the further passage of the explorers. Some
?ones of animals and birds have also been found among
;he soil, including part of a skull which would Seem to be
;hat of a hyena. The
.feave is apparently of considerable
em:th and death.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

MR. GLADSTONE AND THE WOMEN OF LANCASHIRE.
A defeated candidate has enough to do just now.
Everyone who voted for him is very sorry that he
lost the election ; and, what is more, they write and
tell him so. He must in courtesy reply. Mr. Mill,
in one case at least, has sent with his answer a copy
of his work on Parliamentary Representation. But
everyone has not written such a work. Mr. Glad-
stone makes "a few remarks on things in general."
He has had letters from high and low, from men
and women. The women's letter is signed
by some 4,810 names. In reply, the Premier
asks forgiveness for not answering the letter before,
and adds, "It has so often been my lot to feel that
any efforts I had endeavoured to make for the
public good met with a far more than just apprecia-
tion that my words may appear unmeaning when I
make, very unfeignedly, a similar acknowledgment in
the present instance. This need not, however, pre-
vent my returning my grateful thanks to yourself
and to all who have signed the address, nor my
adding the assurance that their kind and generous
language will at once stimulate and sustain me in
the arduous labours which must devolve upon the
present Government in connection alike with political
and social objects."
THE "MINORITY" MEMBER FOR BIRMINGHAM.
Some of the Conservative newspapers, fonder of a
joke than of truth, have called Mr. Bright the
minority member for Birmingham because he was
third on the poll. Of course the term was wholly
inappropriate, since Mr. Bright, whether first or
third, represents the majority, not the minority. The
reason why he came to be third is given in the Daily
News. The Liberal party at Birmingham had to
guard against the possibility of defeat by assigning
more than their due share of votes to Messrs. Dixon
and Muntz. In the afternoon of the polling-day,
when it was found that they were safe, it was pro-
posed to discontinue the arrangement, and to let the
electors who preferred to do so vote for Mr. Bright.
But he declined to assent to the alteration, and thus it
was that he was'only third. Hehas now been re-elected
without opposition) a fact which shews how much
vitality there was in the very mild Tory joke.
LORD, CAIRNS.
the
Lord Daily .News accepts the statement that 'the
Lord Justiceship of Appeal had been offered by Lord
Chancellor Hatherley to Lord Cairns, and states with
regret, which all persons must share, that the last-
mentioned nobleman is unable to accept the
offer because his medical advisers tell him
that he must spend the winter in Italy.
Lord Cairns has long suffered from a tendency to
phthisis, and it is to be feared that he will have to
take care of himself for some time to come. It should
be stated that the John Bull denies that the offer
mentioned above has been made. It is now fully
expected that Vice-Chancellor Gifford will be the
new Lord Justice. Who will be the new Vice-
Chancellor is a matter still left for the legal journab
to exercise their imagination upon. Mr. Jessel ha
been named in some quarters. In that event a sea,
would become vacant at Dover.
ASE IRISH ELECTION.
Mr. Disraeli said that the Irish people wanted
" amusement." In his smart novelette "Popanilla " he
describes the " amusement" in which the Irish people
delight. When Popanilla enters his hotel, he finds
the tables provided with pistols ; during the ordinary
a free fight takes place, in which the death of several
persons is looked upon as a matter of course;
during the night some of the populace amuse
themselves by setting fire to the hotel; and
Popanilla and his aristocratic party amuse thenzselret
next day by hunting the populace, killing whom they
catch. In somewhat after the same way do the
inhabitants of Drogheda look upon an election. It
is a time to " amuse" themselves ; and, in default of
better recreation, they smash windows. But
an English mob might do that ; the Irish-
men go farther, they attack the military, doubtless
fine and exciting fun. The captain is stunned by r
stone; fifty out of sixty-four soldiers are injured—
and some seriously—by the same missiles. And by.
and-bye the riot runs so high that the magistrates
nave to raw out and react the well-known Act.
Better—more exciting than ever ; now the Irishman
is " amused." The soldiers are ordered to charge.
They do so. But two shots come from the crowd—
happily injuring no one. Unhappily, two soldiers,
exasperated at the treatment they are receiving,
return the shots. A man in the crowd falls. Only
a few months ago a similar story in some respects was
told in the committee-rooms of the House of Com-
mons concerning the Waterford election. But on
the principle, one would think, that ono side was
as bad as the other, the committee did not find that
the rioting invalidated the election. And so the
Drogheda electors are encouraged in their "good
work" of providing themselves amusement.
SHALL WE CEDE GIBRALTAR ? "
George Grey—not the ex-Home Secretary—not
the ex-Governor of New Zealand—but Admiral
George Grey—says Yes. He says yes for two
reasons. In the first place, Gibraltar is useless to us.
It is not a harbour of refuge ; but is so exposed to
gales from the south-west, and to flurries and white
squalls in an easterly gale as to be always an insecure
anchorage. For coaling purposes there is no accom-
modation save hulks, so far as merchant
vessels are concerned, and the hulks are
often unavailable. The harbour is really defenceless,
for it is commanded from innumerable points of the
Spanish coast, and with modern artillery not a house
on the Rock would be out of easy range. By handint
over Gibraltar to Spain not one vessel would be de-
terred from going there in time of peace; and il
time of war not one could go there. Such is Admir-
Grey's first reason. His second is that Spain is rapidly
regaining her position, and soon will be a first-rate
Power, when it will be almost impossible for
us to continue an occupation that is com-
parable only to the Spaniards occupying the
Bill of Portland. Admiral Grey therefore proposes
that we should exchange Gibraltar for Ceuta, which
the Spaniards lately conquered from the Moors;
that a certain number of years should be allowed us
to form a harbour to the southward of Ceuta by a
breakwater similar to that at Portland, for which
there is every facility ; and then to cede Gibraltar
intact, with all its fortifications, in return for a pro-
portion of the expense at Ceuta beingvaid by Spain.
Admiral Grey considers that this exchange would
give, us a fine harbour instead of a useless one, that
ft would soothe Spanish irritation, and that we should
no more "lose our prestige" than we lost it by al -:
cession of Corfu.
THE REV. HARRY JONES ON CONVALESCENT
HOSPITALS.
The Rev. Harry Jones, whose name is a-all known
as a zealous and enlightened social reformer, has been
making an appeal to the public on behalf of a very
excellent and much-needed institution. The position
of the working man recovering from severe sickness,
and compelled to return to his daily routine of toil-
ing-and moiling before he is half fit for it, has often
excited the sympathy of the benevolent, and of late
years this sympathy has taken a practical form in the
establishment of convalescent hospitals. As Mr. Jones
says, in advocating the claims of the Eastbourne Hospi-
tal, there is always an after stage of weakness to the
patient, through which the hospital cannot support
him. But what can he do ? His wife and children
look to him for bread, and he must take up his tools
and face the old labour at once. On the contrary, if
he is fortunate enough to obtain admission to a con-
valescent hospital, he gets the very things he wants
—fresh air, change of scene, rest, and nourishment.
The only drawback to these institutions is that their
number is quite inadequate to supply the wants of
London. The managers of the Eastbourne Hos-
pital are therefore anxious to change their
small temporary itunitution into a large and
permanent establishment. This change will
cost about £32,000, of which £15,000 has yet to
be raised. Mr. Jones's appeal will no doubt help
materially to supply this deficiency. No one has a
better right to speak on the physical condition of the
poor of the metropolis ; and as the institution he
pleads for can offend no prejudices, and is entirely
independent of sectarian or class interests, we may
hope that it will meet with a fair share of success.
THE CONSTITUTION OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.
The council of this college have put in circula-
tion a statement explaining the objects and provi-
sions of the proposed bill for amending its constitu-
tion. 'They wish in future to give instruction in the
fine arts as well as in literature and science, and
they are anxious that the proprietary character of
the institution shall come to au end, provision being
made for keeping up permanently a constituent body
of members. Originally the college was a proprie-
tary institution, and it was intended that the
peredng four pershouldopiiretorscent. receiveinterest
asrwa
afterwards
terxd-
cs
abandoned, and the interest was never paid, but the
constitution of the college has remained rather
unsettled. The original proprietors have retained
the right to transfer their shares to nominees
approved by the council, while lapsed shares became
the property of the college, and were generally con-
ferred on students who distinguished themselves. It
is now proposed that the remaining proprietary
shares shall be abolished, but that the exist-
ing proprietors and their nominees shall have
power to nominate successors as governors of the
college. In order to secure a permanent constituent
body of members, it is proposed that the council
should from time o time nominate former students
who have become distinguished in after life ; persons
holding the rank of Emeritus Professor of the college;
parsons who have conferred benefits upon the college,
or who are distinguished in literature, science, or art.
It is also proposed that any twenty or more members
of the college, may nominate any person as life
governor. The corporate body of the college will there-
fore consistof, first, governors; second, life governors,
including donors ; and third, fellows. Ample pro-
vision is therefore made for securing an efficient and
enlightened zovernina body.