The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-04 00:00:00

months the fetters of two Englishmen in Neapo-
litan dungeons ? Are we to hold Gibraltar and
Malta, and to see our fellow-subjects starved and
tortured to death by the familiars of King BoMBA?
Do we pay enormous sums annually for our navy,
and when our Jack Tars are incarcerated without
even the shadow of a cause, is that costly navy,
manned by their fellow-tars, to be as silent as if
up in ordinary ? We demand something to
lal
shtw for our millions annually spent in maintain-
ing, a thousand guns, it may be, afloat in the
Mediterranean ; and, if the demand that no inno-
cent Englishman shall be in a tyrant's dungeons,
within reach of our cannon, be not a reasonable
'one, we know not what is. Lord PALMERSTON
thought the worthless PACIFICo, hardly to be called
an Englishman, and his very questionable bill of
damages' worth a whole fleet before the Piraeus ;
and yet two British subjects dying in a villain's
dungeon are not held worth the broadsides of a
few frigates

Oh ! but as they are accused, they must be tried
in due form of law. Must they—we could demur
—but if they must, how is it that immediate trial
was not demanded ? No time was lost in trying
the patriot conspirators, whose virtuous crime was
indubitable ; but as it was notorious that the
captives of the conspirators could not be impli-
cated in the guilt of levying war against
tyrants, they could only be confined at
all on false pretexts, and only be kept in
confinement by delaying the opportunity of vindi-
cation. Lord PALMERSTON was bound to defeat
this villanous ssheme of the brutal tyrant. He
was bound to have served him with a writ of
Habeas Corpus from the quarter-deck of a three-
decker. He was bound to take custody himself
of the British subjects in the British consulate, to
provide them with every comfort, to engage to
produce them for trial When required, and to in-
sist on their notorious innocence being acknow-
ledged in open court, and an ample indemnity
presented to the men for their detention.
This we hold to be the only course worthy of
England and of an English Minister at this
moment. Not a single day longer should be
allowed of triumph fur villany, and torture for
innocence. We have sailors whose cheers
would almost drown the music of their guns, were
they employed on an errand like this—who would
rush to Naples as our soldiers did to Delhi. And
who is there to forbid us ? Our illustrious ally ?
We should like to see how he would behave if two
Napoleonist sailors were in BOMBA'S gaols. Our
ally, indeed I—we would not suspect him of a
grumbling thought on the case. This, however, we
do know, that he or any other ally will be a ton
times better one if he knows that British men-of-
war are our ever ready ambassadors-extraordinary
when ordinary diplomacy cannot redress the
wrongs of British subjects.

It is quite refreshing to read a purely agricul-
tural speech, touching simply on bucolic subjects,
and stimulating the worthy farmers to the earnest
performance of the important duties which they
have undertaken. Sir BENJAMIN BALL has
delivered such an oration at the meeting of the
Abergavenny Agricultural Association—a gourd,
practical address, showing the important results
that might be achieved by steady and un-
flinching resolution. He had the good
sense to eschew politics for the time being.
Even the fertile theme of India could not induce
him to depart from his prudent taciturnity. He
felt that meetings for the promotion of agriculture
should be confined to appropriate topic?, and that
his pleasing anecdotes of the mode by which his
father procured the introduction of turnip crops
into the country, were far more suitable to the
auditors than a long disquisition on any vexed
political question.
In so doing he was the real "farmer's friend."
Far more so than those who would strive
to produce political disunion, or to convince
the worthy cultivators of the soil that they were an
exceedingly ill-used body, and that they could do
more by grumbling than setting their own shoul-
ders to the wheel ; and bringing their holdings
into the highest state of fertility by improved
cultivation. In a peculiarly felicitous manner he
detailed the proofs given that " Welsh sheep
would eat turnips," and also, that the crop
mingled the pleasing with the useful, inasmuch
as it was as good for the sportsman, as it was 1
beneficial to the farmer.

To those present he gave a general invitation
to visit the improvements which he had effected,
tendering every possible information as to the
tmodus operandi by which he had converted hit•
" a smiling farm" what was once an unsightly
swamp. He said that " within the last six years
he had converted a desert waste into a fruitful
source of produce, and where briars and furze and
rank weeds grew they might recently have seen
corn growing in abundance, and might now see
the stacks of corn which did grow there ; and they
would see, too, as good fields of turnips as any that
had been entered for competition this year. Of
course this had been a matter of cost, thought,
and toil ; but during the time when it pleased GOD
to visit him with a great affliction—during the
time he was deprived of sight, and while he was
unable to take part in the healthful pursuits he
before enjoyed—to go across the country, or stalk a
stag, or knock over a grouse—farming became his
pursuit, and had ever since been his pleasure up
to the present time. And when he was relieved
from the more anxious duties which belonged to
his position, it was a pleasure to come down to Llan:
over ; and if, by means of the example he had set,
he had done any good in his sphere he was thank-
ful for it, and he hoped that that example, as far
it was good, might be followed by others and be
beneficial to them." This is as it should be. Sir
BENJAMIN HALL has occupied an important
position in the Ministry, and he has at-the same
time been the popular representative of an impor-
tant constituency. Whether at the Bard
of Health, or of Works, or at the
Woods and Forests, he has invariably
discharged his duties with ability and z3al,
with credit to himself and advantage to the public,
and he would indeed be a bold man that wouki
dare to oppose him on the hustings at Marylebone.
And yet while so occupied, he has found time
sufficient to be a model landlord and a model
farmer, and to set a bright example to others—
earning in private life equal popularity to that
which he has so deservedly obtained in public
affairs. We commend his example to others, and
if fairly acted on, they, too, will command the
respect and esteem of their friends and neigh-
bours.

At St. Petersburg Madame Bomb has achieved a
great success in " La Traviata."
TUE NEW COURT OF PROBATE.—We understand that
Mr. Justice Cresswell will, in all probability, be the
judge of the new probate court, created under the bill of
last session. This appointment will make a vacancy on
the bench of the Court of Common Pleas, and West-
minster Hall is already full of rumours as to tha mode in
which it is likely to be filled up. The names of Mr.
Sergeant Shee, Mr. Sergeant Byle4, and ?Ir. Hugh
Hill, Q C., are amongst those most prominently put
forward ; it is also rumoured that Sir H. S. Keating,
the present Silicitor-Goneral, may possibly put in a
claim for the vacant seat. It is perhaps sufficient to re-
mirk, with regard to all these rumours, that at present
there is no absolute vacancy or indeed any likelihood of
a change, pt all events, during the sours i of the present
term,