The Sun. — 1861-05-25 (London, England)

MIRES I,V PRISON.  A letter in a contemporary says :—I hear truly heartrending accounts of the sufferings of Mires in Mazas prison, where he still is—for the statement circulated by a lithographed correspondence of his having been removed to an hospital turns out to be untrue. He applied for this favour, but was refused. Long solitary confinement has seriously affected the mind as well as injured the health of the great financier. His black hair has turned very grey, and is falling off. The restrictions upon interviews with his family, of which his wife complained in a letter which was made public, still continue. The cell in which he is confined is so fetid that when his friends do see him they can with difficulty stay more than a few minutes. The only furniture is a rush-bottomed chair, a deal table, and a small iron bedstead, which has to be turned up in the daytime to give him room to move about, so narrow is the dungeon which for three long months has been the dwelling-place of the man who was dragged from one of the most sumptuously furnished palaces in Paris to be thrust into it. All this while neither the prisoner nor anybody else knows exactly of what he is accused. At the time of his arrest it was rumoured that the charges against him were of a very serious irituye, but now many say that at the worst his offence was bailable, and he has offered bail to any amount. However this may be, it does seem unnecessarily cruel to keep him so very long in such a horrible place. Such treatment is certainly unusual, although the Monitenr, in answer to the public murmurs on the subject, was pleased to say a month ago that Mires was dealt with just like any other prisoner in the like category. This is certainly not so. Even a murderer before his trial is not treated so badly as M. Mires has been. " Equality in the eye of the law " is doubtless a good maxim, and one cannot but commend the refusal of any indulgence which might enable a wealthy prisoner to escape, or to destroy evidence against himself. But the regulations of French prisoners are generally humane and considerate towards untried persons, and admit of their enjoying all reasonable personal comforts, having regard to their habits and station in life. Great facilities are given, to exchange a prison for an hospital, to people who are able to pay for the means necessary for assuring their safe custody, and the slightest medical recommendations are attended to in such cases. It cannot be pretended that there was any necessity for keeping Mires three months in the miserable cell above described, and such imprison-1 ment, if not necessary, is cruel. Bullier's Correspondence gave out lately that the Emperor himself had expressed a wish that the trial might speedily be brought on. I understand that a petition, signed by upwards of 600 shareholders in Mires' undertakings, who still have full confidence in him, was presented to his Majesty the other day. Since writing the above I find it announced in the Temps of this evening that the Chambcr of Accusation has sent M. Mires before the Tribunal of Correctional Police, and that his trial will probably come on in the early part of June. nature as is a pregnant confirmation of the surmise s thatt charges against him are not of so ki,riLliev Correctional was supposed three months ago. of misdemeanours, Tribunal takes cognisance only hitherto fully expected the Assize Court. As it that he would be tried Y and not of crimes. It was he taitycinpossibly be worse, mitigates its charge, benefit of a jury before That is a court which it sh, e aflattheooufg hthethperipsornoesertcbh7u-e because he will not have a_, inainverdict of not guilty, Now, Tr; scarcely ever returns the Con ectional M. * that the accusation against, Mires reduced to proportion of a misdemeanour, it will be more the difficult to justify the than ever cruelty of his long preventive imprisonment.  DEATH BY LIGHTNING,--On Thursday evening about 7 o'clock, Mr. F. Keen, head-keeper to Mr. H. Perkins, of Hanworth-park, was walking in the grounds with his wife. They were overtaken by the storm. Mrs. Keen held up her umbrella to shield herself and her husband from the rain, vhen she was suddenly struck by the lightning and rendered senseless. She was conveyed in a cart to a surgeon at Hampton. He pronounced life to be quite utinet. .  „,,..:,. ------,—.- —:- .. • ...., , ,-, • ._ ,--- IsNoPARLIANENTARY Commrlz . ...7.-,-_O/ + . , ”, il s