The Sun. — 1864-01-29 (London, England)

GREY. There can be little doubt that this absurd statute-will be at once repealed, but there is a further step which ought to be taken by the Government, which is that county magistrates should be furnished with a code of instructions for their guidance in cases of difficulty, and be directed when in doubt as to what course to pursue to seek advice from headquarters. That TOWNLEY was sane when he murdered Miss GOODWIN nobody denies. That his intellect, naturally weak, was afterwards affected, is possible. Under such circumstances no one would desire that he should be hanged, but the investigation ought to have been made by duly appointed persons, not by a self-constituted tribunal, at the instigation of the prisoner's solicitor. We grant the Justices concerned in this unfortunate case every credit for their desire to act with impartiality, but we cannot excuse them at all, and we consider that the other justices were perfectly right, when they memorialised the Home Secretary on the subject. As regards the unfortunate convict, whether rightly or wrongly respited, he cannot of course now be hanged, but he has been convicted of a coldblooded murder, committed while in a sane state of mind. He was therefore amenable for his crime, and his after insanity, if it existed, might have mitigated, but it could not have removed the penalty. If be was insane it might no doubt be only a temporary attack, and in that case, on his recovery he should be removed from Bethlehem to a convict prison. If we are to believe all that is asserted about the insanity of individuals, few people could be considered sane. Since the time of JUNIUS BRUTUS, it has been convenient for many persons to show madness ; but it is for society to decide how far they are responsible for their acts.  The career of a soldier of fortune is frequently marked by the strangest vicissitudes. The fate of war is always uncertain, and its issues often fail to realise the most careful calculations. Too often the commander of an expedition, naval or military, is judged by its results rather than by his merits. The mere fact of success or failure is looked at, not the obstacles in the way, or the various collateral circumstances that may have helped or hindered the achievement. " Success is virtue and misfortune blame" in this as in many other cases ; but if this is true of a duly appointed authority, surrounded by officials of every degree, and acting mainly on instructions from home, it is much more so of those leaders whose peculiar position deprives them of all •adventit.ious aid, and, while it allows them to claim success as the reward of their individual merits, leaves the responsibility of failure to fall upon them with crushing weight. One day they are powerful and respected—the next they are fallen and friendless, obtaining but scant recognition of their former services. In our own day we have seen the vicissitudes incidental to the most brilliant and daring career of this kind illustrated by the conqueror of Naples and the hermit of Ca. prera. The wars in the East have given an opportunity to adventurous spirits, which they have not been slow to take advantage of, although the wheel of Fortune has gone round rather in accordance with the caprice of Eastern suspicion than with the justice of their claims. We all know the disappoilitment that awaited Captain