The Sun. — London, England, 1859-03-02 00:00:00

t7l ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, C OVENT GARDEN, under the sole Management of Bliss Louisa Tyne and Mr. W. Harrison THIS EVENING will be presented an entirely new and romantic Opera, by Mr. W. Balfe, entitled SATANELLA. ; or, THE POWER OF LOVE. Conductor—Mr. Alfred Mellon. To conclude with the new Pantomime of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD ; or, Harlequin and the Wolf in Granny's Clothing Commence at Seven, •THEATRE -ROYAL, DRURY - LANE. - Lessee—Mr. E. T. Smith. THIS EVENING, will be produced an original English Ballad Opera, entitled WILLIAM AND SUSAN. William 11r. Haigh ; Susan, Miss Lucette. ilo conclude with the new pantomime, ROBINO HOD or, Harlequin Fria r Tuck and the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest. 1.? O PAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. a I 1) U n der the Managemeht of Mr. Charles Kean. Lim rm b; ( s King of Fran EVENING ce), wil by l be Mr. C. performed Kean the play of LOUIS XI. After which, a new grand Christmas Pantomime, entitled THE KING OF THE CASTLE ; or, Harlequin Prince Diamond and Princess Brighteyes. `.• THEATRE -ROYAL, HAYMAItKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone. Tills EVENING, AN UNEQUAL MATCH. bliss Amy Sedgwiek, Mr. Buckstone, &c. Followed by the new grand Comio"Pantomlme, entitled UNDINE ; or, Harlequin and the Spirit of the Waters. Commence at 7. • ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. Manager, Mr. Edmund Falconer, Engagement of Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams. THIS EVENING, will be produced a new comic Drama, by Edmnnd Falconer, entitled THE LEPRACHAUN ; or, Bad Luck's Good Luck with Good Looking After. Messrs. Bat ney Williams, Barrett, &c. After which, THE HOUR AT SEVILLE. Mrs. Barney Williams in ten characters. To conclude with IRELAND AS IT WAS. Mr. and Mrs Barney Williams. Reduced Prices—Dress Boxes, 4s. ; Upper Boxes, 3s. ; Pit, 2s. ; Stalls, ss. ; Gallery, ls. Box-offica open from 11 to 5 daily. Doors open at half-Past 6 to commence at 7 every evening. N EW THEATRE - ROYAL, ADELPHI. Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Benj. Webster. First appearance in the new theatre of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wigan.—Revival of DOMESTIC ECONOMY. John Grundy, Mr. Wright. Unprecedented success of the INVISIBLE PRINCE. Mr. J. L. Toole, Miss Woolgar. THIS EVENING, the performance will commences with STILL WATERS RUN DEEP. John Mildmay (h first appearance), Mr. A. Wigan ; Mr. Potter, Mr. Charles Selby; Hawksley, Mr. Billington ; Mrs. Mildmay, Mrs.. Billington ; Mrs. Sternhold (her first appearance), Mrs. A. Wigan. After which, DOMESTIC ECONOMY. John Grundy, Mr. Wright. To conclude with THE INVISIBLE PRINCE. Mr. J. L. Toole, Miss Woolgar, Miss Arden, Miss Keeley, Miss Kate K elly. Doors open at a quarter-Past six—Commence at seven. Box Office open from 10 to 5 --no charge for booking. No fees to servants permitted. A registry kept of all articles found. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborongh — THIS EVENING, WOOING DT JEST AND LOVI NG IN EARNEST. After which, the new Extravaganza, KENILWORTH ; or Ye Queene. ye Earle, and ye Maydenne And THE LITTLE SAVAGE. Commence at 7 o'clock. ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE. Westminster-road. Lessee and Manager Mr. William Cooke. Another Grand Spectacle. THIS EVENING, and during the week, an entirely new dramatic romance, interspersed with extraordinary hippo dramatic effects and striking situations, taken from the last popular novel by H. Grant, Esq., called THE HUNDRED CUIRASSIERS. Produced with new scenery, mechanical arrangements, gorgeous in I characteristic costumes, elabo rate equestrian and spectacular Appointments, and the hand somest Stud of Horses in the world. Characters by Messrs. Holloway, Phillips, Anson, Francis, Anderson, M. Howard. Herbert ; Mesdames Dowton, Blanche, Julia Weston, Thorne, Arc. To be followed by SCENES IN THE CIRCLE, intro ducing Mr. W. Cooke, Mr. Bridges, Mr. A. Cooke, &c. Madame Blanche, Madame Bridges, Maddlle. Fleurette, and Emily Cooke, together with the Star Riders. and Astley's unrivalled Troupe of equestrian Artistes. To conclude with the great Operatic and Burlesque Eques trian Pantomime, entitled HARLEQUIN BARON MUN CHAUSEN, AND HIS COMICAL CREAM COB CRUISER. Baron Munchausen, Mr. W. Anson ; Harlequin, Mr. 11. Hemmings ; Pantaloon, Mr. Morley; Clown, Mr. A. F. Forrest, the Grimaldi of the day ; Columbine, Miss Julia Weston. Brilliant and unsurpassable Transformation Scene, with dazzling effects of Colour and Fire. Gorgeous Scenery, and every incident in bustling reality, from Regent-street to the "New Palace for the People, at Muswell Hill." Dress Circle, 4s. ; Boxes, Is. ; Pit, 2s, ; Gallery, ls. ; Upper Gallery, 6d.' Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips. CANTERBURY HALL, Westminster-road.-- Proprietor--C. MORTON. The public is most respectfully informed that the FINE ARTS GALLERY, in connection with the above Hail, IS NOW OPEN DAT AND NIGHT, from 11 o'clock a.m. until 12 o'clock p.m. The New Gallery contains an extensive Collec tion of Pictures, by Ancient and Modern Masters 'and Is also devoted to Art productions generally. The Proprietor feels he may confidently assert that, viewed altogether. the exist ing Music Hall, the New Fine Arts Gallery, and the recently added Ante-llall, will present an attraction which, whether as regards the architectural beauty of the structures them selves, or the varied and hitherto unattempted combinations within, will be found to be wholly without parallel in the Ii ingdom. The MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT commences as usual at Seven o'clock. In addition to the usual entertainment, the SAUVLET FAMILY, of Amsterdam, Eight in number, whose varied instrumental performances have Created so marked a sensa tion in the principal cities and towns of the Continent, will perform every Evening at Nine and Eleven o'clock. THE WEATHER.-SUN OFFICE, 1114RCH 2. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. s.s—highest since noon yesterday. 48—lowest this morning and during the night. 53—this day at noon. BA nomrrEn-30.19—falling. WIND, South-West ; light, with fine weather, but cloudy, The withdrawal of Mr. WALPOLE and of Mr. HENLEY from the Cabinet cannot but tend mate rially, under existing circumstances, to the strengthening and popularising of Lord DERBY'S Administration. Their joint removal constitutes in effect the elimination of whatever was left of ultra- Toryism in the Government. The projected change in the borough and county franchise, more particularly the extension of the latter to ten pound householders, appears to have been altogether too much for the sensitive nerves of the right honour able gentlemen but the other day respectively Presi dent of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for the Home Department. Having said this, we have said, as distinctly as words could well express the fact, that Mr. WALPOLE and Mr. HENLEY were impracticable as administrators. Their si multaneous retirement has been like the dropping off, in the onward march of events, of chiefs alto gether unequal to the continuance of the advance movement. Supposing it to have been in any wav practicable for the Cabinet to have retained their services, that could only have been accomplished at the expense of retarding its progress, of repressing its energies, of diminishing the steady and gradua ted development of its policy. It is a double gain, therefore, of vigour and freedom to the Cabinet-- the withdrawal of Mr. WALPOLE and Mr. HENLEY from the front to the back benches of the Treasury. The explanations given to the House last even ing by those two right hon. ex-Ministers, while it will say but little for their discretion or for the soundness of their judgments , says eve rything for their personal honour and political consistency. They retire to the comparative privacy of the back benches with the respect of friends and foes—of their late colleagues, and of the confronting array of the Opposition. Their position during the last few weeks must ob viously have been very painful under the circum stances—so irksome, indeed, as to render their withdrawal at last from the Cabinet a peculiar relief to themselves individually. Nay, so painfully anomalous, in truth, has been the position of the retiring administrators, that Mr. WALPOLE could not refer to it yesterday without being visibly agitated by profound emotion. Insomuch that the Parliamentary reporter interpolates in parenthesis " (the right hop, gentleman was so much affected at this portion of his address that he was under the necessity of pausing for a few moments)." He then resumed, however, amid general acclamations, " It was for that reason that I continued to sit upon that bench for three wee k s " &C. -in pursuance of his d e t a il e d explanation. Very different was the tone in which his ex-colleague, Mr. HENLEY, re verted to the interval during which they were sitting together under a cloud on that front Trea sury bench. Remembering, with a sort of a serio comic shudder, the dilemma from which they had but just at length escaped—Mr. HENLEY treated the matter almost cheerily, certainly whimsically. He was so glad to be once more before the country in his true character that he was evidently disposed (we are almost inclined to conjecture, for the first, if not the only, time in his life) to be facetious. His predicament latterly in office, according to his view of it, was almost ridiculous. He was for all the world, he says, like one walking about continually with a mask on his face! And being all this while, as he reminds us, not by any means " a person who, what they call, keeps his light under a bushel"—it is with a sigh of relief, whew ! that poor Mr. HENLEY plucks the mask off his honest face, and kicks away the bushel by which his light has for once in a way been somehow or another all but extin guished ! People had really begun to suppose him open to conviction—at any rate, in some moderate sense of the word, just something of a Reformer. Not a bit of it ! says Mr. HENLEY— don't think it for a moment : I am what I have always been—true blue—one of the old school—staunchly Tery, as they say, to the backbone. And with this the old Tory Statesman of Waterperry resumes his seat upon one of those pleasant back benches amidst the good humoured laughter, and hearty cheers at once of IVlinisteriaLs and Opposition. Sympathising thus with each other—" rowing in the same boat, but with different sculls "—Mr. HENLEY and Mr. WALPOLE indulged the House, last evening, with their contrasting and eminently characteristic explanations. The important vacancies caused by their retirement have been at once judiciously filled up by the transference of the Right Hon. SOTHERON ESTCOURT from the Presidency of the Poor Law Board to the chieftainship of the Home Department, and the promotion to the Presidency of the Board of Trade of its hitherto Vice- President under the existing regime, the Earl of DONOUGHMORE. The vacated Vice-Presidency is awarded to Lord LOTAINE, heretofore one of the non-professional Lords of the Admiralty, the latter post being reserved for Mr. F. .LYGON, the hon. member for one of the fifteen part-doomed boroughs, to wit, Tewkesbury. Relieved from two heavy weights, or, as some have deemed them, dead weights, there is no question at all about it that there ought to be now more " play" and " go" in the Administration. A Select Committee has been appointed to inquire into the operation of certain burdens and restrictions specially affecting merchant shipping ; and also of Lord CAMPBELL'S Act for compensating the families of persons killed by accident ; of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 ; of the Amendment Act of 1855 ; and the Chinese Passengers Act of the same session. It is but an act of simple justice to say that ,the question was brought forward and dis cussed in the most fair and temperate manner. There was no effort to induce the house to adopt a retrograde policy, or to enter again on the prin ciple of Protection. There was not a single word uttered in favour of the resuscitation of the old Navigation Laws, or the revival of a system of monopoly and restriction. Nay more, it was not even asked that Ministers should put the reciprocity clauses into operation. It was stated that a very important national interest, in which no less than £70,000,000 sterling has been invested, and in which the community at large takes the deepest interest, justly regarding it as the nursery for the Royal Navy, is in a very depressed condition, and that certain local charges and fiscal burdens press with peculiar severity on shipbuilders. A fair issue has thus been raised, and we are satisfied that a just and equitable verdict will be returned. It is by no means surprising that the shipping interest should be depressed. Had it been other wise it would have formed a rare and marked ex ception to the general rule. All classes have suffered from the extraordinary caution, or rather general distrust, that has prevailed since the monetary crisis of 185 S. When credit has been suspended and the industrial energies of the country paralysed, it would be strange, indeed, if the shipowners did not partici pate in the general distress. They have been better off than others, for they have had seasons of extra ordinary prosperity. During the entire period of the Russian war they were making almost cent. per cent., and it was well known that the cost of a new vessel was repaid to the owner within the first year. The Indian rebellion also stimulated the transport trade, and it is by no means surprising that, these exceptional causes being removed, and commerce being in a languishing position, the shipowners should now bring their complaints be fore Parliament. Any assistance that can fairly or justly be accorded, we shall gladly see rendered, provided always the grand principle of free and unembar rassed trade, of unrestricted competition, be not in any degree interfered with. We look with admira tion at the system which gives employment to so many seamen, preparing them to serve their country zealously and efficiently in the event of any sudden emergency. This is even more important than the vast sum involved, although that amounts to no less than £70,000,000. We earnestly hope and believe that the legiti mate expansion of trade will bring round the welfare and prosperity that is so much required. There is greater competition abroad, simply because there is a larger amount of tonnage seeking employment. We trust that the labours of the Select Committee will pave the way to the removal of every reasonable ground of complaint, and that ere the termination of the current year the aimudance of money, and the removal of the grim distrust that has paralysed all industry, will restore to the shipbuilders that demand which will ensure handsome, or at all events fair, profits. We cannot conclude without referring to the fiscal p ar t o f t h e ques ti on . Th e ti m b er -duties are decidedly impolitic, and ought to be repealed at the earliest possible opportunity. We must, however, have some consideration for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and re member the arduous task he has to accomplish in making both ends meet during the present year. He cannot easily afford to give up £1,200,000 a valent to parties en joying for the amount th e y d raw ye ar , or ve t s o te h d an in d t oLe s r ts 7 from the distressed shipowners. Possibly, how ever, the matter may be arranged by time, and the res t o ration of to merchant shipping, even before the report of the committee can be ob tained, may prevent the necessity of immediate legislation or any severe fiscal sacrifices. We understand that arrangements have been made for a:matrimonial union between the Right Hon. Lord Panmure, K.T., G.C.8., &c., late Secretary of State for War, and Lady Charlotte Carnegie, sister of the present Earl of Southesk. The bride elect is just twenty ; his lord-' ship was born in 1801, and was left a widower in. 1853.— Court Circular. Miss Burdett Coutts, with thoughtful kindness, has given orders for the erection of a block of dwellings for families in. Nova Scotia Gardens, Shoreditch, one of the eyesores of even that neglected quarter of the metropolis. Four storeys, with an attic storey, to be used as laund ries, &c., clubrooms, and covered in areas for the exercise of the children of the inhabitants in wet weather, will make 1.) .. t_1n imposing building 176 feet long, and nearly 50 feet high.—Court Circular. THE THEATRES. ^ • -4" . , .':%. 1 i • . :,....,:k '"li • ' . )4(- 4 , `,..„,-, 0.0 i• ••44 z :' . 700 • : , .., ~ ..',7, < -,',._., / 4 ,..,..,),.. :',.._ ; , - . 0 , , , .• *• A „ Nt ...,' , 44 t ---c. ,- t z, va z ; ,k 4 .41 4, .:: , ~-5,„„z„, ~,,...„ , . a , •e„, . 7 , - .., A ft , , ). Dif; li s; ^ %` ' A R " ' .DRO rt ,., -11' '"^qi,r 't- —• 41 ~.. 4y0.-1,.„ . TfIE SUN. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 2, 1839. THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 2, 1859. DRURY-LANE. A new ballad-opera, or perhaps more strictly speaking " maperetia," glees and choruses being included in the scheme Was produced on Monday night, in presence of a crowded audience, and with entire success. The subject of " Wil liam and Susan "—of which the words are by Mr. T. H. Reynoldson and the music by Mr. J. H. Tully—is, in re gard to the main incidents, so identical with the late Mr. Douglas Jerrold's melodrama of " Black-eyed Susan," that it would be superfluous to describe the plot. Suffice it that the story is extremely well adapted for lyrical purposes, and that Mr. Tully has been very happy in the musical delineation of the various situations. At present we have only space to record that the operetta, which is put upon the stage in a highly efficient manner, was received through out with extraordinary favour ; that several pieces were loudly redemanded ; and that one of the scenes—" Full view of the Downs, with the fleet riding at anchor"—was so greatly admired that a unanimous call was raised for the painter—Mr. W. Beverley. Among the representatives of the principal characters were two novices, Miss C. Lucette (Susan), and Mr. Edmund Rosenthal, who took the part of Captain Cameron. Both were successful. Of these, however—of Mr. Haigh, a tenor well known to the patrons of Drury-lane Theatre, who impersonated William ; of the rest of the dramatis personae, and of the music par ticularly, we must defer speaking till another occasion. At the fall of the curtain the applause was vociferous, and, in obedience to the general desire of the audience, Mr. Tully appeared bef3Se the footlights. HAYMARKET. A version of the French vaudeville, "Le Mere de Famine," was brought out on Monday night with the title of " The Young Mother," chiefly for the purpose of intro ducing Miss Emily Allen to the London public. Thirteen years have elapsed since the original work, which is by MM. Dennery and G. Lemoine, was first pro duced at the Gymnase, where it still remains as a stock piece ; and, if we remember right, an earlier translation has been performed on the English stage. However, the story of a young girl who acts as a mother towards her numerous brothers and sisters, and who, though she finds one of them rather unruly, perseveres in her task to the end, is of a kind that will bear telling more than once ;. and the audi ence last night were pleased enough when the scampish brother, played by Mr. W. Farren, proved a convert, and the goodnatured cabinet-maker, represented by Mr. Buck stone, engaged to take with him the " young mother," as his better-half, to Australia—a projected emigration being introduced by the adapter at the end of the tale, in order to enlist more powerfully the sympathies of a modern English audience. Miss Allen, whose physical power is not great, looked exceedingly artless, and played very prettily as the "young mother." She was loudly applauded when led on at the conclusion by Mr. Buckstone, who announced the piece for repetition amid general signs of approbation. LYCEUM. Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams have commenced an en • gagement at this theatre, and the whole character of the entertainments is changed in consequence—every piece mentioned in the bills being supported by one or both of the popular artists. For the " Irish Boy," moreover, an entirely new comic drama has been provided, with the imposing title of the " Leprachaun." To the gene rality of the London play-goers this word looks hard and mysterious, but the learned in Irish fairy lore are well aware that it denotes a gnome of the Emerald Island, who usually appears in the garb of a little old-fashioned gentle man, and by dint of extortion will give up a considerable treasure to any one who is fortunate enough to capture him. In several of Mr. Crofton Croker's "Fairy legends" the Leprachaun is a most important personage, but it is not to this copious treasury that the author of the new drama is indebted for his story, the scene of which is laid in Spain during the last moments of Espartero's regency. Phelim O'Donnell, an Irish soldier of the British Legion, who has remained in the Peninsula after his military services have come to an end, and has one fine day lost himself in a wood, chances to set his eyes on an old miser, who has come to bury a treasure, and at once concludes that he is a Lepra chaun. The beating which on this hypothesis he logically administers to the supposed sprite causes the latter to shriek aloud for help, and Phelim soon finds himself a pri soner, partly on a charge of robbery, Partly beeanse he is mistaken for his namesake, General O'Donnell, for whose apprehension a reward has been :offered ; In this predica 7 1 went he conducts himself with all that easy assurance that is natural to theatrical Irishmen, until the fall of EsPartere releases him from this dilemma. The use made of the traditional gnomein carrying out this story is but trifling, nor are the somewhat flimsy incidents much strengthened by a Spanish love tale which serves as a sort of underplot ; but the admirable humour of Mr. Barney Williams can give substance to dramatic shadows, and the oldest jokes gather freshness as they glibly flow from his tongue. When we state that the " Leprachaun" enable.> this excellent comedian to indulge in his habitual " fun," we have named the only merit it possesses. ADELPHI. Mr. Alfred Wigan appeared on Monday night for the first time in London since his recovery from the painful in disposition that, about a year and a-half ago, compelled him to relinquish his management of the Olympic Theatre in the midst of a prosperous career. In consequence of the respect he has acquired both as a manager and as an actor the progress of his convalescence bas been watched with considerable anxiety in theatrical circles, and the intelli gence a few weeks since that he had resumed his profes sional labours at the Brighton Theatre awakened an excite ment rarely caused in the metropolis by the events at pro vincial playhouses. For his appearance on Monday night, Mr. Tom Taylor's excellent comedy, " Still Waters Run Deep,"• was revived. This was well suited to the occasion, inasmuch as it was not only one of the most successful pieces produced by Mr. Wigan at the Olympic, but also the one in which, perhaps, he most distinguished himself by his performance of the principal character. The applause that burst forth from all parts of the house when the rising curtain discovered Mr. and Mrs. Wigan auspiciously inau gurated their new London engagement, and they played as if no untimely interruption had checked them in their course as deserving favourites of the better class of play goers. ROYAL OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN.--Her Majesty and the Prince Consort, attended by the Countess of Cale don, the Hon. Miss Kerr, the Hon. Miss Bulteel, Lord Raglan, General Grey, and Colonel Seymour, visited this elegant theatre last evening. The opera was " Maritana," followed by the pantomime. Mr. George Hunter Gary, of the Chancery bar, has received from Sir Bulwer Lytton the appointment of Attorney-General of the new colony of British Columbia. Mr. Cary was a pupil of the Solicitor-General (Sir Hugh Cairns), and 'during the course of his practice he has given promise of abilities which fully justify the selection which the Colonial Secretary has made. THE GREAT NORTHERN HOSPITAL.—We have much pleasure in calling attention to the performance to be given at St. Martin's Hall, on Tuesday, Bth March, in aid of the funds of the Great Northern Hospital, under the patronage of her Majesty. As our vast metropolis year by year extends its suburbs into the country, there is created a demand for increased hospital accommodation ; and the Great Northern Hospital has been established to supply the urgent wants of the poor and crowded neighbourhoods of Camden, Somers, and Agar Towns, and the other popu lous districts which have grown up on the northern side of London. Bat the applications at the hospital are so numerous that the funds at the command of the committee have hitherto proved sadly inadequate. The performance will be under the direction of Mr. Henry Leslie. The principal artists engaged are Madame Viardot Garcia, Madame Rudersdorff, Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. Montem Smith, and Signor Belletti; and Miss Arabella Goddard will perform Weber's Concert Stuck in the second part of the concert ; and there will be also performed in the course of the evening various selections from Handel, Palestrina, Mendelssohn, Henry Smart, and Mozart. It is stated that the negotiations for the accele ration of the day mail between London and Paris, and for its conveyance via Boulogne, are still in progress. Nothing definitive, however, seems to have been concluded, although the low-water landing pier at Boulogne is in course of con s`ruction, and the short cut on the railway from St. Denis to Creil is on the point of being completed. It is said the French postal authorities and the parties under whose superintendence the conveyance of the mails is carried out are favourable to the change, and that the only difficulty proceeds from our own postal authorities, who hesitate to Lake the initiative in the matter. There seems no doubt that the alteration would effect a great improvement in the international mail service, and while the saving in distance and time by the Boulogne route is incontestable, the late accident at Calais is sufficient to prove, not that the Calais route is unsafe or dangerous otherwise than under very ex ceptional circumstances, but that on some such occasions it is so, even with westerly winds, and therefore does not possess any special advantage to compensate the unques tioned superiority of the other route so far as the day mail is concerned. THE SHEEP POISONING CASE.A.T NEWCASTLE. — This case was concluded at the Newcastle assizes on Mon day, after having occupied the court for nearly three days. It will be remembered that the plaintiff, who was a farmer, had bought from the defendant a certain composition to be used for dipping sheep. After the sheep had been dipped a great flood came on and washed the stuff out of their fleeces I nto the grass, and from eating this the sheep, to the numbee of 700, died. Mr. Justice Wiles, in summing up, said the verdict of the jury must be founded upon whether this was a reasonable and fit composition to be used according to the directions upon the packages. If they thought the lots of the sheep could be reasonably attributed to no other cause, then their verdict must be for the plaintiff; but if the plaintiff had not made out this, then their verdict must be for the defendant. The jury returned a verdict' for the plaintiff—damages, £1,400. SUDDEN DEATIL—A melancholy case of sudden death oceutTed here on Friday last, at about 11 a.m. R. B. p ° Berens, Esq. son of the late Joseph Berens, Esq., of came across Kevingtou Ho ' use, St. Mary Cray, went out for a ride rot n 1 his estate on his the park uy a m u ri d t hout shortly h im b e . fore The l coachmanp. m . thep andotl y groom immediately went off to look for their master, and found him in the rabbit warren, about five minutes walk from the house. Dr. Smith and his son attended, who pro nounced him to be quite dead, and stated the cause of death to be apoplexy. Mr. Berens had been under medical treat ment for some time past, he being very corpulent, and not withstanding every precauti on h e continued to gain flesh. The opinion of those who found him is that he did not fall from his pony, but that, finding himself ill, he had dis mounted, and whilst resting against a tree slid down and died.—South Zastern gazette, LATEST NEWS. The following telegrams have been received, at Mr. Reuter's office : HANOVER, MARCH 1. The First Chamber has abandoned its former resolution, concerning the prohibition of exporta tion of horses, and has unanimously adopted the resolution of the Second Chamber, which was, that Government should be requested to use its influ ence with the Federal Diet for the purpose of ob taining resolutions calculated to avert from Ger many the threatening danger of war, and, if necessary, to repel with united Federal power any attacks on Austria or other German States. VIENNA, MARCH 1. Lord Cowley had an audience of the Emperor at half-past two o'clock yesterday. To-day there is a grand dinner at Court in his honour. All the Ministers and all the Foreign Ambassadors are invited. FRANCE. PARIS, TUESDAY. It was rumoured that M. Cavour was in Paris for a few hours yesterday. His presence at the Tuileries would not very probably be formally announced in the Moniteur. An incident occurred on Sunday last at the Tuileries, after the ceremony of depositing in the archives of the Imperial family the marriage con tract of Prince Napoleon and the Princess Clotilde. It greatly interested those who were present, and has since been the topic of conversation in every political circle. A most animated conversation took place between Prince Napoleon and M. de Persigny, who attended as a member of the Privy Council. The question of peace or war being mooted, report goes that Prince Napoleon expressed his contempt for the treaties of 1815, and thought that they should be cast to the winds, and that Italy should be made independent in spite of them. As for public opinion anywhere, he thought if it con•` travened the policy he advocated it should be disregarded. Without entering into detail, the Prince is reported to have spoken on political and social subjects in the hearing, and to the regret of the listeners, in a manner which could not be surpassed by the Provisional Government at the Hotel de Ville in the first excess of revolu tionary wildness. It is related, too, in every circle in Paris that his Imperial Highness was promptly and energetically taken up by M. de Per signy, who declared frankly and courageously that such principles and such language were mischievous, not merely to the Imperial Go. vernment, but to society at large, and if carried out would infallibly lead to the ruin of the best interests of the country. He declared, in the most formal manner, that he should never cease for an instant to oppose with all his might, and on every occasion that presented itself, doctrines that were destructive of Government and of society ; that he should do so as a Frenchman, and as the sincere and faithful supporter of the Imperial dynasty. The conversation lasted some time, and still in the same animated tone. It is certain that, if polled to-morrow, the whole of the French peo ple, excepting, perhaps, a minute minority, would be found on the side of M. de Persigny, and against the Prince. BOURSE, March I.—The following were the lasi quotations : 41 per Cents. .... 97 20 t Credit Foncier Do. end month .. 97 10 I Belgian 41 — 3 per Cents. 67 501Piedmonteso (5) Do. end month".... 67 50 Roman B7 25 Bank Shares, 2890 —, Austrian — Credit Mobilier 760 Spanish Threes 44 25 Do. Account 761 25 Home• Debt 39 50 RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans ...., 1315 .. 1317 10 Northern . 920 .. 920 New ditto 785 .. 787 50 Lyons and Mediterranean B3O 825 New ditto — . Geneva — 5V Midi e. Southern Western 587 50 Eastern Grand Central — Sardinian • 400 .. 400 Austrian Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 15e. ; money, 25f. 10c. ; three month, paper, 251. ; money, 24f. 95c. .. 525 .. 508 75 STATE OP TRADE. LEEDS, March I.—The woollen cloth trade continues steady, both in the warehouses and in the manufacturing districts. Fabrics suitable for spring and summer form the bulk of the demand, and should the season be favourable there will no doubt be a good retail trade. To-day's market was about the average character. There was a fair attend ance of buyers, and a moderate business was transacted. Prices are firm. MANCHESTER, March I.—The advices to hand from Cal cutta, written by a commercial correspondent of one of our large houses, who is usually free from exaggeration, says : " Our market continues in a very healthy state, and 61b to 71b shirtings have advanced 4d to 6d per piece. Yarns are also in better demand, and considerable sales have been made on the spot and to arrive." . Other advises bear out these statements, and the result is that cloths for immediate delivery here are still in good demand at the very highest prices current last week, but in reality very little business haS been effected from the simple fact that manufacturers have not the cloth to sell. The home trade, without being flat, does not yet show much activity. Printing cloths are in very good demand, and at extreme prices. Leff]; and T cloths are in good de mand, at last week's rates. In yarns there has been a fair business for Germany, and under the hope that the peace of Europe may be preserved buyers for that market have given out contracts rather freely, extending over the next five or six weeks, at an advance of id. to id. per lb. The home trade are also free buyers of cop yarns, which are reported id. per lb. dearer than last week. Doubled yarns up to 70's are in demand, at a slight advance, but 80's and upwards are not much sought after. Buyers for India are operating to a moderate extent, but most of the producers of suitable yarns are well engaged. THIS DAYS MARKETS. CORN EXCHANGE. Our market to-day was very moderately supplied with all kinds of English wheat, the general condition of which was good. Fine dry samples changed hands at full prices; but other descriptions moved off slowly, at barely late rates. There was a full average supply of foreign wheat on offer. Millers generally operated with much caution, but we have no change to notice in prices. Floating cargoes were dull. Very little barley was on show, and all kinds moved off steadity,at extreme rates. We had a firm market for malt, the prices of which. werb well supported. Oats, beans, and peas ruled steady, at full quotations. Flour, however, was dull, but not lower. ARRIVALS THIS WEEK. Wheat. Barley Malt. Oat's. English B9O 1 670 i 150 . ' 2,030 ; 1 Irish I - 1 1,110 i Foreign 1,560 680 1 420 Ma I I Ms Flour. 520 WHITECHAPEL. The trade generally rules steady, as follows : Baef, from 3s 2d to 4s 6d ; mutton, 3s Gd to 4s 10d ; lamb, Os Od ' • veal, 3s 8d to 4s 8d ; and pork, 2s Gd to 4s 2d per 81b., by the carcase. BOROUGIf HOP. There is a steady feeling in the demand for all new hops, and prices have an upward tendency, fine mid Kenta having sold at 130 s per cwt. Yearling and old qualities support late rates. THIS DAY'S SHIPPING. LONDON, March 2.—Wind this day at noon, S.S.W.; light breeze, and fine. FALmovix, March I.—Sailed—Enterprise, for Batavia; St. Paulus, for Rio Janeiro. SCILLY, Feb. 28.—Arrived—Florist, from Liverpool, for Monte Video, with a leak under stern ; Jane, from London, for St. Helena ; Rambler, from London, for Trinidad ; Tella and Isel,• from Cardiff, for Rio Janeiro. (EY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH SOUTHAMPTON, Wednesday Morning. Wind S.S.W. Arrived—Windermere, steamer, from Cardiff. LIVERPOOL, Wednesday Morning. Wind S.S.W. Arrived, March I—Advice, from New Orleans (BY SUBMARINE AND BRITISH TELEGRAPH.) GRAVESEND, Wednesday Morning. Wind W; tide seco n d h ou rs' flood ; weather fresh and fine. Arrived, March I—Tereza, from Manzanillo. DEAL, Wednesday Morning. Wind W., moderate. Anchored—Madre, for Trieste ; Shepherdess, for Algoa Bay; Matchless, for Sligo ; Nox, brigantine, for Jersey— all from London. Sailed—Mercia, for London. ROMAN GOSSIP.--THE PRINCE OF WALES. ROME, Feb. 22.—The police regulations for the approaching carnival give no evidence of the autho rities entertaining any apprehensions of disturb ance, as, for the first time since the restoration of the Papal Government, the use of masks is allowed for the eight days during which the saturnalia lasts. The experiment of three days' masking, which was made last year, was apparently suffi ciently satisfactory to induce the Government to restore the traditional license in its full extent. The edict announcing this concession contains 30 articles for the orderly regulation of the amuse ments, and winds up with the following para graph :—" It is fully trusted .that the Roman people, in the midst of these amusements, will not fail to make use of their well-known moderation, and to show by their deeds their convictions for the maintenance of order." It is stated that the preservation of order will be not a little assisted by the arrest of some indivi duals who were discovered last week preparing explosive missiles for the purpose of discharging them in the Corso, so as to create confusion and consternation, and bring on a general collision between the troops and the people. Whether this was the end proposed, or merely the perpetration of some acts of individual vengeance, will result in due time from the examination of the prisoners. Meanwhile, the police are actively employed .in searching out the extent and ramifications of the conspiracy, if, indeed, there be any ; for the agents of the Government are frequently fond of maing mountains of molehills, in order to acquire com mendation or reward for their zeal. There has been, of course, a great deal of uneasi ness here with respect to the intentions of the French Government on so vital a question as the political reorganisation of the Papal dominions, and it is affirmed that Cardinal Brunelli will be instructed to communicate with the Emperor Napoleoß at Paris upon this topic ; but no signs of distrust are perceivable in the money market, that susceptible pulse of public opinion, as Consols remain firm at 96, and Bank stock and other shares command equally high prices. The Pope shows himself a good deal in places of public resort, and not unfrequently visits the Pincian Hill and gardens. A few days ago he walked round the Borg]) ese Villa at the hour of the promenade, and stopped to converse with the Duchess de Gramont, who, with her children*, met his Holiness near the Piazza di Siena. The Pope has recently ordered two large barns to be. pulled down foi the better prosecution of excavations in the Roman Forum, from which interesting discoveries are anticipated. The musical world has been in a complete state of furore here since the 17th inst., when Verdi's new opera " Unballo in Maschera" was produced at the Apollo theatre. The excitement was so great that boxes were sold at fabulous prices, and pit tickets were eagerly bought up at twenty times their usual value. Patrols were kept in the immediate vicinity of the theatre, lest the public, in its enthusiasm, should so far forget itself as to cry " Viva Verdi !" the political watchword of Northern Italy. Foschini, the tenor singer, performed his part very finely, but in genera the execution of the opera was not sufficiently perfect to enable connoisseurs to form a correct opinion of its merits. Nevertheless, it may be considered to have had a favourable reception. The duet in the second act, and the whole Of the third act, met with great applause. The public distinguished between the beauties of the composi tion and the defects of its execution, and the maestro was called for on the stage, to receive the congratulations of the audience no fewer than 23 times. The Prince of Wales appears to be enjoying his stay in Rome extremely. His health and spirits are excellent ; he is eager for informa tion; and no savant could set about his sight seeing in a more determined or methodical manner. Last week his Royal Highness availed himself of the fine weather to visit almost all the antiquities of the southern and eastern part of the city from the Tiber to the Lateran, comprising what ancient Rome has to offer most interesting on the Aventine, Celian, and Palatine Hills. On Friday lie droveto Veii, accompanied by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and Mr. Pentland, besides the usual members of his suite. After visiting the citadel and other scattered objects of interest in that most forlorn of ancient cities, the party lunched under the trees that have long since resumed their dominion over extinct Etruscan palaces and temples. The Prince rode back with Lord Stratford through the beautiful, valley of _the Cremera, having fully enjoyed one of the most lovely spring days that this delightful climate can offer. On Saturday his royal highness went, under the gui dance of Mr. Gibson, to visit some studii, amongst which were those of Mr. Henry Williams, the painter, and the sculptors Messrs. Gott and Galley.. Robberies have been rather rife of late in the: streets of Rome. As a wholesome check to such practic6, the police paraded a young scoundrel all about the city last week, previous to sending him off to the galleys for robbing and stabbing a gen tleman near the Pantheon. Count Bouterlin, a nephew of the Princess Vidoni, was attacked by a gang of desperadoes the other evening, but he suc ceeded in escaping with a slight wound in the face from one of their murderous knives. THE THAMES TUNNEL. The annual meeting of the proprietors of this company was held yesterday at Radley's Hotel, New Bridge-street. The chair was taken by Mr. WoL LASTON. From the statement of accounts for the last twelve months it appeared that the cash in hand on the 31st Dec., 1857, had been £540 14s. 6d. ; the tolls received during the year amounted to £3,637 12s. ld.; the receipts from stalls to £421 6s. 3d.; rents of leases belonging to the company, £525 14s. ; and from the sales of descriptive books, £7 17s. 6d. ; making the total receipts, £5,133 4s. 4d. The total expenditure during the same period had been £3,648 14s. 9d. In addition to this there had been paid balance of income account to the Public Works Loan Commissioners £925, leaving a balance in hand on the 31st of December, 1858, of £559 Os. 2d. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the statement of accounts, said that last year had been very much the same in all respects as the one be fore, with the exception of a slight falling off in tolls to the extent of £3O, which they attributed mainly to the offensive state of the River Thames. During the last twelvemonths they had completed the pavement in the tunnel, the surface of which was now perfectly level, instead of as formerly, full of inequalities, and with a raised footpath on one side. In reply to a Shareholder, The CHAIRMAN stated that the amount of the claim of the Watermen's Company had been fixed at £3,820 ; but no steps had been taken towards its payment, and he did not know when they would be in a position to do so. The matter rested alto gether with the Treasury. • Mr:Nolloth, the•ret.iring director, was re-elected, and . the proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks * to the chairman. UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. OXFORD, MARCH 1. A deep gloom has been thros n over the Univer sity by the sudden death of one of its most eminent and most popular members—the Radcliffe Observer, who expired yesterday evening, about six o'clock, at his residence, the Observatory. Mr. Johnson entered Oxford in 1836„ comparatively late in life, having/previously been devoted to astronomical studies, and in particular having accompanied and wsisted Sir J. Herschell in his observations in the Southern Hemisphere. He passed through the usual academical course at Magdalene Hall, and took his B.A. degree in 1839. In the same year, on the death of the late S. P. Rigaud, who was both Professor of Astronomy and Observer, he was appointed by the Radcliffe Trustees to the latter office, which he has thus discharged for nearly 20 years. His great excellence in the capacity of an astronomical observer is well known to all scientific .astronomers; his active mind and indefatigable pursuit of every kindred science are, perhaps, only recognised fully in the University, where his per sonal qualities have likewise deeply endeared him to all who possessed the privilege of his acquain tance. His loss will be severely felt by a large circle. We believe that the cause of his death was disease of the heart. THE LATE POISONINGS AT BRADFORD.—The Watch Committee of the Bradford Town Council have at last placed on record an acknowledgment of the extraordi nary services of the police in reference to the late extensive poisonhigs. At the meeting of the committee on Saturday, the following resolution was passed :—" That the committee take this opportunity of expressing their full sense of the prompt and judicious conduct of the police force on the occasion of the recent calamity brought on the public by the sale of poisoned lozenges, and have much pleasure in according to the chief constable and the force under him their cordial thanks."—Leeds Mercury. MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF GEORGE TILE FOUILTII. By the Duke of Buckingham. 2 vols.--Inde pendently of its value in an historical point of view, this work is unusually interesting from the great amount of personal anecdote and court gossip with which its pages are filled. Among other distinguished persons of the time of whom we have many new and curious particulars, are George IV. himself 'and Q uee n C aro li ne , th e D u k es o f York, Gloucester, Clarence, Wellington, Bedford, &c. ; the Marquises of Londonderry, Hastings, Hertford, Wellesley, Anglesey; • Lords Eldon, Brougham, Liverpool, Goderich, Grenville, Winchelsea, and. Fitzroy Somerset; Sir Robert Peel, Sir Walter Scott, Sir T. Lawrence, Canning, liuskis son, Wilberforce, O'Connell, Lady Jersey, Lady Conyng ham, &c., &c. LITERATURE. Rival _Rhymes, in Honour of Burns. By Ben Trovato. Routledge and Co. A delightful wag has here had his fling boldly right and left—at poets and poetasters. - Whoever 133 n Trovato may be, he is of the school of Bon Gualtier. His Rival Rhymes are played off lightly in the key of the immortal Rejected Addresses. The satirist reveals here and there, however, in the midst of all his fun and frolic, true poetic feeling. There are bits of the introductory lay—" The Bard of Ayr," attributed to F rPr t—that reallyareworth v of the pen of - Mahony. There 'are fragments of " A Remonstrance to the Directors of the Crystal Palace," by a Proverbial Philosopher—that M. F. Tupper .might not have disdained. There is audible " A Voice from the Far West," signed H—y W—h L--w, that might almost have dropped from the pen of the author of " Evangeline." "A Penny-a- Liner's tHope" is a whimsical parody on " The Sea" of Barry Cornwall. " The Poet's Birth"—a mystery—the most elaborated of all these fantastic effusions, is put forth as a veritable production of the Laureate. It reads here and there incontestibly like the utterance of "some maudlin poet much be-mused with beer." The funniest morceau among them all is one entitled "A Song of Sorrow," capable of being,carrolled ad libitum to the tune of "The Groves of Blarney." It is designated "An Objurgatory Monody," addressed by an Enraged Bard to—" Groves of Sydenham !" As though contributed from Holly Lodge, Campden Hill, by Baron Macaulay—we have, towards the close of the volume, from " the author of the Lays of Ancient Rome"—" The Battle of Lake Glenlivit." An earlier division of the work has given us " A Spirit Lay from Hades," by T—s C--l. Another, " A Few Words on Poets, &c.," by the Ghost of Thomas Hood—a very impalpable, intangible ghost —mere moonshine ! Another shadowy spectre in dulges us with the " Lay of the Rapt Spirit," in the name of the bard-of Twickenham. There is— beyond all this medley, or melange, of fun, wit, humour, and burlesque—an unpublished poem, sup posed to be by Robert Burns, and communicated in a letter from Fergus M'Fash—there is an Ode, if not by Milton, by one of Milton's ardent admirers —there is, to crown all, a prose letter signed W. M. T. that any one who lists may read more at length as W. M. Thackeray. At the tail of all this frolicsome comicality—of all this ground and lofty tumbling in . rhyme—there is dragged forth again clattering into the sunlight the actual letter on Burns and Scotland, written at Cannes on the 17th of January, 1859, by the master hand of Lord Brougham. The effect of this Appendix is like that suggested by the •classic mask of the same noble and learned lord trailed after Silenus Punch in the bacchanalian procession depicted by the pencil of Richard Doyle upon the weekly cover of our London Charivari. Let Ben Trovato's variable voice, howeve!, be audible itself—now in the tones of Father Biout— No school oppress'd him, No rules distress'd him A fearless had o'er - His harp he flung; The string rebounding With bolder sounding Than e'er was heard since Young Greece had sung. Now in, the style of Tupper's ;Proverbial Philo sophy— Dwellers in crystal palaces, tremble to think of the adage, That " tenants of vitreous houses should not be the throwers of stones." Pebbles you have in plenty, paving your tesselated courts ; But cast them not in the teeth of the gaping open-mouth'd mob. What are your pavements when compared to the pave ments without ? Celestial pavements of stars, and terrestrial pavements of flowers, Buttercup, primrose, and blue-bell, an d d a i s y, an d li p o f th e heifer, These, and a thousand others, rival your pavements Pom peian, And gorgeous Alhambra,—bright mockery, dazzling with pomp Saracenic. Shame in a Christian land to set up a Moslem worship. Now in the Yankee hexameters of Longfellow— And Time with his sithe makes a notch in the moss-cover'd branch, as a record, Whittling his stick, as it were, in a kind-o'-like almanac fashion, Even as castaway Crusoe his rails nick'd, his lone days to measure : The earliest example we have of a time-table kept by the railway, Ere railways restricted the steps of our wide-roving child ren of freedom, Compelling monotonous movement in paths parallelo gramical. Thus singeth Ben after the fashion of Tom Hood— It needed not for him his race In heralds' books should shine; What pride of ancestry compares With his illustrious line ? So he, with heaven-ennobled soul, All heralds held in scorn, Save one, the oldest of them all,— " The herald of the morn." Call'd by his 'clarion, up rose he, True liege of Nature's throne, Fields to invest, and mountain crest With blaion of his own. His Vert the morning's dewy green, His Purpure, evening's close, His Azure, the unclouded sky, His Gules, " the red, red rose." His Argent sparkled in the streams That flash'd through birken bowers; His Or was in the autumn leaves That fell in golden showers. Enough, however : the extracts already given are surely sufficient to justify every syllable of praise here cordially bestowed upon this new Rigdum Funnidos—or Master of the Revels in the realms of Burlesque. Memoirs of the Court of George IV., 1820-30, from Original Family Documents. By the Duke of Buckingham. Two vols. Hurst and Blackett. These volumes are the continuation of the valu able series of works which have been published under the auspices of the Duke of Buckingham. The preceding volumes, it will be remembered, gave us the history of the Courts and Cabinets of George 111., and. of the Court of the Regency. They sketched anew some of the most eventful years of modern European history, and included the careers of some of the most eminent political and military commanders of modern times. The years which are chronicled in the volumes before us, if they do not tell us of sieges and campaigns, of European convulsions and empires overturned, are yet the records of an eventful and exciting time, of perplexed governments and discontented people. The disturbed state of the country, and the unpopularity of the Ministry at the time of the Regent's accession, are described in the opening pages, and this state of affairs was soon brought to a crisis by the return of Queen Caroline. The events which followed are fresh in the recollection of many; the general enthusiasm for the Queen's cause as that of the ill-used and oppressed ; the warmth and ability of her defenders, the fixed determina tion of the King, and the awkward position of the Ministers, are all shown in vivid colours in the numerous letters relating to that period. The next public difficulty was the Catholic Relief Bill, ren dered more important by the state of Ireland. Look ing back from the advanced opinions of the present day, the virulence of the opposition it encountered appears scarcely credible. it was not, however, till 1829 that the measure was finally carried, after one at least of its ablest supporters had passed beyond the reach of political disputes. The correspondence relating to this question is full of irate-:est. The Grenville party were the warm supporters of the Catholic cause ; and Lord Grenville writes to the Duke of Buckingham, April 14, 1829—" I cannot forbear writing one line to congratulate you and myself on the account which I have just now received, that the bill for repealing the Roman Catholic disabilities is actually a part of the law of the land. I may now say that I have not lived in vain." The disputes and intrigues of poli tical parties occupy a large share of the corres pondence and memoirs. In those days party feeling ran high, and the excitement on man y political questions was very great. The long administration of the Earl of Liverpool, the brief tenure of office by Mr. Canning, the unsuccessful Ministry of Lord Goderich, were succeeded by the Cabinet of the Duke of Wellington, whom the death of George the Fourth left in power. Besides these great changes, there were many alterations in each successive Government, and some space is occupied by an account of Lord Liverpool's nego tiations with the Grenvilles. As for the details of the Court which occasionally appear, they , merely strengthen the general impression of the character of George the Fourth. The Duke of Buckingham takes a partial view of the King and the Duke of York ; but the opinions and anecdotes incidentally introduced. , do not tend to remove the unfavourable opinion generally enter tained of the Royal Brothers. As showing us the under. currents of political existence in an epoch, whose prejudices and passions we have outlived, thhese volumes possess an interest and an historical value not often met with. We are able to appreciate the difficulties with which the public men of that day contended, to make some allowance for those who guided the helm, if the vessel of state was not always steered rightly through such troubled waters. It shows us also the prejudices and factions which were suffered to in terfere with the national interests. It forms a most valuable continuation of the records of the pre ceding reign, and will, we trust, be succeeded by a history of the events which followed the accession of William the Fourth. The volumes before us will be deeply interesting to those who would study our own history, or trace the political . progress of the last half century, and the whole series is one of such standard value that a library will be incom plete without it. Temptation and Atonement : a Tale. By Mrs► Gore. Knight and Son. These cheap reprints of Mrs. Gore's most cele brated ;works, in an elegant form, cannot prove otherwise than desirable to novel renders. They will thus meet with many of those brilliant and famous productions of fiction which delighted the public many years ago, and whose merit cannot decrease, if the scenes described do not bear such actual reference to the events of the day as they did at the period of their first publication. The present story is in every sense a painful one, but it is very vividly portrayed. There is also great ingenuity in the elaborate construction of the plot. The character of the chief actor in the dark drama, Sir Mark Colston, is very cleverly sketched, and the alternate terror and remorse of the unhappy clerk, John Downing, are described in a most natural manner. It is a satisfaction to find the guilty usurper at last denounced in the very church whose sanctity he had profaned, and among the congregation before whom he wished to appear an honoured landlord. The talent which has com posed this tale will ensure for it a favourable re ception in its new form. Ghosts and Family Legends. By Mrs. Crowe, authoress of " The Night Side of Nature." Newby. In this volume there will be found a delightful collection for the lovers of the mysterious. All who experience a strange satisfaction in dwelling on the legends of the land of shadows should pro vide themselves with this interesting work. The authoress has before distinguished herself in this style of literature, and the present production can not fail to enhance her reputation among her numerous admirers. The Maid of Avenel. A Ballad Opera. By D. M. Aird. H. Bale. A graceful adaptation to the stage of Sir Walter Scott's celebrated novel, " The Monastery." Mr. Aird has already sholvn his skiff as a playwright through " The Love Trap," " The Stolen Kiss," and other ingenious productions of a character at once dramatic and melo-dramatic. Here, however, in " The White Maid of Avenel," in his happiest effort, as an adapter—in the which he appears to have been considerably aided by the musical abilities of Carl Anschuez. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA. The following are some of the principal state ments in the annual report for the year ending 30th June, 1858, just issued :—The capital account to the 30th June, 1858, shows the total receipts to that date to have been £3,820,804 3s. ld., and the ex penditure £3,040,281 Os. 7d., leaving a balance in hand of £780,523 2s. 6d. At the date of the last report (30th June ' 1857) the capital of the company consisted of £300,000 shares of £2O each, equal to £6,000,000, and of £333,300 debentures. On the 23d May last, with the sanction of the East India Company, and under the authority of the resolution of the extraordinary general meeting of the share holders on the 11th Jan., 1854, the board created additional capital to the amount of £2,000,000, for the general purposes of the company, but with the view particularly of pressing forward the con struction of the north-east line. The capital of the company now, therefore, consists of £8,000,000 represented by 400,000 shares of £2O each, bearing guaranteed interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, and of £333,300 debentures, at 42 per cent. per annum interest, issued for a determinate period ,of five years, which expires in January, 1860. In respect of revenue the report states :—At the close of the year 1856-57 the railway was being worked in the Concan between Bombay and Wassind and Campoolee, a distance of 881 miles, including the short branch to Mahim„ , The net profit of the year was equal to £3 13s. Bd. per cent. on the capital cost of the whole 1302 miles of railway which was being worked on the 30th of June. But excluding from the calculation the capital cost of the 42 miles opened only on the 14th of June, as well as the traffic receipts and expenditure upon that length, the net return was equal to £5 Os. 4d. per cent. upon the capital cost of the 881 miles of Concan line, as against £4 6s. 10d. per cent. on the pre vious year. This result is considered by the board to be highly-satisfactory. GREAT WESTERN AND BRENTFORD. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Monday, at the offices, 27, George-street, Westminster, the Viscount Villiers presiding. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, congratulated the meeting upon the terms of the lease which had been entered into with the Great Western Company, because he was satisfied that the effect of it would be to secure to them an immediate and certain return—and by no means a small return—upon the capital which they had in vested in this undertaking. It was framed upon the principle of being mutually beneficial to both parties ; for whilst it would bring great traffic upon their short line, it would prove of much advantage to the larger company, by bringing it at once into communication with the basin of the Thames. (Hear, hear.) Under this arrangement, their dividend must reach rather more than 5 per cent. ; for, according to the lowest estimate their receipts must amount to £8,683 per annum, and in all probability they amount to £12,000 a year. On the whole, he thought that the meeting would concur with him, that the agreement was a very favourable one for his company, and that it would not be onerous or oppressive upon the Great Western. (Hear, hear.) The report was unanimously agreed to, and the proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman and the directors. METROPOLITAN. On Monday afternoon the half-yearly general meeting of the proprietors of the above railway was held at the London Tavern, when the following report of the directors was read and adopted:— " Tt will be in the recollection of the proprietors that at the last meeting of the company Mr. Pear son, the City solicitor, in an able address, adverted to the great public and social advantages which would result from the construction of the Metro politan Railway, and expressed his readiness to make a personal appeal to the citizens of London to efford the directors the assistance necessary to arable them to carry out the undertaking; and that the proprietors unanimously responded to the offer, and authorised the board to adopt any course which would forward his exertions. The directors accordingly have been in constant communication with that gentleman, and are aware of the important arrangements and combinations he has had to perfect, and the amount of labour and time which have necessarily been consumed in their accomplishment. It is satisfactory to the directors to be able to announce that Mr. Pearson's machi nery has been completed, and his appeal is now before the citizens of London. In accordance with the recommendation in the last report, the directors have introduced a bill into Parliament to deviate the line so as to avoid the Coldbath-fields Prison, and to terminate close to Holborn bridge. Should the appeal to the citizens prove successful, this bill will be prosecuted and submitted in due course to the shareholders. The directors, at the same time, did not feel themselves at liberty to dispense with the precautionary measures of a bill for the dissolution of the company, although they are convinced that the citizens of London will not prove so deaf to the earnest appeal of Mr. Pear son, nor so blind to the great commercial features of the undertaking, as to lose the opportunity now afforded them, of accomplishing so large an amount of public good, combined with the prospect of so much pecuniary advantage to themselves. In con clusion, the directors desire to impress upon the shareholders the propriety of their assisting indivi dually the movement now in progress; for, although the efforts of Mr. Pearson and his friends, and the directors and their friends, will doubtless prove suf ficient to produce the desired result, yet they ven ture to think 'that the shareholders at this juncture should lend their aid to effect the common object." CAOUTCHOUC CABS AT TIIE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY STATIONS.—Theso desirable carriages, we per ceive, are now running from the railway stations. A limited number is admitted to the Great Northern, and this privi lege is acceded to M r . D avey , o f G ray ' s -i nn-roa d . Th e equable, 'steady, and uniform motion the carriage main tains, as well as the decreased exertion demanded from the horse, must render the caoutchouc wheels very desirable to carriage proprietors. The patentee, Mr. Davis, of Lyon's inn, Strand, i s p a yi ng cour t t o th e peop l e rat h er th a n princes, and is constructing machinery by which, he states. ho will Le cnabled to produce patent caoutchouc wheels at so low a charge as to command the attention of the butcher, baker, or huckster, as well as the owners of the several road trucks perambulating the metropolitan highways. PRICE OF GOLD. The quotation of gold at Paris is about at par, and the short exchange on London is 2.5.12 i per £1 sterling. On comparing these rates with the English Mint price of £3 17s. 101 d. per ouneefor standard gold, it appears that gold is about 2-Iotl's per cent. dearer in Paris than in London. By advices from Hamburg the price of gold is 4241 per mark, and the short exchange on London is 13.44 per £1 sterling. Standard gold at the English Mint price is, therefore, about the same price in Hamburg as in London. The course of exchange at New York on Londo n f or bill s a t 60 days sight is 1094 per cent., which, when compared with the Mint par between the two countries, shows that the ex change is slightly in favourof England ; and, after making allowance for charges of transport and difference of interest, the present rate leaves a trifling profit on the importation of gold from the United States. A