The Sun. — London, England, 1846-11-28 00:00:00

LITERATURE. E ROMAN TRAITOR, a True Tale of the Re public. By H. W. Herbert, author of " Oliver Cron weil." 3 Vo!s. rery correctly does the author of these volumes - - ak of his work—" a Roman novel of the classic siss"—as one " difficult of execution and doubtful ei success." Its difficulty has probably been manifested to him by experience, while its from its chances of popularity may be in ferred its design. It labours under two disadvantages. In the first place, although the taste of the novel reading public, has greatly improved of late years, and although political topics are freely discussed, and historical events fully described within the limits of three volumes, yet the subject of this work, the time, the place, and the chief actors, are scarcely calculated to interest the general reader—they are almost too historical ; while the numerous details (however important in themselFes), and, above all, the speeches in the Senate (hoWever appropriate, or however excellent), tending to confirm the impres sion that he is reading a history and not a novel, de stroy the interest of the book, and defeat the object of the author. On the other hand, to the classical student, or the lover of history, for whom their theme would have most attractions, these volumes must appear quite superfluous. No modern embellishments can approve attractive to those ac quainted with the stirring scenes of ancient times, as pourtrayed by the old masters. No English version of Cicero's orations can be desired by those familiar with them in their native eloquence—who cares for a portrait in presence of the original ? Against difficulties arising from these opposite causes—from the erudition of the one class, and the insouciance of the other—has the author of a classical novel to con tend. In the " Roman Traitor," however, these disadvantages are in some degree counterbalanced, by many qualities entitling it to favourable consideration. In the first place, it is valuable as a picture (more or less correct) of the Romans as they were—as they were in the last days of the Republic, during what may be almost termed their state of transition, when the internal glory was being exchanged for the ex ternal—real grandeur for empty glitter. We are her introduced to them in their domestic life—a strange compound of barbarism and effeminacy ; we behold them in their warlike sports ; we listen to their eloquent harangues, and to their familiar discourses, "at the charmed senate and the festive board." We sympathise with and admire the elevated sentiments and noble conduct of those Romans, truly worthy of their name, while with ineffable horror and disgust we turn away from details (many of which we could wish had been omitted) of the appalling cruelty and gross immorality which disgraced too many of those —compatriots of Cicero and of Cato—bearing the once glorious title of citizens of Rome. We would fain hope that Mr. Herbert has somewhat overdrawn this portion—nevertheless, taking it as a whole, his picture of Rome is peculiarly valuable just now. Now when, like the fair city of the Tiber, our country is conspi cuous for its wealth, its grandeur, and its power; and there are not wanting those who, judging from the past, world construe that prosperity into an omen of its downfall. Let such but carefully contemplate the social condition of civilised Rome, and then compare, or rather contrast, it with our own : they will find little resemblance, they will find little cause of alarm. Successful in war—rich in territories and treasures — their country the acknowledged " mistress of the world"—the citizens of Rome, in the days of pros perity, relinquished the practice of those stern vir ties and ',cure morals which had characterised them during long years of energy and exertion. Possessed of Unbounded wealth, their only care was to obtain with it the meanest gratifications : luxurious dainties and costly apparelling, constituted their chief delight. The Roman was no longer conspicuous for the noble feelings which animated his breast, but for the gorge ous robe which enveloped it. Such, at least, was the condition of a great portion of that once glorious people. Overcome by prosperity, they plunged into all manner of excess : the effects of their own triumphs thus becoming the cause of their defeat. With us, it is very different. Like them, we have obtained great prosperity and power : like them, we have reached a state of high civilization—but its effects are of a very different kind. Like them, we have raised a goodly edifice : but not like them, do we devote all our time and talents, all our wealth and energies, to adorning and embellishing its exterior—increasing its already great elevation, adding gilded domes and stately *necks, till, for want of adequate snpport, the glorious fabric totters to its fall. Our exertions are otherwise employed : not satisfied with adding to the external attractions, we look within. We remedy, we enlarge, we improve the internal portion, but, above all, we are greatly extending the base. We are strengthening the foundations on which all depends, and thus, so far from proving dangerous to the welfare of the State, our wealth and prosperity only serve to render it more secure. Not like Rome do we de grade our senators and citizens into Sybarites ; ice are elevating our people into citizens and senators. Some such thoughts may be suggested by a perusal of the "Roman Traitor," although most probably such suggestions were not intended by the author ; Ibr, to judge from a few incidental remarks, his opinions do not err on the side of too much liberality. But to return to his work. Impressed with the arduous nature of his task—a Roman novel of the classic ages—Mr. Herbert has apparently spared no pains to render these volumes deserving of such an appellation. '1 he style is vigorous and impressive, and if at times somewhat too elaborate, and even formal,, it is not ill in accord ance with the theme. Some of the dialogues and descriptions are very forcible and emphatic. The plot is, of course, partly fictitious; the greater portion of it, however, is strictly historical. The narrative of Sallust has been closely followed, though the arrangement of the incidents has been, apparently, borrowed from Ben Jonsen, the novel commencing almost with the same scene, and giving translations of the very same speeches as does his poem (as he calls it) of "Catiline." Of these translations it is hardly necessary to speak ; they are perhaps ap propriately introduced—a work intended to represent Rome and the Romans would be incomplete without specimens of the speeches in the senate. The first and longest is Cicero's famous oration against Cati line—the sentence of banishment. This has been very faitltfully translated, indeed almost too much so, for in some cases the exactitude of the translation destroys the veri-similitude. The same words do not always convey the same ideas, and synonymous ideas ntay be expressed in very various manners. But al lowing Mr. Herbert the merit of having expressed both words and ideas correctly, it is in the manner of expressing them that he has occasionally failed, and no wonder : it is surely no easy task to translate Cicero. For instance, at the commencement of that impressive appeal—that unpremeditated burst of eloquence, when, on the conspirator daring to appear in his place in the Senate, the Consul indignantly turns to him, " Quosque tandem akutere, Catalina, patientia nostra ?" Herbert, anxious to preserve the majestic and sonorous beauty of the latin oration, has translated it almost literally, and, by so doing, has destroyed the earnest and emphatic brevity for which it is no less remarkable. The whole force of that famous ejacu lation—so eloquent from its very lack of words— " 0 tempora 0 mores !" is quite lost in the trans lation. The conclusion of the discourse is, however, far better than the commencement; not following the text so scrupulously, it is more like what Cicero may be supposed to have said—earnest, eloquent, and most animated, superior to Ben Jonson's version of the same. We are hardly satisfied with the cha racter of the Roman Traitor, as delineated in the - work which bears his name—it is that of a monster not of a man. History, it is true, has transmitted the name of Catiline to the reprobation of posterity, yet he could hardly have been guilty o f th e enormi ties here imputed to him ; or, if so, it is not in such a work that they should have been so prominently brought forward. He is introduced to us as a Ro man traitor, yet that title is apparently no more his due than would be that of the Roman assassin, or murderer, or any other term of reproach. If the au thor of Eugene Aram, and others, have been cen sured for making vice appear attractive, by their too favourable portraits of its perpetrators ; IVIr. Herbert has, from a totally opposite cause, pro duced nearly the same effect. He has failed in exciting our horror for the crime by concentrating it all upon the criminal. Our disgust for Catiline bimsee is so great, that we have none to spare for him in his character of traitor ; indeed, his treason appears to be one of his least crimes. Some of the other cha: roasters are very forcibly conceived—that of Catiline s daughter is, perhaps, the most interesting. Reared by her father and his fitting wife Orestilla, in the midst of vice of every kind, her conduct and character .are such as might be expected from her education, till, *ay the powerful influence of love, her heart becomes surified, and her whole being renewed. The battle elf Pistoria—the closing scene of the conspirator's caeeer—is veity forcibly pourtrayed,' but the account .of valourous conduct, his emphatic address to his soldiers, his gallant bearing, and, lastly, his daring (inset in s the thickest of the fight, almost alone— " Arm'd with a glory high as his despair," as sonaewhat marred by the almost revolting picture of Lis death. With many faults, many of which are almost incidental to the character of the work itself, it will %e teen that th e "R oman Traitor " possesses' many good qualities ; it certainly evinces no inconsiderable abilities. Wer e Mr. Herbert lessambitious he would do better ; and though he tells us he will h find conso lation, it defeated, in the fact that h run for a high prize," we are inclined to tahimnkoreheeas‘l would find it moderate one, tore satisfactory' to strive for which he would be more likely to obtain. n The fol lowing are specimens of the delineations of Rom an xnen and manners : " ROME. f ;FA I Xs ' had es p_tionigiidoinitable valour, the supreme mistress of ',every foreign power that bordered on the Mediterranean, wealth, avarice, and luxury, like some contagious pesti lence, had crept into the inmost vitals of the common wealth; until the very features, which had once made her famous no less for her virtues than her valour, were utterly obliterated, and for ever. " Instead of a paternal, poor, brave, patriotic, aris tocracy, Rome had now a nobility valiant indeed and capable, but dissolute beyond the reach of man's imagi nation; boundless in their expenditures, reckless as to the means of gaining wherewithal to support them; oppressive and despotic to their inferiors; smooth tongued and hypocritical towards each other; destitute equally of justice towards men and of respect or piety toward the gods! " Wealth had become the idol—the god—of the whole people; wealth, and no longer service, eloquence, integrity, or daring, was held the requisite for office! Wealth now conferred upon its owner all magistracies and all guerdons—rank, power, command—consulships, provinces, and armies! " The Senate, once the most grave and stern and just assembly that the world had witnessed, was now with but a few superb exceptions a timid, faithless, and licentious oligarchy—while—the name whilom so majes tical and mighty—the people, the great Roman people, was but a rabble!—a vile colluvion of the offacourings of all climes and regions!—Greeks, Syrians, Africans; barbarians from the chilly north, and eunuchs from the vanquished Orient; enfranchised slaves, and liberated gladiators—a fierce, factious, turbulent rabble! " Such was the state of Rome, when it would seem that the gods, wearied with the guilt of her aggrandise ment, sick of the slaughter by which she had won her way to empire almost universal, had judged her to de struction, had given her up to perish, not by the hands of any foreign foe, but by her own—not by the wisdom, conduct, bravery of others, but by her own insanity and supernal mercy ; nothing of that sweet hope, that un dying trust, that consciousness of self-unworthiness, that full conviction of a glorious future, which renders , so beautiful and happy, the submission of a dying Christian ! " No ! there were none of these things ; for, to the wisest and best of the ancients, the foreshadowings to' of the soul's immortality were dim, faint, and uncertain. The legends of their mythology held up such pictures of the sensuality and vice of those whom they called gods that it was utterly impossible for any sound understand ing to accept them. And deep thinkers were conse quently driven into pure Deism, coupled too often wit`► the Epicurean creed, that the Great Spirit was too grand and too sublime to trouble himself with the brief doings of mortality. " The whole scope of the Roman's hope and ambition, then, was limited to this world ; or, if there was a longing for anything beyond the term of mortality, it was for a name, a memory, an immortality of good report. " And pride, which the Christian, better instructed. knows to be the germ and root of all sin, was to the Roman the sole spring of honourable action, the so!' source of virtue." THIRD AND CHEAPER Ea); TION. Now ready, in one vol., with Maps and Plates, 12s, bound, T " NEMESIS IN CHINA. Comprising A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THAT COUNTRY. With a particular Account of the Colony of HONG KONG. From the Notes of Captain lIALL, R.N., and the Personal Observations of W. D. BERNARD, Esq., A.M. O xon. " The most amusing and instructive voyage that has appeared since the days of Anson."—Sun. " A work that will take its place besid'e that of Captain Cook in the annals of the maritime history of this col/atty."— Wookly Chronicle. Henry Colburs.Pablisher, la. Great lisrliaorough-etnet. NEW WORK BT AlaiiKßT On the 20th instant will be published, 'Trice One Shilling, the Fourth Number of THE STRUGGLES AND ADVENTURES OF CHRISTOPHER TADPOLE, IN SEARCH OF A NAME, A RELATIVE, AND A WIFE AT HOME AND ABROAD. By ALBERT SMITH. With Illustrations by Leech. Richard Bentley, New Burlington-street. *,,,* Orders received by all Bookseller■ throughout the United Kingdem. WITH THREE ILLUSTRATIONS BY LEECH, AND A POR TRAIT OF SIR THOMAS OVERBURY. The DECEMBER Number, price Half-a-Crown, of BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY, will contain— CAPTAIN SPIKE ; OR, THE ISLETS OF THE GULF, By J. FENIMORE COoPER, Spring-Tide : or, the Angler and his Friends, by Paul Finder. With an Illustration by Leech. Ling Jim ; or the Tipperary Process-server, by a " Cove" of Cork. Corpus Poetoe Latini, by Carolus de la Pryme, Summer Sketches in Switzerland, by Miss Costello. The Parting of the Earth, by Schiller. Translated by Lord Nugent. The Cranks of Christmas 'lide, by Mrs. Mathews. Some Account of Dover, by Henry Curling. The Reasoning Schoolmaster, by W. Jordan. Sonnet from Petrarch, by Lady Nugent. The Gipsy's Baptism, by Miss Ross. With an Illustration by Leech. The Old Jesters, by J. 0 . Bothwell. Narrative of an Expedition to the End of Birkenhead, by Albert Smith. The FlAneur in Paris, by the Author of " Second Love." Old Christmas, a Song by G. L. Banks. The Race Course at Doncaster, by the Author of " Gaming and Gaming-houses." Owed to my Creditors, by Alfred Crowquill. Sir Thomas Overbury and l Murderers, with a Portrait, by Dr. W. C. Taylor. BRIAN O'LINN ; OR, LUCK IS EVERYTHING. By W. H. MAXWELL , With an Illustrati on b y L eec h . Richard Bentley, New Burlington-street. "AFTER THE BATTLE. " The battle was at an end; the sun had set; the calm and silvery moon was sailing through the azure sky, as peaceful as though her pure light shone upon sights of happiness alone and quiet. " The army of the Commonwealth had returned to the camp victorious, but in sadness, not triumph. * "Meanwhile, the frost wind had arisen, and blew cold, and cutting over the field of blood. Its chilly freshness, checking the flow of blood, and fanning the brow of many a maimed and gory wretch, recalled him to so much at least of life as to be conscious of his tortures; and loud groans, and piercing shrieks, and agonising cries for water, miffit now be heard on all sides, where, before the wind rose, there had been but feeble wailings and half unconscious lamentations, . • crime! " Yet, at this darkest season of the State, one hope was left to Rome—one safeguard—the united worth of Cicero and Cato. The statesmanship, the eloquence, the splendid and unequalled parts of the former—the stern, self-denying virtue, the unchanged constancy, the reso lute and hard integrity of the latter—these, singular and severally, might have availed to prop a falling dynasty, united, to preserve a world!" " Then came a long wild howl from the mountcia side—another, and another! aa.d then the snarling fiendish cry of the fell wolf pack. "Gods! what a scream of terror, freezing the very life-blood, burst from each helpless sufferer, unanimous, as that accursed sound fell on their palsied ears, and tor tured them back into life! " CATMINE. ---,... " He was a tall and well-framed figure, though so lean as to seem almost emaciated. His forehead was un usually high and narrow, and channelled with deep horizontal lines of thought and passion, across which cut at right angles the sharp furrows of a continual scowl, drawing the corners of his heavy, coal-black eye brows into strange contiguity. Beneath these, situated far back in their cavernous recesses, a pair of keen and restless eyes glared out with an expression fearful to behold—a jealous and unquiet ever-wandering glance— . , " But cries were of no avail; nor prayers, nor strug gles, nor even the shouts, and trumpet- blasts, and bran dished torches, of the legionaries from the camp, who hoped thus to scare the bloodthirsty savages from their living prey of friend and foe, real comrade, and false traitor. RAILWAY SHARES BY PUBLIC SALE. MESSRS. LAMOND and Co., RAILWAY SHARE AUCTIONEERS, beg to thank their Friends and the Public for their continued support and patronage, and to announce that their Public Sales of Railway Shares, &c., take place every TUESDAY and FRIDAY, at One o'clock, at the Bali of Commerce, Threadneedle-street, London, to which place, tryouts, containing Instructions (with a reference), are respectfully *equested to be addressed. " But it was all in vain; and, ere long, to the shrill drawn howls and fierce snarls of the hungry wolves, battening on their horrid meal, were added the flapping wings and croaking cries of innumerable night-birds, flocking to the feast of carcases; and these were blended still agaia with the sharp outcries and shivering sobs, that told how keener than the mortal sword were the beak and talon, the fang and claw, of the wild beast and the carrion fowl. ill Scrip and Shah' Certificates' mutt be deposited, the day previous to their being offered ; and &deices of results will be forwarded by the first post after the sale, and the proceeds imme diately disposed of according to instrtctions. Offices. Hall of Commerce. Threadneedle-street. London. so sinister and ominous, arid, above all, so indicative of a perturbed and anguished spirit, that it could not be looked upon without suggesting those wild tales, which speak of fiends dwelling in the revivified and utitombed carcases of those who die in unrepented sin. Hi* nose was keenly Roman; with a deep wrinkle, seared, as it would seem, into the sallow flesh from either nostril downward; his mouth, grimly compressed, and his jaws, for the most part firmly clinched together, spoke volumes of immutable and iron resolution, while all his underlip was scarred in many places with the trace of wounds, inflicted beyond doubt in some dread paroxysm, by the very teeth it covered. * * * * His motions were quick, irritable, and incessant; his pace, as he stalked to and fro in the narrow area of the archway, was agitated and uneven. Now he would stride off ten or twelve paces with strange velocity; then pau s e and stand quite motionless for peraps a minute's space, and then again resume his walk with slow and faltering gestures, to burst forth once again, as at the instigation of some goading spirit, to the same short-lived energy and speed. "Meantime, his colour went and came; he bit his lip till the blood trickled down his clean shorn chin; he clinched his hands, and smote them heavily together, and uttered, in a harsh and hissing whisper, the most appalling imprecations on his own head—on him who had deceived hiea—on Rome, and all her myriads of in habitants—on earth, and sea, and heaven—on every thing divine and human." THEATRE ROYAL, DRITRY-LANE. THIS EVENING Will be performed Lavenu's new Opera, entitled LORETTA ; A Tale of Seville. Don Carlos, Mr. Harrlson ; Ferdinand, Mr. King; Philipp°, Mr. Borrani ; Provost Marshal, Mr. Howell ; Don Juanito, Mr. Weiss ; Loretta, Madame Anna Bishop ; Florinda, Miss Poole Gaetana, Miss Rebecca Isaacs. To conclude with DER FREISCHUTZ. Adolph, Mr. D. W. King ; Caspar, Mr. Stretton ; Zamiel, Mr. W. H. Payne ; Linda, Miss Rainforth ; Rose, Miss Poole. " Such, conquerors, such a thing is glory !" COLBURN'S STANDARD NOVELS. THE WILD IRISH GIRL. By Sydney Owenson, Edited by Lady Mor g an. Mr. Colburn has exercised a judicious discretion in inducing Lady Morgan, by his "liberal offer and en couragement" (we quote her own words), to repub lish this, her earliest work. It is no longer dangerous at the present day to stand forward as the friend of Ireland. It was dangerous, most dangerous to do so, at the period when the " Wild Irish Girl" was first published, and by the production of this, her earliest literary attempt, Lady Mor g an fully vindicated her title to the epithet " fearless," which was afterwards bestowed on her by Lord Byron. She was then, as an enthusiastic young girl, unknown, but full of health and spirits, the true friend of Ireland. Such she has continued to be during her whole career, and now, when the better half of that career must have been passed, now in the full enjoyment of an European literary reputation—now, when her experience has tempered her enthusiasm, and physical blindness has produced (as it invariably does in every poetic tem perament by shutting out all external impressions) in creased intellectual light, she is as fearlessly as ever the friend of Ireland still. Let Ireland, there fore, ponder over the words of one of the truest, the oldest, and wisest of her friends. Comparing, in her prefatory observations to the present edition, the state of Ireland at the time this novel was written with its present state, Lady Morgan says : " But the agrarian discontents were then, ' Though deep not loud,' and though occasionally breaking forth into the wild justice of self-redress, or rudely associated in banded violence, they were not yet systematized into secret tribunals of vengeance, nor armed for the daring crime of open assassination. The relative condition of landlord and tenant, false and bad as it was in Ireland, was then still relieved by a feeling of clanship, and by a primitive and social intercourse, between the coun try gentlemen and the peasant, unproductive, indeed, of any substantial or permanent good, but which had stil' something of the old feudal character of more cordial, though not more civilised times. The daily relations of life between the rich and the poor (whom the civil wars and the troubles' in Ireland, had formerly associate:l in a common cause, against a common foe), were stilt almost familiar, though in their forms somewhat abject. The people had not then been taught to know' that they were more wretched even than they felt,' by the vague, but inflammatory promises of interested politi clans, destitute of all practical results, or probable ac complishment ; their keen sense of suffering was not then sharpened by the rhetoric of personal vindictiveness, nor their strong energies wasted on the pursuit of an unattainable object, whose possession, to judge by past experience, might be a doubtful good! Their natural and national joyousness of spirit, then, still broke forth in wild impulses of occasional hilarity ; they were sus ceptible to the charms of music, tke native passion o' their artist temperament ; they were alive to the im pressions of humour ; misery then found time to laugh ; labour paused to dance ; Erin had, indeed, the tear, but she had also the smile in her eye ;" and the brilliant sallies of the higher orders, and the sly fun of the lower, then created for, and sustained in Ireland that reputa tion for unrivalled wit and colloquial talent, which is now fading into a tradition. It is, however, to be hoped that the present state of things, is but a transition state that the humour and genius of Old Ireland, though latent, are not extinct, and that the obtrusive advocacy of an obsolete phrase of society, indulged in by ' young Eng land s' cadet brother, young Ireland,' THEATRE ROYAL. HAYMARKET. Under the Management of Mr. B. Webster, sole Lessee. THIS EVENING _ _ Will be performed an original Comedy, entitled LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP ; or, Wooings and Weddings. Mr. Oddington, Mr. W. Farren ; Mr. Rashleigh, Mr. Hudson ; Mr. De Vere, Mr. Holl ; Mr. Brandon, Mr. Howe ; Mr. Hardman, Mr. Rogers; Jack Spriggs, Mr. Webster; T,in Tilley, Mr. Buckstone ; Miss Brown, Mrs. Glover ; Claribel Oddington, Miss Fortescue ; Mary Oddington, 31188 P. Horton ; Elinor Mortimer, Mrs. Yarnold ; Fanny Hardman, Miss Julia Bennett. After which an original Operatic Drama, called THE YOUNG PitETENDEg. Captain O'Neal, Mr. Hudson ; Captain Cocker, Mr. Buckstone ; Chevalier Charles Edward Stuart, Mr. Braid ; Davy, Mr. Coe ; Mrs. Craggie, Mrs. Clifford ; Mary Armadale, Miss Horton. During the evening the Band will perform the Overtures, " Pre aux Clercs," and "Les Travestlssemens ;" " Clementinen" (Ma zourka) ; " Camellion" (Galop) ; and the " Esterhazy" (Walzer). To conclude with a new Farce, called SPRING GARDENS. Lord Courtington, Mr. Holl ; Sir Arthur Lovel, Mr. Howe ; Scoreup, Mr. Buckstone ; Lady Clarissa, Mrs. Buckingham ; Mrs. Scoreup, Miss Julia Bennett. ..... ....... Box-otlice open from Twelve till Four ; under the direction ol Mr. T. Archer, Box Book-keeper. " A ROMAN DINNER. "They reached the triclinium, a beautiful oblong apartment, gorgeously painted with arabesques of goad and scarlet upon a deep azure groundwork. A circular table, covered with a white cloth, bordered with a deep edge of purple and deeper fringe of gold, stood in the centre, and around it, three couches, nearly of the same height with the board, each the segment of a circle, the three forming a horse-shoe. "The couches were of the finest wood, inlaid with tortoiseshell, and ivory, and brass, strewed with the richest tapestries, and piled with cushions glowing with splendid needlework; and, over all, upheld by richly moulded shafts of Corinthian bronze, was a canopy of Tyrian purple, tasselled and fringed with gold. " The method of reclining at the table was, that the guests should place themselves on the left side, propped partly by the left elbow, and partly by a pile of cushions; each couch being made to contain in general three persons, the head of the second coming imme diately below the right arm of the first, and the third in like manner; the body of each being placed trans versely, so as to allow space for the limbs of the next below in front of him. THEATRE ROYAL, ADELPHI. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MADAME CELESTE. THIS EVENING _ _ . ----- Will be performed a grand Fairy Spectacle, founded on the Ballet of LA GISELLE, entitled THE PHANTOM DANCERS; or, th• Wills Bride. Principal characters by Mr. Wright, Mr. P. Bedford. Mr. 0. Smith, Mr. Cullenford•, Madame Celeste, Miss Marian Taylor, Miss Emma Harding, Miss Ellen Chaplin, and Mrs. Laws. Atter which the original Domestic Drama, called THE WRECK ASHORE ; or, The Bridegroom of the Sea. Marmaduke Magog, Mr. Wright ; Alice, Mrs. Yates. ' " To conclude with a Bozzian Sketch, in one act, called MRS. GA3fI"S TEA AND TURN-OUT. Principal characters by Messrs. Cullentord, Worrell, Ryan, Wright, Munyard ; Miss M. Taylor, and Miss Ellen Chaplin. PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET. J. M. Maddox, sole Lessee and Manager. TII IS EVENING Will be performed an original romantic Opera, in three parts, entitled THE NIGHT .DANCERS ; founded on the Story of " Giselle." The principal characters personified by Miss eteorgiana Smithson, Madame Albertazzi, Miss Flower, Miss Somers, Misses Marshall ; Messrs. Leffler, Allen, Bodda, -Walton, I'. Hill, Honner, Peren, &c. After which an entirely new Comic Drama, entitled TIIE TWO RAINBOWS. To conclude with the Musical Entertainment of THE QUAKER. En which Messrs. Barker, Leffler, Homier, Compton, Miss Grant, Mrs. Fosbroke, &c. will•perform. " The middle place on each couch was esteemed the most honourable; and the middle couch of the three was that assigned to guests of the highest rank; the master of the feast, for the most part, occupying the central position on the third or left hand sofa. The slaves stood round the outer circuit of the whole, with the cup bearers; but the carver and steward, if he might so be termed, occupied the side of the table which was left open to their attendance. * * * * * FRENCH PLAYS.—ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. Lessee Mr. John Mitchell. On MONDAY EVENING, Nov. 30, Will be performed L'OBSTACLE IMPREVU. Lisimon, M. Dor gebret ; Vetere, M. Felix; Luandre, •M. David; Pasquin, M.. ar tigny ; Crispin, M. Lucien ; Angelique, :Mlle. Vallee ; Nerine, Mdlle. Brohan. Alter which, LE COMEDIES D'ETA 11 FES. Dorival, M. Perlet (who will sustain four different characters) ; Madeleine, Amelie Rhin. To conclude with L'AMBASSADEUR. Characters by MM. Perlet, Laugeval, Berou ; Mdlle. Celine Fouquet and Md 11,.. Brohan. Boxes, 65.; Pit, 3s. Gd. ; Stalls, 3e.; Gallery, 2s. Doors opened at half-past Seven, and the performances commence at Eight. " And now the feast commenced in earnest; as the first course, consisting of fresh eggs boiled hard, with lettuce, radishes, endive and rockets, olives of Vena frutn, anchovies and sardines, and, the choicest luxury of the day, hot sausages, served upon gridirons of silver, with the rich gravy dripping through the bars upon a sauce of Syrian prunes and pomegranate-berries, was placed upon the board. * * * * * " Now to the melody of Lydian lutes, two slaves introduced a huge silver dish, loaded by the vast brawn of the Umbrian boar, garnished with leaves of chervil, and floating in a rick sauce of anchovies, the dregs of Coan wine, white pepper, vinegar, and olives. The carver brandished his knife, in graceful and fantastic gestures, proud of his honourable task; and, as he plunged into the savoury meat, and the delicious odour reeked up to his nostrils, he laid down the blade, spread out his hands in an ecstasy, and cried aloud, 'Ye Gods! how glorious l' * ' * * • * * * " All dainties that were known in those days minis tered to this feast: oysters from Baiae; pheasants, a rarity but lately introduced since Pompey's conquest in the East, had been brought all the way from Phasis, on the southern shores of the Black St a; and woodcock, from the valleys of lonia, and the watery plains of Troas, to load the tables of the luxurious masters of the world; livers of geese, forced to an unnatural size by cramming the unhappy bird with figs; and turbot fricasseed in cream; and peacocks stuffed with truffles, were on the board of Catiline that day, as on the boards of many another noble Roman; and the wines by which these rare dainties were diluted differed but little, as wisest critics say, from the Madeiras and the sherries of the nineteenth century; for, so true is it, that under the sun there is nothing new, that in the fides gras of Strasburg, in the turbot a la crime, and in the dindons aux truffles, of the French metropolis, the gastronomes of modern days have only reproduced the disheb whereon Lucullus and llortensius feasted before the Christian sera." OLYMPIC THEATRE. Mr. George Bolton, sole Lessee and Manager. THIS EVENING Will be produced an entirely New and Original Comedy, in five acts, entitled LIFE. Mr. Orstan, Mr. Archer; Frank Orstan, Mr. Leigh Murray; Sir Thomas Menton, 3lr. Walter Lacy ; Sir Jacob Smailwit, Mr. George Bolton; Sir Robert Folair, Mr. J. Cowell Cancara, Mr. Wilkinson ; Lady Bait, Mrs. C. Jones ; Fanny Archer Mrs. Walter Lacy ; Emily Orstan, Mrs. Gordon. After which, ShaksPere's History of JACK CADE. Mr. Maynard. 10 conclude with a new grand nALLET DIVERTISSEMENT. Boxes, 2s. 6 d.; Pit, Is. ; Gallery, 6d Jack Cade, DAVIDGE'S ROYAL SURREY THEATRE. ',twee, Mrs. Frances Davidge. Tills EVENING Will be performed a new Melo - dramatic Tale of Enchantment, called r. Mr. Webb ; C aspar, Herr Deulin; Giselle, Mrs. Bertha, :Mrs. Daly ; Myrth a , Mi ss T erre y. VIRGINIAN HARMONISTS will sing' their po pular Negro Melodies, After :sr G all niEe which,; ; L , theeEt Dame ; r e or, . The m Mr. e Phantom Night Dancers. Maximilian, and perform their celebrated Railway Overture. To be ibilowed by the Ballet of VOL AU VENT. In which the Deulin Family will appear. To conclude with the Nautical Drama of THE PILOT. Messrs. Heslop, Webb, Johnson, Lewis, Phelps, Pelham, Neville, Saville ; 31Ibs Terrey, Mrs. Daly, &c., will support the principal characters. The merrier fool of the two, bat quite as mad,' will yield conviction to the fact, that en avant,' (or in its own Celtic mother tongue, Fauyh na ballah,') is the true epigraph of the age, as it was the cry that led to victory the bravest of Irish captains, at the head of the bravest of Irish troops. Henceforth ceasing to Boast, their ancestors were fools so long,' may the youth of Ireland bear in mind, that the oppres sors of their country, have never prospered but by the disunion of her sons, and give the full aid of their talents, and honest (though with due submission) not always wise patriotism, to the aid of Ireland's long-tried frends, now for the first time, led on by Irishmen, who may well expect to be received in their onset with the dear old Irish, and cordial all hail,' of ' Cead mille faltha.' " Such a state of things is the true Repeal of the Union.' It is the fusion, long wanted to the pacification of Ireland, and the general happiness of the greatest empire of the earth—only the greatest, because the freest. It will be the first alliance between the sober experience of the past, and the practical philosophy of modern times, applied to the remedy of the greatest of Irish evils—the poverty of the people ; the true source of their crimes ! It will be the manly prose of reason, blending with the brilliant poetry of patriotism, like— ASTLEY'A ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE. Proprietor, Mr. W. Batty. Pa•ronised by her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, Prince Albert, and Royal FamilY. Immense attraction and double spec tacle. " The Demon Horse" and " Waterloo." First Week of performe d a grand new Magical Equestrian Romance, en titled appearance of Mr. Gomerral as " Napoleon Buonaparte." The Twelve Wishes and the THIS EVENING hlch ii N ° vi i ll tS b E e ; in ° t r r ' oduced the Syrian Camels and Will be Entire change in the Scenes of the CIRCLE. In which will ap pear Kerr Amidio Nuperte, the great Dutch Bottle Equilibrist. To conclude with the grand Military Spectacle of THE BATTLE C t t r iht e l in rmd e d e Te li C l r t , DEMON an ln d w th e Wild OF WATERLOO. Napoleon, Mr. Gomersal. Box-ortice open nom eleven till five o'clock.—Doors open at six an I c , mmence at half-Past six o'clock.—Stage Manager, Mr. W. Broadfoot. " A ROMAN BOUDOIR. " The Eery atmosphere of the apartment was redolent of the richest perfumes, which streamed from four censers of chased gold placed on tall candelabra of wrought bronze in the corners of the room. A bowl of stained glass on the table was filled with musk roses, the latest of the year ; and several hyacinths in full bloom added their almost overpowering scent to the aro matic odours of the burning incense. " Armed chairs, with downy pillars, covered with choice embroidered cloths of Calabria, soft ottomans and easy couches, tables loaded with implements of female luxury, musical instruments, drawings and splen didly illuminated rolls of the amatory bards and poetesses of the EgPan islands, completed the picture of the boudoir of the Roman beauty. " And OH a couch piled with the Tyrian cushions, which yielded to the soft impress of her lovely form, well worthy of the splendid luxury with which she was surrounded, lay the unrivalled Fulvia." ROYAL VICTORIA THEATRE. mmense success of the alteration of the prices of admission to one general level, so that all parts of the house shall bear a just and liberal proportion—viz. , Boxes, Is. ; Half-price, 6d. ; Pi t, Gd.; Gallery, 3d.—and first week of " The Black Doctor," with great scenic effect. ' The rainbow that hangs in •ur skies i' cheering the present, and brightening the future ; under such blessed auspices, confidence will arise in all,—the rich and the poor ! the bright fires of Irish wit will again rekindle, and the Irish harp (to use a phrase of the old bard, Carolan, in the halls of the O'Conor Don,) will 'once more have the old sound in it.' " Coercion (the favourite policy of the legislators of Ejection) will then have become an obsolete word, no longer admissible into the humane and legal language of political justice ; and one of the many impediments to ' the Settlement of Ireland,' out of her long list, (the Irish Church,) will alone remain, not, however, be it hoped, like the Irish Round Towers, 'to puzzle posterity,' nor yet to be dealt with in abstractions, or paltered with by antecedents, (the bequests of darker times,) but to be considered through its living realities, in its true and graphic images of religious disparity, and fearful social inequality ; and finally to be dealt with according to the Divine ordinances of immutable justice and Christian charity, the church of Him who admitted of no ine qualities." "JULIUS CASA& " He was not much, if at all, above the middle size, but admirably proportioned, whether for feats of agility and strength, or for the lighter graces of society. But it was his face more especially, and the magnificent expres sion of his features, that first struck the beholder—the broad, imaginative brow, the keen, large, lustrous eye, pervading, clear, undazzled as the eagle's, the bold Roman nose, the resolute curve of the clean-cut mouth, full of indl. mitable pride and matchless energy—all these bespoke at once the versatile and various genius of the great statesman, orator, and captain who was to be thereafter. A rr ad t s th is middle tim e, however, although he was advancing s d l s which casta g a e r , a luu n nx d du hrhiaios young d u a ol vicerue n a g d already puissant shaken intellect,off heedless s om extra vagance hoe had achieved nothin g e i t h er of fame or power. He had, it is true, given signs of rare i nte l lect, bur, as yet they were signs only ; though his f r i en d s l oo k ed forward con fidently to the time when they should see him the first citizen of the republic : and it is more than possible that, in his own heart, he contemplated even now the attainment of a more glorious, if more perilous, elevation. " The locks of this noble-looking personage, though not arranged in that effeminate fashion which has been mentioned as characteristic of Cethegus and some others, were closely curled about his brow; for he, as yet, exhibited no tendency to that baldness, for which in after years be was remarkable—and reeked with the choicest perfumes. He wore the crimsoned-bordered toga of his senatorial rank ; but, under it, as it waved loosely too and fro, might be observed the gaudy hues of a violet-coloured banqueting dress, sprinkled with flowers of gold, as if he had been disturbed from some festive board by the summons to council. COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT. (PROW OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) THE GOVERNMENT AND THE KESTREL. An examination of this fast-sailing yacht took place on Monday and Tuesday last, when she underwent the ordeal of a strict examination by Mr. Fincham, of her Majesty's dockyard at Portsmouth, and his assistants. She proved to be quite sound, her scantling of the proper dimensions, and altogether a faithfully built vessel. This splendid yacht was built by Mr. Joseph White, of Waterwitch celebrity, for the late Noble Commodore, and was launched as a cutter ; she was subsequently lengthened by him in midships, and converted into a yawl, and latterly rigged into a brigantine, which is her present rig. From time to time great sums of money have been expended upon her, and she has always been kept in the must perfect order. There is no doubt she will be destined to grace the royal navy—a compliment as much due to her builder as to the memory of the deceased Earl. Her superior sailing qualities will render her eligible for the suppression of the slave trade. In short, vessels of such class and capabilities are the only ones adapted to cope with slavers, and, should she be destined for that service, we have no hesitation in saying she will prove herself a second Waterwitch, and there will be no difficulty in getting her manned. It is a curious coincidence, that the Government of the day should have selected to purchase both the Commodore and Vice-Commodore's yachts into the navy, and is no small compliment to the Royal Yacht Society and the merchant builders. Her Majesty is expected to leave Osborne for Arundel on Monday or Tuesday next, on her promised visit. It is generally believed the royal visit to the ishind will be prolonged till near Christmas. . , " As he passed through the crowd, from which loud rose the shout, following him as he moved along— ' Hail, Caius Caesar ! long live the noble Ccesar r—his slaves scattered gad profusely among the multitude, who fought and scrambled for the glittering coin, still keeping up their clamorous greeting ; while the dis penser of the wasteful largesse, appearing to know every one, and to forget no face or name, even of the humblest, had a familiar smile, and a cheery word for each citizen." WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET, FaIDAT.--The supply of Wheat this week is only moderate, the demand is tolerably good, and last week's rates are realised. Barley is in fair request, and for the finest samples late prices are rather exceeded ; in the general runs there is no alteration. Oats come very sparingly to hand, and make full prices. Beans are sold on rather easier terms. " RELIGION OF THE ROMANS. " There was nothing humble, nothing soft, in their gem and proud submission to the inevitable necessity ; nothing of love towards the hand which dealt the blow— nothing of confidence in supernal justice, much less in TILE SUN, L04"13014, SA.' URDAY apprehension lest that master, less prescient of the danger, invo!ve them both in certain ruin, so did the obedient multitude, fully alive to the exigency of the moment, watch in eager and anxious antici pation, lest their rulers should be unable or unwilling to avoid the danger that menaced them. The con tinual Cabinet Councils inspired but little confidence ; they only showed that, if something were con templated, nothing was resolved. It was at this propitious moment that Lord JOHN Ittrssum's letter, proclaiming his adhesion to the doctrines of free trade, excited universal attention and almost universal sympathy. It was at once recognised, not as an explanatory address from a Member of Parlia ment to his constituents, but as the manifesto of a great political leader ready to become the exponent of the popular will. As such it was received with general satisfaction. The great question wag decided. If the Government were backward in the per formance of their duty, others were ready to fill their place. The leader of the Opposition, giving voice to the sentiments of the people, an nounced to the Minister what line of conduct the country expected him to pursue—a line of conduct which that Minister had himself already decided on adopting! A year has elapsed since these events transpired, yet few can have forgotten them and the earnest interest they excited; they are written in our memories in lines not easily effaced. A year has elapsed—a year, perhaps, unparalleled in the annals of statesmanship. The chief of the Opposition, then writing as a simple Member of Par liament to his constituents, has been since called upon to legislate as a Minister, and achieve the glory of contributing to the welfare of the people, but not until he had achieved the yet greater glory of as sisting a rival in so doing—not until (to use his own words) he had " had the satisfaction of feeling that, although out of office, he had mainly assisted in pro ducing the triumph of the Minister of the Crown." The Minister, whose intentions were last year a problem which all were desirous of solving, whose political sagacity was about to be tested, and whose patriotism, severely tried, has since then ken proved . and found not wanting, regardless of personal sacrifice, he has consummated the great measures which the welfare of the country rendered exigent. He has retired from office followed by the bless ings of his countrymen, leaving, as he him self prophesied, a name "execrated by every monopolist, but a name remembered with ex pressions of good-will in the abodes of men whose lot it is to labour." Such are the changes one short year has brought about in the once rival leaders of the once great factions. And other and not less im port ant alterations have been effected. Monopoly is no more—the corn-laws were ! Such facts require no comment—there is a satisfaction in their simple enumeration. The League, crowned with victory has (as Mr. COBDEN happily phrased it) " subsided into its primitive elements on the triumph of its prin ciples, while its spirit has been diffused through all the nations of the earth," as is daily manifested by the reception foreign countries are giving to its great apostle. To these extraordinary facts we have again and again alluded, but we are more pecu liarly induced to do so on the present'Toccasion, because we have now arrived at the anniversary of that anxious time when they were as yet in nubibus ; and because, from the realisation of past hopes, we would deduce bright expectations for the future. Another November has arrived ; another year will shortly have terminated ; in two months the Parliament will again assemble. It is at such a time, more especially, that all really anxious for the general welfare should look thoughtfully on the past and on the future. If some of last year's expectations have been fulfilled, let such triumph only stimulate us to more exertion. In the great things that have been done let us recognize the yet greater that remain to do. Last session the power of the people was peculiarly manifested ; the battles fought were with their arms, the triumphs achieved by their champions. It is now, therefore, that We would have impressed upon the mind of every individual member of that great body the consciousness of their extensive power, and the necessity for vigorously exerting it. V ictorious in their recent campaign, let them not abate in energy or exertion. In nothing is the skill of a great general more conspicuous than in his con duct after a victory. If vigorously followed up, one triumph may lead the way to universal conquest; if otherwise, the triumph may be worse than a defeat. These thoughts should now animate the breasts of Englishmen at the present moment. Their battle of Cannz has been won ; let them on to Rome ; let no Capua delay them, no false security delude them. Perhaps in very distant times, when the future phi losopher shall look back on the annals of this country, at no period of her whole history will England appear more interesting than at the present. Now, when her conquests and her commerce have rendered her prosperous at home and powerful abroad, not dazzled or deluded by such triumphs and such prosperity, she is turning all her thoughts and energies to her social regeneration. The power of her kings and her captains has given way to the more peaceful, but all potent, authority of her people. That authority has already been exercised, and not in vain. Last November, Lord JOHN Rus- SELL, after enumerating the evils of protection, and pointing out the remedy, observed, in conclusion, "but, if this end is to be achieved, it must be gained by the unequivocal expression of the public voice." That voice was expressed, and the end is gained. And so say we now, in the words of the Prime Minister, when we look upon the many evils yet existing—upon the many great reforms yet ne cessary—so say we now—" if these great things are to be achieved—if the triumphs of last session are to be followed up—if the real blessings of good go vernment are to be diffused throughout the land— such a glorious and can only be achieved by the un equivocal expression of the public voice !" The recent catastrophes which have almost simul taneously occurred in the coal-mines at Oldbury and Coppall, have demonstrated with a dismal emphasis the necessity for some legislative interference fur the better protection of the lives of our subterranean labourers. In other circumstances the destruction of human creatures may be purely accidentally, if not absolutely unavoidable; in the colliery explosions blame is invariably attributable to some individual or individuals. With all the appliances of mechanical ingenuity, with all the advantages of chemical in vestigation, with all the aids of science, and all the warnings of experience, it is mon strous to suppose that the wretched colliers are constantly to be dependent upon casualties for the preservation of their existence. No arguments, how ever specious, no subterfuges, however plausible, can shield those who have the management of mines from the reprehension which is excited by such terrible calamities as those which have lately occurred in Staffordshire and Lancashire. We have already com mented upon the shameful negligence which had clearly produced the Oldbury explosion, an explosion which destroyed nineteen men, fourteen of whom left wives and i n families ts m u must in hurries a h eight unfortunate er deplorable and creatures s destitu tion. Scarcely hav e our rem a r ks appeared when a similar o ut of th i e nd w o o f rld the atC o p necessityp al 1 , t h n e e r a e r s C h fo o r r 1 some ey. deci sive ffataliliinagarcrned catastrophee i n vestigation into their ori g i n , f or the purpose of enabling us to devise the most ready and effectual means of preventing their recurrence. In misfortunes like these we are always particu larly desirous of divesting our observations of any. thing which might be construed into personal invec tive or malapert vituperation. IVhenever we are inveighing upon any egregious exhibitions of carelessness, or any shameless neglect of precaution we would be understood to inveigh more against the system than against the individual. With this pre mise, therefore, we shall freely express our indigna tion at the peculiar and grievous circumstances con nected with the fire-damp explosion near Chorley. By the inquest held upon the eight victims, two dis closures were elicited which loudly cry for the immediate and vigorous interference of the Legislature. Those two disclosures are : first, that great doubts were expressed as to whether the persons charged with the ventilation of the mine were competent for that responsible office ; and, secondly, that females are employed at the Coppall colliery. It is impossible to consider these two imputations without expressing a vehement ab horrence of men who would thus voluntarily en danger the lives of their industrious dependents, and reduce women, however lowly their origin, to the condition of the brute creation. Ilow ever fitting the opportunity, we are not disposed to excite a spurious sympathy in behalf of females brought to this state of degrada tion. We might apply more particularly to them that passionate ejaculation which a modern poet has placed in the lips of the sempstress " 0, but to breathe the breath Of the cowslip and primrose sweet,l With the sky above my head, And the grass beneath my feet." We might enlarge, and with deplorable justice, upon the brutality of harnessing women like cattle, to drag heaps of coal up steep acclivities to the mouth of the excavation. We might dilate upon the distortion of limb, the debasement of mind, the de struction of morality consequent upon these cruel and indecent proceedings. We might do all this and more, and be justified in so doing, but, under the circumstances, we shall content ourselves with a naked statement of facts. Three females were destroyed in the Coppall ex plosion : JANE MOSS, aged 21 ; JANE HALLIWELL, aged 13; and MARY BOOTH, aged 11 ; and they were all what is technically called "drawers," they were all toiling in the ropes and leathern bands attached to the ccal-carts, they were all debarred from the decencies and amenities of domestic life. Mary 1300TH, aged eleven years! We can understand how CHARLES LAMB came to say that the children of the very poor " never prattle," that they are " not brought up, but drugged up !" What is the extenu ation attempted by the parties who were na turally looked to as responsible for this inhumanity? Why, it was insisted that the owner of the coal mine was ignorant that there were females among his labourers. From all the facts which were eli cited on this remarkable inquest, we believe that Mr. HARGREAYES was unaware of this execrable cruelty. We acquit him of all knowledge of the actual cir cumstances in this particular. Nevertheless, we cannot, and we do not acquit Mr. HARGREAVES of a ll blame in the matter. He should have regarded as one of the necessary duties entailed: upon him by the pos session of a colliery the preservation of decency and propriety upon his works ; he should have been most scrupulous as to the sex of those engaged on his establishment ; he should have compelled his la bourers to have appeared periodically before an espe cial inspector. Instead of doing this, and although he acknowledges that the ordinary inspector assured him that he entertained suspicions " from the voices of the drawers" that there were girls in his em ployment, he allowed matters to jog on uninterrupted on the idle assertion of a subordinate that his sus picions were erroneous. There is something surely very culpable in all this, and its culpability has been • fearfully signalised by the violent death of a woman and two little children. What ! after suspecting that girls were toiling in his pit as " drawers," after ac tually going down to the Coppall coal-mine for the express purpose of bringing the question to a settle ment, he is satisfied with the bare denial of a man who would have been regarded as blameable had the proprietor's suspicions been verified on investigation, and who was consequently little solicitous for the prosecution of such inquiries. If Mr. HARGREAvEs, however, was only partially to blame, the conduct of his manager, JOSEPH Ennis, merits our unmitigated reprehension. The manager, according to his own acknowledgment, was aware, notwithstanding the general disguise of male attire worn by the deceased females, that JANE HALLIWELL was the daughter of one of the colliers ; he was satisfied that she was in capacitated from employment by her sex; he even remonstrated with the father, and threatened either to prevent the child's further service, or have her examined. Notwithstanding all this, and in spite of the suspicious retort of IlamawELL, that he would " stick his pick into any one who would attempt to examine his drawer," JOSEPH Ennis allowed the matter to continue without investigation. For this dis creditable tardiness (to give it the mildest expression) the manager has shown himself essentially culpable and the consequence has been the destruction of the woman and the children, and the exposure of his own negligence. Again, considerable discredit is thrown upon the ability of the fireman to discharge his duties properly. Still, despite the fact of his having been engaged until recently as a weaver, and hence being totally untutored as the fireman of a coal mine, we cannot regard this im putation as sufficiently substantiated. The cir cumstance which actually led to the explosion, how ever, evinces a most grievous negligence on the part of those entrusted with the supervision of the pit. According to the established custom, the fireman has to enter the mine first every morning, carrying a Davy lamp ; he has to discover that the ventilation is everywhere correct, and on finding a perfect freedom from sulphur in the atmosphere, lights a caendle in each " steight," as a signal to the workmen that they can enter and commence their operations. On the morning of the explosion the deceased THOMAS HALLIWELL had entered his "steight" before the fire man had examined the state of its atmosphere, and hence, either by removing his clothes, or on igniting his candle, caused the explosion by which himself and seven others perished. It is manifest that every precaution should be taken to prevent the colliers from entering the excavations until after the atmosphere has been duly tested by the flame of the Davy lamp. Unless some stringent precautions of this nature are ren dered obligatory in the collieries these dis astrous accidents will be of continual re currence. It is frivolous to insist upon the pay ment of heavy deodands to the relatives of the suf ferers ; that would ,be beginning at the wrong end with a vengeance. No ; all possibility of such ex plosions may be prevented by proper arrangements. Let these arrangements be enforced upon the owners of coal-pits, and let the employment of women and and girls as ‘" drawers" be rendered a severely punishable offence. Madrid papers of the 20th have arrived. They contain no news. The Heraldo, however, and the other organs of the Government, promise great measures of commercial reform. These pro mises are considered to be put forward merely for the purpose of influencing the elections. It may be that such is the case, but whether it be so or not we rejoice to find such promises made by the Spanish Government. If the Spanish Ministers are sincere in their promises, we shall ere long have Spain adopting the principles of free trade; if they are insincere, it is a proof that the doctrines of free trade must be popu lar in Spain, or these promises could not be supposed to produce any influence on the approaching elections. It is certain, therefore, that the seed sown by RICHARD COBDEN at Madrid, at Seville, and at Cadiz, is al ready producing its fruit, and the apostle of free trade will, ere long, have the satisfaction of number ing the great bulk of the Spanish nation among his disciples. MADRID BOLSA, Nov. 20.—The Three per Cents were done at 34i for cash ; the Four per Cents., at 20i ; the Five per Cents., at 211 ; the Coupons, at 19} ; and the Debt without Interest, at 6.i. We have received the French papers of Thursday. The Journal des Debats, while contending that here is not the slightest resemblance between what t chooses to call " the pretended violation of the reaty of Utrecht" by France and Spain, in the affair of the Montpensier marriage, and " the palpably flagrant violation of the treaties of Vienna" by the extinction of the liberties of Cracow, is reluctantly compelled to admit that England has refused to join France in a joint protest against the usurpation of the Northern Powers. Speaking of this refusal, the Debals says — "As to the refusal of the British Cabinet, we shall not either complain or be annoyed at it. Supposing it to be real, it will not change our sentiments ; it will not make us suppose that the Britit.h Cabinet, in its resent ment for the check which it fancies it has experienced in the Spanish marriages, sees with a less dissatisfied eye than we do the trouble caused in Europe by the act of violence of the three Northern Powers. England was free to refuse our assistance ; she will protest on her side, and we on ours." England has already protested singly, and it is to be hoped that France will lose no time in protesting singly also. Even had there been no interruption of the entente cordiale, no violation on the part of France of the provisions of the treaty of Utrecht, we think that the single protest of each nation, independently for THIS EVENING Will be performed THE. BLACK DOCTOR. In w hi c h Mi ss Vin cent, Mrs. G. Lee, Miss L. Pearce, Mrs. It. B arnett, and Me.,ers. Edwards, Bird, Searle, Forman, &c., will p er f orm. To conclude w;th the Nautical Drama of TILL LIFE RAFT ; or, The Two Reefers. Supported by the entire strength of the Company. TO CORRESPONDENTS. An " Alleged Lunatic " should at once apply to the Alleged Lunatics' leriend Society, 36, Coleman-street. THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, NOVEMBER 28. THERMOMETER, Lowest, 36; Highest, 45 ; Noon, 39 , BAROMETER, 29.46.—W1ND W., fine. 111t414 WATER AT LONIR)N-RRIDGi , THIS DAY. Morning .. 22 minutes atter 9. I Evening .. 56 minutes after 9. •-; • , , 41 , •, . jam ,,, • 4 ,-. id awls AUNIML\v -1 ww.aok 4-, - SECOND EDITION. t Into LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1846. It was about this time last year that Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S memorable letter was addressed to his con stituents, the electors of the city of London. A remarkable document, it appeared at a remarkable time. The public mind was greatly agitated—alter nately elated and depressed by every idle rumour, a prey to unceasing anxiety and suspense. An unpre cedented failure cipations for the approaching winter. T he shadow of provisions induce d terrible anti of coming events fell heavily on the hearts of many, and though a few were sanguine, and anticipated good out of the evil, all felt that an eventful moment bad arrived—one of those periods which occur to nations as to indivi duals, when, according as the opportunity is seized, the tide of their affairs may carry them to fortune or destruction. Last year—last November, the great body of the people were fully persuaded that for them such a moment had arrived ; and as a high spirited charger, perceiving a precipice on his path, remains obedient to the rein, and follows the guidance of his master, while he trembles with It an y join , itself, would be far more effective than protest could possibly be. In the following article on e subject, which appears in the Fresse, the q: ues th tion of joint or separate prot ests is well argued, and the conclusions drawn appear to be reasonable :-- " Wh a t ma tter is it whether th e p rotest be colleative or isolated ? What is important is, that it takes piaci!! that the two great constitutional Governments, win' have taken part in drawing up the treaties of ienne! protect against the most evident violation of the clearest: articles of these treaties ; nationality of which they guavanteed the matoteos neL b e state which they constituted in concert with all the that they do not allow ti great powers of Europe, and which they placed tine r . the guardianship of those very persons who have fiel! c onfiscated it to their own pro fit, to be thus destroys c tion . zo a; w ithout taking f orma l notice of this biota] infra.. public faith. What force wou ld a united parts, act t° addut these protests ?We believe, for our ~, it could only weaken them. France and xl land, in fact, are not in the same situation !l respect to the treaties of Vienna. England called them; -u - • see forth, and even dictated them against us ; ...ev _%., (Ayes to them the preponderance which she noiy u c._, ercises in Europe; England is, besides the partte bas ally of Austria, who profits by pitin tha t P • o , just taken place. England has, therefore, a gr!,.t t rin o, wrest in the maintenance of the treaties of v" 0; France, on the contrary, uie opposite interesch it is her chains, it is the instrument of her abaselVti. which the three Northern Courts have just bre ' , Without her desire to preserve peace, the qui pathies which unite her to the fate of Poland , with l' the profound sentiment which she feels of the i M I able complications and infinite disasters that a Etq ..,:f withou ..kout war would produce, she would clap her hands wi,t'jo.d. at the violation of these odious treaties, no,le_litni, binding on her, from the moment that they who he r posed them free themselves from them Witb e ? t he assent• France cannot view this violation 10_4 same manner as England. her demonstration cerio certainly be either less energetic or less c ora P iete ot P li er that of the English Cabinet, but it must have roil character, spring from a different principle, n o w 0 in other conclusions. Undoubtedly, she must • bo o the three Powers the extent of the fault which 09 0 i n . committed in hazarding all in Europe for so futd e w sig terest ; undoubtedly, she must blame them for..uelio• taken from the Polish nationality the shadow o _ l l , li e. d en o c a e ht w ed h l i y ? h t i h fi e n t e r . eaties of Vienna had geer ante nor th protests from all Eu s r h o e pe ul a u g s a t i b n y st h a e n secxtawntebo;l3rtole. the common bond of sovereignties, and preens _ Sbe law of the strongest; but she must not stop ther. ; gs tioe s must provide for the eventuality of b e t bap if 00 remaining of no avail; she must show that, 1 _„, de er arrive, she will regard herself as freed from tber:hleb she e nts which force imposed on her in 181 5, eli ac cept i n all has since religiously observed; she 1 330sC a W ith i,, its extent, without complaining .of it, 5 , 11 „,, 0 eibio: advantages as with its risks this reign 01 0 . - , 0 jas , the three Courts that have seized' on Cracolv Iwo; proclaimed in Europe. This is what Eng le % As his have accept u ite either opposite the interests. desire o r the will otao g d h o t , n he at e gis r efore t° tbe ii _ if oic and d ept a common action, even were it on bob L"' fre s ta energetic, because she would no longer ' act as her interest demands." c herse lf As might be expected, France wi ll not eolwile"4 lad to be '- to merely , Protesting ; she is but too g cOO O leased from the fulfilment of the burdensoOle tions imposed on her by the treaty of Vie ; tnP -4- takes advantage of its repudiation b 37 the isrethet Northern Powers in the Cracow affair, to de c eons 00. 1 enteredshe intoo n only 181 5 continueunti until to it emxaeyc u s t u e it th h e er 70 set them aside. The following, from the Epoque, may „ tbo g ee $ on garded:as an official declaration to this e' part of M. GUIZOT : Di 06iti" sad 0 " The only thing which we believe to be %MI 6 ' S o f 4 altogether .rm certain is, that the French Gele'ireeti— tvlti.B:l:lselyna r a e s s h o r lve k d henceforth to consid er the lit of claim j t h h s a t t to re tsohoeleumndooahmn,deanchtodmwptholeenetcxilet)e' mabtareoyictsheufceovo4ilw:eocetoraosAtato France of Austria, Russia, and Yrus si ` 9, Ob li e e haside ' he r obligation, them." t eies i°ll The Presse ..announcestinthdFdreapnacre i ttt s .: ll:f eeds lis - to todi e v etrl capitalie been Eemf pt hebreeoferomrlpfirAreleocweitiocco, which Po c son oe hi h ve er d e , n f o er o e p g n o t a e l i f e von. le z. bl nAsTEA h t e r en always e , th d e eta c in h e a d rge !t dl;ezifooirr: equines' in 11 ' 0, is at the head of this f France Morocco, is m i s sion. Tool ° 3 fron d General 1 , _AMORICIRRE has embarked -- tbe for Algiers. He has received full instruetiens fr.°Pineo War-office for conducting the exchans.-' of up Pil e s :.-^a r with ADD EL. KADER, which hos not y et "- lied into effect. visiting aboutdoll ill eaßfoeyrtnnifghTt.UNlS OneiS to of letahveeoPbjaecrists f:11' 4 de! Loo • the to D o e m _,, e l is , t i i eir i t t eh i n ea g l e E raa u nr r .i o s p e is to endeavour if V ssible "Association pour Is L iberti l-ild Echanges " held its third general meeting ' the Salle Montesquieni on T 1 1,70 evening COURT in in the chair. The Meeting, Which Wssisbd numerous of the ' included several of the most distio mo s by the artisans of free trade of beers Alarseillesi oisclo and other Duke D'HARcoURT, M. LE ° " l.l rl l- 1. 144114 the Duke P P o d places. Very able speeches inces* Member of the Chamber of Deputies, A f ' P-. 4 re . y-married Duchess DE 130 119$A° 1 0 4 d M• ORTOLAN. -an M. The newl mitted to the Marquis DE PAsTOREf % s be inol i v 0,000 f., for the relief of the sufferer s from dations of the Loire. „ f , e 0 Vo rs. The Three per Cents closed on the Parisiroc- 0 ; t o be s m ,-r day at 811. 75c. ; the . Five per Cents., li, 865 i; ;_,,,, /x i leans Railroad Shares 1,220 f. • Rouen, 85znisisla 2v 63 1i8 2 1. 1 . . z 5 07n 0 5 c ,c . 5 ; 6Gsfre't Bordeaux, 5451. 9 75 c. • A v:. l: l3 4;''''' ' ; li si Nante ; s,4B . kf. ;P. 5451. ; ii° 49017'aris and Strasburg , 477 ,f '„ u s ;Ind 11 ., c1 Deb t, ' u log s o oc. . Tool o , o o, Paris and Lyons, 500 f: l •",l i i ponlei ve Bordeaux and Cette, 475 f.; SP 5 "'" Rhenish,B3 2 U 4 S * I N LONDON BUSINESS . BoulogneS4Ss DanO and Amiens, AT 1 0 No tv o Ais IN FORE IGN RAIL os 27 ' It 110.411....putc O 3 C: K i EC l 1 A N €7 l_ 131/4...4.4.--d jurico.,o P tote d, I A-0 a d Bordeaux, '' 4 Paris lCl and di i 5; Namur a ri n e d A ns —j ar a i maica PORTING N filli , "'ICS. A fewS BE TTLIi( g , R 6 : ECEIVED TIII S 1)-- ... FWD °. 1 • 11°4 al.) Noth% flatk,'33STED•77„d Johnof "- to I for the Derby. to 1, ii.i. strong Chester up RACING g done upon the Steeple Cbase:'o,ols,tthicenhPrgisrgssrtbr/$ is runiourd child's h the agreement, CnaNGEs.--Mr. Mostyns nastm`Jasll bets onA:OrIdMPAON;t? will leave Goodwood al!,. 800 i i° Her ll o i e .that they will go to John Beatable. Majesty's have ,a. been sent to the Bain* Fri. the Crooke d ajestli)' } 'rues , Pier u s N ßs T itlai l egNth,GdisvAemrPeilteo : tiN N hi __aTtlifyr aSt. New e w I , o ag O J e : derness ids., Mon , Tickton Village' - ' 0 1 " ' • Thurs., North Daton ; Sat., Frodington B Bid e" ; ed.; 'ridl 0 . e •S r ! 'fatten Sykes's hds., Mon., Weston to b foss Mill-11 • Fri., Settrington House --3'-9' ,AP Badsworth hds.,' Tues., Badsworth I a , Hall ; Sat., Shatter Two Gates-10i. 111 • 'P uts ' sada 1 Mr. Lumley's hds, Mon., Bole Guide Post; V ies ' on Thurs., Thrybergh; . Fri., East MarkhamlC Thurr. Rufford hds., Mon., Debden Toll-bar; Tues., l'Oe" Priory; Thurs., Ossington; Sat., Clown village, 'Se Lord 11. Bentinck's hds., Mon., Carleton in ••••-, F r i, Nudge Inn; Wed., Hackthorn ; Thurs., Eagle; , Ttior hock; Sat., Nocton House-11. ed•• Earl Fitzwilliam's hds., Mon., Long Orton; " tbv ston Bridge-10. vi le r Cottesmore lids., Tues , Glaston: Thurs. , mi lt ce• i s • hill ; Fri., Thistleton ; Sat.,. Tilton Wood --- 11 • T o es., ";,.0 Duke of Rutland's lids., Mon., Croxton Park ;,,,pitlw" ver's Lodge; Wed., Three Queens'; Fri., liir k i- 7 I's rk / Tuea —lO%. mino• Quorn Ws., Mon., Theddington Hall ; •• - n flo r Thurs., Baggrave Hall; Fri., Six Hills--ll• T es.. S ou th w old hunt, Mon., sughani Guide Po st; Li sin ton Mill; Fri., Hain ton-10 1 ,i: „ iv „ d Lit tier" ' D onn i ng ton hds., Men., Wiverto n Hall; e ' ton Village; Sat., Lagley Priory. Beef ; 5°4 Mr. M. Ingram's hds., Men., Loxley; There.i -- Wichnor-104 . . Whad d°l3 ;trk Cambridgeshire hds., Mon., \Vareley • Fri., -,,. Tb Cheshire hds., Tues., Tilston; Wed:, APP lati) " Stamford Bridge;Sat., Ha11e± .. ......n...... 1-1 - ---- . 114. THE GREAT BRITAILN• ... TO THE EDITOR OF. THE SO' d ale many thinking n plans k proposed for raising this ship, wicl3:leifei ing on the subject. The result lO_ 77.4. A tIP to offer you for the consideration of your tome— tati those who are interested in the matter, if you °II° think it worth your insertion. BO P° In my opinion simplicity. and straightforw -a% generally proves the best in science as well as in 0 1,00 and I consider the plans offered to cossideratioonif 00 . , i a t ll s been too complicated and uncertain• And lifilie 01 effecteeTs to me that the simplest way of reni ° ,7 te r irs• . is by g6ing directly to the cause. The I f " — et side, then, being the cause of sinking, of course tog d, ii out and keeit out is the direct means of rising; 01 . 1 j o I rightlyun d erstand the situation in which the . bee laid, this may be partially effected so far as to 1 1 .. 98 r ing fi fr x o e m d the ground. To this end a false deck or, ° Sria . at low-water mark, made water tight apinge, by timbers above it, so as to resist the coin b;g wouki have mere power in raising her than all tl ie f og and barrels you could hang around her. Thi s l o ur, might be prepared upon deck or ashore, and is fo r o ~,,, at low water, firmly secured in its place, readi ,. w coming tide. 0* P.S.—The expense would be little more than "'A !: as-the timber would apply to other purposes, aft° °IP.' done its work. ____--n•-----------1.---"". —-- - i l , of At Fochabers, on Monday the 16th, the PUP bo l o i° Richmond, and other directors, formally 010 0 _ 4 0,. elegant free school, known as " Milnes Free fa t Do -100,000 dollars having been left, in 1836, for tua.,;tio o p f ose, by Alexander Milne, Esq., New O r it i ll 260 Fochabers. The school will accommodate gounnv..... Ipnuypeirlsn.essTchoeuroipere.ning was conducted with cereinv-° , THE ROYAL GEORG.---YeSterallY the rtiCiaethr :If t h 19 1 the Royal George, sunk at Spithead, ee • -e t Or' August, 1792, and which W 95 raised by the re...e nv ° do of rations of Col. Pasley, wasp resented by the 4 ''' the 4dmiralty to the United Sevice.ll/41000•