The Sun. — London, England, 1865-08-07 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1865. The sudden stoppage of all communication from the Great Eastern has naturally occasioned very great anxiety. The records of the progress of the great ship have been so eagerly watched, and the early success of the expedition was received with such universal gratification, that the mortifying in telligence of an apparent failure could hardly be otherwise than depressing and dispiriting. There had been, it is true, two temporary stoppages pre vious to the present disaster, but these were so accurately localised and so quickly repaired that ' they almost increased the confidence felt in the ultimate success of the expedition. The delay in the communications has now, however, continued SO long as to give rise to serious uneasiness, and to well-founded apprehensions that the cable may have been severed from the ship, and that, conse quently, the 1,250 miles known to have been payed out are lying idle at the bottom of the Atlantic. There arc, however, several points to be taken into consideration, and arguments, of course, are not wanting on both sides of the question. The signals on Wednesday last became confused and indistinct at about 10 a.m., and since a few hours after that time no single signal has been received. Those who believe in the severance of the cable, therefore, argue that more than sufficient time has elapsed for the Great Eastern to have hauled in the line and to have repaired the fault, so that if the cable had not broken signals ought to have been received yesterday evening at furthest. But allowing that the failure of the communications was due to a local error, and that the ship would have to wind the cable in again, it is impossible to cal culate within a narrow space the time such a process would occupy. Twelve or even twenty-four hours arc not enough margin to leave, while we are un certain as to the nature and extent of the injury to the cable, or to the difficulties which wind or weather might oppose to the winding in. But there is a strong argument in favour of the conjecture that the stoppage of the signals is due to the general disturbance produced by the magnetic storm which lasted from Wednesday to Friday, and was again renewed on Saturday. It should be remembered that the violence of this storm has produced a sen sible effect on the telegraphic wires on land, so that it is impossible to estimate the effect on the Atlantic submarine cable. The opinion of Mr. GLAISIIEI: and Mr. AIRY, derived from their observations at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, is that no communication could have been expected during so great a magnetic disturbance. Mr. Amy, writing on Saturday, says that the sponta neous earth currents have been so violent that the telegrams on :the Croydon wire were interrupted, and, he adds, " It is scarcely in possibility that a telegraph current can have passed along the Atlantic cable in a legible state during any part of this time." Mr. GLAISHEI: writing, Aug. 6, informs us that the magnetic disturbance was again very active from 10 p.m. on Saturday till 3 a.m. yesterday, and that since that time it had continued in a lesser degree up to 10 a.m., the dateof_his letter. The Dartford and Croydon wires showed forcible traces of dis turbance, and the traces were frequently lost. Mr. GLAISHER naturally draws the inference that with a continuance of such strong and active earth currents on the short wires it is quite possible that through the great length of the Atlantic cable, even if perfect, " the far-arranged feeble currents to be sent would not be at all intelli gible." Of course, all conjectures must remain mere conjecture until the matter is finally set at rest e ither by a return of one of the ships or a renewal of the signals. But it is wise, at all events, to sus pend our judgments, for the very uncertainty an d delicacy of the undertaking which forbids us to be over-confident warns us also not to despair. The coincidence of the magnetic storm with the suspen sion of thc 6iffnals certainly points to the conclusion that it has - had something to do with the stoppage; but whether the cable has during that period re ceived any further injury, it is impossible to say ; at all events, while " there is life there is hope," and, until we have absolute information of the failure of the expedition, we may cherish the convic tion that a favourable solution of the problem is at any rate possible. The Prussian lawyers, it appears, have come to a decision at last upon the vexed question of succes sion in the Duchies, and the result of their delibera tions can take no one by surprise, for it exactly follows out the notion previously entertained of their conduct. In the first place, they declare that the Duke of AUGUSTENBERG has no right of succes sion to the whole or part of the Duchies, because his father renounced his right of succession, and also because succession by primogeniture cannot be said to exist in the House of Augustenburg. It is worthy of notice that the Danes urged the same plea when the dispute first threatened a serious termination, and then the Berlin legal authorities were not of the same opinion as they now profess to be. It is really outraging the forbearance of foreign nations, and insulting the common sense of all lookers-on for Prussia to pursue the course she is now taking. The Crown Prince was a great friend of the duke's, but apparently his Royal Highness finds it as con venient to cast off his acquaintances as those of a lower rank are prone to do, when circumstances become awkward, and reminiscences as unpleasant. The manner in which the Duke of AUGUSTENBERG has been treated by the Prussians is perfectly scan dalous, and of itself furnishes an episode in the Schleswig-Holstein affair that will disgrace their memory. The second conclusion at which the Crown law yers arrive is, that the claims of the Grand Duke of OLDENBURG are only valid with reference to the GOTTOP portion of the Duchies, in virtue of even tual reversionary rights. It is amazing to witness the ingenuity with which people can contrive to extricate themselves from dilemmas and difficulties that threaten to subvert their plans and destroy their projects. There is always some way out of the wood, and thus we find that all successive ob stacles are put aside, and all conflicting claims got rid of by the skill and sharpness of these astute agents who serve the legal interests of the Prussian Crown. The third conclusion is, that the rights of King CHRISTIAN the Ninth, recognised by the law of succession of July 31, 1853, having been pub lished and duly introduced in the Duchies, " his Majesty's rights of succession must be considered as legally established, and these have been trans ferred by the Treaty of Vienna to Prussia and Aus tria." Nothing can possibly better show the crafty style of Prussian tactics than this paragraph : be cause the King of DENMARK cannot be any; longer a formidable opponent, it is considered expedient to allow his claims to bo valid ; and when this is done they are forthwith annulled by men tioning the fatal Treaty. Why did we hear nothing of the authenticity of King CHRISTIAN'S claims before the period when that occurrence took place. On the contrary, it was distinctly stated in many influential quarters that the Danish Sovereign had no right whatever in the Duchies, and certainly this principle was acted on by those in authority, both in Vienna and Berlin. No doubt the Govern ment of King WILLIAM will be only too glad to avail themselves of the golden opportunity which is presented to them by the declaration of these opinions by the Crown lawyers. It will furnish a useful pretext for compassing their ends and at last coming forward with something like consistency, and showing themselves in their true colours. At any rate, it is something in the way of progress that we should hear the opinion of the Crown Lawyers, and the next step to be looked for is the assumption by Prussia of the Sovereignty of the Duchies. The desire expressed by Austria that the Duke of OLDENBURG should be put in possession of those coveted places will evidently be totally disregarded, now that the legal authorities have put their veto against it, and thus furthered the cause that their friends have so much at heart. Our Indian fellow-subjects have just now two or three causes of annoyance or anxiety, despite the generally satisfactory prospects of the country. The first is the excessive heat which has in several places brought the cholera in its train, and has affected the health of some of our Anglo-Indian officials. The heat this year seems to have been unusually great in every part of the world ; and at Calcutta, we are told, it has been intense, greater than it has been for many years. There have been some cases of apoplexy from the heat, and in the courts two judges and several barristers have been prostrated by it. If the Calcutta courts are conducted on the same stifling principles in vogue in the English metropolis it is not very surprising that the atmosphere of an Indian summer grows intolerable. The Anglo-Indians are suffering besides from a financial difficulty and a military perplexity. It is true that both are restricted to their own imme diate vicinity, but they are productive of annoyance and depression. The monetary difficulty is in Bom bay, where the inevitable reaction from the late fever of speculation still continues. The sudden stoppage of the American war has partly contri buted to this result, having, of course, considerably affected the value of the cotton shipped to England by Bombay merchants. A good deal of money has, too, been sunk in the various land reclama tion companies lately established, and which will eventually, it is to be hoped, return good dividends. But the excessive speculation, and the bubble com panies, have had, no doubt, the greatest share in the crisis. When it is fairly surmounted, Bombay capitalists will have grown wiser, and we may trust that a favourable reaction on behalf of more steady dealings will bring good out of evil, and greatly benefit the island. The Indian Government has given permission to the Bank of Bombay to receive assistance from the Bank of Bengal, if the latter is willing to come to the rescue, and there is there fore good reason to believe that the panic has seen its worst. The state of affairs in Bhootan is not altogether satisfactory. The war has been allowed to drag on much longer than was expected. A more liberal expenditure and more active measures at the outset would have settled the business long since and brought the Bhootanese to their senses. The selec tion of the various military positions does not appear to have been wisely made, and officers and men are alike suffering from malaria and fever. This is the more to he regretted, as, owing to the blockade system having been adopted, the troops are com pelled to remain in the same localities for a lengthened period. There are always plenty of critics and censors, professional and otherwise, who are prepared to find fault with every official scheme, but the frequent cases of fever among the officers in command cer tainly seem to indicate some error in the positions chosen. There is a rumour that a fresh civil war is about to break out in Bhootan in consequence of a disagreement between two rival chiefs. What effect this will have upon the Bhootanese in their dealings with us is uncertain. At any rate further hostilities e th d e ti ß ll h t o l o ie ta c n old qu s e e s a t s i o o n n , n b i e t d is isp to ose b d e ' l t i r o e p e P d °s ttll3l:tn will of pretty quickly. There have be - on important changes in some of the provinces not under our dominion. The ruler of Khokund has been killed by Tartars, and his country made over to the Khan of Kokhara, while in Cabul a great battle has taken place between the Ameer and the Candahar Sirdais, in which, after the fashion of some ancient battles, the leaders on both sides were killed, the heir-apparent of the Ameer and the head of the Candahar party both falling victims. The rock fortress of Gwalior, memorable in Indian history, has been given over to the Indian Government by the Scindia of to-day, and it is now garrisoned by European troops. In the midst of the changes of the times it is gratify ing to find our relations with the native provinces on so good a footing, and it is worth notice that within the last decade the troubles of India have changed from those of a semi-barbarous to those of a civilised country. Many literary celebrities have been called away - within a comparatively recent period, and society has had to sustain several serious losses by their un timely removal from the circles they adorned and the community they delighted and instructed. Another has just been gathered to the Silent Land who will long be missed. Professor AYTOUN died on Friday morning last, at a small shooting-lodge near Elgin. He had been in declining health for some time, but it was not thought his state was a dangerous one. Few aspirants to literary honours have passed a more brilliant and successful career than the late lamented professor, and he certainly cannot be classed among those sons of genius who pine for want of encouragement and appreciation. His works have always been re ceived with a warm welcome, and his writings, in their peculiar style, have long been considered un rivalled. Since the year 1845 he held the honoured position of Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the University of Edinburgh—a post for which he was particularly qualified. His connection with Blackwood's Magazine dates from 1839, and his contributions to that famous periodical have always been distinguished for their brilliancy and vigour. It was an interesting fact of the Professor's early days that he attended the classes of his future father-in-law, the renowned Professor WILSON, with whom he was afterwards associated in connection with Blackwood's Magazine, although he did not succeed him in the editorship as some supposed. The work on which the late Professor's fame chiefly rests is the series of poesies entitled the " Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers." These are most masterly productions, and well caculated to hand down their author's reputation to succeeding generations. They are full of fire and energy, and also actuated by the pathos and fine feeling that only a true poet can impart. Professor AYTOUN was also celebrated for some humorous productions. The spasmodic tragedy of " Firmilian" was deservedly praised at its publication, for it aptly depicted the class it satirised„ and he also, in conjunc tion with Mr. THEODORE MARTIN, translated the "Poems and Ballads of GOETHE," and brought out the famous work of " Bon Gualtier," which is replete with wit and humour. WILLIAM EDMOND. STONE AYTOUN has died in almost the prime of life, for he was only fifty years of age, but it cannot b e said that he has departed too soon for his fame, since it is not likely that he could achieve a greater reputation than he has done. Among his contem poraries he will be greatly missed, for his genial qualities made him a general favourite ; but his friends may rejoice to think that in the literature he so truly loved he vas ranked as a shining orna ment, and that Scotland has lost a son whom she duly honoured, and of whose memory she will long be proud. LITERATURE. Cheap Edition of << The Doctor's Wife." The Sixth Edition of Miss Braddon's last-novel but-one, " The Doctor's Wife," has recently been issued by the Messrs. Maxwell and Company as a companion volume to the already well-known six shilling issue of her earlier and, some among them, more famous works—" Lady Audley's Secret," " Aurora Floyd," " Henry Dunbar," and " Eleanor's Victory." To many bookshelves this re-issue, in a complete form, of a very charming story will be especially welcome—most of all, because we cannot but still recognise in " The Doctor's Wife" the opening up of a new, a higher, and a purer phase in the general development, and advancement, and ele vation, and expansion of Miss Braddon's genius as a novelist. In some respects the exposition here given of the character of the Doctor's wife, is Miss Braddon's most remarkable performance. Isabel —first of all known as Miss Sleaford, afterwards as Mrs. Gilbert—lsabel of the black hair and the' yellow eyes, the poetry-loving, novel-reading Isabel, who is enamoured (as far as the preservation of the chastity of her honour will permit) of the author of " The Alien's Dream," meaning thereby Roland Lansdell, of Mordred Priory, Midlandshire —this all but lackadaisical, mooning, meditative builder of Chateaux en Espagne, is here described by the novelist in all the fluctua tions of her sensitive temperament, as only a skilled student in the mysteries of human nature could describe anything so subtly variable as Isabel Gilbert's, nee Sleaford's, character. In regard to Isabel alone, the book is a study. But other characters there arc in " The Doctor's Wife" almost equally well discriminated. Sigismund Smith, for example, the sensation author, contributor of raw-head and bloody-bone romances to the penny serials—nothing in its way could very well be more thoroughly humourous than that delineation ! From first to last, Sigismund Smith is excellent. So, too, for that matter is the little rough outline here given at the opening of the book of that chuckle-headed youth, Horace Sleaford, the arch-representative or exem plar of that horrible genus, abhorred alike by men and boys, the genus hobbledehoy ! George Gilbert again—lsabel's unsympathetic husband—the pro vincial medical practitioner of Graybridge, cranching his onions and radishes in so thoroughly heartless a manner during his bread and cheese suppers—every touch in regard to George Gilbert is artistically good, because perfectly in keeping ! Mr. Jeffson, too, the country surgeon's odd-man (in every sense) with his high opinion, from schooldays upwards, of the merits of " Master Jarge"—Mr. Jeffson is an other genuine original in his way ! Highly as we admired the story altogether upon its first appear ance, it improves, we find, upon a reperusal of it. A sure token, as we take it, of any book's intrinsic excellence. The second of Phiz's illustrations to the present edition of " The Doctor's Wife " tends rather, we fear, to give an erroneous notion of the book at starting ; for, while the tale does comprise, towards the close of it, a murder among its incidents, it is altogether, what might be designated as—among all Miss Braddon's works—the least sensational, according to the popular and ordinary acceptance of that Americanism. How to Spend a Month in Ireland. By Sir Cusack Roney. Pp. 168. W. 11. Smith and Son. Among all the pocket-companion guide-books to Ireland, this one of Sir Cusack Roney's is incom parably the best, the compactest, the most com pletely up-to-time in the accuracy and minuteness of its information. It is gossipping and practical —amusing and instructive—pleasantly anecdotal and yet thoroughly business-like throughout. It is, in an abbreviated way, for Ireland at one and the same time a Murray and a Bradshaw. Dr. Webster's Complete Dictionary of the English Language—(Bell and Daldy)—is, in this its eighth half-crown instalment, brought down to the word " Scantling" upon page 1176, so that three-fourths of the projected work are now actually and very subsantially indeed, before the public. Already we have seen enough of the book to recognise in it a very marvel among compilations of this character— at once the completest and the cheapest dictionary of the English language ever published. VICTOR HUGO'S LATEST LITERARY PE RFORII - is " Les Travailleura de la Mer," in which the coast life of the Channel Islands is prominently brought forward, is receiving the finishing touches, pre viously to being placed in the hands of the printer. A writer in the &dependance Beige says that M. Hugo is about to do an unprecedented thing, and one which it would be difficult for any other writer to imitate. He in tends to publish, one immediately after the other, three works which will show tho three aspects of his genius. At the end of October will appaar a volume of lyrics--" Songs of the Streets and the Woods ;" at the end of January, a novel in three volumes—" The Workmen of the Sea;" and towards the close of the May following, a volume of d a comedy in one—" The Grandmother." plays, containing a drama in five acts (" Torquemada"), LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) FRANCE. PARIS, AUG. 7. Admiral Willaumez has been nominated Senator. The report of the committee appointed under the presidency of the Empress to inquire into the peni tentiary system adopted with young convicts in the departments of the Seine has been published. It decides against the course of treatment pur sued in La Roquette prison, and iu favour of the agricultural system. THE BOMBAY MAIL. SOUTHAMPTON, AUG. 7. The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer Delta, with the above mail, passed the Needles at 8.40 a.m. to-day. THE CHINA MAILS. MARSEILLES, AUG. 7. The Messageries Imperiales steamer Moeris, with China mails, arrived hero at 7 a.m. yesterday. She brings 5,000 bales of silk. HOUSES. —Messrs. TopLis and ROBERTS have numerous furnished and unfurnished TOWN, Suburban, and Country RESIDENCES to LET or SELL. Par' iculara forwarded for three stamps, upon stating exact requirements and rental. Offices, 2, Conduit-street, Regent street, and South Kensington, facing the Museum. SOUTH KENSINGTON, HYDE-PARK, Queen's, and Rutland Gates, Queen's -gate and Peters ham Terraces, Queen's-gate, Cornwall, and Princes Gardens, ElvAston-place, Cromwell-road, Onslow and Thurloe Squares, Bolt ns. &c. 31e,srs TOPLIi and HOBE KTS nave these RE -I- .1)E CES LET in and urroug localities. to Offices, SELL 2, and Conduit-street, Itegent-sstreet,ndin aud South Kt nsington, facing the Museum. NEW TIIEATR E-ROYAL, ADELPH I.— Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING, T iTItOUG li FIRE AND WATEIt. Messi a J L. Toole, It. Phillips, Billingion, Ash ey ; Mrs. A. Melon (Miss Woolgar). and Miss 11. After which, at 9. SOLON SHINGLE. Solon, Kr. John Ou ens ; supported by ssrs. It. 11:1 Ips, Bngton, St( phi neon, Ashley , Eburne Mrs. 11. Lewis, kc. To conclude with A I'AS DE FASCINA TION. Miss Furtado, and Mr. J. L. Commence at 7. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining. TIIIS EVENING. a new Farce, by Mr. David Fisher, entitled IIEAUT-STRINGS AND FIDDLE-STRINGS. At ter which, ARRAN NA. VOGUE : Mes3rs. Dion Bouci eault. J. Isrougham, 11. Vandenhoff, Fisher, D. Murray; Mrs. Doucicault and Miss M. Oliver. To conclude with AN AMPLE APOLOGY. Commence at 7. (1111 E LAST EDITION OF " THE SUN," containing the Latest SrUItTLNLI INTELLItIEIN C ban be had Every Evening' of (.1. Lt. GI, hN [E, NEWS AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. THE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " supplied, as soon as published every Evening, by %V. ALEXANDER (late BROOKS), Newspaper Agent, 21, Old Cavendish-street, Oxford-street. THE LAST EDITION of " THE SUN " supplied as Foon as Published. containing all the LA FEST NEWS and SPORTING INTELLIGENCN, by 1. W. HAltalS, NeAtspaper Agent, 4, Blackirlars-road, London, S. TIIE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN." HOL3IES begs to inform his friends, and the pub.ie generally, that he supplies the LATEST ELATIoN of 111 E SUN " as soon as published —No. 10, Hampstead road, N.W. TEETH AND PAINLESS DENTISTRY.-- Messrs. LEWIN and SIMEON MOSELY and SONS, gu, Berners-street, Oxford-street, and 448, Strand, opposite Charing-cross Railway Station. Established 1830. Artificial Teel li made with their patented advantages are fitted with cut the least Inconvenience, however tender the mouth, sup porting and strengthening loose and sensitive teeth until thay become useful in mastication. Their resemblance to nature is perfect and undetectab:e, and they are guaranteed for all purposes of mastication and articulation. Operations of every kind being unnecessary, the most nervous patient can be supplied wbhout fear of pain or inconvenience. Con sultation free. Teeth from 5:4. Sets, 5,7, 10, and 25 guineas, warranted. For the efficacy, utility, and success of this system, vide " Lancet." Daily attendance at 15, Whitefriargate, Hull ; 10, Norfolk street, Sheffield; 4, East-paraae, Leeds; and 14, St. Nicholas street, Szarbro'. .** No connection with any one of the same name. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. This DAT.—Morning, 2h. Om.—Afternoon, 2h. 20in. To-Monßow.-Morning, 2h. 40m.—Afternoon, 3h. Om. cr's , tj j .:11,44.11.04 Sin t o IV • 1°- THE CHOLERA IN MALTA. VALETTA, July 31. While accounts received from Alexandria indicate a constant decrease of cholera in that city and throughout Egypt, the disease has somewhat in creased in Malta during the past week. This has induced the Lieutenant-General Commanding to remove some of the•regiments from their close and ill-ventilated barracks and place them under canvas in airy situations, and they have already benefited by the change. The 4th Regiment is now encamped ou the Fioriana parade-ground, and the 100th on Fort Manoel Island. The following is a summarised statement of the course of the malady within the last eight or nine days :—On the 22d inst., after an oppressively hot day and night, seventeen attacks were reported throughout the island, in addition to the military, of whom seven are said to have been interred on the 23d. On that and on the following day there were 14 new cases among the civil population, and seven deaths, and nearly as many among the troops. On the 25th and 26th some 26 fresh cases were re ported, of which about half terminated fatally. On the 27th there were 22 attacks, seven of which oc curred in Valetta. Among the military there was only one case. On the 28th the number of attacks reported was 28, and the deaths 12 ; on the 29th, 31 attacks and 18 deaths ; and on the 30th, 23 attacks and 12 deaths. Several of the distant villages have returned a few cases each ; and two cases are re ported to have occurred in the neighbouring island of Gozo. In order not to add to the prevailing alarm, the Lieut.-General has dispensed with the band at mili tary funerals, and a somewhat corresponding order has been given by the Roman Catholic bishop, di recting that no bell shall accompany any viaticum issuing after the second Ave Maria, while during the daytime the large and noisy bell shall be super seded by a small one. A very important sanitary step has also been taken by the ecclesiastical autho rities—namely, prohibiting interments within the churches of Valets and the Three Cities of any cholera subject. Alexandria has new turned the tables upon us by placing all arrivals from this island in quarantine. In consequence of this the outward Indian mails have been debarred from all communication with Malta (except under quarantine restrictions, for the purpose of replenishing fuel), so as to avoid being put to any inconvenience on arrival in Egypt. Many of the fugitives who took refuge at Malta on the outbreak of the cholera in Alexandria are now re turning, but they are obliged to look for othermeans of conveyance than the mail steamers, for the rea sons above given. Letters from Sicily state that, notwithstanding the assuredly vigorous enactments of the Sicilian Boards of Health, some cases of cholera have mani fested themselves in Catania as well as in Palermo. Trapani, which received vessels from Malta under a quarantine of seven days, now rejects them entirely. The following is the extract of the letter from Naples above alluded to :—. " I find myself unexpectedly in Naples, in conse quence of the dreadful fear of Cholera in Sicily, where they first warned us off at Syracuse, not allowing us to enter the port, although with a clean bill of health. As a great favour they allowed us to take in fresh provisions, and the captain was de sired to hoist the yellow flag and proceed forthwith to Palermo without touching at Messina, where the populace, we were told, were ready to pull us to pieces, and perhaps burn us bodily, had we attempted to land, even in the Lazaretto. When the Marsala was seen with her yellow flag at Palermo on the morning of the 6th she was met by a boat from the Office of Sanita, and ofdered to anchor in the offing. Here again a great excitement ; so much so, that it was said that Signor Florio's ships and stores, which are very extensive, were threatened with fire and destruction if the Marsala was not sent immediately away. At length we arrived on the morning of the 7th at Naples, where we were more mercifully treated by being ordered to the island of Nisida, to perform five days' quarantine. The Lazaretto had not been used for 11 years, and consequently was not in a state to receive us, and we rode out our time on board the Marsala. We were 25 passengers in the saloon—not too many to be quite comfort able, and what is not often met with in such a con tretemps, not a grumbler among us ; so that the time passed merrily enough, surrounded by the most beautiful scenery and fed on the fat of this favoured land, brought daily from the shore. The Corriere Italiano arrived yesterday morning (the 13th) from Malta, and was sent to Nisida to. perform quaran tine, I suppose, for five days, following the example of the Marsala." A second and also fatal case of cholera was re ported to have manifested itself on the 29th inst. on board the Chanticleer, in the person of a sea man of remarkably steady habits. On inquiry on board I found the report to be untrue, though gene rally believed in Valetta, and I merely allude to it to remove any alarm its circulation uncontra dicted might occasion. The Chanticleer will take the next mail to the squadron. A meeting has been convened at the Exchange to raise money to supply the indigent with bread during the present cholera visitation. It is under stood that Government will accord a grant of £3OO or £4OO for the same purpose. AUGUST 1. The mortality from cholera showed a slight de crease on Sunday last, but on Monday the number of attacks rose to 25 and the deaths to 17. On Tuesday (to-day) a still further increase is reported. the attacks being 33 and the deaths 18. It must be borne in mind that we are now at the height of the hot weather, and that these casualties aro distributed over a population of 130,000. In other respects the island enjoys excellent health, and hitherto the chief sufferers have been the troops and the poorest class of the people. SPECIMEN OF DR. COLENSO'S LOGIC.—" In refe rence to the text, ' They sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons,' will it be believed that the bishop asks, not in joke, but seriously, Where did they got needles and thread ?' He quotes and endorses the lan guage of Dr. Thomas Burnet (Part IV. p. 151)—' The text says, They sewed fig-leaves together and made to them selves girdlos.' Hare we have the first step in the art of sewing. But whence had they a noedle—‘whence thread ?' Ay, and a thimble ? Now, let us suppose that Eve's work box really had a supply of these useful implements.. . Does the bishop imagine that Eve would Save been such a goose as to have used them for the purpose of stitching her fig-leaves together ? Why, if, in her perfect igno rance, she had been so inconsiderate, she would have found her fragile workmanship soon give way, and after only a very short experience would have discovered that her object was but half accomplished."—Young's Modern Scepticism. LAW LATIN DESCRIPTION •OF A KITCHEN.— _" Camera necessaria pro usu cookare, cum saucepannis, stewpannis, scullero, dressero, coalholo, stovis, smoke jacko, ad roastandum, boilandum, fryandum, et plum pudding-mixandura, pro turtlesoupis et calf's-headhaahi bus, cum, calipee e t calipashibus." THE ATLANTIC CABLE. (From the Times) The failure of the Atlantic Cable and its severance from the Great Eastern may now be considered certain, and no commercial misadventure of modern times has ever excited more wide-spread interest and deep regret than this almost national disaster. Even as late as yesterday evening hopes were en tertained—hopes not altogether ill-founded—that signals would be resumed. That time, however, has been overpast and the wire remains as dumb and useless as it has been since Wednesday, with the only difference that during the interval that has elapsed the most elaborate and careful tests have been applied to the wire, and the results of these experiments submitted to such electricians as have the largest experience in testing submarine cables. The almost unanimous verdict of these gentlemen has been that the 1,250 miles paid out is lost—is severed from the ship, and now lying useless at the bottom of the Atlantic. We say almost unanimous opinion, for a few still hope, and almost believe, that the ship has yet got hold of the cable, and may haul back and repair the fault. Their reason for entertaining this expectation is that as yet no bat tery currents have come to land at Valentia. In almost every case where a submarine cable parts beneath the sea its copper conductor protrudes beyond the broken gutta percha end, and comes in contact with the outside spiral iron wires. The action of the salt water instantly makes a battery of the iron and copper, and would transmit what might almost be mistaken for weak signals to the instruments at Valentia. These are called battery_ currents, and none of these have come. In the case of the old Atlantic cable these battery signals kept hope alive for weeks after the cable was gone, for they were sometimes so distinct upon the needles as almost to spell words, and day after day induced the belief that the fault, whatever it was, had healed itself, and that messages were coming. But the construction of the two cables is so widely different as to leave little ground for hope from the absence of these currents now. The old cable was covered with 126 fine unprotected wires woven into 18 strands of seven wires each. The present cable has only 10 strands of stout iron wire, each of which is carefully insulated by a good thick covering of tarred hemp, and these enclosed the gutta percha core. When the old cable broke, therefore, metallic contact was certain to be at once set up between its conductor and ragged strands of iron wire, whereas the present cable might easily be broken at the bottom of the sea without any battery currents aris ing, as its outer wires are almost insulated by the hemp. This is, unfortunately, a strong argument against those who hope that the Great Eastern has still got the end of the cable and is underrunning it to cut out the fault ; but, unfortunately, a still stronger argument remains. Allowing the widest margin for the time this operation of hauling in the rope from such tremendous depths would occupy, and a further margin of 12 hours for sudden even tualities, still the Great Eastern should have reached the fault at 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon, and signals would have come through before the evening. None have come, but, on the contrary, all the tests are considered by electricians as showing conclusively that up to about 1,230 miles the insulation and con ductivity of the line is absolutely perfect, and that within a few miles beyond that distance it is severed and lying at the bottom of the ocean. The balance of evidence and of scientific opinion points so over whelmingly to this disastrous result that it now, we fear, admits of no reasonable doubt. Of course, the most extraordinary theories and surmises are rife as to the cause of the accident. Some give the benefit of their doubts to sharks, some to whales, some to air bubbles in the gutta percha, and others dwell upon the likelihood of malicious injury. It appears almost certain that the fault did not manifest itself and was not detected by those on board the great ship till the faulty portion had been left some 12 miles astern. What occurred at Valentia, of which we have now full details, shows almost with equal cer tainty what would then take place on boardthe Great Eastern. She was probably at once stopped, her head got round, and the cable passed through the winding-in machinery fixed forward. How much of the rope was wound in again it is impossible to say, but it seems almost certain that in this final effort the cable was broken outside the ship and went at once to the bottom. To wind in a rope having such hold on the water as this hemp-covered cable must have had would have been hazardous in the extreme, from the certainty that any movement on the vessel giving it a sudden pull would part it at once. The old Atlantic cable, which was of less strength, and had a greater weight in the water than the present cable, was, it is true, wound in from a depth of 2,000 fathoms in the Bay of Biscay. This opera tion, however, occupied 19 hours, even though its wire covering had not half the friction through the water which the hemp would have in the rope which has now seen partly lost. It has been suggested by some that at the time the accident happened the telegram to Valentia showed the Great Eastern to have been paying out very fast indeed. If this con jecture—for as yet it is only a conjecture—is cor rect, it will, no doubt, be explained by the fact that the ship was meeting a heavy swell, which required the brakes to be opened and the cable let run as the waves swept astern. At Valentia on Wednesday last the signals up to 9 a.m. were coming with wonderful distinctness and regularity, but about that time a violent magnetic storm set in. No insulation of a submarine cable is ever so perfect as to withstand the influence of these electrical phenomenon, which correspond in some particulars to storms in the ordinary atmo sphere, their direction generally being from east and west. Their action is immediately communicated to all conductors of electricity, and a struggle set up between the natural current and that used artifi cially in sending messages. This magnetic storm, which was announced in The Sun of Thursday, affected every telegraphic station in the kingdom. At some the wires were utterly useless, and be .tween Valentia and Killarney the natural current towards the west was so strong along the land lines that it required an addition of five times beyond the ordinary battery power to overcome it. This magnetic storm, which ceased at 2 a.m. on Fri day, was instantly perceptible in the Atlantic cable, and at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday the signals from the Great Eastern became confused and indistinct. Of course, the presence of the magnetic currents was known to those at Valentia, and due allowance was, therefore, made for insufficiency of signals coming eastward. Other and more alarming symp toms, however, soon presented themselves. A rapid loss of insulation became evident. The 20 cells used on board the Great Eastern had no power to signal. At 11 o'clock a.m. it was seen that this battery power was considerably increased and from 11 to 12 a.m. it was evident that repeated attempts were being made from the Great Eastern to send mes sages by the code signals. None of the signs used, however, were sufficiently perfect to be read with certainty. At 12 noon they became a mere crowd of feeble signs, before 1 p.m. the magnetic currents had resumed the mastery, and when the electrical storm was over the tests, as wo have said, gave " dead earth," or a severed wire, almost at the very spot where the first loss of insulation was detected. Since that time, with the single exception of the ab sence of battery currents, which we have already described, not a sign has been wanting to show that the cable is parted. The Great Eastern is expected to make her number off Valentia about noon on Wednesday. She is not likely to be preceded by either of her guards of honour—the Sphinx or the Terrible—as both the latter vessels, after their long cruise off Valentia, are likely to be short of coal. The great ship, however, has coal enough to bring her back at full speed. It is. expected that, after communicating by signal with Valentia, she will go to Portland—the only harbour where she has room and depth of water sufficient to swing to a single anchor. The loss which has been sustained by this partial failure of the expedition is estimated at about £200,000.—a loss which, we are glad to say, may be considerably reduced by underrunning and recover ing much of the line laid from Valentia. We be lieve that neither the directors of the Atlantic Company nor its shareholders have been dis heartened by the present unfortunate accident, but, on the contrary, arc at once about to take measures to replace the cable that has been .lost. To do this, however, will require at least three or four months of careful manufacture, so that all chance of a resumption of the under taking this summer is out of the question. Up to 9 p.m. last night a telegram from Ireland reported no alteration in the condition of the wire, and at that time it may be safely said that none was ex pected. We have received the following telegram from the Atlantic Telegraph Company : " AUG. 6. " The following telegram was received this morn ing from Mr. M'Curley, at Valentia : " SATURDAY, 9 50 a.m. " Cable remains the same ; earth currents re turning strong.'—Yours truly, "GEO. SAwARD, Secretary and General Superintendent." TO THE EDITOR OF TILE SUN. Atlantic Telegraph Company, 12, St. Helen's-place, Bishopsgate-street Within, E.C., Aug. 5. Sir,—Mr. Glaisher, of the Royal Observatory, has been so kind as again to-day to be the bearer of a communication from, the Astronomer Royal re specting the storms of terrestrial magnetism which have taken place during the last few days. Mr. Glaisher again produced photographic sheets from the Observatory showing the phenomena of a renewed magnetic earth storm, equal in intensity to that of Wednesday and Thursday, which manifested itself during to-day (Saturday). I send the letter of the Astronomer Royal for publication if it seem to you desirable, notwithstand ing the _more direct evidence we ha ,*e received as to the cause of non-communication through the cable, believing that it will be deemed to have an interest of its own in connexion with meteorological science, irrespective of its possible reference to the present state of the cable. —Yours truly, GEO. SAWARD, Secretary and General Superintendent. "Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Aug. 5, 12 noon. " Dear Sir,—At the date of my letter of yester day the magnetic storm had somewhat subsided. Very soon, however, there were signs of great activity, and by 11 o'clock of last night (Friday, August 4), the magnetic storm was sensibly as 'vio lent as before, and continued so through all the early morning hours. It has declined a little through the morning, but at the present time (Saturday, August 5, at noon) it is still very active. " The spontaneous earth currents were not quite so strong in the last 24 hours (ending Saturday, August 5, at noon) as in the preceding 24 hours (ending Friday, August 4, at noon), but they are still very active. A nearly continuous register is made by the currents on the Dartford wire (which at first were not very strong) to midnight of Friday, August 4th ; but since that time the traces have been lost, and the currents on the Croydon wire have been very violent; only far a short time end ing about Friday, Aug. 4, at 3 p.m., is the motion sufficiently gentle to have left any record, and then imperfectly. After that time the currents were so violent that the trace is totally lost. " It is scarce in possibility that a telegraph cur rent can have passed along the Atlantic cable in a legible state during any part of this time. " I am, sir, yours faithfully, " G. B. AIRY. " G. Saward, Esq." "Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Aug. 6, 10 a.m. " My dear Sir,—The magnetic disturbance men tioned by the Astronomer Royal in his note of yes terday continued very active till 4 p.m., was less active till 10 p.m., was again very active from this time to 3 a.m. of this day, from which time up to the present the disturbance continues, but the ex cursions of the several magnets aro to smaller amounts. " The Dartford spontaneous earth currents were so active that no photographic trace of the move ments of its galvanometer needle is shown till 4 p.m., and from this time the trace is nearly perfect. " The Croydon spontaneous earth currents are entirely lost before 4 p.m. ; and between the hours of August 5, 10 p.m., and this morning, August 6, at 3 a.m., and frequently at intermediate times. " With a continuance of such strong and active earth currents as these on our short wires, it is quite possible that, through the great length of the Atlantic cable, even if perfect, the far-arranged feeble currents to be sent would not be at all intel ligible. " I am, Sir, faithfully yours, " George Saward, Esq." " JAMES GLAISIIER. The Cigar-shaped Steamer. This extraordinarily constructed steamship, in the shape of a cigar, building at Millvall, which has for so many months attracted so much attention from the public passing up and down the Thames in the steamboats, will be launched in a few days, every preparation for the ceremony having been completed. The ship, which has been built at Mr. John Hep worth's yard, Cubitt Town, Millwall, belongs to Messrs. J. and W. L. Winans. The hull is in the shape of a cigar, with the exception that both ends are finely pointed. She measures 256 feet over all, 16 feet in breadth, and 16 feet in depth, her hull in proportion to her beam being 16 times longer, but as one-fourth of her hull at each end projects be yond the bulwarks, the length of her deck will be eight times that of her beam. She is built through out of the finest boat plates—in some parts of steel, in some parts of Low-moor iron. Her displacement will be about 500 tons, giving her little over 300 tons burden, according to builders' measurement. She is built without any longitudinal stringers, but throughout her entire length she is divided by no less than 13 water-tight compartments, and in the engine and boiler rooms is further strengthened by inner rings of angle iron seven inches deep, which are rivetted to the side, and placed at intervals of three feet apart. Inside is an iron floor, which also runs from end to end, covered with wood, and forms the lower passenger deck of the yacht. This floor amidships is only about six feet from the bottom of the cylinder, so that overhead there is a roomy cabin much resembling in shape a small railway tunnel. The upper deck is 130 feet long by 10i feet broad. She has two short funnels, and these and her little deck and a small part of the upper curve of the cylinder are all that will be seen out of the water. The rivets that fasten her are counter sunk, so that she presents outwardly a perfectly smooth surface. Tho engines are three-cylinder, driven at high pressure, turning one steel shaft, which runs through the whole length of the vessel, projecting from the fine points at each end, where it carries a sere vv. These screws are 4 feet greater in diameter than the greatest diameter of the vessel, namely, 22 feet, and each is to have eight blades, because the two points being only a foot or so below the water, four of the blades of each screw will always be out, while there will be always four of each immersed to do the work of propulsion. Under each screw is a rudder. There are four boilers, on the locomotive principle, and it is asserted that they can be worked up to 10001 b. with safety. "MEYERBEER'S MOTHER," says M. Blaze de Bury, in his "Memoir of the Good Confessor," "was a strong woman, an antique Jewess of superb stature ! No muse, but a genuine woman of the Bible, which, from his cradle, looked at him from the eyes of his mother They say that during the last rehearsals of 'Robert,' Moyerbeer received from her a letter with this address:—' To be opened after the first representation of "Robert." ' So soon as he got home, on the evening of that triumph, the son broke the envelope, and read the biblical benediction, in the simple majesty of its text, ' Lord bless and keep thee,' ..Ste. This letter Aloyerbeer thenceforward always carried about with him, as a talisman." NAPOLEON SPEECHES.—The Emperor is occupying a portion of his time at Plombieres upon a work, shortly to be published under the title of " Impe rial Policy, according ts) the Speeches and Proclamations of his Majesty Napoleon 111., from 1848 to 1865." In addi tion to a careful reprint of the original documents, there will be explanatory footnotes, and introductions to the several divisions, thus constituting the work a sort of manual of French governmental policy. Oun THUNDER."—At Albany a Queen Anne gnu which had seen service in the llevolution and in the war of 1812, added its voice to the general joy on the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.—American raper. , '09.- 114 .0 g i n 11 " L ; A r rat t ;q,H. HER MAJESTY. OSBORNE, Aug. 5. Her Majesty drove out yesterday with Prince Arthur. The Princesses walked and drove. Aug. 6. The Queen went out yesterday afternoon, accom panied by Prince Arthur and Princess Beatrice. Princess Helena and Princess Louise drove out with the Princess of Wales. The Princess of Wales drove out with her Majesty in the evening. To-day is the anniversary of the birth of Prince Alfred. Her Majesty, Princess Helena, Princess Louise, and Prince Arthur attended Divine service at Os borne this morning. The Rev. W. L. Onslow, chaplain to her Majesty's ship Racoon, officiated. The Prince and Princess of Wales and Princess Beatrice attended the service at Whippingham Church. The Judge Advocate General had an audience of the Queen yesterday. Death of Professor Aytoun. The death of Professor Aytoun will excite regret and awaken a sense of loss far beyond the limits of Edinburgh, his native city, with which his life and labours have been so intimately associated. Tho tidings of his death will strike the great circle of the reading public with sorrow—a sorrow not without some mixture of surprise and disappointment, for Mr. Aytoun had barely reached his prime, and it seemed but natural to expect that for a long time to come his hand would not be idle. But those who knew him, or who had opportunities of observing him at public seasons, though they might hope, could scarcely venture to be even as confident as in such matters it is usually permitted to be, that his life would be much prolonged. For a number of years, while all the time unrelaxing in his attention to the business of his chair and unremitting in activity with his pen, his state of health had been unsatisfactory. No acute or local disease had laid its hand upon him ; he was rather, as he has himself on one occasion expressed it, uneasy than unwell ; and he hoped and sought, by change of air and keen entrance, so far as his duties allowed, into the enjoyments of a country life, to repair the breaches of the past, and prepare a store of health against the future. For several summers he went, under medical advice, to Homburg, in Germany ; his first season there made no change for the better, but the next effected a marked improvement, which continued so long as he fre quented that morally unwholesome, but, in his ex perience, physically salubrious spa. For a year or two he had retired, for at least part of the summer recess, to Blackhills, near Elgin, a residence which he had leased for the sake of the shooting and fish ing, and the other country recreations of which he was so fond ; and it was there that, early on Friday morning, he died at the too early age of 52. He was born in 1813, of an old Fifeshire family. His father, Roger Aytoun, was a lawyer of some position in Edinburgh, and a Radical in politics. Young Aytoun received his education at our aca demy and university—being distinguished among his class-fellows at the former by the elegance and excellence of his English and Latin compositions. In 1831 he gave to the public his first work—a poem on " Poland," the inspiration of which his impul sive and romantic spirit had doubtless drawn from the stirring events of the Polish revolution ; but the poem met with no very cordial reception. In 1840, Aytoun, whose studies had taken the direction of the law, was admitted as an advocate. At the bar he did not make any marked figure, though he had some little reputation in criminal business. His geniality and ready wit, however, made him a favourite among his fellows of the robe. In 1845 he was fortunate enough to be appointed to the Chair of Literature and Belles Lettres in the Uni versity of Edinburgh ; and in 1852 the Conservative Government further advanced him by making him Sheriff of Orkney and Shetland. Shortly after his appointment to his chair, we believe, he married the youngest daughter of Professor Wilson. From Oxford University he received, a year or two later, the degree of D. C. L. The true history of Professor Aytoun, however, is the record of his literary labours. Those, for well nigh 30 years, have been constant, if not arduous. In his earlier career, of the same school of politics with his father—he worked hard, but deplorably in vain, to secure the return of his cousin, the Radical and erratic James Aytoun, for Edinburgh, in 1834, when Mr. Jeffrey went to the bench he hold a prominent place among the contributors to Tait's Magazine ; Theodore Martin, his partner in more than one subsequent literary undertaking, being at this time also on the staff of Tait. Between 1834 and 1839, however, his political convictions suffered a change, and in 1839 he formed the connection with Blackwood's Magazine which has ever since so busily and so closely subsisted. Between 1840—when he published a "Life and Times of Richard L," of which scarcely anybody has ever heard—and 1848 he re mained anonymous ; but during this period appeared in the pages of Blackwood many of the poems and jeux esprit by which he has become most favourably known. Some of the best of the "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers"—which wore only published in a collected form, with the author's name l, in 1848 ; " How we got up the Glenmutchkin Railway'' (Oct., 1845) ; " How I became a Yeoman" (Sept., 1816); "How I stood for the Dreepdaily Burghs" (Sept., 1847) ; those were some of the fruits of Mr. Aytoun's clever ness and activity before his name had emerged from the shadow of the great title of Maga, and of the great names that made that title groat. The "Lays of the Scot tish Cavaliers" was Mr. Aytoun's most ambitious, and it has been his most successful work ; it has run through 1 7 editions—at the rate of one per annum—and, from its sub ject and spirit, it bids fair to hold a good place in popular favour.--Scotsman. Extraordinary Robbery of Letters• At the Bow-street Police-court, to-day, a mild -looking littlo boy, whose head scarcely reached above the dock, named John Charles Motherwell, and aged 11 years, Wa s placed at the bar before Mr. Flowers, charged with steal ing a number of letters, the property of her Majesty's Post master-General. The boy, it appeared, had been in the habit of posting letters at the Throgmorton-street post-office, kept by Mr. Elphinstone. A cupboard, it appears, is kept there for the reception of letters in addition to the letter-box, and the boy having gone to the cupboard to deposit some letters, he took a handful of those already there, from which be re moved the stamps and played with them, having torn UP the letters. About 100 postage stamps, with portions of letters adhering, was at his home. A clerk to Messrs. Scott and Francis, of Warnford-cour t, identified some of the letters as those sent from their offic° for transmission by post. Henry Buckland, messenger in the same firm, said on the afternoon of the Ist of August ho took the tin box contain ing the letters to the post-office in Throgmorton-stree t, kept by Mr. Elphinstone. He took them into the shop and placed them in a cupboard, which is used for the re ception of letters while the mail is being made up. I t was about five o'clock. There were other letters in that cupboard. Mr. L. Lewis, who appeared for the child—You put the letters in a cupboard of which the door was open, and to which any porsouhad access in this shop, which is kept by a confectioner ? Witness—Yes. Mr. Lewis—The letters wero not passed through all aperture common to all letter boxes ? Witness—No. Mr. Lewis—l don't think it can be said that these lotto's can properly bo said to bo in the custody of the ro:3t master-General. Mr. Flowers—You had bettor raise that question els e ' where. Mr. Peacock.—There can be no doubt about that matter. James Patterson said he assisted in the post-office kep t by Mr. Elphinstone, in Throginorton-street. The inora is carried higher up the shop, in a portion which was r w titioned off. There was a cupboard near that par t of the shop, and the public, when they arrive withlarge_ q uantit ie ! of letters, after three o'clock, put them into the c u p bottra instead of putting them into the letter-box. When t " letters are despatched those in the box and those it , the cupboard are put together into a bag and sent away ld Mr. Lewis—Then any thief, if he felt so disposed, 00 11 go to that cupboard and take away as many letters as ho f t/ disposed. Witness—Well, I don't know. Mr. Peacock said he would lay the depositions bef°r: the Attorney-General, and he would in a few days 6" what was to be done with the boy. The boy was then given into the custody of his Ober' who undertook to bring him to the court on ralr s(l4 next.