The Sun. — London, England, 1865-05-10 00:00:00

THEATRE -ROYAL, DRURY-LANE, Managers, Messrs. E. Falconer and F. B. Chatterton. THIS EVENING th , performance will commence with a new Play, entitled LOVE'S ORDL ; cr, The Old and EA N ew Regime : Messrs. Walter Lacy, E. Plieps, E. F a lconer, Mrs. Hermann Vtzin, &c. A ft e r which. on a scale of great sple ndo ur, Milton's Mask an d Mrs. H. o f COMUS : Messrs. Walter Lacy, Witbye Cooper, Henri Drayton, Miss Poole , Miss Aug usta Thomson, Vezmn. ____---------- T IIEA TR E-R OYA L, HAYMARKET. Lessee. Mr. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, MY WIFE'S moTr[ER. Mr. Chip pendale ; Miss N. Moore, Miss Snowdon, Miss F. Wright, &c. After which, OUR AMERICAN COUSIN. Messrs. Sothern, Buekstor..e. Chippendale, Braid, Gordon. Rogers, Clark, White, Coe. &c. ; Mesdames tnowdon, Stuart, 11111, Barris, WI ight, And EASY SHAVING. Miss Louise Keeley, Miss F. 'Wright ; Alestrs. Clark, Gordon, Rogers, ,tc, To conclude with MY commence 7. NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPIII.-- , h i., rf twri.eLJl r. Tills EVENING, THE IRISH IIGER. Mess s. C. Stephenson and Eburne; Miss K. Kelly. After which, at 8, FAZIO; OR, THE ITALIAN WIFE. B.anca, Miss Bateman; supported by Messrs. Jordan, Stuart, C. J. Smith, Eburne, Ashley, and Mrs. B lliugton. To conclude with THE STEEPLECHASE; or, In the pigskin. Messrs. J. L. Toole, Paul Bedford ; Miss K. Kelly Commence at 7. OYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. Under the Sole Management of Mr. Pechter. THIS EVENING, A DAY AFTER THE WEDDING. Messrs. C. Horsman, Collett, M.lntyre, &c. ; Mesdames C. Horsman and G. Leigh. After which, at Eight. RUY BLAS : Huy Bias, Mr. Fechter ; supported by Messrs. Ryder, E. Garden, Ray mond, M'lntyre ; Miss C. Leciercq, Mrs. C. Horsman, &C. To conclude with TILE LOST CHILD. Mr. Viddicomb. Doors open at Half-past Six. The Box-office open daily from Eleven till Five. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining. THIS EVENING, a new Farce, by Mr. David Fisher, entitled HEART-STRINGS AND FIDDLE-STRINGS. At ter which, ARRA!! NA POGUE Won's. Dion Bouci cault, J. Brougham, H. Vandenhoff, D. Fisher, 1). Murray ; Mrs Boucicault and Miss M. Oliver. To conclude with AN AMPLE APOLOGY. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manageress. Mrs. Swanborough. THIS EVENING, at 7, DEAF AS A POST. Mr. Thorne. Mesdames Johnston, Weston, and Hughes. After which, at 8. ONE TREE HILL. Messrs. Craven, Etoyle, James, Belford ; Miss A. Swanborough and Miss M.; Palmer. To conclude with ALADDIN. M essrs . Thca ..,, , vrac . Mesdames Hughes, Weston, Thorne, and Eliza bolt. ifillE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " 11 supplied, as soon as published every Evening by W. ALEXANDER (late BROOKS), Newspaper Agent, 21, Old Cavendish-street, Oxford-street. THE LAST EDITION of " THE SUN " supplied as soon as Published. containing all the L.A.PEST NEWS and SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, by H. W. HARRIS, Newspaper Agent, 4, Blacktriars-road, London, S. IgIIIE LAST EDITION OF " THE SUN," j. Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGEM,E, 002 be had Every Evening of G. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT, No. 4. Connaught-terrace, Ilyde-park. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAT.—Morning, Ih. 55m.—Afternoon, 2h. 12m. To-Moiutow.-Morning, 2h. 28m.—Afternoon, 2h. 44m. t - t , ,,0, - -!.,, ~, 1, , - tt, ~,,,1.:4,4,11,..1. nn, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1865. The quarterly return of the Registrar-General will probably be looked at with unusual interest this season. The prolonged and exceptional severity of the weather, the unsatisfactory condition of the public health, and the vague but alarming rumours of the prevalence of various diseases of an epidemic nature in different parts of the Continent have com bined to excite some uneasiness. Thanks to the regularity and precision of our registration system. There is no room for that uncertainty and mystifi fication which in former days helped greatly the progress of any disorder by unnerving the public mind and spreading that contagion of fear which is more fatal in its effects than any actual disease. It may relieve the apprehensions of some persons to find that there is as yet no sign of any new or peculiar disease amongst us, but there has been undoubtedly a very high rate of • mortality all over the country, and the records—as the Registrar- General reminds us very forcibly—state that there is still much in our houses and towns that needs setting in order. The marriages of the season, which are usually accepted as a test of the prosperity of a people, have been remarkably nume rous. The number of weddings in the quarter end ing December 31st, 1864, was on an average 577 daily, being greater than in any previous quarter. The birth-rate of the first quarter of the year was also very high, higher indeed than that of any quar ter of the previous ten years. It will be noticed that the marriage register refers to the last quarter of last year, and the birth and death registers to the first quarter of the current year. The Regis trar tells us plainly that the catalogue of deaths has been very heavy, and that under less favourable sanitary conditions we might even have had a pes tilential epidemic. As it is, the prevalence of zymotic diseases has been very great in some parts, almost always however with coincident reason for its presence. The weather has been very severe, and the winter remarkably protracted, but we have not yet the full evidence of the effects of the in clement spring, which will show themselves more distinctly in the next quarter. Small-pox, scarlatina, measles, and fever have been much about, and their presence points emphatically to the necessity of stringently enforcing our sanitary regulations, which it is to be feared are too often dis regarded or purposely evaded. The revelations of the condition of the interiors of many of our agri cultural cottages have eclipsed the houses of the London rookeries, and, bearing these in mind, we need not wonder at fever or small-pox passing through a whole family when once they obtain an entrance. Thus, in a sub-district of Shrewsbury, 8 deaths from small-pox occurred in one building, 4 of which were in one family. This building is let out in rooms, and is said to be greatly in want of sanitary improvement. In another district of Shrewsbury epidemics of several kinds are very pre valent, and it is remarked that the importance of sewage for Shrewsbury was urged some years back in a memorial drawn up by the medical men of the town, but nothing whatever has been done. Surely this is an instance of the fatal indifference Or neglect which is so common a cause of sickness and mortality. People complain of the weather, and lament the progress of disease, when all the while they will not take the simple precautions which are known to be the best means of preserving health and warding off infection. Thus, in a dis trict of the East Riding, the mortality has greatly exceeded the average, and scarlatina has carried off several children. In one part of it the fever was especially fatal, a n d it appears that the drainage is very imperfect, but, n otwithstanding that the atten tion of the local authorities was called to it, no steps whatever have been taken. In another village in the North Riding, named W es t ll esterton, fever of several kinds has been very general, and the medical officer attributes it to the management of the drainage. The village, which used to bo healthy, w as drained last year, and the d ra i n ter minates in a walled receptacle closed at the top which " throws poisonous gases into every back door.' The medical officer protested against this arrange ment, but in vain, and fever has regularly taken up its abode there since. This is the more to be regretted, as the registrar of the district affirms that at a slight expense the work might be carried into a field about 300 yards off, and the scourge of fever removed. When we meet such culpable ignorance or indifferen ce among the local authorities we seed not wonder at the perversity or obtuseness of the poorer classes in refusing vaccination. The unusual number of cases of smallpox during the last few months has called attention to the subject, and the details in almost every case confirm the asser tions of medical experience. In parts of Carlisle and Cockermouth, where smallpox has been pre vailing, none of the fatal cases had been vaccinated. In Lansdowne and Bath smallpox has been very frequent, and " nearly half the deaths from it have been in adults who neglected vaccination." The prejudice of poor and ignorant persons against vac cination is said to be as great as ever, but it is surely well worth the while of local authorities to be at some pains in disseminating a little knowledge of the facts. Another instructive point is the great mortality which has occurred in several workhouses from epidemic diseases, endorsing most strongly the remarks of Mr. FARNALL in reference to the impro priety of keeping fever cases in a union. Thus, in the sub-district of Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, out of 318 deaths from typhus, nearly 300 occurred in the workhouse ; while in the workhouse at Crump sall 119 deaths occurred, out of which 63 were from measles. The danger and impropriety of keeping contagious cases in the crowded wards of a union, are thus clearly shown, and we hope these two in stances will not be without effect. The meteorological information contained in the Register is valuable and interesting. In seems that only in three years of the present century has March been so cold. Since the new quarter the heat has been as remarkable, but we must wait for another record to ascertain its effect on the public health. Meanwhile we may profit by what we know, and see about setting our house in order before the sultry summer weather. It is satisfactory to notice that some prospect of redress is held out to injured men. Last night Lord PROBY, Controller of her MAJESTY'S House hold, appeared at the Bar of the House of Com mons, bearing an answer from her MAJESTY to an address of the House. In this communication it is intimated that her MAJESTY has received the ad dress praying for the "redress of the grievances complained of by the officers of the late Indian army." These wrongs were sustained in conse quence of a departure taking place from the assur ance given by Parliament, and the Commission which was appointed to inquire into the memorials of Indian officers admitted this to be the fact. In the answer of her MAJESTY it is stated that due inquiry will take place into the effect of the measures already adopted, for the pur pose of remedying the evils complained of, and that should these not afford ample redress, further steps will be taken to insure the requisite attention. It is earnestly to be hoped that the Government will carry out to the full extent the intimations thus given, and that no more delay will take place in rendering an act of justice to those whose claims en title them to the support and the sympathy of the public. In no respect have the authorities been more to blame than in the wilful disregard which they have shown to those officers and men whose services deserve attention and call for remuneration. The same wretched and paltry system is carried on concerning prize money, and years after the uninitiated suppose these matters to be settled satisfactorily, it suddenly turns out that nothing has yet been done, and that the sums which are the rightful property of certain individuals are kept back for no earthly reason that can be given. It has been suggested, indeed, that one motive is that the original claimants may die off, and then advantage may be taken of the confusion that often arises to prove the next of kin to escape paying the money altogether. This is not the way to represent aright the gratitude the country should feel to its defenders. In the case of these Indian officers great wrong has been done to them for want of due promotion ; favouritism is shown in the conduct displayed to the Staff Corps, and the claims of those equally and often more de serving are passed over, to the detriment of the public service and the disgrace of all concerned in the matter. It is high time that these anomalies should cease, and that for the future a decisive stop should be put to such unworthy practices. It is a reproach to the military authorities that things should have come to such a pass, and no excuse whatever can be furnished for their faulty execution of their duty, and non-fulfilment of the trust com mitted to them. If justice be tardily rendered, these officers will have to thank those who inter fered to call attention to their claims, and not those whose bounden duty it was to find them out for themselves and respect them. Sir W. GALLWEY last night called attention to an important subject, and one which materially affects the interests of the community, namely, the Com munications between the Guards and Passengers on Railways. The hon. member truly observed that the subject was not unknown to the house, for very often of late years complaints had justly been made respecting this great want of railway travelling. It seems strange indeed to think that nothing should have been done in the matter, but the inattention and indifference that are manifested in such cases is almost proverbial. The object of Sir W. GALLwEy's speech was to move that " it is the opinion of the house that the safety of the public requires that, pending the report of the Royal Commission, some immediate provision should be made for compelling railway com panies to make arrangements for establishing a proper communication between guards and passen gers." The hon. member anticipated some of the objections that might be made to his proposal, and met one with a very good argument. Supposing that the representatives of the railway interest declared that this motion interfered with their rights, he would state that the law had interfered to regu late the number of passengers who was taken in stage-coaches, it had imposed regulations with re spect to carriers' carts, and the like. As yet there is no attempt to make a communication between the passengers and the guard, except , on the Great Western line, where there are some more sentry boxes, but these are of no use, because the extra money is begrudged which would be required for those who should occupy them as look-out men. Mr. MILNER GIB SON spoke very decidedly on the topic, and, per haps, his remarks were all the more energetic on account of some member having intimated that the Government were indifferent on the matter. Re said that the Government had already taken steps with a view to remedy the deficiency, and it was the opinion of the Board of Trade that the Railway Companies had undertaken to carry out some plan which would allow railway passengers to make com munications to the guards. The right hon. gentle man spoke very plausibly on the subject, and added that the " question was not in a state to require immediate penal and compul sory legislation." This is all very well in theory, but in practice the results are not so beneficial. The end of all this palaver of difficulties and neces sity for delays generally resolves itself into this— that the safety of the public is endangered, and the lives of passengers jeopardised by neglect and care lessness. It is impossible to over-estimate the horrors of the position in which some unfortunate persons have found themselves on various occasions t wh en shut up in the same carriage with maniacs. Because it does not often happen that this occurs some impatient individuals are apt to declare that there is no hurry about it, but it is a scandal to society and a disgrace to the authorities that such accidents should ever take place. All the hindrances that circumlocution can possibly interpose are sure to impede the progress of the railway managers, anal it is the duty of the Government to make every exertion to urge on the good work, and to put a stop to the present disastrous and most discreditable state of things. It is dreadful to think of the fearful risks to which passengers are constantly exposed by the non-existence of a means of communication, and at this time when so many important alterations are being made by the construction of numerous railways it is doubly important that steps should be immediately taken to rectify the error which has too long existed. FINE ARTS. The Season of 1865, Before the flowers are well out, before many of them are even in bud, the walls of our West-end Picture Galleries are, year after year, radiant with all the colours of the painters' palette—not one among therictorial Exhibitions of the spring season here in London but being already fully opened be fore the may, and the laburnum, and the lilac, and the horsechesnut are seen blooming in all their glory over our suburban garden-walls. It is so this year again as it has been, precisely in the same way, with so many of its predecessors. THE NATIONAL GALLERY, it is true, is simply opened just as usual—on the appointed days in each successive week—as it is for that matter all the year round, saving only with occasional intermissions for the mere purposes of cleaning. Several additions to that magnificent nucleus of a National Collection— for it is really after all but little more than a nucleus even now—have recently tended to enhance the at tractions already familiar to the public at large in the noblest among our gratuitous Fine Arts' Ex hibitions.. THE COLLECTION OF PICTURES AT SOUTH KEN SINGTON again has but very recently indeed received an immense accession both to its value and its at tractiveness, by reason of the removal thither to its walls from those of Hampton Court Palace, by per mission of her Majesty, of that marvellous series of Cartoons by Raphael, which are famous the world over as among the art treasures of England. SIR JOHN SOANE'S MUSEUM, in Lincoln's-inn fields, is once more for a brief interval accessible to those who know how to get at the gratis-cards for admission to it—cards of admission really worth hunting after, if only for the fact of their affording the visitor a glimpse of some of the choicest speci mens of our great national painter and humourist, William Hogarth. THE DULWICH GALLERY, situated as it is at an agreeable distance from the central dust and hubbub of London, yields far more than a mere excuse for a pleasant country ramble to any lover of art who has a genuine enthusiasm either for the Old Mas ters—such as Teniers or Poussin—or for native artists like Reynolds or Gainsborough. THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, established for the time being almost under the shadow of old Westminster Abbey, deserves more and more recog nisably, week after week, an examination of its fast increasing stores of original portraits of famous men and women of the United Kingdom, a store con tinually, though of course at very uncertain inter vals, multiplying in interest and importance, now by bequest, now by purchase. THE PICTURE GALLERY AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE at Sydenham has already come to form one of the permanent attractions to that most comprehensive gathering together in the whole world of all the more curious and remarkable products of nature, and art, and science, and industry, and manufac tures. PRIVATE GALLERIES, such as the Ellesmere Col lection, and others of varying celebrity, are gene rously thrown open, every now and then, by the liberal-minded noblemen who are their unselfish possessors. And in this casual way access has been freely obtained during the last few years, more and more readily, season after season, to such picture gal leries in the palaces of the nobility as those adorning Stafford House, Northumberland House, Apsley House, and Bridgewater House, the homes respec tively of the Earl of Ellesmere, and of the princely Dukes of Sutherland, Northumberland, and Wel lington. THE ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION, for the year, we have already noticed in these columns of The Sun, immediately upon our examination of its con tents upon the occasion of the Private View, prior to the throwing open of the doors of the Academy to the general public on May-day morning. Our general estimate of it, as then announced, we do not feel impelled to alter or modify in any way materially. As a Collection of Art as it is now amongst us, it stands forth now as conspicuously as ever—as the first and foremost among all cur annual pictorial exhibitions. Elsewhere, scattered confusedly about the metro polis, there are now (more than ever numerously) on view, various other Pictorial Exhibitions—Gal leries some of them—Single Pictures in other in stances being displayed alone—now and then a cluster of two or three or half-a-dozen. Several among these exhibitions, both collective and individual, we have already commented upon in these columns— in several cases even at some considerable length. MADOX BROWN'S COLLECTION, for example, at 191, Piccadilly, of Fifty, more or less, remarkable Paintings of his own, one among them, one of the latest, and certainly among them all the greatest, of his productions —a typical picture of the age-we live-in, significantly entitled " Work"—we have spoken of in this journal as it is, to our thinking, fully entitled to be spoken of, as among the most striking and suggestive evidences of the growth of a true artist's genius that we could anywhere point to, or that we could anywhere enjoy the opportu nity of contemplating under a single roof at our leisure. SI3IPSON'S INDIA, TIIIBET, AND CASHMERE, being a collection of now fully 200 drawings of scenes and peoples, drawn from Nature and from Life, in those far off countries, we in like manner took occasion to descant upon at considerable length at the time when those drawings (then less numerous) were first on view at 118, New Bond-street, other wise known as the German Gallery. THE GENERAL EXHIBITION OF WATER COLOUR DRAWINGS again we noted in detail and with eager satisfaction when, early this season, it assumed its place, for the very first time, among our regular Spring Fine Arts Exhibitions. The scene of its suc cessful inauguration as such being the Dudley Gal lery, in the Egyptian Hall—not in the Mansion House, of course, but in Piccadilly. A DRAWING Room AT ST. JAMES'S PALACE in the Reign of Queen Victoria, as painted with a radiant brush by Jerry Barrett, stands forth conspicuously among the single pictures we have also very minutely had to take into consideration, as now on view, A painting that, we have here to add, has (since our lengthened notice of it), been removed from Mr. M'Leans, at No. 7, to Mr. Hogarth's, at No. 5, in the Haymarket. TILE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD, as painted by Robert Dowling, a picture now on view at the Messrs. Colnaghi's, will be found, on examination, to be a work of art eminently worthy of being popularised by the aid of a skilled engraver, as it is designed to be, under the hand of Mr. James Stephenson. Thefigure of our Lord, about life size, stands nearly knee deep in the waters of the Jordan—the divine countenance fully confronting the awed spectator ! The isola tion of the Redeemer as the one solitary figure dis played to view upon the canvass, enhances in a wonderful degree the profound solemnity of the picture. The gleaming current of the river around him the stretch of landscape beyond melting away into the far horizon—the luxuriant reeds and rushes in the foreground—the enlarging circles spreading from either limb over the rimpled surface of the Jordan—the very dripping, sparkling, plashing of the waters raining from the holy hands that have been immersed—such are the perfectly natural and unobtrusive accessories to a rHE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVELING, MAY 10, 186 a Sacred Picture, the interest of which concentrates (as it should do) upon the form, or rather, it should even be said, upon the countenance of the world's Redeemer. There alone it is, upon the visage of Our Lord, that the failing of the artist's hand is in any way conspicuously visible. But there it is visible and conspicuously. Who can marvel, however, that it should be so—remember ing the theme selected for illustration, remembering, among the countless evidences there are indicative of its being beyond the reach of all human art, how one of the very greatest artists that ever wielded the painter's brush, Leonardo to wit, contented himself with lightly sketching in the countenance of the Redeemer in the centre of his great masterpiece, his Picture of the "Last Supper"—lightly sketching the holy features upon the wall of the Refectory, rather than reveal by any more elaborate performance the absolute powerlessness of his genius to poutray its own reverent imaginings ! Apart from this one particular, however—apart, that is, from this one greatest and most obvious insufficiency on the part of the artist—Mr. Dowling's painting of the " Bap tism of Our Lord" is in many ways, as we have said, highly meritorious, and in the general effect of it, is wonderfully, even, we might say, devotion ally impressive. _ _ _ hOSA BONIIEUR'S NEW PICTURE, but just now opened to view, a little further along Pall-mall than Messrs. Colnaghi's—namely at 121, the gallery of the Messrs. G. Gambart and Co. will be found when visited, to be, if not (as it certainly is not) among the greatest, at least among the most charming of that gifted lady's realistic productions. The paint ing, here, is one of considerable size—that is, it is a picture with its length extending horizontally. It represents a Family of Deer crossing the Summit of the Long Rocks in or near the Forest of Fontaiubleau. The landscape is sterile, gray, flat, and uninteresting. But the fact that it is so, is comparatively of no consideration whatever, seeing that the interest of the picture rests entirely in the portraiture of the various members of this (we are almost tempted to have the word misprinted) Deer Family. The delineation of character, and of such a truly wonderful variety of character, as Madlle. Bonheur has here depicted it, commands at once the expression of our profoundest admira tion. Viewing the picture in regard to this one quality alone, we should have been disposed to say of it, that it is worthy of Sir Edwin Landseer, but that we can otherwise say quite as much in the way of unmeasured panegyric when we have simply remarked that it is worthy of the artist's own hand, that it is worthy of Madile. Rosa Bonheur herself ! Standing before the paint— ing—what though we hear the rattle of the carriage, traffic of the West-end audible enough the while under those Pall-Mall Windows—we are, as it were, hundreds of miles away from " London town," in one of the lonely waste lands intermingled with the old Forest of Fontainbleau. The paterfamilias Stag—suddenly arrested in a rush at the head of his family over those waste lands— has stopped to listen eagerly, with erected ears and distended nostrils, to some sound that has startled him (and for that matter the whole party of them more or less)—his fore feet planted straight before him at an angle, his noble head (in every nerve of it, one might fancy) upon the alert, his eye full, bright, searching into the distance ! 'While, behind this father of the family, stand in a straggling group, or processional line one might almost say—the materfamilias emulating her lord by habit in the forward protrusion of her ears—and her offspring revealing each a quite separate character, an easily distinguishable and idiocyncrasy or individuality. The frightened, the thoughtless, the half alarmed, the wholly indifferent are there —the last and youngest of the whole family —a lovely fawn, so little alarmed, so wholly inex perienced, as to be quietly slaking its thirst in the shallow pool of water into which it has stepped so daintily and delicately—forming to our eye the gem of the whole picture. Upon the picture in its en tirety, the gifted artist has—according to her wont, we believe—lavished an extraordinary amount of care and observation, both preliminary and correc tive. JOHN PARRY'S SKETCIIES AND DRAWINGS, now on view at Mr. M'Lean's New Gallery in the Hay market, will to many of his admirers reveal that first of all our buffo-singers in a wholely new character. It did not so reveal him, of course to our selves —familiar as we were with his fund of drollery as a wonderfully whimsical caricaturist. But to a considerable portion of the public to whom John Parry's mere name is as a pleasant greeting--recalling to remembrance as it does hie many delightful and unrivalled impersona tions, his inimitable freaks and oddities as a singer, as a pianist, as an actor, as (in one word, intensely his) a droll—to a considerable proportion of the public, we would here say, the powers of John Parry as a draughtsman, as a wielder of the paint-brush, the crayon, and the pencil, are almost, if not entirely unknown. Whosoever is until now unacquainted with them, with those it may be wholly unconjectured qualities, gifts, or capacities of John Parry as an artist off the stage, as an artist in the studio, as an artist at the easle—let him (this hitherto uninitiated admirer of John Parry's as a singer) hie with all speed to that New Gallery of Mr. M'Lean's, at No. 7, in the Haymarket, and there " sun themselves with laughter" by a careful exami nation of all the countless whims and oddities of this fantastic collection ! Dramatic Authors' Petition in Support of Theatres, &c., Bill. To the Honourable the Speaker and the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled : the humble petition of the undersigned dramatic authors sheweth That your petitioners have found that the existing legis lation concerning theatres operates as a restriction upon their industry, while it has not in any manner supported or elevated dramatic literature. That the lower middle class and working class have, of late years, developed a large appotito for intellectual amusement, which the num ber of theatres and the present construction of theatres (which give no comfortable or proper accommodation for these classes) have failed to satisfy. Your petitioners therefore pray your honourable house to pass the second reading of the Theatres, &c., Bill, which measure, in your petitioners' belief, is sufficient to remedy the evil of which they complain. And your petitioners will ever pray. CHARLES READS. HENRY T. CRAVEN. BAYLE BERNARD ARTHUR SKETCHLEY. ROBERT BELL. JOHN BROUGHAM. GEORGE W. LOVELL. F. C. BURNAND. R. B. KNOWLES. ANDREW HALLIDAY. DION BOUCICAULT. W. SAWYER. JOHN OXENPORD. EDMUND YATES. PALGRAVE SIMPSON. HOWARD PAUL. J. A. HERALD. N. H. HARRINGTON. F. G. TOMLINS. JOHN HOLLINGSHEA.D. E. L. BLANCHARD. T ONAS WEBB'S MEMORIAL FUND.—The Emperor of the French has sent a subscription of £5 to the Hon. E. T. Yorke, chairman of the committee of the Jonas Webb Memorial Fund, through Lord Royston. It will be remembered that the subscriptions were limited to that amount. His Imperial Majesty, therefore, with great good taste and delicacy, found himself bound by the condition of the circular of the committee, and declined to place the other contributions to the memorial in a false position by giving more than was required by that document. —Cam bridge Independent. MR. HERALD'S SHAKSPERIAN PHILOSOPHY is spoken of facetiously by a Spectator critic as Platonic with a vengeance—only that it is often so difficult to dis tinguish it from " fine writing." Here is a specimen : "Out of the bosom of the Infinite a soul having transferred its allegiance from the Eternal to the Temporal manifested itself in a mortal body on the 23d April, 1564." Would it not have been easier to say Shakspere was born than all that ? Mr. Heraud goes on to say that this immortal soul brought with it powers and attributes from the Eternal and the Infinite, but their operation was limited by the " condition of the organism with which it had associated." We hope so poor a word as "body" will drop out of the language now. But let Mr. Heraud continue, " The soul, moreover, was not only immortal, but cosmical, and there fore (we give up the 'therefore') enjoyed not only a will, but strong will." "Doubtless," the author goes on, "this Shaksperian soul was chafed Like others, when, in an in fant body, it found that it was incapable of sustaining and fully expressing the action of a will, yet free, but in bonds. It was fain to expend itself in inarticulate cries, until it had learned to exercise the organs- of speech." Good gracious ! here's a pother, and all to tell us that the baby Shakspere could not talk before he could speak, and so cried like other babies. If he had not cried . there would have been more in it. However, when Mr. Heraud condescends to come off the Platonic high horse, he has really a good deal to say which lovers of Shakspere will do well to ponder, LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) AMERICA. ARRIVAL OF THE BELGIAN. (Via Greencastle.) NEW YORK, APRIL 28 (Evening). Grant reports from Raleigh on the 26th as follows : Johnston has surrendered the forces under his command to Sherman, embracing all from here to the Chattahoochie, on the basis agreed on between myself and Lee for the army of Northern Virginia. Previous to Sherman's truce, Stoneman's command was very successfully operating against the Confe derates in Western North Carolina and South Western Virginia. It is reported that Dick Taylor is ready to sur render his army to Canby, if favourable terms are granted. General Hanwell Potter is successfully operating in the interior of South Carolina against the orga nised bodies of Confederates still existing there. Booth has been buried privately by order of the War Department. Lewis Paine has been arrested at Mrs. Surratt's house, and is now in confinement. He is alleged to be the person who attempted the life of Mr. Seward. Surratt is still at large. The New York Herald asserts that the Govern ment expenses have been reduced $1,000,000 per day since Lee's surrender. Advices from Newbern state that General John ston endeavoured to obtain an amnesty and permis sion for Mr. Davis and other Confederate leaders to leave the country. This was refused by Grant, according to the Herald. The forces surrendered by Johnston include the armies of Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and the Georgia militia, together with 3 generals, 5 lieut.-generals, 20 major-generals, and 38 brigadier-generals. The only Confederate forces now in the field are Kirby Smith's and Dick Taylor's. It is announced from St. Louis that the remnants of Thomason's and Shelby's commands, from 6,000 to 12,000 strong, are at Pacahontas, Arkansas, preparing to invade Missouri. The Secretary of War has ordered an immediate extensive curtailment in the Government military expenses. The convalescent soldiers in hospitals, officers and soldiers who have been prisoners of war now in furlough or on parole, and volunteer recruits in the rendezvous corps, will be immediately and honour ably discharged. Prisoners willing to take the oath of allegiance, and become loyal citizens, and who are proper objects of clemency, will be released upon terms which the President shall see fit and consistent with public safety. Information has been received at Washington that Jefferson Davis and his companions have reached South Carolina. It was believed they would be intercepted before reaching the Mississippi river. The New York Herald asserts that numerous persons are implicated in Booth's plot, and that it was aided and authorised by the Confederate leaders. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. NEW YORK, APRIL 29, 3 p.m. Money abundant. Gold, 146 k. Exchange on London, 1611 ; Paris, 3.50. Stocks slightly firmer. New York Central, 99 ; Illinois, 114 ; Erie, 80} ; Five-twenty Bonds, 1084. Cotton dull. Middling Upland, 50c. Flour heavy. Wheat dull. Corn steady. Provisions heavy. Coffee very firm. Sugar quiet. Provisions, good inquiry. Petroleum quiet ; crude, 39c. ; refined, 53c. GREECE. ATHENS, MAY 9. The King returned here yesterday evening from his tour through the provinces. His Majesty everywhere met with a satisfactory reception during his journey, THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND, MELBOURNE, MARCH 25. The military situation in New Zealand is un changed, except that the Waikato settlements are threatened. General Cameron is at Patea. Horiz Kingi and the east coast chiefs have sur rendered. General 'Paddy has been thrown from his horse and sustained a fracture of the collar-bone. The Shenandoah is cruising off the coast. No captures have been announced. CLLOUTTA, CHINA, AND AUSTRALIAN MAILS. SUEZ, MAY 4. The Golconda anchored at 6.20 p.m. to-day (correct date). MALTA, MAY 10. The Pera left Malta at 11 p.m. yesterday, and the Poonah leaves at 8 a.m. to-day. The former may be expected at Marseilles on the 12th, and the latter at Southampton about the 19th inst. THE OUTWARD BOMBAY MAIL. The Massilia, from Southampton, April 27, reached Malta on the sth inst., at 2 p.m., and left at midnight for Alexandria. The Euxine, from Marseilles, sth inst., arrived on the Bth, at 2 a.m., and left at 8 a.m., for Alexandria. THE OUTWARD MAIL OF 20-26TH JANUARY. The Bombay arrived at Sydney on the 18th March. GIBRALTAR, MAY 9. THE BOMBAY AND MAURITIUS (HEAVY) MAILS. The Ceylon left for Southampton at 7 a.m. on the 7th inst. THE OUTWARD CALCUTTA AND CHINA MAILS. The Nyanza, from Southampton the 4th instant, reached Gibraltar on the 9th at 6 p.m., and left at 9 p.m. for Alexandria. All well. FRANCE. BOURSE, May 9.—The market has continued to improve to the close. Mobiliers have again gone up 22fr. 50c., and left off at 833 fr. 75c. Threes, for 'r. 80c., and Italian Fives the Account, closed at 67: 65fr. 95c. 41 per Cents 95 50 Italian Loan 65 90 Do. end month — Do end month 65 95 3 per Cents. 67 75 Ditto Threes — Do. end month 67 85 New Mexican Credit Mobilier ... 822 50 Russian — Do. end month ... 833 75 Austrian Bank Shares 3770 Spanish Threes ... 44 Credit Foncier 1292 Home Debt Roman - RAILWAYS. Cash. Acct. Orleans Northern lO7l 25 ... 1075 Lyons and Mediterranean 905 ... 905 Southern 612 50 ... 615 Western 530 ... 532 50 Eastern Sardinian 307 50 ... 303 f Austrian Lombard 541 25 ... 543 75 North of Spain 282 50 ... 277 50 Saragossa B7O ... 367 50 Ditto to Barcelona POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—This Day. WESTMINSTER. PITIABLE CONDITION OF CHILDREN.—Two miserable looking children, clothed in rags, which must have requirod the exercise of considerable ingenuity to put on, who gave the names of Rosa and Fanny Wood, were charged as follows : Peter Smith, a detective officer, said that, at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, he was in Sloane-street, Knights bridge, and saw tho two defendants mingling with ladies upon the pavement, and heard them beg. The lesser one, who did not look more than six years of age, repeatedly asked for halfpence. Mr. Arnold—ls there anybody here belonging to theso poor children ? The Father, a warmly clad, hearty-looking man, stepped forward, and said he was an umbrella-maker. Mr. Arnold—How is it your children go out begging ? The Father—They don't that I know of. Mr. Arnold—Have they any mother? The Father—l buried her last Christmas. Mr. Arnold—Are these children known ? Sergeant Sellephant —They were brought into the Brompton station only a few nights ago for begging, and I then desired them to tell their father that if found again begging they would be taken up. They then told me they gave their father the money they got. The Father—l am sure it's very seldom they give me anything. Mr. Arnold—Now attend to me, and after this caution if your children are found begging I shall consider you send them out, and I will surely commit you to prison for that offence. They are now discharged. MARKETS—This Day. Fresh up to our market, to-day, the arrivals of English wheat were very moderate. For all qualities there was a steady demand, and Monday's currency was well sup ported. The condition of the samples was good. With foreign wheat the market was very moderately supplied. T hero was continued firmness in the trade for all qualities. No advance, however, took place in the quo tations, the full prices of Monday being realised in all transactions. Floating cargoes of grain were 'in fair average request, and prices ruled firm. The market was scantily supplied with barley, and the trade ruled steady, at full currencies. Malt was in fair average request, at late rates. The supply of oats on sale was tolerably large. On the whole the trade ruled steady at full quotations. Beans and peas—with which the market was scantily supplied—changed hands at fully late rates. The flour trade was steady, and prices ruled firm. ARRIVALS THIS WEEK. Wheat. Barley. Malt. Oats. Flour. English and Scotch 250 120 1,010 1,030 1,130 Irish — Foreign 1,990 1,774 26,880 200 sks. brls Comparative Quantities and Prices of Grain.—For the Week ending May, 6, 1865.—Wheat, 84,806 quarters, average, 395. 10d. ; barley, 11,968, 295. 9d. ; oats, 4,078, 235. sd. For the corresponding week last year.—Wheat, 65,134, 395. 2d. ; barley, 17,098, 30s. 6d. ; oats, 6,101, 19s. 4d. BOROUGH HOP. Our market is steady, and all descriptions of hops sup port previous rates. WIIITECHAPEL. Moderate supplies of meat are on sale, the trade for which is slow, as follows: Beef, from 3s Od to 4s 4d ; mutton, 4s Od to 5s 8d ; lamb, 6s 4d to 7s 8d ; veal, 3s 103 to 4s 10d; and pork, 3s Gd to 5s Od per 81bs, by the carcase. STATE OF TRADE. MANCHESTER, May 9.—The excitement in the Liverpool cotton market to-day, said to be chiefly consequent on the American advices, which include mention of an extensive destruction of cotton at Montgomery, has led to some reaction in this mar ket, and sellers,lbotkof yarns and cloths, have gone back to fullylastTuesday's rates—an advance which buyers of yarn have shown more disposition to follow than buyers of cloth. In shipping yarns of all kinds we have had an excitement somewhat re , semblihg that to-day in cotton at Liverpool, where 20,000 bales are reported to have changed hands. The sales of these yarns have been considerable, and have been made at an advance of id. to Id. per lb. on Friday's rates. The market for these goods is buoyant to the close, with a decided upward ten dency. Almost every description of yarns adapted for shipping meets with ready sale at extreme prices. The market for home-trade yarns has hardly been so buoyant, but it is strong, and sellers are asking id. per lb. advance on last Friday. In fact, there is very little difference between the rates asking to day and those of last Tuesday, the decline towards the end of last week being fully recovered. At this improvement a fair business has been done to-day, manufacturers having bought with moderate free dom. The •cloth market, though extremely inactive towards the close of last week, did not give way so much in price as yarns, owing to the absence of stocks in the hands of manufacturers, but they were weakened a little, and the excitement and heavy business in cotton at Liverpool to-day has caused manufacturers to hold with more firmness, but has failed to stimulate the buyers of cloth into increased activity. There has been a little more doing in cloth to-day than during the last few days (for during that period business was almost suspended) ; but it is, per haps, more owing to rather favourable advices from India than anything else. What little business has been done in cloths to-day has been a slight advance on the prices of last Tuesday, but manufacturers complain that the market does not respond freely to the impulse at Liverpool, for there has been by no means a considerable business, nor even a general demand. Where sellers have made any favourable way it has been chiefly at the prices of last Tues day. Messrs. John Slagg and Co. report as follows of this day's cloth market :—" Since last Tuesday there has been but little action in our market, and operations have been on a very limited scale. To day there is a general advance in quotations, and some business has been done at a slight advance on last Tuesday's rates ; the demand, however, is by no means general." CARDIFF, 9th.--Since our last report the trade has considerably improved as regards the number of vessels which have arrived. The orders for coal, however, show little improvement, and the conse quence has been that some of the collieries are on short time. Coastwise the coal trade is also slack, but not so much as the export trade. The iron trade continues good, and rails readily fetch £7 to £7 55., and bars £6 15s. The ironmasters are, however, be ginning to feel the late extensive emigration of their men, and skilled workmen are becoming very scarce. The demand for patent fuel and tin is also good. LEEDS, 10th.—The markets in the cloth halls this morning were quiet, and the weather being wet busi ness was below that of last Tuesday. The purchases of autumn goods are made cautiously, but some fair orders are in the hands of manufacturers for expor tation. There is no positive improvement in the de mand for either Canada or the United States, but there is a general impression that a better Transat lantic trade will ensue before long. The trade to the Australian colonies and the East is tolerably good, and manufacturers of cloths suitable for the latter are well employed. Prices both of wools and cloths keep firm. There is some improvement noticeable in the flax trade, and prices are better for the raw material, as well as for yarns and threads. NOTTINGHAM, 10th.—There was a tolerable at tendance of merchants and manufacturers at this Exchange-hall to-day. The demand for lac• yarns was firm, and the extreme rates of last week were maintained ; an advance on coarse and middle numbers was asked, but only partially obtained. The demand for hosiery yarns was steady, and prices were quite as high as last week. Spun silks were dearer. Brown nets a rather better sale, and recent ratesiwere well supported. ROCHDALE, Bth.—During the past week business has been little, if any, better than it was during the week preceding, for though merchants have been making inquiries from manufacturers, the result has been nothing more 'than a few trifling purchases. The next great wool sales being immediately at hand, it was but probable that goods might have been met with at a reduction, but such has not turned out to be the case. The market to-day has been thinly attended, and very little business doing, which may be partially accounted for by the fact that some parties are preparing for their midsummer stock taking. The trade in Yorkshire goods is still most meagre, but manufacturers refuse to abate their prices. The sales of wool are entirely of a retail character, and though the new clip will shortly be introduced, prices are as firm as they have ever been. , irmriati Noe - ,g; ..oyktf,A, 011111 • - vet - Cirtlhr - HER MAJESTY. OSBORNE, May 9. Her Majesty and her Royal Highness Princess Louise walked and drove out yeste,day, attended by Lady Waterpark. • The Princess of WaleS accompanied by the Crown Prince of Denmark and Prince Albert VIC', tor, drove to Kew yesterday and visited her ReY al highness the Duchess of Cambridge, and remained to lunch. RETURN OF HER MAJESTY TO WINDSOR.---Iler Majesty, accompanied by the younger members of the royal family, and attend e d by th e su ite, is expect ed to arrive at Windsor Castle from Osborne on Friday o r Saturday next. The usual preparations for the Queen : i s , reception are being made at the Palace. Her Majes t y most probably remain for about a week at the Castle, an d the royal departure for Balmoral at present is expected to take place on Friday week, the 19th inst. Their Royal Highnesses th e P r i n ce of Wales an d the Duke of Cambridge, an d th e i r res p ec tive suites , Fill return from Dublin at an early hour on Saturday morning. Newsvenders' Benevolent and Provident Institution, The anniversary dinner in aid of the funds of tin e. institution took place last evening at the Free masons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, Lincobl's - i l f i fields—Mr. Charles Dickens presiding, supPor7 by Mr. Edmund Yates, Mr. W. H. Wills, Mr. J. ' Jerwood, Mr. James Grant, Dr. F. C. Jones, I\ ll% John Bennett, Mr. W. H. Smith, Mr. P. Terry ( 111 : treasurer to the institution), & c . Th e re were in about 200 guests, and amongst them were a large proportion of ladies, whose presence, it need harT o be said, added greatly to the cheerfulness of 11 ' scene, and showed that the practice of introdul the gentler sex on these occasi on s m ay be consid er . e b a successful innovation—a fact i n r eference to wil t i I an approving remark was h umorous ly made by b'o chairman in proposing the health of her Maie st Y ne . In proposing the toast of the evening, " dent rity to the Newsvenders' Benevolent and Provlueor Institution," the CHAIRMAN addressed the comp any in one of those peculiar speeches, combining L ea quence with humour, for which he has alwaYs be •a distinguished. He observed that Dr. J° l l ° l , - experience of that club, the members of whi e l': e .. travelled over one another's minds in every ce tion, was not to be compared with the exPerl e "i m of the perpetual president of a society lik e present, who, having on p rev i ous o ccasions s3l os , everything about the subject that he could P it h sibly find to say, was again produced? Lc, the same awful formality, to say every - 51; about it that he could not possibly find to sat. ta e case was somewhat like that of the ill-starred so, at the Epping Hunt on Easter Monday. Th at e g-• fortunate animal (he meant the stag, not the P r of dent) when he was uncarted generally mad e % li d at a cool trot towards the yard where he Rya', o there subsided into a quiet inoffensive el- istc T o e r until he was again brought out to be followed c c o the same field under exactly the same circurns tac oo next Easter Monday. (Hear, and laughter.) l , of difficulties of the situatio n ( an d h ere he sP e % e s ecl the president, not the stag) were grea tly iD ere- tar by the peculiar nature of the institution, by its ess, pretending solidity, its rea lity, an d its usef'inoo-• by its perfect freedom f r om a ll ma t er ial of 0 0 1 torical nature. The hon. chairman then Pre ee fro al to show that the difficulty of the position aro se oal f the fact that the difficulty of the position aro se le, he was called upon to overcome. If, for Oa uj e l et y success had never attended the efforts of the s e o aS —if the managers could say that the institution is insolvent—in a hopeless condition—that its ace ° had been kept by Mr. Edmunds or by " nkea (cheers and laughter)—if the treasurer had i , it into his head to run a wa y w ith th e money' en if any such event had occurred, he might /9e abled to make a pathetic appeal to their sY - ; thies. But he had no suc h c h ance . Just so nation was happy whose records were barreljf'rta benevolent society that had no history was bte r.) nate, and its president unfo r tu n ate. (La u g h this He could only assure the company th at that society continued its plain unobtrusive care" -- s ad it did a great deal of good at a very small c ost ' re eo r that the objects of its care and the bulk of itsof the bers were faithful, hard-working servan t • ' in the ir u public, who ministered to their wants at t t heir hours, in all seasons and in all weathers -4 doi own homes--at the street corners-;-at even ra of train--at every steam-boat—th ro ugh the agency and immense establishments and the tiniest shop s ' electwho, who, whether as regardedthe master or as regar d • the man, received ve r y small profits/ W ere beig modest while their risk s were n umerous, a nd t,,r. 11) trouble and responsibility were very great • (11"-- a a The newsvender and the newsman, beY °ll na ' question, were v ery su bo r dinate parts of that W derful engine the n e w spaper press. Still he thteo/17ile they all knew pretty well that they were to A fountain-head what good service pipes wer e good e er y y w da e y re li all fe t o h f at th t e h m ey tluec Te r t to e d w t a o t e s r ay s u i p n p l t y h . e r T e h v knew the worth of a thing till they lost it• tics y them try the worth of this calling by the th t"t a . s trike y ear s ago it was discovered one morning t l ' Low had taken place among the cab-drivers e'• to occu r don. Imagine such a state of things itiug amongst the newsvenders. People anxious -•I N Y irco or in all directions, and under every variety ° I c as 'l s stances, for news which did not reach the n ' c oup' s tePr —imagine the circulation of the blood of th e c- ,,, e d• try standing still—the clock of the wo rld s happy Why, even Mr. Reuter, whom he was alwaY grs• i to suppose slumbering by night by the side oo a ct Reuter—(laughter)—with a galvanic batted o f the, the bolster, with an electric wire at eac h std °lll'l bed, and with the bells at each ear—how lie ; click and flash those wonderful despaten" w itboli" and how they would become mere nothings' Ncb that intelligence, that activity, and henest)" leerjo caught up the threads and stitches of til l!. land' needle which scattered them all over t ato be Although the newsvender might be allow ° f al e, ' very unpicturesque rendering of Mercury ° r eio acl ol other conventional messengers froiit th e , o f thi s deal and although they must all admit that y he dea l 0 /0 earth, and has often, poor fellow, a gre at oa rl:a b , d on his boots, still he had had veil r colesti` characteristics to which none of h i ' s av ll aer predecessors could lay the slightestrooselilii one was that he was always a as e ce, o of civilisation, the other was that he / 1 hat • v." to so not only in what he brought b ut lu eo t 00 ceased to bring. Mr. Dickens then w of neR draw a graphic 'picture of the descriptiono to P io ;which the newsvenders were called 11 P ooje ty • to l 1 seminate in days gone by, wh en 6 4 in a state of gross sensuality and,,,4l;llsllPC:, rance was the rule, and when the mo st dey`i taus of were fought for the most disgra ceful tinn edo That state of things was happily as . e ell ui ,dotill e j ever, and when , they remembered t ile . keeo effe e . e j, truth that this change could never have ' der c arr l oo without the aid of the load the new s v leu r , ss a l e 1) 1 ; o surely it was not too romantic to exPry se/eh in his behalf that the public would alltow,,cto ooe i little token of that sympathetic remenf tbo b°' o f they were aways glad to bestow 11P?: finances of happy tidings. In reference to tu him to °a) f oine the society, it was sufficient for the annuities were granted out of the t i t n a c io ole bY t , funded capital, and that they were a . rococo Pe, exercise of such a slight amount 01 ,P,, ve r a P e , A forethought that a sum of 255. diff b us sc e r u po v er to el l ":" 0, i 1 ••• of five years entitled a male su roe bon . year and a female to £lO a year- by , eto pha e t i c e o ` ro . man concluded, amid loud cheers, th proposing the toast which he mencement. The toast was enthusiasticalplyrerpeiossPelici) jecl3,oltr°ols:tl wßaensnfoeltlto,waenddbyre"spTohnedPedrestso,"by 30. the chap, is health of : e0 artly; ea ti Wa s (proposed by Mr. Edmun Other toasts, including the d • tioDs o bscriP due succession, and a list of s amounting to about £3OO. Yates),