The Sun. — London, England, 1849-05-21 00:00:00

proceeded to the Tine street police station, and gave in. formation of the robbery. The prisoner was taken into custody on Saturday afternoon. Sergeant Gray, 10 C, said in consequence of informa tion he had received, he went to No. 4, aarset,treet, where he saw the prisoner Brown. Witness informed Ii m that he was a police-officer, and must take him into custody for robbing his mistress of a quantity of silver Plate. The prisoner replied that it was so, that he did not intend to steal the plate, and that he had only bor• rowed it with the intention of returning it by Monday, (this day), when he should have surrendered hims,li up. The prisoner added that he had written a lette r to Mr. alansfield, acknowledging his crime, and begging forgive ness. Witness then took him to the stationaind on searching Lint found 11. 144. in gold and silver, but no duplicates. Westmoreland, 27 C, said he apprehended the pr sorer Jones on Saturday night at the Marquis of Granby tithlic-house in South Audley-street. He asked the Prisoner if he was acquainted with the prisoner Brown, and whether he had pledged any articles of plate for him. He said he had not, but he had pledged articles of wearing appar.l for him. Witness then said he roust take him (prisoner) to a pawnbroker's at Knight's. bridge. The prisoner then admitted that he had Pledged plate for Brown once, and that he had re ceived the plate from the prisoner Brown at Mrs. Mansfield's residence. Witness then conveyed him to the station. Mr. Layton Vincent, pawnbroker, IS, Queen's 28 hßrompton, produced a silver teapot, pledged on the of April by the prisoner Brown. Witness had other articles pledged by the prisoner, which he would Produce on a tuture day. He also produced some silver Spoons, which were pledged on the 7th of January bj the prisoner Jones, who represented himself to be in the service of the other prisoner, Witness did nct suspect the truth of this assertion, as the prisoner Brown used to drive about in a stylish dog-cart, accompanied by the Prisoner Jones who was dressed in livery. Samuel 011iff, assistant to Messrs. Grant, pawnbroker, 108, Knight s bridge, T roduced two silver spoons pledged by the prisoner Brown on the 12th of January. He had Several other articles of plate which he would produce on the next examination. Mr. Mansfield identified the whole of the plate pro 'aced as being the property of his mother. The prisoners were then remanded until Monday next. II EL/OT WARBURTON'S NEW W 0 II K. MEMOIRS OF PRINCE R UPERT AND THE CAVALIERS ; including their Private Correspondence, now first published, from the Ori• ginal Manuscripts. By EliotWarburton, Author of " The Crescent and the Cross." 3 Vols. To publish a work commemorative of the adher ents of King Charles the First, at a moment when liberalism, merging, in many instances, into extreme democracy, reigns paramount, appears, at first sight, almost an act of auda city. On consideration, however, we find the adventure of Mr. Eliot Warburton singularly well timed. It is because the principles of democracy are triumphant that we can so well afford to consider the history of the Cavaliers. On the eve of a battle the most generous fueman will be anxious to underrate the strength and taleAs of his opponents, but after the victory it is otherwise. After the victory, con scious of our dearly bought security, we may, with out scruple, extol the courage and bear witness to the virtues of the fallen. The free people of England, the inheritors of the dearly-purchased fruits of the civil war— " The sons of sires that baffled Crowned and sceptred tyranny ; That defied the chain and scaffold For their birthright," and gloriously obtained it, can now regard with sym path( tic admiration the daring and disinterested devotion of the loyal Cavaliers. Eyes are now sad dened with sympathy for the sorrows of King Charles which, two hundred years back, would have sparkled with indignation against the tyrant. Hearts now throb with exultant admiration at the records of Rupert's chivalrous gallantry and incredible triumphs, which two centuries since would have throbbed stoutly beneath the buff-doublet of the Roundhead, and stirred up their owners to resist to the death the foreign prince and the abettors of tyranny. Therefore it is we look upon these volumes as being equally well-timed in their appearance as they are interesting in their contents. Mr. Eliot Warburton himself participates largely in those double seeti ments to which we have just referred. As the bio grapher of the Cavaliers, his sympathies (could it be otherwise ?) are largely enlisted in favour of his heroic heroes individually. Nevertheless, he is no advocate of oppression. He deplores the acts, while he exculpates the actors. The portrait of King Charles, for example, drawn by his courteous and tender, hut, nevertheless, truthful band, is perhaps as faithful a representation of the character of that unfortunate monarch viewed in the most favourable light as is the picture of Van dyke of his outer man. The following passage de scribes the feelings of very many among us with regard to our early impression of King Charles, it also affords a striking evidence of Mr. Warburton's loyal prepossessions and liberal convictions (it was,with "reluctance," be it observed, that he relinquished his loyal belief). As the King rode towards Nottingham, preparatory to raising his standard, it is said. that his countenance was very melancholy ; and here Mr. Warburton eloquently exclaims— " Well might he be very melancholy;' well might the shedow of his soul's mistortene be dark upon that brow—that lofty brow, so familiar to our memory! How many of us can recollect our childish sympathy for the first time touched by the power of art, as we gazed upon the portrait of that mournful face: the innocent boyish enthusiasm that kindled within us as we heard from loyal lips of the wrongs and sufferings for which so many of our fathers died. It was only in after years, when re luctantly forced to abandon the once literal creed of hings can do no wrong,' that we detected other characteristics besides those of nobleness and truth in the martyr monarch of Vandyke and the Cavaliers. Yet even then, when better read in the dark facts and darker calumnies that history reveals, we trace in those sad features the cha racters of weakness rather than of wickedness; the un erring signs of a vacillating mind are visible; and that high-arched brow and uncertain lip, the dlicate soft hand that drops by his side with all the helpless grace of a girl, the very attitude in which he stands—all be speak a spirit ill-calculated to encounter the storms of a state. It is not only after misfortune amid disappoint ment had done their work, that these characteristics be come visible in the portraits of Charles. From the very first, even when he sat to Velasquez during his romantic visit t 3 romantic Spain, buoyed up by lusty youth and a bridegroom's hope—even then his portrait wears a sad, doomed look, as if he felt already destined to expiate the crimes and follies of his tyrant ancestors." Mr. Warburton's narrative is necessarily one-sided, not in an invidious sense, not with regard to the manner of its expression, but to the matter of its details. It does not profess to be a history of the civil war, it is a history of the doings and sufferings of the dauntless Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers. "We must now bid adieu to politics," says the author to his reader at the commencement of the second volume ; "for good or ill, lilte Sir Edmund Varney, we are enlisted with the Cavaliers, and must take the consequences. Henceforward, like the com batants, we shall be too much occupied in the field to think of abstractions. The king's banner is dis played, the trumpets are sounding to the standard, and we have only to march forward with our Cava liers." A dangerous but most attractive invitation. We accept it, and we do march forward; but how ever much, for the time, carried away by tha infectious ardour of the gallant body we ate accompanying, we run little risk of being induced to enlist under the royal ban ner ; for, thanks to Mr. Warburton's first volume, the most ignorant student of history is already " fore warned" and consequently " forearmed." We might almost imagine that our author, aware of the fatal faseinatioe of his theme, had conscientiously resolved to give a warning to the unwary, and place the bane and antidote alongside. It is only in the second volume, he it remembered, that he exclaims " \\'e must hid adieu to politics—we are enlisted with the Cavliers !" In the first volume he has given a " summary of everts preceding the war," in which with a masterly hand he exhibits those errors and faults on the part of Charles, which occasioned and excused the rebellion of the people. " Charles 1.," says Mr. Warburton, " was heartily welcomed to the throne by the people of England. Had he understood their true position and his own he might have been indeed the noblest King in Christendom." Charles was, however, far from possessing that all-important knowledge. His ideas were retrogressive, his people's progressive. From the very first the King and his Parliament were at variance, but as yet the King had, apparently, the upper hand. During the after portion of this history we often have occasion to lament the misfortunes of Charles, but while so lamenting we must not forget what is recorded in the commencement of the first volume. We must not forget, when disposed to censure the severity of the Parliament, how in the beginning of his reign the King had continually exercised his prerogative by dissolving the Parliament almost as soon as it was elected, and at one time had refused to call a Parliament for " eleven long years." During these years "the King ruled at will," we quote Mr. Warburton, "as despotically as any sovereign in Europe." The country was at peace, " but the repose was only such as ensues when mortification has supervened upon some deadly wound ; the disease that inwardly consumed the nation was fast increasing under the hectic mask of health. The stern Parliamentary physicians watched its pro gress patiently from afar or from prison, biding their time. . . Men did not know at first that they were enslaved, no more than Charles knew that he was become a despot. . . The endurance of the men of England was daily put to a more trying teat ; every successful invasion of their rights was taken as a proof that they would bear still more. Cruel expe dients to raise revenues were put in practice ; odious monopolies invaded the comfort of every man's fire side, and there was no redress or any prospect thereof." We find in a foot-note the following quaint quota tion from Sir John Culpepper, upon the universality of taxes These, like the frogs of Egypt, have gotten possession of our dwellings, and we have scarcely a room free from them ; they sip in our cup, they dip in our dish, they sit by our fire; we find them in our dye-vat, washing-bowl, p a o v,n w .tirl d yl e r ;n i o n t t g h by b aotxe. have us I a h n e pr y ikne s . h d” are u sAf w tr n i ttinhh the close do h s eu to t l o e ff r n toi s e and ish th i ey p eleven years it was found necessary to summon " the great paymaster, a Parliament (we again quote Eliot Warburton), for every extra-parliamentary source had been drained dry. They met (on the 13th of April, 1640) ; the King asked for money, the Com mons for redress; neither party attained its desires. The SHORT PARLIAMENT was dissolved on the sth of May." On the 3d of November the LONG PARLIA MENT first assembled. Here Charles " encountered mo re awful than ever confronted him on atall circuit arrayreu i battlefield. of Pytn and Hampden had been riding all England to collect and to distribute statistics of the people's wrongs; St. John and Holles had digested and arrayed a record of thesewrongs ; Fi enn es and Vane had dilated on them. Falkland, II) de, Rudyard , Seldel,n,,RwOLresall—sotitihaetre vspl,nearddingratplige people's wrongs id the real rights of the op through all England, at We have gis the sound." pressor were for a time ove . 7 n . ones as an evidence of ` these a q n u t o l t e s t i ! t e e n t e s, e d at i t d " the liberality of Mr. we might give !witty sim w i r lar h tirlpanegyrics on the Cava liers,ithstanding his occasional urton's sentiments, not cause. In spite of the and his (at times) seeming man tii a n d t v e yattaching chapters of this work are, to 0 . 0 to the exploits of the Cavaliers,ror tthheinliiinntgro,dhuncrtodrlyy less attractive. This portion is superior to the rest. It is written ronfplestya•nled, w in ith po a in s t i g ( energetic eloquence that renders. it most, effective and most emphatic. The Kin ' s ill-time v isit to the Parliament House to demand the arrest of the " five" stile tubers is an admirable specimen of Mr. Warbur ton's felicitous and highly picturesque style By such advice the doomed King committed the crowning error of his whole disastrous reign. He pro cot ded suddenly to the House of ,Commons, at.ended by four hundred cavaliers and servants.' The tramp of armed men was for the first time iu that always revered and now awful assembly; and the royal voice was heard above their clamour ' commanding, on their lives, his cagier followers to stand back.' And the King entered. Ile took off his hat and bowed in respect to the senate, whose honour he so outraged, and then he advanced to the Speaks chair. The Elector Pala tine alone'accom. pilled him through the numbers who had risen, and stood uncovered to receive his Majesty. Thei solemn eilerce with which he was received con fused the irresolute and wavering King; the Speaker left the chair for him; but he sload hesitating on the step, as he looked round for the five who had so long set his power at defiance, His glance encountered a sight to make a firmer spirit quail; the representatives of England and its wrongs stood there; made st ron g through the King's former weakness, stronger than ever now! His present accusers, his future judges, with quiet and stern observance noted down every act end word of their invader and their future victim. It was a trying ordeal: a Crome ell might have braved it, as afterwards he did, with unflinching hardihood; but Charles was unequal to the task. Suddenly his false position became apparent to hire; he faltered in his demand for his enemies' arrest, and then broke down into the exclama tion, The birds are flown!' A few hurried words, de siring that the accused Members might be sent to him,' was all he added, and then he left the House as ab ruptly as he had entered. Sounds of Privilege! followed him as he passed from the House; and Caval'er shouts of ' For a King! for a King,' received him in the street." It is now time, however, that we withdraw our gaze from the calm sad countenance of Charles to con template his impetuous and gallant nephew—the os tensible hero of this book : " There is a loud fame of Prince Rupert in our civil wars," says Mr. Warburton, " yet singularly little of his private history is known. He seems to start into exist ence when the royal standard of England is set up; he advances that fatal banner through its terrible career with supernatural but ill-starred bravery; arid when it is finally struck down at Naseby, he vanishes at the same time from our view. Yet even during that memo rable strife, there is a rumour, rather than a knowledge of him; mothers hush their infants with the terror of his name, leaguring armies retire at the first challenge of bis trumpets, the stern energy of the Puritans gives way before his resistless charge; Roundhead hatred and Royalist recrimination accuse him as the evil genius of the war. Yet, whence he came, or whither he went, few have inquired or can tell. " The few glimpses by which he is afterwards viewed arc equally singular and varied. We find him a veteran in' arms and renown while yet a boy; a prisoner for years before he attains to manhood; leader of the Cava liers from the first hour that he meets them; conqueror in every battle, though defeated; maintaining the war on sea when it has been crushed upon the land; buccaneer ing in the name of loyalty on the Spanish main; honest amid corruption, philosophic among triflers in the Court of Restoration; laying aside his impetuosity, but not his gallantry, as admiral of our fleets; returning thence to the chemist's laboratory and the painter's study; and, finally, dying in peace and honour, here in old England, beloved by all the gentlemen of the county,' and ' gene rally lamented; having maintained such good temper and such happy neutrality in the present unhappy divisions, that he was honoured and respected by men of the most varying interests.' " Can this bo the person whom we have hitherto known, only to neglect or to condemn? Surely there must have been some heroic nature in this man which prejudice alone has darkened or denied: some prejudice more fatal to his fame than the hatred or the obloquy of his contemporaries. Let the generous and candid reader but take the facts of Prince Rupere's life as they are here imperfectly arranged; let him grant to them such credence as their authorities may seem to deserve and such interest as their romantic character may claim; and surely he will admit that the chief of the Cavaliers deserves a higher place in story than he has hitherto ob- tallied."' Such is the romantic hero, whose eventful fortunes we are now invited to follow. Prince Rupert seemed fitted by nature to be the leader of the Cavaliers. He was an impersonation of that chivalry and heroism to which they were devoted, and with which they were filled—" frank, haughty, rash,";and irresistible, he rode to war, "no vizor on his helm." His exploits, like those of the French Paladin Murat, whom in daunt less gallantry he much resembled, seemed to revive again the days of Charlemegne, and the marvels of the Round Table. While yet in early youth, before his visit to England, he made his stern apprentice ship in war, and that same reckless daring which proved so fatal to the Royal cause on Edgehill, made the young hero a prisoner in the Castle of Lintz be fore he had attained the age of twenty. Here he remained imprisoned three years, " his spirit pining like that of a caged eagle." We quote the following passage, referring to an incident of this captivity as a contrast to the more serious matters which we have just been considering, and as a specimen of that singular gracefulness of style and sentiment which occasionally gives such a charming fascination to the writings of Eliot Warburton : " Among the few recreations permitted to the Prince wee an occasional dinner with the governor, and iree access to his gardens It was destined that his impri sonment, as well as his chivalric career, should lack no thing of the requirements of romance. Strange as it may read in thee mater-of-fact pages, Count Kuffstein 6 had a daughter, an only, cherished child, who lived in his stern old castle, like the delicate Dryad of some gnarled tri e. She was one of the brightest beauties of her ago,' and rarely gifted, .no lease excellir'g in the chorines of her mindo than of her fair° bodye,' The imagination of the reader will easily supply what the faithful historian is not permitted to record. How the heroism, the misfortunes, and the noble person of her royal captive, touched her imagination: how the impe tuous young Prince, whose thoughts had ever fed on tales of lose and glory, passed his time in that grim castle, hitherto without an object save to watch time and the old Danube rolling by: how this fair girl dawned upon his gloomy life, charged by her father to cheer her royal prisoner, and, if it might be, to win his soul over to the ancient faith. Does the reader pity him—or even her? Though soon to be forsaken, she never was forgotten in all the wild vicissitudes of his dangerous and reckless career ; and to woman's foolish heart even this is something. And for him—how often, whin wearied of the doomed yet charmed life ho bore, must his thoughts have flown back to that fair girl : back, from the hushed ambush, or raging battle-field, or stormy seas, to those quiet and innocent days, when he listened to her loving controversy, as they stood by the antique battlements, with the old Danube rolling by! " We are not writing romance, but actual biography, gleaned painfully out from crabbed old manuscripts, through which her character still shines fair and purely. For those quaint old letters tell me that thenceforward hee never named her without admiracon, and ex pressinge a devotion to serve her with his lyfe ; and it requires nothing more to tell me that her honour had been guarded by his own. "Nevertheless, with war resounding all around him, with so many prizes to be fought for, and so much glory to be won, Mdlle. de Kuffstein must have sometimes found it a hard task to cheer her captive in his cage. How his young spirit must have chafed as he saw glimpses of the war roll by and vanish far away. And to loose himself from this captivity, this living grave, he had but one word to utter; he had but to follow the ex ample of the chivalrous Henry of Navarre, to profess himself a proselyte, and to be free. His Royal uncle, his imperial enemy, his lady-love, his worldly interest, were all in favour of the change; his own conviction, his own brave and manly heart alone against it. Be this remems bered when his many errors are recounted!" When released from his imprisonment, the young Prince joined his uncle, Charles 1.. in England (Prince Rupert was the son of King Charles' sister, Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia). He arrived at a very opportune moment. The King was at Nottingham, prepared for the first time to raise the STANDARD and proclaim war. Rupert's presence "at the little court of Nottingham," says Mr. Warburton, "infused new life and confidence among the drooping followers of the King. Charles, harassed by timorous and conflicting counsels, found relief in the prompt, vigorous, and decisive character of his nephew. Prince Rupert not only then, but throughout the war, was most useful to that cause by infusing the confidence that he felt, and by a soldier-like simplicity of purpose more difficult to balk or to cope with than all the wiles of Machievelli." Decision was a quality much required in the vacillating councils of Charles. Had Prince Rupert been' half as prudent as he was brave, and halt' 8.5 skilful in carrying out as he was in achieving a victory, the cause of the Royalists would indeed have been strengthed by his advent. Charles reposed unbounded confidence in his nephew. Rupert received orders " from no one but the King," and the King almost invariably allowed him to take his own course. We have said that the first volume of this work, where it relates to the political history of the time, is better written and more interesting than the succeeding portions, but we are inclined to contradict this assertion when we turn again to the opening of the second volume, where we " march forward with the Cavaliers." Eliot Warburton paints these martial scenes con amore. " Those only who have witnessed it," he exclaims, " can judge of the excitement of an army's first march, before disaster has withered one of its high hopes, or death has severed one link of the soldier's genial brotherhood. There is something mysterious in the stirring and irresistible appeal that trumpets and banners make to the heart through ear and eye. The very war-horse feels the spell of that fierce music; myriads of gallant hearts have shed their blood to save that silken rag ; whole troops have flung away their lives that the symbol of their honour might still float in triumph over the bloody remnant of their forces." The Cavalier army presented a gallant appearance on the eve of the battle of Edgehill, but unfortunately for their cruse, the jealous rivalry and the scrupulous etiquette of the Court, too much predominated in the royal camp. "The jealousies and enmities, inseparable from such volunteer and independent corps, began to exhibit themselves. Prince Rupert himself, I fear," says his biographer, " had not sufficient tact to accommo date himself to his peculiar position ; he was im patient of the military neglect and courtier conven tionalities of his noble associates. He was somewhat jealous, too, of his ovsliauthorhiteyl.d, ‘, as usual"l3eforet divided hebatt battle of Edgehill a c ouncil was into two parti es." Lord Lindsay, the General-in- Chief, favoured " the cautious and steady tactics of " Ru o t f he th ot e h g er lo h r a io n u d s , the . 4 o u w f( T t u h n e t r b y o : s l d e h tt o n o dl rapid .' tactics Swede (Gustavus) ; he scorned the Roundhead forces, and their leader too; he insisted on the expediency of the most simple and dashing movements, with such an unpractised but high-nettled army as the King's." Rupert prevailed, and certainly had it been followed up with prudence, his plan would, in all likelihood, have been successful. When he comes to describe the King addressing his army on the morning of the battle, Eliot Warburton very appropriately intro duces Macaulay's spirited lines in the "Battle of the League " " The King has come to marshal us," Sse " I do not know," he observes, in a parenthesis, " whether Mr. Macaulay will pardon my application of these noble lines of his, but most of my readers will." Appropriate as the lines are, most certainly Alacaulay would not have applied them to King Charles— " Ile looked upon the traitors and his glance was stern and high," &c. Macaulay, as we all know, is a zealous advocate of the Parliament ; he considers the execution of Charles perfectly justifiable —ride an essay in the Edinburgh Review written when, as Mr. Warburton justly defines it, " he was an advocate, and not as now a judge, in the court of history." Throughout these volumes the annalist and eulogist of the Cavaliers seems to be carrying on a good-humoured controversy with his illustrious brother author. lle continually quotes in his foot-notes passages from the above-mentioned essay, and the recently published history (Macaulay's history was not published until the first volume and part of the second volume of "Prince Rupert " had passed through the p ress ). Th ere i s no thing in Eliot Warburton's book that we like so well as his frank and generous admiration of Mr. Macaulay, so con stantly and heartily expressed. The jealousy of au thors is proverbial, and all true lovers of literature will, we are confident, like ourselves, rejoice in this noble exception to a too general rule. But these reflections have led us far from Edgehill. We will let Eliot Warburton himself describe the grand and terrible opening scene in which Rupert's dashing valour, and, alas! his reckless impetuosity, were evi denced in so remarkable a manner : " There is no sound that ever rent the air so terrible as the deep silence of suspense before the battle - word is given; it is the moment when the s oul sinks under the awe of something that thrills deeper than any fear. During that dread pause many a fervent prayer was offered up by the true hearts that abounded in both armies, but none was more simple and sincere than Sir Jacob Astley's, uttered manfully aloud—' Oh, Lord! thou knowest how busy I must be this day; if I forget thee, do not thou forget me!' then rising, he exclaimed, March on boys!' " The Parliamentary army began the fight by three shots from their. guns upon the right; the King's artil lery instantly replied. Then the whole line advanced; as the Cavaliers approached, a horseman darted from the enemy's column and rode up to Prince Rupert, flinging from him the orange badge he bore. It was a lieutenant in Sir Faithful Fortescue's troop, to announce the defec tion of his commander with all bis men, and that the signal would be the firing of a pistol in the ground. The Prince, already on the move, observed the s i gna l an d ferebore to assail the d eserters, but Killigrew and Byron slew several of them before they discovered their pur pose. Rupert now led on the royal horse, commanding them to use their swords alone, and charge!' Before the word was fairly uttered, that brilliant cavalry was on the spur; away in one wild sweep of magnificent con fusion the proud chivalry of England dashed; in generous rivalry each seeking to strike the first home-stroke for God and for the King!' What could abide that thun dering charge, all spur, no rein, every heart within that armour flashing was on , fire, every voice a shout of triumph, every plume bent forward to the charger's mane! The Roundheads seemed swept away by the very wind of that wild charge. No sword was crossed, no saddle emptied, no trooper waited to a bide the shock; the y fled with frantic fear, but fell fast u ader the sabres of their pur suers. The cavalry galloped furiously until they reached such shelter as the town could g ive them; nor did their infantry fare better. " The Cavaliers, meanwhile, seemed as if carried away by the torrent of the fu g itives; they had encoun teredandthey thought the battle won; no opposition , its prizes were before them with spoil, and magezines full of the arms so sought for and desired, choked u p the narrow streets, and were : Roundhead waggons laden they fled, until II d 's Stratford, amp en the flying enemy as m adl y as chocked and turned brigade, coming up fro m soon plundered by the troo p ers, whilst others pursued backward the pursuit. " Meanwhile the royal left wing was equally broken for Wilmot, who found goons had cleared the way . so rapidly had Ru scarcely an enemy to oppose P broken the spirits of the Round headand routed by success. Sir Arthur Aston's stout pen's impetuous impetuous charge If d left lost all control over itse , riot, so also the the field in pursuit of Meldrum's flying spread over .- Nor did the contagion sop er , t h e Sir John troopers. horse. As the right wing of the Cavaliers had run d forward their eager horse to share in the pursuit. and the King's infantry was left exposed and unpro• Byron and Lord Digby, who commanded the reserve, tected. . " And now the fortunes of the day seemed wholly changed; the royal cavalry was _all scattered as if de feated, and for the most part wandering beyond the enema ; the artillery harness was cut away and rend: red useless; the Royal Guards in total rout, and only a few battalions under ltuthven and Astley still showing au unbroken front. The whole field of fight was so be wilderingly confuted that none knew where to seek his officer or troop, and many were slain or made prisoners by those whom they mistook for their own men." " When Prince Rupert returned with such troops as he could rally from the chase, he found a great alteration in the field; his Majesty, with only a few noblemen about him, and the hope of so glorious a day quite vanished.' The Prince vainly attempted to gather his broken troops again, for one last charge, which would probably have been final for that war. But it was impos sible to get together effective men enough even to at tempt it. Evening was set in; the few horses that could be mustered were exhausted by want of food, and their long and furious chase. Wilmot's, indeed, on the far left were comparatively fresh, and Lord Falkland, whose blood was now up, and whose oft repeated cry of • Peace, peace, peace,' was forgotten, conjured the Com missary to charge Sir William Balfour's dragoons, who alone remained unbroken, and protected their exhausted infantry. Wilmot made a most unsoldierlike reply— ' My Lord, we have got the day, let us live to en joy the fruit thereof.' The King thought, and with better reason, that he had lost it; and what is stranger still. Lord Essex also thought himself defeated; so much so, that in one of the last attacks made by Ruthven and Astley's brigade, he took his stand in the front of his pikernen, resolved to take no quarter, and to die. For him, indeed, there would have been no alterna tive, if defeated. " In this doubt of all sides,' says Lord Clarendon, who was an anxious spectator of the battle, Night, the common friend to wearied and dismayed armies, parted them; and in dismal anxiety and doubt the Cavaliers and their King prepared to bivouack on the fiercely contested and undecided field." Such was the battle of Edgehill, " one of the bloodiest fights on record ; scarcely thirty thousand men were engaged, and of that uumber nearly six thousand were buried on the field." Both sides suffered grievously. " raor uterque fuit, victus uterQue fuit, is the truthful and candid verdict of Sir Richard Bulstrode, , who bravely fought the battle h e describes.' But we have followed the Cavaliers far enough on their ad venturous march. 'We have quoted sufficiently from Mr. Warburton's eloquent narrative to corroborate our assertion that it is as attractive in manner as it is romantic in material. And yet we have not ana lyzed one-half of the three volumes. The histor y of Rupert is as various in character a s it is startling. Not only does his adventurous career display the prowess of the soldier ; we meet with him again on the blue waters, bearing the na me of an admiral, and following the course of a buccaneer. The perils and glories of his sea exploits form another very interesting episode in this work. We have, however, dwelt so long upon the first portion that we must content ourselves with this brief reference to the marvellous chapter entitled " Rupert at Sea." Yet another vicissit u d e , ano th e r and a more marvellous transformation ! R O up n er s t e a hasor on land, in the Court or the cam p, hitherto appeared the same, " etait toujours moldat," a the sS lrPhilip metamorphosis Warwi Warwick appears said o in of him hicnire now, howev e r, and incredible, We behold him a philosopher and an artist. In 1656, long after King Charles's stormy life was over, we find his sol dier-nephew thus occupied : " In the first leisure of his manhood, his mind re verted with a sense of luxury to the philosophical pur suits in which even his youth had taken pleasure. He now found new sources of unexhausted interest in the forge, the laboratory, and the painter's studio. " It was during this lull in the stormy life of Rupert, t t h in a t t o. h e so discovered long a g o o r a s improvedl637, whenupon i his art of merso mured in the Castle of Lintz, he had exercised his active genius in some etchings that still remain, and bear that date. He now returned, in his voluntary retirement, to the objects ii that had then charmed his enforced le isure. His varied biography busied with it for so many y ears. T he plumed helmet, the cuirass, end gallant war -horse ar e laid aside; the namepresents was hiddenno more from strikingo ni theworld that bad been period than this, *%hen his good sword that so often hewed his fearless way through fiercest danger hangs idly on the wall ; the stout ship that so long atemnu d the storm, and explored strange seas, lies rotting on the banks of Loire. Tho beauties of Paris are forgotten, calumny itself is silent. The young philosopher, royal, warlike, and renowned, has retired from the world, and adopted the student's bravely ascetic life; the same energies that once led ltgions along the battle-field, and fleets across the ocean, are now devoted to the discoveries of science and the creations of art. " Among the former, the Prince turned - his first atten tion to those that related to his own profession—of arms. He laboured heartily at his own forge, and applied him self to the practical as well as the theoretical details of science. The writer of his funeral ode, which is quoted from in the first chapter of this work, describes him as forging the thunderbolts of war, his hands so well could throw.' The transactions of the Royal Society record his mode of fabricating a gunpowder of ten times the ordinary strength at that time used; likewise a mode of blowing up rocks in mines, or under water, ' an in strument to cast platforms into perspective, an hydraulic engine, a mode of making hail-shot, an improvement in the naval quadrant. Amongst his mechanical labours are also to be reckoned his improvements in the h cks of fire-arms, and his guns for discharging several bullets very rapidly. Amongst his chemical discoveries were the composition now caned Prince's metal, rind mode of rendering black lead fusible, and re-changing it into its original state. Perhaps to him is also to be at tributed the toy that bears his name as Rupert's drop; that curious bubble of glass which has long amused children, and puzzled philosophers.' " After the Restoration Rupert visited England, and still continued these favourite pursuits. " Often," we are told, "would Charles and his silken favourite lounge into the workshop of the Prince,where girt with an apron and begrimed with soot, the hero cf a hundred fights was wielding his hammer as if the anvil was a Roundhead." After this we again find him on the sea, sharing with Albemarle the command of the British fleet in those sea fights, one of which Dryden has commemorated in a poem, concluding with the truthful exclamation— " They sure fought well Whom Rupert led and who were British born." It is hardly necessary after what we have said to com mend this very interesting work to the attention of our readers. It contains a multitude of original letters, and a diary and other memoranda of Prince Rupert's. It is, moreover, adorned with engraved portraits of Rupert, Falkland, and other celebrated characters of that time, but these pictorial embellishments are but a secondary consideration by the side of Eliot \Varbur• ton's effective pen and ink portraits and picturesque narrative. GENERAL THE HON. SIR ED WARD PAGET, G.C.8., GOVERNOR OF CHELSEA HOSPITAL. This gallant officer and veteran warrior, whose death we recorded last week, was the fourth son of the late Earl of Uxbridge, and was born on 3d November, 1775, and was consequently in the 74th year of his age. He eommenced his military career at the age of 17, being appointed Cornet and Sub-Lieutenant in the Ist Life Guards on the 23d March, 1792, Captain in the 54th Foot the Ist December, 1792, and Major the 14th No vember, 1793. Ile accompanied this regiment to Ostend, under the orders of Sir Charles Grey, and subsequently off Cherbourg and the French Coast under those of Lord Moira. The 30th April, 1794, he obtained a Lieute nant-Colonelcy in the 28th Foot, and in June, 1794, he embarked with Lord Moira, and landed at Ostend. He served the campaigns in Flanders and Holland, and was present at the sortie from Mirraquen, and the action of Gueldermalson. In March, 1795, he returned with his regiment to Ireland, and in June fol lowing, embarked and sailed in the expedition for Quiberon, but was recalled. In September, 1795, be sailed for the West Indies, under the orders of Sir Ralph Abercromby, but was twice driven back; and finally, in January, 1796, landed at Portsmouth. In July, 1796, he went to Gibraltar, and from this period to the end of 1801 he was stationed in the Mediterranean. He was present in the naval action off Cape St. Vincent on the 14th February, 1797. The Ist January, 1798, he re ceived the rank of colonel, and was appointed aide-de camp to George lIL He was at the capture of Minorca in 1798, under Sir Charles Stuart. Served the campaign in Egypt under Sir Ralph Aber cromby. and Lord Hutchinson, the 28th Regiment being in the reserve, which was commanded by the late Sir John Moore. He was in the actions of the Bth, 13th, and 21st of March, and in the latter was severely wounded; also present at the investment of Cairo and Alexandria, and a hostage with the French army at Cairo till their embarkation at Aboukir. In October, 1801, he was appointed Brigadier-General of the staff in Ireland, and stationed at Fermoy. The 2d of July, 1805, he was removed to the staff in England, and sta. timed at Brabourne Lees. The Ist of January, 1805, he received the rank of Major-General. From April to October, 1805, he commanded a brigade of infantry at Eastbourne, and in the latter month embarked with it, under the orders of General Don, landed at Cux haven, and advanced to Bremen. He returned with the army to England in February, 1806. In June fol lowing, he was appointed to the staff of the army in the Mediterranean, and was placed by the late General Fox on the command of the reserve of the army in Sicily. In January, 1808, he returned to England from Sicily, with a part of the army under Sir John Moore, and on the 23d February received the Colonelcy of the 80th Foot. In April, 1808, he accompanied Sir John Moore to Sweden, and was appointed by that officer to the reserve of his army. In June he returned with the army to England, and was immediately sent to Portugal. %Vas appointed by Sir Hugh Dalrymple to the command of the advanced corps of his army. He served the cam paign in Spain under Sir John Moore, and commanded the reserve of that officer's army, and was at the battle of Corunna on the 16th of Jan., 1809. He was next appointed to the staff of the army in the peninsula under Sir Arthur Wellesley, with the local rank of Lieut.-General, and commanded Ole left wing of the army. He conducted the advance from Coimbra to Oporto. Oa the 12th May, 1809, he lost his right arm and returned to England. Lord Wel lington, in his dispatch, observed, in allusion to this accident :—" In Lieut.-General Paget I have lost the assistance of a friend who had been most useful to me in the few days which had elapsed since he had joined the army. lie had rendered a most important service at the moment he received his wound, in the taking up the position which the troops afterwards maintained, and in bearing the first brunt of the enemy's attack." His Lordship also remarked in a private letter, dated Oporto, May 13,1809, upon the same subject:—"l cannot express thmrhoauesyc• principal r u e tienh ti nce o iid : ta - ,: m ..lo u ppf e ret h cdh, m l ebov, r y: e he g trho r l,c e ,ef t mai t rt h i.ml e i.o loss unhoneafech4coiottshuhanosi account o i j s fw t u a t nhi n i eoe c ,i e rhl ; sas o usi r cblc h : o she w le, oLrefocltreildlieey(d We llington , t l e ny igr r ot n om t n , kof Lieutenant-General in the army. subsequently , B a u n r cl s g e o N r v:a , e s i d n t aalksseln3. seco n d so n e i n co r n mm the and retreatto From the 80th Foot, he was removed the 26th of December, 1815, to the Colonelcy of the 28th Foot, and on the 31st or October, 1818, was appointed Captain of Cowes Castle, in the Isle of Wight. In 1821, Captain Paget was appointed Governor of Ceylon, and in 1822, Commander-in-Chief of 11. M. Forces in India. In 1824, he quelled the formidable mutiny at Barrackpore, which had threatened the most serious results to the ranks of the Hon. E LC .'s service. Sir Edward planned and completed the whole of the operations connected with the Burmese war, but being succeeded in his command in 1825, he received none of the prize money which was subsequently awarded 1 In 1826 he was appointed Governor of the Royal Mili tary College at Sandhurst, and finally, in 1837, Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, by King William IV. Sir Edward received a medal for the battle of Corunna, and was a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and of the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword. He was also a member of the Consolidated Board of General Officers. The opinion Sir John Moore had of this officer may be collected from his dying words. I n t he act of expiring he observed to Colonel Paul Anderson—" Is Paget iu the room ;" and being answered in the negative, he said —" Remember me to h im—remember me to him. It a General Paget I mean. lie's a fine fellow." East Cowes Park, on Saturday afternoon, and placed on board the Queen, SoUthampton and Isle of toTdhgee,body was removed from his residence, Oakfield Wight steam-packer, to be forwarded by the South. Western Railway (six o'clock train) to the Waterloo Station, from whence it was taken to Chelsea Hospital, where it reposed under the charge of the veterans. The funeral took place this morning at Chelsea with military honours, the corpse being deposited among the heroes in that establishment. The late Sir Edward was twice married; first to the Hon. Frances Begot, 22d of May, 1801, who died in childbed May, 1806; and secondly, on the 22d February, 1815, to Lady Harriet Legge, fourth daughter of George, third Earl of Dartmouth. By the former he had one son, the Rev. Francis Edward Paget, Rector of Elford, Staffordshire; and by the latter, who still survives, he had three sons, Major Henry William Paget, Captain Patrick Paget, Grenadier Guards, and Edward Heneage Paget, and five daughters, the eldest of whom is the present Marchioness of Ormonde. GREAT FIRE AT ROTTERDAM.—THREE HUN DRED THOUSAND POUNDS WORTH OF PROPERTY DE STROICED.-On Saturday information was received at the principal fire offices in town of a very devastating con flagration having occurred at Rotterdam, by which pro perty valued at upwards of 300,0001. bad been destroyed. It appear that the flames broke out on Saturd ay morning in the sugar refinery of Messrs. Tromp, Sairmondt, and Co., situated in that part of the town called the Leaven haven, near to the river side, and nearly opposite the shore where the Sea Gull (Hull and Rotterdam steamer) lies. The fire, in the space of a few minutes, assumed a fearful aspect ; for, on the sugar be c oming ignited, it ran out like liquid fire from the various windows and other outlets, whence it extended to about thirty other warehouses, o ffi ces, and dwellings, including the house and warehouse of Ringrose. The flames could not be ext i ngu i s hed until Sunc ay at midnight. It is said that Rotterdam was never visited by such a calamity in the shape of fire before. The total loss in merchandise, &c. , is estimated at a bout 3,600,000 f. or 300,000/. A g rea t proportion of the property uninsured. FALSE ALARM or FIRE.—On Thursday evening , b e t we en nine and eleven o'clock, considerable confu sion occurred in consequence of a report having been raised that an extensive conflagration was raging in Regent-street, which, however, fortunately proved to be untrue, but not till the principal fire engines in the me tropolis had hastened towards the supposed scene of dis aster. The alarm was occasioned by an experimental trial of the apparatus and devices to be used at the gene ral illumination in honour of Her Majesty's birthday, by the Messrs. Nicoll, paletOt makers to the Prince, and as the premises of this firm extend ever four of the largest houses in Regent street, the blaze of light was most intense. Sufficient notice ought certainly to have been given of the intention :o f li g htin g up upon the oc casion in question. LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY.--The North American mail steam-ship Niagara , Ca p tain /tyrie, departed from the Mersey this afternoon for Halifax and New York, ork, carrying out the usual mails, a . fair conipleatTenht of pas sengers, and about 2,0001. specie on . freigh.t. estea . m l - ship Cambria, Captain Shannon, wit? the inward mat s, , m of or S n c . i a n r g b , o r s o t r u u g c h k , leave Boston on the 9th Halifax on the MAY 18.—The John G!ey, from Girgenti, SHIELDS, in entering the harbour !his mornis, struck on the &c., will be due here on Monday (this day). l in S s h t e .. would . f M or id on the Middle Ground, but got off with assistance and g us to . The sea A th si l a s proceeded. OFF CORK, MAY 18. 7 -Limena, Le Messurier, Porto Rico for Liverpool; Libra, .Moir, ditto; Lockwood, L dl oen G do r n o , un in d, p a r n o d cee r e d m in a Erriegtoe, New Orleans for Liverpool. TO THE SECRETARY OF TILE METROPOLITAN REFORM ASSOCIATION. Sir,—On Wednesday the 16th, enormous dull de bate on " articles of food for cattle, sheep, or pigs," and the agreements between landlords and tenants thereanent. When such a cognate subject gets before the House, there is no wonder that Affirmation, Mar riage, and Parliamentary Oaths Bills fly, tossed by adverse w inds into the limbo of futurity. On the 17th, a petition was presented from " John Sparke and others," complaining of the conduct of a well-known Member connected with Railway Com panies, "praying for inquiry, and that he may be ex• pelled from being a Member of the House." It might have been as well if John Sparke and others had for decency left a gap between the inquiry and punishment demanded, to contain the possible event of the inquiry's not ending in the precise manner John Sparke and others have assigned. The petition was read by the clerk, and then the Member petitioned against rose in his place. It is not likely that within the compass of a speech by the party incriminated, there should be included what should determine the opinion of the House or the public, either in one direction or the o'her. But one point which could not fail to impress itself on view of the proceeding, was that inasmuch as there exists an apparatus of considerable complexity, and what ought therefore to be considerable efficiency, for the redress ing of all pecuniary wrongs, some decision of the law courts ought to have been produced, before Parliament was called upon by John Sparke and others to exer cise a summary jurisdiction instead. Parliament is bound to exercise discreet vigilance for the preserva tion of its own reputation ; but it is not bound to set up a sentimental standard of purity extending to cases which the law of the country has not touched, and in which the privileges of the House are not distinctly concerned. If a Member should use reproachful speeches or gestures to the Speaker or to the House, the House might justly take pro ceedings thereon, though no verdict or damages could be obtained by common process of law. But the House would hardly think of proceeding against a Member for having incurred debts, until some com mon process of law had fixed the fact of their ex istence. Another point, put forward to a certain extent by the incriminated Member himself, but of which he did not appear to be conscious of the whole force and efficacy, is that great allowance must be made for the acts of individuals under circumstances of danger and difficulty, grasping at the prospect of deliverance through what will be met by no disapprobation in the event of ultimate success. Many a man under the appre hension of being obliged to retire from business, has not taken precisely the same view of the case and his duties thereupon, as will be taken by his creditors in cold blood afterwards, who may regret that he tried the chance of what a further tempting of fortune might produce. But nobody ever dreamt of insti tuting rigid proceedings upon a difference of judg ment of this nature. Every man who was ever able to exercise a pros pective judgment upon railway matters at all, must have at all times felt a conviction that the facts would ,be, that at a certain period there would be twice as many railways as were wanted, and these at a certnia subsequent period would be only half. There was therefore sure to be the strongest inducement for railway managers, at the first of these periods, to stretch a point for the chance of rubbing on into the other. And within certain limits, it is difficult to deny, that this might fall within the duty of an able and conscientious railway director. Put the case, that the concern in general by an operation of this kind had thumped over the sands without any serious detriment, and beaten into deep water on the other side. What appellation would the proprietors have had for their leader and guide, but " The Pilot that weather'd the storm ?" This reasoning may not be conclusive ; neither is it meant that anything should be concluded, except that the House was right in not giving itself airs of outraged virtue, and in maintaining a countenance of kindness towards the incriminated Member rather than the contrary. Ancther petition from railway proprietors com plained of the conduct of two other Members con nected with railways, and prayed for inquiry. Both petitions were ordered to " lie on the table." On Friday, by a remarkable coincidence, motion was made and carried without division, for issuing a new writ in the else of a Member " adjudged guilty of high treason." So in the other case, proceedings ought to have waited till somebody was " adjudged guilty." In the latter part of the evening, an extraordinary scene was exhibited, to such as were there to see. On going into Committee on the Parliamentary Oaths Bill, a Catholic Member moved the exclusion of the reporters. It would be unfair to infer that his object was connected with the Bill in hand; because he stated that he did it in return for the reporters' not having reported the whole of his speeches ;—a curious principle if carried out by every Member in the House. This, however, did not hinder an ultra -1 Protestant leader from broadly throwing out the I imputation of desiring secresy, on those who took the different side from himself. As an instance of the effect of one hour's exclusion of the public, it was impossible to avoid perceiving how much the tone and conduct of the debate were iifluer.ced by the fact. A leader of the Church Monopoly Marty, with an air of confident benevolence recalling the traditions of the 'Wolf in Red Riding hood, descanted on the desirableness of uniformity and singleness in the matter of oaths, and coolly pro posed that the oath so bitterly complained of by the Catholics as intended to involve theta in a declaration of allegiance to a Church they disapprove, should be extended to the Protestant Dissenters of the realm. Pathetically did he urge the impossibility that Dis senters who had no scruple in swearing allegiance to the Queen, could have any more in swearing alle giance to the Church, which everybody knew was part and parcel of the state as much as the Queen ; and confidently did he look forward to the agreeable sense of harmonious equality which would arise from the Dis senters putting their necks into the same noose with the Catholics. And the amusing thing was—as Pepys would have said—to see how quietly the Dissenters did take it, and how long they were before they. com prehended the nature of the bed preparing for them. Substantial pillars of the Dissenting interest were seen settling themselves in their seats, and smiling assent to the blessings of uniformity. At last some of the more active spirits began to fidget, and to look in each other's faces like Massaniello's friends upon the stage, in the way of saying " Are we going to stand this ?" And so by degrees the opposition began to collect, and men to find out that all was not gospel which came from the High Church side. At this moment Lord John Russell rose, and in the most cool, able, and masterly manner, turned over all the accidents and concomitants of the proposal, as completely as it would have been done in a conclave of Dissenters after a six weeks' sitting. But the Dis senters had an escape. It was certainly not their own arm, nor voice either, that saved them. With the smallest connivance or lack of will on the part of the I Government, they might have been turned over into the abyss of praying to be saddled with swearing al legiance to the Church as by law established. And a pretty abyss it would have been. The first man who ever mentioned Church-rates, would have been put down with cries of perjury. There probably never was an instance, in which a cool political effrontery of proposal, advanced so far with•so little opposition. Upon the Minister's pronunciamento, men's eyes were opened, and the High Church proposal met with no quarter afterwards, being finally withdrawn with out putting to the vote. The Member for Northamp ton (Mr. Vernon Smith) in the course of the debate, put forward what everybody in his heart knows to be the true point to move on if it were possible to come there; which is, that everybody should take the same oath or declaration, and that this should be confined to a declaration of allegiance to the existing occupant of the crown. A notice was finally placed upon the table, for inviting the attention of the House to the reconsideration of the Standing Order by which strangers are excluded on the motion of a single Member ; out of which it is scarcely possible that some good effect should not arise. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, AN OLD REFORMER. London, May 21, 1849. ErsoM RACES.—On these festive occasions _the exposure to the air, dust, andsunareloikielhyeatoutpyr,odauecde prejudicial consequences to the . claims more than usual care will b e required formtoheegir p rotects to We feel warranted in asserting that a female hi'veliness which will then be ecalled in requisition , rs. Rowland 'lid the unparalleled prep!trations_ of Mss be in universal rt qtnsition. To preserve the tresses of beauty from the injurious ffects - of dap or t an ev he den efilee - m ents of dust, no invention yet achieved c b named in comparison with their unrivalled Macassar Oil ; as a like protectionm and ornament of the skin their , Kalydor is similarly riowned protecting it from, th b an eful effects of the scorching rays of the sun aid heated particles of dust, and imparting a delightful awl refreshing coolness; while their Odonto is no le.s famed as a preserver and beautifier of those important objects of our frame—the teeth and gums. DIE HONOURABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.—Accord ing to a previous order, the Honourable Artillery Com pany held a field muster on Saturday to commemorate the birthday of her Majesty the Queen. The Regiment formed in battalion on the Artillery- ground, in front of the Armory-house, under command of ex-Li(utenant- Colonel the Hon.ilenry Fitzroy, M.P. About two hun dred men, rank and file, were under arms at roll call. The battalion saluted, marched in slow and quick time, and went through several other manceuvres. The Artil lery division of the Regiment, under command of Cap tain Parker, then took up a position on the right flank of the battalion, with two of their field-pieces, and fired a double royal salute. The Regiment then re-formed in battalion, and left the ground in companies. There was a large attendance of spectators, the majority being ladies. ER MAJESTY'S THEATRE The news of the dastardly attempt upon the life of her most Gracious Majesty, which Vok l.lace in the coarse of the evening, was announced to the audience from the wage by Mr. Lee in the following terms : "Ladies and Gentlemen—Under the impression that h portion of the audience may be labouring under anxiety, an d as l oya l ty i s h ere paramoun t t o a ll other t houghts, I am commissioned by Mr. Lumley to inform 3M, that although her Gracious Msjt•sty and the R yal children were shot at whilst returning to the palace, they have (thank Heaven !) escaped unhurt." The N. tional Anthem was of course sung , and repeat ed twice during the evening, producing a series of those emphatic displays of loyalty which special occasions of this kind can alone draw forth. The audience responded to the prayer of the anthem with heart and soul, and !loved by their spontaneous and universal expression of je ehhg the joy they felt at her Majesty's providential deliverance. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. The opera of Lucretia Borgia was repeated on Stur dlY.night in the presence of a large and distinguished audience. The fact of the attempt upon the Queen's life reached the theatre before the performance began, and the National Anthem was given under circumstances of great interest. It was repeated after the opera, amid tes timonies of the most excited loyalty. RURY-LANE THEATRE. Fidelio was performed here on Saturday, by the Ger man troupe, with all the completeness and ensemble with which a German troupe alone can render it. Mademoiselle Walther, who undertook the arduous part of Leonara (Fidelio), is a singer of considerable energy and an actress of more than ordinary feeling. Her voice is a soprano of considerable power and compass, and of pleasing quality. Mademoiselle Walther enters with enthusiasm into the spirit of her part, and car ries the audience with her throughout her performance. The most successful effort of Mademoiselle Walther was in the celebrated quartet, " Er sterbe" (with Pi xerro, Rucco, and Florestar), in which she rendered the dramatic business of the scene unusually striking. In the beautiful duet with Florestan, "0 namenclose Freudc," Mademoiselle Walther also sang with great feeling and animation, and the curtain fell upon this most interesting and exciting ecene amidst the loudest manifestations Or satisfaction. Mademoiselle Walther's success was decided. Herr Erl was the Florestan, and his performance helped to confirm the opinion we have already given of his capabilities. It would hardly be fair to criticise Herr Stepan, who undertook the part which was to have been played by Herr Formes, a basso of great reputation, at a short notice. Herr Stepan has a fine voice, but has yet to learn the secret of using it to advantage. Herr Breuer, who played Rocco, the gaoler, is not inefficient as an actor, but his singing would be much more acceptable if his intonation were less undecided. As on previous occa sions, the chief honours of the evening devolved upon the ladies and gentlemen of the chorus. The magnificent chorus of prisoners, in the second act, one of the profoundest and most po, tied inspira tions of Beethoven, was encored with acclamations, and the brilliant and irresistible finale was received with the utmost enthusiasm. Among the other encores wa. the pretty round " Mir ist, so wunderbar," in the first act, which was effectively rendered by Mademoiselle MademoLelle Babnigg, and Herr Breuer. The band executed two of the four overtures written by Beethoven for Fidelio, the first and by far the grandest of which, the Leonora (in C), was played between the second and third acts, and e armly applauded. The Opera went off will great spirit, and was received with unanimous favour, Mademoiselle Walther and the prin cipal performers being called before the footlights after every act. SOUTHAMPTON, :.7UNDAY, MAY 20 —The Halted States mei'. steamer Hermann, Captain E. Crabtree, sailed this morning with the American mails for New York, 160 first and second class passengers, a Nll cargo, and 1,5001. in specie on freight. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company's ship Indus, Captain J. Soy, also took her departure for Gibraltar, Malta, and Alexandria with the East India and China mails, 50 passengers, 230 tons measurement goods on freight, and 4,0001. specie. Yesterday (Saturday, the 19th) being the day appointed for the celebration of her Majesty's birthday, was kept here as a clos e holida y at tne Custom house, &e. The docks looked very gay, all the mail- packet steamers being handsomely decorated with flags. The pl a tf o rm battery fired a royal salute at noon, and at one P.m. the American frigate St. Lawrence, 44, Captain Hiram Paulding, hoisted the British ensign at the fore, and gave a national salute from 21 of her heaviest guns. This ship was moreover most beautifully dressed with flags during the whole day, and was an ob ject of considerable admiration. THE BRAZILS.—SOUTHAMPTON, SATURDAY, MAY the Swedish brig Jenny, Captain Cruse, which arrived off Cowes this morning, in 64 days from Rea de Janeiro, we have received files of the Jornal do Comercio of that city down to the 14th of Merch; but they bring no Political news of importance, Exchange on London was quoted 26; on Paris, nominal; Hamburgh, 680 to 685. Six pe r C ent. B raz ili an S toc k was 861 to 87. Freights to Antwerp, 30s. to 405.; British Channel, 35s ; United States, 40s. to 60s. Ilemburgh, 30s. to 325. 6d.; Havre, 40f. to 45f.; London or Liverpool, 405.; Marseilles, 30s. to 355.; Trieste, 355. HER MAJESTY'S BIRTHDAY.—The Loyal Highland Society of London held th e ir court dinner at the Free masons' Tavern to celebrate her Majesty's birthday. The Chisholm in the chair, supported by many of the nobility in Highland costume or court dress. The royal tradesmen celebrated her Majesty's birthday at the Freemasons' Tavern on Saturday; upwards of 100 gen tlemen attended. The Queen's present of two bucks was much appreciated, and the dinner, which was excellent, went off with great eclat. Mr. W. Pierce in the chair. SUDDEN DEATH OF SIR JOHN SMYTH, BART.— BRISTOL, MAY 19. A considerable and painful sensa tion was felt throughout this city this morning by the intelligence of the sudden death of Sir John Smyth, Bart., of Long Ashton Park, which mournful event took place at an early hour this morning, and was dis tressingly sudden. The deceased baronet was born in February, 1776, and was in the 74th year of his age. On Friday he was in his usual health, and in the after noon, having been particularly cheerful throughout the day, proceeded to his Gloucestershire mansion, Stapleton Court, where be dined, and up to the hour of his retiring to rest nothing un usual was observed in his appearance or manners. This morning, upon his valet going to his room, he was alarmed to find his master speechless. The household was immediately aroused, and expresses sent for medical assistance. All efforts were, however, of no avail, as in a few minutes Sir John breathed his last. The late baronet was never married, and will be suc ceeded in the estates by a maternal nephew, we believe, now in his minority. One of our evening contemporaries favoured its readers on Saturday with a list of Ministerial changes of a very startling character. Those that we have to an nounce as being really about to take place are sadly infe rior in interest, ant will excite no surprise whatever. Mr. J. Park er , w h o has been with Mr. T u f ne ll joint Se cretary of the Trea•ury, will succcd Mr. Ward as Secre tary of the Admiralty, Mr. Hay ter will replace Mr. Par ked at the Treasury, and Sir D. Dundas will become ee-dvo e to-d a y._ friarn t The necessary writs will be moved fur CRUELTy T'nt PaPer. Hazelden, a buii reaLs.—On Friday last Mr. Joseph before the bench o- residing at Brighton, appeared charged :by Mr. Tihnmagistrates at Uekfield, in Sussex, for the Prevention oftn:`"' the Secretary of the S, ciety .Cruelty to Animals, w ith wantonly and cruelly ill Read, a postumste at I, re rettns. mare, thu property f Mr. Mr. Thomas called " es, of whom he had hired it. conduct of the defendant as witness"' who described nbtrutal in the extreme, In the ln consequence of the tretttroaess d the mare received, it was unable to work fur some drunk at the time, and had sea). narrow escapes from s leitr,olature of the animal serious injury, owing to the docile inizd ca lal l i lc re d d otnhefor mare,his he was wantonly torturing. defence the defendant admitted having he had no but denied denied using her crnelly, and day mentioned lection of being in Uclefield at all on the by the witnesses, ahe must be mistaken, witnesses to contradict their evidence. The beenhcandsallid the case had been Cully and satisfactorilypr m ov a e r d e;, f h o e r had been guilty of wanton crue l ty towards the which he must pay 40s. in addition to Si,. for the damage sustained by Mr. Read, the owner, and in default of paying the 71. forthwith he would be sent to the House of Correctioa for two months, and kept to hard labour. The defendant not being proiridEd with the memeYl !aced IA custody. THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MA .Y 21, 1849. HER MAJESTY'S BIRTIIDA THE DRAWING-ROOM. The Queen held a Drawing- room in St. James's Palace on Saturday afternoon in celebration of her Majesty's birthday. Her Majesty and Prince Albert arrived from Buclting ham Palace shortly before two o'clock, attended by the Royal suite, and escorted by a detachment of the Life Guards. by lle a r d Royal g u rl s i t g a n e ß s r s u t c h e e , D C o u c l o h n e e s l s o s f ir Ke G n e t o w rg a e s a c t t o e u n p ded er, Bart., and Lord James P. Murray. Their Royal Hignesses tho Duke and Duchess ot Cambridge arrived, accompanied by their Royal High nesses the Hereditary Grand Duke and Grand Duch ess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, and attended by Lady Augusta Cadogan, Baron Kncsebeck, and Mr. Edmond Mildmay. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester ar rived at the Palace to pay a visit of congratulation to her Majesty. His Royal Highness Prince George was also present. His Royal Highness Prince Leopold, Count of Syra cuse, was attended by General Prince Castelcicala, the Neapolitan Minister, and the Chevalier de Colonna. Their Sert no Highnesses Prince Ernest and Prince William of Heq.e Philipsthal, and Prince Edward of 'axe Weimar, also attended. The Vice Chamberlain received the Royal Family on their arrival, and conducted them to the presence ot her Majesty. Before the Drawing-room the Queen received an ad dress of congratulation in the royal closet from the Arch bishops and Bishops. The Archbishop of Canterbury delivered the address. His Grace was accompanied by the Archbishop of York, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Ltandaff, the Bishop of Nor wich, the Bishop of Oxford, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Bishop of Bangor, the Bishop of Lichfield, the Bishop of Salisbury, the Bishop of Ripon, the Bishop of Wor cester, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Bishop of Rochester, the Bishop of St. Asaph, the Bishop of Chichester, the Bishop of Hereford, and the Bishop of Manchester. After delivering the address the Right Rev. Prelates retired from the royal presence. The Queen and Prince Albert entered the Throne room, accompanied by their Royal Hig hnesses the Duchess of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince George, the Heriditary Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, and the Count of Syracuse, and their Serene Highnesses Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, and Prince Ernest and Prince William of Hesse Philipsthal. The royal suite consisted of the Mistress of the Robes, the Duchess of Norfolk, the Countess of Desart (in waiting), the Countess of Gains borough, Lady Portman, the Marchioness of Douro, the Countess of Charlemont, the Viscountess Canning, Ladies of the Bedchamber, the Hon. Miss Murray (La waiting), Hon. Miss Macdonald (in waiting), Hoe. Miss Cavendish, Hon. Miss Stanley, and the Hon. Miss Kerr, Maids of Honour; Lady Charlotte Copley, Hon. Mrs. Brand, Hon. Mrs. George Campbell, and Lady Theresa Digby, Women of the Bedchamber; the Lord Steward, the Lord Chamberlain, the Master of the Horse, the Groom of the Stole to Prince Albert; Mr. George Edward An son, Keeper of her Majesty's Privy Purse • the Earl of Morton, Lord in Waiting ; Viscount Cli fden, Lord in Waiting on the Prince ; Lieutenant-Colonel the Ilon. C. B. Phipps, Private Secretary to the Prince ; General Sir Edward Bowater, Groom in Waiting ; Captain Francis Seymour, Groom in Waiting on his Royal Highness ; General Wemyss, Equerry in Waiting ; Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Alexander Gordon, Equerry in Waiting on the Prince; and Messrs. Forbes and Gor don, Pages of Honour in Waiting. Her Majesty's Honourable Corps of Gentleman-at- Arms were on duty at the entrance to the State Rooms, and also lined the Presence Chamber. The officers of the corps present were—the Lieutenant, Sir Matthew Wyatt; the Standardbearer, Mr. David Harmer; and the Adju tant, Captain Curling. The Lord Chancellor arrived a few minutes before two eclock, attended by his Secretaries, Deputy Sergeant at-Arms, and Pursebearer. The Right Hon. the Speaker of the House of Com mons arrived in state, attended by the Chaplain and the Sergeant at-Arms (Lord Charles Russell) attending the House of Commons. The Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas and the Chief Baron of the Exchequer appeared in their gold collars of SS, with the portcullis. Tho Equity Judges wore their gold robes. The Queen wore a train of green and silver silk, trim med with red roses and violets, and tulle d'illusion in sil ver. The petticoat was white satin, trimmed with tulle and bouquets of red roses to correspond to the train. tier Majesty's head-dress was composed of diamonds and feathers, with roses and violets. The dress was of Spitalfields manufacture. The Queen wore the collars of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and of the Most Ancient Order of the Thistle. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent wore a train of white watered silk covered with Nottingham lace, trimmed with lace and white ribands. The petticoat was white watered silk, also covered with Nottingham lace; the front of the petticoat was decorated with ornaments formed of brilliants, and the stomacher was of diamonds. Her Royal Highness vt ore a white head-dress with fea thers and diamonds and a necklace of diamonds and ame thysts. The dress was of British manufacture. Being a collar day, the principal knights of the seve ral orders of knighthood wore the collars of their respec- Live orders. His Royal Highness Prince Albert was habitrd in the uniform of a Field-Marshal, and wore the collars of the Garter and the Bath, together with the stars of thoso orders, and also the stars of the most Illustrious Orders of St. Patrick and the Thistle. The Prince also wore the ensigns of the Golden Fleece. The general circle was numerously attended. The Duke of Wellington wore a Field-Marshall's uniform and the Ensigns of the Garter and the Golden Fleece. The Duke of Devonshire wore the Collars of the Gar ter ald of a Russian Order o!' Knighthood. Viscount Combersnere wore the Collars and Stars of the Orders of the Bath, the Guelphic, and the Tower and Sword. About 1,700 of the nobility and gentry were present at the Drawing-room. The diplomatic circle were first introduced, when the following presentations to her Majesty the Queen and his Royal Highness the Prince took place: — The Countess de Reventlow presented her second daughter, the Countess Malvina Reventlow. The Belgian Minister presented the Baron Edouard Mertens, charged with a mission from the Belgian Go vernment The Ilaytian Minister presented M. E. Seguy Ville valeix, Secretary of the Ilaytian Legation. The diplomatic circle was attended by Mahomed Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador; M. Van de Weyer, the Belgian Minister, and Madame Van de Weyer; M. Charles Drouet, Couuseiller de Legation; M. Eugene de Gerlache, Attacht to the Legation; le Comte le La- Ling; Baron de Cetto, Bavarian Minister, and Baroness de Cetto; Viscount de Moncorvo, Portuguese Minister, and Viscountess de Moncorvo; the Chevalier de Ri beiro, Secretary; le Chevalier Pinto de Soveral and Baron de Moncorvo, Attaches to the Legation; the Chevalier and Madame de Ilorta; Baron de Brunnow, Russian Minister, and Baroness de Brunnoe ; Made moiselle Olga de Lechner; M. Alexandre do Berg and NI. C. de Koudriaffsky, Secretaries of Legation; Gene ral Prince Castelcicala, Neapolitan Minister; and M. G. Canofari, Secretary of Legation; Count de Kielman segge, llanoverian Minister; le Chevalier Bunsen, Prus sian Minister; Madame and Mademoiselle Marie Bun sen, Count Purpoucher, First Secretary, M. Charles Bunsen, Attache, and Baron Ernest Stockinar, Attaci 6 to the Legation ; le Commandeur Mar ques Lisboa, Brazilian Minister, and Madame Lis boa; le Chevalier Pinto Peixoto and M. J. T. do Amaral, Attaclli to the Legation; Count de Revent low, Danish Minister, and Countess de Reventlow; Baron Bertouch, Secretary of Legation ; Mr. George • Bancroft, American Minister, and Mrs. Bancroft, and Mr. Brodhead, Secretary of Legation; Count Schimmel pennick, Netherlands Minister, and Mademoiselle Schim melpennick ; Baron de Stratenus, Conseiller de Legation; Baron de Rehauzen, Swedish Minister, and Baroness de Rehausen ; M. de Sibbern, Secretary of Legation ; le Comte de Rosen, Aide-de-amp General; Senor J. J. de Osma, Peruvian Minister; le Colonel Beltran, Secretary; le Major J. F. de Elizalde, and M. Henry Caravedo, Attachels to the Legation ; Senor Felipe Molina Costa Rica Minister; le Marquis de Sauli, Sardinian Minister; le Marquis Victor Emmanuel d'Azeglio, Couseiller ; Baron Isola and Count Corti, Secretaries of Legation ; Count Colloredo, Austrian Minister, and Countess Col loredo; Baron Koller and Baron Wydenbruck, Secre taries of Legation ; M. D. Delva (Senateur), Haytian Minister ; M. de Montherot, French Chargl d'Affaires, and Madame de Montherot ; Viscount Palmerston, G.C.8., the Queen's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and the Viscountess Palmerston ; and Colonel the Hon. Sir Edward Cust, Her Majesty's Master of the Ceremonies. THE MINISTERIAL BANQUETS, &c. The o i t n h m e r e mem bersnts in Firste Ministry Lord of gavethe Treasury I,:ull dressanednithee r t a of h h ono ur of Her Majesty' s birthday. We su bjoin a list of the guests at the:several banquets ; Lord John Russell entertained at dinner at Ms pri vate residence in Chesham-place the following noble men and gentlemen, in celebration of her Majesty's birthday :—Earl Fitzwilliam, Earl Ducie, Earl Fitshar dinge, Earl of Leicester, Lord Portman, L ord de Manley, Lord Effingham, Lord Harry Vane, M.P.•, Sir De Lacy Evans, M.P.; Sir Charles Lemon, M.P.; Sir R. Fergu son, M.P.; Mr. Chichester Fortescue, M.P.; Mr. Ro harts, M.P.; Mr. R. W. Grey, M,P.; and the Hon. Colonel Keppel, M.P. Viscount Palmerston, Secretary of State for Foreign Afairs, entertained the following members of the corps diplunialique at his mansion in Carlton-gardens:—His Excellency the Turkish Ambassador, Mahowed Pasha, his Excellency the Russian Minister, Baron Brutinow ; his Excellency the Austrian Minister, Count Colloredo; his Excellency the Prussian Minister, Chevalier Bunsen; his Excellency the Swedish Minister, Baron Rehausen; his Excellency the Minister for the United States, Mr. Bancroft; his Excellency the Danish Minister, Count Reventlow ; his Excellency the Portuguese Minister, Viscount de Moncorvo; his Excellency the Hanoverian Minister, Count Kielmansegge; his Excellency the Ba varian Minister, Baron de Cetto; his Excellency the Minister for the Two Sicilies, Prince Castel cicalo; his Excellency the Sardinian Minister, Marquis de Sauli; his Excellency the Minister for Buenos Ayres, M. Moreno; his Excellency the Minister for Costa Rica, M. Molino; his Excellency the Minister cellency for the Re public of Hayti, General D a l ba; his Ex the Peruvian Minister, M. Osm a ; his Excellency the Chargé d'Affaires for the French Republic, Baron de Montherot; and the following British diplomatists :—Viscount Pon sonby, Lord Bloomfield, Lord Howden, Lord Eddisbury, Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, Sir Henry Ellis, Sir Edmund Lyon, Sir R. rekeuhaga , Sir Robert Shafto Adair,