The Sun. — London, England, 1861-07-18 00:00:00

THEATRE -ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Backstone. ,the THIS EVENDl performance s will commence with G a new Ballet, BACCHUS AND ARIADNE. Miss Fanny Wright, the Leclercqs, Mr. Webster, &c. a new Come dy, entitled MY LORD AND After which, MY LADY ; or, It Might have been Worse. Mr. C. Mathews , Kr. Andrews, Mr. Buckstone, Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs: Wilkins, &c. Followed by TAKING BY STORM. Mr. C. Mathews, To conclude with THE SCAPEGOAT. Commence at 7. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.— Lessee and Manager, Mr. A. Harris. For the Benefit of Signor and Madame GASSIER. THIS EVENING, the new comic drama, entitled A NOMESTEAD STORY, Messrs, Ryder Shore, and Miss M. flare& Followed by the Ist and 2d acts of HAMLET. Hamlet, Mr. Fechter. After which, A CONCERT, in which Madame - Gassier, Sig. Gassier, Sig. Delle Sedie, and Si g . G ar do n i will "sing. Concluding:with DON CIESAR DE BAZAIi. Don Cnsar, Mr. Fechter. NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHL- Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster. Reproduction of the great drama of "The Dead Heart." First week of "The Pretty Horsebreakers." THIS EVENING, and during the week, THE DEAD HEART. Messrs. B. Webster, J. L. Toole, Fisher, Billing ton, Eburne, Smith, Romer ; Miss Woolgar and Miss Kate Kelly. To conclude with (4th time) THE PRETTY HORSE BREAKERS. Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr. Paul Bedford; Miss K. Kelly, Miss Woolgar, Miss E. Thome, Miss Laidlaw, and Mrs. Chatterley, Doors open at half past 6—Commence at 7. CANTERBURY -HALL CONCERTS AND FINE ARTS GALLERY. EVERY EVENDTG, Two Grand Selections from celebrated Operas, including Verdi's new Opera, THE BAL MASQUE (first produced in England at this Establishment), with a Chorus of Forty Voices, and upon a scale unequalled at any other Concerts. Miss Russell, Miss Ernst Mr. Greville, Mr. Herbert, Signor Tivoli, Mr. Bernard; popular Solos on the Cornet-a-piston, by Mr. Levy (the first performer of the day); the Brothers Conrad (in an entirely original entertainment on the double rope, not to be seen elsewhere); continued success of Mr. Wood and his talented little Son. The Comic Department comprises the following favourites: —Mr. Marshall, Mr. Hollingsworth ; the NERVES, by Messrs. Harvey and French ; and Mrs. Lawrence. Musical Director, Mr. JONGHMANS. T H E 0 X F 0 it D, 6, OXFORD-STREET. This noble building being now completed, its architectural beauty, elegance of ornamentation, and brilliancy of lighting render it one of the sights of the metropolis. Open Ever, Evening'. The programme is varied, and includes - S e lections (by a full company of principals, powerful band, and chorus) from "Macbeth" and "Un Ballo in 3lasehera." both operas by Verdi, the composer of the day—The wonderful Solos on the Cornet-a-Piston of the renowned LEVY—Scotch Duets by the Misses Stuart, and other vocal and instrumental music of the highest order. Conductor, Mr. F. Jonghmans. The Comic portion of the entertainment is supported Ig Miss Green, Messrs. Sam Collins, Harvey, and Fr ench (the Nerves), W. H. Wieland, E. Marshall, and W. Randall. A sslon, Hall, sixpence ; Balcony and Stalls, one shilling. Private Boxes, 10s. 6d. HIGH WATER. AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tim DAY. —Morning, 10h. 14m.—Afternoon, 10h. 48m. To-moßnow.-Morning, 11h. 26m.—Afternoon, h. in. THE WEATHER.—Bux OFFICE, JuLTIB, 1861. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 72 —highest since noon yesterday. 58—lowest this morning and during the ni g ht. 68—this day at noon. BAnomerns-29.78 ; falling slowly. WlND—Westerly; gusty, with cloudy weather. Free-trade and the Freedom of the City har monise well. Better now than they did at no very distant period. If we are not mistaken, the Great Companies of which the City is so proud, and which are so proud of themselves, are all monuments of civic exclusiveness. So far from every man being free to exchange his labour or skill on equal terms with other men, he must be free of the City, or trade, if at all, at a great disadvantage. Indeed we should not, we believe, be wide of the mark, in designating " Freedom of the City" as a remnant of Protection, and of deadly antagonism to Free-trade. The learned in such lore could furnish us with a toler able Tariff of the protective advantages to be enjoyed through taking up freedom in the City of London—advantages in no way depending on skill and capacity. Those who had not served an apprenticeship to a trade in London might, of course, be far superior to those who had; but, in the genuine spirit of Protection, London, and a hundred old corporations besides, forbad the citizens to buy in the cheaper market of all skilful hands, and compelled them to deal only with the favoured fellow-citizens. What relics of Protection still hang upon the privilege of freedom we care not to inquire. They can hardly be very important now. And it may, perhaps, be regarded as a sign of the times, that what was so lately almost the; blue riband of Protection has now become an appropriate decoration for the great Free-trader ; and that the banquet on the occasion should be given, and given with the most cordial hospitality, by a leading civic Tory. Mr. COBDEN, notwithstanding the precarious state of his health, which all his countrymen regret, spoke exceedingly well, and made some happy hits. His reference to the merchants of London, for in stance, who, forty-one years ago, drew up a decla ration by the pen of Mr. TOOKE, and afterwards presented it to Parliament by Mr. BARING, after wards Lord ASHBURTON. That declaration, he said, "really contained in a few words almost all that has been since said in favour of the principle of free-trade. I think I can quote it to you from memory. It was to this effect : that the maxim of buying in the cheapest market and selling in the dearest, which always regulates the transactions of individual merchants, is equally applicable as the best rule to the trade of a whole nation. I really do not know that any amplification w ou ld b e tt er define what is the meaning of the words free trade than that short sentence. It means that it is the interest of men to exchange superfluities for neces saries. It has not the base and sordid mean i ng which some people have given to it—that it is based upon selfishness. It means that it is the in terest of mankind to go and seek a commodity where it is cheap—that is, where it is plentiful—and can vey it to another locality where it is dear; in other words, where it is scarce." Mr. COBDEN found a happy illustration of this in the importations of corn since last autumn. He thought, and he is probably right, that considering the extent of land now cultivated, and the in creased skill and capital applied to its cultivation, we had not had within memory a greater failure of our crops, both for man and beast, than last year. Yet the vast deficiency had been filled up as we all know not only without any cry of agricultural distress, or any resort by "farmer's friends," or by half starving towns, to the Government—but filled up by our private traders so smoothly and quietly that but for the advantage conferred by it on the Chancellor of the Exchequer we should hardly have known of it. The Custom-house tells us, however, that Free-trade has in one twelvemonth supplied us with fifteen million quarters of different kinds of corn from various countries, seven or eight millions of it being corn adapted to the food of man. The distant prairies of America, the steppes of Ru ss ia, the almost inacessible pla teaus of Spain , were all swept of their abundance to feed the towns of England. " And all this process went on without the aid of the Government. Without any recognition of public duty, it was silently, thankfully, and without shock or convulsion received as the result of free t ra d e . And after an experience as that, how can doubt arise ? How can we withh ol d our faith in aprincipl e which is greater than charity, for it steps in and does the work of almsgiving on such a mighty scale that human benevolence would shrink from it? . or' 41t e br , r / 4iet; 4 2•7, • 7 • — TM, 1' ' l, 1 - •• ir, THE SUN. LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1861. After such an illustration, can we do otherwise than acknowledge that this principle of free trade is one which we all acknowledge as one of the ordinances of the Creator; that, in fact, it is the international common law of the Almighty ?" As it was the French treaty which obtained Mr. COBDEN the honour he was at that time receiving, and which was the consummation of those labours which his host commemorated in proposing his health, he must of course advert to it. He dwelt as usual on the adaptation of two countries so near, and of such diverse industry and skill, for a vast commercial intercourse, and in an amusing strain on the effects of the two people's ignorance of each other. It is but fair to give his own view of his treaty, distinguished from former commercial treaties :—" A treaty in the old signi ficance of the term meant two nations coming to gether and agreeing to a system of exclusive dealing with each other, and entering into arrangements from which all the rest of the world was to be excluded—these two nations sitting down to make that exclusive bargain with each other. Their nex thought was how to cheat each other in the trans action, and it generally ended in each cheating him self. Now, this treaty with France was of a totally different character. England sought from France no exclusive privileges, and she offered no exclusive advantages to France. All that we gave to her we gave at the same time to the whole world. And we asked nothing from France but what we cheerfully allowed her at the same time to extend to all man kind. It was, in fact, two countries agreeing to do for each other a great good, and to shake hands at the same time and agree to do it together. There are some people who are opposed to such a process. I can only say that they must be very difficult to please, and I think it would be very difficult to come to an agreement with such people on any subject whatever. I certainly should not like to be shut up with any of them in a jury box at the Old Bailey during the dog days." A distinguished French Free-trader, M. CHEVA LIER, by a speech in French, exemplified both in form and substance the cordiality which his friend Mr. COBDEN desired to create between the two countries. The Frenchman cleverly traced back the traditional enmity between the two countries to the coarse jest of the French PHILIPPE I. on the protuberant figure of WILLIAM the CONQUEROR— " a Royal jest gave us eight hundred years of hos tilities ;" and all Frenchmen think, M. CHEVALIER tells us, that it is more than time to repudiate this quarrel of the dark ages. Yet, how is it that we hear such a noise of now plating ships of war, as well as of maintaining an army of more than half a mil lion of men ready at any time, to ship on board them M. CHEVALIER asks----" Must they hate one ano ther because the armaments of one necessarily give umbrage to the other I' By no means ; for the composition of their armaments is different. Both possess an army and a navy; but the amount of their forces, instead of corresponding, are in an in verse ratio to each other. In England the chief element is the navy; in France it is the army. I do not mean that England has not a brave and reliable army, or that France does not possess a considerable navy ; but England ought not to, cannot, and will not, have an army equal to that of France ; and France ought not to, cannot, and will not, have a navy equal to that of England. Finan cial necessities, as well as the dictates of common sense, require that the two:counties should preserve this inverse proportion in their respective military and naval armaments." This is all very well, but it does accord with fact ? Has not the Emperor of the FRENCH been carrying on with extraordinary energy the system begun by Prince DE JOINTILLE, and LOUIS PHILIPPE, of endeavouring to rival England ? France had a navy more than sufficient for a great military power. Not content with that she changed the old proportion, which was confessedly a fair one, and compelled us to commence at an enormous, and but for her, heedless cost, the work of building and re building a navy. Two things lie at the bottom of the present extravagant expense to which all Europe is now put in preparation for defence —the ambition of France, and oppression of nationalities. Russia, Prussia, and Austria must keep large armies while they wrong Poland, Hun gary, and Venetia, in defiance of treaties, laws, or reason. France will not see herself outdone by them. She is determined to be the arbiter of Con tinental doings. The Despots fear their subjugated peoples, and beggar themselves by vast armaments to keep them down. France is determined to be formidable to them all by an army powerful enough to enable all the nationalities to look to her for aid. But this does not content her ambition. Though we have not, and never shall have, an army large enough to enable us to invade France, France is bent on constructing a navy large enough with her prodigious army to invade England when she pleases. M. CHEVALIER has done much towards persuading his countrymen to adopt free trade, he will do yet more if he persuade them to cease the policy which can have no mean ing unless it be that of making free with the shores of England. Cost what it may, England will not permit such freedom; and the sooner all appearance of attempting it is given up the better. It is very seldom, indeed, that we can commend the manner of the distribution of the little sum of £1,200 annually set apart under the head of additions to the Civil List Pensions for the benefit of the cultivators of Art, Science, and Literature. Often and often before now we have had occasion to reprehend the unjustifiable way in which fifties and hundreds have been frittered from the already sufficiently small total, for the advantage of the orphans and relicts of gallant officers both of the naval and the military profession. Insomuch had this become the system of distribution in regard to the twelve hundred pounds sterling, that the little prefix to the annual catalogue was for the most part the veriest misnomer. Not so,however, is it just for once, this year—the Civil Li s t P ensions awarded b e tween the 20th day of June, 1860, a n d t h e 20th day of June, 1861, pursuant to Act 1 Vict., c. 2, being really and truly pensions suitable t o b e charged upon the Civil List. With one single exception the whole of the eighteen pensions recently awarded are for service done to art, to science, or to literature. That solitary exception, however, is not in respect to any naval or military officer's relict, but to the widow of a deserving Civil servant of the Crown—namely, to Mrs. BARBAR, " In consideration of the zeal and intelli gence evinced by her husband, the late Mr. L. BARBAR, as Vice. Consul at Naples, especially in obtaining the release of two British subjects made prisoners on board the Cagliari." For the which this lady is to receive an annual pension of £5O. A pension that, surely, which no one will have the heart for one instant to begrudge ! Saving in that one instance the whole of the new List of new pensions, to the number of seventeen, relate to the persons, or more generally to the families :of those who have in any way distinguished them selves in the cultivation of art, science, and letters. To those not acquainted with the writings of Cap tain BRENTON it may seem a contradiction to this statement to read on the list—" Dame HARRIET IBABNION—In consideration of the late Sir JAR- t! THE SITN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVEN/NG, JULY 18, 1861 LEEL BRENTON'S meritorious and gallant services in her MAJESTY'S Navy, £100." But—here, of course, the literary character of the deceased subor dinates the professional. Among the literary names upon the catalogue several will be recognised as those of popular fa vourites, some of their names being familiar as household words, and as such cherished in the national recollection. Who will not be glad to read in reference to one of the brightest and plea santest names of this kind inscribed upon the new Civil List Pensions Catalogue—that Miss JULIA HUNT is to receive henceforth during her life £75 per annum ?—" In consideration of the valuable contri butions of her father, the late Mr. LEIGH HUNT, to English literature," Regretting only as we do that the seventy-five pounds in that instance could not have been made a good round one hundred. `Agree able to us—save from the reason which we italicise in the subjoined statement— agreeable in everything save that—is the intimation that £lOO has been awarded to, " Miss ELIZA MURPHY and Miss CHAR LOTTE MURPHY—On account of the eminent literary merits of their sister, the late Mrs. JAMESON, and their straitened circumstances." An other £lOO, we likewise are glad to notify, has been set down, per annum, for Miss KATE SOUTHEY, "on account of the important services rendered by her father, the late Mr. R. SOUTHEY, to English literature." And £5O to " Miss MARY ANN JERROLD, in consideration of the literary merit of her father, the late Mr. DOUGLAS JERROLD." All these have assuredly good and valid claims upon the national regard—LElGH HUNT—Mrs. JAMESON— ROBERT SouTuEY—DOUGLAS JERROLD. It is right that, having won golden opinions from us during their own lifetime, those who are nearest and dearest to them should, after their death, receive, in recognition of this, a sprinkling of other "golden opinions" ring ing down to them now in honourable tribute—sub stantial evidences of the popularity still surround ing their regulations. It is satisfactory to know also that one or two living men of letters receive tribute from the nation in this wise themselves, not alone, being put off with the prospect of re ceiving it, so to speak, vicariously and posthum ously. For example, right glad are we to observe that £75 per annum has been set aside for "Mr. DUDLEY COSTELLO—in consideration of the many years devoted by him to the pursuit of literature, and the high character of his works." DUDLEY COSTELLO'S name being agreeably familiar for many years past to the public at large, particularly through the medium of his sprightly contributions to the periodicals. There are even more pensions upon the list, which we thought it unnecessary, as it would doubtless also be tedious here to particu larise. It is somewhat remarkable, by the way, that the aggregate amount awarded during the year last past, under the head of these " Civil List Pensions," will be found short of the full amount of £1,200, by just " fifty " —only £1,150 having been distributed at the behest of Lord PALMERSTON. How about that forgotten or neglected £5O ? Was there nobody anywhere discoverable who was worthy of receiv ing that £50.? Might Rot another £25 of it have been tacked on to the £75 set down to the name of the unmarried daughter of LEIGH HUNT to make up the round £lOO already spoken of ? And say that the other £25 (completing the £1,290) had been doled out as an after thought to the following: " Mrs. MARY HAYDN—(In addition to her two former pensions of £25 each) In consideration of the literary merit of her husband, the late Mr. HAYDN, author of Dictionary of Dates,' Book of Dignities," and other works, £25 !" That is alto gether still but £75 just then £25 short of a round £lOO for Mrs. HAYDN. The country would hardly have been ruined by such a decision as that ! Perhaps, however, the oversight of the odd £5O may be attributable to the anguish of mind caused in the Premier's instance by the withdrawal of the astonishing pension lately awarded to that wonderful doggrel poetaster recently dragged into momentary notoriety (we declare we have forgot ten his name) the Poet-Laureate of shall we say ? (for we have forgotten the Potentate's name also)—the King of the Cannibal Islands ! LAT EST NEWS. BADEN-BADEN, JULY 17. The King slept well last night. This rest has had a restorative effect on his Majesty's health. The contusion on his neck is progressing favour ably. TURIN, JULY 17 (Evening). In to-day's sitting of the Senate Baron Ricasoli gave some explanations in reference to the changes which have been made in the Lieutenancy of Naples. He declared that the Ministry had been unanimous in all the resolutions recently taken. The Minister further said that General Cialdini has no exceptional powers, and that his positio❑ is identical with that of General Rovere, the Lieu tenant of Sicily. VIENNA, JULY 17. A denial has been given to the news of the resig nation of the Baron Vay, published by the Oat Deutsche Post. It is stated that Baron Vay has not even tendered his resignation. Another proposal for the settlement of the Hun garian question was made yesterday. Up to the present moment no decision or solution has been arrived at. MADRID, JULY 16. Rumours asserting that fresh disturbances have taken place in the provinces continue to circulate. The Ministerial journals reply to the rumours that full guarantees have been taken for the main tenance of tranquillity. Judgment will soon be given on the prisoners ;aken at Loja. FRANCE. BOURSE, July 17.—The little animation caused by cash transactions during the last few days, ow inging to the subscriptions for the Bonds, being now overt, the market has relapsed into its former state of quietude, with prices well maintained. Threes are now at 67f 75c. - - - - The following were the last quotations :- 4t per per Cents ... 97 70 Credit Fonder ll2O Do end month.... 97 751 Belgian 41 — 3 per Cents . .... 67 75 Piedmontese Fives 73 10 Do. end month...• 67 75 Roman Bank Shares ......2860 Austrian Credit Mobilier.... 670 , _spanieh Threes — Do. Account 672 6 01 Home Debt .. — AMERICA. THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. We have received the full text of President Lincoln's Message. The dates from New York are to the 6th inst. The following is the text of the Message : Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives, Having been convened on an extraordinary session, as authorised by the Constitution, your attention is not call©d to any ordinary subject of legislation. At the beginning of the present Presidential term, four months ago, the func tions of the Federal Government were found to be generally suspended within the several States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, excepting only those of the Post-office Department. Within these States all the forts, arsenals, dockyards, custom houses, and the like, including the moveable and stationary property in and about them, had been seized, and were held in open hostility to this Government, excepting only Forts Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson, on and near the Florida coast, and Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbour, South Caro lina. The forts thus seized had been put in improved condi tion, now ones had been built, and armed forces had been organised, and were organising, all avowedly with the same hostile purpose. The forts remaining in the possession of the Federal Government in and near these States were either besieged or menaced by warlike preparations, and especially Fort Sumter was nearly surrounded by well-pro tected hostile batteries, with guns equal in quality to the best of its own, and out-numbering the latter, as perhaps ten to one. A disproportionate share of the Federal muskets and rifles had somehow found their way into these States, and had been seized to be used against the Government. Accumulations of the public revenue lying within them had been seized for the same object; the navy was scattered in distant seas, leaving but a very small part of it within the immediate reach of the Government. Officers of the Federal armp had resigned in great numbers, and of those resigning a large number had taken up arms against the Government. Simultaneously, and in common with all this, the purpose to sever the Federal Union was openly avowed. In accord. ante with this purpose an ordinance had been adopted in each of these States declaring the States respectively to be separated from the National Union. A formula for insti tuting a combined government of those States had been promulgated, and this illegal organisation, in the character of the " Confederate States," was already invoking recog nition, aid, and intervention from foreign Powers. Find ing this condition of things, and believing it to be an im perative duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent if possible the consummation of such attempt to destroy the Federal Union, a choice of means to that end became indis pensable. This choice was made, and was declared in the inaugural address. The policy chosen looked to the ex haustion of all peaceful measures before a resort to any stronger ones; it sought only to hold the public places and property not already wrested from the Government, and to collect the revenue, relying for the rest on time, discussion, and the ballot-box ; it promised a continuance of the mails, at Government expense, to the very people who were re sisting the Government, and it gave repeated pledges against any disturbances to any of the people or any of their rights, of all that which a President might constitutionally and justifiably do in such a case, everything was forborne, without which it was believed possible to keep the Govern ment on foot. _ On the sth of March, the present incumbent's first full day in office, a letter from Major Anderson commanding at Fort Sumter, written on the 28th of February, and received at the War Department on the 4th of March, was by that Department placed in his hand. This letter expressed the professional opinion of the writer, that reinforcements could not be thrown into that fort within the time for his relief, rendered necessary by the limited supply of provisions, and with a view of holding possession of the Barrie with a force of less than 20,000 good and well-disciplined men. This opinion was concurred in by all the officers of his command, and their memoranda on the subject were made enclosures of kalor Anderson's letter. The whole was immediately laid before Lieutenant• General Scott, who at once con- curred with Major Anderson in his opinion. On reflection, however, he took full time, consulting with other officers both of the army and the navy, and at the end of four days came reluctantly, but decidedly, to the same conclusion as before. He also stated, at the same time, that no such sufficient force was then at the control of the Government', or could be raised and brought to the ground within the time when the provisions in the fort would be exhausted. In a purely military point of view, this reduced the duty of the Administration in the case to the mere matter of getting the garrison safely out of the fort. It was be lieved, however, that to so abandon that position, under the circumstances, would be utterly ruinous ; that the necessity under which it was to be done would not be fully understood ; that by many it would be con strued as a part of a voluntary policy; that at home, it would discourage the friends of the Union, embolden its adversaries, an' go far to insure to the latter a recognition abroad, that in fact it would be our national destruction consummated. This could not be allowed. Starvation was not yet upon the garrison, and, ere it would be reached, Fort Pickens might be reinfosced. Thislast would be a clear indication of policy, and would better enable the country to accept the evacuation of Fort Sumter. As a military neces sity, an order wan at once directed to be sent for the land ing of troops from the steamship Brooklyn into Fort Pickens. This order could not go by land, but must take the longer and slower route by sea. The first return news from the order was received just one week before the fall of Sumter. The news itself was that the of6P.Pr commanding the Sa bine, to which vessel the troops had been transferred from the Brooklyn, acting upon some quasi armistice of the late Administration, and of the exi s stence of which the present Administration. up to the time the order was despatched, had only too vague and uncertain rumours to fix attention, had refused to land the troops to reinforce Fort Pickens, before a crisis would be ke4ched at Fort Sianter was impos sible, rendered so by the neas.. exhaustion of provisions in the latter named fort. In precaution against such a con juncture, the Government had afewday,s before commenced preparaing an expedition, as well adapted as might be, to relieve Fort Sumter, which expedition was intended to be ultimately used or not, according to circumstances. The strongest anticipated case for using it was now presented, and it was resolved to send it forward, asb.ad been intended. In this contingency it was also resolved to notify the Go vernor of South Carolina that he might expect an attempt would be made to provision the fort, and if the attempt should not be resisted, there would be attempt to throw in men, arms, or ammunition, without further notice, or in case of an attack upon the fork. This notice was accordingly given, whereupon the fort was attacked and bombarded to its fall, without even awaiting the arrival of the provision ing expedition. It is thus seen that the assault upon and reduction of Fort Sumter was, in no sense, a matter of self-defence on the part of the assailants. They well knew that the gar rison in the fort could, by no possibility, commit aggres sion upon tham ; they knew, they were expressly notified, that the giving of bread to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison was all which would on that occasion be attempted, unless themselves by resisting so much should provoke more. They knew that the Government de sired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to assail them, but merely to maintain visible possession, and thus to preserve the union from actual and immediate dissolution, trusting as herein before stated, to time, discussion, and the ballot box, for final adjustment, and they assailed and reduced the fort, for precisely the reverse object, to drive out the visible authority of the Federal Union, and thus force it to imme diate dissolution, that this was their object the executive well understood ; and having said to them in the inaugural address, " You can have no conflict without being your selves the aggressors." He took pains not only to keep this declaration good, but ales to keep the case so far from in jurious sophistry as that the world should not misunderstand it. By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its surrounding cir cumstances, that point uas reached. Then and thereby the assailant of the Government began the conflict of arms. Without a gun in sight or in exaciancy to return their fire, save only the few in the fort, sent to that harbour years be fore for their own protection, and still ready to give that protection in whatever was lawful. In this aet, discarding all else, they have forced upon the country the distinct issue ; immediate dissolution of blood. And this issue embraces more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man the question whether a constitu tional republic or democracy, a government of the people by the same people, can er cannot maintain its territorial inte grity against its own domestic foes. It presents the ques tion whether discontented individuals, too few in numbers to control the administration according to the organic law in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case, or any other pretences, or arbitrarily without any pre tence, break up the Government, and thus practically put an end to free government upon the earth. It forces us to ask , " Is there in all republics this inherent and fatal weakness?" Must a Government of necessity be too strong for the li • berties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence? So viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the war power of the Government, and so to resist the force employed for its destruction by force for its pre servation. The call was male, and the response of the country was most gratifying, surpassing in unanimity and spirit the most sanguine expectations. Yet none of the States, commonly called slave states, except Delaware, gave a regiment through the regular state organization. A few regiments have been organized within some others of those states by individual enterprise, and received into the Go vernment service. Of course, the seceded States (so called) and to which Texas had been joined about the time of the inauguration, gave no troops to the cause of the Union. The border States (so called) were not uniform in their ac tion, some of them being almost for the Union, while in others, as in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas, the Union sentiment was nearly repressed and silenced. The course taken in Virginia was the most re markable, perhaps the most important. A convention elected by the people of that State to consider this very question of disrupting the Federal Union, was is session at the capital of Virginia when Fort Sumter fell. To this body the people had chosen a large majority of professed Union men. Almost immediately after the fall of S u mter, many members of that majority went over to the original disunion minority, and with them adopted an ordi nance for withdrawing the State from the Union. Whether this change was wrought by their great approval of the as sault upon Sumter or their great resentment at the Govern ment's resistance to that assault is not definitely known, although they submitted the ordinance for ratification to a vote of the people, to be taken on a day then somewhat more than a month distant, the Convention and the Legis lature which was also in session at the same time and place with leading men of the State not members of either, im mediately commenced acting ae if the State was already out of the Union. They pulled military preparations vigorously forward all over the State. They seized the United States' Armory at llarper'e Ferry, and near Norfolk. They received the N a eyeyard at Gosport, , pe rhaps invited, into their state, large bodice of troops, with their wa rlike a pp ointments from the so-called eceeded States. They formally entered into a treaty of temporary allia nce with the so-called Con federate S ta t es, an d sen t mem b e rs to their Congress at Montgomery, n ver nm e to nt k has a n e Government to be transf.:Tred to their c a p ita l a t Richmond. and finally they permitted the insurrectionar y The people o f Vi rg i n i a have t h us a llowed this giant insur rection o it e s h n o e i s ce t wleitihtintuhet to borders, dea vi a th nd it er th w u h sU e o ft finds it, and it has the less to regret, as the loyal eitieens have in due form claimed its protection. These loyal citi 'ens this Geeernment is bound to recognise and protect as being in Virginia. In the border States, so called, in fact, the middle States, there are, those who favour a policy which tlaay call armed neutrality. That is an arming of these States to prevent the tiajou forCes passing one way or the dis-unionists the other over their soil. This would be disunion completed. Figuratively speaking, it would be the building of an impassable wall along the line of separation, and yet not quite an impassable one, for under the guise of neutrality it would tie the hand of the Union men, and freely pass supplies from among them to the insurrectionists, which it could not do as an open enemy ; at a stroke it would take all the trouble off the hands of secession, except only what proceeds from the external blockade. It would do for the disunienists that which of all things they most desire, feed them well and give them disunion without a struggle of their own. It recognises no fidelity to the Constitution, no obligation to maintain the Union, and \riffle very many who have fa voured it, all doubtless loyal citizens, it is nevertheless very injurious in effect. Recurring to the action of the Government, it may be stated that at first a call was made for 75,000 militia, and rapidly following this a proclamation was issued for closing the ports of the insurrectionary districts, by proceedings in the nature of blockade. So far all was believed to be strictly legal. At this point the insurrectionists announced their pur pose to enter upon the practice of privateering. Other calls were made for volunteers to serve three years, unless sooner discharged, and also for large additions to the regular atmy and navy. These measures, whether strictly legal or not, were ventured upon under what appeared to be a popular demand and a popular necessity, trusting then, as now, that Congress would readily ratify them. It is be lieved that nothing has been done beyond the constitutional competency of Congress. Soon after the first call for mili tia it was considered a duty to authorise the commanding General, in proper cases, according to his discretion, to sus ; pond tho privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or, in other words, to arrest and detain, without resort to the ordinary processes and forms of law, such individuals as he might deem dangerous to the public safety. This authority has purposely been exercised, but very sparingly. Nevertheless, the legality and propriety of what has been done under it are questioned, and the attention of the country has been called to the proposition that one who has sworn to take care that the laws be faithfully executed should not himself violate them. Of course some consideration was given to the question of power and propriety before the matter was acted upon. The whole of the laws which were required to be faithfully executed were being resisted and failing of execution in nearly one-third of the States. Must they be allowed to finally fail of execution, even had it been per fectly clear that by the use of the means necessary to their execution, some single law made in such extreme tender ness of the citizen's liberty that practically it relieves more of the guilty than the innocent, should to a very limited extent bo violated ? To state the question more directly, are all the laws but one to go unexecated, and the Govern ment itself to go to pieces lest that one should be vio lated ? Even in such a case would not the official oath be broken if the Government should be overthrown when it was believed that disregarding the single law would tend to preserve it. But it was not believed that this question was presented ; it was not believed that any law was violated. The provision of the Constitution that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus pended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it, is equivalent to a provision that such privilege may be suspended when, in cases of re bellion or invasion, the public safety does require it. It was decided that we have a case of rebellion, and that the public safety does require the qualified suspension of pri vileges of the writ, which was authorised to be made. Now it is insisted that Congress, and not the Executive, invested with this power. But the Constitution itself is silent as to which or who is to exercise the power, and as the provision was plainly made for a dangerous emergency, it cannot be believed that the framers of the instrument intended that in every case the danger should run its course, until Con gress could be called together, the very assembling of w hi c h might be prevented, as was intended in this case, by the rebellion. No more extended argument is now afforded, as an opinion of some length will probably be presented by the Attorney-General. Whether there shall be any legislation on the subject, and if so, what, is submitted entirely to the better judgment of Congress. The forbearance of this Go vernment had been so extraordinary and so long continued as to lead some foreign nations to shape their action as if they supposed the early destruction of our National Union was probable. While this, on discovery, gave the Executive some concern, he is now happy to say that the so vere i gn ty and rights of the United States are now everywhere practi cally respected by foreign powers, and a general sympathy with the country is manifested throughout the world. The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and the Navy will give the information in detail deemed neces • nary and convenient for your deliberation and action, while the Executive and all the Departments will stand ready to supply omissions or to communicate new facts considered important for you to know. It is now recommended that you give the legal means for making this contest a short and decisive one ; that you place at the control of the Government, for that work, at least 400,000 men and 400,000,000 dole. ; that number of men is about 1-10th of those of proper ages within the regions where apparently ail are willing to engage, and the sum is less than a twenty-third part of the money value owned by the men who seem ready to devote the whole. A debt of 600,000,000 dole. now is a less sum per head than was the debt of our Revolutionists when we came out of that struggle, and the money value in the country bears even a greater proportion to what it was then, than does the population. Surely each man has a, strong a motive now to preserve our liberties as each had then to establish them. A right result at this time will be worth more to the world than ten times the men and ten times the money. The evidence reaching us from the country leaves no doubt that the material for the work is abundant, and that it needs only the hand of legislation to give it legal sanction and the hand of the Executive to give it practical shape and effici ency. One of the greatest perplexities of the Government is to avoid receiving troops faster than it can provide for them ; in a word, the people will save their Government, if the Government itself will do its part only indifferently well. It might seem at first thought to be of little differ ence whether the present movement at the South be called secession or rebellion; the movers, however, well under stand the difference. At the beginning, they knew they could never raise their treason to any respectable magni tude by any name which implies violation of law ; they knew the people possessed as much of moral sense, as much of devotion to law and order, and as much pride in its reve rence for the history and government of their common coun try, as any other civilised and patriotic people. They knew they could make no advancement directly in the teeth of these strong and noble sentiments. Accordingly, they commenced by an insidious debauching of the public mind, they invented an ingenious sophism, which, if conceded, was followed by perfectly logical steps through all the in cidents of the complete destruction of the Union. The sophism itself is that any state of the Union may consis tently with the netian's constitution, and therefore lawfully and peacefully, withdraw from the Union, without the con sent of the Union or of any other state. The little disguise that the supposed right is to be exer cised only for a just cause, themselves to be the sole judges of its justice, is too thin to merit any notice with rebellion. Thus, sugar coated, they have been drugging the public mind of their section for more than 30 years, and until at length they have brought many good men to a willingness to take up arms against the Government the day after some assemblage of men have enacted the farcical pretence of taking their state out of the Union, who could have been brought to no such thing the day before. This sophism derives much, perhaps the whole of its currency, from the assumption t hat there is some omnipotent and sacred supre macy pertaining to a state, to each state of our Federal Union our states have neither more nor less power than that reserved to them in the Itnion by the Constitution, no one of them having been a state out of the Union. The original ones passed into the Union even before they cast off their British Colonial dependence, and the new ones came into the Union directly from a condition of depend ence, excepting Texas, and even Texas, in its temporary independence, was never designated as a state. The new ones only took the designation of states on coming into the Union, while that name was first adopted for the old ones in and by the Declaration of Independence. Therein the united colonies were declared to be free and independent states. But even then the object plainly was not to declare their independence of one another of the Union, but directly the contraay, as their mutual pledge and their mutual action before, at the time, and afterwards, abundantly slow. The express plight ing of faith by each and all of the original 13 states in the articles of confederation two years later, that the Union shall be perpetual, is most conclusive; having never been states either in substance or in name o u t s id e the Union, whence this magical omnipotence of state rights asserting a claim of power to lawfully destroy the Union itself. Much is said about the sovereignty of the states, but the word, even, is not in the national constitution, nor, as is believed, in any of the State constitutions. What is a Sovereignty in the political sense of the term ? Would it be far wrong to de - fine it—a political community without a political superior? Tested by this, no one of our states, except Texas, was a sovereignty, and even Texas gave up the character on coming into the Union, by which act she acknowledged the consti tution of the United States, and the laws and treaties of the United States made in pursance of the constitution, to be for her the snprome law. The states have their status in the Union, and they have no other local status. if they break from this, they can only do so against law and by revolu tion. The Union, and not themselves separately, procured their independence and their liberty, by conquest or pur chase. The Union gave each of them whatever of indepen dence and liberty it has. The Union is older than any of the states, and in fact it created them as states. Originally, some dependent colonies made the Union, and in tarn the Union threw off their old dependence for them, and made them states, such as they now are. Not one of them ever had a state constitution independent of the Übion. Of course it is not forgotten that all the new states formed their consti tutions before they entered the Union, nevertheless depend ent upon and preparatory to coming into the Union, Unquee tiona I ly, the states have the power and rights reserved to them in and by the national constitution. But among those surely are not included all conceivable powers, however mis chievous or destructive, but at most such onlyas were known in the world as governmental powers ; and certainly a power to destroy the Government itself had never been known as a governmental power This relative matter of national power and State rights, as a principle, is no other than the principle and generality and locality ; whatever concerns the whole should be confined to whole general Government, while whatever concerns the State shouldbe left exclusively to the State. This is all there is of original principle about it, whether the National Constitution, in defining bounda ries between the two, has applied the principle with exact accuracy is not to be questioned. We are bound by that defining without question. What is now combatted is the position that secession is consistent with the constitution Le lawful and peaceful. It is not contended that there is any express law for it, and nothing should ever be implied as law which leads to unjust or absurd consequences. The nation purchased with money the countries out of which several of these States were formed. It is just that they shall go off without leave, and" without refunding ? The nation paid very large sums—in the aggregate, I believe, nearly a hun dred millions, to relieve Florida of the aboriginal tribes. Is it just that.she shall now be off without consent, or without any return ? The nation is now in debt for money applied to the benefit of these so-called seceding States in common with the rest. Is it just either that creditors should go unpaid, or the remaining States pay the whole ? A part of the the present national debt was contracted to pay the old debts of 'Texas. Is it just that she shall leave, and pay no part of this herself? Again, if one State may secede, so may another ; and, when all shall have seceded, none is left to pay the debts. Is this quite just to creditors? Did we notify them of this sage view of our when wo borrowed their money ? If we now recognise this doctrine by allow ing the occeders to go in peace, it is difficult to see what we can do if others choose to go or to extort terms upon which they will promise to remain. The seceders insist that our Constitution admits of secession. 'They have assumed to make a National Constitution of their own, in which, of necessity, they have either discarded or retained the right of secession, as they insist it exists in ours. If they have discarded it, they thereby admit that, on principle, it ought not to exist in ours ; if they have retained it, by their own conptriictfori of ( - Airs, they show that, to be consistent, they must secede from one another whenever they shall find it the easiest way of settling their debts or effecting any selfish or unjust object. The principle itself is on• of disintegration, and upon which no Government can possibly endure. If all States nave one sll9llldi • assort the power to drive that one out of the Union, it is presumed the whole class of seceded politicians would at once deny the power and denounce the act as the greatest outrage upon State rights. But, suppose that pre cisely the same act, instead of being called driving the one out, should be called the seceding of the others from that one, it would be exactly what the seceders claim to do, unless, indeed. they make the point that the one, because it is a minority, may rightfully do what the others, because they are a majority, may not rightfully do. These poli ticians are subtle and profound in the rights . 'of minorities. They are not partial to that power which made the Constitution, and speaks fromthe preamble calling itself, " We the people." It may well be questioned whether there is to -day a majority of the legally qualified votes of any State, except, perhaps, South Carolina in favour of disunion. There is much reason to believe that the Union men are the majority in the many, if not in every other one of the so-called seceded States. The country has not been demonstrated in any one of them. It is ventured to affirm this even of Virginia and Tennessee, for the result of an election had in military camps, where their bayonets are all one side of the question voted upon, can scarcely be consi dered as demonstrating popular sentiment. At such an election, all that large elites who are at once for the Union, and against coercion, would be coerced to vote against the Union. It may be affirmed, without extravagance, that the free institutions we enjoy have developed the powers and im proved the condition of our whole people beyond any example in the world. Of this we now have a striking and impres sive illustration. So large an army as the Government has now on foot was never before known without a soldier in it but who has taken his place there of his own free choice. But more than this, there are many single regiments whose members, one and another, possess full practical knowledge of all the arts, sciences, professions, and whatever else, whether useful or elegant, is known in the wholeworld, and there is scarcely one from which there could not be selected a president, a cabinet, a congress, and perhaps a court, abundantly competent to administer the Government itself. Nor do I say this is not true also in the army of our late friends, now adversaries, in this contest. But it is so much better the reason why the Government which has conferred such benefits on both them and us should not be broken up. Whoever in any section proposes to abandon such a Govern ment would do well to consider in deference to what prin ciple it is that he does it, what better he is likely to get in his stead, whether the substitute will give, or be intended to give, so much of good to the people. There are some foreshadowings on this subject. Our adversaries have adopted some declarations of independence, in which, un like the good old one penned by Jefferson, they omit the words, "all men are created equal." Why ? They have adopted a temporary national Constitution, in the preamble of which, unlike our good old one, signed by Washington, they omit, " We, the people," and substitute, " We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent states." Why? Why this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of men, and the authority of the people. This is, essentially, a peoples contest. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of Government, whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men, to lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of pursuit for all, to afford all an unfettered share and a fair chance in the race of life, yielding to partial and temporary departures from necessity. This is the leading. object of the Government, for whose existence we contend. I am most happy to believe that the plain people under stand and appreciate this. It is worthy of note that while in this, the Government's hour of trial, large numbers of those in the army and navy, who have been favoured with the offices, have resigned, and proved false to the hand which pampered them, not one common soldier or common sailor is known to have deserted his flag. Great honour is due to those officers who remained true despite the example of their treacherous associates ; but the greatest honour, and the most important fact of all is the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers and common sailors. To the last man, so far as known, they have successfully resisted the traitor ous efforts of those whose commands but an hour before they obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic instinct of plain people. They understand without an argument that the destroying the Government, which was made by Washington, means no good to them. Our popular Go vernment has often been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have settled. The successful establishing and the successful administering of it, one still remains. Its successful maintenance against a formidable internal at tempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry out an election, can also suppress a rebellion. That ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets, and that when ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, there can be no successful appeal back to bullets, and there can be no successful appeal except to ballots themselves at succeeding elections. Such will be a great lesson of peace, teaching men that what they cannot take by an election neither can they take it by a war—teaching all the folly of being the begin ners of a war. Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of candid men as to what is to be the course of the Government towards the Southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed, the Executive deem it proper to say it will be his purpose then, as ever, to be guided by the Constitu tion and the laws, and that he probably have no different understanding of the powers and duties of the Federal Go vernment relatively to the rights of the States and the people under the Constitution, than that expressed in the inaugural address. He desires to preserve the:Government, that it may be administered for all as it was administered by the men who made it. Loyal citizens everywhere have a right to claim this of their Government, and the Govern ment has no right to withhold or neglect it. It is not per ceived that in giving it there is any coercion, any conquest, or any subjugation, in any just sense of these terms. The Constitution provided, and all the States have accepted the provision, that the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government ; but if a Stale may lawfully go out of the Union, having clone so it may also discard the Republican form of Government, so that to prevent its going out is an indispensable means to the end of maintaining the guarantee mentioned, and when an end is lawful and obligatory, the indispensable means to it are also lawful and obligatory. It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the duty of employing the war power in defence of the Go vernment forced upon him. He could but perform this duty or surrender the existance of the Government. No compro mise, by public servants, could in this case be a cure—not that compromises are not often proper, but that no popular Government can long survive a marked precedent, that those who carry an election can only save the Government from immediate destruction by giving up the main point on which the people gave the election. The people themselves, and not their servants, can safely reverse their own delibe rate decision. As a private citizen, the Executive could not have con sented that these institutions shall perish, much less could be in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as these free people had confided to him, he felt that he had no moral right to shrink, nor even to count the chances of his own life in what might follow. In full view of his great responsibility he'has so far done what he has deemed his duty. You will now according to your own judgment perform yours. He sincerely hopes that your views and your actions may so accord with his as to assure all faithful citizens who have been disturbed in their rights, of a certain and speedy restoration to them, under the Constitution and the Laws, and having thus chosen our cause without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew ovr trust in God, and go f orwar d without fear and manly hearts. ABRAHAN LINCOLN. July 4, 1861. A prospectus has been issued of the Lambeth bridge Company, with a capital of £40,000 in £lO shares. The bridge will run from Church-street, Lambeth, to the Horseferry-road, Westminster, that being one of the sites recommended by the Metropolitan Bridge Committee of 1854. It is to be constructed on the wire-cable principle, with cylinder foundations, and will be for foot passengers and carriages, and is to be completed within a year. The calculation is, that if the tolls equal those of Battersea bridge, or amount to about 29 per cent. of those of Water loo-bridge, a dividend of 12a per cent. will be obtained. Advices from Egypt state that although no steps have yet been taken for the abolition of forced labour, the Viceroy has issued a decree, which was to come into force on the 9th inst., prohibiting corporal punishment, and that the governors of all the provinces had been charged to see it duly obeyed. The measure, possibly, is adopted with a view to remove the odium created by the reports respecting the eonditiotis under which the works of the Suez Canal are being carried on. Mr. G. R. Haywood, secretary of the Cotton Sup ply Association, sailed from Southampton on Friday, in the Elaine, en route for Egypt and India, as commissioner re presenting the Association and the Manchester Cotton Com pany. During his short stay in Egypt Mr. Haywood will have an interview with the Viceroy, and present a me morial from the Association, pointing out that the present is a most favourable opportunity for a great and profitable extension of cotton cultivation in that country. From Egypt Mr. Hayw cod goes on to Bombay, and thence to the Dharwar districts, primarily to ascertain how far the supply of cotton therefrom may be increased, and to orga • nise, in the interests of the Cotton Company, cotton clean ing and packing establishments at Sedasheghur and else where. His route will then be through the districts of Lingsoor, Bellary, Bangalore, Raichere, Doab and Mysore, Coimbatore, Palghaut, Tinnevelly, Madura, Salem, Madras, Coringa, Chandah, Nagpoor, Oomrowtee, Candeish, Bom bay, Surat, Broach, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Rajkote, Dhat tera, and Gogo ; thence returning to Sedasheghur in time for the next cotton-picking season. During this tour ho will report upon the relative advantages offered by the several districts for affording an enlarged supply of good merchantable cotton, and for the opening up of new esta blishments and agencies similar to those proposed for the district of Dharwar. Mr. Haywood travels with Dr. Forbes, who has been deputed by Government to accom pany him, and whose acquaintance with the .dialects and habits of the Hindoo population and knowledge of the cotton question are likely to be of the utmost service. The com missioner is also furnished by the Government—who, it is said, have shown a desire to assist him in every possible way—with letters of introduction to the Viceroy of Egypt, and some of the principal Government officials in India. THE DRAMATIC COLLEGE FETE.—Energetic as ever in promoting the welfare of their Dramatic College, our actors and actresses have organised another fete on its behalf, which is to take place at the Crystal Palace on Sa turday next, the 20th. There is to be a vocal and instru mental concert, supported by Madame 'Weiss, Miss Palmer, Mr. Swift, Mr. Santley, Mr. George Perron, and Mr. Weiss —the conductors being Mr. Benedict, Mr. Mantas, and Mr. Alfred Mellon. Mr. Benjamin Webster will then deliver a poetical address, by J. J. Stainton, Esq., in the shape of an acrostic upon the Royal Dramatic College• The Savage Club burlesque of " Valentino and Orson" will be repre sented with the original cast; and a thrilling melodrama, of the true Richardson's show school —three acts in fifteen minutes—will be interpreted by professional performers in a booth, recalling the old-time glories of Bartholomew Fair. We have only to add that the stalls of the fancy fair will be kept by our most fascinating Lc.n.doL, actresses, to complete our anticipatory announcement of this very attractive festival. A woman has heel brought up at Aricia on charge of inconceivable barbarity; she stripped her infant a child, smeared its little bady all over with honey , thou it in the sun until the little creature expired in ,E la m id the stings of the insects attracted by the bait, Ra-on' from ,lmost incredible, 'Oa treci . RAIL-WAYS. 13 C 7 : 55 Cash. .. .. A l° c z ern s t o . Orleans Northern ... New ditto 855 • • b° ___ Lyons and Mediterranean 967 50 .. 968 75 Geneva Southern Western - .. 510 . Eastern Sardinian ..........360 .. 360 486 25 .. 486 25 Austrian . 500 50 •. 500 50 Lombard ..... -- The iron-cased frigate Gloire arrived at Toulon on Thursday last from Algiers, having performed the voyage in 38 hours, notwithstanding the wind was contrary during the entire passage. Tho same day the screw ships of the line Alexandre and Massena, the steam corvette Lavoisier, and the gun boats No. 2 and 4 left the harbour under steam to try their engines. The result was satisfac tory, and a subsequent despatch announces that the Gloire had sailed with the fleet under the command of Admiral Chap,lle. GREAT EXPECTATIONS. BY CHARLES DICKENS. Although the countless readers of All the Year Bound are still, of course, trembling, as it were upon the very brink of the completion of this new story by the Greatest of all our English Humourists, we cannot any longer resist the inclination that has of late been urging us almost irresistibly, at length quite irresistibly, to offer at once to Mr. Dickens and to this last of his productions that simple but earnest tribute—born of our appreciation—which we have all along felt to be its due. Nearly seven months have now elapsed sinc e thi s t a l e of " Great Expec tations" was originally- commenced. In another fortnight the narrative will, as a serial, have been brought to its conclusion. Beginning on Saturday, the Ist of last December, and ending on Saturday, the 3d of August, it will have taken six and thirty weeks—with not one single week's intermission — in gradually making its appearance, in slowly win ning its way into our hearts, as a periodical publi cation. Already, of these thirty-six instalments, the subscribers to All the Year RoUnd have, at this moment as many as thirty-four in their possession ! So that while the concluding chapters of the work have, by the mass of its weekly readers, yet, it is true, to be waited for as patiently as may be, it can hardly be said that we are acting in any respect prematurely or precipitately in thus expressing our opinion of " Great Expectations" as a whole—before the actual revelation in its periodical issue of the com plete denouement. More particularly —seeing that the work in its complete form has within the last few days been duly published in three goodly volumes by the Messrs. Chapman and Hall, of Piccadilly. While reading this remarkable fiction thiough— first rapidly and afterwards with critical deliberation —for we must acknowledge to have read it through twice already, first of all week by week as it ap peared, and more recently the whole three books consecutively—we have been more than ever im pressed with the fact, a fact that we take to be wholly and absolutely indisputable that Mr. Dickens has yet to begin what is called in regard to an Author " writing himself out." If, indeed, he can ever begin it, while he is yet capable of holding a pen—and long long years to come may his loved and honoured hand still weild for us that potent sceptre of fascination ! It is to our thinking, it has long been to our thinking, conspicuous among the many distinguished peculiarities of Charles Dickens as a Novelist, that no two works of his have aught about them, either in their character or in their treatment, like a :direct relationship. Whenever we open a fresh story of his, we seem to be in a new atmosphere altogether. Could anything in this way be more strikingly apparent than the dissimilarity observ able—if we turn for a moment to Mr. Dickens's minor effusions—between the earliest and the latest of his collected essays or sketches of a miscel laneous kind, published separately, paper by paper in the periodicals, between his Sketches by Bo: and his Uncommercial Traveller? Again, among his larger and more elaborated works of imagination—could any two productions be more entirely unlike each other in every possible par ticular, in every conceivable point of view than Pickwick and David Copperfteld? And yet both of. these at the same time so truly admirable as humo rous masterpieces ! Remember, moreover, those two stories of his that, when originally published, ap peared in a manner as though linked together—hose Siamese Twins of literature extracted hem that wonderful drawer in "Master Humphrey s Clock" —The Old Curiosity Shop and—a take as unlike its immediate predecessor and comperaion as novelist's hand could well have pennerl_Barnaby Budge ! Could any two works we ask, be more unlike each other—could any two fictions be more diametrie• tally the reverse of each other than those two delightful and exquisitely original narratives ? It is not simply, thus moreover, because the Age depicted in each is divided from the other by an interval of more than half a century—or, because while in the latter we are living (among the imaginary creatures introduced) in the year, eighty , of the eighteenth century, in the former we are in the midst of a later generation (among our own con temporaries) in one of the, forties of the nineteenth. It is not merely because those imaginary creatures here alluded to are so startling in what may be termed their generic dissimilarity. Here—that most delectable of jolterpates, dear stupid old Sohn Willett, with that dainty old beau, Mr, Chester, and charming Dolly Varden, and ridiculous Sins Tappertit, and preposterous Miggs, and the Raven Grip, and the Maypole tavern, and the No Popery riots of Lord George Gordon ending, in old London streets, with a wild religious chaos of bloodshed and conflagrations! There—Little Nell, dear angel there—in Nell tears overv w iv h i o td s h whose death ndteraatsh t tfeo oneht haav ofte b a oe l u l wr o i Ot f cw u h udsgehacerrde ones a r ti e o a n l : —Quilp, the little demon Quilp,and despicable dirty cringing Sampson Brass, and good honest chuckle headed Kit, and pretty sly little Barbara, and. Whisker the pony, and the Nubbleses, and the Garlands, and the Whackleses, and delightfallest of all the droll beings ever conjured up by the whim sical brain of Boz irresistible, delectable, inimitable Dick Swiveller ! It is not simply that the fictitious personages introduced upon the scene in each of the two storiea thus intimately associated with each other when first published are so wholly dissimilar. It is that the whole manner, tone, and style in which the two works are written are so entirely diarent. It were easy enough, it is certainly to ourselves sufficiently tempting, but that space Tould here be wanting, to enforce our argument by illustrations drawn from the contrast that might be brought to light upon a comparison, the one with the other, of all the various writings of Charles Dickens not already particularized placing side by side now Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver twist--now Dombey and Son, and. the C'hristmas Carol —now Bard limes and Martin Chuzzlewit! Directing attention even to—what few have probably ever two fron books o Italyoks of ! travels A yet remarked—the st ar tli ng diversity at once in. regard to manner an d matter observable in our E author's Pictures —nzeriean Notes and. Enough however, brief reminder hasrat rather been here remarkedit should be said than in any laboured enforcement of the truth that Dickens has yet to begin " writing himself out," has yet to evidence that impoverish ment of the imaginative faculty which betrays the exhaustion of many and many a writer's fancy by— es the phrase runs—" repeating himself." No more conspicuous evidence of this need be adduced than by the merest casual reference, here in conclusion, to the extraordinary dissimilarity noticeable be tween the two latest emanations from the imagina tion of our Great Novelist. No two stories, we are bold to aver, could, by any possibility, be i n more striking contrast with each other. Insomuch that but for the inimitable genius discernable through each, they might have proceeded from two distinct intellects. In the immediate predecessor to the new fiction now brought to its conclu sion, Mr. Dickens had given to the world proof positive of his hitherto but partially recognised capacity to contrive a plot at once of the most subtle continuity, and yet, at the same time, of the most intricate elaboration. As a fictitious narra tive, appearing in the world of literature with these pretentious, the Tale of Two Cities stands forth, among the happiest efforts ever adventured upon in this one particular direction, as an all but per fect masterpiece. The cohesion of the whole scheme of the narrative, the homogeniousness of its materials throughout, cannot but be regarded, even by the most exacting and supercilious, with the -very liveliest admiration, B u t one ar ti st i c fl aw , of any appreciable magnitude, is the re t o b e detected in it, indeed, according to o ur v i ew o f th e whole wo r k, as a work of art. And a flaw that is unquestion_ ably, it must be allowed, ver y g reivous in itself as a violation of all the rules of art as applied to any production of this ambitious character in the higher • ng to— w hi c h • *- walks of imaginative literature. It is that incon gruous incident—we are here alluding archetypefarge wife of the nine seller of mars the crowning glory and beauty of this t err ibl e and pathetic romance, The Tale of T wo Cities where one of the chief tra gi c char ac t ers i n the stovy, the app a lling tricoteuses of the Revolution, not on l y di es at last Antoine, Madame De by sheer accident , but s t e h l e le formidable i s d a a i b n i t e , worst of all, by a ludicrous accident —an accident at the hands of one of the comic characters in the story, namely, of that ludicrous red woman,2onnet "like a Grenadier' with a y s wooden measure (and good measure too) or a great Stilton Cheese," las Press. Flawed however, marred however, thus though that won derful story is --a story that were, otherwise, but as " one entire and pe ftr ec chrysolite"—how exquisitely aro we compensated for this exceptional blemish, by the abounding, and many of them, matchless merits of the whole production ! How the charac ters there introduced come crowding back upon our recollection—some of them so delightfully and whimsically, o th ers so ten d er l y an d so bewitch ingly ! The white headed old Shoemaker, Doctor Marlette, Prisoner of the Bastille, brooding over his work and his lost love—" 0, my wife, beloved of my he ar t ! M y f a i r youn g English wife . " His daughter Lucie, the golden haired, seated in a chequer -work of light and shade under the plane tree, he the garden of that quaint old quiet corner of ' Soho, listening, in the midst of the dear ho me sound of the group, to the echoing footsteps coming and going, and making _ them out to be (a true poet's thought !) the echoes of all the footsteps comi ng by and by into their aes. Noblest, tenderest, loveliest