The Sun. — London, England, 1863-09-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LOiNDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 9, iBM. Various circumstances have combined to give fresh because they only care for the quantity, and not THEATREMana g ers, Messrs.RO Edmund F YALD PU al i e l o \ n ' e; LANEand. B. i n t eres t t o th e long-pending strife between Den- for the quality of their conquests. To infuse a Chltterton. —The Public is respectfully informed t h a t the above (the National) Theatre will be OPENED to r the mark and Germany, and in consequence we are all gra d u al i m p rovemen t among th e i r own p oss essions, WINTER SEASON, on SATURDAY NEXT, September 12th, when will be produced an entirely new and likely to know more about the quiet little d u chies a n d to soft e n d own th e h ars h ou tli ne s of conquest Corned b d p F o' l DaY," &c., entitled of Schleswig and Holstein th an our pre d ecessors i n t o some thi ng more gen i a l an d grac i ous , i s qu ite e lr.o, Author of ner NATURE'S ABOVE ART A Romance of the Nursery, ett, Bar in which Messrs. Walter Lacy, Addison , Ry der, G. ever learned. There ha s a l ways b een a d egree o f b eyon d th e k en an d a b ove th e w i s h es o f th e nation. ilelinore, F. Charles, Neville ; Miss Charlottearu lyre Edders• Miss Murray, Miss R. Leclerc(b Mrs. Melville, and M symp athy existing b e t ween the 'English and the The humiliating position that is occupied by the mund Falconer. assisted by other artists, Farce perform. Danes, After the Comedy will be presen t e d a Pop It . prin. due perhaps in som e measure to our Viking largest country in Europe is aptly alluded to in ' cipal characters by favourite mem bers o f the y anus try. The two peoples have many charge- this reply. After stating that it is three - qua rters Box-office open from Ten till Five dai l y . teristics in common. They have the same love of of a century since the nation have advanced with freedom, the sa me f ear l ess t ru thf u l nes s, the same great steps towards freedom, the speakers earnestly spirit of d ar i ng an d a d ven t ure , th e same reso l u tion declare—" You alone have remained encrusted with to maintain unshaken their ancient constitutional the rough barbarism of ancient times and the Tar rights. Travell e rs tell us, too, of a striking simi- taric wildness of the steppes." This is plain speak a larity in the appearance and language of the two ing, at all events, and, if it answers no other pur- races. A recent visitor to the town of.Rendsburg pose, it may take down the pride of the assuming declares that the country near it bears the strongest who presumed to lecture the patriots dictators ' resemblance to our richer agricultural districts, struggling for their birthright and the .citizens while the chattering of the peasants in their low pining for their social rights. It is melancholy to German increases the familiar impression. This dwell on the passage that refers to the suffer town of Rendsburg, though little known to travel - legs that have been endured for the cause lers, is not without importance, and occupies a some - of liberty on the soil of Poland. The in , domitable energy that has held up the p atr i ots what remarkable position in reference to the quarr el t o and the sublime endurance that has maint a i ne d i ts with the Diet_ It is a very ancient city, claiming have been in existence nearly a thousand years, b u t ground despite all obstacles, and n o t w ith s t an di ng question of all attack, are illustrated in this reply—" a spirit it is not old enough, strange to say, for the q its exact locality to have been decided. The matter stronger than the sword, and mighti er t h an of its site was one of the four points which the despair " has animated and inform e d th ese h eroes he bouu- and martyrs, and now th e sent i ment shines commissioners who undertook to draw t finding it impossible through these words, and imp ar t s t o t h em a life dary line failed to agree upon, fi to unite in assigning it to either duchy. The ques- and lustre. The stirring memor i es o f the past tion in dispute is whether Rendsburg belongs to arouse these men when they declare to the Rus- Holstein The origin of the dis- sians that fi n di ng it i mpossible or to Schleswig. to make them pate is thus summed up by a recent visitor;—" The adopt a civilisation far infe r i or t o th e i r own, they difficulty is occasioned by the circumstance that the have perpetrated heathenish cruelties against town is situated upon what must be called islands them, and by endeavours to annihilate them, have in the Eider. The river, which here farms its junc- planned to call their native land their own. There tion with the Eider Canal, separates into three is the prescience that a long course of injustice branches as it approaches Rendsburg. Between and deceit generally imparts to the oppressed the Schleswig and the Holstein branches as we may when it is said, "We mark a satanic smile upon call them—the third is a trifling stream running the lips of our oppressors when they hail us as through the town and seemingly serving as a sewer brothers." Considering the circumstances of the —Rendsburg was built. Now the Eider is the boun. case, the term is an insulting one, and it is not dary between the two duchies, and both the con- surprising that it should be rejected with scorn tending parties recognise it; but the Danes say and contumely. Of what avail is it that a tor that the Holstein branch is the real Eider, whilst tured and tyrannised people should be made game the Germans contend that the Schleswig branch is of, which they certainly are when the represen the true stream. The Rendsburghers, who are tatives of the soil of their oppressors thus salutes thorough Holsteiners, and b yno means well affected them with the sacred title of affinity bearing to the Danish Government, claim, however, in sup. evidence of cordiality and goodwill. It has failed port of the Holstein contention, that they were in making the Poles think they were being ad recognised as part of the empire in its palmy days ; dressed by those keenly alive to their welfare. and that the town sent its deputies to the assembly It will fail in making any of the nations of summoned by the Emperor." How this vexed Europe believe in the sincerity of the framers of question will be ultimately decided it is of course the appeal. "We shall never be decoyed again impossible to say, but a military solution of the by the honey of your deceptive words," declare difficulty is certainly very much to be deprecated on the Poles in their reply. For often has the fatal all sides. Germany is already split into sections, mistake been made for the lesson to need learn distracted by factions, and threatened by despots. ing again, and forewarned is forearmed we may She has quite enough to do for the next half cen- be sure in this instance. The absurd proposition tury et least in consolidating her own internal that was made by the Russ;ans, that the Poles forces, and in encouraging unity and peace at home, should join them in attacking their natural Why should she harass and oppress a neighbouring enemies, the nations of Western Europe, is scouted Power, who in no way interferes with her well- with the scorn it deserves. On the contrary, being or crosses her prospects. The motive was they distinctly declare that if they occupy any plainly stated in the English House of Commons by position it will be to join the enemies of Russia, the Prime Minister; and the Danes, who study not the other nations, who are their friends. carefully our English politics, must have regretted Then, as to the prospect of culture held out in the very vividly that Lord PALMERSTON did not hold appeal, it is shown how the devastators have the seals of the Foreign-office in place of his inane- crippled education, suppressed schools, and stolen sistent and letter writing colleague,Earl RUSSELL. the treasures of art and of science. Finally, they Lord PALMERSTON found the key to the riddle in say, "Not unto us, then, but to your CZAR, call the wild and fruitless ambition, long cherished loudly. Bow to the unalterable course of history. by Prussia, to become a great naval Power. Of one thing let him ba assured, only lie can obtain The countrymen of FREDERICK THE GREAT Peace who is willing to leave others unmolested ; have good right to any pretensions they may choose and only then will the Russian people be happy to make in the way of military distinction ; but, when they permit us to enjoy our happiness undis without any disparagement to a brave and enlight- turbed." This is a worthy conclusion to a noble ened nation, we may decidedly say that nature has , address, that deserves to represent the nation of denied them the requisites of a naval nation. Even Patriots whose mouthpiece it professes to be. A the long sought possession of the coveted harbour more uncalled-for and inconsistent thing than this of Kiel would not, in itself, convert a people, whose appeal of Rassian patriots to the Polish people has proper classification is into soldiers and civilians, scarcely been heard of, and it is most satsfactory into a nation of sailors, and the endeavour to force to peruse so good an answer. Nothing is more a war upon a peaceable and well-disposed nation difficult than to concoct answers to these awkward will not tend to raise Germany in the estimation of messages, and it is creditable to those who framed the thinking portion of Europe, and will tend very the reply that it in every way enters into the ne little to the furtherance of her own interests. cessary detail, and aptly represents the spirit of the Denmark has now a fine career open before her, if nation. At ail events it cannot be said that this she is suffered to run it unchecked by internecine arduous struggle, this unequal conflict, and this strife. Her people have all the capacities for de- dreadful suffering has been all in vain. Through veloping Into a great nation. Her sympathies and the gloom of the reign of terror which is established traditions are liberal, her population bravo and on her soil, Poland has beheld some signs of a enlightened ; h er K ING is beloved by hie people, brighter dawn and a better day of freedom near at and her Constitution is moderate and capable of hand. The Russian EMPEROR cannot for shame improvement. The intellectual powers of her race accord privileges to that nation that he withholds rank high, as many names known and honoured in from his own people, and hence it may yet turn out Art and Literature testify. Politically, the last that the Russians themselves are benefited by the year or two has witnessed events of considerable noble efforts made by the patriot sons of Poland. importance connected with It is a tribute to courage and constancy of which her fortunes. The alliance of her Royal family 'with the first of the history can record no more signal instance or strik great Powers of Europe cannot fail sensibly to ing example. Those who have perished on the affect her fortunes, notwithstanding the unhappy battlefields, or who endure the harder lot of a meddlings of an English statesman in an affair foreign prison, might r e j o i ce if t h ey knew that in which we must h • c aritably hope he did not under- some measure their work was not profitless, nor stand. The election of house to the vacant throne of Greece, although not Poles have held out so bravely, and resisted so in so complimentary as if it had been made earlier, is cessantly that the whole of Europe joined the cry another noticeable occurrence. Greece, like Den- of their wrongs. If unable to assist by armies, the mark, has great capabilities, though her history is of voice of public opinion, and the concurrent testi the past rather than of the future. She is now , i t i s mony of witnessing nations is sometimes more true, plunged into anarchy and confusion ; but if powerful than armed hosts, One urges and excites young King GEORGE and his advisers are equal to to opposition, the other overawes and impresses, the position, a rapid change for the better m ay b e If only good result accrue to the heroic nation that expected. When his position is fully assured and has been so long the shame of her tyrants, and the the area of his power extending , the youthful grief of her friends, it will be one of those world. Monarch of Greece will hardly forget that he W as wide blessings that attract universal acclamation, once a Dane, and his sympathies and his influence and form the source of thanksgiving to all be will henceforth weigh in the scale of his country- holders in divers nations and of many races. men and relatives. If rumour speaks truly another fair Princess of the Danish House is to extend the influence of her country further North, and under these auspices the angry aggression of the German Diet loses much of its terrors. We must hope that that venerable body will exercise their charac teristic and proverbial caution, and pause before they rashly commence hostilities, ruinous to the interests of both countries, and especially injurious to that scheme of German unity which is now more than ever filling the dreams of German visionaries, and occupying the thoughts of German patriots. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. L.ssee, Mr. George Vining. ' Open under the Management of Mr. Walter Montgomery. THIS EVENING, KING JOHN. King John, Mr.Waltcr Montgomery ; Faulconbrldg,e, Mr. Henry Loraine. To be followed by FAMILY JARS. Commence at 7. NEW THE ATRE-R0 YAL, ADELY.III.- Sole Pronriator and 11Ianazer. Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING (for the Benefit of Mr. J. L. Toole), THE TRAGEDY QUEEN. Mrs. Stirling. Followed by YOUR LIFE'S IN DANGER. Messrs. J. L. Toole, P. Bedford, and Mrs. 8i111322, ton. OPERATIC SELECTIONS, by the Nelson Sisters. After which, THE ROSEBUD OF STINGINGNETTLE FARM. Messrs. Toole, P. Bedford, C. J. Smith. And T E HAUNTED MAN; or, the Ghost's Bargain, in which will be exhibited Professor Pepper's adaptation of the Great Spectral Illusion. Messrs. J. L. Toole, R. Phillips, Sefton, C. J. Smith; Mrs. Alfred Mellon and Miss H. Simms. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Manager, Mr. W. H. Swanborouc,rh. THIS EVENING, HIS FIRST CHAMPAGNE. Mr. Leigh Murray. Followed by (45th time) THE MOTTO, " I'M ALL THERE." Messrs. Honey, Turner, E. Danvers, Collier, Clifton ; Mesdames Ada Swanborough, F. Josephs, Maria Simpson, Wallace, and Jenny White. To conclude with TURN HIM OUT. Mr. Turner, Miss Thorne. Commence at 7. cIE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN,' Containing. the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE Can be had Every Evening of G. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGE'l 4 f No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAY.—Morning, 11h. 45m.—Afternoon, h. m To-i. oßitow.-Morning, 12h. 20m.—Afternoon, 12h. 40m, The Weather—Sun Office, Sept. 9, 1863. OUR IMPORTS.—The imports of foreign and colonial goods into the United Kingdom are of four classes. The first comprises articles of food. The corn puted real value of these in the returns for 1862 was no less than £ 93 , 0 27,988, a sum equal to three-fourths of the value of the entire export of . British and Irish produce and manu factures. By far the largest item is for corn and flour, the e imports of whi c h i n that year reached the enormous amount of £37,755,060 . The import of grain, meal, and flour never reach d 12,000,000 qrs., until t h e b ad harvest of 1860, in whh year it was 1 4,494,976 qrs., but in 1861 it was 16,094,914 qrs., and in 1862, 18,441,791 qrs. The average price on which the value of the wheat imported was computed in 1862 has not yet been stated ; in 1861 it was astonishing 53s 9d for Russian, 6 0s 2d for Prussian, 39s 9d for Egyp rAnaeraimcaonn.nt.Thxeroet t owsepr speak k other strong- p t i o a r n i ~ 9 n a f n f d o 05d5osf2d for drink, nor of tea, coffee, and sugar, we imported in 1862 cattle, sheep, and swine, and salted meat and lard, to the amount of more than £5,000,000 (the oxen and bulls were put is 1861 at an average of £l7 lls, and the sheep at 455); b u tt e r, nearly £5,000,000 ; c h eese, £1,500,000 ; rice, £•',400,000 ; eggs, £600,000; poultry, £85,000. A. second class of our imports consists of raw materials of manufac ture;of these arrivals in 186.4 was and the value th amount was £91,984,804. The £96,513,530. In 1860 ,6, a e s the largest ever received. The import of wool in 18 .., w import of cotton is by no means ex pressedfalling off in the fthe value of the imports ;the rise by a statement o mind. The quantity fell from in pi ice must be borne . in 4 678 333 cwt. in 1862; the 12,419,096 cwt. in 1860 to , ~., 1 6 889 to £31,091.045. computed value from 135,1') cotton at 60s. 4d. In 1866 the computation wason American per cwt. ,third class •in 1861 at 725. sd. A .. of imports con t being agriculture, no sists of articles used in manufacture or reached raw materials of manufacture; and these articles in this class £16,643,572 in the year 1862. The chief items aro wood, sawn or split, planed or dressed , oils, guano, remaining copper partly wrought, and iron in bars. The of class comprises manuf ac t ure d ar ti c l es , an d the import these in 1862 amoun t e d t o £17 , 196 , 463 ; a f ew unenume_ rated articl es b r i ng i ng th e w h o l e amount o f th e i m parts of 1862 up to £225,716,974. The chief manufactured articles imported were silks of the value of more than £6,000,000; W " 11508 , £ 1 ,574,218 ; cottons, £899,738 ; leather goods (chiefly glov e s), £851,256 ; clocks and watches, £464,000 ; manufactures of hair and goat'4 wool, £397,#54; And O a "' £108,385, The Polish reply to the Russian appeal is worthy of notice. It is certainly replete with interest, and animated with a spirit of independence. The Poles co mme a n ti c o ebi h s t ta e ting that for seven months " a mur derous contest has raged in o ur coun t r y b e tween nations —the n s tw o and with one eager to opp ress an d ens lave, and the oth er f i ghting in self-defence. " This is a very tru e pride the remot es definition of the s t a t e o f a ff i s a r recently ; tl r iru s i h ts in f a just do th e patr i ots go on to say that their oupo , e is have d rawn many f orces from succeeded in e a them empire, but they have no t their courage u, devotion, Ora they have not quenched that liB r e ndurance. Then they proceed, with indignati on quite co ruprehen quest" on the part of the Russians. sible, t o reject what they truly call a " cruel re quite the self-conceit of th e subjects of the CZAR img , haugi,ht y t blush to hear the sharp re" • joinders they hive called forth from a trampled-on but ulasubdued nation. They arc shown that the " highest object of a noble nation is not comprised in the oppression of a kindred race, or in destructive dreams of domi nation over two quarters of the globe." This em phatic passage forcibly explains the lack of progress that is made by the mighty Russian empire. It is LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) GERMANY. THE QUEEN'S RETURN TO ENGLAND. G OTHA, TUESDAY. Her Majesty Queen Victoria left Coburg at half past ten last night. Her Majesty will remain a day at Darmstadt. Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse left before the Queen on Friday last. King Ferdinand of Portugal has arrived. FRANCE. BOURSE, Sept. B.—The market has been rather heavy, and the business done shows a decline— Threes, for the Account, being now at 69f. 10c. The Railway Share Market also heavy, and some lines rather lower. The market continued weak to the close, and left off as follow s : it per Cents .. 05 75 Italian Loan 74 05 Do. end month.... Do. end month 74 10 3 per Cents Do. end month.... 68 9 5 Do, end mouth 74 05 Credit Mobilier.... 1210 Russian Do. end month s ...l2lo Austrian Bank Shares 3100 Spanish Threes. „.. 53 Credit Fancier 1420 Home Debt RAIL' 'ATE). Cash. Account. Orleans 1045 .. 1040 Northern New. ditto - Lyons and 3 1 .deditGrrimean 1042 50 .. 1040 Geneva .. 495 .. 497 50 Southern 745 .. 742 50 Western .. 535 .. 537 50 Eastern Sardinian ...... Austrian Lombard ...... 570 .. 573 75 North of Spain ...... .. 562 50 .. 565 Saragossa 660 .. 660 Ditto to Barcelona EGYPT. ALEXANDRIA, SEPT. 1. Intelligence has just been received from the White Nile of the slaughter of several boats' full of so-called ivory traders. The blacks surprised the boats, killed everyone on board, and carried off the cargoes. The loss has been so severely felt at Khartoum, the centre of the trade in slaves and elephants' teeth, as to have caused some failures, an almost unprecedented event there. No commisera tion can be felt for the fate of these men, for it was only an act of wild justice on the part of the blacks. Attention has been frequently called by travel lers, and lately by Captains Speke and Grant, to the infamous practices of the white traders. Armed bands are despatched in large boats from Khartoum ; they surprise unoffendiug villagers, kill the men, make slaves of the women and children, and drive away the cattle to be bar tered against elephants' teeth. A person who has made several excursions on the White and Blue Niles tells me the traders have made the name of the " pale race" SO odious that the features of the natives alter and assume an ex pression of hatred when they utter it. It is time that the Gov ernment of Egypt s h ou ld t a ke vigorous steps to curb th e p i ratical expe di t i ons from Khar toum, and to stop the trade in black slave s . The boats are, it i s t rue, v i s i te d a t ce rtain appointed stations along the river from Khartoum to Cairo, and if any slaves are found they are confiscated. But they never are found, for they are simply dis embarked a mile or two above each station, and making a short march on foot of three or four miles are re embarked a little lower down. This could not be done without the connivance of the autho• rities, and were the Government to take up the matter seriously the traffic might be stopped imme diately. Swift police boats moving up and down the river, and inspecting boats at pleasure, together with a proper supervision over the land caravans, would v ery soon ren der the trade impos sible. It is hop e l ess to expec t any improvement in the condition of the countries bordering on the Upper Nile while such atrocities are permitted, and the sale of slaves connived at. Yet they are tracts of exceeding fertility, and might one day if properly matured by the Egyptian Government form most valuable possessions, and yield a greater revenue than Egypt itself. It is to be hoped that the massacre which has just occurred may rouse this Government into adopting stringent measures to put a stop to the piracy on the 'White Nile, and to the trade in blacks. The Egyptian Trading and Commercial Company has just appointed a superior agent on the - White Nile-- one thoroughly acquainted with those countries, and who has gained a high reputation for never having joined in any act of aggression against the natives. His presence, and the action of so powerful a Com pany, will greatly tend to repress the lawless acts of the ivory traders, by exposing their deeds, and bringing those countries more directly under the notice of the European public, and instituting friendly relations and fair traffic with the black population. artificial l a k e One of the principa l ob j ects o f the Viceroy's visit to Assouan is to see personally what measures might be adopted towar ds lessenin g the danger of t w h a e te N r i i l n e t 's o rtihsienßgitrgkoethTiagi.hF, ,I:yyoudmir,ecatning the surplus formed by th e ancients for this very purpose. Lower Egypt is exposed to inundation in two w a y s . The one is an unusually h i gh Nile rolling do wn from the Tropics; the other i s f rom irrigation water suddenly le'nrol turned back into th e r i ver. The t lands of Upper E g ypt are fertiliz e d b y the Nile being allowed to flow over them, and remain a given time ; as the land is in:terrac e s , the water is transmitted from the higher to the lower levels by c u tti n g the intervening dykes, and finall y i t i s discharged paint t ed on to the lands. aitavtwastiats body of water, often at necessarily much iback lower,h e rush u intost than a no thefs such river e h where many points together, causes a sudden and great addition to the volume of the stream, and hence reaching Lower Egypt it occasionally bursts the dykes, and pouring over the country sweeps every thing before it, and rots the newly-sown grain in the ground. Your racing readers may be interested in hearing that the much-vexed point as to the merits of Eng- lish and Arab horses has just again been tried in Cairo. Ali Paella, who has the finest stud of Arabs n Egypt, maintained that no English horse could - - run against an Arab for fou r miles. His Highness Halim Pacha offered to run Companion, a well- known racer here, against him for any sum he liked. The match was run from the first station on the Suez desert to Cairo. The English horse, which was bred, I believe, by Lord Ribblesdale, won in a canter by more than half a mile. Such a crushing defeat has taken all courage out of the partisans of Arab horses. What astonished the natives most was that Companion, beating his adversary by so great a distance, was perfectly fresh, and quite _._ ready to turn round and run the distance over again, while the Arab was quite exhausted and blown. The Ambassadors from Cochin China are here ; they are lodged in one of the Viceroy's Palaces, and are attended by a French officer, who escorts them about Alexandria, pointing out objects of interest to them, about which they do not seem to care at all. They leave in a French frigate, which has come to take them to France. THE EGYPTIAN HALL, Mr. J. K. Lord's descriptive and pictorial entertainment may now be said to have taken the position of one of the established and favourite places of resort in London. A very agreeable, pleasant, and withal most instructive even ing may be spent with M r. L or d i n his Piccadilly wilder ness; now, listenin g t o hi s won d er f u l t ra vels, history, and hair-breadth 'stapes by flocd and field ; and again, to the wild songs of the trapper, with which his narrative is in terspersed. Mr. Lord's very eloquent descriptions of the wonders of Oregon, Vancouver's island, British Columbia, and the Rocky Mountains are rendered highly interesting by the exquisite panoramic views with which he accompanies them. So appropriate are the decorations, so striking the pictures, added to the hunter-like costume and accoutre ments and the earnestness of the lecturer, that the visitor is occasionally liable to forget the fact that he is comfortably seated in a hall in Piccadilly and not actually on the trail of a trapper in the far West. The Lord Mayor, who is a Freemason, has been frequently passed the sign by prisoners brought before him. His lordship latterly, in consequence of this, made an in diguaUt reLußbtralacci tc) a prisviiv—and a brother, LITERATURE. CHAMBER S'S HANDY GUIDE TO THE KENT AND SUSSEX COASTS. One Vol. pp. 172. W. and R. Chambers. A Shilling Guide-Bock, capitally illustrated, admirably well compacted, gossipping but not garrulous, instructive in regard to what we want to know, and interesting throughout—has just been published by the Messrs. William and Robert Chambers, of Edinburgh and London. It conducts the reader or consulter of it, as its very title shows, along those pleasant coasts so delightfully familiar to us all—the coasts of Kent and Sussex. A beau tiful little, delicately coloured, folding map (all the better it would have been if backed by linen) is pre fixed to the volumette as a sort of frontispiece. A map skirted along its northern margin by the meandering line of the River Thames from beyond Reading in the west, circuitously eastwards past Gravesend, the Medway and Sheerness, until its fresh waters are lost in the rolling salt waters of the Channel and the German Ocean. A map skirted along the south quite as waveringly from Portsmouth in the west, to the Forth Foreland in the east, confront ing the terrible Goodwin Sands. As to the interestr ing character of the various scenes traversed by the tourist who may take this Handy Guide• Book as his circerone that may perhaps be the most readily indicated by a passing reference to the subjects selected for the twelve ex cellent woodcuts distributed among the letterpress. Here Tilbury Fort, here Earl Amherst's lovely seat of Knole near Sevenoaks. Yonder grand old Roehester Castle, looking down in ruins upon the stately old Cathedral. Yonder, again, at one while, Fort Pitt, Chatham, and at another Kit's Coty Huse, the hughest Cromlech in all England. Mar gate is the subject of two illustrations, one of the town, one of the pier. Canterbury Cathedral meets our glance, a little later on in the very readable nar rative or description here put together by one evi dently no novice at these kind of compilations. After wards we have a peep, successively, at Dover Castle and at that other airy castle overlooking Hastings. Near the latter fashionable watering-place, we are led, not unwillingly, back, in fancy, by the draughts man, to Lovers' Seat, at Fairlight. The closing illustration, making up the round dozen, showing us the well-known bit of Brighton, seen from the Chain Pier. In the form of an appendix there will be found grouped together, also, in this little Guide Book, all kinds of use ful information, such as the names of the owners of the bathing machines at the different watering-places—the dates of the various local races—the principal angling streams in the two counties, and a mass of useful statistics. Za dkier s Almanac for 1864. Among the curiosities of literature in this later half of the nineteenth century, Zad kiel' Almanac holds its own in the oddest way im aginable —actually coming forth now, in the 34th annual issue of it, with a circulation of no less than 50,000 copies! At sixpence a-piece, that is, according to the not very recondite calculations of Cocker, a round sum of 25,000 shillings, or eleven hundred pounds sterling—expended upon a little astrological pamphlet in an age not only of railroads and electric telegraphs, of steam-printing and pho tograph, but one in which spectral illusions are patented. But then, as indubitably, it is an age also in which Mr. D. D. Home has held his seances, not only in the middle-class drawing-rooms of Eng land, but far and wide in moss of the palaces of continental Europe I An age when Mr. William Howitt quite confidently avows his belief in spirit-rapping, as well in various other kinds of eccentric phenomena--attributable, he tells us, to the influence of a power ridiculously dabbed by one of that gentleman's friends, by a couple of female names, tacked together by a hyphen—names applied by the discoverer of this unseen influence, in affectionate tribute (we are left to imagine) to some fair friend or relation, say his sweetheart or his aunt. Cheek-by-jowl with these wonderful wonders-ot-wonders, Zadkiel Tao Sze, professing to be skilled in a science once the vogue among the world's greatest philosophers, amongst intellectual giants like Kepler and Brahe, like the poet Milton and the Chancellor Bacon, appears upon the scene autumn after autumn, quite as an ordinary, almost as a commonplace, personage. Here he is, however, a little earlier than is his wont, putting forth his almanack in the beginning of September, instead of, as hitherto, towards the close of October. Propitiously calling 1864, upon his title page, The Year of Hope ! And yet upon the opposite side of his pamphlet, upon the very last page of it, p. 84, " frighting the isle from its propriety," with the most ominous and appalling of hieroglyphics ! Britannia upon the sea shore standing by a broken column, her anchor snapped asunder, her banner of the union jack lowered, and trailing in the dust ! Captain Morrison, R.N., for the mask, has be come transparent by this time, and the features of Zadkiel are distinguishable through the interposing veil of his disguise, has a word or two to say quite apart from his usual wont, in regard to the late trial, in which he appeared as plaintiff. Another gallant and learned officer in the royal navy, confronting him, as defen ant, in the Court of Queen's ,Bench, before the Lord Chief Justice of England. A full true and particular account of this strange trial will be found appended this year to Zadkiel's Almanack. In it the authentic record of those proceedings will be dis covered, given at length and in the minutest parti culars. That trial relating, as may ba very well remembered, to the Crystal Globe, scanned, among others, by a Bishop of the English Church Esta blishment, to say nothing of numerous Lords and Ladies perfectly well known among the Upper Ten Thousand ! The most noticeable peculiarity of all, however, in this new issue of Zadkiel's Almanac is one to be found upon page 80—LETTERS FROM H.R.H. THE LATE PRINCE CONSORT, ad dressed by order of H.R.H. to Zadkiel, otherwise Captain R.N. "Thanks" from H.R.H. "for the lorrison, horoscope of the Princess Royal"—for Zadkiel's Almanack for 1841—for another copy of Z a dki e l' s Almanack conveyed to His Royal Highness b y L or d Robert Grosveno r ! To sa y nothing of that noble lord's promise in one of these letters (a promise we take it for granted afterwards fulfilled) to endeavour to obtain the exact moment of the Prince's birth, toge ther with the expression of G. hope that it might be made known under a happy influence to his correspondent, the Astrologer! Under any circum stance, but particularly atter , the notoriety of th e l a te proceedings in the case of Morrison v. Belcher, it is perfectly comprehensible that Zadkiel should e xult (as he, evidently and quite naturally, d oes ) in being able to give publicity, just at this time, to the particulars of this really extraordinary corre spondence. A CHURCH OR A SUB -EDITORSHIP !—An adver tisement a ppeared the other day i n one of the morning papers, says the Saturday Review, that may serve to indicate the kind of speculation which may soon become co mmon :—" Wanted, a Church of Progressive Thought, by a Young M inister, accustomed to a l arge C ongregation in one of th© first Provincial Towns. No objection to a Sub -Editorship.—Address, Alpha, &c." This modest pe tition for pulpit or paste-pot w as cruelly thrust down into obscurity among the unfurnished apartments, second-hand billiard -tables, washing, nurses wet and dry, cream-coloured cobs, and gentlemen of the highest position who would be obliged by the loan of ten pounds fur twenty-four hours. We presume poor "Alpha" indulges in the hope that his advertisement may catch the eye of some heretical deacon as it wanders down the column of notices "To Mas ter Pork-butchers," "To Grocers' Assistants," or Eligible Milk-walks." But we fear his hope is ill-founded, Persons of this sort like to keep busi ness apart from pleasure, and would be sorry to turn their eyes, when once fixed on the shop till, to anything connected with the edifying pastime of badgering :pastors, Besides, we would gladly think that even the most ignorant and stupid of deacons has too much intelligence to be taken in by so transparent a piece of impudence as a newspaper advertisement for a church of progressive thought by a person who has no objection to take a sub-editorship. And what is a Church of Progressive Thought ? An assembly, we presume, of half-educated tradesmen, who, under the sage guidance of the advertiser—himself probably a person with no pretence to any education beyond such as could be procured at a Dissenting theological college—would begin by a little mild Colensoism, would advance to some sort of mysticism, would tumble into atheism, and finally (th e majority of them), after about five years of progressive thought, would , make a violent progress back again, and become the most orthodox of churchmen or narrowest of chapelmen, while their leader would be forced to insert an other advertisement in the daily papero, er perhaps take to touting fefi a plaeOgraP4er. THERMOMETER. This morning This day at Two o'clock _ _ Barometer-29.85. Wind—South -Westerly ; light, and cloudy. Sun, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9, 1863 Au exceedingly delicate question is now arising as to whether El Toussoun or El Monassir are to be detained in Mr. Lain D's Building-yard down at Liverpool. Whether those two steam rams, now upon the very eve of their completion, are to be detained there, by order of Her MAJESTY'S Go vernment, under the Foreign Enlistment Act. The settlement of this question one way or the other, and that within a very few days from the present moment, is dependent, of course, upoa the deci sion arrived at by :the law officers of the Crown, as to the bearing of that enactment upon one of the nicest points of international law. 'Whether can it be shewn that the destination of these two formidable ships-of-war is such as would bring their retention in the building-yard within The capacity or authority of the Government ! 7 hat is, really and truly, the question. Originally, as is well known, nay as their outlandish names sufficiently indicate, El Toussoun and El Monassir, they were ordered to be built in Mr. LAIRD'S yard by his Highness the late Pasha of EGYPT. They ware ordered by him, we believe, about the time of his visit to this country : when his Highness was feasting his guests on board his yacht with all kinds of good cheer, while undermining his own constitution by paisoning himself with stale bottled-up Nile water. They were ordered, these two steam-rams, as one may say, vicariously or circuitously : that is to say by a French House, to whom had been given by the late Pacha a strange twofold commission—one for coining a considerable sum of Egyptian money in France, the other for , getting constructed,llaere in England, by one of our best shipbuilders, these very two steam-rams EL Toussoun and El Monassir. At the period of the late PACIIA'S sudden and unlooked for demise, one of those two commissions had already been com pleted. The money, to the full amount stipulated, had been duly coined in France, and, not only that, it had been actually conveyed from France into Egypt. So that that part of the contract could not by possibility be repudiated. Not so did it happen to be, however, in regard to the other part of the commission—that is to say, in regard to the two steam-rams, then, at the time of the PACEIA'S death, —merely in course of construction. The commis sion, so far as it related to them, was at once can celled by his Highness's successor. The re sponsibility of the order devolved, in consequence of that unexpected repudiation of it in Egypt, upon the French house from which Mr. LAIRD had re ceived it. The problematic circumstance in regard to the transaction in its present phase, therefore, is ---as to the purpose to which these two steam-rams are about to be applied by the French House fo which they have been manufactured. What may be their destination' The destination, that is, of El Toussoun and El Monassir ? Not Egypt, as originally intended—that we know. Whither, When completed, is it intended that they should proceed ? " The accusation is," says the Premier's ?rgan, the Morning Post, " that they aro destined I ° l ' war with a friendly Power. They will conse- Z h nnli tlY," says the Post ( an d we presume it speaks "" eonEdently upon authority ')—" they will con sequently be detained, • determine Whether, and a court of law will Fo reign I , ,hlia ether, under the terms of the Fo nt Act, the detention is legal, or whe!lac r the Owners can recover them from the an insurance crae o e rnrnent." Upon mere suspicion happened!) to evad endeavoured (ineffectually, as it pietion of a busiae e) only tee o th er d a y, th e coin as contract into which it had entered at its ow n deliberately. upon goodwill and pleasure, quite fraud, and arson, and we ere suspicion o f f ou l p l ay , o f , atrocities besides —r, Larder i cold blood and almost, n "? hardly what other one might say, by wholesale that the lives have b e case of Wool, of the whole TEMPLE family, i i , ee t \ i ng burning Wilfully jeo- LEY V. POLE, was said to attempted d ore t than pardised by the plaintiff on the his dwelling-house, on Campden.hiii,iz down of a year ago. All this was attera brought home to the accused upon mere suspicion, be for there was not evidence of any weight adductl to support the charge. It will be wise on the part of the Government, therefore, in this matter of the two steam rams now in Mr. LAIRD'S building yard, not to act simply and solely upon mere suspicion ! Recent events have materially contributed to enlarge our gene ra l s t ore o f k now l e d g e. The wars and revolutions of our own days have familiarised us with the details of localities whose name 3 ware scarcely to be found in the old geographies and guide-books. The Crimea, although figuring in Tartar history, was not so well known in England and France ten years ago as it is now; Cawnpore and Lucknow were names only faiailiar to Anglo- Indians, while the student might turn over a good many maps of Italy before he lighted on Solferino or Magenta; and we have all learned to thread our way more readily through the perplexing maze of English and Indian names, whie'i servo to distal- Raish the localities of the vast States of America re following the track of this unhappy war. NORWICH MUSICAL FESTIVAL. The choruses in Mr. ST,las's new work, " Jcash," were rehearsed on Monday evening in St. Andrew's Hall, under that gentleman's personal supervision Mr. Silas expressed himself pretty well satisfie _ with the result, but intimated that the voices ought to be more concentrated, so as to produce a more united effect, and some effort will be made to attain this object. Mr. Benedict was expected down again yesterday, and last evening the choruses of his can tata, "Richard Occur de Lion," were to be rehearsed. Mr. Benedict will remain in Norwich during the remainder of the week. The rehearsal of Monday evening was attended by about 200 persons, a charge of ls, being made for admission ; for as the period is now approaching when a return must be secured on the outlay and liabilities incurred, the committee has abandoned the gratuitous principle o❑ which it acted last week. During the last few days applications for tickets have been received tolerably freely, aad the total represented by the sale had advanced from £2,500, at which it stood a week since, to about £3,300 yesterday. The ex penditure will be somewhere about £3,800, so that there is a very fair prospect of a surplus being realised, as in 1860. For the Thursday and Friday morning performances, when " Elijah" and the " Messiah " will be given, there is scarcely a vacant seat now available ; but the same cannot be said with regard to the miscellaneous concert of Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, at which last " Joash" is supposed to be the staple feature. Great prominence has been attached to this work; but as it is a new and untried production, com paratively little interest has been displayed with regard to it. It is right, however, to state that the programme for this morning includes also the scene at the Gates of Nain, from Leslie's oratorio " Em manuel," and selections from the " Stabat Mater," and that Mademoiselle Titiens and Mademoiselle Trebelli will appear, as well as Sims Reeves. The usual fittings have been erected in St. Andrew's Hall, and the bare and naked walls will receive their old adornments in the shape of time-honoured portraits of local worthies. Mr. Charles Mathews upon the French Stage. (From the Daily News.) Mr. Charles Mathews, the English comedian, made his first appearance upon the French stage at the Theatre des Varietes, in Paris, on Monday night. The piece selected was a version in French, under the title of " lin Anglais Timide," of the actor's own farce of the "Bashful Man." Our Paris correspondent, writing on Monday night, gives the following account of the performance:— " Mr. Charles Mathews has not met with quite such a great success at the Varietes as I should have been glad to have recorded, and as I think he deserved. It is always an arduous task for an actor to play in a foreign language, and before such a critical audience as a Parisian one the ordeal is doubly frightful. But Ido not think the comparative failure of this evening's representation is in any degree attributable to that cause. Mr. Mathews speaks French better than almost any Englishman I ever heard. Indeed, his easy, graceful, and singularly correct pronunciation might be envied by many an educated Frenchman, and the very slight English accent occasionally perceptible was really no detriment at all to such broad farce as the Bashful Man,' From the moment he stepped upon the stage it was obvious that all the difficulties of a foreign tongue had been overcome with marvellous felicity, Although he speaks with the volubility which he inherits from his father, every word was audible in every part of the house and every 'point' told, The fault, if fault there were, was not in the actor but the author. The humour of the piece was, in the opinion of the audience, exhausted in the early part of it, and during the ten minutes which pre ceded the fall of the curtain they began to get weary. "No puff preliminary was resorted to in order to secure an audience for Mr. Mathews. I heard by the merest ac cident that he was to make his first appearance at the Varietes to-night, and could hardly believe my informant —so out of the usual course of things did it appear to me that such a theatrical event should take place without making more noise beforehand. I went however, to the door of the Varietes, and there I saw by the bills, Un Anglais Timide,' a comedy in one act, by Mr. C. Mathews, was to be produced this evening, and that Mr. C. Mathews would play the character of Mr. Brown. Thereupon I secured a stall—which was not difficult, for the theatre was by no means full at the opening, although before the Bashful Man' began nearly every seat was occupied. From the conversation of people around me I found that Mr. C. Mathews' fame as an actor had not reached Paris. A great many came out of curiosity to see an Englishman play in French; but they knew nothing about him. The audience was therefore as genuine a one as could well be. Only if I may trust my own im pression there was a cabal of some 20 persons predetermined to hoot down the Englishman, if they could see their oppor tunity. In the early part of the piece Mr. Mathews' acting of the cool adventurer who makes himself at home in old Gogo's house, sets his furniture to rights, rehangs his pic tures, pokes him in the ribs, orders his servants about, and makes love to his ward, was fully appreciated, and rewarded by roars of laughter such as are seldom heard within the walls of a French theatre. But a comic song in English was not relished, because not understood, and another song to the guitar in Neapolitan patois (also not understood) provoked visible marks of impatience. At last, just as the very slight denouement of the farce was being worked out the audience seemed to think the explanations of how it came to pass that Mr. Brown mistook somebody else for Geo . ' °, jun., on a Rhine steamboat, as altog e th er unneces sary, and at all events too long. There was a good deal of stamping of feet, and some cat-calling, and the curtain fell amidst considerable disturbance. There was little or no applause at the end of the piece, and Mr. Mathews was not called for. I, however, heard several people in the foy er while criticising the piece, speak highly of Mr. Mathews' talent, and if he cares to persevere on the French stage I a m quite sure there will be great curiosity to see him when he becomes better known. SHIPPING —This Day. - - LONDON, Sept. 9 . —Wind this day at noon—South- Westerly; light breeze, and cloudy weather, with rain during the morning. FALMOUTH, Sept. 9.—Wind N.W.—Arrived—Pieter, from Akyab for Liverpool; Trio, from Cochin ; Carolina, from Ravannah. BELFAST, Sept. 7.—Wind N.W.--Arrived—Handy, from Sulina. RAMSGALE, Sept. 7.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Helena, from Stockholm for Lisbon, assisted in here leaky, and is discharging her cargo. PORTSMOUTH, Sept. 8.--Wind S.W.—Arrived—Maria Johanna, from London for Cardiff and Buenos Ayres; Embla, from Gefle for Bilboa. CLYRE, Sept. S.—Wind - S.W.—Sailed—The Channel Fleet, for Belfast. BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. SOUTHAMPTON, Wednesday Morning. Arrived—Havre, ste amer, from Havre Purveyor, from Swanage ; Courier, steamer, from Jersey. Sailed—Queen, for Plymouth; Antelope, for Cardiff. BY MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. GRAVESEND. Wednesday Morning. Arrived, Sept. B —Hannah Andrews, from Stettin; Frau Marie, from Taganrog; John Bruster, from Prince Ed ward's Island. Arrived, Sept. 9—Elkin, from Wykobing ; Pole Star, from Calcutta; Albert, from Quebec; Four Ststers, from Antwerp ; D. W. Pickering, from Pomeron ; Mellona, from Guernsey ; Springbok, from Stanbey ; Margaret, from Malmo; Rover, from Guernsey; Eliza, from Mazagan ; Sarah King, from Guernsey. • DEAL, Wednesday Morning. Anchored—Minister, from London, for Sonswald ; John Exeter, from north, for west. A FRENCH WATERING PLACE.—It looks a comical kind of decency to English eyes. The men are dressed in a sort of trowsers and jersey all in one, which differs from ordinary garments of that description chiefly in being much toe short in the legs and arms. This ar rangement seems to be a compromise between the Govern ment's appreciation of decency and the natural human de sire to be as naked as possible in the water. But, to a stranger, it looks as if all the male population of the place had been seized with a sudden fancy for dressing in the clothes of their little boys. But they ara not the oddest figures of the scene. Tho Government having ascertained the minimum of clothing that is respectable for men, appears to have come, by a kind of mechanical logic, to the conclusion that a similar quantity is abundant for women. The result is, that the beach is peopled with a number of nondescript looking figures, bearing much the appearance of short, ill -made men, scantily dressed in cho colate-coloured ser ge — a sort of forked rad i s h t ur ned brown from keep ing —which on the p art of people who are not habituated to t hi s P ara• disaical innocence of costume, to believe may possibly be ladies. All these figures wander about in the aimless dila tory way which appears to be an integral portion of the amusement. Some area pproac hi ng the water with l azy s teps, wondering whether it is not rather cold, end, in the agonies of delib era ti on , di s playing the beauties of th e i r cos fume t o considerable advantage . Others, who h ave h ad their dip, a ro pi c ki ng th e ir steps wearily over the shi ng l e, looking in vain for the cabane w h e r e they may reli eve themselv es o f th e dripping garments which cli ng to their figures with a tenacity which gives rather a statuesque effect. All this time, by way of contrast, the beach is full of non-bathers--women dressed as only F renc h women can dresE—why are come to enjoy the opoctaelp,--§qtoriciay I?eriew, Tart circular T,l HER MAJESTY. In accordance with Admiralty instructions the Fairy, steam-tender to the Victoria and Albert, lef c Woolwich harbour yesterday, and took up moorings at Greenhithe, to be in readiness to convey her Majesty and the royal family and suite from the royal yacht to the Royal Arsenal-pier, where bee Majesty will disembark on Thursday, and proceed from Woolwich to Wind sor . I n consequenc e of the proceedings taken by th e W ar D epar t me nt with reference to the orders issued b y th e h ea ds of de' partments at the Royal Arsen a l on h er Majesty 's recent embarkation, the mistak e w ill no t be re peated on this occasion, and it i s sta t e d that ne deviation will be made from the ordinary regula tions as to the admission of visitors—viz., the mili tary and those provided with War-office tickets will not be excluded from the establishment, although the line of route and the approaches to the pier will be strictly kept by a strong body of the dockyard and the R division of police. Prince Napoleon was, a few days since, cruising off the Isle of Wight in his yacht. His Imperial Highness and the Princess Clotilde are going to Lisbon, in order to be there during the se couchement of the Queen of Portugal. His Excellency Count Nesselrode has arrived 0 Maurigy's Hotel from Paris. The Marquis of Bristol and the Ladies Hervey have arrived at Homburg from Dresden. The noble mar' quis and daughters are expected home towards the close of the month. The Countess (Dowager) of Jersey is expected to arrive in town to-day from Osterley Park, near Southall. The Earl and Countess Stanhope have arrived at the Hotel Mirabeau, Paris, on their way to Switzerland. Lord and Lady Proby, Lord and Lady Kenyon, Sir Erskine and Lady Perry and family, Lady S, Lindsay, and Lady Stannus are among the English visitors assembled at Baden-Baden, Lord and Lady Stanley of Alderley and Hon• Misses Stanley left town on Monday for the family seat in Cheshire. Mr. and Lady Selina Bidwell have arrived at Maurigy's Hotel from Deal Castle. Sir William C. and Lady Georgiana Codrington have arrived in town expressly to attend the wedding o f Lord Londesborough and Lady Edith Somerset to -morrow. The youthful Duke of Hamilton is said to be about to enter Christ Church, Oxford, to complete Ills education. THE BLESSED WORDS OF SCRIPTURE.—Thos e blessed words it is full of, words that in our hourS of ease, or biblical criticism, pass over our mind like some drowsy chime; but in the bitter day of anguish and be' reavement, when the body is racked, the soul darkened, shine out like stars to the mariner ; seem then first to swell to their real size and meaning, and come to writhing mor tals like pitying seraphim, di"inity on their faces and heal ing on th e i r w i egs.—Charles Reade ' s " Very Bard Cash. ' A YEAR'S RETRENCHMENT.—Addressing a meet ing of his constituents, at Aberdeen, the other day , Colonel Sykes rehearsed the achievements of himself and his fellow " economists" during the past session. ' 6 M r ' Williams, the member for Lambeth," he said, "moved, eh the vote for 148,000 men for the army, that, taking into account that we have the volunteers, the militia, the en rolled pensioners, and the yeomanry all available, 10,00 0 men should be struck off. But how many supported him ? Just 19. That is the proportion we generally ob tain—for lam always on that side. (Hear, and a laugh.) We had a good many divisions of that kind, and in fact the result is the same, except by accident. Again, there vies the proposal of Mr. Dodson, a moderate man, to place the diplomatic service money under the control of the House of Commons. Well, he got sixty-five to assist him in wha t would appear certainly to be an absolutely necessary measure, against 136. Now, I come to a wiracle- - (s laugh) —we succeeded in one motion of this kind. A t Constantinople, the house of our Minister had bean charged in the estimate £2,225 for repairs (annual, mark you), besides a charge of £4OO per annum for an archi tect—a permanent charge, the architect being attached to the house. (Laughter.) I told Mr. Cowper—' If Y °ll , dismiss the architect, it will save you the £2,225 in repair s ' (Laughter.) I did not intend to carry the matter forward ! but Lord R. Cecil rose on the Opposition side, and moved the reduction of the vote by the amount of the architect's salary, and was carried. (Laughter, and 'hear, hear.') Well, here was a reduction of £4OO per annum out of a total expenditure of £69,302,008. That is the amount you spent last year, and all we could do in the House of Commons was to reduce it by £4,000 in the miraculous circumstances I have mentioned." (Laughter.) THE RAISING OF HOLBORN VALLEY.—There are two plans before the public by which this may be accomplished. One involves the demolition of a large amount of property in Holborn, Skinner-street, Farring don-street, King-street, and adjacent thoroughfares, for the purpose of raising the general level of the roadway- According to this plan, instead of two steep hills, there will be four moderate inclines, running north and south, and east and west. This will be a resolution of levels, and should the gradients, east and west, be made easy enough for the heavy traffic that will continue to run in those directions, this plan will be the most thorough that could be devised. Mr. Bunning is the author of the scheme. The other proposes to throw a viaduct over the valley, towards the north side, thus avoiding an extensive destruction of property, and providing a roadway on a dead level from east to west. There will also be, as at present, a level road from north to south, but there 'will be the great disadvantage of the present inclines out of the valley from Farringdon-street, &c,, and the Metropolitan Railway Station to Holborn and Skinner-street. This plan was advocated, though not originated, by Mr. Marra ble, the late architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works, and it would be the cheaper of the two. We have thus two plans before us emanating from two great municipal autho rities of this metropolis. The responsibility of carrying out this indispensable improvement has been thrown by Par liament upon the Corporation, and we leave to its wisdom and experience the selection of the most permanent and practically-useful scheme.—City Press. EPITOME OF A FRENCH NOVEL.—One of the stories of the younger Dumas, which has long enjoyed a supreme popularity among the artists and stu dents of Paris : and the drift of which is thus described a Saturday Reviewer :—Antonine, a beautiful girl, who gives her name to the book, is the daughter of a physician. Edward, or Arthur, or Alphonse —we forget which—catches a glimpse of her ancle one muddy day in the Rue de Rivolip and forthwith tumbles into a frantic ecstacy of love. fie cannot eat, nor sleep, nor read. He is consumed with fever—he raves all day and cries all night—he looks ghastly; id est soulfrant," which seems to be the appro priate phrase for the climax of this kind of agony. After a time he discovers the residence of Antonine's father, and calls upon him on the pretence of seeking his professional advice. Antonine has been peeping through the parlour blinds, and on his departure asks her father if the young man is ill. "My child," is the reply, " this day twelve months this young man will be dead.' Antonine, who is deeply in love with Edward or Alphonse, swoons away at this, while the physician weeps copiously. It appears, how ever, that there is a certain system for curing consumption, which is Edward's malady; but it is one requiring the most tender and incessant vigilance on the part of the nurse. The rest follows. Antonine devotes herself to his cure, and without delay marries the consumptive suitor. Then the action of the story really begins. The reader will be at no loss to imagine the situation, and the elaborate and minute expansion which it will receive at the hands of the author of "La Dame aux Camelias," and "La Dame aux Perks." Two young lovers in a state of frantic mu tual passion, heightened by the consciousness that their fiery bliss may be quenched within twelve months, and one of them supposed to be slowly wasting away in consumption—what more could be desired by any writer or reader of this school of fiction P The medical details, noW so indispensable alike to the boudoirs of the Champs Elys4es and the dirty garrets of the Quartier Latin, are cal efully enumerated. We may leave our readers to con jecture the quantity of blood -spitting and the amount of passionate raving, and the loathsome artistic product which results from their combined representation. Suffice it to say that this is protracted through a whole volume, and that at last Edward is carried safely through the crisis by means of the heroic devotion of Antonine. This is the end of the story proper, but the sting lies in " l'Envoi." The reader is supposed to be worked up to a tremendous pitch of sympathy with the sufferings of Ed ward and Antonine, and to be left happy in the contemplation sif their future bliss, when his dream is dispelled in some such style (w 0 quote from memory) as the following Reader, do you really want me to tell you what became of them ? I would much rather leave it unknown. It would be better for you perhaps, not to know. But, after all, art is truth, &C., &a• Well, Eiward is filling some small post in a provincial . . town, and has grown fat. He is now engaged in an in trigue with the wife of the Prefect. Antonin° knows all about it, and laughs heartily." It is difficult to recall any thing more deeply cynical than the laugh with which we are dismissed. The author plainly flings his moral at mankind as the sum and =elusion of all human philo• sophy, and implies that anybody who thinks otherwise must either be a romantic young fool or a hypocritical old one. A Rouen journal, in giving an account of a banquet of the Orpheenists, mentions among the curiosities of the bill of fare, Cr Mons d'Ananas a la Verdi, Plombiereo g1E40600 a la Auber, and rain, de velaillea 4 Is Itplifgnii