The Sun. — London, England, 1863-04-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 6, 1863 Vhe Annual Banquet of the Royal General Theatrical Fund, On Saturday Mr. Charles Dickens presided at the eighteenth annual banquet of this admirable insti tution, which took place at the Freemasons' Hall. He was supported on the occasion by a company of over 200, amongst whom we observed Mr. Buck stone, Mr. T. P. Cooke, Mr. Alfred Wigan, Captain Ward, Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, Dr. Canton, Dr. Hastings, Dr. Day, Messrs. Sterling Coyne, E. Yates, Creswick, Chippendale, Jerwood, Alderman Phillips, E. L. Blanchard, Chas. Dickens, jun., Chas. Clements, Howe, Hill, Fawcett, &c. About 100 elegantly dressed ladies occupied seats on the dais at the back of the chairman, and the gallery at the end of the hall was filled with others equally attractive. The musical arrangements, which were under the management of Mr. Coote, were excellent, and added much to the evening's entertainment. In addition to the harpists, Mr. Balsir Chatterton and Mr. John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia)—the vocalists, who gave their services gratuitously, were Miss Poole, Mrs. Howard Paul, Miss Eylea, Miss Julia Coote, and Miss Edith Wynne (Eos Cymru Pen cerddes), Mr. J. W. Fielding, Mr. Donald Sing, Mr. J. Shoubridge, Mr. T. Lawler , Mr. J. Coward, Mr. Walworth, and Mr. Lennard Walker. The CHAIRMAN, on rising after grace was sung, was received with loud and general applause. He proposed " The Queen," and announced that her Majesty had that evening forwarded her 17th con tribution of £lOO to the funds of the institution. The toast was warmly received. The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the next toast, said is not the least notable circumstance in the young lives of the two exalted persons who have lately engrossed so much general attention, that as each is the deserving object of the other's free choice, so their future career must for ever hence forth b e inseparable from that of a free peo ple, deserving to be free. Surely, no old poet, or painter, or sculptor ever conceived a more graceful or beautiful marriage procession than that of the other day, where all ages, all classes, all conditions of the fruition of hope, or the disappointment of hope, joined together in one great, equal, generous enthusiasm in behalf of those two young people in the flush of life and fortune, and governed themselves, and governed their tem pers, in honour of the interesting scene. (Loud cheers.) lam sure you will agree with me in say ing—Never may that young Prince and Princess, and the great true-hearted English people, be less worthy of one another, or less at peace with another, than they were that day. (Great applause.) I beg to propose to you to drink their " Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family." The toast was responded to most enthusiastically, after which Miss Eyles sung, amidst repeated rounds o f applause, Mr. Brindley Richards' song, " God bless the Prince of Wales." Captain WARD responded to the toast of "The Army, Navy, and Volunteers." The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the toast of the evening, " Prosperity to the Royal General Theatri cal Fund," said—Ladies and Gentlemen —With my present responsibilities impending over me, I hap pened the other night, as I sat alone, to be reading a paper in the Taller referring to the time when Mr. Powell's comp an y of performing puppets was in high vogue with persons of quality. In that number of the ?alter that brilliant essayist gives a humorous description of the contest then raging between two ladies at Bath- Prudentia and Flori mel—as to which of them should set the fashion to the greatest number of imitators. In the course of this noble struggle Florimel bespoke " Alexander the Great," to be acted by the players ; and Pru dentia bespoke " The Creation of the World," to be acted by the puppets, at the same time darkly put ting it round, for the confusion and ridicule of her rival, that the puppet Eve--who might have been in differently modelled —(laughter)—would be found to be in figure the most like Florimel that ever was, (Laughter.) Now, what were the missing charres, what were the defective points, in this wooden lady's anatomy does not appear, other wise I should have the honour of delicately stating th e m to the company; but it does appear that his worship the mayor inclined to the wooden side of the question, and that on high moral grounds he greatly preferred those innocent creatures, the puppets, to those wicked players. (Laughter.) Now, ladies and gentlemen, as I have a profound veneration for mayors and such like—(laughter)—this sentiment caused me to close the book, and to consider how much we should gain if there were no managers but Mr. Powell and actors but the puppets. In the first place—and on the immense advantage to be reaped here I have no doubt we shall be all agreed—there would be no fund, no dinner, no chairman, no speech. (Laughter and cheers.) Then on Satur days there would be no treasury, although I am told that that great point has been gained occasion ally under the existing system—(laughter)—there -would never be any throwing up parts, there would never be any colds; there would never be any jea lousies or dissensions ; the two ladies might dress for any length of time in the same rooms, without the remotest danger of ever coming to words, and the loftiest tragedian that ever was or will be might be doubled up with his legs round his neck, and put away in the same box with the reddest-nosed, and the most flowered-waistcoated of the comic countrymen. (Laughter.) Now these I considered to myself were points to be gained. On the other hand there would be lost human interests, the human face, which after all stood for a little, and though not least, it was the last, that great amount of comfort, satisfaction, and gratification which was derived by a well-meaning people from disparaging those who entertain them. (Laughter.) Now this last high moral gratification, this cheap, this complacent self-assertion, I felt could not pos sibly be parted with, and, therefore I quickly came to the conclusion that we must have these wicked players after all. (Cheers and laughter.) It is an astonishing thing to me, that within my range of observation and experience, it is true that there should be, and that there really is, in some o f what we call the world this curious pro p e nsity to run u p a l i ttle score against, so as to be even with, those who amuse them. Saysn the Port man Square, Esq. , at breakfast. That man i farce last night made me laugh so much that I bu t hope there is nothing absolutely wron g , about him, think this morning there must be." (Laughter.) g , My dear," says Mr. Baron Hill to Mrs. Baron Hill, " I was so profoundly affected at the theatre last night, and I felt it so very difficult to repress m y shouts when the poor mad king listened in vain for the breathing of his dead daughter, that I really felt it due to myself rather to patronise that gen tleman this morning. I feel it a kind of compensa tion to myself to regard him as an extraordinary man, having no recognised business that can be found in the Post-office Directory. (Laughter.) I f e el it necessary to put ap with him, as it were, as a kind of unaccountable creature, who has no coun in fact, to b ear w i t h hi m as ti n g-house anywhere ; a sort of marvellous child in a Shaksperian go-cart e (Roars of laughter). Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is quite true, in a great or less degree, I think, of all artists; but it is particularly true of the dra matic artist, and it is to me so framed, certainly it cannot be because he dresses himself up for his part, for as you all know very well there is an enormous amo unt of dressing and making-up going on in high stations all around us. I never saw a worse maker up in the humblest country theatre than I can see in the House of Commons any night when there is a message from the Lords. (Laughter.) I assure you, on my personal veracity, that I have personally known,a Lord High Chancellor, at 255. a week, who, in . his wig and robes, looked better than the real art isle. (Prolonged laughter.) I think the secret cal m et lie here ; the truth is, that this little harmless disposition occupies a little quiet out-of-the-way cor ner of o t ar nature, and I think it a little ungracious and a little' ungenerous, and certainly more so than it is meant to and lal ways, whether in public or in private, on principle determinedly oppose myself to it, for the reasons . I have endeavoured to explain to you. Although Icm now going to urge upon yo u the case of and am going to entreat your active sympathy with this Getwral Theatrical Fund, on this eighteenth anniversary you shall hear from me nothing conventional about the "Poor player Who struts and frets his hour upon the stage," which shall in any way separate him otherwise than favourably from us, the great community of poor players, who alt of us strut our hours upon this stage of life. His worth, if he be worth anything to himself or any other man, is as real to him as the banker's to him, or the broker's to him, or the professional man's to him, or the merchant's to him. His fund is a business fund, and is collected on sound, business, honourable, independent principles. It is a fund, as is known already to many here, for granting annuities to such members as may be dis qualified by sickness or infirmity from pursuing the theatrical profession, and also for extending aid to the sick, I think, in some cases even when they are not members, and to the bereaved survivors of the dead. It is a fund to which the members con tribute periodically, according to certain carefully calculated scales, very often out of very imperfect and very uncertain earnings. It is a fund which knows no distinction whatsoever of theatre, ana knows no grades whatever of auto: s. I have had the honour of being one of its trustees from the hour of its first establishment—(cheers)—and I can bear testimony with the greatest admiration to the ex traordinary patience, steadiness, and perseverance with which those payments are made. (Cheers.) Therefore it is, as you must observe, ladies and gen tlemen, that I occupy a vantage ground of entreat ing you to help those who do really and truly help themselves, who do not come here to-night for a mere field night and a mere theatrical display, but who, as it were, rise to the surface once in every twelve months to assure you of their constancy and good faith and then burrow down to work again, many of them surrounded by innumerable obstacles, many of them working under great difficulties, and, believe me, with little cheer or encouragement throughout the whole toiling year, and in obscurity enough. (Loud cheering.) The chairman then at great length dwelt on the social influence of the stage, and concluded an eloquent appeal on behalf of the in. stitution, which richly merited support. (Cheers.) The toast was heartily drunk. Mr. Buckstone, who was received with much cheering, said—Ladies and Gentlemen—(applause) If there is any one circumstance that can make our festival of to-day more successful, more cheerful, and, I hope, more profitable than any of its seven teen predecessors, it is the auspicious fact of the chair being occupied on this occasion by Mr. Charles Dickens. To see his face here again, to listen to his well-known voice once more, most certainly illus trates the frequently repeated exclamation, when long-separated friends have met, " Why, this looks like old times ;" and so it does, and in one sense quite refutes the assertion that we cannot recall the past ; for with his presence and with that of so many of our old supporters of the General Theatrical Fund we do recall the past, and that too in the pleasantest and most genial manner. (Applause.) It is, however, necessary that I should explain the chief cause of Mr. Dickens being our chairman to night, as to omit that explanation would be unjust to a higly-gifted gentleman who was to have held that position this evening. Some months ago it was decided by the committee of our fund to solicit the aid of Mr. Wilkie Collins, to which solicitation he replied in the moat prompt and in the kindest man ner, but in course of time he was seized with an ill ness so serious that he was utterly prostrated. He wrote to acquaint me of it, though he still hoped to be here, and said that, "if he could but stand upon his legs he would keep his promise ;" at last, not finding his health restored, he was compelled, much against his will, to declare the impossibility of his being able to attend. The time for this feast was approaching, and what to do the directors did not know. In this emergency we applied to Mr Dickens, who kindly consented to come to the rescue ; and happily there he is, and here we are. Though I must inform you that Mr. Collins, in his last ' communication, told me he only looked upon his attendance as deferred, and therefore we still in dulge in the hope of seeing him present at some future time; while nothing, gentlemen, can give a greater proof of the good feeling of Mr. Dickens towards our fund than to tell you that this is the third time he has occupied the chair, and we all of us heartily hope that it may not be the last. (Ap plause.) It is now my duty, gentlemen, to proceed to some figures and dry details, and to tell you what we are, and what we are doing. We have now 18 annuitants, receiving from £3O to £9O per annum; of these 18 you will be pleased to hear that 14 are ladies, while the entire number are living in comparative comfort on what they are entitled to, and blessing the day when they first became subscribers to our fund. During the past year we have paid to these annuitants no less a sum than £BO2 10s. ; while after meeting many neces sary expenses, which are not set forth in our balance sheet, our invested capital after this night is over will not fall far short of £13,000; but, gentlemen, we are still compelled to be careful and cautions, and still compelled to call upon your generous aid in every way in our power, for over and above these annuitants we shall shortly have five more eligible, and who will most probably claim their incomes. (Laughter.) And now, gentlemen, to stimulate you to be liberal to-night I have only to inform you that our good and gracious Queen still remembers the poor players, and that the 17th munificent donation of £lOO has been received. (Cheers.) Then is there not hope for the drama, and hope for its professors, when a monarch in the midst of such affliction as she has suffered can send forth her aid to "us youth," and encourage us to go on and prosper ? And is there not still further hope, when we look at the Prince of Wales, and see how often he has visited the theatres lately? Is there not hope in knowing that he, like his illustrious and lamented father, is fond of the drama? So is our Queen, his much beloved mother, whom at no distant date we yet trust and pray to see again amongst us. So was i his great-grandfather, George 111., fond of the play and to see the Prince like them, and following their example, is a " joy" for a long time, if not " for ever." For what, gentlemen, would become of the noble drama of our country—what would become of the cheerfulness of the country—if we had upon the Throne a serious Sovereign ? That there is a party that would be glad of such a gloomy period, we well know. But what is that party?— of what manner of men is it composed ? Why, of a class of miserable people who would deprive the hard-working public of fields and fresh air of a Sunday, and on that day too would have the audacity " to rob a poor man of his beer." (Loud cheers.) And now, gentlemen, there is a subject upon which I would delicately touch, be cause I think the time is coming when what I Would suggest must be done. You all know there are two large and wealthy dramatic funds—those of Drury-lane and Covent-garden—possessing between t h em nearly £200,000. The members of these and from the position of ftahnedtswaore fastea t tres dying off, —one Of them having no longer anything to do with the drama—it is not likely that there will be any more c l a imants upon their capital. Then what is to b ecome of it ? I certainly know a hale and hearty gentleman c onnected with one of the funds who maintains it to be a tontine, and, as he means to outlive all the rest of the mem bers, looks forward to the happy day when he Bucat,n pocket the entire capital for his own use. gen tlemen, if the resources of these two lar g e funds can be amalgamated with those of the General Fund, the Dramatic Sick Fund, and, above all, with the Dramatic College, what might not be done with such an amount of money ? The college could be nobly endowed, its schools established, all annuities would be well secured ; while, to satisfy the annui tants and officers of the two great funds, I should propose their incomes and salaries should be in creased one-third beyond A hat they now receive ; and if this is not done, in a few years the large capital of the Dru r y -lane and Covent• garden funds will be lost to the dramatic profes sion, and the labours of such a man as David Garrick, and of the great actors and gentlemen who established these funds, will have come to an igno minious end. (Loud cheers.) But, gentlemen, this is not the question of the present moment. My vo cation this evening is to plead to you in behalf the fund you have come to serve, and on behalf of mem bers of a profession you all admire; for if I could read the secrets of your hearts, I know I could point out many here who at some time or other of their lives have had a fancy for the stage, and have looked upon it as an arena where they could have shone with peculiar brilliancy ; and I have also no doubt that there are many amongst you who, if you have not had this fancy, have at least had a turn far dra matic writing, and, perhaps, some of you at this day may have by you a tragedy, in five acts, or at least a farce in one, but written many years ago. (Cheers and laughter.) I know when I was not 17 years of age I wrote a tragedy myself, all in blank verse, and which I had the temerity to send to the great tragedian of that day, the illustrious Edmund Kean—(cheers)---whose opinion was that my sub ject was too repulsive for representation ; but shortly after, on becoming an actor myself in a barn at Hastings, this tragedian was lodging at a cottage on the coast for the purpose of studying a new part; he recognised the young tragic poet, and as my benefit was announced at that time, he called at the theatre, took two box tickets of me, and gave me two guineas for them. And, gentlemen, when I plead on behalf of members of the stage, and of the theatre, I am pleading on behalf of an institution which you have often been told is an instructor. But, gentlemen, it is not only an instructor, it not only elevates the mind, exposes folly, and cultivates the fancy, but it is a physician, as I can show you by an anecdote. Eighteen years ago, when our first festival was given, Mr. Charles Dickens was our chairman, as he is now. It took place on a Monday in Passion Week. I was at Dumfries on the pre- vious Saturday, and playing at the theatre there on that evening. The house was well filled, par ticularly the dress boxes, but the occupants of that part of the house, instead of being listless and inattentive as they sometimes are in London theatres, were uproarious in their laughter and loud in their applause ; every joke or humorous passage was taken by them with immense expressions of delight, and the play " went off," as it is termed, triumphantly. At the end of it I remarked to the manager what an excel lent audience it had been, and how every joke was understood and appreciated, but particularly by the parties in the dress boxes; they laughed louder than any other persons in the theatre. " Yes," re plied the manager, "they did enjoy themselves amazingly. Do you know what they all are P" " No," I answered. " Well, sir," said he, " they are all mad people. (Loud laughter.) It is the sys tem of our doctor at the lunatic asylum here to amuse his patients in every way in his power, and he had pretty well all the seats in the dress circle, and brought them all here to entertain them; and afterwards the doctor informed me how much his party had been delighted, and how he was sure their coming to the play would do them a great deal of good.' (Loud laughter.) Gentlemen, seeing the ladies still seated by themselves, and cruelly parted from our sides, I must tell you it is yet an undecided point whether in future they shall not sit down and dine with us, but as I have promised to be chairman next Ash-Wednesday at another dra matic fund dinner, where ladies do sit down, I shall have an opportunity of observing how the system works; and if I find it very comfortable, as I am certain I shall, 1 intend to recommend the directors of our fund to do the same thing, and then you can bring your wives and sweethearts, and by your liberal donations prove to them what noble and generous hearts you have given or can bestow upon them. (Laughter.) And now, gentlemen, I have told you what we do with our money ; you have seen, or can see, our balance-sheet ; you can be convinced that every penny we receive and expend is put down, and that our ac counts are kept in a clear, honest, and straight forward way ; and that so far from the actor being, as is vulgarly supposed by some people, an impro vident and careless person, you will fivd him to be, in matters of business, a very good match for many of our City gentlemen. Therefore, knowing what we are—knowing the object for which we have met to-night, I am convinced, when our polite stewards stand at your elbows with their little scraps of paper for you to fill up, you will largely and freely " post the cole." (Loud and continued cheering.) The CHAIRMAN proposed " The Drama," coupling with it the name of Mr. Alfred Wigan, who ac knowledged the compliment. " The Health of the Chairman" was proposed by Mr. Edmund Yates, to which Mr. Dickens replied in a very humorous address, during which he pro posed" The Ladies," and advocated the desirability of their taking places with the gentlemen at din ners, instead of occupying a position—as they did that evening—not at all complimentary to them or to the occasion. Some other toasts followed, and the company se parated about eleven o'clock. The SECRETARY announced the subscription for the evening to be £376 4s. The dinner, provided by the proprietors of the Freemasons' Tavern, was highly creditable to the management. It was elegant and abundant, and the wines of the choicest collection. Messrs. Elkington and Co.'s endeavours to give satisfaction were highly successful. PROPOSED USE OF HUMAN GAS. (From Allows Indian Mail.) We remember reading that a gallant officer of the stud more Department than an accumulation of ku madethediscoveryth k a u t nr. Bursatie livelyinho rseswas no genius at once suggested that the Grand Trunk Road should, en the score of economy, be mettled with the animals past cure. Another, on learning that man was pronounced by an emi nent professor to be nothing, after all, but a little gas and a certain number of buckets of water, proposed the watering of our " thundie surruk" accordingly. We now learn that an eccentric philosopher at Bombay proposes the lighting of his city by gas manufactured from dead Hindoos. Here is his proposal, as addressed to the Times of India:—" My plan would be to erect a blast furnace in the neighbourhood of the proposed gasp orks. In the furnace would be erected, say 12 retorts, in the interior of each of which should be a gridiron tort. o n t o t h e l e i d c e o m o n pl b e e t i a o r n e rs of fixed i f n a n t h e r e a interior cere m o n o i f e s the i n rae n adjoining apartment built for the purpose the corpse would be brought to the mouth of the retort (the door of which would be thrown open), the grating drawn out, the dead body placed thereon, the door closed again, and in 10 minutes all that would remain would be a handful of ashes, which could either be placed in a sepulchral urn or swept into the ash • pit, at the option of the friends of the deceased. Is our ope -1 ration faulty ? ' Yes,' say our chemical critics ; for you still liberate the gases of the bodies to poison our atmosphere, as at present. Is this your boasted plan ?' Stay, friend ; not so fast in drawing conclusions. I have not shown you an educt pipe fitted to each retort which conducts the carbon-loaded gas into the purifier, from whence to be conducted into a gasometer 1 It is said that many of the poorer classes of Hindoos are unable, from their poverty, to purchase wood fuel, now become so expensive, for cremative purposes. Keeping this in view, I wish to retake my plan a self-paying one, and this could only be effected by selling the gas thus collected for illuminative purposes. Estimated profits of this plan :—The number of native dead subjects to a cinerary process in the island of Bombay is about 25 per day. Each body, it is estimated, would yield 200cubie ft. of gas —many would yield much more. Now 6 rs. per 1,000 cubic feet would be a moderate charge ; therefore, in a monetary point of view merely, the scheme would pay. Fastidious people may be shocked and startled at the scheme ; but on what reasonable grounds ? Is a man of mark, whose whole life has been devoted to the enlightenment of his fellow countrymen, to be quenched from our sight for ever by the fell stroke of death, and leave not a scintillating ray behind ? Forbid it economy and common sense. Does it cost nothing, think you, to clothe the ribs with rich store of carbon that it should be afterwards wasted in the desert air—the very marrow of our complaint? Would it not create a sweetly mournful feeling in our breasts to see that, although our friend be dead yet meteor-like, as in life, he was shedding an effulgent ray to dispel the darkness, be • fore seeking the glowing galaxy of light in the other world ? The first Napoleon bade his hie chemi4ts make nitre from the bones of the Parisian dead. Is it so strange, then, that I should propose to make gas of the Hindoo dead ? Patriotic Englishmen have willed their dead bodies to the desecting• table. May not we expect a cor responding patriotism for the gasometer ? Should the Eng lish in India ever abandon the objectionable custom of de positing their dead in the earth, I, Curtius like, am ready to leap the gulf cf prejudice into the gasometer I That is, if I'm alive at the time of the change. No, that's a bull—l mean if I'm dead. Is it not more honourable to shine as a gaslight than to stop the mouth of a bunghole as vulgar clay ?—Tex CRINGLE.—Bombay, Feb. 9." Importing Tea without colour on the leaf pre vents the Chinese passing off inferior loaves as in the usual kinds. Horniman's Tea is uncoloured, therefore, always good alike, Sold in packets by 2.280 agents. THE RE' VOLUTION IN GREECE. (From the Special Correspondent of the Times.) ATHENS, March 28. I said in my last letter that if the Greeks were asked by universal suffrage what their wishes were at that moment, 99 out of 100 would answer, to go to sleep and not to awake until a presentable candi date was ready to meet their opening eyes. This inmost desire of the Greek people has bten almost literally satisfied, and sooner than could be expected, although not a minute earlier than it was wanted. Since I wrote Greece has passed through a week of political torpor, and a candidate is now presented, or rather, to speak diplomatically, suggested to her; a candidate more flattering than the wildest Greek fancy could have expected in these latter days, when the smallest Serene Highnesses who figure in the Almanach de Gotha scoffed at the idea of a con nexion with Klephtis and Palikaris. Long was the time the Greeks had to wait, many were the scoffors who tried to shake their confidence, but their patience was not to be exhausted, and they resisted the tempters. As usual, the news of the candidature of Prince William of Denmark found its way to the public some time before any official information, but, like all other rumours lately current about candidates, without producing much impression. That first love and strange infatuation of the Greeks for Prince Alfred is of too recent date to allow of a feeling growing up in favour of any one else, while their experiences in the search after a candidate have been so mortifying as to render them diffident, and rather inclined to pause and make sure of success before they give themselves up to premature hopes. The rumours of a Danish candidature at tracted therefore little more notice than that of the Duke d'Aumale, Prince Guillaume of Baden, or any other of the numerous visions of candidates which have passed before the eyes of the Greeks. What was the use of troubling themselves with it, finding eat all imaginable advantages, beginning to think it rather acceptable, and then being told that it can not be, and that no one else would accept him in Europe P Candidates seemed so fanciful and Foreign Powers so fastidious and disposed to cavil. At last, however, the telegraph spoke. Earl Rus sell had already previously informed Mr. Elliot that Prince William, the second son of Prince Christian of Denmark, seemed an eligible candidate to her Majesty's Governmeut, but that it was not known whether he and his family would accept. Now Mr. Elliot was informed that both the young Prince and his father had consented, and that there remained only the approbation of the King of Denmark, as head of the family, to be asked for. Together with the telegrams from London came one from Lord Cowley in Paris, stating that the Emperor of the French cordially approved and supported the pro position of the Danish Prince, and that M. Dronyti de Lhuys had sent instructions to that effect to the French Minister at Athens. This second piece of information from Paris was almost as important as that from London, for al though the l'.nging for a settled state of things is so great that the Greeks are ready to take almost any candidate suggested by one of the Powers, above all by England, still opposition or even a silent acquies cence on the part of Franca is liable to encourage intriguers and frighten the timid. You could see this clearly from what actually happened. As soon as the first excitement of the news bad abated every one began to inquire whether the French Minister had likewise received a tele gram, and whether he had spoken in the matter. It was known that a few days before, when the news existed in the shape of a rumour and was re produced in one of the local papers, the French Minister had expressed himself very strongly against the candidature as one which France could never tolerate. So there was considerable anxiety to know whether this rather premature announce ment of the views of the French Government was founded on some previous information, or whether it merely represented the unassisted private opinion of the French Minister. Well, a telegram had come, but the French Minister said nothing for a couple of days, and Greek countenances fell considerably ; not that they doubted the correctness of the infor mation sent to Mr. Elliot from Paris, but they began to suspect all kinds of afterthoughts and underhand intrigues on the part of the French Government, saying one thing to the British ambassadorat Paris and acting in an exactly opposite manner at Athens. It was quite provoking to hear the absurd conjec tures which this suspicion of a double dealing on the part of France suggested. And yet it seemed natural enough that the French Minister, who had uttered a decided personal opinion one way, should wait as long as possible to announce the instructions of his Government which ordered him to act another way. The mail came from Paris, and there was no delay possible. Accordingly M. Bouree informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and nil those who came that his instructions were to answer, " if he was asked," that the Emperor cordially supported the coannodnigdh, butature. sYtroeusswwouals laid on the ph rase , " if hed have thought this was clear was asked," and some hidden meaning sought in an inoffensive phrase, which meant only what every one knew—namely, that England had taken the initiative in the candidature of the Prince of Den mark, which France cordially supported. here, so One might as k, 14 A n d what of Russi a ?" Sh e ha s her part that she would h a v e of Denmark were chosen as atnhloma objection j h t eectideclarationo n i entirely fa vanished Prince: from the s cene , King of Greece was taken as a matter of indif ference. Thus, after five mcn t s t p s e o c f ia u n n y ce w r i t t a h in t t h y e , t e h le e c r t e io i n s a of last a fair pr os p ec t of a settlement. The news has b th e e en A c s ffi se c m ia b ll l y y cchoainrgineldi n icated to the C omm i t t ee o f the King. 'I he Committee is already busy in mak ing its report, which will be submitted to the house in the course of next week. There is little doubt that the great majority of the Assembly is as anxious as the mass of the people fur a King, but there always have been and there still are indivi duals who find it pleasant to form a portion, how ever infinitesimal, of the sovereign power of the people, and who still flatter themselves to make their way during the interregnum. What the number of these individuals may be it is difficult to say, but certain it is that they form the most active and enterprising portion of the Assembly, and it would be surprising indeed if they did net make an effort to defeat the candidature of Prince William, and thus leave the chances a little longer open for themselves. If France had been contrary to the candidature or even silent about it, they might propably have acted successfully on the timidity of their colleagues; but, under the circum stances, I don't believe this will be the case. "Nevertheless, the most likely course is that uni versal suffrage will be resorted to again. Which ever side may have the saperiority,—whetber that one which is for the proposition, or the one which will be against it, the other will be sure to urge an appeal to universal suffrage which, with the prece dent in the case of Prince Alfred before us, can scarcely be denied if asked for. The present Ministry, which is decidedly for the proposition, has sent telegraphic messages all over the country, and everywhere the news has given great satisfaction. In many places preparations are made for manifestations of pu blic opinion ad are to the Assembly; and other demonstrations indicate that popular feeling is favourable to the candidature, and, above all, that it is anxious to put an end to the present uncertainty by hastening as much as possible the choice of a King. Should the Assembly raise difficulties it is by no means impro bable that public opinion may help to solve them by applying a gentle and healthy pressure to those who would fain raise their fortunes at the expense I of the country. In the meantime it is easy to see that there is a fair chance for the success of Prince William of Denmark, for the personal interests in the Assembly begin to stirr. Notice has been given to the Ministers that their presence was re quired on Monday next to answer divers questions. Among them are some respecting promotions made by the Minister of War. They almost all concern men who took part in the Nauplia affair and thus lost their turn of promotion. The Ministry very justly thought that it was bat fair to them to make up for the loss they suffered when acting as the pioneer. of the revolution vv hieh brought about the present state of things. The other question con cerns the Budget. The Ministry under Buigaris had already proposed a Budget, in which 28,000,000 figured under the head of expenses. In the project presented by the present Ministry the expenses have been reduced to 22,000,000, but the reduction seemed to the members of the Assembly not enough, and it was received very coolly when it was brought forward towards the end of last week. No one is taken in by these interpellations, for their meaning is to turn out the Ministry. It will be the re-opening of a struggle for power ; all those who have a following in the Assembly will make an effort to he in power when the election takes place, and the King comes. Whether this time the leaders will be better able to come to an understanding than they were before remains to be seen. They have been working in this direction, but they have likewise done so formerly, and you know with what liWe success; so after all the present Ministry may remain a glaring instance of that party spirit which knows of no compromise, and where the different leaders prefer ostracising themselves rather than being reasonable in their pretensions. With the proposition of Prince William of Den mark En gland may be said to have made a full re turn for the confidence which Greece placed in her when she chose Prince Alfred as King of Greece in the first instance. The Greeks may have had long to wait, and they had certainly a right to complain of the loose way in which the proposition of Duke Ernest had been managed by some one or other in London or Gotha; but they must be fastidious in deed if they are not satisfied with the candidate England suggests now and France supports. They had set their eyes and hearts on the brother of the future King of England, and they are now offered the brother of the future Queen of England, who is the brother, besides, of the future King of Den mark. Surely the connection is sufficiently flatter ing for a people who were looked down upon by the smallest German princely family. The Prince be longs to a constitutional country, and one which is on friendly terms with all the three protecting Powers of Greece. That he is recommended by England is in itself a guarantee for constitutional rule, while it facilitates considerably the union with the lonian Islands. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. SATURDAY REviEw,- I What Mr. Somes's bill amounts to is the total prohibition of beer to the working man on Sunday. It is a compulsory enforce ment of total abstinence, at least on one day in the week, for at least half the population of this country. Less than this the bill does not aim at, and it is as well that its real extent should be known. It not only excludes the Sunday excursionist from his visit to the country inn, but it dries up those foaming pots which meet us on leaving town churches on Sunday morning. It condemns the Sunday meal— the poor man's only meal--either to cold water or a dry crust. This may be quite right, but it is a tre mendous innovation on the social life of a whole people ; and it is all the worse because it is one-sided, tyrannical, and oppressive. We of the comfortable classes have our cellars, our clubs, our bottled beer, our old cognac, our every means and appliance for reJonciling as we can, or as we choose, our duties to ourselves, to soc ety, to religion, and to health. We may either drink to satiety, in moderation, or not at all. Nobody interferes with us. Mr. Somes does not legislate for the like of himself; he only steps in and orders what he thinks best for those who, as he doubtless thinks, cannot help themselves. Can't they, though ? Partial tyranny of this sort it is not the Englishman's habit to endure. There is not a nation on the earth which would endure this sort of legislation ; nor ought they to endure it. These are not the days for calling out class passions, or for inviting sections of society to stand out against their fellows. Perhaps if it came to the lastandugliest form of it, we shouH get the worst of the contrast, or comparison, or con flict, or whatever it is. At any rate, we are not grateful to Mr. Somes and to Mr. Pease for suggest ing any teeling of the sort. That extremely well meaning and extremely silly person, Lord Ebury, then Lord R. Grosvenor, experimented in this direc tion a few years ago. The Hyde Park riots were the result, and, had he only barned his own fingers nobody would have cared. The bishops, too, by their recent pastoral against Sunday excursions, have nearly succeeded in alienating from the Church of England that confidence which was gradually growing up in the town populations. We have no fear that Parliament will do anything so foolishglas to give Mr. Somes's bill a second reading- Its intro duction, however, is a thing to set us thinking ; and the thing to think about is, how in these days— when we plume ourselves about our civil and religi ous liberty, and our privileges and rights, and all that sort of thing—such a monstrous attempt on liberty as this bill can even be seriously thought of. Across the Atlantic every vestige of personal liberty is being rapidly trampled down under the heels of the most vulgar and sordid tyranny that the world has yet seen. Across the Channel, again, the fore most people of Europe is crouching in abject sub mission to another tyranny equally mixed up of terrorism and fraud. But we, of course, are the great exception. We are not as other men. France and the United States may deliver themselves and their liberties to death, but in England it is quite another matter; we incur no danger of this sort. For our own part, we are by no means so sure of this. Mr. Bright and Mr. Somes are very fair imi tations of tyranny; they have all the raw material of it. The one, in his injustice towards property, and the other, in his insolent attitude towards the working man's home life, would not disgrace even historical masters of the art of oppressing their fellows. SPECTATOR.—A Brighton painter, named Shirt, a man of some fifty years of age, had formed a &mon with a widow named Day. Both parties were in a very humble way of life, and the woman, especially, was miserably poor. Mrs. Day was a person of very indifferent character, with a large family of children, and of intemperate habits. What the story of the connection between Sturt and the widow had been originally was no that rl last brought out on the trial. All w e know is, in Fe ruary, after the connection had lasted for months, if not for years, Sturt had engaged himself to marry Mrs. Day within a short period. He was in the habit of calling at her house constantl, and of taking her out to walk. On Sunday, an the r 22d of February, they went out together as usual, the woman being ailing, but not apparently worse than usual. In the course of an hour or so Mrs. Day returned home, saying that she felt very ill. The illness increased rapidly, and before the following morning had arrived she was dead. When she was dying she attributed her illness to a mince-pie that Sturt had given her. This circumstance, and the rapidity of her death, awoke suspicion ; an investi gation was made, arid Dr. Taylor, who was em ployed to analyze the contents of the stomach, reported that it contained arsenic enough to account for death. These were all the facts of the case, which were unquestioned by either side, and which may be taken as granted. The presumptive case against the prisoner was strong. A murder had in all human probability been committed. The murdered woman ascribed her illness to food which the prisoner h a d given her. The relations existing between the man and woman were such that jealousy, or the desire of escaping the performance of his promise, mi g ht have made Sturt wish to get rid of n Mrs. r n h s i . s Day. w Arsenic was readily obtainablebhyo a ma posi tion. There was nobody else seemed likely to have any motive for committing the poison crime.inAtnhde supposing that he did give her the mince-pie, the symptoms of the disease hi would have w exactly corresponded with those eh did actually take place. The presumptive evidence in the pri soner's favour was not equally strong. The alleged motive of the crime was, it is true, hardly adequate. to The woman had no powerkeep him to his word. No man in his senses could ever suppose that any jury would convict hi m o f a breach of promise under the circumstances of the case; and the poverty th of both parties was s o great as to make the idea man's being afraid o f the woman's him simply ludicrous. However, in a discreditable and ille gitimate connection a number of causes may be conceived a s ex i st i ng w hi c h m i g ht have tempted the man to kill hi s m i stress; b u t there wus no evi dence to show that any of these causes did exist actually. On the news of Mrs. Day's death the prisoner ex hibi te d ex t reme grief ; his conduct when arrested was straightforward ; and the story which he told was simple and possible enough ; while the few particulars contained in it capable of corroboration could not be disapproved by the pro secution. On the other hand, it was almost in credible that a man, living on such terms as he did with the murdered woman, should not have known who her murderer was likely to be ; and it is odd, to say the least, that when he was charged with the murder, he should not have pointed out the person on whom his suspicion rested. On the whole we should say that the balance of pre sumptive evidence went against the prisoner; and supposing the jury had been bound to say that some particular person was guilty of the crime, we think their judgment must have fallen on Sturt. When we come from presumption to fact the com plexion of the case changes. The direct evidence aga i n st the prisoner was singularly weak. The ar- gument of the prosecution virtually amounted to this : Mrs. Day was poisoned by arsenic. If the pie had contained arsenic the probable symptoms would have been identical with those exhibited. Therefore the pie did contain arsenic. Son:it:l)o63 - must have put it in ; and that soratbidy could be nobody else but the prisoner. The counsel fur the prisoner very wisely adopted a purely negative line of defence. He defied the prosecution to prove positively that there was any arsenic in the pie at all, or if there was, that the prisoner put it there. The exhaustive process on which the prosecution relied was utterly incomplete, and the jury acquitted the prisoner almost without hesitation. That they they did so, however, was due, we suspect, to the admirable summing up of the Lord Chief Justice. The evidence on which Constance Wilson was hanged was hardly more satisfactory than that on which Sturt was acquitted. Very little doubt can be entertained of the guilt of that wretched woman, and there can be small question that she had mur dered many persons. But there was absolutely no evidence that the person whom she was tried for poisoning had died by poison at all. If we are ever to have the punishment of death, never was there a woman who, as far as can be judged, deserved hanging more justly than Mrs. Wilson ; yet, for all that, she was sentenced with doubtful justice, and a very dangerous system of a priori evidence was ad mitted amongst the precedents of our English law. This system happily has received a severe blow at the Lewes Assizes. It was not enough, as Sir A. Cockburn remarked with truth, to prove that Sturt's guilt was the most probable solution of the problem of Mrs. Day's death ; it was essential to establish furtt er that no other solution was possible. This, we believe, is sound law; at any rate, it is common sense. LONDON REVIEW.—A ragged church is a pecu liar and characteristic institution. To a common mind it seems a repellant rather than attractive name. It appears like an attempt to destroy that beautiful feature so well defined in the words, "the rich and poor meet together, and the Lord is the maker of them all." But a thorough consideration of the facts will modify this fear, and vindicate the ' expediency, at least, of such an experiment. There is a class of our fellow-creatures so steeped in vice and dirt, that it is impossible to endure their pro miscuous mixing with an ordinary congregation. This is not niere affectation. It is painfully real. The case, therefore, resolves itself into this : Either you must insist on their weekly baptism in hot water, with plenty of soap, on the Sunday morning, and furnish them with dean shirts and trousers and petticoats, which they would to a certainty pawn or sell for gin on the Monday, or you must localize them in some part of the parish church or other place of congregation, within restrictive and impassable Ibarriers. Now it does seem, to our mind, much less objectionable and less annoying to their amour propre, to give them a place of a orship entirely their own, into which they may statedly come, and neither take liar give offence. It must never be forgotten, in any discussion of the merits of this question, that ragged churchmen are not decent labourers or mechanics, or what is called the work ing classes. They are tramps, beggars, or people of nameless condition, wrecks of a life of drunkenness and vice, who, if invited and welcomed, will not enter a regular place of worship. They form a caste, as plainly marked as ii they were a distinct race from that of the English people. An experiment of this kind has been carried on for 10 years in a place called Brewer's-court, Wild -street, Drury-lane, the centre of a district more degraded, more destitute,and more demoralised than is to be found in any of the eastern districts of London, Every Sunday morning, at 11 o'clock, 200 miserable-looking specimens of the human family assemble in the ragged church there, famished, ill-clad, and dirty, beyond the power of description. The psalmody with which the service begins is very imperfect; the attitude and aspect of the worshippers, at first sight, are anything but encouraging. Some grown lads did not under stand at first whether they were to kneel or sit or fall on their faces or stand upon their heads during prayers. Of the 200, some 40 are able to read, and one, perhaps the begging-letter-writer, has reached the accomplishment of writing. From 30 to 40 of the congregation partake of the Communion once a quarter. These are the more advanced and better instructed, who have been recovered from a life of evil, trained and taught by the minister; and it is to the credit of his labours that scarcely any great delinquency has hitherto disgraced them since they joined. During the winter months, a loaf of bread is distributed to e a ch worshipper by the minister after he has pronounced the benediction, for which he has many be supposed. Several i n stances of lasting mo ral willing and waiting recipien ts, as mi g ht impression and elevation have occurred. The ragged child in the school has led the minister to the ragged parent, and the ragged parent in the church on Sunday has guided the minister to the ragged family on the Monday. A neighbouring cangre gation furnishes, by subscription, funds to defray the cost of this experiment. Its members frequently respond to appeals made to their benevolence, in the shape of clothes and medical comforts for the most destitute or the sick. A very interesting proof of what may be done at little cost in a case of this kind, is worth recording as a hint to others. A kind-hearted gentleman, having one day listened to the annual sermon in aid of the funds of the ragged church and school, came into the vestry at the close of the service, and said that, while at sea in his o y f a c fi h s t h , , his wh c i o r h e W , h h a a v d i n o g f t n e on usecau caught great for it, t they quan tities e y castinto the sea again. If the minister of the ragged hamper-full churcho f would good u fi n s h d e r a t amkoen tot h d e i s destitute people, he would send, carriage paid, a large hamper containing soles, flound ers, and skate. This he did on three successive occasions, and the destitute poor received each a good fish dinner, to their great and rare satisfaction. A benevolent lady likewise finds sewing for women who have no children, and situa• tions for girls who can be trusted. But the great perplexity is what to do with convicted lads, ex pired ticket - of - lea ve men, and j ai l - birds. These have lost their character, and to them stealing or begging, or both, are sheer necessities. It might surely be possible to find even for these some sort of hard work, to which no responsibility or tempta tion is attached. It is interesting to notice that on Tuesday, March the 10th, the 200 miserable men a nd women who form the ragged church aeap with their 300 ragged children, sat d own of roast the b beef and ef plum pudding, furnisheidtahlyafew friends, dinner minister presiding, and in cups of ale sufficient they dr tnh a e n ses k cln h uf e ee et and happiness to the andd sPavrien Pwritinhcr, God Wales, and wound up all EXAMINER. —The Court of Prussia is said to con template an act of subserviency to that of St. Peters burg aband one d and so base as to be almost incredi ble. Yet the imputation rests upon such authority as to render our wish to think no ill of our neigh bour almost hopeless. Count Eulenberg, one of the reactionary ministers of King William, has had the effrontery to tell the Chamber of Representatives that his Majesty would at discretion betray the disarmed Poles who had sought refuge within the Prussian frontier into the hands of the Czar ! There are not many ministers or monarchs still extant, we believe, capable of the cowardice and cruelty which this wretched being has imputed to its miserable master ; but for the sake of humanity we hope we may assume that Count Eulenberg is the only creature having in common with true men the faculty of speech that would thus wantonly declare beforehand its readi ness to be an accomplice in so base a crime. To reason with what is lost to every sense of dignity or honour, would be idle and degrading ; nor do we suppose that any threats of moral condemnation can have the slightest effect in recalling the Court or Cabinet of Berlin to the attitude or language or self respect. But there are other parties to the trans action, who cannot elude their share of the respon sibility. Those who stand by and see a child or a woman handed over to en enraged savage for the purpose of being beaten to death, are guilty of blood. There is no law, human or divine, that can exone rate them from the duty of direct and peremptory interference. The infamy of acquiescence in a hor rible outrage will cling to them to their dying day; and if they have any conscience or feeling, the death-cries of the innocent victims whom their cowardice has given to the slayer will never cease in their ears. The Prussian people have been warned of what is about to be done in their name; and in the public opinion of Europe it is they who must and will be held accountable if this most guilty deed be done. Nobody will listen to their metaphysical explanations of the political pretences that will, of course, be trumped up to vindicate such conduct. Political metaphysics may do very well amongst themselves; and other communities have, perhaps, no right to scrutinise too narrowly, or judge too harshly the motives of their unexampled moderation towards the feeble and infatuated prince who has done so much to provoke tbem to anger. But a flag rant violation of that international usage which con stitutes international law is not merely a question between Prussia and Poland; it is a matter which concerns the civilisation of Christendom. As such it will assuredly be viewed, and as such it will un doubtedly be condemned. The right of asylum thus placed in jeopardy, is a reciprocal and univer sal right, in whose inviolability every independent nation is interested. To set a precedent for break ing it down at the bidding of a ruthless despot is a wrong done to us al. ; and we have no choice but to hold the perpetrator and his accomplices, be they many or few, accountable to Europe for the act of infamy. To say that no great Power of Europe has ever had the baseness to commit such crime, would be almost beside the mark. A great Power is sel dom scorned by the demand for an act of so pro found humiliation; and when it is, the degrading concession has always been indignantly refused. Peussi a seems through its Government no longer to aspire to any dignity, for even of the secondary States of Europe it may with confidence be said that not oiie of them has been weak or wicked enough to incur such a reproach. When the Turk was called upon to surrender Kossuth and his com rades, in 1849, he peremptorily refused, and the in stances are fresh in every recollection of the like national integrity and independence on the part of Bwitzerlaud and Saxony. We put the matter, therefore, at once upon ground of European law, and we say plainly that nothing can warrant the people of Prussia in passively aiding and abetting the surrender of a single Pole to the Muscovite murderers. ATHNEUM.—The collection of the National Portrait Gallery—which is to be thrown open to the public on Monday next—continues to increase notwithstanding the difficulties that seem to beset it. Since the period of our last record the trustees have purchased several authentic portraits of distinguished men ; btn, only two or three of the number deserve notice as works of art. A clever miniature of Dr. Wolcott, more generally known as Peter Pinder, by Lethbridge, is a truthful but very favourable transcript of that selfish man and un sparing writer. As a piece of rich and honest paint ing, it is deserving of high praise. Bishop Horsley, the opponent of Priestley, also by Lethbridge, the miniature painter, has likewise found a place in the Gallery. King Henry the Eighth, a small square picture on copper, is from the Lee Priory Collection and welcome as one of a class of portraits in which the Gallery has hitherto been somewhat deficient. The swarthy countenance of King Charles the Second, in large black wig, with steel cuirass and buff sleeves, is shown to considerable advantage in a clever bust-portrait by Mrs. Beale, whose imita tions of Lely frequently pass for the work of her master himself. General Monk, poor as a picture, but valuable as a piece of accurate portraiture, re sembles in many respects a well-known miniature of him by Cooper. Lord Chesterfield, taken at a comparatively early period of life, and probably be fore the commencement of his celebrated Letters, is a clear and well-painted picture, superior both in colour and in drawing to the other more generally known portraits by Hoare, of Bath, by whom this alsa was painted. The round, placid countenance of Richardson, the author of ' Clarissa Harlewe,' with a pimple on his cheek, just sufficient to mark identity, without producing a disagreeable effect, is highly favourable as a specimen of Highmore's powers ; whilst another portrait, exhibiting the fiery eye and flexible mouth of Dick Steele, with a sudden movement of the head, affords a striking contrast both in character and treatment to the former picture. Richardson, the painter, is cer tainly not seen to advantage in this picture for the conception and execution are by no means fairly balanced. Bishop Burnet puts in an appearance through a heavily shadowed picture by Riley. He has a sullen and obstinate look; neither the eyes nor form of the lips would prepossess any one very strongly in his favour. He wears the blue mantle and in signia of the Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. Many of the pictures in the Gallery are now hung of necessity in the darkest places between the win dows, and several of the smaller and very interest ing portraits are put out of sight round the corner of a projecting wall, where few persons would think of looking for them. The terra-cotta bust of Oliver Cromwell has been carefully cleaned, and is worthy of being seen in a better light. The pictures and busts now amount to 159 in number. COUNTRY MARKETS. .4" •••- - NORWICH-SATURDAY. There was a fair supply of wheat to-day, and prices were about the same as last week. Few samples of barley offer ing, at former prices. ( White wheat. 45s to 46 Red wheat 41s to 45s Malting barley ... 38s to 40s Chevalier barley 36e to 37s Distilling d 0..... 33s to 35s Oats.. 24 , to 28e Flour, 32s 6d to 33s Od per sack from the miller. YORK- SATURDAY. There was a moderate supply of wheat to-day at our market, and the demand was more active, sellers realising prices rather in their favour. Barley scarce, with a dull trade, and late rates barely supported. Oats inactive, and late rates hardly sustained. Beans steady. Wheat, red 42s to 44s White do .45s to 50s Barley .30s to 34s Malt, 62s to 64s per qr. ; to 35s per sack. Oats.... 2os to 24s Beans 40., to 42s Peas to —s 34s per qr ; flour, 34s LEICESTER —SATURDAY. Old white wheat, 56s to 60s ; sew, 44s to 50s per 36 stone. Old red, 48s to 52s'per 36 stone. Barley, malting, new, 34s to 39s per qr.; grinding, 28s to 30s; old oats, 22s to 28s ; new oats, 22s to 28s per 24 stone. Beans, new, 35s to 390; old, 42s to 44s per 38 stone. NORTHAMPTON—SATURDAY. New wheat, 45s to 52s ; old, 43s to 48s. Barley, 36s to 40s per qr. New oats quoted at 20s to 28s ; old, 28s to 30s per,24 stone. Beans, old, 36s to 38s ; new, 34s to 365. Peas, 33s to 44s per qr. N O T TINGHAM—SATURDAY. "White wheat, from 43s to 53s ; red wheat, 42s to 495. Barley—malting, 32s to 43s ; grinding, 27s to 295. Oats old, at 25s to 31s Od ; new, 22s to 275. Beans sold at 33s to 458 per qr. Flour, 31s to 40s. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Aufaalia and Mauritius,viaS;Wampton Apr. 18. via Marseilles Apr. 12. &Emil and Cape Verds, by British packet. Apr. 6. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Apr. L f3hina, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Apr. 4. via Marseilles Apr. 21. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton Apr. 4. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Apr. 4 via Marseilles Apr. 12. India (Bombay), via Southampton Apr. 10, via Marseilles Apr. 4. Portugal.... Apr. 6. Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Apr. 4. via Marseilles Apr. 4. Newfoundland .. Apr. 1. Oporto and Vigo .. U. S. and British N. America, ty Brit. packet.... Apr. 1. by U.S. packet.... by Canadian packet. Apr. 3. W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneritie .. Apr. 10. Bahamas, via New York Apr. 9. Mexico Ai, parts of 'West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 Apr. 16. California, and British Columbia. SUDDEN DEATH OF A iiENTLEMAN IN OXENDON STREET., HAYMARKET.—On Saturday information was received by Mr. Bedford, coroner for Westminster, of the death of a gentleman, supposed to be a German, but whose name is unknown, which occurred at a late hour OIL the previous night, under the following circumstances. It appears that the deceased gentleman entered a tavern in Oxendon-street, and called for some liquor, and when in the act of drinking he was observed to fall suddenly backward. On being raised from the ground he was found to be in an insensible state, and on the arrival of a surgeon, who used every means to restore vitalii y, life was pronounced extinct. The body was conveyed to Charing •cross Hospital to await an inquiry, and a gold watch and other valuable articles found on the person of the deceased are in the possession of the police, and may probably lead to the identification of the unfortunate man. [ADVERTISEMENT I—Holloway's Ointment and Pills.— Health Lost and Found.—After safely struggling through the winter, multitudes will fall victims to the throat and chest complaints bo common in the spring. If the first symptoms receive attention and judicious treatment, not only will future danger be averted, but old ailments will Five way, and better health will be attained than was en joyed before the illness. No tteatment, for safety and cer tainty of success, may be so confidently relied upon as that discovered by Professor Holloway, whose Pills and Oint ment always restore the sufferer. While the Pills are taken in moderate doses, the Ointment should be well rubbed upon the part affected, as actively as salt is forced into meat. Births. HOPE.—On the 3d in s t., a t A ng l esey, near Gosport, the wife of Captain Charles Webley Hope, Royal Navy, of a daughter. RADCLIFFE.—On the 3d inst , at Birch House, Lees, the wife of John Radcliffe, Esq., of a daughter. RATENSCROFT.—On the Ist inst : , Mrs. Burton Ravens croft, of Serle-street, Lincoln's-inn, of a son. Marriages. vdp tee r dy SMITH—SHARP. —On the 2d inst., at St. Phili p ' s Ch urc h , Ri c h ar d Smith, of 30, Baker-street, P en t onv i lle, to Eliza beth, youngest daughter of Henry Sh ar p, E sq ., Wing field n Castle , S I cNorfolk.LA n T On the 3d in s t., a t H arcour t Cha pel, Lond on , R o b ert Taylor, Esq., London to Isabella W a dd e ll , e ld est daughter of Robert ell, Esq., 9, St. Mary's. road, Canonbury. Deaths. COLE.— On the 41h inst., at 66, Eaton-place, Captain W. W. Cole, the second son of the late General the Hon. Sir Lowry Cole, G.O 8., aged 44. HEATH.—On the 31st ult., at his residence, Shelburne Villa, Bath, Captain Heath, R.E., late of Langdown Lawn, Hants, aged 67. ROBERTSON. —On the brt inst., at Starford Rouse, The Park, Cheltenham, Mrs. Robertson, sen., widow of the late Wm. Robertson, Esq., of Ladykirk, Roiburghshire, aged 90. SHEPHERD.—On the 2d inst., at Beaumont Lodge, Fare ham, Hants, John Shepherd, Esq., Rear-Admiral of the White, aged 69. STOTZ,—On the 2d inst., at Dalston, Tryphena Elizabeth, wife of Fredk. Stotz, Esq., and eldest daughter of A. J. Cole, Esq., of Upper Clapton. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS. of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County o Ml a sl i eB eX.7 - MolldaY, ,April 6, 1863, S' RH preE Noi