The Sun. — London, England, 1863-09-02 00:00:00

11110. 01 . e. ROYA L PRINCESS'S THEAT RE Lessee, Mr. George Vining. Under the Management of Mr. Walter Montgomery. THIS EVENING, Shakespere' s Tragedy of 11A51LET llamlet, Mr. Walter Montgomery. To be followed by A ROUGH DIAMOND. Commence at 7. ---- ISI'V T.HEATRE-ItO Y AL, ADELrkii.--. Sole Proprietor and Manazer, I‘l7. B. Webster. THIS EVENING (2d week), at 7, a new comic drama, THE TIEN AND CHICKENS • or, A Sign ot Affection. Messrs. Billington, R. Phillips, Stephenson Mrs. Stirling and Miss H. Simms. After which, at a qu arter past 8, the new drama of THE FLAUNTED MAN; oil, T tE GHOST'S BARGAIN, in which will be exhibited Professor Pepper's adaptation of the Great Spectral Illusion. Messrs. J. L. Toole, It. Phillips, efton. C. J. Smith; Mrs. Alfred Mellon and Miss 11. Simms. Followed by a new Burlesque, entqled ILL-TREATED IT. TROVATORS. Messrs. Toole. P. Bedtprd, It. Phillips, Elartrne, C. J. Smith , Homer ; the Sisters Nelson, Carry and Sara, and Miss K. Kelly. OYAL STRAND THEATRE. Manazer, Mr. IV". 11. Swanboron2ll. THIS EVENING, HIS FIRST CHAMPAGNE. Mr. Leigh Murray. Followed by (3)th time) THE MOTTO, " I'M ALL THERE." Messrs. Honey, Turner, E. Danvers, Collier, Clifton; Mesdames Ada Swanborough, F. Josephs, Maria isimpson, Wallace, ann Jenny White. To conclude with TURN HIM OUT. Mr. Turner, Miss Thorne. Commence at 7. yiiHE THUD EDITION OF " THE SUN," Containinz the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, can be had Every Evening of G. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT, No. 4. Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAT.—Morning, 4h. 15m,—Afternoon, 4h. 30m. To.moußow.-Morning, 4h. 52m.—Afternoon, sh. 10m. The Weather—Sun Office, Sept. 2, 1863. THERMOMETER. This morning This day at Two o'clock .. 70 Barometer-29.30. Wind—South; light, and cloudy, with rain. I Z l ll jg . LONDON, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2, 1863. One solitary little cocoon will yield you an as tonishing length of silk , h o w ever scantily the silk worm may have been fattened upon mulberry leaves. Not one jot less remarkable in its way, that is as an instance of facile expansion, or rather, it should be said, prolongation, is the manuer in which the thread of his discourse has been spun out this month by the most conspicuous contributor to the New Review (Political, Philosophical, and Literary), a periodical which, although it has not yet completed its first half year, has already as sumed a high place among its contemporaries as the organ of the more advanced Conservatives. " The Session of 1863" is the title of his paper, the theme of his high argument. It is a short text enough, and not apparently— to a superficial obser ver, at least—so very suggestive ! Yet it is from this atom of a germ that has here, in the first quarter-of-a-hundred pages of the opening article in the; New Review for September, grown forth the ablest resume yet published of the doings (such as they were) of the two Houses during the last session—by reason of the debilitat ing, relaxing, soporific influence of the regime, nominally of the Whigs, but actually of the Tories under Lord PAL3IERSTON ! The " situation," as our neighbours have it, in the closing paragraph of this clever and caustic survey is thus hap pily epitomised, where it is said that— ' A popular Premier lat the head of an incapable and divided Ministry, and supported by a gross majority of from five to ten votes ; a Liberal Cabinet which came into power upon one understanding and retains it on another; a Whig Party which owes its tenure of power exclusively to the aid of the Tories. and a Radical party which discovers in its official leaders the humble servants of the Conservatives, make altogether a wholly exceptional, abnormal, and unnatural polit'cal tabkau." Not one single phrase, epithet, adjective in all which, can, we take it, for one instant be seriously controverted. The Ministry is—precisely as it is there described. That it is incapable and divided is proved to the recognition of everyone, by the flagrant fact of its doing just absolutely nothing. Its foreign policy is a nullity. Its home policy has long since fairly become comatose. When it has attempted to interfere even in some minor detail, as in reference to the City Police, it has floundered into a succession of mistakes, and has beau compelled eventually and ignominiously to withdraw from its ill-advised venture at innovation. The incapability and the division of the Ministry are as undeniable in efLct (that is to say, literally in their effects), as is the ona isolated merit of the Cabinet, the one exceptional source of its vitality, the personal popularity of the First Lord of the Treasury. That it (and he) came into power upon one understanding, while it (and he) retain that same power upon another, who shall venture to gainsay ? It is admitted even frankly enough by Ministers themselves—by Lord PAL MERSTON as their chief, with a good-humoured combination of slyness and satisfaction, that mus be to the very last degree irritating to the few inde pendent Liberals (Liberals at heart and not merely by name) below the gangway, or sparsely scattered about the back benches. Nothing in its way could be more felicitous than the application by the reviewer to our veteran Premier (p. 5) of those melo. dious lines applied by LUCAN to the delineation of POMPEY, beginning " Famceque petitor multa dare in vulgus"—and more especially of that majestic comparison to the giant of the forest, " Qualls fregifero quercus sublimis in aro "—a passage kindred in excellency to a congenial simile in one of the opening pages of Sir WALTER RALEIGH'S noble History of the World. Scattered though the well-tempered but at intervals the hardly less than scathing survey, here taken in the :Yew Review, of the session of 1863, are other phrases, and, indeed, at times whole p aseeir , s, far more satirical than complimentary. "It is the Whigs," we are comically reminded at one moment, " who wag their political pigtails over the dangers of a Tory Government, and resemble nothing 20 much as the old gentleman whom WASRINGTON IRVING saw at Stratford, who still seemed to think himself hale and vigorous, with the trifling exception th at for some years past he had quite lost the use of his legs.'" At another moment we are called u pon to know how it has come to pass that this Mosaic 2114ni8trY sits powerless iv the House of Commons, and utterly abashed in the House of Lords. Onl y neees:oncy is it, that the bite of the satirist is little lessethana where he mere mumble with a tooth less g um—as slys with a spiteful but innocuous acrimony that " Sir GEORGE GREY is a weak and obstinate man, and very much a clerk, who certainly does nothing towards compensating, fir the blunders al Lord itussELL." The two new men inducted into the Government—it is erroneous here said into the ranks of the Cabinet—are more accurately described the Marquis of HARTINCTON as tho Ascanius of the Whigs, and Mr. STANSFELD as one holding the same position among the Radicals as a "promis- ing junior" holds at the British bar. Refer ring to Mr. DisRAELfs memorable con- trust on the 26th of last June, his contrast between the Conservative and Liberal cre eds, without doubt very admirable of its kind, but here described rather e xtravagantly as one " which for terseness, clearness, pregnancy- will bear comparison with the style of DEmosn ixNEs !•,_ the New _Review observes, after quoting 9, /muse from it, "The truth of all this is so undeniable, its moral effect is so irresistible that Mr. DISRAELI'S opponeute became alarmed, and consoled them selves by groundless statements to the effect that the speech from which it is taken had given offence to his party. Billy, there is not a single expression in it, from beginning to end, that could give offence to a single Conservative. This is the stuff and nonsense which is always re peated Vdenever Mr. DISRAELI inflicts a wound on his opponents. The recurrence of these assertions as surely indicate that his shaft has gm ie home as the marker's signal at Wim bledon announcing a bull's-eye or a centre." Again st Earl RUSSELL, in particular, the critic draw/ .3 up a very heavy bill of indictment, in dec' . "He has bade Russia," he says "do this arid. do that, and if the EMPEROR quietly refused, Arhat then ? Why, then, we can only say, like 808 ACRES in the play, that—the EMPEROR is a " very ill-bred man," No less stingingly sarcastic are his allusions when speaking "of Lord RUSSELL'S performances in various other quarters of the globe—of his silly invitation to the POPE—of his pompous letters addressed to the Court of Copenhagen, and the arrogance displayed to wards the Government of Brazil—of his disastrous policy in China, andhipsplee n ril i lous and unrighteous dealing with the people Japan." As to his cession of the lonian Islands to Greece, the .New _Review (and as the organ it is significant that of it shtohueld Conservatives hesitatenot to speak out thus boldly upon that matter) declares it to be nothing lesspage in English Histo r y, and one is sufficient to stamp L or d than ‘‘ which, b soiled yita el i; RUSSELL'S tenure of the Foreign office with eternal shame. To a sheer propensity for meddling, com bined with an attempt to repair one blunder by another, and to efface the effect of his Schles wig. Holstein despatches by obsequious and officious zeal in the affairs of Greece, we owe the loss of a position which, some day or other, Great Britain will bitterly regret." Without scru tinising yet further the article upon which we have been commenting, we may pro nounce it to be as highly flavoured, almost, we might say, as hotly devilled a dish of political sarcasms as any yet served up by Lord ROBERT in the Quarterly. One of the most interesting features of our English scientific life is the gathering together of men dis tinguished in various branches of knowledge to communicate the observations made and the fresh steps gained in each several department. It is not very long since our social reformers, philanthropists, and philosophers banded themselves together for the consideration of some of those evils, dangers, and difficulties that clog the wheels of our social pro gress. The various questions that come to the sur face, as civilisation proceeds on her onward march, are examined in their different aspects, and the work that yet remains to be done in clearing the way of justice, toleration, and knowledge is helped forward in the most practicable manner. An older and in some respects a more remarkable society has just terminated its annual labours. The British Association numbers among its members names which are not only a boast of our time but of our country—men who are not only remarkable in their own island, but who bear a European reputa tion. Every assembly of such men leaves the world richer than it found it. When each states the ex perience he has gathered, even in a few short months, of the science to which he has devoted all his powers, the result must be worthy of the most respectful attention. In these gatherings, too, each meets with associates worthy of him ; the one can readily comprehend the meaning of the other, he can encounter him on his own ground, he can appreciate his difficulties, he can raise objections, he can perceive the great ends- of science to which the most trifling and casual discovery may tend. It is encouraging for the thinker to unfold his conjectures, his perplexities, his suggestions in such an atmosphere. He is secure from narrow prejudice, from superficial criticism, from contemp tuous neglect. Sir RODERICK .MURCHISON is not likely to misapprehend Sir CHARLES LYELL, Pro fessor OWEN will not rashly contradict Sir DAVID BREWsTER, Mr. GLAISHER will certainly give a patient hearing to Sir WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. The whole circle of the sciences is, as it were, brought before us. We learn the point of development which each has reached, we acquire the fruits of the enterprise and exertion of the wise men of other lands than our own, and the busy worlds of politics, fashion, and commerce suspend for a while their own interests, their own engrossing topics of thought and discussion, to listen to the addresses of great men as they discourse on those mighty and immutable laws before which our earthly wisdom owns itself baffled and powerless. Nor is the atten tion of the meetings entirely confined to purely speculative subjects. Those all-important questions of physiological science which affect health and life form part of their discussions, and each year the added experience of the generation is brought for ward to ameliorate the sufferings inseparable from humanity. Thus , the present meeting, a matter of vital importance to a large body of our country men was the subject of thought and discussion. The terrible amount of mortality existing among our troops in India has lately been commented on as a subject urgently pressing for inquiry. It would ill become England to rest idle on hearing of such loss of life—loss not from the enemy, or the devastating pestilence, but from causes constantly and universally prevalent ; in sidious disease that leaves its fatal poison rankling in the veins, or quietly adds unit after unit to the State of e things, and the open discussion of the question among able, conscientious, and intelligent men will go far to dispel that ignorance which is so often a fatal agent in the work of destruction. So, too, the section of Geology brought its contribution to useful and popular knowledge in its discourses on coal mines, while the information, so laboriously and dangerously acquired by Mr. GLAISHER, is pre sented to his scientific contemporaries in the most copious and intelligible form. We may feel proud that such a gathering should lose none of its inte rest as the years roll on, but that each successive meeting should bring together so many men, dis - 0 td honouringuished in suc h var i ous b ranc h es o f l earn i ng, to to their country and to instruct their generation. On the whole, the Frankfort C ongress a pp ears to be very satisfactory, St m il e t s va to riou th s e objeetions were made at different ti project; and this is not to be wondered at, consider ing the importanc e of the points discussed and the ma gnitude of the changes proposed Indeed, a t one time the august assembly separated to a ll ow t h e Ministers to confer on the subjects under discus sion. These official advisers suggested several al terations; some of them were of a salutary nature. They proposed to add a seventh voice to the Directory. Austria, Pinssia, and Bavaria to have one representative each; two repre sentatives to be given to those kings and princes 'who have two or three votes in the Federal Assembly, or plenum in the Bund. The twenty States that have only one vote in the Federal Assembly are to have two in the Directory- So far the proposition seems feasible enough, and likely to impart satisfaction to the several different parties in the affair. It appears that this change was sudden, for it was considered that the matter was settled, but some of the Princes expressed their disappointment of the arrangements made, and con , sequently the alteration was made. On Thursday some very important business was transacted at the meeting. Objections were raised to some portions of the Austrian Reform, and the Congress has re moved some of them. In article eight a decisive change has been made. A simple majority in the Federal Council will not have the right to empower the Directory to make war against a foreign Power " which may attack a Federal State having tern. tories that do not belong to the Build." This is a very wise arrangement, and contrasts favourably with the somewhat harsh and arbitrary plan at first proposed, and which could not have failed to mili tate against the wishes and hopes of those Princes who were compromised in the affair. They would not have liked to have been compelled nolens volens to take up arms against f ore i gn S tates, in defence r o r n i s t o w r i e e r s e In of Prussiade l ikewise and i Aus t ria.nsr teleninSeo,msoe o m f o d t i h fi e c a t t e i that the Directory will not have the • right to inter- fere for the "prevention of disturbances in a Federal State." Some " reactionary Princes," as they are styled, take umbrage at the proposition which re lates to the attributes of the N • ational Assembly. One of these objectors urged his views on the ground that the consequences would be eventually unpleas ing to those who designed its formation. "If the Chamber of Deputies have the privilege of legislat ing in matters connected with the public press, with the rights of association and domicile, &c., it will gradually become a kind of Constituent Assembly, a body which none of us can possibly wish to see formed." This is a most impolitic argument, and one which if carried out is likely to be pro ductive of great mischief. . Little enough in all conscience has been granted by the Im• perial act of Reform, in the style in which these faultfinders would make out, and it is as absurd as it is unjust to put forward all these objections, and compromise the success of a mea sure that might be better, but that might be far worse in every way. The Duke of COBURG ap pears to have acted in a most sensible manner in this awkward affair. He made several propositions to the Assembly, to induce them to allow the Ger mans to be represented by men of their own choice. It is not surprising that he should be one of the most popular men in Germany. He certainly de serves to be on many grounis:; and, if unsuccessful in these endeavours, the people will not be the less grateful for the energy with which he fought their battles, and kept his own coansel, when so many were against him. All honour is due to those who thus pioneer the path of progress, and hold out examples of a class that all might be proud to fol low. The Frankfort Journal, it appears, is very indignant that the Emperor of AUSTRIA should preside at the Directory. This is a very uncalled for fault to find. It seems that the EMPEROR has the best right to that place of privilege, and on the principle of Palnzanz qui nzeruit ferat, he has cer tainly more claim than any man, Whatever good may come from this Assembly of Princes and Ministers at the Congress of Frankfort, will certainly belong to the man who planned and proposed the august assembly. If, on the other hand, the termination should not be so auspicious as the opening, the blame will rest with those who have introduced useless changes, and presented needless opposition, to the plans for ameliorating the condition of a time-honoured nation, that has long waited for the dawn of a brighter day of free dom than she at present enjoys. CARLYLE'S FATHER AND CARLYLE'S SADNESS ! An American periodical has lat 31y published from the report of a blind interlocutor a conversation of Mr. Carlyle's,in which he paints withhisusual force and quaint ness of style the portrait of hie father, and deplores the one error that that sagacious man committed in giving his son what is now called a good education I--" I think," said Carlyle, " of all the men I have ever known my father was quite the remarkablest. Quite a farmer sort of a person, using vigilant thrift and careful husbandry; abiding by veracity and faith, and with an extraordinary insight into the very heart of things and men. . . • H was an elder of th e ki r k ; and it was very pleasant to see him in his daily and weekly relations with the minister of the parish. They had been friends from their youth, and had grown up together in the service of their common Master. That parish minister was the first person that taught me Latin ; and I am not sure but that he laid a great curse upon me in so doing. Ah I sir, this learning of reading and writing —what trouble and Buffering it entails upon us poor human creatures I He that increaseth in knowledge increaseth sorrow ; and much study is a weariness to the flesh I—l am not sure but that we should all be the happier and better, too, without what is called the improvements of the modern ages I For mine own part, I think it likely that I should have been a wiser man, and certainly a godlier, if I had fol lowed in my father's steps, and left Latin and Greek to the fools that wanted them. LA NOURRICE !—After the nurse has had her parting weep over her disappearing progeniture, she is summoned to the bedroom to offer a first repast to Henriette or Gaston. The details of the operation are not ordinarily publishable, nor are they indispensable to the subject — they may therefore be passed over in mute discre. Lion. But, at whatever cost to nervous ears, something must be said about another scene which produces itself soon afterwards, and which is too essentially inherent to the question to be left in silence. A nurse, like everybody else, must go to bed, and as in France she generally sleeps in her mistress's room, it is under her scrutative eye that she innocently undresses. The outer contrast between the coarse clothes and awkward ways of the peasant nurse and the pretty interior of a Paris apartment is always rather a shock to the feminine proprietor of the latter, but the sen timent so created in her mind is carried to utter disgust by the process of going to bed, which forcedly brings out the personal peculiarities of her new domestic. It is a fact worth the attention of so-called students of living colour that cer tain portions of an arriving nurse invariably present a tint which, though it is evidently a consequence of perennial unwashfulnees, is difficult to accept as a credible condition of the human pellicle. A pair of naked Burgundy feet, fresh from their native vine slopes, present to the este. nished eyes of the Parisian spectator a shiny metallic mottled dark grey—they look exactly as if they were oxy dised. This curious hue, which is supposed in France to be a special personal attribute of the wet-nurse, intended by nature to distinguish her from her fellows, just as her cap distinguishes her garments, disappears the next morn ing under the dissolving influence of the inevitable bath, into which the terror-stricken woman is remorselessly plunged by her ruthless mistress, who thus wantonly destroys, in a single instant, all traces of her previous filth. From that moment the nurse begins the apprenticeship, which, un less she is an incorrigible brute, transforms her in three months from a gawky village lout into a reasonably smart, intelligent servant. But, even in the event of success, the process is laborious —not only is her physical nature to be thoroughly changed, but, which is more difficult still, her language and habits must alter too.—Bentley's Miscellany, for September. „ UNE REASON FOR FORSAKING ATHEISM. Mr. J. B. Bebbington, an Atheistic lecturer, and late editor of the Propagandist, has embraced Christianity, In a lecture, giving his reasons for the change, he stated that in the month of September last he went on a lecturing ex pedition to Scotland. The first place at which he held forth was Glasgow. There he saw the churches all crowded on Sundays, and even on week days when there was service in them, and it struck him as strange that he, as the apostle of infidelity, was obliged to hide his head in a small room not capable of containing more than 100 people, in a back street, and even there had hut a thin attendance. From Glasgow he went to Greenock, and there the case was worse. All the infidels he could muster were some half-dozen working men. Ile could not get a printer to print his bills announcing his meetings, nor a bill-poster to paste them up. They were accordingly printed at Paisley, 12 miles off, hut they were of little use, for no one came to hear his lectures, and he began seriously to reflect that playing the infidel prophet wt...s something very like playing the fool. On coming back to England these reflections took a prac tical effect, and after mach consideration God revealed him self to him, and he saw the errors of the coarse he had befn pursuing. Tie warned young men who, like himself,might be led away by the statements of infidel writers, to weigh theta well before they embraced them. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REIITER'S TELEGRAMS.) THE FRANKFORT CONGRESS FRANKFORT, SEPT. 2. Luxemburg has joined Baden, Saxe-Weimar, Mecklenburg•Schwerin, and Waldeck in declining to accede to the resolutions. Their votes will be referred to the committee. The younger branch of the House of Reuss also refuses to accede to the reform plan, but will sign the letter to Prussia communicating the result of the Conferences, No Alinistezial conferences will take place un counter propositions may have been received. The privilege of Austria to preside at the Direc• torato has been agreed to by a majority of the Congress. .........,.....• BAVARIA. _ MUNICH, SEPT. 2 The Archduchess Sophia of Austria, mother of the Emperor of Austria, has passed through this city on her way to Carlsruhe and Baden-Baden. At the latter place her Imperial Highness w : have an interview with the Queen of Prussia. SPAIN, MADRID, SEPT. 2, The Correspondencia Autografa of to-day says that in the conference at La Granja, General Prim informed the Queen that the circular of the 20th ult. had paralysed the labours of the electors. The Progressistas felt insulted by the motives and con ditions imposed upon their meeting. He feared that their abstinence from voting would be the first serious consequence. The ministry should either modify its pretensions or resign. The Progres sistas would never place themselves in the position of revolutionists. The Queen replied that as a constitutional sove reign she could not, in the absence of the Chambers, entertain a different opinion to that of the Ministry, whose services had merited the Royal confidence. Her Majesty hoped that all would be amicably ar ranged by the period of her return to Madrid. THE POLISH INSURRECTION, POSEN, AUG. 30. The following event will prove how far the Prus sian Government has gone in repressing the present state of things in Russian Poland. Some time ago a number of Polish ladies presented a petition to the principal authority in the province of Posen, to be permitted to establish hospitals for the wounded Poles near the Prussian frontier. The required permission was given from motives of humanity. It has now, however, been withdrawn, and the troops confiscate all consignments of beds, lint, &c., i n t en d ed for wounde d i nsur gents. According t o i nformat i on from an authentic source, the foll ow i ng is the text of the s peech ad dressed by th e Emperor of Russia to the officers of the last contingent of troops sent into Poland : " Go and serve me well; do not betray me, or I will dismiss y ou a l l and promo te the soldiers th a t you see behind you in your p laces." This publi c presence of all th e sold i ers . insult was offered t o th e officers in ----. FRANCE. BOURSE, Sept. 1. —Th e upward movement which marked the close of business yesterday has con tinued, and stock has been again in demand at a further advance, Threes, for the Account, being now quoted at 68f. 70c. The Railway Share Market has been similarly acted on, and quotations are generally higher. The market closed as fol lows : 4i per Cents. 97 40 Do. eRd 3 per Cents Do. end month 6B 75 Credit Mobilier 1195 Do. end month 1195 Bank Shares 3385 Credit k oncier 1 3.25 RAMO Italian Loan 73 60 Do. end month 73 85 New ditto ....... 73 50 Do. end month 73 80 Russian — Austrian B6 Spanish Threes 63 Home Debt rAYB. Cash. Account. Orleans ............... . 1030 1035 —. Northern New ditt0...... Lyons and Mediterranean 1045 -7: •. 1042 60 Geneva Southern ...... 730 Western ...... Eastern .......... 502 50 .. 501 25 Sardinian .............. 422 50 .. 418 75 Austrian .............. 432 50 .. 435 Lorrbard .............. 570 " •• North of Spain ........ 560 665 -- Saragossa .............. 680 6 8.5 Ditto to Barcelona .... 360 357 60 aliens. AMERICA, (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) (Per the Bohemian.) NEW YORK, August 21 (Evening). The Tribune asserts that, according to informa tion received from Richmond, General Lee will offer General Meade battle before September, and that if Meade refuse, Lee will invade Maryland, select a battle ground, and await the Union army, his aim not being to carry operations northward but to take Washington. General Lee is organising a reserve force of 40,000 men to be stationed at Win chester, or another point in the Shenandoah Valley. This force Is intended for some particular purpose, and will be commanded by General Longstreet. It is semi•ofpicially announced that the Govern ment is confident of the reduction of Fort Sumter, after a few hours' bombardment. But this would not terminate the siege, as there is desperate work and fighting to be done afterwards which may re quire a considerable time. Official circles put but little faith in the antici pation of immediate triumph, but entertain no doubt of ultimate success. Mr. Davidson, a member of the North Carolina Legislature, has written a letter to the Raleigh Standard saying he believes four-fifths of the people of North Carolina demand peace upon any terms which will not enslave and degrade them. They may prefer Southern independence, but that they now believe cannot be obtained, nor do they see much future hope of it. They would compromise, upon sa amendment to the continuation and per petuation of slavery in the States. He urges the people to elect members to the next Southern Congress who favour a six months' armis tice, and submission of disputed matters to a con vention of delegates from the Northern and Southern States, elected by the people themselves. The District 'Court has ordered an appraisement of the Peterhoff, in order that if the Government decides upon purchasing her at prize value she shall be delivered to the Government. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. Money easy ; gold, 251 premium ; exchange, 1371 : New York Central, 130-D Illinois, 1241 ; Erie, 119. NEW YORK, Aug. 22 (Evening). The Richmond Whig contains Charleston news to the 20th inst., stating that during the last 24 hours the Federal operations were confined to a steady and continuous bombardment of Fort Sum ter from guns on Morris Island. The Federal 200-pounder Parrot-guns are too much for the walls of Fort Sumter, and their firing begins to tell upon the fort, which only replies at long inter vals. The defence of the harbour, however, does not depend mainly upon Sumter. If that fort be battered down, says the Richmond Whig, the har bour may still he held. It is determined to defend the city street by street, house by house, as long as as a foot of earth is left. The Governor has urged all non-combatants to leave Charleston as soon as possible. General Lee is still upon the Rapidan and Rap pahannock, where it is expected engagements will take place. General Meade is preparing to receive Lee's anticipated attacks. Rumours are current that Lee's movement to wards Fredericksburg was a feint, and that he is going towards Richmond via Gordonsville. Eight hundred guerillas, under Quantrell, have crossed the Missouri River, captured Lawrence, Kansas, burning and destroying property to the estimated value of 2,000,000 dole. Senator Lane is supposed to have been captured. The Federal troops have started in pursuit of the guerillas. Military affairs are active in Mississippi. General Burnside is moving towards Knoxville, and General Rosecranz towards Chattanooga. President Lincoln has promised to attend a Union mass meeting at Springfield, Illinois, on the 3d September. If unable to be present, he will address the people by letter. The New York Herald urges President Lincoln to send strong columns frum General Grant's and Banks' armies through Texas to Rio amide, oppo site Matamoras, in order to counteract any coalition between the Emperor Napoleon and the South, or any attempt of Napoleon to annex Texas to Mexico. General Maury has issued an order at Mobile that persons domiciled there are subject to the con scription, even though they have taken the oath as The New York Times contains an article attack mg England and lauding Russia. It says :—‘, We are bewildered at England's treachery, which has subsided into a fixed, unchangeable policy. There can be no oblivion of the past. Henceforth America will recognise no tie to England." The Nets York Times accepts these new relations, and says —" It will go hard with America but England shall have enough of these relations before America has finished." The draft continues in New York without any disturbance. Mayor Opdyke has called a meeting of the common council to act upon the amendments he has to propose to the municipal appropriation for drafted men. (Later by Telegraph to Father Point.) NEW YORK ; August 22 (Evening). A report has been received from Philadelphia that Fort Sumter is captured and that the Federal gun boats have passed that fort. The Federal Govern ment has received no such intelligence, and little credence is given to it. Troops continue to arrive at New York to pre serve order during the draft. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. Gold, 24 per cent. premium. Stocks dull. New York Central, 131. Erie, 119 k. Cotton quiet. Middling Upland, 671 c. Wheat and flour dull. Corn very firm. Provisions and coffee in good inquiry. Sugar, molasses, and petroleum firm. A treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, was yesterday concluded between the United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway and the Republic of Liberia, by their respective plenipotentiaries, tha Count Wachtraeister and Mr. Gerard Ralston. THE FORTHCOMING VISIT OF THE BRITISH ARCH/EOLOGICAL SOCIETY TO LEEDS.—The annual meeting of this society is to be held in Leeds during October. It will be under very influential patronage, the president being the newly- created Lord Houghton. Among the papers to be read will be one on the Early History of Leeds, by Mr. Wright ; an Account of Anglo-Saxon Jewellery and other Antiquities discovered by Lord Londesborough in Seamer Lime Quarry, near Scar. borough, Mr. Wright; on the Badges of the House of York, Mr. J. R. Planche ; on Ripon Cathedral, Mr. C. E. D av is; on Fountains Ab be y , and on S p offorth Ca stle and Ch u rch, Mr. Gordon M. Hills ; on Kirkstall Abbey and on Adel Church, Mr. Edward Roberts; on the Wakefield Chapel on the Bridge, Mr. F. R. Wilson ; on unpublished MSS. relating to Meaux Abbey, Mr. E. Leviers; on the Weapons of Ancient Yorkshire, Mr. H. T. Cuming ; on Historical Autographs, Mr. P. O'Callaghan; on Crom lechs, Rev. W. C. Lukis ; on Harewood Castle and Church, M r . J. Jones ; and on various other interesting antiquarian topics. The excursions include the following visits :-I'o Ripon and Fountains; to Adel Church, Fernley Hall, Ilkley, and the Runic Crosses; to Harewood Church and Castle; to Wakefield Church and the Chapel on the Bridge; to Pontefract Castle and Church; to Borough bridge and Aldborough ; to Kirkstall Abbey and Halifax ; and to York Cathedral and the Museum of that city. A DELICATE QUESTION.--A curious case of breach of contract--which, however, included a libel—has just been decided in Paris. Mademoiselle S proceeded against the director of one of the Paris theatres for certain moneys due to her for an engagement as se cond danseuse. The defendant pleaded "never indebted ;" and, as a rider to the plea, stated that" the calves of Made moiselle's legs were too big for a danseuse." The following letter was put in by the counsel for the prosecution and formed the ground of the action :—"My dear Mademoi selle,—You surely are not serious in proposing to appear as second danseuse Your plt . steal formation,otherwise charm ing, is totally opposed to such a career. You may consider your engagement cancelled and yourself free. We have now but to regret a rehearsal which has produced such negative results,—Agree, Mademoiselle, to believe the respect with which, &e.' On the part of the plaintiff it was argued that she had made no secret of her legs, which were such as a liberal nature had given to her; that they were, in fact, the stock-in-trade of a dancer ; that objection had been taken by other directors to danseuses "sans volley and finally, that the state of the case was known to the defendant when he made the contract. The defen dant offered to refer the matter to an. " expert," and named the ballet-master of the Imperial Academy as his referee, but the Cdurt held that strong legs were no breach of contract, and gave a verdict witlacoits for the plaintiff, LITERATURE. Veronia. Three vols. Hurst and Blackett. If " Veronia" be the first work of its author, we are inclined to augur well for his future career. It evinces great powers of thought, and a very con siderable ability in their development. The cha racters are not crowded on the canvass, but they are drawn with very great discrimination. Veronia de Medul, the heroine, is the fair and haughty daughter of a ruined patrician. We first discover her in a poor and lonely habitation, working to support a dying mother—dying for want of that succour for which Veronia is too proud to ask. The painful death of the mother produces a sad and thrilling effect; it is portrayed with tragic power. The severe lessons of affliction produce their effect upon Veronia. At first her pride of birth is elmost amusing in its arrogance, so Van Helder finds it. Van Helder is the kind, cordial friend who tries, but for long in vain, to bring comfort to the isolated and unhappy ladies, while, as a doctor, ho is attending the sick bed of Madame de Medul. At one time, while a friendly but most animated discussion about patricians and plebians, the rights of birth, and the pride of rank is going on, Veronia naively exclaims,with a half complimentary insolence, "I always forget you are not a gentle man !" Few gentlemen are more deserving of the name than is the worthy Dr. Van Helder, decidedly the character of the book, a most original and most graphic portraiture. Van Helder, notwithstanding his inquiring and incredulous temperament, is the bosom friend and constant companion of the vener able Cure of St. Andrews, of which parish he is himself the doctor. He is also the constant subject of the indignant animadversions of Godensca, the Cure's housekeeper. The mutual war of words which almost continuously prevails between this well-matched pair of originals is very entertaining. Godensca's bitter tongue is, however, as is often the case, no criterion of the disposition of her heart towards the doctor. Jacques Henricart, the Man of the People, and Adrian de Boisvante, the treacher ous lover, are a well-contrasted pair. 111. Bouchard is also happily sketched, but his daughter's picture is somewhat overdrawn. Even the assistance which she gives to her father's law business (acting, in fact, as chief clerk) cannot quite account for all her disagreeable qualities Miss Sally Brass becomes an attractive companion when compared with Mademoiselle Justine Bouchard ! The Vicar's two sisters, Beth and Ana (the scene is laid in North Flanders) are simple, homely maidens, kept very much in the background, while the fascinating and dangerous Herminie de Mont Brison, and the devout and treacherous Madame de St. Barthelemy take, as becomes them, a very prominent position. The last volume is the most interesting of the three, and until the very end the reader is quite ignorant as to what may be Veronia's fate. The episode of Carl Dopter and his little wife Gretchen, perishing of fatigue and want in the Canon gate of Edinburgh, is quite unnecessary to the story, and might have been omitted. Again the author commits a serious error when, in the middle of the third volume, he enters into an explanatory discourse with his readers on the peculiarities of novel-writing and novels, his own among the number. Such a proceeding is destruc tive of all illusion. The reader is to believe the story true, or it is worthless. Such aside conversations with the audience have become a fashion with our novel writers nowadays, introduced, we sus pect, by the roundabout confessions which Mr. Thackeray delights to bestow upon his readers. The example, however agreeable in his instance, is dangerous, and would be well avoided. We the more readily mention these exceptionable parti culars because we consider " Veronia" to be the production of one who is fitted to take high rank among the novelists of the day. Left to Themselves. By Mrs. Gordon Smythies, author of " Cousin Geoffrey," &c. Three vols. Hurst and Blackett. Mrs. Gordon Smythies has taken for the heroes of her new novel two little friendless, helpless, neglected boys, "left to themselves" in the wide wilderness of London. The moral of her story is to enforce the truth that all that is essential to success in life comes not from without but from within. Honesty and truthfulness, energy and per severance, faith and patience, are better than any gifts of friends or fortune which take to them selves wings and flee away when most required. With the history of these little " city Arabs" as her theme, Mrs. Smythies presents to us many of the varying phases of London life, its trials and temp tations, its privations and its penalties. A bed at night in the Adelphi Arches and a halfpenny cup of coffee for breakfast are at fist the only sorry comforts within the reach of poor Harry and Sim Hazeldcan. Very graphically and very forcibly does Mrs. Smythies "point the moral," while she pleasantly and skilfully "adorns the tale"—the les sons conveyed in the apposite histories of the two brides, Meroy Mayflower and Blanche Melville, are full of warning to fair maidens of high and low degree who " love not wisely, but too well." The admonitions about temperance which are inciden tally, and not obtrusively introduced, would endear the volumes to the heart of George Cruikshank, and will, we doubt not, win for the fair authoress golden opinions from many readers. We congratulate Mrs. Smythies on this new work, which is a fresh evidence of her kindness of heart, and her anxiety to devote her abilities to the true cause of the people, namely, their social regeneration and im provement. We are somewhat disappointed to find at the end of the tale that the two devoted com panions in many trials, Harry and Sim, are not brothers, but cousins. We sympathise with the dismay of poor Harry, who has watched with an elder brother's affection over Sim, when he finds him removed to a more distant relationship, and the change is not really necessary to the development of the story. The romantic affection of Lena Linley, and the life-long devotion of Little Prim rose, are mysteries that we shall not touch upon, but leave for the personal discovery of the reader. Se_N, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1363. RUSSIA. La France publishes the following respecting the project of Constitution for Russia, under date of Moscow, 23d August :- 46 According to the proposed plan the part of the Empire that would enjoy special Constitutions, would be nine in number, viz. :- 4i The Grand Duchy of Finland, the Provincial Assembly of which would be held at Helsingfors. "Baltic-Russia, comprising the Government of St. Petersburg, properly called, Esthonia, Livonia, and Cour land, the Provincial Assembly of which would have its seat at St. Petersburg. " Great Russia, whose Provincial Assembly would meet at Moscow. "Little Russia, witha Provi nc i a l A ssembly at Kiew. Southern Russia, with a Provincial Assembly at Odessa. tt Western Russia, with a Provincial A ssem bly a t Wil na. "The Kingdom of Poland, with a Di et w hi ch would be held at Warsaw. "Eastern Russia, with a Provincial Assembly at Kazan. "Finally, Siberia and the adjacent provinces, with a Provincial Assembly at Irkoutsk. "As regards the provinces of the Caucasian region and of American Russia, their organisation will be ulteriorly considered. The particular institutions for Poland will, it is said, be very ex tended. Should the Poles decline to send deputies to the Chamber of the Representatives of the Em pire, their scruples would be respected, and the special Government of Poland would function under the sole direc tion of the Diet of Warsaw, towards which the lieutenant of the Emperor would fill the constitutional mission of head of the executive power." SWEDEN. Advises from Stockholm announce that the volunteer system, on the model of that in England, is to be introduced into Sweden. The object is, the defence of the national territory, under the hypo thesis of the Swedish forces king employed abroad. The eventualities of the Danish question are said to have influenced the Government at Stockholm in this matter. DESTRUCTION OF HERNE'S OAK.—The shattered trunk of Herne's Oak was blown down on Monday morning last. A portion of this celebrated tree fell from the trunk upwards of 20 years ago, and has been carefully preserved in the royal stores at 'Windsor Castle. Since then this famous tree has been fenced in with park pales, and a plate attached to it, upon which is engraved : There is au old tale goes, that Herne the Hunter, Sometimes a keeper here in Windsor Forest, Doth all the winter time, at still midnight, \Vatic round about an oak.—" Murry Wives of W indsor." Shakspere when he wrote the " Merry Wives of Wind sor" is said to have lodged at the Hope Inn, Frogmore, at that time known as " The Bottle on the Moore ;" this inn was about 200 yards distant front the tree. Herne is said to have been one of the forest keepers in the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and having committed some offence that would have occasioned his dismissal from office, he formed the desperate resolution to hang himself upon this tree. Its identity as " Herne's Oak " has been disputed by many writers, but in a plan of the Castle and town of Wind sor , pu b lished at Eton in 17 12 , t h e pos iti on of the oak is clearly defined and marked as Falstaff's oak. The fairies' dell h as b een partially fille d up, b ut th e l ate Prince Consort h a d much of the earth remove d, w h en l arge oaks, in an upright position, were discovered at the bottom of this dell, which, no doubt, will now be put into its ori ginal state to perpetuate the scene of Falstaff's distress and the pranks of the "Merry Wives of Windsor." THE LITERARY II3IES, after nearly half a year's existence as a penny periodical, finds that its price will not do ; and, therefore, enlarging its size from twelve pages to sixteen, it i s to be Publi§hed Aeuceforth (0; twopence. Victor Hugo's Social Philosophy. It is a question which thinkers are continually striving to settle; the treatment of the criminal adjusted, not solely to the moral guilt involved in the crime, but to his temptations, influences, sur roundings, and organisation. Has M. Hugo helped us out of this difficulty ? Has he reconciled the crime of necessity (as it is called) with individual responsibility ? Has ho at all aided us in explain ing the doctrine of self-preservation with that of the safety of society ? Has he settled that much vexed theory of cerebral formation with man's amenability to law ? Has he thrown any fresh light upon the administration of justice? Has he at all assisted us in realising St.akspere's prayer, a wise union of mercy with justice ? We confess that he has not. Sadly, too, we confess it; for while "Les Miserables" is unsatisfactory, and a failure as a book of philosophy, it is, nevertheless, a masterly novel. We acknowledge the immense power and brilliant genius of the romance; but the weakness of the philosophic theory, and the one sidedness of the moral, are lamentable. Every artist admires the absolutely perfect portrait of Val jean; but no sound statesman would guarantee the cessation of robbery by presenting the thief who stole our bedsteads with the bed also. We are all delighted with the generous, merciful Bishop : but no wise lawgiver would decree that charity to the culprit should be entirely substituted for Jaw. The dependence of society upon each of its individual members, argues that such indulgence, instead of being right, and an effective preventative of crime, would be manifest injustice, and productive of evil. Considering the present state of human nature, w e are sceptical of any good that M. Hugo thinks would result from the adoption of his social phil o . sophy,—Soczal Science _Review, No. just published. ff The Attorney-General h as a pp ointed Ser geant Kinglake senior counsel fo r the Post-o ice on th e western circuit, in lieu cf the late Sir Slade. The rumour which had obtained currency relative to the retirement of Mr. Kinglake from the western circuit is t 1116 , 11 y con.:ra dicted ky that geatleman. Trfurt Foreign Courts. PARIS, August 31. Prince Napoleon has again left Paris for Havre, accompanied by the Princess Clotilda. Prince Napoleon and the Princess Clotilda, the Moniteur ac la Flotte states, are shortly to proceed to Lisbon in their yacht the Jerome Napoleon. Prince Labanoff, the Russian Ambassador at Constantinople, who is now on leave of absence from his post, has arrived in Paris. The Chevalier Nigra, Italian Minister, is pre paring to quit Paris on leave of absence, for the recovery of his health. "We regret to announce," says the Menzorial Diplonzatipe, "that the state of the King of Spain causes serious uneasiness. The strength of the august patient after he had undergone a very painful operation has sensibly diminished, a symptom the more alarming, that his Majesty's constitution has never been robust." BRUSSELS, August 31. Prince Amadeus of Italy arrived in Brussels on Sunday from Copenhagen. His royal highness was accompanied by Count Montalto, by the Por tuguese Minister, and other high officials. The prince will proceed to 03tend on a visit to the Belgian royal family. He travels incognito under the title of Count de Pallanza. The Prince and Princess de Joinville, the Duke and Duchess de Chartres, with a numerous suite, have arrived in. Brussels from Ostend. The Duke and Duchess di Fiano have left Thomas's Hotel,.Berkeley-square, for Brussels. The Duke of Marlborough has returned to Blen heim Palace, near Woodstock, from a c' uise in his yacht. The Earl and Countess Fortescuo are passing the season at Castle Hill, Devon, with their family. It is un• derstood that the noble earl and countess purpose again to pass the winter abroad. The Countess (Frances) Waldegrave and Mr. Chichester Fortescue, M.P., are expected to arrive in town at filo close of the week from the countess's seat in Somer setshire, and will then leave for Dudbrcok, Essex. Lord Blantyre, who has been on a visit to the Duchess (Dow.) of Sutherland, at Stafford House, St. James's, left yesterday for Erskine House, Renfrewshire, N.B. Lord John Hay has left town for Strathfieldsaye, Rents, on a visit to the Duchess of Wellington. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has arrived at Pen-maen-manr, Conway, from Hawarden Castle. The Right Hun. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M.P., arrived at his residence in Whitehall-gardens, yesterday, from Switzerland, MISS BRADDON, whose " Lady Audley's Secret " and " Aurora Floyd " everybody knows, has just addressed a characteristic note to a French writer who asked for some particulars of her life • " Story I Lord bless you I " she writes, " I have none to tell, sir I I have not, like Aurora Floyd . . . nor like Lady Audley . • although some of our critics on this side of the Channel have declared that I would never have been capable of speaking of . . . and of . . unless I had previously been familiar with the way in which such crimes are committed. I began my literary career with a little comedy entitled The Loves of Arcadia,' which was played at the Strand Theatre in 1860; next I wrote a volume of poems in 1861. This comedy and this volume of poetry were followed firstly, by the ' Trail of the Serpent;' 2dly, Lady Lisle ; ' third, The Captain of the Vulture ; ' fourth, Ralph the Bailiff;' fifth, Lady Audley's Secret ; ' sixth, ' Aurora Floyd ; ' all of which made their first appearance in peri odicals. Besides these novels, I have at the same time edited a monthly review and a weekly review, and I wrote anonymously a great many articles for the latter. lam writing now, as you know, John Marchmont's Legacy,' and 'Eleanor's Victory.' The former is publised in Temple Bar, the latter in Once a Week. In enumerating the titles of my books, I have given you the history of my life, at least to the present date." THE LIBRARIES OF CONSTANTINOPLE.—It ig perhaps not generally known that the capital of Turkey possesses a large number of public libraries, a general catalogue of which is now being made. According to an estimate which is considered reliable, the total num ber of manuscripts thus catalogued will exceed a million. Unfortunately, however, many of these MSS. have been so damaged by lying in heaps in damp cellars or worm-eaten chests, as to be partially, and in some cases entirely illegible. • ' It is also to be regetted that, until now, none of the tree sures of the early periods of Byzantine literature, which it was hoped would be brought to light, have been found. It has, on the contrary, been proved that all the works of those times which are known to have existed have been ruthlessly destroyed. The remaining works are consequently chiefly in Arabic, or in other Semitic languages; but they form, on the other hand, the richest collection of Oriental literature in existence. Ahmet-Vafick-Effendi Subhi-Bey and other Turkish men of letters have proposed that this inestimable mass of literary treasures be collected in one building, so as to render it accessible to students engaged in historical researches, and there is every reason to believe that this proposal will he adopted, notwithstanding the opposition it has hitherto met with. The first step towards the forma tion of an imperial library has already been taken by placing 40,000 volumes of good works, in various European lan guages, and which belonged to 11- Hami-Pasha, in the Dar al-Fanoon, the budding of the University. Orders have been given to increase this collection considerably, so as to create a tolerably complete library for consultation, to which the public will be freely admitted. Adding to such a col lection the MS. already mentioned, Constantinople would be superior to any capital in a literary point of view, espe cially if by some lucky chance the plays of Menander, or the lost books of Livy, or the remaining tragedies of .IRschylus, were suddenly brought to light from amidst the parchments now being so carefully examined.—Critic. APPARITION OF THE LIVING.—Add now for an apparition which had a definite and distinct pur pok.e. A solicitor, resident in the Isle of Wight, had busi ness at Southampton. He stayed at one of those hotels for which the town of mail steamers is famous, and, after dinner, he was looking over his law papers while he sipped his port. He was aroused from his foolscap and red tape by the opening of a door ; his wife (whom he had left at home in the Isle of Wight) entered, gazed at him steadfastly, and passed out through the opposite door. He naturally thought that it was a hallucination, and re sumed his reading, with a wondering smile at his own weakness. But, within a quarter of an hour, the very same thing occurred again; and there was on the counte nance of the spectre an imploring look which a house, i t a boatm w an as t o struck take by ter rified him. He at once resolved t o re t urn h ome ; with h hitmhe ghastly across; and when sm e hedifficulty alarmed look of the maid servant who opened the door. This woman was so frightened by his unexpected return, that she spontaneously confessed her intention to murder her mistress, and her confession was confirmed by tho fact she had concealed a carving -knife under her pillow. This is a very perplexing case for those who think • spectral phenomena can be philo sophically explained. Here you have the phantom of a living person projected. entirely without that person's consciousness. Let it be assumed that a person in extreme peril can, by intense volition, act on the nervous system of the universe, so as to influence his dearest friend : but here the person whose likeness appeared was entirely devoid of apprehension, while the servant, who alone knew what was likely to happen, would naturally exert no volition towards revealing it,—The Dublin University for September. EXPLOSION OF THE IVIONROE DOCTRINE.—The Emperor of the French, by the establishment of a monarchy in Mexico which will be in alliance with the Southern States and the British possessions in North America, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the United States to the Pole, the germ of a mighty monarchy—proves the nohsense of the Monroe doctrine. In British America there is a population of whites nearly as numerous as in the Confederate States, backed by the greatest naval power in the world, with a coast which the Federals can never blockade, so that if they only be true to themselves, they need not fear Mr. Seward's cry of " On to Canada." England can man the fortresses and supply them wi•h arms, ammunition, and ships, but for the defence of their country they must rely on their own resources— their volunteers and militia. Our Government should see that a sufficient supply of artillery and stores will be rent out, with a dozen or two of our idle gunboats, which can lie in the Ottowa, the St. Charles, under the citadel of Quebec, and Halifae - , ready on the first open water to enter the lakes —the canals parsing vessels 140 feet long, and 26 wide, with a draught of 91 feet—and this should be done before winter sets in. Let thy; Canadians then remember Cromwell's address—" Put your trust in God, and keep your powder dry." As to a threat of war, if steamers are permitted to leave our shores, it is " Buncomb"—a Vex et preterea nihil." Let England no longer be troubled, but act as she did in the Trent affair and Were will be no war, but let her yield in dishonour, and we drift into war.—' (Front a Col respondent,) A MONUMENT TO SHANSPERE AT OUR ANTI roDEs i--Our Australian cousins—at least those of Nel bourne—are, we learn, preparing to do honour to the memory of Shakspere. The Age, of that city, says—" Th e clay model of a colossal statue of Shakspere has been esc' cuted by Mr. Charles Summers. It is proposed to erect the statue, in Pronze, in front of the public library.''