The Sun. — London, England, 1863-04-27 00:00:00

TH.EATRE-ROY AL, HAY MARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Bnekstone. THIS EVENING, STILL WATERS RUN DEEP. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wigan, Mr. W. Farren, Mr. Chlppen lisle, and Miss Louisa Angel. ' After which, an apropos Dramatic Sketch, introducing a 'atiorama of the Tour of the Prince of Wales in the East. To conclude with BORROWING A HUSBAND, Pamela ss Mar4ffarris. Commence at 7. IfEATRE- ROYAL LYCEUM OPEN, under the Sole Management of Mr. PECHTER. Tins EVENING, at 7, to commence with an Original fetch, entitled A SUDDEN ATTACK. Messrs. Shore, garden, H. Widdicomb, Miss Henrade, and Mrs. Lee. • After which, at a Quarter to Eight, a New Romantic )rama, in Three Acts, and PrAogue, entitled THE DUKE'S MOTTO, by Paul Feval and John Brougham. The principal character will be sustained by Mr. Fechter, supported by Messrs. J. G. Shore, G. Jordan, J. Brougham, vviddimmbe, F. Charles, Garden, Raymond, Dawson; Misses Carlotta Leclercq, Kate Terry, E. Lavenue, and Elsworthy. _ Acting-Manager, Mr. H. Barnett. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Leese( s, Messrs. Lindw and Vining. THIS EVENING the drama of AURORA FLOYD. 31 13 8 Amy Sedgwick. Miss Henderson, and Mrs. Simpson ; Messrs. Roxby, G. Melville, G. Belmore, C. Seyton, Wallace, and Cathcart. After which, KILLING TIME. Mr. Geo. Vining, Mr. C Seyton, and Miss Amy Sedgwick. To conclude with a new 'Whimsical EKtravaganza, entitled BEAUTIFUL HAIDEE ; or The Sea Nymph and the Sallee Rovers. Misses M. Oliver, Helen Howard , -Hudspeth, Hen derson, and Murray ; Messrs. C. Seyton, G. Belmore, Fitz- James, Moreland, and Cockerill. N' THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI.- Sole Proprietor and Manager. Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING JANET PRIDE. Messrs. B. Webster J. L. Toole, Paul 'Bedford. Stephenson,. Stuart, Eherne , Sefton, C. J. Smith, Romer; Miss Aroma Jones, Miss A. Seaman, and Mrs. Stoker. To conclude with DOMESTIC ECONOMY. Mr. Toole, Miss Kate Kelly, Miss A. Seaman. and Miss Stoker. Commence at 7. TIME THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN," 11 Containing the Latest SPORTLNG INTELLIGENCE, can be had Every Evening of G. R. GLENIE, News AGENT, N o . 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. The Weather—Sun Office, April 26, 1863. THER-11031ETER. Highest since Noon yesterday 6O Lowest during the night This day at Noon. 5B Wind—N, Westerly ; fresh, and fine weather. APRIL 27. THERMOMETER. --- Highest since Noon yesterday .. 60 Lowest during the night .. 41 This day at Noon Wind—N.Westerly ; fresh, and fine weather. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Thu DAY. —Morning, Bh. 18m.—Afternoon, Bh. 59m. To-movato-w.-Monting, 9h. 3621.—Afternoon, 10h. 12m. Tt (-14 14411 CAD #w 44.4 LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1863. Our anticipations of the result of the attack on Charleston have been fully realised. Northern accounts direct from the scene of action tell us that the repulse of the Federals was complete and deci sive. Nine of the vaunted iron clads, who are to sweep our commerce from the seas, crossed the bar on the 7th in single file, and moved up Charleston harbour towards Forts Sumter and Moul trie. In the course of this passage the fleet encountered a network of obstructions, stretching in every direction, which completely barred their progress. Finding it impossible to carry out the original intention and begin the attack upon the north-west face of Fort Sumter, the invading squadron were forced to content themselves with the nearest point they could reach, and accordingly coinmenced operations. Then began that struggle between forts and ironclads, whose probable result has so often interested and occupied men of science. Then began, too, that conflict between the North and South, which has been so long eagerly looked forward to as the trial of strength and spirit. Charleston is not in itself a possession of such vital importance as Vicksburg, but it was felt that, with the memories of New Orleans fresh in their minds, the Confederates would never dream of surrender, while the open threats of the North left little hope of mercy, even if the enemy cried quarter. The long delay of the attack was easily accounted for by that Northern ingenuity, which is always ready to fur nish "strategic reasons " for wholesale flight, but reasonable men justly supposed that while the North were emulating the boastful school boy, who, with closed fists, and threatening attitude, goes round and round his adversary shouting, " I'll fight ye," wishing nothing so little as to fight, the South were employing their leisure in strengthening the forti fications surrounding Charleston by every means in their power, and were procuring every means of defence which modern science and ingenuity has placed at their disposal. We learn from the last accounts that the machine for clearing the torpedoes had, in consequence of the want of skill or want of luck that usually attends Northern manoeuvres, floated ashore and been cap tured by the Confederates. But, notwithstanding these various diecouragements, it was determined to attempt the assault, and accordingly the nine ironclads, any one of which would have been a marvel to our forefathers, opened fire on the forts. On the equipment of this expedition, neither care nor expense had been spared. In the construction of the ironclads every improvement recently made in those 553 dragons which have first tried their strength in the American struggle, had been introduced. The Keokuk, more especially, is said to have exhausted the resources of science and skill in her construction ; yet, alas! for the pride of human workmanship, and the triumph of Northern skill, she rests beneath the very waters that was to have witnessed her success. The engagement, though only lasting two hours, w as of the most desperate character. It was no feeble or purposeless fire that sunk such a vessel as the Keokuk, doubled up the turret of another iron clad, and after i n flicting terrible inj ur i es on the re maining vessels, co mpelled the whole fleet to ret rea t hopelessly defeated. So complete, so overwhelm ing was the triumph of the Confederates, that at a conference of the Federal com manders held next day no voice was raised in favour of another attempt. It was "unanimously decided that it was useless to renew the attack." It was felt that to encounter again that tremendous fire, to come within reach of those crushing guns was to sacrifice the remainder of the vessels en trusted to their care. In striking contrast to the old feeling which induced the North to throw upon its Generals the blame of every loss, is the temper shown by the correspondent of the New York Times, who, after remarking that the fleet had only felt the outposts of the enemy, goes on to say it was solely due to the skill of the commanders that it was not entirely destroyed. Perhaps it is felt that it will not do to declare their naval commanders incompetent, as well as their military chiefs to be lacking in ability, or is it that the disaster is so hopeless and conclusive that even Northern effron tery can find nothing to say It is a significant fact that while we learn from Northern sources the damage inflicted on the besieging force, no explicit account of the injuries received by the enemy finds a place in their reports. A. correspondent of the New York Tribune tells us that the north-east face of Fort Sumter is marked with eleven holes of great extent, some gaps being three feet wide. These scars, however, were dearly earned, for during the last 30 minutes of the engagement, the Confe derate batteries poured a concentric fire upon the enemy which is described as being more than mortal-made fleet could stand. Some idea may be gained of the nature of this fire b y the account of the shots received. The Keokuk received 90, her turrets being completely riddled, and one of them still retaining a steel-pointed Whitworth shot when she left the engagement. The Passiac was struck 58 times and disabled, the Weehawken 59 times, after which her turret worked with difficulty ; it is certainly a testimony to the strength of the vessels that they should have received such a fire. It is rumoured that the Confederates had ♦ery effective Whitworth guns. Effective their guns certainly were, of whatever description they might be, and if they are of the same calibre, worked with the same desperate spirit at Vicksburg, the five Federal ironclads who have attempted running the blockade may tell the same story. Little consolation for the defeat in South Caro lina comes to New York from Mississippi or Louisiana. Admiral FARRAGI7T is described as being caught between two batteries, neither of which he can pass; while the entire Yazoo expedi tion has been forced to abandon the projected attack upon Fort Pemberton. It is rumoured at New Or leans that the Federals intend making a forward movement by way of the Red River, and commenc ing operations on the Atchafaraya, one of the many small streams in the neighbourhood, which runs from the Red River out into Atchafalaya Bay by Pta Fierro. Meanwhile General Foster re mains besieged at Washington, North Carolina, all efforts made to relieve him having proved unsucces ful. The Confederates, apparently encouraged by the failure of the attempted succours, have mustered 27,000 between Washington and Newbern, with a view, it is said, to attacking the latter place, a town of some size, on the River Nuse. It is not wonderful under such an aspect of affairs, that New York is clamouring for a change in the Administration, and getting up public meetings to inveigh against England. We shall probably hear the failure of the attack on Charleston laid at our doors, on the strength of the Whitworth guns. Like the old fable of the wolf and the lamb, America will never want an occasion for quarrel with England, though the relative position of the disputants might possi bly be reversed at the end of the story. One thing is certain. By their own showing the Federals have suffered an unquestionable and decisive defeat from the Confederates, after they had exhausted every effort to support their attempt. Suppose they reserve their lofty indignation against " Southern traitors, Northern eiders, and piratical allies," until they are a little more able to carry out their threats. One thing at a time is as much as most States or individuals can manage satisfactorily, and when the North has finally accomplished the subjugation of a few rebellious provinces, it will have more leisure to humble that Power against which nearly every nation of the civilised world has tried its hand in vain. In waiting for that day the demand of Lord LYONS for the return of the unopened mail-bag of the Peterhoff will perhaps come as a wholesome counter irritant to the abandonment of the long planned expedition against Charleaton. Those who predicted, at the beginning of the Polish insurrection, that it would be speedily quelled, have proved themselves false prophets. They did not calculate on the strength that was in herent in a struggle which concerned the liberties of a people, and despised as that people was there was sufficient vitality in its constitution to prolong the struggle for a considerable period. The last news received from Poland contains intel ligenc3 of the defeat of the Hussars of the Guard, who were pursuing the insurgents; and have been beaten by them with the loss of 300 killed and wounded. The determined resistance of the Poles is proved by the fact that four engagements were fought between the insurgents and the Russian troops in one day. It would have been a great saving to the Russians if they had at the outset re cognised the claims of Poland to consideration, and trusted more to the maviter in modo than to the fo•liter in re. As it is they have parried the question and shifted their ground continu• ally, till they seem at present unable either to enforce their supremacy or to adopt conciliatory measures. It is also reported that MOSAROUSKI'S band has defeated a Russian division near Olknsz. On the whole, affairs seem promising for the cause of the insurgents, and while we may feel assured that this gallant band must inevitably succumb in the long run before their oppressors, still their long enduring struggle proves that the cause of the pa triots is possessed of an innate strength which was undreamt of by their enemies, and also that the mighty legions of the CZAR do not And it so easy to put down the serried ranks of those who are striv ing for a cause that is dearer than life. M. BILLAULT, in the recent debate on the budget of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that great reserve was necessary in speaking of that question. He added that "Government would give no explana ticn that would injure the success of negotiations." There was some truth in his after remark, that the sympathy of all Europe must concur in settling the Polish question ; and the general feeling that has been evinced by France throughout the course of this unhappy struggle, bears out her Minister in stating that they are all animated by a cordial feel ing for the sufferings of Poland. It is unsatisfac tory for us to reflect that had our Government taken up the cause, or entered into the wrongs of Poland to the same extent, and with the same warmth that the French did, the condition of that outraged land might by this time have been ame liorated, and her people might have a better pro spect of future peace. If the policy of England is to be regulated, according to Lord RUSSELL'S notion of being subservient to the strong, and bullying to the weak, we shall lose for our country the proud distinction that she once possessed of being the champion of the oppressed, and the terror of the tyrant. The proclamation of the Provisional Go vernment is interesting to peruse. It asserts with some truth that a " dictatorship does not answer the circumstances of the time." Therefore the Central Committee has resumed th e direction of national affairs. This is a wise step, Inasmuch as the election of a Dictatorship is apt to engender angry feelings, sconduct and s f and at all event s to awaken jealousy in a n under taking where so much depends on h unanimity a good understanding prevailing, the Wielopolski family is perfectly absurd. The father is now attempting to defend fr th om e son his fr from the consequences that have ensued inju dicious efforts to screen his own evil actions. Hence the Marquis has requested the Prussian Government to impeach the editor of a Posen paper for an attempt made upon his son in reference to the challenge. The request has been complied with, and this double game so far succeeds, but if there is any truth in the statement that both father and son have been advised to resign, it will be a benefit to both sides when that event takes place. The Grand Duke also has been requested to leave, it is hinted, and as any change will be for the better in thecon duct of affairs at Warsaw, it is to be hoped that such may be the case. The length of time that the Polish struggle has continued, and the spirit with which it has been n - aintained, must in the end have some weight on their persecutors, and induce them not again to rouse the passions of those whom they cannot subdue in such a hurry as they fancied was once in their power. Also the united testimony of three great European Powers have borne witness to the CZAR that bisproceedings are not favourably looked upon by those whom he calls his allies and might not wish to find his enemies, therefore, taking all things into consideration the prospects of Poland are not so unpromising as at one time they appeared to be, and courage and constancy may yet gain some advantages, dreary as was the struggle in which they have been engaged. FINE ARTS; THE OLD WATER-COLOUR SOCIETY. On Saturday we had the more than usual gra fication of attending the private view (at the Society's Gallery, 5, Pall-mall East) of this really beautiful and exceptional Exhibition. A mere passing announcement of the fact of the Private View having taken place in the forenoon, was all we had opportunity for in our impression of Satur day. The gallery having been thrown open this morning to the publi3 at large for the rest of this present season,the justice of our estimate of the gene ral merits of the collection may be tested with the utmost faeility by anyone who cares to note the ad vance made in this exquisite art of painting in water colours, and this simply by means of one saunter round the Society's Gallery—not on any account for getting, before the morning's stroll round the apart ment is finished a glance at each of the four won derful little screens. As a whole the collection for the present season is rather smaller, as it appears to us (numeri cally) than ordinary. The pictures now on view barely exceeding three hundred (304), as enumerated in the catalogue. But it would hardly be rash to remark at once, that of these the majority, more or less earnestly win from us a share of our admiration. The onward advances that have been made, in the general development of the art of water-colour painting, have not for long been more signally evidenced by any collection, regarded " as a whole," than they have been certainly just now come to be evidenced by the Old Soci; ty of `Vater•colourists, the Society founded within the first lustre of this present century. Looking at some—nay we will say at many—of the works now hanging upon the walls or the screens of the good old gallery, and then recalling to mind what the art was, what it achieved, what were its chef cr ceuvres in the days or at the hands of Girtin or of Sandby, of Varley or of De Wint, one can all the better appreciate " the goods the gods have given us" in these later days, and under the far more potent and magical manipulation of artists such as Burton, and Hunt, and Fripp, and Gilbert, men of mark like Carl Haag, and Frederick Tayler, and Birket Foster, and Joseph Jenkins, and Cox, and Evans, and Riviere, with a contemporary throng still of other variously gifted brother Mem bers and Associates. Altogether—in this Society, and contributing works, many of them numerous, and some of them really remarkable works, to the present exhibition—there are fifty-one of these " Old So ciety" water colourists, twenty-eight of them mem bers, twenty-three of them associates. Among the most industrious exhibitors in the collection now on view at 5, Pali-mall East, being Collingwood Smith, and—we grieve to interpolate here in paren thesis (the late)—F. 0. Finch, each of these members having contributed no less than seventeen pictures to the present exhibition. Breaking away from a temptation to indulge in any further generalities, however, we would now particularize some at least among the more notice able works of art which more particularly arrested our attention on Saturday, and several of which lend an especial charm to this year's collection at the Gal eery. As limpid and sparkling an English river scene as George A. Fripp has for some time past produced, " Bisham Abbey, on the Thames, near Marlow" (9), would have compelled our footsteps to loiter long, almost immediately upon crossing the familiar threshold on Saturday, but that a casual glance further along " the line" showed us, what it is impossible not to recognise upon the instant, as John Gilbert's masterpiece—(lB) " Don Quixote's Curious Dis course upon Arms and Letters." The incident as translated from the stately Hidalgo Spanish of Cervantes into the drily humorous English of Tobias Smollett runs briefly thus :—" Don Quixote went on with his discourse in such a manner, and in such proper expressions, that none of those who heard him at that time could take him for a mad - man. On the contrary, most of his hearers being gentlemen, to whom the use of arms properly belongs they listened to him with pleasure."—Book iv., c. 10. We have never before seen Mr. Gilbert to such advantage as he appears before us in this picture. Not a touch anywhere perceptible here of those three demerits (sins almost), by one, or other of which, sometimes flagrantly by a combination of them all, he has so often ere this marred the products of his really fine genius—Neste, or carlessness, or, Worst fault of all (because, as this picture proves to abso- lute demonstration, so easily to be avoided by him when he lists), an intolerable coarseness. Even the refined and fastidious taste of the late Charles Leslie, R.A., might have been gratified by a gl ance over this eminently Quixotic rendering of an inci dent full of humour, and of a humour too that is none the less piquant in its way because in many of the forms and faces of the listening guests (knights and ladies andservitors they are al in tensely listening in their looks!) there is not only so much of the quaint and odd, but so much also of the courtly and the gracious. As clever a Bran white as there is now in the gallery (and there are half a dozen there this season) is (46) " Sunset--a Black Frost," with its level ringing surface of ice granite. There: is a little oblong Newton hard by, there, at that corner of the gallery—it hangs close to the floor, so that one is almost brought to one's knees to look at it—the attitude, however, hardly inappropriate, if regarded as a tribute to iti beauty—a little oblong view of the " Madonna del Salute, at Venice" (51) as much of a poet-artist's dream of the Sea City as the famous chapter in Dickens's "Pictures from Italy" was a yet-artist's dream of it in pen and ink. A fine windy view near Holyhead is (53) H. Gistineau's " Ascen t from the South Stock Lighthouse," with the rocky crags" clanged about" by gulls and mews. Rosenberg's (75)1ccious grapes and dark ripe peaches, touched into more delicious beauty of colour by the contrasting bloom of the scarlet geranium, would seem still as delightful to the mind's eye in retro spect, but that wa think since of some far more wondrous fruit and flowers, some lilacs that Bur ton roots of, and some little acid apples known to W. Hunt, hanging there upon the screen close by ! Further on—at the opposite side of the gallery— there are two other Newtons worthy of notice; one (98) a moonlight view of the said " Ma donna del Salute" at Venice ; the other (99) representing a gateway at Rome, with, as a motto from Byron, in the Catalogue, "Rome and her Ruin past redemption's skill"—a motto pointed somewhat ironically in its political signifi canoe, as it seems to us, by the artist's introduction upon the scene of a troop of soldiers of the French Army of Occupation ! One is almost fain to cross the stile and take a tranquil stroll along the meadow path across the "Church fields at Reigate" (111), depicted by C. Davidson. Few grave faces but will break into a smile before H. P. Riviere's " The Ready Reckoner." Pat, with his emptied bag of ha'pence before him, with his goodwife breath lessly watching his calculations by his side, his bit of chalk in his hand, scoring up the sum on the back of the old pair of bellows. Alfred Fripp's absurdly -named watching the Porpoises" (125)—it might be Watching anything else in the wide world or on the broad deep—is a bright-eyed cluster of bonnie little fisherboys, charming to the heart to look at. A noble specimen of Frederick Tayler is (140) "Hawking—the Heron brought down on the Skirts of theVillage"._a bygone sport living there again-- in man and woman, horse and hound, all of a past age. Not the least, surely, as examplars of nearly an extinct species of the latter, those dogs with the canary coloured hair in streaks and blotches. Birket Foster's picture of " The Ferry" (145), with the central touch o f mauve i n t h e f oregroun d, o r rather, it should be said, in the ferry-boat by the reedy margin, would almost W i n f rom us our accep t anc e as hor happiest contribution for this year bat that we remember that l ove l y at Chiddiogford" (284) English roadside "Cottage R cottage scene that Birket THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 27, 1863, Foster alone could have drawn. Having got once to this same mention of the Screens, where so much of the merit of the Old Society's annual Exhibition again as usual hangs " on view," we shall pause now only before one other pic ture upon the walls of the gallery. And a very noble picture it is too—before turning finally to a survey here of some among the marvellous works of art suspended on those same four screens. "Pal myra" is the subject selected this year by Carl Haag for the display of his powers as a painter of Oriental landscapes. And never to our recollection has that 'wonderful desert scene been depicted before now in a manner af f ording the spec tator so vivid a notion of the magnificence of that vast architectural display, even in ruin. Turning now to the radiant screens lighting up the gallery with their array of varied master pieces painting—we Exhibitors, two mem bers find there con spicuously visibletercolour of the Old Society, who especially vie with inwaeo among ur each other for our admiration. And in such dif ferent ways ! Each with such a mastery of his art, and with such a subtle sense of the true and the bean tiful. F. W. Burton now witching the gaze with his superbly handsome " lostephane,"—(273)—a mere head (looking of life size), a touch of white raiment about the neck, the lovely eyelids downcast, the brown hair sparsely ringed round with a wreath of purple violets ! Now with his luxuriant heap of " German Lilacs" (234), piled on the stool before the kneeling flower-seller in the old Teuton market place ! Now—" best beautiful" of all Mr. Burton's three pictures in the Gallery—a painting without a name, simply en titled in the catalogue (239)-- One of a Series of Drawings presented to Edwin W. Field, Esq., by the members of the Society of Painters in Water Colours. This enviable possession of Mr. Field's representing a sweet-featured, youthful girlish beauty reposing in an attitude expressive of all the languor of an invalid upon an apple-green pillow, her golden yellow hair flowing in loose abundance over it—she herself gazing with an air of abstraction upon one faint, trail, delicate sprig of pink blossom in her hand, type perhaps of herself ! As forW. Hunt's fruit and flowers and bird's-nests—we are beggared in :an guage wherewith to describe the beauty and wonder of them in any way adequately. They are like the very things themselves. The down upon the bird's nest we could almost fancy stirring with our breath ing, as we look at it! The apples, with the little flecks and spots upon their ripened rind, we could (it nearly seems to us) eat ! The primroses tempt us to pull them, not by the sweet delicate stalks, but roots and mould and all—to carry away home with us for the transplanting ! They are nothing less, as all the town knows by this time, than very marvels of imitative art. Many other pictures eminently deserving of notice, we are constrained to leave here unnoticed. We should be ungrateful, however, were we to leave the gallery without one word of commen dation having been first pronounced upon that singularly beautiful atmospheric effect which every one will examine with delight in " Clearing Up " (157), by Joseph J. Jenkins, the society's gifted Secretary. Among those present were the Duchess of Suther land, the Marquis and Marchioness of Norman by, Earl Grey, Lord and Lady John Manners, Lord Redesdale and the Hon. Miss Mit ford, I ady Char lotte Danison, Viscount and Viscountess Chelsea, the Right Hon. W. F. Cowper, M.P., Lord St. Leonards, Sir Robert and Lady Phillimore, the Bishops of Oxford, Winchester, Rochester, and Ely, the Dean of Westminster, the Dean of St. Panls sad Mrs. Milman, Lady Rolle, F. North, Esq., M.P., Th omson H a nkey, Esq., M.P., John Chapman, Esq., M.P., Charles Du Cane, Esq., M.P., Sir Joseph Paxton, M.P., the Master of Downing, Sir E. Landseer, Stc. AN OWER TRUE STORY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Stn.,—Knowing the deep interest you take in everything relating to suffering humanity, and how ready you are in lending your columns to give publicity to cases of indigent merit—thereby causing benevolence to flow into its legiti mate channel—l crave the insertion in your valuable paper of the following melancholy statement : " On the 10th of April, 18631 I set out with my wife, house-hunting. We wandered up one street, down another. Until at last we observed a cottage, having on it a placard announcing the sale of household furniture, &c. The door was opened by -- the widow of an old friend, one of the first artists of the day. It was her furniture that was for sale, the landlord having distrained for rent. When her husband died, she succeeded in furnishing this house, and by letting lodgings had fought her way through with three children. It had been a hard struggle. A gen tleman who had been in India, and had there received a sun's •stroke, which terminated in softening of the brain, was her principal lodger, the prop of her house—until his disease isicreasing in violence, he had .to be placed in con finement as dangerous.: The Savage Club,' of which :qrs. --'s husband wai a member, got up a benefit for her, as they had done for the widow of the late Robert Brough. Poor --, by the way (the husband) was the most illustrious of the Forty Thieves.' How we used to joke him about it . ? A sum was raised for others by means of this benefit, but unfortunately all the poor widow had was mortification and disa ppointment —the assets barely covering the expenditure! A few friends got up a memo rial to Lord Palmerston, and again there was hope. That memorial set forth the public services the husband had ren dered as an eminent draughtsman and an engraver—that to his exertions and abilities may be attributed much of the present importance of the art—not only in its com mercial aspect, but as greatly advancing and stimulating the intellectual progress of the age, by giving a new and more instructive power to literature, and a wider and more useful influence to art. It further notified that the follow ing works were either originated, established, or materially assisted by him : Puneh, Illuminated Magazine, Lady's Jiagazine, Expositor, and a very large number of works for children. It also set forth that, notwithstanding ---'s industry and irreproachable character, he was unable to effect any saving out of a precarious:incomq,'and at his death, on the let of October, 1860, ho left his widow and family with out any provision whatever. The memorial was signed by upwards of 60 gentlemen well known in the literary and artistic world, as well as by several members of Parliament. What was the result ? A. letter signed C. G. Barrington. I here take the liberty of transcribing it : "Downing-street, 27th March, 1863. " Sir,—Lord Palmerston desires me to say, in reply to your letter of the 24th, that he is sorry that he has no means of assisting Mrs. --, as there is at present no balance available on account of the Royal Bounty Fund.—l re main, Sir, your obedient servant -O. G. Barrington." It will be sufficient if I add to the foregoing that benevo lent persons desirous of knowing the address of the dis consolate widow may apply by letter to D. M. A., at the Spectator office, Wellington-street, Strand. P A.MPHILIIIL CONSECRATION OF A ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. On Saturday a newly erected Roman Catho!ic church in the Wyndham-road, Camberwell, was consecrated by the Right Rev. Dr, Grant, Raman Catholic Bishop of Southwark, The sacred edifice is dedicated to the Sacred f i Le e art s , e a r n vi d ee co w n a ta s in c s o sittings d io w r i t a h b o g u r e t a t 70:1 0 n3 o p r , B t o h Cl e p m e r u s s o i n c a s l choir of St. George's Cathedral lending its assistance. The Right Rev, Dr. Morris, Bishop of Troy, preached. During the rehearse' of Rossini's " Count Ory" it the Grand Opera last week, M. Borchardt, who played Raimbaud, fell dead on the stage, being attacked with apoplexy. H e was only 35 years of age. BERLIOZ'S last o p era , "Beatrice and Benedict" (Much to do (sic) About Nothing) has met with great success at Wi es b a d en , un der his own direction. The Queen of Prussia, the Grand Duke and Duchess of Nassau, complimented the composer of "Romeo and Juliet" very highly. Berlioz went &so to Lowenberg to direct a con cert at the invitation of the Prince of Hohenzollern, who made himself the programme from Berlioz's work, namely, " The King Lear" overture, fragments of "The Romeo and Juliet" symphony, " The Harold" overture (Lord Byron), and "The Roman Carnival" overture. Berlioz is a thorough Shakesperian, his first wife being Miss Smithson, the once celebrated Bnglish actress.—The Queen. THE LATE LADY OLIVIA SPARROW.—At the sale of the effects of the late Lady o;ivia Bernard Sparrow, at Brompton-park, Huntingdonshire. on Friday, two ivory inlaid chair®~ taken by Warren Hastings from the pal ace o f an Indian Prince at the time he was Governor- General of India, were offered for competition. Mr. Hest inzs altogether sent six chairs to En land. Two of them went into the possession of the Princess Charlotte, and, after her death and the acceptance of the throne of Belgium by her husband, they were sold to Lord William Bentinck, rind presented by his lordship to the late Lady Olivia Spar row. The other four are in the possession of the Marquis of Hertford and Baron Rothschild. The competition for the coveted chairs was very animatod, and they were sold for £4lO to Mr. Medland, who, it was understood, was act ing on behalf cf the relatives of the deceased lady. The Exhibition of Sculpture in the Horticul tural Gardens will be opened to the public on the sth of LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REUTER'S EXPRESS.) THE ATTACK ON CHARLESTON. The New York Herald of the 14th contains a letter from its correspondent on board the iron-clad fleet, from which the following are extracts " The attack would have commenced an hour or two earlier than it did, had it not been that the Admiral was advised to wait for the ebb tide, rather than sail up with the flood tide, as the former would be more apt to discover the locality of the obstruc tions in the channel, and the tide tamed at eleven o'clock. During these hours of suspense the eye had an opportunity of taking the features of the scene on which the great act was to be played. The blae waters danced in the bright sunshine, and flocks of sea birds dipped their white wings in the waves and uttered their shrill cries as they swooped down ward after their prey. Over the parapets of Forts Sum ter and Moultrie the rebel defenders were watching our movements and signalising them ; and even on the roofs and steeples of the distant city we could see hundreds of spectators. Distinctly in view were the numerous batteries, extending from the Wappoo Creek, on the Ashly river, following the contour of James Island, down to the Lighthouse battery, on the south point of Morris Island. On the other side they were more numerous still. Breach inlet battery, on the lower end of Sullivan's Island ; Fort Beauregard, and on up to Fort Moultrie; while in the centre of the picture, rising, as it were, from the water, stood Fort Sumter, dis playing the rebel flag on one angle, and the Pal metto flag on the opposite angle; and beyond, Fort Ripley and Castle Pinckney, the city filling up the background. " Meanwhile the attacking vessels lay at anchor in the main ship channel, within a mile of the batteries on Morris Island, without provoking a hostile shot. The Weehawken was in the van and the other vessels is t he order in which they are named in the plan of attack. Precisely at half-past 12 o'clock the fleet commenced to move. The distance to the positions at which they were directed to at tack was nearly four miles, and for almost all that distance they were within range of ~he enemy's batteries. But again there is a delay. Grappling irons attached to the Weehawken have got foul of her anchor cable, and it takes nearly an hour to set matters right. At list the difficulty is got over, and once more the vessels are under weigh. Slowly they move up the ship channel. They pass within easy range of Fort Wagnor on Morris Island, but not a shot disputes their progress; they pass the battery at Cumming's Point, named, I believe, Bat tery Bee, but still not a discharge from a rebel gun. And it is not till the vessels have got fairly between the two upper points of Morris Island and Sullivan's Island—which are about a mi!e apart—and are rounding to make the entrance of the harbour, that the ominous stillness is broken. Fort Sumter opens the ball with her barbette guns; Fort Moultrie takes up the loud refrain. The various batteries join in the deafening chorus, and the ironelads find themselves within a circle of fire concentred from all the rebel guns that can be brought to bear upon the point. Nor is that all that these little floating turrets have to contend with. If it were, they might have held on their way defiantly, and run the gauntlet of all the batteries that stood between them and Charleston. The weak side of Fort Sumter is well known to be its north-west front. That was the point against which our guns were ordered to be directed, but that was also the point which the rebel engineers were determined that we should not get at. From the north-east angle of the fort across the channel to Fort Moultrie were suspended, floating from barrels, and kept taut by weights, heavy nets and con. trivances of roping so fixed as to be sure to get entangled in the propelling apparatus of vesses, and also connected with torpedoes. Into this net the Weehawken which led the van fell, and for a long time her machinery was useless, and she drifted with the current. "At last, after great exertions, she extricated her self. The other vessels sheered off dnd avoided the same peril. There was no getting into the required position in this way. Any attempt to persevere is that course would have rendered the fleet unman ageable, and exposed it to destruction. Belied in the attempt to get round or past Fort Sumter in that way, the bulldog Monitors sought another opening, but even the shoal ground between the fort and Cumming's Point was barred up with riles,. In fact, Fort Sumter was found to be the apex of a triangle, the two sides of which were im penetrable to our vessels, and at the base line of which they were exposed to a concentric fire from Forts Sumter and Moultrie, the Redan, Battery Bee, and Fortßeauregard. Thus brought to a stand, and nothing being left but either to batter down Furt Sumter or retire, the ironolads, went resolutely to their work. Stretching themselves in a line between Sumter and Moultrie, and only giving an occasional shot to the latter work, they plied their guns upon the walls of Sumter. " The Keokuk steamed up to within some 300 yards of the fortress, while the other vessels lay at intermediate distances between that and 600 yards. The Ironsides—the Admiral's flag-ship— had become entirely unmanageable, refusing to answer her helm; so that, with the exception of one broadside which she poured into Fort Moul trie, she took no part in the attack, although she was herself the target for many of the enemy's largest guns, and was hit some 60 or 70 times, sustaining, however, no material damage. For half an hour, while our vessels were in the position I have described, the cannonading was of the most awfully grand and terrible character. No words of mine—no words of any man—can con ' vey a Lint idea of it. It was sublimely terrific. No less than 300 guns of the largest calibre concen trated their fire upon the eight assailants, who had but 16 guns with which to respond. The contest was too unequal to be persevered in. The Keokuk was soon badly damaged. The turret of the Passaic was so indented as to pre vent its revolving, The Patapscoe had her 200 lb. Parrot gun disabled, and besides night was coming on. Tne admiral therefore signalised the fleet to retire, and suddenly they fell back from a contest in which they were so tremendously over matched, not, however, without leaving their mark behind. The north-east front of Fort Sumter, which was the only one exposed to our fire, was badly damaged. No less than 11 holes, some of them 3ft. wide, and two embrasures knocked into one, showed the effect of the Monitors' guns. But that was all we effected. That and a dissipation of a popular error that Charleston could be captured by 9 or 10 ironclads. The signal to cease firing was given about 5 o'clock. It was obeyed, and the vessels fell back to the flagship, the parting shot being fired by the Nantucket as she passed Fort Wagner. And thus ended the most remarkable conflict that has ever taken place between war vessels and land for tifications—remarkable in this, that the guns of the forts outnumbered by 10 to 1 those of the vessels; and yet, after all, to what is our failure to be attributed P To the impregnability of the land batteries or the weight and number of their guns ? Only to a alight ' degree. The real instruments of our defeat were the apparently insignificant and contemptible bar ricades of ropeworks and netting stasp,nded across the channel, and which kept our vesels at a point which the rebel guns had previously been concen trated. Forts might have been passed and batteries silenced; but those twining enemies, which, like the serpents of Laocoon, coiled themselves around the motive machinery of our vessels and prevented the play of their iron arms, were not to be got rid of by force. In their grasp our vessels were in nocuous. And, therefore, the unfavourable result of the enterprize is not to be accepted as any test of the relative powers of iron-clands and land batteries. Without those obstructions, all the forts that defended Charleston from Lighthouse Point to Castle Pinckney, would have been insufficient to stop our Monitors from anchoring off the battery at Charleston. It has been calculated that some 3,500 rounds were fired by the rebels. In one minute there were one hundred and sixty counted. Oa our side there were but one hundred and fifty shots fired ,in all; so that the rebels fired over 20 shots to our 1. The Ironsides fired but one broadside, and that was at Fort Moultrie. That was her only offensive opera tion throughout the day. The Keokuk only fired 3 shots before she received her death wound. The result of the day's operations may be summed up thus :—The injury to the rebel fortifications is not such as will work any great loss to them, as we cannot renew the attack immediately. On our side we lost the Keokuk, which sunk this morning, and which is to be blown up to-day, to prevent her fall ing into the hands of the rebels. She was struck by 96 shots, Of these 19 were on the water line, 15 in the after turret, 12 in the forward turret, and 25 on the sides. The Cassias is disabled by having her turret so injured that it cannot revolve, and she has to be sent to Port Royal for repairs. She was struck 68 times. The Catapseo was injured by t tiering tar 200 lb. Parrot gun disabled. She was struck from 40 to 50 times. The Nahaut was struck 80 times, and had her pilothouse completely shattered, The Ironsides was bit from 60 to 70 times, re ceiving no material damage beyond the knocking off of her port shutters, thus exposing her gun deck. The Weehawken was struck 59 times, and her funnel deeply indented, so that she worked with difficulty. The Montauk was hit 20 times. The Nantucket and Catskill ware each hit about 50 times, having their decks considerably torn. The New York, 7inzes of the 14th publishes a lengthy account from its correspondent on board the fleet, agreeing in the main with the statements of the Herald reporter. The injuries received by the attacking squadron are stated as follows : " The Nahant received in all 30 wounds, several of them bad fractures of the deck and sides, below and above the water line. The most fatal blow, however, was given by a heavy rifled shot, which struck the pilot-house and dislodged several of the bolts, one of which, driven violently inwards, wounded all the three inmates of the pilot house— captain, pilot, and quartermaster. "The Passaic also received 25 or 30 wounds. The most extraordinary shot was from a large 10-inch rifled projectile, which struck the top of the the turret, scooping out a large portion of the iron. breaking all of the 11 plates of an inch thickness each, and spending its forca on the pilot-house (which is placed on top of the turret). in which it made a crater three inches deep, and producing such a shock on the pilot-house as to start its top and raise it three inches. Had not the force of the impact been broken on the turret, there can be little doubt that this shot would have gone clean through the pilot-house. Another shot hit the turret, forcing the place struck inwards, and pro ducing a big swell o❑ the interior. The same shock disabled the carriage of the 11-inch gun, while per bone of the interior iron casing fell, and lodging iu the groove of the turret stopped its revolution. '•The Nantucket, besides receiving a number ol wounds, had her turret so jarred that the cover of the port could not be opened, and consequently thc 15-inch gun could not be used. These three are all of the Monitor type. "In adaition, the other Monitors each received thots more or less, though not disabling them. Thus the Catskill aas hit 20 times. The worts wound was from a rifled shot, which broke th e deck plating forward, going through breaking a beam beneath, and spending its force on an iro❑ stanc,,ion, which it settled half an inch. "The Ironsides was frequently struck. One of shots broke off and carried away one of her Fort shutters, and her wooden bows were penetrated by shell, though they were prevented from doing the damage they otherwise must have done by the ex posed part of the vessel having been protected with sandbags. " But the poor Keokuk—she of all others, was the most fearfully maltreated. This vessel was struck 90 times, and she had 19 holes above am, below the water-line, some of a size through which a boy might crawl. Her turret (6f ; inehes of iron in thickness) were fairly riddled, and came out of the contest mere sieves, During the night her pumps were kept at work, to throw out the leaks she was making. The sea had become somewhat rough, however, and was washing in through the holes in her bows. By daylight it became obvious she must sink. Barely time enough was afforded to gat off her wounded and crew, for she had by this time settled so much that the water waspouring into her turrets. Two or three of the men, indeed, and to jump into the sea, and were handed into the small boats which had come to her assistance. Suddenly she gave a lurch to one side, then a lurch to the other, and plunged under. She went down at eight o'clock at the spot of her original anchorage, nerr Lighthouse Inlet, and all that is visible of her is the upper portion of her smoke stock." SEMI-OFFICIAL WASHING TON OPINIONS OF THE FIGHT. Upon this subject the Z%ew York Herjd of the .4th says : " WASHINGTON, APRIL 13, 11 p.m. " The Navy Department states that the de spatches received on Sunday from Admiral Dapont are not of so complete and definite a character as to make their publication expedient, and consequent!) they will ,await the receipt of the full reports of the commanders of the different vessels engaged, Ali Important detaila have already been published. The Navy Department does not regard the result of this preliminary bombardment as decisive or essentially discouraging. AFFAIRS IN '1 ENNESSEE. i f he Richmond Dispatch of the lOch says General Rosecrans has sent five regiments of infantry to Kentucky, and has ordered all the cavalry from that State to his army at Murfreesboro, and is moving his troops on cur left (our right), doubtless to pre vent any movement upoi our post in that State. By way of Cumberland Gap we have to report that Colonel Clark's cavalry has possession of Mown Stirling, .where he had captured 600 prisoners, and that Humphrey,Marshall had joined him at;tha point. It is said that Burnside., at the solicitation of Guthrie, has been started with 30,000 Ftderal ih fantry and 10,000 cavalry for .Lexington, Keb tucky. The Danyille cars broughtilinto Richmond 324 Union prisoners of war, captured by General Fo rest at Brentwood, Tennessee. Among them we 23 commissioned officers. All of them are to exchanged at an early day. The Fiderals occupy Lebanon with a divisi( under General Reynolds. CINCINNATI, APRIL 13, Major-General Burnside has issued an order pr flouncing the death penalty on all persons foul guilty of aiding the rebels. All persons sympathising with the rebels are be arrested and tried, or sent beyond the lines. The order says that it must be distinctly unde stood that treason, expressed or implied, will not I tolerated in this department. FORTRESS MONROE, APRIL 11. Some skirmishing has been going on to-day Williamsburg, and it is rumoured that the rebe are between Williamsburg and Yorktown. It is also rumoured that the rebels are threatet ing Suffolk, but nothing serious is anticipated i either direction at present. MEXICO. The New York papers publish advices from Yet Cruz to the Ist April. Nothing of importance had occurred in the neigl bourhood of Puebla. The French advances were skirmishing at th very gates of Pueb!a, gradually concentrating various points around that city, until the 31st ult, when they occupied the eminence of Malinche t the north, Testimetmacau to the south, and the hi ] of San Juan to the west, which last completel: commands Puebla on that aie e. On this hill, whici is about three quarters of a mile from the suburb. of Puebla, General Forey had established Headquarters between the road to the capital, that to Matamoras de Izucar. In Oriziba on the 26,h ult., a general order WI issued imposing a heavy penalty on those wil l should dare to talk of affairs at Puebla, and a st% l more heavy punishment upon those who shout' attempt to write to France about them. The Mexican guerillas attacked about 10 ( labourers, some of whom were armed, who w ets working on the railroad, and carried off all who wel l Mexicans as prisoners. Considerable anxiety was felt at Vera Cruz in re Bard to the end of the Puebla af f air, and it W 9 generally supposed that some time would elapse be' tore that city fell into the hands of the French. Mean while sickness and the Mexican guerillas 0 annoying and lessening the numbers of the French army. The summer season is upon them. The French steamer Guerriere left for New Yor li ' yesterday, carrying A d miral Reynaud, who, whil ° there visited Admiral Wilkes, who had hoisted 1)16 flag on board the Vanderbilt. The usual salute vicd fired by the Vanderbilt and returned by the Guar riere. The Vanderbilt still remains in port. The other day Admiral 'Wilkes breakfasted or l board her Britannic Majesty's steamer Ariadoet and several civilities and courtesies were exchange d between the two commanders. The brig B. Young arrived at Cardenas yester' day, and brought 11 passengers of the steamier Marion, which vessel was wrecked on Double U Shot Keys on the 2d inst. The Marion will prove a total wreck. Assiet• , ance had been sent for to Nassau. The wreckers were already at work saving part of the care though in a damaged condition. The goon° Melita sails to-morrow at noon. The British steamer Queen leaves at 12 &deal noon, on Saturday. Major-General Hooker has issued an order, i° which he reprimands in general terms officers v° ll° send incorrect information from the picket litie°' the outposts of an army, he says, are its safeguar d . " and this duty must be so performed that the cas 3 P 4 are not unnecessarily disturbed. Officers of °tit ; posts are expect e d t o i n f orm themselves accurate of all events transpiring in their vicinity, and W ig whose fears magnify squads into large bodies of t ° enemy as richly deserve death as the base vvr et !: who deserts hi s country's flag or hi s comra des battle. It has been too much a practice upon Our it posts and b a ttl e -fi e ld s to send back reports 013 calls for re i n f orcements founded upon imsgiPir ,ion or th e t a l es o f a frightened or cowarcli shirk. The f a t e o f b attle may be cbso ge by such reports. Officers will be h eld lie responsible that th e i r reports from front are perfectly reliable. Corps commander will take effectual measures to prevent Biragg lil3‘ ; which must n o t b e permitted. Regiments °- 0 moving promptly as ordered, permitting straggl i l or where th e o ffi cers show a lack of capacity zeal in pushing forward and overcoming obsracia: must be specielly reported fo r suc h neglect, 5 dition to other m easures t h at may be taken by Ofir menders in s u c h cases f or the enforcement o f dw cipline, On openi ng th e P aymaster ' s Department a t the Brooklyn N avy Y ard, on the 13th inst., it *I discovered th at a ll t h e money —about 140,000 d°vo —which was brought over from New York 00 l e , 11th to pay the men, h a d b een stoten from thel36 The matter was in the hands of the police. FRANCE. ~,,,, 0 0 ; BOURSE, April 25.—The market hag ee' - , ;0 00 steady. Threes, for the Account, slightly deep 6$ at first, but have since recovered, and are v ° of 69f. 45e., with, however, but a limited al: 0 ° 11 40 0 business d o i ng. M o b ilier firm. Railway 1 ; 0 tit Market qu i et , an d w i th little variation in Pri°,oo to the pr esen t t i me . Th e market closed as fol ei;) ti p er Cents. 97 It a li an L0an...... 711 ...... 0 Do. end month Do. end month...• 71 / I per Cents ..--• / Do. end month 69 35 Do. end month.... ..., / Credit Mobilier..., 1406 25 Russian .. Bank Shares 3360 Spanish Threes.. •• 60 Credit I , oncier — Home Debt ..... . RA IL WAYt3. Cash. Ace ° ..., Orleans lOll 25 .. 101 5 ~, Northern ..e NOW ditto • . • --- Lyons and Mediterranean • 1157 50 .. 1165 .. , Geneva 447 50 .. 45' ) 60' Southern 60 Western eastern .... Sardinian Austrian I sOT4. hurt] North of Spain 750 .. iu" ••••" Saragossa Ditto to Bareslona BREAKING OF OF THE ICE AT ST, PRTS II9ISV 9 ' ll —The Journal de St Petersbourg of the 17t13 „ 1 01 ; publishEs the following :—" Yesterda the ice oil t- b e r i " suddenly began to break up all along that part of t which traverses St. Petersburg. It was not "P4e, pr e rake place for some diys yst, and such a sight be 5 f seated has, p,rhaps, seldom bean seen. The blocs' ° tie' cracked and bur,t s , ) suddenly that tto , re was n ot ev e to provide for the safety of the bridge of boats a t th at' Of ' o f wity of the Liteivaia. The bridge was swept a rlp is t il its fastenings and driven away horizontally, oil ": to ,- 0 0 the workmen employed upon it prt,ving unaysJil'r 0 f r e 4 its course by means of cables. It was swept en ' 3 , ea , r e ' r e the Nicholas-bridge, where three of the boats vi" r- y , 0 through one of the central arches, wh ere ' „ tbe ari* i e lf smashed against the stone piers while 0tb . " 8 ,.. er° s al :' •a all directions by the masses ' of floatir g ell "° no lives were lost. The Nicholas-bridge wa s °l.dericso se ° cleared by the auth or i t i es when the grea t body of i f e it oft °i' to approaching; d esp i te t h e terrible shock it rec eive'' , ' o gsi" ec l. damaged, and was shortly afterwards throw" °P er : r eo ° .,, o f traffic. The bridge of boats near the exchange ` v ceps e' 0 0 in good time, but a number of small boats wereany pel#oo down the r i ver. I t was only yester d a y tt i at surd to had crossed the fr oz - n N eva b e t ween VaF,aili - O str s rab l ' c lef church of St. Isaac. A n imm s nse multitude 4,01%0.• witness this grand an d a t th e same time alarigtl3-0 and crowds are still collected in the vicinitY :trel 4 IM-bridge, where the Liteharria-bridge wt