The Sun. — London, England, 1863-06-16 00:00:00

THE PRUSSIAN KING'S FAUX PAS- The Right Hon. Sp encer Horatio Walpole, M.P.—The .Song of the Polish Scyth , &c. &c., N THIS WEEK. 4 )ne Penny. FrEAT RE- iti; I A HA Y MARKEI. LeF;see. Mr. J. B. Buckstone. THIS EVENIN(F, a new Farce, entitled AN UNLUCKY MORTAL. _After which,2sth time, a new and original comedy, entitled FI SESSE ; or, Sl.iy and Counter-Spy : Mr. Buckstone, Mr. Ho we, Mr. Chippendale, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wigan, and Miss Louisa Angel. Followed by (sth time), a new Farce, EASY SHAVING : Messissrs. anny W Comptoright. n, W. Gordon, Rogers ; Mis s L ou i se K ee l e y, M F To conclude with MY HUSBAND'S G HOST, Commence at 7. THE HLAT , RED TWENTY-EIGHTH NIGHT. OYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Under the Sole Management of Mr. FECHTER. THIS EVENING, to commence with an Ortrinal Sketch, entitled A SUDDEN ATTACK. Messrs. Shore, Garden, H. Vi r iddicomb, Miss Henrade, and Mrs. Lee. After which at a Quarter-past Eight, the Romantic Drama, in Three Acts, and Pr)logue, entitled THE foUKE'S MOTTO, by Paul Feval and John Brougham. 'I he principal character will be sustained by Mr. Pechter, si inported by Messrs. J. G. Shore, G. Jordan, J. Brougham, Widdimmbe, F. Charles, Garden, Raymond, Dawson; isses Sophy Henrade, Kate Terry, E. [Avenue, and E)sworthy. Doors open at 7, commence at half-past. Acting:Manager, Mr. H. Barnett. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. G. Vining. THIc; EVENING, will be presented (18th time), COURT AND CAMP: Messrs. G. Vining, C. Verner, H. Marston, G. Belmore, G. Murray, Warde ; M;ss Amy Sedgwick, Miss L. Laidlaw, and Miss Lydia Thompson. To be preceded by (7th time) a new Comedietta, entitled COUSIN TOM. And followed by A CHARMING PAIR. TVEW THE ATRE-RO YAL, ADELPHL Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING, THE WILLOW COPSE. Mr. Benj. We.bster, Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr. Paul Bedford, Mr. Billington, Miss Woo'gar, and Miss H. Mr. Stuart, Mr. Stephenson ; Simms Followed by a new Burlesque, entitled ILL-TREATED IL TROVATORE. ILassrs. Toole, P. Bedford, R. Phillips, Ebnrne, C. J. Smith, Romer ; the Sisters Nelson, Carry and Sara, and Miss K. Kelly. Commence at 7. T" THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN," Containing- the Latest SPORTING DITELLIGENCE , can be had Every Evening of G. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. The Weather—Sun Office, June 16, 1863, THERMOMETER. This morning This day at Two o'clock Barometer- 30 . 00 . Wind—S.W. ; light, with rain. HIGH WATER- AT LONDON BRIDGE. ran Dew. -Moaning, 2h. 3 m. —Afternoon, 2h. 24m. To-ktoßßow.-Morning, 2h. 45 m. —Afternoon, 3h. 3m. Zf it LONDON, TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1863. How serious matters are becoming in Poland, the Telegrams of this forenoon clearly demonstrate. Through one the electric current tells us, by a few lightning flashes, from the other end of Europe, that immediately after the execution of the insurgent Chief HEINRICH ABICIIT and of the Capuchin monk KONARSICI, both of whom, it will be remem bered, were only the other day hanged, a warning from the National Government was despatched to the Grand Duke CONSTANTINE. That mysterious National Government —as inscrutable, in its way, as the awful masked Council of Ten at Venice—has thus warned the Grand Duke CON STANTINE that his life is in serious jeopardy. The invisible and puissant authority representing the present armed and hitherto triumphant insurrection tells the Grand Duke CONSTANTINE that for his safety, for his personal safety in future it can no longer hold itself responsible_ The death of the great Polish Chieftain, above all the death of the good and beloved Mork—has each, have both—cast away the last chance of reconciliation. The divinity that hedges Kings and Princes according to the poet has crumbled to dust in Poland, in reference to the representatives of that cruel Russian Autocracy. The Grand Duke CONSTANTINE now stands unsheltered by any glamour of loyalty—even supposing loyalty to be under any circumstances possible from a polish peasant to a Russian Prince. His Imperial Highness has himself flung away the scabbard : and now without shield or barrier of any kind, he stands before an outraged and infuriated nation the foremost and the most conspicuous figure amongst the ranks of its oppressors. Another incident reveals, if possible, yet more distinctly than ever the solem❑ warning addressed to the GRAND DT:KE by the National Government, the extremity of antagonism to which the Poles have at length been driven by the cruel domination of the CzAR. And the incident we allude to is simply thi3—thatin consequence of the execution of the excellent priest KONARSKI, the archbishop and the clergy of Warsaw, having sent in a protest to the Government demanding that that dead Monk's body should be handed over to them for interment, that protest and demand were immediately telegraphed to St. Petersburgh. Thence, it now appears, that an order has recently been received, commanding the archbishop at once to repair to the capital. Archbishop FELINSKI has in consequence it is said already left Warsaw for St. Petersburg. To meet with what reception— who shall say The Russian game is fast being played out. Religion has long since begun there in earnest to sanctify Patriotism by its august com plicity. The insurrection is gaining strength day by day. It would require the whole might of Russia now to crush it out entirely. And the exercise of that ru tless power by Russia against Poland—Public Opinion throughout Western Europe can hardly much longer tolerate. The case of Sergeant-Major LILLEY was last night adverted to in the House of Lords, and the Earl of SHAFTESBURY put a question to the Seere titry for War regarding that subject which has lately engross e d so muc h pu bli c attent i on. Th e no bl e Earl stated that he forebore to make ary pre'imi. nary observations, as he had no official knowledge of the matter, and he must be careful not to give rise to .6 unfounded This reserve suspicions," or "unjust asper sions:'pected fro m Lord only what might be ex we:APTESBURY'S well-known moderation, but he to say with great truth picture as ans that presented in the that " so frightful a case I have alluded to aadv.rnayet been brought place eel a i d ia d ith th e a rt t 0 , so before the British public, far as I can judge, what has taken most unsatisfactory, and such I eve is the judgment of the public." The noble lord tahlso asked whether it was the intention of the Govern ment to institute sycy further inquiry into the cases of Lieutenant-Colonel Crawley and Sergeant-Mujor LILLEY. Before this was answered by the Secre tary for War, the Duke of CAMBRIDGE made some remarks on the question. He observed that he wished to explain not so much about the court martial on Paymaster SMALE, as what might re sult from a court-martial on Lieutenant-Colonel CRAWLEY, which he believed would be deemed necessary, His Royal Highness then clearly explained his purpose in addressing their lordships. " So much has been said as to the position which I fill, and as to the line I have taken with regard to this melancholy proceeding, that it right your lordships and the country should know the exact relative position in which I, filling the high position I have the honour to occupy, stand with reference to the Commander-in-Chief in India, and, in short, how I stand with reference to the whole matter." The illustrious Duke then pro ci3eded to explain that he had very little to do with the discipline of the Army in India. He stood in the position of a referee, as a last appeal. In regard 1 to the proceedings of Colonel CRAWLEY with respect to Sergeant-Major LILLEY he observed that, when his report was drawn up, he was not in possession of the whole facts of the case. He, therefore, did not summarily dismiss the Colonel, but reserved his judgment till more was known. In reference to Sir HUGH ROSE and Sir W. MANSFIELD, the Duke of CAMBRIDGE spoke very decidedly. He said that it had been imputed to them that the reason nothing was done was in consequence of their being con cerned in the transaction :—" No doubt these two distinguished General officers were concerned ; but the question arises, were they concerned in such a manner that I was called on to take action at once? Now, I most conscientiously believe that these two distinguished officers had every desire to do their duty, but .they committed a very serious error of judgment. That was my conviction, and I believe that to be the real state of the case. I believe that will come out as the result of any further investi gation that may take place, even on the question of the erroneous imprisonment to which such import ance has been given." Further on, the Duke stated that the result of the imprisonment was not known to him when the memorandum was written. Also, he acknowledged that he did not believe that these distinguished officers, Sir H. ROSE and Sir w. MANSFIELD, had been actuated by personal feeling, and that they had erred in judgment, "and from no desire to do what was cruel, unjust, or wrong in point of law." The illustrious Duke then explained that he had not acted so undecidedly as some sup posed, because it was only within the last ten days that he had been in a position to advise that a tour martial should take place upon the merits of the case. After referring to the great delay that in evitably took place, because of the time it took to communicate with India and the many questions that had to be put concerning the whole transac tion, the Duke of CAMBRIDGE concluded in these impressive words :—" I have been obliged to point out these facts to your lordships in order to show that, whatever has been done has been with a view not to screen any person, but with the strictest and most earnest desire to do justice to all—not only to do justice to the feelings of distress naturally occa sioned by tlre painful circumstances that have oc curred, but also to do justice to those who have been implicated, and to whom your lordships must wish to give every possible opportunity of defending and justifying themselves. That, my lords, is the only statement I have to make. As to any pressure being put upon me, I would, of course, spurn the idea. It does so happen that I never discussed the matter in any manner but with those parties on whose judgment I was enabled to rely in coming to a sound, just, and safe conclusion." It must be acknowledged by every one that the Duke of CAMBRIDGE spoke in a decided manner, and showed great judgment in his spirited and yet cautious reply. It is also significant that he never made any allusion to Colonel CRAWLEY'S conduct. It is most satisfactory that this question has been taken up at last in a proper manner, and there now seems no reason to cavil any longer at the question, since the proper authorities are about to investigate the matter; and apart from their own sense of right, the knowledge that so many are watching their proceedings will ensure full justice being meted out all offenders. Another debate between the Marquis of CLAN RICARDE and Earl RUSSELL on the much -vexed question of our neutral commerce to American waters took place last evening in the House of Lords. As on previoas occasions, however, the noble Marquis was unable to convince his opponent that there had been any degree of harshness, injus tice, or illegality in the acts of the Federal autho rities. On the contrary, the sentiments of the noble Earl at the head of the Foreign Department seem to grow more and more mild and pacific. Although rash and intemperate expressions would ill become a Minister of the Crown, yet the representatives of our mercantile interest may well feel disinclined to trust their cause altogether in th e hands of our Foreign Secretary. In his anxiety to be just to the Federal Government he is inclined to slight the claims of his own countrymen to con sideration. No doubt the situation presents many awkward aspects which render it difficult to deal with, but a more assured and manly tone on the part of the English Government throughout would unquestionably have saved much loss and annoy ance. On the only occasion on which our Ministers showed anything like spirit or determination matters were speedily adjusted ; and though we should shrink from exerting our great naval strength as a means of tyrannising over weaker powers, there is no reason that we should allow the Federals to tyrannise over us. The war which is desolating their country, decimating their popu lation, and crippling their resources, is certainly none of our doings. It was madly rushed into by themselves, and has been recklessly carried on, no matter at what cost of life and happiness. America certainly presents a warning against the evils of war, but a calm and i - esolute maintenance of our own rights is the way to avoid war rather than to seek it. A Government and a people need not be so proverbially " cute" as the Northerners to per ceive that our Ministry will submit to any insult or injury they may chose to inflict on our commerce, rather than risk a quarrel. So timid and hesitating are their proceedings that our naval officers have outstripped LordßussELL's sentiments considerably in their actions. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE referred to the case of the Ruby, an English vessel, for the capture of which Admiral WILKES, that Federal NELSON, had given orders, wherever she might be found, whether engaged in running the blockade or not. Admiral MILNE, on hearing this, sent the Ariadne to protect the Ruby, wh o was found at a short distance from Admiral WILKES, who, like other valiant commanders, esteemed discretion the better part of valour, and departed. It is satisfactory after this to read the letter quoted by the First Lord of the Admiralty from Sir ALEXANDER MILNE, expressing the sense which he and all his officers entertained of Admiral WILKES'S invariable courtesy and attention. Doubtles., the commander of the Ruby was ex tremely sensible of the attention so kindly shown that vessel by the Northern naval hero. It is a pity if i io fEnglish i n t erests are to be submitted to the revers e the position aut h or i ties, that we cannot position of affairs and obtain their opinion of it , supposing it to b e an American case In the old legends culprits were sometimes called on to pronounce their own doom when they still - posed their offenc es to b e Secret, and if we c ou ld sup posed an American view of our case it would undoubtedly be very advantageous. The Marquis of CLANRI CARDE reminded the House that in 1816 an eminent American statesman had declared that it was re pugnant to the law of nations for sevel al hundred miles of coast to be blockaded. The Spanish Government withdrew the proclama:ion ou this representation, and the blockade cess,d. The noble lord made several other statements proving the real inefficiency of the blockade which yet continues to impoverish our manufacturers and injure our legitimate trade. How much longer this state of things is to last may well be questioned, but the Northern Government may thank the timidity or lenity of our Government that the blockade has been suffered to exist, if indeed anything can be estimated an advantage which has tended to prolong this miserable and fruitless war. HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE, MADAME RISTORI. In the present wintry condition of our stage, when its tragic and poetic power is almost reduced to the verge of extinction—the visits of Madame Ristori remind us of those of the Government agents who yearly travel to the Siberian colonies, in order to supply them with light and sustenance, and sus tain their spirit of allegiance. Without her we could almost fancy a true sense of a tragic ideal would die out altogether. It is something as painful as it is surprising to see how palpable she makes the phenomenon of the decay of our histrionic talent—a decay which is only to be explained by the fact of our realistic and sensuous age that deteriorates art in all directions, and which in the drama, replacing a mental by a merely physical excitement, has reduced our comedy to farce, and our tragedy to melodrama. As it is the play that develops the actor—that calls into being all that sympathetic and imitative faculty which gives to the creation of the poet the manifestation of the artist—and as this relation necessarily holds in every phase the drama assumes—the actor never rising above the source of his inspiration—an age in which Shakespear is only to be sustained by spectacle, and theatres only rendered prosperous by sensation pieces, such as the " Colleen Bawn" and the "Peep 0' Day"—may well explain the abasement of our long declining stage. It is a proof as striking as it is humiliating that the only in stances in recent years in which it was felt that histrionic art regained the splendour that irradiated our own theatres, in other days, when they possessed a Kean and a Macready, a Young and a Charles Kemble—were in the persons of three foreigners— Rachel, Ristori, and Mr. Fechter. These are circum stances little calculated to sustain our national com placency. Nor is their annoyance mitigated by any prospect of a speedy removal of the stigma. An entire change in public taste which must affect the entire condition of the arts must be the condition, we apprehend, of any sensible improve ment of the particular branch we are considering. At the same time we must not be ungrateful for the good with which we are favoured, and which so largely alleviates the position that it serves to make so palpable. We must duly estimate the powers of our great Italian actress, which are so adapted to keep alive in us our truest poetic sympa thies, and which can so well fulfil the double end of supplying us with an ideal resource, and the finest and rarest standard by which its enjoyment should be tested. Madame Ristori comes before us as no mere substitute for a lost power, which in the impoverished condition of our time we ought to be thankful for in any shape, she presents herself, on the contrary, as its highest illustration, and claims as much to be regarded in the light of a study as a source of pleasure. No little credit, therefore, is due to the taste and spirit of Mr. Mapleson, who, wisely divining the want of our times, has placed this great artist again before us, and who in his announcement of her claims has given such further proot of his own to be placed at the head of a na tional theatre. Nor is there a want of fitness in her appearing on the boards of a Lyric Temple, where the tragic element at present is in so much force than at other houses, and where if the space is somewhat too great to do justice to the play of her features, the advantage for sound en sure the enjoyment of the minutest whisper of her noble voice. Mdme. Ristori is en gaged for a series of eight representations, none of which will be repeated, and commenced them last night with the character that made her genius known to Europe—that of Medea. We are gratified in stating that her unrivalled powers show no decline sinca she lust appeared among us, now some four seasons ago, but on the contrary, an increase of concentration, and even mentality, that many of her old observers would have scarcely imagined possible. We need hardly refer again to the old comparisons which have been so frequently and often, we must add, unjustly, instituted between herself and Rachel—in respect to whom, if it can be said she wants the electric energy and overwhelming pas sion, she as entirely surpasses in her pathos, her variety, her consummate art, and her imagination. As little occasion have we to dwell on the merits of the play she appears in as a test of legitimate power. After all the outcry that has been raised against M. Legouve's version of Eurepides, and its false colouring of French senti ment on the simple beauty of Greek sculpture—it must be remembered that his endeavour to give a romantic form to a classic original was a transition that involved no ordinary difficulties, and that in its chief respect his version is to be regarded as highly meritorious, namely, its entire displacement of the supernatural element in favour of the human--by means of which Medea not only ceases to revolt as a sorce ress, whose aspect is much too terrible, but enlists our sympathies as the wife and mother whom great passion in the first instance had tempted into crime, and great wrong in the second maddened intocruelty. The dramatist with great skill has made Jason the true criminal both in his abuse of Medea's affection in the first place, and his desertion of her in the second. Condensing admirably the expres sion of his purpose in the last energetic burst he gives her, when on the slaughter of her chil dren she turns on him with the frantic and ter- rible denunciation, Tic Madme. Ristori's performance last evening was a most profound as well as affecting interpretation, of this design. We had the wife and mother before us, as more sinned against than sinning, whose cha racter, if so entirely passionate, as to make it an easy prey to crime--supplies, in this very source the expiation of her guilt, in the more than ordinary suffering which its retributions would impose on it. Thus the painful and the terrible, whilst rounded by her poetic expression of them into a sense of beauty that makes them attractive, are still further elevated by the moral aspect that her agonies assume, when, deeply as they move our pity, they make plain to us their justice. It is this double power which confers on Madame Ristori her great distinction—the ability to refine the terrible, how ever vehement, into the poetic, and the power, not less conspicuous, of exhibiting its effect as either purificatory or retributive, We regret we have not space to illustrate these remarks by a quotation of the numerous pas sages which we marked during the performance, and must content ourselves with referring in proof of her increase of power to both of her scenes with Creusa, in evidence of the finer growth of her deep-seated passion into hatred, a change which ever struggles with conviction till wrong and suffering afford her heart no other outlet than in blood ; and in the scene also with Jason, in which the terrible fear of his false hood strives to the last to indulge a hope of his returning love and justice. The more marked points of her performance were also stamped with this concentration, such as the delivery of the image of the leopard, the feeling that her love frightens her children even on blessing them. Sovente Fur for paura coi mei stessi Abbraccia. Her reference to the Eumenides, and the stamp of murderess on her brow— II tartareo segnal the Giove on fronte, Dell' omicida imprimi. Her reminding Jason that their guilt is an insepa rable band of union, the finest passage is the play ; t and la s tl y h er great outburst on her rejection by him, which so s t range l y and so worthily recalls the m emory of Edrund Kean. luhd.ame Ristori was wa rm ly app l au d e d through out a ee iennoble p er f ormance by a highly appreciat ing and s , Wascall of called for t attheclose w of ith every act, and t the end the l oudest demonstration, the Performance THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 16, 1363. THALBERG'S FAREWELL. Yesterday afternoon, from half-past three to nearly five o'clock, the Queen's Concert Room, Hanover square, was crowded from side to side, and from end to end with an elegantly dressed, a most attentive, and, what was best of all, n most appreciative audience of fashionables. People ho had been gathered together, there, to bid Adieu to this Magician of the Pianoforte. It was M. Thalberg's Last Matinee ! The last ! We can hardly even now realise that it is so—yet so it is most certainly announced to be. And having yesterday ourselves list ened to the marvellous performances of this unrivalled pianist, we can beyond any doubt assert that, if it is the last of them, M. Thalberg • closes his long and brilliant career when his great powers are at their very highest. Never in all this quarter of a century, during which he has been alternately charming and astonishing the musical sense of large audiences in the various capitals of Europe in succession—never yet throughout all that protracted interval has his touch been more clear, more vigorous, more refined, or more exquisitely delicate in its minute and almost microscopic precision ! Never have those wonder working hands of his, more literally dazzled us by their all but bewildering dexterity! Beginning yesterday with, what the brief but pregnant pro gramme implied the first piece to be, namely, an exemplification of the " Art of Singing Applied to the Piano," M. Thalberg, in this introductory evi dence of his amazieg mastery over the instrument, opening with a delicious duet from the " Flauto Magico" of the great master melodist, Mozart, closed with a lovely Sicilienne from Pergolese. As more conspicuous evidence still of his own peculiar powers as a pianist, however—powers in which we not only would say that he has never yet been surpassed, but that he is never likely to be surpassed (and that for the one simple reason that we don't think the touch of mortal performer could go beyond it, in the combi nation of tender feeling with minute rapidity)— his own "Le Trine" was in one sense a yet more remarkable performance than the one imme- diately preceding it. It was certainly more excep tional and peculiar of its kind—in a word more thoroughly characteristic. The "Andante" follow ing " Le Trille" roused the audience, however, to a yet more noticeable display of enthusiasm. But the gems, the flowers, the perfection of all we witnessed yesterday in M. Thalberg's per formance —looked at, listened to, almost we had said inhaled—were the bewitching adap tation by Thalberg himself of that haunting " Serenade" from Don Pasquale, and, immediately after that, Thalberg's own Fantasia apropos to 1 themes suggested by the Trovatore. Watching him as he flayed, drinking in the sounds that poured from the instrument under the magical movement of his fingers, we almost came to look upon the musician as nearly as much of a mystery in his way as M. Robin, or M. Houdin, or M. Philippe, or any other of our modern Conjurors and Necromancers. And not extravagantly, it should be said, in one paint of view—for the marvels effected by M. Thalberg are many or them literally and actually the achievements of legerdemain ! How by any conceivable possibility a lovely, delicious melody like that of the serenade can be struck out with the clearest distinctness note after note by M. Thalberg, at the very time that apparently and quite audibly with both hands he is covering it, smothering it with the most intricately elaborated accompaniments—the air it- self rising through all the mazes of that doubled, and sometimes, it almost sounds, quadrupled ac companiment—just fairly defies comprehension, just absolutely beggars description. Only that the com parison might appear a mere extravagance to those who have not listened to M. Thalberg's performances, we should be fain to insist ❑pon it, that one of the aptest symbols of the art-miracles achieved by him at those times as a musician—would be the produc. tion in purest marble by a sculptor more skilled than Monti, of a Venus or a Houri discernable in all her loveliness under the semblance of a perfect cloud of the most gorgeous lace ! So lavish and so infinitely delicate are the adornments and decorations of sound covering and, as we have said, almost as it were smothering some de licious melody with accompaniments when Thalberg is at his best, (as he was yesterday) seated with outstretched hands before the piano forte. Remembering all which—remembering the the delight he has so often given us—reluctantly and gratefully we here bid the great pianist Farewell ! CHAMBERS'S HANDY GUIDE TO PARIS The wonder is that a Guide Book precisely of this character has not long since been published. Here is the very book, however, at last, and ex actly of the size, with the illustrations, and at the price, that we could have wished it to be published, supposing we could have been consulted beforehand. As to the size of the book, the very name of it tells plainly enough what that is. It is the handiest size imaginable. Without being too small, it is just one of those conveniently shaped volumes one can slip easily into the pocket of an overcoat, or into the travelling bag slung at one's side, when turning, from a stay-at-home, for a week or fortnight, into a continental voyageur. Less than 200 pages, altogether, comprise within them here the pick of the information most desir able to a stranger in the French metropolis. There are two be iutiful little folding maps or plans prefixed to the work, at the distance of a few pages from each other—like the handiest of frontispieces to the han diest Parisian Guide-book it has been our agreeable task to turn over. One is a Clue Plan of the City of Paris—a plan marking as comprehensible as pos sible, through the eye to the understanding, the winding mazes of that most intricate labyrinth. The other folding map or plan displays to view, on the other hand, the Environs of the French Capital. Scattered among the letter press descriptions of the various localities of Paris are several excellent woodcuts of scenes, buildings, streets, and public monuments : such as—La Made leine, The Tuileries, Notre Dame, L'HOtel des In valides, La Porte St. Denis, L'HOtel de Ville, La Colonne de Juillet, L'Arc de l'Etoile, La Bourse, et cetera. The variety of useful information com prised together in Chambers's Handy Guide it would be difficult to give anyone an adequate idea of,without our running the risk of infringing the copyright appertaining to the publishers. Every thing that any reasonable mortal can want to know about the different routes to Paris, about the relative value of English and French money, about Hotels and Lodgings at Paris, aoout Cafes and Eating houses, about the Post-office and the Telegraph— here, in separately-headed little paragraphs, he will find to a nicety described ! And so on precisely in regard to all the rest—Paris Theatres, Paris News papers, Paris Sights—one after the other each famous place is described by the most well informed and th e l east garru l ous c i cerone we ever had the satisfaction of obtain ing information from. This kind of cicerone having the advantage over all others of real flesh and blood, that whenever we are tired of consulting him — we can " abut him np" and slip him into our pocket. The Handy Guide is just a Book for the million—and it makes its appearance in the very nick of time, immediately before the recipro cation of excursion trips by the Londoners and the Parisians. At Paris, it is procurable for 1 franc 25 centimes, at 14, Rue de Buci, that is, at J. Rothe child's. Here, on th i s s i de of the Ch anne l, i t can be had, we presu me , f rom any b oo k se ll er i n th e land, being distributed, to that end, far and wide throughout the trade from the establishment of Messrs. W. and R. Chambers, of London and Edinburgh. DAVIES'S MAP OF POLAND, An entirely new Map of Poland, beautifully en graved, delicately coloured, and most clearly printed, has to-day been published by Messrs. Davies and and Co., of No. I, Finch.:ane, Cornhill. B es ides marking out very distinctly the partitions of the country in 1772, 1793, 1795, and 1815, it includes all the railways. It defines every railway s tation on the lines of ra i lway bordering on Poland in Russia, Austria, and Prussia. Added to which . it shows all the t e l egraph lines and all fort ifications in Poland and the ne i ghbouring districts. Issued at the price of h a lf- a - crown, this very a d m irable map is thus placed within the reach of many thou sands. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REV TER'S TELEGRAMS.) THE FRENCH ELECTIONS. PARIS, JUNE 16, The Opposition candidates have been victorious in the second elections which have just taken place in the department of the Charente, at Havre, and in the department of Seine-et-Oise; while the can didates for the Government have been returned at Bordeaur, in the department of the Nord, and in Haut Rhin. At Lyons MM. Favre and Perras have been elected. ST. QUENTIN, JUNE 16. M. Malezieux, Opposition candidate, has been elected by a large majority. Attempted Disembarkation of Colonel Lapinski's Expedition. STOCKHOLM, JUNE 15, EVENING. Colonel Lapinski's expedition, which was sta tioned for a long time at Malmii has unsuccessfully endeavoured to disembark, during a tempest, at Polangen, a village on the Baltic coast, in the government of Wilna. The expedition made the passage on toard a Danish ship. Twenty-four Frenchmen wue drowned in the attempt to disembark. The expedition returned to Gothland on the 14th instant. AUSTRIA. VIENNA, JUNE 12. The reigning Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg Gotha has been in this city for the last few days. His Highness has been received with much distinction by the Imperial Court. The visit of the Duke carries with it more political interest than would at first sight appear. It is asserted that his High ness came to Vienna agreeably to an understanding with his political friends, and that ho is negotiating, with very influential officials, upon matters of great political importance. The party which formerly strove so hard to found an united Germany under the Coburg dynasty, and afterwards attempted to establish a German empire, excluding Austria, under the House of Hohenzollern, this same party has now sent its princely representative to the Austrian capital, and offers to ally itself with Austria. From the position Austria has taken up on the Polish question by joining the diplomatic action of the Western Powers, and from the great and striking contrast of her home policy with that recently adopted by Prussia, she receives the warmest sympathy of all Germany, and has now the opportunity of leading Germany to the long looked-for reforms. The Duke, in the name of the German National Society (National- Verein), secures to Austria the support of even the Minor German Party (Klein dentechen Partei), if she will only earnestly under take to carry out these reforms. It appears that in Government circles here there is a strong party no longer blind to the present state of affairs. It is therefore easily explained why the Duke in his political mission to Vienuth has met with so much sympathy and so warm a reception. PORTUGAL, LISBON, JUNE 12. The King and Queen are residing in the Palace of Ajuda, but leave for Mafra in a few days. The report that cases of measles have appeared at Cintra has induced the Court to defer for the present its visit to that favourable summer resort. A motion is before the Cortes for the abolition of capital punishment. The deputies are discussing questions connected with the Marine Department ; in the Upper House the peers are occupied with the project for the imposts on property. The Commercial Association of Lisbon has ad dressed to the King a report on the projected construction of docks on the banks of the Tagus. There are two plans in view, one for making docks opposite the city, and the other for making them in Lisbon. Councillor Joaquim Jose Palm), honorary Mini ster of State and General Administrator of the House of Braganza, is dead. The Patriarch of Lisbon is labouring under a severe attack of asthma. The Chinese war steamer Keansoo has arrived "rum Falmouth. The American corvette St. Louis is lying in har boar. The prospects of the vintage still continue very encouraging. FRANCE. BOURSE, June 15.—The market has been buoyant, and a fair amount of business transacted at an improvement on the closing rates of Saturday. For the Account, Threes are now firm at 69f. 70c. Italian Loan has been rather in demand, and shows higher quotations, as also have the Credit Mobilier and other securities. The Railway Share Market quiet, but previous quotations pretty well main tained. The market closed as follows: It per Cents .. 96 80 Do. end month.... 3 per Cents Do. end month 69 70 Credit Mobilier 1250 Do, end month 1246 25 Bank Shares 3450 Credit 14 oncier 1400 Italian L0an...... 73 30 Do. end month.... 73 30 New ditto ..... . 73 20 Do. end month.... 74 30 Russian ........ Austrian ........ 86 Spanish Threes.... 53 50 Home Debt . . — RA ILWAYB. Cash. Account. Orleans 998 75 .. 1002 50 Northern New, ditto Lyons and Mediterranean 1045 1045 Geneva .. Southern - Western Eastern Sardinian - Austrian Lorphard North of Spain Saragossa 730 727 50 Ditto to Barcelona 375 .. 375 THE BRAZILS. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE CHAMBERS. RIO DE JANEIRO, MAY 26. (By Telegraph from Lisbon.) Th© Chamber of Deputies was dissolved on the 2th. The Minister of War, General Polidore Gordao, has been replaced by Senhor Antonio Manuel de Mello. The insurgents have invaded Cordoba, which has been placed in a state of siege. Late advices, how ever, are more favourable. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. BUENOS AYRES, MAY 15. Exchange, 67s.—buyers. Ounces, 444. Wet salted ox hides, 39; dry American, 36 to 40, at which prices business has been done. Wool, firm; prices tending upwards; tallow, 131; lumber, 32 to 33 ; flour unchanged ; refined sugar, 16 ; with arrivals from all quarters. VICTOR HuGo's LIFE, WRITTEN BY 11Is Ac comrLicE.—The long -expected biography of Victor Hugo, which is shortly to appear, will be called " Victor Hugo raconte par un Temoin de sa Vie." " Witness" seems rather a tame word, speaking of a man's wife, and already some heartless wag (says the Spectator) has Bug' footed to troslate it " anaccorrplice,'! Court tt,LIMIWIr HER MAJESTY WINDSOR CASTLE, June 15. The Queen, attended by the Hon. Mrs. Bruce, drove in the grounds this morning. His Royal Highness Prince Arthur, attended by Major Elphinstone, left the Castle this morning for Greenwich Park. The Prince and Princess of Wales. His Royal Highness the Princ e of Wales, attended by Lieut.-Gen. Knollys and Lieut.-Col. Keppel, accompanied his Royal Highness the Duke of Cam bridge on a visit yesterday morning to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. The Princess of Wales, attended by Countess De Grey, honoured Mr. Heath, at his rooms in Picca dilly, with a sitting for her photograph. Her Royal Highness, attended by her Lady in Waiting, took a drive in an open carriage in the afternoon. The Prince of Wales had a dinner party last even ing at Marlborough House. The company consisted of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, the Austrian Ambassador and Countess Apponyi, the French Ambassador, Earl Granville, the Duke of Hamilton, the Duchess of Northumberland, the Duchess of St. Albans and Viscount Falkland, the Earl of Sandwich, the Earl of Sefton, Viscount and Viscountess Kinnaird, Countess de Grey, Lieut.- General the Right Hon. J. and Lady Alice Peel, the Hon. Victor Montagu, Sir Edmund and Lady Head, Sir Fred. Stovin, Lieut.-Colonel and Hon. Mrs. Loyd Lindsay, Mr. Lawrence Oliphant, the Equerry to the Duke of Cambridge, Colonel Tyr whitt, Lieut.-General Kuollys, and Lieut.-Colonel KeppeA. The band of the Coldstream Guards was in a ,endance during dinner, • The Princess Mary of Cambridge, the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, and Mrs. Gladstone, were among the numerous persons of rank present at the early proceed ings of the House of Commons last evening. The Duke of Northumberland was better yester day, and is progressing favourably towards recovery from his attack of gout. The Duchess of 'Marlborough's evening party announced for the 22d of June, is postponed. The Duke and Duchess de Galliera have left Claridge's Hotel far Paris. The Duke d'Acqumviva has left the Brunswick Jernlyn-street, for Brighton. The Marquis Camden has announced a ball for Wednesday, July 1. Vicomte de la Redorte has left the Brunswick Jermyn-street, on his return to Paris. Sir Courtenay and Lady Hollywood have le he St. George's Hotel. The Right Hon. B. Disraeli and Mrs. Disraeli have left Grosvenor-gate for Oxford, and are the guests, during Commemoration, of the Public Orator and Mrs, Michell. General and Madame Le Respeine and fam:ly have arrived at the Brunswick, Jermyn-street, from the Isle of Wight. The Marquis and Marchioness Cholmondeley have left town for Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Lord Clyde is improving in health, and his large circle of friends will learn with pleasure that, beyond a slight weakness, his robust constitutional health is in no way affected. Lady Knatchbull will have a dancing party on Saturday neat. Bazaar at the French Embassy. The grand fancy bazaar held yesterday at the residence of the French Embassy, which is to be ' continued to-day and to-morrow, will without doubt result in a considerable accession to the funds of the French charitable association (the Societ e Fran gaise de Secours), in aid of which the project was set on foot. The bazaar is under the patronage of the Empress of the French, who, jointly with the Emperor, had sent four very valuable and remarkable specimens of the renowned Sevres manufacture to be disposed of for the benefit of the society. These magnificent vases are executed in the highest style of art, and were much admired throughout the day. Besides these vases, many other articles of great value have been sent from France to enrich the funds of the society. Of these the most noticeable, perhaps, is a life-size portrait of her Majesty Queen Victoria, presented by Messrs. Breton hares. It is a lithograph, enlarged from a photo graph, and is remarkable for the ability displayed in the execution of such a work on so large a scale. Of the other objects contributed, mention may be made of a beautiful painting on porcelain, repre senting Cupid and Psyche. This was presented by the great French banker, M. Pereire. Mears. Pleyel, Wolff, and Co., of Paris, a vase of Algerian onyx marble ; while Messrs. Hachette and Co., the French publishers, have sent a copy of Dante's "Inferno," which is enriched with 76 plates by Gustave Dore. A large inkstand in bronze, with spiritedly -executed figures of dogs and a wild boor, contributed by M. Giroux, of Paris, completes the list of the more noticeable objects contributed. All these articles, including the imperial presents, will be disposed of at a tombola on Wednesday. The price of each chance is a sovereign, and already five-sixths of the proposed number of subscribers have entered their names, so that but little time remains for those who yet intend to do so. The association, which is under the patronage of his Excellency Baron Gros, the French Ambassador, has also been well supported by the efforts of many lady patronesses, among whom are—the wife of the Turkish Ambassador, Madame Musurus ; of the Austrian Ambassador, the Countess Apponyi ; of the Russian Ambassador, the Baroness Brun now; of the Prussian Ambassador, the Countess von Bernstorff ; and of the Belgian Minister, Madame Van de Weyer. In a work of charity, as may be supposed, British ladies have not shown less zeal, for the list of those who have extended their patronage to the society comprises many o great rank and influence. Of these ladies the fol• lowing also presided at stalls :—Lady Constance Grosvenor, the Countess of Westmoreland, the Countess of Winchilsea, the Countess of Shaftes bury, the Countess of Tankerville, Countess Cowley, the Countess de Flahault, Viscountess Ingestrie, Viscountess Castlerosse, Baroness de Rothschild, Mrs. Dudley Carleton, and Mrs. Henry Baring. The Marquise de Cadore, the wife of the First Se cretary to the French Embassy; and the Marquise d'Andigne, the wife of the Military Attache, also lent their aid in a similar manner; while Lady Catherine Coke kindly consented to preside in the refreshment room. All the stalls were furnished with objects well calculated to please the taste of visitors of either sex. It would, indeed, appear tht.t a spirit of generous rivalry had actuated the fair ladies in their charitable work, for they had displayed before them such a tempting array of articles that few could escape (if so minded) from becoming purchasers; and thus the-efforts of the ladies who for the nonce had assumed the unwonted characters of bouttquier es were generally remarkably successful, and it may be safely stated that many who went to look re , mained to pay. We certainly heard that one or two of the fair stall-keepers have distinguishes themselves in their charitable labours; but we cannot be invidious, feeling sure that in this case, us in all works of charity, a good action is, as it should be, its own reward. _ SOMETHING LIKE A DRAWING-ROOM. The walls (says an artist in the last number of the Corn hill Magazine) should be panelled with frames of ebony filled with velvet of a rich violet colour. There ought to be magnificent mirrors, let in here and there in place of the velvet; and round the mirrors the ebony should be enriched with the most delicate carving. The chimney-piece should be of pure white marble sculptured by some great sculptor. Against your violet velvet beautiful statues should relieve themselves, and between each pair of statues a noble picture should hang. All round the room, silver candlesticks of exquisite design should spring from the ebony frames of the panels, each a separate invention. The furniture might be either ebony with orange damask, or gilded with violet vol . vet. In the one case you would carry the woodwork of the walls into the furniture; in the other, the hanging. Th e carpet might consist of a chequer of alternate lozenge s of needlework, in one of which an orange pattern W as pre sented on a violet ground, and in the other the same pattern heraldically couuterchanged to violet upon orange. Naval and Military Intelligence. .~. Major-Gen. Stransham, Inspector-General of the Royal Marines, has been engaged at Portsmouth for the past week in inspecting the two divisions quar tered there, the artillery division, unaer the com mand of Col. Taite, and the light infantry, under Ccl. Ayles. The Major-General appears to have been well pleased with the artillery division, but in his address, to the light infantry division he in formed them that they were not in such good order as they had been last year at the two last in spections. The screw steam troopship Himalaya, Capt. Ed ward Lacy, from Dover, which arrived at Plymouth on \Venesday last, being unfit to convey artillery men to Ireland, as first intended, was on Friday taken from the Sound by the tugs Zephyr and Prospero, and is now alongside the,hulk Endymion in Hamoaze, where her defects will be made good. The paddlewheel steam sloop Virago, 6, Com mander Johnstone, having been repaired and re fitted, made an experimental trip outside Plymouth breakwater on Friday, and is now at anchor in the Sound, waiting orders from the Lords of the Ad miralty. The following appointments were made at the Admiralty yesterday :—. Promoted to Naval Cadetships :—Mr. Maurice P. Bayley, Predk. Brind, Hon. Robt. Walter Craven, Di r ' Wm. C. H. Gill, Walter W. B. Graham, Richard N• Gresley, Arthur F. G. James, Henry D, Mackenzie, Arthur W. C. Prother, and Thomas R. J. Ross. THE DUNDONLLD PEERAGE. The hearing of this remarkable case was resumed yesterday in the House of Lords, and occupied the Committee of Privilege the entire day. The facts are these: The present Earl of Dundonald presented a petition to their lordships' house, praying that it might be declared that he was entitled to vote for representative peers of Scotland, and that he was the lawful son of the late earl, the petitioner's brother, Captain the Hon. L. Cochrane, of her Ma jesty's ship the 'Warrior, claimed the peerage as the eldest son born after the marriage of his father and mother. Captain Cochrane afterwards withdrew the petition he presented. The claim of the present earl was heard before their lordships on Tuesday last, and reported in the sun. Yesterday, Sir F. Kelly continued his arguments in favour of the claimant, the present earl. The learned counsel stated that no further information could be obtained, or he, on the part of the present earl, would have produced it, The fact was, Lord Cochrane, when he returned from South America, and being pos sessed of considerable wealth, when in Scotland he met with a gentleman who had become possessed of the ancient estates of his family, at Culross, near Clackmannan. He had promised to leave these estates to his lordship—estates before possessed by his ancestors, and at the same time insisted that Lord Cochrane should go through an ecclesiastical mar" riage ; and he did so to please this gentleman. On this point Lady Dundonald had been examined, and she gave their lordships all the information she could. Sir Robert Preston, of Valleyfield, near Clackmannan, the gentleman in question, who had induced Lord Dundonald to enter into this second marriage, was now dead, and every one else who could have told the story was also dead. Lord Dundonald, was also dead; the clergyman who performed the ceremony was also dead ; the gen tleman in whose house the marriage took place was also dead. Their lordships would know that shortly' before this second marriage was performed Lord Cochrane was going to a Roman Catholic country, a country that required something more than a Scotch marriage—some ecclesiastical ceremony, and therefore he accounted in this way for the second marriage. An action for declaritor in Scotland would not have prevented the present Captain Coch rane from disputing the claim the present earl had instituted in their lordships' house. Sir Fitzroy then went on to say that it was impossible to ex press to their lordships in adequate terms the intense pain that this unfortunate lady, the aged Countess of Dundonald, had undergone; indeed, their eyes must be shut and their hearts closed against such considerations. They had a duty to perform to their country and to their Queen; but still he would ask them not to delay their decision for one hour, on account of the painful anxiety of the claimant and all the family. There was not, he contended, a stigma of any kind on the memory of Lord Dundonald, or on the present Countess, who had answered most freely all questions put to her. Sir Fitzroy then called their lordships' attention to the certi ficate of birth of the present earl, who, in such cer tificate, was called the son of Lord Cochrane and Catharine Corbet Barnes, but he contended that the entry had been made by an old Scotch servant, and this was the way a Scotch marriage would be en tered in the registers in Scotland. Sir Thomas Cochrane, and all the members of the family, had from the earliest period called the children " Vi e Hon." He contended that Jackson's evidence was unworthy of belief. Was it to be believed that ts lady of the position and great age of the Countess of Dundonald, on the verge of the grave, was likely to be a forger and a perjurer, and these foul charges brought against her by her own sou. The A ttorzey-General, on behalf of the Crown, said that he had no desire to delay this important case. The question was, did the marriage take place at Annan between Lord Dundonald and the present countess in 1812 ? On this fact the peti tioner rested his case, and no wonder, although two other marriages had taken place; in sup port of that fact, there was the evidence of the Countess of Dundonald, in support of that marriage. With re gard to the journey to Annan in that short time mentioned in the evidence, there was no impossibi lity in that. The handwriting of Moxon, who was a witness to the marriage lines, has been proved— but there was no evidence of the handwriting of tho other witness, Carter. The Attorney-General said that he firmly believed the evidence given by Lady Dundonald. If their lordships believed the evidence of the man Jackson, which would be in the recollection of their lordships, then they could not believe Lady Dundonald, which was directly contradicted by her ladyship. The motive for concealing the marriage at Annan was clear. If Lord Cochrane had married anyone but a lady of property and fortune, Mr. Basil Cochrane would disinherit him. The Lord Advocate of Scotland, on the part of the Crown, agreed with what the Attorney-General had stated to their lordships, and stated that he had no evidence against the claim. The Lord Chancellor said that the case was a most distressing one. He believed that Lady Dun donzld had spoken the truth, and that the mar riage at Annan had taken place. She had frankly explained the marriage at Annan. She had no motive to make her eldest son the heir. Lord Brougham quite agreed with what the Lord Chancellor had stated. He considered that the Countess of Dundonald had clearly and distinctly given evidence on all the important facts connected with the marriage at Annan in 1812. Minor details she might not remember. That noble person left their lordships' house without the slightest tarnish on her name. The late Lord Dundonald had told him that this noble lady—and she was worthy of being called noble—had stood on the deck of his lordship's ships in the most deadly fights h e h a d been engaged in. Lord Cranwort h considered that Lady Dundonald was in his opinion a witness of truth. He had noticed that the water-mark, faint as it was, on the marriage lines, was 1811, and he did not believe that Lord Cochrane or ber ladyship could be guilty of fraud, forgery, and perjury. Lord Chelmsford said, one or two circumstances had not been properly accounted for ; but what h i s noble friend had said about the paper marks was most important. He had examined the paper, but he had not noticed it till mentioned by his noble friend. His l or d s hi p concluded by stating t h a t, when persons began with Scottish marriages there WAS no knowing when they might stop. They might take place over and over again, in England, in Scot land, and in It eland, to make them perfect, and then he disputed iu their lordships' house. „; The Chairmen then put the q u estion, and their lordships declared th a t th e E ar l of Dundonald, the petitioner, httcl made good his claim to the peerage.