The Sun. — London, England, 1863-06-10 00:00:00

SIR SAMUEL MORTON PETO, Bart., M .P.— true !" the vict or i es t urn ou t to h ave b een — every one An Imperial Jnggle —Wigrams Wi g gins, &c. &C., in FUN o f them —repulses. The Confederate flag still waves THIS WEEK. One Penny. (not the Federal flag) "over the blood-stained walls of Vicksburg." What says MANHATTAN a little later on in his uncompromising way ? Surely hometruths were , never so bluntly spoken right out before ! Corns were: never trodden upon more ponderously ! " There are many," quoth this rough and ready Junius of the Yankees, " Who do not believe Vicksburg is taken. Ifor one." There is a touch of ROEBUCK in his style. It is very dramatic, thoroughly honest, indiscreet (according to the official view of indiscretion), but always manly, and always comprehensible. " Why" asks MAN HATTAN, with a keen eye to the reductio ad absurdum," should 20,000 or even 10,000 men in that city (i.e., Vicksburg) surrender without firing a gun ? It is not the usual rebel prae'rice. The name of every man in Vicksbur g would be con signed to infamy if it was so. Yet, to have this news true, the immense force must have run away as if they were frightened sheep. Ido not believe they did. Consequently Ido not think Vicksbut g is ours just now. It may be by-and-bye. Again, I will believe that we have gained a great success when I hear what has become of General JOHN STONE and his army, He is the best general in the rebel service. [MANHATTAN should have saia what he probably here meant—Now that STONE WALL JACKSON is no more.] As yet, we have no accounts of him, and he is a man that must be reckoned as of some account in a fight before we claim a decided victory. We are all up in the air now. All inflated with this great victory. GOD grant it may prove true, if it will bring this cruel and unnatural civil war to an end one hour sooner. Defeat has no effect upon our spirits. It depresses us for a moment, but like old topers, we drink up the next morning our dead liquor, and get more excited than ever. To day or to-morrow may come the news ' Vicksburg is not taken. JOHNSTONE and the other Gene rals have combined—a battle has been fought— ' and our poor fellows have been slaughtered to the extent of 15,000 or 20,000. GRANT and his army are prisoners.' " All which—though put by MANHATTAN only hypothically—is in the highest degree probable, The facts still being that Vicksburg, when these last advices left, yet held out, and that since Jackson fell into the hands of the Federals nothing whatever has been heard or seen by them of General JOHNSTONE—that General being notoriously engaged in gathering reinforce ments together at Canton or thereabouts with a view (if he can only contrive to do it in time) to raise the siege of Vicksburg ! INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION BUILDING, SOUTH KENSINGTON. A GRAND MILITARY CONCERT, in AID of H.R.H. the PRINCESS MARY'S FUND for Providing Nurses for the Inmates of the CAMBRIDGE ASYLUM, will be given in ft e INTERNATIONAL EXHI3ITION BUILDING, South Kensington (by special permission), On SATURDAY next, the 13:h of JUNE. Doors open at Two, the Concert to commence at Three precisely, Under the Immediate Patronage of His Royal Highness the Prince of WALES, Tier Royal Highness the Princess of WALES. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of CAMBRIDGE. His Royal Highness the Duke of CAMBRIDGE, and Her Royal Highness Princess MARY A , ELAIDE. The BANDS of the HOUSEHOLD BRIGADE, consisting of— The First Life Guards, The t 4 cond Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards ( 'lue), The Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, and The Scots Fusilier k, uarde, w.ll perform on this occasion. Sir See the full Programme, now ready. Admission, ss. ; reserved seats, 7s. 6d.; stalls, numbered and strict,y reserved, 10s. 6d.—Tickets to be obtaine i at Mr. Sams' Royal Library, 1, St. James's street, S.W.; Mr. Mitchell's Royal Library, 33, Old Bond-street ; Mr. Westerton's Library, St. George's-place, Knightsbridge ; Messrs. Keith, Drowse, and Co., 48, Cheapside ; and at Mr. Austin's Ticket-office, St. James's Hall, 28, Piccadilly. H ER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.- PRODUCTION OF FAUST. GRAND EXTRA NIGHT. TO-MORROW EVENING (Thursday), June 11, will be performed (for the first time in this country), having been many weeks in preparation, Gounod's celebrated Opera, FAUST. The new and extensive Scenery and original Effects by Mr. William Callcott. The Costumes, from original designs, by Mr. S. May and Miss Dickenson. The Machinery constructed by Mr. S. Sloman. The beCOratiOES and Appointments by Mr. Bradwell. The Incidental Dances arranged by M. Petit. The following is the signally effect - ye cast Margherita itiens ; Marta, Mdlle. T accan i ; Si e b e l , . Mdlle. frebelli ; blephistophiles, Signor Gassier; Valentin, Mr. Santley ; Wagner, Signor Bossi ; and Faust, Signor Giuglini. Chorus of Students, Soldiers, Citizens, Women, &c. Conductor, Signor AR DITI. In Act the Second, Grand Ballavile, by the Corps de Ballet. Saturday next, June 13 (second time), FAUST. Th e Opera commences at Eight o'clock. Stalls, One Guinea ; Reserved Box Seats, 10s. 6d. ; Pit Tickets, Bs. 6d. ; Gallery - talls, ss. and 7s. ; Gallery, 2s. 6d. ; Private Boxes, in the Gallery Circle, to admit three persons' 21s. Boxes, Stalls, and Tickets may be had at the Box-office of the Theatre, which is open daily, under the superintendence of Mr. Nugent, from Ten till Six. H ER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.- MADAME RISTORI. Mr. 3IAPLESON has the honour to announce that he has made arrangements with the Great Tragedienne, Madame RISTORI, for a series of EIGHT REPRESENTATIO NS. MONDAY EVENING NEXT, June 15th, MEDEA. Medea, by Madame Ristori. Commence at Eight o'cloc k. Pit B oxes, £ 3 3 s. ; Grand Tier, £4 45.; One Pair, £3 To l, y, St a ll s, Pair, Li 2s. ; lss • Reserved Box Seats, 7 s. 6 d. ; it, ss. ; Gallery Stalls, 4s. ; Gallery, 2s. 6d. Boxes, Stalls, and Tickets to i becbtained at the Box-office of' Her Majesty's Theatre, which s open daily, from ten till six:; and at all the principal Libraries and Musicsellers'. T H.EATRE-ROY A HAY MARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, a new Farce, entitled AN UNLUCKY MORTAL. After which, 21st time, a new and rriginal comedy, entitled FINESSE ; or, Spy an d Counter-Spy : Mr. Buckstone, Mr. Howe, Mr. Chippendale, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wigan, and Miss Louisa Angel. Followed by an apropos Dramatic Sketch, introducing a Panorama of the Tour of the Prince of W ales in the East. Commence at 7. THE DUKE'S MOTTO, THE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THIRD NIGHT. OYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.- Under the Sole Management of Mr. FFICHTER. THIS EVENING, to commence with an (Menai Sketch, entitled A SUDDEN ATTACK. Messrs. Shore, Garden, H. Widdicomb, Miss Henrade, and Mrs. Lee. After which, at a Quarter-past Eight, the Romantic Drama, in Three Acts, and Pr3logue, entitled THE DUKE'S MOTTO, by Paul Feval and John Brouc, , ham. The principal character will be sustained by Mr. Fechter, suoported by Messrs.." G. Shore, G Jordan, J. Brougham, iddi,embe, F. Charles, Garden, Raymond, Dawson ; Misses Sophy Henrade, Kate Terry, E. "avenue, and Elsworthy. Doors open at 7, commence at half-past. _ • Acting-Manarrer, Mr. H. Barnett. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. G. Vining. THPA EVENING, will be presented (13th time), COURT &ND CAMP : Messrs. G. Vining - , C. Verner, H. Marston, Relmore, G. Murray. Wards; Mss Amy Sedgwick, Miss L. Laidlaw, and Miss Lydia Thompson. To be preceded by (3d time) a new Comedietta, entitled COUSIN TOIL And followed by A CHARMING PAIR. NEW TF E,.371.1E-R0 AL. ADELI ) III— Proprietor and Manacer, Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING, THE WILLOW corAE Mr. Benj. Webster, Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr. Paul Bedford, Mr. Killington, Mr. Stuart, Mr. Stephenson; Miss Woolgar, and Miss H, Simms Followed by a new Burlesque, ent'lled ILL-TREATED IL TROVATORE. M(ssrs. Toole. P. Bediord, R. Phillips, C..T. Smith, Romer ; the Sisters Nelson, Carry and Sara, and Miss K. Kelly. Commence at 7. rpHE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN," _IL Containing the Latest SI'ORTING INTELLIGENCE, can be had Every Evening of G. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. The Weather—Sun Office, June 10, 1863. THERMOM E TER. This naorninz This day at Two o'clock Barometer-29.74. Wind—E. ; fresh breeze, and fine. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS 1 / I .7.—Morning, Bh. 55m.—Afternoon, 9h. 30m, To-moußow.-Morning, 9h. 59m.—Afternoon, 10h. 30m. ' PPL‘ , LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1863. After all the rhodomontade of the Federals about victory upon victory having been won by GRANT over PEMBERTON it now turns out (as usual) that, according to the very latest accounts received from the beleagured city of Vicksburg, that place still, up to that date, held out! The Confederates who are defending Vicksburg are said to number about 15,000. The Federals who are assailing it are spoken of as numbering altogether 60,000 Yet every onslaught up to the latest of these despatches yet brought to us, per the City of Bal timore, had been one after another repulsed. They had been repulsed so resolutely by the Confederates, and with such slaughter to the Federals that the latter—pausing for a while apparently to recruit their energies—had actually begun entrenching themselves. Tinder such circumstances as these, we cannot for one in stant wonder when we find a thoroughly outspoken critic of events like MANHATTAN blurting the fright ful truth ri g ht ou t at last, whete he says, under date New York, the 26th ult.—" We cannot forget that every overwhelming and terrible defeat that we have sustained was prefaced by the solemn Government announcement that we had 'Won a great victory. I t was so," he adds (de scending to the ruelatnliceho y particulars), " in the case of Bull Raa—_ days' massacre at Itichno,:nd—the slaughteevrvienaunder POPE—the hm o f . lifeh under a H t F O o r e x d E e ; butchery at Antietam—the ricksburg—and the last catasntroepe upon the Rappahannock." pendal to this, point blank, It is 80, to this reported succession of triumph s the Confederates upon the banks of the Mississippeir! now, hts.oWhr reference to say, has ho not already remarked, virtually, as much in the preceding Echtence of this very same communication, from which the foregoing comm2n _ taries have been taken, has he cot already remarked --and we would here especially call attention to the two words he has interpolated in parenthesis in the subjoined passage, words that we have ventured yet further to emphasise byfitalicising—" We have been so ofcen,"writes MANHATTAN at the very outset of his letter pened on the 26th—" We have been so often bitten by the good news that cur forces had won a great victory, and afterwards had to weep that it was not true, that many people are shy and suspicious of the flood of vic:,or;es that has pourEd in upon us since Saturday last, culminating in the fact (if true)—' Our flag now floats over the blood stained walls of Vicksburg.'" Observe :—" f Last night the " Security from Violence Bill" was read a second time in the House of Lords. Lord CARNAMVON moved the second reading. This noble lord has before distinguished himself on the subject of prison discipline, and through his exer tions has brought the case before the public very fully. He explained the purport of his measure as very simple and very short. He proceeded briefly to answer the objections which he knew many per sons entertained to the proposal. In the first place, it was said that to award a particular punishment 'or a particular offence was special legislation. Now, he argued that it might be desirable to pat a number of offences in one category, but that it was seldom practicable. Oa the contrary, said his lordship, it has been very much the genius of Eng lish legislation to deal with each particular case and suggest the most suitable remedy. It was a uni versally acknowledged fact that crime had increased during the last few years, especially had offences augmented in attacks on the person which were known as " garotting." Last autumn this crime was committed to a frightful extent, and though some said there was exaggeration in these statements, yet the great number of convictions proved that there was good ground for alarm. It was true that there was a large decrease now, but that might be mainly attributable to the summer season, which did not offer such facilities for the commission of the offence. Finally, Lord CARNARVON said that he objected to what might be termed "panic legislation." But it was precisely to prevent that undesirable result that he wished their lordships now to dispose of the affair. There was great force in this suggestion of Lord CaRNARYoN's, for if nothing is done this session, in all probability there will be a renewal of the disgraceful scenes of last autumn, and then there will be so much indignation felt in some quarters, and so much terror exhibited in others, that it will end in a panic requiring the Legislature at last to interfere. In pursuance of the nature of this offence his lordship said that it was well known that the perpetrators of the crime of " garotting " were generally those who had often before been con victed, and he added these appropriate remarks on the perversion of justice that has so often taken place of late years. "And where such violence has been used as is calculated to result in murder we must rot draw too nice a distinction if an intent to murder has been frustrated by some Provi dential interposition or some fortunate accident. I must say that Parliament has to thank itself in a great degree for this state of things. Unfortunately it has been for some years the study of Parliament to mitigate every rigour of the law, to cut down punishments, to abate the severity of sentences, and even when they are pronounced, to modify them very considerably. I think this course of legis lation has contributed materially to give rise to a special case; and as we have such a case to deal with we ought not to hesitate to apply a special remedy." This was a well-deserved reproof to those who are scandalised at the idea of exercising severity to wards prisoners, but who at the same time persist in frustrating the objects of all old established forms of punishment. They deprecate the introduction of new measures, while they virtually annul the effect of the oLd ones. In support of the proposal for the infliction of corporal punishment Lord CAR cA RVON alluded to the efficacy of the aysiem in putting a stop to the attempts at violence obi the Person of her MAJESTY. It had also been proved to be effectual in preventing the recurrence of acts of destruction against works of art. Lord CRAN WORTH moved an amendment, however, that the bill be read a second time that day six months. He gave as his reason that it was not possible to prevent par ticular crimes by special acts. His lordship also said that he looked upon the principle of the mea sure as objectionable. Fortunately, however, the House did not appear to coincide with this view of the question, for the amendment was negatived apparentlyfromandsure - to know th at yet was wi se enoug h he would sustain defeat in doing so. Under the circumstances he had better have had the grace to keep quiet, for the state of things as re gar d s the " garotters" discredit on th e Mi nisters r eflects great and, in f sel follow their w a l ow n wn fact, le m r c e t a ; dy to ad vocate u on all in authority. Th ey with great eagerne ss , a are their own views; b u t th e safety of the public is quite another question. It is all very well for Lord GRAN VILLE and his friends to laugh at chi merical fears and to denounce panic legislation, b ut if their ()fin fainiiies were in a. different grade of society they would not like them to run the risk of such attacks. For the sake of kee!, ag u p the re prehensible custom that now prevails of condoning crime, they are willing to make their arguments subservient to the cause of protecting felons. It is no torious that the present system in our convict prisons is a mockery, and that the gaols are not much better as regards discipline, though things do not rest on the same indulgences. All who understand this class of offenders will recognise the importance of attaching disgrace to such outbreaks. The man who comes out of prison under this sentence cannot be a hero to his associates. It is most satisfactory that the measure is in a manner settled ; and the best proof that it was needed consists in the fact that none of its epronents could suggest a better remedy. They did not even attempt to fina one, so that whatever good results may ensue from this plan the public will not have to thank the Government. They have been most supine in the ease, and apparently consider it of very little consequence, one way or the other, regarding the whole affair as a panic• Those who consider that it is always most undesir able to allow such scandalous proceedings to piss unchecked, will appreciate the efforts that have been made in both houses to hold out a threat to such offenders : and all who suffered last year from the prevalence of this nefarious practice will rejoice to know that some effort has been made to check the progress of the evil, if not to prevent its recurrence. It is necessary for the Metropolitan Boards to watch narrowly the proceedings of the owners of land in the neighbourhood of the few open spaces which our ever-growing streets and squares have left us. It is not long since general excitement prevailed on the southern side of the Tnames, in consequence of attempts being made to convert the pleasant commons of that locality into rows of bricks and mortar. While that question still re mains pending, the enemy make a fresh assault in another quarter, though we can hardly call it a new attar c, inasmuch as Hampstead-heath has been often the object of aggression before now. It certainly appears strange that the wishes of the public should be so often, disregarded in this matter, and that these continual endeavours should be made to trench on the public privileges. If these gentlemen had their will, the busy classes who in habit our crowded thoroughfares, with but little variation during the round of the year, would lose a very wholesome and innocent recreation. Gentle men who are owners of lands or gardens of their own, when wearied with the sights and sounds of the metropolis, can refresh themselves after the fulfilment of their Parliamentary or social duties, by a residence in the country or a conti nental tour. The class they would shut out from the heaths and commons of the metropolis, has no such opportunities. A Sunday excursion to Hamp stead, or Tooting, doubtless appears to these gentle men a contemptible enjoyment, which is more hon• oared in the breach than the observance, and one that deserves little consideration at the hands of cultivated and rational mortals. It is our English custom to respect the rights of classes, of whatever degree, and to endeavour at least to look on such matters as they appear to the interested parties. If the gentlemen who look with such scorn on the pleasures of a suburban stroll in the company of donkey boys and ginger beer sellers were, by, some extraordinary transformation, to be compelled to spend their days in one unvarying round in a dark shop or close office, we apprehend that even such a view of blue sky and green fields would be welcome. While such throngs continue to resort to these places it is evident they supply a popular want which it would be difficult to meet without them. Where would the crowds who now resort to the heaths and commons spend their holiday afternoons it those places were enclosed? The parks are not elastic, and if they were, there is more formality and restriction about them. It is the professed object of the present day to foster every kindly feeling between classes, and to en courage every healthy influence, while our sanitary reformers and men of science talk much about the cure of the public health. Why then should these repeated attempts, which contravene every one of these professions, be suffered to continue. Cannot some means be devised by which all such questions may be set satisfactorily at rest. It is time that some general principle were acted upon for th protectio❑ of these public rights, which are other wise likely to suffer from some unsuspected bill passing through a careless or empty House. It might have been supposed that the metropolitan members would be the first to stand up for the rights of their constituents, but such is not the fact. At a recent meeting of the St. Pancras Re presentative Council, Captain CAMERON called at tention to another b: .l which had been intro duced into Parliament by two metropolitan members—Mr. Cox and Sir MORTON PETO —which Bill had for its ostensible object an amendment of the Leases and Sales of Settled Estates Act, but its real object was to enable Sir T. M. WiLsort to build in the immediate vicinity of Hampstead-heath. A bill on the same subject has also been introduced in the Lords under the auspices of the Lord Chancellor, so that there is really ground for uneasiness. Captain CAMERON remarked as a proof of the character of the bill that part of it went to repeal the 21st section of the Leases and Sales of Settled Estates Act of 1856, which pro hibited Sir T. M. WILSON from building on the ground adjacent to, and which would effect the enclosure of, Hampstead-heath. The section which it was proposed to repeal by the present bill was, the prohibition to any person who had been before the House of Lords with a private bill for enclosing public places, which had been reported against by the judges, from obtaining any public act to enable him to do so. Tho justice and reasonableness of this clause is evident, and it is difficult to see what can be the object of proposing to expunge it unless some fresh enclosure is meditated. We trust that the various Metropolitan Boards will not relax their vigilance, and that the members of both Houses will examine narrowly the clauses of any bill of this nature which may be brought before them. It is easier to withhold permission than to withdraw, less difficult to forbid the building of houses than to pull them down when built, and the members of our legislature may he sure that in countenancing any such infringement of the public rights and privileges they will be committing a most impolitic and unpopular act, and, will be occasioning great and lasting regret. THE PRINCESS MARY'S CONCERT.—The grand military concert which is to take place on Satur day next in the Exhibition Building, on behalf of the Princess Mary of Cambridge's fund for providing nurses for the aged and invalid inmates of the Cambridge Asylum for Soldiers' Widows, promises to be a great success. All the bands of the various regiments of the Household Brigade are engaged to perform, and from the number of tickets already sold it is believed that from 15,000 to 20,000 persons will avail themselves of the opportunity at once of seeing all the beauty and fashion of London, of listening to the grandest military music of the day, of spending a very plea • oc public charities. Nfprot r a good_ work by their gracious sant afternoon amid the familiar aisles of the Exhibition, and of doing good service to one of the most deserving of that the Prince and Princess of Wales will promote the arrivedT E Eoßff Scilly,G E O reportsG I GEORGIA.—The . h T a h v e scrow steamer, bri g r i boat from the cer.,°f4dMay 5, in lat. 4 N , long. 30 W., by a i t n o g ta b l e ie en pa b ss " e r n : e d rs, e h : t t ' a te privateer Georgia, and was asked The Georgia was an iron a/las the Virginia. gged. This was probably the Japan, itiraAai tciuuslsisns,pmerdoe r . ee, presence. probable, w e hear, LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REITTEP.'S TELEGRAMS.) THE POLISH INSURRECTION, CRACOW, JUNE 9. The Russians have shot the Abbe Is.zola a Wilna. Engagements terminating favourably for the in surgents have taken place at Wyszogrod and Bal wierzynski, in the kingdom of Poland, and a Horke, in Lithuania. TURKEY. CONSTANTINOPLE, JUNE 10. Five ex-Chamberlains have been exiled to Bar bary on account of frauds discovered to have been committed by them open the Civil List. The investigation into the charges against the late Ministers Riz:, Hassib, and Saffeti Pasha has been commenced. THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 10, 1863. FRANCE. BOURSE, June 9.—But little change has taken place in the tone of the market, and prices remein about the same. Threes, for the Account, are now at 69fr. 371 c. Italian Loan has slightly improved. Railway Shares have not been much dealt in, and the market is on the whole rather weak. Closing prices as follow :- -it per Cents. 97 25 Do. end month 3 per Cents Do. end month 69 30 Credit MobiHer 1265 Do, end month 1245 Bank Shares — Credit oneier Italian Loan 73 05 Do. end month 73 10 New ditto Do. end month 74 10 Russian Austrian Spanish Threes 53 50 Rome Debt RA ILWAYS. Cash. Account,. Orleans 997 50 .. 997 50 Northern New ditto - • . • -- Lyons and Mediterranean 1012 50 .. 1047 50 Geneva 443 75 .. 445 Southern Western Eastern .. „ 498 75 .. 501 25 Sardinian 422 50 .. 420 Austrian Lombard North of Spain Saragossa 712 50 .. 717 50 Ditto to Barcelona THE CALCUTTA, CHINA, AND AUSTRALIAN MAILS. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) The following telegram has been received at Mr. Reuter's office from the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company : MARSEILLES, June 10th. The Valetta, with the above mails, arrived here at 4 a.m. this day. The mails leave for London at 11 a.m. THE WEST AFRICAN MAIL. LIVERPOOL, MAY 9. The steamer Armenian arrived here this even ing with the above mail, one box of diamonds, 307 ounces of golddust, 800 sovereigns, and 2,500 dole. in specie, and 29 passengers. Her dates are—Benin, April 23 ; Fernando Po, 28th; Cameroons, 30th; Old Calabar, May 2; Brass River, 4th ; New Calabar, 7th ; Bonny, 7th ; Lagos, 11th ; Accra, 12th ; Cape Coast Castle, 14th ; Sierra Leone, 21st ; Bathurst, 25th; ieneriffe, June 1 ; Madeira, 2d. Fernando Po was healthy, and trade had much improved. No reduction had taken place in the prices c f oil. Trade was stopped at Accra owing to the expected attack upo❑ Cape Coast Castle by the Ashantees. Five soldiers from her Mjesty's ships Dart and Dove were drowned at Accra on May 13 while attempting to land in canoes. Private despatches state that the coast generally was fearfully unhealthy, but this is not confirmed by the Armenian's despatch. A SPECIMEN OF MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY.— A Protestant clergyman, one Rev. William Dampier is thus described by Miss Thackoray in her " Story of Elizabeth :''—" He was a big, commonplace young man, straight-minded and ter der-hearted. with immense energy and great go ,d spirits. He believed in himself; indeed, he tried so heartily and conscientiously to do what was right, that he could not help knowing, more or less, that he was a good fellow. And then he had a happy knack of seeing one side of a question, and having once determined that so and so was the thing to be done, he could do so and so without one doubt or compunction. He belonged to the school of athletic Christianity. I heard some one once say that there are some of that sort who would almost make out cockfighting to be a religious ceremony. William Dampier did not go so far as this, but he heartily believed that nothing was wrong which was done with a Christian and manly spirit. He rode across country, he smoked pipes, he went out shooting, he played billiards and cricket, he rowed up and down the river in his boat, and he was charming with all the grumbling old men and women in his parish ; he preached capital sermons, short, brisk, well considered. He enjoyed life and all its good things with a grateful temper, and made most people happy about him." A MARK FOR GENERAL CONTEMPT.—Bismark ! A VERITABLE JIM CROW!—" Oh, my dear E---! I have seen Jim Crow—the veritable James; all the contortions, and springs, and flings, and kicks, and capers you have been beguiled into accepting as indicative of him are spurious, faint, feeble, impotent—in a word, pale northern productions of that ineffable black conception. It is impossible for words to describe the things these people did with their bodies, and, above all, with their faces, the whites of their eyes, and the whites of their teeth, and cer tain outlines which either naturally and by the grace of heaven, or by the practice of some peculiar artistic dex terity, they bring into prominent and most ludicrous dis play. The languishing elegance of some, the painstaking laboriousness of others; above all, the feats of a certain enthusiastic banjo-player, who seemed to me to thump his instrument with every part of his body at once, at last so utterly overcame any attempt at decorous gravity on my part that I was obliged to secede; and, considering what the atmosphere was that wo inhaled during the exhibition, it is only wonderful to me that we were not made ill by the double effort not to laugh, and, if possible, not to breathe." Fanny Kenzble's Journal. QUEEN'S THEATRE, EDINBURGIL—Mr. Hermann VtZiD, late of the Princess's and Lyceum Theatres, and Mrs, Charles Young (now Mrs. Vezin), late of the Hayrnarhet and Sadler's Wells Theatres, after having ful filled a successful engagement in Glasgow, perforreed before a crowded and fashionable audience in Edinburgh on Monday night. The Scotsman of yesterday says : —The dramatic version of Miss Braddon's novel, " Lady Audley's Secret," which hos been so popular in London, was produced at the Queen's Theatre. It was preceded by the well-worn farce of "Box and Cox," in which Mr. Andrews (whose abilities as a burlesque actor were well tested during a lengthened engagement at the Operetta- House last season, and gained for him a large measure of popularity) amused the audience, and worked them up into good humour, by his clever by-play in the part of Uox, the hatter. " Lady Audley's Secret" introduced two actors of considerable merit to the Edinburgh public in Mr. Hermann Vezin and Mrs. Charles Young. The story has been some owuht a l i t a ne l s t e a r r e e d p t r o e s s e u r i v t e t dh,e andex ig e i t n s c le e a s d o i f n t g h e i n s e t i a d g e e n , t b s u e t ff i e t e s t main v ey grouped together in the play. In the first act, we have George Talboys (Mr. E. D. Lyons) landing in England after his toilsome career of three years at the Australian diggings, on his way to share his wealth with the wife whom he deserted in anger, He is suddenly plunged into despair by reading, in the chambers of his friend Robert Audley, the announcement of his wife's death—she having in the interval married Robert's uncle, and sent the an nouncement to the papers to prevent his searching for her. Thin comes the visit of the two friends to Audley Court, the recognition of Lady Audley (Mrs, Young) by Talboys, and their interview, in which she upbraids him with his desertion of her, and angrily repudiates his charge of unfaithfulness. Mrs. Young's acting in this scene was full of womanly pathos, so much so as to exclude for the time being the idea of Lady Audley's own error, and to kindle a thorough sympathy for her, and implicit belief in bh t t h wya e ve tejahnuees elapsed —we ph c o cetohid. hostility r ode fchant have vo s e be e e . 2 .Lfi tra:d l tay n n Adthue endeavouring twelvesi e e c ym o g n oo d natdh eact,sd are t h t 00 0 however--be tween esemsvueowry desperation dbt the tracesoe sympathy o Ill:se:or by a series of crimes. In this altered character,t or, and Mrs. w a Young, n l g e , 8 mocd---no longer the injured and defiant, but the resolute s and guilty woman—Lady Audley, though commanding still exercises a fascination over the specta tor, r ii :n ta th ec is es t s h i e ui m , os s t h d e ifil po eu ss l e t s p s h es as a e s o ta f t t e h ly e figure and expressive countenance, admirably suited to such a part, and its pathos and its passion were alike represeuted with remarkable skill ani fidelity. Mr. Vezin personated the cool and unswerving Robert dudley in a careful and jud cious manner, with atmost none of that stage mannerism by which, in the closing scenes especially, such a charac ter might have been derrived of its identity in less able hands. AMERICA. (REUTER'S '1 ELEGRA3IS.) (Per City of Baltimore.) NEW YORK, May 30 (Morning). A prisoner at the Old Capitol Prison, Washing ton, has been shot dead while looking out of window by the guard on duty. The prisoner was charged with having furnished military appliances to the Confederates at Richmond. He is said to have been a British subject. It is officially stated that the length of coast blockaded by the Federal squadron, from Alexan dria, Virginia, to the Rio Grande, is 3,500 miles. There are 189 openings in this line of coast. General Grant's army attacking Vicksburg is said to number 60,000 men. Great dissatisfaction is expressed by the Southern generals with Pemberton's military operations against Grant, and the Richmond Whig says it is rumoured that General Johnston has taken his sword from Pemberton, and placed him under arrest. The Petersburg Express of the 23d considers the situation at Vicksburg extremely critical, and says the destruction of the bridge across the Big Black River not only isolates Vicksburg from communica tion with all other parts of the Confederacy, but opens to the enemy the rich and much desired Yazoo country. The Express fears that Pemberton, with scarcely any field artillery and his army greatly reduced, cannot long hold out unless Johnston speedily concentrates his forces and relieves the be leaguered city. The _Richmond Examiner says that an attack on Vicksburg can nowhere be made with a force equal to the garrison. On no side can more than 8,000 men be deployed in line for an assault. The cha racter of the ground renders approaches difficult, while heat and the country malaria during six months of the year would make its siege at present one of the most murderous on record. Only trea chery or cowardice could explain the capture of Vicksburg by sudden assault, and its fall by any other means seems daily less probable. The _Richmond Sentinel says that Johnston, who is outside Vicksburg, is preparing to fall on Grant's flank or rear, and thus raise • the siege by a battle. For this grand struggle both sides seem reinforcing. The Sentinel looks hopefully on the situation. Colonel Jones, with the Bth Pennsylvania Regi ment, has made an expedition from Newbern and attacked the Confederates in their entrenchments at Gum Swamp, capturing their artillery, 200 pri soners, and destroying their works. The Confede rates, however, rallied, and following up the Fede ral rear harrassed the Union troops considerably until they gained their own lines. The Confederate fire then became very severe, and Colonel Jones was killed behind his bre'tstworks. The schooner Sea Bird, of Philadelphia, whilst aground at the mouth of Neuse River, North Caro lina, was captured and burnt by the Confederates. They put off in small boats from the shore, and took prisoners the captain and crew of the schooner. It has been ascertained at Beaufort that nearly a mi'lion dollars' worth of supplies have reached the Confederates through the sutlars of the Federal army, who opened wholesale houses at points where the Federals had no military jurisdiction, and to which the Confederates obtained free access. The Federals have made an expedition from West Point, Virginia, into the neighbouring counties, sacking the grain warehouses and burning the mills, and capturing horses, cattle, and sheep. They took from the farmers everything that could ba of use to the Federal army, and destroyed their agricultural implements. The Richmond Examiner thinks the present mo ment most propitious for the Southern army to gain a victory, which shall signify something more than repulsing the enemy, for defensive operations will never secure the acknowledgment of their indepen dence or end the war. The Northerners will fight 40 years so long as war means dispatching men and money to a digitalize, and as long as they fail to see the columns of an invading army blackening their fields, lit by the flames of their houses and towns. From the first the only reasonable hope of the Con- federacy has been the transfer of hostilities to the enemy's country. If that cannot be done the pro gress of invasion, however slow, must after a time overwhelm the South. No treaty of peace is pos sible unless signed on Northern soil; and if the Southern armies can ever go there at all the time is now at hand. The .New York Herald thinks the treatment of Generals Siegel and Francis Meagher, by the War Department, in refusing to give them active com mands is shameful, and attributes Know-nothing proclivities to the Secretary for War. It is stated that General Meagher is about to visit Europe. The Free South, a Northern journal, printed at Port Royal, says that Gen. Paxton has ordered ra tions for negroes to be altogether discontinued, ex• cept in cases where to do so would be inhuman. The distribution of rations fostered the idea enter tained by the negroes that the Government was bound to support them. The transition from slavery to freedom appeared to them only a change of mas ters, the difference being that the new master was more easily imposed upon than the old one. The Free South hopes that when the negroes have had an opportunity of raising their own subsistence, and run short through laziness or neglect, they will be taught by the pangs of hunger a lesson that will not be lost. Their former condition as slaves gives them no claim on the United States. On the contrary, they owe the Northern Govern ment a debt of gratitude for favours conferred, and the sooner the idea of philanthropists that it is the duty of the Government to give them free support is abandoned the better it will be for both whites and blacks in the Southern depal tment. The Commercial Advertiser says :—" All the prisoners taken in the battles on the Rappahannock have been exchanged, and it appears that the num ber captured by us is just half that captured by the enemy. The South claims to present a list in excess of 8,000, while ours is little more than 4,000. This is understood to be the condition of the exchange arranged between the Northern and Southern com missioners. The rebel papers boast of the fact, And the rebel authorities intimate that they should now dictate some terms regarding the exchange of pri soners in future, which would lead to bloody re taliation if not complied with." The New York limes says that Governor Sey mour's letter to the Val landigham meeting is posted in all parts of New York. After violently de nouncing the letter, the Times says : " There are thousands ignorant or base enough to be influenced by it, but if the patriotic feeling of millions in New York State is raised, the New York rebels will be swept like chaff before the wind. The governor may do much mischief, but he must stop very far short of the revolutionary violence he has intimated in his letter, or he will confront a public spirit it will be hardly safe to grapple with. The human soul never had a more inflexible purpose than that now held by the people of New York State, to sustain the war until the rebellion is crushed. Any man attempting to divert that de termination by pretext or device will be ground to powder." The Commercial Advertiser, noting the changes of population caused by the invasion of the Northern armies throughout the South, says that similar changes are taking place in the Northern States. Strangers are arriving in unprecedented numbers. So many emigrants never landed at New York in one day as on Monday last (the 25th), the aggregate being over 3,500. During the season probably 50,000 emigrant have sought the Ameri can shores, four-fifths of them having landed at New York. DISPATCH OF THE BRAZIL AND RIVER PLATE MAILS. —Southampton, Tuesday.—The Royal Mail Company's steamship Magdalena, Capt. Woolward, sailed hence to-day, at three p.m., with the mails for Lisbon, B a hia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, &o. She took out 73 passengers and on freight for Rio £209,900, of which amount £200,000 in sovereigns is for the Bank of Brazil, and £7,400 in bar silver for the Minister of Finance; for Bahia, £4,000 in sovereigns; for Monte Video, goad coin £226 ; for Buenos Ayres, gold coin £1,600; and for Lisbon £9,893 in sovereigns, of which amount £6,000 is consigned to the Union Bank. The Magdalena also took out a very full cargo of French and English merchandise. • 4 :4 Court z . • HER MAJESTY. WINDSOR CASTLE, June 9. Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by their Royal Highnesses Princess Helena and Princess Beatrice, and attended by the Marchioness of Ely, Lady A. Bruce, Lord Talbot de Malahide, Lieut.- General the Hon. C. Grey, and Major-General the Hon. A. Hood, went to London to-day by special train on the Great Western Railway. Her Majesty was met at the station by his Royal Highness Prince Alfred, attended by Major Co Nell, and pro ceeded thence to the Horticultural Gardens, the Equerries attending on horseback. Her Majesty was received at the entrance in Exhibition-road by the Duke of Buccleuch, Presi dent; Sir W. Mike, Vice-President; and the coun cil and secretaries of the Society, who had the honour of being presented to her Majesty. Her Majesty proceeded up the centre walk of the gardens to the spot where the Great Exhibition Memorial is erected, surmounted by the statue of the Prince Consort, which is to be formally inaugu rated to-morrow by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, accompanied by the Princess of Wales and other members of the Royal family. Her Majesty was met here by Mr. Durham, the sculptor, by whom the statue was executed, Alder man Challis, the chairman, and Mr. God win, the secretary of the Memorial Committee, who had also the honour of being presented to her Majesty. Her Majesty made a lengthened inspection of the Memorial, visiting every spot whence a fresh view might be obtained, and frequently expressed how much she was pleased with it, and the gratification it had afforded her to see its success. Her Majesty also marked her interest in the progress of the gar dens by afterwards spending a considerable time in the conservatory and adjoining terraces, with which she declared herself much satisfied. Her Majesty then returned by the Eastern Ar cade to her carriage in Exhibition-road, and drove to Marlborough-house to visit the Prince and Prin cess of IN ales. There were also present in the gardens, to meet her Majesty, the Earl Granville, K.G., Viscount Sydney, G.C.8., the members of the Works Com mittee, Mr. Kelk, the contractor for the Exhibition Building, Mr. Foley, Mr. Westmacott, and others. The Prince of Orange paid a visit to her Majesty at Marlborough-house. The Queen returned to Windsor at two o'clock. Lord Methuen and Captain Sir W. Haste have succeeded Lord Talbot de Malahide and Colonel the Hon. A. Liddell as Lord and Groom in Wafting. The Prince and Princess of Wales. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, the Prince of Leiningen, the Duke of Cambridge, and Count Gleichen, honoured the performance of Her Majesty's Theatre last evening with their presence. They were attended by the theEarlof Mount-Edgecumbe, Lieut.-Gen. Knollys, Lieut.-Col. Keppel, Major Cowell, and Col. Tyrwhitt. The Prince of Wales, accompanied by Prince Alfred, and attended by his Equerry - in Waiting, rode out on horseback yesterday. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales received addresses - of congratulation to his Royal Highness and the Princess of Wales yesterday afternoon, at Marlborough -house, from the clergy of. the Province of Canterbury in Convocation, and from the clergy of the cities of London and Westminster. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops, and the clergy of the Province arrived in their Convo cation robes at half-past two o'clock. Present : The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Lon don, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Chichester, the Bishop of Lichfield, the Bishop of Llandaff, the Bishop of Salisbury ; Dr. Travers Twiss, Vicar-General; Mr. Francis Hart Dyke, Registrar of the Province of Canterbury ; and Mr. Felix Knyvett, Apparitor- General. The officers and members of the Lower House of Convocation present were :—The Prolo tutor, the Dean of Bristol; the Actuary, Mr. Francis Cobb; the Deans of Canterbury and Norwich, the Archdeacons of Buckingham and London ; proctors for chapters—the Rev. Canon Harvey, Dr. Jell, Dr. Jeremie, and the Rev. Canon Argles ; proctors for the clergy—the Warden of All Souls, the Revs. A. M. Hopper, T. Mills (chaplain to her Majesty), M. W. Mayow, J. C. B. Riddell, J. H. Randolph, J. Bramston, F. Vincent, Dr. M'Caul, Ashton Oxen den, and G. B. Blomfield. His Grace and the clergy were ushered to the saloon, where their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales received them, attended by the Lady and Gentlemen in Waiting. The Archbishop of Canterbury delivered the fol lowing Address : "To THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES, "We, the Archbishop, Bishops, and clergy of the Pro vince of Canterbury in Convocation assembled, approach your Royal Highness with the expression of our cordial congratulations on your happy marriage. " We pray God, for Christ's sake, 'wag to continue to a• crease your happiness here, and to grant you, above all, His choiceot earthly blessings of mutual affection; that so your Royal Highnesses in your exalted position may, through His grace and mercy, long live before this people as bright examples of godly unity and Christian love. " And we will ever pray, &c." The Prince of Wales returned the following an swer : "My Lord Archbishop, Bishops, and olergy of the Pro vince of Canterbury,—The Princess and myself thank you heartily for your congratulations on our marriage, and for your prayers for our happiness, which we desire to assure you we appreciate most deeply. " We trust that our humble efforts may never be wanting to justify the affectionate interest which you have taken in our union." The Lord Bishop of London and the clergy of London and Westminster arrived at Marlborough house. Present—the Lord Bishop. of London, the Dean of St. Paul's (Dr. Milman), the Dean of West minster (Dr. Trench), the Archdeacon of London (Van. William Hale Hale), the Archdeacon of Mid dlesex (Ven. John Sinclair), the President of Sion College (Rev. J. Jackson), Rev. Canon Dale, Rev. Canon Champneys, Rev. Canon Melvill, Ven. Arch. deacon Bentinck, Lord J. Thynne, Rev. Canon Jennings, Rev. Canon Wordsworth, Rev. Canon Cureton, Rev. Canon Nepean, Rev. T. Randolph, Rev. Dr. M'Caul, Rev. Ernest Hawkins, Rev.Thos. G. Hall, Rev. Chas. B. Dalton, Rev. R. G. Baker, Rev. Henry Venn, R-:v. Derwent Coleridge, Rev. W. A. Soames, the Claeplain-Gtneral (Rev. G. It. Gleig), Rev. J. Jackson, Rev. R. Burgess, Rev. C. Mackenzie, Rev. W. G. Humphry, Rev. Dr. K ynas ton, Rev. F. C. Cook, Rev. C Marshall, Rev. M. Gibbs, Rev. Dr. Goulburn, Rev. J. H. Hamilton, Rev. T. T. Ainger, Rev. F. G. Blomfield, Rev. Dr. Hessey, Rev. Dr. Irons, Rev. J. E. Kempe, R e v. Thos. Griffith, Rev. W. Rogers, Rev. H. Howarth, and the Rev. W. H. Fremantle (Bishops Resident Chaplain). His Lordship and his clergy were ushered to the saloon, where the Bishop presented Addresses from the Lord Bishop of London and the clergy of the cities of London and 'Westminster on the recent marriage. The Prince of Wales was attended at the recep tion of the addressee by the Earl of Mount Mg.:. cumbe, Lord in Waiting, Lieut.-General Knollys, Controller and Treasurer; Hon. Robert H. Meade, Groom in Waiting ; and Lieut.-Culonel Keppel, Equerry in Waiting. The Princess of Wales was attended by Countess de Grey, Lady in Waiting ; and Lord Harris, Chamberlain. A deputation from the Grocers' Company had an interview with the Prince of Wales, to confer the freedom of the Grocers' Company upon his Royal Highness. The deputation was composed of Mr. Henry Grace, Master ; Mr. Jas. Cottam, Mr. Mark Cattley, and Mr. Vesey Weston Holt, Wardens; and Messrs. Henry Warner , William Pott, Henry Browning, Robt. Garrard, and W. J. Thompson ; a deputation from the Court of Assistants; and Mr. W:n. Ruck, clerk. The Freedom of the Compaq was presented to the Prince of Wales by the Master , Mr. Grace, the g admission enelosed in was a handsome adm i n iste r g e o d l . d t bDx. The cert ifle a oath e o i n n Royal Highness by the clerk, Mr. Ruck. LITERATURE. Respectable Sinners. By Mrs. Brotherton. 3 vols. Hurst arid Blackett. Notwithstanding its not 'very attracti e title, Mrs. Brotherton has here given us a very attrac tive novel, in which some of the Tartuffes and Pharisees of modern days are both skilfully and se verely depleted. The discrimination of character is singularly happy, and the story is very naturally and pleasantly told. The two heroines, Louisa Danhaye and her daughter, Helen Ashton, are beautiful portraits, beautifully portrayed. Both of them full of faults of very different kinds, and both of them so richly endowed with natural goodness, that the discipline of life, which comes to all, leaves them chastened by sorrow and ennobled by suffering. At the opening of the tale Louisa is a widow of one-and-twenty, and Helen an orphan of three years old. The widow, it appears, had married without her father's consent, and she is now left almost penniless. But, fortunately for her youth and inexperience, her husband's brother arrives from abroad, and for the time provides for her. An amusing chapter "On Daily Bread and Daily Cake," deserves to be studied by the sentimental young ladies who sigh for love in a cottage. Louisa Danhaye, the only child of a wealthy father, had, it should be remembered, up to the time of her marriage, existed in blissful ignorance of worldly affairs. Louisa held the precious metals in sublime contempt, and always called them " dross." So do a vast number of romantic young women, whose parents happen to be well off. And oh I ye younger brothers, it is always some dainty creature brought up on cake, that is so innocently eager to share your crust I Louisa, for instance, had an excellent appetite for her gaily cake, liked it as •rich as it could be made, and munched it gracefully— sighing senti mentally the while for dry bread. This brief passage gives a glimpse of Mrs. Brother ton's lively, pleasant style. Her manner of narrat ing her story is very charming ; and the story itself is sufficiently interesting to make us reluctant to spoil its interest by any premature disclosure of its plot. Widow Louisa selects a second husband— " a respectable sinner"—and little Helen, an affec tionate, impulsive child, skrinks from him instinc tively, as little David Copperfield shrank from Mr: Murdstone. But widow Louisa is not meek and malleable like poor Clara, and Mr. Hartley, of Hartley Hall, finds his match. Another " respect able sinner" is Mrs. Nettlefold, Louisa's aunt, who, from avaricious motives, keeps up and augments the estrangement between Louisa and her father. The character of this irreproachable lady, with her rustling silks and her benignant smile, is very effectively described. Edward Hartley, the hypocri tical son of a tyrannical father, is another character drawn with skilful discrimination. The fatal effects upon a weak nature of such early training as fell to his lot at the hands of those " respectable sinners," his worldly father and his austere grandmother, are most effectively shown. The happy influence ulti mately obtained by the loving but too impetuous Helen will be a matter of satisfaction to all who take an interest in her story. The character of the mother is, however, the happiest in the book. The one strong feeling of her life, her devotion to her daughter, while it subjects her for a time to much anxiety and distress, ultimately proves, like every unselfish emotion, the source of Lenefit and blessing, at once to giver and recipient. Other "sinners" ap pear in these volumes, less "respectable," but more to be respected. Mrs. Brotherton will find favour with many readers, who, it is to be hoped, may derive from her teaching as much profit as pleasure. An Errand to the South in the Summer of 1862. By the Rev. W. Wyndham Malet. One vo 1. pp. 312. Bentley. A pleasant, gossipping book enough—but one that unhappily comes before us according to the over frank first page of a most ingenuous Preface as literally published at the " request of friends." The acknowledgment is evidently made, of course, by the author, with a view to propitiate the reader's leniency, and to attract attention to the narrative which follows thereupon. Mr. Malet not having the faintest notion in the world, apparently, that if the Let is as he states (and we cannot in courtesy but credit his statement) that same fact is dead against him, to begin with. Nay, in addition to the gaucherie of this announcement of his, that his lucubrations do now actually make their appearance before us in deference to that melancholy circumstance '` ° 8 request of friends" betore mentioned—the writer positively goes on at once to ma ke matters still worse by " humbly apologising for " preeunung to offer such desultory" jottings bY: , the way—by " throwing himself upon the generosity " of those who may "honour his reminiscences with perusal"—and by trusting that the many imperfec tions, repetitions, and so forth, that will be found in his pages " will meet with leniency, leading to forgiveness." Nobody, we undertake to say, cares one snap of thefingers for any book that comes under consideration prefaced by such meekly propitiatory sentences as these. Bad as impertinently self-suffi cleat prefaces are, beyond a doubt, they are far more likely to be tolerated than a pensive, little, stam mering, blushing, introductory page or two like the couple here only too modestly penned by the bearer (and writer) of the "Errand to the South." And the volume, when it comes to be looked into, turns out to be precisely what might have been pretty confidently predicated it would prove to be, from the tone and manner of this most mistaken avant courier. As a specimen of the author's style of writing throughout, we subjoin his sketch (if it really can be so called) of the Southern President : JEFFERSON DAVIS. President Davis's house is situated on the brink of one of the Richmond hills, looking to the north, a small stream running at its foot, and the rail to Gordonsville winding through the valley. There are two porticoes; the en trance one to the north, and the lawn and garden one to the south. The house is granted by the State. The negro servant ushered me into a lofty and cool dining-room, and in a few minutes in walked his Excellency; his height about 6 ft. 10 in., and shoulders board, as they need to be to bear his awful responsibilities ; calm his eye, smooth his voice, measured his words; his whole demeanour making you feel at once at home : his dress of the plainest, being a suit of blue Virginia manufacture, a sort of light flannel cloth. We sat down tete-a-tete, and I enjoyed a cup of excellent tea. Mrs. Davis and the children were at Raleigh. in North Carolina. Could anything be more vapid or colourless than this pencilling of President Davis ? It affords one not the faintest notion of what the man is really like. And precisely in that way is the book before us written throughout. It is as if we were scanning a succession of outlines drawn very lightly with an ill-pointed slate-pencil upon a rather dull slate—the whole being (as we have alrea:y described the above as being) utterly and completely colourless. As a narrative of an Excursion into the South, it is perfectly conscien tious, but—it is colourless. And these pencillings are in another way precisely like pencillings upon a slate, they are so easy of obliteration. Closing the blok, we remember little or nothing of its contents. The War in Poland, 1830-1831. By Sir Archi bald Alison, Bart., D.C.L. Bvo., pp. 79. Blackwood and Sons. A chapter from Sir Archibald Alison's world famous History of Europe has here been most opportunely republished in a separate form. So republished, it constitutes the most ix . popos little pamphlet well imaginable. For, anyone who witches (and who does not P) with profound interest the course of events in this new insurrectionary movement in Poland, can hardly appreciate the import of it, as a national rising, with the smallest approach to accuracy, without having first of all recalled to mind the character of the last war in Poland, the war of 1830-31, the war here succinctly but also, it may be said without any real contradic tion of terms, most comprehensively, described by the Historian of Europe. As one of the most re markable episodes of his great work, the incident recorded in this memorable chapter upon Poland is one of the most mournfully enthralling. Beeton' 8 Dichonary of Universal Biography. One vol. Pp. 1,117. S. 0 Becton. compiler of this really marvellous volume of curiously condensed and well compacted knowledge has, in the very best meaning that can possibly bo attached to the words, fairly out-Maundered