The Sun. — London, England, 1857-02-26 00:00:00

T HEATRE noyAh, DRUM: LANE.— Lessee, Mr. E. T. Smith. Acting Mana , mr, Mr. C. Mathews. Stage Manager, Mr. R Roxby. Scenic Artist, Mr. W. Beverley. The eminent Comedian, Mr. Charles Mathews, every evening . Great Success of tho Grand Christmas Pantomime, the most rivffnileent ever produced on the English stage. THIS EVENING, her Majesty's Servants will perform the popular Comedy, A CAME OF SPECULATION. Characters by Messrs. C. Mathews, A. Younge, R. Roxby, incent, Tilbury, Templeton, G. Honey ; Miss If. Oliver, Mrs. Selby, Miss Dames, and Miss E. Wadbam. After which will be produced SEE, SAW, MARGERY DAW ; Or, Harlequin Holiday, and the Island of Ups and Downs. The reduced prices as follows, varying throughout the house to snit every °le :—Galleries, fid. and ls. ; Second Circle of Boxes, Is. nd. : Pit, 2s. : First Circle of Boxes, 2s. 6.1.: Dress Bows, ; Stalls, as. ; Private Boxes, 10s. 61., I'. Is,, 1/. Ils. 61., and 2/. 2s. OY A T. PRINCESS'S THEATRE. 4. , THIS EVENING, will ix performed A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. After which, a new grand Christmas Pantomime, called ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP; or, Harlequin and the Genii of the Ring. Harlequin, Mr leormack ; Clown, Mr. Hulitte ; Pantaloon, Mr. Paulo ; Co . urchin; Miss C. Adams. F ircliffilATßPl ROYAL, -HAYMARKET, THIS EVENING, to commence at Seven, with the successful new Comedy, in three acts, entitled, DOUBLE'-EACED PEOPLE. Characters by Mr. Ruckstone, Mr. Chippendale, .!dr. Compton, Mr. W. Farren, air, Rogers, Mr. Clark, Miss Reynolds, Mrs. Poynter, anal Mrs, E. Fitz wil lam. Followed by (`nth time) a new drama, called A WICKED WIFE. After which 58th time) the new comic pantomime, entitled THE BABES IN THE WOOD, or Harlequin and the Cruel Uncle. The scenery of the opening story painted by Air W. Calleott. The pantomime produced under the direction of M. Milano. Harlequin, IV. Milano; Columbine, Fanny Wright ; Pantaloon, Mr. Mackay ; and Clown, Mr. Driver TO): OYAL LYCEUM TELEATRE. Lessee, Mr. C. Dillnn. THIS EVENING, will be performed the new play, in five acts, by Westland Marston Esq., entitled A LIFE'S R ANSOM. Lord Revesdale, M'r. C. Dillon ; Bancroft, Mr. Stuart ; Felicia Revesdale, Mrs. C. Dillon. After which, a new farce. entitled MY FRIEND FROM LEATHERHEAD. Mr, Toole, Miss Wilton, and Mrs. B. To be followed by CONRAD AND 3IEDORA; ur, Harlequin Corsair and the Little Fairy at the Bottom of !lie Sea. The burlesque opening by W. Brough, Esqi, founded upon the b a ll e t o f L e C orsa i r, as pro d uce d at Hear Majesty's Theatre. The harlequinade upon things in gene ral. The new and magnificent scenery painted by Mr. F. Fenton. Conrad (the Corsair) Miss Wool gar 13irha.rto (his lieutenant) Mr. J. L. Toole Med ora Mrs. Charles Dillon Clowns Mr. H. Marshall The box-office open day, from 11 to 5, under the super t tendence of Mr. Chatterton, jun. Carriages conveying parties to the Private Boxes to set down at the State entrance in Burleigh-street. THEATRE ROYAL, A DELPHI. Lessee—Mr. Ben. Webster. TO-MORROW, will be performed the popular drama of IRELAND AS IT IS. Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams. After which, A NIGHT AT NOTTING-HILL, in which Mr. Wright and Pax' Bedford will appear. Followed by a new Piece de Caracterc, entitled IN AND OUT OF PLACE. Mrs Barney Williams. To conclude with the new original comic drama, called BARNEY THE BARON. Barney O'Toole, Mr. Barney Williams. OYAL SURREY THEATRE, lk) Lessees, Messrs. Shepherd and Creswiek. THIS EVENING, VIRGINIUS. Virginius, Mr. Creswick. After which, HARLEQUIN AND THE SUMMER QUEEN. Harlequin ' Mr F. Glover ; Clown, M r . B uc k ; Pantaloon, Mr. Bradbury; th 9 Four Sprites, the Fillis Fa. wily; Columbines. Mesdames Marie and Agnes. THEATRE ROYAL, SADLER'S-WELLS. Under the Management of Mr. Phelps. THIS EVENING, will be performed THE RIVALS. Characters by Messrs. Phe'ps, 11. Marston, F. Robinson, L. Ball, C. Fenton, Belford, Haywell ; Mesdames Eburne, Atkinson, Travers, and %!rs. if. Marston. To conclude with THE COMEDY OF ERItORS. OY A L OLYMPIC THEATRE, Lessee, Mr. Alfred Wigan. This Evening, the new drama, by Tom Taylor, Esq., cAI/ed A SHEEP IN WOLFS CLOTHING. A CONJUGA L LESSON. Lullaby, Mr. F. Robsgn ; Mrs. Lullaby, Mrs., Stirling. Followed by the new farce, by Bayle Bernard, Esq., -ailed A SPLENDID INVESTMENT. Commence at half-past Seven. 4 STLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE. A:11.. Lessee and Manager, Mr. W. Cooke. Continued and unabated Success. This Evening, will be pre=ented the theme of the most flattering eulogium from the whole of the press, th 9 operatic drama of ROB ROY, with Equestrian Illustrations invented by Mr. Wm. Cooke, and with the original music. Rob Roy, Mr. James Holloway. After which, the Equestrian SCENES in the MOLE. To conclude with the equestrian comic pantomime of PA UL PRY 0/1' 11011SEEICK. Commence at seven o'clock. Dress Rues, 4s. ; Upper Bo7:es, 3s. ; Private Boxes, from 15., no charge for booking ; it, 2s ; Gallery, Is. ; Upper Gallery, 6d. vox office ope❑ from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr, IV. West. Equestrian Director, Mr. W. Cooke, jun. CANTERBURY HA LL. West m i ns t er - roa d.— OPEN EVERY EVENING.—The follow. in; company of Vocalists arc engaged for the performance of `i'clections from all the popular Operas, Madrigals, Choruses, Glees, Duets, &c., viz, : Miss E. Pearce, Mrs. J. Caulfield, Miss Brunel], Miss Summers, and Madame Marietta ; Mr. J. Caulfield, Herr F. Jonghmane, R. Grover, T. Farrant, S, Jones, J. ]Harker, W. Melling, P. Corri, Senor Antonio M, ilc Solla, and E. L. Hime ; Masters Austin, Bennett, and orri ; Messrs. Sam Collins, E. 11fackncy, and C. J. Wilkins, Pianoforte, Mr. Cecil Hicks.; harmonium, J. Caulfield, jun.; director, Mr. .J. Caulfield. Commence at Seven o'clock pre. wisely. Suppers, &c., until twelve o'clock. 71ICEI ',VAT FT. AT LONDON BRI Urn-L. DAT—Morn. 13 min. aft. 3 —Y,veni:ig 31 mid. aft. 3 '.'fl-MeßnOw—Morn. 50 min. aft. 3 —Evening 10 4 T3E WEATHEU—SIIN OFFICE, FEBRUARY 25, `FH:z.momrTim, IN TEIE SHADE. 45 !As!los , . env: yosterdsT. 37 inwest this R.lPrving nnti tiariug the 47 this day At i'AttONTEA, 30 51- -a very sudden rise this morning. WIND, and tine. S lAy g'S' .1 • LoNl.)oN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, W 7 The VICTORIA CRoss has been distributed. A glorious cat ilogue of names and deeds—published in a supplement to the London gazette of Tues day evening, the 24th of February—notifies this fact to the general cmrnunity of Englishmen. A catalogue including in it all ranks and all branches of the two great warlike professions— Private Soldiers and A.B. Seamen, Colonels, Commanders, Lieutenants, Quartlrmasters, Cor porals, a Boatswain, a Gunner, a Bombardier, a Stoker, an Ensign, and a Midshipman. For once --family and favour have been alike forgotten. Merit, or rather valour, personal daring, or indi vidual prowess being alone looked to. It is the btrago to Pluck—thi s V ICTORIA C Ross — g iven to e heroes of the War in the name of the Crown and of the Cnintry. Gallantly have the re cipients won this badge of their bravery. GrL cionsly has it been accorded to them. Long may each survive to enjoy the privilege of wear ing it upon his heroic breast as the visible tribute of gratitude and admiration accorded to him conjointly by the Nati on and the SOVEREIGN • It is very interesting to note inscribed con spicuously on this catalog ue of danntless gentle men—men distinguished above their fellows by the tokens of pre•emi neut courage —the name of Capt. WILLIA NI PEEL, R.N., a younger son of oneof the greatest statesmen who ever presided over, ani not only presided over, but materially and beneficially influenced, the destinies of the British Government. It is still more interesting to note that this gallant young Tar has been thics distinguished in a peculiar manner, not merely for one Act of Valour, gbut for three successive and very remarkable Acts of V.diur, evidencing an extraordinary degree of self-possw sion and self-sacrifice. Firstly, on the 18th Oc tober, 1854—" for having, at the greatest possible risk, taken up a live shell, the fuze still burning, from among several powder cases, outside the magazine, and thrown it over the parapet (the shell bursting as it loft his hands), thereby saving 1 ' the magazine and the lives of those immediately round if." Secondly, on the sth November, 1854 —" for having joined the officers of the Grena dier Guards at the B.tale of Inkerman, and assisted in defending the colours of that regiment, when hard pressed at the Sandbag Battery." Thirdly, on the 18th June, 1855—for "having volunteered to lead the ladder party at the assault on the Redan, and for carrying the first 1 adder until wounded." Honour to the gallant young sailor—the brave scion of a house already great in the annals of his country. Captain WILLIAM PEEL'S case, however, although conspicu ous, is not—let it be understood at once—in any way exceptional. We have simply particularised his name in the first instance, because it is a name already dear to tho hearts of Englishmen, and because the claims of the young commander hap pen at the same time to be threefold I If he was brave, he was brave simply among the brave. His prowess, heroic as it was, was a prowess in which be shares the glory with many worthy com petitors. Take the first of these evidences of his pluck. He was not alone in it. There was Lieutenant LUCAS (also of the Royal Navy), who, in the Blltie, no lass coolly and heroically took up a live shell and threw it overboard ! And there was Private WHEATLEY (of the Ist Battalion of the Rifle Brigade) who, in like man ner,* picked up a live shell and threw it over the parapet of the trenches before Sebastopol I Both being rewarded for the deed of daring with a Vic toria Cross 1 Or take the " second" of Captain WILLIAM PEEL'S claims for the cross—his volun teered participation in the deadly struggle at In kerman. Was he not accompanied— does not the London Gazette tell us immediately afterwards that he was accompanied to the field of battle on the sth of November by a young miady (EDWARD DANIELS), acting as his aide-de-camp ? While in regard to his third claim, in regard to his volunteered share in the perilous attack upon the Redan on the 18th of June—vas he not attended thither by that same midshipman as his aide-de-camp ?—the young middy " tying a tour niquet on his (Captain Panes) arm on the glacis of the Redan, whilst exposed to a very beavy fire I" Was there not, for example, on that wale 18th of June, at the Redan, the brave Lieutenant JOHN KNox, of the Rifle Brigade (2d battalion), who, not only volunteered for the ladder-party, but " behaved admirably, remaining upon the field until twice wounded." Lieutenant KNox having previously risen from the ranks, winning fortune at the point of his sword, when, as a Ser geant in the Scots Fusiliers, he showed himself " conspicuous in reforming the ranks of the Guards at the battle of the Alma," on the memorable 21st of September !t It appears almost invidious, however, to par ticularise any of the names inscribed upon this glo rious catalogue—taking them even in a manner hap-hazard for the mere purpose of illustration. Not a single one among these recipients of the VICTORIA Cnoss but has nobly earned the glory and the privilege of wearing it. * Several other dauntless ftlloivs distinguished them• selves at different times, it should be here remarked, in precisely the same manner by throwing live shells over the parapets : among others rewarded for this deed of daring by investiture with the Victoria Cross, being Privates M'Corrie, Strong, Lyons, Coffey, and Sergeant Ablett. t It is observable that this brave soldier—who had already, as we have seen, won his commission as lieu tenant in her Mentsrv's Army, by his distinguished gal lantry on the heights of the Alma—has never yet re ceived the well merited recompenco of his daring as a volunteer (as one of the ladder party) in that " forlorn hope" the attack of the 18th of June upon the Redan. A. recompence (his captaincy) to which he was none the less entitled by the circumstance of his losing an arm upon the occasion. Lard JOHN RUSSELL gave notice on Tuesday that he would, in the Committee of Ways and Means, move an amendment to the proposition of the Chancellor of the Exchequer respecting tea, that the duty should be le. 4d. per lb. for the year 1857, and continue the same for the two following years. This was the compromise sug gested at the meeting of the importers and dealers in tea, and brought by the deputation therefrom under the consideration of Sir G. C. LEWIS. The Right Hon. Gentleman at the time seemed favourably disposed towards it. But, as it is impossible to say what course he may ulti mately adopt, it is right that the question should be placed in such a form, that the opinion of the House may be taken thereon, in the event of Mr. GLADSTONE'S resolution that " The House will not grant any addition t 3 the rates chargeaLle by the Custom' Duties Act of 1855 on the articles of tea and sugar," being re jected. We have already explained that the d uties on ;ea and sugar are two of the most objectionable, every puint of view, that could be adopted. They . are the chief domestic comfort 3 of the la- bouring population—indeed they may be classed amongst. the necessaries of life. They promote a taste for (pia family enjoyment, and constitute the best antidote to the seductions of the beer shops and gin palaces. Tho retention of a high scale is diet-c -f., To of a very demoralising character, and there is perhaps no fiscal charge which the philanthropist would more urgently desire t.) see either altoge ther repealed or greatly reduced in amount. Tf the duties were greatly diminished there can be excited the national disgust and indignation, for that was (as Sir G. C. LEWIS asserts) no doubt that the consumption would increase in an inverse ratio. Tile truth of the proposition has been confirmed by experience in every COS 3 where the experiment was tried. But we have a mere accident, of which he emphatically dc clared he would scorn to take advantage. But th tt respecting the tea duties originated in his own answers, and if these were so framed as to deceive the parties he must bo held responsible for the consequences. We therefore sin cerely hope that Mr. GLADSTONE'S resolution may be affirmed, and that the House will refuse to grant any addition to the rates chargeable by the Customs Duties Aot of 185 on the ar ticles of tea and sugar. additional evidence in favour of tea—for it is found that in the Channel Islands the amount required is more than double what it is in this country, while in Australia the demand per head is more than quadrupled. The reduction to 18. per lb. would therefore by no means occasion a proportionate loss to the revenue— and as every additional lb. of tea used would re quire 41b8. of sugar, to say nothing of the extra supply of dumplings, pudding, &c., it requires no argument to show that a similar result would fol low with respect " the Corn of the Tropics !" But, in addition to these powerful reasons a policy in th e matter of indirect u st x a a retrograde -iouthe Ministerial faith is pl e d ge d i t e t to the importers and dealers in tea. Not only had the question been disposed of in 1853, but when it became essential, in consequence of the exigencies of the war, to disturb the arrange ment then entered into, a specific time WPS clearly and distinctly fixed by Parliament when the reduced duties shoul I come into Operation. To make asiiurance doubly sure a plain, straightforward interrogatory was ad dressed to the Chancellor of tha Exchequer, which received an answer so sat•sfactory in every respect that the parties interested had no hesitation in acting Upon entering into extenmiv• e contrac's and largely in creasing their stock. It is ° • sea "Litt: ifogging quibble," of the most despicable description to assert that in consequence of the answer being couched in ambiguous terms, the Financial • • Minbter is now justified in repudiating the honourable under st inding.., and victimising those who reposed con fidence in his assertions. It is far worse than that respecting the Income Tax, Which so strongly But should that just and salutary proposition be rejected there can be no doubt that Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S amendment will be a vast improve ment on the course indicated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The loss to the revenue will be comparatively trifling 1 No less than 1,640,0001. will be levied on tea more than could be raised under the existing law. This is a handsome dividend even on the sum asked by Sir G. C. LEWIS. It is true that less will be received during the present year. But he has still to receive a moiety of the war Income Tax of 16d. in the pound, and has been able to indicate a considerable surplus during the coming year, while it will give him a large amount in 1859, when the Treasury will be very weak, there being every reason, as we have already pointed eut, to fear a serious deficiency. To the 1 importers and dealers it will be a vast boon, affording them an opportunity of getting out of a considerable portion of the losses they may other wise sustain. The duty at is. 4d. will, for the present year, only occasion an extra payment of 184,5001. more than would be levied under the Act of 1855, and although 778,000/. additional will be received in each of the follow ing years, the parties will have ample time to make arrangements for the reduction of their stocks, or such other course as they may deem advisable. Besides, as we recently explained, the public will receive an immediate benefit when sd. per lb. is taken away. The retail dealers must give the benefit of at least 4d. thereof to them, while two successive falls of 2d. per lb. would not be noticed, save so far as empty assurances of an improved quality were concerned. On every ground, then, we trust that Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S amendment may be carried should the Chancellor of the Exchequer refuse the slight concession de manded. Every professing Liberal should give it an earnest and hearty support on the We fear, however, that plea does not receive much attention just at present in the representative branch of the Legislature. The interests of party have greater weight with the quasi independent members than the welfare and prosperity of the people. merits. "Read and you will learn," was the advice re peatedly given by the mother of Sir W. JONES to the incipient philosopher in the days of his boy hood. " Have you read my book," was the surly question with which, according to report, the late Dr. ABERNETHY frequently accosted his patients. Well, we have obeyed Sir GEORGE CORNEWALL LEWIS—we have read his report as he told us ; wh'%t we learned is another question. Elaborate enough it is, in all conscience, and re quires, us to calculate with him to thirds and ninths of a penny to six hundred and sixty sevenths and thousandths, and two thousands of the value of the property ; but we must decline to trouble our readers with what they will as surely skip as they do thirds and ninths, and much more than that, of a Budget speech. Business men and practical men do not value their taxis like actuaries ; they have a much more rough and ready way of deciding on these incidences, their unfairness, and on where the shoe pinches. An actuary could run a pin into us and prove to demonstration that it did not affect a millionth part of the superficies of our body, but if he did not pull it out faster than he put it in, he would run the risk of seeing much more than a millionth part of his own skin black and blue. We were somewhat amused, by the bye, at the facility with which Sir G. C. LEWIS'S attorney could argue from values of property when his ob ject was to maintain a tax ; and the utter impos sibility of reasoning on such a basis, when the question is one of applying an Income Tax to precarious and permanent incomes. Least of all could we find in the report any conclusive grounds for his flourish in the House on the 13th of this month, when ho somewhat pompously declared, " that it is a duty which falls exclusively on realised property, for which reason it ought to receive the support of those gentlemen who wish to trans fer-all taxation to realised property; that is a duty which adapts itself with singular felicity to the circumstances of the taxpayer, which is heaviest when the insurance is lightest, and lightest when the insurance is heaviest So far as he could judge, he believed it to be one of the last ditties which ought to be relinquished." Now, we must think, the elaborate report of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's advocate fails in all the impoitint points which are regarded by the public. It is a tax on realised property, it is true—but only on a comparatively small portion of realised propeity, and a portion of it which has the most ieasunable claims to exemption. Goods, the most costly subject of fire insurance, are a kind of propeity of somewhat precarious value ; but omitting that consideration, it should , be borne in mind that they are but a part of the realised property of the country, and a part, by its very nature, especially liable to all kinds of risks and contingencies. This property pays largely already to the direct taxes of the country through bill and receipt and postage stamps, as by its being constantly changing hands it .ia more ol;noxious to those charges than other kinds of real property. We should think it pays its full proportion, and more than its proportion in that way. But there is one grand distinction between two classes of property, that of being combustible or incombustible, which surely ought to exempt the hitter from Government charges, founded upon the very circumstance which makes it a more hazardous kind of property. Our Chancellor's advocate himself gives us estimates of the value of incombustible property—which, omitting the Funds, and much other property not liable to damage by Fire, amounts to the enormous total of two thousand seven hundred and fifty millions of property which pays no duty at al!. If this property paid the same d'ity to Government as that which is exposed to the risk of combustion, it would realise the enormous suns of nearly 4,500,0001. ; and, were all property included, it would not be less than about 7,000,000/. per annum ! Can any ingenuity of any Edinburgh reviewer, aided by all the report-writers in the world, cmvince the public that property in its I nature hazardous should for that very reason pay a tax which now hazardous property escapes ? The grass partiality of the tax dooms it to follow the GLADSTONE ILICOIDO Td X. There is another very pretty epigrammatic statement, relative to the tax falling heavily or lightly, in most fairly discriminated proportions. TEE SUN, LON DON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, It has only the slight disadvantage of being utterly false. Confounding in their minds the difference between the value of the property and. the sale of the premium, the reporter and his master tell us that the tax adjusts itself in beau tiful proportions to the value of the property ; the truth being, that if a man's property be so risky that he pays three guineas per cent, to the Insurance-office, he still pays as much as if he paid the office but ls. 6d. per cent. Of course the duty is less relatively to the premium, but relatively to the property it is a,greater hardship. The owner of a first-class house who pays ls. 6d. premium, plus 3s. duty, is surely better off, and feels the tax less than the man who has to pay three guineas before he pays the duty. Beautiful adjustment of incidence, certainly, which the more a man has to pay for a guarantee of his IQOI. worth of property, leaves him the same duty to pay as if the office had charged him the lowest rate. One hundred pounds of property, worth three guineas less because of its risky quality, must pay the same duty as 1001. worth, worth only is. Gd. less from the same cause. Surely, equity would demand that, when the insurance and duty together would be above the lowest rate, 4s. Gd., the duty should fall till no one, on the whole, paid more than 4s. 6d. We have not space just now to notice some minor errors, especially that of overlooking the payment of insurance by the same goods, in all their stages of manufacture, till they are entirely consumed. But it will seem to many readers almost incredible that the Chancellor of the Ex chequer's report attempts to persuade us that the Fire duty is, in no peculiar sense, a tax on pru dence ; it is as obviously so as the GLADSTONE Income Tax is a tax on conscientiousness. Few, if any other taxes, are paid on what the payer feels to bo £ 3O peol2ll4Lly an apt of prudence. In deed almost all his other prudential acts save him from taxes. If, to meet the wants of a rising family, he keeps neither horses, carriages, nor dogs, he escapes assessed taxes. If he takes a cheaper house for the same reason, he pays lower house duty and parish rates ; almost every act of self-denial saves a tax. But, if he denies himself some shillings or pounds from prudent considera tion of the hazards of fire, forthwith the Govern ment steps in and mulcts him on the average one hundred per cent, for that act of prudence ! No sophistry, not even should Mr. GLADSTONE him self come to Sir G. C. LEWIS'S 'help, will ever persuade any insurer that Government does not by the Fire D u t y l evy a tar on his prudence. LATEST NEWS. AMERICA. (BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) LIVERPOOL, TUIIRSDAY MORNING. The Cunard steamer Alps is in the river, with the New York mails of the 14th instant. WRECK OF THE PENINSULAR. STEAMER MADRID. We have received the following communication from the office of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company " FEB. 26. "A telegraphic message has been received here this morning to the effect that the steamer Madrid, conveying the outward Peninsular mails of the 17th, struck on a rock at the entrance of the port of Vigo on the 20th inst. All on board were saved. "No further particulars are known." Perhaps one of the most singular arguments alleged in favour of the duty, is, that it is quite satisfactory to those who collect it. The offices receive about 5 per cent. for performing that duty ; and it is not matter of surprise, therefore, that they should desire its continuance. In a large office it goes far towards paying the office expenses. A still stronger reason, however, is, that it is to some extent a check on, competition. It is practically found as disadvantageous to a new office as beneficial to an old one. This the Reporter himself plainly states. Most duties are in this way found to cause a partial monopoly in any manufacture, and hence it is rarely the case that the manufacturers themselves desire their repeal. The Reporter adverts to the tendency of in surance to encourage arson, and observes that it may not therefore be a saving to the community as a whole ; he forgets that it equally discourages incendiarism, since the incendiary has no spite against an office. The remark is, however, but an illustration of the determination of the Re porter to make out his case even by self-contra_ dictory arguments. We have little' doubt that the law in respect to arson in its bearing on in surance might be much improved. Many a claim would be forfeited if the insurer had to remove all fair grounds of suspicion. The legal evidence of arson may be wanting in many cases, where a jury would say that a man ought not to be paid till he gave better proof of innocence. • The Paris correspondent of the Times (second edition) says : "On the Persian question I can only add that, as I am informed, the articles of the proposed convention with England specify that the latter Power shall henceforth be treated as the most favoured nation, that is, as Russia, with respect to commercial advantages ; and, moreover, that she shall have a right to found an establish ment in the isle of liarrak and another in Or muz. These conditions would appear to be independent of the evacuation of Herat by the Persians, .and - the abandonment of Bushire by the English. The English Government , had demanded the right to appoint a Consul at Ralfrusb, a port of the Mazanderan on the Caspian Sea, but the Persian Envoy alleged that the existing treaties with Russia contain a clause prohibiting foreign diplomatic agents from residing on the shores of that sea, and no other foreign Power has an agent there. But she may enjoy the right of having Consuls on several specified points in the interior of Persia, and on the shore of the Per sian Gulf. If the conditions to be submitted to the English Government he accepted, Feruk Khan will probably go to London, merely for the ratifi cation of the treaty between us and Persia." • TRIESTE, FEB. 25. Accounts from Hong Kong, of the 15th of January, state that a numerous Chinese fleet had attacked the English squadron, and subsequently retired in good order under the forts of Canton. Admiral. Seymour had disembarked troops and burnt the greater part of the suburbs of Canton. The fleet belonging to the Chinese rebels had formed a junction with that of the imperialists at Whampoa. MADRID, FEB. 21. The decree for the reduction of some public salaries, and the abolition of others, is gazetted, and is to take effect in May next. Gonzales Bravo has left for London. FRANCE. PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING. The Debats thus replies to au article in the Univers deploring the principle of equality which forms the basis of French legislation in matters of hereditary transmission of property : "The Legislative Corps, it is known, is engaged in examining a bill-which confers on Marshal Pelissier an hereditary pension of 100,000 fr. If we allude to this bill it is in order to applaud the sectiment which bestows on the conqueror of Sebastopol a reward for services rendered to France. But we owe a reply to the obser vations made on this subject by the Univers. The great prine'ple of equality before the law, Me quality before justice, w hi c h that journal disikes, is the key-stone of modern society, of the society founded by the French revolution. To demand the restora tion of ancient privileges, of the ancient inequality, is to exact the destruction of the society in which we live ; it is tantamount to levelling the tree planted by our fathers in the night of the 4th of August, 1789. We are inspired with no democratical preju,lice ; we feel no inclination for the brutal and blind equality which only results in the dissolution of soc'al bonds and in an absolute levelling. But without disguising the im perfections and weak sides of society such as the revolu tion and the civil code have made it, we prefer it im mensely to the society of the ancien regime,' to the so ciety founded on the right of primogeniture, the right of male succession, &c. We are aware that a society consti tuted on the principle of civil equality is more difficult to govern than a society founded on privileges and on hie rarchical distinctions. The right of primogeniture, we admit, possessed certain advantages both for individuals and for society ; but the said advantages belong to the same order of ideas as those now invoked in the great American reputlic in defence of slavery. Slaves are so happy I is the saying beyond the Atlantic ; younger sons and serfs were so happy ! say the partisans of the right of primogeniture and the admirers of the middle ages. We are only very slightly affected with this happi ness esti with similar advantages. We accept and we regard the principle of civil equality as an im mense progress of reason, justice, and humanity, as a conquest which is equally profitable to the mate rial prosperity and to the personal dignity of mankind. Happily, this peinciple is now an institution which de fends and maintains itself by its own strength, and which will not be pr. judiced by the puerile declamations of the Univers. The whole world comprehends . the variety of those reactionary pretensions and utopias which have for aim to resuscitate laws, customs, insti tutions, and a whole society dead and buried some 60 years ago. What would become of the principles of '39, guaran teed by the existing constitution, were all the reactionary interpretaions, all tee arbitrary distinctions which are daily offered, t.) be accepted I The world is now swarm ing with individuals who have the pretension to correct and mo lily the programme of 'B9. The Univers would fain deprive it of the principle of equality ; others would retrench all liberty. The revolution is thus ex posed to two fires, and is menaced with the fate of the individual in the fable, who, between his young and his elderly wives, lost alike his grey and black hairs. The result is easily to be foreseen ; were care not taken, the whole programme would vanish, and the revolution would be entirely despoiled. What we seek and desire is the integrity of the programme ; we do not distinguish equality from liberty ; we have ever defended, and %re shall continue to defend, with all our power those two grand principles, without distinguishing one from the other, or without sacrificing the first to the seconolf The Union coutain3 the following reflections on the triumph of the Palmerston Cabinet in the div sion on the budget. "Notwithstanding the imposing majority which has been obtained by the English Cabinet, clear-minded in dividuals will still question the duration of the adminis• tration headed by Lord Palmerston. We will not enter into conjectures which may appear hazardous. We will confine ourselves to stating that, in our opinion, the skirmish on the motion of Mr. Disraeli will neither prove to be the most terrible n ;r most decisive of the trials re served for the British Cabinet. Other struggles await it ; other dangers menace it on a ground purely political. It has only entered the arena where various oppositions are prepared to engage it ; all depends on the attitude of its competitors, and, in particular, on that of the frac tion of Tories." BOURSE, Feb. 25.—The following were the lase quotations : End of Month. —fr. -c. 70 25 44 per Cents .. 95 50 3 per Cents 7O New Loan Bank Shares Credit. Mobilier 1,425 Austrian Belgian Fives ...... .. —• Spanish Threes Piedinontes e (5) 9l Home Debt RAILIVATS—FOR CABII. tr. e..tr c Orleans 1,410 Western 825 Northern 945 Strasburg Lyons 1,423 New Ditto Mediterranean 1,820 • Grand Central Lyons Geneva Cette SPAIN. The Madrid . journals of the 20th and 21st have ac hed us. The Duke and Duchess de Montpen r9 Ber had left Seville for Madrid. It was sa i d that M. Gonzales Bravo was to set out the next day for London as ambassador, and th.tt after presenting his credentials he was to return to take part in the labours of the Cortes. M. Martinez de la Rosa, who had been seriously ill, was getting better. The monument erected to the memory of Arguelles, Calterava, and Mendizabal bad b -en inangutated with some pomp, and their mortal remains depo ited in it. Out of regard to the memory of the deceased, the progressist journals, with the excep tion of the Clamor Publico, had appeared with black borders. The trial of General Prim had en countered the delay, the case having Keen referred anew to the public prosecutor. The military governor of Andllusia, had declared the diAr'ct of Almaden in a state of siege, owing to reports hav ing been spread that an insurrection was to take HOLT, NO.RFOLK7R4BBIT3 AGAIN ! TO THE EDITOR OF THE Strn SlR,—Generally the minds of persons, however tyran nically inclined, are acted upon by public opinion, but in " The great Holt Rabbit Case," the craniums of those who should be influenced appear too thick for public opinion to have any effect upon. It will hardly be credited that, after so strong and general expression of disgust by the press in this case, another prosecution could have taken place ; but it is, nevertheless, the fact. John Hagon, one of the men imprisoned for the last case of alleged trespass, has re ceived another summons this morning, and will appear before the magistrates on Saturday next. The informer is servant to George Barker, Esq., and the summons is signed by W. Hamilton Pemberton, Eq., of Holt Hall. The man will be defended. H ow the magistrates will act remains to be seen. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, A VOICE FOR THE POOR, Feb. 25, 1857. Stamford. in t own on M on d ay rro T m he ß M urg ar b q ie u y is of , nearE 'lSt emr The Countess of Jersey is expected i n t own on Mon day from Middleton Park. His lord s hi p an d t h e rest of toe family are expected on Wednesd a y. The Earl and Countess of C a ith ness have arrived at their residence in Hill-street for th e season. Lord aed Lady Elward Thynn e h ave left town for e t a Hampehire, where they will remain till after Eester. Lady Wallicourt and the Hon, Misses Make have taken a house in St. James's-plece, late the residence of the Earl of Sandwich. The Baron and Baroness Rise have left the Clarendon for Paris. Lady O'Donel and Miss O'Hara have arrived in town for the season. Lady Beresford has left Paris for her residence at Ye rsailles. Lori Normanby gave a grand ball on the 17th at Flo. rence. The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess and their family honoured his Excellency with their presence on the occasion. Baron de Bourqueney, ambassador of France at the Court of Vienna, ha., according to a letter from Vienna of the 19th, in the Borsenhalle of Hamburg, applied for and obtained a leave of absence. The marriage of the Archduke Ferdinand-Maximilian with the Princess Charlotte of Belgium will be celebrated at Milan in the month of June, and the Archduke Francis Charle s an d t h e Archduchess Sophia, she parents of the bridegroom, intend to be.present at the ceremony. At the meeting of proprietors of the English, Scot tish, and Australian Chartered Bank yesterday, a divi dend at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum was declared, free of income tax. The dividend declared by the Submarine Telegraph Company yesterday at their meeting was at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum. The first annual meeting of the shareholders of the Ban Ottoman Bank of Egy is ea'led for the 24th of March. That of the shareholders is expected to be shortly convened. Mr. H. Berkeley, M.P., will bring the subject of the ballot before the House of Commons after Easter. Mr. S. Warren, M.P., has given notice of his inten tion to bring a bill before the House of Commons after Easter, to empower the House of Commons and its com mittees to take evidence upon oath. Mr. Heywood has paired with Sir B. Burrell until the 3d of March. CANTON CORRESPONDENCE. There were issued yes terday correspondence relative to the entrance into Can ton (1850-1855), and further correspondence relative to the operations in the Canton River. It appears that another small dividend is about to he announced to the creditors of Messrs. Whitmore, Wells, and Co., bankers of Lombard -street. This firm failed about 20 years ago, with liabilities to the extent of 350,0001. Dividends to the amount of 15s, or 16a. in the pound have already been paid. It is estimated that the shipments of specie by the Peninsular and Oreentai steamer for India and China on the 40 will b 3 about 750,000/., principally silver, a con siderable quantity being engaged for Shanghai. A petition against the return of Mr. Weguelin, for Southampton, will be presented to the House of Com mons to-morrow evening. An imperial ukase just issued at St. Petersburg allows the importation of foreign salt into Bessarabia during the present year. PARLIAMENTARY BILLS .Mr. Whiteside's two bills for the reform of the Irish Court of Chancery, as regards the titles of purchasers and the appointinenz of ragi: - . trars, were issued yesterday. The efforts to save the Royal Mail steamer Tyne have been resumed, and she was on Monday morning hauled ten feet astern. It is to be hoped that with 1 more water next tide the re su l t will be succeisfu 1857. place on pretext of the dearness of food. In virtue of state of siege all the inhabitants 11 , 2 d ordered t 3 give up their arms, under pain of being brought to trial before a military tritninal. It is stated in a ministerial organ that - t:e number of vessels about to be sent by the government against .Mexico is, including transports for 10,000 men, to be between 20 and 30. " The country," says this journal, " may be assured that the national honour shall receive complete satisfaction." The Opinione of Turin of the 23d states that the Austrian Government has given orders to refine passports for Turin during the Carnival. The Ri;3orgimento of Turin of the 221 mentions a rumour current at Florence to the effect that ti:e Grand Duke is about to grant an amnesty, from the operation of Which MM. Guerazz;, Montanelli, Pigli, and Montazio alone are to be excluded. The Count de Chambord arrived at Parma on the 20th, on a visit to his august sister and royal nephews. SINGULAR DELUSION.—Mr. Spooner has got into his head the curious notion, and nothing apparently will ever get it out again, that he is an Apostle Spooner.— Punch.. The session of the Danish Chamfers closed on the 23d inst. The Grand Council of the kingdom (Rigs Raad) wit be convokel in March. THE LATE GAROTTE ROBBERY NEAR BIRKENHEAD.— Thomas Begley, an oyster seller having a stall near St. John's-market, Liverpool, has been committed for trial at the next Chester assizes, charged with being concerned in the garotte robbery and attempt at murder committed on Mr. Henry Saxby, a young medical student at Rock Ferry, near Liverpool, on the 14th ofJanuary last. THE SUPPOSED POISONING BY LOCUST NUTS.—YeF terday Mr. NN akley concluded the adjourned inquest on the boy whose death was attributed to eating some "locust nuts," a fruit recently imported from Egypt. It appeared on analysis that the fruit is not poi sonous, and the jury returned a verdict of death from natural causes. BANKERS' RETURNS.—A second supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, published yesterday evening, contains a copy of bankers' returns, made in pursuance of the Act 7th and Bth Victoria, giving the names of all the partners and shareholders in the various banking firms in London. The list occupies 150 pages of the Gazette. EMIGRATION tO THE WESTERN CONTINENT.—LIVER POOL, Wednesday.—The screw steam ships N eel) American, Capt. Grange, for Portland, and the Kan garoo, Capt. Jeffrey, for New York, sailed to-Jay, the former at noon, with the Canadia r mails, 84 passengers, and a full cargo of merchandise ; and the latter with a small mail, 246 passengers, and a moderate, but valuable cargo. At the Southampton Dock Company's meeting yes terday a dividend at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum was declared. It was mentioned that the gross earnings last year exceeded those of 1855 by 1,7371. TRADE ACCOUNTS.—The return for January, 1857, was issued yesterday. The exports show an increase of 1,000,0001. over the corresponding month of 1856. Some additional particulars have been/ introduced into the return, such as distinguishing the countries whence the principal articles are imported, and to which British productions are exported. DENSE FOG.—Yesterday morning a fog of density unusual at this advanced period of the season came over the metropolis, suspending for the time all occupations for which artificial light was not available. Shortly after noon the fog suddenly cleared off, and the remainder of the day was light and clear. Advices received at Lloyd's yesterday from Constan tinople, dated the 11th inst., state that boisterous weather had been experienced, which had interrupted navigation. The French steamer from. Marseilles was over due two days, and other trading vessels were also out of time. THE REV. W. SINOLAIIL—The Rev. W. Sinclair closed his labours in connection with St. George's Church, Leeds, on Sunday morning last, after discharg ing the duties of the incumbency for upwards of 19 years. On the following morning the rev. gentleman was enter tained in the Wellington Hall by a large number of his friends, and was presented with a cheque for 500 guineas, and an elegant silver tea and coffee service. THE SILENT SHELL.—A puff in the corner of a news paper, pretending to be a critical paragraph, commences with the statement following :—" The narrative of Ad miral Napier's Baltic campaign has burst ttoon the poli tical and naval world like a bombshell." Yes ; very much like one of those bombshells which the gallant Ad miral poured into CrOnstadt. The explosion has made a wonderfully small noise.—Punch. THE RECTORY OF ST. GILES'S.—On Tuesday the Rev. A. W. Thorold, late Curate of Trinity Church, Maryle :bone, who has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor to the Rectory of St. Giles's-in-the-Fiells, in succession to Dr. Bickersteth, Bishop of Ripon, formally read himself in, having been inducted by authority of the Bishop of London, on the previous day. REPRESENTATION OF THE CITY OF GLASGOW.—The writ for the election of another Member for the city of Glasgow, in room of Mr. John Macgregor, was received by the Sheriff of Lanarkshire yesterday, and the nomi nation will probably take place early next week. Two candidates have been already proposed—viz., Mr. Walter Buchanan of Shandon, an d M r . H um ph rey E. Cram Ewing. Both are Liberals. The Lord Provost is chairman of Mr. Buchanan's committee. It is thought probable that Mr. Ewing will decline the honour in the circurustences. CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.—We stated in The Stan of Friday that an inquest had been held at Dawlish, Devon shire, on the body of a girl, aged 14, who was alleged to have died through the it -treatment which she received from her father, a shoemaker named Newberry. The coroner's jury did not consider the evidence sufficient to justify them in returning a verdict of manslaughter, but requested the coroner, Mr. W. A. Cockes, to censure Newberry for his brutal conduct to the poor child. Since tben the magistrates for the division have caused him to be apprehended, and on Saturday after hearing evidence, they committed him for trial at the ensuing assizes on the charge of manslaughter. ETON COLLEGE AQUATICS. —The boating season usu ally commences on St. David's day, but in consequence of the Ist of March falling on Sunday, and the trial, taking place at the college on Monday, in which many of the aquatics are corn petitors, Tuesday, the 3d prox. has been fixed for th e severa l craft to take the water, on which day it is expected eight long boats will be launched. The rafts laid up in ordinary during the win ter months have already been placed in their respective positions, off Goodman's, Searle's, and Tolladay's. Cep lain Baring's eight have been out daily during the week, in the Victory. THE GUARDS. —On Monday and Tuesday next the following changes- of quit ten of the Foot Guards will take place :—The 2d Battalion of Coldstream Guards, which have been doing duty at Windsor Castle since July list, will march from the Sheet.street Barrack's, under command of Colonel sacks, for Wellington Barracks, London. The 31 Battalion of Grenadier Guards, under the command of Captain Q. Alrocander, will march from the Wellington Barracks to relieve the Collstreams at Windsor ; and the let Battalion of Coldstream will leave the Tower for the camp at Aldershot-, under the command of Colonel Lord - F. Peulet. Dr. Skelton, battalion surgeon of the Coldstream Guards is lying dangerously ill at th e Sh eet - street Barracks, Windsor. THE CromEatr COMHISPIONERS.—At the meeting of the E linbergh Town Council on Tuesday the Lord Provost moved, "That the Council resolve to present a petition to the House of Commons, praying them to take measures for marking the sense which the public entertain of the important services rendered to the country by Sir John M'Neill and Colonel Tulloch, in their inquiry into the causes - of the disasters that befel our troops in the Crimea, and in the valuable report submitted by them to Government." His lord ship remarked that the zeal, intelligence, ability, and intrepidity displayed by the commissioners in the Cri mea had been universally acknowledged and appreciated throughout the country, while their services bad been most beneficial to the army, and what they had to re quest of their representatives in Parliament was that they should take some steps whereby the names of the commissioners should go down to posterity as benefac tors of their country, and that they should show that such lribours and services as theirs would always com mand the gratitude of their fellow-countrymen. The motion:was unanimously and cordially approved. Tl#>, CRIMEAN ARMY.—Some returns just published give the following defails respecting the army in the Crimea. It appears that "the total number of cavalry who joined the army in the East amounted to 4.819, of whom 386 were killed or wounded ; the Royal Artillery to 7,032, of whom 794 were killed or wounded ; the Sappers and Miners to 403, of whom 140 were killed and wounded ; and the total infantry to 43,276, of owhom 13,297 were killed or wounded. Thus, separate e of retard'thes the general total of all arms was 55,530;) 14,63 r 'were killed or wounded, A se shows That up to the Ist of June, 1856, 2,755 officers and men (including 157 officers) were killed in the Crimea, and that 515 officers, 579 non-commissioned officers, and 10,782 mnennn.nwnerare,wsionunnoddendffi. officers af and wounded 86 officers, 85 mi 1,848 men died ; while 147 officers, 574 n on - c ommissioned officers, and 15,320 men died from sickness, and 1,137 non-commissioned officers and 13,581 men were invalided at the end of the war. 2,627 horses were lost, of which 401 were killed. THE MAILS. SOUTHABIPTON, Wednesday. The United States mail steamship Hermann, Captain Hig gins, sailed hence to-lay with the German Frenc3, and English mails for New York, 60 passengers, $lO,OOO in specie, and about 400 tons of cargo. A very handsome silver snuffbox has been presented to captain Higgins by the six captains of the new European and American Company's steamships who went across to Bremen in the Hermann a fortnight since "in remembrance," as the inscriptio n s t ates, " of a happy cruise i n hi s s hip, and admiration of his qualities as a sal )r and a gentleman.h The Hamburg and Brazilian Cempany's steamship, Petropolis, Captain Gcele, sailed this afternoon i for Lis- bogie, Pernambuco, B ahia, and Rio J a neiro , , in z b t ie h n a a b r o r u o t , 70 passengers, 80,000/, in specie, and a h v. n in le a re ll il a a b u o ti t i l s t e o . 00Amtoc,nns,0 o t f h E e n p g a l n is se h r , ,g F er re s, n n. o re , 2an6dsiGerman e r l i e e i s o t , s. lo T f h ir e Bahia, petrc. Mercy, of whom 10 are des rued for and six fer Pernambuco), and two priests. P on board, and will polis has about 1,800 tons of tion, to Rio. The Belgic!' Froceed, without taking in co i a , l r e a o a n t s a a n tl y an i t n i t n err i n z e n d y i a a l te m s a O i t l - B C Com pany's ' l s e a steamship her e hn Belgique,Tnesaay afternoon,C apteinlVl 0 . n S. h T e r ra : u e n tzz, voyage to New York, with the Belgian mails, .0 pa s _ sengers from this port, a full general cargo. The e d s n p e a ar ilBoho screw from Astrcitaimveerrp_,a„d Bar celona, Captain Brunette Seidel for Hamburg on Tuesday.. THE QUARTERLIES. The Quarterly Review. No. CCI. The new number of The Quarterly has already reached a second edition. We are not surpti,ed '4t. it. It is alt .crether a most remarkable number. Full of interest, full of novelty, replete with evi dences of refined and elegant scholarship, and abounding with information. There are eight se parate coutributi...ns, making up the contents of the pre,ent instaiment. The. first of theie eight articles be'ng a very elaborate and, as it prOves when, once fairly adventured upon, a singularly readable sur vey of the topographical labours of Messrs. Baker, Bridges, Fuller, S oneberg, Hudson, Whellael and llartshorne, in illustration of the "History and Anti(pities of Northamptonsh're " Next we have—very pleasant readi ng f or M r. H arry Brad bury—a genial paper upon "Ferns and their por traits—Nature- Prinfng," in which the reviewer not less eagerly than the review - stq evinces a readiness to—. "Hie to haunts right seldom seen, Lovely, lonesome, cool, and green, Where the morning dew lies longest, Where the Lady Fern grows strongest::" according to Sir Walter's exquisite sylvan descrip tion. Later on, guided and companioned by ano ther critic in the Quarterly, we wander off, in a pleasant Waltonian essay, in quest of that Emperor of Fish " The Salmon." Another reviewer de scAnti,)g upon "The Rat" merrily reminds us at the outset of his treatise upon it, how— " Boswell relates that the wits, who assembled at the house of Sir Joshua Reynolds to hear Grainger's poem on the Sugar cane' read in manuscript, burst into laughter wheln, after much pompous blank.verse, a new paragraph commenced with the invocation— " Now, Huse, let's sing of rats." Adding— " But if a mean topic for the bard, they are an interesting subject to the naturalist, an anxious one to the agriculturist, and of some importance to everybody." Previougly, however, to these two eccentric, but instructive and entertaining, papers anent "The Rat" and " The Salmon"—we are indebted to a gifted and 'scholarly critic in the Quarterly for a masterly disquisition upon " Homer and his Suc cessors in Epic Poetry.' A disquisition in which —setting aside not only the great mass of Epic Poets (Secondary and Subordinate), but with them even Milton with his " Paradise Lost," and Dante with his "Diving Cornmedia"—the Reviewer con trasts, and weighs in the balance, and analyses, with the subtlest tokens of taste and judgment, Homer's " Iliad " and " Odyssea," Virgil's "Eneid," and Tasso's " Gerusalerame Liberate." Before enter ing, however, upon this more detailed examination of the great masterpieces of Homer, Virgil, and Tasso, the Quarterly .Review observes incidentally of Dante as compared with Milton, that while he is in the Purgatorio and Paradise more heavenly than Milton, be is throughout the Diviva Commedia' "truly and profoundly human." Subsequently, in illustration, or rather verification, of the remark that " the immense power of Virgil as a poet bad been demonstrated before he wrote the '2Eneid," the writer observes, very admirably, "He had shown their full splendour in the Geor gics ; though the eooe or (so to speak) the heart, even of that great work was touched with paralysil by his Epicurean and se lf-centring philosophy. It is added, however, a little later on—as regret fully as truthfully—that about the only Touch of Nature in the whole of that grand epic of the Eneid is the simile (viii., 407) of the mother la bouring with her maidens at night " Castum ut servare cubilo Conjugis, et possit parvos edncero natos." As a magnificent specimen of Hcmer's descriptive powers, we have, excerpted, his picture of the first great mental convulsion of Achilles : We oaro• IDAsionn. 6' are 147/Er', iv 6E of irop arieEcraw Xacioure atetvaexa tuppipttev, it 8 7 e sbarryavov gir ipvocralavoc irapci roes ttiv avaaricraw, 0 8' 'Arpeianv ivaptgot, iiF riXov 7rainntlV, ipplicriti re OVILOV. While, as a crowning tribute of homage to the ge nius of Tasso, the whole of this really masterly cri ticism upon Epic Poetry closes with these earnest remarks of the review& :—That while— " It must be confessed a great and sharp descent from the stature of Homer as a creative poet to that of Tasso—yst he too is a classic of Italy, and a classic of the world ; and if for a moment we feel it a disparagement to his country that she suffers in this one comparison, let her soothe her ruffled roe collection by the consciousness that though Tasso has not rivalled Homer, at least no other poet of a modern time and country has rivalled him; none has erected, upon similar foundations to his, a fabric so lofty and so durable, so full of beauty and of grace ; so well entitled, if not to vie with the very greatest achievement of the ages that went before him, at least to challenge or to win the admiration of those that have succeeded. To lose the match against Homer is far more than to win it from another competitor. Few indeed are the sons of genius, and elect among the elect, who can be brought into comparison with that sire and king of verse ; and Tasso we are persuaded would bear us no grudge for thus far, in his words, limiting his honours " e cio fig sommo onore ; Questi gia con Gernando in gars venue," The tone of the very admirable biographic criti- SiStn upon " Sir Charles Napier" —upon tits Sir Charles Napier upon the great Sir Charles Napier, the Conqueror of Scinde, and the Hero of Meannee and Hyderabad, may at' once be conjectured from the subjoined preamble to it— " This,' says Sir William Napier,"shall be the story of a man who never tarnished his reputation by a shameful' deed—of one who subdued distant nations by his valour, and then governed them so wisely that English rule wag/ reverenced and loved where before it had been feared and execrated.' This we may add is the story of a man who united in his person qualities as fascinating as were. ever combined in a hero—of a man who joined to the chivalry of a soldier the sensitiveness of a woman—whose soul seemed by turns to be flaming with fire and melting with tenderness—whose life presents a singular combination of romantic adventures with domestic virtues—of memorable deeds with the unfailing commentary of sagacious reflec tions and touching sentiments." • And rightly is the Life of Charles Napier penned in this spirit of love and admiration—whether writ ten "at large" by the pen of his heroic and gifted brother Sir William,* or "in little" by the hardly s le p s e s ak co o n f g c en ha ia r l le c s i N itc a i pie in r, a t s he he ought sp F ok o— e r no to as he has been hitherto so seldom spoken of, in the words of Truth, is literally to speak of him in the language of Panegyric I From the preceding arti cle—a biographic criticism, or as it might perhaps be more correctly designated the posthumous apology of " Lord R iglan " we extract the following interesting memento of the tranquil manner of the demise of a gentle and gallant soldier. Premising that the reviewer has just im mediately before this observed that Lord Raglan had only taken to his bed on the 26th of June, 1855 " The evening after ho was thought to have improved, an d, by no means to have gone back on the morning of the 28th, but about four o'clock in the afternoon it became evident to everybody that he was rapidly sinking. His nephew, Lord e N w a 8 a i W ith better, el te that tfetr Durghersh, whom he loved for the sunny disposition con ga . 'dal to his own, which he retained in the midst of dang er an d • trial, informed him e wasohte to affirmedgrowing w sh t to worse. taat lkhhe w 1" reso lute mind which had attended him through life, and w hi c h . 1 n succumbed to ed h nothi ng, weve,, 1 undis turbed till about eight o'clock, when General Aire to rouse anti l were then the rieapsteawteodrdseovherae spoke. l p ti o m k e e s him, told him that his nephew was in the room. Y' He woke up and said, Francis, come to the other side,' Francis give me ia up. h They a hand ,' d , ' Francis, e n e e x i pYe if d t twenty minutes afterwards in such perfect quietness that the bystanders could hard ly tell he was gone,—dying with the same simplicity with which ho had lived. Providence who had visited him with so many afflictions to fit him for this happy Dour, • , spared him the sorrow of apprehending his danger and the bitterness of pang which would have come over him when he thought of the relatives and friends far away in his native laud. His entire life may be said to have been a preparation for death. Te the eye of the observer his char acter seemed without a single flaw, and many a time have his friends been heard to say that, if ever a perfect being existed in the world, Lord Raglan was the man. That he was chosen solely for his qualities in his early youth as a bosom friend of Sir Arthur Wellesley, and that he retained this pre-eminence. without a moment's interruption, to the death of the Duke_ a space of mere than forty years—would be evidence itself he was possessed of extraordinary worth." The eighth and concluding article relates to "Our Political Prospects—Domestic, Foreign, and Financial." * It may be permitted to us here briefly to remark th a t our comments upon the latest historic masterpi ece o f Lieut.-General Sir William Nap ier, Vols. I. an d 1 1. of his glorious brother's biography— " The Life and Opinions °' Murreaoy : Londou — are only postponed un til such i n the heavy debates of Parli ament may of General Sir Charles James Na p ier, G.C.8 . P1 4 vols. t l i 2 in me as a pause a ff,d . u s (literally) space in our columns for their publi c ation.—[Em SUIT.] Last night Mr. S. Cowell, who has been "starring it" in the provinces for the last three or four mont h s, reap . reap peared for one night at hi s o ld favourite place of amuse. ment, the Canterbury Hall, So enthusiastic was his reception that the audie nce were reluctant to part corn. pany, even after Mr. Cowell b a d sung four of his famous comic songs without the slightest intermission. Tile re appearance.of this favourite comic singer was entirely unexpected, as Mr. Cowell, having to pass through Lon don on. his way to Scotland, determined to spend an evening with his old friends. He gave his services proprietor of this establiasnhdm leyts,;.etehntitliiimhowing the respect and good feeling g ex ra F is tla A ti T n t A g n b ' y,lßE a fire broke out in O Mr. ent C. Morton, the worthy n a S p a e t r u t r i d n a n y e m i o a rni m rg oi s e b t ou K t l ir l. k o h ' e o a lo te ck n: near Huddersfield known RR Levi's mill, and the pro, Perty of Mr. Steard, of Hudd ers fi e ld. Whil e a man o f feak intellect named Watiam Smith was wallowing cotton and wool together, in the teazer, or willow room, the friction of the machinery ignited the cotton. Smith drew the burning cotton out of the machine and threw g upon a ma ss o f woo l an d cotton lying by, which l a v thus ig n it e d . The flames spread with great e to the extent of about 2 0001. was d one . rapidity, arid, befor e they c-übl he extinguished, burnt bcdy o f S mit h was afterwards found, crouch e d behind some oil ca s k s . A n i nq uest was held upon the The charred and damage remain,"Acci dental death" eoaftlr, was returned. unfortunate wan, and a verdict of