The Press.
London, England, 1857-05-16 00:00:00

MR. WILLIAM RUSSELL.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.
Vr.kni's Traviata was to have hem produced on
Thursday night, but, owing to the indisposition of
Signor Graziani, Rigoletto was substituted. At least
we have the authority of some of the daily papers,
for we were unavoidably absent. On the other
hand there appeared a long and elaborate notice by
one of our morning I contemporaries on the per-
formance of La Traviata, in which the respective
versions of the piquant Piccolomini and the brilliant
llosio are keenly criticised. But on looking at the
affiche for this night (Saturday) we find that the
first night of La Traviata is formally announced.
Was then the criticism on the Traviata a case of
mesmerism or of spirit-rapping? Monday's journals
will enlighten the world no doubt on this myste-
rious point.

Mlle. Vietoire Balfe will appear next Thurs-
day as Antina in the Sonnambula.

TFIS gentleman, whose world-wide reputation as the
Crimean correspondent of the Times during the
Russian war leaves it unnecessary to do more than
name him, has entered into an arrangement with the
enterprising Mr. Beale, by which Mr. Russell's expe •
riences are made available for a series of lectures.
The first of these was delivered at Willis's-rooms on
Monday, the second on Thursday, and the third,
which concludes the course, will be given to-night.
The material of the two lectures which have already
been delivered is excellent ; the descriptions of the
various scenes, tragic or humorous, witnessed by
Mr. Russell, are very graphic ; and with the best
taste he avoids, or lightly touches, debateable matter.
His genial and pleasant manner is all in his favour;
but before his lectures have justice done to them, he
must either learn them by heart, or acquire a readi-
ness and fluency which will enable him to extempo-
rise, and so get over the ground at a more rapid
pace. Such an audience—literary, artistic, and
otherwise distinguished—as gathered to support Mr.
Russell on Monday is certainly not often collected.
There were present Thackeray, Douglas Jerrold,
John Leech, Planche, Mark Lemon, Carter Hall,
Mrs. Hall, T. P. Cooke, Clarkson Stanfield, John
Oxenfoid, Charles Dickens, Shirley Brooks, Peter
Cunningham, Sir Charles Taylor, Charles Mackay,
Robert Bell, B. Lumley, Colonel Tulloch, Gruneisen,
Ella, Colonel de Bathe, Charles Dance, Thomas
Fraser, J. C. Deane, F. Fladgate, Hon. Mr. and Mrs.
Wrottesley, cum multi. aliis.

SIR H. RAWLINSON UPON MOHAMMERAH.
SIR HENRY RAWLINSON last Monday delivered a
most interesting lecture with reference to the recent
operations of Sir Jaynes Outram up the Euphrates.
Sir Henry first explained the geographical position
of Mohammerah:—

Although it was a place of considerable interest, he
believed that at the present hour it was but little known.
Its position was set forth in a very few maps, and there
were not many persons, even among the best informed,
who were acquainted with the actual position of the place
which had been recently captured by the British troops.
The question was constantly asked, " Where is Mohatn-
merah ; is it in Persia or is it in Turkey ? " The whole
country from Ararat to the Persian Gulf had been scien-
tifically surveyed by the English and Russian Commis-
sioners for a distance of 1,000 miles, and the physical or
geographical question at issue between Persia and Turkey
was whether Mohammerah was on the Euphrates or on
the Karoon. It was agreed that the country watered by
the Euphrates belonged to Turkey, and the country
watered by the Karoon belonged to 1 ersta ; but the ques-
tion was, as he had just stated, whether Mohammerah was
on the one river or on the other. It was finally decided
that Mohammerah should be considered as belonging to
Persia, but there was reason to believe that that was con-
trary to geographical accuracy. He himself was of opinion
that the place was situated on the Euphrates, and, if so, it
belonged to Turkey.
With respect to the navigation f the Euphrates, Sir
Henry Rawlinson said :
The only navigable mouth of the Euphrates was at
Mohainmerah. It was not practicable in the ordinary
acceptation of the term; it was not like the Thames; it
never had more than three fathoms of water, and was
generally only from twelve to fourteen feet. But very few
vessels could cross the bar of the Euphrates without
grounding.
The distinguished lecturer then read some notes
upon the ancient history of Mohammerah

It had, as he had already stated, been ruled that Mo•
hammerah was Persian, and the Persians had occupied the
place for a certain period, but the Turkish Government
was never satisfied with that adjudication, and within the
last six weeks, when it was known that an expedition had
gone forth with the intention of attacking Mohammerah,
the Turkish Government entered a protest against it.
They (lid not consider that they had lost their territorial
claim to that place. it was not generally known that
Mohammerah was formerly a city of a very famous Greek
kingdom, and although it might not have been the capital,
it formed part of the kingdom of Karaknia and Messime.
It was a city of great importance, and there were extant
coins which issued front its mint.
Against the reported healthfulness of the situation,
Sir Henry liawlinson protested energetically. The
town stood upon alluvial deposits :
It was the most "pestilential bole" in the world; and
to prove that, it was only necessary for him to mention
that on one occasion, when 500 Persian troops were sent
in, only 100 came out—•4oo had died. That, however,
was considered a bad season ; but the mortality was
always about fifty per cent. The heat was extreme—so
hot, indeed, that, according to an ancient author, a lizard
could not cross the street, for he was burnt to death in his
passage from one aide to the other. Then the most im-
portant question to consider was, what should be done
with the British troops to prevent that great mortality
during the time it was necessary for them to remain.
Their stay would be prolonged until the articles in
the Treaty of Peace were acted upon, which would not be
until the expiration of three months after the ratification,
which was not to take place before the 4th of June; and
the unhealthiest months of all in the year were those the
. Owl)* bad to remain, for the beat commenced in April
•

and continued until September. He hoped, therefore,
General Outram would adopt every precaution to prevent,
as far as possible, the troops falling victims to the
climate. So unhealthy was it that none of the governors
ever thought of residing there. He trusted Sir J.
Outram would fix upon Shuster, which, for thirty miles,
was a magnificent garden, where sugar, rice, nuts, opium,
and other things grew in great luxuriance, and where, if
proper precautions were taken, the mortality would not
be greater than those to which troops were exposed in
open field.
In the course of a 'short discussion that followed
the lecture,
Mr. CRAUFORD expressed his surprise that
Alexander the Great should have planted colonies
where the thermometer marked 130 in the shad.,
and where it appeared almost impossible for any
person to exist. _ _ _

Sir H. RAWLINSON replied that it was an historical
fact; and not only did Alexander found a c Tony
there, but ho named it Pellman, after his native
place Pella, in Macedonia.

THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH.

A CRITIC in the Plymouth Mall reviewing an article
upon the Emperor of the French, in the last number
of the New Quarterly, gives the following sketch of
the leading character in the review:—

There have been but few men in relation to whom the
" wisdom of the wise " has been so utterly at fault as the
Emperor Napoleon 111. We all know what some of the
leading politicians of a school that arrogates to itself no
mean share of the perception and sagacity vouchsafed to
mankind, were in the habit of saving of him. Lord Nor-
manhy, following the fashion of his friends, wrote in the
most disparaging terms of Louis Napoleon, and even the
sharp sighted Thiers, when he first heard him speak in
public, ventured to hint that there was no dancer to be
apprehended from one with such little brains. We will
not inquire how far the opinions of such men have been
publicly recanted. J togmatists are not accustomed to re-
examine their opinions, or they would cease to be dog-
matists. Of the splendid abilities of the Emperor of the
French, Englishmen, not bound to be false to present con-
viction iu order to be true to past sentiment, have long
since ceased to doubt. Napoleon has given the highest
proof of genius for government. He has the individuality
and, as it will be found, the perfect consistency of character
which mark the great man. No creature for the operation
of Ministries, no tool for the contrivances of flatterers, he
has his own views, and pursues his own plans. If he seeks
advice he does not get a mere iteration of his own c( n-
elusions, for those about him are not learned in his secrets;
and adopting Bacon's precept for princes, in ascertaining
the minds of others lie does not tincture their views by a
previous unguarded declaration of his own. If a Minister
has to be displaced, there is no weak or hypocritical Mani-
festation of an indiscreet attachment ; if he has work to be
done he adopts the materials and chooses his opportunity
for doing it. The thing necessary for him and for France
is the thing resolved upon. The hour must have the
man. But he is not without friendships, sympathies,
or moral fixity of resolve. His loyalty to the cause
in which France and England engaged will be one of the
most conspicuous instances or disinterested fidelity recorded
in history. There was enough in our bungling and breaks.
down to induce an ally to pause; enough had been said of
him by the very man who prayed for the continuation of
his alliance, to make him distrust, but he stood true to his
connection and his policy. He was the first to perceive
and to seize the opportunity fur restoring peace. In this
he served the interests and gave effect to the wishes of
France; but the course was not less acceptable to this
country, at least to the prudent and thoughtful portion of
the people. Peace was the blessing we all wanted, but in
addition to its ordinary fruits, of which poets have sung and
moralists have discoursed, it gave us the chance of boasting
of what we should have done had not the war ceased, It
is much more pleasant to do that to any, than to fail in
the slightest degree. We have faith in that indomitable
courage, that irrepressible power which is above all Gc.
vernments ; but we imagine perversity hail not been spent
out, nor had incapacity been all used up at the date of the
Paris Conferences. Napoleon is a Frenchman aver
Frenchmen. If he is not better than his age, he is fur
better than the best of his detractors ; perhaps superior to
their idea of true greatness. He has succeeded in what
appeared two impossible things. He has reduced to
order the most discordant elements of French polity ; he
has made Republicanism and Imperialism coalesce ; he
has initiated a strong government amidst a universal
clash of objects, theories, and anarchical propensities.
That is something; but he has instituted what the first
Napoleon ardently aspired after, but what was always
thought impracticable—a solid union, in sentiment and
aim as well as true interests, between the Governments,
and, what is far more, the people, of England and France.
It is easy for some petty malcontent to abuse, but it is
agreeable for the intelligent observer of events to mark
the high qualities of such a man. This has been done by
the reviewer. He has set in contrast the recent and able
exposition of Napoleon's character as exemplified by his
life and policy, by " A British Officer ;" and the waspish
criticisms by .lames Augustus St. John. The vie media of
truth has been happily hit. The essay is just what an
honest Englishman would be proul to present to a
Frenchman, as a proof of' the justice and power of distin-
guished authorship in this country.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD AT GREAT BUDWORTH, in
Cheshire, is confirmed by all accounts of the local
papers. Small nuggets are announced, and the
whole neighbourhood is declared to be in a state
of the greatest excitement.

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