The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-29 00:00:00

ROYAL OPERA, DRURY-I.A.NE.
Lessee. Mr. E. T. Smith.
'fIIIS EVENING,

is nearly related to the chosen Ruler of France—
one of the young blood royals that will replace
the effete and corrupt dynasties that have pro-
voked the wrath both o GOD and man, who have
)rofited nothing by the past, and can hold out no
;lopes for the future.
The policy of France and England is not one
of aggrandisement. But although they may not
seek personal profit, the exigencies of the hour
may compel interference—the neutral territories
may become the arenas in which the sanguinary
strife will be carried out. Each of the
belligerents will of course transfer the
lonflict from their own dominions, and
that which the folly of its rulers has rendered
" neutral ground " will be the venue of the most
deadly conflicts, which must render important
changes inevitable. We may reasonably hope
that the victory will not be on the side of despot-
ism, that. there will be no " Holy Alliance" to
enslave free nations, but that, on the contrary, the
object of France, and England, and Sardinia will
be to promote the cause of liberty and civilisation,
and to bestow Constitutional Governments on
peoples who are now the serfs of despotism. The
vacillation of Prussia, the treachery of Austria,
the tyranny of Naples, may do more to advance
the sacred cause of freedom all over the globe
than the most energetic and patriotic efforts that
have ever been made by a high-minded and in-
dignant community.

Will be performed ROB ROY. Characters by M-ssrs. J. Ander•
on, hay. Stuart, llerberte, H. Braharn, Barrett, and J. HaHord Mi•s Lams, Miss Dy, r, and Mrs W. J. Wallack.
To be :ollowe i by T'4E BOFP-MIAN GIRL. Characters Messrs. a Brah .In, J. Raiford, Farquharson, and Eiliot Galer ;
and Lucy Escott.
ences of admission:--To the two galleries, 6d.; second circle o•
boxes and pit, Is.; dress circle, 2s. 6d. ; sta Is, 4s. • private boxes ti
Admit two persons, 10s. 6d.; four persons, one guinea. Box-office
Open from 10 to 6 daily.

L'OY.s.l, HAYMARKET.

Under the management of Mr. Buctotono
THIS EVENINIJ,
Will be performed THE BUSY BODY.
To be followed by OLYMPUS IN A MUDDLE; or, Wrong
People in •Vrong Places.
Followed by COMIC FAVOUR.
To conclude with THE SP., NISEI DANCERS.

tiOYAL FRINCE.*i'A THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET.
Under the Management of Mr. CaAlum JUAN.
THIS EVENING,
Will be performed HOW STOUT YOU'RE GETTING.
After which, KING HENRY THE EIGHTH. Queen Katha
Inc. Mr-. C. Kean; Cardinal Wolsey, Mr. C. Kean.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPUL
PTorrtetor, Mr. B. Webster.—Dlrectrems, Mulame Celeste.
THIS EVENING,

Will be performed PAUL PRY. Characters by Messrs. C. Selby,
rarselle, and Wright; Misses Mary Keeley and Woolgar, and Mrs,
L. Murray.
After which, 110 W'S YOUR UNCLE ?
To conclude with FRATERNISATION:

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Under the direction of Mr. Payne.
THIS EVENING,
Will be performed MARRIED DAUGHTERS AND YOUNG
HUS:,Ar. DS.
E`ollowed by FOUNDED ON FACTS.
After vrtiich. a new Ballet.
To conclude with GANEM.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. Win. Cooke.
'Unabated and triumphant attraction of Mazeppa.—Fourth and last
week of Mr. George Wild and Miss Fanny Williams.
THIS EVENING,
Lord Rvron's MAZEPPA and the WILD HORSE, designated b
the public pees 3 the Phenomenon of the Day. -Mr. William Cookey liar trainel his matchless stud of horses expressly for this unrivalled
and most popular spectacle.
After which, the Equestrian SCENES in the CIRCLE, arranged
by Mr. William Cooke.
To conclude with Mr. Nelson Lee's Farce, A RAFFLE for an
ELEPHANT, introducin; Mr. W. Cooke's sagacious Elephant.
Itcr,...oulee open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W.
We . Acting Manager, Mr. Nelson Lee. Equestrian Director,
Mr W. Cooke, hut.

About the last charge that folly and malice
could bring against this journal would be that of
sycophancy to royalty and men in power, for it
is sufficiently well known that if the interests of
the country appeared to call for it, we would not
hesitate a moment to administer a firm, loyal,
and temperate rebuke to any offender, however
high his position. The cordiality, therefore, with
which we hail the return of her most gracious
Majesty the QUEEN and the Royal Family to our
shores will not be misunderstood, and the terms
in which we express our opinion of her demeanour
And bearing, in connection not only with this
visit, but also with the visit of the Emperor
NAPOLEON to this country, will be received as the
expression of our sincere opinion.
The granddaughter of GEORGE 111. has proved
herself an Englishwoman, having her country's
interest at heart, on many occasions,
but never more signally than in connec-
tion with the formation of the happy
alliance now existing between France and Eng-
land, and especially during the interchange of
visits between herself and the chosen Ruler of
Franco. The most inveterate grumbler cannot
take exception to her conduct throughout, and no
dutiful subject but must be deeply gratified by it.
ft was an affair of no little moment the reception
the Emperor NAPOLEON might meet with at the
English Court. His sagacity and magnanimity,
and his knowledge of the real feeling of the people
.)f England would undoubtedly have counteracted,
so far as he was personally concerned, in a great
measure the hostile promptings of a cool recep-
tion, but the people of France would have resented
for years to come the insult offered their imperial
head, and the Alliance, if continued in form,
would have become a hollow mockery, and pos
sibly a dangerous snare.

- -
HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THU DAY—Morn. 58 min. aft. 2 I Evening 19 min. aft. 3
To-Moßnow---Morn.39 min. aft:- 3 j Evening 0 min. aft. 4

610:3211,H.—80a Urtioa, Ang. 20.
TiOraIiONItTEEI, THR SRAD/A.
74 hzilest since noon yesterday.
t'l .0 west this morning and during the night.
72 —this day, at noon.
BAROMETIIt, 30'15.
WTYD, W.—Light, with fine weather.

4 fria.s.

:1>
I, kV
-

~~ w

§A4II

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1855.

One of the fables which first attracts the atten
tion of the rising generation is that of " the Dee
in the Manger." The vile conduct of the brute
in refusing to permit any other animal to benefit
by the store of provender of which he himself
can make no use, has formed a theme for many
moralists and strongly excited the indignation of
juvenile minds. The fact is now enacted ou
grand scale. The Austrian dog----and a ver3
nasty hound it is—not only refuses to perform
its own engagements, or to furnish the aid it
solemnly and deliberately promised to supply, but
it strives to prevent our obtaining assistance
from other quarters. It is jealous of Sardinia for
doing that which it has not the courage to do itself,
and would strive so far as practicable to prevent
the formation of an Italian Legion. Threats are ful-
minated against all, who seem in any degree desirous
of entering into the British service, and innu
merable police annoyances are resorted to in order
to repress the martial enthusiasm, not only in
Lombardy, but in the adjoining States.
Whatever anticipations may formerly have been
indulged in by the Governments of France and
England it must now be perfectly manifest that
there is no possible hope of the co-operation of
Austria. Nay, more, that she is striving to as-
sist the enemy by every means that will not draw
down the vengeance of the Allies on herself. The
delusions which so long existed, and which, despite
the warnings of ourselves and other journalists,
kept us two years "waiting for Austria" are com-
pletely dispelled. It is therefore time that ener-
getic measures should be adopted, towards that
treacherous and dmible-dealing Power, to show
that we will no longer be bamboozled or made the
laughin-g-stocks of Europe, by even appearing to
be taken in, by her false and fraudulent pretences.
It would be far better to have her openly arrayed
against us than that she should act the perfidious
friend, rendering covert assistance to the foe.
Openly she can do nothing to be for a mo-
ment dreaded. Sufficient employment would
arise for her at home on the first signal. Poland:,
Hungary, Lombardy, are " the talismanic
words " the 'mere utterance whereof woulf I
speedily dispose of Austria, and compel her t
abandon the intrigues which she has so long bee n
practising withimpunity, in fayour of Russia, an d
to look solely to her own interests.. In Italy p2tio
sees a constitutional government, the object of b er
mot;, abject fears, springing up on her ye ry
threshold. She sees VICTOR EMMANUEL
gaini
golden Opinions from all 'classes of men, and
knows that her own subjects are pining to ex-
change the galling yoke under which they area so
grievously oppressed, for his gentle rule. !The
Sardinian prowess exhibited on the Tchernayai has
excited alike her jealousy, and her fears. She en-
vies the fame won byarival, from any partieipa tion
wherein she is excluded by her own sneaking and
timid policy, and she dreads the period when t hose
tried and gallant soldiers, arrayed in the gloi ions
cause of Italian freedom, should be supported not
only by the moral opinion of Europe, but by the
physical force of the Allies, whom she betrayed
and slighted, and .on whose behalf they bravely
fought and conquered. We say supported by
" the physical force of the Allies ;" because it will
be an imperative cluty on France and England to
continue the alliance, offensive and defensive, into
which Sardinia so nobly entered when they pro-
fited by the 'Treaty.
Austria has already been the most serious suf-
ferer by her own duplicity. Her influence and
her credit have both failed ; while those of Sar-
dinia have
greatly.risen in the scale. None of
the belligerent Powers now pay the slight-
est attention to her suggestions or remonstrances,
autl her finances are involved in inextricable con-
frtsion. She urgently requires a loan, but is de-
barred from obtaining a -florin or even a kreutzer
in the markets of London or Paris.
Under such circumstances there seems no re-
source' but the tatima ratio of "a forced loan"
or, inother words, direct and avowed ,
ti confisca-
on. Every man, with " purse to pay or person
to •
Pule, is awaiting the commencement of the
Plunder, in fear and :trembling. The opening or
the budget of B -is generally re-
garded DE RUC R re-
garded as the signal for the beginning of the open
robbery.
The other German and Italian neutrals are
scarcely in a more enviable position. King BOMBA
is peculiarly sensitive,
with 'lie knows that he is re-
gardedcontempt by strangers and execration
by 'his own subjects—that .there
competitor for the Crown which is
• a formidable 1
lie is unfit to
Wear--a rival whose claims would be supported
Y a large majority of the people, a'n-d

Bat far above all German pettiness, and in
abounding loyalty to her people, her MAJESTY wel-
comed the worthy successor of NAPOLEON and his
charming EMPRESS with a heartiness of manner and a
sincerity of feeling that won the friendship of both;
and on her return visit to France she certainly has
met with a magnificent returti. The EMPEROR
and EMPREAS welcomed her not merely as the
Island QUEEN', the white cliffs of whose dominions
haa for long centuries looked pale with distrust
or watchfulness of France, and as the powerful
Ally, but as a beloved and honoured kinswoman,
holding those relations ; and the people, proud of
tkeir chosen EMPEROR, and of the tribute thus
paid to his sterling greatness, brought a gallantry
wrought up to enthusiasm to demonstrate the
satisfaction with which they had looked forward
t o her promised appearance among them—a satis-

faction that, on her arrival, grew more and more
intense as they witnessed the queenly grace and
womanly good feeling with which she recognised
the chivalrous homage and cordial acclaim with
which she was everywhere greeted. All Paris,
we are gratified to learn, rang with her praises,
and admired the presence and promise of her

offspring. The street cries related to the early
and late manifestations of the kindness of her
disposition, and many a little incident during her
visit gave proof of a tact, a cordiality, and a de
licacy of feeling which none are readier to appre-
ciate, or more likely to remember, than the
Parisians. To visit the tomb of NAPO-
LEON, for instance, was to tread on delicate
ground, but seeing her MAJESTY before that
august cenotaph paying Queenly homage to the
remains of the great Emperor whose transcendent
genius still inspires European council, and will
in all human probability be productive of good to
the people of Europe when his victories are but
dim histories, the proudestFrenchrnan could hardly
fail to erase once for all from the tablet of
memory the record of Waterloo. The expiation,
so to speak, was complete. The QUEEN, in short,
has deserved well of her subjects, and France may
be proud of her EMPEROR, for both have done
honour to the people over whom they have been
called upon to rule, and have, though in a diffe-
rent degree, of course, thine their best to pro-
mote and cement an alliance which will not merely
insure the well-being of the two countries, but
will elevate them still higher in universal opinion
as the protectors of civilisation, and ,the hope of
the oppressed throughout the world.

Grisi and Mario are about to appear for a few nights
at the Theatre Royal, Liverpool. Mr. Webster and Ma-
dame Celeste are fulfilling an engagement at the same
house.
Another batch of 140 recruits left Heligoland on the
19th fbr England. There were still 200 men there,
awaiting their turn.
The sub-prefects of Silistria have just issued orders for
the arrest of 132 Poles, who have crossed the Prussian
frontier from the Government of Radom, in order to
avoid the conscription.
The memorial to the Lord Mayor, with reference to
the filthy state of the Thames, has already received up-
wards of 200 signatures in the Baltic coffee-house, and
is also meeting with considerable support on the part of
the merchants and brokers at Lloyd's and the Stock
Exchange.
MR, BROOKE, THE TRAGEDIAN--At the Victoria
Theatre, the talented performer, Mr. G. V. Brooke, has
been fulfilling an engagement. He made his first ...:ppear-
ince on Thursday, May 10, as Othello, His engagement
n Sydney will shortly cease, previous to the time origi-
n sally contemplated, his success, notwithstanding his
in doubted talents, having fallen far short of what might
r of Aonably have been anticipated.—Sydney Empire.
.A. first-class gold medal has been awarded to Captain
Cu rrie, of the English merchant vessel Robert Finnie,
of : Dumfries, for picking up and keeping on board his
vessel for 42 days the shipwrecked crew of the Louis le
Gr: snd, of Bordeaux, in May'last.
. Is letter from Stockholm of the 17th, in the Post Ampt
Gazette of Frankfort, states that a portion of the British
fie et has burnt all the government magazines and store-
. So uses at `Vasa, and a considerable number of small craft
t hat had taken refuge in that port.
A. proposition of Mr. Kennard, an English engineer,
to construct a suspension-bridge from Pera to Scutari,
h. ta been well received by the Turkish Government.
T :le cost is estimated at 700,000/., which it is proposed
to raise by a company of English capitalists.
A fire broke out in a suburb of Alessandria (Pied-
s.rit), on the 17th, and was not mastered until noon of
fI t' to following
Lay, notwithstanding the exertions of the
authorities. Several house of poor people were burnt
do,Nii, and it was. only owing to the daring intrepidity
of the firemen that the adjoining
gas-works were saved.
Th e damage is stated to be considerable.

THE SU.l4;' LONDON, WEDNESIDAT ErigNiNn, AUGusr 29 1856

have proved themselves your worthy rivals. The
bridge of Traktir has been the theatre of an heroic
struggle which covers with glory the gallant men
who have sustained it. Soldiers, this battle, in
which the Russians lost upwards of 6,000 men,
several Generals, and left in our hands 2,200 wounded
and prisoners, and the materiel they had prepared
to effect the passage of the river, does the greatest
honour to General Herbillon, who commanded the line
of , the, Tchernaya, and to his division. The divi-
sions of Generals Camou and Faucheux maintained,
their f3rmer reputation. The Generals of Brigade,
and in particular Generals de Failly, Cler, and Wimp-
fen, and Colonels Douay, Polhas, Dannar, and Castagny,
are entitled to the gratitude of the army. I cannot
here name all those who distinguished themselves
for their valour, but I feel bound specially to notice
the able direction imparted by Colonel Forgeot
to our energetic cannoaiers, and the brilliant conduct of
the artillery of the Imperial Guard, and of the divisions.
An English battery, placed on a height commanding
Tchorgoun, powerfully assisted us in compelling the
enemy to retreat, before we could bring up our reserves.
The Turks, upon whom a false attack was made, sup-
ported us with six battalions and a battery of artil-
lery. The English cavalry was-- ready with the Sar-
dinian squadrons to second the brave African Chasseurs
of General Morris, if the pursuit of the enemy could
have been useful to success ; but I have not lost sight of
our grand enterprise, and I desired to economise your
blood, after having obtained a result which once more
confirms our superiority over that boasted Russian in-
fantry—which is a presage of new victories, and which
increases our right to the gratitude of the country.
" A. PELISSIER, General-in-Chief.
" Head-quarters before Sebastopol, Aug. 17, 1855."

HONE Y MARKET

. AND
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

CITY, Two O'CLOCK.
The Cotton Market at Liverpool yesterday
closed steadily, and compared with Friday's rates
prices of all kinds were unchanged. The sales were
estimated at 5,000 bales (500 of which were taken
for export, and 500 on speculation), comprising 250
Pernam and Maranham, at 64d. to 7d. ; 100 Egyp-
tian, at sid. to 6.0. ; and 1,200 Surat, at 4d. to
bid. per lb. In the Railway Share Market very
little business was done, and without alteration in
prices.

BOURSE, AVG. 28.—CLO8IN4 PRIOES.
Cash. fr. a. End of Month.
4i per Cents 95 —95 f. —c.
3 per Cents 66 80 66 80
Credit Mobilier 1245 Roman
Credit Foncier 535 Austrian
Belgian Fives — Spanish Threes
Piedmontese _ 85 Home Debt

There is nothing of interest in the letters from
the Continent this morning.
The scrip of the new Turkish loan is expected to
be ready at the Bank of England next Monday.
There were full rates obtained yesterday after-
noon for bills upon the continent, Paris excepted,
as 90 days' paper was taken at 25 321 to 35. Ham-
burg was 13 71 to 8, Amsterdam 11 17i to 18,
Frankfort 1171 to 118, and Trieste 11 34 to 36.
Rather contrary to expectation the gold just
received from Australia and America has been
bought for the Continent, and probably in connec-
tion with the Turkish loan.
English Stocks are flat, and the business doing
is still very limited. Consols have been quoted
911 to for transfer, but not higher than 91k to k
for account. The New Three per Cents. have
realised 92i to and the Reduced 91k to 921.
Exchequer Bills are 17s. premium, Bank Stock
for account is at 216. Exchequer Bonds are 100 k.
For Foreign Stocks the market is extremely
dull, and in several instances the quotations are
nominal. Turkish Bonds are 931, which was yes-
terday's closing rate, and the New Scrip is flat at
21 premium. Venezuela Bonds are 31, being
lower. Chilian 3 per Cents, are 68, and Brazilian
44 per per Cents. 941.

RAILWAYS-aOll CASH.

fr. c. -- -----
fr. a
Orleans 1220 Rouen
Western 823 75 Strasburg
Cotta 742 50 Havre 7OO =-
Mediterranean 1330 Cherburg
Northern ... 917 50 Grand Central 646 25
Lyons .. .. 1225 Austrian Coin 715 ----

The following are the nominal prices of foreign
stocks :—Grenada Deferred Bonds, 61 to 71;
Mexican, 21i to 211; Peruvian, 81 to 82 ;
ditto Three per Cents., 58 to 59 ; Portuguese
Four per Cents., 43 to, 45 ; Russian Five
per Cents., 100 to 102 ; ditto Four-and-a-
Half per Cents., 89 to 91 ; Spanish New Deferred,
181 to 19 ; ditto Three per Cents., 371 to 381 ;
ditto Certificates, 41 to 41 ; ditto Passive, 41 to 41.
The company of the Western and North-Western
Railways of France inform the holders of shares of the
old companies, comprised in the fusion of the railways
of Normandy and Brittany, namely, the companies
hitherto known as the St. Germains, the Paris and
Rouen, the Rouen and Havre, the Western of France,
and the Paris, Caen, and Cherbourg Railway Companies
—that the old shares of the said companies may now be
exchanged for shares in the amalgamated company of
the Western and North-Western Railways of France'
in the proportions regulated by the fusion treaty, viz. :
" For twelve Paris and Rouen shares will be given
nineteen amalgamated, or new shares.
"For seven Rouen and Havre shares will be given
six amalgamated, or new shares.
" For seven Paris, Caen, and Cherbourg shares
will be given six amalgamated, or new shares.
" Fur two St. Germain shares will be given one
amalgamated, or new share."

The St. Germain shares being each entitled to half
a new share and half a I,ooof. obligation, bearing 50f.
interest per annum, and re-inibursable at 1,250 f., there
will be delivered, as stated above, a new share for two
St. Germain shares, and these shares stamped will be
returned to the proprietors, to be hereafter exchanged
for the obligations to which they are entitled.

In consequence of the delays necessary for stamp-
ing and signing the new shares, the certificates of shares
in the Old Western of France Railway Company, which
represent an equal number of new shares, will not be
exchanged until the Ist of October next. Up to that
period the o:d Western of France shares, fully paid up,
will be for all purposes of negotiation assimilated with
.he new shares.

The exchange of shares is made at the offices of the
company of the Western and Worth-Western Railways
of France, 124, Rue St. Lazare, Paris (the old office of
administration of the St. Germain Railway), and at
London, at Mr. S. W. Morgan's, agent of the company,
38, Throgmorton-street, to whom application may be
made for sale or purchase of fractional parts of shares.
I❑ railway shares there is but little variation,
and although some of them rule flat others show
a tendency towards improvement. Great Western
have advanced per cent., and North-Eastern and
York are at fuller rates. Antwerp and Rotterdam
are a shade lower, but the foreign generally are
the same as before. Canadian are steady.
The mines, banks, and miscellaneous undertak-

ings call for no special remark, being firm.

BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY.—CLOSING PRICES.
( Front the Ofixictl List. )

lin.illetib don.
Bank Stock .... ..... .
I per °out. Reduced Annuitie5.............., 92 I„ 11 2 11,
3 per Cent. Consols Annuities 9ls
Ve w 3 Per Cent. Annuities
5 per Cent. Annuities
Lon.: Annuities, Expire sth Jan,,, 18P0 • 4
Ditto :30 Years, Expire stb /an., 1860 3l
Ditto 30 Years, Expire sth April, 1883 16 15-16
India Stock
Bank Stock for Account 216
Consols .'or Account, 6th September 9lf i
txchequor Bills, 2i
21000
2500 — I
Small
Etchequer Bonds 1858, 34 per Cent.... 1002
Ditto 1359, ~ .. 1001
PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY.

....
Brazilian Bonds 5 per Cent. .
Ditto New, 1852, 4/ per Cont. 941 51 •
Chilian Bonds, 6 per Cent
••••••••••••
Ditto 3 per Cent.
&lexican 3 per Cent.
ipanish Bonds, 3 per Cent 3B
Ditto New Deferred, 3 per Cent.
Ditto for the Account l9
Tarkit,ll Bonds, 6 per cent 931 ;3
4 Ditto for the account
Ditto New Scrip. 4 per Cent.
Venezuela Bonds, 44 per Cent 3ll
Ditto for the Account
-'1 2
ivuipon. (n t,, above payable in T.,,,,0n
!Preach Rentals, 3 per Cent ... 67f.12c. Ex. 25f.5c
THREE O'CLOCK.
Consols
Ditto for tll3 'Account.....

THE WAR POETRY OF THE LAUREATE.

TO ALFRED TENNYSON, P.L.
(Fi.oin, the Weekly Dispatch.)

Sits,—As a poet you are amenable to literary criti-
cism, and as a patriot to political criticism. With re-
gard to the first that is not my business. J shall not
inquire here whether "Maud " be " Maudlin,"er whether
its beauties add another leaf to the wreath which you
worthily wear. My dealings with you are those which na-
turally take place between apolitical critic and a political
writer. Such you are, to a certain extent, in the poem of
".Maud ;" and yet more directly in one or two of the
appended compositions. Your spirit is too manly to
shelter yourself under any plea of poetical privilege. You
know that "song is but the eloquence of truth," and by
the truth of principles must it be judged. The bard who
sings falsely i 3 as justly censurable as the historian who
records falsely. Perhaps more so; for to misguide the feel-
ings of the people may be a more grievous offence than
to mislead their judgments on a matter of fact. I hold,
therefore, that all poets are morally answerable for their
politics, so far, I mean, as they express, and thereby en-
force, a certain phase of political thought in their poetical
compositions. Thus I esteem you eminently praiseworthy
for the many noble songs of progress scattered through your
publications. They combine for you the honours due to
poet, patriot, and philanthropist. They win for you the
civic crown as well as the bays. As Laureate, you have a
yet further and peculiar responsibility. The office is not
exclusively nominal or honorary. It is something more
than merely the excuse for a pension. It is something
besides the Royal adjudication to you of the highest
merit in poetry of which the empire can boast. The
age of Birth-day Odes is happily gone. To that servile
mummery you have never been condemned. With Pye it
departed, and for ever. Illustrious predecessors had raised
and dignified the office before you were nominated to it.
But it has not, therefore, become a mere sinecure. You
are the Laureate of Queen Victoria, the Sovereign of the
British empire. Of you it may reasonably be expected
that when the country sustains a great loss, in the death
say of one of its greatest men, you give articulate sound
to the public sorrow in some noble dirge ; that when the
nation's heart swells high with joy or triumph, you harmo-
nise the tone of exultation ; or that when it is needful to
importsonse heroic impulse to the public mind, yen point to
the glory that shines afar, and join your trumpet call to the
inspiring pursuit. To these claims you have responded, con-
ceding thereby the justice and fairness of the right which
I would now exercise of criticising what you have
done, and the manner in which you have done it. And
first, I mu,t take exception to your description of the
national character as affected by the long peace. It is
an egregious and disgraceful caricature. It dishonours
the country, and is most untrue to the facts. It is one-
sided ; and the one side which it presents is inexcusably
darkened. That long peace tends to selfishness, and that
we had by no means altogether escaped that taint, I
know very well. This was part of the theme of my last
letter. In that I depicted the transition, which may be
ascribed to the war, from a species of contented and sor-
did selfishness to one of large and generous sympathies.
But it cannot be conceded to you of the blessings of
peace, that " we have made them a curse." We were not
" pickpockets, each hand lusting for all that is not its
own." There was no such degradation as to justify the
I question, " Who but a fool would have faith in a trades-
man's ware or his word ?" Peace had nothing to do with
the poor being " hovelled and bustled together, each sex,
like swine ;" in fact, peace was exploring remedies and
palliations for these social evils. True, while we see
"Peace in her vineyard," "a company forges the wine;"
but the adulteration in our port goes on quite as largely
in time of war. And so the wife-beating under the in-
fluence of drink, the " chalk, alum, and plaster sold to
the poor for bread," the lying down armed "for the
villainous centre-bit," the poisoned potion of the apothe-
cary, and the " mamrnonite mother" that "kills her
babe for a burial fee," why all these have just as much
to do with war as with peace. Nay, it might be shown
of some of them that they are more likely to be promoted
by the privations of war than by the plentifulness of
peace. The " ruammonite mother" is a right-down
calumny ; it is not, like the other allegations, a gross
exaggeration ; it was originally only a suspicion, and
it has been so disproved as to demolish all right to
assert it as a fact, unless, perchance, in a rare case of
monomania, which has no business in such a catalogue.
One pauses and asks oneself, wonderingly, what grains
and atoms of truth there are in this detestable picture
And if there be some petty fragments of reality, still one
inquires how far they can plausibly be said to affect the
national character—it what way they can be traced
to either peace or war, by any logical connection of
cause and effect—how a people, so sunk and lost, could
ever, by the bare proclamation of war, be roused up into
a high-spirited arid generous nation—nay, and how it
could possibly happen that such a people could be not only
capable of honourable transformation, but should itself
be the moving and impelling power that actually goadei
on its reluctant rulers, as d with difficulty commanded
and enforced obedience in them to its own warlike spirit.
Perhaps you will disown these foul imputation=, and tell
us you write dramatically— that you depict the deeply
embittered feelings of the hero of your poem—that we
are to suppose you in a state of metempsychosis with
the impoverished son of a ruined and perhaps murdered
father. But that will not serve. Your hero goes
mad afterwards, but he is not such a fool as to gene-
ralise in this wholesale way from a private misfortune.
He is quite in his senses a little further on, and that, too,
before requited love has brightened the world to his per-
ceptions. He characterises very justly the broad-brimmed
hawker of holy things, whose ear is " stuft with his
cotton," and who would " preach our poor little army
down." He joins in the general aversion and contempt
for the Peace-mongering tribe. So your vituperations
on the national character in time of Peace have no more
of dramatic consistency than they have of historical
truth. The nation was ripe for war in the time of
peace. It was then, as now, just and generous. Half
a century of quietude and commerce, and prosperity had
not " so effaced the image of our sires" as to render us
listless on-lookers at Russian aggression. I will not say
that the public responded to the cry to arms ;" the pub-
lic originated the cry. They left response to their rulers
only. It was their determination " that an iron tyranny
now should bend or cease." They would not allow that
" Britain's one sole God" should " be the millionaire."
They never had established or tolerated that idolatry.
It was not their will that " commerce" should be " all
in all." And when the hero of your poem
Stood on a giant deck and mixed his breath
With a loyal people shooting a battle-cry,
he only added his individual mite to the popular enthu-
siasm. Away, then, with your calumnies on the natio -
nal character as it stood after those long years of peace.
Blot them out. You have often blotted better things,
as I shall presently have to show. Your national de-
scription is a nauseous compound of disgraceful excep-
tions. It is a picture of the sun as only a congeries of
spots. Rise into truth and justice ; and so be our coun-
trs.''s bard and our Sovereign's Laureate.
Your volume closes with the mangled corpse of the
most glorious of martial lyrics iu modern times—" The
Charge of the Light Brigade." It is no more like itself
" than Ito Hercules." For these extraordinary omissions
I must call you to account. They commence with the
second stanza. You first delete the following :
Into the Valley of Death
Rode the six hundred,
For up came an order which
Some one had hlundered.
"Forward, the Light Brigade !
Take the guns," Nolan said—
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
You afterwards tell us that
No man was there dismayed ;
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered.
All this you have obliterated. And why ? Wherefore
do you suppress the fact that the command for that
famous Balaklava charge was a blunder' I will not
seek to divine your motives ; a misplaced charity for the
dead perhaps ; or a more misplaced leniency towards the
living ; but, whatever the inducement, the omission falsi-
fies the fact. The blunder is abundantly proved. It was
a disgraceful and sanguinary blunder in itself, though the
devoted heroism of the deed eclipsed the mistake in its
blaze of glory. But that there was carelessness and am-
biguity of expression in the original order—that there was
want of distinct understanding on the part of Lord
Lucan—that there was misinterpretation on the part of
Capt. Nolan—and that there was fatal acquiescence on the
part of Lord Cardigan—all this is in proof, by the letter
of Lord Raglan, and the various facts elicited in the
Parliamentary discussions. It suited the tactics of the
Government and of the party leaders to hush the mat-
ter up ; and hushed up it was. But that was no prece-
dent or guidance for you. The discussions in Parliament
were patched up as if it were only a misunderstanding
between Lords Lucian and Cardigan, and a private inter-
ference of Lord Hardinge to order the former home, at
the request of Lord Raglan. The responsibility of all of
them for the lives of the brave soldiers thrown away in
utter waste by the blunderirgs amongst them was blinked
altogether. All was slurred over, upon the principle
of leaet said soonest mended. That was no reason why
you should not speak out. You bad spoken out. Your
words had pealed like a trumpet over the land. And now
you suppress, you recant and shirk. Oh ! this is miserable.
For the blundering, and the cognisance of the blunder,
are no important part of the transaction. They are
essential to a full ineed of justice to the soldiery.
They knew that they went to certain destruction. That
admirable and graphic chronicler of the war, Mr. Rus-
sell, of the Times, says, "Don Quixotte, in his tilt against
the windmill, was not near so rash or reckless as the
gallant fellows who prepared without a thought to rush
on almost certain death." ' Yes, " reckless" in one sense
they were ; but not in the sense of not seeing the peril
ef the enterprise and the madness of the order. Peace
to their souls and glory to their names. But for the
sake of no conventional respect for the dead, of no
scrupulosity as regards the living, let us allow one iota
to be abstracted from the justice due to them in their
heroic self-sacrifice. Let what may become of our Lucans
and Cardigans, of our Nolans and Aireye, of our Rag-
lans and Hardingee, justice to the memory of the de-
voted should be paramount. Its omission would be
discreditable to you, Sir ; its retractation by suppres-
sion is what it grieves me to charge you with, The
fault is far greater than that of having enfeebled and
emasculated one of the grandest offsprings of your muse,
one of the noblest outpourings of your excited spirit.
It offends against moral truth and historical justice.
Your besetting sin is that of making alterations and
suppressions after you have published. I recommend
all who possess them to preserve and prize the earlier
editions of your poems. They have treasures of beauty
of which you have since done your best to rob the world.
But this is matter of taste only ; which, were I inditing
a literary criticism, I should not despair of substantiat-
ing, but which is beside my present purpose. This ten-
eency of yours does not and cannot account for the omis-
sion on which I have been commenting. There is evi-
dently, in this case, an ulterior reason. You have
marred the beauty of the laurel wreath which you bad