The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-19 00:00:00

THE DAVENPORT BROTHERS.

On View, at the Hanovpr-square Rooms.
Last evening, between seventy and eighty gentle.
men, connected with the London Press, assembled at
the Hanover-square B,Joms, for the purpose of ma•
mining into the nature and peculiarities of a Mystic
Display, which has for several weeks past been pro-
minent among the miscellaneous town-talk of the
metropolis. Following Mr Home succeeding
Mr Forster there have come to us, quite
as a matter of course (like those two renowned
personages) from America--a whole group of—
we can't precisely say Wise Alen from the East,
but However.you-may-like-to-call-them from the
West. A whole cluster of American Exhibitors—
Exhibitors of they don't know what! The enter-
prising young gentleman who is the Barnum of the
occasion, being, just as you may please to call him,
a holy or an unholy Palmer. The Spokesman of
the Performers, who talks to us in front of a move-
able wooden cupboard, raised upon tressles,
is our old friend (with a new and decidedly
Yankee face) Mr Ferguson. And—listening to him
as he • talks, and looking at the structure about
which he is talking—we very soon discover that
Mr Ferguson don't lodge there—he only discourses
about it. There is a Fay, too, we should observe,
but it happens to be a veritable, substantial
flesh-and-blood Fay, among these choice spirits
recently imported to England from America.
And last, but not least, there are those two
—how shall we designate them P—serious
speechless Dromios, the Brothers Davenport.

Any exhibition at once moreclumsy or more childish
we never remember to have witnessed. The pro-
ceedings were from first to last simply preposterous.
They were—at any rate according to our estimate
of thern—nothing less than an insult to the com-
mon sense of every rational auditor and of every
sane spectator in the room. During nearly two
mortal hours we endured the tedium and absurdity
of these most ridiculous demonstrations. The
puerile character of these demonstratioas has too
frequently and elaborately been described, by Mr.
Dion Boacicault and others, to require that it should
be here once more minutely delineated. The
displays, such as they are, have become
by this time little less than notorious.
They are vulgar to the last degree of vulga-
rity. They are noisy, blatant, and ridiculous.
A sufficiently intelligent observer among those
present last evening—not a savant, let us observe,
not a philosopher, merely a writer of penny serial
publications very well known "down Whitechapel
way"—neither a Professor Owen nor a Professor
Faraday—simply Mr. 0. W. M. Reynolds, of
Reynolds's Newspaper and Reynolds's Miscellany
—threw out a capital suggestion by way of test,
namely, that the Brothers Davenport, besides being
strongly bound by cords, twisted and knotted about
their wrists and seeks, folded across their knees
and fixed to the bench upon which they
ar© seated, should be tied up likewise
at their wrists and aneles, and co on—with
packthread I Let them, he argued, be so twined
about with bonds of packthread, as well as with
strong cord, and if—after the tumult of discordant
sounds, emanating from the closed structure—the
packthread proved, upon the opening of the doors,
again, to be still unbroken—he would believe, but
not till then, that the Brothers Davenport them-
selves had nothing whatever to do with those demon.
strations I With the tinkling of the guitar strings,
the rattling and thumping of the tambourine,
the jingling of the muffin bell, the scraping of
the fiddle and the clanging of the trumpet ! A
shrewd and reasonable proposition enough in itself,
but one that—as a matter of course—was not
acceded to !

Among other rather significant circumstances
noticeable in connection with these singularly
stupid, tedious, and contemptible performances, the
following are worthy of being particularised by
reason of their very obvious sign.ficance. The
Brothers Davenport, for example, while to all ap-
ptarance quietly seated inside the cabinet., bound
hand end lout, after each tumultuous clamour of
fiddle, trumpet, bet', guitar, and tambourine, upon
the opening of the doors, though still seated quietly
and as strongly corded as ever, proved, upon
being scrutinized through a lorgnette, to be
al solutely streaming tvith perspiration! Indicative,
as it appeared to us, of violent muscular exertion
on their part during the very interval of their
apparent quieseense! Again—when it is borne in
mind, that upon the fourth or fifth time of their
being shut into the cabinet (bound hand and foot)
upon the re-opening of the door of the structure,
a few minutes afterwards, the cords are found to be
lying in a loose bundle at their feet—themselves
unbound ! And when—still later on—the doors
being closed, while the cords lay in:a loose heap
between the feet of the two unbound brothers,
a few minutes afterwards—on the flying open of
the doors, the two men were found strongly corded
up, bound hand and foot. each to the bench upon
which he was seated—is not the conclusion to be
arrived at perfectly transparent P Namely, that as
they can be released from the cords (no matter how)
at that stage of the performance, and then fastened
up again securely (no matter by what agency) they
might, they obviously were released from their
bondage upon each of the previous occasions when
the musical instruments were agitated—resuming
their fetters in time enough to appear manacled
as before when the clamour had ceased.

Seeing that the principal mystery (soi disant) of
the whole of this very ludicrous extlibition consists
in the tying and untying of these same amiable
Brothers Davenport—the question requiring to be
solved in their regard is at the least, it may be
allowed, a knotty question. All that seems to be
needed by them is—what we, for one, should
certainly be disposed to allow them—namely—rope
enough.

Fastened tightly hand and foot in a sitting posi-
tion, immediately confronting each other, inside
the wooden structure (profanely spoken of, more
than once, by the American Showmen as a
Tabernacle) the Brothers Davenport there,
when entirely concealed from view by the
simple fact of the three doors of this ridi•
eulous clothes-press or wardrobe-upon-legs being
fastened from within by sliding bolts (the two
side ones by the nimble fingers of their long-armed
exhibitor or showman, Mr Ferguson—the centre
one through the audible snapping of the sliding
bolt by, how shall we express it ? some very Odd
Force, or
by the agency of some exceedingly
materialistic spiritualiarn)—the Messrs I)avonport
there and then went through (such as
they were) their nonsensical performances.
If we were seriously challenged to explain how the
whole thing Was managed by them—taunted per-
haps precisely as Sam Weller was taunted under
cross-examination in the famous case of Bardell v.
Pickwick, with " Haven't you got eyes, Mr Weller ?'
—we should be disp3sed to reply with Sam at once
to the taunt and the challenge—" That's jest where
it is, my lord. If ye 'd a double pair o' patent
magnifiers—ve might perhaps see through a deal
board or two, and so forth, but having only eyes,
you see—and using those even last night in a
darkened room, with the gas lowered—our wision's

GENERAL
from letterNEßA G AR iliALp
addressed
.
the
following
is an ex-
tra Glasgow herald
by Mr Robert M‘Tear :—" Having just returned from a
visit to General Garibaldi at Caprera, I think it u ill be
gratifying to the pul.die to learn the latest authentic news
from the Island of the Sea.' I found the general in per-
fect health, the wound being completely healed, and without
pain, but leaving a stiffness in the ankle joint, rendering it
necessary to have recourse to the carved oak staff sent him
by a Glasgow working man, and which is now his constant
companion. The general desired that I should inform his
friends in Scotland that the primary object of his coming to
Britain was to visit Glasgow, and that he would not rest
satisfied until he had performed that most pleasing duty,
hich he hoped to accomplish next year if events in Italy
permitted. In regard to his so suddenly leaving England,
and the controversy which ensued about it, he assured me
that, whatever he might have said or felt in the heat of the
moment, he is now convinced that it was owing to no pres-
sure from foreign powers, but entirely out of consideration
for his health; and he said that, instead of showing any
cowardice regarding him, Palmerston, Russell, and Wad-
stone had shown the greatest courage, and had heaped
honours upon him, He said, " Gladstone has been too good
a friend to Italy to be Suspected for a moment."

LAT IST MILLIGIECE

[REUTER' S EXPRESS

THE COMMERCIAL CRISIS IN BRAZIL
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 22.

The business of the past fortnight has been sud-
denly and unexpectedly interrupted, owing to the
stoppage of payment, on the morning of the 10th
inst., of the important banking establishment of
Messrs A. J. A. Souto and Co., and to the conse-
quences which immediately resulted therefrom.
By far the most serious panic ever witnessed in
this city immediately took possession of the public,
and a run commenced on four of the chief private
barking Establishments by holders of receipts for
deposits. One only of these firms withstood the
unexpected and continued drain on their coffers.
The other three resolved on closing their doors
on the 13th.

In the meantime many respectable firms had
been unable to meet their engagements, and the
utmost consternation pervaded the whole place from
the impossibility of knowing who would continue
solvent and who succumb under the calamity.
On Sunday, the 11th inst., the Minister of
Finance met the directors of the Bank of Brazil,
who proposed, under certain stipulations, to take
on themselves the liquidation of the firm which had
suspended its payments on the previous day.
Nothing, however, could be arranged, and the con-
ference was again continued up to midnight of the
following day. The difficulty which presented it-
self was the expediency of satisfying an immense
number of creditors, chiefly for small amounts,
which, in the aggregate, represented the formidable
figure of 14,200,000 dole.
In the meantime the run on the National Bank
for gold continued till the 14. h inst., up to which
time the Bank had paid away 3,000,000 dollars of
its gold, and in anticipation of the decree authoris-
ing an increased emission of notes, the Bank freely
discounted on the 12th and 13th inst. to the extent
of 14,000,000 dollars, and thus alleviated much of
the immediate pressure ou the commercial cnmmu-

pity.
The first decree relating to the counts above
sketched svas promulgated on the 13th, and em%
powered the Bank of Brazil, in virtue of the law
of June 5, 1853, to issue notes to the extent of
three times the amount of its disposable capital in
gold.

This was followed on the 14th by another decree
in virtue of the same law, in consequence of the
representation of the Bank of Brazil, granting the
said Bank permission to suspend the payment in
gold of their notes, and making the notes ef the
Bank a legal tender in all public departments in
the city and provice of Rio de Janeiro.
A meeting was held the same day at the Bank of
Brazil, at which were present some of the chief
creditors of Messes Souto and Ca., as well as the
representatives of all the banks and banking
establishments of the place, for the purpoae of ex-
amining that firm's balance-sheet. No feasible plan
could be resolved on to meet the emergency, owing
to the very large sum due to numberless small credi-
tors, and every one feeling that the responsibilities
of such a heavy advance were too great to be
thought of, notwithstanding the unanimous desire
of preventing a judicial liqu'dation of the suspended
bank. Besides a meeting and representation from
the members of the Praca, another meeting was
convoked by the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce,
and Public Works, on the 16th inst., which was
attended by the directors of banks and heads of
banking-hcuies, but nothing could be definitively
settled. The Government, however, having taking
the opinion of the Minister of Justice and Finance
on the 16:b, a Council of State was called at 9 p,m.
of that day, and it was resolved that a " supension
of payment" during the term of 60 days, to date
from the 9:1 inst., should be deuced.
We give an extract from translation of the
decree which WAS published on the 17th:—

" consideration of the extreme gravity of the
commercial crisis which at present weighs down
the con niercial eAnmunity of Rio de Janeiro, disc
turbing the eC)Ili80 of business, paralysing all
branches of industry, and which threatens to shake
to its foundation the public pe.ce and order; and
seeing, moreover, the necessity of adopting some
speedy and tflicacious measure which the code of
;awe, as it now stands, does not afJrd to put an
end to the evils which are much to be feared will
accrue from such a disastrous occurrence; I, in
conformity with the unanimous opinion of the
Council of State, decree—
" Ist. That during six days to be computed from
the 9th inst., the becoming due of all bills, pro.
missory notes, and other securities payable in the
city end province be held suspended and pro-
rogued ; and also that all protests, recourses in
guarantee, and prescriptions of above referred to
securities be also suspended and prorogued for
SOME space.

" 2dly, Article 108 of the Commercial Code
shall apply as to granting time to non• matriculated
forms (of merchants and tradesmen), the which, as
well as conditions granted, can be effected amicably,
being adjusted by a number representing two-thirds
of the body of their creditors.

"idly. The suspension of banks and of banking
establishments during the term which Art. 1 treats
of shall be legislated by the decree of Government."

The law for regulating the winding up of banks
and banking houses which have failed was promul.
gated on the 20th inst., and gives the administra-
tion of the same to two of the chief creditors, as
sisted by an auditor appointed by Government, and
is generally most favourable to the establishments
in question. The first step taken after making
out a balance sheet is, by every available means,
to effect the payment of the small creditors, if
not the whole amount of their claim, then the
utmost the estate of the bankrupt will permit.