The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-05 00:00:00

fQI7
' •J

Vii_

N°. 22.344.

THE SUN, LONDON FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 5, Mt

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WHERE CAN WE NIEE AFIER THE
PANTOMIMES ? My dear Fellow, Gentlemen eup
at EVANS', Covent-garden.

Mr. Cobden and the Newspaper Press.

The Danish Commander-in-Chief,

(From the Manchester Guardian.)

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Mr. Cobden has re-published the correspondence
between himself and Mr. Delane, with a preface
and a supplementary correspondence between him-
self and the editor of the Daily Telegraph. In his
preface, he says :—" Not one epithet has been with-
drawn, or a denunciatory phrase softened in the
following pages, and I leave the impartial reader to
say whether, if 1 had known at the commencement
of the correspondence,
all that I now know, some
of my expressions might not, xvith propriety, have
been a little more emphatic. I could have commi-
serated the shock which I have given to the exqui-
site sensibilities of my censors, it I had not seen
with what robust superiority to all the pangs of
outraged taste they were able to peruse the clan
derous imputations by which my letter was pro-
voked. For the rest I do not profess to have acquired
that steel polish which some of our ' Saturday'
cynics' of the emotionless school of Reviewers,
and Spectators' would seem to have attained,
by which they aro enabled to subordinate the feel-
ings of indignation at the foul wrong to the claims
of a glittering rhetoric or the attitudes of the pos.
lure master." In a letter to the 7elegraph, which
had refused to publish Air. Cobden's first letter, but
afterwards, while still declining to print it, had
commented on it, Mr. Cobden writes:—" The
ground on which you refused the insertion of my
letter was that the latter part of it was personal.
Have you really allowed yourself to be persuaded
that that was the reason why the limes refused it P
Nothing would have pleased that paper more than
to have caught me at a personalty. You can hardly
be unaware that what deterred the Times from

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A Six-roomed Parsonage
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BEAUTIES OF TROPICAL SCENERY;
Lyrical Sketches and Love Songs. With Notes.

NOTICE OF REMOVAL.
The Directors hereby give notice, that, in consequence of
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Railway, ,hey have vacited their offices, No. 8, Crescent, New
Bridr„e-street, and REMOVED to their NEW PREMISES,
lf.o. 29, Fleet-street, E.C.
February 4, 1864,

By R. N, DUNBAR.
" This work contains many beauties."—Morning Post.
"He gives grac ful descriptions of scenes and objects, in,
teresting to a large portion of the public."—Observer.
"The amatory passages are worthy of Thomas Moore."—
Critic.

printing my letter was the allusion I made to
an improper, because secret, connection which
existed between the conductors of that journal
and the dispensers of Government patronage.
I repeat that the sole objection to this con-
nection is its secresy. The limes has advocated
the system of anonymous journalism on the
ground of its necessity for preserving the indepen-
dence of the writer towards the public on one
hand and the governing powers on the other. I
have not a word to say against this principle, if it
be honestly observed towards both parties. But
my charge was and is that the Times has broken its
compact with the public by dropping the mask in
presence of those who are the dispensers of the
patronage of the state. * Far from thinking
that the class of whom we are speaking should be
excluded from the public service, I form a very high
estimate of the fitness for legislative and adminis-
trative functions of those who write for the politi-
cal instruction of the people. And it is on this
account that, while I deny to no one the right of
an honest incognito, I regret that the prevalent
and perhaps unavoidable habit of anonymous
writing in the metropolis should entomb, for
ell practical political purposes, so much of
our best intellect, and rob society of the full
development of that individuality which, more than
all besides, is essential to the progress and elevation
of our species. In the provinces the anonymous
system has, practically, up to a very recent period,
never been in operation ; because there every man's
occupation was more or less known to his neigh-
bours. And if space permitted, I could trace the
salutary effect of this upon the political progress
of the last generation ; for it would be easy to
adduce the names of half a score of men, the con-
ductors of journals in Leeds, Edinburgh, Liverpool,
Manchester, Norwich, &c. to whose able, honest,
and energetic efforts, as leaders of public opinion in
*heir several localities, more than probably any
other traceable cause, the nation is indebted for its
successful resistance to that reactionary spirit,
which, from the end of last century down to 3820,
ran its course of tyrannical repression and filled all
but the stoutest hearts with despair. These men
have all passed aw,..y but they should not be forgotten.
And if, when my friend Dr. Smiles, himself a dis-
tinguished member of the fraternity, shall have com-
pleted his biographies of our great discoverers, and
improvers in physical science, he should give us a
volume of the lives of those
pioneers of political pro
tress, it will be seen that their triumphs are traces
-
able to something more than an investment of
capital in presses and type, with an impersonal
editorial staff—that they were in each case due to
the open and avowed writing, and the personal ex-
ample of the individual man, who was living in clear
daylight, under the full gaze of his neighbours,
whom he was not only stimulating, but leading in
the path of duty, and by whom he was in turn
cheered and sustained. I might, also, if space
allowed, refer to the advantages which open and
avowed journalism might afford to the electoral
body, in the choice of representatives to Par-
liament. Those members of the House of
Commons connected with the public press
who have been elected during my experience,
and who, with the exception of the first-named, were
connected with provincial journals—Messrs. Miall,
Baines, Maguire, Fagan, Lucas, and othere—what-
ver may be the differences of opinion as to their
views, will be acknowledged by all who have sat
foremost of their party for political intelligence and
with them as having been, in every case, among the
honour. I have said enough to show that I take a
more exalted view than most men of the mission of
those who instruct the public through the news-
paper press, and that, while asserting their title to
the most honourable posts, I am assailing only a
a the huddledree u
lresult
ef
e clandestinelyeecret
day.a nintod systeminferior
And
illicitb
n ywhich
lintercourse
revert th etemployments,yo theare
withthe
question—has Gn o ve r m e n t n
eo h
tf
thet e
country a right to be informed, on my responsibility,
and this illicit intercourse has been carried on be-
tween the 7imeB and the Government r'

London: Robert Hardwicke, 192, Piccadilly.

The Rev. Thomas Richardson Birch, found guilty
of libel, was brought up yesterday before the Recor-
der at the Central Criminal Court for judgment.
Mr. Collins said he had just a few words to say
before sentence was passed. In the first place, then,
the prisoner had lost his position as chaplain of
Slough Union, and through this conviction he would
be unable ever to re-establish himself, and ho hoped
his lordship would take into consideration his po-
verty and his present position. With regard to the
first letter, he gave his word that he had not writ-
ten it at all, and the second letter Ras written in a
moment of passion, therefore he hoped that, looking
at his position, at the length of time he had been in
prison, and the situation which had been taken from
him, his lordship would give him as lenient a sen-
tence as he possibly could. He had a large number
of testimonials as to his character, but he thought
it was not necessary to produce them. The indict-
ment which had been preferred against him at
Lewes was abandoned, but the letters, the subject
of that indictment, would be handed up to kis lord-
ship.

The letters were then handed up to his lordship,
who, after perusing them, addressed the prisoner,
and asked him whether he had anything to say why
son tence should not be passed upon him.
The prisoner replied that he could only repeat
what his learned counsel had stated, except that he
appealed to God that he had never written the first
letter ccnoplained of ; and he felt that, at the last
dreadful day of judgment, He would find him
guiltless.
The Recorder said he had only one duty to per-
form, and that was a very painful one, The prisoner
had been found guilty of writing both letters, and
for that the punishment must be awarded. No
doubt there were some circumstances in the case
which ought to be considered in extenuation, and
there was no doubt that the prisoner had lived in a
place of gross immorality; but if he had thought
fit he could have resigned his tutorship as soon as
he had learnt the position of the parties with whom
he lived. Such, however, was not the case; on the
contrary, he remained a considerable time, and,
according to the evidence, he had partaken of the
prosecutor's hospitality ; and it was not until he
was dismissed from the tutorship that he wrote the
letters complained of. In those letters he spoke of
the house as being a sink of the grossest vice and
iniquity—charges which were not at all justified by
the actual state of things, and one could not but
speak of it as a malicious libel. The Recorder then
sentenced him to be kept in prison in her Majesty's
gaol of Newgate for six calendar months.

The Blowing up of the Lotty Sleigh.

ATown Council, on
Wednesday,t a
meeting
some of the
interesting Liverpool
facts relative to the
storage and shipment of gunpowder were elicited
ver"l
during a discussion which followed the reading of
It was stated that
h
iatnrgeerpeuopr
hadt
n been
ffrotmh e n
t hLeou violation Ttotyw ns lCeilge
hrok It
the blow-
.f,
any
parliamentary or
actpiolcaaolingso large a
bythe owners
tiof the vessel destroyed in
gunpowder on board
their vessel and mooring her directly opposite the
town, and that the Board of Ordnance had no power
to order the present magazines to be moved out of
the river. The magazines, which are moored about
three miles above Liverpool, When full contain up-
wards of 500 tons of gunpowder, and if, by the
agency of lightning or any other cause, the powder
on board these vessels exploded, the towns of Liver-
pool and Birkenhead would be shaken to their
foundation and probably destroyed. Several mem-
bers urged upon the Council the necessity of deal-
ing with the matter in an earnest and decided
manner. One member stated that some years ago
a vessel moored opposite Seacombe took fire when
she had thirty tons of gunpowder on board. The
first impulse of the crew was to desert the ship,
but finding that they could not launch their boat,
they exerted themselves energetically, and ulti-
mately subdued the fire. Had the men succeeded
in gaining the shore when the first alarm of
fire was given, an incomparably worse disaster
than the recent explosion would have fallen
upon Liverpool and Birkenhead. During the
month of January, 1863, the quantity of gun-
powder shipped at Liverpool for the West Coast of
Africa alone, amounted to 4,054 packages, contain-
ing 500 barrels, 290 quarter barrels, 650 kegs, and
four boxes. It was ultimately decided by the
Council to refer the matter to the Fire Prevention
Committee, to take such steps as they thought pro-
per, and in the meantime, td watch the proceedings
of the Liverpool Mersey Dock and Harbour Board
on the subject.

Foreign Mail Packet List,

MAILS DUE.

Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton .. Feb. 18.
via Marseilles Feb. 12.
rail and Cape Verde, by British pachet. Feb. 3.
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Feb. 28.
China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Feb. 18.
via Marseilles Feb. 12.

Falkland Islands
Gibraltar, via Southampton Feb. 11
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton—Feb. IS.
via Marseilles I'd. 12.
India (Bombay), via Southampton Feb. 11.
via Marseilles Feb. 5.
Portugal.... Feb. 3.
Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Feb. 11.
via Marseilles Feb. 5.
Newfoundland
Oporto and Vigo ..
.................
U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet .. .. Feb. 11
by U.S. packet....
by Canadian packot.Feb. 5.
W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and feneritf, Feb. 10.
Bahamas, via New York Feb, 11,
Nlexico .... Feb. 29.
6.11 parts of West Indies, including Chili, l'cru' I Feb, 29,
California, and British Columbia....

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We find in a Copenhagen letter the following
sketch of General Meza, the Danish commander-in-
chief :—" The General has descended from a family
of Spanish Jews, who settled in Denmark about a
hundred years ago. Although more than eeventy
years of age, he retains many of the qualities which
with the bulk of mankind are the happy privilege
of youth, and become:dimmed long before the green
old age he enjoys. In this, as in every other re•
spect, he is a worthy oppanent of Baron Wrangel,
Prussian general, who is nearly an octogenarian,
but was never seen in a cloak, and will head a
charge with something like the fire he exhibited at
Waterloo. Herr de Meza was born at Elsinore, the
son and grandeon of wealthy medical practitioners.
At the time of the English attack he entered the
the Artillery, and served as an ensign in the bat-
teries of Frederickehaven during the campaign. On
peace being restored, he soon distinguished himself
by a knowledge of mathematics, which procured
him a place in the School of Artillery, and in course
of time made him a teacher in the School of War.
In the war of 1848 he obtained a brigade, and was
appointed chief of the Artillery. There was hardly
an office in the army whose military powers were
looked upon with greater distrust by the people
as well as the troops. The pedantic and capri-
cious dogmatist, whose crotchets had been
hawked about the capital, and formed the delight of
ensigns for many a year, was to encounter ail the
disagreeables of war. That he knew more than any
man in the country how to point a gun, and calcu-
late the flight of a ball, every one readily admitted;
but a man who had never allowed a window or a
door to be opened, and was wont to appear ranged
up to the eyes—a man who was ready to faint on
hearing an accent misplaced on one of his favourite
French words—did not seem to be the sort of fellow
to live in a camp and beat the enemy. However,
when it came to the test, Meza unexpectedly re-
vealed himself in a new character. In the field no
one cared less for wind and weather than the morose
and hypochondriac general, who, healthy as he
was, had considered himself a sickly valetudinarian
all his life. No one was more ready to encounter
the inclemencies of the temperature, no one was
more exacting in this respect than the adorer of can
de Cologne and the smelling bottle. In all the more
important encounters of the campaign he was at the
head of the artillery, indefatigable, and as discrete
as spirited and bold. His services at Ban Schles-
wig, Nippel and Dyppel, won him the applause of
the army, and made him a full colonel by the end
of the year. On the sanguinary 12 April he took
the two Saxon guns, the chief spoil of the war in
Danish hands. Having subsequently commanded at
Alsen, and garrisoned Fridicia, he took part in the
heroic sally in which the Germans were repelled,
and relieved the besieged fortress, His excellent
conduct on this occasion won him a general's brevet,
which a few months later was succeeded by stars,
together with his appointment to the command of
the ordnance. The re-opening of hostilities in the
second half of 1850 found him an invalid ; having
undergone a serious operation he was unable to take
the field. On the 24th July, however, he fought
at Staderup, and the day after shared the honours
of Idated, in the staff of General Krogh. Retreat
became necessary, but it was eonducted with con-
summate skill by our hero, whose reputation in-
creased amidst the disasters of the day. The troops
had not marched very far, when, bringing the
artillery to a stand, and reforming, he repelled the
enemy, and checked the pursuit. At the conclu-
sion of the war he was named Inspector Royal of
Artillery, and in 1858 received the command of the
forces in Schleswig, Jutland, and Funen. Having
subsequently held command at Copenhagen and
Zealand, he had, a month ago, the honour of being
sent over to the continent to defend the alone-
werke. His military talents were shared in an
eminent degree by Colonel Kaufmann, the chief of
his staff. Kaufmann, a Holsteiner by birth, has
been in the civil and military service of the king-
dom for many years, and proved himself a cool cud
intelligent officer in the war of 1848. Of late he
has acted in various capacities, representing his
government in the Diet at one time, and then sub-
mitting to be sent to Kiel to coerce the university
and frighten professors into loyalty."
Sentence on the Rev. Mr. Birch.

.erminated.

PRICE ..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Yesterday a meeting of this institution was held
at its house, John-street, Adelphi, Thomas Baring,
Es., M.P., F.R.S., in the chair. There were also
present Thomas Chapman; Esq., F.R.S., Sir Edward
Parrott, Bart., George Lyall, Esq., M.P., Colonel
Fitzroy Clayton, W. H. Harton, Esq., and Captain
Ward, R.N., inspector of lifeboats to the institu-
tion.

Mr. Lewis, the secretary, read the minutet: of the
previous meeting.
A reward of £l3 was voted to the crow of the
institution's lifebmt stationed at Palling; Norfolk,
for putting off and saving the crew of thrt) z.:cn
from the Prussian sloop Annette Catherina, of
Groningen, which was observed in distress off Pall-
ing, during stormy weather, on the sth January,
A reward of £l5 was also voted to the crew of
the Newbiggin (Northumberland) lifeboat of the
society, for going off and saving fourteen men and
one woman belonging to the Norwegian barque
King Oscar, which, during the thick and stormy
weather, had struck on Newbiggin Point on the
night of the 11th of January.
A reward of £l3 was likewise voted to the crew
of the lifeboat of the institution at \%'hitburn,
Durham, for going off, on the night of the 13th
ult., and saving seven men from the steam-tug Rob
Roy, of Sunderland, which had struck on the Steel
Rock. off Whitbnrn, and afterwards became a total
wreck.

A reward of £4 10s. was also granted to the crew
of the Brightatone Grange, Isle of Wight, lifeboat
of the institution, for patting off and rescuing the
crew of four men from a small boat belonging to
the schooner Thetis, of London, which had foun-
dered during stormy weather off St. Catherine's
Point, Isle of Wight, on the 19th January. The
cost of this lifeboat was presented to the institution
by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, and since she
has been on the station she has been the means of
rescuing 138 lives from shipwreck.
A reward of £4 was also voted to the crew of
the Newcastle, Dundrum Bay, lifeboat belonging
' to the society, for going off and saving two of the
crew of the barque Hamilton Gray, of Liverpool,
which was totally wrecked during a heavy gale of
wind in Dundrum Bar, on the 2d ult.
Rewards amounting to £l3 13s. were likewise
granted to the crew of the society's lifeboats at
Tyrells, Dundrum Bay, and at Porthcawl, for put-
ting off in reply to signals of distress from vessels,
which did not, however, ultimately require the ser-
vices of the boats.
During the past year the lifeboats of the institu-
tion had saved 417 shipwrecked persons, and the
society had also granted rewards for rescuing 297
persons by shore boat and other means. For these
joint services the institution had awarded £1,351,
and had expended on lifeboat establishments during
the same period £13,819.
A reward of £l4 was also voted to the crew of
the Scratby lifeboat, called the Prince Albert, for
going off and saving the crew of 14 men of the
barque Fifth of May, which, during a gale of wind,
' had been wrecked off Hasborough Knoll, Norfolk.
A reward of £l4 was also voted to the crew of the
lugger Dauntless, of Kingsdown, for rescuing, at
much risk of life, the crew of four men of th^ 1-I._io-
verian galliot Cornelia, which, during a heavy gale
of wind, was wrecked on the Good win Sands.
The institution decided to station new lifeboat at
Greencastle, at the entrance on Londonderry har-
bour, and at Dunbar.
The following legacies have recently glen left to
the institution, viz.:—
The late David Campbell, Eq., of Rothsay, £100;
the late Richard Spence, E,q., of Gower-street,
£2OO ; and the late Miss Emma Eeate, of Kensing-
ton, £3OO. A "Friend" had sent the institution
£lOO for the preservation of his wife for another
year.

It was reported that Rbert Whitworth, Eq., of
the firm of the celebrated gun manufacturers, of
Matchester, had recently collected from his friends,
and others in that city, the cost of two lifeboats,
and nearly £lOO a year for their future mainte-
nance.

Payments, amounting to 1;663, having been made
on various lifeboat establishments, the proceedings

THE SHAESPERE TERCENTENARY,

It seems that the committee at Stratford-on-Avon
have got into a serious misunderstanding with Mr.
Phelps. From the correspondence which Mr. Phelps
has published (and for the insertion of the whole of
the documents composing which we regret we have
not space) it appears that he was applied to early in
December last to take part in the dramatic perfor-
mances at the festival in April next. To this request
Mr. Phelps acceded, and on the 16th January he
received a letter from Mr. Bellew, on behalf of the
Stratford Committee, proposing that he should un.
dertake the part of lachimo in the play of " Cymbe-
line." To this proposal Mr. Phelps gave an indig-
nant refusal, and Mr. Bellew replied, offering to get
up " Macbeth," " Othello," or any other play of
Shakspere's that would be more acceptable to him,
except "Hamlet," the part of Hamlet having been
offered to another gentleman. In reply to this, Mr.
Phelps wrote the following letter, which we may
leave to speak for itself :

"My dear Sir,—l claim the right, upon the follow-
tug grounds, to be considered the foremost man in
my profession in a demonstration meant to honour
Shakspere. I have produced worthily 34 of his
plays, which no individual manager ever did before.
They were acted in my theatre 4,000 times, during
a period extending over 18 years. I acted to the
satisfaction of a large English public all his heroes
—tragic and comic—and to that public I shall
appeal, and publish this correspondence. The
Stratford Committee have insulted me by asking
any man in this country to play Hamlet o!-., such ac
occasion without having first offered a choice of
characters to yours faithfully,
" S. PHELPS.

To this letter Mr. Flower, the Mayor of Stratford-
on-Avon, replied, with a protest against attributing
to the committee an intention to insult Mr. Phelps.
That gentleman, however, still insisted on his right
to play the part of Hamlet, and as his right has not
been conceded it seems probable that Mr. Phelps
will take no part in the Stratford commemoration.
It is understood that it was Mr. Fechter to whom
the committee had allotted the part of Hamlet; and
it is very much to be regretted that the personal
feeling which has manifested itself to so great an
extent in connection with the London movement,
but which we trust has now subsided, should have
been permitted to intrude itself at Stratford-on-
Avon.

been recently
C. J. PLUMPTRE, Esq., having
appointed Professor of English Literature, Rhetoric,
and Elocution, delivered on the 22d ult ~ previous
of his class at the Crystal Palace, an
introductory ecture on elocution, addressed chiefly
to the pupils of the School of Art, Science, and
Literature. Mr. Plumptre advocated, with great
reason and ability, the necessity of paying due
attention to the art of elocution, especially in refe-
rence to reading aloud, and impressed very forcibly
upon his audience the necessity of paying the same
regard and considerations to acquiring a correct
accent and good enunciation of their native tongue,
as could ba paid almost invariably in the acquire-
ment of foreign languages, the successful teaching
of the latter being coesidered to depend mainly on
the pure accent of' those who undertake the task of
instruction. Mr. Plumptre adverted also to readine,
aloud in a physiological point of view, and broughq
the best medical evidence in proof of his assertion
that it was a most healthful exercise, for the delicate
as well as for the robust in constitution. Mr.
Plumptre's seholarsi,ip and high literary attain-
ments render it quite unnecessary to dilate further
on his lecture or on his rendering of Professor
Aytoun's " Death of Montrose" and Tennyeon'e
"Lady Clare," with which he closed his lecture.
His delivery was most effective, and his well-culti-
vated voice was modulated with exq :site taste
throughout.