The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-29 00:00:00

EVENING,

MONIA

yard. She will leave the flttingibasin in ten days, and be
moored in the harbour on the west shorn, opposite to the
Garrison-point, a position which will command the entire
entrance to the river Medway. Iler armament is a formid-
able one, consisting of 20 8-inch and four 10-inch guns. She
wants nearly 40 men to complete her crew.
Her Majesty's steam-frigate Cyclops, fitting as an advanced
steamer, will not have made good her defects till the end of
April.
Colonel Ord, Commandant of the Royal Engineers at
Chatham, arrived here on Thursday on an official visit, for
the purpose of inspecting the sea wall on the harbour side of
the land fortifications, with the view of placing it in a proper
state of defence. The necessary works will shortly be com-
menced, and, when completed, wiil render the dockyard
secure from all approaches by land, at the same time form-
ing a formidable battery for the protection of the upper part
of the harbour as far as Saltpan Reach, upon which, at pre-
sent, no battery guns can be made to bear.
The committee which has been sitting at the Admiralty
for the purpose of devising the most efficient uniform sys-
tem of lighting all vessels afloat have, we are informed,
agreed upon their report. We stated in our impression of
the 15th inst., " the evidence was not in favour of placing
fixed" coloured lights on board small vessels, but that never•
theless they should have them in readiness to exhibit in
cases of emergency. Having duly weighed and coneidered
the whole of the evidence adduced on this important subject,
the committee have resolved to advise that system of light-
ing and signalling, liable, we presume, to certain suggestions
in rendering the details perfect.
Some seamen and two or three subordinate officers, borne
as supernumeraries on board her Majesty's ship Waterloo,
120, were dispatched on Friday to join her Majesty's ship
Winchester, 50, fitting at Portsmouth as .flag-ship- for the
East Indies, in lieu of the Hastings, 72, ordered home to be
paid off.
It appears by a return which has been made and printed,
that on the Ist of January, 1852, there were 791 midship-
men and cadets in the Royal Navy. The number of each
class of officers could not be separately given. On the Ist
January, 1851, there were 175 mates, 580 midshipmen, and
219 cadets.
Two leading men of ropemakers at Chatham Dockyard
have been superannuated on pensions of 541. a year each.
One shipwright and one workman at metal mills, 241. each.
Two labourers, at 201. and 151. respectively. One shipwright
also, who had served but a short time, has been allowed a
gratuity of three months' wages
WoowacTr, MARCH 27.—The Highflyer, 21, screw
L
steam-sloop, Captain Henry J. Matson, received a number
of seamen on Friday, who were brought round from Ports-
mouth in the Sprightly steam-vessel.
The Valorous steam-sloop, fitted with engines of 400-horse
power, by Miller, Ravenhill, and Co., had her steam up on
Wednesday at her moorings, opposite the dockyard, to test
the working of her engines, and they were found so satisfac-
tory that she will, without any further trial here, be taken
round to Devonport, and placed on the list of advanced war-
steamers at that station.
The Monkey steam-vessel, Second-Master Sallenger, went
up the river yesterday, having been placed under orders to
itrivutihlpt2ella screw steamer to the Diosotiwnnutesa.npdteTacjihnteozlesree=ria,
to Bhering Straits, under aanni
with the view of passing through the Straits in search of Sir
John Franklin. The Monkey returned to Woolwich the
same day, as the Isabella was not quite ready for sea.
VARIATION OF THE COMPASR. —Mr. Parkinson, second
master of her Majesty's brig Nautilus, has invented a com-
pass whereby a most desirable object is attained, and to en-
sure which many endeavours have previously been unsuc-
cessfully made, viz., that of enabling mariners to make the
allowances for the differences of the magnetic true course,
without the exercise of the thought, hitherto required. This
is effected by an arrangement, simple, but at the same time
entirely mechanical. The Nautilus is employed at Devon-
port for the instruction of naval apprentices, under the su-
perintendence of Mr. Parkinson, who finding it extremely
difficult to make his pupils, after taking bearings, compre-
hend the laying them off the chart, directed his attention
particularly to the subject. Many officers who have tested
the instrument (the cost of which is not much more than
the ordinary good compass) speak highly to its advantages,
especially when entering ports or rivers, in rendering the
giving of the course more simple and easy. The instrument
has been approved by the department under the Board of
Admiralty, and several have been ordered for trial on board
the ships of the East India Company. That so young an
officer as Mr. Parkinson should have directed his attention
to this important subject reflects the highest credit on him,
and it is to be hoped the successful result of his labours will
be duly appreciated in the proper quarter.

THE VULCAN.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—As there is some public anxiety expressed about
the Vulcan, perhaps you may think the following ex•
tract worthy attention. The letter is dated, " Off
Scilly, March 24th":—
" We have been cruising about for the last three weeks,
detained by easterly winds, and losing on one tack what
we gained on the other. The Vulcan is the veriest tub that
ever swam; she cannot beat a mile to windward, and seldom
goes about in stays, so that unless we get a fair wind we
must soon put in somewhere, as we have been on reduced al-
lowance of four ounces of bread,i and other things in pro-
portion, for some days, and little now remains."
Yours, &c.,M. G.

March 26.

[Why has not a steamer been sent to her assistance?
Can Admiral Ommaney answer?—En. Sun.]

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE BRADFORD
REFORM ASSOCIATION.

(CONTINUED ON MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS.)
Sir,—On Wednesday the 24th was a rather amusing
debate on Dogs and Dog-Carts; in which the Dogs won.
The House broke up at an early hour.
On Thursday wasllr. Hume's motion for bringing in
a Bill to amend the Elective Franchise. He might as
well have proposed a Bill for our immediate translation
to heaven, as far as any chance of carrying it was con-
cerned; and there was the further disadvantage, that it
was sure to bring out in the list of Noes, a number
of those whose assistance must be given to any Bill of the
kind when it has a chance of success. If those who
voted for the motion had been asked their opinions,
there can be little doubt the majority would have been
against proceeding with the motion. But as it was, there
was nothing to be done but vote. There is almost
always some good to be obtained out of things adverse;_
and there was some here. The Ministerial party were
drawn into exhibitions of that pride, which medical men
in the mental line since Solomon have declared to be
premonitory. They eschewed the gentler term Conser-
vative, and adopted in all its rudeness the antique deno-
mination of Tory. The Tory of any time iu the last
two centuries is upon us, minus only the appendages of
dress and person by which be used to be gracefully dis.
tinguished. They further volunteered an attack upon
the Sovereignty of the People." in which they only
showed great ignorance of the meaning of terms, and a
wonderful confidence in the power of obsolete mystifi-
cetions We may expect to bear next of " the Balance
of Trade" and • rh or find them
" agnisieg on their‘e
hearts' knees" after the manner of
their predecessors.
As regards the particular question, they have evi-
dently a great desire to get up a quarrel where no quarrel
is. They paint the unrepresented classes as enemies of
the Monarchy; when the fact is there are not fifty
among them simple enough to wish to see Mr. This and
Mr. That quarrelling for the place of Sovereign, or
who view the House of Lords in any other light, than
as the descendants of men who in their days of power
sometimes used rather unceremoniously their rights of
pit and gallows, but whose successors by, the operation
of natural causes have turned into humane and well-
conditioned gentlemen, quite as good as any other speci-
mens of the class, and as often found in the course of
modern history on the people's side es on the opposite.
Under these circumstances,
it is mere stratagem of
war, to raise the cry of hostility to the monarchy and
aristocracy. That name of the Monarchy is awfully taken
in vain. There is not an abuse great or small, the re-
moval of which has nut been described as dangerous to
the Monarchy. To hear the Tories, as they are hence-
forward to call themselves, it might be supposed our
ancestors had established Monarchy to be the fountate
of election ales, and grand guardian of all minor un-
reasonablenesses which should revel beneath its shade.
On one point, the Chancellor of the Exchequer must
be met-in his own department of arithmetic. Nothing is
easier than not to find a hare, if you look for her in the
chimney-pots. The Chancellor of the Exchequer says,
that on comparing the proportion of Members to certain
counties, and to the boroughs in the same, the first are
fewest in proportion to the population. This is only a
travestie of what was stated in his hearing a few nights
ago,—that if the constituencies of the present Protec-
tionist Ministers are taken as a sample, their county
Members are 6 to 1 as compared with the county and
population of Lancaster, and their borough Members 13
to 1. as compared with the constituency of Manchester.
The pith of the question lies in the existence of small
counties and small boroughs sending the same number of
representatives as large ones; and what the Chancellor
of the Exchequer says, is not pith, but " bay, straw,
stubble," tending only to throw dust about the subject.
He cautiously ignores the existence of the small boroughs
in other places. He looks for his hare in the chimney-
pots, cud of course he does not find her.
On division, the Ayes were 89, the Noes 244. It is
understood there were 17 new Ayes, and 41 absences
.of old; which last includes the pairs. It is strange it
cannot be impressed upon minorities, that minorities
ought not to pair. Suppose, for example, a minority
were to pair off till nobody was left but the two tellers,
And yet it might be a very respectable minority, if only
its men bad voted instead of pairing. Supposing the
pairs in the present instance to have been only ten, there
were at all events above a hundred in favour of the
motion.

On Friday a Bill for the Extradition of Deserters was
read a second time in the House of Commons without a
division. The downward road was always proverbially
easy; and here we are in the position of Switzerland,
• Belgium,•Piedmont, or any other of the powers which
between alarm and the complicity of rulers, are threat-
ened with annexation by the new Holy Alliance that
hangs over Europe. Great will be the stir in the
bureaux of the autocrats of Russia, France, and Austria,
..when it is known that the British Parliament has yielded
this particular cowman.;
without a division. Surely
tion might have been averted by those who took charge
of the opposition to the Bill. But on all occasions of ibis
nature, the weakest counsels are those which prevail.
- IF we' amusing is the present instance, to hear what
a flood of remenstrants discharged themselves upon the
infiv4r, to induce him to withdraw his motion, which he
was ibdividually well disposed to press. The effect will
be encouraging in Belgium, consoling in Switzerland,
and in Poland and Hungary excite a spirit of philosophic
to what nations of lou-ler words and smaller
ie,it j
submittedohntßouwllitihso:ottrdeesitsetramnicneed to shut his
resistance.
midgesnai inn i,
eyes that he may not see where he is being driven, the
resignation,
coming elections afford him an opportunity of at all
events making the tault nobody's but his own.
I am, Sir, yours very sincerely,
AN OLD REFORMER.
Blackheath, March 29, 1852.

THE AMAZON.—On Saturday intelligence reached
Lloyd's that several bundles of printed papers of instruc-
tions from the directors of the Royal West India Mail
Packet Company to the dicers of the ill-fated Amazon had
been picked up by the Monkey fishing_
boat? three miles
113X,E. of rearane, cant of Cormau.

MARCH

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.
When the coup d'etat of the 2d of December and the
strangulations of the French press had suddenly deprived
every independent citizen of France of the power of making
known his personal opinions or of adimadverting upon the op-
pression of his country, two men of character resolved to take
such means as they could find in a voluntary expatriation
for protesting, in the face of Europe, against the iniquity,
treachery, and violence of the Government established by
the usurpation of Louis Napoleon. The first of these gentle-
men was the Count d'Haussonville, well known for his mo-
derate opinions, his large fortune, and his near connexion
with the family cf the Duke de Broglie; the second was
M. Alexandre Thomas, one of the chief writers in the
Journal des Debats, and late occupant of a Professor's
chair at Versailles. • With no other object than the
defence of legal rights and of liberty, and at
the greatest personal inconvenience and risk, these gentle-
men repaired to Brussels for the purpose of founding at their
own expense a periodical publication called the Bulletin
Francais, to communicate to the world independent opinions
on the affairs of their own country. To use M. d'Flausson-
ville's own words on his late trial, "On the day on which
he saw the most eminent men in France seized by the
collar-like malefactors, and dragged by a deluded soldiery
through a stupefied population, he vowed that one voice
should at least be raised, in some place or other, to de-
nounce, at his own risk and in the name of the
moderate party, the unworthy triumph of force
over right, that overthrow of all justice, law, and
equity, and that attack, not only on the liberty
of a few individuals, but on the whole majesty
of the nation." The Bulletin Francais was published at
Brussels under these auspices. We have already expressed
our opinion, that considering the position of the Belgian
Government towards that of France, it would have been
more politic and considerate not to afford a pretext for French
remonstrance by acts committed on the territory of Belgium ;
for the strength of that little state is obviously not equal
to its love of freedom. The same measures might have been
taken in this country with perfect impunity. Yet we can
hardly regret this transaction, since it has given the world a
striking proof that the independence of a Belgian jury is
proof against the menaces of a foreign oppressor, and that
the people are fully
.prepared to use and to maintain their
rights of free discussion.
No sooner had the first number of the Bulletin Francais
appeared in Brussels than they were made the subject
of diplomatic remonstrance by France. But the Belgian
Government had no legal means of suppressing the publica-
tion, and a prosecution could only be instituted under the
obsolete provisions of a Dutch law of 1816, passed to protect
the Bourbons from the rancour of the exiled Bonapartists,
which imposed a small penalty on publications offensive to
the character of foreign Sovereigns. The French Minister
expressly demanded that these proceedings should be insti-
tuted, and they accordingly came on for trial last week
before the assizes of the Court of Brabant. The charges
in themselves, as contained in 15 extracts from different
numbers of the Bulletin, were sufficiently explicit, and
their authors courted no diseise. It was true they had
said that Louis Napoleon is a charlatan if he is not
a fanatic; that the suffrages of seven millions had been
eztofhted by" intimidation or fraud ; that hypocrisy and
falseood were stamped on ali the acts ot titoyetement ;
that its familiar and favourite weapons are espionage, cor-
ruption, and terror; and that France despises and detests
the hnoble domination of a counterfeit Caesar The accused
declared at the bar that these expressions are no more, in
their opinion, than terms appropriately applied to criminal
actions contrary to morality and honour, and reprobated as
such by all civilised nations; and they readily assumed the
whole responsibility of what they had written or caused to
be published. It mattered, therefore, little what was the
tenor of their defence, but it may here be mentioned that
when M. Berryer and 51. Odillon Barrot applied for passports
to enable them to appear at the bar in Brussels in support of
these eminent clients, they were informed by the French
police that if they left the country on such an errand they
would not be suffered to return. The case was, therefore, left
in the hands of M. Bartels, a Belgian advocate, who did ample
justice to it.
But though the Belgian Government had been constrained
to institute this prosecution, and the Attorney-General, M.
Bavay, appears to have exerted himself with great profes-
sional energy to obtain a conviction, public opinion in Bel-
gium had already judged this case. It was universally felt
that the question thus raised was of vital importance to the
liberty of the press and to the national independence of Bel-
gium. It was evident that however strong the terms applied
by Al. d'Haussonville and M. Thomas to the head of the
French Government might be, they were not stronger than
the events we have recently witnessed in France amply
warrant. Those expressions emanated from the pen of
two French gentlemen who might have been supposed to
write from the bitterness of party feeling; but since it
was the pleasure of the French Government to
bring them before an independent court of jus-
tice, every one of those vituperative epithets and
cutting accusations is now sanctioned by the unanimous and
deliberate judgment of twelve honest burghers of Brussels.
According to the forms of proceeding in the Belgian courts,
we understand that each of the incriminated passages, fifteen
in number, was successively put to the jury, and the jury re-
fused unanimously, on every one of these counts, to bring in
a verdict against the prisoners. The principal Belgian
journals have given a very imperfect account of these pro-
ceedings; but we are informed that the acquittal was re-
ceived with enthusiasm in the court and out of doors. M.
d'Haussonville and M. Thomas escaped with difficulty from
the crowd, which would have carried them in triumph to
their hotel, and the result of this trial will long be remem-
bered to the credit of the judicial impartiality and national
spirit of the Belgian people. The gentlemen placed at the bar
to meet these charges were foreigners, bat so in reality
was the prosecutor. As in the celebrated case of
Peltier, who was prosecuted in this country by the First
Consul during the Peace of Amiens, the political disputes
of another nation were then brought before an independent
tribunal ; but there the parallel ends, for the charges made
by Peltier were undoubtedly libellous and extravagant, the
language of the Bulletin Francais is that of men well ac-
quainted with the proper limits of public discussion and as
incapable of perverting a fact as of sacrificing an opinion.
Wherever Louis Napoleon has attempted, in France or out
of it, to face the independent scrutiny of the law, he has been
beaten. The Press itself, which he has gagged and destroyed,
is not more terrible to him than the indignant protests of
the bar and the severity of the bench towards his own acts.
To acquit his antagonists is to condemn him ; and, as long
as there is in Europe an independent journal or an honest
jury, all the despotism of France will not save his policy
from the chastisement which is most severe when it is dealt,
as on this occasion, by the hand of justice.—Times.

PROTECTION—LAND—LAW MONEY.
The mirage of the desert which lures the thirsty traveller
onward by the prospect of an imaginary lake, the apples of
the Dead Sea, fair and luscious on the outside, and only de-
tected by the taste, are but faint images of the illusions
wherewith Protection beguiles her credulous votaries. Fair
and specious at a distance, it is only when approached and
grasped that she melts into empty air, or is pulverised into
dust and ashes. Su long as their leaders were out of office,
what anion so firm, what policy so definite, what ends so
well understood as those of the country party? But pos-
sessed of the citadel of power, when one would suppose they
had nothing to do but to will and have, their volition seems
to be struck with incurable paralysis, and falters in the very,
moment of apparent success. If Lord Derby have not ab-
solutely renounced Protection he has at any rate clogged its
restoration with conditions which he perfectly well
knows to be impossible—conditions not imposed upon him
by the tyranny of an adverse majority, but the offspring of
his own wavering will and shattered convictions. Neither
does the plan of indirect compensation by relief from local
burdens seem likely to achieve a more favourable result.
Considering what real property consists of, to shift a portion
of these burdens from realty to personalty would be quite as
much relief to the trading and manufacturing classes as to
agricultural. Labourers it would not affect, farmers would
pay in rent what they were dispensed from paying in taxes,
and landlords would probably find the burden reimposed on
them in some other shape. It is vain for men to shut their
eyes to the fact, that the hopes and promises with which the
rural constituencies and their members have been mutually
feeding each other during the last six years meet the eye
but mock the touch, and a few months will inevitably show
the utter futility of the agricultural search after legislative
relief.
Under these circumstances it is really refreshing to see a
friend to the landed interest step forward who undertakes to
relieve it by means fair and just in their nature, perfectly
practicable and reasonable, and implying no sacrifice from
any other class in the community. To the means indicated
by Mr. Slaney we have more than once alluded; but as they
neither implied any tax on the food of the many for the
benefit of the few, nor any attempt to transfer the onus of
taxation from the shoulders of the rich to those of the poor,
they have met with little favour from that class of politicians
who would define the art of government to be the enabling
a class to live at the expense of its neighbours, doing as little
as possible for itself. The remedies to which the agricul-
tural interest ought to look are, in our opinion, those which
arise from a wider extension and more logical application of
the principles of free trade.
Free trade is like the spear of Achilles, which alone was
capable of healing the wounds it had inflicted. We do not now
speak of the absurdity of taking the unprotected farmer for the
purpose of protecting the sugar of the West Indies or the
freights of the shipowner, or of his right to be freed from
such demands himself the moment he renounces the attempt
to impose them on others. The great merit of free trade is
that it removes all obstruction to the circulation and ex-
change of commodities. The great demerit of protection is
that it impedes such circulation and exchange. Apply these
doctrines to the tranfer and sale of land. The system which
has been suffered to grow up in this country is one which
might have been devised expressly to render land as little an
article of commerce, as little vendible and purchaseable as
possible. If a man has a certain sum of money which he
wishes to exchange for shares or stock in a public company or
the funds, the law points out an ostensible owner with whom
he may deal, and though the stock or funds be affected with
any amount of trusts the writing of a few words settles
the transaction. But if a man wish to exchange his money
against land he is at once involved in a labyrinth of da
bie
culty and expense. Voluminous abstracts, innumer
queries and objections, interminable conveyances, weari-
some delays, and still more interminable attorneys'
bills,
beset his path, and unless the purchase be veryclarege6ibinegare
a formidable ratio to the outlay. Now, thatlarge,
are not absolutely necessary is perfectly obvious, when we
consider that stock in the funds or shares in a
anra_ilw.tsay4com-
pany are practically as permanent as rthe I d and
that the only essential difference between them consists in
the manner of describing them, the former being gnatdesinaed
by numbers, the latter by local descrip ions,g the
ofo
which is as easily transferred by the simple registration a
name as the other. Only admit that every piece of land
may have, as every pound nf sto.ck has" some one to repre-
seat it for the purposes of alienation, and to act as a trustee
for all those who may be beneficially interested in it, and
there is no reason why land should not be transferred with
as much cheapness and simplicity as stock.
Now, what would be the effect of such a change? All
the expenses which now clog a purchase of land are so
much deducted from the purchase money, and though nomis
nallv paid by the purchaser really fall on the vendor, who
would receive more if the legal expenses were less. If we
estimate them with Mr. Staney at ten per cent., they impose
just the same burden on the seller of land as an export duty
of ten per cent. would inflict on the manufacturer, with this
difference in favour of the latter—that the duty would go to
defray the expenses of Government, while nobody benefits
by the complexity of titles to land except the class of
lawyers who live by their investigation. It is quite unne-
cessary to point out to the landed interest the advantage of
such a rise in their property, or in how many instances it
would enable those who live on the narrow margin between
rents and interest of mortgages to extricate themselves from
a position of what appears at present a hopeless embarrass-
ment. The only persons who would have any just cause to
complain of such a change would be those who have made
it their business to acquire a knowledge of the complicated
law which at present fetters the transfer of land ; but we
greatly mistake the spirit of the Protectionist party it they
would be willing to pay an unnecessary tribute on the mort-
gage and transfer of their land for the sake of affording a
remunerating price to the British lawyer.
We commend this recipe to the attention of those who
begin to appreciate the true nature of the ehitnairas they
have been so hotly pursuing. Leas ingenious than the eliding

) 9 &=o

scale, less level t the meanest capacity that! a fixed duty,
our remedy has at any rate the advantage of doir,g wrong to
nobody, of being their own power, and, if once esi.Wisbed,
beyond the risk of reversal. One-twentieth part 1:f theingenuity which is devoted to unsaying that which has been
said and undoing that which has been done, to mystifying
opponents and quieting clamourous supporters, would have
sufficed to strike cut something which would be a permanent
benefit to the landowner as well as a solid improvement to
our jurisprudence.—Times.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

The opening night of the sixth season of this splendid
establishment—the house of Grisi, Mario, and Costa—took
place on Saturday. The opera selected was the Maria di
Rohan, of Donizetti, which was played at the Italian Opera
in the season of 1847. There is a resemblance between the
story of this opera and Othello. Maria di Rollin is se-
cretly the wife of the Duke de Chevreuse while she is pas-
sionately beloved by the Count de Chalais, the husband and
the lover being attached friends. At the opening of the
piece, the cause of secrecy being removed, the Duke re-
veals his marriage, to the despair of his friend. Chalais is
involved in a duel. Being prevented from attending the
rendezvous, bis friend Chevreuse, to save his honour, fights
in his stead. He is wounded and conveyed home,
v. here he is affectionately tended by his wife and his
grateful friend. Unfortunately, while preparing tor
the combat, Chalais has written a few lines of ten-
der farewell to the object of his love, and the letter falls into
her husband's hands. Mad with jealousy, the Duke is
about to sacrifice his wife to his fury, when his friend enters.
Upon him Chevreuse turns his rage ; handing him a pistol,
he drags him from the room. The next moment two pistol
shots are heard, Maria falls senseless, and the curtain drops.
This story is complicated with a good deal of extraneous
matter. The introduction of the gay Abbe de Gondi,
afterwards the celebrated Cardinal blazarin, was, we believe,
an after-thought, this character not being in the piece
when first produced, but introduced to give it some
variety and lightness. It is De Gondi who chal-
lenges Chalais, and fights with Chevreuse. He is
represented as a very youthful rake ; the music of the part
is for a contralto voice, and it is performed by a female.
Ronconi, Tamberlik, and MadameCastellan were in splendid
voice, and sustained their roles with triumphant perfection.
Madlle. Seguin made her debit as the new contralto, and,
notwithstanding a considerable nervousness in the outset,
achieved a decided success by the excellence of her
voice and style, which were enthusiastically appreciated in
her rendering of the cavatina in the second act. The intro-
duced ballet divertissement in the first act might better have
been omitted. The house was crowded by a fashionable
audience, who testified a warm and unequivocal approbation
of the execution of the music, vocal and instrumental, of
Maria di Rohan.
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
The cast of Saturday evening showed only one principal
astist included in that of five years ago—Signor Ronconi -
whose merits as a tragic actor in Maria di Rohan are gene-
rally known and appreciated. On Saturday evening he kept
up his old reputation, singing with all his artistic delicacy
and skill, and acting, particularly in the last scene, with that
tragic power which has made his impersonation of this part
a lyric tradition. Madame Castellan replaced Madams Ron-
coni as Maria. The latter artist, it will be remembered,
made her dibut in the part, but her efforts were so unsuo-
cessful as to amount to a positive failure. Madame Castellan
is a happy remplacante. Her pure and vibratory organ, and
her thoroughly musician-like style, contribute to do the
utmost justice to the music. She was in good voice, and
sang with animation and spirit. In the original Covent-
garden cast Salvi was the Ricardo. The character was on
Saturday represented by Tamberlik, who has returned from
his Russian campaign without injury to the delicacy or
strength of his organ. The original tremulousness of voice
which marked this artist, and which was by some esteemed
a beauty as a return to an ancient trick of art, and by
others denounced as a radical defect in the organ,
has been for some time on the decrease, and was little
perceptible on the recent occasion, except in the more
strongly impassioned passages, in which, however, the cha-
racteristic in question is frequently not misplaced. Like
Ronconi and Madame Castellan, Signor Tamberlik was in
excellent voice. The sole debutante was Madlle. Seguin, a
French lady, we believe, who is the new contralto. Madlle.
Seguin possesses a slight but well formed figure and intelli-
gent features. Her powers on her first entrance were sadly
marred by nervousness, but she gradually recovered her com-
mand over her voice, and ended by achieving in the cavatina
in the second act a decided hit. Madlle. Seguin's voice is a
light contralto, more powerful than usual in the upper re-
gister; but well defined and satisfactory in the lower notes.
Her style is excellent—even and musician-like, and her in-
tonation severely accurate. The air in the second act was
encored by acclamation. Madlle. Seguin has mach to
learn as an actress. She is, indeed, clearly a tyro upon the
boards, but her voice and style are both much in her favour.
The opera was steadily and evenly played. The orchestra,
which numbers eighty-six, and includes Piatti and Bottesini,
went with their usual accuracy and 3 plonsb, under the
direction of M. Costa's baton, and the chorusses were on the
whole efficient. We have one thing, however, decidedly to
object to in the representation—the introduction of a feeble
ballet divertissement in the first act, which breaks the flow
of the music, and perfectly stops the dramatic action of the
piece. In every respect this introduced ballet was bad. It
was improperly introduced, and its performance was not of a
character to which opera audiences are accustomed. First-
rate dancing may, by a stretch, be tolerated in a lyric work,
but certainly not dancing of the species exhibited on Satur-
day evening. The whole affair is quite a mistake. No
music ought to be performed as part of an opera, unless it be
written by the composer of the opera, and thus carry out
his original designs. Let the divertissement be given at the
conclusion of the principal work. It is then at all events
harmless. After the fall of the curtain " God save the Queen"
was sung. Madame Castellan was the only principal vocalist
who took the solo parts.
(From the Daily News.)
The cast was strong, and the performance excellent. Ma-
dame Castallan was a charming representative of the
heroine, and sang exquisitely, particularly the air " Cups
fatal mestizia," the finest morceau in the part. In the terror,
agony, and distraction of the closing scene she showed a high
degree of tragic power. Tamberlik did all justice to the cha-
racter of the Count de Chalais, both as an actor and a singer ;
but the part is not so interesting, either vocally or dramati-
cally, as it ought to have been. None of the airs belonging:to it
have left any trace on our memory. The little part of De
Gondi served to introduce the new contralto, Mademoiselle
Seguin, who achieved a decided triumph. Her aspect is very
pleasing, but her excessive timidity for a little time seemed
to paralyse her powers. Encouraged, however, by a kind re-
ception, she rallied her spirits; and when she came to the
salient point of the part, the exceedingly pretty romance,
" Per non istare in ozio," she poured it out with a verve, a
fire, a richness of voice and brilliancy of execution which
took the audience by storm, and it was encored with salvos
of applause from every part of the house. We shall be
much disappointed if this young lady do not turn out
another Brambilla or Alboni. But all the other parts were
eclipsed by Ronconi's magnificent performance of the
Duke de Chevreuse. It is regarded as his chef donors,
and is indeed a wonderful (we might almost say
matchless) application of the vocal art to the ex-
pression of passion in its utmost violence and in-
tensity. In the final scene. the storm of frenzied
jealousy, raging in the breast of a desperate man, has
never been more powerfully painted by the greatest trage-
dians of Shakspere's stage. The piece has been produced
with the completeness and splendour to be expected at this
theatre. The orchestra remains under its able conductor,
Mr. Costa, and has been strengthened by some
eminent names, particularly Piatti and Bottesini.
The scenery and decorations were rich and beautiful.
(From the Times.)
The general execution of the opera was unimpeachable.
The scenery and dresses were excellent; the orchestra was
as perfect as ever, and the chorus seemed stronger and more
efficient than last season. The overture, a very flimsy com-
position, was rendered interesting by the admirable manner
in which it was played. Mr. Costa, who was received with
acclamations on taking his seat in the orchestra, con-
ducted with his wonted decision and skill. The only objec-
tionable point in the performance was the interpolation
of a series of dances, entitled a divertissement, into the first
act of the opera, which divertissement proved by no means
diverting to the audience, who, during its progress and at
the conclusion, expressed their dissatisfaction in audible
terms. Notwithstanding this, Mademoiselle Brussi and
Mademoiselle Robert (the former a young and promising
dancer, whose personal appearance is much in her favour—
the latter a pantomimist of acknowledged eminence from the
Grand Opera in Paris) were frequently and warmly ap-
plauded. The introduction of the divertissensent was, never-
theless, an unpardonable liberty, and its suppression on the
next occasion will be advisable. If a ballet be necessary, it
should be placed at the end of the evening's performance,
unless originally a feature in the opera. The Royal Italian
Opera has gained a reputation for giving the works of cele-
brated composers as they were written and ought to be
chary of following bad examples. With this exception
there was nothing but approval and genuine applause. The
receptions accorded to Ronconi, Tamberlik, and Madame
Castellan were highly complimentary, and the usual number
of recalls testified to the general content. The last scene of
Ronconi created &furore, and he was compelled to come for-
ward ,twice after his aria. After the opera the National
Anthem was performed, Madame Castellan taking the prin-
cipal solos.
Her Majesty's box was occupied by Lady Caroline Barring-
ton and Miss Barrington, Col. the Hon. Charles Gray, and
party. Among the fashionable company attending the theatre
were the Marchese Brancaleoni and Madlle. Brancaleoni,
the Earl and Countess of Desert, the Earl of Durham, the
Count and Countess de Morella, the Earl of Lisburn,
Viscount Clifden, Viscount Ranelagh, Viscount Sydney,
Viscount Exmouth, Viscout Bury, ViscounmiybtbisscieCascr:aroguLtraondney,
Lord and Lady Carington and tyh,eLHoroLdna.Rd,
Lord Broughton and the Hon. Miss Llobhotise, and the
Hon. Mrs. Strange Jocelyn, Lady Hislop and Miss E •
Lord John Hay, Lord Arthur Ha
a r bno. Elliot,
Atkinson and party, Sir John and
Loftus and Lady Otway, Hon. Otway Toler, Larvpbell
Sanders and Dlr. Sanders, ALP., Lord Georeox, Hon.nSiir
Webb. Sir William Leopold Agar Ellis, Baron de Steinberg, Ho
M.P. Captain the Hon. Claude Lyon,n
Bur
rgdoG,yeii
Burgoyne ache,
acsl, Dillonc.
and the Hon. Misses Dillon,
farlane;:and Miss Macfarlarne, Sir J h
Misses Burgoyne, Sir Henry tre
Sir George Armytage, Colonel mpi Amin, tie dilir!
Williamson and Miss Williamson, Ca 'Villiers"-- Batton
and Mrs. Villiers Hatton, Ca t • Thud Blane,
Laurie Colonel
andTyr wmhiistst ,
Gage, Mrs. Pugh and the Missesann' ?rain•Rand Mrs. tha s? JoM.hn
Webster, Mr. W. '
Mr. Henry Greville M • Mr. H. Bingham
LCacuprtiae nEHr,i,ti.nWPD:eßnaxthol3th.
r. Bulteel, Mr. Thist Gilles, Mr.
nard, Mr. Mills, &c. Gascoyne and
3111.
Colonel Ewer, martineauLe:y7e,
Gregor Mr. Bur-

CHA pc
Mr. Coleswa
usr .
On Sat tiro a of tbe shareholders of this
R__G-cßoss s gNsIoN-BRIDGE COMPANY.—
y A special meeting
Villiers-street, Strand,
company ~..
subject of the new ap-
proaches at a previous meeting
Pr"ches from the York-road,
had been d t be made by the directors, and sanc-
ilhdeilnd
the thecbsi
roeffloc
nes,th%
Propose o In a circular issued by Messrs.
tioned by the shareholders.
which the proposition was
Perry and Farisb, the grounds on
• d, the directors,
adopted were strongly conettrionly it was •
o the c
al-
leged, having offered no. e _ . which making such
the increased income was to cover
approaches', while
the outlay, was not stated.
A resolution in accordance withthese views •
~as submitted to the meeting by Mr. Tyrrell,
whichas supported at great length by Mr. Hawes, late a
Iv
director. An amendment by
was moved Mr. Few, solicitor
to the company, to the effect that it is highly desirable that
such approaches should be made, and that the directors be
requested to take such steps as they deem proper to carry
the plan into effect. The probable cost, he said, would be
about 12,000 L, and increased tolls to the amount of 400/. a-
year, or 526 passengers per diem, would justify that outlay,
while the sum of 4,9001. would purchase all the property re-
quired for carrying out the project. After a lengthened
discussion the resolution was rejected, and the amendment of
Mr. Few was adopted by a majority of 11. The prec2ed-
bags then terminated.
The lonw-pending agreement between the London
and North-Western, the Chester and Holyhead, and the City
of Dublin Companies, for the conveyance of the Irish goods
and cattle traffic to and from Holyhead, was finally settled
pa giatiuday reek.