The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 29, 1864.

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the See Management of Mr. Fechter.
BEL DENIONIO (a Triumphant Success) will be repeated
Prery Evening during the Week.
THIS EVE SIN( 7,, the performance will commence with's.
New and Original .Varce, entitled THE LOST CHILD :
MeAses. H. Widdicorn be, Shore, Garden, F. Charles Collett,
ligreland; 3lisses Pe Ivy, Pauline Leclercl, Wood. Mrs. Lee,
and Miss E. Lavenu.
A Iter which, at Fi zht o'clock, BEL DENIONIO, a Love
Story, in Twelve Taioleaux, taken from Stendhal's "Italian
Chronicle," by Mr. John BrougLam. Principal charac
ter by Mr. Fechter, supported by Messrs. Jordan, Charles,
Brow,irim, Emery, Raymond, Moreland, Smith, Clifford,
Collett, Sims ; 11L-s Henrade, Miss E. Lavern', Mrs. Lee,
and eliss Elsworthy.
The Public are ent; seated to take notice that No Charge is
made to the occupaal sot' Boxes, Box-places, or Stalls, either
for play bills or for ti le safe keeping of hats and cloaks, and
tl at the attendants ua all parts of the house are forbidden to
receive any gratuiti,Ns whatever.
Box-office open daily from 11 to 5. Commence at 7.

THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET.-
cote Lessee. and Manager, Mr, Buckstone.
TET IS EVENING-, OUR AMERICAN COUSIN: Messrs.
Elothern, Buckston.e„ Chippen.lale, Braid, Gordon, Rogers,
Clark, Cullentord, Sic. ; Mesdames Angel, Snowden, Terry,
_Lindley, Hill, &c .
After which, KING ARTHUR ; or The Days and Knights
of the Round I'W:de. Messrs. Chippendale, Compton, Braid,
Clark, Rogers, T4lbury, ; Mesdames L. Keeley, Brough,
Wright, Terry, Lindley, Rogers, &c.
Commence at 7.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.-
Sole Lesee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining.
THIS EVENING, DONNA DIANA.

- ---
After which, HARLEQUIN LITTLE TOM TUCKER;
or The Fine Lady of Banbury Cross, and the Old Woman
who Lived in a Shoe and Had so Many Children she didn't
snow what to do

NEW THE ATRE-R0 VAL, ADELPHI.-
Sole Proorlstor and Mannar, Nl:^. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, ICI ON PARLE FRANCAIS: Mr
J L. Toole,

4t to Eight, the New Drama of LEAH : Miss Bate-
man, supported by Messrs. A.rthur Stirling, R. Phillips, Bil-
bazton, Stuart, Stephenson, Eburne ; Miss H. Simms, and
Mrs. Billington.
• -

To conclude with LADY BELLE BELLE; or, Portant°
and his Seven Magi 3 Men. Messrs. J. Clarke, K. Phillips,
Stephenson ; Miss Woolgar, Miss K. Kelly, Miss
_Patti
Josephs, Miss L. Laidlaw, Miss Seaman.

Commence at 7.

LEAH.-EVERY NIGHT.
MISS BATEMAN.

MISS BA'FEMAN.-LEAH.-THIS EVENING,
the 112 d appearance of the great Tragic Actress, Miss
BA EMAN, in the character of LEAH. In consequence of
the unbounded success with which Miss Bateman's imperso-
nation of the principal character in the new Five Act Drama
of LEAH has been attended. Mr Webster begs to announce
that it will be performed EVERY EVENING until further
notice.

ROYAL ST.. JAMES'S THEATRE. under the
Management of Mr. B. WEBSTER.
GRP; A_T ATTRACTION.—First Week of Mr. and Mrs.
CHARLES MA r lIEWS.—Mr. J. L. Toole as Mrs. Brown,
Mr. Phel,s. Mr. Fechter, and Lady Audley every evening.
18,13; or, the Sensations of the Past season, until further
notice. Among the artistes who will appear here are Mr.
Benjamin Webster. Mr. J. L. Tonle, Mr. Paul Bedford, and
Mr. Charles Mathews ; Mrs. Stirling. Mrs. Frank Mat-
thews, Miss Cottrell, Miss ‘Ventworth, Miss Fanny Josephs,
and Mrs. Charles M at:aews.
T I:VENING-. and during the Week, at 7, THE
ADVENTURES OF A LOVE LETTER; COOL AS A
CUCUMBER ; and 1863; or, THE SENSATIONS OF
THE PAST SEASON,
On SATURDAY. next, Jan. 30, will be produced an entirely
New Comedy, by Leicester Buckhrzham, Esq., entitled THE
SILVER LINING-, in which Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews,
Mrs. Stirling, and. Mrs. Frank Matthews, &c., will appear.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Man aver, Mr. W. H. Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, ORANGE BLOSSOMS.
After which, the Grand Christmas Burlesque, ORPHEUS
AND FURY DI CE : Messrs. Honey, Wood, James Fenton,
Mesdames Swan borough, Marie Wilton, Hughes, &o.
Followed by MARGATE SANDS.
To conclude with TURN RIM OUr.
Commence at 7.

TE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN,'
Containing, the Lest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
~an hail Every Evening, of

G. tt. GIANIE. NEWS AGENT,
No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park.

COALS.—The LILLESHAL L COMPANY'S
COAL'S
•

Direct from their own Collieries.
Marquis'. 254. per ton. I Double 21s. per ton.
'top 255. Nut 5........ 195 „
De• p .....225. ••
Well screened and delivered within five miles of their De-
pots, Westbourne Park-road, W., and 17, South Wharf
Paddington, W.
Best Cote
Terms cash.
JOHN SCOTT, Sole Agent.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tins DAY.--?rlorning, sh. 17m.—Afternoon, sh. 32m.
To-NoE.Row.-Morning, sa. 48m.—Afternoon. 6a.

The Weather—Sun Office, Jan. 2C, 1864.
—4-- ,-

THERMOMETER.
This day at Two o'clock 46

Barometer-30.20.
Wind—N.W. ; moderate, and very fine.

s ~~~

~~~,

such "trivial things," howbeit, do arise, from
time to time, the "mighty contexts" of

these canards about the strength or 'weak-
ness of Governments. This rumour, never-
theless, of Lord RUSSELL'S sudden resignation
it ought at once to be acknowledged, rested not
alone upon that flimsy foundation as to his visit to
Osborne and his return thence to London. The

suspicious circumstance about it, according to every
more one open-mouthed gobemouche was this—that
hardly had Lord RUSSELL left Osborne when Lord
DERBY was invited thither by the QUEEN, or
rather, it should be said, in courtlier phraseology,
went thither in obedience to her Majesty's com-
mands. Hence the club rumour as to Earl Rus
SELL'S retirement, as to the jeopardy in which the
Cabinet was said to be, immediately upon the eve of
the meeting of Parliament. All which part of the
story the Premier's own organ, the Mornzng Post of
to-day hesitates not to pronounce at once, quite dis-
tinctly, in two words, " pure nonsense." Nay, says
our contemporary, with an air of good humour,
that bespeaks its own confidence in the "situation,"
—" There is no crisis, the Cabinet is acting in per-
fect harmony, and the Ministry is as well as can
be expected." Simultaneously, however, as ill-
luck would have it, the Morning Herald also of
this very morning, in the very first words of its
first leading article, comes out with the point-blank
announcement, "Earl RUSSELL has resigned."
Thereupon—we can hardly say, chaunting his
Dirge or pronouncing his political oraison
funebre, but at any rate—estimating the
worth of his lordship's career, now that it is
imagined to be closed, for such as it may be sup-
posed to be worth in the Morning Herald's estima-
tion ! The fact being, all the while, that Earl
RUSSELL has not resigned : at any rate—as yet!
That, in fact, according to the Post's solemn asseve-
ration, there is no crisis of any kind in regard to the
Cabinet of Lord PALMERSTON! Cannot, however,
the truth of it all, we are fain to ask, be recognised at
once very easily ? The truth, we mean, in reference
to the real significance of these rumours about the
Foreign Secretary and about the Noble Earl the
Leader of Her MAJESTY'S Opposition ? What
loyal subject of the Crown is there, but must
have long since recognized, with an almost pain-
fully vivid recognition, the exquisite difficulty of
the position, personal and dynastic, in which
our beloved QUEEN is now placed, by reason of the
increasing complication of that miserable Schles-
wig-Holstein Difficulty, the more and more immi-
nent probability of the settlement of which by the
supreme arbitrament of war is bringing everyday
more directly into antagonism the confronting forces
of the Danes and the Prussians.

The hon. members for Birmingham have been
again addressing their constituents, at the half•-
yearly meeting of the Birmingham Chamber of
Commerce, which was held yesterday evening.
Political subjects being strictly prohibited, the dis-
courses were calm and business-like, even Mr.
BRIGHT being reduced for the occasion into un-
accustomed and temporary quiescence and urbanity.
Among other matters of commercial interest the law
of Patents was brought under consideration, some
revision of its enactments being strongly advised.
In alluding to the restrictive, but often wholly in-
effectual, working of its prohibitory clauses, Mr.
BRIGHT went so far as to remark, and there are
many who will agree with him,—" I am not very
much alarmed at the prospect of the total abolition
of patents; and I am not sure, after my experience,
which I am sorry to say has been considerable, that
the public would not lose anything by the aboli-
tion ; and looking at all that is won and lost by
inventions among inventors, I am not certain that
the inventors would lose if there were no patents at
all." Without, however, adopting such a sweeping
course as that of a total abolition of the law, it is
certain that that law might be verygreatly and bene-
ficially amended. Some of Mr. BRIGHT'S suggestions
to this effect are extremely judicious, and the sub-
ject is certainly one well worthy of attention. The
petty restrictions upon various practical improve-
ments in trade and manufactures effected by this
prohibitory law, failing to carry out the protective
benefit for which it was intended, are so generally
recognised as to require little additional enforce-
ment. At the conclusion of his speech Mr. BRIGHT
with a certain degree of truth alluded to the ob-
structive influence exercised by the Government in
impeding the passing of any private bill
of any independent member. "My hon.
friend Mr. SCHOLEFIELD has said," he re-
marked, " that some persons may blame him
for having been dilatory in pressing forward the
Partnership Law Amendment Bill, which he had
charge of last session in the House of Commons.
Now, although you may have read a great deal of
the labours of a mythical person of olden times, who
was called HERCULES, the labours of that iudividual
were as nothing compared with the labours of pass-
ing through Parliament a bill, however useful,
however undeniable its claims on the attention of
the House, if it does not happen that all the gen-
tlemen on the Treasury bench are interested in
getting it through. If Government have a measure
of their own to pass, then they are very energetic,
and keep everybody there till two o'clock in the
morning until it passes. But, without influence, it
is to me a marvel positively inexplicable how any
single bill good for anything whatever is ever got
through that House by any member who has not
the whole power of the Government to back him."
In taking leave of his audience Mr. BRIGHT
thanked them for their attention. Hs said that he had
come to the meeting with a painful sense that every
thing that could be remarked on the questions under
consideration was familiar to all of his hearers,
" indeed that many of these subjects were more
familiar to you than to me." Hence the unusual and
unnatural calm sobriety of manner and quiet sugges-
tiveness of arguments that must have disappointed
many who came to listen to the stormy eloquence
of the special assailant of the Press. Look upon
this picture and on this. How different is Mr.
BRIGHT at the Chamber of Commerce on Thursday,
discoursing on subjects on which he modestly avows
his comparative ignorance, and Mr. BRIGHT in the
Town Hall on Tuesday, laying down the law in
matters of the highest social importance, in which
he boldly and presumptuously considers his own
ipse dixit of more weight and authority than the
judgment of wisdom and the experience of ages.

The three justices of the county of Derbyshire
who signed the certificate of TOWNLEY'S insanity
have replied to the communication of the Home
Secretary, requiring them to give an account of
their proceedings. These gentlemen have, as
might have been expected, returned plain straight-
forward statements, indignantly repudiating one
and all of the imputations that WS implied in
the complaint of the other Derbyshire magistrates,
that pecuniary influence had brought about the
reprieve of the convict. We are glad that the
replies have been so prompt and so explicit, not
for the sake of the gentlemen whose conduct has
been called in question in many quarters, but
likewise to show the necessity for a general super-
' vision of the statutes, in order to expunge all
obsolete and bygone enactments. Mr. W. J. Cox,
Jy. for the county and borough of Derby, in a
rather elaborate but most comprehensive state-

ment, explains to Sir G. GREY for what reasons,
and at whose instigation, he took upon himself
the onerous and thankless task of inquiring into
the sanity of the condemned criminal. From his
statement, which is generally corroborated by the
other magistrates, Mr. THOMAS ROE, the Mayor,
Mr. T. B. FIRMIN, and Mr. HUGH SCOTT, it ap-
pears that the prime agent in bringing about the
examination was the solicitor for the supposed
lunatic. That this gentleman was doing his best
for his client, is comprehensible enough, but it
is by no means so plain that gentlemen, bolding
responsible situations under the Secretary of State
for the Home Department, should allow them-
selves to be guided, and in fact directed, by one
who, however unimpeachable in rectitude, could
not legally be a fit person to select, at his own
discretion, the judges who were to arbitrate on the
sanity of his client. Mr. Cox observes that on the
evening of December 25 Mr. LEECH called upon
him, and after explaining to him that an Act of
Parliament provided that, on a certificate of a pri-
soner's insanity being signed by two justices of the
peace and two medical men the Secretary of State
should have power to respite such prisoner, requested
him to make a judicial inquiry into TOWNLEY'S
state of mind. Upon these representations Mr.
Cox, believing it to be his duty, consented to enter
upon the inquiry. When, however, he and the
other justices arrived at the gaol, they found the
Lunacy Commission appointed by the Secretary of
State were then examining the prisoner, and they
therefore deferred their visit until the next day.
While we do not in any way impute to these gen-
tlemen any wilful dereliction of duty, we cannot
but express our surprise that they should have been
thus induced to thrust themselves forward and
arrogate to themselves a jurisdiction superior to
that of the Lunacy Commissioners and of the Home
Secretary. The statute under which they acted
expressly states that on a certificate of a prisoner's
insanity being signed by two justices of the peace
and two medical men the Secretary of State should
have the power to respite such prisoner, but the
law thus laid down does not compel any magistrate
to sign such a certificate unless he be called upon
so to do in the ordinary discharge of his duties, and
it certainly was more the duty of the visiting jus-
tices to investigate this case than that of Mr. Cox
and his coadjutors. If these gentlemen had the
power to supersede the decision of the Lunacy
Commission, was it not a farce to set that Commis-
sion in motion ? It is carious to remark, too, that
with all their anxiety to do their duty, these jus-
tices did not take the same view of the meaning of
the act. While Mr. Cox believed that Sir G. GREY
had no option but to aat upon their decree, Mr.
HUGH SCOTT thought that in signing the certificate
he was only, as it were, giving his opinion on the
state of mind of the prisoner for the guidance of the
right hon. baronet. He distinctly states that when
he signed the certificate, on Dec. 29, of the insanity
of GEORGE TOWNLEY he was unaware of its effect
as regarded its obligation on Sir G. GREY. There
can be little doubt that this absurd statute-will be
at once repealed, but there is a further step which
ought to be taken by the Government, which
is that county magistrates should be furnished
with a code of instructions for their guidance in
cases of difficulty, and be directed when in doubt as
to what course to pursue to seek advice from head-
quarters. That TOWNLEY was sane when he mur-
dered Miss GOODWIN nobody denies. That his
intellect, naturally weak, was afterwards affected,
is possible. Under such circumstances no one would
desire that he should be hanged, but the investiga-
tion ought to have been made by duly appointed
persons, not by a self-constituted tribunal, at the
instigation of the prisoner's solicitor. We grant
the Justices concerned in this unfortunate case every
credit for their desire to act with impartiality, but
we cannot excuse them at all, and we consider that
the other justices were perfectly right, when they
memorialised the Home Secretary on the subject.
As regards the unfortunate convict, whether rightly
or wrongly respited, he cannot of course now be
hanged, but he has been convicted of a cold-
blooded murder, committed while in a sane state
of mind. He was therefore amenable for his crime,
and his after insanity, if it existed, might have
mitigated, but it could not have removed the
penalty. If be was insane it might no doubt be
only a temporary attack, and in that case, on his
recovery he should be removed from Bethlehem to
a convict prison. If we are to believe all that is
asserted about the insanity of individuals, few
people could be considered sane. Since the time
of JUNIUS BRUTUS, it has been convenient for
many persons to show madness ; but it is for
society to decide how far they are responsible for
their acts.

The career of a soldier of fortune is frequently
marked by the strangest vicissitudes. The fate of
war is always uncertain, and its issues often fail to
realise the most careful calculations. Too often the
commander of an expedition, naval or military, is
judged by its results rather than by his merits.
The mere fact of success or failure is looked at, not
the obstacles in the way, or the various collateral
circumstances that may have helped or hindered
the achievement. " Success is virtue and misfor-
tune blame" in this as in many other cases ; but if
this is true of a duly appointed authority, sur-
rounded by officials of every degree, and acting
mainly on instructions from home, it is much more
so of those leaders whose peculiar position deprives
them of all •adventit.ious aid, and, while it allows
them to claim success as the reward of their indivi-
dual merits, leaves the responsibility of failure to
fall upon them with crushing weight. One day
they are powerful and respected—the next they
are fallen and friendless, obtaining but scant recog-
nition of their former services. In our own day we
have seen the vicissitudes incidental to the most
brilliant and daring career of this kind illustrated
by the conqueror of Naples and the hermit of Ca.
prera. The wars in the East have given an oppor-
tunity to adventurous spirits, which they have
not been slow to take advantage of, although the
wheel of Fortune has gone round rather in ac-
cordance with the caprice of Eastern suspicion than
with the justice of their claims. We all know the
disappoilitment that awaited Captain SHERARD
OSBORN, R.N., in his endeavours to reorganise
the Chinese Imperial Navy, although that officer,
from his position, and the fact of his having en-
gaged in the affair with the express sanction of his
own Government, was differently situated from a
casual adventurer. We learn, however, by the
news just received, that Mr. LAY, the civil coadju-
tor o Captain OSBORN, is no longer at his post of
Inspector of the Chinese Imperial Navy, though
whether he has resigned it in disgust at the failure
of the project of a steam fleet, or been dis-
missed by the same inconsistency that frus-
trated the schemes of Captain OSBORN, is not at
present known. Such conduct on the part of the
Imperialists is the more remarkable as they have
been so much indebted to the aid of civilised
men, whether European or American, who have
been able to take the lead, to organise men and
plan expeditions to which the I)ative mind was quite
unequal. Yet, although apparently sensible in
some degree of the advantages of securing such
leaders. The Imperial Government are going the
way to disgust them with their service by their

inconsistency and ingratitude. The last mail
brought us the particulars of Captain OSBORN'S re-
fusal to submit to the terms proposed by Prince
KUNG in direct contravention of the previous
agreement ; this time we have the account of
a still more unsatisfactory conclusion, prolonged
and arduous, if less high principled labours.
The career of the American BURGEVINE, though
less known in England than in China, is singular
and interesting, It is but three years since
the man whose presence in the country was lately
agitating the Chinese and disturbing the Consuls,
arrived in Shanghai in no higher capacity than
second mate of an American ship. He began his
warlike doings by joining the band which WARD
was forming for an attack upon Soonking. The
attempt was successful and was followed by another
upon Tsing-pco which failed, and at which BURGE-
VINE received a severe wound, which caused him
much subsequent suffering. The foreign authori-
ties never interposed to prevent a body of foreigners
from joining either party, and WARD was compelled
to disband his force. BURGEVINE, who is evidently
a man of daring and ability, suggested the enrol-
ment of a body of disciplined Chinese under a
European head. This scheme being approved on
all sides, was successfully carried oat, and met with
no reverses until its commander's death in the
autumn of 1862. He was succeeded by BURGEVINE,
who during three brief months of power raised the
small ill supplied band to 5,000 well armed and well
equipped men. An expedition to Nanking cost
BURGEVINE his position, and he had no sooner
left the force than it rapidly decreased
both in numbers and efficiency. BURGE-
VINE went twice to Pekin to obtain his re-
instatement as commander, but in vain. The first

time he was well received, the second he was ar-
rested, threatened with death, and only released at
the intervention of the Foreign Ministers. It is
not surprising to find that such treatment infuriated
a man who was conscious of having rendered great
services, and who must naturally have been of an
ambitious and ardent nature. Fired most probably
with a desire for revenge, he opened negotiations
with the rebels, and arranged to superintend the
drilling and equipment of a body of Chinese, after
the European method. He started for Soochow,
capturing a vessel on his way, and, after an inter-
view with CHUNG WANG, was made second in com-
mand of the rebel forces. Money was advanced for
the purchase of arms at Snanghai, bat delays arose
from the difficulty of transmitting them. The rebels
grew suspieious, and refused to pay the foreigners
their wages. BURGEYINE'S health failed, and the
stimulants to which he resorted to deaden the pain
of his still unhealed wound only aggravated mat-
ters. The end of the drama was the secession of the
whole contingent to the Imperialists, and the ex-
pulsion of BURGEVINE from China. The adventurer,
who is evidently well fitted to take a prominent
part in the struggle, who had already done much
to serve the Imperialists, and who, with an incon-
sistency that was, under the circumstances, scarcely
surprising, was preparing to do as much for their
enemits, has been driven out of China poorer in
means than when he first began his daring career,
and doubly poor in having his health seriously im-
paired, his mind soured by the struggle. Such are
some of the contingencies which the soldier of for-
tune must set against a rapid elevation and the
chance of fame and fortune. But it is certainly
unfair that a man who has a claim on the authori-
ties for £B,OOO should be dismissed the country
penniless. It is, of course, an affair with which the
English officials have no concern, but it would
scarcely exceed the duty of the American Consul,
who has shown himself so active in procuring the
extradition of BURGEYINE, to make some remon-
strance on the subject. Meanwhile, men of spirit
and capacity had better pause before they expend
their energies on behalf of a Government which
repays their efforts with neglect and suspicion.

LATEST LNTELLIGENCE.

LRELITTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

SPAIN.

MADRID, JAN. 29..
The Minister of War has ordered the organisa-
tion of four battalions, which will be despatched to
Santa Domingo in March.

SANTO DOMINGO AND MEXICO.
SOUTHAMPTON, JAN. 29.

Advices received here from Santo Domingo state
that General Santana was indisposed and had been
temporarily relieved by General Antonio Aifan,
who had surrounded 500 insurgents in their camp
at Guamuna. All the Southern parts of Santo
Domingo as far as San Jose de los Mates had sur-
rendered to Spain, and were occupied by Spanish
troops.

Intelligens:to from Mexico announces that the
troops under Juarez had been completely routed at
San Luis and Morelia by the Mexican forces under
Marquez and Mejia.
Juarez, with three servants, fled, pursued by
the enemy.

THE WEST INDIA AND PACIFIC MAILS.

SOUTHAMPTON, JAN. 29.

The Royal Mail steamship Atrato, with the
above mails, has arrived here. She brings 51 pas-
sengers, including the Confederate General
Magruder, from the Southern States of America,
on a mission to Paris, 3,777,635 dole. in specie, and
1,602 packages of cargo.
The Atrato left St. Thomas on the 15th inst.,
having been detained there 36 hours, waiting for
the Solent, which vessel experienced terrible
weather from Colon.

Business at Valparaiso was unchanged. Ex•
change was quoted 431 d. to 44d. The news from
Peru is unimportant. Exchange, 360. per dollar.
If was expected that Mosquera would gain his
object in Ecuador—the restoration of Colombia.
The Government of Ecuador was without men or