The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-11 00:00:00

RAILWAYS.

Cash. Account.
Orleans
Northern ....

New ditto — • •
Lyons and bled.terranean 935 .. 941 25
New ditto .•••• 892 50 ..
S nithern ...... ........ 660 -- .. 662 60
Western -
eastern -
Sardinian . 385 .. 385
Austrian
Lotrbard ~ .... 521 25 .. 522 50
North of Spain .....
Saragossa ... 592 50 .. 597 50
Ditto to Barcelona .... 285 .. 280 —•

Naval and Military Intelligence,

THE NAVY.

VALETTA, January 3, 1864.-There have been
no arrivals lately of despatch boats from Greece or
the lonian islands, but the English merchant steamer
Palestine came in on Wednesday last from Corfu
with news from that island to the 28th ult. The
work of dismantling the fortifications at Vido, prior
to destroying them altogether, commenced on the
day preceding her departure, and was going on
when she left. Already orders had been received
for some of the regiments to hold themselves in
readiness for departure-the Ist and 2d battalions
of the 9Ji Ream:rent for Gibraltar. and the 4th Re-
giment for Malta. The destination of the 6th Regi-
ment is not yet known, but it will probably be sent
home in the Tamar transport, expected from Eng-
land. A portion of tne Royal Artillery and Royal
Engineers are to be sent to England, and the rest
to Malta. Her Majesty's screw line-of-battle ship
Trafalgar, 70, Capt. T. Mason, leaves for Corfu on
Monday with provisions for the Orlando, 40, Capt.
G. G. Randolph, and will return in 15 days, when,
the report here is, she will go on to Gibraltar to
meet the Royal Oak ironclad, Capt. F. A. Camp.
bell, ordered to the Mediterranean. A seaman of
the Trafalgar was tried yesterday, on board the
Hibernia, for drunkenness and insubordinate con-
duct, and was sentenced to four months' hard labour
in Corradino Prison. This is the only case of the
kind resulting from the Christmas festivities, which
speaks highly for the discipline of the fleet. The
Magicienne, 16, Captain W. Armytage, was sud-
denly ordered off on Sunday last, and put to
sea in rather heavy weather for Gibraltar. The
object of her departure is believed to have refer-
ence to Sir Moses Montefiore's mission to Morocco
for the protection of the Jews in that country. She
is to return to Malta. Dr. Trower, Bishop of Gibral-
tar, proceeded by her to visit his see. The Cossack,
20, Capt. W. R. Rolland, returned on Thursday
last from a visit to the coast of Barbary. She ar-
rived at Tunis on the 24th ult., after a fair passage
under steam as far as Gozo, off which island she
had some target practice, and then proceeded the
rest of the way under sail, passing the Racoon,
bound for Malta, on the morning of the 22d. Atter
communicating with the consulate, she left for
Malta on the 29th, and arrived here without call-
ing at Tripoli, as it was first intended she should do.
The Egyptian screw frigate Brahimi, Capt. Mus-
tapha, Bey, which left this on the 27th ult. for
Marseilles, to embark horses and mules for the
Pasha, put back on the 29th, having, on reaching
the offing of Favignana, suffered some damage to
her machinery. After making the necessary re-
pairs she left again on the 31st. This vessel, it
may be remembered, got ashore when under another
commander, on the Munsciar Reef, which stretches
out to some distance on the south-east side of this
island. It is proposed to place a buoy or beacon on
this rock, for the better protection of foreign vessels
against accidents, but it is very much doubted
whether such a measure might not more likely lead
ships into danger than keep them from it, as any
such beacon would be very liable to be washed
away in the heavy sea that breaks over the place in
bad weather. It was on this dangerous shoal that
the English ship of war Alexandria, 74 guns, was
greatly damaged in 1799. The Prussian war
steamers Preussischer Adler (corvette) and Blitz
and Basilisk (gunboats) con tinned their route home-
wards on Wednesday last, after filling up with coal
end making some necessary repairs. The Swedish
screw frigate Vanadis, 22, Capt. F. Haverman,
which arrived on the 25th ult., from the Baltic, on
her way to Naples, is still in port, and will not
leave for a few days. Her Majeety's s crew line-ot
battle ship St. George, Capt. the Hon. F. Eger-
ton, is awaiting the arrival of the ironclad Resis-
tance, Captain Chamberlain, from England. First-
Lieut. Alston, of the former ship, left for England
last week, via Marseilles, on his promotion to the
rank of Commander. The Meeanee, 60, Capt. G.
Wodehouse, is looked for here shortly from Athens,
where there are the Revenge, 73 (tearing the flag
of Rear-Admiral H. R. Yelverton, C. 8.), Cept. the
Hon. F. A. Foley ; the Gibraltar, 81, Capt. J. C.
Prevost ; the Icarus, 11, Capt. N. Salmon, V.C. ;
the Foxhound, 4, Commander W. H. Anderson ;
and the Trident, 3, Commander C. J. Balfour, with
the tender Boxer. On the western coast of Greece
and the lonian Islands there are the Orlando, 46,
Capt. G. G. Randolph, the Wanderer, 4, Commander
M. C. Seymour, and the Surprise, 4, Commander
W. H. Whyte. The Caradoc, despatch vessel, 2,
Lieut.-Commander E. Wilkinson, is at Messina,
awaiting the arrival of Sir Henry Bulwer. The
Liffey, 35, Capt. G. Parker, and the Pelican, 17,
Commander Comber, are on the coast of Syria. The
Weser, 6, Commander A.Johnstone, and the Cocka-
trice, 2, Lieut.-Commander R. M. Gillson. are on
the Constantinople and Danube station. The Pro-
cris, 2, Lieut.-Commander the Hun. J.B. Vivian, is
at Gibraltar; and the Racoon, 22, Capt. Count
Gleichen, and the Psyche, 2, despatch vessel, Lieut.-
Commander R. Sterne, have left for Alexandria to
e wait the arrival of Lady Elgin and suite. In Malta
harbour we have the Marlborough, 121 (bearing the
flag of the Vice-Admiral Commander-in-Chief R.
Smart, K.H.), Capt. C. Fellowes ; the Hibernia re-
ceiving-ship (bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral H.
Austin, C. 8.), Commander R. B. Harvey; the
Trafalgar, 70, Capt. T. Mason ; the St. George,
86, Capt. the Hon. F, Egerton ; the Phoebe, 35,
Commander W. B. Grant (temporary, this ship
will be ready for sea about the 20th inst.); the
Cossack, 20, Capt. W. R. Rolland (lying in
Sliema Creek); the Chanticleer, 17, Capt. C.
Stirling (her new commander is expected out
shortly from England); the Hydra, 3, surveying ship,
Commander A. Mansell (Staff Commander J.
Stokes, of this vessel, leaves to-day for England on
leave) ; the Firefly, 3, surveying ship, Lieut.-Com-
mander G. R. Wilkinsoa (Mr. F. Skead, master of
this vessel, will be invalided, and is likely to go
home in the Trafalgar) ; and the tender Growler.
The following persons have arrived here during the
week :-Major Hickie and Mrs. Hickie, Captain
Smith, Captain Owens, Admiral Sir R. and Lady
Stopford, Capt. Hoseason, R.N., Capt. Goff, and
Capt. Pritchard, R.M. Sir A. Slade and Lady Slade
were among the passengers per Poonah from South-
ampton for Malta. Deputy Inspector General A.
Armstrong, M.D., in charge of the naval hospital at
Malta, left by the Aunis on Sunday last for Eng-
land, via Messina. Dr. Burke had assumed charge
of the hospital in his absence. By the Valetta,
arrived to-night from Alexandria, we learn that the
Racoon was lying to off that port waiting for fav-
our able weather to enter.
On Saturday royal salutes were fired from the
guns of her Majesty's ship Victory, the flagship of
the Port Admiral and Commander-in-Chief at Ports-
mouth and the Channel Islands, and from the guns
of the saluting battery on the King's Bastion of the
garrison, in honour of the birth of the Royal Prince.
The announcement was received with the utmost
enthusiasm throughout the port and garrison.
Similar salutes were fired at the other dockyards.
It was yesterday stated at Chatham that on the
return of the Channel Fleet the vessels composing
the squadron will assemble at Spithead, and after-
wards proceed to one of the eastern ports, where
they will await further orders. It is probable that
the ships will rendezvous in the Downs.
The Lyra, 9 guns, 60 horse power, screw cor-
vette, Commander Parr, made her final trial of
spee3, preparatory to sailing on foreign service, on
Saturday at the measured mile in Stokes Bay,
under the superintendence of the officers
.of the
Steam Reserve and steam factory, realising a speed
of 71 knots. She is expected to sail for Madeira
and the Cape of Good Hope this day or early to-
morrow-
The
Adventure, screw troopship, Commander
Mame, was undocked from the Warrior dock at
Portsmouth on Saturday, after completing the ex-
amination of her valves and the coating of her bot-
tom with the so-called preservative and anti-fouling
composition, &e.
The Orontes, screw steamship, Capt. H. W. Hire,
at Portsmouth, is ordered to be fitted with the patent
Lumley rudder. Past experiments at Portsmouth
with her Majesty's ships have fully and satisfac-
torily demonstrated the value of this invention.
Admiralty instructions were issued on Saturday
at Wool,,,Tich to bring forward her Majesty's screw
steam corvette
_Niger for early commission. She

will require a thorough overhaul and general repair
of ship and machinery. She did good service during
her last commission, in command of Capt. P. era-
croft, C. 8., in New Zealand.
The screw gunvessel Ranger, paid off by Com-
mander Wratislaw on the 10th of November last
from the West Coast of Africa, is again ready for
commission in the basin at Woolwich, having com-
pleted repairs. She has received new bulwarks and
hammock nettings, and has been fitted with new
masts, new yards and rigging, and new boilers, and
has undergone a thorough repair in her machinery.
The paddlewheel sloop Hecate, Capt. George
Richards (now appointed Hy drographer to the
Board of Admiralty), was on Saturday taken into
the outer basin at Woolwich to be stripped and paid
out of commission.

THE GENIUS OF JOHN LEECH,
As Defined by a Saturday Reviewer.

As CONTRASTED 'WITH MR. DOYLE.
If Mr. Doyle thinks proper to confine his pictorial
satire to good society, Mr. Leech's pencil takes a
wider range. His is emphatically the jest applied
to common English middle class lite. In Mr.
Doyle there is a tinge of sarcasm ; Mr. Leech is
almost invariably good humoured. Mr. Doyle
bites, Mr. Leech simply jokes. The one draws
with a purpose, and that a permanent one; the
other as the phrase is, chaffs. Mr. Doyle digs into
experience for his materials, and hunts out his sub-
jects carefully; Mr. Leech rather pokes fun at folly
as it flits past him. Mr. Doyle goes to hie
models; Mr. Leech's subjects come to him.
With the recollection of the tour of Brown,
Jones, and Robinson before us, we are quite
aware that Mr. Doyle can ably depict character
in another style of art th--n the conventional exag-
gerations of his " Bird's-Eye Views of Society ;"
but he is certainly more at home in the salons of
fashions, or at least he has chosen them for his field
of work. Mr. Leech, with ampler materials, has
taken a wider range.
NOT ALONE A COMIC ARTIST.

It is a mistake to suppose that Mr. Leech is only
a comic artist. His landscapes are very powerful,
and with a single touch, and with a seemingly care-
less hand, he contrives to give vast expanses and
distances. Some of his marine sketches afford a
better notion of ocean space than those of the pro-
fessional sea painters. His skies and atmospheric
effects, managed with only two or three apparently
heedless lines, are full of truth, and his ver-
satility is enormous. There are few artists
who draw horses as well as Mr. Leech
—none who draw them better. Then he is equally
at home in a November cover, and on a salmon
stream or the Thames. Hunting, rowing, shoot-
ing, fishing—one would think at one time that he
is always in the saddle, and at another that he is
never without gun end rod. There is not a single
scene o 7 out-door or indoor-life which is not evi-
dently sketched from the facts. Whether it be the
sea-side, the lodging-house, the street, or the gin-
shop, Mr. Leech never trusts himself to draw what
he has not seen. How any one man's personal ex-
perience can have been so large and varied is the
real difficulty about Mr. Leech ? Does he exist as
an Ego ? Is he not, like Kehama, self-multiplied ?
Are his hands and efes and personalty multitu-
dinous ? How does he find the time to be so
prolific and yet so conscientiously truthful to his
own experience? No doubt he repeats himself;
unquestionably he has his types. But so has every
great artist. His English girl io as much, and as
little, monotonous as the Rubens woman or the
Raffaelle woman. It is his type, and tells a great
deal. Pure and virtuous and buxom and healthy,
not unconscious of her own good looks, with no
nonsense about her, and yet not fast or flashy, his
ideal English girl is creditable alike to the artist
and to the life which she represents. One sees at
once that she is destined to be a good mother of
children, and worthily to represent what we are
taught to believe is the English home life. There
are some types of character which Mr. Leech has
created.

HIS "FLUNKEY."

His Jeames of Belgravia is a character with as
much definiteness and wholeness of conception as a
Polonius, or Juliet's Nurse. It is quite true that
nobody ever saw in all its fulness of insolence this
superb flunkey. His calves, his stately contempt
of all things in heaven and earth, his supercilious
patronage, his divine airs and diviner talk, are not
given to us to have experienced. But we feel per-
fectly certain that this is the ideal footman. Now
and then, in real life, one gets sudden glimpses of
the character which Mr. Leech has worked up into
this magnificent conception. It is impossible to be
angry with so perfect a specimen of human insolence
and vanity; one only gasps with silent admiration
at this as at any other living model of absolute
perfection.

HIS "SERVANT GAL."
So again with the " Servant Gal" according to
Leech. Like Murillo's " Beggar 80r.," it is the
type; it represents the species ; it fulfils the com-
plete conception. It is exhaustive and final. In
his menials in excelsis there is nothing to laugh at.
These ladies and gentlemen are too serious to be
trifled with. The lords and tyrants of their masters
and mistresses know their place in the great
economy of things, and their dignity becomes them,
and they become their dignity. Everybody feels
that Jemimer Hann was perfectly right in assign-
ing as the cause of her being disengaged, that " the
real reason were that Missus thought I were too
good•looking."

His " Mossoo."

But perhaps it is in his typical " Mossoo" that
Mr. Leech most completely suceeeds. There is
nothing absolutely repulsive in him—nothing that
Alphonse can more reasonably complain of than we
can quarrel with Mr. Hawthorne for fastening the
epithet " bulbous" upon us. Bat Mr. Leech evi-
dently delights in his " Mossoo." He has studied
him in the hunting field, when he valorously ex-
presses his intention at least " to try and catch the
fox ;" and when the frost stops the ardour
of the Gallic vulpecide, " Zen tare is no dogs-
meet to day ;" and when he is got up after the
pattern of M. Assolant as " the British sportsman,
and gone to the Derby," in all the glories of long
stirrups, a hunting-whip, and a bristly hat. He
has studied him on the beach at Biarritz, which
contains more character and incident than Mr.
Frith's mawkish "Ramsgate Sands," and depicts
him bloated, bullet-headed, close-cropped, abdo-
minal, obese; and he has studied him in that won-
derful scene on the Pont Neuf, in the midst of n
popular emeute, where fifty people, i❑ every variety
of gesticulation, gratulation, and frenzy, salute
"Alphonse, who has just caught a gonjon the size
of his little finger." He is not, on the whole, a bad
fellow, the Leechian Alphonse; ho is vain, irri-
table, garrulous, and boastful, but not seldom able
enough to turn his boasts into facts.

W. BEHNES THE SCULPTOR.—We regret to hear
of the death of William Behnes, the sculptor. A
few years ago this artist was in good practice, especially as
a modeller of busts ; and he possessed natural talents suffi-
cient to have raised him to one of the highest places of his
noble calling. But he fell into troubles about money, and
other things. which preyed on his c pirits, and left him too
weak and agitated for his real genius to have a fair trial.
The best judges, however, thought very highly of his work.
Of late he had lived much alone, and his eyes were closed,
we are sorry to add, in the Middlesex Hospital. He will
bo buried on Tuesday next, when many of those who would
gladly have found him earlier, had they known whsre to
seek for him, will probably attend the last sad offices of
their able and unhappy brother.
Two volumes of tereentary interest are being
added to our illustrated Shakespeariana. " Shake-
speare, his Birthplace, Home, and Grave : a Pilgrimage to
Stratford-on-Avon in the Autumn of 18d3," by the Rev.
J. M. Jephson, illustrated with 15 photographs by Mr. E.
Edwards, will be published by Mr. Lovell Reeve; and Mr.
Booth has in preparation an elegant drawing-room volume,
in quarto, the reproduction of the pictures from Boydell's
Shakespeare Gallery, reduced to that size by means et
photography. Belonging to the same movement are
Messrs. Routledge's "Penny Illustrated Sbakspeare," with
Mr. Staunton's notes, and 1,000 illustrations by John Gil-
bert ; Messrs, Cassell's " Illustrated Shakespeare," edited
by Mr. and Mrs. Cowden Clarke, and illustrated by H. C.
Selous, also in penny numbers ; and "The Reference
Shakespeare: a Memorial edition of Shakespeare's Plays,
containing 11,600 References," complied by John B.
Marsh, and published by Mr. John Heywood of Man-
chester.