The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 18, 1864.

DRAMATIC COLLEGE FETE,

The fete held annually at Sydenham for the
benefit of the Royal Dramatic College has now
become one of the recognised entertainments of the
London summer, and the season would scarcely

reach its normal termination were not two of its

.atter days enlivened by the conversion of the grand

transept of the Crystal Palace into the semblance

of a country fair. An imitation of " Richardson's
Show," a conjuror's booth occupied by Messrs. Toole

and Paal Bedford, a circle of stalls, presided over
by ladies of histrionic fame, and an " Aunt Sally,"
under the guardianship of Mr. Buckstone, are
among the established symbols of July.
_ _

All the usual ceremonies took place on Saturday
last, when the fete was opened by Mr. Romer, the

permanent Herald of the College, who, shortly after
12 o'clock at noon, opened the fair with mock

solemnity.
No sooner was this concluded than the whole fair
was replete with life and noise, for even at noon the
transept was crowded with an expectant body of
visitors, and the orators on the parades of the
different shows vied with each other in bawling for
patronage. _ _

Most attractive among these temporary places of
amusement were " Richardson's Show," " Womb-
wel's Menagerie," and Messrs. J. L. Toole and Paul
Bedford's " Temple of Magic"—which last did not,
hawever, open until 3 o'clock, the conjuror and his
assistants being the principal artists in Richardson's
company during the earlier afternoon. The play,
entitled " Don Sabre Isquierdo (very literal
Spanish for " over the left"), was quite on the prin-
ciple of those once popular tragedies that in a few
years will probably be obliterated from the public
mind, and the audience roared with laughter to
see Mr. Toole attired as a romantic lover sacri-
ficing his life for the sake of a bulky innaniorata,
represented by Mr. Paul Bedford. When relieved
by another company these gentlemen returned
to their own " temple," Mr. Toole went through
a series of legerdemain tricks, while Mr. Bed-
ford waited upon him as a silver-buttoned page.
These tricks, it should be observed, were not, as on
former occasions, a burlesque of the conjuror's art,
but were performed by genuine sleight of hand
and with a neatness which would have done no
discredit to a Frikell or a Hermann, Real feats
were also performed by some unnamed juggler in
a booth inscribed " Gyngell's Wonderful Exhibi-
tion." Womb well's Menagerie presented a most
strking appearance on the outside, decorated as it
was with a number of extremely well-executed
pictures of animals that covered a large space.
" Parents and guardians" were assured that the
beasts might be visited without the slightest danger,
and the good faith of this assurance was soon made
manifest, to those who entered the booth, for the
once savage animals had been stuffed. Oae cage
alone held living inhabitants—namely, a lion and
some monkeys, personated by human actors, and a
stalwart Van Amburgh, represented by Mr. S.
Robins. The showman of the menagerie was Mr.
Addison, who performed his duties with a great
deal of humour.
Next in importance to these three principal shows
was Mr J. Clarke's " Museum of Antiquities."
The antiquities were objects of the commonest kind,
described by tickets attached to them as highly
interesting relics. These inscriptions bad been de-
vised with much ingenuity, and there was an at-
traction of the non-deceptive kind in the shape of
Lupini's small horse, exhibited on former occasions.
It is melancholy to state that shortly after the open-
ing of the show some wounds were discovered in
one of the poor little animal's haunches, and these
were only to be accounted for by the conjecture
that some blackguard, out of wanton cruelty, had
cut the horse with a knife.
There were several other booths of smaller dimen-
sions, and for the amusement of the loungers about
the fair there were, in addition to Mr. Buckstoue's
" Aunt Sally," a Jack-in-the Green, attended by
Messrs. C. Smith and R. Romer as "My Lord"
and " My Lady," a Punch and Judy show, and a
wandering acrobat, whose energies were kept down
by the vigilance of a sham policeman.
The stalls for the sale of fancy articles, &c., were,
as usual, ranged in a ; 1
e_rc_e encompassing; th.. oantro
- may 'vendors
being inscribed over them in letters composed of
pink rosettes. The circle was, however, inter-
rupted this time by an admirable copy of Shake-
pere's birthplace, set up on the occasion of the Ter-
centenary celebration, and exhibited on Saturday
by Mr. Phillips, of the Adelphi. Mrs:
Mrs. A. Mellon, and several others were at their
posts immediately after the opening of the fair,
and attracted a large number of purchasers, but
some of the ladies did not arrive till late in the
afternoon. Among these was Mademoisella Stella
Colas, who at once became such au object of uni-
versal curiosity that her stall was not even to be
approached without a crush—the throng increas-
ing as the afternoon advanced.
Altogether the fete was admirably conducted and
went uff with great spirit. To-day (Monday) the
same entertainment will be given, the price of ad-
mission, 2s. 6d. on Saturday, being reduced to one
shilling.

o'clock, and then proceeded to the westward, also in search.
Should the Copenhagen or any other merchant vessel re-
quire assistance off the Bay of Biscay, it is possible she may
be relieved by the Encounter, 14, Capt. R. Dew, from
China, which touched at St. Helena on the Ist June, or by
the screw steam frigate Narcissus, 59, Rear Admiral Sir
Baldwin W. Walker, K.C.8., from the Cape of Good Hope.
These ships arc expected daily at Plymouth.

Railway and Other Companies,

MEDITERRANEAN HOTEL (LIMITED).

An adjourned general meeting of this company was held
on Friday at the London Tavern, with a view to ascertain
how many share and scrip holders would agree to continue
in the company, and how many would accept a return of
£2 10s. per share ; Mr E. H. Craufurd, M.P., in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN said that a resolution had been come to
at the last meeting between the directors and the committee
of shareholders to the following effect
That with a view to ascertain how many shareholders
and holders of scrip will agree to continue their connection
with the company, and how many will refuse, the com-
mittee and directors be authorised jointly, if they think fit,
to take counsel's opinion as to the legal effect of such an
arrangement, and to communicate jointly with the share-
holders, and to take such other steps as may be necessary ;
and this meeting stand adjourned to this place for the ;15th
of July, 1864, at three o'clock precisely."
This had been embodied in a circular to the shareholders
stating that it was extremely desirable that the directors
and committee should be in possession of the views of the
shareholders at least two or three days before the adjourned
meeting. They therefore requested the shareholders to re-
turn an :answer on or before Wednesday, the 13th inst.,
stating whether they desired to remain in the company or
not, tellin; them that if no reply were received from them
it would Le assumed that they preferred to remain in the
company rather than surrender their shares on receiving
£2 10s. per share. The result of the circular showed that
the holders of 1,245 shares upon which £5 each had been
paid were willing to surrender them on receiving
back £2los. per share. Then there were the shares held by
the committee who had not replied to the circular, but he
understood they were willing to take the £2 10s. with the
rest—that would add 433 shares more, making 1,675. iThe
scrip holders were also willing to agree to the proposition.
After several propositions were rejected, an amendment
by Mr Harris was carried to the effect that as it appeared
the holders of about 1,700 shares were willing to receive a
return of £2 lOs per:share if they could legally do so, and
the directors being of opinion that this agreement could be
carried out, it be resolved that the directors pledge them-
selves to carry out that agreement with the committee,
and that the meeting stand adjourned to the sth of August.

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

THE " SPECTATOR" ON THE NEW ERA IN OUR
FOREIGN POLlCY.—Political circumstance and the
mood of the hour are now playing very decidedly
into Mr Cobden's hands. His favourite formula of
" no foreign politics for England" is being practi-
cally adopted by most politicians—by many who
would be scarcely loth even to profess it as a creed;
and if we should have during the next ten years no
wiser statesman than during the last ten, Mr Cob-
den may yet live to see the time when people will
be as little ashamed of his maxim that our ambas-
sadors should be the commercial travellers of Eng-
land, as they now are of its less vulgar equivalent
—" no foreign politics," Those who discredit and
disgrace a nobler creed are responsible for the reac-
tion which inclines men to follow Mr Cobden into
a theory of international behaviour—we cannot
call it a duty—so mean and selfish that it could not
be disgraced. The fact, however, cannot be denied
that Mr Cobden's principles have gained a great
step in English estimation in consequence of the
suddencloud which has descended on the representa-
tives of a spirited foreign policy. The great register
of English opinion has already openly declared for
them. It has proclaimed in article after article
that a new era has begun, in which England is to
hold her tongue, acquiesce in everything, however
flagrant and shameful, that happens abroad, unless
it touches her own interests, and as a proof of her
sincerity, is not to look on smiling while Denmark
is ground to powder, but openly to proclaim her
intention to withdraw all resistance to the slave
trade, and to tolerate it calmly for the future.
Public opinion, says the limes, has declared
decisively "that we are neither to fight nor
threaten except when our interests are imme-
diately concerned ln this respect
we view the debate of last week as the com-
mencement of a new era. Pablic opinion has
pronounced itself decisively, and we summon all
statesmen who would hold a permanent place in the
councils of their country to mark and to obey it."
And again within two days the same great inter-
preter of the majority of Englishmen took the
opportunity of the conversation in the House of
Commons concerning Brazil, to clinch the general
maxim that we must "reform the policy of the
Foreign Office in accordance with feelings of the
times in which we live," by a forcible practical illus-
tration. The African squadron for putting down the
slave trade, it said, is the greatest possible trans-
gression of the newly-received theory. Counting up,
it remarks, the expense of the squadron to English
taxpayers, with the fevers and other sufferings of
its crews, and the much greater sensitiveness of the
white race to " sufferings which are the daily lot of
a poor savage, to whom they appear as the ordinary
destiny of humanity," remembering, too, "that we
are not answerable for the negro, while the Govern-
ment is deeply responsible for the fate of every sub-
ject of the Queen entrusted to its charge,"—count-
ing and considering these things, it openly calls
upon the nation to take care " that the question of
the prevention of slavery may not escape notice as a
prominent part of the present system of intermed-
dling in the affairs of foreign nations." When Mr
Cobden reads this noble exposition of the future
English foreign policy, we are sure that he will
begin to take in the Times again. Even he could
not have put the matter more broadly, and we doubt
whether he would have put it so courageously.
That touch of infinite contempt for " the sufferings
which are the daily lot of a poor savage, to whom
they appear as the ordinary destiny of humanity,"
—that significant valuation of a few English
deaths from yellow fever and a few annual pence
oat of the taxpayers' pockets as evils so great
as to transcend absolutely and enormously
that of the degradation of a whole race and
the barbarism of a vast continent, are developments
so instructive of the true moral logic of Mr Cobden's
policy, that we feel sure that astute tactician would
never have brought them forward, But the limes,
as usual not caring for the votes of fastidious men,
but wishing to reap the full advantage of appealing
straight to the coarse and selfish English common
sense, has perceived that this is the true moral in-
ference involved. If we are to present an apathetic
front to the sufferings and wrongs of foreign races
and nations, we must accustom ourselves at once to
feel that the suffering of one Englishman will out-
weigh in our moral scales the sufferings of any
number of foreigners. We must learn at once to
be wrapped up in ourselves; we must, as Dr. New-
man says, say " what is required by our position ;"
we must learn to disbelieve if we can that " the
very negro whom we tread upon, in corporal an-
guish feels a pang as great as when a Saxon dies ;"
we must, in short, feel and think unselfishly, and be
.selfish to our heart's core, if wo 'nsnre asafe "
and consistent policy of selfish isolation and no
foreign politics. As the man who makes up his
mind to push his own interest in the world is
obliged in self-defence and consistency to believe
from the bottom of his heart that his interests have
an infinitely higher and deeper claim on him than
any other person's in the whole world, so if we are
t) inaugurate " the new_era" in earnest, we must
prepare for it by depreciating the sufferings of
others, thinking lightly of their wrongs, and find-
ing out reasons why we should not permit them to
ruffle our enjoyments. Moreover, it is quite consis-
tent with, nay, almost demanded by the same prin-
ciple, that we should be aggressive in the East
while isolating ourselves in the West; and
here we think the limes is more consistent
than Mr Cobden. The same policy which
stands aloof where alliances would involve
something or disinterestedness and self-sacri.
fice, will properly encroach and threaten where
only weak Japanese or Chinese are concerned.
When we repudiate once for all the maxim parcere
subjectis debellare superbos, it is likely enough that
we shall adopt in its place the counsel to be tender
to the haughty, and to press with all our arma-
ments upon the oppressel. The two principles
hang perfectly together. And before long we have
no doubt that Mr. Cobden will be convinced by his
new allies how right and natural it is that the Eng-
lish selfishness which takes the form of cold indiffe-
rence in three continents should take that of
haughty arrogance in the fourth. The " commer-
cial travellers" will be right in bullying where they
can get a large custom by bullying than by servility.
After we have broken off our international ties with
Europe and America, and spurned contemptuously
the suffering barbarians of Africa, it will be but
natural to recoup ourselves by a showy and dicta-
torial policy in Asia for the humiliations of isola-
tion. In proportion as we shrink in the West, we
shall desire to puff ourselves up in the East. As
we lose deference here among our equals, we shall
swell with ostentation there among our inferiors.
Nor is this the worst. It is quite impossible that a
foreign policy built upon selfishness can help react-
ing on domestic policy. "Am I my brother's
keeper ?" was not originally the language of a wise
foreign policy, but of an unhappy as well as guilty
domestic policy ; and those who adopt it in the
former capacity can hardly fail to see it resume
something of its original significance. Who that
has eagerly advocated a selfish and self-occupied
policy for England can upbraid a class for stand-
ing aloof in precisely the same manner from the
life of the nation, and while consulting for its
own benefit in the narrower sense, ignoring or
oven superciliously discrediting the notion of duty
towards other classes ? Cannot we see this
leaven already beginning to work on the class which
we should suppose as yet the least likely to be
affected by it, in such letters as those from Mr. R.
Coningsby which have been paraded in the Times?
The principle of those letters is, for the working
class, exactly the principle which Mr. Cobden
wishes to see applied to the international policy of
England, and which Cain wished to see applied
to the fraternal policy of families. Mr. Con-
ingsby put forward an ostentatious desire to
stand aloof from the political privileges of
the nation as advantages scarcely deserving
to be weighed in the scale against the acquisition of
private wealth, knowledge, and independence by the
working class—precisely the view of English
foreign policy which Mr. Cobden wishes to force on
the nation. And if this disposition should spread
in the working class, we believe it will be the most
certain preparation for a vulgar and tyrannical use
of the political advantages of numbers, whenever
the great working class does at last seize the reins
of power ;—just as Mr. Cobden's selfish " stand
aloof " policy for England in Europe tends more
than any other to foster tke unscrupulousness with
which the commercial classes are disposed to press
the power of England in China and Japan where
the trade feeling is (perhaps prudently, in its own
narrow sense of the word " prudent") as aggressive
as it is meek and abject at home in the presence of
great Powers like Germany or France.
THE SATURDAY REVIEW ON TILE FUTURE PROS-
PECTS OF THE MINISTRY.—Nothing succeeds like
success ; arid France, finding that Lord Palmer-
ston's Government is going to stay in, seems in-
clined to be friendly once more, to forget the affront
of the rejection of the Congress, and to patch up
a new cordial understanding with the Whigs. The
theory of the Standard, we observe, is, that as the
Imperial Government is the most isolated in Europe,
and the present English Government is the most
despised, they are brought together by misfortune.
They are led, in fact, to cultivate something of that
reckless and hollow cordiality with which plain
women, who are left out, encourage each other while
the pretty ones are dancing. Thus one considerable
difficulty is removed out of Lord Palmerston's way,
and it is no longer possible to say that, if England
se act cordially with the Emperor, Lord Derby
* e effico. The weakest part of the prospects

is b~
must tn.