The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-26 00:00:00

THE SUN. LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 26, 1864

of such mild sentences as this will put a stop to the

dangerous practice of " joking," which has produced

such serious evils in so many instances, and so often
laid the foundation of incurable maladies, if the

atal results of this case here recorded did not im-

mediately ensue. In this instance, doubtless, the
perpetrator of the joke did not intend to
do any harm, and may have been, as the Coroner

remarked, " Eincerely sorry for her folly," but the
law should not so readily exonerate those charged

with such offences, or allow them loop holes through

which they can so easily pass, and escape the
punishment they so justly merit. In other cases

of accidents and injuries the same laxity is not
witnessed, and where danger is apprehended the

responsible party is detained until the result is
known, and the circumstances duly investigated.
It is certain that, morally, a person is more guilty
who injures another by dressing up as a ghost,
or by producing spectral illusions to frighten and
startle, than one who accidentally knocks down
or runs over another i❑ the streets. In most cases
of this sort the foot passengers are greatly to
blame for haste, or imprudence, and the catas-
trophe that occurs is sometimes almost unavoid-
able in the hurry of business and pressure of
affairs. Now planning a practical joke is a delibe-
rate intention, and cannot possibly be accounted
for as inadvertence, or excused aR unintentional,
and no possible reason can be adduced to allege
a necessity or a strong inducement to commit the
action. The sooner the matter is regarded in the
right light, and taken up in the proper spirit, the
better.' It is only surprising that more strictness
and severity have not been exercised in this respect,
when we consider that the interests of so many are
bound up in the matter, Children are constantly
exposed to danger through the carelessness of Bur-
-1
serymaids in many respects, but in none do they
incur more risks than in the practice of " dress-
ing up ghosts" and other frightful images to
terrify them into silence. Now, all this ignorance
of effects, and non-intention to injure, that is so
readily put forward as a plea for the commission
of the offence, will best be cured by the in-
fliction of a punishment. If it is urged that
the mode of procedure is hard on the innocent actors
who meant no harm, it is surely much worse that
others should lose their health, their reason, and
their lives.. The sooner such lamentable ignorance
is enlightened the better, and a little rough expe-
rience will be the best antidote against a very absurd
frame of mind, • and great want of thought, which
must inseparably accompany all ouch reprehensible
practices. The effect on others is to be considered,
too, in dealing with such cases, and treating the
offenders. There are many who will wilfully dis-
regard or totally ignore the warnings that such
practices are dangerous, who will pay attention di-
rectly they understand that they may be subjected
to annoyance or inconvenience in the carrying out
of their foolish games. When such stringent laws
and oppressive enactments are made for the preser-
vation of game, in order that sportsmen may in-
dulge themselves in any exciting pursuit, it seems
rather inconsistent that no check should be applied
to this social calamity, and no steps taken by the
authorities to interpose a barrier for the protection
of the community. It is high time that this anomaly
be rectified and thie grievance redressed. Let the
Legislature make the practice a chargeable offence,
and it will soon be seen that, as in the case of
FREDERICK'S soldiers contriving to keep their hats
on their heads in the wind when he had punished
one for the " accident," as it was called, of the wind
blowing off his hat in the midst of a review, and
thereby causing great confusion, that the ignorance
which now prevails as to the extent of the evils and
injuries of practical joking will vanish as if by
magic, and the results of the increased intelligence
cannot but be profitable to the parties concerned,
and most fortunate and happy for their intended
victims.

A Cabinet Council was held yesterday at the
official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, in
Downing-street. The Ministers present were Lord Pal-
merston, the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke of
Argyll, Sir George Gray, Earl Russell, Earl de Grey, Sir
Charles Wood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the

Duke of Somerset, the Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson, the

Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, Lord Stanley of Alderley,

and the Right Hon. 0. P. Vidiers.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.—The following note
has been addressed by Mr. Disraeli to the members
who usually act with him in the House of Commons :
" Sir,—l have the honour to inform you that Parliament
will reassemble on Thursday, the 4th February, and I
would express my hope that you may find it convenient to
be in your place that day, as business of importance may
be expected.—l am sir, your faithful servant DISRAELI.
Hughenden Manor, Jan. 12."

THACKERAT'S LAST WORK.—Charles Dickens,
writing about Mr. Thackeray in the February num-

ber of the Cornhill Magazine, says On the table before
me there lies all that he had Written of his latest and last

story. That it would be very sad to any one—that it is
expressly so to a writer—in its evidences of matured designs
never to be accomplished, of intentions begun to i'e exe-
cuted and destined never to be completed, of careful prepa-
ration for long roads of thought that he was never to tra-
verse, and for shining goals that he was never to reach,
will be readily believed. The pain, however, that I have
felt in perusing it has not been deeper than the conviction
that he was in the healthiest vigour of his poWers When he
wrought on this last labour. In respect of earnest feeling,
far-seeing purpose, character, incident, and a certain loving
picturesqueness blending the whole, I believe it to he much
the best of all his works. That he fully it tb by so,
that he had become strongly attoliM td D Alla that he be-
' stowed great pains upon it, t thee in almost every page. It
contains one pictutt Which must have cost him extreme
distress, and which is a masterpiece. There are tWo chil-
dren in it, touched with a hand as loving alid tender as ever
a father caressed his little child With. there is sotto yonng
love, as pure and innotont and pretty as the ti nth. And it
is very remarkable that by reason a the singular construc-
tion of the story, more thart*ib main incident usually be-
longing to the end 4 bilch a fiction is anticipated itt the
beginning, and thlts there is an approach to 0017)2;leteness
in the fragment, as to the satisfaCtion_
the reaeleet mind
concerning the most interestir.
k person's, Which CoUld hardly
have been better attained if the wriifeilblr•!&nig-off had been
foreseen. The last line he *r the last proot he cor-
rectednre among the& rapers through which I nave so ter-
rowfully made way. The condition of tht little pages
of mannoteript where death stopped his hand shows that he
had carried teem about, and often taken them out of his
pocket :aere and there, for patient revision and interlinea-
tion. The last words he corretted in print were, ' And my
heart throbbed with an exquisite bliss.' God grant that on
that Christmas-e're when he laid his head back on his pillow
and threw up his arms, as he had been wont to do when
very weary, some consciousness of duty done and Christian
hope throughout life humbly cherished, may have caused
his own heart so to throb, when he passed away to his
Redeemer's met,

YOUNG POEM are reminded by a sagacious critic
in the .Satareicty Review that they rarely take the
trouble to imitate any living poet under tho faiik Uf
Tennyson; whereas, adds the teVitVer, the thinr poets
have distinct styles, and Et betattse they have this that
they attract and please. Whatever else may be said of Mr.
Browning, or Mr. Matthew Arnold, or Mr. Henry Taylor,
or even of less aspiring composer of Lord Houghton, for
instance, or Mr. CoVentry Patmore—this much atleast may
be said, that a poem written by them obviously comes from
than, and has a cast that is recognisable and peculiar. But
iu the productions of uLsuccessittl young poets this is the
very thing that is wanting. Page atter page is turned over,
and the versification may be good and clever in its way, but
it is either imitative or colourless, The world has got the
thing before, and does not want any more of it, and so the
volume, when published, falls hopelessly fiat,
A WONDERFUL METEORITE.--The Gottinger
Nachrichten gives an account of a meteorite which
has been found at Obenkirchen (Schaumburg) imbedded in
a mass of sand 15 feet below the surface. Its weight is
about 82 pounds, and it has the form of an irregular four-
sided pyramid. The mass is still intact, with the exception
of a small piece, which has been removed for analysis. The
surface is entirely converted into brown and black hydrated
oxide of iron, plainly showing it must have fallen some cen-
turies ago. The iron is quite passive, and does not reduce
copper from a solution of one of its salts, The specific
gravity is very small, being only 7.12. A small portion,
weighing 2.9 grs., was removed for analysis, and was found
to have the following composition :—iron,
,90'95 ; nickel
, and cobalt, 8.01; phosporwl, 0.64,

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

PROROGATION OF THE PRUSSIAN
CHAMBERS.

BERLIN, Jan. 25.

The Chamber of Deputies to-day ordered the
Committee on the Budget to immediately report
upo❑ the vote on the Budget given on Saturday last
by the Upper House. The Committee accoi dingly
made their report, which proposed that the vote of
the Upper House should be declared null and void.
This proposition was adopted by the house. Count
Eulenburg then read a Royal message, stating that
the Diet would be closed to day at three p.m. by
the President of the Council.
The Diet was closed to-day by the President of
the Council, who read the Speech from the Throne.
The following are the most important passages :
" The Chamber of Deputies has maintained the
groand which led to the dissolution of the previous
Chamber. The House has rejected the Bill refer-
ring to Article 99 of the Constitution, and has not
discussed the Budget of 1863. In the Budget of the
current year it has struck out items which are indis-
pensable for the public service. The House has also
renewed the resolution of the previous Chamber
upon the Military Budget without having discussed
the preliminary Bill establishing the obligation to
military service. For that reason the Upper House,
in the exercise of its Constitutional rights, has
rejected the Budget of 1864 as amended by the
Chamber of Deputies.
" The Government has carried out the vote of the
Chamber with regard to the Polish members ar-
rested for high treason, but does not consider it
conformable to the respect due to public justice and
to the dignity of the House.
" The House has also refused the required loan
proposed by the Government to afford the means
of carrying out Federal Execution in Holstein, as
well as for the maintenance of Prussia's position as a
great Power anal her honour in the further develop-
ment of the conflict, and likewise for covering the
portion of the expenses of the Execution falling
to Prussia as member of the German Confederation.
The House rejected this vote, although the King
had pledged his word, in his reply of the 27th of
December, that the money should only be em-
ployed for the protection of the right and honour
of the country.
" The House has passed resolutions by which the
majority, in the event of warlike complications,
takes part beforehand against the Prussian
Fatherland.
" Renouncing, therefore, for the present the hope
of bringing about an understanding with the Cham-
ber, the Government considers it its duty to act
for the maintenance of the State, and relies herein
upon the growing support of the country."

SPAIN.

MADRID, SAN. 26.

The Correspondencia states that the Finance
Minister has drawn up a project to improve the
revenue of the State and limit the expenses of the

THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTON.

The country has ceased to look for the capture
of Charleston, either by General Gilmore's army
or by the ironclad navy. The many months that
have passed since the last serious attempt by the

Monitors have brought with them many promises,
and left behind them an equal number of disap-
pointments ; and those who anticipated that Gene-
ral Gilmore's reduction of Fort Wagner would in-

stantly be fbiiowed by the seizure of Sumter's site,
of Fort Moultrie, James Island, and all the works
in the harbour, have waited in vain for the realisa-
tion of their hopes. The navy has maintained a
blockade of Charleston harbour that even the rebels
must admit is effective, if not perfect ; at .d our news

has all along kept us informed that General Gil-

adore was from time to time training his guns upon

the city, as well as " feeling- the state of mat tern
along the important railroad linestretching between
Charleston and S4vannah. The recalling of these
latter facts will remind those who fancy that our

army and navy down there have been absolutely
useless that they, at least, are mistaken ; for we do
not doubt that the simple fact that General
Gilmore has ceaselessly threatened the railroad

line just mentioned has held in the vicinity
and kept out of service elsewhere a very large
rebel force. When another attack upon the
defences of Charleston was in contemplation,

prior to the assignment of Admiral Dahlgren, and
Gen. Gilmore to their present commands, the ques-
tion, we presume, was not, What is the best way to
operate ? but, Can we operate at all, so as to make
the handful of troops in that department available
for offensive operations? Can the meagre land force
there be advantageously used, or must it remain
idle ? Circumstances rendered it impossible to in-

crease it. Not a regiment could be spared from any
of our armies, and any work in the Department of
the South must be done by the farce already there.

Two attempts against thedetences of Charleston had
been made without gaining a foot of ground. One
was a land attack under Benham, and the other a
❑aval attack under Dupont. Ironclads were deemed
a most formidable means of offence, and it was evi-
dent that any plan which promised success must
involve a close co-operation of land and naval forces
in some project that would allow the iron-clad e!e-
meat to enter largely. The few thousand troops in
the department were not expected to capture
Charleston, but only to execute their part of a plan
of joint operations. To have thrust them upon the
main land unsupported against an enemy that had
had two years to erect his defences and having
at his back unlimited means of concentrating
troops by railroad, would have been crimi-
nal folly. A plan of joint operations was
agreed upon, each branch of service to do cer-
tain specified work. The plunging fire of Sumter
was what the Monitors most feared on account of
weak decks. That eliminated, naval men declared
that the Monitors could pass up to the city. An
article in the Army and Navy Journal, evidently
written by some one who knows what he is talking
about, tells us that the plan of attack proposed by
General Gilmore was,-1. To effect a lodgment on
the south side of Morris Island, which it was known
the enemy were then strongly fortifying; 2. To be-
siege and reduce Fort Wagner, by which all the
works on Cumming's Point would necetsarily
,fall ;
3. From the position thus gained to demolish Fort
Sumter; 4. The vessels of war to remove the ob-
structions at the entrance of the harbour, and reach
the city by running by the works on Sullivan's
Island. The first three items of the above pro-
gramme were fully accomplished long ago, and the
fame of the performance resounded throughout the
world. The echoes of General Gilmore's big guns
and the arguments of the " Swamp Angel" were
not our least persuasive diplomatists. For the
ensuing weary months of delay there may be good
reaaen, but, whether there is or not, General Gil-
more is by no one held responsible for this delay.
His work was done, and well done. When it was
suspected that the enemy was putting guns on
the channel faces of Satnter, fire was re-opened
upon it. A slow fire from mortars, 'to pre-
vent working inside, was long kept up. What ad
•
vantage the delay has given the enemy cannot be
well estimated. It has probably entirely changed
the condition of the problem. The shores of the
inner harbour and the wharves of the city bristle
with guns that did not exist at the time Gilmore
took Wagner, and military men assert that what
was feasible for the monitors to do then is very diffi-
cult if not impossible now ; that if they once reached
the inner harbour they could not hope to remain
there. The permanent occupation of Sumter by our
troops, while the enemy hold James and Sullivan's
Islands, seem to be impracticable, neither is it at all
necessary. Sumter is harmless, and cannot injure
the monitors. But the enemy, from his batteries,
saes all the five faces of Sumter ; we, from our bat-
teries, see but two of its faces. The enemy has a
concentric fire on Sumter—his batteries encircle it ;
ours fire upon it from one direction. It would ap-
pear, therefore; that if it were possible to get pos-
session of it, it would not only be possible but easy
for the enemy to get it back again. The prospect
of capturing Charleston by the monitors, or by an
attack after any fashion, or by any agency, from
the front, does not certainly seem to be very bril-
liant, but still we do not believe that the rebels will
hold the city all of this year by any means.—New
York Times,

MRS. LIRRIPER READ AND BEETHOVEN ILLUS-
TRATED.—Mr. Howard Glover announces another of his
morning concerts—at which the entertainment will be
varied by Mrs. Stirling's reading of a part of "Mrs. Lirri-
per." There will also be given Beethoven's Pastoral Sym-
phony, with scenic illustrations.
NINE YEARS OF RUSSIAN FINANCE.—In 1853
the funded debt stood at little above £30,000,000,
and the floating debt at perhaps 10 or 12 millions more.
The paper circulation was about £50,000,003, supported by
a metallic reserve of mote than a third of that amount.
Since that time the funded debt has risen to £11,000,000,
the floathig debt is doubled, the circulation of bank notes
has Doti faiged to tuore tbanLloo,ooo,ooof, and specie pay-
ments have Weil

THE ALABAMA,—By the ettiiarl of the Cape mail
we leafil that two vessels had arrived- in Table
Part' at did dad of I/amber with news of the Alabama.
Captain Crltoi t the Beattifttl Stith r
that in pass-
ing the Straits of 6didild; oh' the 25th October last, he was
informed that the Alabama had patiltd• .:..ngier a day or two
defof2s Ftho had 25 men sick, and did not tepert any cap-
tures. Captain FJeliewiek, of the Latona, fret& Singapore,
reported that he had hfieti of tha Alabama being in. the
China Seas, and on the night Of the tlth November, off the
lava Heads, saw a fine vessel of abittit 500 tons, with all
0611 Oat; On the; and a bark-rigged steamer DOW her, which
he suppfttid Jo tie the Alabama. A private letter which
has been shown tit! des6rib'eS the later occurrence as follOWs
On the night of the dth ;rho* 150 miles W.S.
W.
of isltl Heads, I was called about It (Meek by the third
officer to look at a ship on fire. I jumped out arid hurried on
deck. It Was rather a dirty, rainy sort of a night, arid we
lief° under easy sail—royals, mizentopgallant sail, and
mainsail dttlwted ; and tight ahead was seen a bright glare.
The Latona was close- hatiledi seas to make a little to wind-
ward of it, and under the impressian thct she was one of
the cotton ships from China, which had accidentally caught
fire, we burnt blue lights to let her know assistance wa
fts at
hand. As we got near her we could see her plainer--a e
double topsail yard bark, royals hauled up, but not stowed,
and the mainyard backed; infect, properly hove to, as any
other ship would be for a boat to board her. She was on
se
fire fore and aft, masts all standing,
an he not a
sonl aboard her, and no boats in sight. It was one of the
finest sights have seen at sea. It was, as I have said, rather
a dirty night, and though, we were close to thri unfortunate
bark, it was as light as day, all outside the halo of her light
was doubly dim and black. Out of this darkness came
long low craft, which we soon. found out to be a steamer,
bue we could not distinguish her colours. She passed close
between us and the bark. We guessed what she was at
once, more especially as we heard in Singapore that she had
been at the Cape, and was probably going towards the China
Seas. The comments of our crew were rather curious,
greatly in favour of the Southerners; but it was a source of
lamentation the burning of the bark's fine white cotton can-
vas, enough to make jumpers and trousers for all hands for
some years We expected a visit from the Alabama, but
she did not come near us, as we kept away on our course.
On our arrival here the lieuCenant of the United States
steamer Mohican came on board and got an extract from
the log, and two days after that lett, bound eastward, on a
cruise. It will take a much smarter craft than she is to
catch the Alabama."
THE HISTORY OF THE COTTON FAMINE.-31r. It.
A. Arnold has undertaken to write the history of the cotton
famine. Mr. Arnold is known as the author of " Ralph ;
or, St. Sepulchre's and St. Stephen's," and is a contributor
to our periodical literature; besides which, he was officially
connected with " Wtte Pql*Wotir,s Act,”