The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-22 00:00:00

BOZ AND THE YANKEYS,

The following graphic account of the enthusiasm
evidenced by the Americans for Charles Dickens
on the occasion of Boz's famous visit to the United
States, is taken by us from Dr. Nichol's Twenty
Years' of American Life;—
So it was a ball at the Park Theatre—the Old Drury of
New York—where the Cookes, and Keens, and Kembles
had delighted us, that was fixed upon. There was a supper,
I believe, and there was a series of tableaux mans, repre-
senting some of the best scenes in the " Pickwick Papers,"
and the earliest works of the "immortal Boz." I remember
the immense crowd of the " beauty and fashion" of New
York that filled the theatre from its dancing floor, laid over
stage and pit, to the gallery. I remember the mixed com-
mittee, official, fashionable, and literary, and some who
aspired to all these distinctions. I think Irving and Cooper
were there—l am surd of Halleck and Bryant. Willis
sported his ringlets there no doubt—and can I ever forget
the beaming rosy, perspiring face of the American Korner,
General George P. Morris? There was :a rush near the
door, a flutter through the crowded theatre, a hush of ex-
pectation, a burst of " See, the conquering hero comes,"
and the author of " Pickwick" and the " Uncommercial
Traveller," with all of humour and pathos that lie betweeu
burst upon our astonished and delighted vision. Then the
cheers, then the waving of handkerchiefs from floor to
boxes, and all the tiers—and tears, no doubt, of joy and
happiness—and bouquets innumerable, gave what expres-
sion was possible to the irrepressible enthusiasm of the hour.
I remember Mr. Dickens as my eye caught him there, with
all that throng around me, and he the cynosure of ten
thousand eyes, allowing each person present the usual
number. His hair was in the bright gloss of its youth-
ful silken curls; his face was full, and ruddy with
English health—not seamed, as now, with the thought
and work of all these years. His dress, was, I
thought, sufficiently pronounced; bnt ho was on the
whole, eminently satisfactory and sufficiently imposing, It
was hard to open a passage where two or three thousand
people were crowding to see, and be near, and if possible
shake hands with him, but, with tremendous efforts, he was
escorted around the room. We tried to dance. Mrs.
General Morris honoured the thrice-honoured author with
her hand for a quadrille, but the effort to dance was absurd.

THE AMERICAN BLOCKADE.—TheExchange,from
Vera Cruz, at New Orleans, a prize. Washington,
Feb. 9.—The steamers Pet and Hercules have run through
the blockade into Wilmington. Beaufort, N.C., Jan. 26.
The Alice, Fanny, Vance, Terry, and Nancy, are at Wil-
mington, watching an opportunity to slip out. Key West,
Jan. 22.—The yacht Minie was captured on Mosquito Inlet
Jan. 15. The prize steamer Mail, which was captured near
Tampoo some time ago, was sold on the 20th January for
12,100 dole. New York, Feb. 3.—The steamer Rosita was
captured on the 28th Jan., in lat. 25 N., long. 84 W., by
the Federal steamship Western Metropolis; she was
freighted mostly with liquors and ammunition. The British
steamer Sylvanus was captured on the night of the 2d Jan.
in Doboy Sound, Georgia, by the Federal gunboat Iluron ;
after being repeatedly shelled and well riddled, she was run
ashore, and sunk in one fathom water. The blockade run-
ner Advance, recently run ashore at Wilmington, is safe,
as well as her cargo. The steamer Austin arrived at Mobile
on the 9th Jan., with a cargo for the Confederate Govern-
ment. The Confederate schooner Caroline Gertrude was
captured at St. Mark's Bay, Florida, on the 28th Dec., by
the Federal steamer Stars and Stripes. After taking out
about 43 bales of cotton, she was destroyed. On the 18th of
Jan. the Stars and Stripes captured, in the same locality,
the steamer Laura. On the 14th Jan. the Federal steamer
Union captured, south of Tampa Bay, Florida, the Confede-
rate steamer Mayflower.

CEIICAGO TO LIVERPOOL.—We are gratified at
the announcement that a line of first-class packets
is to run between this port and England, commencing in
April next, Of the successful issue of this movement we
entertain no shadow of doubt. The first-class barks
Etowah, Ravenna, and Wirraite, well known on our lakes,
have.been purchased for this purpose and altered and
arranged to adapt them to the ocean and lake service in
compliance with the rules and regulations laid down by the
Lloyd surveyors, and policies of insurance can therefore be
effected on goods shipped on these vessels on the some terms
as the ocean vessels running between European ports and
the Atlantic cities. The brig Cressington and the now bark
Thermutis, now building at Cleveland, will also be in this
line.---Chicago Tribune.