The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-06 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPT. 6, 1864.

The manner in which our military and naval
prize money is distributed, or rather not distri-
buted, has long been a standing grievance to the
members of both services. The question has often
been mooted in Parliament, and neither the press
nor the public has spared its censures, but the
matter remains is the old state. Notwithstanding
our army of officials, our countless clerks and
assistants, our well-paid heads of departments and
their numerous train of subordinates, it remains
an affair of years instead of weeks to make oat a
simple calculation, and to distribute a limited sum
among a limited number of claimants. It is now
seven years since the capture of Dhar Fort, iu
which feat about 2,000 men were concerned—no
very great number for a subdivision. It is lucky
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer gets on a
little faster with his calculations, or we should
be this year considering the budget of 1820. Bat
the authorities have at length succeeded in act-

complishing a large part of their formidable un-
dertaking. In December, 1862, her Majesty's
warrant was issued for payment of the Dhar
Pr ice money. In the May following it was paid
out to those who were entitled to it in India, so
that one would naturally suppose the business was
nearly done. But it was necessary to pause after
so great and continuous an effort, and accordingly

some hundreds of the men interested who are now
in England have not yet received their money. Day
after day, and month after month, have they looked
for it with the weariness of hope deferred, but as

yet they cannot even learn when they are likely to
get it. They are told on applying at the War
Office that the returns are not yet received, but
that when they are the money will be paid. With
whom lies the blame of this delay ? If the warrant
vas issued nearly tvro years ago there is certainly
nJ excuse on the ground of inability. If the
money has already been paid to the men in India, it
must be known what each share amounts to ; in
fact, that knowledge has already reached the ex-

psctante, who have ascertained that each private'i,

share is over 1.:40—n0 inconsiderable sum to a man
in humble life. Some of them have left the service
on account of wounds, enfeebled health, 8.7c,7 and
many of these fiod it a hard matter to obtain em-
ployment. Such a sum as this would put them
in the way of gaining a living, and would in any
case be most acceptable, When we remember the
frightful revelations of the Commission as to
the mortality and sickness among our troops
in India we shall feel it especially incumbent on
us to see that the men have all the advantages that
they have fairly earned in the course of that service
which has cost them so much. A private soldier
whose health has been broke❑ by his term of service
in India, and who, if he survives to reach this
country is nevertheless invalided fo: lire, muss

naturally feel it a great hardship to be kept out of
his money without anyreasonable pretext whatever.
Setting aside the unwarrantable delay which oc-
curred between the capture of the fort and the
distribution of the spring before last, there
can be no possible excuse for waiting twelve
or fifteen months before giving the men
in England (who probably need it the most)
the portion which properly belongs to them. Such
ungracious acts as these make our service unpopu-
lar ; they disgust the men, who feel as if they were
kept out of their rights, and make them suspicious
that the real object of delay is the hope that the
claimants will die off. Certainly, with an annual
death rate of 09 per 1,000, seven years would make
a considerable change in a body of 2,000 men, but
the principle is carried out in every latitude and
in every department of the united services, It is
quite time that a better system was in-
augurated, and that our men were made
to feel that their claims, when just, were as promptly
and readily acknowledged as those of their superiors.
Our Indian veterans have had good reason in seve-
ral instances to complain of the treatment which
they have received, and the tardy and unwilling
recognition of their services. The grand achieve •
rents of HAVELOCK'S army and their fellows in
the great struggle of 1857 were apparently forgotten
by the authorities when the dispute arose.about the
transfer of the Company's troops to the QUEEN'S
service. The men might have had no official
claim to the bounty, but it was a harsh and
ungracious act on the part of a wealthy
country to refuse it to men who had borne and
achieved so much. It would have been easy
to have pointed out to them that it was granted as
a matter of grace, not as a right, and that the
authorities were willing to stretch a point in their
favour in consideration of their services. The ques=
lion was one into which a thought of precedent
could not enter, being so entirely an exceptional
case. That paltry saving disgusted many of our
best men, who refused to re-enlist, and cost the
country considerably more in the transport of troops
than the bounty would have done. It is quite time
that these things were looked to if we hope to main-
tain the spirit and efficiency of our army, and to
keep up its popularity among the people.

AU that tends to raise the character of the work-
ing men is eminently worthy of support. It is a
proud characteristic of this country that the work-
ing population of the community occupy so elee
vated a position, and are so thoroughly indepen-
dent. The petty interference and the great re-
strictions that abound abroad are totally unknown
here, and the working man of England has his
rights and privileges that appertain to his order
as clearly marked out and as well secured as those
of the afflaent merchant or possessor of rank and
title. This is as it should be, it is an integral
part of our social system that foreigners have
admired but utterly failed to understand, and that
right thinking members of society have always
appreciated and recognised as essential to the
welfare of the State. There have been of late
some Working Men's Exhibitions, and these are
specially worthy of notice, for they reveal a cha-
racter that is to be respected. These affairs are
entirely self-emanating, they do not spring from
patronage nor take their rise from a fancied
attempt at display, but they are entirely the con-
sequence of the resolutions of their immediate
agents. It is fit and proper that they who
.are
the foundation and the mainstay of the greatness
and the wealth of the land should occasionally
come prominently forward and exhibit them-
selves in their true colours as sentient and primer-
dial agents, not as mere machines or instruments,
no matter how extensive the one nor how fine the
other. It appears, then„ upon taking a comprehensive
view of the matter, that this incident of Working
Men's Exhibition has a significance that cannot be
passed over, end possesses a claim on our regard
that may not be gainsaid. At the great exhibitions
the masters necessarily came forward and received
the guerdon of their merits in the token of appro-
vals vouchsafed by the judges of the competitive
displays. The men were rather disappointed at
being so completely in the background, but the old
adage that one sows that another may reap was
true there as elsewhere. It is but just that the
other side of the page be turned, and that those
busy workers in the hives of human industry should
manifest themselves, and appear from amidst the
shade that unavoidably is often cast over their
careers. There have already been two of these dis-
plays, and a third is forthcoming. This continua-
tion proves that it is no mere illusion that has
given rise to the suggestion, and no evanescent
outbreak of enthusiasm, because the effort would
have expended itself before this had such been the
case. It is at once curious and interesting to trace 1
the progress of these endeavours from the outset to
the conclusion. In studying these details the
looker-on may learn more than he bargained for at
the outset, for there is ample evidence and abun-
dant illustration contained therein of the spirit
and genius of the country. The chief difficulty was
the want of necessary funds to defray inevitable
expenses, but in this dilemma the projectors
copied their illustrious predecessors, the
promoters of the Great Exhibition, and
among themselves guaranteed a certain
sem to cover any risk incurred by losses that might
supervene. The course of the affairs is arrangad by
a committee, so that it is evident that a general
system pervades the whole, and that due earn and
caution are observed in the proceedings. lndepends
coca is the watchword of the affair, and thus no
assistance is asked, but all voluntary contributions
are accepted. This is just the right way to adopt,
since it avoids churlish isolation and dependent in-
security. The object of all such industrial exhibi-
tions should be to unite interests apparently diverse,
and to awaken sympathies that are the sure and
strong support of society. This circumstance of
the working men combining to render themselves
conspicuous by their attainments is a proof
that needs no comment. Those who could
not take part in them have yet, in some
degree, caught the spirit of emulation which
it was their great object to inspire, and have ime
bibed the desire to excel, which it was the primeval
purpose of the affair to promote. It must be cons
ceded that so far the results of the great national
undertakings have surpassed the expectations and
exceeded the desires of their founders. To instil an
elevated idea into the minds of the working men,
to infuse the notion that work contains a glorious
privilege, as well as an imposing burden that cannot
be shaken off, is something to have Effected
that cannot be too greatly prized nor too
lightly valued. Another point worthy of at-
tention in the affair, is that, it is really the
produce of the exhibitors which is put forward.
In most cases, too, this result is only accomplished
by sedulous efforts on the part of the manufacturer
of the exhibited article. Generally it is only after
the day's work is done that the time can be spared,
thus it is a genuine love of the thing which calls
forth the effort. There is more likelihood of the
undertaking prospering when it is carried on by
those who have to make sacrifices for its support,
because their wishes are true and C., it desires are

half the way towards carrying on the work. The
poet has said—
" The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But they while their companions slept,
Were toiling upwards in the night,"

This may prove as true in the lower walks of
life as in the higher, and the more the great
principle is recognised that ability and educa•
tion make the distinction in society the greater
will be the efforts made to rise in the social
scale. It is a moral reflection for a man to dwell
upon, that the history of his country is the record
of the bravery and services of his ancestors, but it
is equally honourable for an isolated individual to
know that he has risen by his own e7ertions, and
carved himself a place alike conspicuous and ad-
mired. It is also most praiseworthy if, without
attaining any particular distinction, or Belaying
any remarkable object, the working man of this
country can be of note among his immediate circle,
and by industry, temperance, and honest pride in
his own efforts, render himself a credit to the com-
munity and an honour to his order, and thus pur-
sue his labours in the state to which he has been
called in the favour of GOD and of man.

The Wizard of the north at St. James's

Hall.

The best public entertainer—Professor Ander-
son, the Great Wizard of the North—after a pro-
longed absence of more than seven years, reappeared
last night at St. James's Hall, Piccadilly, and met
with the most enthusiastic reception. That an
overflowing audience would assemble on the occa-
sion could not be for one moment doubted, for who
could question the attracting power of those dab°a
rate and enormous posters issued by the Wizard,
and which have illustrated the leading. thorough-
fares of London for the last few weeks. The professor
in his inaugural address enters at length into the
matters that have occupied his attention during the
period of his absence, all of which have been for the
improvement of this entertainment. He says—
" Seven years of study, observation, and travel,
have been spent with these ends in view. That
which the fertile and inventive genius of the French
could suggest in Paris—the industrious research of
the German contribute on the land of the Teuton—
the far-famed skilfulness displayed by the Hindoo
in British India—the mystic powers of the Arab
beneath the shadow of the Pyramids, the
magical resources of the Marabouts of Algeria—the
secrets known to the aborigines of Australia, Tas-
mania, and New Zealand—the religious cabalistic
rites of the inhabitants of the Society and Sandwich
Islands—and lastly, the mechanical talent of the
heterogeneous population of Americans, English,
Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, and Polynesians,
assembled in California, have all been enlisted, so
as to render the amusement one of the most cosmo-
politan extraordinary, and complete of any in
modern or past times." The press nt entertainment
is entitled the " World of Magic," and or. the open-
ing of the curtain the stage, or, as the, Wizard calls
it, the " psychomantheum," is discovered most
gorgeously fitted with an endless number of magical
apparatus, all of polished silver; the back ground
is formed by a crimson velvet curtain showered with
golden stars, and the whole is illuminated in
Cee most briAliant and fantastic manner.
Having acknowledged the flittering recep-
tion in a few but telling sentences, the Pro-
fessor at once proceeds with his magical operations,
which excite alternately wonder and surprise. Al-
though some of the tricks have been before per-
formed by the Wizard in London, yet, in most in-
stances,
various additions to them have been made,
which almost make them novelties. The wonderful
trick with the witches' eauldron was capitally exe
outed, and the conversion of three or four pails of
water into innumerable pigeons, guinea pigs, &c.,
created the utmost delight. Then, again, into what
glee did those of the audience who had not lent their
halts witness the Wizard make a Christmas plum
pludding in that of him who had been good cnougl,
to oblige the Wizard with the loan of his. As
planes, sugar, currant, spice, and lemon peel were
successively thrown in the laughter was immense,
but when the eggs and water were added the
merriment became uproarious. The delicious com-
pound, however, was speedily produced smoking
hot from the aforesaid chapeau, which, after
being carefully brushed, was handed back to its
owner perfectly uninjured by the operation. Then
we had the Wizard's scrap-book, a portfolio about
six inches in thickness, from which emerges the
Professor's youngest daughter, a pretty cage of
canaries, a live goose, two rabbits, ar.,cl last, though
not least, a travelling trunk thrice the size of the
portfolio itself. These astonishing tricks were
quickly followed by others, and then came the
expose of table rapping. The Wizard's table did
everything he desired, and after a terrific onslaught
on the believers in spiritualism the Professor, to
show his disbelief in the monstrous deception, said
he would pa, down a thousand pounds to any
" medium" -who could produce a single rap on his
table. Oi course the challenge was not accepted ;
it still remains open to all who wish to try for the
goldem prize. This part of the entertainment pro-
dr,ced the greatest delight, and nothing could ex-
ceed the enthusiasm of the audience as the table
rapped out" good night" and marched off rapping
time to the celebrated chorus in Figlia del Iteggi-
menti." An interval of five minutes having elapsed
the principal porticra of the second part of the
entertainment vvr..s a display of the extraordinary
powers of Miss Anderson, who seems to be endowed
with the F:at of seeing through deal boards and
stone walls. A variety of small articles, twenty.
seven in number, collected from amongst the
audience, having been securely fastened in an
opaque envelope, and placed at the extreme end of
the hall, the Professor led forward his daughter, a
young lady of the most agreeable manners, and
placed her in a chair on the stage. A bandage
having been placed over the young lady's eyes, she
then, without the slightest difficulty, and without a
single question being put to her, gave a perfectly,
accurate description of the whole of the miscellane-
ous items contained in the packet. There was
no hesitation and no mistake, as each person
who had lent an article at once claimed
it from the lady's description. To us this and
the succeeding feat seemed the roost astonishing.
By way of testing the young lady's memory a
variety of words suggested by the audience, such,
far instance, as syllable., gregarious, idiosyncrasy,
idiomatio, and Constantinople, were at once spelled
forwards and then backwards with the greatest
rapidity, and without the slightest mental labour.
The applause was some:ding extraordinary, and
certainly the young 1.,e1y
really deserved all that
she received. The ritertainment of the Wizard of
the 'North is as le.
pique as ever, and we doubt not
he will :tat which he is er.titled to—a long
and prosperoushavet season.