The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-31 00:00:00

Morality of our Satirists and Novelists,

(From the Church and State Review.)
Are expurgated editions wise, or are they foolish
For our own parts, and putting aside the strong
feeling which often prevails on the subject, we do
not believe that the affirmative theory will hold
water for one moment. Boys never realise to them-
selves ancient life sufficiently to make the worst
yitnhgineg nerbutal re,
havemedry
bones. Delineations of vice,little
passages of the classics anything
bad effect when confined to remote persons and un-
familiar scenes. What is to be dreaded is descrip-
tions of vice which represent it as easy, accessible,
and contiguous ; which throw a doubt upon the
virtue of people whom we meet in our daily walks,
and insinuate the corruptibility of servants or de-
pendants. A lad of sixteen or seventeen may read
over the Sixth Satire of Juvenal twenty times
without any loose wish being awakened by it. Vice
is there presented to him in such a totally strange
dress that he knows it not. What have the filthy
orgies of the Roman senatresses to do with him ?
It is like reading of the Yahoos. What feelings can
be roused in him by the monstrous and distorted
shapes which ordinary immorality assumes in those
pages but a mixture of wonder and loathing ?
None. But, probably, not even these emotions are
excited in one case out of fifty. We appeal to all
our public school readers, if they did not take
Appia and Catulla too much as a matter of course,
to give even a passing thought to the nature of
their proceedings. Do they remember that these
passages were ever made the subject of indecent
jokes, or served as a prelude to obscene conversa-
tion? We believe that these descriptions arc ground
up in a common mill with the rest of the lesson;
that they excite nobody and suggest nothing..
Now, mutatis mutandis, the same is to be said of
the majority of operas. What are the wrongs of a
Favori ta
Druid priestess to a lady of the nineteenth centu!y!
What realisable state of society does the "
stra and
represent to her? Is it not all a sortas of nep
nge helo-
coccygia—or, to say the least of it
uncongenial a picture of society as
life among the
E3quimaux or the inhabitants of Timbuctoo, from
whose manners and morals it is impossible she bhonld
reason to her own ? If we add to this the accessories
by which operatic stories are accompanied, we shall
see that the deodorisation of them
is complete. The
and dancing round off the dissi-
mmiulsitinudaenbdestiwnngegeinthem and real life. No great actor
or actress who aspired to a high reputation in pure
art would dream of appearing in an opera. The
impersonation of character, the holding up of the
mirror to nature, is there impossible. Consequently
the ill effects of representing vice upon the stage, in
a seductive and stimulating form, are impossible
also. Thy
then the heroineT rai a t ao;
the"
might have been worse.
But the Traviata" was a re-
cognised
"
professional courtczan.

Now, the difference between novels and either
ancient classics or modern librettos ie, that the
former do, as a rule, deal with contemporary man-
ners; they having, in the discharge of this function,
graduallyeuperaeded comedy. From the dramatists

of the Restoration down to the novelists of 'Victoria,
we have a constant succession of writers, very few
of whom have succeeded in so treating indecent sub-
jects as not to do mere harm than good. Scott did ;
perhaps George Elliott has done; but we doubt if
there is a third name. In the earlier writers of
all, in the "Beaux's Stratagem," the "Relapse,"
and so on, the intention was to do harm: These,
therefore, may be dismissed from consideration.
But take three famous English classics—Riehsrd-
son, Fielding, end Smollett how, we should like
to know, have they served the cause of virtue?
Richardson's efforts in that direction, good enough
in conception, w: re wholly neutralised by the
execution. To impress upon mc.id servants,
governesses, and lady's maids, the worldly adviu-
ti,ges of chastity, and to generate in their minds
the belief that this virtue did exist in the class
to which they themselves belonged, was, unques-
tionably, a useful purpose in the middle of the
18th century. But readers of " Pamela" and
" Clarissa Harlow" will understand what we
mean when we sciy that the realism of Richard-
son>s descriptions of the trials through which they
pass would do far more by inflaming the passions
than the plot could do harm good by convincing
the reason. Whatever good intentions either
Fielding or Smollett may have had were neu-
tralised by a similar element ; and, coming down
to writers of our own time, we regret to say that
the evil has only changed its guise.
No contemporary writer would venture to repro-
duce in his pages such scenes as may be found in
"Pamela." But we do not believe that it would
have occurred to Richardson to introduce into a
novel such characters as Cecil in " Sword and
Gown," and Florence in " Guy Livingstone.'g
These last are the hind of novel which is really
dangerous to morale, insinuating as it does that
among English young ladies chastity is a hum-
drum virtue, which the cleverest, the prettiest,
and the most spirituel are ready to sacrifice
almost at a moment's notice, if needs be, for the
sake of their favourite hero. We are not exagge-
rating. Space precludes us, even if nothing else
did, from supplying proofs of what we say. But
those who are curious in such matters will do well
to refer to the "conservatory scene" in " Guy
Livingstone," and the proposal of Royston Keene
to Cecil in " Sword and Gown."

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

As the time approaches for undocking the iron
frigate Achilles, 35, 1,250-horse power at Chatham,
increased exertions are being used by the officials.
so that no delay may be experienced in completing
and equipping her for sea immediately afterwards.
The whole of the broadside plating which protects
her midship battery has been completed for some
time, and is now being cleared down preparatory
to receiving the final coating of paint. In this
portion of the Achilles the armour-plating is ex-
tended to her upper deck, which, again, is plated
with iron varying from 5-IGths to 5-Sths of an inch
in thickness, to protect the gunners on the maindeck
from the effects of shell and molten metal. The mid-
ship's battery is protected at the stem and stern by
armour-plated bulkheads, rendering the central
portion of the main deck to all intents a shot and
shell proof battery, the guns in which may still be
employed long after those on the other parts of the
main deck have been silenced. Beyond the armour-
plated bulkheads the 4k-inch armour-plating is not
carried any higher than the main deck floors. With
the exception of some 20 plates to be fixed to the
counter and buttock of the stern portion of the
frigate, the entire plating is completed. This por-
tion of the work, however, proceeds but slowly, in
consequence of the extreme nicety required—first in
cutting the slabs of iron to the exact shape of the
stern of the vessel, and after wards fitting them in
their place, both operations requiring the greatest
possible care. In order to lessen, as much as pos-
sible, the tendency to roll, which, more or less,
characterises the whale of our iron ships, the
Achilles has been built flatter on the floor than was
the case with the Warrior and Black Prince. In
addition, she has been furnished with two iron
bilge pieces, running nearly the entire length of
the vessel, and placed about midway between her
keel and water-line. These, there is little doubt,
will have considerable effect in lessening any ten-
dencies to roll which she may exhibit when at sea.
With regard to the remarks which have been made
respeeting the time spent in building the Achilles,
a few facts will prove, perhaps, that her construc-
tion has occupied a shorter period than that of the
Warrior, with which she has been unfavourably
compared. The Admiralty records show that the
Warrior was commenced in the month of May,
1859, and, according to the contract, was to be
ready to receive her engines in 11 months from that
date, and to proceed to sea in three months after-
wards. Instead, however, of being ready by the
time specified, the Warrior did not leave the Thames
until the month of October, 1861. She then pro-
ceeed to Portsmouth, where she remained a consi-
derable time before being finally ready for sea ; thus
only a few months short of three years we
for re em-
ployed in her construction and equipment sea,
In the case of the Achilles the order to begin to
build the vessel together with the sheer draught,
arrived at Chatham Dockyard from the Admiralty,
on the 19th of April, 1861, at which date not a
single piece of the vast machinery afterwards re-
quired had arrived at the dockyard. In addition
to this the best portion of a year was lost in the
erection of the requisite factories, sheds, workshops,
on the construction of an iron yes-
. Cc., for carrying
eel of vast size, the first of the kind ever attempted
at either of the Royal dockyards. Within about a
month, however, after the commencement of the
Achilles—namely, on the 30th May, 1861—an Ad-
miralty order arrived at Chatham for commencing
the iron-plated frigate Royal Oak, and as she was
required to be completed and sent to sea before the
Achilles, all the available force of the dockyard was
placed on her, while her machinery erected for the
Achilles was devoted, almost exclusively, to the
preparation of the armour-plates for the Royal Oak,
which was completed and launched in little mere
than a year from being commenced and despatched
to sea from Chatham at the beginning of the present
year. Had not the Achilles been consequently de-
layed in order to complete the Royal Oak, the for-
mer vessel would have been out of hand and des-
patched
to sea at least 12 months since. The first
armour-plate was fixed on the broadside of the
Achilles on the sth of February last, so that in little
more than eight months she will have been entirely
plated from stem to stern, whereas, in the case of
the Warrior, the armour plating is carried only for
some 200 it. along each broadside, leaving nearly
double the number of plates to be bolted to the ex-
terior of the Achilles to those placed on the sides of
the Warrior. Taking into consideration the superior
quality of the work in the Achilles, as compared
with that in the Warrior, the former is as
much superior to the latter as the Warrior was tot,
the Mersey, the Orlando, and other fine frigates o
their day. An announcement has been receivedfthe
from Messrs. Penn and Sons that the wholeo
machinery for the Achilles will be ready
middle of December. by the
Yesterday the War Department t rtabn:poorrdtsni:lnacrel:
borough and Petrel went alongsided unloading the
wharf at Chatham, and connnyeetnteter
with
the Arm
Armstrong and other guns.,itooneo
of shot from the
strong and other deseri
Emerald, 35, 600-horsce Po‘wer, Capt. A. Cumming,
Channel Fquadron, but now
lately attached to thteho
Nom, preparatory to being
being dismantled at
and placed in the third di-
put out of commission
The
pßouwaidaeirsuaundd,Bhaneldi
vision of the :Own reserve,
from the
Were landed yesterday
deposited in the Government magazines at Upuor
C astle.
The Widgeon, 2, 90-horse power, paddlewheel

,--t---/-7-e-e-e-,-- ~._. r -- - •,40-.. ,-4,, !.%\n-f-
-r steamer, is ordered to be fitted ag
-ir.s to an' ' qtilk'' - }
vey the officials and mechau - a ten'-,
s.x.L'i,,„t7," %Is ~,,T:tri'9
... - ' --yr,P J.,
4._ _— on , ~,,v,-.,:!:,,, ...-.. /4., -
dockyard to the Achilles at Cha.caluy . ~,•
.....i ~
~ 4
ea. It , ,- , :, .
being undockcd and completed for 5 •
ginally intended to employ the Recruit, 6,1;'0.
nl)Uftki.
power, as a tender to the Achilles, b . b elrnsgtil S
surveyed by the dockyard effir.tials it was fount 1 that
she was not adapted for that se:nice.
The following is an extract from A letter rut 'lved
from her Majesty's ship Himalaya, by our P, orts-
mouth ,correspondent, dated at Point it e Calle, S ePt•
29 :—" We left St. Vincent on the 91, h of August
for the Cape of Good Hope, and anchorod in Simon's
Bay on the 28th, at 1 a.m. Oa the s"t.'t of Sept.
we sailed from Simon's Bay, with the lit;th regi-
ment on board, for Colombo, where we acr.ived on
the 24th of September, at 8 a.m. Having Llisem-
barked the troops, we sailed from Cilorobo qr. the
27:h for this piece, to coal, where we arrived • the
same day, and are now engaged in that very Deco- 9.
:'ary operation. We leave her to-morrow (Sept.•
30) on our return to Coiorrbo, and anticipate*
railing thence for Auckland, New Zealand, about
the 7th of October. From St. Vincent to the
Cape we encountered strong head-winds. Our
passage from Portsmouth to Colombo has been
only 56 days 19 hours, including 10 days at
anchor—a feat, I should suppose, never before:
accomplished by any other vessel having so largo
a number of souls on board. Notwithstanding
the heavy head seas we have experienced during
portions of our voyage, there has never been
occasion, with one exception when close to Ceylon,
to stop the Himalaya's machinery for one moment.
Every part still works beautifully, and our con-
sumption of coal hasbeenverysmall—themaxinnn
amount being 40 tons in 24 hours, and the average
is AI n WC are
being 35 tons. Our mainyard sprung,
now at work fishing it, preparatory to
ientering
upon our New Zealand voyage."

THE ARMY.
Captainof Leopoldthe
Ordnance
oHeehaeteh ,
SelectC .B . , isc 0
hinow
it
eCommittee Vice-
Chairman
ol
Woolwich Arsenal, he having succeeded Sir rf
liam Wiseman in that office.
The Adventure screw troopship, Capt. T. B.
Lethbridge, arrived at Spithead yesterday morning
from Quebec and Halifax. The Adventure steamed
into Portsmouth harbour yesterday afternoon,
during a lull in the gale, which prevailed there the
greater part of the day, and berthed alongside the
transport jetty, where the troops will be disem-
barked this morning, and the time-expired men for-
warded to the depots of their respective regiments,
and the invalids to the Royal Military Hospital at
Netley. The naval invalids brought home in the
ship will be transferred to her Majesty's ship Vic-
tory and the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar.
The Adventure sailed from Portsmouth on
her outward voyage on the 12th of Sep-
tember, and Queenstown on the 14th, arriving at
Quebec on the 2d of October. She sailed again from
Quebec on the 10th, and arrived at Halifax on the
14th, sailing again from Halifax for England on
the 18th. At Halifax, when the Adventure sailed,
were her Majesty's ships Nile, Phaeton, Greyhound,
Styx, and Nimble. The mails from the stranded
Cunard steamship Africa arrived at Halifax on, the .
181 h inst. in her Majesty's steamer Vesuvius. Dar-:
ing Capt. Lethbridge's absence on this last trip from
England to Canada and back he has been promoted
from Commander to the post rank by the Admiralty.
It will be, however, a loss to the cervice if this pro- ,
motion should cause his removal from the command'
of the Adventure, for which he has proved himself,
by his energy, tact, and seamanship, to be eminenily.
qualified,. A precedent for C apt. Lethbridge ion-5
tinning to hold his present appointment exists in
Capt. Seccombe being continued in the command of
the Himalaya, under similar circumstances.

.4ldd
fi

;44

~, F
r .:
i

• H

. tt

,

•
•
•
.•
Abolition of the Punishineut of Death, db.&
the Author of " The Last Days of '
Cond:nuned,"
The Legislature of the State or Columbia having,.‘,..•l • •
determined to abolish the punishmgq of,aq34a, . 1 - •
letter was addressed by.the envoy extraoratnary anti • ; .
minister plenipotentiary of that ,-State, te, Nicticar •
Hugo, informing him of the fact, td•.which letter 04 ;:, '4. •
diEtir guished exile has retiined tt'.xeely, of which-''.'7 •
the following is a translati vatriS,:kzl:
" Hauteville House, Guernsey, 12th Oct.
"I hope that some journal will have apprised you
of my absence from Guernsey since the end of July,
and that the delay of my answer will have thus
been explained.
" I only opened your honourable letter of the 17th
August to-day, having returned hero but yesterdi.y.
I need not tell you how much your communication
has touched me. I have devoted my life to the prin-
ciple of progress, and the starting-point of the pro-
gress of this earth is, in my opinion, the inviola-
bility of human life. From that principle springs
the end of war and the abolition of the scaffold.
" The end of war and the abolition of the scaffold
is the suppression of the sword. The sword sup-
pressed,
despotism
disappears. There are no longer
any reasons or means for its existence.
" You remit me, in the name of your free Repub-
lic, a copy of your constitution. Your constitution
abolishes the penalty of death ; and you are good
enough to attribute to me a part in this magnifi-
cent progress. With a profoundstates
of emotionColumlbiath. thank
the Republic of the United
"In abolishing the penalty of death it gives cm
admirable example. It takes a double step—the
one towards happiness, the other towards glory,
" The great road is opened. Let America pursue
it—Europe will follow her.

" Transmit, M. the Envoy Extraordinary, the ex-
pression of my gratitude to your noble and free
fellow citizens, and receive the assurance of my.high
consideration.

VICTOR HUGO.

CLEVER CAPTURE OF A BIGAMIST.—It seems that
James Hill, a good-looking man of about 30 or 35
years of age, and who is captain of a flat called the Martha'
some time in February last took it into his head to preckst
his Nvifc with a carte de visite of himself. For this purpea3o
he went into a photographic establishment in Liverpoo.i,
where he found a young woman, named Elizabeth H00d../
waiting to have her likeness also taken. Miss Hood's pct..;
' sonal attractions at once struck the captain, who engaged its
conversation with her, and represented that he was an
long
_
married man. Captain Hill's courtship was not of
wi
„..
duration, for on the third day of forming an intimacy
the young woman he led her to the hymenee.ao.c.
at
The second Mrs. Hill was now a happy womanarfoirtue 11'5
ately
the prospect of soon becoming a mother; bndt
furoin
her lips,.
her cup of happiness was soon to he dashed
at her houso
for one day two women presented themselves
the strangers!
and asked her to give her name. Of con
Mrs. Captain Hill, and this she announced
this, one of the,
with some degree of pride. On hearing
to my hus.
women exclaimed, " Then you are to the second Mrs.
band 1" This was a dreadful shoeic
his victim and went to
Hill. The bigamist now deserted
fah
The second Mrs.
live again with the original 17;a0 dQctoher name wa,
nian who had deceived
Hill seemed anxious to screen
helvo
'endured great sufferin&
communicated with the police.
first informed of the matter ;
The Liverpool forceof werethe
gat was said to reside when
but as the master
thheart, andshe iatnwdashneortfurinetndl
~ she was referred to the police of that
Garston. About midnight on Tucs-
' at,hore at Birkenhetettoor
a Liverpool officer,
Gregory ascertained that the Eliza-
tow.nshiP•
totisitioullafotsunudlitihch:
beth wits lying
who
et
gy
a,
0601_ ehgo:)., , ad: annlnsolPeteabfroaar wasti.
ra
oanlcdi accompanied
oGpa araoprcasent eoidne ed. d by
,t\..ot
were 9-ucmidc boarded her, but the Liverpool officer re-
Elizabeth a
Captain Hill and Mrs. Hill were on
the man .
beard,
besides who officiated as "hand" of the
dicer produced his
the shore.
warrant for the apprehen-
sion of the bigamist, and had the anchor weighed. A sail
itittatttlTthoeo.
was hoisted, and the fiat's bead was turned in the direction
of the Birkenhead docks. Tho first Mrs. hill cried bit-
terly, but: the officer was inexorable. The fiat went
rapidly down the river with a strong ebb tide, and between
two and three o'clock in the morning she made the Birken-
hot.d low water basin. Gregory then marched his prisoner
, to Bridewell.--Lit
•erpool Mercury.
FALLING I.)OWN A MINE.—A younger brother of
Mr. P. D. Cooke, or Gwysaney, fell down au old
lead urine shaft on Saturday last, about two miles from
Mold, on the Ruthin tide. The shaft is stated to be about
30 yards deep, and appears to have been quite unproteetei:
except by a few decayed rails and briars. Althoughhes,evri_
ously injured, Mr. Cooke's friends have great hopes he
it
.iel:
recover. It is hoped this occurrence, painful thoughl'
with
may lead to the closing up of numberless open
nop.
have
which this country abounds. Numbers ottani,.
.lis high
grown rich by the minerals of FlintshireL
time to try the question whether a minibn_ge
,_,nl,,i,
~ railway
proprietor of the land is not equally Ha I v""
pa, nuy or te
I `company in case of an accident.

HER M AJESTY'S THEATRE, the popular sympathies still farther and further from
POSITIVELY THE LAST NIGHT. the Federals, and drew those sympathies more and
REDUCED PRICES.
THIS LIVENING (Saturday, Oct. 31, will be repeated more closely towards the Confederates. And it was
Gounod's. celebrated OPera !
so far natural, to begin with, that it should have been
le AUST.
Titienu, Trebelli, Taccani; Santley, Bossi, Casaboni, Sims thus—the conflict when it commenced being one in
Reeves.
which the combatants were so disproportioned to
each other. " Hit one of your own size" seemed
to be the instinctive remonstrance floating across
the Atlantic from Europe, certainly from England,
towards Washington. It was (so far as appearances
went) an attack made by the strong upon the weak,
by the armed upon the unarmed, by the great
(in size) upon the small, by the score upon
the unit. Sabsequent events have tended only to
enhance our admiration of the assailed, by reason of
the astonishing manner in which they have con-
trived to hold their own, and more than merely to
hold their own, against their numerous, gigantic,
fully armed, and in many ways (certainly in wealth
and in numbers), formidable assailants. Neverthe-
less, for all that—marvellous as the stand taken by
the South has been and still is—the war into which
they have been dragged by the North seems now as
far away from its termination as ever it did. The
bloodshed still continues, there, at a fearful rate.
The squandering of countless lives and of incalcul-
able treasure still stretches out before us in
a perspective that has its vanishing point
in the vague future. Non-intervention, as a
rule, we still regard as a principle very admirable
and very beneficent. But it is a rule, like all other
rules, having exceptions—to prove it. Insomuch
are we beginning
to realise this truth in regard
to the principle or rule of non-intervention that we
are every day beginning to recognise more and more
clearly the possibility of the time coming in the pro.
gress of this miserable war in America when the
duty for England and France will be—intervention,

Conductor—Signor Arditi.

Pit, F,s. ' Boxes. ss. ; Dress Circle, 7s. ; Orchestra Stalls,
•
128. 6/ . ; Gallery, 2s. Private Boxes from Half-a-Guinea
upwa::ds.
Commence at Eight o'clock. Restrictions to Evening Dress
not enforced.
Box-office of the Theatre (under the superintendence of Mr.
Nugent), open this day from Ten till Five.

OX AL ENGLISH. OPERA,
COVENT-GARDEN.
-11-41

I.l.u.der the 3lanai.Y,ement Fyne and
Mr. W. Harrison.

THIS EVENING, Wdßice's Romantic Opera, THE
IYES r.:RT FLOWER : Miss Louisa Pyne, Miss Susan Pyne ;
Mef.isrs. W. H. Weiss, H. Corri. A. Cook, and W. Harrison.
Coaductor, Mr. A. Mellon.—Doors open at half-past ti even.
4,;ommence at Eight.

rti RAIRE ROYAL DRURY - LANE.
Managers, 3lessrs. E. Falconer and F. B. Chatterton.
THIS EVENING, GONE TO TEXAS. Mr. Walter Lacy
and Miss Murray.
After which, Lord Byron's Choral Tragedy, MANFRED.
Messrs. helps, Ryder, Rayner, M-agreson, Ward, Si:encer ;
Miss Heath, Miss E. Atkinson, MissLeclercq, and Mrs. E.
Falconer. Vocalists—Miss Poole, Miss k.itter, Miss CizelY
Not:, Miss Heywood, and Mr. Swift.
To conclude with A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER.

THEATRE ROYAL HAY NI ARKET.-
Sole Lessee and Manag.er. Mr, Buckstone.
THIS EVENING, OUR MARY ANNF.
After which, COOL AS A CUCUMBER• Mr. Charles
Mathews.
Followed by THE GOLDEN FLEECE. Messrs. Charles
Mathews, Compton,Weathersby, &c. ; Mesdames C. Mathews,
L Keeley. Griffith, &c.
And MY HUSBAND'S GHOST.
Commence at 7.

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the Sole Management of Mr. Fechter.
Mr. PECHTER begs respectfully to inform the Nobility
and Public that the above Theatre will ol' PIN TO-NIGHT,
SATURDAY, with a new Drama, ntitled BEL DEMONIA,
a Love Story, in Four Acts, in which Mr. Fechter will ap
pear, supported by Messrs. Briugh m, S. Emery, G. Jordan
and F. Charles ; Miss Rate Terry, Miss Layenue, Mrs. Lee
and ►riss Elsworthy.
The B.:x-ofnce will be opened on Monday, Oct. 25, from
eleven till five.

—The celebrated
MI AN.—LE A H.
TISS BAT
youn, American Actress, Hiss BATEMAN, havinz
en her -first'Uppmarance in the New Drama of LEA ft ob-
tained the most triumphant and enthusiastic success that has
been vi-t nessed for many years, and the profound impression
created by her impersonation of the character ot LEAH upon
a c owded audience h tvinL, been completely ratified by the
unanimous verdict and critical approvai of the entire I/a 'I
Fre,.B, the Niana,_ter ot the NEW ADELPIII THEATRE: lY
has
the honour to announce that Mss BATEMAN will appeir
in the New Drama of LEAH. EVERY EVENING tillf urther
notice.

NT ENV THEATRE-R0 fAL, ADELPHL-
soIe Pronristor and Manager, 'IL.. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, at 7, THE TaAGEDY QUEEN: Mrs.
Stirling.
kt 8, the New Drama of LEAH : 3liss Bateman, supported
by Messrs. Arthur Stirling, R. Phillips, Billinzton, Stuart,
A Wood, Eburne, Miss H. Simms and Mrs. Billington.
To conclude wirh CATCHING AN HEIRE6s : Miss
Woolgrar and Mr. A. Wood.

PRINCESS'S THE A'FRE.--HERRMANN,
FRESTIDIGATATEUR—Great Success of Herr-
mann Performances.—" tie always keeps as close to his
public as he can, and courts their vigilance, that his superior
dexterity may be leritim+tely triumphant." Times, Oct 27.
His celebrated FISH, RING, HAT, and MONEY TRICK,
EVERY EVr NING-. Constant change of programme.
Commencing at Eight. Half-price at Nine o'i.liock.
First Grand Morning Performance TO-MORROW at 3.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Manager, Mr. W. 11. Swanborough.

THIS EVENING, TURN HIM 013.1`. Mr. C. Fenton.
After which, NIIRIAII'S CRIME. :Messrs. G. Honey,
Parselle, Belford, Turner, Miss K.Saville, and Miss 3landers.
Followed by THE MOTTO, " ALL THERE." Messrs.
Honey, Turner, Pl. Danvers, Collier, Mesdames Ada Swan-
borough, F. Hughes, Weston, Thorne, Wallace, and Jenny
White.

Commence at 7.

THE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN,"
Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
ran be had Every Evening of
G. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT,
No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park,

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAT.—Morning, 4h. 36m.—Afternoon, 4h. 54m.
To-KOB.Row.-Monaing, sh. 12m.—Afternoon, sh. 33m

The Weather—Sun Office, Oct. 31, 1863.

THERMO3IETER.
This day at Two o'clock
Barometer-29.48.
Wind—S.-South-West ; strong breeze, and fine weather.

s Af.
v a ft
44

LONDON, SATURDAY, OCT. 31, 1863.

Non-intervention—admirable though it is under
the mejority of circumstances as a guiding principle
of international law—becomes almost a crime on
the part of great Powers like France and England
when carried out obdurately to the very last ex-
tremity. "A clear stage and no favour"ie the meaning
of Non-intervention. But when—as in the instance
of the United States of North America, a wealthy
and populous nation becomes split asunder, rent
suddenly in twain, divided upon the right hand and
upon the left by a line of demarcation as distinct
as that destined to be drawn between the goats and
the sheep in the symbolic language of the Apoca-
lypse—when a vast country is abandoned thus to a
brutal carnage, giving no augury whatever of
its termination, until either side shall have
been utterly destroyed and swept from
the face of the earth—the dogged main-
tenance of the principle of non-intervention,
ute qui coute, by great nations looking on, becomes
wuree than Quixotic, becomes, as we have said,
little less than a Crime. It is all idle, to talk per..
pet°44ll3, about the sacred duty of neutrality. The
relations of states, now.a-days, have come to be so
intimate, commercially, politically, even, be it said,
socially, that no country can suffer from the devas-
tations caused by a sanguinary and protracted civil
surroundingcountries suffering more
or less in consequence. It '
preposterous, there-
fore, to say that an internal
war like this one in
North America, though °h
other side of the (heft:' is Conducted on the
no affair of
ours. It is an affair of ours,
affects us
intimately, painfully, disastrously in
It affects our pecuniary interests. It aff many
ways'
ecl maintaint our com-
merce. It affects our manufactures,
otherwise would be simply an absurdity, The
Cotton Famine in the north of England
emphases
every syllable of what we have here been asserting
We owe to the insensate folly, and to the brutal
arrogance, out of which this deplorable civil war has
grown, the lamentable sufferings endured by our
own inoffensive manufacturing population, or
rather, just now, our would-be-manufacturing
population, in Lancashire. Between the bel-
ligerents in America, when regarded by us
in the abstract—that is in reference to the
origin of this war still raging there to their
mutual destruction there is for us but
little indeed to choose. They are to us but
as six and half-a•dozen. For inasmuch as Slavery
is upheld as an institution by the Southern Govern-
ment, we have no sympathy whatever, upon that
°no vital point, with the Southern Government. It
is in the circumstance that the war was begun by
the North—not for the purpose ofputting end to
Slaver
the ;h
an
„ even then we cannot think for one
instant that the triumph of the Abolition Cause is
eneto ba b-
-ouvel-elit:t of
bout by the brutal egency of main
force, at the
the sword and of the bsyonet,
at fele rnezze of the
rifle and of the cannon, at the
explosion of shells, andat the hellish raging of Greek
Fire)—it is because
the e
by the North, by e Fed era
ttue execrable war was begun
ls, not for the emanci-
pation of the Negro, but forr
white freemen in the Seuth,tor the subjugation of the
the bringing
back to the Union they had With of them
perfect
e gland reason that
right aban-
nrbon
loned and repudiated—it is for that
the feelings and sympathies of E
at the very outset of the struggle,
rahl:enaamteeti
from the Government at Washington.
ordinary contrast lE'esehted to view subeeeiee,it ,
th
by the belligerents, in their very opposite moth., of
carrying on the war--into which, remezeber, the
South had been dragged by the North—alienated

There seems to be some infatuation in the minds

of Ministers with regard to the steam rams in the
Mersey. It was quite against the popular feeling
that any interposition was made at all in regard to
these vessels, but to proceed to such extremities as
have lately been adopted is really quite uncalled for.
It would appear as if our Government were trying
to copy the manners of continental despots in their
harsh and hard proceedings in this unfortunate
affair. After Mr. LAIRD had given his word that
no steps should be taken in the matter of these
vessels in dispute until the affair had been properly
adjudicated, it is an unwarrantable insult to take
them out of Messrs. LAIRD'S hands, and still more

to put in armed men. We have come to something
certainly when to suit the fancies of fatnists for
peace at home, and answer the ends of bullying
tyrants abroad, the premises of onr merchants are
to be taken by storm. "The officers and marines
entered Messrs. LAIRD'S yard fully armed." No
wonder that a protest has been made against these
uncalled-for measures, and that the general feeling
about the place is extreme indignation. It seems
such extraordinary conduct that it is hardly to be
credited. It often occurs that when a party or a
Government feel particularly safe, and their tenure
seems well established, that by a sudden caprice or
ill judged act all strength and stability vanish,
and the immaculate an impregnable ministry be-
come like the baseless fabric of a vision. Lord
PALXIERSTON some time back was in the position of
one of these invincibles, but he so mismanaged things
that, in the House, which he led with a majority of a
hundred at his beck and call, he could not obtain a
hearing. Let Earl RUSSELL look to his position,
it has become insecure, for he is presuming upon it.
He is old in experience, and skilled in politics, but
he has yet to learn the temper, and study the spirit
of Englishmen if he imagines that they will tamely
submit to these insults, and brook this impertinent
interference which, at the bidding of ill-advisers,
he is putting upon us. The general sentiment of
the people will be against him, and no Minister can
stand such opposition. Because the Americans
cannot manage their own affairs, and regulate the
principles of the Constitution of their own country,
is that a reason why their wishes are to reign para-
mount here, and their influence to be insinuated
into the Council Chambers of our Ministers, and
rule the decrees and regulations of our statesmen.

If he is to become the exponent of such principles
our Foreign Secretary has degenerated from the
spirit of his race, but at any rate he had better take
heed to his ways, for when the Parliament reas-
sembles it will not sanction his present proceedings.

is one of those extravegant notions that from

time to time gain the ascendant among politicians,
but while statesmen who represent the spirit of
their country with accuracy and intelligence, will
always decline to take up, believing them to be

" inimical to the independence of a community,
and interfering unduly with the liberties of the

subject."

It is quite time that some inquiry should be
made about the very arbitrary and tyrannical
conduct pursued by the Duke of SOMERSET at the
recent election for Totnes. It is true that the
Ministers who came in on purpose to pass a Reform
Bill found it very convenient not to do so, but still
did not think it worth while to go out and make a
disturbance again. The great pioneer of progress,
the Whig champion who had resolved to remain in
the House of Commons until he had reformed its
abuses and changed its mechanism, thought fit to
retire from the sphere and to proceed to the " prim
benches of the upper school." Still there must have
been some infatuated individuals who thought we
were much safer with the present Administration
in power, and all that sort of thing. Let these
learn that the darkest days of Toryism cannot
show more strange devices to terrify and to in-
timidate. When a man is literally turned out of
his house it seems as if things had, indeed, pro-
ceeded to extremities. The coolness which dictates
such a course is most unaccountable, and yet there
are not wanting many proofs of this harshness. It
would have been bad enough in any man holding
largeeas of
estates to use his power like that, but in the
a Minister it is quite distressing. He can
entertain no
idea of his responsibilities ; all be
thinks of is the
political influence to be obtained.
0/70 poor man
asked for time, but was told that it
was impossibie. xis pathetic appeal to past ser-
vices only called forth the retort—" I expect you
to clear out to-morrow:, Those who think every -
g
may call it a joke when
thing is secondary to po"
the unhappy victim is thrust
forth ; but they who
rightly estimate personal influence and publie
morality will tell the haughty landlord that this
is a question of grave consequence. It is a sad
thiogtobedriv en from one's home to suit the fan..
cies of a prejudiced politician ; and the voice of Mr.
TURPIN, as he utters his pathetic appeals, may find
an echo when and where it is least expected.
It is a matter of notoriety that the once great
Liberal majority is on the decline. Sometimes, at
elections, one candidate after the other is returned
who is adverse to this Administration. Only the
other day the possessor of a large estate, and one in
some way connected with the Ministry, used im-
mense influence to return a candidate of the right
sort. He failed utterly, and sad were the disasters
he encountered in the fray. Is this to be wondered
at when, among the actual mewhe, of the Cabi-
net, there is found such a disregard for fair play,
and such an attempt to browbeat and intimidate
the very men
Who are called at el; tions freeborn

Englishmen, and the men whose birthright is in-
dependence. If a Conservative peer or a wealthy
commoner had comported themselves with the
vehemence and violence of the two here cited, what
would have been said ? There is a great virtue in
consistency, and let some of the rhetoric that would
have been showered plentifully upon these sup-
posed delinquents, be employed against the present
innovators of the system, as at present constituted.
It is bad enough to employ stringent measures to
induce "votes" to be registered, but to act in a bitter
and revengeful frame of mind is a solecism in good
feeling, and perfectly inimical to the tastes and
temper of the nation at large. It is to be hoped
that some zealous and honest reformer will turn
aside horn the attack upon the lawful enemies, and
direct their energies to the best purpose, of expos-
ing the process by whica free and independent Eng-
lishmen are not allowed to possess the right to vote
as it suits their wishes. If the management of Tot-
nes is a matter for officials to plume themselves
upon, no wonder Earl RUSSELL so readily with-
drew his Reform Bill, for he could hardly have
put in a clause about the "regulation" of such
convenient little boroughs, for fear of exciting the
ridicule of unreasonable and impertinent opponents.

The accounts received from Japan are not with-
out importance. Against our will almost we have
been drawn into a war which is certainly not of
our seeking, but which we could not possibly have
avoided, unless we meant to leave every European
resident or visitor i❑ Japan to the mercy of a gene-
ral massacre. It will be remembered that subse-

quently to the signing of the treaty matters ap-
peared to go on smoothly for a time, but it was not
long before the hostility and treachery of the na-
tive feelings towards us began to show themselves
unmistakably. The murder of the sentries, the
attack on the Consul's house—above all, the unpro
yoked and wanton assassination of Mr. RICIIARDsON
by the retainers of one of the great Daimios, all
tended to convince the unprejudiced observer that
English life would not be worth much in the
Japanese Empire, unless some means were found of
overawing the treacherous and inhospitable inha-
bitants. Formal complaint, accompanied by a
demand for compensation tad the punishment of
the murderers, was at once laid before the ruling
power. Less could scarcely have been done, whether
from regard to the injured relatives, or from the
desire to extort the respect due to the representa-
tives of the Western Powers. Still, moderate as
the demand must have appeared to the Eastern
imagination, it was not granted. The Tycoon got
out of the difficulty by assuring the English repre-
sentative that he would have bee❑ most willing and
eager to redress his wrongs and to obtain compen-
sation had one of his meaner subjects been involved
in the tragedy; but the fact was, that over thz
great Daimios or powerful nobles he had no
power, and however ready he might be to pay the
fine demanded, he could not undertake to surrender
the assassins. Upon this it was determined, very
wisely and justly, to take the punishment of Prince
SATSUMA into our own hands; and accordingly the
fleet under the command of Admiral KUPER sailed
for Kagosima, his stronghold. The Bay of Ka-
gosima is represented as a most beautiful spot,
being from seven to eight miles broad at the en-
trance, with a deep channel. The vessels anchored
off the town in 21 fataozns of water. There was
a long line of forts visible, which were full of
men, SATSUMA'S flag was flying over them,
and behind them lay several large junks.

was not long before inquiries t egan, ano
severed communications passed between the Ad-
miral arid the shore, hut no entisfactory terms could
be come to. There was consequently no choice left
to the Admiral but the literal fulfilment of his
orders, and accordingly three screw steamers lying
in the bay were seized and brought out. As a
further proof of the natural quickness and adroit-
ness of the Japanese, we may mention that they are
no contemptible gunners, and that during the short
but sharp passage of arms between us their firing
was rapid, and made with excellent precision. The
Japanese English papers give, as might be expected,
very full accounts of the expedition, which must
have produced a forcible effect on the Daimio and
his retainers, having resulted i❑ the total destruc-
tion of Kagosima and the firing of the shipping.
It was expected that the seizure of the vessels, which
were new and valuable ones, having lately been pur-
chased from ourselves, would have intimidated the
enemy ; but no sooner did they see the screw
steamers towed off than their batteries opened fire
upon the fleet. Upon this the Admiral signalled to
the vessels in charge of the prizes to burn them
and come into action, which was accordingly done.
The value of these steamers, without their cargoes,
was 300,000 dollars—a loss which cannot be very
agreeable to Prince SATSUMA. Having formed
into line of battle at about 400 yards' range, the
English ships opened fire, and in three-quarters of
an hour the Japanese deserted their guns. In the
course of the engagement the town took fire, and
five large junks were also fired by one of our
vessels. They were moored off some factories,
which took fire also. Towards night, when the
high wind had fanned the flames, they are described
as extending over a mile in length, and being of
considerable breadth also. On Sunday morning the
scene was one of desolation and ruin. The town and
factories were still burning. The steamers and
junks had sunk, and all around were traces of the
work of destruction. It is unfortunate that in all
such cases the innocent must suffer with the guilty,
and that the inhabitants of Kagosima should have
had to bear the consequences of their master's
wrongdoing. If he and his retainers could have
been bombarded in their retreat, if the loss of life
and property could have been restricted to his ports
and vessels, it would have been more just as well
as more humane. Still the attack was not under..
taken without reason, nor was it commenced with-
out giving fair time for compromise and surrender.
When the fleet anchored off Kagosima, two days
were given to the Daimio to come to an agreement.

Secure behind his forts, as he thought, he would

not assent to the English terms, and the conse-

quences must therefore rest with him. Oa our side
we have to deplore the loss of many brave officers

and men, two of the former—Captain JOSLING

and Commander WlLMoT—being killed on the
bridge of the Euryalus as they stood beside the

Admiral, who narrowly escaped. The flag-ship

suffered most severely during the engagement, but

her greatest disaster was the loss of these two able

and respected officers. We must hope that this
severe lesson will bring the liiituios to reason, and
secure foreign residents from attack and murder.
There is always much to regret and contend against

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

[REUTER'S TELEGRAM.]
AMERICA.
(Per the Persia.)

NEW YORK, CCT. 21 (Morning).

General Meade is advanciag from the front of
Washington. General Lee is retreating, but his
object is not positively knows.
General Rosencranz has been superseded by Gen.
Thomas. General Grant has been appointed to
superintend all further operations.
President Lincoln has called for 300,000 volnn-

teers.
Gold has declined to 46. No special cause is

assigned, except speculation.

(From the Special Correspondent of the limes.)
NEW YORK, OCT. 19, 5 p.m.
It is still asserted from Washington, under date
of the 17th and 18th inst., that no general engage-
ment had occurred between the Armies of the
Potomac and Northern Virginia.
Daring Saturday and Sunday Washington was
filled with conflicting rumours of General Lee's
whereabouts and intentions, as well as those of
General Meade. At one time General Lee was
reported to have crossed the Potomac near Lees•
burgh, and to bs advancing into Maryland, but this
has since been contradicted. Another account
stated that General Meade's whole army had re-
tired within the defences of the capital. This also
has been denied ; the belief, however, exists that
the lines of the two armies are but little changed
from their positions of Friday last.
Tne cavalry under Mosley continue to operate is
the rear of Gen. Meade, capturing solitary officers
and small squads of men.
Mr. Lincoln, notwithstanding his assertion in
his correspondence with Governor Seymour, i❑
August last, that the volunteering system had
been proved so far exhausted as to be inade-
quate for procuring soldiers, issued a proclamation
on the 17th instant calling upon the Governors of
several States to furr ish immediately their quotas
of 300,000 new volunteers to serve for three years
or the war. The necessity Mr. Lincoln assigns for
this fresh demand is the depletion of the armies
which will occur during the coming year through
the expiration of the terms of service of the troops
now in the field. Ttie proclamation adds that
should any of the State fail to raise the quota
assigned to them before the sth of January, 1864,
a draught will be made on that day in such States
to make up the deficiency.
The .Nero York Times, in support of the call, says :
—" Even though Rosencranz had defeated Bragg at
Chattanooga—even though Meade had met and dis-
cotraitted Lee on the Rapidan—even though
Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and Wilmington
were in our hands,—it would not be safe to permit
our armies to lose their strength. We should still
have heavy bodies of rebels posted through the
Rebel States, at points from the James River to the
Nlississippi, and even beyond it ; we should still
have to show a front of power in the midst of a re-
bellious and disaffected population.
The moneys received by the Government in pay-
ment of the 300 dole. fee for exemption from the
late draught are said to already amount to 9,000,000
doll., which it is thought will be increased by
2,000,000 dols. additional.
Report alleges that the whole sum will be applied
to recruiting purposes, under the present call of the
President for vo!unteers.
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Cold, 1501. Exchange, 108. United States'
Sixes, registered, 1881, 108; Treasury, 7-30 Notes,
106 i.

in the just dealings of civilised nations with such
peoples as the Japanese, whose semi-civilisation

New York Central Railway, 1331 ; Erie, 1081 ;
Illinois Central, 1231.
Cotton, 90c. Breadstuff unsettled. Provisions
heavy. Sugars firm, at 12 to 121.

OCT. 20, 5 P.M.
The despatches from the Army of the Potomac
and Washington, both to the 19th inst., convey no

renders them more insolent and more utterly re-
gardless of the faith of treaties and the laws of
nations than absolute barbarians. The Prince SAT-
SUMA must now bitterly repent his cruelty in the
first place, and his presumption and obstinacy in the
second; and we trust this encounter may have so
good an effect as to obviate the necessity for any
further bloodshed.

EFFECTS OF THE GOLD DISCoVERIES.—The total
produce amounts already to nearly L 300,000,000, and of this
our trade with the Eist alone has already carried off about
£120,000,000,

Informatio❑ of the position and actual movements
of General Lee. Reconnaissances in all directions
report no considerable force of Confederates dis-
cov2red, and the consequent conclusion is that Gen.
Lee, having failed in an endeavour to interpose his
army between that of General Meade and of
Washington, and having consumed the limited
supplies with which alone he could encumber his
men upon so hasty a march, has fallen back to a
point nearer his base of operations.

The rumours that the Confederate advance was
designed to inaugurate another invasion of Mary-
land and Pennsylvania are not borne out by any
ascertained facts. It is thought, in some quarters,
that General Lee's real plan at the outset was to
drive General Meade back to the Potomac, and
then himself retire to the Rappahannock, destroy.
ing the railways on his return, thereby retarding
Meade's movements of pursuit, and gaining time
until the heavy rains of autumn should set in,
which would, for the third time force the Army of
the Potomac) into winter quarters—" mud-bound"
north of the Rappahannock, giving Richmond an
additional six months' security from attack from
the Northern approach.

On Sunday, the 18th, the Confederates surprised
and took possession of Charleston, in Virginia,
eight miles from Harper's ferry, captured 400 of
the Ist Maryland Regiment stationed there, and
then withdrew. They were subsequently pursued
by the Federal cavalry, and a few of their prisoners
taken from them, together with several of their own

men.

The Federal General Crook has submitted offici-
ally, an account of his encounters with General
Wheeler's cavalry in Tennessee, previously reported
through other channels. Ile claims to have de-
feated Gen. Wheeltr in three engagements, in one
of which, at Farmington, he captured 1,000 small
arms and 40 prisoners.

The Tribune asserts that it has trustworthy
authority for stating that Gen. Rosencrans is about
to be removed from the command of the Army of
the Cumberland. It adds that his successor has not
yet been publicly announced.
The Chattanooga Rebel, of a late date, reports the
arrival of President Davis at General Bragg's
headquarters. The object of his visit was believed
to be the investigation of the causes of disagreement
which, it is alleged, exist between General Bragg
and his officers. Mr. Davis was received by the
troops with the greatest enthusiasm.
The steamer Thomas, from Port Royal on the
16th inst., reports all quiet at Charleston at that
date.

The steamer Douro, which was captured last
spring by the Federal steamer Quaker City, con.'
demned, sold, and taken to the British provinces,
was run ashore on the North Carolina coast, and
burnt, on the 11th inst., by the Federal steamer
Alansemond.

The Douro was endeavouring to run the blockade
from Wilmington, with a valuable cargo of cotton,
tobacco, turpentine, and resin.

In consequence of the directions of the British
Consuls at Richmond and Charleston to British
subjects taken by conscription into the Confederate
army, to throw down their arms if required to
engage in actual conflict with the Federal forces,
the exercise of the functions of office of these Con•

suls has been suspended by President Davis, and
themselves ordered to quit the Confederacy as,
quickly as possible.