The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-10 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The lieugoumont, Capt. Flamink, arrived at Fal-
mouth on Wednesday evening from Calcutta, and
proceeded for Spithead to land time-expired troops,
women and children, and some insane and con-
victs. She left Calcutta on the 30th of April, and
experienced fine weather in rounding the Cape, but
met with ten days' east wind off the Western
Island. Passengers—Captains Iteenbrigge and
M'Gregor, Lieut. Kernin, and Assist.-Sur. Haystedt,
in charge of troops; also Lieut. Cunningham, of
the Madras army ; Assistant-Surgeon Kelgour,
29th Highlanders ; and Mr. M'Nair.
The Adventure screw troopship, Commander
Lethbridge, will embark to-morrow, at Portsmouth,
for conveyance to Canada the following aggregate
number of troops in detachments for the Guards,
Ist battalion Rifle Brigade, 30th Foot, and other
corps serving in the colony:-21 officers and their
families ; 453 men, 55 women, and 42 children.
The Woolwich division of Royal Marine Light
Infantry, in command of Col. Michell, yesterday
assembled in three battalions on Woolwich-common,
e b t
Colonel Colonel Col.
Suther,Travers,
andand went through a field day's evolutions. The
battalions
Marriott,w ere
and commanded
iju
performed the various manoeuvres with admirable
order and precision.

Experimental practice i
Royal Artillery is daily carried on by the
with the rifled guns erected on the
sea defences commanding the approaches to Chatham
harbour with the 70-pounder and 40-pounder Arm-
strong guns, in order to test the comparative effi-
ciency of the side-loading principle. The results
hitherto
obtained have been very satisfactory as
regards the increased rapidity with which the load-
ing And firing can be carried on. The practice is
made under the personal superintendence of Col.
Nedham, commanding the Royal Artillery in the
Chatham district, assisted by Lieut.-Colonel Talbot,
commanding the First Division of the Depot Bri-
gade.
The large general hospital just erected at Cha-
tham, which le on the eve of being opened, will
have a commodious ward attached for the reception
of female patients suffering from Lock diseases, the
expenses connected with which department of the
establishment will be almost entirely defrayed by
the Government. A considerable portion of the funds
for the election of the hospital has been contri-
buted by the Admiralty and the War Dopurttuout,
the Government at the :nne time making
okeingnatiai n thatnoamtual
grant to the hospital on the express
oue portion of the hospitallis
thietatdestr a
ie the v:t,etdkel t
exclu-
sively lu)y-
-sively to Lock cases.
the Government to establish Llck Luespitals iu our
I large garrison and seaport towns.

TILE WIGWELL HALL MURDER.—The prisoner,
George Victor Townley, who awaits his trial for Ow
wilful murder of Miss Goodwin, still maintains the samo
demeanour, and conducts himself as he did before and im-
mediately after his committal. Ile has had interviews with
his legal adviser, Mr. Leech, of the firm of Gamble and
Leech. Last week his brother visited bini, and on Tuesday
Mr. Townley, sen,, returned to Derby, and saw the
pri-
soner. The friends of Townley still correspond with hifra
in terms of the warmest affection ; and his conduct towards
all with whom he conies in contact is marked by its civility
and gratefulness for any favour conferred or duty done,—.
Darby Mercury.

s

_.......--. , ..
held sufficient to cause its surrender, unless that
rill FLEATRE ROYAL DRURY - LANE.—
destruction also includes the troops and th
1 Managers, Messrs. Edmund Falconer and F- B•
with which he defends it. We may approaceh navy
4;hatterton.—The Public is respectfully informed that tee
al ove (the National) 'Theatre will be OPENED f
enough to pour shell on Charleston, as on Sumter
IN INTER SEASON, on SATURDAY NEXT, Sepwternaber
and
but unless we destroy also in our course the batte-,
121 h, when will be produced an entirely ue
orf,o,inal Comedy, by Edmund Falconer,
tt
sA,utehnotii•tieodf
ries and forts along the way, we shall still have an
.. E xtremes," " Woman." " Peep o'Day," Nursery, in
NA'T EIRE'S ABOVE ART : A Romance oasts
ji. enemy t 0 flag:tee:eh:eh. ever direction we turn." So
which Messrs. Walter Lacy, Addison, Ry, Barrer,G.
Belrnore, F. Charles, Neville ; Miss Charlotte Saunders,
Mis 4 Murray, Miss R. Leclercq, Mrs. Melville, ap.d. Mrs. Ed-
ding to their own showing, the
Federals have nsoutaigtaeirneidetseo
rvaeireye.mn
mund Falconer. assisted by other artistiar
Fieri
cep! Iporrin;
After the Comedy will be presented a Pop
bat-
tering of Fort are
ee
enl
ei pal characters by favourite members of the Company.
Box-office open from Ten till Five daily.
Theyhhebyy
yet stammering over the first two or three lettersy
of an alphabet of difficulties requiring still to be
conquered, one by one, before they can even "get
at" Charleston—to capture it.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
L.esee, Mr. George Vining,
Open under the Management of Mr. Walter Montgomery.
THIS EVENING, KING JOHN. King John, Mr. Walter
3llontgomery ; Faulconbridge. Mr. Henry Loraine.
To be followed by FAMILY JAitS.
Commence at 7.

rkil B
y ',EA atE-Ro YAL, ADELPHI.--.
Solo Prorriefor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING (Rd week), at 7, a new comic drama, THE
TIEN AND CICKENS ; or, A Sign of Affection. Messrs.
Billington, R. Phillips, Stephenson ; Mrs. Stirling and Miss
H. Simms. •

After which, at a quar`er-past 8, the new drama of THE
HAUNTED MAN; OR, THE G. OST'S BARGAIN, in
which will be exhibited Protessor Pepner's adaptation of
'he Great Spectral Illusion. Messrs. J. L. Toole, R. Phillips,
Sefton C. J. Smith; Mrs. Alfred Mellon and Miss CI, Simms,
Followed by a new Burlesque, entitled ILL-TREATED
IL TROvATORE. M(ssrs. Toole. P. Bedford, R. Phillips,
Ebnrne, C. J. Smith, Romer; the Sisters Nelson, Carry, and
Sara, and Miss K. Kelly.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Manager, Mr. W. H. Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, HIS FIRST CHAMPAGNE. Mr.
Leigh Murray.

Followed by (46th time) THE MOTTO, " I'M ALL
THERE." Messrs. Honey, Turner, E. Danvers, Collier,
Clifton; Mesdames Ada Swanborough, F. Josephs, Maria
Simpson, Wallace, anti Jenny White.
To conclude with TURN HIM OUT. Mr. Turner, Miss
Thorne. .

Now that the Florida is for the moment at least
safe, it seems natural to consider her wonderful
course during the war. The feats accomplished
during the late eventful scenes of the American dis-
turbances by this trim little vessel are perfectly
astonishing. When it is remembered, too, that her
exploits have been performed in the teeth of the
enemy, of course additional prestige is imparted
to renown. In fact, no vessel could have done
more than has this solitary ship. No less than
eight times has she run the blockade, which of
itself would be sufficient to stamp any vessel as
marvellous. Her captures have also been most
numerous and important ; indeed, the amount has
been calculated to be not lees than fifteen millions
of dollars,which sufficiently speaks for their number
and value. It is not to be wondered that so daring
an adversary should be the subject of dire ani-
mosity, and no less than seventy armed vessels have
been despatched to capture this wonder of the
waves, but to no purpose. The Florida has out.
witted them all, and rode on in defiance, pursuing
her daring and reckless course the more triumphant
the more dangerous such a venture seemed to be.
The exceeding celerity with which she moves in-
creases her wonders, and adds to the difficulties of
those who seek to capture her. It can never be
premised as to which locality may see her next,
or what country may share the honour of her visits.
With all the trophies that she has gained, how-
ever, the Florida is not of the piratical caste ; she
fights in self-defence, not for the love of slaughter.
The hardships that the intrepid crew have often
had to undergo are borne without a murmur. Cer-
tainly, it would have been downright impossible
for the ship to have achieved anything like its
celebrated works without the most daring and dash-
ing spirits to carry them out. No one who did not
act for the love of the thing, as it were, could have
succeeded in one instance, much less in so many.
It must be by combination and by indifference to
the claims of routine, that any especial service is
rendered on an emergency. The Florida has certainly
proved the truth of this by her almost marvellous
career as yet, and whatever may be her fate before
the close of this fitful contest she has gained a
name in the history of the war second to none on
land and sea, and long in the memory of the States
she has served will her memory live in admiration
and delight. The Confederates may we'l be proud
to poesess such a craft; by her alone have they
gained a supremacy on the seas that at one time
they could never have expected to have obtained,
and ranked themselves high above their enemies
for courage, intrepidity, and gallant exploits.
While enjoying their well•earned repose at Brest,
the officers and crew are preparing mentally and
bodily for fresh dangers and new achievements.
The enemies, whose name is legion, are meanwhile
casting their snares for this gallant little craft ;
but it is to be hoped that her old fortune will still
favour her, and enable her to steer clear of hostile
encounters, and to escape all subtle manoeuvres of
a deceitful nature. It would cause great annoy-
ance and disappointment to many if the scene of
her triumphs was over, if her career was cut short,
and her intrepid crew made prisoners. In England
there would be a general regret, for the Florida is
an universal object of attraction, and it is with
pride that we reflect she was English built. Her
captain has said they are " two ships against
fifteen hundred," and, paradoxical as this descrip-
tion may be, it seems borne out triumphantly by
the issue. It must be gall and wormwood to the
boastful Government that threatens to sweep
British commerce from the seas to find themselves
thus thwarted at every turn and outwitted at every
move by one small insignificant craft. Had they
been told at the commencement of the war the re-
sult of this one venture on the part of their con-
temned and despised opponents, how they would
have laughed, sneered, and cavilled at the seer who
prophesied such a chance, and been indignant at
the notion of their fiading their equals, much less
their superiors among the insignificant equipments
of the South. The fact of the Florida being we

received at Brest is rather significant at the pre
sent juncture. There can be no doubt that al

points the same way to the recognition of the
South by France. If such an event does take
place, it will be rather infra dig for England to
follow in the wake of another Power, instead of
co• operating in the work. The posture that our
nation is compelled to take at present is in all
respects a most unsatisfactory one. We are now
suffering heavy losses from the course adopted
by our Government at the outset of the war, and
as if this was not enough, every conceivable
annoyance is being inflicted upon us, our mer-
chandise is injured, our honour is insulted, and yet
constantly are there memorials presented to Earl
RUSSELL, beseeching him to do something in the
way of putting a check to the ravages of the Florida,
Alabama, &c. It is quite despicable for people
to be so devoid of public spirit as to insist on
their country being trampled upon to suit the

prejudices of a canting set here, or to favour the

arbitrary notions of an unjust Government on the

other side of the Atlantic. When we read of
such cruel and wanton outrages inflicted in the
name of civilised warfare, as are carried on by
the Fedorals, it seems incredible that any so_

called philanthropists and peace lovers should
take their part. The " Greek fire" is a mode of

war that has never been used of late years, and

yet it is ruthlessly and relentlessly employed at
present by those whom Mr. CODDEN styles our
faithful allies. These apologists of the Federals,

who talk against the depr!dations of the Florida,

had better look at home, or they may lay them-

selves open to the charge of straining at a gnat
and swallowing a camel.

There are few of onr social questions of more
passing importance than the condition of the homes
of the labouring poor, and there is, perhaps, no
matter of Equal consideration in which less has been
done. It has been said so often that it has become
a truism Which
and
elevm:tera
preachno one ventures to dispute, that it
ei sd
iudeltett e to
attemptclihtyildtroenpairfentthseanodonditiouso
to
f
their dwelling-placezeno: them from having any
regard to the decen
y i
physoloegvieszdaanydlipfeh.ysilotiohnaos,
been told us, too, b
by men of theory and men of
practice, that insuf-
ficient ventilation, bad drainage, and damp,
draughty sleeping places are evils against which
frame of iron cannot long contend. Yet, amid the a
active exercises of charity that builds reformatories
and
hospitals, that presides over schools and insti-
tutions, we look tamely on while all these evils are
the common attendente of our labourer's dAily

' dwelling. Over-crowding, close air, bad smells,
and dilapidated walls and roof, are of such constant
recurrence that they excite bat little comment.
The political wrongs of the masses find exponents
enough. Universal suffrage, uncontrolled voting,
and similar doctrines nre never without their ad-
vocates ; "The rights of the people" is the continual
cry raised by demagogues and would-be reformers,
but the rights of the people to the unchecked use
of the common necessaries of life, their claim to a
landclean, t
hey roomy,cultivate—such
and
habitable
pretensions are little
dwelling-place on the
heeded. It is undoubtedly a difficult case, and one
that it is hard to mend without trenching on the
power of the landlord, and English reform and
charity too are justly very cautious about encroach-
ing on private right. One man has a right to let a
cottage or hovel, and another man has a right to
i t Flys the tent, and the reformer is
notoccupy asked
f h
itoineterfere in the matter. Still, it is a
national disgrace to us that we should quietly sit
down helplessly in face of such a state of things as
is proved to be existing among us. Recent
discussions on the subject have called forth
a statement from Mr. SAMUEL CLARKE,
who, having filled the office of sanitary inspector
during a period of fourteen years, has good right
to raise a voice on the matter. The extracts which
be gives from some of his own reports made in the
county of Norfolk during the last twelve months
are positively appalling; and these quotations are
not, he tells us, the worst cases, for those he has
purposely avoided, giving, consequently, an accu-
rate picture of the average condition of the dwell-
ings of our labouring poor. And from the extracts
given, dreadful as are their details, there seems no
reason to think them exceptional cases. The nine
story comes over and over again—parents and
children of all ages crowded into one ill-ventilated
room, the walls leaking, open ditches near the
house, and a total absence of proper drainage.
In one case we find a man and his wife and
seven children, whose ages range from three years
to twenty, living in a small place "not large enough
to be called a room, being, in fact, the space
between the ceiling and the roof," The only air
and light that reach this place are admitted through
one square of glass eleven inches by nine. Another
dwelling is described as " a rickety tenement,"
whose walls are propped up and liable to fall at any
time; there are large apertures in the walls near
the bed, in which an old woman has lain since last
Christmas. It is "surrounded by filthy dykes, full
of stagnant drainage matter." Again, we find a
cottage whose floor is full of large holes, with pieces
of wood supporting the roof, and the drainage Tun-
ing into an open ditch; and another where a hole
is cut in the wall to give ventilation and stopped up
by bricks at night. In places such as this sleep
eight, nine, or ten persons of all ages and both
sexes; and yet such, we are told on unquestionable
authority, is the common state of the cottages of
our agricultural labourers, and has been for many
years past. Complaints of the heat, of the closeness,
of the bad smells, of the miserable over-crowding,
are are met with from many of the inmates ; others
appear to have sunk into a state of hopelessness or
indifference on the matter. The over-crowding of
our large cities and manufacturing towns has often
been lamented over as an evil, in some degree in-
separable from the rapid increase of our population,
and the centralising tendency of trade and com-
merce. It has been a matter of rejoicing to the
well-wishers of the poor that the increased facility
and diminished cost of the means of locomotion will
enable the labourer to live a little further from his
place of work, and will consequently give him a
little more choice in selecting his cottage or rooms.
But here, iu the free open country where the air,
if they could have it, is finer than the best of our
town breezes, where the space is open and health
comes unsought to those who live in decent dwell-
ings, here where the poorer classes are supposed to
have had such easy access to their worldly supe-
riors, and to secure so much more of their interest
and attention,—the worst evils of a London alley,
or a Manchester and Liverpool byeway are things
unnoticed from their frequency. It is time that
this was looked to. It is time, if we call ourselves
a Christian nation, that we treat our fellow-men and
women as human beings, and give them an oppor-
tunity of living as becomes human beings. Excep-
tions are to be found, and Mr. CLARKE tells us that
"in some par'shes enlightened owners have
thought it necessary to bestow as much care and
consideration to the proper and decent accommoda-
tion of the labourer as is shewn to the brute crea-
tion, whose services are also required in the culti-
vation of the soil." It is to be hoped that such in-
stances, whether prompted by prudence or bene-
volence, will no longer remain exceptional, or if so
we had better abandon our sermons and lectures,
and our attempts at rational education, which,
under existing circumstances, must appear to the
residents in these miserable hovels little batter than
a satire and a mockery.

DIABLERIE OF THE FRENCH THEATRE

(From L' Union.)
Diablerie is the order of the day at the French
Theatres_ At the Opera Comique they are playing
Les Amours du Diable, where, among other fine
things, the whole of the infernal regions dances in
fury around a poor diablesse who has allowed a
soul to escape that she had the charge of conducting
below. At the Theatre of the Porte St. Martin
Les Pilules du Diable, a fairy extravaganza, con-
tinually withdrawn, has also continually a diabolical
success. At the Gymnase they are performing Le
Demon du Jeu, an infernal drama, which has be-
come the rage, and chooses to be regarded as a
comedy. At the Ambigu they have the Sorciere,
a drama in which history takes all sorts of fantastic
galops mounted upon a broomstick; and at the
Theatre de la Gai'e, Peau d'Ane, a fairy tale, of
which a diabolical sorcery occupies the principal
part. At the Theatre of the Chatelet the Secret de
Miss Aurore terminates with apparitions and
phantoms; and at the Theatre DLjazet, in the
Spectres de l' Aurore, a sorceress, without any regard
to propriety, summons before the audience the dead,
and even the living. Let us add to this list the
pretty salon of M. Robin, where the phantoms
have commenced their diablerie, and where every
evening they draw together a multitude of mad
spectators, un monde jou !

CONTRADICTORY REPORTS.

THE STEAM RAMS AT. BIRKENHEAD.

The mercantile organ, the Shipping Gazette, says:—
" We have reason to believe that the announcement which
appeared in a warning contemporary yesterday, to the
effect that the Government had directed the iron clad steam
rams now in course cf construction at Liverpool to be
stopped, is premature, if not incorrect. We may add that,
on the attention of the Foreign-office being culled to the
character and build of the vessels in the early part of last
month, and before the memorial was presented to Earl Rus-
sell, the officers of the Crown at Liverpool made a survey
of the ships, and some correspondence passed between the
authorities and the builders. The result was forwarded to
the Foreign-office, and in the event of no new material fact
transpiring, we understand that no further action is likely
to be taken in the matter until the important points of law
raised by the ruling of the Lord Chief Baron in the case of
the Alexandra are settled by the full court next term, and
possibly not even then."

The peace-at-any-price organ, the o'tar, says:—" We
are glad to be able to state, on undoubted authority, that
the Government have ordered the two steam rams which
have been the subject of so much controversy of late to be
detained."

The death is announced of Baron d'Orgeval, for-
merly Chamberlain to Charles X., awl officer in the Gardes
cIA Corm