The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-20 00:00:00

THE LEGITIMATE NOVEL.

The legitimate work of fiction began in one of
two ways; either by stating ail the preliminary
matter which it was needful for the reader to know
—and sometimes a great deal more—in the first few
chapters, dedicating them entirely to pedigrees, to
biographies of the grandfathers and grandmothers
of the characters ; or else to pander to the import-
ance of the student by plunging at ence into tke
middle of an interesting scene or conversation, with-
out any preliminary explanation. At first sight
this last mode of operating would seem to be the
more delightful; but what was the use of beginning
in this gay and sprightly manner in Chapter 1., it
the wretched reader caught sight of these awful
opening words of the second chapter, " It is now
needful that we should explain something of the
history of the characters whom we have thus un-
ceremoniously introduced to the readers ?" And
there was another little trial. "We must now re-
turn to Lenora." Or, " the exigencies of our
story now require that we should return to Lenora:,
What moments were chosen by the author for that
return to Lenora! We were dragged back to that
young woman just when we were bent on hearing
the termination of that terrific adventure, in which
the hero was involved. It was a breathless moment
in the youth's fate. The sword was hanging over
his head, the poison-cup was at his lips, the chal-
lenge was received, the dice were oscillating in the
air, when we must now return to Lenora. And
we didn't want to return to Lenora. And when
we had returned to Lenora, and had got over the
disgust of that blessed restoration, and had disci-
plined our minds to that degree that they were con-
tent to follow her fortunes instead of those of our
fancy's hero—were we allowed to do so ? No. 'We
must then return to Edgar, and we were dragged
away from her as we had previously been from him,
and were whisked off again to some uncongenial
region, where all was ice and desolation. And the
worst of it was that many of these tremendous ad-
ventures thus rudely arrested were never finished ;
the hero cf the situation being taken in hand again
long afterwards in some altogether different part of
his career, and, perhaps, merely alluding to the
termination of that adventure in which you were
once so madly interested, in a few cursory remarks
addressed to his bosom friend, as the two " lounged
together on the shores of Capri." Edgar having no
business at Capri, observe, and no business to take
you there, and not in the least accounting for him.
self even as to that inane passage of his existence
.—Dickens's " Ad the Year Round."

THE WORKS AND COLLECTION OF A. L. EGG,
R.A.—The remaining works of that justly esteemed
artist, Augustus L. Egg, R.A , deceased, including several
finished pictures, numerous sketches and studies in oils
and chalks, also a few splendid works by other distinguished
artists of the English school, costumes, and painting ma -
terials, were disposed of on Monday at Christie's rooms •
The attendance on the occasion was very large, the
great room being crowded to excess,
more The
ipricntereees
ti realised
were extremely high. Amongthe ng
important examples were the subjoined :—Cartoons.—Lots
26 and 27. " Lance and his Dog ;" " Freder'ck the
Great and Catherine "--440 15s. (Vokins). Sketches in
Oils.-59. "Head of a Lady ;" very brilliant—Pl (Ander-
den). S 6 and 93. "A Mother and Child," and "Fortune
Telling "-47 guineas (Cox). 87, 97, and 99. " Heads of a
.leg 74), an Algerine, and Negro Barber; all very powerfully
taarna painted--£62 10s. (Creswick). ICO and 103. "Raising the
," a comp .sition of many figures, and "The Bed-
room at Ramwte"-53 guineas ( Wite) 104.6. " The
Yolue teer,'; ed sketch for the celebrated picture,
4, Maria,"
r Twelfth
Nißobsart ;" all fine ght, and "Leicester and Amy
finished
Finished Pictures, by A_, L. Egg,
-82 i guineas (Gilbert).
a lady seated at her toilet-taletg, "The Toilet,"
—5O guineas (Gilbert) 113. "A Girl
her maid ; candlelight
(Cox). 119. "Italian Peasants seatedlri Writhing'
52 guineas
guineas (W. H. Wills). 120. " The Siesta," a Portico"-41
work-23 guineas (Flateu). 121. "The Leisure
a small cabinet
lady and gentleman seated, in a landscape-40 Leisure Hour," a
bert), 122. " The Crochet Lesson," circle,Pe-40 guineas (Gil-
-1862-94 guineas (Cox). 123. "Travelling painted se late as
a first-class railway carriage; landscape seen through in
rough the
window, and one of the last the lamented artist painted
guineas (Cox). 124. "Past and Present •,"pa the
cele•
braced work, Comprising three pictures, mounted in a single
frame, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1858, and also
last year at the Great International Exhibition-4346 los.
(Agnew). 125. "An Algerine Girl playing the Guitar ;" the
artist's last work-80 guineas (Cox). Pictures by other ar-
tists.-141, J. Philip, R.A.—" Teaching the Scotch Cate-
chism," a small finished sketch for the celebrated p 2
icture
exhibited at the Royal Academy-27 guineas (Flatou). 14.
Miss Mutrie.—A flower piece, comprising azaleas and gera-
niums, small cabinet size-55 guineas (Grundy). 143. W.
Yl. Frith, R.A.—Scene from "Le Bourgeois Gent', homme,"
a; sketch for the celebrated picture-53 guineas (Cox). 144.
'W. P. Frith, R A.—" Cowing of Age in the Olci,n
a beateitully finished study for the original p
icictu fr
o-
-185 guineas (White). 145. P. R. Morris,—" 'Voes
the Sea," exhibited at the International Exhibition last
st
year—Elos (Gilbert). 146. H. Wallis.—" The Death
Chatterton," the celebrated picture exhibited at the Royas
al
Academy in 18;53, and since engraved-775 guine
(Agnew). 147. W. H. Hunt.—" Claudio and Isabella,"
some taken from Shakspeare's " Measure for Measure"--
Claudio—Death is a fearful thing.
Isabella—And shamed life a hateful l"
The original
picture exhibited at the Royal Academy in
1853-610 •
guineas (Agnew). The whole realised upwards
of £4,000.

TE{E HEALTH OF GARIBALDL—Writing from
Caprera on the lith of this month to Mr. Negretti, Gene-
ral Garib.cadi says,—"My health is going on very satis-
factorily,"

rIEATEE-ROY AL, HAY AI ARK ET. Heroding HEROD. Yet even this was not enough
Lessee Mr. J. B. Blackstone. for the right hon. member for the Dublin University.
THIS EVENING, FISH OUT OF WATER.
After which, 4th time, a new and criginal comedy, entitled Reviving the stale old argument that the eon-
FINESSE ; or, Spy and Counter-Spy : Mr. Buckstone, air. , .
Howe, Mr. Chippendale, Mr. and. Mrs. Alfred Wigan, and tinuance intact of the Protestant Church Estab-
miss Louisa Angel. lishment in Ireland was part and parcel of the Act
Followed by an apropos Dramatic Sketch,. introducing a
Panorama of the Tour of the Prince of Wales in the East. of Union, was one of its most essential al doles or
To conclude with MRS. WHITE.
Commence at 7. conditions, Mr. WHITEsiDE thereby moat eloquently
appeared to be striving (in so arguing) to afford
some plea of justification for the arguments of our
old friends the Repeaters ! Supporting it, as the right
hon. gentleman announced that he did,and as we be-
lieve him to have done most conscientiously, simply as
the depository of truth, he was nevertheless ready to
admit [indeed, he could hardly do otherwise] that
the Irish Church, is, all the while, the Church of a
minority of the population. That, as we conceive,
being in truth rather a mild way of putting it !
Throughout the whole period of the discussion of
this grave and even vital question—as to the posi-
tion, that is, in which the Irish Church Establish-
ment stands relatively to the great mass of the
Irish population—the argument maintained in
the columns of this journal have been consistently
and persistently one and the same. Since
the earliest debate of the matter, after the
completion of the Act of Union, until now, the
arguments put forth in these columns of The Sun,
have been precisely of the same character and ten-
dency, in regard to it. The anomaly could not be
denied, could not but be recognised. A love of
fair play has ever urged us to insist upon the
reasonableness (to say no less) of the demands
made from time to time, hitherto in vain, for its
diminution. And this merely with a view to what
we yet feel perfectly well assured is inevitable—its
extinction. To talk of Civil and Religions Liberty
while this flagrant injustice is being rigidly and
pitilessly perpetuated is simply preposterous. The
maintenance of the Trish Church Establishment
upon the same scale upon which it has hitherto been,
and is still being, maintained, is about as reasonable
an arrangement of its kind as the organisation of a
vast commissariat, a commissariat sufficient to sup-
port a whole army, merely for the feeding of a
single regiment—and that regiment scattered
sparsely all over the country, so sparsely as to ap
pear, here and there, like so many isolated sentinels.
More than that, it is to organise this elaborate
and gigantic commissariat for the exclusive feeding
of that one widely-distributed regiment, in the mids
of a dense and impoverished population.

THE DUKE'S MOTTO,
THE HUNDREDTH AND FIFTH NIGHT.

THEATRE-ROYAL LYCEUM OPEN, under
the Sole Management of Mr. PECHTER.
THIS EVENING, at 7, to commence with an Original
sketch, entitled A SUDDEN ATTACK. Messrs. Shore,
Garden, H. Widdicomb, Miss Henrade, and Mrs. Lee.

After which, at a Quarter to Eight, a New Romantic
Drama, in Three Acts, and Pr)Logue, entitled THE
DUKE'S MOTTO, by Paul Feval and John Brougham.
The principal character will be sustained by Mr. Pechter,
supported by Messrs. J. G. Shore, G. Jordan, J. Brougham,
H. N‘ iddimmbe, F. Charles, Garden, Raymond, Dawson ;
Misses Carlotta Leclercq, Kate Terry, E. Lavenue, and
Elsworthy.

Mr. HENNESSY last night made a few remarks on
Prussia and the Poles, which remarks certainly were
most apropos. The hon, gentleman said that it ap-
peared to him that not onlywas Prussia carrying out
the terms of the convention, but also it was doing so
with undue severity, and acting besides in an ille-
gal manner. He then read from a letter of some
French officers, an extract which proved that a Rus-
sian detachment that had no ammunition retreated
into Poland, and after some days returned well pro-
vided with powder and bale. Mr. HENNESSY said
he should like to know whether this supply
of arms and ammunition to Russian troops
was not a breach of international law,
and if it was not a breach of the terms of
the convention. He then referred specially to a
letter from the Prussian General LEWALD to the
Russian general, MASCLON, which was most con-
clusive evidence. In one passage the Prussian
general went so far as to say that be begged the
Russian general would "inform him betimes of
every military expedition on the Prussian frontier,
that he might give the necessary orders according to
circumstances." Further on he says that there
were garrisons of special Prussian detachments,
infantry and cavalry, the officers of those detach.
ments were to receive the Russian general's
orders and communicate them to their own general,
Mr. HENNESSY truly observed, after enumerating
these facts, that Prussia was just as much at war
with Poland as Russia was. The hon. gentleman
thus forcibly impressed the necessity of the case
upon Lord PALMERSTON :—" He felt that if Prince
GORTSCIIAKOFF'S despatch was to receive only the
answer which the Secretary of State was said to
have given it in another place, this country would
get out of the unfortunate and disgraceful condition
in which it now was with regard to this question
in a manner which was neither consonant with the
feelings of the people nor the honour of England."
Lord PALMERSTON'S reply was most unsatisfactory.
He said he was sorry to say that in 1832 Prussia
had not acted up to its duty in the war between the
Poles and Russians. He then stated the rules re-
lating to belligerent forces taking refuge in a
neutral territory. He wound up by stating that
he believed Prussia had lately violated no
right of international or neutral duty.
The) noble lord quoted a singular precedent to estab-
lish the case referred to by Mr. HENNESSY. He
said, " With regard to furnishing ammunition, we
must always recollect the doctrine laid down by
America during the war with Russia, that neutrals
have the right to furnish warlike stores to either or
both belligerents." This is most extraordinary
reasoning, and it must be remembered that America
is not very apt to allow others to practise the doc-
trine that she preaches at certain times for her own
convenience. How is it that all the late confusion
have arisen with regard to our vessels carrying
stores (or being supposed to do so) if the rule is in-
fallibly settled that it is lawful to do so. Another
thing is, why should the Americans be allowed to
settle in this summary and arbitrary question the
laws of nations that affect the great wars of the
world. These questions are generally arranged at
a Congress, or at all events they are treated of by
the great Powers in concert. It is most singular
that Lord PALMERSTON should cite such an instance
for a precedent; it shows how bad his case was if
that was the best that could be said for its defence.
The fact was the noble lord was determined to de-
fend the actions of the Prussian Government at any
cost, and therefore he sat to work to find any evi-
dence that could at all bear upon the point at issue,
and make the worse appear the better cause. Mr.
FITZGERALD very properly took up the cudgels
against this extravagant assertion. He
said that the noble lord had laid down a
principle of international law, for which
there was no foundation whatever, no precedent,
and no authority. The noble lord bad replied to a
question concerning the supply of ammunition to
Russian troops by saying—" That the doctrine of
the United States, which has since been enforced and
adopted by ourselves, is that it is not a breach of
neutrality for the subjects of a neutral to supply
belligerents with ammunition." The decided tone
of Mr. FITZGERALD evidently startled Lord PAL-
MERSTON
did from
nothisunderstand previous
thatinSOtlS Mr.
lan ee
HENNESSY
for he said
that he
waa positive in his information, and lie himself
(hi not know anything about the matter. This
produced laughter, as a matter of course, but
which
hgiacrhd
t to
h to.
e f 0
members
Subsequentlyei
this style of levity does not suit the subject, and is
not consistent with the vital nature of the interests
referred
as to the great indifference that was displayed with
questionse in the H
endeavoured
gri
oftbe Cabinet some remarks were made
ndse—a o charge
ea
v T u
explain away, but with li le or no effect.
is it is found very convenient to take advantage of
hree
d t o
fact
Lord RUSSELL being in the other House to shirk

all responsibility, and to avoid anaßering mvicyfard