The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-21 00:00:00

" ASS" IN PRESENTI !

Referring to the eccentric announcement of a forthcoming
Prize Show of Costertnongers' _Donkeys, by his reverence
the Vicar of Bray—we beg pardon, by the Rev. Thomas
Jackson, M.A., Rector of Stoke Newington, our wicked
contemporary, the battaday Review, thus humorously expa-
tiates upon Mr. Jackson's self-appointed office of protector
of the asinine race : —There is. perhaps, no danger of re-
calling the old heathen libel against our religion, that the
early Christians used to worship an ass's head ; but a
clergyman ought to be chary in adopting associations of
this particular kind. The Golden Ass might endear
Apuleius's subjeot to mere scholars, so might the Asinaria
of Plautus ; and the unsavoury memories of La Pucelle
might recommend asses to the students of scrofulous French
literature. Coleridge and the author of " Peter Bell" have
sung and sonnetized on behalf of tne " poor Hide foal of an
oppressed race," but why should a Protestant clergyman
take up the burden of Issachar, and set up as a judge and
adjudicator in asinine competition ? A song was popular
some twenty years ago—a fragment from Asinius Pollio—
which described the model costermonger, who may De ex-
pected to compete in the Great International Exhibition of
Jackasses, suggested by the rector of Stoke Newington.
Are the competitors to approach the judge's seat, singing—
If I had a donkey wot would'nt go,
Do you think I would wallop him ? Oh, no no I
I'd give him some hay, and say, " Gee, ho," Sce. ?

Or, as the judge is clerical, does he propose to revive at
Stoke Newington Church the famous Festum Asioorum ?

Is it intended to chaunt, in a procession of colder-
mongers, the old hymn which once resounded in the aisles
of Beauvais ?

Orientis partibus
Ad ventavit asinus,
Pulcher et fortissimos
Sarcinis aptissimus.
The vernacular chorus or response, which is preserved by
Du Cange, might be translated into the Cockney tongue of
the costermongers. The rector and the choir would of
course intone the Latin hymn as it stands; but we can
quite fancy that a skilful adapter might make something of
the old Beauvais refrain:—

Hez, Sire Asnes, car chantez,
Belle bouche reaignez,
Vous aurez du foin ease;
Et de l'avoine a plantez.
We venture on a version for the " Price Show of Coster-
mongers' Donkeys :"--
Bray, Sir Ass, hme-haw away,
Open pretty mouth and bray ;
You shall have a feed of hay,
And peck of oats at Jackson's pay.
Or the forthcoming exhibition of asses might possibly
take a histrionic form instead of that of an ecclesiastical
mystery-play. The Judge may appear as Bottom Trans-
formed, with the usual theatrical property of an ass's head,
and may pat his own shaggy ears, and smooth his own
gentle nose, or attempt what Wordswoi th calls
The long dry see-saw of a horrible bray,
in sympathy with his brethren. But though many forms
might be suggested of giving the advertised Prize Show of
Donkeys considerable external éclat, we are still at some
difficulty in understanding the rector of Stoke Newington's
personal claim to this office of judge and president am,ng
donkeys. He knows himself best; he may be conscious of
subtle affinities which are special qualifications for the
function he has chosen. It may be that he remembers
Johnson's canon—
Who drives fat oxen should himself be fat—
and that he appiies it to hnnself—
"Wbo jucia.cs Wiwi?, be us,

Sir William Winniett, the English Governor of
the Gold Coast, paid the King a visit at Coomassie.
On the day of audience Sir William was dressed in
full uniform, and his blue naval coat was, more-
over, set off in gaudiness by the presence of
epaulets.

After having touched lightly on various ordinary
topics, Sir William broached the main purpose of
his errand—human sacrifice—and conveyed to the
King the kindly feelings of the English Govern-
ment towards him, as well as the anxious desire of
the Queen herself that such sacrifices should be
abandoned. The King listened most graciously
and, when Sir William had stopped, observed—
" What you say is good, but would you like to
lose one of your epaulets ?" and the Kin put his
finger upon the Governor's left epaulet. Sir Wil-
liam was a little puzzled at the strangeness and at
the apparent inappropriateness of the questioc, but
he replied, " Why, no. I should not."
" Very well, then," answered the King. "If I
were to attempt to do away with human sacrifices,
my chiefs would make my kingdom like your coat
with its °De epaulet. I should lose the half of
Ashantee."

Permit me, in contradiction of M. Jules Gerard,
to state that the King of Dahomey is a man of
superior intellect, and is endowed with an extraor-
dinary capacity for government. Receiving un-
sought the adulation of his people, he maintains a
degree of modesty in his deportment and of equa-
nimity in his language 'which is, indeed, astonishing.
His arrangements in regard to his police and in
regard to his finances and laws would excite the
admiration of every unprejudiced person, and are
worthy of a people much farther advanced in the
scale of civilization than the Africans are. With
power in his hard verging on despotism, he is yet
served more from love than from fear; and no tongue
has ever thrown aspersion on appeals made to his in-
terpretation of justice. To strangers he is hospita-
ble ; to his subjects generous. Impressed with the
dignity of his regal station, he never separates
his habits from frugality and temperance, nor
does he often give way to sudden ebullitions
of temper. Like every uneducated African, he
is strongly attached to the customs of his fore-
fathers, and regards with singular suspicion any
attempt at innovation. Hence arises his reluctance
in agreeing to abandon the slave trade and human
sacrifices. From sentiments of admiration and
dread, he displays attachment to the English ; from
sentiments of self interest he dispays more attach-
ment to the slave trade and to human sacrifices ;
and from sentiments which actuate the black man
as well as the white, he is most attached to himself.
If the English Government would then wisely take
advantage of the King's compulsory predisposition
in its favour, and would judicously address its polic)
to the satisfaction of those sentiments of self-interest
by raising for the King a larger revenue than that
proceeding from the slave trade, and by sapping the
superstitions which surround the rites of human
sacrifices, the slave trade and human sacrifices must
vanish.

Let us approach the abolition of human sacrifice
in a temper different to that in which we have
hitherto approached it. Let us undermine the
faith of those of our own species who are so men-
tally poor; but do not let us inveigh against them
as a horde of merciless, sanguinary savages.

INFERNAL MACHINES IN THE BALTIC.—A St.
Petersburg letter contains the following :—" Infer-
nal machines have been placed around the works at Cron-
stadt, and the Finland journals contain notices to seamen
of the limits which they must not pass. Those lines are
marked near the Emperor Paul I. and Constantine forts by
blue flags fixed upon buoys. Not only have heaps of earth
been thrown into the sea behind those flags, but there still
remain many of the explosive machines which were laid
down at the time of the Crimean war. Two years ago a
Danish brig struck one of them, suffering considerable
damage, and the accident was followed by a long lawsuit
between the Russian and Danish authorities."

A PRETTY RUSTIC PICTURE IN DEVONSHIRE :
not unworthy of illustration by the pencil of I3irket
Foster I—We have to thank the AYaturday Review of last
Saturday for a charming paper upon a curious little work
called A Devonshire Dialogue in Tour Parts, written by
Mrs. Paltner, the sister of Sir Joshua Reynolds, From
this little book we quote one passage suggested by Rab's
reminder to his sweetheart Bet, that "thee mert now be
owner of the honz'z, the garden, the cat, and the great tree
[formerly belonging to her schoolmistress], which, es hopes,
want be cut down in cur time." To all which Bet answers
thus :—" I hope zo, too, vor I shu'd like to bring out my
knitting work, or my spinning turn, and zit there; and
then I mert happen to z o thee, when you be to work.
Dear heart ! what strange things come to pass. When I
used to think how happy any body mert live in such a sweet
place, I could ne'er ha' thort it wid come to my take,
everything so handy ; a pretty doming oven, big enew to
bake a batch o'bread, water at the shet just by, the thorn
hedge and garden, end the great tree. Poor zeal, her used
to zit there summer yevlings, to zee the yolks come fro'
markers, and take in her arrants, her had a szent by 'em.
When I wed to redo a story book of a pitty
.Flace, I thort
it m5l 11 alco

The Lord Provost of Glasgow has received the
following letter from Admiral Dacres, C.B. :
" Edgar, Kirkwall, Aug. 14.
"My lord,—l beg leave to point out to you a great in-
convenience that was occasioned to the ships of the Channel
squadron, under my orders during its stay in Leith Roads,
in consequence of the defective arrangements made by the
masters of steamboats conveying the numerous visitors to
the fleet. Return tickets for the passage to and from the
shore were granted, and the holders were obliged to return
to the shore in the same steamer or steamers of the same
company that carried them to the ships, other steamers
declining to take them. Thus, in several instances, many
people were left on board the fleet during the greater
part of the night, much to their own discomfort and in-
convenience, and still more so to that of the officers and
crews. I would suggest that tickets available for all
steamers should be issued, and • that steamers should ply
through the fleet until all the visitors are removed. The
ships will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.,
and thus every facility be afforded to those who wish to see
them. I have brought the subject to your notice for such
measures to be adopted as may appear to you best to pre-
vent a like inconvenience in the Clyde. I have made a
similar communication to the Provost of Greenock,—j
have the honour to be, my lord, your obedient servant,
(Signed) "S. C. DACRES,
Rear-Admiral Commanding.,
" To the Lord Provost of Glasgow."
In consequence of the foregoing communineation
from Rear-Admiral Dacree, the Lord Provost c
Glasgow and the Provostof Greenock have have bac
under consideration the most expedient arrange.
went to be adopted, with a view to the comfort and
convenience of persons desiring to visit the fleet,
in order to preserve good order and the public
peace.