The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-30 00:00:00

I

Commence at

Commence at 7.

THERMOMETER.
Highest since Noon yesterday. .. 51
Lowest during the night
This day at Noon .

LONDON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1863.

ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-
GARDEN.
Under the Management of Miss Louisa Fyne and Mr. W.
Harrison, Sole Lessees.
THIS EVENING, SATANELLA : Misses Sara Dobson,
Thirlwall, and Susan ryne ; Messrs. W. H. Weiss, J. Rouse,
A. St. Albyn, H. Core, C. Lyall, W. H. Payne, and George
Perren

Conductor—Mr. A. Mellon.
After which, the Grand Comic Christmas Pantomime, en-
%Med HARLEQUIIc BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
Doors open at halt-past 6—Commence at 7.

THE ATR E-R OYA L, DRURY-LANE.-
Lessee and Manager, Mr. Edmund Falconer.
THIS EVENS G, the Comic Drama of THE NEXT OF
Alter which, the Grand Pantomime of LITTLE GO DDY
TWO SHOES

TREAT R E-RO ?). ILA Y AT AR K ET.
Lessee, Mr. J B. l7uckstone.
THIS EVENING, at Seven o'clock, will be performed
OUR AMERICAN COUSIN. Asa I'rcnchard, Mr. Buck-
stone ; Lord Dundreary, Mr. Sothern.
After which, a new and original Extravaganza, entitled
,RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA; or, The Happy
:Valley. Rasselas, Miss Louise Kceley.
Concluding with OUR MARY ANNE.

THEATRE ROYAL LYCEUM OPEN, under
the Sole Management of Mr. FECHTER.

THIS EVENING, Jan. 30, to commence with an Original
Sketch, entitled A SUDDEN ATTACK. Messrs. Shore,
Darden, 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. Fechter,
supported lay Messrs. G. Vining, J. Brougham, H. *0 iddi-
oombe, W. M'lntyre, F. Charles, Garden, Raymond, H.
Butler, Dawson; Misses Carlotta Leclercq, Kate Terry, E.
Lavenue, and Elsworthy.
Mr. Phelps and Mr. W. Montgomery are engaged, and will
hortly appear.
Doors open at half-past Six, performanca to commence
fit Seven. Private Boxes, Z 2 12s. 6d., and £2 2s. Places
registered. Stalls, 6s. 6d. ; Dress Circle, ss. 641 ; Upper
Circle, 4s. ad. Prices at doors—Stalls, 69. ; Dress Circle, ss. ;
Upper Circle, 45.; Pit, 2s. ; Gallery, ls. No half-price. Box-
office open daily from 11 till 5. The public are entreated to
take notice that no charge is made to the occupants of boxes,
box places, or stalls, either for playbills or for the safe keep-
ing of hats and cloaks ; and that the attendants in all parts
of the house are forbidden to receive any gratuities whatever
Stage-Manager, Mr. G. Vining. Acting-Manager, Mr. H.
Barnett.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Ur Lindua.
THIS EVENING, LAW v. LOVE : Miss M. Oliver.
Followed by ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES AN-
OTHER. Mr. R. Roxby and Miss Amy Sedgwick.
After which, the New Grand CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME,
41 RIQUET WITH THE MET ; or, Harlequin and Mother
ghipton." Mr. G. Belmore, Mr. C. Seyton, Misses Gray and
Hudspeth, Mr. Milano, Mr. R. Power, Miss A. Colllnson, and
Mr. Halford.

NEW TH FATRE-ROYAL, AD ELPHI.-
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. 'Webster.

THIS EVENING, THE LI I TLE TR E &SURE. Mr
Billington, Mr. R. Phillips, and Miss Marie Wilton.
After which, A TICKET OF LEAVE : Messrs. J. L.Toole,
r, Bedford, and Mrs. Billing-ton.
To conclude with " GEORGIE DE BARNWELL :
or, Harlequin Folly in theßealms of Fancy." Miss Woolgar,
Miss K. Kelly, Miss Seaman ; Messrs. J. L. Toole, P. Bed-
ford, Stephenson, C. J. Smith. Harlequin, Mr. John Lauri ;
Columbine, Miss Caroline Adams ; Clown, Mr. W. Hildyard ;
Pantaloon, Mr. J. Paulo. The celebrated Arthur and
Bertrand.

The Weather.--Sun Office, jan.:3o, 1863,

Barometer-29.60.
Wind—S.-W.; fresh and squally, with dull close weather.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Ting DAY.—Morning, 10h. 41m.—Afternoon, llh. 45m
To-moanow.-Morning, 12h. 3m.—Afternoon, h. m

_
)(J 41fr.* lib% .-1-,11;13T,
biz iLy
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England's opinion upon Slavery has long since
been placed beyond the reach of misapprehension.
It has been signalised as no nation, before or since,
ever signalised the depth of its convictions in
regard to a great principle. Of the eternal devo-
tion of this country to the canoe of Negro Emanci-
pation, the country itself afforded to the world, not
many years since, a material guarantee, singularly
notable in its imperial magnificence. History has
recorded the fact, in undying words, in the annals
'which tell of that munificent vote of £20,000,000 !

It is beyond the power of any one, therefore, to
deprive the British Empire, to deprive the race of
Englishmen of that one particular glory and dis-
tinction—namely that, of abhorring from their in-
most heart and soul the accursed institution of
Slavery. This ineradicable abhorrence of Slavery
is, in a manner, as it were, among our birth-rights.
It is with us like a popular instinct. It is peculiar
to no political party. It is cherished by persons of
every religious belief. It seems to us like an integral
part of our Constitution. If one might so express
our conYiction upon this point without profanity, it
seems almost among the corollaries of Christianity.
$43 resplendently has England's hatred of slavery
been attested, so signally have Englishmen
evidenced in the sight of the whole world
their aspiration to forward in every direction
the diffusion of the spirit of Emancipation, that a
deliberate attempt to vindicate the national loyalty
to the interests of Freedom, so far as it affects the
poor:African, it almost partakes of the nature of the
ridiculous. It is gilding refined gold—painting
the lily—adding a perfume to the violet : doing
what is wholly superfluous, what is absolutely
matter of supererogation. Under ordinary circum-
it would be so beyond any doubt.
stances, at any rate,
Even when insinuations are thrown out insidiously
to the effect that there is a diminution in the
yearning of the people of this country to en-
sure, whenever or wherever it might be pos-
sible, the liberation of the Black—a demon-
stration deliberately and formally designed to
repudiate that charge—appears to us, alto-
gether, a proceeding of very questionable taste.
Insinuations of that flagrant and preposterous kind
ought rather, as it seems to us, to be laughed utterly
to scorn. England, in this matter, requires no vin-
dication. Her love of Freedom is beyond all ques-
tion, is beyond all dispute. Instead of falling off
in any way amongst us, it grows with our growth
and strengthens with our strength. If ever the
inhabitants of these islands can be excited to en-
thusiasm, it is by some conspicuous or unlooked•for
refeeence, whether of Art, or of Letters, or of Ora-
tory, to the theme of Slavery. At every touch of
that thrilling chord by true genius of any kind,
the phlegmatic calm of the islander disappears.
Oratory never won a more brilliant or a more
instantaneous victory over its hearers than when
CURRAN, carried away by the
"mighty theme,"
uttered his ever afterwards famous
panegyric upon
" the Genius of Universal Emancipation." No
marble product of the sculptor's chisel has in our
time secured to itself a more rapidly evidenced, or
a more widely diffused tribute of admiration (the
admiration at once of love and pity) than that
masterpiece from lliaasa POWER'S hands, the beau-
tiful form of the Greek Slave. Conspicuous as an
immense literary success here in England—con-
spicuous, as such, even when CHARLES DICKENS
was, as he still is (and long may he continua to re-
main so !) at the noonday of the very pride and
glory of his delightful reputation—
conspicuous
here in Eagiand, even with DICKENS as a
contemporary, was the triumph achieved by
Mrs. HARRIET BIN,CHER STOWE upon the publica-
" Uncle Tom's Cabin!"
lion of one little story-bool;,
And this ag.lin because of what CURRAN grandly
and modestly called, as we hey said, " the mighty
theme"-80 calling it when deprcc sting the appli-
cation to himself of the plaudits Won by his own
eloquence ! " Uncle Tom's Cabin" because of that
potent theme, running through shoals of editions,
littering every bookstall,
t being piled upon the coun-
ters of every
librarian, appearing at every price, in
every shape, illustrated and un-illustrated, cheap
and costly in its getting up. And this, we repeat,
simply because the subject of the tale that was then
told came so near to the hearts, and consciences, ,

and affections, and the cherished convictions of let-
tered Englishmen. No—the devotion of England to
the interests of the Negro race, the earnest solici-
tude of Englishmen for its liberation from slavery
in all parts of the globe, is a truth visible to the
world at large as the light at noonday. The
character of England, and of Englishmen in this
matter needs—again and again we say it—no vin-
dication whatsoever.

The immense meeting which took place
last evening in Exeter Hall, to this very end, ap-
pears to us, consequently, to the very last degree
superfluous. It was so egregiously superfluous, in
truth, that it virtually amounted to a display—upon
an immense scale, and fcr that reason all the more
painfully—of wretchedly bad taste. It was as
glaringly in bad taste and as wholly a matter
of supererogation, as, let us say, a studied vindi-
cation of Lord NELSON'S bravery would have been
at some public banquet, in his own presence
and hearing, upon the occasion of pro-
posing the toast of the Hero's Health. It was worse
than in bad taste—we still maintain it—it was
simply ridiculous. According to the philosophy of
the originators and promoters of yesterday's meet-
ing in Exeter Hall, elaborate treatises ought
with all speed to be written to prove that
RUBENS was a colourist, that MOZART had
a sense of harmony, that VITRIIVIUS had
an eye to proportion, and that EUCLID had
just some glimmering knowledge of the rudiments
of geometry. From first to last, we repeat—as a
vindication of the loyalty of Englishmen to the
cause of Emancipation—it was nothing less than a
ludicrous mistake. That a keen witted, large hearted,
earnest, thinking man like Mr. THOMAS HUGHES,
the delightful author of a delightful book like " Tom
Brown's School-days"—that a man so largely gifted
with common sense, as well as with other gifts, far
more common, many of them, than that sense so
called upon the principle of lucue a non lucendo—
that Mr. HUGHES, of all men, should have lent him-
self to a movement of this really most uncalled-for
character, just simply passes the comprehension of
some among his heartiest admirers. There he was,
however, last night, marching at the head of a
group of " Vindicators" across that Coventry of
the metropolis, the Platform of Exeter Hall ! And
to what purpose ? To vindicate the loyalty of
Englishmen to the interest of Negro Eniancipation
—How ? By endeavouring to identify our ab-
horrence of slavery with an enthusiasm for Mr.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S Proclamation ! A Proclama-
tion that hundreds of thousands of Englishmen—
loathing Slavery in their heart of hearts—have
read with feelings of dismay and of unaffected grief!
Recognizing in it an act that if but done earlier
and otherwise would doubtless have been as puissant
in its influence as it must then have proved beneficent
in its results—an act that done now and after this
hesitating fashion would probably be most disastrous
in its consequences as a signal for a servile war
were it not intrinsically so utterly powerless
whether for good or for evil. No, England ab-
hors slavery, but not with the half abhorrence of
the American PRESIDENT. Englishmen yearn
ardently to promote the wider and wider spread
of Negro Emancipation, bat not by pointing to
the sharpened dagger and the ignited brand, not
by hinting a blow, or hesitating a stab!

Auch alteram partem is a time-honoured maxim,
and in obedience to its authority we are willing to
give the Rev. Mr. GIBSON a fair hearing in his
somewhat acrimonious opposition to the general
approval expressed of Sir WALTER CROFTON and
the Irish Convict system.* There is, as we all know,
no safety in extremes, and it is quite as probable
that the state of affairs in Ireland may have be©n
overrated, as it is that undue blame has been
attached to the painstaking and laborious
director of our convict prisons. It would not be
fair to suppose that were Sir WALTER CROFTON

established in authority here, he could with one
wave of a harlequin's wand cause our criminal po-
pulation to disappear, and a band of honest men to
spring up in their place ; neither is it just to blame
our English authorities too severely if such a de-
sirable transformation has not taken place under
their management. Still the question remains—ls
the present system the best calculated to insure the
safety of the public, and promote the reformation of
the offender ? The answer is unhappily found in
the notorious insecurity of life and property, and
the universal dissatisfaction of our heavily-taxed
community. Without advocating a bouleveraement
of all present arrangements which, in dealing with
such a class, might occasion great risks, we do
think that there is urgent need of considerable alte-
rations and increased stringency in enforcing the
rules. Mr. GIBSON is himself a prison chaplain
and has been so for the seven years during which
the new system has been in force, and must there-
fore be allowed to speak with some authority. He
condemns the intermediate prisons and police super-
vision in toto, but it is not very clear upon what
grounds. He complains that the men at Lusk do not

afford a fair sample of the convicts ; but he forgets
that Sir W, CROFTON expressly states that only
the best are admitted to Lusk. He further remarks
that those employed at the intermediate stations
might as well be discharged altogether, and cen-
sures Sir W. CROFTON'S wish to " pat them in the
way of temptation." If we understand him rightly,
however, Sir WALTER CROFTON referred only to the
temptations incidental to liberty, and not to any
special dangers being placed in the convict's way.
With regard to the police supervision, it has doubt-
less many painful and invidious features, still it is
difficult to see how the ticket-of-leave system can
be anything but a mockery without it. If no
check is placed upon him, what is to prevent the
discharged convict from changing his name and
locality, and at once betaking himself to his old
trade. A "ticket-of-leave" is with us too often
synonymous with a total discharge. It is true
that if tried for a second offence the previous mis-
conduct may weigh against him, but that Sir
WALTER CROFTON was right in his remark that

the e -)nditions on the back of the ticket are never
enforced in England is proved by the recent decla-
rations of a Judge on the bench, who declared he
had frequently seen men convicted—let out
—reconvicted for a short time, and again dis-
charged before the term of theirfirstthe punishmentsentencehad
expired. Thus for two offences
received was less than the sentence thought
propEr for one. And this leads us to one point
which it is highly important should be immediately
altered in our present management, and in which
an improvement can happily be carried into effect
without any startling change. We do not propose
the total abolition of the ticket of leave system, but
let all sentences remain 103 fixed by the judge, de-
pendent only upon the prisoner's good conduct.
We are aware that such is nominally the case
at present, but we apprehend that it is very
seldom, if under any circumstances, that a sen-
tence of 15 or 20 years is carried into effect. If
the granting of tickets of leave were less a matter
lof course—if the prisoner felt that, without ex-
ceptional good conduct on his part, his term of
imprisonment would not be shortened by a day—
the results, we believe, would be productive of

* Irish Convict Reform. By an Irish Prison Chaplain.
MiGlashan and Gill, Dublin.

good inside the prison wails, as well as our.
With regard to the separate system, we fully
agree with Mr. GIBSON that it requires most
delicate and careful management, but when he
speaks so strongly of the hardship of enforcing
idleness by only allowing oakum picking, he is
possibly not aware that, in some of our county
prisons, oakum picking is the only work supplied to
prisoners under sentence of hard labour. "Four
months of idleness or oakurnpicking," says Mr.
GIBSON, "is too much for any rational being. It is
like placing the mind on a treadmill for four months
where there is motion without progression." Still
in our humane desire to reform the offender we
must not forget that severity is a necessary in-
gredient, especially at first, when the mind is
hardened and the temper most probably sullen and
resentful. We do not attribute the schoolmaster's
difficulty in the early stages of teaching
to the enforced idleness complained of by
Mr. GIBSON, but to the disinclination and
inaptitude produced by the man's whole previous
life. "Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute," is a
maxim whose application to learning none will
dispute. "In the first month the progress is least;
in the last, when he has rational employment i❑
his cell, it is greatest." This would, probably, be
found to be the result if the conditions were re-
versed, as every teacher must be aware of the
greater proportionate advance of elder pupils.
We cannot, it will be seen, subscribe to
all Mr. GIBSON'S arguments. He is no
doubt quite right in preaching caution with re-
gard to violent changes or a wnolesale abuse of the
present system. With his tribute to the personal
merits of Sir JOSHUA JEBB we heartily concur, but
we are not so ready to take part in his wholesale
depreciation of Sir WALTER CROFTON. Let careful
consideration be given to this important question,
let both these gentlemen give us the benefit of their
personal experience and convictions, and let us nei-
ther be too rash in the adoption of hasty measures
nor too proud to learn from the better success of
others. The open discussion of every side of a
question, the consideration of the pros and cons
which belong to every measure, will be the best
security against unnecessary innovation or obstinate
adhesion to unprofitable systems.

MI. EINGLBRE'S LIBELS.