The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-14 00:00:00

RUSSIA.

The following is a translation of the article in
the Journal de St. Petersbour[J of the 9th Septem-
ber, a telegraphic summary of which has already
appeared :—" We have more than once pointed out
the maneaavres of some organs of the press to drive
public opinion into a path which can only lead to
deception. Thus, when the second despatches of
the three Courts respecting the affairs of Poland
were forwarded to St. Petersburg, the foreign news-
papers vied with each other in promulgating a report
that the Russian Government accepted the proposi-
tions made to it with some insignificant modifica-
tions. Hopes were thus engendered which were not
iu keeping with the real state of affairs, and when
the truth became known the inevitable explana-
tions which followed were turned to account in
the most hostile manner by the very men who had
propagated the rumours. At the time we warned
our reader to be cautious in believing them. We
fulfil a similar duty to-day by putting them on their
guard against rumours of a similar nature. The
foreign press is launching forth into the wildest
conjectures respecting the projects of the Russian
Government as regards Poland and Germany.
Radical reforms are spoken of, which are to be inG
mediately introduced into the kingdom of the em-
pire ; new alliances are hinted at respecting the
affairs of Germany. The conclusions which are
drawn from them are as false as the premises. The
position taken by the St. Petersburg Cabinet rela-
tive to the affairs of Poland, in accordance with
the unanimous sentiment of Russia, iG perfutly
clear, and there is not anything to indicate an inch
nation to deviate from ir. The sentiments of the
Sovereign
towards his Polish subjects have not
undergone any change. But, in his solicitude for
their welfare, his Majesty has declared that he con
sidered it his first duty to proceed to the re-estab
lishwent of material order. The experience of the
:I'l that in-
last two years has sufficiently proved that nothing
solid can be erected upon ground upset by anarchi-
cal passions. As regards the diplomatic question,
the Imperial Government remains resolved to fulfil
unGewrmitahn
its international obligations, but also to maintain
the rights of Russia within the limits of treaties.
Pe‘t‘eArssburreggthe St.
et
followsaffairs ot
them
terest which they deserve; but also with that
benevolent reserve which appertains to its tra
ditions and to its interests. Russia can but
wish for the union and strength of Germany on the
acrdasbinthe
basis of the rights and interests of all the States of
which it consists. She has no more need to provide
against dangers which might result for her than
Germany has to guard against dangers coming from
Russia. The rumours which have been circulated
are, therefore, unfounded. They twit.y...
extreme
levity, if not malicious premeditation, At all events,
they can only serve to mislead public opinion, and
for our part we think that the mission of the
journalist is not to participate in an error with a
view to certain objects of political cleverness, but
to endeavour sincerely to ascertain and honestly to
declare the truth."

MODERN ARTILLERY.—In this journal the atten.
tion of the Government authorities has been called
to the Parrott and Dahigren guns. The
constructed cannon of calibres which to us
iaigma ienr ac
an
nd s a
hg
aa
vi ne
are known only as of theoretical and probable attainment,
and they have armed batteries hundreds of miles horn their
arsenals with the most powerful guns ever used in war,
which have been carried by sea and in stormy waters to the
enemy's shores. Before such projectiles as these gunscarry
the breaching of masonry, whether of brick or stone, is but
a questionp o
to record that our scientific officers are of
gun for breaching purposes is the old
Why, we know what that can do. We
6 opinionB
obliged
und that e rof
our best short time, And in the face of these facts we
are
know that at 3,510 yards its fire would be about as
effectual as that of Mons Meg. These trials at 200 yards
are perfectly fatuous, if no other results than these, or such
as these, be gained by them. It is of no use saying Sum-
ter was of brick; it was at least as good weak as moss
of our existing fortifications, and infinitely less easy "to
splinter up" than a work of granite or rubble masonry. In
substance e e
s t
o f h the beach at Hythe. Have we any gun which could breach
n
500 yards ? Do, pray, gentlemen of the
oti
e very
at
3 Much resembled our martello towers on
Ordnance committee bestir yourselves, and get us a gun
with such results. Let Mr.Whitworth or SirW. Armstrong,
Capt. Pallisser, Capt. Blakeley, Mr. Bashley Britten, Mr.
Thomas, any one, give us a gun as good and as cheap as
the Parrott to begin with, and then we can rest content
while you are going on with your experiments. One
thing is certain—that any forts which may be assailed by
such artillery as the Americans have employed at Sumter
must be faced with iron plates. We are yet in doubt as to
the mode in which stone works can be coated with iron, but
it is obvious that mere masonry will not stand unprotected
against the heaviest order of rifled projectiles. Do not let us
pooh-pooh the Americans. If we are wise it is the last thing
we ought to do. Our artillerists think they are wrong in the
matter of the Dahigren guns ; for breaching purposes they
may be, but unquestionably the Admiralty would be rather
nervous about the result of firing a 4501 b. shot against the
stele of the Warrior, at 200 yards' distance, notwithstanding
the experiments which seemed to indicate that large shot
with comparatively low charges of powder were inefficient.
The authorities have had no experience of the effect of such
shot as Ddhlgrens propel. They have not the guns to d,s-
charge them, When next the Ordnance officers and gentle-
men meet let them apply their minds to the little experi-
meats the Americans have been making for their benefit at
Sumter, It is astounding to see what progress has been
made in artillery since the Crimean war. It is undeniable
that the establishment of a few of Brigadier Gillmore's bat-
teries before Sebastopol, on Oct. 17, 1851, instead of the
" tremendous armament" of which Lord Granville boasted,
would have "knocked the place into a cocked hat" in 24
hours.--Army and _Navy
Gazette.
THE FRENCH IRON-CLAD FRIGATE MAGENTA.
—The France publishes the following naval moms The
iron-clad frigate Magenta has just terminated her experi
mental trips at Brest in presence of the commission presided
over by Commandant Dieudonne, and they have been com-
pletely successful. On the 9th she took on board 300 seamen
and officers, and went into the roadstead. On the following
morning she left for Cherbourg to take part in the move-
ments which are to take place there. The Magenta is, like
the Solferino, armed with a spur, and great interest conse•
quently attaches to the manoeuvres she will go through."
TERRIBLE INCREASE OF FAUPERISISI. The
annual report of the Poor Law Board, shows that during
the last year, which ended March 25th, 1862, the sum of
£6,077,927 was expended tOr the relief of the poor, being an
increase of 4298,961 as compared with the year preceding.

DRURY LANE THEATRE,

The winter season of this national establishment
commenced on Saturday evening, under the
management of Messrs. Falconer and Chatterton.
Although in the company the names of many of the
favourites of last season are not to be found, yet
amongst those already engaged by the combined
management we have Messrs. Walter Lacy, Ryder,
Addison, G. Belmore, Charles, Barrett, and Neville,
Misses C. Saunders, Murray, Rose Leclerq, Mrs.
Melville, and Mrs. Edmund Falconer. Mr. Phelps
is also under engagement to Messrs. Falconer and
Chatterton, and the piece in preparation for this
gentleman is Lord Byron's tragedy of Manfred,
which is to be produced with extraordinary splen-
dour. The opening piece on Saturday was a three-
act comedy from the pen of Mr. Falconer, entitled
entitled " Nature's above Art," the plot of which
is certainly neither brief nor simple. On the
contrary, it is difficult, nay almost impossible, to see
the intention of the author, yet as nearly as we
could make it out it is as follows. An elderly
country gentleman, one Mr. Mordaunt, residing in
Warwickshire, is awaiting the return of his son
Edgar from his travels, when, through the mysteri-
ous hints of a certain romantic chambermaid, one
Sally Stiggins, we begin to imagine the above men-
tioned Edgar is not that personage. This impres-
sion is strengthened when we find that Mr. Edgar,
instead of applying the proceeds of the large cheques
he has been in the habit of receiving from Mr.
Mordaunt in improving his intellectual capacities,
has been squandering them in low life and dissipation
with a member of the P.R., one Bill Puddick, and
another individual, a little more polished but not
less unscrupulous, a Mr. Meander Wilderspoon.
Before the conclusion of the first act the doubt re-
lative to Edgar being Mordaunt's son becomes a
certainty, and then arrives an interesting young
lady, Miss Ellen Lacy, with a companion and
schoolfellow, Blanche Maydew,at the Squire's home.
Blanche is a foundling, and when the old man en-
deavours to recollect where he has seen her before,
we begin to suspect that she is the personage whose
arrival is so anxiously lcoked for. In the second
act we expect to find the identity of Blanche
Maydew established, but it is not so, and again we
are left to puzzle ourselves who the " real Simon
Pure" is. We now learn that just at the time
Squire Mordaunt's lady became a mother, Mrs.
Stiggins, a domestic in the service, also gave birth
to a daughter, and both infants being females, we
are informed by the housekeeper that a change of
babies took place, and that the romantic and heroic
Sally Stiggins is no other than the daughter of
Squire Mordannt. Sally now assumes high impor-
tance, and the once wealthy Edgar now sinks into
comparative poverty, at the same time his name, of
course, changes from that of high sounding Mordaunt
to that of vulgar Stiggins. Sally, now a lady, finds
she cannot stoop to marry Edgar Stiggins, and not-,
withstanding the appeals of her once adored lover,
she gives him the cold shoulder. All seems going
on satisfactorily when a Mr. Oldacre arrives at the
hall, and he creates the utmost consternation by his
informing them that the child, imagined to be a
girl, Was in fact a bey ; then the fortunes of Sally
begin to decline, and Edgar thinks there's yet a
chance left for him. The complicated matter, how-
ever, is taken in hand in the third act by the house-
keeper, and she calls in an aged nurse who
declares that a mistake has been made about
the change, that the son of Squire Mordaunt is n
other than Meander Wilderspoon, who, during the
action of the piece, has become a penitent and re-
formed gentleman, and whose identity can be esta-
blished by the mark of a pickled walnut (!)on his left
arm. Blanche Maydew turns out to be the last
daughter of Mr. Oldacre, and everything ends to the
satisfaction of all parties engaged in the play, if not
to those who have been witnessing its representa-
tion "before the curtain." We must say that great
perplexity evidently prevailed amongst the
audience, and they seemed inclined to agree in the
Opinion expressed by BillPuddiek,when he exclaimed
"I'm blessed if I know who's who, or what's what."
Mr. Lacy, Mr. Addison, Mr. Ryder, and Mr. G.
Belmore sustained capitally the respective parts of
.Meander Wilderspoon, Bill Puddick, Squire Mor-
daunt, and Edgar; whilst Miss Charlotte Saunders
as Sally Stiggins, and Mrs. Falconer as the souse-
keeper, acted with their accustomed spirit and
effect. The great fault of the piece is over-elabo-
ration, bat when the play has undergone the com-
pression that usually takes place after a first repre-
sentation there seems to be no reason why
"Nature's above Art" should not become attrac-
tive, notwithstanding its peculiar construction.
The good old Lyceum farce, " A Day welt Spent,"
in which in former days poor Wrench and Oxberry
used in the old time to delight the public, brought the
entertainments to a very satisfactory conclusion.
Mr. Falconer received a very hearty and enthu-
siastic welcome on his appearing before the curtain
to acknowledge the honour of " a and every
person present seemed to be animated with the wish
and desire that his present season may result in a
solid and substantial success.