The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-11 00:00:00

HIGH-ROPE PERFORMANCES,

M. Blondin, in a letter to a contemporary, says :---
"Having observed with deep regret the account of the

fatal accident to Madame Genevieve, at Aston-park, Bir-
mingham, I beg to trouble you with a few remarks upon
the subject, which I should feel obliged by your inserting.
"Every accident which has befallen rope-walkers is
attributable entirely to their own want of knowledge and
experience of the profession they were engaged in. Over a
period of 33 years I have never met with a solitary aocident
worth recounting, and I attribute this fact solely to the
personal care which I have always exercised in the security
of my ropes, and a conviction of their strength and the
material of which they were composed being in every way
sound and properly tested before ascending.
Messrs. Frost Brothers, of London, are the manufacturers
of all the ropes which I have in use, and they have always
been tested by steam power before delivery to me, so that
from the ropes breaking in my case there would be little or
no chance of accident ; but it is not only this precaution
which could avail where a total ignorance of the art of
"rope-walking" exists, as in the case of the myriad pre-
tenders at present in the metropolis and elsewhere, staling
themselves the "rivals of Blondin," &c. It is these inex-
perienced persons who have brought rope-walking into
such disrepute, and induced managers and proprietors of
public places of amusement to engage upon low terms
imitators who were certain sooner or later to meet with
fatal accidents. It is not my intention to remain much
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performances,e lci contenting
etnoti dog
which have been sanctioned by the highest patronage and
endorsed by the good opinion of millions of spectators in
all parts of the world.

"I must again apologize for troubling you with this, but
I was anxious to express my opinion in reference to the
recent fatal accident, and felt that I could not do so through
a better medium than your valuable journal,"

THE ARCHDUKE MAXIMILIAN. —The Archduke
Ferdinand William Joseph was born on the 6th
July, 1832, so that he is now 31 years of age. Re is a
brother of the Emperor of Austria and son of the Archduke
Francis Charles Joseph. He is a vice-admiral, a member
of the admiralty council, commaxdant of the Austrian navy,
proprietor of the Bth regiment of Austrian Lancers, and
head of the 3d Prussian regiment of the Neumark dragoons.
He married on the 27th July, 1857, the daughter of the
King of the Belgians. The Archduke Maximilian was
governor-general of the Lombardo• Venetian kingdom until
1859.

Lord and Lady Rokeby and Hon. Miss Montagu
will leave Portman-square in the course of the week for a
tour ire Wales. They interd afterwards to proceed to Swit-
zelland, and contemplate passing the winter in Italy.
BELGItAVE LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTI-
TIITION.—The first of a new course of lectures was
delivered on Monday evening, in the lecture-hall, by Mr.
Joseph Simpson, the subject being "Henry VIII., with
Sketches of his Six Wives." Mr. Simpson reviewed
Henry's early life, and pourtrayed the incidents attending
his several marriages, glancing at the characters and exe •
cutions of his Queens, and the learned men of his reign.
The lecturer concluded with a graphic but truthful sum-
mary of Henry's character, the interest of his remarks
being much increased by the exhibition of photographs,
from original paintings, of this "Blue Beard of English
history" and all his six wives.

A CURIOUS ACClDENT.—Recounted in Lord Stanley
of Alderley's late Post-e1:6.30 Report, as having befallen ono
of the pillar letter-boxes at Montrose :—" The street gas-
pipes having been opened for the purpose of examination
and repair, an escape took place, and some of the gas
found its way into the letter-box. The night watchman,
to light his pipe, struck a match on the top of the box,
when a violent explosion took place, forcing out the door,
and doing other damage, but fortunately causing no injury
either to the watchman or the letters.'

ALEXANDRE DUMAS FILS !—L'Enfant Prodigue
Literraire!—Rumour is full of news just now on
the subject of young Dumas and his now comedy, " L'Aini
des Femmes." They say he is going to take the world by
surprise, that the witty author has turned over a new leaf,
and that, far from following in the wake of " La Dame aux
Camelias" and "Le Detui-Monde," his new system of cha-
racter will be confined to the most strait-laced and punctilious
morality. He is going to pay society his ame2ide honorable.
The hero of his piece is a most virtuous philospher, as
amiable and fascinating as Alcibiades,lbut who employs all
his attractions, not to delude and injure, but to fortify and
protect all the pretty women he finds in his way. We have
seen young Rochester senora' times under the table, says
the Curt Journal in announcing this transformation, now
we are going to see him in the pulpit.
A WORKING MAN'S HOLIDAY—as described in
the Saturday Revietv.—The only notion of working
men bent on an excursion, and left to themselves, is to get
as far away from home as possible, and to travel as great
a distance as they can for a little money. They heap them-
selves together in the stifling atmosphere of a cheap train,
and spend three parts of day on the railroad, half choked
with dust and smoke, only to find themselves more wearied
on their return than they would have been if they had kept
to their usual employment. At the distance of a dozen miles
they might find pure air, pleasant scenery, and peace.
They prefer going a couple of hundred for the sake of
sitting before the sea, jaded and worn out for about half an
hour. The mechanic is, in fact, an object calling forth
the compassion of every feeling man when he is thus
fagging, pale and exhafisted, in the pursuit of pleasure.
When he is followed by a tired wife, and children hardly
able to drag themselves along--a common spectacle near
London on a Sunday night in summer—itis;impossible to
avoid wishing that some kind soul would give him a lesson
or two in the art of making good use of his leisnre hours.
He is no manager of his own time, so rarely is he called
upon to use it for his own purposes. He is so accustomed to
routine that the absence of it half confuses him. And hence
he is generally very well satisfied if he reaches home very
much exhausted, and feels the effect of his holiday for the
next two or three days.
THE QUICKEST PASSAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
—The Scotia, belonging to the British and North
American Royal Mail Ship Company, on her last voyage to
New York, made the fastest run which is on record. She
left Liverpool on the ISth of July, and made the passage t 3
Now York in nine days, two hours, and fifteen minutes,
beating the fastest passage previously made by nine hours
and forty-five minutes. The two quickest passages previ-
ously made were by the Persia, in nine days, twelve hours,
and ten minutes, from Liverpool to New York, and the
Baltic, in nine days twelve hours.
GREAT FIRE IN LlVERPOOL.—Yesterday morn-
a rice mill in Pownall-street, Liverpool, belonging to
Messrs. Heap and Son, was destroyed by fire, the loss o f
stock and machinery being estimated at £20,000, which. will
however be covered by insurance. Ono of tho
story of the tho fire policy
was severely injured by falling from laird the
mill.
THE LONG VACATION. —The long vacation
.
properly so-called, commenced. yesterday, and will con-
tinue as prescribed by the Uniformity Acts until the 24th
of
October next. During that period all pleadings and pro-
ceedings in actions commenced and pending can neither bo
dated, filed, nor delivered. In the meantime all actions
provisions
of rosy
the
Common
Law
may be commenced and persons held to bail where it is
shown to the satisfaction of a judge that the debtor is about
to v also be taken in
cases
thePrpo
is
Procedure Act.
lea
Doming
t o
within

DEATH OF SIR F. SLADE, BART., Q.C.—WELLS,
Aug. 10.—A heavy gloom has been thrown over
the Western Circuit in consequence of a special messenger
having arrived in this city yesterday morning with intelli-
gence that Sir F. Slade had died in his bed. The learned
counsel had conducted a case in the Nisi Prins Court hero
o n Friday with his usual vigour and ability, and apparently
in robust health. Having concluded his day's work, he
retired to his country seat at Maunsel, near Bridgewater;
in the evening he complained of fatigue, and on Saturday
morning ho called in a medical friend, but there was not
much the matter. He went to bed rather early on Saturday
night, and about 11 o'clock Lady Slade, who was by hie
side, discovered that he had ceased to exist. As far as we
have at present heard, his death was caused by apoplexy.
Sir Frederick had been on the Western Circuit between 30
and 40 years. Ile went through the usual gradations of the
profession, and became a most successful defender of prisoners.
As time rolled on he emerged from the criminal into the civil
court, and then was called within the bar as a Q.C. Ilia
peculiar style was that of great honesty and openness, ac-
companied by great humour, which soon gained him a con-
siderable practice, He was a most zealous and untiring
advocate, and greatly incensed when he discovered any•
thing dishonest or disreputable, and sparing not the highest
in his remarks in the discharge of his duties. His sincerity,
good nature, and jocularity had gained for him the love
and regard of his compeers, and no man stood higher at the
Bar in the esteem end respect of those who occupied the
bench, many of whom bad in their time laboured with him.
His career has now ended, but his memory will be held in
kind remembrance by every man who kuew him. The de-
mated baronet was 60 years of age, and leaves a numerous
family to lament his loss, all of whom, with the exception
of Ley Slade and his youngest son, were absent.
His
eldest eon, Captain Frederick Slade, on whom the title de-
volves, arrived just too late to see his lamented father.
Constantinople letters and journals to the 30th
of July have reached us, but their contents are
not of much importance. The alleged pro-
bability of a change of Ministry is said to
have originated in certain differences of opi-
nion between Fuad paella, the Grand Vizier,
and Halil-Pacha, who conducts the Ministry
of War, relative to a concentration of troops
at Schumla. Although Officially contradicted, the
modification spoken of Was not altogether dis-
, believed in the Turkish capital, and a certain
alarm was felt there at the idea of Fuad Pitch%
withdrawing firm the head of the Government,