The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-24 00:00:00

the first thought on such voyages—neither fine
sailing nor short voyages, bat the safety of the
vessel and her freight. In the meantime we
must be thankful that we have not now to deplore
the loss of any human lives along with the good
ship which has gone down in the mighty St.
Lawrence.

Casts of People Dead 1,800 Years Ago,
NEWLY TAKEN FROM THE RUINS OF POMPEII.

The correspondent of our chief morning contemporary
has recently given the following graphic picture of the
horrors of that fearful 24th of August, seventeen hundred
and forty years ago, when a fearful eruption swallowed up
Herculaneum and Pompeii, the latter within 16 years of its
rebuilding—" There are now boulevards around Pompeii,
and a road is being made for the carts to convey rubbish in
the direction of the amphitheatre. From the top of those
boulevards the visitor has a view of the whole city, and can
form a tolerably correct idea of the interior of the
houses uncovered. Excavations are now going on
on two eminences near the Temple of Isis, and
the house called Abondonza. Our inspection was
closely confined to the former site, where in a
house situated in a narrow street recently opened, we saw
several bodies, or rather forms of bodies, which now attract
universal attention. The unfortunate inhabitants of this
house fell, not on the bare ground, but on heaps of pumice
stones, and were covered to a great depth by torrents of
ashes and scoria, under which they have lain for nearly
2,000 years. One day, inside a house, amid fallen roofs
and ashes, the outline of a human body was perceived, and
M. Fiorelli, the chief of the works for excavation, soon
ascertained that there was a hollow under the surface. He
accordingly made a small hole through its covering, and
filled it up with liquid plaster of Paris, as if it were a mould.
The result was that he obtained a complete plaster statue of a
Romanlady of the first century of the Christian era. Close by
were found the remains of a man, another woman, and a
girl, with 91 pieces of silver money; four earrings and a
finger-ring, all gold; two iron keys, and evident remains
of a linen bag or purse. The whole of those bodies have
been carefully moulded in plaster. The first body dis-
covered was a woman lying on her right side, with
her limbs contracted, as if she had died in convulsions.
The form of the head-dress and the hair are quite distinct.
On the bone of the little finger were two silver rings; and
with this body were the remains of the purse above men-
tioned with the money and keys, The girl was found in
an adjoining room, and the plaster mould taken of the
cavity clearly shows the tissue of her dress. By her
side lay an elderly woman, who had an iron ring on
her little finger. The last personage I shall describe was
a tall, well-made man, lying full length. The plas-
ter distinctly shows his form, the folds of his gar-
ment, his torn sandals, his beard and hair. I contemplated
these human forms with an interest which defies expres-
sion. It is evident that all these unfortunates had made
great efforts to escape destruction. The man appears to
have perished in a vain attempt to rescue the terrified
women, who thought they could be nowhere so safe as in
their own home, and hoped that the fiery tempest would
soon cease. From the money and keys found with the body
of the first woman, she was probably the mistress of the
house and the mother of the girl. The slender bones
of her arms and legs and the richness of her head-
dress seemed to indicate a woman of noble race. From
the manner in which her hands were clenched she
evidently died in great pain. The girl does not
appear to have suffered much. From the appearance of the
plaster mould it would seem that she fell from terror as she
was running with her skirts pulled over her head. The
other woman, from the largeness of her ear, which is well
shown by the plaster, and the iron ring on her finger, evi-
dently belonged to a lower class, and was probably a ser-
vant of the family. The man appears to have been struck
by lightning, for his straightened limbs show no signs of
a death-struggle. It is impossible to imagine a more
affecting scene than the one suggested by these silent
figures; nor have I ever heard of a drama so heart-rending
as the story of this family of the last days of Pompeii."
THE EXHIBITION BUILDING.

Mr. Hunt's report, explanatory of the estimate of the
cost of completing the Exhibition building at Kensington-
gore, has just been published. It is dated 19th June, 1863,
and gives a general outline of the nature of the works com-
prised in his estimates and specifications. After mention-
ing the substantiality of the picture gallery, and the plan
to make it fire-proof by Fox and Barrett's principle, he
states :

"The remainder of the buildings are partly permanent
and partly temporary in their construction. The iron
columns and girders and the iron trusses of the roofs will
remain permanently, with some adjustments and modifica-
tions. The timbers of the roofs, as well as the skylights,
are, with the exception of the roofs over the nave and
transepts, of a temporary character, and it is proposed to
remove them, substituting new timbers with a cover-
ing of slate of marine metal The skylights will be entirely
new, and the glass in them will be of the quality known as
the 21-ounce sheet. The roofs over the nave and transept
will be slated. All the gutters throughout will be lined
with lead ; and the skylights, frames, /Ages, and hips will
be covered with lead. The joists and floorboards of the
galleries will be removed, and substantial new floors will be
substituted. The whole of the ground floors throughout the
entire building will be removed. A layer of concrete 12
inches thick will then be laid over the whole surface, and a
new floor constructed with new materials. The joists will
be of the best fir timber; the sleepers will be of oak, on
pioper brick walls, built on the concrete platform before de-
scribed, and the floor boards will be 1 inch thick, planed,
and put together with iron tongues. All the ceilings
throughout, except the nave and transept, will be plastered,
as will also all the brick walls within the building. A com-
plete system of drainage:was constructed when the buildings
were erected. They will, however, require to be repaired,
and in parts relaid.

"With regard to the den es it is proposed to build piers
of brickwork, upon solid concrete foundations, and to con-
struct brick arches, springing from these piers. The lower
portion of the domes will then be filled in with brickwork,
oovered externally with lead, and the upper portion will be
glazed with thick glass. '1 he interior parts of the brick-
work, including the piers and arches, will be plastered. It
is not proposed to remove the ironwork, but to build it in
with the brickwork."

Regarding the exterior of the building on its three sides,
he proposes that the existing outlines should be preserved,
with such an amount of decoration introduced as may be
consistent with the purposes to which the building is to be
applied. The material to be employed to be Portland
cement. These, he says, are the most important works,
but there are others of a minor description, the cost of all
which, however, is covered by his estimate, and he has a
confident belief that the estimate for the warming and ven-
tilating apparatus, which is only approximate, will not be
exceeded.

Mr, Roebuck's Interview with the Emperor.

The Paris correspondent of the Times writes :
" Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Roebuck came over to Paris
on Monday morning. They proceeded forthwith
to Fontainbleau. Mr. Lindsay asked for an audience
for himself and Mr. Roebuck. It was instantly
granted, and both gentlemen were received by his
Majesty most graciously. The conversation lasted
some time, and the Emperor declared in the most
formal manner that he entertained the same views
as before with respect to the civil war in
America; that he was desirous again to inter-
pose his good offices, and equally desirous that
England should join him ; that he believed the
joint intervention of France and England would be
attended with good results; and that, in again pro-
posing to England to act with him, he was moved
by no unfriendly feeling towards the North—quite
the contrary. His only motive was to put a stop to
the horrible carnage in America, the more so as it
was productive of no results; and the more to be
deplored as there was no chance of restoring the
Union.

" A statement made many months ago to the effect
that the Emperor had proposed to England to join
him in mediation between the belligerents was con-
tradicted, and, if I am not mistaken, in Parliament.
I may now mention that the Emperor, in his con-
versation with the two gentlemen yesterday, com-
pletely corroborated that statement. He declared
that he did propo_e mediation at the time specified;
and, perhaps, I am not going too far in saying that
Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Roebuck have authority for
declaring in Parliament that what was then stated,
respecting the offer of mediation, was perfectly
correct, and that be felt much regret it was not
acted upon. Such is, I have reason to believe, the
substance of the conversation that took place yes-
terday at Fontainbleau."

THE MARRIAGE OF THE Due DE CIIARTRES.—
The annexed letter, in reply to an address of con-
gratulation, to her Majesty Queen Marie Amelie, from the
inhabitants of Esher, on the occasion of the marriage of her
grandchildren, the Dec de Chartres and the Princess Fran-
coise d'Orleans, has been received:—" Edinburgh, June 15,
1853.—Sir,—Words can hardly express deep emotions. Let
me nevertheless send you these few lines of broken English,
and try to tell you the gratitude of my wife and myself for
the kind feeling evinced in so many ways by the inhabitants
of Esher on the occasion of our marriage. The citizens of a
free countrywill never understand what exile is, You cannot,
therefore, know how truly such demonstrations of cordial
regards have g. no io our hearts. I beg you will accept for
yourself and those around you this impression of our grati-
tude, and believe me, sir, ever truly yours, ROBERT
D'OELEAIsTS, Duc de Chartres,—To W. G. Brett, Esq.,
Sandown-house, Esher,"