The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-06 00:00:00

i these " seven" dwindled down to " one" only, in
another account of this redoubtable maritime
" brush" with the Confederate gunners. It looks
for all the world like FALSTAFF'S men-in-
buckram story reversed. Fort Hudson be-
ing the Gad's Hill of the Federals. Every-
thing considered, it seems most probable that
if the North gained anything at all in the way of
success at Port Hudson, it was of comparative in-
significance. Commodore FARRAGIIT—the FAL -
STAFF of the occasion—it is even said by one of the
latest Federal narratives of the occurrence, had
alone succeeded in crossing the Mississippi—pass-
ing Port Hudson in solitary state in the Hartford.
In any case the Mississippi was burnt. In any case the
Northern gunboats—most of them, if not all—were
repulsed with considerable damage. Nevertheless,
if we are to suppose that the Hartford even alone
has made good her way—the position she would
thereby have assumed, the Confederates in those
parts would find to be one in its influence and in
its evil consequences probably very formidable
indeed; in any case very unsatisfactory. The
Hartford being a steam frigate of great power
and capabilities generally, would be enabled, even
if afloat there unaided, beyond Port Hudson, to cut
off the supplies anxiously awaited, by the garrison
at Vicksburg, fr3m Texas and Louisiana. Yet
there are ships of war, too, in the Southern navy
that, if opportunely directed in concert against the
isolated Hartford, would bring even the flagship of
Commodore FARRAGUT to grief
It is a reminder of the enterprise of the Confede-
rates of late, that not so very long ago, and there
were no batteries of any kind at Port Hudson : the
Mississippi being commanded uninterruptedly by a
Federal squadron at Cairo aforesaid, and by another
Federal squadron at New Orleans—commanded
altogether, in point of fact, right and left, saving
only at Vicksburg. Now, on the contrary, before
Vicksburg could be got at, there are or were those
Port Hudson batteries to be passed, and passed with
no little difficulty (even if they have yet been
passed), by the Hartford, under the flag of the Fede-
ral Commodore. Supposing we repeat that the
Hartford should really turn out to have passed
them, about the utmost advantage thereby
gained to the Northern cause by the move-
ment, would be the interruption of the supplies
brought to Vicksburg down the Red River. Vicks-
burg all the while remaining untouched as yet as
the point of importance upon those banks, almost
we might call them those shores, of the mighty
Mississippi. By ingeniously circamv enting the
garrison and reducing them thereby to a more than
ever perilous, because a more than ever complete,
isolation, the Federals may, it is thoughts
be jeopardising Vicksburg in the rear—by
conveying gunboats thither along the channels of
the daring canals cut in that direction at all
hazards. Whether this really is or is not as stated,
a very little time now must demonstrate. Possibly
the next mail will clear up all doubts upon the
matter, and will reveal to us the actual position of
affairs in regard to Vicksburg.

THE LATE MR. EGG, R.A.

The annual meeting of the Royal General Thea.
,rical Fund is always interesting. The 'ready

and animation natural to the members of the dramatio

profession, added to that genial kindliness and quick

sympathy for the unfortunate EO common among
their class, generally invest the speeches on this

occasion with an attraction for superior to the ord

nary discourses at anniversary festivals. The
eighteenth of these reunions took place on Saturday
evening, in the Freemasons' Hall, under the able
presidency of Mr. CHARLES DICKENS, who kindly
supplied the place of Mr. WILKIE COLLINS, un-
avoidably absent through illness. It happened to
be the third time that Mr. DICKENS had filled the
chair on these occasions, and his brilliant and sen-

Bible speech showed that his feeling for the cause
was as warm as ever. His testimony to the public
benefits conferred by the drama—to its softening
and humanising influence—was as true as it was
cordial. Often had it been his pleasure, said the
Chairman, to take his seat nest some grim and
sour looking person, and watch the gradual thaw-

ing of his frozen visage under the mellowing power
of truth and nature. It is a right good thing, as

Mr: DICKENS quaintly put it, for the vast and
varied life of London through all the varying de-
grees of stalls, boxes, pit, and gallery to meet on
one common ground of sympathy, instruction, and
interest. " You may depend upon it," said the
humorous moralist, " You may depend that the
very best among us are very often bad com-
pany for ourselves. I know I am very often, and
that in bringing us out of that, and that in keeping
his company, and that in showing us ourselves in a
thousand changing forms of fancy, the actor—all
the solemn humbugs on the earth to the contrary
notwithstanding renders a high and an inesti-
mable service to the community every night of his
life. I say, the feeling peculiar to a theatre is—as
is well known to everybody here as it is to me—
of having for an hour or two quite forgotten the
real world, and of coming out into the street with
a kind of wonder that it should be wet, and dark,
and cold, and full of nothing but irreconcilable
cabs." The value of the theatre as a great agent of
public refinement and instruction is gradually be-
coming more widely acknowledged. The thoughtful
and reflective man who looks on life not as a misan-
thrope or a cynic, still less as a rigid theorist, sees in
it an enlarged application of that great princip e
which makes us teach children through pictures
rather than through words ; by the medium of
illustration and anecdote in preference to inculcat-
ing bare facts and systems. It is, in short, another
application of the old adage which tells us thnt
example is more powerful than precept, and there is
no question that the stage—duly regulated and
refined—might be a powerful engine for good. The
very persons to whom the theatre possesses the
irresistible fascinations—the young and excitable
and the unreflecting lower :classes—are the most
susceptible of its influences, and the moral con-
veyed through the clever representation of an effec-
tiveplay will be impressed on the mind with a force
and vivacity that few homilies could produce. Mr.
BIICKSTONE, in his animated and interesting address
last evening, related an anecdote which, though it
excited the laughter of the company, had yet a
touch of pathos. He said that many years ago,
when acting at Dumfries, he had been much struck
with the apparent enjoyment of the denizens of
the dress circle, whose attention never flagged,
and whose applause and laughter responded to
theli s
sect ler', PI
erni et
e a may
nbc ee
g
every point in
praisingthe
play.
e
t the dress circle'
had been almost entirely occupied by insane per-
sonsae on
ti mo a
the in e
manager,
l
when
negr, he learned that
whose doctor was giving them ahetrreea,
andt .The
influence of the stage reached even its
brains.ivid l eisns
coanps a could
eu
ofd begr
al esapri tin
the doctrines of books
e by the poor distracted
gd
or teachers. In truth, in this too serious world of
ours, good honest laughter is beneficial for us all,
We are growing somewhat morbid in our sentiment,
and overwrought in our expectations of universal
reform and education. We must take human
nature as it is if we would improve and
elevate it, and one of the means ready made to the
hand of the social reformer is the cultivation of
a frank and open-hearted spirit of cheerfulness.
Under its ounshide, discontent, envy, and malice

and may take for their motto the significant LATEST INTELLIGENCE
one of " semper paratus." Long may these volun-
teer reviews be continued to prove to timorous coca" (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)
patriots and insolent foreigners that there is no fear
of invasion, and that even if we should have the
misfortune to offend the prejudice or arouse the
jealousy of ether nations, still they cannot " exter-
minate" us. The next generation will have nothing
to thank their predecessors for, so much as the con-
stitution of this gallant force. They are a tower
strength in times of peace, and cne of the
chief strongholds and securities for the
continuance of that peace; while, if war is to come,
we know that they will be equal to the emergency,
" And stand a wall of fire around their much-loved isle."
The success of the Volunteers is also a proof of
what may be achieved by perseverance. It was by
slow degrees, by difficult attempts through hosts of
discouragements that they fought their way; and
the English people, whose homes they have laboured
to protect, should feel a lasting debt of gratitude to
be due to these countrymen of theirs who have pre-
' pared themselves for their high office by so much
sacrifice, and at the cost of so much exertion.

THE POLISH INSURRECTION.

CRACOW, APRIL 5.

A conflict took place this morning at Sz3ce, near

he frontier.
The Russians, although doable the number of
,heir opponents, were defeated.

ROME.

ROME, APRIL 5.

The Pope officiated to day at high mass, and gave
the benediction urbi et orbi. The French and Pon.

tifical armies were present on the occasion. The
weather was magnificent, an.l the concourse of
people immense, including a large number of
foreigners. His Holiness was cheered.

BRAZIL MAILS.

SOUTHAMPTON, APRIL 6.

The royal mail steamer Parana has arrived here
with the above mails, 168 passengers, £5,950 in
specie, 10 packages of diamonds, and 650 packages

of cargo.

The high rate of exchange at Buenos Ayres had
caused comparative stagnation in business.
In Saladero the prices of produce were giving
way, and considerable operations had been effected.
Sales since the commencement of the slaughter,
140,000 hides. Salted ox were quoted 37 to 40
reale ; cow, 33 reals. Wool market unchanged.
Exchange on England, 70s. to 715.; France, 884
to 89.

The death of this eminent painter in the prime of
life, while in the full vigour of his talents, and so
soon after attaining the honours of the Academy,
will be felt as a great loss to art, and long regretted
throughout a wide circle of friends. Although for
the last three years Mr. Egg had been a sufferer
from attacks of asthma, it Was not considered that
his life was endangered by that disease ; indeed,
he returned last summer from his first visit to
Algiers so much benefited that it was hoped he
would be able to resume his painting with all his
natural earnestness, and once more take his place
in the exhibition of the Academy, which had then
been twice vacant, and now is left so for ever. For
some time past he had been working at a picture
of an oriental subject, suggested by his residence at
Algiers; this was advancing successfully when
about three weeks before the 25th ult., the day of
his death, the oppression of the breath began to be
very painful; and, though he was attended by two
skilful physicians, it appeared that he had not
the stamina to bear up against the attack. The
beet consolation his friends in England can receive
is the assurance that while he lived at Algiers he
was surrounded by friends as warm and hearty in
their regard as those at home, and that to the last
he was nursed by the tenderest care of an
affectionate and devoted wife. It is inte-
resting to know also that the deepest sympathy
was shown on the occasion of the funeral, when
all the principal English residents, with the
British consul, Mr. Elmore, the brother of our dis-
tinguished academician, followed in the procession
to the New Cemetery, where, on the summit of a
noble bill, that rises above a wide and beautiful
vale, a spot had been chosen for the artist's tomb.
The Rev. Mr. Percival, the Englishinan resident at
Algiers, officiated.
Augustus Leopold Egg was the son of the Egg
who was famous as a rifle maker long before that
weapon was thought of for the soldier. He was
born in Piccadilly in 1816, and after showing some
early signs of his love for art, entered the academy
school in 1836, when he must have been, to some
extent, a painter, for we find him exhibiting at the
Suffolk-street Gallery in the same year, and again at
the British Institution. The pictures-he exhibited
then, however, were imaginary Italian subjects, for
he had not been in Italy until many years later,when
his talents, as well as his most genial disposition,
having made him the friend of Charles Dickens and
Wilkie Collins, he went with them as a companion.
His first pictures in the Academy were exhibited
in 1838, only one of which—" Sir Percy Shafton"—
we remember. Leslie being then Professor of
Painting, it was natural that Egg, who was always
an admirer of the high finish and the conversation
style of the Dutch school, should follow his teach-
ing. Thus we find him choosing subjects from
I " Gil Blas" and "Don Quixote." One of the best
of his early works, called "The Victim," a capital
bit of humour taken from the Diable boiteux, and
representing a dandy adventurer of the time, who
after having treated two fine ladies to a supper,
finds no money in his purse to pay for the luxuries,
will be remembered in the Vernon collection at
South Kensington,
with Camilla," and gel he
Blas exchanging the rings
Wooing of Katherine,"
were two pictures painted from 1544 to 1847 ; and
in 1848, the young painter made a sensation at the
Academy with his admirable work, " Queen Eliza-
beth discovering that she is no longer young," which
led to his being elected an associate in that year.
In the following year be
was commissioned by the
late Mr. Brunel to paint
a picture far his Shakspe-
rian gallery,when he chose a scene from " Two Gen-
tlemen of Verona."
This work, though not so fine,
perhaps, in colour as some of his later pictures, was
remarkable for dramatic expression. It was recently
sold at the dispersion of
Mr. Brunel's collection, and
fetched the large price
of 630 guineas. In 1850 be
painted "Peter the Great meeting Catherine, the
future Empress, for the first time," a picture which
must be named amonst his chefs d'ceuvre, and which
has long been in the gallery of Mr. Miller, of Pres-
ton. About this time dr. Egg seems to have been
influenced to some extent by the new school of sen-
timental painters who started up as sensationists
in the art. He painted about this time " The Life
and Death of Buckingham," the life and death of
the libertine being contrasted in two compart-
ments ;
a picture which will be remembered in
the International Exhibition. "Emmett parting
and then came his picture
from Mr. Thackeray's
from his mistress in prison" was another work
somewhat in this style;
Esmond " and in 1858
mother striking attempt to represent in a picture
of three compartments some terrible catastrophe
of real life. This was also in the International
Exhibition. His picture of Cromwell praying in
his tent the night before the battle of Naseby, ex-
hibited in 1859, was a work full of feeling. The
next year he returned to one of his favourite sub
jects, in "The Taming of the Shrew," from which
he had some years before painted "The Music Les-
son—Bianca," when she says, "Fiddler, forbear,
you're much too forward, sir"—b )th admirable for
character, humour, and fine technical qualities. In
the November of this year (1860) he was elected an
academician, and, sad to say, had not contributed
another work to the Exhibition. The customary
diploma picture he intended to paint was never com•
pleted, though a work was,
we believe, deposited as
a /natter of form. Many other excellent pictures of
minor importance might be named, such as the
Madame de Maintenon and Scarron," " Hermione"
" Unpleasant News," &c. ; but we have referred to
the principal works. Of his style it may be said that,
though derived from Leslie, it was more finished in
drawing and richer in the sentiment of colour, with
a similar humour, but greater faculty for expression.
'r. Egg was essentially dramatic as a painter, as
indeed could hardly be otherwise, for such was his
dramatic instinct that he was really a first-rate actor
himself. He filled
a good part in Mr. Dick' -n'
Guild party when they played " Not so bad as we
Seem,'' and his John Want in Mr. Wilkie Collins's
"Frozen Deep," will never be forgotten, for the
sardonic humour he threw into the part ; it would
have made the fortune of a regular professorof the
art. Mr. Egg was esteemed by all who knew him
for the best and most generous qualities of the
heart as well as for his real good sense, and his
frank, manly, upright character.

At Rio Janeiro the coffee market was exceedingly
firm. All attempts of buyers to obtain an abate-
ment in prices were unsuccessful. The arrivals
amounted to 3,000 bags per diem ; stock, 100,000
bags. Exchange, 27fr to 27k. The bills negotiated
on London for the present mail reached £380,000,
and on Paris, 600,000 f. The rate of discount con-
tinued at 10 per cent. _ _

At Pernambuco the weather was fine- Produce
arrived at market freely. Sugar suited for the
French market was quoted 1.900 reis per arroba ;
for the Channel, browns, 1.700. The demand for
salted hides was limited, and prices have declined
to 163 reis per lb. In Exchange, £55,000 had
been negotiated on London at 27.1 to 28i. Freight
for the Channel, 40s. to 453.

At Bahia, sugar continued in brisk demand, at

former quotations. Cocoa, small supply. Hides,
stocks small. No sales of tobacco; stocks large
and increasing; quotations nominal. Coffee was
quiet, costing 645. to 655. per cwt., freight excluded.
Exchange transactions were limited at 272- to 28.

Captain Robertson, of the 4th Dragoon Guards,
wilose court-martial will not be forptten, has (says
the Army and Navy Gazette) sent in an application to retire
from the service. We have received information of the
circumstances under which the application was sent in,
which, without saying more at present, we venture to think
would render desirable an inquiry whether the act was
purely voluntary or not, or whether there were any circum-
stances which really called for the resignation, in the inte-
rests of the service. We do not for a moment believe that
Colonel Shute would be guilty
of any act unbecoming his
position, but we know enough of the staff under whose
superintendence the regiment ii placed to make us think
some inquiry advisable when another case of intimidation
is even hinted at.