The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-07 00:00:00

SURREY THEATRE.

This favourite theatre has reopened after a brief
recess, during which time the interior has been
thoroughly re-embellished, under the sole manage-
ment of Mr. Shepherd. In the decoration the best
taste has been exercised, and the theatre now pre
sents an appearance unequalled by any other minor
house in London.

If an opening night can be taken as an augury of
success, Mr. Shepherd can have no doubt about the
success of his venture on the perilous sea of theatri-
cal management, as long before the rising
of the curtain every seat in the capacious
theatre was occupied, and previous to the com-
mencement of the evening's entertainment the
visitors gave expression of their approval of the
manner in which their comfort had been provided
for. Amongst the company Mr. Shepherd has
banded round him are many of the old favourites
and several new candidates for public favour, and
the new five act drama, entitled " The Medal of
Bronze, or the Queen of Innocents," afforded ample
opportunity for the display of their ability.
The foundation of the drama is the endeavour of
the population of France during the reign of Henri
Quartre to rid themselves of the Italian favourites
of the French Queen, who by their offensive be-
haviour had made themselves thoroughly obnoxious
to the people, who looked upon the Count Con-
cini as a fureign upstart and impostor, and his wife
as a wily intriguer, whose only object was self-
aggrandisement, even at the expanse of the lives
of those who stood between her and the object
of her ambition. At the opening of the play we
find Concini arranging for the assassination of
Henri Quatre with one Ravaillac, with whom he
divides a medal of bronze, to which is at-
tached some magical qualities, as a token
of his sincerity and an earnest of what
he may expect after the French King had been
provided for. The interest of the audience having
been thus awakened, we are next introcluced to
Margot and her sweetheart Jacques Bonhomme, a
good-hearted tailor and shoemaker who becomes
entangled in the snares of Cencini, by the fact that
in purchase for some articles which be intends to
use as a disguise he gives Jacques the half of the
bronze medal in place of a current coin. Jacques,
after the assassination of the King, fearing that the
possession of the illfated talisman, the other half of
which has been found on Ravaillac, will lead to his
destruction, becomes so restless and excited that
eventually he hides the half medal in the Cemetery
of the Innocents, and afterwards through the
villany of Concini he is immured in a lunatic
asylum, in order to prevent anything being known
in relation to his bargain with the unfortunate
tailor. The utmost importance is attached to the
recovery of the half of the medal, as it is supposed
that it will undoubtedly prove the means of dis-
covering the accomplice of Ravaillac, and this no
one seems more to anticipate than the Countess of
Concini. A lapse of years occurs between the acts,
and then we find Jacques returned to his home
through the intercession of his friends, he having,
it is supposed, become an inoffensive lunatic. His
friends, from certain observations he has made,
imagining that he may know the accom-
plice of the assassin of the King, induce
him to endeavour to recover the relic, and for
that purpose he goes to the Cemetery of the Inno
cents; but the Countess who has overheard the
arrangement, arrives at the spot first. She, how-
ever, is unable to raise the stone under which the
relic is concealed, waits until Jacques has possessed
himself of the treasure, and then to regain it, she
stabs the lunatic in the back ; but, unfortunately
for her, before she can obtain her object, the friends
of Jacques arrive. She escapes, and the half medal
is given into the possession of the sworn avenger of
the King's death. The young King Louis XIII.
has an instinctive hatred of Concini, and more than
suspects him, but until the half medal is forthcoming
he has not the necessary proof to accuse him. This
is at last produced, but the friends of Louis, stung
by the villany of Concini, anticipate all trial, and
the Italian adventurer is stabbed to death as he
descends the marble staircase of the Louvre. 01
course the Countess is banished, Jacques and Mar-
got rewarded ; in fact justice is meted out to all,
and the curtain descended amidst loud cries of
"Long live King Louis."
As a spectacle, nothing can exceed the splendour
with which it is places upon the stage.
The arrangement of the different tableaux with
which each act terminates is most artistic, and the
defeat of Concini in the first act, the vision in
the Cemetery, the King's sleeping apartment in the
Louvre, and, finally, the grand staircase of the
Palace, are complete triumphs of stage illusion.
Mr. Shepherd sustained the part of Jacques Bon-
homme in a manner that calls for the highest praise.
Mr. Basil Potter as the King, Mr. M'Clean as Con-
cini, Mr. Robinson as Henriot, Miss Pauncefort as
the Countess Concini, and Miss Clifford as Margot,
sustained their parts with the greatest satisfaction.
At the fall of the curtain Mr. Shepherd was called
for, and received quite an ovation.
The next attraction of the night was the looking
glass curtain, before which a very pretty ballet is
performed. This curiosity will, no doubt, attract
immensely. A more novel sight is not to be wit-
nessed in the metropolis.

CITIZEN BONAPARTE ON THE ROMAN QUESTION.
—When, in 1848, the French National Assembly delibe-
rated on the despatch, by General Cavaignac, of a French
army to Civita-Vecchia to protect the Pope, the Emperor
Napoleon, who was then Citizen Bonaparte, wrote this
letter to the Constitutionnel newspaper :—" Sir,—Knowing
that my absence in the vote on the expedition to Civita-
Vecchia was remarked, I think it right to declare that,
though resolved to support all measures calculated to gua-
rantee the liberty and authority of the Sovereign Pontiff, I
nevertheless could not by my vote approve of a military
demonstration which seems to me perilous, even for the
sacred interests it is desired to protect, and which is calcu-
lated to compromise European peace.—L. N. BONAPARTE.
Dec. 2, 1848."

THE DREADFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR MIL
FORD JUNCTION.—The public are already in possession of
a few of the facts relative to the accident which happened
between 11 and 12 o'clock at night on Friday last, at a
short distance from the Sherburn station on the North-
Eastern line, and near to the Milford Junction, when a
stoker named Wm. Markham was killed on the spot, and
others were injured. On Monday, John Wood, Esq.,
coroner, held an inquest at the Wheatsheaf Inn, situate
within 200 or 300 yards of the scene of the catastrophe, the
jury being sworn to decide on the cause of death of the
stoker Markham. The jury, before any evidence was given,
proceeded to view the place where the catastrophe occurred.
All the debris Lad been removed, and the line put again
into proper working order, there being nothing to indicate
that an accident had happened. From the evidence ad-
duced it seemed that the deceased was an engine stoker on
a goods train from Darlington to Normanton. On Friday,
night, shortly before half-past 11 o'clock, there was a col-
lision between this train and one from Hull to York, the
accident happening near the Sherburn station. The de-
ceased was found dreadfully mangled underneath one of the
waggons, several having passed over him. After the col-
lision, Mr. Tuff, an official, went to the spot, and from in-
quiries which he made, he ascertained from Davison, the
driver of the Darlington engine, that there was no signal
fur stopping on the line, and he therefore proceeded at his
usual speed towards Normanton. At the same time a train
from Hull came up, and a pointsman held up a red lamp,
and called out "hold on;" but this was not observed, the
Hull train passed on, and the collision took place. If the
Hull train had remained on the branch line until the signal
had been given the accident would not have occurred. The
driver of this train, whose name is Howden, has been em-
ployed for a length of time in that capacity, and therefore
was well acquainted with the signals. At the time our re-
port was despatched the inquest was proceeding, and
whether any blame was attributable to the men in charge
of the train the testimony then given did not sufficiently
disclose. _ .

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M. KOSSUTH.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE SUN.

SIR,—A few days ago, in several London journals, a
communication from Italy was published, in which atten-
tion was drawn to the great afflictions to which Kossuth, in
the course of the present year, has been doomed ; first, by
the death of his youthful and only daughter, and then, re-
cently. by the threatening state of the malady from which
his wife was suffering. As many of Kessuth's English
friends have on this occasion testified their kind remem-
brance of him by inquiries respecting his wife's state of
health, and some by the rumours circulated were induced
to believe that the hope of her recovery has been entirely
given up, you will, sir, bestow a favour upon the late gover-
nor of Hungary and his friends, if, in acknowledgment,
and for the satisfaction of those kind inquiries, you would
insert in your valuable journal the information that Ma-,
dame Kossuth, whose dangerous disease consisted of an
injury in her chest, occasioned by an accident, and not
looked after during her long and painful attendance upon
her lamented daughter, has been for a time in such a posi-
tion as to be declared by the physicians incurable unless
subjecting herself to the chances of a surgical operation;
this grave operation, however, has been a few days ago
successfully achieved by the celebrated Professor Burei, of
Florence, with the assistance of Professor Bruno and Dr.
Berti, and the invalid, although as yet not free from suf-
ferings naturally following upon a surgical operation, has
been pronounced to be out of danger. The relief derived
from the solution of his wife's dangerous state will, we
hope, enable Kossuth to resume his wonted activity in the
service of his country's cause.—l am, &c.,
A FRIEND AND COUNTRYMAN
Oct. 4. OF KOSSUTIPS,

IHE GRAND DUKE CONSTAN7INE'S
ADD.RESS,

The following speech was made by the Grand
Duke Constantine at the opening of the session of
the General Assembly of the Council of State on
October 1. The speech was delivered in the Polish
language :

Gentlemen—ln addressing you for the first time in. this
assembly, I wish above all things to assure you that the
painful circumstances which prevented me from taking part
in the proceedings of your last session have not chilled my
good intentions towards the country. Full of faith in the
protection of Providence, I reckon on the loyal sentiments
and attachment of good citizens, of which the Council of
State has already given proof. In fulfilling the duties
which the will of my august brother, our gracious sovereign,
has devolved upon me, I shall never cease to look forward.
to the welfare of the kingdom of Poland. The Government
of which I am the head will never deviate from the legal
path and will never permit any departure from it with im-
punity. I shall consider myself happy in being able to
exercise liberally the noblest of the prerogatives with which
lam invested—the prerogative of mercy; but in its exer•
cise I cannot allow myself to lose sight of public justice,
the interests and the security of the community. Out of
499 persons who have been condemned since the state of
siege, 134 have undergone their punishment, 289 have been.
pardoned, 7 have fled, and 69 are still undergoing their sen-
tence. The institutions which were granted last year are
everywhere about to come into operation. The district
councils in the greater part of the country have conclusled
their first session. The delegations which have issued from
them will commence their important labours regarding taxa-
tion, and will, no doubt, justify the confidence which the
legislature has reposed in them. The municipal councils are
performing their duties with advantage. The petitions of
17 towns, recently presented, for the establishment of
similar councils in them, are a new proof that the utility
of this institution is fully appreciated by the country.
Simultaneously with your deliberations the opening of a
superior school and of a polytechnic school has taken place,
as well as those other educational establishments which you
considered to be required by the wants of the country, when
you last year voted the law on public education, the elabo-
ration of which forms one of the great merits of my col-
league, the chief of the civil power. Since your last deli-
berations, his Majesty, in his paternal solicitude, has
deigned to give new guarantees to the administrative au-
tonomy of the country, by decreeing the independence of
several branches of service, such as those of the post-office
and public highways. The reforms effected last year will
require some change in our financial system. The abolition
of the carves, which obliges the proprietors of the land to
employ hired labour, has exhibited the inconvenience of the
tax to which the tillers of the soil and other agricultural
servants are exposed. The koszerne tax, inasmuch as it is
exclusively religious, is not in harmony with the spirit of
recent legislation as regards the equality of the civil rights
of the Jews, in the introduction of which the Government
of his Majesty has received from ycu such active co-opera-
tion. The abolition of both those taxes is projected, and, in
order to replace the deficit which will be occasioned thereby,
it is proposed to increase the duty on the manufacture of
spirits. Moral considerations and the true interest of the
proprietors, as of the cultivators, equally require these al-
terations. Besides those projects, you 'will have to examine
the budget of the receipts and expenditure of the kingdom
for the year 1863, as well as the reports of the officials for
the year just past. A bill on forced expropriation, on the
payment of taxes and Treasury rents, on the establishment
of a court of appeal in the Council of State for business re-
lating to the taxes, and, lastly, a bill for the internal or-
ganisation of the Council of State, will be submitted to your
deliberation. I now declare the session to be open.

PROPOSED SURREY COUNTY HOSPITAL.--The
project of establishing a hospital at Guildford, for the
kat& of the rural portions of the county of Surrey, at
present wholly without hospital accommodation, is pro-
gressing as favourably as could have been anticipated.
Although the subject had for some time occupied the atten-
tion of earnest and zealous men, it was not until the end of
last April that it was brought prominently before the pub-
lic, A county meeting was then held under the presidency
of Mr. S. Gurney, M. P,, and the undertaking met with
liberal encouragement. A committee was formed, including
the names of most of the aristocracy of the county, and the
Earl of Onslow generously presented an eligible site on the
slope of the far-famed Hog's Back, close to the railway sta-
tion, and overlooking the town. Already donations towards
the object have been promised to the extent of £5,580, but
it is estimated that at least £lO,OOO is required to erect such
a building as would be worthy of the county and of the
illustrious individual whose memory it is intended to com-
memorate, for it was unanimously determined at the public
meeting that the hospital should be specially associated
with the name of their late Prince Consort. In order to
facilitate the raising of the money, one or two munificent
conditional offers have been made of £5OO, on five other per-
sons subscribing a like amount. One of these conditional
offers will be withdrawn on the 14th inst. if the terms in-
volved in the offer be not complied with by that date ; and
and as two sums of £5OO yet remain to be subscribed in
order to complete the six, the committee are naturally a me-
what anxious upon this head. It is felt to be a reproach
upon Surrey, with her growing population, that whilst
Sussex has three hospitals, Bent three, and Hants two,
she has none, except the strictly metropolitan hospitals of
Guy's and St. Thomas's. Guildford, being the most cen-
tral portion of the county, the point for convergence of
several lines of railway, an unusually healthy locality, and,
withal, the county town of Surrey, seems to be peculiarly
well adapted for the site of the Surrey County Memorial
Hospital, the first stone of which we hope to see laid early
in the ensuing year.

MR. GLADSTONE IN THE NORTH.—SO much
attention is directed to the approaching visit of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer to our neighbourhood, that our
readers will probably be interested in the following pro-
gramme of next week's proceedings, which we believe may
be relied on as correct .—The Right Hon. W. E, Gladstone
and Mrs. Gladstone, who are at present staying with
Lord
Brougham, at Brougham-hall, will arrive among us from
Carlisle on Monday afternoon, and proceed immediately on
a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Hutt, at Gibside, where they will
join a large party of distinguished guests already assembled
at that splendid and hospitable abode, and in the evening
owni
the
hj ow i no
eaclaasrigo
n.
large
Among
g neighbourst he
visvisitors
vsittaeydinbgy Mrs, rs • Hutt;
Gibside
will be, we believe, the Right Hon. T. B. Headlam, M.P.,
and Mrs. Headlam, Sir Walter C. James and Lady James,
Sir John Hanmer, Mr. Ingham, M.P., and other ladies and
gentlemen, all of whom we may expect to see at the banquet
onTuesday. On Tuesday morning Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone,
accompanied by Mr. Hutt andothers,.will visit Newcastle,
and inspect the more striking objects of interest in
that town. In the afternoon the grand entertainment will
be given to the Chancellor in the Town-hall of Newcastle.
From what has transpired, we think that this dinner will
be among the most
striking and interesting demonstrations
which have been witnessed in the North of England. On
Wednesday, the Chancellor of 'the Exchequer, with the
other distinguished guests at Gibside, ladies and
entlemens
will, in compliance with the invitation of the Commissioner
of the Tyne,
accompany the chairman in an excursion down
the river. They will embark at Gateshead, and will in-
spect theimprovements in the channel of the Tyne,examine the piers run out at the mouth of ;the river
Tyne, visit North and Sou h Shields, where "addresses
will be presented to Mr. Gladstone, and then, returning by
Newcastle, will proceed to Gibside, to dinner.' On Thurs-
day morning Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone will leave Gibside,
and proceed by Sunderland to Middlesborough. At Sun-
derland they will lunch with the Mayor of the borough,
who will show them over the town. They will then pro-
ceed to Middlesborough, where the Mayor and Corporation
will entertain the right hon. gentleman at a public dinner.
Uatesheati Observer.

A SENTIMENTAL HANGMAN,—The Universe?,
weekly illustrated journal, says : —" The first of the Sansone'
the grandfather of that dynasty of executioners which has
reigned for so many years in Paris, was really a °
good birth; his name was Sanson de Longal, and be was
an officer in the army. He one day fell in love with a
young girl, the daughter of the executioner of Rouen, mar-
ried her, and succeeded to his father-in. law. What a sub-
ject for a drama that incident would, furnish, with such a
title as no Young Aoblonan, or the FaXeCeitiotier fr°l4
Love