The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-27 00:00:00

THE Stfi, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 27, 1862.

-, : ~-, x,4 ,:s .i;,...„..,-.' •'-'-‘,:.--j72-::.,...;.:,:,-,11/4-2ci,j.,
,A, ~,49,7
' .-
--", •-- -,;,- . - .... • - -..," - '-,-... '. .., -'' i
-, •,i,,2,--:;‘, t.er t. ---r* ~L,, ' ~ . ' - , ‘..r. ,J)P * IL
\—t r
',—.40, '14.74:41t5.14{"*C›,.....r!' ' 'T:i 4) .". . brFo, ,• . , -,„

THE SUN.

LONDON, THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1862.

A variety of suggestions have naturally enough
teen thrown out as to the nature and character of
the ALBERT Testimonial. Tot homnines tot sen-
tentice. Her Majesty the QUEEN has herself only
thrown out a hint or two. It ought, the QUEEN sug-
gests, to be suitable in the beauty of its form, in the
appropriateness of its oituation, in the costliness of its
material, in the grandeur of its proportions. And
that is about all. In regard to the form—it is generally
conceived that that of a monolith would be about
the best that could be selected. In regard to the
site, the greensward upon which stood the Crystal
Palace of 1851, in Hyde Park, the Consort's
admitted masterpiece. In regard to the material—
both because of its durability and splendour—
red polished granite. In regard to the size—
the largest block anywhere discoverable. And so
—with these last points especially in view—the
quarries of his Grace the Duke of ARGYLL are now
being ransacked, to the end that a sufficiently noble
mass of red granite should be hewn in one solid lump
from the dakdal granite constituting the wealth of
that property.

Together with these ideas in regard to the yet
ur decided Memorial in honour of the Queen's
departed Husband, there are several others of an
ancillary kind thrown oat here and there by
sy mpathising observers, from a timely conside-
ration of the pick of which many beneficial
suggestions may be selected with advan-
tage. Very recently, for example, there
appeared in a provincial newspaper, one of the
local journals published in Cambridge, a corn-
Anunication penned by one of the great ladies of
the Shire, the Countess of HARDWICK E, a com-
munication in itself eminently well deserving the
scrutiny of the Working Committee of the Memo-
rial, and, in a wider sense also, of the select few
nominated
by her Majesty herself as the presiding
ol:0E68,1101
tB. " To be worthy the name of na-
tional," sa3.,
Lady HARDWICKE, " this tribute
should surely become universal ; but up to the pre-
sent time the very
magnitude of the gifts offered has
acted as an impediment to smaller, yet not less spon-
taneous contributions, vilt •
eli would flow from many
grateful hearts
anzicnsto pcxy their tribute of
respect to the great and good
,RINCE wh for 21
years, proved the solace and ehl,f h . °,
appiness of their
be raved QuEFIc• Every woman's heart will respond
to wadi an qqtet,,l ; rot one but would wish to eon-
tr;l-o2to her mite to perp€ tuate such an example of
ccningal affection and godly living. . .jiivould,
therefore, population of Catabvid
efore, suggest that the ge-
be given an opportunity of testifying
their
affection for a. PRINCE who was emphati-
cally the people's friend,—who personally entered
into their privations and wants, ameliorating the
cooditian of the labouring poor by the indi-
vidual attention he gave to the improvement of
their cottages, the building of schools and
public washhouses, and increasing their means of
obtaining healthful and innocent recreation.
Would respectfully entreat that every clergyman in
every parish should undertake to receive the pounds' d

shillings, and pence which will, I am well convinced,
flow in when the opportunity is presented. Let
Cambridgeshire be the first to set an example
which will be followed by every county in England.
There could hardly be a more honourable tribute to
the memory of this benevolent Prince than to have
it recorded upon his monumental memorial how
large a sum was collected in pence from the work-
ing classes of the English people." This is surely
a very excellent proposition. If evidence were
required of the perfect possibility of collecting
large sums in small proportions out of the
pence lying (sparsely enough, GOD knows) in the
pockets of the poor, we have a solid token before us
in the full length bronze statue erected upon a
granite pedestal to the memory of General Sir
CIIARLES NAPIER, the Heroic Conqueror of Scinde,
and now passed by, to and fro, daily by the London
multitude in the stony wilderness of Trafalgar-
square. According to the true but affecting in-
scription graven upon the pedestal of that memorial
statue—an inscription which, it may be remembered,
was penned by Sir Wm. NAPIER, the Historian of
the Peninsular War—the chief part of the moneys
paid for the monument had been contributed towards
the liquidation of the expense of it by the small
coin dropped, into the hands of the Treasurer of the
Committee, by the Privates in the British Army, the
humble followers of the glorious Captain and Con.
queror. Again, the noble collection recently made
at the Mansion-house for the surviving population
of the little colliery village of Hartley was com-
menced originally by the handing in of one shilling
by a poor working man, who went without his
dinner for the day in order that he might give that
little metallic germ of a forty thousand pounder !

A dozen years ago, in the very room in which we
are now writing these words, we well remember
ourselves to have collected together for the poor
exiled Hungarians then thrown upon our shores
penniless in a foreign land—upwards of one thou-
sand pounds. A thousand pounds—and more—
almost entirely made up by halfpence, and sixpences,
and shillings, brought here to us by the toiling
artizans of the metropolis, or sent to us from all
parts of the country by provincial sympathisers.
And this—instantly as it were—in answer to a
suggestion thrown out by us in these columns
of 2he ,Sun, to the effect that a collec-
tion of this lowly but generalised kind
should be at once commenced. No sooner had
our remarks obtained circulation than the small coin
poured in upon our table here so rapidly—that it
swelled in a few days in goodly piles of copper and
silver to an aggregate of upwards of one thousand
pound: sterling. The proceeds of the collection being
transferred by us to Messrs. COUTTS'S Bank, and
being afterwards distributed judiciously among the
Hungarian exiles then in England, by a committee
composed of Liberal and Independent members of
the House of Commons, among them the late Lord
DUDLEY STUART : this Committee having—when
the collection was almost entirely completed—
been formed (for the purpose of administering
the funds) as by an after-thought. Nay, more; have
we not the agreeable remembrance of having received
the personal acknowledgments of the exiled leader
of the Hungarians, of KOSSUTH himself, in reference
to the kindly feeling evidenced by this manifesta-
tion of the cordial sympathy felt towards his coun-
trymen by the working population of London and
Westminster ! Well, and this is precisely
what Lady HARDWICKE now proposes should
be done far and wide among the poor in the pro-
vinces of England, with a view to swell the funds of
the ALBERT memorial. If her ladyship's sugges-
tion be but promptly and energetically acted upon,
we are perfectly well satisfied that the considerable
sum already collected together in honour to the
memory of our noble-hearted Prince, " ALBERT the
Good," will be increased enormously—and that,
moreover, within a very brief interval from the
dropping in of the first pence from the hands of these
more humble contributors.

Who can wonder that the North should be exult-
ing and confident—that it should even have limited
the duration of the Rebellion to thirty, instead of
ninety days? The brilliant little exploit of the
Merrimac is not of the slightest importance com-
pared with the defeat and retreat of the Confederates
everywhere else, and the occupation of all their
coasts and great rivers by the Federals. The
North-westers have the credit of actually turning
the tide of war, and M'CLELLAN that of creating
real armies out of materials which, though excellent
as men, were not easy to mould, almost to coerce
into trained and disciplined regiments. The great
North-west, determined not to lose the com-
mand of its great river connection with the
sea, furnished the contingents which first routed
poor ZOLLICOFFER'S army, killed their Gen-
eral, cleared Kentucky, captured Forts Henry and
Donnelson, compelled the evacuation of Columbus,
took possession quietly of Nashville, the capital of
Tennessee, and it is now reported of Memphis, its
great river port also ; and has brought the Confe-
derates finally to bay at a rather strong position in
the extreme south of Tennessee.

Probably this success has had as much to do with
the flight of the Confederates from Manassas as
the movements in strong force of General BANKS
on their left flank at Harper's Ferry. What with
the men of the North-west occupying Kentucky
and Tennessee on the west, and the Atlantic coast
being in the hands of the Federals, the Confederates
saw that Virginia could not be long tenable; and
they have fallen baek accordingly. But, thanks to
the energy of M'CLELLAN, he has now a disciplined
army to follow them, and follow them he doubtless
will. He finds the country indeed abandoned
and desolate as he advances. A great
part of it, in fact, suffers that curse of
slave cultivation—once fertile plantations now
surrendered to what looks like primeval forest,
thorns, and thistles; slave tillage being too unin-
telligent to preserve to the land its original fer-
tility. But there are railroads through this wilder-
ness ; the damage done there will soon be repaired ;
the Potomac is clear, and supplies will be easily
furnished to the army by the river and the railroads.
It can hardly be long before Northern Virginia will
be occupied by the Federal troops down to Rich-
mond and the St. James's River, on which that
capital stands ; that the Norfolk Navy Yards
will then fall again into the hands of the Federal
Government ; and the Merrimac, if she has not
been injured so much as to be useless, will soon
have no fort or haven where she can lie in safety.
With such prospects before them, the North may
well reckon on the early submission of the South.
We are told, indeed, that desperation is now to do
its work, but that remains to be proved. If the
South concentrates its armies by retreat, the
North, on the other hand, will concentrate i!s
larger and better equipped forces, by following
the retreating enemy. The Southern armies ap-
pear to be in rather evil plight, so far as the
little 'which
and Will not, '
to keep
as desirous to
can be heard of them informs us,
in the face of ill success, be easy
together
As to the last res adhere
while the N th
mil or erns will be
to the triumphant side.
fall back
amongst
awca--to burn their produce and
--we shall believe it
vAlue, in that case, are their State
wr, forests, and alligators
n we see it. Of what
bonds, secured

on the planters' gifts of cotton, to be ? And how
will all the families rho have hitherto lived in ease
and affluence bear the sacrifices which will beggar
them in perpetuity ? Bitterness against the North
may be a strong feeling, but probably a stronger
one with planters' families will be, reluctance to
sink at once to the condition of the " mean whites,"
whom they despise more than they do their
negroes.

Perhaps, too, the numbers of sensible persons in
the South who must have felt all along the thorough
groundlessness of secession, will begin to kick at
being called on, by mere clever speculating politi-
cians, to sacrifice their all to place a JEFFERSON
DAVIS and his clique in office. Thousands in the
South must have sense to understand that, in con-
stitutional law and in political fairness, a secession
begun to avenge an electoral defeat was a base,
unmanly, and inexcusable thing. Some may even
see how detestable they make themselves to every
Christian nation on earth, by founding a re-
public on the basis of slavery. The conviction
that their cause is legally and morally rotten may
begin to creep over their minds with defeat. The
panic of arms may be followed by a moral panic,
and the unworthy adventurers who led the South
into rebellion may become the objects of aversion
to those whom they have duped. In any case every-
thing now turns on the single question—Will the
South be desperate P Will they prefer years of
misery to submission P The Americans, who know
each other best, seem to conclude that when success
is hopeless, it is not in Southern, any more than in
Northern, nature to throw away everything for an
empty name. The South is now sure that on the
question of slavery it can come to no serious harm.
It may emancipate its slaves for their worth, or
keep them as they are; and what, therefore, will
there be to fight about longer ? Why should it
therefore protract an unprofitable struggle P

It were ungrateful, indeed, not to notice with
approbation the munificent benefaction of Mr.
PEABODY, the great American banker, to the Poor
of London. Not that he looks to public commen-
dation as his reward—his motives are too apparent
in the simple statement of his reasons, not to
show that the good done to the poor and needy is
the only reward he looks for, unless we add to this
his sense of gratitude to the " kind PROVIDENCE"
which he points to as the source of the blessings he
has enjoyed during a twenty-five years' residence
in London. He had already remembered his na-
tive land, having founded an institute and library
at Danvers, the place of his birth, which had been
as successful as he could wish ; he had also founded
a larger institution at Baltimore, in Maryland,
where twenty years of his business life had been
spent : and now he desires to mark in some way
his gratitude to PROVIDENCE, and to the natives
of a land in -which he has long received courtesy,
kindness, and confidence, and but too appropriately
to London—he resolves to remember its poor.

He sees that there is interest enough in Educa-
tion, Home Missionary, and Church-building ope-
rations, and everything in that line. He chooses,
therefore—and may the " blessing of the poor and
needy" rest on him for it—" such purposes as may
be calculated directly to ameliorate the condition
and augment the comforts" of the poor of London.
Such " direct" charity was probably but little
needed in his own younger and less densely popu-
lated country; but with the eye of a benevolent
resident he sees that it is needed here. We cannot
commend too highly the wisdom, as well as the
generosity of his selection of objects, and the
one he hints at, without at all binding
his proposed trustees by the hint, is every way
worthy of his sagacity. No want is more deeply
felt by thousands who work for low wages, than
homes in which they can live and bring up their
families with decency. The poorest class of families
never know what decent accommodation is within
a reasonable walk of the Exchange. And when the
course of street improvements draws them to the
suburbs, they are often but little better off there.
It were premature to speculate on tha way in which
benefits of this kind could be best conferred on the
poor. Purchasing and thoroughly improving old
property is a scheme which has been worked with
great advantage already ; the improved property,
however, has, in these cases, been let out in a man•
ner to pay five per cent. on the outlay. Mr. PEA-
BODY would probably prefer that all effected through
the noble fund he has created should be on behalf of
those who could afford a merely nominal rent,
enough, perhaps, just to keep the property in good
repair. Then commences that greatest of all diffi-
culties—the preventing idleness and imposture
from reaping the advantages he intends for the
" poor of moral character and good conduct." This,
however, as every one who has endeavoured per-
sonally to relieve the wants of his fellow-creatures
knows, is the universal difficulty in real charity.
"Only let me know the really deserving poor," is
a prayer the benevolent have but too frequently to
utter.

I One express condition of the benefaction is a
noble example 0 the present generation, and a
`rebuke of much done by the past. Mr. PEABODY
Idislikes fettering the discretion of his present or
future trustees, but he puts them on their honour
las gentlemen not to fetter 'themselves. He doubt-
/ less has his own reiigious creed, and he can hardly
Ibe an American without leaning strongly to the
political liberalism of his own country. But his
f beneficiaries are to be without distinction of either
political or religious creed. Character and poverty
are to be the grounds of their claim. And he con-
cludes his few liberal limitations with these remark-
able words :—" It must therefore be held to be a
violation of my intentions if any duly qualified and
deserving claimant were to be excluded either on
the ground of religious belief or of political bias."
Noble words these ! How does the opposite spirit
infest our bequests and foundations of all kinds P
Even our courts of law—in this respect not courts
of justice—confine the emoluments and advantages
of innumerable charitable and educational founda-
tions
to one sect. They always understand by
religion, statutable religion only. And even if they
allow a non-churchman a loaf of bread or an educa-
tion for his child, they strictly exclude all who do
not worship according to the Act of Uniformity
from share in the trusts and management.

Mr. PEABODY'S munificence is no trifle regarded
only in an international point of view. The bonds
of commerce may be strong between nations, but
the bonds of generosity and gratitude are stronger
still. How can England ever go to war with a
nation whose leading man among us thus sym-
pathises with and blesses her poor. Who of us
will not set the deed of Mr. PEABODY, henceforth,
against that of Captain WILKES, and how shall we
forget that the United States ambassador to our
Court has, from this time officially, the office of a
kindly benefactor to cur poor. " Cl4arity covereth
a multitude of sins," is the saying of an Apostle
himself; and strange will it be if the distinguished
and generous American's unfeigned charity does
not cover a multitude of American sins. Let the
noble act of one American, who knows us by five-
and-twenty years' experience, atone for the foolish
ravings of scores of American journalists who never
set foot on English soil. Long may the generous
American live to witness the good done by his gift

while living. His willnot be the pleasure of direct-
ing as he will, the use of property which he can no
longer enjoy. The happier blessing he will enjoy, of
sacrificing a fortune while. it is yet his gwn—of
. •
laying a vast estate at the feet of those who will
assuredly prove themselves true successors of the
Apostles, in their faithful distribution to the poor
and needy.

TRIAL OF THE DUADEE LIFEBOAT ON TEE
GAA OANDS.

The lifeboat recently sent to Dundee by the National
Lifeboat Institution underwent a few days ago a very
severe test on the Gaa Sands, near Dundee. The new and
old lifeboats of the locality were taken in tow of a steamer
to Buddonness Lighthouse. The new boat is called the
Mary Hartley, after the benevolent lady who had so
zealously collected the cost of the lifeboat and its transport-
ing carriage. On looking at the two boats in tow, no one
could fail to notice the superior model of the Mary Hartley,
whose bow laid the water on each side as if cleft by a knife,
while the old boat, with her broad bow, plunged and
drenched the crew with spray. On reaching No. 4 (black)
buoy they were cast off by the steam-tug, and the men
pulled on to the Abertay Sands in search of broken
water. Hero again the superiority of the Mary
Hartley manifested itself, pulling with ten oars half as fast
again as the old boat with twelve. They were soon on the
heavy broken swell of the Abertay Spit, and though the
coxswain made for every breaker, nothing could put the
boat in the slightest distress, and in the heaviest sea she
did not ship a cupful of water. The old boat followed
more slowly but not more steadily, and after manoeuvring
the boats in every imaginable manner, it was resolved to
try them on the Gaa Sand, on the north side of the river,
where there was nothing but white broken surf, and where
the danger was infinitely greater. The signal was given
by the steamer, and they pulled out of the swell and laid
alongside to receive instructions. The Mary Hartley life-
boat then made for the Gaa Sand between Nos. 3 and 4 (red)
buoys,and hardly had she passed them when she was caught
amidships by a curling roller, and poised on its crest, was
whirled round end on, and carried with the velocity of an
arrow for five or six hundred yards into comparatively
smooth water. The sudden stroke of the wave caused two
of the oars to snap, and a number of the strong galvanised
rowlocks were bent. No sea could test more condlusively
the perfect efficiency and thorough safety of the Mary
Hartley lifeboat; and no one who had the pleasure of wit-
nessing such a sight could have the slightest fear in trust-
ing to such a boat—the crew especially having now every
confidence in her. Meanwhile the old boat was in no envi-
able position, for her coxswain was keeping her broadside on
to the roaring surf, and though trying her in every manner,
she behaved well. The water she shipped was not so quickly
self•ejected as by the Mary Bartley, but her performance
in other respects were admirable. Thenew boat again steered
out amongst the breakers, and though not so fortunate as
to be struck by one similar to that she had met on enter-
ing, a good number of formidable waves were disposed of,
and the cheers:of the crew, as they rose on the top of a wave
and were then lost for a few seconds, were loudly replied to
by those on board the steamer, while the nautical men were
loud in her praise—" What a beauty I" "Admirable 1"
one experienced captain saying that, "If she wouldn't do,
nothing would." After practising for about half-an-hour
—broadside, bow, and stern on—the boats were signalled
out of the Gaa surf, and the men, drenched to the skin,
were informed the trial was over.

FO_RTUNE.TELLING.

LATEST NEWS.

TURIN, MARCH 26.

In the Chamber of Deputies to-day a discussion
took place on the Budget for the second quarter of
1862.

The report of the Minister stated that it would
be advisable to avoid every political question, and
to propose the adoption of the bill as an administra-
tive measure.

S'.gnor Marche eulogised the alliance with France,
but attacked England violently.
Signor Rattazzi replied, that the Government
attached much weight to the alliance with France as
well as to that with England. " The union of these
two great nations and of Italy," said Signor
Rattazzi, " ensures the triumph of Liberal principles
in Europe. If, unfortunately, a conflict should one
day arise between these two Powers, the conduct of
Italy ought to be inspired only by its principles and
its interests."

Signor Rattazzi accepted the declaration of the
Committee that it was necessary to avoid all poli-
tical discussions, and said he should confine himself
to giving some explanations to the orators who
criticised the Ministry.
The Bill on the Budget was finally passed by 233
against 20 votes.

PARIS, MARCH 27.

The Paris papers of :o•dap publish a despatch
from the Herzegovina, stating that 600 Turkish
soldiers, who had been surrounded at Crinitza, had
surrendered to the insurgents. The latter had pre-
viously repulsed the troops which came to the relief
of the Turks.