The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-15 00:00:00

TUE SUN, LONDON, FRID ye EVENING, AUGUST 15, 1,965 A

—the grand piano with all the latest improvements
—every musical instrument that yields melody to
the performer's breath or to the touch of his hands,
could be seen—and heard too, in many instances—at
pleasure, in various parts of the great ugly build-
ing. But the little Bullfinch, the " noe bright
particular star" among the performers—literally the
bijou among them all—was silenced. His song was
abruptly and peremptorily hushed—that song that
was really " worth" something ! That carried not
only its charm of wonder to the ears of the de-
lighted listeners, but bore comfort also far away to
the north, to the poor starving operatives out of
work and out at elbows here and there all over
Lancashire. It was a most arbitrary interruption.
It was vexatious to the visitors daily crowding
the halls and galleries of the Exhibition. It was
especially cruel to the famishing manufacturers
who were deriving from it substantial aid. Who
was the authority, whose whim or peevishness—in
every way incomprehensible—had thus suddenly
put a stop to so much harmless pleasure, and at the
same time to so much practical benevolence ?
appearance
it
from
signed,
e this
di,
A letter of a rather curious kind, in every point
of view, to-day makes, itsEnamPl:a
s, t is ign
offending official. ,C. n
Secretary to the Chief Commissioner for Switzer-
land. And, certainly, of all the odd explanations
ever given by mortal man
efnotr,
he appears, from first an eccentric act this
is about the very oddest. According to M. HER-
MANN'S Own acknowledgment,
to last, in this matter, to have acted entirely upon
his own responsibility. His principal, i.e., M.
VoGM, the Chief Swiss Commissioner, he
(the Secretary) tells us is away. And it is during
VOGH'S absence from London, that M. HER-
MANN, his Secretary, has very cleverly contrived
to bring this unnecessary discredit upon the Swiss
Department. And that, too, at the very time
when everybody's attention'was directed towards it I
After volunteering the remark,' I beg to state that
I should deeply regret any step by which the Lan-
cashire operatives should be deprived of a source so
beneficial to their interests"—M. HERMANN adds
(with quite a Lord DIINDREARY non sequitur)—
" I, nevertheless, cannot deny that it was I who
requested Mr. LINTON to stop his bullfinch till
further orders would be given to him, with the
true intention not to stop, but to transfer it to
some more convenient and more spacious place
outside of the Swiss Department, and to
apply to the Royal Commissioners for this
purpose." Of course it never occurred to
him that the cart might, perhaps, more reason-
ably follow than precede the horse—that it
might have been perhaps just as well if another
locality had been found before this peremptory
mandate was issued : stopping the mimic carol of
the Bullfinch, and stopping at the same time, con-
sequently, the dropping in of the £4O odd a-day, or
£250 a week into the ciborium for the Lancashire
manufacturers. Not for the world would he do
anything so harsh—and yet he did it ! And now
having done it, he actually attempts to throw the
blame or a considerable part of it at least upon—
Mr. LINTON ! So that (almost we had called him)
the Victim—is pointed at as the arch-Offender !" I
regret," says the Secretary, whose own order
(he has himself acknowledged it) hushed the song
of the Bullfinch," I regret that Mr. LINTON did
not apply to me, after having received my
orders. becaure things would have been
settled amicably, and acted according to his first
impressions." The cap is there quite evident, is in
a manner tangibly and visibly before us. But—
placed on Mr. LINTON'S head—it don't fit. Sup-
pose Mr. HERMANN tries it on his own !
But the Secretary to the Swiss Commissioners,
in this dilemma into which he has unwittingly
blundered, adduces—just, as the late Sir ROBERT
PEEL used to do upon any emergency, with his
three coarses.—three reasons("very valid reasons" M.
HERMANN here calls them) by way of explanation.
The first is one that has never been heard of be-
fore, namely, that several of the articles in the Swiss
department, in the immediate neighbourhood of the
automaton singing bird, have been exposed to seri-
ous damage—nay, the Secretary goes so far to add,
several " had already been partially damaged"—by
the crowd attracted to listen to the little toy song-
ster. Hearing which reason one can only wonder
at the excellence of the arrangements made there
from the first, in the Swiss department !
Reason number two is to the effect that Mr. LIN-
TON is not (any more than is his partner M. AUBERT)
a Swiss Exhibitor at all ! Diais que diable allait it
faire clans eette galere ? Upon whose responsibility,
by whose permission, at whose instance—comes
Mr. LINTON, and with him his partner (joint
owners of the Singing Bullfinch) among the real
bona fide Exhibitors there in the Swiss Depart-
ment ? Reason number three is so particularly
curious in its way, that we give it as it is ex-
pressed in the Secretary's own words—namely,
" That the taking of money for the show of articles
inside the building, for however laudable an ob-
ject it may be, it appeared to me, and indeed was
hinted at [sensitive Mr. HERMANN] by several
[not a name is mentioned !] as a departure from
the rules and regulations of the Interna-
tional Exhibition. If," the Swiss Secre-
tary goes on to say, "an exception is to
be made in favour of so excellent a charity es
that of the Lancashire Relief Fund, and if the
Royal Commissioners are agreed to it, I for one
shall applaud it as much as any person—[stopping
it all the while, observe !]—but, as far as I am aware
of, no permission to that effect has either been asked
by or granted to Mr. LINTON, and I confess that if
a rule is to be infringed upon, and that by an
exhibitor who does not even belong to my
deparment, I would rather it be done outside
than inside the Swiss Court." So actually,
by way of mending the matter, the Secretary
to the Swiss Commissioner concludes his explana-
tion thus with a very grand air and tone
of—virtuous indignation ! Quite unconscious, while
indulging in this little flourish, that grand though
the air and tone may be they are also excessively
ridiculous. However—all said and done—the
Automaton Bullfinch is again singing for the
benefit of the distressed operatives in Lancashire.
But certainly no thanks to the Secretary to the
Swiss Commissioner.

COMMUTATION OF THE SENTENCE UPON WM.
HERDMAN.—The Crown have commuted the sentence upon
NV m. Herdman to penal servitude for life, on the ground of
his eccentricities, and the fact that the memorial in his
favour has been signed by the bishop of the diocese, by the
Roman Catholic bishop, and by 4,000 of the most influen-
tial inhabitants of Belfast,—Dublin Evening Mail.
As to the question how eel-breeding would pay
as a commercial speculation, we can present a few figures
by way of data for calculations on that part of the case. The
quantity of eel fry which ascend from the sea into the
lagoon is positively enormous : they proceed in such
myriads as quite to defy enumeration. What is called
the seeding (that is, the filling with fish) of the lagoon
Commences early in February, when column upon column
of the young eels may be found pr.ceeding up the
areal
and also up the two rivers. The sluices
closed, and they sluices
for
_o,,ctourse all opened wide, and they remain open
aup76.edtthree months, till the whole of the young fish are
4,:ttsve ascended. About the end of April the
never seek to leave
stinct moves tbsiloewnv , and the fish are then securely in-
till their breeding in-
siseeesiuble size—from four to five pounds
attained to a masi.logain the sea, at which time they have
a to grow at the rate of about one
r Year. At 1 so many as 1,800 to the pound, nrbt the fry will number
' :etlignhdt.weigieht ieneleaeh
I moo of a year or two, will be
worth s4o.—•Once el Week.