The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-18 00:00:00

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

The first annual representation of Donizetti's ad-
mired "La Favorita" took place last evening,
Madame Csillag making her first appearance this
season. Gardoni was to have appeared in the part
of Fernando, but was prevented by an attack of
cold and hoarseness, and the part was taken, at very
short notice, by Neri-Baraldi. He sang the air
" Spirto gentil" with so fine a voice, and so much
expression, that its repetition was called for in a
burst of applause from all parts of the house.
Csillag's impersonation of the heroine is the
Perfection of lyrical tragedy ; there is nothing
in the whole range of the musical stage
that is more beautiful or more pathetic.
Sig. Nanni, a ry-w-comer this season, made his debut
in the character of the Monk Baldassare. He has
a fine bass voice with a musician-like style, and his
action was dignified and impressive. Faure sus-
tained the part of the King, and the character
could not be in better hands. The first act being,
in the libretto of this theatre, divide 4 into two,
gave the opportunity for two contrasted and charac.
teristic ballets incidentally—the first, in the flowery
Isola de Leon, where Inez (MadameTagliafico) 'and
her groups of singing and dancing nymphs, executed
in the prettiest style the attractive song-dance, so
well known to opera-goers; the second, in the
Palace of Alcazar, which scene (vi.) opened the
second act, and was rendered attractive by a bril-
liant divertissement, excellently danced by
Mesdames Battalini, Esper, and Billon.

CONFIRMATION OF HER ROYAL HIGHNESS
.PRIACESS HELENA.

OSBORNE, APRIL 17.

The ceremony of the confirmation of her Royal High-
ness the Princess Helena took place to-day, at Whipping-
ham Church, in the presence of her Majesty the Queen,
their Royal Highnesses the Princess Alice, Prince Alfred,
Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, and Prince Leopold.
The Bishop of Winchester officiated, with the Dean of
Windsor and the Rev. G. Prothero, rector of Whipping-
ham.

At 12 o'clock her Majesty and the royal family arrived at
the church, and took their places in the chancel.
The service immediately commenced, and at the conclu-
sion the bishop delivered a charge.

The Queen was attended by the Countess of Gains-
borough, Lady Carolina Barrington, Lady Augusta Bruce,
the Hon. Lucy Kerr, Lord A. Paget, and Lieut.-Col. Du
Plat.

The ceremony was conducted with the strictest privacy,
in consequence of the late severe bereavement which has
fallen on her Majesty and the royal family.

DEATH OF THE ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET.—
Sir John West, G.C.8., expired this morning (Good Fri-
day) at an early hour, at his residence in Eaten-square.
MADAME LIND-GOLDSCHMIDT.—This benevolent
lady has volunteered her gratuitous assistance to the com-
mittee which has undertaken, at great expense, to restore
and enlarge the church of the Holy Sepulchre, Northam') •
ton, one of the few round churches of the Knights Templars.
The Messiah will accordif,gly bo performed next Wednes-
day morning in the Corn Exchange in that town, and
Madame Goldschmidt will sing. The applications for
tickets have been very numerous.

THE GREAT EASTERN.—Mr. C. E. Dixon, agent
at Liverpool for the Great Ship Company, yesterday made
an application to the Mersey Dock and Harbour Board for
permission to again lay down moorings in the Mersey for
the Great Eastern steamship, her late moorings having been
removed in consequence of their causing an obstruction to
navigation. Mr. Dixon stated tha' the vessel would re-
commence running to New York on the 6th of next month,
and that on her return Liverpool would be made her port
of arrival. The application was referred to the Marine
Committee.

THE NATIGATION OF THE DANUBE.—The Euro-
pean Commission, created by article 17 of the Treaty of
Paris, has just published the statistics of the navigation
during the year 1861 at the mouth of the Sulina, the only
entrance to the Danube yet rendered practicable. These
returns include the traffic of the Turkish and Moldo-Wal-
Ilachian ports in the Lower Danube, and give a very just
idea of the importance of the rich provinces traversed by
that river. From the document it appears that 2,859 mer-
chant vessels, measuring 473.914 tons, entered the Sulina,
most of them in ballast; and 2,883 vessels, of 480,944 tons,
proceeded outwards, loaded with produce, almost exclu-
sively corn. The steamers of the Austrian, French, and
Russian companies, which run regularly and carry both
passengers and merchandise, are not included in the above
return. The number of voyages made by these steamers,
inwards and outwards, was 222. Lastly, the total number
of sailing and steam vessels of all kinds which have gone
through the Sulina pass, either way, was 6,224. Of that
number seven were wrecked near the mouth, three sank
in the roadstead of Sulina, and one in the river, in conse-
quence of a collision. Besides other produce, 8,240,000
hectol. of corn were exported from the Danube, and of that
quantity 1,700,000 hectol. came to French porta in about
500 vessels, among which were only five merchant vessels
under the French flag. The freight of those 1,700,000
hectol. from Galatz to Marseilles, calculated at the average
price of several years past, wasotlestso
pthayanto4,f6o3reoi,g32ooosfh.—ip.a
very large sum for French commerce
owners.— Galignarsi.
- - -

The climate in British Columbia is one of the
finest, healthiest, and most pleasant to English people in
the whole world. The English language is spoken theta :
the laws and government, and the social habits of the coun-
try are English : the church is English, and when there
are children, there will be schools in which the best traits
of English life will be preserved and honoured. There is
no more hunger or fear of hunger there. A little half .bred
nurse-girl gets £2 a month wages; and domestic servants
might soon lay by a little fortune if they were not sure to
marry presently. What would it not be to our best Coven-
try or Lancashire workmen, at this moment trying to make
their clothes hold together by one more patching, or sitting
ve, Paiunlidng for something to do
be to them, or to the
awnidthstohmeierthhianngd stobeeafo7
t whatthem
weary, dazzled, sinking LondAn needlewoman to go where
everybody would bid for their services, where they would
tc obtain, without an hour's delay," as one of the clergymen
writes, "sixty, seventy, and even eighty pounds per annum
wages, together with innumerable offers and promises of
marriage ?" It would be nothing to them that prices are
high, and the cost of living great (which accounts for the
nrinWages) ; for they would be maintained by
tehelreZlroayte of
ers first, and their husbands if they choose to)
marry.—Ong R irtek.

THE DERE GK'S OF NEW OPLEAN S.

A recent number of the Richmond Dispatch itys :
—" The Mississippi is fortified so as to be Impass-
able for any hostile fleet or flotilla. Forts Jackson
and St. Philip are armed with 170 guns (68-pound-
ers, rifled by Barkley Britten, and received from
England). The navigation of the river is stopped
by a dam of about a quarter of a miiie from the
above forts. Nu flotilla on earth wo'ald force that-
darn in less than two hours, during -which it would
be within short and cross range of 170 guns of the
largest calibre, many of which -would be served
with red-hot shot, numerous 'furnaces for which
have be:-.,n erected in every Port and in every bat-
tery. Between New Orleans and the forts there
is a constant succession of earthworks. At the
Plain of Chalmette, near Janin's Property, there•
are redoubts, armed with rifled cannon, which have
been found to be effective at five miles' range. A
ditch 30 feet wide and 20 deep, extends from the
Mississippi to La Capriere. In the Forts St. Philip
and Jackson there are 3,000 men, of whom a
goodly portion are experienced artillerymen ,and
gunners who have served in the army."
The same paper says—
" In a day or two we shall have ready two iron-
cased floating batteries. The plates are 4:7-, inches
thick, of the best hammered iron, received from
England and France. Each iron-cased battery
will mount 20 GS-pounders, placed so as to skim
the water, and strike the enemy's hull between
wind and water. We have an abundant supply of
incendiary shells, cupola furnaces for molten iron,
congreve rockets, and fire ships. At New Orleans
itself we have 32,000 infantry, and as many more
quartered in the immediate neighbourhood. In
discipline and drill they are far superior to the
Yankees. We have two very able and active gene-
rals, who possess our entire confidence—General
Mansfield Sorrel and Brigadier-General Ruggles.
For Commodore we have old Hollins—a Nelson in
his way. We are ready to give the Yankees a
hot reception when they come. Around all are
mad with excitement and rage, Our only fear Is
that the Northern invaders will not appear. We
have made such extensive preparation to receive
them that it were vexatious if their invisible ar-
mada escapes the fate we have in store for it."
There are also said to be other formidable obstruc-
tions of various kinds in the river to prevent the
passage upwards of a fleet. A correspondent at Ship
Island, writing recently, says:—

" I have conversed with some prisoners recently
taken in reference to the obstructions placed across
the Mississippi by the rebels to prevent the passage
of Federal men of-war. From them I learn there
is an immense raft of logs, containing 80,000 feet,
stretched across the river at a point called the
Jump.' The raft is secured to the banks of the
river, on either side, by heavy chains, which are
dropped when any of the Confederate steamers pass,.
This formidable obstruction is commanded by a.
strong battery."
A New York paper says:—
"New Orleans is the great commercial and finan-
cial emporium of the South. It is the great Southern
cotton emporium. Superior cheapness of transpor-
tation by water draws thither all the cotton pro-
duced in Middle and Western Tennessee, Arkansas,,
Eastern Texas, and Mississippi. The tobacco, hemp,
and cereals of our vast Western empire find their
way thither from the same cause. Half a continent
pours its productive wealth into its bosom, anti finds
thence its way to the markets of the world. It is
in brief the key to the wealth, the prosperity, and
advancement of 15 States. Its possession would be.
of vast material benefit. It would afford us at once
the means of forcing the States t•f Texas, Louisiana,
and Western Mississippi back to their allegiance,
and serve as the point from whence we could force
our other rebellious sisters of the South-west back.
to their duty. The fact of its capture would inspire
the utmost terror throughout the entire South. A
moral paralysis would fall upon the boldest spirits
of Secessionism.

"The population of the city, by the census of
1860, was 168,472. This has doubtless been greatly
reduced since that time; but, allowing for the opera-
tion of all reducing causes, it still probably numbers-
considerably above a hundred thousand souls. If
we may not now daily look for news of its fall, we
may at least anticipate learning what is virtually
the same thing—that General Butler and Captain
Porter have captured all its defences, opened up the
river, and hold the contumacious city at the mercy
of the mortars."

AMERICAN VIC 7 ORIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—The following Northern items came to us
by the steamers from the United States, bringing
dates to the 23d and 26th of March:—

1. Island No. 10 officially reported, by a Major-
General of the army, taken by the Federals.
2. Fort Pike, at the entrance of Lake Ponchar-
train, taken by the Federals, and new Orleans in
imminent danger.

3. New Orleans attacked.
4. New Orleans taken.
5. Beaufort, North Carolina, taken by a division
of General Burnside's army.
6. The town destroyed by the Confederates.
7. Fort Macon, commanding the harbour of Beau-
fort, abandoned and blown up by the Confederates.
8. At the same time and place the Confederate
steamer Nashville first burnt by the Federals, then
by the Confederates.
9. Fright and flight of President Davis from
Richmond, as reported by the Nero I ork Times.
Such was the appalling list of disasters to the
Confederate cause, which rendered the Yankees in
Paris and London jubilant, and caused some of the
more credulous Southerners to lock grave and
solemn.

Look on that picture, and on this !
One day less than a week elapsed, and the
Northern accounts, by the steamer of the 29th from
New York, without the slightest apology or ex-
planation, coolly send forth the following :-
1. Island No. 10 not taken.

2. Fort Pike not taken.
3. New Orleans not attacked.
4. New Orleans not taken.
5. Beaufort not taken.
6 The town not destroyed by the Confederates.

7. Fort Macon not abandoned, or blown up.
8. The steamer Nashville not burnt by Federals,
or Confederates, but gallantly gliding out of the
harbour (laden with cotton for foreign ports)
through the ponderous jaws of the veritable and
" effective" blockading squadron at that port.
9. President Davis neither flightened, nor fleeing
from Richmond.

With such a record of misrepresentation and
contradiction from the same source, would it not be
wise in future, before yielding our credence, to
Paris, April N. WAIT A WEEK P

T cSIuObLDatIEHgRoSn'CLITE AT HONG KONG. The
Kong comprises a skittle-alley,
billiardEs-'room, a racquet-court, and a newspaper room, which
sccoarnistbtaeeirrn: a library under the special control of the ban ack-
m at
t present
rconsistingeseton
nf
them o more thant
are
12,000
and t volumes.he
number The sfluubei
tuates somewhat monthly. There is a cheerful fire in the
reading-room—a contrast to barracks—and smoking is bY
no means prohibited. The club—distinct in some measure
from the library—is under the direction of a committee,
the president of which is always to be a field-officer when
circumstances permit. The rules to be adhered to are few
and simple, but unfortunately a large proportion of the
subscribers can neither read nor write.—London and China
Telegraph.
AN OLD COUNTRY MANSION.—Carved over the
park gateway and the porch on the terrace, but very worn
now, and moss-grown, and with orange lichen patches over
it, the crests of the Hadfields is still traceable. Let the
history of the county state it heraldically :—" A dove, ar.
beak and legs, gu. standing on a serpent rowed ppr. Motto,
Soyez sage et semple.' " And in that beautiful chamber
—(it is used as a library now, and it is the room in which
the medical gentleman had their consultation and their
Madeira)—wainscoted with carved oak of rich and elaborate
pattern and most skilful workmanship, is to be seen in ad-
mirable preservation an almost unequalled specimen of the
richly-decorated withdrawing-roots of the time of James I.
tThheeincihtiiamlnseoyf
jpaiemceesi,swdheicloeraaited
n.id.sattitthhetthhe Royal armsickcrustof
orannd
a_
rnentation. on either side are to be found the bearings of
Sir Hugh, the builder, and of the family of his wife, one of
the &moo of IlLtielly. o*—Qnc° a Wcek.

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