The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-06 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 6, 1865.

of intimate acquaintance with Confederate affairs
when greater confidence and hopefulness were en-
tertained in reference to the present and future of

Secessia than at present. If Gen. Grant could be

induced to withdraw his eyes for a moment from the
future of the Confederate States, and to contem-

plate the future of his own country, I would ask
him to reflect in what estimation he is himself

likely to be held by the fickle, many-headed beast

of the North if he fails to take Richmond in the

next six months ? Many are the bitter Yankee-
haters in this town, who wish for their enemies no

greater degradation than that, having failed to sub-

due the South, they should find themselves with
such a satrap as Abraham Lincoln strapped on their
backs for four years to come without hope of relief.
Many are the vaticinations already heard in Rich-

mond that the second lustrum of Mr. Lincoln, com-
menced in sunshine and tranquillity, and welcomed
by a slavish and sycophantic community, will go

out in storm and whirlwind amid execrations and

curses. There is in the " Arabian Nights" no tale
so wild and startling as a comparison between the
wealth, progress, actual and prospective prosperity

of the United Stateg in 1860, and the utter humilia
tion of the record which they will exhibit in 1865.

I have just returned from passing several days in
camp on the north of the James, and have watched

with interest the progress of the Confederate lines
northwards, until they have reached the bluff which
overhangs the valley of the Chickahominy. It is
curious to observe what an amount of labour the
construction of these elaborate lines exacts. Your
readers will remember that in my letter describing
the abortive Federal attack of October 27 I stated
that the new lines of the Confederates ran only to
the Charles City-road, and that the Williamsburg
and Nine-mile-roads (where the Federal attack
upon that day was mainly delivered) were defended
only by the old lines thrown up against General

M'Clellan in 1862. But since the return of Gene-
ral Kershaw and his fine division from the valley,

General Longstreet has extended his lines norti

wards across the Williamsburg and Nine-mile-roads
to the Chicahominy river. One :of the strongest
earth redoubts which I have ever seen is being con-
structed on the Nine-mile-road, and will be shortly
finished. It is to mount 12 guns, and, although
its construction is necessary as a prophylactic mea-
sure, it takes no prophet to predict that it will never
be approached by the Federals. The war in Vir-
ginia during the last week has been diversified only
by an attack of Grant's upon Stoney-creek depot
(which is the furthest point northwards to which
the cars of Weldon run), and by the destruction
there of some stores and forage, inconsiderable in
amount ; and, secondly, by a success of the Con-
federate cavalry, under General Prosser, against
two stations on the Baltimore and
.Ohio Railroad.
in which considerably greater damage was inflicted
than was accomplished by Grant's force at Stony-
creek. It is needless to say that these little episodes,
sometimes magnified by the journals on one side or
the other into extravagant proportions, exercise an
infinitesimal influence upon the fortunes of the war ;
but, latterly, the Confederates, as regards the en-
terprise and success of their efforts, have certainly
not had the worst of it. The main interest of the
war centres more than ever at this moment in the
operations of Sherman in Georgia and of Hood in
Tennessee.

Our information in this city of the true history o
operations in Georgia is inconsecutive and incom.
plete, but it seems astonishing that with so large a
force Sherman should have moved only 20 miles
during the last week, and that he should have
effected so little in 23 days. Against 'no town of
importance, with the exception of Milledgeville
(which has no military value), has Sherman dared
to strike a blow. From the rich counties of
Georgia, which are adjacent to Milledgeville, a cry
ascends to Heaven bewailing barns and homesteads
burnt, cattle, horses, hogs, sheep, poultry, corn,
wheat, and forage abstracted, and negroes carried
away ; but Sherman will find that he is creating in
Georgia what his associates long ago created in Vir-
ginia—poverty and patriots.
It is idle for me to• undertake to comment upon
the movements of General Hood in Tennessee, as
these movements are known to us only through
Northern journals ; but since the date of my last let-
ter a greatly increased feeling of cheerfulness has
been inspired by the knowledge that Hood and his
army are in motion. If it were worth while to waste
20. words upon the ridiculous mendacity of the
Northern journals, I might point a moral for the
instruction of your readers, upon the text of their
statements in reference to Hood's army, while lying
inactively upon the Tennessee River. I continue to
have the same confidence which I have often before
expressed in the character and tried courage of
General Hood and in the morale and spirit of his
army, but it is my sincere hope that he will not at-
tempt to march to the north of Nashville at this
sdeeasscoennsclionfgthaeloynegar,thbeut
rtahilartohade
will
wi
Nrestsaelninbgy the Confederates
from be
himself satisfied
Nashvillette
tio:
tCehr astttraonnogohgoald,
,awnhdicinh,rief
(and resistance willliardly be possible if Hood de-
scends on it from
~the north), will necessitate the
speedy evacuation of Knoxville by the Federals.
With Knoxville and Chattanooga again in Con-
federate hands, with Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
and four-fifths of Tennessee rescued from the Fede-
ywwillohrdasv'e been written at the
caenncietmbeentdeonf ieoactthoabtern:
abund-
antly Verified ? •
reaolms,na

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

---~--

METROPOLITAN AND ST. JOHN'S-WOOD.
The first ordinary meeting of this company was held
yesterday at the office, Duke-street, Westminster ; Mr W.
Austen in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN saidthe first business they had to do was
to elect directors. I,,At present they had four directors, and
it was necessary the number should be increased to five.
Resolutions were passed increasing the number of direc-
tors from four to five, and electing Mr W. Austen, Mr.
Harding, Mr. W. Lee, M.P., Mr R. Mackin, and Mr. D.
Nichol directors of the company ; and also Mr E. Bellamy
an auditor.
The CHAIRMAN then said that was all the formal business
they had to transact on that occasion. Their undertaking
was promoted under very favourable auspices. The Metro-
politan Railway, from which the company's line would
branch off at Baker-street station, had already shown its
great capability for carrying a large traffic. He believed
that the number of passengers carried on it had exceeded
per :mile more than was ever carried on any other line.
During the past week 64,000 passengers per day ;were car-
ried over the Metropolitan line, and :the receipts averaged
7001. per mile per week, which he believed was more than
double the amount over received on any other railway.
The railway to St. John's-wood would partake of that char-
acter, as it would pass through ks densely populated a dis-
trict as the Metropolitan. They were assured that the cost
of constructing that railway would not exceed one-third of
the cost of constructing the Metropolitan Railway, which
of course would have a most important effect on the divi-
dend. The Metropolitan Railway Company would work
their line when completed at 50 per cent. of the gross re-
ceipts. It would be a single line, and pass under the Finch-
ley-road.. Being a single line, it would be less expense to
construct it, and they would have an ample traffic. Their
engineer was of opinion that 64,000 passengers per day
could be conveyed over it without danger to the company.
In working the traffic they would adopt the principle of
not allowing more than one train to run at the same time
between any two stations on the line. There would be a
station on the Finchley-road, close to the Hampstead Rail-
way, and in communication with the Midland Railway at
that point. It was also intended to make an extension line
from the Swiss Cottage station to the centre of the town
at Hampstead, which, would be a great convenience, and
Sir T. Wilson was in favour of the project. There would
be a great traffic on the line, and he trusted that their
efforts would be crowned with the success which they all
hoped for. (Hear.).
A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceed-
ings.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TIMES.--The question of " La Liberte des Thea-
tres" has in due time migrated from French to
English soil. After having agitated the Parisian
public for a season, and given its name to a play
which attracted crowds to the Varlet& almost
throughout the year 1864, it has paid us a New Year's
visit. This is as it should be: We borrow our plays
from the French, sand in the principles of theatrical
legislation we must be content to follow the lead of
our neighbours. But we fear that the question of
theatrical liberty will not be studied in England
with the passionate zeal which it evoked in Paris.
In France the theatre is a part of the national tulle.
It receives its dotations and subventions from the
State without a word of opposition. We talk much
about the edification of our churches, and the Church-
rate question is supposed to be one of the most
important subjects upon which opinion can be
divided among us ; but in France the Emperor re-
builds Opera houses and theatres in the capital and
the provinces, and every one approves the outlay.
" La Liberte des Theatres" is believed to have oc-
cupied the attention of the Conseil d'Etat, and our
humble parallel is transacted before Mr Tyrwhitt
at the Marlborough-street Police-office. It is some-
what anomalous that in 1865, nearly 20 years after
the formal adoption of Free Trade, such proceedings
as those instituted against Mr. Strange, of the
Alhambra, should be possible. The lessees of the

licensed theatres who have set them on foot appear
to have no other objection to Mr. Strange than that
he is a rival to themselves. He is providing amuse-
ments for the public which compete with the theatres,
and the opposing lessees are banded together to put
him down, as if they had never heard of the
monopoly of the patent houses under which they
themselves so long suffered. It is not pretended
that the amusements at the Alhambra are immoral,
or that the lessees are acting in the interests of the
Revenue. It is enough for them that there is a
law which forbids the representation of plays
in unlicensed houses, and if they can get Mr.
Strange within its operation they will be satisfied.
This is the secret of the summons heard before Mr.
Tyrwhitt at Marlborough-street, the decision upon
which has been reserved by the magistrate. It was
admitted, or appeared in evidence, that Mr Strange
had recently taken a lease of the grotesque building
on the east side of Leicester-square which was once
a Panopticon, is now an Alhambra, and has been at
different times a circus, a concert-hall, the place
where Rarey tamed horses, and where Leotard swung-
and gymnasts exhibited. The building, as the coun-
sel for the prosecution pointed out, is one of consi-
derable size, and, if not in all respects like a theatre
of the present day, it is extremely like the primitive
theatre of the days of Elizabeth. There is a stage
almost as large as Drury-lane, in front of it an
orchestra, and in front of that a pit, which is a real
pit, differing from that of the Globe in Southwark
only in being covered over and in having within it
tables of various sizes, at which visitors can sit,
smoke, and refresh themselves. A double row of
boxes surrounds the pit, and completes the part de-
voted to the audience. The stage itself was pro-
vided with, wings, flys, a drop-scene, foot-lights,
and the other usual accessories of a theatre. The
entertainment provided by Mr. Strange for his visi-
tors, and which in the view of the prosecution brought
him within the operation of the law, consisted of a
ballet danced by some 60 or 70 performers, who,
according to Mr. Horace Wigan, of the Olympic,
" went through the pantomime of attack and defence
and putting to death an imaginary enemy, who
appeared to be on the floor." Mr. Wigan was cross-
examined upon his statement that pantomime had
been introduced in the ballet, and he drew distinc-
tions which are unknown to ordinary mortals.
There are, according to his authority, two kinds of
ballet—the " ballet divertissement" and the "ballet
of action," the latter of which does not require
dancing ; but pantomime is indispensable to both.
Mr. Bonham Donne, the examiner of stage plays at
the Lord Chamberlain's Office, who was another
witness for the prosecution, acknowledged that this
distinction of two classes of ballet was unknown to
hlm, and he also ingenuously confessed that he
never could understand a ballet in his life. The
importance of accurately determining the nature
of the dancing on Mr. Strange's stage is
apparent when we turn to the law on the subject.
Places of public amusement are, in fact, subject to
two Acts .of Parliament, the one passed in the reign
of George H., and the other in the reign of Queen
Victoria. Mr. Strange has obtained a licence under
the first Act, but not under the second. The Act of
George 11., which is entitled "An Act for the better
preventing 'Thefts and Robberies," forbids the keep-
ing of places for public dancing, music, or other pub-
lic entertainment of the like kind without a licence ;
while the Act of the present reign forbids the public
performance of stage-plays without a licence, and
defines a stage-play to include tragedy, comedy,
farce, opera, burletta, interlude, melodrama, panto-
mime, or other entertainment of the stage. It would
follow that if the dancing' on the stage of the Alliam-
bra constituted a pantomime within the meaning of
the later Act, Mr. Strange has offended against the
law, but if it were no more than public dancing he
is protected by the licence he has obtained under the
Act of King 'George H. It can scarcely be,denied
that a mere exhibition of dancing might be given
under the sanction of the older Act ; for though a
place for public dancing might by itself be construed
as no more than a place at which visitors might
assemble and dance, yet as the public dancing is
associated with music or other public entertainment,
and an exhibition of hired and trained musicians has
always been held within the Act, it would seem that
an exhibition. of hired dancers must also be within
it. It is more difficult to determine the meaning of
pantomime in the Act regulating theatres; the words
with which it is associated all imply the mimicry of
sentiment and feeling, and it is possible that the
dancing of a troupe becomes a pantomime when the
pirouetting and saltation are not so much efforts of
grace and agility as expressions of passionate motion
—when, in a word, motion is subordinate to emotion.
It would, however, be almost impossible to draw this
distinction except in extreme cases. We may say that
the dancing of Egypt is pantomime, while the waltz-
ing of Germany is not; but when Mr:Wigan calls " Sir
Roger de Coverley" a theatrical entertainment want-
ing the stage, few would agree with him, and still
feiver when he puts " The Lancers" in the same
category. The question of law—what is a panto-
mime, and the question of fact—what was the cha-
•racter of the dancing at the Alliambra, are, how-
ever, matters which Mr. Tyrwhitt has to decide,
and it would be improper to anticipate his decision.
We may, nevertheless, hope that he will pay due
attention to the important evidence of Mr.. Wigan
and Mr. Maclean that there was real water at the
back of the stage. In these days, when acting is
quite subsidiary to real water and, real smoke, and
a good player is less esteemed than a real horse and
a real cab, we look upon the presence of real water
on the stage as the surest test of a theatre, and this
piece of evidence the worst point against Mr. Strange.
Whatever may be the • result in the prosecution of
the proprietor of the Alhambra, the case serves as
an illustration of the piecemeal and irrational cha-
racter of English legislation. It is impossible to
feel any sympathy for the efforts of the lessees to
vindicate a law which rests on such arbitrary prin-
ciples as that which regulates theatres. Even if Mr.
Strange is convicted, ad the Exchequer is enriched
by the fine which may be imposed upon him, the
only consequence would be that he would apply to
the Lord Chamberlain for a licence for the Alham-
bra. The functions of that official certainly ought
not to involve any restriction on the number of
places of legitimate amusement, and the application
would probably be granted as a matter of course,
upon due security being given for the propriety of
the entertainment provided for the public. In other
days the Lord Chamberlain might probably consider
whether there was a demand for an additional place
of amusement, but it would now be allowed by all
that that is a question for the theatrical speculator
alone. The gain of a successful prosecution by the
lessees would, therefore, be that they would have to
meet a direct instead of an indirect competitor.
POST.—It is singular that those who advertise
themselves, as being especially continuous propoun-
ders of some new thing and the apostles of progress,
are, above all others o their time, reactionary. It
is so, however:; and the new lamps which they cry
are only old ones rubbed up, whether they be the
lamps of house decorators or of professed and pro-
fessing politicians. The house decorator and the
jeweller go back to Egypt and to Tuscany for their
models, and Mr. Bright reverts to the feudal age for
his social schemes and his political ideas. If there
be one theory more absolutely recognised than any
other, we should have taken it to be that theory
which endeavours to rest political organisation upon_
distinction or antagonism of classes. Such a pro-
position, whether put forward by a Conservative or
a Radical, is absurd in conception and retrograde in
tendency. Developed in action, it involves a return
to the feudal system territorially, and to the guild
system commercially. Yet such is the character of
the policy which Mr. Bright endeavours to induce
this country to accept and push to completion. The
attempt was made in France to secure to what were
termed the middle classes a preponderance of poli-
tical power, involving ultimately a monopoly of
executive government. Its immediate consequence
was the organisation of a military dictatorship ; the
final result has been the re-establishment of an im-
perial dynasty. But, says Mr. Bright, " the time
is gone by when nations were moved by the shout
of the warrior and the enunciation of the statesman.
Sift the elements of the living world through my
sieve, the manufacturer will be the gold dust that
the digger will gather out of the cradle. The war-
rior and the statesman will be the refuse washed
down the stream. The manufacturer shall rule the