The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-01 00:00:00

place these despised departments of the Germanic
Confederation would make their voice heard. It is
not likely that Prussia will be able to cope with
Austria and the Germanic States as well, and she
may well be anxious now and pause on her way,
instead of proceeding with fatal precipitancy.
On the whole, we may consider that, strong as are
the appearances at present, there is nothing actually
to regret in the aspect of affairs in Germany. It is
not for the interests of the other nations of Europe,
and it is unfavourable to the maintenance of
the balance of power, that a perfect una-
nimity should exist between these Princi-
palities and States so diverse in their com-
plexion and so grasping in their demands. It is all
for the best that the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein
should remain a standing-point of dispute, and a
lasting source of altercation. Had there been a
speedy and satisfactory adjustment of the difficul-
ties last year, who can tell to what lengths the
parties might not have gone and what new worlds
they might not have sought to conquer ? As it is,
there is presented a spectacle which he who runs
may read, and which the dullest must com-
prehend, and the most partial cannot gainsay.
The wrongs of Denmark are already partly avenged
in the pitiful position of Prussia. Austria
will not yield so tamely as some imagine, nor will
the United States be so quiescent as it has been
supposed in certain quarters ; on the contrary, we
may expect to hear of a decided change taking place
shortly in the style and tenure of things. It must
be borne in mind, likewise, that the Government of
Berlin has to contend against internal dissensions
as well as external altercations, and at any moment
either of these difficulties may prove too much for
them to manage ; and the combination of an out-
raged people at home, and indignant allies abroad,
will furnish a proper sequel to their long career of
treachery and deceit.

St, James's Hall,

-4--'

PROFESSOR ANDERSON'S ENTERTAINMENT.

Last night Professor Anderson commenced a
farewell season in London prior to his departure for
Australia, and it was highly gratifying, despite the
unfavourable state of the weather, to see his splen-
did temple of magic crowded with a most attentive
company. On this occasion the Wizard has divided
his entertainment into three distinct parts, the great
novelty being the performance of Mr. Frederick
Maccabe, a ventriloquist of extraordinary talent.
Mr. Maccabe's entertainment is very much of the
same style as that of our old friend Love, the poly-
phonist, and Mr. Woodin, without being a servile
imitator of either ; it is exceedingly interesting and
attractive. lie assumes various characters with the
greatest rapidity, but the principal is Miss Mary
May, a good-naturedly satirical young lady, whose
peculiarities he hits off in the most astonishing man-
ner. The entertainment is varied by several capital
songs, all of which are given with point and humour
by the new candidate for popular favour. Miss
Lizzy Anderson performs the great Indian basket
trick with the greatest success, and Professor An-
derson goes through various experiments of Euro-
pean magic, for which he is unapproachable. Miss
Anderson contributes an entirely new phase of her
extraordinary second sight, and, taken as a whole,
the Wizard of the North's entertainment is, without
exception, one of the best in the metropolis.

Mr. W. H. Smith, the founder of the well-known
firm W. H. Smith and Co., died at Watson House,
Bournemouth, at the advanced aged of 73, on Friday, the
28th ult. The deceased gentleman commenced the business
of newsagent in a comparatively humble way some fifty
years ago, and had retired about seven years, leaving to his
son, Mr. W. H. Smith, the entire management. It is in-
deed principally within the last seven years that the busi-
ness has received its extraordinary development, but its
great success, and its conversion from an ordinary news-
agency into one of the greatest publishing establishments
in the kingdom, are, undoubtedly, to be traced to the in-
dustry, energy, and prudence of its founder.

THE PLANET SATURN'S RINGS.—New theory of
their nature, by Mr. Proctor, of St. John's College,
Cambridge.—lf it should prove true, says the Spectator,
what an astounding conception of the mighty bowling-
ground of the solar system it opens out to us! Mr. Proctor
supposes that planets are constantly being attracted out of
the mass towards the body of the Saturnian globe, their
advanced guard in that direction constituting indeed the
dark transparent ring, and some probably even falling
right home into the central globe itself—while, in the
planetary whirlpool called the Ring, balls of greater velocity
are constantly overtaking those of less velocity, and pro-
ducing by their impact a celestial thunder and outbursts of
heat such as no earthly cannonade could give us any idea
of. True, the cannonade goes on at a distance of ten
thousand miles from the body of the planet, and far beyond
the reach of its atmosphere, so that the sound is probably

inaudible through want of a medium to convey it. But
the light and heat of such collisions must be very con-
siderable, and may have more to do with the Condition-of-
Saturn question than we have any idea of. A perpetual
celestial thunderstorm on a huge scale, though without the
thunder, except perhaps when an occasional thunderbolt
in the shape of an unhappy moon that has been 'absorbed'
drops plump into the body of the planet,--satellite canon-
ing against satellite,—a group of celestial express trains
overtaking a group of slow trains, and hustling each other
as only worlds can hustle worlds,—such is the scene
which, if Mr. Proctor is right, may be nightly present to
the astronomers of Saturn, as they gaze at what we from
our distant station in the universe look upon as his system
of rings. If this be so indeed, it is difficult to conceive
anything more different than our emotions towards •

" That orbed maiden
With white fire laden
Whom mortals call the moon,"

than the emotions of Saturnians towards that zone of
clashing worlds, that incessant artillery of the skies, which
sometimes hides the sun from them, sometimes reflects
back the sun upon them, and ever flashes on, like sus-
pended Etnas or Heclas in a rotating celestial roof, almost
close to their habitation. Yet perhaps even they could
scarcely find poetry to express their feeling towards these
marvellous rings more fitting than that of one of our own
Psalms,—" He bowed the heavens also and came down,
and darkness was under his feet. . . . At the bright-
ness that was before him, the thick clouds passed, hail-
stones and coals of fire ; the Lord thundered in the
heavens, and the Highest gave His voice, hailstones and
coals of fire ; then the channels of waters were seen, and
the foundations of the world were discovered at Thy re-
buke, 0 Lord,—at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.',

C HA RING CROSS RE DI VI V US. —Whatever may have
been the motives of the railway company in decree-
ing the re-erection of the Charing Cross after its violent
destruction in 1646, the public will feel certainly grateful
to them for their determination to rescue from oblivion so
interesting a relic of bygone times.. The architect to
whom the work has been intrusted (Mr. Edward M. Barry,
A.R.A.) has had before him a task of no ordinary diffi-
culty, though it has evidently been a labour of lore, for
while it was his duty to restore the design of old Charing
Cross, the materials for so doing are exceedingly scanty.
A rough drawing in the British Museum, another scarcely
better at the Bodleian at Oxford, and a third of similar
character in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, are
all the authorities available for the purpose, if we accept
some few engravings of obvious incompleteness and inac-
curacy. It is fortunate, however, that the drawings above-
named, though evidently by unpractised hands, agree
thoroughly together, and may therefore be regarded as
tolerably safe guides for the leading principles of the design,
number of stories, and other important features, though
they necessarily leave in the hands of the architect much
of the detail to be filled up from his own skill and know-
ledge. Pennant describes the Cross as octagonal, and
specially states that there were eight figures upon it.
A priori, this could hardly have been expected, as none

of the other crosses had more than four—Northampton
now displaying this number, and "Waltham only three,
The new Charing Cross, however, will follow
Pennant as regards the number of its niches and statues,
and will agree, in its leading features, with the drawings
above referred to. It will be 68ft. high to the top of
the gilt metal cross by which it will be surmounted, and is
being erected of Portland stone. The work is now in a
very forward state, and its completion may be expected be-
fore the close of the summer. To the lovers of the Fine
Arts it will be a source of satisfaction to know that it is
not. intended to "utilise" the monument in any way • ' it
will not carry a clock in any of its niches, there will not be
a drinking fountain at its base, nor atelcgraph-office, nor a
post-office, nor an advertising column. It will be pure' and
simple "Charing-cross," and again we say that the direc-
tors deserve well of the community for having thus given
a portion of the ground purchased by them at such great
coat, and so valuable for the purposes of the traffic, and for
having had the courage to expend the amount required in
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Barry, is now just on the eve of completion, and will very
shortly be uncovered.—Railway Nom