The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-06 00:00:00

TUE SUN, LONDON, IVIONDAY 10/ENING, OCTOBER 6, 1862.

pation is to be a punishment, slaveholding a reward.
We cannot relish this in England. Emancipation
ought to have been decreed unconditionally ; and
if any mercy were shown to such a kind of political
deathbed repentance, it should have been in the
shape of " greenbacks," for those who returned to
their allegiance in due time. This, with the de-
ferring. of final action till the Ist of January, we
take to be a great blot on the proclamation. The
test of
st
State,
te:
omembers
rebels' repentance
elected is to
by a
be—the
majority of
sending,
theby
State to the Federal Congress.

The PRESIDENT also calls attention to the Acts of
Marsh and Jul 3 —by the former of which the army
authorities, and by the latter, any State or territory
are forbidden to return fugitives from slavery to
persons claiming them. Some time was permitted,
by the PRESIDENT, to elapse before these acts were
put into operation—they are now at once to be en-
forced. All generals and other persons, even if
they should have pro-slavery leanings, are forbidden
to indulge them in regard to slavery. The drift of
these two acts is, of course, to encourage desertion

of negroes.
How will the South receive this proclamation
They will give up immediately the proposal which
had been made in the hour of their triumph to send
Commissioners to Washington to treat for terms
Since then, they have had to retreat themselves from
Maryland, and they cannot now go to the North as
offering any act of grace and conciliation. What-
ever the real character of the battles in Maryland,
they have restored Northern confidence too much
to allow hope of concessions such as the South
would demand, as the basis of peace,
while, upon the Northern successes fol-
lows this proclamation a distinct threat,
that disobedience for three months longer is to be
followed by an emancipation of their slaves.
Though this threat will not do what it might have
done last April twelvemonths, it will do something.
If it will irritate to the last degree all who have
thriven hitherto on the unholy profits of slavery, it
will make them fight, perhaps, in many cases with
the rage of desperation, if it must to some extent
cow them. It may be difficult for the Federal
commanders, who hold so many points in the cir-
cumference of slavedom, to get the knowledge of
the proclamation into the plantations and among
the negroes—but in time they will do it, those of
them at least who are favourable to emanci-
pation ; and the long continuance of the
war must have disposed most of the
Generals to do anything whatever which will vex
and embarrass their enemies. The obvious course
would seem to be, to print the Proclamation by
thousands, and to put it into the hands of the
negroes who have already escaped in different parts
to the Federal lines. These men will have great
numbers of their friends and relations, perhaps their
own wives and children, still in slavery. They will
find the means, with the cunning which slavery
teaches, to spread amongst the negro popu-
lation the knowledge of the fact that on the
Ist of January, they are, by the declaration of
the PRESIDENT, free men. The proclamation,
well used, would be proof of this; and even now, if
the Southerns found that their negroes had got firm
hold of this fact, they would, after all their preten-
sions of negro attachment to their masters, soon
show that they feared, above all things, the negroes
attachment to liberty. If the executive does not
take vigorous steps to give the negro population
knowledge of this proclamation it will lose the chief
benefit of this last and important act.
In the North itself the proclamation will cause
some division of opinion. The long hesitation of
Mr. LINCOLN is doubtless due to his desire to follow
rather than to anticipate public opinion. The ori-
ginal abolitionists were, of course, but a small part
of the great Republican party, they have added
largely to their numbers, by converts to the ex-
pediency of abolition, as the only means of termi-
nating the war : but the pro-slavery republicans,
added to the democrats who are all advocates of sla-
very, must form' a very large party in the North.
It is therefore certain that there will be a
strong party hostile to the PRESIDENT at
the ensuing elections. Still we have no doubt
that Mr. LINCOLN well knows what he is about in
regard to the political bearing of what he has done.
His cautious proceedings hitherto show that he has
never overstepped the limits of what he might do
without hazarding the support of his party ; and it
may be safely expected that we shall find him
warmly supported before the first of January by all
the strength of the Republican party. On the
whole, though the drawbacks are so many, we re.
joice that the state of parties should have allowed,
or coerced, the PRESIDENT to issue this proclama-
tion.

At last—with the bloom quite taken off it by
delay—comes forth the Royal Amnesty to GARI-
BALDI. The Telegram—dated Turin, Oct. 5
informs us that upon that morning, that is yester-
day, the KING signed the decree. A document
which will be officially published to-day in the
Government Gazette. The paper to which VICTOR
EMMANUEL has thus affixed his signature concedes
the Amnesty to all persons in any way concerned
in the acts and attempts which took place recently
in Sicily and the Southern provinces of the Italian
Peninsula. To all, at least with the exception of
one solitary class, namely, the soldiery who "de-
serted" from the Royal army to swell the ranks of
the Garibaldian insurgents. At the outset it may
be remembered that the rigour with which these
so-called " deserters" were dealt with, was described
to be something extreme in its pitiless and sum-
mary character. At
,first the intelligence ran to
the effect that they were tried at a drum-head
court-martial, and shot off hand, singly or in batches.
Soldiers—that is—known to have abandoned the
colours of their Sovereign, and to have been taken
at Aspromonte or elsewhere with arms in their
hands under the banners of the Hero GARIBALDI.
Confidently as this statement was put forth in earlier
telegrams, and afterwards more circumstantially in
the correspondence of more than one of our contem-
poraries, it certainly appeared to us improbable at
the first glance, and little less than incredible upon
a meoerereeedpreorlriitbneegd. deliberate consideration of events actually
th then
es u
executions Eventually
thet h
e truthseldicearmy ewohuot thathad
deserted were, to say the least of them, premiture.
There had been no
drum-head
There had been no shootings inhatehceosuretr-msinargtliyals.
of
the condemned prisoners. The military who were
taken were simply placed under arrest like the
civilians with whom they had been associated in
the course of GARII3ALDI'S most mistaken enterprise.
And therefore that any exception should be taken
to the according the boon of this amnesty (such
as there is left in it) to the soldiers as well as
the civilians, cannot but be sincerely regretted under
the circumstances. So far as the amnesty could be
granted handsomely, after this wretchedly
prolonged delay and hesitation, it ought cer-
tainly to have bean granted now. There is a
fl all
the of bungling, however,aboutuenoo
of
the doings authorised under the influence
the RATTAZZI Administration. If a mistake could be
made in either the time or manner of granting the
amnesty it was certain to be made under the malign
guidance of that man of all others at Turin who

may be most accurately described as the Wrong
Man in the Wrong Place—the Prime Minister !

IIATTAZZI—has so contrived it that both in Time
and Manner the amnesty should be spoilt. It adds
nothing whatever to the popularity of the KING,

his master, either among the people at large or

among his own troops—granted as the amnesty is

now after so tedious a procrastination, and after all
with a reservation shutting out all military " deser-
ters" from the share of deriving any benefit from it

ROYA

TERA:

THE PURITAN'S DAUGHTER.

There is in the history of every country a period
that is peculiarly dramatic. It is an incident of
civilisation that there should sooner or later occur a
time when powerful passions become excited and
great struggles are engendered, and the entire life
of a people in consequence becomes more adventur:

ous, vivid, and diversified. Such a time, for instance, I
was the Spanish invasion of the Netherlands--was
the civil war in England—and, above all, was the
momentous outburst of the first French Revolution.
Each of these periods has accordingly attracted an
abundant illustration—in art, fiction, and the
drama; and not the least has our civil war, which
in its strongly defined contrast of Cavalier and
Roundhead, has not only embV.Aied the contending
principles of order and liberty, but distinguished
them by vivid traits—which present so much of
what may be called the prose and poetry of human
emotion. Such materials were not likely to be
neglected by our novelists and painters, and
from the pen of Scott to the brush of Millais—the
great event has been brought before us with more
or less fidelity to its power and picturesqueness.
Until last year, however, there was one direction in
which art had failed to supply an illustration—that
was music. We had novels, plays, and pictures
on the events and passions of the illustrious
struggle, but we had still to obtain an opera. Those
who know how vividly the lyric drama can tran-
scribe and impress human emotion will readily ad-
mit that such a want was not among the least of
our desiderata. It was felt, therefore, last season
that Mr. Balfe and Mr. Bridgman had performed
a very welcome service, when on the boards of our
national opera they so ably and successfully sup-
plied the required enjoyment.
_ _

Of the merits of their respective labours we
can have no occasion to speak now, when
they have become so familiar and acknow-
ledged, and as little of the opportunities
which they afforded our leading artists to produce
some of the best impressions which have as yet
distinguished our native opera. The passionate
energy of Mr. Santley—the touching pathos
of Miss Pyne and the hilarious humour of Mr. Har-
rison were each a feature of the performance that
was almost as new as it was distinctive. There can
be no question that this opera would have achieved
one of the greatest possible successes—had
not almost simultaneously with its production
occurred the death of the Prince Consort, and all
public enjoyment been at once checked by what was
regarded, and very justly, in the light of a national
bereavement. Little wonder, therefore, can be felt
that its reproduction on Saturday evening sufficed
to crowd the theatre with a highly expectant and
intelligent audience. A certain improvement also
in the cast tended to distinguish its revival. Mr.
Weiss was to appear in the old Puritan in lieu of
Mr. Corri—a character whose weight and tender-
ness overtasked the powers of the latter able
artist—and Mr. Rouse was to fill the ',room of
Mr. G. Honey in the rustic Ralph—an assurance
that genial merriment would replace a hard con.
ception.

It is sufficient to say of this performance,
that whilst it renewed all past impressions it
fulfilled all expectations. Miss Pyne, whose com-
mand of pathos, in union with refined pleasantry,
is as remarkable as the melodious breadth which
her voice combines with its facility, renewed her
picture of the Puritan Girl with all that depth
of tenderness which renders it one of the most en-
gaging and affecting efforts of our time. Especially
was this charm apparent in the finale of the first
act, when, in a tone of subdued anguish, Mary
repeats the burthen of her lover's song, and echoes
his sad wish that death should end their separation.
The exquisite pathos of voice and attitude with
which she terminates this scene, places it apart
from any effort of the kind that we have
seen. Equally delightful was her delivery
of the lovely cavatina—" Pretty, lowly, modest,
flower"—one of the most graceful and original con-
ceptions
that has ever distinguished Mr. Balfe,
whilst in the air of the last act—"A Lovine
duugut,i's Leuitr—all her tenderness was resumed
and, indeed, expanded, to a point that, whether in
tone or feeling could not possibly have been
surpassed. It was a closing triumph that
served to rivet the entire impression of her
efforts. Mr. Santley also was in full vigour
as the youthful cavalier, and, whether in a
vocal or dramatic sense, amply sustained the great
reputation of his original performance. His sing-
ing throughout the opera left not a trait to be de-
sired of either force or delicacy—whilst his delivery
especially of the ballad " Oh would that I had died
ere now" won one of those true encores
which are as much a measure of an artist's
power as of his hearer's gratification. Mr. Har-
rison was as buoyant as ever as the rakish Roches•
ter, and gave his drunken scene, if possible, with
an increased amount of humour. It is a N ery
genuine piece of comedy, to which we know no-
thing of its kind superior. His great punch effu-
sion, also, "Let others sing the praise of wine,"
was delivered with a force of merriment which re-
called all its first impression. In Wolf, the Puritan,
Mr. Weiss proved a most important acces-
sion to the piece. The dignity of his bear-
ing and expression combining happily with
the requisite tenderness which the cha-
racter contains. His delivery of his opening
ballad, " My own sweet child," was only a specimen
of his manly and pathetic singing throughout the
night. Lastly, Mr. Rouse was a great improve-
ment on Mr. Honey, in the servant Ralph—not
only his singing being most efficient, but his
acting having real humour in it, and con-
tributing, not slightly to the relief of the serious
scenes. We must not forget either Miss Susan Pyne
as an effective little abigail. Of the chorus
we must also speak with no diminished
commendation, the whole of the Puritan music,
and more especially in the scene of the Ruins,
being given with a force of expression that was
impressive to a degr, The band, we need not
say, under Mr. Mellon, had an equal claim to fav-
our, and the entire performance was so superior
that we cannot doubt its repetition will prove com-
mensurately attractive.
AmmenrsklMlL