The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-14 00:00:00

The Weather and the Parks.

In consequence of thew ind which has accompa-
nied the keen frost of the last two days only the
more sheltered of the ornamental waters in the parks
have been frozen. Yesterday a large number of per-
sons repaired to the Serpentine, in expectation of
seeing it covered with skaters, and were surprised
that not a patch of ice a foot long could be seen.
The reason of this is entirely the high wind, and not
the temperature, for during Sunday night
ther-
mometer at the Royal Humane Society's i
receiving-
house vn 9
g
as
eury 231 d-
house in Hyde Park was as low'.
higher
At the.
o'clockyesterday morning the mer
rose
g no .
higher,
than 24 deg. Atnoonithad risen only
sii
2 de
ght fall. In
and at 7 o'clock last night there there as
spite of the coldness of the
weatherw 2ao persons yes-
terday took advantage of the absence of ice and
bathed in the Serpentine. The Royal Round Pond,
•ishstandingthe cautions issued
frozen over, but the ice is
superintendent of the Royal
less than. persons, male and
Society
on
ands,
300
bHnKyoetnt siviinaeenrY7s essilo:ecntarYGi
female, insisted upon going on the ice. As was ex-
pected, the ice broke, and 19 persons were immersed
in deep water. Three persons were got out by Isaac
Higginbottom, deputy superintendent, with assist-
ance ; three by Fred. Goodyear, one of the society's
icemen ; two by Pavyor, another iceman ; and five
who were quite exhausted, by Joseph Higginbottom,
an iceman. Several other accidents took place on
this water during the day, but they were trifling.
The ice in the ornamental waters of Regent's Park
was resorted to by a large crowd d •
•during the day. A
few immersions took place. Two gentlemen who had
been sliding in front of the society's tent fell in,
but they were soon got out and were enabled
to return to their homes. The eastern end of the
ornamental water in St.James's Park has not in been
the least degree affected by frost, but the end facing
Buckingham Palace was frozen completely over. The
ice, however, owing to the great fall of snow, was
very dangerous. - In spite of this about 50 persons
insisted upon risking their lives upon it. Suddenly
the ice parted, and Mr. Smith, of the Inner Temple,
and George Dukes, of 2, Johanna-street, Lambeth,
fell in. Fortunately both were rescued, and after
being attended to m the marquee of the society were
enabled to return home. In Battersea Park the
water is sheltered from the high wind, and the ice in
consequence is tolerably good.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
Sole Manager and Director, Mr. W. Harrison.
THIS EVENINCi tha performance will commence with
the new Opera, LARA. Principal characters by Messrs.
Swift, G. Honey, Forbes, Terrott, and Renwick ; 31 saes
Louisa Pyne, Cc, ttrell, Barrington, and Romer.
Conductor, Signor ARDITI.
After the Opera will be ,riven the Burlesque, entitled THE
LION AND THE UNICORN. Principal characters, Messrs.
Rouse, Anderson, dcc. ; Misses E. Button, Cottreil, Furtado.
To conclude w.th the GRAND TRANSFORMATION
SCENE.
Doors open at Half-past Six- Commence at Seven.

COVENT-

ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA,
GARDEN.
(Opera Company, Limited.)
CONTINUED SUCCESS OF CINDERELLA AND THE
WONDERFUL LoN.A.To.
THIS EVENING a new Op,ra, in one act, entitled niE
RIVER. brit ITE. The music by Frank Mori, the words by
George Lin'cy. t hara3iers by Dlessrs. G. Perrin, Weiss, A,
Cook, Lyall, E. DUBS k, and Mdme Florence Lands.
Condu ;tor, Air. A. MEL LOS.
Aiter which, at a quarter-past S, the Grand and highly
successful eahtorabi,e, cINDEREt.t.A, m Whiac at Donato
will reappear. 3lagnifizent Scenery and gorgeouscestories.
Commen:e at SLven.

THE AT R E-R OY AL, DRURY-LANE,
Managers. Messrs. E. Falconer and F. B. Chatterton.
THIS EVENING, Shakespere's Play of HENILY THE
EIGHTH te.minating with the fall of Wolsey. Mtssrs.
Phelps, Walter Lacey, II: Marston, E. Phelps, Barrett, Sin-
clair; miss Atkinson, Mrs. Vandenoff, &c.
Alter which, the Grand Christmas Pantomime, HOP O'MY
THUMB AND HIS ELEVEN BROT tiEltS ; or, Harlequin
and the Ogre of the Seven-League Boots : Messrs. G. Bel-
more, Tom Matthews, G. Weston, Master Percy Koselle, &c.
Misses Lydia Thompson. K. Lcclercq, &c. ; Messrs. Boleno,
C. Lauri, W. A. Barnes, T. Morris, Cormack, Saville • Udine.
Boleno, the Misses Gunnies, and Signor Tescano.

THEA TR E-R OYA L, HAYMARKET.
Lessee. Mr. Buckstone.

THIS EVENING, Feb. 14, DAVID GARRICK. Messrs.
Chippendale, Sothern, Buckstone. !roger., (nark, Coc, Wea-
the..by, &1/41.; Mesdames Moore, Snowdon, ntzwilliam, &C.
After which, LORD DUNDREARY MARRIED AND
DONE FUR Messrs. Sothern, Buckstone, Braid, Gordon,
Clark, White, Coe, Weatherbby, &c.; Mesdames Snowdon,
Hill, &c
With PRINCESS SPRINGTIME. Mr. Compton, Miss L.
Keeley.
And THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.
To commence at 7.

NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPIII.--
6431 e troDrb•u.,r anti Manktgut, Aut. B. 0 eosi,nr.
Tlll3 EVENING, STEPHEN DIGG ES. Messrs. J. L.
Tool, Billington, Ebnrne ; Mrs. A. Mellon, Mrs. Lillington,
and M ss H Simms.
To conclude With THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.
Messrs. J. L. Toole, P. Bedloid, Bihi= gton, otuart, S.ephen-
son, C. J. Smi h, Eburne ; Mrs. A. Melon, Mrs. I.ll.llington,
Miss K. Kelley, and iiss A. Seaman.

---------. —.7.-------_
against the measure being brought to a successful
termination. It often happens that an excess of
particularity defeats its own purpose, and it will be
very unfortunate if this session passes away without
something decisive being done to remedy the evils
attendant on our present system of prison manage-
ment ; for while one proposes, and another finds
fault, the harm is being done and the evils spreading
far - and wide, to the obstruction of justice and
the detriment of the best interests of society.

The intelligence from the Eastern World brings
us information which is interesting, if not especially
important. Englishmen have now such extensive
and varied interests in India, China, and Australia,
that they can no longer look with indifference on '
the accounts received from those distant quarters
even in tranquil times. Two departments of the
intelligence usually received by the Overland Mail
are not, however, altogether pacific. New Zealand
has been the theatre of a prolonged and unsatisfac-
tory struggle for many months past, and if the loss
of life has been comparatively small, the injury to
the settlers has been very serious. They have been
forced to leave their homesteads, their fields, and
outlying farms, and to take refuge in the fortified
towns, so that great hindrances are placed by this
war in the progress of the • thriving colony. It
would be a long and tedious task to enter
upon the numerous causes of the war, and
the mistakes in dealing with the natives, but all
parties must agree in cordially wishing for a speedy
termination of hostilities and the final adjustment
of the old standing grounds of dispute. The mili-
tary news received from New Zealand is of little
moment. Affairs are much the same, and the
Waikato district continues tranquil, so that it is
hoped that though the chiefs have not yet definitively
tendered their submission they have practically
abandoned the struggle. In Taranaki the Maories
still hold possession of a great part of the country,
and the settlers are still unable to resume their
homesteads and their occupations. General CAMERON
is on the spot, and will probably soon try the effect
of active and decisive measures upon them. The
great subject of conversation in the colony is the
change of Ministry. A Government has accepted office
under Mr. WELD, a prominent member of the War
Party. The programme which this gentleman
proposes is certainly vigorous and original. He
complains of the results of the double system of
Government, declares his intention of recommend-
ing the Assembly to request the Home Government
to withdraw the whole of the troops, and leave the
Governor to be guided only by his constitutional
advisers, leaving to these of course the option of
resignation in case of any material difference with
their head. This, it will be seen, is very much in
accordance with the English model, but it is doubt-
ful how far the colonists will be inclined to agree
to the military portion of the scheme. It is all very
well to call out volunteers at a pressing crisis, and
the colonists have responded nobly to the call, but
it is questionable whether the prisoners or the popu-
lation of the colony are equal to the maintenance
of a standing army. There are not idl e
hands enough in a young and poor settle-
ment to provide sufficient recruits at a very
; low rate ; but it remains to be seen how far the
Colonial Legislature will accept the new theory,
which may in some respects be adapted to their re-
quirements.

From Japan we learn that affairs are still
doubtful, though European remonstrances are
no longer disregarded. Two Japanese have been
executed for the barbarous murder of the two Eng-
lish officers ; but an unsatisfactory appendage to
this story is the news of a fresh murder—this time
of two Frenchmen at Yokohama. The men appear

to have been intoxicated, and got mixed up in a
riot, which, of course, in some degree palliates the
crime, or would do so in any other country ; but, in
Japan, the recurrence of these assassinations tends
to increase the feelings of insecurity among the
European residents. Both among the Daimios
and the common people there is evidently a
strong, hostile feeling against Europeans,
whether from prejudices of religion, or
from the long-established custom of excluding
foreigners from the Empire is uncertain. Whether
it will die out by the association with the western
strangers, or whether the great princes and the '
priests are fostering it for their own ends must be
proved by further experience, but the European
Powers had need to keep a jealous guard over the
lives of their subjects. A little more precaution on
the part of the victims would often avoid risk, but
in these cases habitual danger seems, to produce
recklessness.

From India there is nothing special to be learned
by the present summary of news. The Secretary of
State, when questioned last night by Lord STANLEY,
promised a detailed account of the Bhootan expedi-
tion to be shortly laid before the House, so that
we shall before long have the official report of
another of the many small wars which it is our
Pacific Government's good pleasure to carry
on in out-of-the-way places. The departure
of Mr. MASSEY for India, which is to take place
in a few days, contradicts the report that Sir
CHARLES TREVELYAN was to have no successor
as Finance Minister. The office is a responsible
one, and is certainly no sinecure, since day by
day the Indian revenue increases in importance,
and has not yet reached the assured condition
and regular system of administration of the Home
\
Exchequer. New principles remain to be tried,
old errors to be abolished, in connection with the
administration of our Indian finances. Mr. MASSEY
does not, we believe, belong to the school of the
bullionists who produced the Act of 1844, and is
not fettered by the traditions of a worn-out and
contracted system of monetary policy. He will be,
therefore, more likely to meet the commercial
wants of India in a free and enlarged spirit,
since his opportunity is a great One. lie
must, we should hope, be aware of the
advantages offered to commerce, and the stimulus
given to trade of every kind by a modified paper
currency on limited liability principles. If he should
have the foresight and courage to introduce this he
will relieve the Calcutta merchants from the pres-
sure which they have lately felt, and to which they
will become more and more liable as the commerce
of India extends. There are many reasons why a
paper currency, always advantageous under proper
restrictions, should be especially advantageous to
India. Immense sums of money are now coming
into native hands in return for cotton, and these
sums are being put to little profit. The llindoos
either bury it in the earth after immemorial custom,
or melt it into ornaments, to neither of which pur-
poses could they put a bank note. They would
therefore be more likely to spend the money to their
Oibnwes itirdiol
easily
oft
landayi thetnog it
idly generalby ,a advantage tage of the country
the silver currency,tina
carried from place to pltaheee.moThneye could
argument,
something like a
however, in its favour is the deficiency of
entirely
. which a few months back pro-
ducedcirculate
would it be to
The pro
panic. How much wiser,
instead of re •
:nessaofmtehteallicceu:turyrrrweonuicyd,
paper rupees under Govern-
ment authority.
livri „, t e extension of
ih safety,
then be relievedof
the a Sudden collapse
a terrible
feardLra:
commerce would proceed
would be byunchemcka7lket.The and trade
ill the money
quest.:. 31 cannot be

postponed much longer, for the increasing demands
of the merchant, the planter, and the speculator will
have to be met somehow, and we trust that Mr.
MASSEY will have the wisdom and the statesmanship
to save India from the doom of those recurring
panics which periodically attest, among ourselves,
the mistaken prudence and the short-sighted policy
of our financiers of 1844.

Cheap trains for working men is a great deside-
ratum, and at the present time the subject has be-
come one of great interest and importance. On the
first of March the London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway will commence their new plan of providing
cheap railway traffic for the working classes. By
this scheme, mechanics, artisans, and labourers, will
be able to obtain a weekly ticket for a shilling that
will allow them to make one journey a day in each
direction, on all the line between Ludgate-hill and
Victoria. This is a voluntary undertaking on the
part of the Railway, and reflects great credit on the
directors. It has been made compulsory on the
Metropolitan Railway, by an Act of Parliament,
that they should run one working man's train per
day, but the enactment did not include other trains.
Various restrictions are made to insure that no un-
fair advantage is taken of this privilege, and these are
only right and reasonable. It is to be trusted
that success will attend this effort of a praiseworthy
character, and that other lines will follow the
example thus worthily set. The necessity that
exists for some relief being afforded to the working
classes is very apparent, and the subject was
touched upon in the House of Lords last night, when
Lord HOUGHTON moved for a return of the number
of unions and parishes that had availed themselves
of the Act of last year, which " enabled them to
receive from the Metropolitan Board the sums of
money expended in the relief of the casual poor,"
&c. In the remarks which were made on this
subject the Earl of LONGFORD said that the provi-
sions contained in the bill were necessary in conse-
quence of the numerous evictions which had taken
place by the metropolitan improvements. It is a
serious thing to reflect upon that so many as fifteen
thousand evictions have taken place, and the subject
thus assumes a vast social importance. Lord
DERBY was the first to bring this matter forward,
and, with a foresight and good feeling that did him
honour, he called the attention of the House of
Lords to the question. Had more notice been
taken of the affair then, and more heed paid to his
, suggestions, it is very likely that we should not now
have to deplore the great extent to which the evil
has spread and the serious aspect which it has
assumed. Lord LONGFORD very properly observed
that though the sanitary condition of the metropolis
necessitated the removal of narrow thoroughfares,

their lordships ought to reflect that in giving autho-
rity for wholesale removal, they rendered them-
selves in some degree responsible for the miseries
that ensued by the overcrowding of other districts.
This is perfectly true, and it is only a one-sided
legislation that does not look beyond the immediate
end in view to the ultimate effects on those who
are compelled to be the victims to the general schemes
of a large and comprehensive nature. The West-
minster Improvement Bill displaces 3,500 persons,
and the commissioners who have charge of the mea-
sure have reported that they did not provide accom-
modation for these persons because their chief
object was the " improvement of the sanitary con-
dition of Westminster." Surely such is most short-
sighted policy, and can never prosper in the long
run. It cannot be to the interests of society that
so large a proportion of the population should suffer
such ills ; and if the sanitary condition of one part
of the metropolis is benefited, the summary mode
of proceedings will inevitably inflict upon another
part of it many and serious evils. It is of great

importance that this subject should be taken up

without delay, and receive the attention that it de-
serves, from its immediate and prospective conse-

quences.

The Concentration of the Law Courts.

A meeting of the Jurisprudence Department of the Na-
tional Association fo'r the Promotion of Social Science was
held last evening at their rooms in the Adelphi ; Mr. Thos.
Webster, F.R.S., in the chair.

A report was read from the committee of the department
in favour of the concentration, under one roof, of all the
courts and offices of law in London. The report, after
showing what had already been done with reference to the
project and the present station of the question, urged the
necessity of the metropolitan and provincial law societies,
and similarboclies;petitioning Parliament, and waiting upon
their representatives to request them to support the bills.
Mr. SEYMOUR TEUTON hoped that the members of the
legal profession and others would use their influence with
their representatives in Parliament to support the Govern-
ment bills, and recommended that the fees of all the con-
centrated courts should be paid in stamps, as in the Court
of Chancery.
Mr. ROBERT STUART trusted that the bringing together
of all the courts of law would promote the fusion of law
and equity.
Mr: E. W. FIELD dwelt on the fallacy attempted to be
raised that no funds in Chancery existed available for the
erection of new law courts. As one of the Commissioners
of the Court of Chancery, he was well able to refute such
an assertion. With regard to the interior accommodation
of the -proposed buildings, provision should be made for the
deposit of all the legal documents connected with the ad-
ministration of the courts, as the existing courts were
quite inadequate for such a purpose, as was admitted by
Lord Chelmsford and others, who were opponents to the
present scheme, and thought it possible that accommoda-
tion might be afforded for a general deposit of the wills
proved in all the prerogative courts in England, as was
contemplated by a measure some time since proposed in
, Parliament. He was glad to see that the benchers of
Lincoln's-inn were coming round in opinion as to the
desirability of the Carey-street site. The site of 'the
Thames Embankment, though tempting to the eye, would
not be so convenient either to the members of the profes-
sion or to the suitors, and as the fees of the latter would
provide the funds there was no reason why the suitors
should be dragged to the water side for ornament sake.
Grand exteriors generally showed a great want of accom-
modation within ; and he approved Mr. Cowper's plan of
appointing a committee to consider the requirements of the
interior force before the outward decoration. He hoped, as
the building was intended ultimately to be vested in the
Board of Works, that some solicitors, or gentlemen earnest
n the object in view, should be appointed on the govern-

ing body.
Mr. F. HILL approved of the Carey-street site, and pro-
posed that the report should assert more emphatically in
its favour. _ _ _

Mr. HASTINGS said that the site had many technical ad-
vantages combined which no other available site could pos-
sibly afford. A portion of the site being in the City of
London would enable the citizens to settle their own liti-
gations under the advantages of the new courts within
their own jurisdiction. The feeling now was everywhere
becoming unanimous in its favour.
The CUAIItMAN thought for tho purposes of utility the
proposed site was by far the best located, as it was adja-
cent to the inns of court and the immense number of public
law-offices. The projected basement-communication with
the Temple and Lincoln's-inn was highly favourable to the
spot chosen.
After some observation; in which Sir F. H. Goldsmid,
Bart., M.P., Mr. W. S. Cookson, and Mr. Williams took
part, the report was adopted.

M. MAILLART'S LAPA• "—ihe success of M.
Maillart's "Lara," at Her• Majesty's Theatre, is
frank and incontestable. Thefactcatnhnot of course have
proved otherwise than agreeable to
poser of the
music
rwhesne thed th that
ehwes
aosu conveyedthe
spurtnehei°on composer
; n and we aree not upri
have addressed the subjoined very hearty and unaffected
letter to Mr. IV. Harrison, tho manager : " Dear MaffreHr-
eted
Har-
rison,—Permit me to thank you with all my heart for thea
flattering zeal and intelligent care with which you have
produced Lara ' I deeply regret, and shall always ree•Tet,
that it was not in my power to be in London on the day
when, for the first time, one of my operas was represented
in England. The sympathetic favour and kindness with
which the English public, whose artistic taste is so ele-
vated, has welcomed my work, touches mo profoundly •
and I shall never forget the generous hospitality with
which the music of 'Lars' has been received in the coun-
try of the great Byron. Will you, my dear director, be the
interpreter of my sentiments of gratitude to your excellent
artistes, and to my confrere, the Maestro Arditi, your emi-
nent chef d'orche,stre, to whom, as well as to yourself, I am
indebted for a good part of the success of my work, and
believe me, &c., A. MAILLART." The above letter is con-
ceived in the spirit and written in the language of a gen-
tleman and an artist.-31v4kal World.