The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-26 00:00:00

MALTA.

Our Malta correspondent, under:date of Valletta,
20th December, announces the rupture of the Malta
and Sicily cable. During the temporary interrup-
tion telegrams will be sent over to Sicily for trans-
mission to their destination by telegraph, by means
of one of her Majesty's ships. The Assurance (gun
vessel), Commander H. B. Woolcombe, left with
the first batch of telegrams on the 19th inst.
The Victoria (102), flagship of Vice-Admiral
Smart, K.C.8., K.H., left her moorings in the
Great Harbour of Malta on the 20th inst., to exer-
cise heavy armament.

Her Majesty's ship Arethusa and the Turkish
ironclad Abdul Aziz, daily expected from England,
had not arrived.

FATAL BOAT ACCIDENT AND WONDERFUL ESCAPE.
—A few evenings ago an accident of a most extra-
ordinary character befel the passengers of the ferry boat
plying between Lianstephan and Ferryside, by which the
lessee of the ferry lost his life and the passengers had an
extremely narrow escape of a similar fate. Most of the
party had been to a sale at Pilroth, and about nine persons,
including two women and the boatmen, embarked about
six o'clock in a common fishing beat, the property of Mr.
William Davies, fisherman, of Ferryside. At this time the
tide was running in strongly, .which, aided by a stiff
breeze, rendered it a difficult passage for the small and
heavily-laden boat. When little more than half way over
the water occasionally came into the boat, and she became
heavier with the weight of water in her, the swell at
length came over side, and it became evident that she
would never get across. It is alleged that even when the
water in the boat was up to the knees of the passengers,
the boatmen were joking, and jocularly remarking, in
reply to the alarmed inquiries of the passengers, that
it would take them three hours to pull to shore. The
boatmen made nearly all the party go to the stern.
Shortly afterwards the boat began to sink, and the nine
persons were immersed in the water. The deceased seized
and threw out the anchor, so that the boat might not be
lost. His coolness may be acs,ounted for by the fact that
he was an excellent swimmer. The other boatman took
charge of one woman, and the other clung to a man from
the Dolphin, at Swansea, and he could not swim a stroke.
He, however, was holding on to the plank which is used
for passengers to walk ashore. The rest of the party were
but indifferent swimmers, bat as it was nearly full tide,
and a very strong current, they were carried up the river
to a point opposite Pil Glas, where they all eventually
landed on the sea wall of the South Wales Railway ; and
on numbering themselves found that -ars deceased was
missing. His companion, however, declared that he had
" swam back to look after the boat." The affrighted party
roan walked down the lino to Ferryside, where they did
their best to dry and refresh themselves after their short
but dangerous voyage. The deceased was found on the
following morning in shallow water, lying on his face close
to the boat, and appeared to have struggled violently.
WILLIAM ROUPELL, EX-M.P., THE GOOD CON-
VICT.—It is well known to the authorities of the
convict establishment at Portland, and to all who dwell
in the lower part of Dorset, that a great deal of what is
technically called "trafficking with prisoners," which means
eommunicating between convicts and their relatives, is
carried on clandestinely through the agency of the prison
warders and others. It is very seldom, however, that these
offenders against the rules of the establishment are de-
tected, but a conviction was obtained last Saturday at
Dorchester, before H. Williams, Esq., by the help of the
convict ex-M.P., William Roupell, who has thereby earned
a new claim to the title of "an excellent prisoner," which
the governor lately gave him. It appears that a few days
ago a warder named William James Turner, who has been
employed at the establishment for upwards of seven years,
sent a letter by one of the convicts to Roupell, saying that
his (Roupell's) relatives had been imposed on by some one
who had applied for money on his behalf, and that he
(Turner) would serve him faithfully ; he suggested that
Roupell should write for £lO, which would enable him to
get comforts the prison authorities did not allow, directing
it to be sent to him by a post-office order, made payable to
William Haigh, of Weymouth, and he enclosed a sheet of
note paper for him to write upon. Roupell was annoyed to
think his friends had been imposed upon by people writing
for money, pretending it was for him, because he did not
want anything from them, and he showed the letter to the
governor, by whose directions he wrote to his sister asking
her to send £lO as the warder bad requested. This he con-
veyed to Turner by a convict, who then wrote on the fly-
sheet advising that the £lO should be sent in two £5 notes,
and forwarded the two communications to Miss Roupell.
The governor also wrote to her, and she sent £5 by post-
office order to Turner, made payable at Weymouth to Wm.
Haigh. The warder received it on Saturday, and sent his
wife to cash it on Monday morning. Superintendent Unde-
rwood, of the county constabulary, was communicated with,
and went to the convict establishment, when Turner was
discharged, and the superintendent took him into custody
on a charge of trafficking with prisoners. On Saturday Mr.
Symonds, for the prosecution, applied for a remand, that
the examination might take place at Portland prison, as
Roupell and other convicts were necessary witnesses ; but
Turner desired to plead guilty to the charge, whereupon ho
was sentenced to six months' hard labour. It is understood
that other charges of a similar nature will be preferred
against the prisoner when he is liberated.
NEW-DISCOVERED PORTRAIT OF SHAKESPEARE.
—A. beautiful portrait in oil of this great poet has just
been discovered, and is now the property of Chas. Clay,
M.D., of Manchester. The style of painting and richness
of colour and finish are quite equal to and not unlike the
best of Sir Peter Lely's, though evidently of an earlier date.
In it the connoisseur will unmistably recognise the hand
of a great master. All who have seen it acknowlege it as
being the most pleasing of all the portraits of Shakspere
extant, and what is of still greater importance in so inte-
reresting a subject, it exhibits more completely that intel-
lectual capacity in which the other liknesses, whether in
oil, engraving, or sculpture, are so painfully deficient. The
general outline is similar to the Chandos portrait now in
the National Portrait Gallery, but in execution far sur-
passes it. We may remark that the sugar-loaf form of the
cranium, so generally to be observed in the busts and por-
traits of Shakspere, is avoided in Dr. Clay's portaits. No
anatomist or physiologist could with propriety admit the
generally received formation of Shakspere's head, for the
height of the forehead requires a lateral expanse to support
it, in order to accommodate the full power and breadth of
intellect specially characteristic of the poet. Dr. Clay's
portrait gives breadth proportionate to the altitude. The
face is thoughtful and slightly touched with melancholy,
the eyes being remarkably expressive and pleasing. Many
critics have objected to the Chandos portrait on account of
its foreign cast of features; here we have the type of a true
Englishman of the Elizabethan period ; there are no ear-
rings, as in the Chandos, the clothing being simple and
unadorned ; the collar is without strings, less in size, and
where it meets in front shows a portion of the throat below
the beard; the collar itself is not so stiff as iu other portraits.
If we might venture an opinion from the luxuriance of the
hair, which is of a rich brown, tinted with auburn, this
picture must have been painted at an earlier period of life
than the Chandos portrait. The face is nearly full, the
hair higher over the forehead, and falling partially and
gracefully over the collar on the left side. The portrait
has been carefully relined, and is in an old-fashioned
frame of the period. There is not quite so much of the
body in view as in the Chandos, four buttons only below
the waist visible, whilst in the Chandos there are seven or
eight. The size is 24 inches by 20. Dr. Clay is in posses-
sion of proofs of its having been the property of one family
for more than a century, and is now making further
inquiries as to its history. Many capable of judging have
seen this painting, and all pronounce it a genuine antique,
and it is in the finest possible preservation.