The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-13 00:00:00

TilE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY- EVEN' OCTOBER 13, 18620

GARIB.ALDI PARDONED !

A letter from Spezzia, dated October 6, says:—

Amongst the questions of the day, which were " to be or
not to be," one is just resolved. Garibaldi and his fol-
lowers have been amnestied I The news reached Yarig-
nano yesterday evening, while he was sleeping, and he heard
it about twelve o'clock, when he awoke.

It was with something less than mere indifference he
listened to the not over gracious terms in which M. Ut bano
Rattazzi announced his master's pleasure—" The King has
this day signed the decree for the amnesty of those who,
either as principals or accomplices, took part in those acts
or attempts at rebellion which have lately occurred in the
southern provinces of the kingdom."
Now, considering first of all that up to yesterday the
Ministers were in daily discussion, not only how and where,
but for what precise offence to try Garibaldi, it does seem
rather a hasty assumption to call it rebellion; not to men-
tion that carrying war into a neighbouring State is a very
Irish notion of rebellion. Were our countrymen who
assisted the Pope, and fought and bled—or did not bleed as
the case might be—at Castelfidardo rebels ? were the
patriots, as they used to be called, who followed Bolivar,
rebels ? were the Legion of Excursionists who joined Gari
baldi at Naples rebels ? and are all those of our countrymen
who have taken service, North and South, in America
rebels ?

Many able lawyers, it is said, have declared that were
Garibaldi to be tried by a court of assize no conviction
could be had; at all events, the Ministers did not make
the attempt, though they have now coupled his name with
the designation which only a conviction could fix upon it.
I understand that if he alone had to be consulted he
would refuse the grace in the shape and terms it has
been offered him ; but he could not bring himself to prolong
the imprisonment of the poor fellows whose sufferings and
sickness have been greater and more fatal than the cap-
^"-1- -dally inflicts.
Politically, the measuiu was a failure. The rumour goes
that the permission of the Emperor could not be obtained
till yesterday, although the king ardently desired to announce
the amnesty on the morning of the Princess's marriage.
The:Emperor waited, it is said, to see what effect the Ro-
man correspondence with Thouvenel and Lavalette would
produce ; and, not perceiving that it altered in any way the
firm determination of the nation, ho consented to the am-
nesty. The English meetings had, doubtless, their influ-
ence too upon the imperial mind. Men were saying wiry
day very unpleasant truths, and were not always minded
to be careful of their expressions, as either strict morality
or good taste would enjoin.

Had the amnesty followed at once on " Aspromonte,"
the effect would have been different, and even the army
would have felt less irritation than it now does at this grace
to Garibaldi, which 'is so lamely worded and so long de-
ferred.

Garibaldi himself is, certainly of all the prisoners I have
seen, the least sensible to the royal favour. To be sure, he
is wounded and bed-ridden, and the word liberty to his ears
conveys nothing but an idea. All the pardons that ever
were engrossed on parchment cannot help the exfoliation of
a splintered bone, or hasten its restoration. His prison
must still be his hospital. For many a week yet win
the true aim of the bersagliere cost him air, and
exercise, and freedom. At the very earliest it will be
three months before he can be moved with safety even
to Spezzia. When speaking of this to-day it was remark-
able to see with what implicit faith he himself recurred
to the words of Mr. Partridge, and said, " He told me it
would be a long business, and that I must summon patience
for at least 12 or 14 weeks."

But though few men have lived a lite of such eventful
activity, fewer still are blessed with such self-command as
Garibaldi. They who accuse him of impatience and rest-
less irritability in his late attempt have not caught the
right measure of the man. He miscalculated—if you
like—and the landing at Marsala in 1860 would have
been the very self-same miscalculation if M. Rattazzi
had been Minister instead of Cavour. Instead of
the strong wish and the noble daring of a really great
statesman, substitute the wavering policy and the ready
subserviency of a mere lawyer, and Marsala would have
been a greater disaster than Aspromonte I lam not in this
justifying the late attempt, or endeavouring to defend its
loyalty, or maintain its prudence; but it would not be one
whit harder to do all these three than to establish the right
of Garibaldi's first invasion, and to declare that it was well-
judged and prudent.

" Before you reprove us for Aspromonte, give back Sicily
and Naples. Before you talk of punishing us for a fraud,
make restitution of what we stole for you"—these are the
words I heard from a Garibaldian to-day, and he assured
me they have occurred in some shape or other to many
thousands of his quick-witted countrymen. " You never
amnestied us after Melazzo," said another.

Perhaps if one could search Garibaldi's heart, the
sorest spot in it is for those wen like Medici, Cosenz, and
Bixio, whom he certainly loved, and whose he made, and
some of whom, now seated beside Ministers, deliberate
calmly, and weigh maturely, the words of the master's
pardon; for he was the master, and without him they nei-
ther were, nor ever will be, anything.
The music of Spezzia—as certain very untuned fiddles
and some damaged horns are called—has just gone out by
boat to salute and serenade Garibaldi, and the night is a
glorious one, with the moon at full ; and so I conclude my
rhapsody, and wish you a " felicissima notte."

FRENCH MANAGERS PAINTED BY A
F.RENCII

The eminent feuilletoniste M. Fiorentino, who for many
years has written the weekly theatrical reviews in the Con-
stttuttonnel, and also (but under the name of Do Rovray) in
the Moniteur, describes as follows, in the _France, a very
rotten state of things behind the scenes of some of the
French theatres :

In France the manager of a theatre is not an ordinary
trader ; he is half a functionary and half a commercial man.
He owes his appointment to a minister, who, before grant-
ing him the very considerable monopoly and privilege in-
volved in the direction of a theatre, is supposed to have ob-
tained satisfactory information as to his probity, capacity,
and solvency. For this cause the manager inspires more
confidence, and has better credit with the public than a
mere private adventurer—it is supposed, whether rightly or
wrongly, he has given hostages for trustworthiness, that
his acts are rigorously controlled, and that if he should
vio:ate his duties, either towards the actors or the public,
he will necessarily be dismissed, and replaced by another
man more capable, more honest, or more lucky. And in point
of fact, no man stands in so much need of protection against
his own enthusiasm as a theatrical manager. There is a
gambling feature in theatrical enterprise which makes the
wisest heads giddy. Managers are prone to risk on a single
card, with the blind confidence of the gambler, not only
the last farthing they possess, but much that is not theirs.
They deceive themselves ; they make calculations upon
chimerical successes —upon imaginary receipts, three-
fourths of which will be absorbed in expenses ; they promise
what they can't perform ; they seek to gain time, and all
the while throw down recklessly upon the same black or
red hazard the money of their partners, their creuitors, and
their friends— the bread of their wives and children. But
they have never strength of mind to leave off playing : the
seductions of that frightful green table, theatrical manage-
ment, keep a fast hold on their victim. If once in a
hundred times they meet with success, prosperity is more
perilous than ill fortune. With the rashness of the gambler
they also contract his other vices—prodigality, dissipation,
want of foresight. When they make a hit we see the mana-
gers furnishing their house in the style of the Renaissance,
and driving their mistresses to the Bois de Boulogne in
splendid equipages, never reflecting that the money which
they squander is not theirs, but belongs to the actors, the
Howearpenters, the scene painters, and clerks of the theatre.
often have I seen managers on the eve of a catastrophe
splashing the passers-by with mud from the wheels of their
dashing tilbwureyreor phaeton, while their chorus singers and
ballet girls
treasury, or receiving something "on account" of
arrears of salarut a
p potting
n dinner,ga
stop besiegingto such
y at ten sous a day I
It was with a view ofwiscathndtaealsrsthaan
emptythat
the Minister of state ordered the managers to f • •
every month with a b 1
him
b a ance-sheet of their accounts. This
is a good measure,
is it only a ut has it been strictly carried out ? or
the minister's warning?decree• One very simple way of eluding
ther device is to put
off
ffnot to open the theatre at all. Ano-
ther
10th to the 15th or Lay-day
to the sth or the 10th, from
a month. It is most th, and so gradually to gain nearly
should be respected in th
desirable that the minister's authority
to ensure regular paymentm fatter, and that an edict meant
17a very large body of hard-
working people who live, if living it can be called, upon the
most slender and uncertain
issued in vain. But some may say
should not have been
special and administrative p r eel? actors have no need of
mon law. Let them bring an action
have the com-
seize his goods, and if necessaryoanr against their manager,
talk in this way know nothing Whatervesetr him. They who
gers, or actors. If a manufacturer or a
shoot' theatres, mana-
pay his workmen or clerks, the latter leave shopkeeper does not
the service, and
there is an end of the matter. But the actor is
situation. He cannot decline his work; he in a peculiar
and play every piece which his name is put
downroust
errehearse
many actors can find either time or money to go ow
How
g
How are they to run about after huissiers, avoues,
and aldaw
cates when they are tied from morning to evening to the
same chain, and often up to midnight, or even
(at times)
two or three in the morning? But assuming that the poor
player does find means to launch his writ ; suppose that he
persevere to the end of the law's delays, and after hearings
and rehearings, references, and inquiries, obtains at length
final judgment. He is entitled to execution. -pt
—ut What is
he to execute upon ? The manager's furniture ? It is in
another name. The receipts of the theatre r They are

either nil or in the hands of creditors. There is an instance
of 15 huissiers being seen one evening laying siege to a cash
box which contained only 30 francs. They carried off two
francs apiece. If the actor should be reduced to the
painful extremity of arresting his manager for the salary
owing, the latter has only to keep out of the way for a
while—he takes care not to go out till after suneet,
,and
that's all. Formerly the presence of the manager at the
theatre was an indispensable condition to tae continu-
ance of his privilege. But now a manager gets himself
represented by an official assignee, and governs his domi-
nions like a little Tiberius from his court at Caprea. Even
if he stay in town he does not run much danger. Of course
we do not mean to say that bumbailiffs are otherwise than
incorruptible, but they are remarkably fond of the play: A
friend of mice, an actor, who being out of patience, with-
drew his papers from a bailiff in whose hands they had re-
mained fruitlessly for a very long time, found among them
a brief note thus worded :—" My dear sir, you may reckon
upon the box you asked me for.—Your devoted, X." Now
the " dear sir" ought to have arrested the "devoted" di-
rector ; but theme was a thick fog that night, and he did not
see him. The public has no idea of the despotic power of
the manager over the actor. If the latter presses for his
just due the manager can make his life miserable and even
break his career. He will find himself no longer applauded
when he plays ; nay, even the hired claque
will hiss him ;
he is forced to rehearse pieces never intended to be played,
and the worst parts are carefully selected for him. If he
does not like his treatment the only thing is for him to pay
smart money to obtain his liberty by cancelling his agree-
ment. If he goes to law an eloquent advocate will prove to
the public that he has no talent whatever. In short, the law
is powerless to do justice between actor and manager; no-
thing but the paternal intervention of authority can prevent
the grossest abuse of the manager's power. When it is clear
beyond all doubt that the manager is insolvent, his position
becomes quite a delightful one. ttcrosses his arms and
gives himself no trouble elie is houled and fed like a good
aiax —Jet, -
actor asks him for money, he replies haughtily, " I have
nothing to do with it; speak to my man of business." He
is a "privileged" being in the most emphatic sense of the
the word, for he enjoys a privilege which authority hesi-
tates to deprive him of. His insolvency is his strength.
The more numerous his creditors the greater the number
of his supporters. A story is told of a fast American
who very frequently became insolvent. Every time he
assembled his creditors, and offered them 5 per cent.,
which they accepted with thanks and blessings. But at
about the fifteenth failure he addressed them as follows :
" My goad friends, the times are hard, and I am only able
on this occasion to offer 4i per cent." Upon this a tumult
arose in the auditory, and the accustomed dividend was
loudly called for. " Well," said the debtor, " let us have
no disturbance about it. I will pay the other halt per cent.
if you must have it, but I give you my honour it comes
out of my pocket." There are, lam assured, managers in
Paris who beat the American. They assemble their cre-
ditors, not to offer them 5 per cent., but to ask them for
ten—and wonderful to relate, the creditors give them the
money. Of course, these latter are not so simple as to sup-
pose that a theatre which, beginning without debts, and
having been successful has managed to incur a debt of five
or six hundred thousand francs, will ever pay it off. That
they know to be mathematically impossible ; but they keep
the manager afloat in the vague hope of getting something
by his taking other people in as he has taken in them.
Count Walewski has a firm will, a clear, practical head,
and an enlightened solicitude for the drama. He has already
rooted out many abuses. Actors well know that he is
anxious for their interests. If his excellency is properly
seconded ; if his orders are faithfully carried out, the pre-
sent disgraceful things will be put an end to. In terminat.
ing this long disquisition, I feel bound to say that there
are very many excellent managers who are prudent, cap-
able, zealous, and discharge all their obligations with the
greatest punctuality. Some also there are who are un-
fortunate, and not from their own fault, and who even when
they fall deserve sympathy, and command universal esteem.

lIIE NAVY.

The Hamalaya, screw troopship, Capt, E. Lacy,
arrived at Portsmouth on Saturday morning from
Gravesend, and will be docked prepaiAtory to fur-
ther service on the large dock being vacateci the
St. George. During the stay of the ship at 'Graved
send, his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge,

accompanied by Quartermaster-General Sir Richard
Ailey, arrived at Gravesend on board the Vivid
paddle yacht, and paid a visit to the Himalaya.
was received by Lieut. Nott, senior lieut. on beard,

and. Mallard, the paymaster, who conducted his
Royal Highness over every part of the ship. On

leaving the Himalaya the duke expressed his regret

that the Admiralty had only one Himalaya for the

service of the army, but hoped there would soon be
three or four vessels available to the state as army
transports. It will be remembered that the last
service outward froni England of the Himalaya was
the conveyance to Canada of upwards of 1,000
women and children, families of officers and soldiers

belonging to the regiments sent oat to Canada dur-

ing the Trent crisis. This large number of women
and children, the largest ever conveyed at a time in
one vessel, were landed in Canada without a single

casualty. This service is not only a credit to the
ship, but nlso to the officers serving on board, and
particularly so to her senior lieutenant and pay-

master, who had the chief care of all the arrange-
ments. In performing this duty the ship has given
another proof of her excellent capabilities as a
troopship, and it cannot but be a matter of congra-
tulation, to the Admiralty that they possess a vessel
"
forms her duties satisfactorily, whether as regards
her economy as a troopship or the speed and regu-
larity of her voyages.
The Chanticleer, 17, screw, Commander Charles
Stirling, is expected to leave Spithead to-day for
the Mediterranean.

Her Majesty's paddle yacht Victoria and Albert,
Capt. G. H. Seymour, will sail tomorrow morning
from Portsmouth for Antwerp, to convey her Ma-
jesty to England on the termination of the royal
visit to Germany. According to existing arrange-
ments, should the weather prove favourable, the
royal yacht is expected to return direct to Osborne
from Antwerp. Should the weather, however, not
be favourable for the voyage down Channel, the
yacht will proceed to the Thames.
The Galatea, 26, screw, Capt. Rochfort Maguire,
lying at Spithead, is under orders to proceed: to
North America and the West Indies. Before leav-
ing, however, she is to be fitted with a ventilating
fan below, which will detain her at her present an-
chorage for a few days.
The St. George, 86, screw, Capt. the Hon. Francis
E gerton, went into Portsmouth harbour on Satur-
day from Spithead for the purpose of being docked,
to replace some sheets of copper rubbed off her
bottom, and repair damage to her garboard
strake, caused by her grounding during her cruise
with the Channel fleet in the Baltic. A doubt
existing as to the possibility of placing the ship in
dock to-day owing to her draught of water, 27 feet
and the tides now taking off, it was determined to
lighten her by taking out part of her guns. She
was lying lashed alongside the Ccesar, a sister ves-
sel now lying in ordinary, and it might have been
supposed that the unencumbered decks of the latter
were just the places to receive them. The guns,
however, were deposited in ordnance lighters,
which involved not only a great extra expense, but
also a correspor ding waste of time. The ship will
be placed in dock to-day if it is found possible to do
so, but this very doubt is another, and one of the
strongest arguments which can be used in favour of

the immediate construction of docks at Portsmouth
having deep water entrances. The Channel fleet
have now been lying at Spithead, with the excep-
tion of the Trafalgar, ever since its return from the
Baltic, and every ship required docking, as all had
been on shore during their Baltic cruise. Ports-
mouth is not behind other yards in dock accommo-
dation—yet only one dock exists there which will
receive first-class ships. and the consequences have
been that each ship has had to wait its turn, and
even now the repairs of the fleet are not yet com-
pleted.
The Agamemnon, 86, screw, Capt. Thos. Hope,
dismantling,'at Portsmouth, will be paid out of com-
mission on the 18th inst.
The Defence, 16, iron ram, Capt. Phillimore,
anchored at Spithead, is ordered to be fitted with a
ventilating fan to her magazines, prior to sailing
on her hest cruise.
The Barossa, 21, screw steam corvette, 1,700 tons,
400 horse power, Capt. Wm. M'Dowell, which has
been recently commissioned for service in China,
was taken to the measured mile off Maplin Sands
for the trial of her machinery, on Friday, pre-
viously to her departure for her destination; but,
is consequence of the excessive priming, owing to
some disarrangement in the injection pipes, the
trial could not be made. It is thought that the

internal arrangement of the piping requires altera-
tion. The ship was brought back into the harbour,
and some days will elapse before she will be again
fit for trial.

The Trafalgar, 70, screw steamship, 2,900 tons,
500 horse power, has been removed from Sheerness

dockard, where she has undergone thorough repair,
to the repair. She is to have six months' supplies
put on beard, when she will again the Channel
squadron.
The Pylades, 21, screw steam corvette, 1,278 tons,
350 horse power, which has been undergoing
thorough repair at Chatham dockyard, was taken
out on trial of her machinery at the measured mile
off Maplin Sand, in Charge of Commander Oftley
Crewe Read, of the Cumberland ; Mr. W. Rumble,
inspector of machinery afloat in the steam reserve at

Sheerness, Mr. Baker, chief engineer at Chathem
dockyard, had the superintendence of the engines.
She is fitted with Smith's screw, with the leading
corners cut. The pitch of the screw is 20ft., and the
diameter 15ft. 9in. An average speed, with full
boiler power, of 10.742 knots was attained. The re-
volutions of engines were 601 per minute; pressure
of steam, 19 ; vacuum, 26ft. forward, 21ft. aft. A
_ _ _

speed of 8.235 was also attained at half-boiler power,
with 48+ revolutions. She turned the circle in 4 min.
20 sec., half-circle in 2 min. 30 see. ; the diameter of
the circle was three times the length of the vessel.
The wind was easterly, with a force of from five to
six, and the sea was tolerably smooth. The trial
was considered satisfactory.
The Rosario, 11, Capt. Graham, is lying in Great
Yarmouth roads, being engaged in protecting the
British fishing interests off the eastern coast.
The screw steamship Princess Royal, 89, was
towed on Friday from her moorings among the
steam reserve in Hamoaze to the basin in Devon-
port dockyard. On Saturday she was to be placed
in No. 1 dock to have her bottom cleaned and valves
overhauled. Itis suppo,ed that she will be prepared
for commission forthwith, and. that she may be sent
to Falmouth to take the place of the CoasLtgirarli,
d
screw steamship Russell, 60, Captain Mr-
C.B.

The paddlewheel steamsloop Virago, 6, -
Comman-
der Johnson, from Sheerness,
supernumerarya r rstevaemd
con Ji
for distri-
n iday at
bution among the ships there
The paddlewheel steamsloop Geyser, 6,
Cotnman-
der Colin Campbell, from Queenstown, with provi-
sions, arrived on Friday at Plytnouth.
charging After
Devon-
Thedis-
charging
screw steamsloop Perseus, fitting at
she will return for another cargo.
sioona,lt t o
othe the
Galatea; for sea. She will be supplied
port, is nearly ready
uns-40 pounders.
with two Armstrong g
_t-
.inttnents were made on Satur-
The following appo Lieut. W. 0. Barslake, to
day at the Admiralty
sßo,beenrtgiHne.eTr,haodmdipt
Thompson,
the Leopard ;IvLiioieliattn•on
W.
Bacchante ; J. Baptist, first-class assist.-engineer,
to the Bacchante ; A.
Moreton, assistant-
engineer, oreton, first-class
engineer, to the Indus for the Tilbury •
It
' R. DA h-
burn, first-class assist,-engineer, the Asia for -engineer, to e the