The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-05 00:00:00

THE SUB, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENII\ G, OCTOBER 5,186 E

all tb e glories of SOLOMON, and to examine the
animal creation in its endless variety, but the
social aptitudes of man are yet more worthy of
our study and the communities which he forms,
and which are the especial objects of the Divine
care. Social science, then, has pre-eminently claims
to our regard, and promoting it is our highest duty
to our Heavenly Father, that duty we delight to
perform, rejoicing to be the instruments of His
justice and mercy, and devoutly thankful to His
goodness, which makes what He commands a pleasure
to obey." Earl FITZWILLIAM proposed a vote of thanks
to the man whose life was still devoted to public duty,
with as much earnestness as it was fifty years, ago.
Lord BROUGHAM is indeed a shining light to those
who in the meridian of their days get weary of the
march of life, for during the long years of his
eventful career he has maintained his energy, and
still after the lapse of half a century applies him-
self to his work with all his pristine zeal.

possible to lessen the injury inflicted in another way.
Prevention is undoubtedly better than cure ; but if
an evil cannot be prevented, surely it is better to
try to cure it than to abandon the attempt in
cowardly despair I

The annual autumnal meetings of Agricultural
Asssociations partake this year of a somewhat
melancholy character. However large the assem-
blage, however fine the exhibition, however satis-
factory the general result, there hangs over all the
dismal shadow of that terrible disease which has so
greatly diminished the number of our flocks and
herds, and which still defies all the efforts of
science and skill. At the same time while they lose
something in animation these assemblies gain
something in interest, since agricultural matters aro
regarded with more attention than customary. The
worth of a thing is known by the want of it, says
the old adage, and, accordingly, men who were
accustomed to speak somewhat slightingly of agri-
cultural matters begin to find out that if there
were no farmers there would be some awkward
deficiencies in the commissariat. The twenty-
fourth annual assembly of the Tring Agricultural
Association was held yesterday in the grounds of
the Royal Hotel, Tring Station, a fact, which was
interesting from the circumstance of two or three
of the porters employed at the station taking ad-
vantage of the opportunity to display specimens of
the vegetables grown by them in the little plots of
waste land allotted to them by the company. This
was an encouragement to the men themselves,
and also, we hope, an encouragement to the com-
pany in the endeavour to provide their employe's
with a little healthful recreation. At the customary
banquet there was a goodly show of guests, the
most prominent among them being the members
for the county, and the principal spokesman being
naturally Sir E. BULWER LYTTON. His address
was characterised by his usual tact and ability, and
the contrast presented by the harmonious rivalry
between the exhibitors and the most active compe-

tition in which the company then assembled was
last engaged was amusingly referred to. The charm
of these less exciting meetings is, as the right hon.
baronet justly observed, principally in the fact that
all the acerbities of political feeling are laid aside,
and Whig and Tory and Radical resolve themselves
into their primary elements of friends, associates,
and neighbours. The part of HAMLET, said Sir E.
B. LYTTON, was omitted from the show ; but though
there might be no exhibition of cattle, there were
sheep, pigs, and vegetables in great profusion and
variety. The right hon. baronet repeated the sug-
gestion which he made at Hertford, that on stated
occasions the various societies of the county should
unite their forces in one grand exhibition. Thiswould
b-2 a good plan to adopt in other agricultural coun-
ties, since it would enlarge the area of competition,
give more zest to the meeting, and tend to neutralise
the little local prejudices and jealousies that are
almost certain to show themselves on occasions of
this sort. It would of course have been impossible
to have addressed a meeting of this kind without any
allusion to the great topic of the day—the cattle
plague ; and accordingly Sir E. B. LYTTON gave
very briefly the result of his observations on the
subject. There was, he remarked, a very great
difference of opinion respecting the origin and the
cure for the disease ; but there seemed to be little
disagreement about the best mode of prevention.
A copious use of vinegar, externally and internally,
is approved by all the authorities, while, when in-

fection has really entered a locality, chlorine and
bonfires appear to be the most powerful preventives.
As for the system of general slaughter advanced in
many quarters, the speaker very wisely protests
against it—since, he exclaimed, to add famine to
pestilence is not that which would entitle us to call

Government our protector or to accept science as
our guide. The worst counsel in affliction, he justly
observed, is that which advises us to despair, and it
is only due to the scientific knowledge and applica-
tion characteristic of our age to believe that the
present state of ignorance and perplexity must soon
be in some degree lightened. It is the duty of our
public men to endeavour to inspire confidence and
to arrest panic ; and we are glad to find that some
of our agricultural representatives have courage to
come forward with reasoning language.

The great uncertainty attending the best mode of
meeting the cattle plague is one of its most dis-
heartening and harassing features. There has
been no lack of discussion, or absence of sugges-
tions ; still no one can bring forward conclusive
evidence as to the merits of his mode of treatment.
The most competent and experienced veterinary
surgeons freely confessed themselves puzzled ; and
one thing only is clear, that whether or no the
disease is of foreign extration, it can adapt itself
only too readily to the conditions of English
life. The chief difficulty at present is, how-
ever, to settle if it is best at once to
destroy the affected animals or to remove them to
places where the different modes of treatment can
be fairly tried. On all grounds the establishment
of sanitoriums seems to be the wisest course to
pursue, since it is quite evident that we shall never
grow wiser, or more capable of dealing with the
disease, or guarding against it, if we abandon the
attempt in despair, and refuse to make any effort.
A great many diseases might fairly have been de-
clared incurable by medical science some years ago
which are now under scientific control, at least in
some measure. Small-pox, most especially, owes
its cure and its prevention to a quite unex-
pected discovery, but it needed observa-
tion and labour to bring the discovery
to fruition. Had Dr. JENNE R refused to
attempt to deal with the evil vaccination would
not have been heard of. How can we tell then
that there may not be some beneficial secret in
nature which can protect our herds from the de-
stroyer? There are naturally many objections to
the establishment of sanitoriums. The cattle owners
who have the misfortune to see the disease enter
their premises are eager to destroy the affected ani-
mal, in the hope of getting rid of it before their
credit is damaged, while there is a general preju-
dice against their removal for fear of spreading the
infection. But, in reality, such an arrange-
ment would be likely to diminish the risk
because if compensation were given for the,
animals brought to the place there would be no
temptation to keep infected animals in sheds along
with other cattle. The means adopted to arrest the
spread of the plague have certainly not hitherto
proved successful. Would it not be well, therefore,
to try another mode, and see if it would not be

to one's feelings at last if only, by somebody or L ATEST IIiTELLIGENCE
another, he were either kicked or bonnetted. There •
is in the mere delicacy with which the lips of this (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)
immaculate person (clad all in black even to his
gloves) are wiped at intervals by him with a snow-white
handkerchief—evidently to clear away the oozings
of the milk of human kindness welling up from his
bosom—an amount of aggravation that seems to us
wholly beyond the powers either of description or
of assuagement. The performance last night was
in many respects rather extraordinary. It consisted
exclusively of one piece upon that the first night
of its representation. Yet, beginning though the
entertainment did, very punctually at seven o'clock,
it was not completed until after midnight. A
play of four acts, thus, occupying (intervals and
all included) more than five hours in its perform-
ance ! And the attractions, in regard to the drama,
were, it must be allowed, very numerous, and some
of them even remarkable. A celebrated Novelist had
therein dramatized, with his own hand, one of his
most famous productions—a narrative-fiction pub-
lished originally, if we are accurate in our remem-
brance of it, in four rather large volumes, en-

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, OCT. 5.

The appointment of Baron Hubner, as Ambas-
sador at Rome in the place of Baron Bach, which
has been spoken of for several days is now an
accomplished fact.

titled "It Is Never Too Late To Mend." This
Dramatized version of the Novel, moreover, was
not only known to have been done by the Author
of the Work himself, but it was produced upon the
stage of one of the most popular of the London
Theatres—the characters being distributed among
the members of one of the best companies in
the metropolis, under the direction of one of the
most successful theatrical managers of the day.
The scenery lavished upon the piece, again, was
such as, even in these days of sensational effects in
that department, the audience recognised as having
about it, every now and then, something quite
exceptional in its splendour. Instance this, the
English village-scene in the first, and again,
(under another aspect) in the last Act—to say
nothing of the Log Hut, and, still more, of
the cascade among the gold diggings in the
far southern interior of Australasia. The prin-
cipal character was entrusted to Mr. Vining
himself, Tom Robinson, the London Thief.
The next best character being awarded to one
of the cleverest actors in the whole company,
Mr. Dominick Murray, to wit, who, in the con-
genial part of Crawley, added another leaf, as
the phrase is, to the laurels already won by him
through his impersonation of the despicable Process-
Server in Arrah-na-Pogue. Mr. George Mel-
ville was the hero of the dramatic tale, George
Fielding Miss Rodgers representing George's
rustic sweetheart. As the scheming attorney,
Meadows, Mr. Villiers looked for all the world
very much like Mr. Gladstone-ground young-
again, while Mr. Mead's make up as Isaac
Levi, the Jew, was sufficiently picturesque.
Nevertheless—after all has been said in re-
gard to the great, and, as we conceive,
really heinous mistake manifested in the whole
conception and execution of this Second Act—let
but the author at once make up his mind, let but
the manager at once issue his fiat for the elision of
the whole of it—not of part merely, but of the whole
of it—and " Never Too Late to Mend" may yet
have a run. Not otherwise ! It is only fair
to add that the curtain descended at last amidst
signs of feeble but uninterrupted approbation,
the author being summoned to the front of one of
the stage boxes to bow his acknowledgments. So
far as the words uttered by the manager could be
caught through the hisses and exclamations of

PLYMOU rH, OCT. 5.

Her Majesty's training brig Squirrel went ashore
in stays this morning in Long Room Point. A
strong easterly wind is blowing.

THE CAPE MAIL.

" Shame !" excited by the exhibition to which we
have thus referred at so much length because of its
having rendered the whole of the Second Act of
the Play so intensely repulsive, Mr. VINING was
understood to have spoken as follows :

Ladies and Gentlemen,—The drama we are representing
to-night is an adaptation from a novel which it is believed
has done a vast amount of good. (Applause.) We are not
representing a system as it exists, but the abuse of a system
—(applauso)--and for the truth of our representation I re-
fer you to the blue-book. (Hissing, cries of "Off, off,"
and "We don't want the blue-books.") I do not desire that
this question should be discussed in a theatre; but
if an evil does exist, it is but right that it
should be rooted out. (Aprlause.) If there has
been an amount of sibillation from those who dissent
from the piece, it must be admitted it has received a groat

FALMOUTH, OCT. 5.

The Kaffraria from the Cape of Good Hope,
September Ist ; St. Helena, September 9th ; and
Madeira, September 28th, arrived here this morn-
ing. She brings seven passengers, the Cape mails,
two boxes of specie, 1,181 bales of wool, 53 bundles
of skins, 195 hides, 10 cases of ostrich feathers,
seven packages of ivory, 141 bundles and eight
casks of old copper.
The Basuto war was being continued, but the
Boers had failed in taking Moshesh's stronghold,
Thaba Bosigor. The Boers had displayed more
military spirit than in their former wars, but were
still in a very undisciplined state.
In the first attack on the Bth of August Com-
mandant Tick, with 1,100 men, ascended the heights
under the protection of the guns, but afterwards
wavered and gave up the attack, with only 10 men
slightly wounded, none were killed. The men who
were to support the attacking party left their post
to capture some cattle. Some of the Boers retired
sc rapidly that several had their horses, saddles,
and cloaks captured by the enemy.
A second attack was made on the 15th August,
when the Boers received a serious repulse. Of
1,200 Boers told off only 600 actually fought.
Some exhibited great gallantry, but a large number
are said to have displayed great cowardice. Com-
mander Wippe-naar, the hero of Vechtkop, who
throughout the war had proved himself the most
gallant and dashing Burgher in the field, and nine
others were killed, and ele'ren wounded. A large
number of Boers declined to do anything beyond

deal of support from those who approve of it. I have
always had, and I hope I always shall have, the greatest
respect for the opinion of the public ; but I don't think the
opinion expressed to-night is a correct or disinterested one,
especially as a great majority of those dissentients have not
come to the theatre free. (Cheers and hisses.) I, there-
fore, hope that the piece may be permitted to proceed
Ladies and gentlemen, until Ihave a correct expression of
public feeling in this matter, and beg to announce that this
drama will be repeated every evening until further notice.
Since writing the above we have examined the
columns of our morning contemporaries in order to
learn how far our own ideas and theirs, in regard to
that most odious Second Act, coincide. And from
these, our morning contemporaries, we are tempted
to give, in evidence of the unanimity of feeling
excited among theatrical critics upon the subject,
the following brief fragmentary passages :
(The Times)
The second act, representing the interior of a prison,
with the horrors of penal servitude, heightened by abuses
on the part of tho governor, was so exceedingly revolting to
tho more refined portion of the audience, that it nearly led to one,
of those theatrical "rows" that were familiar in the times of
our fathers, but are almost unknown to ourselves. Two or
three gentlemen in the stalls vigorously, and correctly, de-
nounced the performance as "revolting ;" and the manager
showed admirable " pluck " while pleading on the side
of the defence, though he hazarded two or three expres-
sions which in cooler moments he might not have uttered.
The piece has been magnificently put upon the stage, and
a mountainous view in Australia, with a fall of real water,
may rank among the wonders of modern stage manage-
ment. But it would be folly to commend a piece the second
act of which is almost as repulsive as an accurate represen-
tation of the tortures of the Spanish Inquisition. Whether
the abuses exposed belong to the past or the present is of
little moment, neither is more truth a sufficient reason for
stage representation. Lithotomy is a fact, but we do not
wish to see it imitated in the hours set apart for recreation.
Fortunately this detestable second act may be cut out with-
out detriment to the plot of the piece. It is the mistake of
an extremely clever novelist, who, in his honest hatred of
abuses, has boen mistaken in the tribunal before which
they are to be tried. Easily may he profit by the title o
his own play,lt is Never Too Late to Mend.
(The Star.)

cattle capturing.
The cutter and pinnace of H.M.S. Wasp, after a
gallant engagement, captured an Arab Dhow, con-
taining 287 slaves, at Sechelles. The coxswain of
the pinnace was killed, and Lieutenant Rising and
several seamen were wounded.

The piece, which is in four acts, occupied more than five
hours in representation, though at one period it seemed
probable that its performance would be brought prema-
turely to a close. The repulsive brutality of sundry elabo-
rate details of prison tyranny in the second act elicited
from a large proportion of the audience very hearty mani-
festations of indignation and disgust, and the features thus
protested against were in themselves so objectionable that
the applause with which it was sought to drown the voices
of the malcontents could be ascribed only to the indiscre-
tion of friendly zeal.

(The Daily News.)
It is quite impossible, in recording the production of the
piece, to say more at present than that it may be pro-
nounced successful ; but this result was much alloyed by
some strongly expressed objections that were raised by a
portion of the audience to certain scenes in the second act,
representing in a painfully practical manner the supposed
errors in the prison system of this country. At this junc-
ture, Mr. Vining, the manager, was compelled to come for-
ward to pacify the dissentients, and at the end of the play
the applause was unmingled with expressions of condem-
nation.

The Daily Telegraph.
The second part, which shows how Robinson has paid
the penalty of his loose life, is devoted to a minute illustra-
tion of the horrors of prison discipline under a system which
is certainly not practised at the present day, and which the
audience indignantly refused to recognise as belonging to
any period whatever. The convicts are exhibited working
on the treadmill, the brutzlity of the "governor" and the
warders is depicted in the coarest and most repulsive
style, and the penalties of oakum-picking and weaving
are practically shown in operation for the instruction of
those who happily require to be enlightened as to the
economy of a prison interior. The prisoners, with their
names absorbed in the registered numbers, are introduced
with their black masks on their faces, and their brass badges
on their breasts, marched into their cells, to show the com-
bined machinery of the silent and the solitary system ; and
the whole details of penal servitude aro exposed to view in
a manner more likely to shock the sensibility of the spec-
tators than afford the sensation that was evidently antici-
pated. The protracted presentation of cruelties that have
ceased to be practised, not having the only excuse that could
be made of exerting an influence to check an existing evil,
at last aroused the strong remonstrances of the audience,
and enforced an expostulatory address from the manager.
(The Morning Advertiser.)
The details of this scene were so dismal and revolting,
and so evidently one-sided in their representation, that the
better part of the audience were disgusted with it, and the
critical were equally annoyed at this episodical and politi-
cal diatribe being thrust into the middle of the piece to
the entire suspension of the dramatic interest and story.
The expression and contest of opinion became so strong
that the.performance was for a time §uspended.