The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-24 00:00:00

Canterbury Hall.

This hall is nightly crowded with visitors from
the country, who at this season of the year seem to
migrate (if not for fresh air, at all events to enjoy
the amusements of the metropolis), and therefore
lead their steps towards this establishment, which
has always been a favourite with the provincials on
account of the excellent entertainment it affords.
They know they can have a lounge through the
great Picture Gallery, and scrutinise the works of
the most celebrated artists, both ancient and
modern, and that they can listen to the dulcet
strains of that fascinating prima donna, Miss
Russell, in a selection from a favourite opera, sup-
ported by Mr. St. Albyn, Mr. Green, Miss Mayes,
and a chorus of 40 performers. In the comic de-
partment there is Mr. Arthur Lloyd, with his
capital repertoire of songs ; the eccentric D'Aubans,
with their more eccentric dances ; Mr. Stacey ; two
Sable Minstrels, ' bearing the names of Davis and
Duriah, who keep the auidence convulsed with
laughter from the time they appear on the stage ;
and Mr. Vandervell's optical illusion of " Ko-Ko-
Ri-Ro," with its merry overture, and its jolly Jack
Robinson, who has such a penchant for the opposite
sex that he is continually wishing himself a Chinese.
This part is played by Mr. William Randall, with
his usual judgment. As we have already given a
description of this illusion, it is needless to say more
than that it has become as great a favourite as the
other effusions from the author's brain. We feel
confident the " million " in search cf pleasure will
not regret spending an evning " Over the Water."

THE WEATHER.—A weather prophet has arisen
in Ireland. The Earl of Portarlington, anxious to
cheer the hearts of his farmers, which must have been
much damped by the late heavy rains, has addressed to a
contemporary the following letter. His lordship does not
state the grounds upon which he bases the belief in which
lie wishes the farmers to participate :—" Emo-park, Aug.
17.—Sir,—Lest our farmers should go disheartened by the
continuance of the rainy weather in the midst of harvest,
I am tempted, through the means of your widely-read
columns, to seek to encourage them by begging them to
look forward to the next week, when, from the 23d to the
25th, we may expect a great and most favourable change
in the weather, introducing to us a lovely, warm, and dry
September, which will bring to a close ona of the finest
summers ever remembered in this country. I cannot but
hope that the approaching dry period, though later than
we have wished, may yet be in time to save the corn crops
in good order throughout the country.—l am, &c., PORT-
ARLINGTON."

PRAYING FOR HUSBANDS.—A very curious legend
was told by the Rev. C. IV. Bingham to that por-
tion of the party which, at the recent meeting of the
Archaeological Institute in Dorset, was fortunate in visit-
ing the little Norman chapel of St. Catherine, at Milton
Abbey. The legend was that on a certain day in the year
the young women of Abbotsbury used to go up to St.
Catherine's Chapel, where they made use of the following
prayer :—" A husband, St. Catherine ; a handsome one,
St. Catherine ; a rich one, St. Catherine ; a nice one, St.
Catherine; and soon, St. Catherine." Mr. Beresford
Hope, who at these gatherings is always equal to any
emergency, modestly proposed that all gentlemen and
married ladies should retire from the church, so as to
afford the young ladies present the opportunity of using so
desirable a prayer.—Building News.

TEN YEARS' MARRIAGES.—The marriage rate in
England in the ten years ending 1863 fluctuated
between 0.626 per cent. in the qaarter ending March, 1858,
and 1.014 per cent. in the quarter ending December, 1854.
By an apparently fixed and unchanging rule, the lowest
marriage rate prevails in the first quarter of a year and the
highest in the last. Thus the rates in the first quarter of
each of the ten years under review was as follows :-1854,
0/27 per cent. ; 1855, 0.631 per cent. ; 1856, 0.707 per
cent. ; 1857, 0.705 per cent. ; 1858, 0.626 per cent. ; 1859,
0.732 per cent.; 1860, 0.711 per cent.; 1861, 0.673 per
cent. ; 1862, 0.680 per cent. ; 1863, 0.704 per cent. On the
other hand, the rate of the last quarters of each of the ten
years were :-1854, 1.014 per cent. ; 1855, 0.988 per cent. ;
1856, 0.996 per cent.; 1857, 0.940 per cent. ; 1858, 0.967
per cent. ; 1850, 1.013 per cent. ; 1860, 1.006 per cent. ;
1861, 0.953 per cent. ; 1862, 0.945 per cent. ; and 1863,
0.998 per cent.

. EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW.--It is understood
that the directors of the North British Railway,
with which the Edinburgh and Glasgow Company has
just been amalgamated, have resolved to run Sunday trains
on the line between the two principal cities of Scotland,
between which all railway communication on the first day
of the week has hitherto been debarred. There will be a
fast train in connection with the night express trains be-
tween Edinburgh and London, in addition to one Parlia-
mentary train each way morning and evening. In the
old Edinburgh and Glasgow Company the great bulk of
the shares were held by the Sabbatarian party, but through
the amalgamation the balance turns completely the other
way, and the inhabitants of the district will now possess
the open communication on Sunday which has been so
long desired by many of them.
THE RECENT DUEL IN BELGIUM.—A letter from
Brussels states that in the late dispute with Captain
Chazal the conduct of Baron de Pret was so universally
blamed that he was obliged to go to Antwerp to find
seconds. After the duel, the Baron's seconds produced a
sealed letter, handed to them by him before the encounter,
iu which he declared that in hissing the Brabanconne he
had acted with a degree of levity which he was the first
to regret, and that he had no intention of offering any in-
sult to Belgian nationality. The wound of M. Chazal is
slight, and he was well enough to return to Ostend the
day after.

THE BRITISH ARMY.—It appears that the ave-
rage strength of the British army abroad in 1860 was 5,126
officers and 123,265 non-commissioned officers and men ;
in 1861, 4,892 officers and 117,644 non-commissioned
officers and men ; in 1862, 5,496 officers and 124,703 non-
commissioned officers and men ; and in 1863, 6,243 officers
and 125,473 non-commissioned officers and men. Of the
force stationed abroad in 1863, 4,383 officers and 97,597
non-commissioned officers and men belonged to infantry
corps.

THE MURDERER SOUTHEY.—NO steps have yet
been taken for bringing up Stephen For ward, alias
Ernest Southey, to London from Sandwich Gaol, where he
is now detained under the warrants of the coroner and the
magistrates. An urgent representation has been made to
the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on the
part of the coroner for Central Middlesex, that the pri-
soner may be brought before his jury on their reassem-
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although it is understood that the Lord Chief Justice of
the Court of Queen's Bench, who is the superior coroner
of England, will be consulted on the subject. It is at pre-
sent uncertain whether the prisoner will be tried in Lon-
don or at Maidstone. He may, if he pleases, be tried in
London by an application under what is known as
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Monday, the 18th of September.