The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-03 00:00:00

THE SUIN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENIAG, FEBRUARY 3, 1865.

terial crisis. It matters very
Administration may be,
popu-
lar estimate of the existing A little what the
s o long asas to their defi-
cienciesssraapkinle-gminded provincial's
helpsa littletoc
and sincerity of their
the fervour
onpNla-inince
repre-
sentativesof in all matters of public interest.
The great question of Reform is of course the
first and most prominent of all political neglects,
and accordingly we find a sudden activity in the
discussion of this important question. It is due to
some gentlemen who are not members of Parliament
to bear in mind that our northern countrymen have
within the last few months organised extensive
meetings for the discussion of Reform principles,
but for the most part those politicians who are most 1
eager in their promises and predictions expend
three-fourths of their energy at a safe distance from
St. Stephen's. The meeting at Leeds, the other
evening, was of no inconsiderable importance, being
attended by nearly 2,500 persons. The principal
speakers were Mr. BAINES, Mr. FORSTER, and
Viscount AMBERLEY, and the most interesting
feature of the evening was undoubtedly the
political debut of Earl RUSSELL'S eldest son. Lord
A3IBERLEY is not altogether unknown to fame, hav-
ing been the author of political essays which attracted
some degree of notice ; but the appearance of the
heir to Lord RUSSELL'S reputation and abilities, on
the occasion of a great Reform meeting, was cer-
tainly an interesting spectacle. His speech dis-
played a fair amount of oratorical ability, and
showed little of the embarrassment or inexperience
of an unpractised speaker. He is unmistakably
liberal in his tone, and indeed goes far beyond his
father before the " rest and be thankful" stage.
Of course we can hardly accept the opinions of so
young a politician as immutable. But it is
satisfactory to find him beginning his course
with sound views. We must hope that
the atmosphere of Whiggism which sur-
rounds him will not serve to narrow his sympa-
thies to his own immediate circle, will not render
his policy selfish and personal in its objects, will
not, in fact, induce him to make Reform a party
question to be conveniently forgotten when its
principles might be acted upon, but brought into
light whenever it becomes necessary to discomfit a
political opponent. Such has been too much the
case with the leaders of our Liberal party of late
years, more especially of that eminent Refomer of
other days upon whose achievements Lord AMBER-
LEY may be supposed to have based his political
code. He does not certainly accept " rest and be
thankful" as his motto at present, for he looks for-
ward to a time " when it will be possible for every
intelligent and honest man, whatever the class to
which he belongs, or whatever the employment
he pursues, to be admitted to the exercise of the
franchise." In another part of his address he de-
clares that he is not one of those who regard the
advance of democratical opinions with particular
alarm, and he thinks it desirable that all who pos-
sess the requisite capacities for political life should
be able to enter the arena. These views may ap-
pear to some to be extreme, but we confess we regret
not to have received a more explicit declaration of
Lord AMBERLEY'S sentiments on one point. He
spoke much of the harm done by the exercise of
illegal influence at elections, and of instructing the
lower classes as to the right exercise of their privi-
leges and the dishonesty of the man who sells his
vote. But, although speaking thus strongly
on the question of bribery and intimida-
tion at elections, Lord A3IBERLEY stu-
diously avoided the mention of the Ballot.
It has been the great drawback to the career of
Earl RUSSELL as a Reformer. Are we to find the
traditional influence of the great landed interest of
the House of BEDFORD too strong for his son also.
We shall be sorry to see the views of a young and
able politician fettered by such hindrances, but
appearances are suspicious. Lord A3IBERI EY
brought forward a good many arguments, which
naturally have been used before, but two or three
points he put in a new and clear light. He remarked
especially upon the inconsistency of the Anti-,e-
formers, who alternately declare that the people are
thoroughly indifferent to Reform, and that if the
franchise were extended we should have a frantic
and unreasonable mob of electors, who would carry
everything before them. It does seem strange,
observed Lord A3IBERLEY, " That those who are
so very indifferent to the possession of power should
be so immoderate in its use." The same argument
was used 30 years ago, as Lord AMBERLEY reminded
his hearers, when Sir ROBERT PEEL told the House
of Commons that there would, if the Bill were
passed, be a Parliament of mob demagogues instead
of wise and prudent men ; and Lord LYNDHURST,
in the Lords, assured his audience that the House of
Commons would be converted into a fierce and de-
mocratic assembly. Certainly no one can- accuse
our representatives of the present day of too much
democracy or of too vigorous action. They are
timid and cautious enough to satisfy the most
prudent of stationary politicians ; indeed we very
much question how far their excessive caution in the
matter of foreign policy would have approved itself
to our forefathers. Mr. For:snit spoke plainly
but truly when he said that the Conservative
reaction was not due so much to the Conservatives
being more powerful as to the Liberals growing
weak. And why are they weak ?he asked. " Not
because the mass of them have lost confidence in
their principles, but because they are doubtful
whether they ought to have confidence in their
leaders, and because, in fact, they have not been led
with that earnestness which can alone, command
success. I say let the leaders come forth, and they
will have followers enough." There is no doubt
but that we shall have leaders enough at public
meetings and on the hustings ; no fear but that the
great principles of Reform will
have plenty of
followers at the coming
election. But the great
Liberal party, who are unable to speak in Parlia-
ment themselves, would be
these eloquent addresses at Westminster,
and they
will find it difficult to forget that Crown and Cabinet
and Parliament have united in • promises and pro-
fessions for the last eight or ten years, but that the
franchise is still restricted to a comparative few, the
duration of Parliaments is the same as
ever, and
that bribery, corruption, and intimidation reign
triumphant at their elections.

The correspondence which Mr. MASON publishes
is interesting to peruse, and it also furnishes us with
some important particulars respecting the manner
in which the tactics of the United States are carried
on. The United States' Sanitary Commission have
published a volume entitled, "A Narrative of
Privations and Sufferings of United States' Officers
and Soldiers, while Prisoners of War in the hands
of the Rebel Authorities." It seems strange to hear
of such a pamphlet being issued, when all thatwehave
boeneinythtvoeeld of an authentic nature relates to the
siunlenriango-sf of the Confederate prisoners of war, and
recentlyonrysouwbi subject
farcist
of a
affordingserious
them altercation
som took
relief
eplace
subscriptions raised in this country for the
impertinence of Peulurfteseheoowileeynvgtankerh,
seatc:tl:7wosthicinah
the
essaisbslume toptcialon-
and im •
will go, and it is to be
supposed that they are
allowed to bear the palm in Indignant at not being
the mart
f4onev. aws, . mom of pri-
vA reply 11„,,
crY good one, it i 4

calm and dignified, while it is firm and decided.
Of curse one in his position must be aware of the
extre me inconsistency of the statements forwarded
Co him for perusal, but he, notwithstanding, gives
fulL attention to the remarks before him, and
fashions his replies with as much circumspection
as i£ he were treating an orthodox communi-
cation concerning a real existing grievance. In
the first place he alludes to the fashion so prevalent
in the -United States of adding to the accounts of
the injuries of prisoners and their photographs, in
order to shew what a state they have been reduced
to, evidently worn out with the made-up style of
tine reports. Mr. MASON declares that their real
object is not to alleviate the sufferings of prisoners,
but that " its true character is that of a political
work, and of the lowest type, intended to excite and
inflame the popular mind of the North with false
and exaggerated pictures of the privations and suf-
ferings of Northern soldiers held as prisoners at the
South." Perhaps no better way could have been
found for verifying this description of the preten-
tious publication than by quoting the following sen-
tences which meet the eye in its elaborate and highly
wrought composition. When at one passage the
compiler calls it the " dramatic develop-
ment of the inquiry," and the " salient
points of the evidence," &c., which are incor-
porated together, the results of their own
observation is indeed a strange medley. We can
fancy how men of business and members of Par-
ment would stare in this country if, when they pre-
sented the report of some Royal Commission and
Sanitary Investigation, they came to a part which
was designated the " dramatic development of the
inquiry." • It was a great mistake to have allowed
such a sentence to slip in at all if the work in ques-
tion were intended to be circulated in foreign quar-
ters, and commented upon in other places than the
privileged purlieus which first saw its issue. It
seems too much like a made up affair altogether in
tone, style, and purport, a clap-trap account of the
condition of the prisoners drawn up by one not over
scrupulous for veracity, and not at all at a loss for
invention if facts failed in furnishing a proper
personation of misery and a suitable denoue-
ment of wrong and wretchedness. A very
proper retort is made by Mr. MASON as to the
difficulties that attend the course of those who have
the charge of prisoners in the South, " from the
atrocious way in which the war is waged by those
who conduct your armies in my country." This is
an admirable reply, and well qualified to put a stop
to the reiteration of such unfounded complaints and
unwarrantable assertions as those made by the com-
pilers of these so-called facts. It would seem as
if it were almost impossible to surpass the effrontery
of the passage in which the Sanitary Commission
complain of the want of food and clothing that is
experienced by prisoners in the South, and also that
when they are sick they are not treated with proper
attention, and do not obtain requisite medicines.
" This," emphatically exclaims Mr. MASON, " in the
face of the notorious fact, that wherever your armies
penetrate they are ordered to burn and destroy
everything that contributes to the food and rai-
ment of war, an order most ruthlessly obeyed."
The inhumanity of such proceedings is completed
by the circumstance that the Government of the
United States declare all surgical instruments,
medicine, &c., contraband of war. The baseness
of such devices, and the inhumanity of such pro-
ceedings, will long brand the character of the North
with infamy, long after the more stirring and
striking events of the war have faded away with
the momentary excitement of the hour. Never in
the long list of wars that have devastated nations
and destroyed mankind was there an instance of
grosser cruelty and savage destruction than that
which has been witnessed in the valley of the
Shenandoah. A fair and smiling spot has been
converted into a howling wilderness, to gratify the
rage and brutal passions which burn in the hearts
of those who might be called men and brethren in
position and influence. If Mr. BRIGHT and Mr.
COBDEN persist in upholding the policy that sanctions
such atrocities, they will lose much in the estima-
tion of their countrymen, and fail in making heroes
of those Who turn a country into a slaughter-house,
and comport themselves more like savages than
civilised beings. Allowing, for the sake of argu-
ment, that the South ill-treated their prisoners, it
would be SATAN reproving sin for the adherents and
followers of the North to find any fault with their
mode and management, while their own cause is so
faulty and so devoid of all high and honourable
instincts. When we find that a Northern General
boasts in his report that he burned in his progress
two thousand barns filled with the harvesting of the
year, and all the mills he met with, destroyed the
factories of cloth, and killed all animals that might
be of service for human sustenance, it seems as if
those who encouraged such infamous proceedings
were seeking to emulate the wickedness of those early
ages of the world's history which called down
the signal judgments of Heaven, and occasioned the
famines, the overthrow of cities, and the plagues
that were the scourge of humanity. A more fearful
addenda to the horrors of civil war cannot be
imagined than that which attends the course of
these so-called Generals, who pursue a trade of
butchery, and strive to compress into their cam-
paigns as many crimes and offences against the
laws of God and man as they can. The discredit
of the course pursued in furnishing the photographs
of the prisoners is shown by Mr. MASON, in the fact
that they came from the hospital at Richmond ; with
as much reason, he truly affirms, they might take
the representations of those who came from public
charities or hospitals at home. However, as he well
declares, it is not of much use to attempt the con-
tradiction of all these " calumnious imputations,"
for those in the north do not desire to be unde-
ceived, and great pains have been taken by the South
to show the unfairness and untruths of the accounts
previously propagated relative to the treatment of
prisoners by the Confederates. Mr. MASON pro-
perly winds up his remarks by alluding to the great
miseries endured by the prisoners who are committed
to the tender mercies of Northern jailors, and cites
some melancholy cases :of great suffering, which
form a striking contrast to the garbled statements
and highly coloured descriptions of the Sanitary
Commission in their reports. Could a better climax
be put to an argument than to declare that the
Government of the United States have the power
toput
prisoners Northern
Npvsroiscpohntetohrse,tyhbNeyvilesloona-oettianldlueoidn, sufferings of the
aglithhoeugexhcinhanreagelitoyf
hound by existing cartels. Such glaring inconsis-
tency cannot be too fully exemplified or too strongly
denounced, for it shows that the sufferings and
gmhpaa:eds nott
ohindgamwaigth_
tlosses oasfhtihnegitronomGmovseornldimersentweeoi
ing their opponents.

A COTTAGE BURIED IN SNOW.—MIDDLETON-
IN-CuntßußY.—A most painful accident happened at this
place early on Monday morning last. A huge mass of
snow slid down the hill on which it rested, overwhelming
the cottage of Richard Embiey, jun., and burying deep
beneath its substance the sleeping inmates. No alarm
was given until about six hours after the accident had
happened, when the people in the next cottage, father and
mother of Richard Embrey, looking out saw a mass of
snow and thatch and broken walls in place of their son's
cottage. The poor man was dug out alive, though much
injured; his wife and little boy were both dead, Great
sympathy i, felt by ail the neighlngapod,

THBATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE.

Paul Bedford's Complimentary Benefit,
A glorious evidence of the very cordial good feel-
ing with which he is individually regarded, both by
the playgoing public at large and by his own brother
and sister professionals, was yesterday accorded to
Paul Bedford upon the boards of Drury Lane
Theatre. Upon those same boards of Old Drury,
now Forty Years ago, Paul—then (blooming flower
that he was !) newly transplanted from Bath—
made his First Appearance before a London audience
as Young
.Hawthorne, in " LOT in a Village."
During the forty years that have since then
elapsed, he has (however unconsciously) been
steadily carrying out in regard to the public
generally a system of regular anti-Banting-
ism ! That is, if there be any truth in
the proverb about Laughter promoting Fatness.
The mere fact, however, of his being a Droll, would
never account for such a demonstration of good-
fellowship as that accorded to Paul Bedford yester-
day. As a demonstration of good-fellowship
towards him it was proof positive that he himself
was a good fellow. It was an attestation quite as
much of the worth of the man as of the popularity
of the low comedian. The immense area of Drury-
lane Theatre was filled full—from the orchestra
(inclusively) to the topmost row of the gallery,
where the latest corners among the audience, crowding
behind one another on tiptoe and peering over one
another's shoulders to get a glimpse of the stage,
were knocking their heads against the ceiling. The
performance consisted, according to the promise held
out by the programme, of a kind of an "animated
sandwich "—in quite another sense, however, than
that in which the term has been usually employed
since Boz first penned the phrase in one of the
earliest chapters of " Nicholas Nickleby "—an
" animated sandwich " consisting yesterday his-
trionically of a delicious petite comedie, in between
two hearty Farces. " The Area Belle" opened
the entertainment. Paul himself being Tosser
the Guardsman, and in that character chaunting
yet once again Blueskin's renowned bacchanalian
of " Jolly Nose," from Harrison Ainsworth's
" ;Jack Sheppard." Toole being Pitcher the
Bobby—boiled rags in the kitchen copper—but,
previously, singing an original song, by E. L.
Blanchard, entitled " He, She, and the Postman"
—a song the encore secured by the success of which
elicited from Mr. Toole, not its repetition, but the
repetition of that odd coriiic extravagance in the
shape of a song (also by Blanchard)—" A Norrible
Tale." Mrs. Mellon (née Woolgar) was, of course,
the Penelope of this domestic Odyssey, and equally,
as a matter course, Mr. B. Romer was Walker
Chalks the Milkman. Afterwards came Mr.
Sothern's charming little elegant drawing-room
comedy of "My Aunt's Advice," in which Mr.
Sothern himself played with inimitable humour
Captain Howard Leslie, assisted by Miss Heath
and Mr. Billington as Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Arundel. Following which piece, came the
finest farce that ever was written—namely,
Morton's exquisitely ridiculous Box and Cox. Ex-
quisitely ridiculous to relate, however, in regard to
it, we don't remember ever to have seen " Box and
Cox" played more wretchedly than it was yesterday.
And this, too, with Mr. Buckstone in his own ori-
ginal character as Box, and with about the best
substitute the stage could now furnish for Mr.
Harley's part of Cox—Mr. Compton. Genuine
screamer though this matchless farce is in itself—it
actually fell flat yesterday with the audience, by rea-
son of its being so indifferently acted. No fault
this, however, of Mr. Buckstone's ! He—so far as
he possibly could be under the circumstances—was
as droll as ever, but nothing (not even Buckstone's
fun and self-possession) could bear up against the
depressing and bewildering influence of Mr. Comp-
ton's Cox of yesterday, and under that also of the
Mrs. Bouncer of the occasion. Both of these positively
seemed to recollect little or nothing of their parts !
The words, as set down for them,we listened in vain
for. Box was repeatedly without his cue—and had
to make what he could of his difficulties under the
circumstances. Mr. Compton never acted worse.
He was as dull as ditch-water. Fun, there was none
in him. And we were heartily glad when the
curtain at last descended upon a performance
through which Mr. Buckstone's imperturbable good
humour and inerradicable comicality struggled so
manfully that we could not but regard his Box,
through our occasional laughter, with mingled feelings
of admiration and commiseration. Afterwards
came the concluding part of the entertainment—as
set down in the Playbills, " Paul Bedford at Home !
A Morning Call." The green curtain, on rising—
revealing to the view of. the immense audience,
nearly every actor and actress of any reputation
connected with all the chief theatres of the metro-
polis. Mr. Buckstone--and no one better could, by
possibility, have been Selected for the offices—
was the Spokesman, and, besides that, also, the
Master of the Ceremonies. Speaking of the mag-
nificent success of this entertainment, Mr. Buck-
stone humorously remarked that if he were to ask
his friend Paul whether it had been successful, he
was sure that the only possible reply he could give
would be--" I believe you, my boy !" Paul, in his
speech, gave the audience (alternately apostrophised
by him as his " Patrons" and his "Children") a
assembled
o f theu leading
adi
then
spoken taste of his written Autobiography. Here
and there, being noticeable genuine touches of feel-
ing, among the rambling oddities of his very
cahetaorrasctearnd isti
actresses
harangue.
t here Several
upon
stage, on being recognised, one by one, re-
ceived the heartiest and kindliest greeting—
a greeting as to old friends ! Conspicuous
among these being Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews,
Mr. Keeley, Mr. Sothern, Mrs. Stirling, Mr. Toole,
Mr. Walter Lacy, Mrs. Mellon (Miss Woolgar), and
Miss Amy Sedgwick. Messrs. Shepherd and An-
derson, in evidence of sympathy for their recent
managerial misfortune through the burning down
of the Surrey Theatre—received an ovation. As
also did Messrs. Chatterton and Falconer—very
deservedly—by reason of their having placed their
noble house gratis at Paul Bedford's command for
the occasion of his Complimentary Benefit, therein,
yesterday. The ovation of the day, however, was
Paul's own. And it was one so genuine and so
hearty, alike on the part of his fellow professionals
and on the part of his still more numerous friends
the public, that we may sincerely, as we do, offer
him our very cordial congratulations upon it.

Mr. Paul Bedford, says one of our contemporaries,
began life as an opera singer ; he sang with Cata-
lani, and was the original Beppo in " Fra Diavolo,"
and it was good, therefore, to see many celebrated
singers shaking him by the hand amongst the actors
with whom he has been associated for half a century.
The receipts, after paying all expenses, will reach
about £5OO, a gratifying proof that old performers
are not forgotten by the public.

PRICES OF CORN SINCE 1600.—Official returns
give the average prices of wheat from 1600 t,) the present
date. The highest averages from 1600 to 1795 were in
1648, when the a'terage was 755. 6d., and in 1795, when it
was 755. 2d. In 1796 it rose to 78s. 7d. ;in 1800 it was 110 s.
5d., and next year, 115 s. 11d. The highest average on re-
cord, however, was in 1812, when:it was 1225. Bd. [ln 1813
it was 106 s. 6d., and it fell next year to 725. Id., and de-
clined with little oscillation to 1835, when the average was
395, 4d. It afterwards rose again, but in 1851 was as low as
38s. 7d. It again rose to 745. 9d. in 1855. In the last four
years it has been gradually declining, having been in 1861
555. 6d. ; in 1862, 555. sd. ; in 1863, 445. 9d ; and last year,
40s: per qr. •
CORN IMPORTS. The imports of foreign and
colonial grain and flour into Great Britain and
Ireland in the past year show a falling off in every descrip-
tion of grain, with one exception—rye. The quantity of
wheat imported last year was 5,381,245 qrs., against
5,575,398 qr% in 1863; the quantity of barley was
1,388,119 qrs., against 2,078,717 qrs. in 1863; of oats
2,039,708 qrs., against 2,376,473 qrs., in 1863 ; of beans,
212,665 qrs., against 488,436 qrs. In 1863 ; of peas,
249,731 qrs., against 299,154 qrs. in 1863 ; of buck wheat
1,185 qrs., against 23,219 qrs. in 18.63 ; of maize
1,473,118 qrs., against 2,964,765 qrs. in 1863 ; of
wheat, meal, and flour 4,552,938 cwt. against
5,174,512 cwt. in 1863 ; but of rye the imports in 1864 were
115,157 qrs., against 22,412 qrs. in 1863. The totalflgures
were 12,387,492
qrs. in 1864, against 15,553 958 qrs. in 1863.
The lowest imports of foreign wheat since 1826 was in 1835,
when only 46,530 qrs. of wheat were imported ; and the
highest was in 1862,
when 9,542,362 qrs. of wheat were
imported. The imports have been progressively increasing
since the repeal of the corn laws. The total imports in 1862
were 18,942,658:5., being the largest on record ; and next
were thime of 1861, when the total yin 16,458,238 vs,

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAM.)

PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA.

BERLIN, Feb. 1.

Herr von Bismarck has replied to Count Mens-
dorff's despatch, but without acquainting the Vienna
Cabinet what are the demands of Prussia as to the
relations to be established between that Power and
the Duchies.
Herr von Bismarck has contented himself with
instructing Baron von Werther to inform Count
Mensdorff that the Council of Ministers was en-
gaged in definitely drawing up the propositions the
Prussian Government found itself obliged to mai*
in the interest of the safety of the northern frontier
of Germany, and that they would be communicated
to the Cabinet of Vienna as soon as this task was
completed.
In addition to the official despatch, Herr von Bis-
marck has replied by a confidential note, to the
equally confidential despatch of Count Mensdorff,
of the 21st December, and which the Austrian re-
presentative at Berlin read to Herr von Bismarck
without leaving him a copy. The Prussian Presi-
dent of the Council has now replied in a similar
manner, developing in detailed argument the rea-
sons which prevent his Government from carrying
out the Count's proposition of provisionally recog-
nising—under reserve of the succession question—
Prince Frederick as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein,
and of transferring to him the rights ceded to the
German Powers by the treaty of peace.
Herr von Bismarck's despatch closes with the
declaration that it is impossible for Prussia to come
to even a provisional arrangement in the succession
question, so long as the Crown lawyers have not
sent in their report upon this intricate subject. Herr
von Bismarck thus maintains the position Prussia
has taken in the affairs of the Duchies, and declines
for the present all discussion upon the succession
question.
Prussia proposes that the two Cabinets should
profit by the necessary delay to come to an under-
standing as to the relations to be established between
herself and the Duchies. The position Austria will
assume in face of this proposal will enable us to
judge of the results of Prince Frederick Charles's
recent visit to Vienna.

THE BRAZIL MAIL.
LISBON, Feb. 2.

The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's ship
Magdalena, from the,Brazil, &c., arrived here to-
day, and will leave at four p.m. for Southampton,
with 81 passengers (including 31 distressed British
subjects), specie £16,870, 1,144 bags of coffee,
1,083 bales of cotton, 553 packages of tobacco, and
156 packages of sundries.
She left Rio de Janeiro on the 10th January,
and passed the Oneida (with the outward January
mails) at sea, on the 23d ult.