The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-13 00:00:00

Concluding with NUMBER ONE ROUND THE CORNER.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHL
proprietor, Mr. B. Webster.—Directress, Madame Celeste.
THIS EVENING, Mum 13,
Will be presented the highly Popular Yew Nautical Melo-drama
In Sire' tableaux, with new scenery, the Sea of Ice, &c., new
drimu, and appointments, called THE THIRST OF GOLD; or,
THE LOST SHIP AND THE WILD FLOWER OF MEXICO.
principal characters by Messrs. B. Webster, Keeley, Paul Bedford,
• liadatne Celeste, &c.
To conclude with THE SERIOUS FAMILY. Characters by
Messrs. B. Webster, Leigh Murray. Parselle, and Keeley ; Mrs. L.
'Murray. Misses Woolgar, Fanny Mesitell, and Laidlaw, and Mrs.
. Keeley.

ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE.

- Lessee and Manager, Mr. A. Wigan.
THIS EVENING, Minus 13,
Wlll be performed TO OTILIGE BE N.SON.. Supported by Messrs.
EtriarY, Babson, and Leslie; Mrs. Stirling an I Miss Wyndham.
' After which, liflE BENGXL TIGER. Principal characters by
,Messrs. Ahred Wigan, and 13. Robson; and Mrs. Wigan and Miss
. Marston.
;To be follfYvel by VIE FIR3T NIGFIT. Characters by Messrs.
"'i 141ted Wigan, Leslie, Franks, Ilarwood Cooper, and Vincent ; Miss
Horton, and Miss Wyndham.

• • STRAND THEATRE.
8010 Lasses?, Air. F. W. Allcraft.—Directress, Miss Rebecca Isaacs.
nn L i . ; THIS. EVENING, Mica 13,
r:rE WM be performed LA SONNAMRULA.
•„I,L, Tabe.followecl.by IHE OMNIBUS.
After which, THE BLUE JACKETS.
To conclude with THE coßtvi SIAN BROTHERS. Paddy and
Tlm lialligaa (the Brothers), Mr. G. Hodson.
Stalls, 55.; Bezel, 3.. ; Pit. 1.. :3d ; i 4allery, %I.; Private Boxes,
• If. Ile. lld., to be had of Mr. Allcroft, 15, Sew Bond-street.

ASTLErS EUROPE'S NATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. William Cooke.
THIS EVENING, MARCH 13,
, And during the week, will be- presented the new, grand, and
romantic spectacle entitled 'PETE viTOODNIA.N'S HORSE; or, The
Tate Knight—the Virothlmen's llo,sa by the pet steed, Beauty,
expres;sly trained by. Mr. William Cooke.
After which, Reenes of the ARENA.
' To conclude with the Domestic Drama of THE WHITE FARM.
Boa-office open from &even till Four. Stale Manager, Mr. W.
West.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tots DAT —Morning 23 min.after 11 Evening 43 min.aft. 1
To*Mositow—Morning 1 min.after 2 1 Evening 18 min.aft. 2

THE WEATHER.--Svc OPPICB, MARCH 12.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.

62—highest since noon yesterday.
41—lowest this morning and during the night.
59 —this day at noon.

BAROMETER, 30'08.
WIND, S.W.—Very fine weather.
MARCH 13.
60— highest since noon yesterday.
45—lowest this morning and during the night.
61—this day, at noon.
BAROMETER, 30'04—falling.
WIND, S.W.—Fresh breeze, with fine, sunshiny weather.

Christendom—a peace which will constitute the
fullest surety of the uninterrupted development,
henceforth, of our common civilisation.

It is something to have survived the long peace
which has elapsed since the close of the last war
in "fifteen," if only to witness this cordial alli-
ance between those two great nations of Western
Europe, hitherto the most inveterate and impla-
cable of antagonists. What enhances the wonder
and admiration of every dispassionate observer of
this alliance, is the fact that it is accomplished
during the reign and under the guidance of a
BoNAPARTs---during the reign and under the
guidance of the descendant and representative of
that great House, the Founder of which dur-
ing the chief portion of his extraordinary
career was regarded as the arch foe of the
British people, and of the British Govern-
ment. It is an alliance, we must all re-
member, based upon mutual concessions and mu-
tual magnanimity. It is an alliance not hollow
or superficial—but solid, cordial, and complete.
It is at this moment carrying rapidly to
the seat of war, carrying northwards and east-
wards, carrying to the Black Sea and to the Baltic
those two glorious banners, which, thus united,
may be said to constitute at once the oriflamme and
the talisman of civilisation. Side by side, and not
as hitherto face to face, 'are about to stand on the
battle field as opposed to the barbarian hordes of
the Russian'ArnocßAT the heroic soldiers of France
and England. Together, in the Black Sea, and in
the Baltic their gallant sailors are about to avenge
upon the frontier towns of the CZAR'S dominions
the atrocities perpetrated by his fleet upon the
subjects of his Turkish neighbour. As the troops
of France and England are embarked for foreign
service, as their war-vessels leave their shores for
the anticipated encounter, the hearts of the two
great races go with them, the hearts of all patrio-
tic Frenchmen and Englishmen. It is felt at
once that more is involved in this approaching
struggle than the consideration of Ottoman inde-
pendence, or the maintenance of the rights of trea-
ties, or the repulse of a lawless enemy from invaded
provinces. It is understood on the instant that the
contest is one in which the barbarism of the Rus-
sian autocracy will be met by the avowed and re-
cognised champions of modern civilisation.

Hence, the favour of that " Godspeed " which
accompanied the Baltic Fleet on Saturday, when
it took its departure from the vicinity of Ports-
mouth, under the command of the brave Sir
CHARLES NAPIER, for the general rendezvous at
the Cattegat ! Hence the enthusiasm displayed
towards the person of that daring sea-captain, by
all classes of his fellow subjects, immediately prior
to what was regarded, in truth, as the important
event of his embarkation ! The prayers and good
wishes of their fellow-countrymen follow the brave
old Admiral and his ten thousand tars along the track
cf this memorable expedition. Every one per-
ceives at last the imminence of the crisis, the
grandeur of these contemporary occurrences, the
direct bearing they must necessarily have upon
the destinies of the world, but peculiarly and
above all upon the destinies of the Eastern hemi-
sphere. A guarantee that, humanly speaking,
those destinies are in safe keeping, is discoverable
of course in the fact, that for the first time in the
annals of the two countries a really cordial alli-
ance has been established between France and
England —an alliance so cordial, so solid,
and so complete, that the military and
maritime defenders of France and England
are about to fight side by side, in a just cause,
under the blended banners of the union-jack and
the tricolor ! That the rulers of France and England
have an implicit confidence in each other ! That
in the ranks of the armies sent eastward by France
and England will be found, when the contest has
once begun in earnest—here a Prince of the
House of BRUNSWICK, and here a Prince of the
House of BONAPARTE ! Ancient enmities are for-
gotten, and are replaced by a frank and unaffected,
and GOD grant that time may prove it to be also
a permanent and indestruetiblefriendship. United,
France and England may command the peace of the
whole earth, the advance of commerce, the secu-
rity of order, the progress and development of
civilisation. Opposed, they might set the world
in arms once more, as they have already done so
frequently : but by so doing they would—and
both appreciate nowadays the force of this vital
consideration—they would inevitably plunge one
another into the horrors of a struggle productive
only of the many monstrous crimes and evil con-
sequences of an unrighteous warfare—.bloodshed,
disaster, glory (so-called) possibly, but certainly,
and beyond all doubt, an enormous, if not abso-
lutely ruinous, expenditure. Why talk of
this, however ? now now when England
and France are not only cordially united, but so
cordially that they are about to fight, as against
Russian barbarism, the great battle of European
civilisation. Why ? Except it be to point out
by contrast the inestimable advantages of our pre-
sent position—that grand and authoritative posi-
tion by which VICTORIA. and NAPOLEON have
afforded the whole world the guarantee of the
ultimate consolidation of the peace of Christendom.

The Directors of the South-Eastern Railway
Company have just published the half-yearly re-
port which is to be submitted to the shareholders
at the forthcoming meeting (and which will be
found in another part of this day's impression).
It is a very satisfactory document. Satisfactory,
not merely because it exhibits a highly prosperous
state of affairs, with a steadily increasing traffic,
but also because it affords an exceedinzly fair and
straightforward account of the transactions of the
past six months, and of the progress made by the
company, as well as the legitimate prospects of
the undertaking. The Board have exhibited the
utmost candour in this respect, which cannot
fail to be duly appreciated by the shareholders.
The gross receipts for the half-year, it
appears, amount to no less than 465,1421.
10s. 9d. A very large augmentation when com-
pared with any former period, exceeding even the
sums obtained during the year of the Great Ex-
hibition. From this grand total, there are to be de-
ducted for working expenses and renewals 173, 340/.,
for renewal of the permanent way 6,215/. 15s.
Rates, taxes, and tolls 18,5301. Bs. 6d., and
Government duty 13,006/. Os. ld. Added to
these, there are the rents for the leased lines, the
interest on mortgages, dividends on guaranteed
shares, and other expenses, which must be pro-
vided for in the first instance, and which amount,
altogether, to 317,3801. 4s. 7d. to be deducted
from the gross receipts, leaving 153,7751. Bs. Bd.
applicable, which is proposed to be 112 s. on
every 301. share, or at the rate of 4 per cent. per
annum, leaving 5,1011. Bs. Bd. to the credit of
the Company. These simple facts furnish the best
refutation of the various calumnies that have been
so unblushingly put forward, the accusations that
have been turned into every shape--ig4at one time
boldly proclaimed, at another merely whispered,
and anon gently insinuated, according to the tone
and temper of the audience, and the probability
of meeting with opposition, and, as a matter of
course, with the unequivocal exposure of their fal-
lacy and injustice.
The pleasure derived from the general result
will not be in any degree alloyed by a closer exa-
mination of the means by which it is arrived at,
that on the main line and branches there has been,
when compared with the preceding year, an in-
crease of first-class passengers of 19,634 ; of
second-class, 32,028 ; and of third-class, 26,940;
the addition to the receipts thereby occasioned
being 13,7651. 10s. 3d., while 60,840/. 10s. has
been the improvement on the passenger traf-
fic of the main line and branches within the
same period. All the receipts on each of the
subsidiary undertakings have also improved in a
similar ratio, so that on the whole the receipts for
the half-year, when compared with the correspond-
ing one of the former year, show an improvement
of 40,596/. 25., which has been earned at a cost
of 18,438/. 14s. ld., a olear balance of profit be-
ing thus exhibited of 22,1561. 7s. 11d, more than
last year.
What pretext, then, can there be for ascribing
ement to those who have, for severalmismanag
years past, been making not merely a steady but
even a rapid progress in the road to prosperity ?