The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-25 00:00:00

SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 25, 1847.

445 at 10 and under 15
591 15 and under 20.
2 under 10
142 at 10 and under 15
500 15 and under 20.
Disorderly characters 111 10 and under 15
505 15 and under 20.
Drunkenness and Z 473 15 and under 20.
drunken persons
Reputed thieves - - 2 under 10
38 15
140 at 15 and under 20.
Vagrants -- - 22 under 10
242 at 10 and under 15
548 15 and under 20.
The opening passages of this excellent contribution
are so painfully yet truthfully descriptive of the
necessity which there is for a moral drainage and
ventilation, as well as for a physical one, that we shall
copy them entire, commending them heartily to the
perusal of all who have not been fortunate enough to
devour the whole argument of the reviewer:—
" Every one who walks the streets of the metropolis must
daily observe several members of the tribe—bold, and pert,
and dirty as London sparrows, but pale, feeble, and sadly in-
ferior to them in plumpness of outline. Their business, or
pretended business, seems to vary with the locality. At the
west-end they deal in lucifer-matches, audaciously beg, or tell
a touching tale of woe. Pass on to the central parts of the
town—to Holborn or the Strand, and the regions adjacent. to
them—and you will there find the numbers very greatly in-
creased ; a few are pursuing the avocations above-mentioned
of of their snore Corinthian fellows ; many are spanning the
gutters with their legs, and dabbling with earnestness in the
latest accumulation of nastiness; while others, in squalid
and'half-naked groups, squat at the entrances of the narrow,
fcated courts and alleys that lie concealed behind the decep-
tive frontages of our larger thoroughfares. Whitechapel
and Spitalfields teem with them like an ant's-nest; but it is
in Lambeth and in Westminster that we find the most fla-
grant traces of their swarming activity. There the foul and
dismal passages are thronged with children of both sexes, and
of every age from three to thirteen. Though wan and hag-
gard, they are singularly vivacious, and engaged in every
sort of occupation but that which would be beneficial to them-
selves and creditable to the neighbourhood. Their appearance
is wild; the matted hair, the disgusting filth that renders
necessary a closer inspection, before the flesh can be discerned
between the rags which hang about it; and the barbarian
freedom from all superintendence and restraint, fill the mind
of a novice in these things with perplexity and dismay. Visit
these regions in the summer, and you are overwhelmed by
the exhalations; visit them in the winter, and you are
shocked by the spectacle of hundreds shivering in apparel
that would be scanty in the tropics ; many are all but naked;
those that are clothed are grotesque; the trousers where
they have them, seldom pass the knee; the tailed coats very
frequently trail below the heels. In this guise they run
about the streets, and line the banks of the river it low
water, seeking coals, sticks, corks, for nothing comes amiss
as treasure-trove; screams of delight burst occasionally from
the crowds, and leave the passer-by, if he be in a contemplative
mood, to wonder and to rejoice that moral and physical de•
gradations have not yet broken every spring of their youthful
energies.
" Eccentric doubts flit through our minds; and we are
tempted to ask whether these nondescripts ever had a parent,
or whether there be parents to be found in the district.
They look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, and yet are
on 't.' A feeling of curiosity arises, and the next step is to
investigate their natural history, their haunts, their habits,
their idiosyncracy, their points of resemblance to the rest of
mankind, and the part they sustain in the great purpose •f
creation. The stranger dives into the recesses from
.which
they seem to issue—and there he sees, before and behind, op
tthheatrigchant heaffieinddantdheon
senseth e
andleft, every
deadenform
eanmdocrha
.11,7 c tLeer
Let those
who desire a minute description of these horrid retreats, in
which thousands of our country-people cower by day and by
night, consult the admirable reports of the Sanitary. Con-
hmaivsseiotno el
told
Com-
missioners,
saansdmtuteh
asHelaalrithguaogf
eTcoawn ncos'nvAesys.ocißatu.itonla,nwguliaicghe
is powerless to exhibit the truth : personal experience elope
can give the reality ; and then many a weary and pestilential
search, and many a sick headache, will prove to the disgusted
inquirer that a large proportion of those who dwell in the
capital of the British empire are crammed into re
of the
gions of
filth and darkness, the ancient but not solitary reign
newts and toads.
" Here are the receptacles of the species we investigate;
here they are spawned, and here they perish! Can their
state be a matter of wonder? We have penetrated alleys
terminating in a end-de-sac, long and narrow like a tobacco-
pipe, where air and sunshine were never known. On one
side rose walls several feet in height, blackened with damp
andrwe9vuo
would
irbavoeismgynife
wt,edt
waited
:oreahodoei
from
iotnmi
oedo
dt3.o: thea,tnueeahn
r:ritessasi other
einlnxut sadhtuti
dardsnfaoseointfel
ri:ncistkb.
eeheteieordefoaodui
sidlfte,i
gentlemenseni twth,eroxabe anothere daeaewtsnnbseseeli
expansion
bestrewedg dwellings, still
similar soat niiplrdla asmpcsr
gllnasee:.
V*rgot cha-
racter cneatatcehyvrs have
:gaagvTgeahredth,nero
rough,
glhopethy,
and exasperated, surrounded us at once, imploring us to order
the removal of the filth which had poisoned their tenements,
and to grant them a supply of water, from which they had
been debarred
during many days. Pass to another district
you may think it less confined—but there you will see flow-
ing before each hovel, and within a few feet of it, a broad,
black, uncovered drain, exhaling at every point the most
unwholesome vapours. If there be not a drain, there is a
stagnant pool ; touch either with your stick ; and the me-
phitic mass will yield up its poisonous gas like the corusca-
tions of soda-water.
"The children sit along these depositories of death, or
roam through the retired courts in which the abomination
of years has been suffered to accumulate. Here reigns a me-
lancholy silence, seldom broken but by an irritated scold or a
pugnacious drunkard. The pale discoloured faces of the in-
habitants, their shrivelled forms, their abandoned exterior

Wilful damage

recal the living skeletons of the Pontine Marshes, and suffi-
cient 4 attest the pie-Le.ce ut a secret agency. hostile to every'
physical and moral improvement of the human race.
" The interior of the dwelling is in strict keeping : the
smaller space of the apartments increasing, of course, the
evils that prevail without—damp, darkness, dirt, and foul
air. Many are wholly destitute of furniture ; many con-
tain nothing except a table and a chair: some few have e
common bed for all ages and both sexes; but a large portion
of the denizens of those regions lie on a heap of rags more
nasty th the flGor it.3elf. Happy the family that can
boast ofa- a single room to itself, and in that room a dry
corner.
" But these creatures have pursuits of their own, certain
occupations whereby they obtain a scanty subsistence; for,
though there are, perhaps, many persons who may net ad-
mit the necessity, they themselves have a conviction that they
must live. The children, that survive the noxious influ-
ences and awful neglect, are thrown, as soon as they can
crawl, to scramble in the gutter, and leave their parents to
amusement or business : as they advance in years they dis-
cover that they must, in general, find their own food or go
without it. The duris urgens in rebus egestas,' stimulates
these independent urchins; and, at an age when the chil-
dren of the wealthy would still be in leading-strings, they,
are off, singly or is parties, to beg, borrow, steal, and exer-
cise all the cunning that want and a love of evil can stir up
in a reckless race. They are driven to these courses, in
many instances, by their parents; in more by their step-
mothers; in most by necessity and general example. The
passion for shows and the lowest drama is nearly universal;
• Panem et Circenses'—food and the penny theatres—these
are their paradise, and their chief temptation to crime.
They receive no education, religious or secular; they are
subjected to no restraint of any sort; never do they hear the
word of advice, or the accent of kindness ; the notions that exist
in the minds of ordinary persons have no place in theirs ;
having nothing exclusively of their own, they seem to think
such, in fact, the true position of society; and, helping
themselves without scruple to the goods of others, they can
never recognise, when convicted before a magistrate, the
justice of a sentence which punishes them for having done
little more than was indispensable to their existence.
" Well, then, we discover that they are beings like our-
selves; that they have long subsisted within a walk of our
own dwellings ; that they have increased, and are increasing
in numbers with the extension of this overgrown metropolis ;
and that they recede, if to recede be possible, in physical and
moral condition as the capital itself advances towards the
pinnacle of magnificence and refinement. Will no one roll
away the reproach? We have an Established Church, abun-
dant in able and pious men, and she boasts herself to be the
Church of the people. We have a great body of wealthy
and intelligent Dissenters, who declaim, by day and by night,
on the efficacious virtues of the voluntary principle. We
have a generous aristocracy and plethoric capitalists, and a
Government pledged to social improvements. Who will
come forward ? Why not all ?"
Those are the scenes in which crime and destitution
are germinated—those are the blanks in the lottery
of social life which the ragged schools have been
created to transform, if possible, into prizes. Still
the labour of love and regeneration is only commencing;
it must be long before that labour can be effectual
in the suppression of juvenile depravity and the dis-
persion of juvenile ignorance. The narrow end of
the wedge, however, has been driven in ; let us drive
it home, and the obdurate trunk of that great Upas
of civilised society—ignorance—must be penetrated
and prostrated.

RURAL PICKINGS; or Attradive Points in Country
Life and Scenery. By the Author of " Points and
Pickings of Information about China."
The name of this little volume almost describes its
character, but the subjects of which it treats, and the
benefits to be derived from its perusal are very accu-
rately set forth in the introduction, as will be seen from
the following very beautiful observations :
" As my book will appeal rather to the heart than to
the head, so sentimentality must give place to the healthy
freshness of natural feeling. I cannot promise you much
of a treat in the way of sighing over " fa
but I wi
my best to set your pulse throbbing among the bright
breezy hills and the sweet, secluded, bird-singing, heart-
expanding valleys of rural scenery. I will set before you.
in such language as I may, rustic occupations, the rich
garniture of fields, the goodly foliage of trees, the beauty
of buds and blossoms, the sparkling of running brooks,
the warbling of the feathery world, the fair forms of
hills and valleys, the bright gleams of sunset, and the
brighter glories of sun-risings. I will take you to scenes
of rural seclusion, of dark and shadowy nooks, of wild
boughs hanging over gurgling streams, of woods of
giant trees, and hazel copses rich with clustering nuts ;
of mossy banks sprinkled with primroses ; of old stone
quarries and grey cliffs hung with creepers, ivy, and
lichens ; of thorn bushes garlanded with wild convolulus
and red and yellow poison-berries; of tangled wildernesses
of gorse, fern, and fox-glove. You shall see nature in
her lory and her gloom ; hear her in te silent elo•
quengce of her solitude, and feel her influehnce is every
hoar.
"Many have gone before me in describing rural scenery,
and others will follow me in the same alluring enter-
prise ; but nature is a wide field in which all may wan-
der, and each find something to admire. He that roams
in the rich luxuriance of country scenes, with a love of
what is sweet and simple, as well as what is arresting
and sublime ; and is content to express faithfully the
joyous emotions of his mind, the gushing gladness of his
spirit, in natural language, can hardly fail in affording
pleasure.
" The lover of nature has an inexhaustible treasure in the
common things of creation. His enjoyments flow not from
one part of rural influences, but from all. To him the air is
health, the wind is music, the flowers are pearls, the fruits a
banquet, and the burst of glowing sights and harmonious
sounds that appeal at once to his eye, his ear, and his heart,
create in Lim a jubilee of joy.
' God has not given
This passion to the heart of man in vain,
This love of earth's green face, and air of heaven,
And all the bliss of Nature's rustic reign.'
For it is a source of wealth ; not the wealth of the coffer, but
of the heart. It makes man rich in the love of beauty ; rich
in the quiet delights of solitude; rich in sweet and kindly
thoughts ; rich in yearnings and aspirations after purity and
knowledge; and rich in desires for the happiness of all crea-
tures. It breaks up the deep fountain of his affections, bind-
ing him in closer brotherhood to his kind, and awakening
in
his soul a warmer, purer, and a holier thanksgiving to God."
To say that these remarks only do justice to the volume
which they preface, will surely be saying sufficient in its
praise. It is filled with interesting and animated de-
scriptions of the country and country scenes all written
con amore, and interspersed with varied anecdotes,
amusing adventures, occasional poems and fragments of
poems, some original, some quotations, and many in-
teresting particulars regarding the mode of living in the
country ; among others an extract from a letter, written
by a country clergyman, in which be gives a sort of
a summary of his diurnal pursuits, beginning with
" Rose at three o'clock." The following remarks, ex-
cellent in themselves, will show that the author has
some higher object in view than that of only affording
amusement to his readers :
" It is one of the many objects I have in view in those
Rural Pickings, to sprinkle freely my rustic descriptions with
good feeling and kindly suggestions that may be turned to
account. llills and valleys, woods and waterfalls, fields and
flowers, ponds and brooks, will only be the more beautiful if
we can get from them aught that will dispose us more grate-
fully to enjoy, and more patiently to endure ; aught that will
nerve our hearts in danger, knit us more closely to those we
love, and call forth kindly emotions for all around. What if
we could wander for ever amid daisies and daffodils, breathe
nothing but fresh air scented by violets, and hear nothing
but the singing of larks and the murmuring of waterfalls !
dreaming away our lives in listless ease and unenviable use-
lessness! A generous heart and a kindly spirit would shrink
from such selfish enjoyment ; but when we turn the fair
things of creation to account by improving our own hearts,
and connecting our own good with the good of others, we
obtain a healthier, if not a holier, gratification.
" There are very few qualities of more value than that of
perseverance in the different positions and relations of life;
those who possess it have, as it were, in most undertakings.
Success written on their foreheads; while those who possess
it not have but a poor prospect of obtaining their ends. The
cavern of Antiparos is deep, but Perseverance descends to its
lowest recess, The Alps are high, yet Perseverance places its
foot on their cloud-capt heads."
This little volume of " Rural Pickings" is both elegant
and excellent, as regards binding, printing, &c. ; the
illustrations by Absolon are, some of them especially,
peculiarly beautiful. They have all the softness of
lithography, and the additional attraction of colouring ;
one of the best—" Reading the Bible"—represents a
group listening to an old man reading, and the curious
and attentive expression with which one of the children
regards him is very well portrayed.

COURT CIRCULAR.
WINDSOR, SUNlDAY.—Yesterday morning the Queen and
Prince Albert walked in the elopes and grounds adjacent to
the Castle.

His Royal Highness Prince Albert enjoyed the sport of
shooting yesterday morning, attended by Lord Alfred Paget,
Major-General Bowles, Colonel Seymour, Mr. Anson, and the
Hon. Colonel Phipps.
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the
Princess Royal, took their accustomed pony exercise yes-
terday.
Earl Spencer left the Castle yesterday.
The band of the lst Life Guards attended in the Castle
during dinner. Her Majesty's private band afterwards at-
tended, and performed the remainder of last evening.
This morning the Queen and Prince Albert, the Ladies
and Gentlemen of the Court, and the Domestic Household,
attended Divine Service in the Private Chapel of the
Castle. The Hon. and Rev. C. Leslie Courtenay officiated.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge visited
her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester on Saturday
at Gloucester llouse.
A Cabinet Council was held at half-past two o'clock on
Saturday afternoon at the Foreign-office. The Ministers
present were, Lord John Russell Lord Chancellor, the
Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl of 14into, Sir George Grey,
Viscount Palmerston, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, the Earl of Auckland, Sir John llobhouse, Lord
Campbell, Viscount Morpeth, the Earl of Clarendon, the
Marquis of Clanricarde, the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay,
and the Right Hon. H. Labouchere. The Council broke up
at five o'clock.
A deputation from the Chamber of Commerce, Merchants'
House, West India Association, Brewers, Distillers, ts'
Im-
porters of Foreign Sugar, and from a public meeting of the
Merchants and Citizens of Glasgow, had an interview with
Lord John Russell on Saturday, at ton official residenc in
Downing-street. The deputation sisted of Messrs.
Itanken, Campbell, Eccles, Midleton, Gray, Tennent, and
Kinnear, and was accompanied by Mr. Oswald, M.P. and
Mr. Dennistown, M.P. Mr. John Wood, Chairman of the
Excise, was present at the conference of the deputation with
his Lordship.
The Right Hon. Dr. Lushington had an interview with
Earl Grey on Saturday at the Colonial-office.
The Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord President of the Council
has issued invitations to the Cabinet Ministers and the Great
Officer of tate of the Queen's Household, for he Sheriff's
dinners onS Wednesday, the 3d February, att Lansdowne
House
The. deputation on the malt tax to Lord John Russell, on
Friday, was composed of the Duke of Richmond,he Eaar rl of
March, M.P., Mr. W. Miles, M.P., Mr. A. S. O'Brien,B
Mr. Newdegate, M.P., Mr. Wodehouse, M.P., Messrs. W.
Bennett and J. Pain, from Beds ; Messrs. R. Baker and W.
Fisher Hobbs, from Essex; Messrs. Ball and Jonas, from
Cambridgeshire; Mr. J. Moseley, from Suffolk ; Mr. G.
Shackel, from Berks ; Mr. J. Ellman, from Sussex ; Mr. T.
Weall, from Surrey ; Mr. Brown, from Wilts ; Mr. G. Hi r.
from Salop ; and Mr. J. WarsoP, from Huntingdonshire.

Mr. Wickham, Chairman of the Stamps and Taxes, had an
interview with the Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson, oa Satur-
day, at the office of the Board of Trade.
The Duke of Wellington attended the early service yester-
day, In the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The Rev. Dr.
esley officiated and preached the sermon. At the daily
service the prayers were read by the Rev. T. Helmore, and
the lessons by the Rev. J. V. Povah. The sermon was
preached by the Rev. Dr. Sleath. The anthem was, " Lord
let me know my end," (Greene). Mr. Turle presided at the
organ. Lords Salisbury, Spencer, Fortescue. Ebrington, In-
gestrie, and Canterbury, were among the nobility present.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE

pstanduhAevpeaiptlwnrltieeoalsenlfggth we have before us the programme of her
Majesty's Theatre for the season of 1847—a programme
which proves that the exertions made by Mr. Lumley,
" under circumstances of peculiar difficulty to form a
company still more worthy of the first theatre in
Europe," have been crowned with success. First among
the operatic engagements we hare that of the favourite
aen Ipt eehyaa•
momenternr
ibn
se
he
ire
h,
enst
couldJennyoha es
owhnoarvolLind,
edf 1
ai Bfp4
prt7 hee,
9.pe
rtooerfidtmr
ss
uptd
couhasriki
greaternnsgcrte
rrtu hse
et.
season of 1846, inasmuch as she will be supported 'by a
primo tenore, an advantage which she could not have
enjoyed last season. Signor Fraschini, the great tenor
of Italy, and Signor Gardoni, the prime tenore of the
Italian Opera in Paris, are both engaged. Gardoni
originally appeared at the Opera Comique, from whence
he was speedily transferred to the AcadC.mie Royale de
Musique, as the substitute for and the successor to Du-
prez. Since the retirement of Rubiui from the stage, the
Italian operas of both Paris and London have, for reasons
into which it is now:needless to inquire, been without a
prime tenore. Moriani was, when he passed the Alps,
merely a magnificent wreck, and Salvi just missed suc-
cess. Mario, the first of second tenors, was therefore
thrust into the position of prime tenore, and every effort
wasm
fromade engagingtoprevent the English and French manage-
ments aanny
npotherear.waAs titrhaeduccoed commencement
ehrne
of the present season
Ita-
lian Theatre of Paris, the principal tenor part of which
was offered to Signor Mario. From physical inability
to sing the music, he very judiciously and very properly
declined it, and took the second tenor part, the music of
which he gave exquisitely. The music of the first tenor
part was cut down, and the part itself given to an un-
known man. The consequence of bringing out an opera
in this mutilated state was, as might have been
expected, a complete fiasco. The absolute necessity
of engaging a prim tenore, then, became manifest
to the manager, and accordingly a large sum was
paid to M. Leon Pellet, the manager of the
Academie, to break Gardoni's engagement with him,
and Gardoni was engaged for the Italian Opera, where
he made a most successful debi2t, where he has appeared
almost every night since that debiit, and where every
appearance has been a perfect triumph. Mr. Lumley
has succeeded in securing the services of Signor Gar-
doni, who will appear the first night of the season in
Donizette's opera La Favorita, in which he will be sup-
ported by Signor Superchi, a distinguished Baritone
singer, who will also make his first appearance before
an English audience on that evening. We congratulate
Mr. Lumley on having secured the services of Signori,
Fraschini, and Gardoni. Should Rubini be induced to
appear again upon the stage, Mr. Lumley may boast that
the three greatest tenors in the world are engaged at
her Majesty's Theatre. The delightful Madam Cas-
tellan, and the energetic Mademoiselle Sanchioli, are
re engaged, and Madame Del Carmen Montenegro,
whose tame on the continent stands very high, will
make her delnit in the course of the season. Lablache,
(the
wortha
ai tn wohi :s;pendingsndS thati n o
with
r
F.
Lablache, the great, the inimitable, the unique, the only singer,
for whom it is and must ever be impossible to find a
substitute,
with
son of lr. . a
Lumley,rt y
sire);
a rse does
use-
ful actor and singer Signor Corelli ; in addition to these
Engaged, d anengagement
singer and actor, who appeared here
Sctoaie udt ai s
first
rate
some seasons since, and to whom the English people
owe some reparation for having suffered him to be made
the victim of a disgraceful conspiracy. We congratulate
Mr. Lumley not only on the engagements which he has
made, bnt in the engagements, from the necessity of
contracting which, he has been relieved. The fact is,
that for some time past, an infusion of new blood has
been wanted at her Majesty's Theatre. It was,
" toujours Perdrix." We are perfectly aware of the
difficulties which Mr. Lumley would have had to en-
counter in any attempt he might have made to remedy
this. Fortunately for him those difficulties no
longer exist, and those parties whose jealousy of
young talent has hitherto prevented him from in-
troducing to the public the rising singers and the
rising composers of the continent, have, by voluntarily
seceding from his establishment, relieved him from a
tyranny which must have been as irksome to himself as
it was injurious to the cause of sound musical science.
We shall not, we are glad to perceive, be confined to the
old repertoire of Grisi characters, as we have been for a
few seasons past. Ileyerbeer is to come over to bring
out his chef d'reuvre, The Camp of Silesia, the principal
characters in which will be sustained by Jenny Lind and
Fraschini, and he will also bring out his Robert le Diable,
for Gardoni. Verdi is engaged on a new opera for her
Majesty's Theatre, founded on " The Robbers of
Schiller." Rossini's Robert Bruce is also secured ; and,
to crown all, Mendellsolan Bartholdy has engaged to
compose an opera, founded on Shakspeare's " Tempest,"
in which Lablache will he the Prospero, Staudigl the
Caliban (those who remember his Polyphemus mayf orm
some idea of the rich treat which is in store for hem),
Gardoni the Ferdinand, and Jenny Lind the Miranda
Balfe, we are glad to find, resumes the baton of conductor,
and Tolbecque and Nadaud continue as the leaders of
the opera and the ballet respectively. The orchestra is
increased in numerical force, and now numbers among
its members the elite of the orchestras of Europe ; and
the chorus, which has been selected from the theatres of
Italy, Germany, and England, consists of eighty per-
formers. There was, we understand, a rehearsal of
some chorusses on Tuesday last, when the superiority
of the new chorus over that of last season was manifest.
The ballet department has always been perfection.
No theatre has ever been able to approach it for
completeness, and the ensuing season will, we imagine, I
prove superior to its predecessors. Taglioni, Carlotta
Grisi, Cerito, and Lucile Grahn are re-engaged, and
Mademoiselle Caroline Rosati, from La Scala, at Milan,
who (if report speaks true) is worthy to be the com-
panion of the deeses de la danse, will make her debiit on
the first night of the season in a new ballet, composed by
Paul Taglioni. The glories of the pas de quatre
and of the pas de deesses are to be renewed, and Perrot
has promised to eclipse those glories by the production of a
new pas which shall combine the talent of all—" La
Constellation." Henri Heine, the celebrated German poet
has undertaken to compose a grand ballet founded on
the Legends of Germany, and a noble and distinguished
poetess has honoured Mr. Lumley by giving him as the
subject for a novel and pictorial ballet--Egeria. Never
has so great an amount of talent been engaged together
during any one season at her Majesty's Theatre, and
the season of 1847 will prove more decidedly then ever,
that Mr. Lumley may with truth boast thati his is
first lyrical and choerographic establishment n the world.

DRURY-LANE THEATRE AND
JENNY LIND.
In consequence of the name Of Jenny Lind having
appeared in the programme of her Majewhsty's
the following
is a copy :

" London, Jan. 23, 1847.
" Madame,—The manager of her Majesty's Theatre
has this day issued a programme of his season's arrange-
ments—a copy whereof I enclose you—at the head of
which you will find your own name. Although, in
common with others, I have little faith in any pros-
pectus issued from that theatre, it is necessary I should
have signed any buts
bring the circumstance to your knowlege. For
own part, I do not believe you
conditional engagement with the manager of her Ma-
jesty's Theatre, deeming it impossible that an artiste of
such celebrity:and character could visit this country,
liable to the consequences of two attested contracts, and
prepared to forfeit the one for the larger offer, subse-
I repeat the offer co
quently held out, in the other.
"As it is alleged that the proposed violation of your
engagement with me, is based upon your inability to
master the English language,
tained in my letter of the 20th of last March, that 11-
sing in either German or Italian, and thus remove yaonuy
udbltioc,ba;
objections on your part to your appearance
lane Theatre. at Drury-
"l have resolved to repudiate any offer of
you mebit
raise, not based on thin mportant condition
wells
enda too
t.
of a coro-
the friends silence the
in England taking pe in this theatre •
;toll
enablem
groundless eto keep f
representationsith lvi kith
resorted
tpe
her Majesty's Theatre.
I therefore trust that, having got rid
you will apprise me, by the first post, of of
all impodi!
the precise
time I may
ara exption.
ect you, to enable me t
tent, y
necessary prep to make every
i am, Dladame, your very
obedient servant,
" A. BUNN.

"ISfadame Jenny Lind, Vienna."

THE ROYAL NAVY
(From the Hampshire Independent.)
There cannot be more convincing proofs of the dete-
rioration of our naval officers in point of professional
efficiency than has been furnished by recent events. At
a time when our navy numbered fully three times
as
many vessels, and we maintained four times as many in
commission as we do at present, so many accidents never
occurred within such a short space of time as have hap-
pened during the last three weeks, excepting from stress
of weather, which in none of the late cases has been
even the remote cause. There cannot be the shadow of
a doubt that had Capt. Onslow possessed the judgment
necessary for the commander of a British man•of-war,
the Daphne would never have gone on shore, even
i al-
though the pilot had been, as it is said he was, n a
state of inebriety, because he (the Captain) would have
' seen the impropriety of getting a ship under way after
sunset on the eve of a dark night, to beat out through
a long and narrow channel with shoals on each side.
Tnere cannot be a question that if the most
common prudence had been used on board the
Hyacinth, either in keeping a good look out prior
to her falling in with the Wanderer, or in endea-
vouring by seamanlike manceuvres to avoid collision
when the danger became apparent, the consequences of
that disaster would have either been wholly obviated, or
so materially lessened, that neither vessel would have
sustained more than temporary injury, and the Hyacinth
might have proceeded to Sheerness without detention, or
putting her crew to the inconvenience and expense of
going to their friends by land from this port. It is
equally obvious that the wreck (for a total wreck it will
be) of the Sphynx steam sloop in Freshwater Bay, Isle
of Wight, has been the result of a gross neglect of the
most common precautions which the possession of a very
small modicum of seamanship would have readily sug
gested. The lead, one of the most essential and unerring
guides in thick weather, appears to have been totally for-
gotten; and the speed was altogether much too great, con-
sidering the supposed position of the vessel, and the at-
mospheric obscurity. All these circumstances combine to
form a mass of evidence conclusive as to the fact which
we have frequently before adverted to, of the lamentable
want of professional experience in our,present race of naval
officers, and prove the positive necessity of some alteration
being speedily made in the mode of instructing them,
so as to insure their possessing at least a tolerable de-
gree of knowledge of nautical matters, enough to en-
able them to conduct the vessels intrusted to their
charge with safety to them and their crews. That such
is not the case at present we know, even independent
of the recent proofs, and the causes are obvious to every
person competent to form a judgment on the subject.
Our midshipmen and mates are too much of gentlemen
—too fond of gaudy uniforms and white gloves—too
much attached to shore going amusements—and have
too little exercise at sea during their probationary term
of service, to learn their profession. We ourselves
were eye-witnesses some years since of a specimen of
the nautical acquirements of the mates of the Excellent,
who are supposed to be the elite of the Navy. These
gentlemen were rowing for amusement in one of the
boats of that ship, and their performance of that very
essential part of a seaman's knowledge would have
disgraced a crew of raw jollies. As it happened they
did not drift out of the harbour, which we devoutly
prayed they might4seeing it would probably have proved
beneficial to them as a lesson of practical utility.
They were not preserved from this by their own ex-
ertions, but by the labour and skill of two stout boys
who, luckily for them, chanced to be with them, and by
tracking the boat along the beach at Blockhouse, which
they had not sense enough to do, saved them from the
fate of Gay's " Bear in a boat." It may be objected,
that officers are not required to perform this service, but
to direct others; but how can any man tell what he may
be called upon to perform ? and how can any officer
properly direct others to do that of which he is himself
profoundly ignorant ? What would these gentlemen
themselves say of a military officer who did not know
how to handle a musket? The mates of the Excellent
were at this same period so thoroughly ignorant of sig-
nals, that if one were made to the ship, and the signal
man chanced to be out of the way, they were compelled
to consult the table of flags in the book, before they
could decide upon what symbol each flag denoted !
We have no doubt that they were as profoundly
ignorant of all other points of their profession, except the
comparatively useless ones of theoretic gunnery and the
minutia of nautical astronomy. At the same time we
have every reason to believe—having seen divers of them
clad is scarlet hunting frocks and white leathers—they
were quite adepts in that exercise. These are the men
who are selected par excellence (oh 1 excellent !) to com-
mand our ships and fleets, and who bid fair to lose them.
We trust the late disasters will impress a useful lesson on
the minds of the Lords of the Admiralty, and that they
will see the necessity of making these young gentlemen
learn the practical duties of their profession, and by
keeping our ships more at sea, give to all hands a better
opportunity of acquiring knowledge, and keeping them-
selves in exercise, for assuredly the time is not far dis-
tant when they will be called on to put all they do know
into practice, and it will not do for the enemy to find
them, as he would now, unready.

APPOINTMENTS.
Commander.—Graham Ogle, to St. Vincent.
Lieutenants.—F. D. Young to St. Vincent; C. G.
Mc Gregor, to Raleigh.
Master.—Thomas Edwards (additional), to Caledonia,
for service of Plymouth Hospital.
Acting mate.—W. H. J. Brown, to St. Vincent.
Acting Second Master.—henry J. Josephson, to the
St. Vincent; Joseph Walker, to ditto.
Clerk.—Stewart Watson, to St. Vincent.
Chaplain.—Rev. C. L. Bree, to Vanguard.
Acting Assistant Surgeon.—Frederick Manger, to the
Victory.
Assistant Surgeons.—Robert Wallace, M.D., to Ven-
geance; C. H. Morrison, to Constance; T. B. Purchas,
(acting), to Caledonia, for service of Plymouth Hospital.
Midshipmen.—John H. Ormond, to St. Vincent; W.
Gore Jones, to Excellent; E. F. Loder, to Sidonn; John
James °aglow, to St. Vincent; Webb E. Stone, to Ex-
cellent; John Haward, to ditto.