The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-25 00:00:00

HEALTH OF THE EMPEROR.

According to the Paris correspondent of the Lancet,
the alarming rumours touching the health of the
French Emperor have had very little foundation in
fact. They may have proved highly beneficial to
certain speculators on the Bourse; but otherwise
there is no reason for' troubling the mind of Europe
about the condition of the personage whose death
would be the most important event that could hap-
pen at the present time. " The fact is that the
Emperor has been affected only with a slight attack
of gout, which is now localised in the feet, so that he
is compelled to wear very large shoes, and walks
with difficulty. His general condition, however, is
excellent."

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HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, June 24.

The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, accom-
panied by Princess Beatrice, and attended by the Mar-
chioness of Ely.
Princess Louise went out riding.
Her Majesty went out in the grounds this morning, ac-
companied by Princess Louise and Princess Beatrice.

The Princess of Wales drove out yesterday.

FASHIONABLE ARRANGEMENTS TO-DAY.
The Duchess of Cleveland's assembly.
Lady Clay's garden party, at Fulwell Lodge, Twicken-

ham.
Mr. Alfred Wigan's benefit at the Gaiety Theatre.
Miss Bateman's last appearance at the Olympic Theatre
as Mary Warner.
The Hurlingham Club—Third International Prize, a
double-barrelled breechloader, to be shot for in Hurling-
ham-park. The band of the Scots Fusilier Guards will
be in attendance.

At the Gun Club, Wormholt Scrubbs, near Shepherd's-
bush. Sweepstakes, £5 or £lO. All at 30 yards.
Commenea at two.

Grand Rose Show at the Crystal Palace. Frequent trains
from London-bridge, Victoria, and Kensington.

LITERATURE.

MR. SALA'S TRIBUTE TO CHARLES DICKENS

The little shilling publication announced by the Messrs.
Routledge and Sons as immediately forthcoming, on the
very morrow of Charles. Dickens's funeral in Westminster
Abbey, is now published. As advertized, it is from the
hand of Mr. Sala. An early copy of it has come to us,
and we have examined it, curious to mark the dis-
cretion of so instant a memoir of one so profoundly
lamented. Altogether nothing could by any possi-
bility be in better taste throughout. The introduc-
tory essay, the portion of the work coming directly to us
from Mr. Sala, is simply a reprint of the admirable tribute
paid to the memory of the great author immediately
upon the announcement of his dissolution in the columns of
the Daily Telegraph. Following that, comes a record of
the circumstances attending his deplorably sudden
death at Gadshill, and his strictly private funeral in the
old Abbey at Westminster. Directly after that, we have
his last letter, originally published in the 4 thenxum, and since
then scattered broad-cast over the world in every form of
republication. Several of the many admirable speeches
of the great novelist are then given, and the
appendix is closed with fragmentary passages from
the two eloquent sermons delivered on Sunday last by
Dean Stanley and Professor Jowett, the one in the after-
noon, the other in the evening, from the pulpit of West-
minster Abbey. For the feeling animating every word of
Mr. Sala's Preface, we cannot but express our highest
admiration. It reflects honour upon himself, as well as
upon the great man whom, through its every syllable,
he delights to honour. "He was my master,"
he remarks simply, "and but for his friendship and en-
couragement I should never have been a journalist or a
writer of books." Mr. Sala adds that his first coherent
production was published by Mr. Dickens in 1851. " The
first five pound note I ever earned by literature," he says,
" came from his kind hand." During seven years—the
time of an apprenticeship—" I wrote for him," says Mr.
Sala, "and for no other chief." Further, it is here naively
but manfully added by Mr. Sala, " He sent me to Russia;
we quarrelled (of course I was in the wrong) and he laugh-
ingly forgave me my transgression, my debts, and my bad
temper." And so on, in regard to the whole of the writer's
career, in which his progress was watched with interest,
and in every possible way furthered and encouraged, by
Charles Dickens—thanks to whom thus indirectly, or
shall we not rather say directly, Mr. Sala has for 13 years
now been conspicuously connected with one particular
daily newspaper, in which, as he here tells us, he has
written nearly three thousand leading articles, and by
whose proprietor he has been despatched to almost every
part of the world " with the treatment of a gentleman,
and the wages of an ambassador." Altogether this
little shilling book about dear Charles Dickens is as
nearly as possible exactly what it ought to be.
It is a manly, tender, respectful, affectionate tribute, from
the heart, to an author of the noblest genius and of the
most unsullied reputation. As such, as a green chaplet
laid on the brink of the tomb of one "known so long,
revered so deeply, loved so dearly," this little book on
Charles Dickens deserves to have what we doubt not it
will for certain command, an almost fabulous circulation,
both here and in America.

The Mayor of Bristol has received communications
from the representatives of the two political parties,
pledging themselves not to employ any roughs 'at the
election now pending. Feirs of a riot had been pre-
viously expressed.
The election of sheriffs for London and Middlesex
took place yesterday at the Guildhall. The only candi-
dates were Mr. Bennett, watchmaker, Cheapside, Mr.
Alderman Owden, and Mr. Robert Jones, a retired tea-
broker and member of the Spectacle-makers' Company.
Messrs. Owden and Jones were elected.

After an interval of several months, another body
has been recovered from the workings of the Oaks Col-
liery. Identification was impossible. Now that some
portion of the workings are clear of water, it is expected
that a large number of the bodies of those who lost their
lives by the explosion in 1866 will be recovered.

The Irish Church Representative Body has de-
termined, after a division, to permit any of the clergy
who may desire it to commute and compound their life-in-
comes in the Church. It is rumoured (says the Evening
Mail) that some difficulties have arisen with the Govern-
ment in regard to the terms of the charter.
The extreme section in the House of Commons
are said to be determined to destroy the Education Bill
by a Fabian policy. By constantly speaking up to
seven o'clock they hope to delay the preliminary stages
of the bill so greatly that the measure will not be able
to pass through both Houses of Parliament this year.—
Globe.