The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-02 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 05 1861.

isting—such as the Gentleman's Magazine, Hansard's
Debates, and several oth:rfs—which printed either news
or observations on newt., or both, would have teen,
against the wish of the thr,n Government, saddlonl with
the stany. In order therefore to exempt there, a
CIAUFO was inserted ,-xcu,ing such periodic),ls (then
being sewed at int-rests of 26 days) from tho payment
of stamp duty. Ther,fore, for once, and contrary to
Mr. Boron Parker's opinion, tho Legislature actually
said what it meant. By this clause it also took the
Annual Register, the Quarterly Peview, nod other such
works out of the F,tatute, by defining a limit (26 days)
within which a journal containing news must bo pub-
lished to be taxed as a newspaper. As the Chief Baron
aptly remarked, that statute pointed out what was to
be considered as a chronicle or history, and what a
newspaper. Nothing, therefore, can be clearer than
that, although the Government wished to extend the
operation of the Stamp Act over certain obnoxious
weekly periodicals, it purposely exempted the innocuous
monthly publications. Mr. Baron Parke's second point as-
sumed that all Acts of Parliament are framed with a rigid
regard to grammatical accuracy and distinct meaning. If
the Legislature, he in effect argued, had intended to
exempt such publications as the Household Narrative, it
would have stated so much without ambiguity. Such is
the Learned Baron's faith in the lucidity of the wording
of the statutes! This faith would, however, have been
considerably shaken, if ho had traced to its origin the
schedule of the 6th and 7th William IV., c. 76, upon
which the whole dispute arises; professing, as it does, to
define a newspaper liable to stamp duty. A comparison
of it with the schedules of the other Acts will show that
it is a mere collection of each of the latter transplanted
bodily, verbatim et literatim, without any attempt at bar
mony or assimilation. Hence, to construe it literally
and to make sense of it is impossible. It first declares
that all newspapers having certain characteristics are
liable to be stamped; and, in a succeeding clause, sets
forth that not only all, but some more than all, are so
liable; that is to say, those which are published at less
ietervals than twenty-six days. Yet Mr. Baron Parke
affirms that the law is quite clear upon the whole
matter, for the curious reason that the law is most
ambiguously expressed ; for if the Legislature had
meant so-and so, it would have expressed itself that
"clearly." This application of the reductio ad absurdum
is uncommonly original. If the framers of Acts of Par-
liament referred to, had expressed themselves " clearly,"
the dispute his Lordship was called upon to judge in
would not have arisen. If any faith could be placed in
the consistent practice of the omnipotent Board of Inland
Revenue, the proprietors of such publications as that
under discussion need no longer dread the terrors of the
Stamp-office; but those who have felt them will be a
little disgusted to find that they have been victimised in
error, and that there is no hope of redress. The conso-
lation of having suffered, martyrwise, for being in the
right is no greater to editors than to other people. It
will not rehabilitate them; it will not bring to life their
strangled offspring, nor restore to them their beloved
subscribers. Why, they will ask, were we selected as
the victims of your wrath? We, who not having the
means to contend with you, were obliged to snincribe to
your arbitrary fiat? Why have you for years allowed
unstamped monthly publications to flourish in many
parts of Scotland unmolested? What compensation will
you give us for the losses you have inflicted on us by
your erroneous proceedings? The answer when the
Crown is appealed to in this fashion is—" None."

A SPLIT IN TILE MINISTCLY.

Ilay.! we a Mini,,try, o: have we not? Rumour, and
inlffe than rumour, says that grave dissentlinent has
:Trani; up between different persons and fractions of the
Cabinet, and that an old wound, which had Lour
consi-
dered for a lo:;g time lie I!_d, has opened afresh. WI, at
canibri: Ore cauio of this 3.-_-;rene:;s and schisT.? I 3 it that
our rulers Olisvgn-N! on the ',grave snbject of electoral re-
form? We'beliove that they ore net by any means
too unanimous. Bat reform is too trifling a matter io
break no a Cabinet. Is there uny elifference about peace
or war? Such things are net within the remotest pro-
bability. liave any of Earl Grey's colleagues become
restive or dLcmtented, at the prospect of bearing the
odium of his Lordship's policy at the Cape, and of the
campaign of his nominee commander in that colony?
Wo believe not: his colleagues were prepared to take
their share of Lord Grey's blunders and unpopularity.
Have the remote consequences of Lord John's Durham
letter stirred any of his colleagues to rebel at the
eleventh hour, and induced them to sacrifice him to the
Pope and Dr. Cullen? Not even that. Is one fraction
of the Cabinet for offering a share of office to the politi-
cians of Lancashire, and loth the other fraction prefer
the quondam colleagues of Sir Robert Peel? Neither is
this the mountain of difference that has arisen.
That difference is a mere stumbling block; a pre-
cipitate and imprudent word which Lord Pal-
merston is accused of having employed in answering
an address from some parochial deputation. The
suburban liberals came to congratulate the Foreign Se-
cretary for having aided in the liberation of Kossuth,
and they mingled with their congratulations some dis-
obliging expressions for the potentates, who showed such
a force anxiety to hang Kossuth, and who did hang
and shoot his companion. Lord Palmerston received the
address politely; perhaps somewhat jocularly, objected
to some of its expressions, but on the whole showed his

own breast, however ministerial, as participating in that
universal sentiment of sympathy for, the constitution and
liberal cause in Hungary, which has stirred, and which
still stirs, nine-tenths of Englishmen.
Lord Palmerston's sentiments were pretty well known
before; but his expression of them is, it seems, a high
offence. The Carlton Club have made it the foundation
of an impeachment; of which, for the last ten days, they
havo been framing the articles. Those good Tories have
found a very fit attorney-general to plead their cause in
Baron Brunnow, the Russian ambassador. And he has
addressed his formal accusation to her Majesty, both in
Court and in Council.

Had Baron Btuanow, the Carlton, and the Times,
stood the unsupported trio of accusers in this matter,
then should we have little doubt of the decision, and,
after all, see little gravity in the accusation. But the
absolutist trio have, by good luck, found an efficient
support in Earl Grey. His hereditary and long-seated
jealousy of Lard Palmerston has been aroused to a flame;
so, at least, it is pretended, by the fact of his colleague
having paid an imprudent compliment to the Hunga-
rian. And his Lordship, to tell a plain story, refuses to
sit any longer in the same Cabinet with the Foreign Se-
cretary. •

Once more, therefore, is the Prime Minister put in
the painful alternative of siding with one of his col-
leagues against the other. Earl Grey, a member of the
Cabinet and of the Liberal party, is entitled to the
highest consideration. He has done good service, and
has been often stanch on vital points when his opponents
failed. It is possible, too, that on certain questions of
conduct in foreign policy, Earl Grey may nave taken
the right view, and Lord Palmerston the wrong. But
at the present juncture to break up a Cabinet, and a
B,2form Cabinet, on account of an imprudent word—and
a Cabinet, too, of which the members have had to par-
don each other many imprudences, Lord Grey's own
letters to his colonial subordinate being amongst the
number— will be considered as an act of unreasonable
petulance.

Besides, it will infallibly be said that his Lordship
was actuated in no small degree by those motives which
drove Mr. Hawes from office. A lowering Parliamen-
tary storm hangs over the Government on account of
the policy and consequent expenditure at the Cape; and
it will be said, that wnilst Mr. Frederick Peel has shown
a courage disproportionate with his years in undertak-
ing to do battle for Earl Grey, the Earl himself has con-
sidered discretion to be the better part of valour, and re-
peats the only way "to live to fight another day."
As may well be supposed, we take no very great in-
terest iu this personal quarrel, nor in the maintenance
of this statesman or that in office. We feel pretty
well assured that no one, in the Cabinet or out of it,
meditates a war with Russia or with Austria. But a
statesman or even a Minister telling those potentates in-
directly a bit of English mind, we really see no harm
in. If we do not want to attack, neither do we want to
curry favour with these potentates. And if England
should not play the bully, neither should it, after the
fashion and the recommendation of the Times, enact the
sneak.

What we want is peace; but peace won by upright-
ness and not meanness. , With peace we want economy
and reform. All Ministers will give us peace; they are
all bound over to keep it. But what Ministry will give
us most economy and most reform? These are the
points on which we should like to hear how statesmen
think, and how they differ. If Lord Grey finds Lord
Palmerston not liberal enough or too liberal on this
point, we should like to hear it. We could understand
a liberal statesman breaking up a Cabinet in such a
cause. But to get up a quarrel because a colleague has
made else of an imprudently liberal word; or, made a
speech which does not harmonise with the etiquette of a
Court—this is child's play, not man's play. Schoolboys
would deserve to be flogged for falling out about such
things. And for our part, we feel strongly inclined to
use the birch.—Daily News.

COLIRCE RO.BBERIPS at CAMBRIDGE.
The cerelessness undergredaetes, and, indeed, of
members of the Univereey genes in leaving their
rooms open, or as it is termed within the precincts, with
the doors " unsported," is proverbial, such carelessness
being no doubt engendered by the security enjoyed,
neeertheless, owing to the constant super vision exercised
by the porter and ether college servants. The opportu-
nities of robbery thus afforded, however, have just been
made available by a young man of respectable con-
nexiuns, whose a.pprehen,ion and examination upon the
charges detailed below created great excitement, both in
the University and town, as it was known that suspicion
had previously attached to a young man now proved to
have been utterly guiltless.
The prisoner, whose name is Henry Pad wick Butler,
is, it will be seen, of the medical profession, and about
twenty years of age. His friends reside at Newington,
and his deceased lather was a captain in the Royal Navy;
he was about to enter upon a situation at one of the
metropolitan hospitals, and had accepted a temporary
situation with Mr. Peck previous to doing so. It was on
passing through Cambridge on his way to that gentle-
man's house at Newmarket, that ho committed the of-
fences with which ho is now charged. He was examined
at the Town-hall in Cambridge on Monday (yesterday),
before the mayor (Mr. Elliot Smith) and a bench of ma-
gistrates. Mr. Garret, solicitor, appeared for the pri-
soner, who, towards the close of the examination, leaned
his head upon his hands and wept bitterly. The first
charge was that of robbing.
William Elliott, an undergraduate of Magdalen Col-
lege, said—l have rooms in Mogdalen. On the
night of Saturday, the 22d of November, I missed a
small dressing-case containing a pair of raz -rs, a strop,
a small boothook, and a scent bottle. I also missed a
gold pin and a prayer-book. I gave information to the
police, and on Saturday last I went with the superinten-
dent to Newmarket. We went to the house of a Mr.
Peck, a surgeon, and found the prisoner there, officiat-
ing as Mr. Peek's assistant. The prisoner at that time
was wearing my pin. The superintendent said to me in
prisoner's hearing, "Is that your pin?" I said " Yes;"
and the prisoner replied that he had had the pin for
years. I afterwards went into the bedroom of the pri-
soner with Mr. Peck. A search was made ire the
drawers and boxes of the prisoner, and all the property
I had lost was found there. My dressing-case was on
the table. The superintendent and the prisoner were
in the bedroom when I got upstairs. My prayer-
book has had the flyleaf, on which my name was written,
torn out. The prisoner was quite a stranger to me, but
I noticed him in chapel at college on Sunday, the 23d.
He was with Mr. Stratton, a member of our college. Mr.
Stratton " keeps" (lodges) on the same staircase with
me, and frequently visits ma in my rooms.
The stolen articles were produced and identified by
the witness.
Superintendent Jaggard, of the Cambridge police,
stated that on going to Newmarket he went straight into
Mr. Peck's surgery and found the prisoner there. Told
him he had a warrant against him for stealing the dress-
ing-case; upon which prisoner replied, "Oh, se's up-
stairs. I are sure I did not steal it; 1 bought it of a
boy just as I came out of the college." I (said the wit-
ness) took hold of the pin in his scarf, and said, " What
pin is this?" and he replied, "It is mine. I have had
it for years. It was given to me." I told him I mast
search his bedroom, and he pointed it out to me. I found
the dressing-case standing on the top of a chest, and
the prayer-book in one of the drawers. On Mr. Elliott
identifying the prayer-book, prisoner said, " That, too,
was in the case when I bought it."
John Young Stratton said,—l have rooms in Magda-
len College, on the second floor, on tho same staircase
as Mr. Elliott, whose rooms are below mine. The pri-
soner was visiting me; he arrived on Friday, November
21. He slept at the Red Lion, but was with me during
most of Saturday and Sunday. I did not introduce him
to Mr. Elliott's rooms, though I might have gone into
them myself during the time he was with me.
The prisoner, upon the usual caution being read, re-
pled, " I reserve my defence," and, the case being com-
pleted, he was fully committed to the sessions.
A second case was then taken, in which the Rev. Vin-
cent Raven, Fellow and Tutor of Magdalen College, was
the prosecutor. Being sworn, Mr. Raven said—l have
rooms on the first floor on the same staircase as Mr.
Stratton. I missed a gold watch about eleven o'clock on
Sunday night (Nov.
_23). The watch had been in a
drawer in my bedroom. I wound it up and put it in the
drawer on Saturday night. That (the watch produced)
is it. I saw the prisoner in chapel on Sunday evening,
bat I had no acquaintance with him.
William Henry Young, watchmaker, of Jesus- lane,
deposed—l saw the prisoner on Monday last, the 24th of
November. He came to my shop between twelve and
two o'clock on that day, and asked me if I bought or
exchanged watches? I said, " Yes," and he produced
this one (Mr. Raven's). He said he would sell or ex-
change it, and eventually I gave him two gold rings and
a set of studs, value 3/. 45., for it. I valued the watch
at 3/.
The prisoner again reserved his defence, and was com-
mitted on this charge likewise. The following charge
was then gone into.—
Thomas Bentley Brown said, I am an undergraduate
of Emmanuel College, and have rooms on the first floor
of the first staircase in the new buildings of Emmanuel.
I saw the prisoner on the evening of Friday, the 21st
of November. I was just entering the college gates at
the time. He was quite a stranger to me. He accosted
me, and asked me if I could ten him where he could
get a sight of the list of the university ? I replied
that I did not know where he could get one in the town,
but if he would come to my rooms 1 would show him
one. I took him to my rooms, and left him there while
I went to another man's rooms to borrow a calendar,
with which I returned. He had told me beforehand that
he knew a gentleman named Stratton, but did not know
what college he was of. We had some conversation, and
I asked him if he would take any refreshment? He re-
plied he had just come down from London, and did not
'mind if he did, and I brought out some wine.—
(Laughter.) He then asked me to accompany him to
Magdalen, and I did so, and left him there. I missed
my watch on Sunday, between one and two o'clock. I
had seen it safe on Friday. It was an old double faced
gold watch, and had been deposited on the chimney-
piece in the keeping-room. It was out of order, and
not in use. This (the watch produced) is the same.
Robert Cole, pawnbroker, of Bridge-street, said—l
have seen the prisoner three times before. On the
morning of Saturday, the 22d of November, he pledged
this watch (Mr. Brown's) with me. He pledged it in
the name of Mr. Brown, of Emmanuel College.—
(Laughter.) ' I lent him 24 10s. on the watch. Mr.
Elliott's dressing-case and prayer-book were pledged
with me by the prisoner, in the name of Brown, about 7
o'clock on the evening of the 22d of November, and re-
deemed by him on the 24th.
This was the whole of the evidence offered, and the
prisoner was fully committed on this, the third charge,
also. There was a fourth charge, of stealing three studs
set in gold, two razors, a gold pin, and two gold wrist-
studs from the rooms of Mr. Raymond, of Magdalen;
and it is understood that an indictment will be preferred
upon it at the sessions. Bail was not applied for on be-
half of the prisoner, and he was removed to the Borough
Gaol to await his trial.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
THE NEW FLAO•SIIIP FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN.—
Orders have been received at Portsmouth to the effect
that the Britannia, 120, is to be appropriated as the new
flag-ship for the Mediterranean, and not the Waterloo,
120, at Sheerness. In addition to the Britannia having
been commanded by Admiral Dundas at one time, she
is further advanced than the Waterloo, and can be made
ready for sea in a very short time. Captain Goldsmith,
Commander J. B. Dickson, and other officers have been
already appointed to the Britannia, and men will at once
be entered for that ship.
It is understood, we believe, that the Neptune, 120,
will be substituted as the ordinary guard-ship at Ports-
mouth; and in order that each of the principal home
ports may have a sea-going three-decker as one of the
flag-ships, the Waterloo, when ready, will take the flag
of the commander-in•chief at Sheerness for the London,
92, to which ship Captain the lion. N. Stopford and the
officers and men of the Waterloo will most likely be
transferred.

PLYMOUTH, Nov. 30.—The steam-ship Magicienne,
now lying in Barn Pool, will shortly go into the Chan-
nel to try her engines, after which she will be put in
commission.

The brig Fly, from the New Zealand station, will be
paid off at this port on arrival home; and the Havan-
nah, Captain Erskine, from Sydney and Rio Janeiro,
will also be paid off here, should she call first at Ply-
mouth.

The Rosamond steam•sloop, Commander Campbell,
sailed on Friday for the West Indies, touching at Lis-
bon, with supernumeraries for the Hecate.
The clipper yacht America sailed on Thursday for the
Mediterranean.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
TATTERSALL'S—YESTERDAY.
CHESTER CUP.
45 to 1 agst Mr. Saxon's The Black Doctor—taken
45 to 1 agst Mr. Palmer's Goldfinder—taken and
afterwards offered
,000 to 15 agst Mr. Merry's Ringleader—taken
L,OOO to 15 agst Mr. Osbaldeston's Mountain Deer—t
,000 to 15 agat Mr. Mangan's Russborough—taken
~000 to 15 agst Mr. Phillips's Le Juif—taken freely
~000 to 10 agat Mr. Meiklam's Italian—taken
DERBY.
750 to 50 agst Mr. Harrison's King of Trumps—t
500 to J 5 agat Mr. Dorrien's Chief Baron Nicholson
—taken
500 to 15 agst Duke of Richmond's Homebrewed—t
~750 to 50 agst Mr. Bowes's Daniel O'Rourke—taken
1,250 to 25 agst Mr. Gratwicke's Maidstone—taken
,250 to 25 agat Mr. Cuthbert's Kingfisher—taken

SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY.
Gross traffic receipts for passengers
and goods, week ending Nov. 29,
1851 ... £10,238 8 0
Ditto, Nov. 30, 1856 ... ... 9,356 5 4

Increase in 1851 ... £BB2 8
London Terminus, Dec. 1, 1851.

THE COLLISION ON TUE SOUTII COAST RAILWAY..--
James Martin, the stoker, who was so seriously injured at
the collision of a passenger and goods trains on the South
Coast Railway, near Arundel, on Thursday night, died from
his wounds at Chichester late on Sunday evening. The en-
gine driver, James Pemberton, who attempted suicide imme-
diately after the collision, is considered now to be out of
danger, but he has several tunes expresso(' his determination
to destroy himself should " his mate," the stoker, i
as he
terms him, not recover. The fact of Martin's deathit s en-
deavoured to keep a secret from him, but when it beeom es
known to him, it is feared he will make another attempt at
suicide as he threatens.

MEMOIR OF MR. SAPID

[The following blograilical notice, prowls:A by
ourselves in yesa4day's impression, is ttathifervA to
our columns from the pages of artkrry's Bram:dic
BicgraPhil) No. XV.]

:lost in thy scrag, and blest in every gmee
That wins tho friend, or that Lnchants the fa 7-
SEIT..;NSTONE.
" marvellously proTer gentleman,
nor wild—rather sad than merry, Lll.l yet not E 133 enough
not over young,
to damp our joys—most pleased when ileasing, and happy
in too happiness of others."

~ B 1

c upwards of a quarter of a century Braham
has held undisputed sway in the
vocal world.
.Hill,
Phillips, Horn, Cook, and numberless aspirants, have
never approached a rivalry; and
even Sinclair and
Incledon have been confessedly his inferiors.
man's voice," says Quin, "can't
plarsat forei e7r, and is
often the worse for thirty years'
ct
a reflection of this nature induced the cs;b—perhaps
u Subject of the
present memoir to resign his quiet department of a
concert singer, to involve himself in the turmoils of a
theatre.
Of Mr. Sapio we know little ; and as it is not our
custom to state, as facts, those morsels of information
that we extract from casual inquiry, our biography
may prove meagre ; but what we do state,`-our readers
~
may rely upon.
Had it rested with ourselves, we should have as-
suredly delayed the memoir of this gentleman till a
more frequent exercise of his powers bad enabled us
to have formed a more correct estimate of his talent;
end until longer continuance iu the dramatic world
had given us greater facilities of acquiring informa-
tion
respecting him.
Mr. Sapio, who is a descendant of an Italian family,
of great respectability, was born in London, in the
year 1792 ; his family are musical, and inherit the
genius of their country in that particular; our hero's
early habits made him a musician, and it became to
him rather as a language that he intuitively studied
than as a science that he painfully pursued. The
children of musicians usually possess what is termed
" good ears," a thing which is not supposed to be an
heir loom from nature, but an acquirement from the
continual hearing of musical sounds, when the ear is
yet in embryo, and when we imbibe without percep-
tion—the acquisition of the grounds of music thus
become as easy as the acquirement of language, and
we every day add to the stock of our information
without perceiving our gradual improvement.
Music was, however, not the only study to which
the infant mind of our hero was directed ; he received
a good education, and became master of the French
and Italian languages, which he speaks with the same
fluentcy asithat of his mother country.
Mr. Sapio and Madame Vestris are the only two
English performers that can support a line of cha-
racters in the Parisian, Roman, and London theatres:
a thing, lightly as some persons think of the acquire-
ment of languages, highly creditable to the industry
of these individuals. The lady .we have named has
sustained the station of prima donna, we believe, both
in Italy and France ; and Mr. Sapio has had an offer
to fill the male department in both of those countries.
The Italian Opera House in London has also long
wished for our hero's services, and Mr. Benelli and
Mr. Sapio, we are informed, were in actual treaty.
Mr. Sapio was long known as a concert singer, and
in that capacity few performers ever obtained greater
estimation ; but the concert-room does not represent
the public, and the fiat of the one often differs widely
from that of the other. The concert is, generally
speaking, confined to the opulent; and the retired
butcher, whose profits have rendered him prodigal,
may be seen in silent misery with his amiable con-
sort, who goes thither because it is genteel, when the
real connoisseur is frequently from poverty obliged
to absent himself—indeed, the price of admission is a
serious evil. Persons of rank and taste may consider
half a guinea or a guinea as little for a musical treat,
and persons of riches and no taste may consider that
sum well expended for the pleasure of a seat with
their superiors—the consequences may be easily fore-
seen. The concert-room becomes no just criterion of
the merits of a singer, because the majority of its visi-
tors are not persons capable of judging : it is the only
entertainment where the rich vulgar can absolutely
intermingle with the patricians : the palisade of a
private box keeps her Grace from contamination in
the theatre, whilst Mrs. Greasy of Leadenhall-
market may have a place actually beside her in the
concert room. When we say this, we do not mean
to infer that the praises bestowed upon Mr. Sapio, as
a concert singer, were unmerited ; but we are gene-
ralising the subject, and denying that a name in that
capacity is any general warrantry of merit.
The public have, for two or three years, had an op •
portunity of judging of Mr. Sapio's capabilities at
the Oratorios, where he impressed us with a high
opinion of his science and his taste - and where, in
the more solemn and affecting parts of sacred melody
we always held him superior to Braham, who shines
more where animation is requisite.
Mr. Sapio's friends have long urged him to attempt
the stage, and he strenuously resisted their wishes, from
a fear of his incapacity as an actor. When he beheld
Braham and Sinclair, we should suppose he could fear
little rivalry in that particular; but, it appears, Mr.
Sapio's good sense would not suffer him to be content
with barely arriving at their cold insipidity of enuncia-
tion. A correspondent informs us that Mr. Smart (a
professor of elocution of learning and eminence) be-
came our hero's preceptor; we do not vouch foe the fact,
but if so, it is by no means discreditable to Mr. Sapio:
ho has bad few opportunities of acquiring elocutionary
power, and he was right not to present himself before
the public until he had acquired a delivery that was
at least inoffensive, and a mode of action calculated to
impress and not disgust.
In 1824, Mr. Sapio started to the north, and com-
menced his dramatic career in Edinburgh, where ho ob-
tained many friends and admirers; and after this neces-
sary precursory step, he concluded an engagement at
Drury-lane Theatre, at (saith the Green-room) twenty
guineas per night, and made his first appearance in the
Seraskier, in the Siege of Belgrade, on the Ist of De-
cember in that year. Dramatic interest had not been so
much excited by the first appearance of any singer (save
Miss Wilson) as on that occasion; a crowded house
showed the state of public anticipation* and an enthu-
siastic reception its estimation of his vocal powers.
The ease with which Mr. Sapio entered upon the dra-
matic part of his task certainly surprised us: since that
period he has performed Henry Bertram in Guy Man-
nering, Prince Orlando in The Cabinet, and the Dey
(Fall of Algiers). Since which, wo are informed, that
mass of— (let our readers fill up the chasm) Elliston,
has thought fit to bicker with, and shelve our hero.
The Vauxhall proprietors, who are determined this
y-

jeer to out-do all their former out-doings, have offered
immense terms to Mr. Sapio, but with a prudent regard
for his own fame, he has declined their proffers.
6o much for the career of our hero in the metropolis,
and we now turn to a consideration of those talents by
which he has acquired the patronage of the public.
Mr. Sapio is a singer by acquirement rather than by
nature; his voice is neither extensive nor strong, nor is
its tone naturally good. It has neither the flexibility or
sweetness of Sinclair's, nor is it managed with as much
skill as Braham's; yet it is indubitably much superior to
Braham's (now) in tone, and directed by more science and
attention, than ever fell to the share of the Scotch vocalist.
The principal error of Mr. Sapio appears to be, a love
for the bravura. We know that in Henry Bertram he
rested his hopes entirely on the introduced song of
" Scots wa hae wi Wallace bled," and anticipated little
from the ballad; when, in fact, he succeeded eminently
in the latter, whilst in the former his failure was dread-
ful; his voice actually broke up, in the attempt to be
energetic. When will singers learn that noise is not
emphasis? His song of " The Roso and the Lily," in
The Sorashier, is, in parts, extremely beautiful ; so is
his execution of the Italian air, "My heart with love
is beating." fits trumpet-song was by no means a happy
effort; he wants physical power for such an attempt.
In Orlando we admired the quiet unobtrusive beauty
of his style of singing " The Beautiful Maid," and the
impressive acting of his duet with Miss Stephens; we
cannot extend the same praise to that with Horn, which
became discordant from the singer's forcing his natural
voice beyond its limit, instead of resorting to his falsetto.
The polacca was a happier effort than we had antici-
pated, but injured by a redundancy of action; and here
we must remark, that on the second and third repetition
of this song he used exactly the same actions to the dif-
ferent passages • a poverty of invention unpardonable
in an actor, whilst the repetition of the same cadences
were as derogatory to his talents as a singer. Whilst
naming what Mr. Sapio cannot do, in the energetic parts
of opera, it is but fair we should particularise his duet
with Horn, in The Dey of Algiers (we have forgotten
the name of it), it was a fine, bold, animated effort, and
the merit of Sapio's singing may be imagined, when we
say it roused the torpid Mr. Horn into effort. Our hero's
execution of " Yes, 'tis decreed," in that miserable pro-
duction, is also excellent ; nor did he fail to sustain h. fame in a duet of considerable difficulty,sultsyt,
ex-
traordinary musical phenomenon,mis
Mr. Sapio's voice is a tenor of ordinary compass •
his
nfarlisseettforoims nooutr
apeculiarly pleasing to ua; but this ua
blend with the natural one; his shake is evidenetel
de-
ficient; it is neither steady, nor brilliant. We will
allow
him him all the drawbacks that novelty of situation are likely
to have thrown upon his assumption; but, we must re-
mark, what we have already said of Pearman, that Mr.
Sapio wanted natural qualifications to render him a
Stephens.
thns that
great singer—he had a good one. His graces are ge-
nerally effective, and always introduced with a proper
attention to the literary, as well as the musical construo-
tion of his Songs.
(ifwe may
ehye is,
be
As an actor Mr. Sapio has much to unlearn: ho is too
abundant in his action, and too foreign
allowed the term), in his general deportment:ethe
day however, far beyond most of the singers of
an ornament
al-
ready, and a little attention will render
whichfsthe f aMr.
ult
of the French school, and this undathe
to the stage, in this particular. .liedmendoef
Sapio seems to have studied from. His delivery is em-
phatic and pleasing; but ho should r member that con-
tinual emphasis is destructive of, rather than conducive

to, effect.
Mr. Sapio is about 5 feet 8 inches in height; of a
dark complexion, dark hair and e 3 es; his features are
expressive, his figure slight and symmetrical, and his
whole appearance prepoisessing.

BISHOPRIC OF SIERRA LEONE.—Sir E. N. But-
ton, Bart., M.P., has given the sum cif 2501. towards the
establishment of the proposed new bishopric of Sierra Leone.

ALLEGED MURDERS.
At the Thames I (.!ico-court ye:.terda=•. Mur-
phy, 26, a coui.er. rosiding at 39, MiChliogrove-Street,
George in the East, and Itii.ey Ann, l,is wife, also 26
years of age, were ch-,i,rged on suspicion of having
the death of their two children—Bridget, caused
ogeel . tliZo years
and a half, and Willitan, aged twt ire mouths—within
the last two days.
sergeant Kelly, 2 11, stated that, from information re-
ceived, be, accomp,)nied by Wigley, 141 11, went last
night to 39, Middle Grove-street, and in the first floor
front room found two children dead in bed. Ile waited
acme time till the female prisocer came. The male pri-
soner came soon after, and he asked them if they lived
there, and if the children were theirs; to which they
replied in the affirmative. He then told them be should
take them into custody for causing their death. They
both answered, "I did not murder them." Dr. Tripe
had examined the children, and gave witness a certificate
to the effect that Bridget, the eldest, was in an emaciated
condition, had evidently been much neglected, and was
bruised on the lower part of the left thigh; the youngest
was in a very good condition, and they had both evi-
dently died suddenly. There was a bed in the room
i')close. The children looked as if they had
b'!3ed up
.qlnegiceted.
Murphy—l was quite stunned when the officer came
to me.

Mr. YARDLEY—I must cau'ion you that any state-
ment you may make will be taken down, and may be
given against you at your trial. Do you wish to ask
any questions? Murphy—No.
Amelia Walsh stated that she was a married woman,
oatr'idledg
resided at 39, Middle Grove-street. Last Wednes-
dey week the fereale prisoner came to her house in search
said yes, ess agreed tyo
take
one
Vtb'aibtnyeossnla;.kewd
itn it she had an children
them . She
said yes, one baby only. Witness agreed to take them a.
ledgers, and they began to move in the following day.
They came into the house on Saturday, bringing the
baby, which witness remarked was a fine healthy one, in
which remark the female prisoner a
Monday witness saw a fine
lookinggirlc(l
,finvieescyeeda.rs old,On
with the female prisoner, and asked whose was she. The
prisoner replied that it
was hers. Witness said, " You
told me you had only one baby;" to which the prisoner
said she did not look upon that one as anything, because
she was so quiet. Witness turned to the
hild and
said, " Your mother does not seem to own you, my
dear." On Tuesday the
quite drunk. The baby was now dead lay with its head on a round
aiiliebepdrisoner came home
,and the little girl
its feet on the bed. Witness took the
hf;:ziobtybasket, and
arms, and it was nearly speechless. There up in her
_ere were three
A,,fdiverothsoemperisloitntleet
children altogether, and witness
whether the third one was hers?
pause she said it was. Witness said ,it can't be
yours, it must belong to one of your companions."
prisoner rerlied, " No, I am the raotherofthec Teeh.'e'
On taking the children down stairs they appeared
Wig
ravenous. Their father came home tipsy also.
told him that the children were mere skeletons
aensds
must be starved. He answered, " They used to
fine as any children in Grove-street;" to which she re-
as
marked that they must be very much altered, and told
him to go up and put his wife to bed; instead of putting
her to bed he struck her, and she screamed out. Wit-
ness ran up and found that he had grasped his wife by
the throat. She pacified them, and took the children
up. The children began to cry on being taken into the
room. The female prisoner told her nothing about the
child being ill till Wednesday, when she said that it was
cutting its teeth, and that she had been to Dr. Tripe,
who said nothing was the matter with it. She
brought home a phial of medicine and a powder.
There was another female with her. Witness advised
her to put them in a warm bath, but did not know whe-
ther she followed that advice. Witness had given them
notice to quit on Tuesday. On Wednesday she begged
the female to quit that night, but she said she could not,
as the baby was ill; but the mentioned nothing of the
little girl Bridget. They had always a lot of low com-
pany with them. On Friday witness begged them to
keep the door shut. They said they could not, as their
friends were coming in and out. Witness again told them
that she wished them to leave, on which the female pri-
soner said, " You must be an unfeeling woman, when my
two children are dead." Witness went into their room,
and found what she stated to be true. She then naked,
" Why did you not call me, as they were dying?" to
which the prisoner made no reply. Witness examined
the child Bridget, and on looking at its leg she found that
the blood had set in the right thigh. She asked the male
prisoner what it was, and he said it was the death blow.
It looked as if the child had had a severe blow. The
baby was a sick and ailing child.
The prisoners, who seemed totally unconcerned, and
naked the witnesses no questions, were remanded till
Wednesday.

ST. ALBA2V'S BRIBERY COMMISSION.
ST. ALBAN'S, MONDAT.—To-day the commissioners,
Messrs. Slade, Forsyth, and Phinn, re-assembled in the
Town-hall, at ten o'clock, with a view to closing the in-
quiry.

- D letter was read from Mr. Wilke. one of the former
candidates, stating bis inability from indisposition to
attend on the Commissioners.

The Hon. Mr. Craven, who was an unsuccessful can-
didate in 1847, and Mr. Repton, the present Conserva-
tive sitting Member for the borough, were examined,
and both admitted they believed that at their respective
elections, though not personally cognisant of it at the
time, bribery, on a scale similar to that practised at the
last election, had been committed. The Hon. Mr.
Craven said he had a suspicion, because having at the
time advanced from 6001. to 1,0001. for the purpose of
carrying out his election, of that amount 3001. was nos
duly accounted for.

Mr.
Repton said he suspected that improper expenses
had been incurred for his election; but he did not know
precisely the way in which the transaotiona were carried
on; nor was he aware that Edwards had lent Blagg
5001. to conduct his (Mr. Repton's) election until he
read a statement to that effect in the newspapers a short
time ago. He was never asked to repay the 5001. so
alleged to be lent because he said he would not give any
large sums of money for election purposes any more.
He admitted that at the election in 1841, when Lord
Listowel and Mr. Muskett were his opponents, a de-
mand was made upon him after the election for between
2,000/. and 3,0001., and this was paid by members of his
family; and the exorbitant nature of this demand had
induced him not to have anything to do with such de-
mands in future. The matter was transacted between
his friends and Edwards and Blagg, to the latter of
whom he personally advanced 4701. for what he supposed
to be the expenses of conducting the election.
The rest of the proceedings in the examination con-
sisted of those individual voters who bad received
bribes, and who were not forthcoming at the last
election.

The inquiry stands further adjourned, for any sup-
plemental or subsidiary purpose, to 25th January next.

SOUTHAMPTON NEW DOCRS.--A disatrous acci-
dent occurred on Saturday evening which must delay the
opening of this splendid new dock fur some time longer. It
was intended that on Thursday next this dock, the area of
which is upwards of ten acres, should be opened with groat
ceremony. It has been gradually filled with water during
the past week; and on Saturday Mr. Giles, the engineer,
was superintending the removal of the dam which separates
the outer dock, or tidal basin, from the new close dock. The
timbers from the upper portion of this dam had been re-
moved, and it was intended that the lower portion should
be forced up by the water. The gates, which are constructed
of solid baulks of timber, appeared very massive, and suffi-
ciently strong to sustain any pressure that might be put on
them. Unfortunately, however, for the credit of Mr. Giles
(the engineer who constructed the docks), as well as for the
pockets of the Dock Company, the hinges on which they
hung were too slight, and the gates were forced up—one of
them now lies floating on the surface of the inner dock. The
copper bolts of the hinges were too small, and quite inade-
quate to sustain such massive work; the consequence was,
as might have been auticipated, they snapped short )flf.. It
is supposed this unfortunate accident will occasion a dela, of
at least two months before the dock can be opened, as wella as
an expense of some thousands to the company, Two coffer-
dams
water mustmust b
noewpubme
pseudnkouot benbfootrhe
theyside can b
of the
rgates,ep l
replaced,
ead, and
nelthe
the dock opened.
ROYAL SOCIETY, Dec. I.—The anniversary meet-
ing was held this day, the > Earl of Rosse, president, in the
chair. His Lordship delivered his annual address, after
which the Copley medal was presented to Professor Owen
for his important discoveries in comparative anatomy and
pahnontology, published in the " Philosophical Transactions ;'
one of the royal medals to the Earl of Rosse for his observa-
tions on the nebulae and the second royal medal to Mr. G.
Newport for his paper on the impregnation of the ovum.
ogKfle.iite.Fmfeinr M.A.t h e
wereenTsreueliaensegut
elected;—president—The
roibi:preea.
ri
irnesgseudsnoati
fmedt hneuteanheuttel.....to 1 ITT
ei x
The society then proceeded to the election of council and
noblemengtarl
o f n
Rosse,d
Thomas
eutiaerri
Bell.em s -eC council—Mr.
e Hunterl
Secretary.l
ao c iei l— Christie,m Captainr.William
Edwardvv.
i.SauAam..-,
bas nimndey'l lit 1b11r,..'114-T,hNo.Sree
Bowman; Mr. Benjamin Collins Brodie; Mr. Chas. Brooke;
the Rev. Professor Challis, M.A. ; William Clark, M.D.;
Charles Gil es Bridle Daubeny, M.D. ; Sir P. de Malt as GreY
Egerton, Bart. ; the Very Rev. the Dean of Ely; Mr' J. T
4 Y.
Gassiot ; Marshall Hall, M.D. ; Sir John irederict
Herschel, Bart; Professor \V. Hallows Miller, M.A... ieu.
Mr.
tulant-Colonel Portlock, It.E. • Mr. Edward D01,.e i
William Spence; Nathaniel Wallich,
The mercantile accounts from
mitigation had occurred in the
coerciveon the exchange. At
Government regarding the dealings
hadheen attempted calculated
the same time mothinng
or measuresto gi
veer
cer-
tainty inspire confidence
be adopted by the ,--
scheme means to .
to the manufacturing interests, in-
stead direct . .
were still
affording a
Viennese capitalists, viere altogether
stead of to the
'ding to the telegraphic quotations, it
taintv to the proceod.ninagsjilkoftfo
doubtful, and, according
ofhe
r
exchange upon London, which, Ull•
thecarrying lin i c eso merchants.o t the The
of the police, had nominally declined to
der the influence .
' risen. to 12.38, showing an unfavourable
le 23 has again
-. ' of 2i per cent. The new tariff just prepared and
i reabcitbiTed,
although not formally published,. occupied atten.
eixon. The duties on most articles are said to be raised con-
appears that the rate
tsiderably; glass, however, is an exception, in deference to
the Bohemian manufacturers, who feared that any rise on
-that article might provoke retaliation on their own peculiar
productions. On iron, candles, furs, liquors, paperhangings,
.cards, confectionery, chocolate, and edibles of all kinds, the
charge is increased about a third, and upon caoutchouc and
articles made front that substance it is doubled. This tariff
If is to last till the end of October, 1454, and most of its pro-
visions are in accordance with the suggestions of the Case
toms' Congress, held in the early part of the year, and which
was composed of persons representing the various protected
manufactures of the empire.
JUBILEE OF TUE GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. IN
LONDON.— On Sundev morning the jubilee of the establish-
ment of the German Lutheran Church in London wssc,lrst
br,fted at the church in the precinct of the Savoy, the 11
:,._rt 'ars ago by the present minister, the Rev. Dr.
Tie e building on the occasion was very Steinkopff.
beautifully ornamented
congregation was very
' e lerman mission in London having been established, there 50
wit, 'i laurels, evergreens, &c.- r.
Prussian Minister, &c.
were the Duchess of Orleans. the e
Rev.
an
st melon was preached. by
was addressed li
!Ina, erous, and amongst other this'
aft e x w. 'rich the congregationns
the chte, eeli by the Reyerenvr.
Wallbauw,
. principal
\ lir. Kuper, and _
cao
co,, roman churches in j, a Dr. SteinkoptT;
addressed on the state of
brici;gtlished persons present
wDr. Cappell, Dr. Tiarks, Dr
Schaull, the miniaera of lb

d """W
*T14:11 tirAnti
~ 4.
SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock.

GERMANY.
Was rnported at Berlin, on the 29th ult., that
Hungn:ian Count Potocki had been shot by
order of au Austrian court-martial.