The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-29 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 29, 1856.

Naval and Military Intelligence.
The gunboat flotilla weighed from Portland Roads
yesterday morning, about 4 o'clock, and left in divisions
for Shithead, The Colossus, 81; led the White and
Red squadrons, comprising—

WHITE
Palter, Lieut. Round.
Thistle, Lieut. Spain.
Sandfly, Lieut. Nicholas.
Plover, Lieut. Stewart.
Louisa, Lieut. Pauli.
Ruby, Lieut. Hall.
Seagull, Lieut. O'Neilly.

RED.
Biter, Lieut. Anderson.
Snapper, Lieut. Villiers.
Bastard, Lieut Lord Gilford
Dove, Lieut. Herbert.
Beaver, Lieut. Hoskins.
Hare, --

Bullfrog, Lieut. Martin.
Herring, Lieut. Geneste.

Skylark, Lieut. Pym.
Pincher, Lieut. Mareschaux.
Charger, Lieut. E. Symends.
Gratshopp,r, Lieut. Ley.
Whiting, Ließt. Nichell.
ie Blue and Light div6ions,

Griper:Lieut. Singer.
Julia, Lieut. Clutterbuck.

The Sanspviel, 71, led t
comprising—
BLUE.
Stork, Lieut. M4combe.

LIGHT.
Cheerful, Lieut. Eason.
Fidget,
Pest, Lieut. Doughty.
Flirt,

Dapper, Lieut. Dyer.
Gleaner, Lieut. Bogle.

Magpie, Lieut. Pirn.
Redwing, Lieut. Forbes.
Banterer, Lieut. Whitshed.

Forward, Lieut. Nelson.

And many others of this
division, whose names we
could not make out in the
distance.

Procrie, Lieut. Irvine.
Violet, Lieut. Woo'combo.

Weasel, Lieut. Craigio.

Jackdaw, Lieut. Swinburn
Hind, Lieut. Ward.

Lark,Lieut,Cummin.

Cockchafer, Lieut. Porteous.

The whole force anchored at the Motherbank by sun-
set last night, and will remain and be augmented consi-
derably tor the inspection of her Majesty as before an-
nounced. Tte fleet now c 'fleeted at Spithead, in Ports-
mouth harbour, and at the Motherbank, exceeds by far
that of the whole Baltic fleet of 1854, and by the 16th
there are expected as many ships as would equal, if not
exceed, the force of both the Black Sea and B!ack fleets
of the year before named.
The Centaur, 6, paddle-frigate, Capt. W. J. Clifford,
C. B , is ordered to hold herself in readiness to sail from
Spithead.
The Devastation, 6, paddle steam-sloop, Commander
Marshall, and the Coquette, 4, steam gun-boat, went out
of Portsmouth harbour to Spithead, to await further
ordtrg. The former shipped a mail for the Cape of Good
Hope on Thursday evening, and only awaits despatches
from the Government.

The Transit naval steam•transport, Commander C.R.
Johnson, bent sails at Portsmouth yest.rday, and with
the Perseverance steam-transport, Commander 1114-
D..nald, remains under orders, preparing for sea.
The Brave, new gun-boat, W/13 taken out of dock yes-
terday afternoon, and the Brazen and Blazer taken in to
be fitted.

Her Majesty's paddle-wheel steam-sloop Sty; Com-
mander J. M. Bruce, from Florg Kong, which landed
mails at Falmouth on Thursday, was going up Channel
yesterday afternoon, when she was signalled by Port
Admiral Sir Wm. Parker, and entered Plymouth Sound.
Fier dates are--Straits of Sunda, December 23 ; Cape
of Good Hope, February 10 ; St. Helena, February 21 ;
Ascension, February 29 ; and Madeira, February 20.
She has brought home 80 Russian prisoners, part of the
crew of the frigate Diana ; and the ship's company of
her Majesty's brig Rapid, 8.
The Surprise gnu-vessel has arrived at Chatham dock-
yatd, for the purpose of being brought forward for sea
with all possible despatch. She has been commissioned
by Commander Harcourt:iVernon, and will have a crew
of 80 men, exclusive of marines.
Tne Assurance gun-boat, Commander W. Gore John-
son, is ordered to be "taken to Chatham, to be made
ready for sea.

Too Sparrowhawk, Commander Gurney Cresswell, in
dock at Chatham, has a large number of bands employed
on board, in order to complete her for sea by the com-
mencement of the ensuing month.
A very considerable reduction is or&red to be made
in the number of men employed at Chatham dockyard,
and an order has been received fr,rn the Admiralty by
the beads of departments at that establishment that 100
labourers, 20 sawyers, a number of riggers, and also the
whole of the superannuated shipwrights' temporari:y
employed, are to be discharged this day, their services
being no longer required. It is understood that another
reduction will shortly be made at that establishment.
The screw steam-sloop Rattler, homeward bound,
passed the Straits of Sunda on the 231 Dec. All was
quiet at the Cape of Good Hope. In Simon's Bay were
the frigate Castor, 36 ; the paddlewheel steam-sloop
Hydra, 6, Cernmander II G. Morris ; the sloop Frolic,
16, Coannander M. S. N Aloth ; and the sloop Grecian,
12, Commander G. Bland. At Ascen'ion, Commodore
Adams, in the paddlewheel steam-sloop Salamander, 6.
The Styx has teen 4 years and 9 months in commission.
She experienced fine w eather until reaching Ushante.
Mechanics employed on the London, 90, Capt. W. H.
Jervis, at Devon port, are ordered to work extra hours
to complete her fitting-out. by the 9th April.
The crew of the Calcutta, 84, Capt. J. J. Stopford, at
Devonp..rt, got up lower yards and topmasts on Thursday.
The screw steam transport Victoria, No. 72,1 rom Ports-
mouth, arrived in Plymouth Sound yesterday morning.
She is appoint :A to embark Land Transport Corps for
the Crimea, but will not leave before the Ist of April.
H. M. steamer Geyser arrived in the Mersey yesterday
morning, with stores and masts for the gun-boats re-
cent,y built by Mr. J. Laird. She will leave in a few
days with the gun-boats Rainbow and Bulfineb, to be
followed spe, dily by H.M. steamer Hecla, with the Red-
breast and Raven.

The gun boats Leveret and Mackerel were yesterday
undocked at Woolwich, and the despAtch gun-boat
Roebuck replaced them iu dock. The Traveller was also
taken into No. 1 dock to be coppered.
Extranidinary diligence continues to pervade the
dockyard labours at Woolwich. As a proof of the expe-
dition with which the various departments are cln-
ducted, it way be stated that the average tune employed
in ringing and wasting a gunboat rarely exceeds an hour
and a-half.

A Government contract has been entered into by
Messrs. Lucas Brothers for the erection of a now cannon
foundry and boring mill, on the site between the two
foundries alrzady in pr,-,gre-s in the Arseral grounds at
Woolwich. The design of the buildings haying been
produced by the newly appointed Government building
engineer, Mr. Ala ray, and approved by Lord Pan-
mure, the space has been cleared, and the commence-
ment of digging the foundation lines ;sill take place on
Monday next. The facade of the foundry is to be Luilt
of various coloured bricks. Tue architecture will be
somewhat in a modern Elizabethan s'yle, formed by tin
innovation upon the stone cornice system of building
by a substitution of coloured bricks. The extreme
length of the frontage, which is to he flanked by two
wings running north and south, will be 360 feet. In ad-
dition to the above-named works Messrs. Lucas are en-
gaged in raising some other very extensive buildings at
Woolwich, all of which ere in a progressive state. The
paper factory is nearly complete. Portions of the ma•
chiners to be employed there are daily arriving from the
fii in of Messrs. Fairhairn, of Leeds. Mackintosh's patent
engine for the preparation of pulp bags used in the manu-
facture of cartridges has been likewise received. The
shell foundry and laboratory saw mills are also proceeding
rapidly towards completion. The whole line of wharfage
fronting the storehouses is being renewed and consi-
derably strengthened with immense blocks of stone
shipped from the Portland quarries, and which by means
of the numerous cranes along the quay are landed with
small amount of labour to the requisite spots.
A number of supernumerary labourers, under 100,
who were hired for some specific purpose, and whose
engagements have terminated, are to be di!csarged from
the Storekeeper's department at Woolwich Arsenal
on Monday. This has led to the belief that a large num-
ber of hands was to be dismissed in the event of peace.
Such, however, is not to be the case. Instructions have
been forwarded to Woolwich from the War-office, inti-
mating that it will be recessary to keep up the number
of labourers at present employed there, as the duties of
the arsenal departments w:11 in any case be increased.
An official circular has been issued from the Horse
Guards, dated March 26, stating that until further or-
ders no recruit is to be received for the infantry below
the height of 5 fee: 5 inches.
Captain the Earl of Listowel, Scots Fusilier Guards,
is about to retire from the regiment. His lordship en-
tered the service in May, 1853, as ensign and lieutenant
in the above regiment. He embarked fur service with
his battalion in 1854, was present at the battle of the
Alma, where he was severely wounded, which compelled
his return to England. He had, however, sufficiently
recovered by the latter part of last winter to allow of his
return to the Crimea, from which date be served upon
the staff of Major General Windham, till his return to
England, which was on the death of his father, the late
Earl of Listowel.

The depot of the 91st Regiment assembled on the pa-
rade ground at Chatham barracks, on Thursday after-
noon, a further supply of medals having been forwarded
from the Horse Guards for distribution among those men
who were engaged in the Cafire war. The depot having
been formed into a square, Licut.-Col. B. E. M. Gor-
don, the clnitnanding officer, proceeded to distribute the
medals to abut 160 Non-commissioned officers and men
who were engaged in the campaign in Southern Africa.
A number of medals were also forwarded yesterday to
those non-commissioned officers and men belonging to
the 91st who are absent from the depot on recruiting
service. Another supply of Caffre medals is expected
from the Waroffice, to be distributed among the men of
the 91st, which regiment took part in nearly every en-
gagement which occurred with the Caffres.
MILITIA. -

The Somerset Militia and the Fermanagh Militia, in
addition to the South Mayo and the Cumberland, as
also the City of Dublin Artillery, with the 35th Regi•
ment, are'hrld in readiness to proceed to the Curragh
camp by the 10th of April, on which date all officers
and ►nen are supposed to be present with their c)rps.

THE ARMY.— It is understood that a new canteen, in-
! vented by Lieut. Harris, of the Royal Marines, is to be
generally used for trial by the various arms of the ser-
vice. This canteen is extremely simple, applicable to
' many uses, and, although str anger, is still lighter than
the articles now used for cooking purposes by the sol-
dier. It also obviates the necessity fer that cumbrous
article the camp-kettle ; and, indeed, appears all that
could be luvented applicable to the purpose.

THE DESTRUCTION OF COVENT-GARDEN
THEATRE.

The following letter has been addressetl to the Editor
of the Times:—

I Sir,—l have waited with patience the termination of
the investigation into the causes of the late disastrous
fire at Covent-garden Theatre, and I have borne in
silence the libellous assertions and more libellous inuen-
does unsparingly made against me by some portion of
the press. I had determined to " bide my time"—to
allow the public to have their say, and all those petty
calumniators who are always ready to pursue a man
with envy when he is prosperee., and with detraction
when they fancy he is " down," to have theirs likewise.
I knew that I had an impartial tribunal to which to ap-
peal in the Times newspaper, and deeming that the time
had now arrived when a statement from me and a vindi-
cation of my conduct aro due both to the public and to
myself, I respectfully but confidently claim to be
allowed to plead before the moat influential court of
public opinion in the world—to bold ue my hand in
your dock—and to say boldly, "Not Guilty" to all the
charges, direct and indirect, preferred against me.
It would be pusillanimous in me to shriek from direct
reference to the most current and roost malignant accu-
sation against me. It may be sneeringly objected, that
" he who excuses accuses himself ;" but the aspen sions on
main the newspapers have assumed far too definite a form
for nee to pass them over in silence, and the plain truth
must out—that lam either an incendiary or a deeply
wronged and injured man. If I were the cause of the
destruction of Covent-garden Theatre, it roust either
have been by an act of deliberate arson or through cul-
pable negligence. That lam accused of either one er
ther other is palpable, I think, from the accompanying
extraet from Punch :
"Of the Wizard of the North,
" Sings the Tuesday night's renown,
" When he let the gas burst 'forth,
"And burnt the playhouse down."
Now, this may be sorry doggrel, and only a specimen of
the notorious waggeries of Mr. Punch. It may be meant
" only in fun ;" but fun that in plain English accuses a
man whose reputation is his bread of letting gas burst
forth and so burning down a theatre is fun of the frog
and boy specie is death to me. Humourous or
serious, there cannot be any mistake about the meaning
endeavoured to be conveyed by the list two lines. The
Punch scribe might insinuate with equal jecoseness that
I murdered Eliza Grit wood or stole the R >yet nursery
plate, as that through any act of mine the theatre of
which I was a tenant was destroyed. Nor can I afford
to pass such a statement by with contempt. In an or-
dinary clinic publication I should look at it as a silly
squib ; but Punch is an institution and an authority,
and a line in its columns has often more power for
good or evil than a page elsewhere.
I may be wanting in the etiquette of journalism in
endeavouring to refute in the pages of the Times attacks
made upon me in other journals. Bet what am Ito do?
Will those papers which have so foully slandered me in-
sert my vindication ? And is it not better for me to ap-
peal to one thoroughly impartial and disinterested on
either side of the question ? What course of redress is
open to me, for instance, against the Spectator, which,
in its number for Saturday, March 8, coolly remarks :
—" Covent Garden Theatre is burnt down, and the
public, taogbt by experience, at once suspects the in-
cendiary." Will the writer of that remark deny that
the "experience" alluded to is but a reference to the
calumny of the "two theatres burnt down under my
rnatragemeet," and that I coneevently am pointed at as
the " incendiary" suspected ? And yet, were Ito ap-
ply to the editor-of the Spectator to open his columns to
my denial, would it not be very probab'e that my only
reward would be a contemptuous inquiry as to who had
accused me by name, and a recommendation to wear the
cap if it fitted nee ? In the Examiner again (I quote
none but powerful journals), there has appeared a leader
in which, in fervent language, my bal masque is de-
nounced as a scene of the most rampant debauchery
and abominable harlotry, and in which it is almost re-
gretted that the " orgie" was not brought to a termina-
tion by fire frern Heaven, instead of the material element;
and by Mr. Douglas Jerrold I am described as " a fire-
king enthroned on a tarbarrel, whose reputation will be
burnt into the memories of generations."
I hive it net in contemplation for one moment to at-
tempt to combat the suddenly virtuous indignation of
the Press against bats masques in general. It is not for
me to enter into the queetron of their merality or ire -
morality. Assuming them to b- scenes as depraved as
the purist of the Examiner describes them to be, may I
still be allowed to ask whether I invented or even re-
vived this class of entertainment—whether I have been
singular in giving ball masques? There have have such
balls at her Majesty's Theatre, at Drury-lane, and at
that very Covent-garden where mine took place, and
under the auspices of the very manager with whom I
am now s > enfavourably contrasted. I gave my bat
masqut! with the concurrence of Mr. Gye, doing only
what had been done on the same arena many times be-
fore, and with the sole and stedfiat view of discharging
my_liabilities to my landlord by the only legitimate
means in my posse sion. Ido not think I am at all
overstating the case when I say that for all commercial
purposes the ball was Mr. Gye's, not mine. He had at
first objected to its raking place ; but on my represent-
ing to his solicitor that I knew of no other process (owing
to the heavy losses I had already incurred) whereby to
raise a sum sufficient to pay the balance of the rent out-
standing, and on my executing a formal assignment of
the proceeds of the entertainment to Mr. Gye, that
Fe tlemaa on being again communicated with gave
his consent, on the under,tand;ng stated above ;
and in performance of my part of the contract
the whole of the sum received, ameunting to-700/., and
which had been lodged for sah.ty, when the cinfl rgr ation
broke out, at the police-stetion, Bow-street, by my secre-
tary, Mr. Hingston, was, on my written order, handed
over to Mr. Gye, and is now in his possession. An in-
cendiary, surely, would have played his cards better than
this. I can prove what I have stated by my witnesses
and my documents ; at the earns time I do not wish it
in any manner to go forth that I am desirous of bring-
ingch 'rtes against Mr. Gye. lie had behaved previously
most kindly aed honourably to me ; he had consented
to wave our original arrangement, which was only for
magic performances and pantomime. He allowed me to
give, in addition, dramatic and operatic performances,
and he lent me dresses from the wardrobe for the lat-
ter purpose.

It hag been publicly stated that tin verd!ct of 1113
c n•one.'s jury might have run thug :—" Deet•oyed by a
ma-ked hall, produced by puffs of a most dultterious
character.' Now, I will ask, sup easing that ttie bat
masque had gone off a ithout an accident, if any such
scandalous remark would have been made • or, again,
supposing that the neighbouring theatre of brur)-lane
had been consumed during a similar entertainment, Mr.
E. I'. Smith would have ben held up to public odium as
I have bean ? Toe disaster at Covent-garden might
have occurred during the performance of the "Hu-
guenots," during an oratorio, a Free Trade bazaar, or a
promenade concert ; and I think it is the grossest, the
cruelest, t' e most crying injustice to attempt to fix the
responsibility of thiacalatnity, either directly or indi-
rectly, upon we, wh, n there is not the shadow of evi-
dence to convict me even of negligence (tor the much
talked of wires of my galvanic apparatus would joot as
sot,n—as any tyro in science will confirm—have set the
Thames on fire as the theatre), and when by this con•
flagration I am a most serious loser in chancter, in
purse, and in p:ospects.
But I am a "juggler," and no lenity is to be shown to
the "so-called IVizard," to the mountebank, to the
showman. I am a juggler, and accept the balls and basin
manfully. 1 have juggled for many years, with a great
deal of success, and have made and lost a great deal of
money. It is no idle boast, but a simple statement of
the truth, to remind the contemners of the mountebank
that I have juggled before most of the crownel heads in
Europe, and that the showman has been summoned to
Balmoral to juggle before her present Majesty. But
there is one thing I have always endeavoured to be in
addition to a jugger—viz., an honest man. I wish to
use no hackneyed sentiment, but I am here to assert
my honesty and my manhood, and I will do so against
all comers. The " noble lyric temple of Covent-gar-
I den" was desecrated by the occupancy of the juggler.
Why, when a moneyed tenant could not ba found, was
the juggler's money so eagerly accepted ? Why, so
long as he was prosperoue, was the juggler be-
praised and bacomplimented ? Why, when fortune
fur the moment frowns upon him, is he looked upon
as the lowest of the low, the vilest of the vile ? Who,
when I left the Lyceum Theatre, after an almost is-
precedeutedly successful campaign, protested against my
taking Covent-garden ? The press augured a splendid
season for me ; but I am now unfortunate, and I ma now
a butt for every scribbler's shaft—sneered at as a Merry-
Andrew, or darkly denounced as a " Swing."
My pantomime was, commercially, a failure. T did
my best with it, and I did my best afterwards to tight
myself by operas, by dramas, even by my much-abused
Bal Masque. Success I did not achieve ; but may Ibe
permitted to ask my company, my tradesmen, and my
brother managers a few questions ? Have my actors or
artisans ever gone on half salaries or found an empty
treasury on Saturday? Have I ever pandered to aristo•
cratic vices by giving engagements in the ballet, in ex-
change for subscriptions for stalls and private boxes ?
Have I ever allowed the vapid witlings of fashion—have
I permitted even my own friends—to dangle behind my
scenes ? Have I ever endeavoured to repudiate or to
evade one jest demand upon me? I kept Covent-garden
open for nine weeks, I have wronged no man of one
farthing, and I have toiled like a slave to please the
public. But on the last night of my tenancy the theatre,
by an accident, inevitable and unaccountable, but with
which I have no more to do than the man in the moon,
is burnt down ; and my reward is an accusation of con•
structive arson, the most unmanly detraction, and the
foulest abuse.

My unqualified contradiction of public statements made
by Mr. Surnam and Mr. Marcus Sharpe that two theatres
—one in America, the other in Glasgow—had been burnt
down while under my control, has already gone forth
to the world; that the statements themselves have done
me an incalculable amount of injury. Of tLe unfortu-
nate, and to me utterly ruinous, destruction of the one
theatre with which I was connected—the City Theatre,
Glasgow —I have already offered explanations. But I
should like to remind. these charitable persons whoo
think the conflagration at Glasgow a prino fade batio

evide!ice against me in the burning of Covent-garden,
that I had already been the occupant of five London
theatres—the Strand, the Lyceum, the Adelphi, the St.
James's, and Covent-garden. itself, before my last and
unfortunate tenancy of that building. I should wish
them to remember that I havo performed in almost
every theatre in the United Kingdom, that I bare been
the lessee, for a regular dramatic sea,on, of the Theatre
Royal Manchester. That I have performed ih all the
thereres of the United :St-atefi of America, and in very
many of Germany, Sweden,
_Denmark, and Russia. If
I were the "fire-king enthroned on a tar-barrel" of my
detractors, my, theatre-burninge would be reckoned by
hundreds, not units.
Sir, I have done. I may have transgressei the limits
which you may feel disposed to assign to statements
such as mine ; but in the press lies my only hope of
setting myself right with the public. By some journals
I have been unjustifiably attacked ; but I have no quar-
rel with the press ; to it, in the aggregate, I am under
very many and very deep obligations, and I now appeal
to its sense of honour, and its sense of justice, with a
firm reliance on both to be allowed to clear myself from
the ruinous scandals that have been cast upon me.—l
am, sir, your obedient servant,,
JOHN HENRY ANDERSON.
. . .