The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-17 00:00:00

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.

Lessee and Manner, Mr. Wm. Cooke.
THIS EVENING,
Seventh Week ! Shakspere's RICHARD THE THIRD, with the
intnxiuctioh of horses. The equestrian illustrations imagined by Mr.
W. Cooke. Death of White Surrey. (Vide " lillustrated News," of
Saturday, ith.) Rattle of Bosworth Field, &c.

After which,
The EQUESTRIAN GEMS in the CIRCLE.
To conclude with a number of other Entertainments.
Boa-office open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W.
West. Equestrian Director. Mr. V. Cooke, Jun.
N.B. Tide " Illustrated News of Sept. 6th for the Death of White
Surrey.

RIGEL WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
TEIIS DAY—Morn. 28 min. aft. 3—Evening 49 min. sft. 3
Tai-510BRow—Morn. 9 min. aft. 4—Evening 28 min. aft. 4

THE WEATHER—SUN OFFICE, SEPTEMBER 17.
THERMOMETER, IN THR SHADE.
65 —highest since noon yesterday.
o—lowest this morning and during the night.
6i —this day at noon.

Beltomrrzu, 2996—falling.

WIND, W.S.W. to W.—Light, with dull weather.

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•-•-1 •

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1856,

Th.-; GGiv.awdivu UI 6lso citirOCKAT heza boo. ,sts-
nalised by an extraordinary act of grace ! On
all such occasions it is usual to display the
clemency of the anointed Sovereign, who thence-
forward would rule by right divine I In Russia
there should be a still greater manifestation.
There the °Vat is not only Emperor, but also
Pope. He is the " Head of the Church" in the
literal acceptation of the phrase. He not only
controls the temporalities, but also the spirituali-
ties, of " Holy Russia." He clearly aspires to a
lot far beyond that of ordinary humanity, and
pretends to be GOD'S vicegerent on earth—a sort
of deity, whose ukases must carry with them the
prestige of Divine commandments. This opinion
is of vast importance—indeed we may say per-
fectly indispensable—to his government. If it
were not entertained, he could not by a possi-
bility continue to enslave the minds, as he has
hitherto enslaved the bodies, of his subjects.
Absolute power is a delicate instrument. It can
spare none of its adjuncts. If a single screw be
loose—if a solitary link in the elaborate chain be
defective—the entire machine may become worth-
less, and the enormous mass topple over from its
own weight.

The concessions granted by the consecrated
exalt are not so numerous or important as might
have been anticipated. Something unquestionably
is bestowed, but by no means equivalent to the
occasion. There is not the unalloyed exhibition of
magnanimity. " The quality of mercy" has been
very considerably " strained." It has indeed been
so greatly diluted that the most unqualified Tee-
totaller might swallow it without a scruple.
First, after a grandiloquent opening, a comme-
morative medal is inaugurated, which is to be
worn by all his subjeets engaged in civil or
military service, who have taken part in the events
of the late war. These medals are to be similar
to those previously granted to the defenders of
Sebastopql—the effect whereof will bo materially
to diminish the value and importance of the real
war decoration.

Certain immunities are then granted to the
provinces which have principally been affected by
the warlike operations. Tauris, Kherson, Eka-
terinoslav, Archangel, and the whole of the Baltic
coast, are particularly specified ; and the whole
of Russia is also released from any charge of con-
scription and military recruiting for the term of
four consecutive years, unless (an important pv .
vino) the exigencies of war should prevent the in-
tention from being carried out. A new census is
also to be taken, in order that the capitation tax
may be more equitably carried out.
The most substantial gift is the remission of
taxes in, arrear, to the amount of twenty-four
millions of silver roubles (about 3,820,0001.
sterling), and certain pecuniary fines. As, however,
the most stringent means had already been
adopted to levy the amounts, the gift may not
practically be so great as it appears to be on paper.
Penitent criminals (how is the penitence to be
ascertained ?) Is it by a process analogous to that
by which our own tickets-of-leave are granted ?)
are to receive either full pardon or a material
commutation of their sentences. If this, as well
as the clause relating to political offenders (?), be
fairly carried out it will be a real boon. But who
can say whether it will be so? In Russia, as
well as in other despotic governments,
2there is
vast difference between the real and the seeming.
The first point respecting the political prisoners
or exiles (we cannot repeat the word
."offenders")
is the restoration of the rights of nobility to them-
selves and their children born since their con-
demnation. There are three distinct classes for
these prisoners. Some are to obtain a diminutionof

their punishment in the place of banishment, i. e.,
to be removed to a better district. Others to be
permitted to reside in the interior of the country,
whilst the more favoured will be allowed the run of the
entire empire and of Poland, with the exception
of the metropolitan cities of Moscow and St.
Petersburg. The western provinces, which were
hitherto subjected to more stringent regulations,
are to be assimilated to the rest of the empire.
The Jews are exonerated from the special bur-
dens which their recruitment hitherto imposed on
them. The children of soldiers and seamen will
henceforward be given up to their parents, and
the tax on foreign passports will be abolished.
These are the chief concessions, and, as we have
already stated, they look well on paper ; but still
we entertain considerable misgivings as to their
practical application. We fear the AUTOCRAT, even
when tendering boons to his subjects.

The reader has doubtless seen one of those pri-
mitive barometers which at once serve to inform

the spectator as to (what he knows already) the
wetness or dryness of the weather, and to incul-

cate, by example, the practice of gallantry towards
the weaker sex. The gentleman, it will be re-

membered, always comes out to make the family

marketing when the weather is foul, and the lady