The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 4, 1869.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Vining

THIS Ey-ENING, at 7, PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE. After
which, AJ I AND GALATEA : Herr Formes, Mr V. Rigby, Mr
M. Smith, and Miss Blanche Cole. To conclude with A QUIET
FAMILY.

PRINCE OF WALES'S ROYAL THEATRE.
Under the Management of Miss Marie 'Wilton

Truslv;:;;Xi, SCHOOL: Messrs. Hare, H. J. Montagne,
Addison, Glover, and Bancroft• Mrs. Buckingham White, Miss
C. Addison, and Miss Marie Wilton. After which, A WINNING
HAZARD. And A LAME EXCUSE.

CHRISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Hall, Every Night, at 8
Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and 8 all the year round.

ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. THREE BALLETS
Promenade Concert. Band of 60. Begin at 8. le. Box-office
open from 11 to 4.

ZOOLOGICAL G tIRDENS, Regent's-peak, OPEN daily (ex-
cept Sundays). Admission, is.; on Mondays, 6d. Children
under twelve, 6,1

J.,..1,3,-,
.r4V4ii," \

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUS7 4, 1869.

NAPOLEON 111. has just accomplished a peaceful
revolution. He has conspired with the nation : and
the result of this new coup (rata is now visible in
the Senatus Consultum. Those whose practice it
has always been to mistrust the EMPEROR—tO put the
worst possible construction upon nis every word and
upon his every act—insisted after his MAJESTY'S me-
morable address to the Corps Legislatif, that the pro-
mised reforms were in reality no reforms at all, that
they were mere make-believes in the way of conces-
sions, that Responsible Government was there only
ostensibly, and that the reins were still gathered up
firmly in the imperial grasp. An exaggerated import-
ance was attached to the circumstance of the Legis!a-
tive Body being at once prorogued. M. JULESFAVRE
was nearly beside himself with indignation. The
extreme Left were angered. Ultra-Liberalism was
anything but conciliated. Even the moderate leaders
of the Tiers Parti were but half reconciled by the
changes which were announced through the manifesto
of the SOVEREIGN. M. ROUIIER was removed from
power, it was true. They could not but appreciate
the importance of that incident. But—M. ROCUIER
had not been replaced by M. EMILE OLLIVIER.
Nay, M. ROUIIER was, upon the very mor-
row of his downfall from his lofty position as
Minister of State, placed upon another coign of
'vantage by being nominated successor to M. TROP-
LONG as President of the Senate. While—on the
other hand—M. EMILE OLLIVIER, when the names
of the new Ministers came to be published, was found
to have had allotted to him no post at all—he and
his colleagues having been seemingly altogether over-
looked. The fact was not so, however, as we all
know perfectly well—the moderate chiefs of the
Tiers Parti having occluded themselves from power,
at any rate, for the time being, because of the
exorbitant demands made by them in regard to the
proportion of seats in the Cabinet they required
for themselves. A very brief interval has elapsed
since these most sinister inferences were drawn
from the circumstances which have been just now
particularised. And yet already the EMPEROR has,
by the calm development as well as with the inexor-
able logic of events, contrived to demonstrate, as with
the clearness of a syllogism, the utter absurdity of
those same ungracious and ungrateful inferences.
The Senatus Consultum which has but just now
been made public is the natural corollary of the
Imperial Manifesto, so elaborately and so
shamefully misconstrued. The EMPEROR has justi-
fied all the fair promises of the Manifesto, of which,
indeed, the &natus Consultant is the guarantee of
the fulfilment. Never, it may be very fairly asserted,
never has an absolute monarch more gracefully, more
frankly, or more magnanimously resigned, of his
own free will, the awful power entrusted to him,
not once merely, but thrice, upon three several
occasions

You all did see that on the Luporcal
Was thrice presented him a kingly crown !"
First of all elected by universal suffrage, through
the medium of the ballot, then held by his adversaries,
headed by his arch-rival CAVAIGNAC —Prince Louis
NAPOLEON being Ceded then by nearly six million
votes to the Presidency of the French Republic.
Secondly, his Imperial highness being elected, again
through the Ballot, again by Universal Suffrag.; and
that time by a majority of votes amounting to ve -y
nearly seven millions, President for ten years—upon
the morrow of the coup d'acit. Thirdly and lastly,
his Majesty being proclaimed Emperor under the
title of NAPOLEON 111. by very nearly eight mil-
lions of votes (7,864,189) once more under the cover
of the Ballot and by the authority of Universal Suf-
frage. Then it was that the Napoleonic dynasty was
formally restored and reconsolidated. Thrice su-
preme power has been thus placed within his hands
On the 20th of December, 1848. On the 20. h and
21st of December, 1851. On the 2d of December,
1852. Echoing, in a manner, the words of his
mighty predecessor on the occasion of the famous
Champ de ,Mai, " Einper ear Consul soldat, je tien
tout du peuple"—the reigning Sovereign of France
might himself say, in like manner, "PRESIDENT, PRE-
SIDENT for Ten Years, EMPEROR, I owe all to the
People." And nobly, during these one-and-twenty
years of his possession of power, has he fulfilled the
sacred trust committed to his charge. He has given
France years of peace— he has himself led her armies
to victory—he has enormously increased her re-
sources—he has established the system of Free-trade
throughout his dominions—he has transformed Paris,
if not from brick to marble, at least from being one
of the noblest cities in Europe to being visibly worthy
of her position as the capital of modern civilisation—
and, now, to crown all, to Crown the Edifice of his
construction, while retaining himself the title, and
the dignity and the authority of EmPEnon, he spon-
taneously undertakes to reign henceforth asEMPEROR,
with responsible Ministers, over a Constitutional Go-
vernment. Emperor, now, for nearly seventeen years
—having thus nobly fulfilled his promise about
Crowning the Edifice, ought himself, however tar-
dily, as a mark of grateful recognition, on the part of
France, of his having, indeed, deserved well of his
country, NAPOLEON 111., we say, ought now, at
length, however tardily, to have accorded to him the
homage of a formal Coronation.

THE CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, notwith-
standing his dictum that the money market must
take care of itself, has shewn that he is by no means
indifferent to the public convenience in financial
matters: At the very time that his brusque utterances
during theßudget debate were creating such indignant
excitement in City circles, Mr. LOWE was considering
a reform of the greatest utility to that very
numerous class which derives income from the
public funds. Instead of attending personally, or
by agent, at the Bank of England, it has been
arranged that such of the national creditors as desire
it may in future receive their dividends by warrant
through the post, as do the shareholders
in railways and other companies. This change
is a great improvement, for which Mr. LOWE
deserves the highest praise. The manner in which
the dividends of joint-stock companies are paid
in ,-olvcs little or no trouble to the recipient of his
due. Ills name and address, as well as his holding,
are registered at the head offices, and when his income
is due a check on the company's bankers is forwarded
to him by post. The shareholder signs his name in the
corner, and pays the warrant to his banker, if he has
one. If he is not in the agreeable position of holding
a balance at the local bank, the cheque is cashed by
some friend. Very different is the system hitherto
carried on at the Bank of Englrmd in the case of the
National Debt, The stockholder may authorise their

banker, or some other perm, by power of attorney to
receive their dividends, or hey may come in person to
take them. The money is ,11 paid over the counter to
personal applicants or tleir representatives. Many
stockholders, of course, gie their agents and bankers
authority to receive theirlividends, but a very large
number cannot or do not nopt this practice. Seventy
thousand persons present ,hemselves at the establish-
ment in Threadneedle-sreet every January and
July ; and as many morecome up to the half-yearly
distribution in April and )ctober. People who have
money to receive are rarey behind time. The stock-
holders arrive pretty wdl together, and a great
tumult is invariably raicd by the hungry crowd.
The most delightful of dities has to be performed in
the most disagreeable mainer.
But although the supeority between the private
and the public systems of paying dividends is thus
clear, the CHANCELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER had a
severe contest with the Bank directors before he
achieved his creditable trlimph. They espoused the
cause of tradition and ineria ; Mr. LowE supported
the public interest. The directors founded their
opposition to the chaug....kn the ground that
it was of no value, and, secondly, that it
would be attended with risk. On both counts
they were decisively refAed. It is true that every
holder may, if he choose, save himself all trouble
by appointing an agent, and that to the great num-
ber who adopt this plat the transmission by post
would be superfluous. But 140,000 persons feel
themselves constrained to attend in person, and
this host of the poorer holders surely
deserves consideration. Many of them have
no banker, and see no feasible mode of obtaining the
services of any other agent. And why, indeed,
should they be put to this trouble, which is not
needed in the case of other companies? lb 1.
ob-
vious objection that any inconvenience in obtaining
the interest must have some effect in depreciating the
value of the principal. The plea that the transmission
by post would be attended with risk proved still more
fallacious; for Mr. LOWE shewed that the danger is
all on the side of the present system. When a
national creditor comes to the Bank now he gives his
name, and the only means the officials have of dis-
tinguishing one JOHN SMITH from 523 others of that
name who are on the books, or one JOHN JONES
from the 282 remaining JOHN JONESES, is by the
claimant stating the value of his holding. Surely,
as Mr. LOWE says, this system involves greater
risk of fraud than the nevi plan of ascertaining
every creditor's address as well as his name, and
sending the money directly to him. The
directors had no reply to this argument.
They not only conceded the principle of transmis-
sion by post ; but they have agreed to take into con-
sideration a proposal to pay the dividends quarterly.
Henceforth every public creditor who ex-
presses the wish will receive his half-
yearly due without personal application of any
kind. Doubtless the 140,000 pilgrims will not be
slow to appreciate the merits of the change. Th(
only question they are likely to raise is, why has this
beneficial measure been delayed so long ?

THE effects of the crisis of 1806 were so severe that
many people, as is usual at these hard times, feared
that the commerce of Britain had sustained a blow
from which it would never recover. These pessimists.
and, indeed, the public generally, will be surprised to
learn that the business of the nation is recovering
already, and that, in fact, our commerce last year
showed on the whole a considerable increase
over previous years. The total value of British
exports last year was about 1791 millions.
It is true that this is a smaller amount
than that reached either in 1867 or in 1800. In
1867 the exports amounted to nearly 181 millions,
and in the year of the crisis to 189 millions.
This latter difference is very considerable ;
but it must be remembered that 1866
was a year " when enterprise and speculation passed
all legitimate limits, and terminated in commercial
disaster." The resources of the country were then sub-
jected to an unnatural tension, with which cmm-
parison is hardly fair. Comparing last year
with 1803, 1804, and 1865, all seasons of prosperity,
we find a material advance. The totals then were
respectively 1461, 1001, and 166 millions—the
highest number being considerably below the
exports of last year. The import returns are still
more satisfactory. The amount last year was 295
millions, being E 0 millions in excess of 1867, and
very nearly on a level with 1866. It is true that the
Custom House, amongst other offences, are much
open to the charge of publishing untrustworthy
statistics, but there can hardly be any error in totals
of this kind. They shew that great as was the late
commercial catastrophe, even that misfortune cannot
stop the developement of British wealth.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-7his Day.

THAMES.

COMFROMISING A FELONY.—William Bennett, a man of
respectable appearance and address, was charged with
stealing five fowl, the property of John Julian.
The prosecutor is Lying in a street near Bow-common.
Ire caught the prisoner in the act of stealing some fowls
in his yard and putting them into a sack. The sack was
opened, and some of the fowls flew out and escaped. The
prosecutor, who treated the matter with the greatest in-
difference, said, " Never mind, if I don't catch you to-night..
I'll catch ) ou to-morrow." Subsequently the parties met,
and it was arranged that the prisoner should pay £7 2s.
as compensation to the prosecutor for the loss he had sus-
tained ; 15s. of this sum was due, and it had been applied
for and not paid.

The magistrate stopped the case, which he could not
entertain one moment longer. No jury would convict
after such a compromise, which was clearly illegal. It
was compromising a felony, and a very scandalous trans-
action.

The prosecutor-110 has not performed his promise.

Tho magistrate—And never will, no doabt. The pri-
soner is discharged.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

A COMIC SINGER IN TROUBLE—Thomas Evans, describ-
ing himself as a comic singer, of Castle-street, Leicester-
square, was charged before Mr. Tyrwhitt with assaulting
Ann Murray, a married woman residing in Grafton-street,
Soho.

The complainant said she was passing through the
street in Soho last night when the prisoner came up to
her and put his arm round her neck. She pushed the pri-
soner away, and on her husband coming up and ascertain-
ing what had occurred, ho told her to give tho prisoner
into custody, and she did so.
The prisoner said he had ao recollection of what took
place. He was struck by a female and thought it was the
complainant who struck him.
A female said the prisoner had been hunting her daugh-
ter about offensively for twonights past•

Mr. Tyrwhitt fined the prisoner 20s. or 14 days.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

After a comparatively short recess Mr. Vining
re-opened his theatre on Monday evening, and on
the occasion an audience, at once brilliant and dis-
tinguished, assembled. During the few weeks the
theatre has been closed it has been elegantly re-
decorated, all the old projecting ornaments of the
" auditorium" have been removed, and replaced
by richly gilded arabesques, on a ground of pure
white. The Queen's box has been fitted up with
the utmost splendour ; the hangings being of royal
purple velvet, embroidered with rampant lions in
golden thread, and edged with the richest bullion
fringe. That of his Royal Highness the Prince of
%Vales has been similarly furnished, but in place of
lions the embroidery on the hangings is that of
the English rose. Another, and, perhaps, the
most remarkable, feature in the renovation of the
interior is the new mode of illumination. The old
fittings have been entirely removed, and a prin-
ciple adopted that is most successful, both as re-
gards effectual lighting, perfect ventilation, and
beauty of decoration. The great central crystal
light is a decided improvement upon the usual mode
of lighting, the shadows usually seen above the
ordinary sunlights are not here apparent, and the
beautifully painted ceiling, like every other part of
the house, is brilliantly illuminated. Another
novelty is the introduction of two splendid crystal
lights, immediately above the proscenium, corres
ponding with the great central light in beauty of
form and design ; but perhaps the most important
of all is the abolition of the old-fashioned "floats,"
or footlights, and the substitution of a plan
which, whilst it throws a perfect flood of light
on the stage, does not, in the least,
obstruct a fair view of the audience.
The whole of these great improvements have been
carried into effect by the Mc rat. Defries, of
Houndsditch, and with so much success that for
the future their novel and scientific plan of illumi-
nating the interior of large buildings will become
the only recognised and effectual system. The pro-
minent stage feature of the evening was the produc-
tion of Handel's serenata, " Adis and Galatea," pre-
cisely as it was produced at Drury Lane Theatre
when under the lesseeship of Mr. Macready in the
year 1842. Having witnessed the performance of
the great work on the above occasion, we can at
once say that as far as an imitation can be perfect
the production of the serenata at the Princess's is
certainly deserving the most unstinted praise.
We have a reproduction in the first scene of Mr.
Clarkson Stanfield's wonderful scenic illusion " the
rolling wave," with the rattle of the pebbles
caused by the receding water, the spread-
ing of the sparkling foam on the brilliant moon-
light shore, the distant grotto on the one side, and
the broad expanse of the ocean on the other. This
splendil scene, of course, called forth the most en-
thusiastic applause—applause that was well and
truly deserved, and for which the painter had the
good taste and good sense not to obtrude himself
upon the stage. The second scene, " a view from
a vineyard looking into a valley," was as perfect a
specimen of warm and brilliant sunshine, and
formed a splendid contrast to the cool and silvery
scene it succeeded. The third scene, a " pine
forest and waterfall," was also an exqui-
site specimen of landscape painting ; and
the fourth and last, " the Temple of Nep-
tune on the shores of the Bay," was a repro-
duction on the stage of the wonderful efforts of
Turner on canvas. The only trifle with which fault
can be found is the form that Galatea gives to
Acis, after his death by Polyphemus. That cer-
tainly was not at all like the fountain of Mr.
Ma2ready, and we must confess to a regret th.tt
after all that had been accomplished so poor an
attempt should have been made at the rising of a
fountain, an opportunity that offered such scope
for brilliant display. However that must not stand
in the way of our giving to Mr. Vining the highest
praise for the scenic portion of the revival. The
cast. in 1542, at the Old Drury was as follows :
Acis, Miss P. Horton; Galatea, Miss Romer; Damon,
Mr. Allen; and Polyphemus, Mr. H. Phillips ; in
1869, at the Pritnclis's, Acis, Mr V. Rigby, Damon,
Mr. Montcm Smith ; Polyphemus, llerr C. Formes ;
and Galatea, Miss Blanche Cole— the musical di-
rector on both occasions being Mr. J. L. Hatton.
It is unnecessary to dwell at length on the extreme
beauty of the music of the serenata, as, like all
Handel's works, it is the joy and housiiold plea-
sure of all true lovers of harmony; and, therefore, we
shall merely make a passing remark or two on the
manner in which the principal pieces were sang.
'l'o Miss Cole we have to award high honour for the
rendering of "Hush, ye pretty warbling choir."
It was sung with the utmost taste and correctness,
and we have also to compliment her for
the charming manner in which she gave the
remaining portions of the music. Mr.
Vernon Rigby did not quite come up to
the mark as Acis ; he sang the pieces allotted to the
part nicely and well, but his decided and constant
endeavour to imitate another eminent artist fre-
quently stood in the way of his giving his own
talents fair play. He will have to throw aside
such folly before he can take his stand in the
front rank of that profession of which he is 'now
t very worthy member. He sang the first songs
allotted to the part, " Where shall I seek my charm-
ing fair" and " Love in her eyes," with great taste
and delicacy, and in the chief song of the part,
" Love sounds the alarm," he threw a great deal of
spirit and a few additional notes ; the former was
praiseworthy, but the latter the reverse, because
Mr. Rigby is not yet quite equal to improving the
original score, however much he may be desirous
of showing the entire compass of his voice. Mr.
Montem Smith as Damon is entitled to the warmest
praise for the true Handelian spirit with which he
rendered his portion of the m usic. Ile is a finished and
conscientious musician, and nothing certainly could
have been sweeter and better than his singing of
the two delicious pieces, " Shepherd, what art thou
pursuing?" and " Would you gain a tender crea-
ture," for the latter of which he received an enthu-
siastic encore. With the Polyphemus of Herr Formes
we were disappointed.—itwasa very rough and crude
performance ; and, with respect to the music, had
the delicately-scented programme not unmistakably
informed us that the one-eyed monster was the
once celebrated German basso, we candidly con-
fess we never should have discovered the fact.
" Oh, ruddier than the cherry " was, therefore,
not so well done as could be wished, but it may im-
prove with repetition. The chorus deserve very
great praise for the admirable manner in which all
the pieces were given, and the orchestra also must
come in for its share of the great triumph of the
evening.

At the close of the opera the applause was en-
thusiastic, and Mr. Hatton having led forward
Miss Blanche Cole, loud calls arose for Mr. Vining ;
after some time the lessee came forward to acknow-
ledge the compliment. On the applause ceasing
he said—Ladies and gentlemen, I have really
not a word to say; let what I have done speak for
me. In what I have done it is my desire to place
before you the highest class of art, and if that
pleases you, my voice must be silent." The lessee
then retired amidst the enthusiastic cheering of the
audience. We congratulate Mr. Vining upon the
auspicious manner in which he has inaugurated his
new season.

LODGER FRANCHISE.