The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-06 00:00:00

TEE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 6, 1860

Not any man that ever was born has ever, we are
quite satisfied, enjoyed a more exquisite
sense of the humorous, of the ludicrous,
of the laughable, than our incomparable
Boz—yet in the awful presence of those majestic
Falls of Niagara he could feel and think and write
only in a strain of solemn and spontaneous elo-
quence. Take in proof of this one of the noblest
passages in the American Notes, a passage penned
throughout in a spirit worthy of a poet and a
Christian Philosopher :

" Then, when I felt how near to my Creator I was
standing, the first effect and the enduring one—instant and
lasting—of the tremendous spectacle, was Peace. Peace of
mind : Tranquillity : Calm recollections of the dead : Great
Thoughts of Eternal Rest and Happiness : nothing of
Gloom and Terror: Niagara was at once stamped upon
my heart, an Image of Beauty ; to remain there change-
less and indelible, until its pulses cease to beat, for ever."
---[For the whole passage, of which this is the merest
fragment, see Vol. 11., pp. 176-130 of American Notes for
General Circulation.]

What said or rather sang the reverent voice
of the noble earl now the Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland, when as Lord AIORPETH ho loitered
along the banks of that heart-moving spec-
tacle of the Niagara cataract ? Read the opening
lines of what the Earl of CARLISLE then wrote—
they are worthier looking at than the monkey-
tricks of BLONDIN the Mountebank—
There's nothing great or bright, thou glorious Fall,
Thou mayest not to the fancy's sense recall :
The thunder-riven cloud, the lightning's leap,
The stirring of the chambers of the deep ;
Earth's emerald green and many. tinted dyes,
The fleecy whiteness of the upper skies ;
The tread of armies thickening as they come,
The boom of cannon and the beat of drum,
The brow of beauty, and the form of grace,
The passion and the prowess of our race,
The Song of Homer in its loftiest hour,
The unresisted sweep of Roman power;
Britannia's trident on the azure sea,
America's young shout of liberty I
Instead of Niagara continuing to be henceforth
suggestive of any of such kind of elevated or even
ennobling associations, it appears to be degenerat-
ing into a stupendous stage for the display of M.
BLONDIN'S skill in—(we can hardly call it less than
this)—acted blasphemy.

THE QUEEN IN GERMANY.

(From the Court Newsman.)
COBURG, OCT. 2.

His Royal Highness the Prince Consort went out shoot-
ing yesterday with the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the
Prince Frederic William of Prussia, and Count Alexander
Mensdorff.

Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by their Royal
Highnesses the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, the Princess
Frederic William of Prussia, and the Princess Alice, drove
at one o'clock up to the Castle of Callenberg, where lun-
cheon was prepared, and where the Royal shooting party
joined her Majesty and the princesses.
At a little before five o'clock the Prince Consort, having
some business to transact, took leave of the party and
entered a carriage to proceed alone to Coburg. After his
royal highness had gone about three miles the horses,
which were, driven four-in-hand, commenced kicking vio-
lently, and shortly started off at full speed. The coachman,
assisted by his royal highness, did everything in his power
to arrest the progress of the frightened animals, but with-
out effect.

At about the distance of a mile from Coburg the road
from Callenberg crosses the railway at a level, and upon
approaching this spot the Prince Consort observed that the
bar, which is lowered to prevent carriages crossing the line
when a train is expected, was closed preparatory to the
arrival of the train due at Coburg at five o'clock. A waggon
which had been stopped by the bar was also standing
upon the road. A violent concussion being then inevi-
table, his royal highness jumped from the carriage and fell
to the ground. His royal highness, though receiving some
superficial cuts and bruises in the face, was not at all stunned
or seriously hurt, and shortly proceeded to assist the coach-
man. The carriage had in the meantilt come ißker colli-
sion wit h the bar of the railway and we upset, the coach-
man being dashed to the ground and considerably hurt.
His royal highness immediately devoted his attention to
this man, who was conveyed to the lodge of the railway
servant who has charge of the bar.
The horses having thus freed themselves from the car-
riage, continued their career into the town of Coburg, and
were there seen by Colonel Ponsonby, the Prince's equerry,
who had been in attendance in the earlier part of the day.
The colonel immediately procured a carriage, and securing
the services of Dr. Baly and Dr. Carl Honschutz, the medi-
cal attendant of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, ho proceeded
with them to meet his royal highness.
The prince, who was still in the small cottage, directed
the attention of the medical gentlemen to the coachman,
and desired Colonel Ponsonby to continue his route to meet
her Majesty the Queen, who was at that time on her return
to Coburg, in order to inform her Majesty of what had.
taken place.
His royal highness's escape may be considered as most
providential.
The prince's general health has not at all suffered from
this accident, and the bruises will in all probability disap-
pear in a few days.
We are happy to say that the coachman is considered
much better this morning.