The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-19 00:00:00

FRENCH PLAYS.

M. Leclere made his first appearance in England last
evening. He has a pecular talent for the representation of
serious comic old men, stolid and amusing veterans, who
are the more amusing from the fact that they are quite un-
conscious of the fun that is in them. In "Deux Anges
Gardiens " he plays admirably the part of a retired soldier
of a peaceful turn of mind, but who remembers enough of
his sabre exercise to be able to terrify a duellist who pro-
poses to fight this retired soldier's intimate protege and
friend.

"Furnised Apartments," another piece of M. Leclere's
repertoire, is the original of an English farce, played with
great success at the Adelphi under the title of "Id on
parle Francais." Taupin, the name of the personag3
represented by M. Leclere, is a mean and villanous letter-
out of lodgings, caring little for the reputation and morality
of his lodgers, but troubling himself greatly as to their
means, and exacting his first month's rent in advance.
The Frenchman of the Adelphi farce is, in the St. James's
vaudeville, an Englishman, but the general plan is the
same in both pieces. In " Paris qui Dort" he is a sort of
uxorious Dogberry, and his preternatural admiration of his
wife seemed to entertain the audience quite as much as his
insane endeavours to keep the peace in the neighbourhood
of the Paris supper houses. Until his present engagement
at the St. James's Theatre, we believe M. Leclere had
never been seen in England. His talent as an eccentric
comedian is peculiar and striking, and any piece in which he
plays becomes from that fact interesting.

UNIVERSITY IMELLIGENCE.

DURHAM-EASTER TERM, 1860.

PUBLIC EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE
OF B.A.
EXAMINERS.
The Professor of Greek.
The Professor of Mathematics.
Rev. William Henderson, D.C.L., Principal of Victoria
College, Jersey.
Rev. John Aitchison, M.A., Head Master of the Gram-
mar School, Canterbury.

CLASS PAPER.
CLASSICAL AND GENERAL LITERATURE.
CLASS 11.

Clutterbuck, James Cooper, Bp. eosin's Hall.

CLASS IV.

Ladbrooke, John Arthur, Bp. Hatfield's Hall.

CLASS V.
liayton, 'William, Bp. Hatfield's Hall.
Wilkinson, Thomas, Bp. Hatfield's Hall.

CLASS VI.
Badnall, James, Bp. Cosin's Hall.
Val er, Rev. Henry, University College.

CLASS VII.
Kenyon, Roger, Bp. Cosin's Hall.
Scarr, Grover, Bp. Cosin's Hall.
Tindall, Richard Abbey, Bp. Hatfield's Hall.
FINAL EXAMINATION IN THEOLOGY.
EXAMINERS.
The Professor of Divinity.
The Principal of Bishop Hatfield's Hall.
The Rev. H. L. Mansell, M.A., St. John's College,
Oxford.
Bulman, John, 8.A., University College.
Burns, W. IL, 8.A., Bp Hatfield's Hall.
Clarke, John F., 8.A., University College.
Dawkins, J. C., B.A_,. Bp. Cosin's
Douglas, Philip H., B.A. Bp. Cosin's Hall.
Fowler, J. T., Bp. Hatfield's Hall.
llepple, J. 1) , 8.A., University College.
Howard, Thomas, 8.A., Bp. Cosin's Hall.
Hutchinson, Edward, Bp. Hatfield's Hall.
Robertson, T. M., University College.
Tapfield, Edward, Bp. Hatfield's hall.
Woodward, Samuel, University College.

PRIZENEEN.
Graduate—J. D. llcpple, B.A.
Non-Graduate—T. M. Robertson.
The University Mathematict.l Scholarship has been as-
signed to Edward Marshall, University College.
The Hebrew Prizes have been thus awarded :
Senior Class—J T. Fowler, Bp. Hatfield's Hall.
Junior Class—J. C. Dawkins, 8.A., Bp. Cosin's Hall.

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S INN-ROAD.—
The number of patients relieved at this hospital during the
week ending June 16, 18;0, was 2,995, of which 706 were
new cases.

Yv
METROPOLITAN FREE HOSPITAL, DEVONSHIRE-
SQUARE, CITY.—The aggregate number of patients relieved
during the week ending June 16 was—Medical, 958 ; sur-
gical, 472 ; total, 1,38.5 ; of which 432 were new cases.
TAXATION BY THE LORDS.—A crowded meeting
was held yesterday evening to protest against the course the
House of Lords adopted in refusing to repeal the paper
duty, in IJawkestone Hall, Waterloo-road. The members
for the borough were present, as were also a number of
gentlemen of local influence and position. Mr. John Wil-
liams occupied the chair. A resolution condemnatory of
the Lords having been moved and seconded, Mr. Williams,
M.P., made a long speech, in which he suggested that the
Paper Duty Bill should be included in any money bill
which yet remained to be passed, and sent up to the Lords
fur their approval. Mr. Roupell followed, and said that if
the government did not preserve the rights of the Commons,
he hoped it would be driven from office. He believed, how-
ever, that the govern went would pursue a manly and
straightforwaid course. A petition to the House of Com-
mons, praying it to preserve its privileges from violation,
was adopted.
THE PROPOSED FORTIFICATIONS,—We are on
the road an expenditure without end. To buy safety at
any price is now the received cry ; but the time will come
when people will ask whether even safety may not be
bought too dear, or wcethcr protection may not be carried
to such a Ditch as to leave little to be protected. So in the
middle ages i.. was uncommon for a man to ruin his estate
utterly in fortifying and securing his house. And let not
people who are ready to make any sacrifices for defences be
too sure that they will get the thing for which they will
certainly pay dear. Fortifications are not more infallible
than gunboats, but they are not so tell-tale. Provided
th-y are extensive and proportionately expensive they pass
for good however defective, till an enemy is found to bring
them to the test. O. paper our military engineers have it
all their own way, but they have never shone practically,
and were no match for the Russian at Sebastopol,—
EMMincr,

OUR NA22ONAL DEFENCES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUIT.

SIR,—We have had the report of the Commission on our
National Defences, and it is sufficiently elaborate. The Com••
missioners state, "that they are led to the opinion that,
neither our fleet, our standing army, nor our volunteers, or
even the three combined, can be relied on to secure the
country from foreign invasion." It would be said, indeed,
if they could find a majority of Englishmen to coincide
with them in this opinion, and in giving it to the world
they must have taken a very contracted and partial view
of the constitution of the British empire. It is not by the
defence of our stockyards and naval stations alone that the
mighty fabric of the British empire is to be maintained.
It is not confined to, or comprised within, one isolated spot,
but encircles the globe, and exists in every clime. An
Englishman may truly say with Byron,—
" Far as the breeze can drive the billows' foam,
Survey our empire, and behold our home."
Now, this being the case, it becomes necessary, in consider-
ing any scheme of defence, to take a comprehensive view
of the British empire as a whole, and to determine the best
means of giving security to each member of this compli-
cated community; for we must always remember that the
greatness and might of Britain arises, not from her own
intrinsic resources alone, but from the combined power and
wealth of her many possessions. Futile, indeed, would be
the mere defence of our colonies, if the colonies, those
members of our empire which impart life and energy to its
people, were severed from it. No ! England's very exist-
ence depends upon not only retaining her colonial depen-
dencies intact, but also in maintaining a constant and cer-
tain communication with them.

Hitherto Englishmen have been accustomed to look
upon her " wooden walls" as the surest protection from
foreign invasion or insult, and every truly patriotic states-
man will still consider them as the true bulwarks of British
power, and, what is of infinitely more consequence, of Bri-
tish liberty. It may be all very well to protect our dock-
yards from the possibility of the sudden attack of an enemy,
which, if successful, might cause infinite loss ; but do not
let us for one moment admit the possibility of a successful
invasion of our shores, so as to lead to a protracted defence
of either the dockyards or London, because, before such a
descent on our coast could be made, the enemy must have
become master of the seas, and this implies the de-
struction of Britain's naval supremacy. It requires little
power of prophecy to predict what would be the result
should Great Britain cease to be paramount on the waters.
Not only would the spring of her wealth be dried up, but
the blockade of our ports would cut off those supplies of
the necessaries of life, without which we could not maintain
for one month the existence of our teeming population.
Anarchy and the disruption of society would be the result
—the complicated machinery of our social system would
collapse—the majesty of Britain's might would vanish—
" And, like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Leave not a 'rack behind."
No doubt that, since the the introduction of propulsion by
steam, great facility is given to an invading force coming
by sea. But I firmly believe that, as the like advantage is
possessed by the ships of the country to be defended, there
is little or no gain to the invaders now, as compared with
the time when both fleets had to depend only on the
wind for locomotive power, whilst the rapid transit by rail-
way, and speedy communication by electric telegraph,
would secure the concentration of a large opposing force,
much more rapidly than troops could be disembarked, even
if unopposed in landing—which immunity would scarcely be
accorded to them. Taking ail this into consideration, we
may safely rest assured that to effect a successful invasion
of our shores would be even more difficult than it was
prior to the introduction of steam.
The inference to be drawn from the above remarks is,
that it behoves Great Britain, at any cost, to maintain the
supremacy of the seas. In order to do this, it is essential
for her to have a prosperous, contented, and loyal maritime
population, with a numerous and actively employed mer-
cantile marine. Our legislature, since the predominance
of the Manchester party in Parliament, have been too apt
to ignore the merchant navy, and treat them as if not a
necessary adjunct to the power of Britain; this has been a
great mistake, arising, like the report on National Defences,
from taking a partial and limited view of the construction
of the British community, and, I am sorry to say, it is now
bearing fruit in the existence of an apathy and indifference
to British interests on the part of our seamen, which
exhibits its effects in the small numbers enrolled in the
Naval Volunteer Reserve. I trust some means may he
adopted to reanimate the dormant patriotism of our seamen,
and if this is once fairly brought about, adieu to fears of
invasion, or to doubts of our supremacy on the waters. Our
wooden walls will be animated by such a spirit
that none will be able to stand before them.
Bofore closing this letter, I may be allowed to suggest that
most nautical men (not connected with the Admiralty) con-
sider that the vessels best adapted for coast defence are
gunboats. Built for speed, and armed with heavy, long-
range guns, ten or a dozen of these would be more than a
match for a line-of-battle ship, as they would be so placed
as to strike her with every shot, whilst from their rapid
movements and distant position none of her guns could be
brought to bear upon them. It would be well to have
several of those gunboats laid up in all the large
ports, say the Mersey, Clyde, Tyne, and Hum-
ber. They might be placed in perfect safety
in any of these rivers, and would be available where most
wanted in case of war—requiring merely officers to be sent
down, as they would be quickly manned by the volunteers
residing in the port. There is little doubt, in case of a
war with France, an attempt would be made to destroy the
shipping in the north-eastern port, which is all within the
range of the guns of a vessel at sea. A few gunboats on
the spot would obviate this danger at once.
June 18, 1860. NAUTICUS.