The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-11 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EITENING AUGUST n, 1856.

LA TRAVIATA.

of our readers as may think: Mr. Lumley'a arguments
worth consideration must judge for themselves how far
he has succeeded in establishing his point. For ourselves,
a,gain we renew our indignant protest against this exhi-
bition of harlotry—whether harlotrytriumphant, or hers
lotry repentant—upan the public stage. There are foul
stains in human existence which notoriously exist—
which cannot and should not beiguored, and which yet
cannot be exhibited on a public stacto without imminent
danger to public morality. We etirite in no Puritanic
spirit on such matters —we a Imire.and wish well to the
efforts of dramatic genius—nor do we, who acknowledge
ourselves in all humility to ho frail and erring men, wish
to cut off from human sympathy and commiseration
those poor creatures who have been led into vice by the
passions and inhumanity of our own sex. With all these
admissions, which are made in the plainest sincerity, we
must still protest against the poetry of the brothel as a
fit inspiration for dramatic performances. The image of
the weeping Magdalen is one of the most touching
which has been handed down. to 113 even in the pages of
Scripture, but who can wish to see the story of Mag-
dalen dramatised, and presented to the public with all
the soft allurements of music and song ? Does Mr.
Lumley believe in his own prepositien, that one of his
purposes in setting "La Traviata" on the stage was to
soften the hearts of women who iyet stand upright to
the shame of their erring sisters ? Is it true that the
opera at the Haymarket was intended in any degree as a
&way sermon for the relief of unfortunate persons of
the class to whom the heroine of "La Traviata" belongsj?
Mr. Lumley knows better than we can tell him that
nothing of this sort was the case. Whether this were
so or not, those is nothing in the progress of the story
which is peculiarly calculated to evoke the active sym-
pathies of women. An unfuse;unate young person who
has acted the part of a public prostitute—not from dire
necessity, not from the strong impulses 'of passion, but
coldly and professionally for egain, and much gain—
finds at last a man who wi11...4'61,8*er for her ewe rake.
She turns with disgnit feoette.4lth' ellietwireittYti ition—
but it is too late. Tee fell hand of consumption is on
her. The parents and relatives of the young man who
had become enamoured of Violetta very naturally oppose
themselves to such an ill-assorted union, The excite-
ment consequent upon these struggles still further agi-
tates the diseased frame of the wretched young woman,
who coughs her way through three acts, and finally ex-
pires on the stage in the public sight in a manner which,
however true to nature, ought to be revolting to the
feelings of the spectators.
Such is the story of "La Traviata." Mr. Lumley
contends that it is one ere-eminently fitted for dramatic
representation. His chief ground is, as we before sug-
gested, that as such things as prostitution and seduction
unfortunately exist, it is wrong to slur them over and
ignore them altogether. We ought, on the contrary, to
display striking Examples of them for the benefit of
young wives and rnai lens, just in the same way
that Helots—to use an old hackneyed example—were
exhibited in a state of drunkenness before the youth of
Spaea. The spectacle of a poor prostitute dying of
consumption must necessarily operate as a wholesome
warning to all young ladies. Why, then, should we not
take our sisters and daughters and wives into the hospitals
at once ? There is nothing like the rude truth of nature. Mr.
Lumley only weakens and dilutes the wholesome impres-
sion by the help of his ort,he.stra and stage scenery. There
is no escape from this position. If the arguments by
which he endeavcurs to defend the exhibition of " La
Traviata" be true, then on the same principles we ought
to direct the attention of all those whom we most wish
to preserve from moral sell or pollution to improper
books and improper exhibitions of every kind. All that
will be necessary will be that the book, the picture, or
the exhibition should contain some suggestion of retri-
bution, and that the subject with which each may deal
should not be presented in too warm and attractive
colours, and all the exigencies of Mr. Lumley will be
satisfied. We entirely protest against such a doctrine

There are things which Cannot even be glanced at with.
out injury 'to the freshness and delicacy of the mind.
We are not writing for men hackneyed in the ways of
the world and familiar at lea3t with the existence of vice,
but even the worst among such persons would, as one

may hope, be unwilling that their young daughters
should be initiated even in the preliminaries of vice.
Now, of what persons is the majority of the audience

at the opera composed? Mainly,we believe, of young
per3nns, and these young ladies, who have for the most

part been carefully and religiously educated. Why com-
plete this education by a finishing course of Magdalen-
ism, to show them what they may come to if they mis-
conduct themselves, and the consequences of such mis-
conduct ? Mr. Lumley must excuse us if we still per-
sist in the belief that this last finishing touch to female
education is wholly superfluous.
Again, with regard to the argument that the hearts of
women are likely to be softened towards their erring
sisters by an operatic display of the miseries of harlotry,
we are compelled to express our entire dissent from it.
If the implied command of the Divine Founder of the
Christian religion and the recorded example of His ten-
derness and mercy in such a case are unavailing, neither
will the warblings antritimaited cough of a Piccolomini
be of much avail. It is unnecessary for us to repeat
here the distinction which we drew in our firmer remarks
between Mr. Lumley's present apotheosis of prostitution
and the other examples which he quotes from earlier
authors. Let the reader judge of his candour, or fitness
for instituting such a comparison, when he finds that the
manager of her Majesty's Theatre can really see no sub-
stantial difference between the plot of the " Vicar of
Wakefield " and the plot of "La Traviata !" On such
a comparison it would be idle to waste a word. Finally,
we renew our objections to " La Traviata" on artistic
grounds. A dirty story is the ready resource of every
vulgar fellow who can do no better; and, just in the
same way, our present concoctors of dramas and operatic
libretti are ever ready to servo us with hideous tales of
incest, rape, prostitution, seduotion, and adultery, be-
cause they have not wit or capacity for anything more
true to human nature under its usual and healthy aspects.
We have not made this protest against Mr.'Lumley's
opera from any spirit of hostility to him, for we sincerely
wish well to his enterprise, but we leave it to the public
to decide whether we or Mr. Lumley and the Satanic
dramatists are the truest friends to the stage. Who
plays most into the hands of the Puritanic party—those
who represent or those who protest against the sys-
tematic representation of obscenity in our theatres ?
Besides, vie protest again most earnestly—despite Mr,
Lumley's special pleading—against any further exhibition
of consumption, dropsy, cancer, cholera, or hydrophobia
upon the stage as necessary for the instruction and de-
light of mankiud. Let Mr. Lumley leave the prostitutes
to the pulpit and the patients to the" doctors. Next
season we trust to hear no more of such abominations.
THE LATE ISAAC WELL), ESQ.

The remains of this much-lamented and distinguished
gentleman left his residence, Ravenswell, Bray, early
in the morning, attended fur a considerable portion of
the route by the carriages of most of the gentry of
the neighbourhood, and reached Mount Jerome Ce-
metery at 10 o'clock. We observed, as chief mourners,
Charles Weld, Assistant• Secretary of the Royal So-
ciety of London, brother of the deceased ; R. Meadow s
Taylor, Dr. Forde, and the Messrs. Prendergast.
Upon the arrival of the cortege at the gate of the
cemetery, it was met, notwithstanding the season of the
year, when so many persons are absent from town, by
a large assemblage of members of the Royal Dublin
Society, anxious to pay their last tribute of respect to
their late venerated vice-president, including Lord
Talbot de Malahide, V.P. ; L. E. Foot, and J. F.
Waller, LL.D., Hon. Secrdtaries ; W. E. Steele, M.D.,
assistant secretary ; H. C. Whiter, registrar ; Professor
Davy, P.R.S. ; E. R. P. Colles, librarian; D. Moore,
curator of the Botanic Gardens ; awl Mr. M'Manus,
head master of the School of Art • Right Hon. F. Black-
burne, F. S. Sidney, LL.D. ; J. Barton, Henry Roe, J.
Patten, G. Saunders, H. Beauchamp, M.D., W. Fry,
T. Gresham, H. C. Field, M.D. ; Edward Clibborn, H.
Carey, Parke Neville, P. Ryan. S. Foot, C. E. Bagot,
M.D., J. M'Dona, M. Cregsv, P.R.H.A. R. Wilson,
C. P. Croker, M.D., G. M. M'Ciustly, A. J. Ferrier,
M. M'Master, L. Thornhill, &c.
The servants of the society were also in attendance.
The service was impressively performed in the_chapel
of the cemetery, by the Rev. Messrs. Quinton and Tom-
linson, in the presence of a large and attentive assem-
bine, who followed the body to its final resting-place.
Thus closed the earthly career of one distinguished
through a long life, exceeding eighty years, for an ar-
dent love of art and science. Possessed of genitp, an d
a mind of great elegance, Mr. Weld improved his origi-
nal gifts by study, and by a personal acquaintance with
foreign lands. He vifited a great portion of Europe and
America at a period when travelling was comparatively
a rare and difficult achievement, forming acquaintance
with most distinguished men of the age, including
Washington and Sir Humphrey Davy. " Weld's Tra-
vels in America" rank amongst our standard literature ;
and his descriptive work on Killarney, illustrated by his
own drawings, has never been exceeded for interest and
truthfulness. As a member of the Royal Dublin So-
ciety for a period of fifty-six years, his life and labours
were mainly devoted to its prosperity and usefulness ;
and his memory will be long held in grateful recollection
by every member of that body who had the honour and
happiness of his acquaintance.
The last official act of Mr. Weld, in connection with
the society to which he had been so long attached, was
assisting at the ceremony of laying the first stone of the
new Museum, by his Excellency the Earl of Carlisle, in
March last.

We congratulate the society on possessing in their
board-room a fine portrait of their late vice-president,
painted by M. Cregan, P.R.H. A., a compliment paid
Mr. Weld some years ago by the society when honorary
secretary of that body.—Dublin, Mail.

A TRUE SOLDIER'S WIFE.—Mrs. Wilding, wife of a
corporal of the Royal Artillery, was one of three women
who were allowed to land with the troops at Old Fort,
in the Crimea. She was present with her husband at
the battle of the Alma, marched by his side across the
country to Balaklava, and was present at the battle of
Balaklava, where she took a horse from a Russian
officer. During her residence in the camp she earned by
washing an average amount of 20s. pir diem,and saved a
considerable sum. Her invariable companion during
the war was an excellent revolver, which she much
prizes. Corporal Wilding, with his brave wife, left
Woolwich for Weedon barracks last week. -

BIOGRAPBY OP JEAN JACQUES
PELISSIE

Tae War Almanac gives the following .bio-
graphy of this extraordinary man, who has just
reached his native land, under such flattering cir-
cumstances
Amiable Jean Jacques Pelissier is a native of the
French soil, and drew his fiat breath at Aleromme, in
the arrondissement of Rouen, in 194.
" At the ago of 20, he was entered as a student at the
Scheel of .Artillery of La Fiche, and after a brief resi-
dence of two monthe is tlJat institution ho was removed
to the Military Scheol of St. Cyr. ln 1815, two days
before the entry of Napoleon into Paris, after his ill-
starred return from Eiba, Pelissier was attached, to the
artillery of the King's household, with the rank of sub-
lieutenant ; and he was Petit soon after to join the 57th
Re invent of the line, which formed part of the army as•
gambled by the Emperor on the Rhine. When the
diebandieg too:; place in August, the young soldier found
that his occupation was gone for the time being ; and he
was reduced to inactivity till October, when be joined the
departmental Legion of the Lower Seine. At this period
he turned his leisure hours to profitable account; strove
to accomp!ish himself by study in the science of war, and
attained such proficiency that in 1819, when the corps
d'etat was tinned, he gained admittance into it after a
severe examination. Four months later he was attached
to a regiment of hussar,-, and, era long, was promoted
to the rank of lieutenant ; but, in 1821, at his own re-
quest, he was permitted to serve in the 35th Regiment
of the line, in which his elder brother was captain.
" Time passed on, and in 1823, when a French army,
under the Duke. d'Angouleine, at the instigation of the
three Sovereigns who had signed the treaty celebrated
as the Holy Alliance, crossed the Pyrenees to suppress
the revo'utien in Spain, Pelissier, being placed on the
general staff, made the campaign as aide-de-camp to
Generahgeueosiesl,e,a4-wae eteeereleed with the cross of
the Legion of Honour, and that offtereettirrand--ef-
Spain. In 1828, having meanwhile acted in various
military capacities, and attained the rank of captain,
Pelissier made the campaign in Greece, and signalised
his valour so conspicuously at the siege of the castle of
Alone that he was rewarded with the insignia of the
Order of S'. Louis, and subsequently with the gold cross
of the Greek Order of the Saviour.
" When the Bourbons, on the eve of that revolution
which irrevocably lost them the French crown, sought
to win back popularity by means of a military triumph,
and undertook an expedition against Algiers. Pelissier
went thither with the army, under M. do 13carawnt,
and was appointed chief of battalion, and officer of the'
Legion of Honour. Returning to France in the autumn
of 1832, he became aide de-camp to the general command-
ing the army of observation assembled on the Meuse dur-
ing the expedition to Antwerp.
" Pelissier, having meanwhile hell several important
commissions, was, in 1839, nominated lieutenant-colonel
and chief of the staff of the 3d Division of the army in
Algiers ; in 1840, he filled the same position in the divi-
sion of the Oran, and was promoted to the rank of colonel
and assistant chief general of the staff in the Algerian
army ; and in 1845, he obtained a wide, though not quite
an enviable, celebrity. The Arab, Bou-lVlaza, who styled
himself The invulnerable,' after inspiring the Kahyles
with a blind conence, proclaimed the holy war in the
D3rah, and rais the tribes in insurrection. The ins-
portance of crushing a movement so formidable without
delay was felt, and means were resolutely used with that
object in view. In this war, while carrying on combined
operations in the west with the afterwards illustrious St.
Arnaud, Pelissier was occupied with the pursuit of the
Ouled Rialos. The latter, finding themselves hard pressed,
took refuge in immense caverns, which served them for
houses, and where it would have been madness for the
French troops to follow. Pelissier, however, was not
to be thus baffled. He surrounded the caverns with his
soldiers, caused faggots to be lighted and thrown before
the entrance, to convince the besieged fanatics that be
had the power of suffocating them if he chose. He then,
under the impression that his menaces would have been
effectual, threw in letters offering them life and liberty if
they would surrender. At first they refused ; but after-
wards consented to yield, on condition of the French
troops being meantime withdrawn. The conditions ap-
peared utterly unreasonable, and could not be agreed to,
so more faggots were thrown in to bring the 'desperadoes
to their senses, and presently a, violent dispute arose among
the besieged as to the course they should pursue in their
very critical position. The majority decided on enduring
the worst ; and a few of those who differed from thee}
contrived to escape. Pelissier, determined to conquer,
but, anxious to spare life, employed some Arabs to exhort
them to surrender; but so determined were these Ouled
Riahs to suffer to the last, that they unhesitatingly fired
on some of their women who attempted to escape from
self-sacrifice. Pelissier thereupon suspended the throw-
ing of faggots, and sent a French officer to hold a par-
, ley with the enemy ; but this messenger was received
with a disesa.ge of fire-arms. At length, on the second
night of this extraordinary siege—it was on the*l9th of
June—Nlissier's patience deserted him ; and he re-
solved to scruple no longer as to the means of victory.
The hour for mercy having passed, the Sre was renewed,
and rendered intense in heat ; and, for a time, dreadful
cries and agonising shrieks were heard from the wretched
inmates of the caverns. Then succeeded a silence, un-
broken save by the crackling of the faggots, and terribly
significant in its import. The French troops on entering
found 500 dead bodies ; and 150 persons so near death
by suffocation, that though instantly brought to the
open air most of them expired. When intelligence of
this military transaction was conveyed to Paris it created
a profound sensation, and excited at once regret and
indignation. But in Algiers it was justified by Marshal
Buz Baud as a military necessity,' rendered imperative
on Pelissier by the orders of his commander-in-chief.
The necessity, it was said, appeared so strong as to
justify, in his eyes, a slight divergence from the strict
laws of humanity, after he had used every effort in his
power to avert a catastrophe so Lorriblo.
"In the year 1848, when Gen. Cavaignac was armed
with a brief authority, as head of the French Republic, ,
he appointed Pelissier commandant of the division of
Oran ; and it was from this post, after he had served in
Algiers during 15 consecutive years, that Pelissier was
transferred, by the Emperor of the French, to the
second command of the forces before Sebastopol, under
General Caurobert. He arri red in the Crimea at that
disastrous period when the allied army was exposed to
the utmost hardship, and to him was assigned the ardu-
ous duty of supporting the artillery and engineers on the
forts extending from the quarantine bastion to the ravine
which leads to the military harbour. He had occupied
with distinction this position for four months, when
General Canrobert, finding himself unable to sustain his
arduous duties, on the 16th of May requested leave of
the Emperor to be allowed to resign the chief command,
and indicated General Pelissier as the person, from his
skill and experience, best fitted to fill the onerous and
honourable position to which he was forthwith ap-
pointed.

"The change of generals was generally applauded in
the French camp ; and the enterprises since undertaken,
and the signal success with which they have been at-
tended, are indications not to be mistaken of the supe-
rior vigour, the intellectual energy, the iron will, and
the dauntless determination of the commander.
" There car' exist little doubt that at the time of his
appointment, no more energetic or experienced officer
than General Pelissier could have been found in the
magnificent army in front of that gloomy stronghold,
which has been described as 'throwing its frowning
shadows over the waters of the Black Sea." His cha-
racter is stern and vehement, and his personal courage
all but unrivalled. It is narrated that on one occasion,
when in command of a punihment corps, known as the
Zephyrs, he attacked a mud fortress, occupied by Arabs.
His soldiers repeatedly attempted to scale the walls, but
in vain ; for the vigilant foe kept a sharp look-out, and
repulsed every effort. Pelissier grew weary, and lost
patience. Throw me over, and lam sure the company
will follow,' exclaimed he to three or four of the men
around him. The order was obeyed. For some mi-
nutes he was alone among the enemy, and received seve-
ral wounds. He bad, however, correctly calculated the
effect that would be produced by his intrepidity. The
soldiers followed him ; and the mud fortress was taken.
Even in times when strength and courage were the titles
to power and influence, hardly ever was such indiffer-
ence to danger displayed. The bold father of Charle-
magne successfully combating a lion and a wild bull,
and our First Edward leaping his charger over the wall
of a beleaguered town into the midst of a hostile and ex-
asperated garrison, were tame in comparison. We doubt
whether the old chroniclers relate any instance of such
splendid intrepidity.
" For the capture of Sebastopol he was created a Mar:
shal of France; and nominated G.C.B. by her Majesty.

SERIOUS ACCIDENT IN EDINBURGH.

EDINBURGH, Thursday Evening.

At a few minutes past seven o'clock this morning an old
tenement in Leith-wynd, which partially gave way a few
weeks ago, and which was in progress of demolition, fell
to the ground with a great crash. A hollow rumbling was
heard within the walls, an immense cloud of dust proceeded
from each of the windows, and finally the entire front
wall gave way, dashing down one of the gables of a house
opposite and covering the men engaged in the work of de-
molition. Up to 2 o'clock p.m. nine persons had been ex-
tricated, two of whom were dead, viz., David Moffat (son
of Mr. Moffat, painter, Leith-walk) and a labourer named
James M'Lucas. Mofat had been superintending the
demolition of the building, of which his father was one of
the proprietors. The other parties recovered from the
ruins were Peter M`Lachlan, labourer, who has been seri-
ously injured, and who now lies in the infirmary; Boswell
Thomson, labourer, likewise in the infirmary, seriously
injured ; John Darling Todrecks, whose hurts were not
very severe ; and David Davidson, an assistant to Mr.
Moffat, who was conveyed to the infirmary, being fearfully
hurt.

The house opposite was partly knocked down by the fall
of the ruin, and a woman and two children have been se-
riously—it is feared mortally—injured. Mrs. Douglas,
whose maiden name is Christina Mason, was going about
her household work, when the wall came in with a crash
upon herself and two children—the ono a little girl of two
years, named Mary, and the other a boy of six years,
named John. All these lie in the infirmary in a very cri-
tical state. A child from one of the neighbouring houses,
which was playing about the street at the tine, has, it is
hared, been killed.