The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-12 00:00:00

TliE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 12, 1.866,

excluded from the management any sectarian or

exclusive influences, whether of religiot;r, politics, or
locality ; thirdly, he provided that the only qualifi-
cation necessary should be good character and
poverty. But though the gift was clogged with no
directions, and was merely restricted to these gene-
ral principles, there were two passages in Mr.
PEABODY'S letter which assisted the trustees
in arriving at a decision. He expressed
a hope that the money might be so applied as to be
appreciated not only by the present but by future
generations of the people of London, and he threw
out a suggestion for their consideration as to the
desirability of employing part of the fund
.in im-
proving the dwellings of the poor. The claims of
the hospitals were duly considered, but the trustees
resolved at least to defer assisting them, both from
their desire to meet Mr. PEABODY'S view of making
his fund a permanent one, and also from the ur-
gency of the need for increased accommoda-
tion. In many cases the hardship of loss of
employment attends on a forced removal, while
the rate of rents for the meanest and
dirtiest places is exorbitant. A gentleman
well acquainted with the poor of London, writing
recently on this subject, says—" Even in our
crowded and deplorable districts, such as the streets
and alleys running out of Drury-lane and in the
region of the Seven Dials, apartments are not to be
had, and the rents in some neighbourhoods are
raised 50 per cent." The same authority says that
two dingy little rooms cost 7s. per week, and two
damp kitchens ss.
To the occupiers of such miserable places we
can fancy how wonderful must be the change into
the airy, healthy, and commodious tenements
which they can attain in the PEABODY Buildings
at a less rate than they formerly paid. The
blocks which have been erected in several
directions, so as to include the poor of
all parts of London in the benefits of the gift,
are erected with a minute attention to the wants
and requirements of the poor. " Drainage and
ventilation have been insured with the utmost pos-
sible care; the instant removal of dust and refuse
is effected by means of shafts which descend from
every window to cellars in the basement, whence it
is carted away ; the passages are all kept clean and
lighted with gas without any cost to the tenants;
water from cisterns in the roof is distributed by
pipes into every tenement, and there are baths free
for all who desire to use them. Laundries with
wringing machines and drying lofts are at the
ervice of every inmate. Every room is plentifully
supplied with shelves and cupboards, and every
fireplace has a boiler and an oven." It is interesting
to find that the two things which gratify the
tenants more than all are the ample spaces in-which
their children can safely play, and the security of
their furniture and effects, which are no longer
liable to be taken for rent. Yet for all these ad-
vantages a less rent is charged than for the dirty
and miserable rooms, without proper ventilation,
drainage, or supply of water, where the rents are
exacted with rigorous regularity. It is very gratify-
ing to find that the poor fully appreciate the advan-
tages offered, and have shown themselves worthy of
them, since out of 880 persons occupying the
tenements only one has been expelled for non-
payment of rent, and one for disturbing the peace.
There is a preliminary inquiry into the character of
the applicants, and habitual drunkards are not
admitted, so that the occupants start with a fair
chance of doing well, and they have hitherto fulfilled
the promise in a remarkable degree.
The sanitary state of the people is most satisfac-
tory, affording convincing testimony how much the
mortality of the poor is due to the state of their
dwellings. The applications for admission are far
more numerous than the vacancies, and when we
look at the districts chosen we shall not be surprised.
Spitalflelds, Islington, Shadwell, Chelsea, and Ber-
mondsey are the sites chosen, and the trustees,
should they decide on erecting more blocks,
will have no difficulty in finding situations.
They have effected so much by personal labour
and superintendence that the total expenses
of administering the fund as yet is but £517 10s. ;
but they express their regret at the heavy charges
levied on their houses in the shape of rates and
taxes. Surely their modest claim to exemption has
a right to be heard on the ground that these build-
ings assist in repressing the poor rates. They have
demonstrated that it is possible to erect healthy
and cheerful and comfortable houses for the poor,
at moderate rents, with a fair prospect of return for
the investment ; and by giving rooms such as we
have described at 2s. 6d. for one, 4s. for two, and
ss. for three, in place of the wretched apartments
charged at 3s. each, they have, it is to be hoped,
shamed some of our house owners into doing better
things. The PEABODY Fund, large as it is, cannot
meet the wants of the poor of London ; but enough
has been done to show the way to those who lacked
the courage or the humanity to be the pioneers.

LA TEST IN TEL LIG ENCE.

(RELTTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

-4.

THE MILITARY REVOLT IN SPAIN.
MADRID, JAN. 10 (Evening).

On receiving a deputation from the Chamber of
Deputies to present an address, the Queen replied
that, in spite of the affliction she experienced in
viewing the sad sight of a rebellion among a portion
of the army, it was for her a great consolation to
see the representatives of the nation offering her
their support and the testimony of their unanimous
loyalty.
The latest official despatches announce that
General Prim's carriage and baggage had fallen
into the hands of the Royal troops. He is still
stated to be in the mountains of Toledo, manceuvring
to reach the Portuguese frontier. Columns have
been sent to cut off his retreat by way of Estre-
madura.

The rumour current here that General Concha
was wounded is officially denied. After arriving at
Madrid he had an interview with Marshal
O'Donnell.

At eleven last night an alarm, which lasted a
short time, was given, but quiet is now completely
re-established. Some anxiety continues to prevail.

The authorities of Saragossa and Barcelona tele-
graphed to the Government on the 10th that
perfect order reigned.

PARIS, JAN. 12.

The Maititeur, in its bulletin of to-day, says :
" The state of affairs in Spain seems to be un-

changed.
" A proclamation has been promulgated at
Madrid declaring that groups shouting seditious
cries will be dispersed by military force.
" The provinces are tranquil, with the exception
of Catalonia and Aragon, where a certain uneasi-
ness prevails."

ROME.
SHIPPING DISASTERS AT CIVITA
VECCHIA.

ROME, JAN. 11.
The tempestuous weather yesterday caused seve-
ral accidents in, the port of Civita Vecchia.
The corvette Conception was driven against the
French steamer Aunis.
Many fishing vessels have been lost.

LITERATURE.

THE AUTOGRAPHIC Minßon.—Another volume of
this magnificent Table Book at once justifies -and
crowns its reputation. It is the first volume of the
new and improved series, the third volume that has
now made its appearance since the date, a year and
a half ago, of the work's commencement. Hand-
somely bound—as handsomely and elegantly as any
gift-book of the season—this new issue of The
Autographic Mirror, even in its external aspect,
cannot but prove an adornment of exceptional
beauty and interest to any library or drawing-room
table, even to those already furnished the most pro-
fusely with costly portfolios and other kindred de-
corations. For a well-appointed drawing-room
table, in point of fact, the new volume of The
Autographic Mirror has by this time come to be as
much a necessity in its way as the carte-de-visite
album or the binocular apparatus of the stereoscope.
To all those who recognise more or less vividly the
indication of character, temperament, or idiosyncrasy
in t person's handwriting, the work possesses an at-
traction and an interest of a very remarkable kind.
For within the compass of any one single volume of
it—and the one here immediately before us may be
taken haphazard as affording us exactly a case in
point—a complete and very varied collection of
celebrities are in this peculiar manner brought
with wonderful distinctness under our considera-
tion, men and women of all ranks and classes,
individuals of every diversity of reputation, social
or intellectual, heroic, august or eccentric, are here
revealed to us, so far as they can be revealed to us,
through minutely accurate fac-similes of their hand-
writing. From that awful hieroglyphic (shadowing
forth at once blindness and insanity), one of the
latest autographic signatures of King George 111.
—up to the Teutonic caligraphy of the Baron
Alexander von Humboldt, when yet in the full
splendour of his philosophic career : from the sign
manual of Queen Victoria or the signature affixed
by the Emperor Napoleon the Great to his Ma-
jesty's last will and testament—to the " fist" as
one may say of Old Joe Grimaldi, the prince of
Clowns, or to that of Blondin, the paragon of
Acrobats and Rope-Dancers. The Autographic
Mirror presents to view in this way a very world
in little, a veritable microcosm. Celebrities of all
kinds—poets, statesmen, heroes, novelists, painters,
actors, divines, philosophers—here they all are one
and all in motley confusion brought clearly and
vividly before us, speaking to us, if not with the
sound of their own voices, with the counterfeit pre-
sentment or literal fac-similes of their respective
handwritings. Whatever may be thought about
the notion of hand writing affording us any indica-
tion at all of character, it is quite impossible not
to regard it with especial interest and curiosity.
The work, consequently, is one precisely of a kind
worthy of and entitled to preservation. Appended
to this collection of autographs, moreover, there
will be found here in the later half of the present
volume a series of illustrative biographical notices
of a very interesting and entertaining charac-
ter. Scattered here and there through the
pages, too, are sundry comical embellishments,
pen-and-ink sketches, crayon drawings, or
what not, jotted down quite casually as the
whim of the moment seized them, by such humorous
draughtsmen as Hablot Browne, or as William
M'Connell, or as Alfred Crowquill. The work is
altogether an autographic treasury of interest and
information—a full and overflowing repertory of
intellectual amusement.

DUBLIN.--" Not Wisely, but too Well," is con-
tinued in some interesting chapters, and Kate's
adventures in her new vocation are most entertain-
ing. The descriptions given of the cousins are
well done, and furnish portraitures of a large class
of people who go through life without any definite
aim or object. " Number Five, Brooke Street,"
has also some agreeable chapters, and the account
of the arrival of the travellers furnishes an oppor-
tunity for an animated sketch of life and character.
" Laws of the Ancient Irish" contains some curious
records, which show the customs of an earlier time,
and will attract the attention of the antiquarian
reader. " The Rise and Influence of English
Monachism" is continued at some length ; these
chapters afford a very good impression of the event-
ful trials to which they refer. This portion is
devoted to the " Rise of the Benedictines." It is
said in an eloquent passage that the Benedictines
were the depositaries of learning and the arts, that
they started Gothic architecture, that matchless union
of art with nature ; in fine, they were the writers,
thinkers, and workers of a dark age, who wrote
for no applause, thought with no encouragement,
and worked for no reward. The mighty system
went the way of all human things, and engender-
ing " its own corruption, out of that corruption
came death." It is nearly fourteen hundred years
since the death of the great man who founded this
noble order ; and he who afterwards compiled the
" Saxon Chronicles" has recorded it in a simple
sentence, which, amongst the many doubtful records
of that document, we may at least believe, and
with which we will conclude the chapter—" This
year St. Benedict, the Abbot Father of all Monks,
went to heaven." " Tinted Sketches in Madeira"
are continued, and are pleasing to peruse. The
second part of " Garrick" brings before the reader
further particulars of the career of that distinguished
man. " Beatrice" is a peculiar sketch in verse,
which is written in a spirited style. " Fenianism"
is the last article met with, but it is written in too
bitter a spirit to influence the reader. The writer
appears to dread the proposed changes, and to feel
no confidence whatever in the intentions and wis-
dom of Government.

ICOLBURN'S UNITED SERVICE MAGAZINE. The
United Service is full of variety, beginning with a
few notes concerning the history of " the red coat"
as the emblem of the British soldier, reminding one
very forcibly of the " thin red line" under Sir Colin
Campbell on the heights of Balaclava, waiting for
the threatened charge of Russian cavalry, which
dared to do wonders, but faltered in the attempt,
deeming discretion to be the better course. It ap-
pears that " red" was the colour of the British
uniform for along time back, and here we have a
short history of its eventful career through many a
well foughten field. Scarlet, faced with blue, was
the uniform of the City Guard of Edinburgh, a
corps which existed from the days of Flodden until
those of Waterloo. Scarlet is mentioned among
the colours used by the Britons for dyeing their
skins in the time of Julius Caesar. The Royal
crowns of England and Scotland were always lined
with scarlet, though James IV. for a time adopted
imperial purple. The red uniform of the British
army was the Royal colour of England and Scot-
land centuries before the union of the two countries,
red and blue being the Royal livery of England,
and red and yellow that of Scotland. Singularly
enough scarlet was only adopted by the grim Scot-
tish Covenanters at the battle of Kilsythe, where
Montrose routed their troops with great slaughter
and" the red coat musketeers" were cut to pieces by
Viscounts Aboyne and Gordon: The chequer on
the bonnets of the Highland Regiments was adopted
by the clans under Montrose as significant of the
jess-cheque of the House of Stuart. The great
Marquis of Montrose wore scarlet at his barbarous
execution in Edinburgh in 1650. There are many
incidents related of the effects produced by the
stern appearance of the red uniform on the enemy
—especially at the battle of Vittoria. It became
an object with the officer commanding the light
companies which were scattered in pursuit to collect
as Many as he could, and get them arranged for the
attack of a column which formed at some distance
on one of the heights, and became a rallying point
to the thousands who were flying from the pursuit.
Before a sufficient number of Red Coats were col-
lected to attack the formidable column it broke and
bolted, its soldiers disappearing among the racing
mobs, who threw away their arms and fled towards
the Pyrenees. The skirmishers were wondering
what had produced so sudden a panic among men
who a moment before seemed"ready to die With their
officers, when, on their looking back to the ridge,
they saw a sight never to be forgotten. The whole
British line crowned the mountains from wing to
wing, looking like a wall of fire, their bayonets
glittering in the sun as they moved steadily,
silently, and presenting a glorious pic-
ture of power and order, This sight

it was which struck the enemy to the heart, and
made him fly from his new position in sudden panic.
No army, though double the number, if clad in
sombre uniform, could ever make such an appear-
ance, or produce such an effect as this. And yet,
at the commencement of the Volunteer Movement,
the writer of this was actively engaged in forming
a corps, now wearing grey ! So much for the glory
of " the old red rag!" " There are many veterans
now living, who followed Picton, Grahame, and the
Iron Duke, who treasure affectionately the dear old
remnant of other days, and cling to the recollection
of the hair-breadth 'stapes in which they gloried
when the field was won." At Dettingen George
" appeared in the same red coat which he had worn
while serving under Marlborough." Thackeray
says, " On public occasions he always displayed the
hat and coat he wore on the famous day of Oude-
narde, and the people laughed, but kindly, at the
odd old garment, for bra,rery never, never goes out
of fashion." At Minden, in 1759, we find the luck-
less Lord George Sackville leading the cavalry in
the same red coat which he had worn as a youth at
Fontenoy, and the same sentiment has prevailed in
the humbler tanks of the service. An aged soldier
named Robert Ferguson, who died at Paisley, in
1811, in his 97th year, preserved to the last as a
precious relic the old red coat of the 22d Foot (Ha ndy-
sides, wherein Sterne's father was a captain), in which
he had been wounded at the battles of Dettingen
and Fontenoy, just as future years may see some
veteran preserving the faded and perhaps blood-
stained tunic which he wore with Raglan at Sebas-
topol or with Havelock at Lucknow. "Of Pur-
suits, with Remarkable Examples," is another paper
of exciting interest, detailing some wonderful events
in which Napoleon figured with his usual general-
ship. " Jean Raymond" promises to become a sin-
gular story, exhibiting the career of a French sol-
dier. " Memoranda of Cavalry Regiments" is full
of reminiscences of the changes in those who bore
different numbers. " Comments on the Naval
Articles of War," and " Supplementary Despatches
of the Duke of Wellington," with "Shipwrecks and
their Causes," will be readwith interest ; so will
" Turret Ships," " Recollections of Sandhurst," and
other papers.
THE ECLECTIC.—We meet this month with some
interesting papers, among them being articles on the
Zambesi and the recent discoveries on the Shep-
herd Kings of Egypt, as well as a criticism on Miss
Tytler's " Citoyenne Jacqueline." " What is a
Hymn ?" is the title of a sensible and honest protest
against the modern fashion of touching up, uttering,
and " improving" the cherished old favourites,
which brings them to the correct level of modern
language, but entirely robs them of their vigour,
point, and earnestness.