The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-24 00:00:00

ziani's name.

" It is my determination, if possible, to prevent the neces-
sity of having recourse to law proceedings, and, with this
view, I beg to make the following proposal :
" I propose that your claims to the services of Signor
Graziani, as well as my own, shall be submitted to arbitra-
tion.

" I will agree that the arbitrator shall be a Queen's coun-
sel, to be chosen by yourself.
" If you object to such an arbitrator, I suggest that we
should request any two of the following gentlemen to decide
between us—viz., Mr. C. Kean, of the Princess's Theatre ;
Mr. W. Arnold,.proprietor of the Lyceum ; Mr. Buckstone,
of the Haymarket ; or Mr. 'Webster, of the Adelphi ; which
two I will leave to your own choice.
" Should you not approve of either the above tribunals,
I am quite willing to leave the case to the decision of the
gentlemen forming the committee of management of your
own theatre.

, "I beg the favour of an immediate reply, as I conceive it
to be most improper that Signor Graziani's name should
day after day appear in the advertisements of both theatres
—I am, sir, your obedient servant,
" E. T. Smith, Esq."

"FREDERICK GYE

Theatre Royal, Drury-lane, March 22.

" Sir,.-7-In reply to yours of the 21st, I beg to say Ido
not think you ought to feel any surprise at the announce-
ment you complain of, since you well knew from Signor
Graziani himself that I am warranted in putting forth his
name.

" It is true that on our interview you offered me unre-
stricted inspection of his engagement with you, and which
I have no doubt was binding ; but he contends, and I think
with reason and justice (and, indeed, as I have no doubt
the public will), that your default in fulfilling the terms of
it released him from the further observance of it. Hence
his engagement with me.

" The referenoe .of the matter which it is the object of
your letter to prdpose, although unobjectionable in point of
personal honour, I cannot accept ; for it is not so much a
question between you and me as between you and the
Signor.

" For my own part, but without the slightest ill-feeling,
I beg to say I shall continue the course I have begun, and
if you think it yotir interest to appeal to the law, and so in-
volve the consequent publicity of the grounds which have
guided Signor Graziani in his conduct towards me, you
must do so, for it is incumbent on me to keep faith with
the public. Hitherto I always have, and hope alwaysshall.
—I am, sir, your obedient servant,
" F. Gye, Esq." " E. T. SMITH."

" Royal Italian Opera, Covent-garden, March 22,

beg to acknowledge the receipt 'of your reply to
my letter of yesterday. Your refusal to submit the case of
Signor Graziani'S engagement to such a tribunal as either
of those I proposed to you needs no comment. It is neces-
sary, however, that I should inform you, and,. in case you
might have been misled, I hereby give you notice that I
have made no default whatever in fulfilling Signor Gra-
ziani's engagement.

" As to publicity, I can have no objection to that:
remain, sir, you obedient servant,

" FREDERICK GYE,
" E. T. Smith, Esq., Theatre Royal, Drury-lane,"

DEATH OF CO UNT SIGISMUND

KRASINSKL

On the 23d inst. died in Paris Count Sigismund
Krasiriski, a Polish noble, hero, and poet. He was
related to the royal house of Saxony and Piedmont,
and his godfather was the Emperor Napoleon, who
appointed him on the day of his birth aide-de-camp
to the King of Rome. The Confederation of Bar,
the last of Polish national governments, 'tit a time
when Poland was battling with its three invaders,
was presided over by two Krasinskis ; one of them
a marshal, the other Bishop of Kamienic. General
Count Krasinski, the father of Sigismund, was
Commandant of the Light Horse Cavalry under
Napoleon. It was he that, after the death of Poni-
atowski, brought back to his country the heroic
remains of the Polish Legions. Count Sigismund'g
was an agitated and sorrowful existence. The
sufferings of that ardent soul, consumed by the fire
of the purest patriotism, were indescribably bitter.
A great nobleman, a great poet, and one of the
richest men in Europe, he might have aimed at the
highest destinies, yet he voluntarily resigned him-
self to an obscure and passive life. The most bril-
liant Offers were made to him from the highest
quarters. Once the Emperor Nicholas desired to
see him. "Be with me," said the Czar, " and I
will grant you anything you may ask." But Count
Sigismund could not bear to witness the subjection
of his country.• He went abroad, and sent forth
from the depths of his voluntary exile snatches of
glorious verse, which he never acknowledged. The
Poles sang these inspired hymns without knowing
their author. When there appeared in rapid
succession the • "Infernal Comedy," " Tridion,"
the " Psalms," -and the " Temptation," an allu-
sion to the offers made to the poet by the
Czar, Sclavonians read and wondered, and asked
who could be this unknown genius whose
verses found an echo in every Polish heart, and
whose name remained a mystery. Some intimate
friends of Sigismund at length suspected him of
being the anonymous poet, who took more pains to
conceal himself than others do to make themselves
known ; but nothing could induce him to break his
incognito.. He had left the world, and a wide
reputation had no attractions for him. We may
imagine what deep sorrows must have crossed that
noble heart and mind before it was reduced to this
state of self-imposed obscurity, which would even
stand in the way of its own fame. In his poems
we see the reflex of his passionate soul, so deeply
wounded, yet so sensitive and so ardently devoted
to the honour of his name and the nationality of
his country. They are the expression, in the
noblest language, of the purest sentiments. His
motto, that " Virtue is the highest wisdom," is also
the leading sentiment of all his poems. War was
the theme of Mickiewiez—philanthropy that of
Sigismund Krasinski. Both have died in exile.
The Nord newsparer, which is always purposely
wrong on certain questions, has insinuated that the
oi
thet
true road uponpointed
elite of Polish society which assisted at the obse-
quies of Count Sigismund, had assembled mainly
to honour the son of a celebrated man who
out, at
atthecotwofhiscohmroes
some
passingl
unpopularity,
can improve and in-
crease their nationality. This awkward sentence
contains a false . and treacherous idea. What the
Poles have wished to honour in piously follow-
ing the mortal remains of. Sigisimund Kra-
sinski is the poet, the man, the patriot—the inear-
duty, and of sacrifice.—Daily
nation of genius, of
News.

LITEI?ATURE.

Every Day. By Mrs. Fester Langton. 3 vols.

Hurst and Blackett.

This is a simple story, comprising in its limits
many interesting incidents, and many of those
humble details which are yet of no mean importance
in the annals of domestic life. The lady who tells
the story is a widow, who has met with many hard
trials herself, but who has roused herself to enter
again the arena of the world in which she has
suffered so bitterly, to employ herself in ministering
consolation to the troubles of others. She takes a
genial interest in the whole of her extended ac-
quaintance, but of course some have the preference,
and the varying lights and shadows which attend
their onward way are finely described to us. Lady
Bury and her daughters are important persons in
the story, and Lord Darlington's family is also very
attractive. Mrs. Arden is a welcome guest every-
where to all who can appreciate her; some few
narrow minds seek to detract from her merits to
suit their own paltry purposes. Of this class was
Miss Preston, the governess of Lord Darlington,
whose conduct is very aptly described, and who is
truly represented as occasioning great injury to all
the unfortunate young persons who came under her
care. Some of the events are strikingly introthiced,
as, for instance, the scene that took place when
Lady Bury was summoned to her daughter abroad.
The glitter and gaiety of courtly attire was thrown
aside, and instead of the gay saloon and the bril-
liant ball, they passed theirnight in hurried travel
to attend the sick if not the dying. All the scenes
of sorrow and suffering are very feelingly touched
upon ; but it is to be questioned if they are not of
too frequent recurrence for the pages of a novel.
The work throughout bears, traces of an unfinished
style and unpractised hand, but there -are also
apparent so much right feeling and pure principle
that it claims attention, and cannot fail to prove
acceptable to those who like a record of home life
in its joy and sorrow. It is very probable that this
authoress, on a future occasion, may again appear
before the public, and with more experience in com-
position, and greater concentration of expression,
there is no doubt will obtain a greater success than
at present. One merit is certainly to be acknow-
ledged, that of having chosen an admirable title
for her story, and of having strictly adhered to
the text, for this book is entirely what it repre-
sents itself at the commencement, a record of the
eventia-of " every day."

A Lady's Escape from Gwalior. By Mrs. R. M.
Coopland, widow of the Rev. G. W. Coopland,
M.A. Smith, Elder, and Co.

.This is another of those melancholy records of
what our countrywomen have had to endure; which
have been so plentiful during the last twelve
months. There is nothing particularly new in
this one; but, as the writer observes, there has
been no narrative of many of the scenes which she
witnessed, and those whose friends or relatives were
resident in Agra or Gwalior will feel an especial
interest in her descriptions. She had only arrived
in India a short time before the mutinies broke out.
Her husband was one of the East India Company's
chaplains, and she had gone out to share his Indian
life, anticipating many years of peace and useful-
ness. The first anniversary of her wedding day
found her a widow in the fort of Agra. When the
mutiny in Gwalior, which they had been antici-
pating for some days, broke out, Mr. and Mrs.
Coopland and several ladies of the neighbourhood
were concealed by a faithful native in his hut.
Unfortunately, a baby of one of the ladies cried
and fretted, which betrayed them. Her husband
was shot, but the natives spared the women, which,
considering their murderous ferocity, was almost
surprising. Their painful and toilsdthe escape—
now walking, now riding, under a fearful sun, and
all the while surrounded by jeering and savage-
looking natives, is simply told by Mrs. Coopland
but, though her account is so plain and quietly
written, it is evident they must have suffered a
martyrdom from anxiety and physical want. Many
of them, too, had the added distress of having seen
their husbands or children shot, or of being in cruel
uncertainty as to the fate of their relations and
friends. When they at length reached the fort of
Agra they were comparatively safe, but great must
have been the satisfaction and relief of the poor
afflicted traveller when she left that land where
she hoped to find a home, but which had proved to
her so cruelly inhospitable. The writer's opinion
of the natives is naturally very unfavourable. She
says that her judgment of them may be harsh, but
she had no time to know them favourably, and
whatever extenuation we may find for them in
European misgovernment and the violence of tro-
pical passions, we cannot deny that their conduct
in the mutinies was that of fiends. The volume is
a mournful one, though not more so than the nature
of the subject necessitates, and it will probably be
read with interest by those who are unacquainted
with the details of the mutiny in that particular

New Zealand and its Colonisation. By William
Swainson, Esq. .Smith and Elder.

This work gives us an interesting picture of New
Zealand. It traces the origin and progress of the
colony--past and present—the collision of the
colonists with the natives, and their position and
prospects. New Zealand as a field of emigration
is also considered, its constitution and government,
and the situation of the church. The scenery and
climate form the subjects of separate chapters.
The position of the aborigines in relation to the
settlers, and the mournful decay of the native race
whenever they are brought into contact with
whites, are especially considered. The principles
of the English Government are also fully discussed
and entered into. The work merits the attention
of all who are interested in the welfare of our
colonies, and in tracing the fortunes of the Maori
race, who are now slowly but surely passing away
from their ancient territories and settlements.