The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-12 00:00:00

Commence at 7.

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Manager, Mr. Edmund Falconer,
Engagement of Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams.
THIS EVENING. will be produced THE FAIRY
CIRCLE. Mr. and Mrs. B. Williams.
After which, THE HOUR AT SEVILLE. Mrs. Barney
Williams in ten characters.
To conclude with THE LEPRACIIAUN ; or, Bad Luck's
Good Luck with Good Looking After. Messrs. Rainey
Williams, Barrett, &c.
And a BALLET DIVERTISSEMENT.
Reduced Prices—Dress Boxes, 4s. ; Upper Boxes, 3s. ; Pit,
2s. ; Stalls, ss. ; Gallery, Is.
Box-office open from 11 to 5 daily. Doors open at half -past
0 to commence at 7 every evening.

NEW THEATRE - ROYAL, ADELPHL
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Benj. Webster.
This Evening, STILL WATERS RUN DEEP. John
Mildmay, Mr. A. Wigan; Mr. Potter, Mr. Charles Selby,;
Hawksley, Mr. Billtngton; Mrs. Mildmay, Mrs. Billington ;
Mrs. Sternhold Mrs. A. Wigan.
After which, WELCOME, LITTLE STRANGER. Mr.
Wright.
To conclude with THE INVISIBLE PRINCE. Mr. J. L.
Toole, Miss Woolgar, Miss Arden, Miss Keeley, Miss Kate
Kelly.
Doors open at a quarter-past six—Commence at seven. Box
Office open from 10 to 5- no charge for booking. No fees to
servants permitted. A registry kept of all articles found.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE,
Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborongh
This Evening, will be presented MATRIMONIAL PRO-
SPECTUSES.
After which, the new Extravaganza, KENILWORTH ; or
Ye Queene. ye Earle, and ye Maydeniie
And THE LITTLE SAVAGE.
Commence at 7 o'clock.

AsTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE,
Westminster-road.

Lessee and Manager Mr. William Cooke.
Brilliant and unprecedented success of the new Dramatic
Spectac.
THIS EVENING the performances commence with a grand
new Spectacle, from the DramaticIt. Phillips, Esq., interspersed
with extraordinary hipp effects and striking situa-
tions, in three Acts, and entitled THE HUNDRED
CUIRASSIERS. Produced with new scenery, mechanical
arrangements, gorgeous sn I characteristic costumes, elabo-
rate equestrian and spectacular appointments, and the hand-
somest Stud of Horses in the world. Characters by Messrs.
Holloway, Phillips, Anson, Francis, Anderson, M. Howard.
Herbert ; Mesdames Dowton, Blanche, JullaWeston, Thorne,

&c.
To be followed by SCENES IN THE CIRCLE, intro-
ducing Miss Kate Cooke; Miss Emily Cooke, Madame Blanche,
Madame Bridges, Maddlle. Fleurette, and Madame Fran-
cisco, being tne greatest amount of female equestrian talent
ever seen in one night at any theatre. Grotesques : Messrs.
Hemming and Thorne.
To conclude with the CAPTAIN IS NOT AMISS.
Dress Circle, 4s. ; Boxes, 3s. ; Pit, 2s, ; Gallery, ls. ; upper
Gallery, 6d.:
Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips.

CANTERBURY HALL, Westminster-road.--
Proprietor—C. MORTON.
The public is most respectfully informed that the FINE
ARTS GALLERY in connection with the above Hall, IS NOW
OPEN DAT AND NIGHT, from 11 o'clock a.m. until 12
''clock p.m. The New Gallery contains an extensive Collec-
.ion of Pictures, by Ancient and Modern Masters .and is also
devoted to Art productions generally. The Proprietor feels
he may confidently assert that, viewed altogether, the exist-
ing Music Hall, the New Fine Arts Gallery, and the recently
added
Ante-Hall, will present an attraction which, whether
as regards the architectural beauty of the structures them-
selves, or the varied and hitherto unattempted combinations
within, will be found to be wholly without parallel in the
Kingdom.

The MUSICAL ENTERTADOIENT commences as usual at
Seven o'clock.

In addition.to the usual entertainment. the. SAUVLET
FAMILY, of Amsterdam, Fight in number, whose varied
instrumental performances have created so marked a sensa-
tion in the principal cities and towns of the Continent; will
perform every Evening at Nine and Eleven o'clock.

THE WEATHER._STJN OFFICE, MARCH 12.
THERMOMETEU, IN THE SHADE.
57—highest sinmi noon yesterday,
55—lowest this morning and during the night.,
57—this day at noon.
BAROMETER-29.78.
WIND, TY
N NV • light, with dull weather, and rain in
. • •
the night.

A more important and interesting subject to the
people of England could scarcely be ventilated
than that so ably brought forward last night by
Lord CLARENCE PAGET in the representative branch
of the Legislature. There has unquestionably
been gross mismanagement and a most wanton and
uncalled-for expenditure in the ship-building de-
partment. Neither the present Government nor
the First Lord of the Admiralty are in any degree
responsible for this untoi.vard state of affairs ;
indeed, the noble lord gave great credit to Sir
JOHN PAKINGTON for breaking through the "old
Admiralty routine and taking the House into his
confidence," clearly and explicitly announcing
what he was'going to do with the Money. Nor was
there any attack on Sir BALDWIN WALKER. That
gallant officer is, probably, one of the most effi-
cient surveyors of the Navy we have had since
the office had been established. It was the system

that was complained of, and certainly not the pre-
sent men. Sir CHARLES WOOD had been sufficiently
long connected with the department to have, not
only mastered all the details, but to have intro-
duced the ameliorations. But not so. The Right
Hon. Baronet is better qualified to criticise than
to originate, and we gladly recognise the modesty
which induced him to restrict himself to the defence
of Sir BALDWIN WALKER, without entering into
any justification of his own conduct, or of the
various boards with which he had been connected

during the period of his ministerial services.
We have long, consistently and perseveringly,
exposed the objectionable system, and pointed out
striking instances of the matters so distinctly ex-
plained by Lord C. PAGET. It is more than ten years
since we directed attention to the case of the Nelson,
which had been put on the stocks some forty years
ago. She was, as her promised name indicated,
to have been of the very highest class--carrying
120 guns, and able not merely to sustain. the mari-
time superiority of Great Britain against even for-
midable odds, but, as our transatlantic cousins
would say, if they had ever the chance of possess-
ing such a vessel as she promised to be, to "smash
all creation." But, alas ! our noble Nelson still
remains on the stocks, and is now undergoing the
process of conversion the " ordinary" process,
we should have said ; for the established rule
seems to be, that men-of-war should be cut down to
frigates, and frigates lengthened until they ap-
proximate to the higher class. No private esta-
blishment could possibly stand under such reckless
outlay. But JOHN BULL is a patient animal, and,
with all his faults, he still takes pride in what is

really a noble Navy—a new wonder of the world-
and he is by no means disposed to cavil at or com
plain of any demand that may render it still more
efficient and better calculated to sustain the honour,
dignity, and independence of his fatherland. It is
this very confiding and laudable disposition on his
part that renders it the more essential that there
should be no abuse. The case of" The Nelson," above
alluded to, is alone sufficient to prove the impera-
tive necessity of a speedy and searching revision of
the entire system. It is usually considered that the
expense of a first-class man-of-war may be esti-
mated at one thousand pounds per gun. And
the details supplied by Lord C. PAGET last night,
prove that the calculation was rather under than
above the mark, and that exclusive of engines and
steam machinery. Now, the Nelson was com-
menced in " the good old times," almost before
steam had been introduced into the postal service,
and when the voyage from Dublin to Holyhead
might last almost as many weeks as it now takes
hours—when the Lord Palmerston, the last of the
Irish packet-boats, still sustained a system speedily
destined to become obsolete, and struggled with
the desperate tenacity which the party from whom
it derived its name now does against any real
reform, or a semi-insane coach proprietor against
railways. This unlaunched Nelson, then, ought to
have cost £120,000 sterling, but supposing that she
only cost two-thirds of the amount, or £BO,OOO, forty-
two years ago, we would find, making due allow-
ance for compound interest, that her total cost to
the nation would be £64o,ooo,exclusive of the charge
for converting her into a screw 91. gun steamship,
which may be taken at some £50,000 or £60,000 at
the very lowest. As we do not wish to have our
assertions doubted, we shall give a brief sketch of
the mode by which the conclusion is arrived at.
The £BO,OOO, in 14 years, amounted to £160,000 ;
in 28 years, to £320,000 ; and in 42 years, to
£640,000. Adding £60,000 for the conversion, we
shall find that the Nelson, when completed, will
have cost the nation the very moderate sum of
£700,000 sterling t—rather a heavy price to pay
for any whistle, however captivating.
The fact is, that the entire system must be
changed, and the Naval Board rendered a perma-
nent body, and in-"that respect assimilated to
the authorities at the Horse Guards. At
present the First Lord of the Admiralty
is, generally speaking, a civilian, utterly
ignorant of the subject Over which he is presiding,
and of which he is constituted the virtual dictator.
By zealously and assiduously studying the subject,
he may at length begin to discern a glim-
mering of light ; but scarcely has he
done so before a change of Ministry
consigns him to the cold shade of the Opposition,
where hejwill regardwith by no means uneasy feel-
ings the failures of his successor, who starts with
no greater experience than he possessed when
nominated to the head of the Department.
Sir JOHN PAKINGTON -hcIS been, perhaps, the
best lay lord that has ever filled the office. But
why should there be a lay lord ? And why should
not the whole board remain:in office permanently.?
Other less important positions may be found
to introduce rising young men or juvenile
members of the aristocracy into public life. The
nation would better bear any other legal fiction.
They want the Board of Admiralty to be placed on
the best foundation, and for that reform we believe
they may trust to Lord DERBY and his colleagues.

We can but be gratified to see that the course
which we suggested on Wednesday will be adopted
by an independent member. Mr. WYLD sits for a
borough in which he has probably learned by ex-
perience the value of the Ballot. Any one.who will
but glance at the " elections for twenty years " in
"Dod's Electoral Facts," will see that the bur-
gesses, and the patrons there named, have had a
struggle of some years' duration, which has ended
in the impartial chronicler being able to remark—
" that of late years little personal influence has
prevailed." He will also note, as the result, that
the Liberals seem now to be quite in the ascendant'
but that a well-known Cornish family has personal
influence enough to take much the highest place on
the poll. We cannot grudge the Honourable J. C.
VIVIAN this honour, since he has honoured himself
by voting for the Ballot; thus showing his con-
fidence that he has earned the good opinion of his
neighbours. Indeed, he will be pretty sure to
find that confidence returned as long as he
seeks it. We have little doubt that both the
Liberal members for Bodmin will this year, as last,
place their names in the Red Letter list of the
Ballot Society's Annual broad sheet of the division
for the Session ; a broad-sheet, by the bye, which
every constituency should procure before the
corning general election.
Mr. WYLD, then, has given notice that he will
move on the 21st, as an addition
o. No one, of course,
to Lord JOHN
RussELL's resolution, that
3
a Reform Bill, to be
satisfactory to the people, must provide for the
votes being taken by Ballot.
can vet predict that an appeal will be mad, to the
country ; still nothing can be more likely, notw 411.-
1 standing the announcement of Mr. DISRAELI, of
his intention to submit clauses which will per-
Imps correct the most fatal mistake in his bill. It is
therefore essential that the friends of the Ballot
should provide against .the worst. We presume
Mr. BERKELEY is cognisant of, and will cordially
support, Mr. WYLD'S motion, and thus, by adhering
to his own in committee, should the bill get there,
have two strings to his bow. In any case, Mr.
WYLD'S motion is the more important of the two ;
since it will, in case of a dissolution, send all the
membersito their constituents either as hearty friends

of the Ballot—or astimid abstainers from voting--or
as uncompromising opponents. That is the prac-
tical point to be secured just now. Let every mem-
ber proclaim whether he_thinks he should retain
his seat if the electors voted freely. Let him say
whether he believes himself to be the choice of free
and independent, or of intimidated, and, in some
cases, of bribed electors—whether he be the elect
of landlords, lawyers, mortgagees, and the like, or
the elect of the voters themselves.
In regard to the mock ballot proffered by Mr.
DISR.AELI, it will be worth the while of the
honourable member for Bodmin to turn to a
debate on the 4th of June, 1857, on the motion
of Lord . ROBERT CECIL, for a select commit-
tee to inquire into the expediency of taking the
votes for counties and universities by voting papers.
He will there find that one certainly of the most
influential of the present Ministry denounced the
plan for counties in very strong terms. It had
been shown that, in elections under the Poor-law Act,

voting papers had been a fruitful cause of forgery and
personation, when Lord STANLEY declared himself
decidedly opposed to it. After some -prefatory
remarks admitting its suitableness to university
constituencies, and showing that more numerous
polling places would lessen the chances of mob
violence, he observed—

" When he passed from this part of the question
to the danger of intimidation, he confessed it ap-
peared to him that this abuse would be infinitely
aggravated by the proposition of his noble friend.
What could be easier, under any system that could
be devised of voting by papers, than for the agent
or any person who had power over another to go
to the voter and to insist upon his signing the
voting paper in his presence ? Supposing it to be
admitted then, that intimidation might exist under
any system of open.voting, it seemed to him that
the proposition of his noble friend was calculated
not to diminish, but to increase that practice. But
when he came to look at the effect of the proposi-
tion upon bribery, he thought that the evil of that
practice would be increased in a still greater de-
gree. At present, whenever bribery took place,
one party or the other ran some risk of being de-
ceived. If the bribe were given before the voting
paper Was signed there was a risk that the voter
who had received it might not fulfil his part of the
contract, while, if the bribe were promised to be
given after the vote, the voter was exposed to the
risk of losing that by the promise of which
he had been bribed. But the proposition
of his noble friend made the thing quite
safe—the voter received his money when he handed
over the signed voting paper, and the agent for the
candidate obtained, therefore, not security for the
vote, but the vote itself. (Hear, hear.) Next as
to personation :—At present it was a difficult and
a dangerous thing for a non-elector to personate an
elector ; he could not do it except by appearing in
person at the poll, and he put himself thereby in
peril of the law. It was evidently much easier to
sign a paper than to personate a voter. It might
be said that a person signing a paper in the name
of a voter would be liable to be charged with
forgery ; but the forgery would be committed by a
person unknown, there would be no clue to the
guilty person, and, practically, he believed that it
had been found, in electiOns under the Poor Law,
that personation had gone on to a very great extent.
But even if it had been shown, as it had not, that
in Poor Law elections the system of voting by
papers had worked satisfactorily, he should still
refuse •to admit that that afforded any guarantee
that it would work satisfactorily in the case of
Parliamentary elections. There was an immense
difference between the amount of temptation in the
one case and the other; and the difficulties of detail,
moreover, were such as:to make elections carried on
in the manner proposed almost impossible."
We need not show the appropriateness of these
observations to Mr. DISRAELJ'S, or to any system
of voting papers, but those which the voter himself
folds up, having filled them up secretly, and puts,
himself, into a;ballot-box. Lord STANLEY, except as
one of a body bound in honour to stand by each
other, would never surely support the clauses which
provide for voting papers. Mr. WYLD will, we
should think, have no difficulty in showing that
he cannot do so unless he has really changed his
opinion. That Mr. WYLD can get a majority for
his motion may he too much to hope, but it will in
all probability cost some of the refractory Liberals
their seats, and they will be most rightly served
-if it does. Let Mr. WYLD be unmoved by any
solicitations ; the Ballot is a Reform Bill in itself
—worth more than any we have yet seen.

ROYAL] ENGLISH OPERA, . COVENT-

GARDEN.

There is always something refreshing in the
strains of the brilliant and animated compo-
sitions of Auber, and perhaps he was never better
rendered than he was last evening by Miss Louisa
Pyne, as La. Caterina, in the " Crown Diamonds."
The music is too popular to need especial reference,
but we question if Miss Pyne could make a greater
impression on the public ear than in the beautifully
florid execution of the music entrusted to her
in this charming opera. A little too much
If one composer has been given of late at this
theatre, and a change of musical diet will be bene-
ficial to the public taste, and duly estimated by all
lovers of " sweet sounds." We see no just reason
why English singers should not occupy a prominent
place in our musical records, and, while such a
company as that of Miss Pyne and Mr. Harrison is
to be heard, we heartily advise the public to lend
'their ears to " native talent." Her Majesty and
the Prince Consort honoured the theatre with their
presence, and appeared highly gratified with the
performance. We see that Mr. Harrison's benefit
takes place on Monday next, when the English
version of Flotow's opera of " Martha" will be
presented, and will doubtless ensure a full and ap-
preciating audience.

The Duchess of Inverness gave a grand entertain-
ment at her apartments in Kensington Palace last evening
to their Royal Highnesses the •Duchess of Cambridge and
the Princess Mary and the Duke of Cambridge.
Another domestic affliction has befallen his Ex-
cellency Count de Lavradio, Portuguese Minister at this
Court. Yesterday's mail brought the intelligence of the
death of his sister, the Duchess de Ficalho, Mistress of the
Robes to her Majesty the Queen of Portugal.
The Duke. and Duchess of Buccleuch are ex-
pected In tawn early in the ensuing week, from Scotland.
The Earl of Minto was much better yesterday,
and hopes are now entertained of his ultimate recovery. •
The Earl of Sandwich is remaining on a visit
with his family at Frognal, the seat of Viscount and Vis-
countess Sydney, in Kent.

Lord Rosslyn has accepted the office of Under-
Secretary for War, vacant by the resignation of Lord Har-
dinge. Lord Rosslyn is a: Major-General in the Army, and
has been twice Master of the Buckhounds.

THE PROSECUTION OP THE BENNETTS.—At the
Middlesex Sessions yesterday, Thomas Stowell, the prose-
cutor of the indictments against some persons of the name
of Bennett, and Mr. Haynes an attorney, charging them
with conspiring to defraud, as quack doctors, applied to the
court for bench warrants. Mr. F. H. Lewis saidhe appeared
for Mr. Haynes, who was present with bail if it was re-
quired, but he submitted that in point of law, as the indict-
ment was framed, the court had no jurisdiction, and could
not therefore issue the warrant, and as a matter of course,
if that were so, could not take bail. The Assistant-Judge
refused to grant the warrants.
ILLUMINATION ,AND ADJUSTMENT OF THE GREAT
CLOCK AT WESTMINSTER.—Last evening the preliminary
proceedings in connection with this great horological expe-
riment were commenced by Sir C. Barry and other gentle-
men in the clock tower, the faces of the stupendous en-
amelled dial-plates being illuminated by gas fires froth
within, and presenting, as viewed from -Palace-yard, the
river, and adjacent districts, a very novel, radiant, and im-
posing appearance.
PUBLIC PETITIONS.—There are now 72 petitions
before the Commons House for reform of Parliament,
signed by 24,674 persons, and 63 signed by 34,797 persons
for " universal suffrage " the ballot, and shorter Parlia-
nients. The list of petitions to the House of Commons
against the Marriage Law Amendment Bill (which has
passed.the lower house and awaits a second reading in the
upper chamber). ineftides ene from the ,Rev. Richard
Chenevix Trench, P.D., .liear- of the Collegiate Church of
St. Peter, Westminster, and the chapter of the same church.
There are only 10 petitions allth ogeer against the Marriage
Bill,
signed by 302 persons, including (besides the above) a
petition from Sion College, London ; one from a few of the
setter'
31 orthodox petitioners.
provincial clergy in and near Leeds, and. one from 31 ladies
riewho style themselves " The women of England, both mar-
HlCtiihme
unmarried." Mr. Beresford Hope, M.P., pre-
sented honoured by the signatures of these
RICHMOND
—n
Ntololsw
tion of the abolition
ratien by a Royal commission, it will be interesting to the
isthunatate.hr econqsuidees:
public to know that at a meeting of the Richmond-bridge
Commissioners, held on the 10th • t, M 11
chair-
man of the Middlesex Magistratesins.Powna ,
presiding, it was decided
that on the 25th inst. the toll-bar should be removed, and
the bridge declared free to the public,

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THE SUN.
SATURDAY. MARCH 12, 1859.