The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, M NDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 1800

pal ay ought to be the first consideration with
mil parties concerned. There is a great disparity
between the rates charged at the different offices,
-which is atrributable partly to the fact that marine
insurance has not, like its fellows, been reduced to
a science. "It is, moreover, a much more complex
;problem to work out a scale of premiums for
-them with mathematical exactness that shall
,combine both safety and remuneration than
_for fire and life risks." The means which the
-writer recommends for the improvement and secu-
rity of the whole system is that a committee of
underwriters should be formed of representatives
from all the principal marine companies, and
representatives elected by the principal body
of the private underwriters at Lloyd's, who shall
be duly empowered to fix upon one uniform sliding
scale of charges for marine risks, both in peace and
war, binding upon all its members. By this means
the experience of all the companies could be exa-
mined into to obtain a fair estimate and correct ave-
rage of the risks and profits of a bona fide insurance
system. Excessive charges would be avoided on
the one hand, and insufficient premiums, which
naturally lead eventually to the collapse of the
office, would be shunned on the other. There
would, of course, be an advantage to the
newer and minor societies in joining a body, of
which the old-estableshed offices formed part, while
the latter would naturally take the lead, and would
not diminish their individual prestige by joining the
corporation. The public would have more security,
while the offices would run less risk by incurring
less responsibility. At present they naturally dis-

like to refuse business, and if they find that the
ship owners will not pay what they consider a fair
premium, they reduce their scale rather than see the
insurer go elsewhere. The whole system of insur-
ance offers especial temptations to the specu-
lator ; there is always a happy chance which
the sanguine man may trust to if he will, but
the only way to secure a sound business is to take
both sides of the question into consideration. If the
whole system were thoroughly studied by competent
persons, and a fair rate charged, there would be an
end of a great deal of rash and speculative dealing.
The objection may certainly be urged against the
scheme that it is of a centralising tendency, and
opposed to that full and free competition which
Englishmen prize so highly. At the same time it is
worthy of consideration on two or three heads, and
we commend it to the attention of all who are en-
gaged in marine insurance.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN COIUIESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Sunday Evening.
The desire for the observance of the Sabbath on
Sunday is on the increase. It is true that in many

instances workmen continue their labour during a

portion of Sunday, but such cases are becoming the

exception rather than the rule. Comparatively few
shops are now open on Sunday afternoons, and in-
deed business is suspended as much as possible.
Saint days are very rigorously observed. Some
months ago a carter at Saint Foy, a Protestant

named Elie Paris, was proceeded against for cart
ing goods in a cart drawn by oxen on All Saints'

day, which in France is observed with greater so-
lemnity than any other day ,in the year. The local
tribunal inflicted only a small fine, but insisted on
the principle of maintaining the day with solemnity.

The defendant appealed against the sentence to
the Court of Cassation in Paris, but that tribunal

rejected the appeal, and confirmed the sentence,
with costs, on the ground that there had been no
repeal of the law ordering the observance of Sun-
days and fete days, and particularly founding its
judgment on the fact that the law was passed in
the interest of public order and police regulation.

The Act in question, for the observance of Sundays,
was passed on the 18th of November, 1814, and
although it has at several periods fallen into
desuetude, it ordains a general suspension of ordi-
nary labour on Sundays and the fête days recog-

nised by law. There were, however, some exceptions
for the exercise of labour and professions of neces-

city. In 1802 it was decreed that public offices
should not exercise their functions on Sundays, and,
as is the case in England, no arrests for debt could
be made on Sunday. According to historical
records, it was the Emperor Constantine who
first ordered a rigorous observance of the
Sabbath. In the year 425 theatrical repre-
septations were forbidden in France on Sundays..
I do not find any record of the period when this
law was abrogated.
Another instance has occurred of the second mid-
centennial celebration or fete of the marriage cere-

moray with the same persons. The wedding pair
are the father and mother of Mdlle. Cico, a fa-
vourite singer of the Opera Comique. The divine
service was celebrated very impressively at the
church of Auteuil on Friday, and there was not
only an affecting speech from the curate, but some
magnificent music, vocal and instrumental, by

artists belonging to the Conservatory of Music. It
is not an ordinary occurrence when a daughter
sings at the marriage of her father and mother, but
such was the case on this occasion. The Ave Maria
was sung by Mdlle. Saxe, also a vocalist of great
repute. M. Auber, director of the Conservatory of

Music, was present, and a great many singers and

actors.

Madame Agnes Shakespere de Gapouska has
just died at Nice, who is stated to be a -lineal
descendant of Shakespere. She was a lady of dis-
tinguished manners and most amiable character.
Although married to a foreigner, she was born in
England.
A man, named Pierre Harnois, has been executed
at Nantes for the murder of his father. He died
very penitent, as is usual in cases of parricide. The
culprit walked from the prison to the place of exe-
cution barefooted, dressed in white trousers, and
with no covering over his shirt. He attempted to
resist when the executioners were about to cover his
head with a black veil, but he immediately ceded to
the exhortations of the priest, the Abbe Benoist.
The crowd was immense. At first he complained

that he was only informed of his approaching death
a few minutes before it was about to take place.
The Governor of the prison told him that to have
done so would only have been to prolong his anguish,
and he then seemed resigned to his fate.
The horse show at the Palais de l'lndustrie was
concluded on Saturday with becoming manifesta-
tions of interest. About 7,000 persons were present,
and the Emperor, the Prince of Denmark, and many
distinguished individuals attended to mark their
sense of the importance of the exhibition. The
horses which gained the prizes, harnessed to car-
riages, were paraded before the spectators. The
Emperor's post-horses excited great interest. They
have been frequently spoken of during the progress
of the exhibition.
The papers mention the death of M. de Saint
Marsault, Senator, Chevalier d'Honneur to the
Princess Mathilde. lie was formerly prefect of the
Department of the Seine-et-Oise.
In
M. B theeeßecker,
e Sr
inanan Ft eatrhdaaavnptoceleettaoiltatfeiwodnoesefhhdoastushelexbdeeblcenuen presented
:ppedaersoisareldjuctdooguimirfo )
srtelnioirtnesf
tPhaer se
,g
pinga
lriatyy
given in foreign countries. Baron Brenier, how-
ever, on the part of the Government, opposed the
reception of the petition on the ground that France
would not act on this subject without being assured
of reciprocity on the part of other nations. At-
tempts had ,beeh made to effect the object in view
by means of treaties with Russia, Switzerland, and
the Grand Duchy of Baden ; but the results ob-
tained hal not been such as to encourage the French
Government to proceed in their endeavours. In-
surmountable difficulties always presented them-
, selves, arising from differences of legislation, various
opposite features in jurisprudence, and local preju-
dices. The Speaker therefore proposed that the

Chamber should proceed to the order of the day,
which was agreed to.

A very affecting funeral ceremony took place on
Friday—that of the mother of a young and very
beautiful girl, Mdlle. Roze, a dancer at the Porte
St. Martin. All the dancers at that theatre, and'
many from the other theatres, were seen to kneel
very piously at the church, many of them seemingly
profoundly ignorant of religious services, and never
perhaps having kneeled before except in the pre-
sence of the company at the theatre. Many actors
were also present. The tribute paid arose out of
respect for the young girl, who, unlike 'the dancers
of Paris generally, is of irreproachable manners of
conduct, and, although comparatively poor, is known
to have resisted many tempting offers. For years
past she has been the sole support of her mother.
Not being able to afford to live near the theatre
they had an apartment at Belleville, and twice
every day, once to the rehearsal and again to the
performance at night, has she walked that consider-
able distance to and from the Porte St. Martin,
at all hours and in all weathers, to keep her-
self and her mother respectably. Such was
the encomium passed publicly over the mother's
grave in honour of goodness and virtue. A rich
shareholder of the theatre, after the ceremony, so-
licited the honour and pleasure of being allowed to
pay all the expenses of the funeral.
The bill proposed by the Government for the re-
lief and regulation of the merchant navy has been
passed by a large majority—viz., 203 against 28.
The Brussels correspondent of the Avenir Na-

tional states that by a note just addressed to Prussia
Austria declares that she will disarm on the 25th
inst. if Austria will undertake to do so the next
day. The Memorial Diplomatique, which passes for
an organ of Austria at Paris, has a similar state-
ment.

The Duchess de Talleyrand Perrigord and M.
Mallitoune formerly a writer in the Quotidcerine and
Constitutionnel, have just died in Paris.

The Palestine Exploration Fund.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—I have received a sixth report from Capt.
Wilson, R.E., dated Jerusalem, April 2, of which
the following is an extract :
" Since last writing to you we have come down
the country quicker than I at first intended, on ac-
count of our muleteers and servants who have left
us. The topographical work has consisted in fixing
the positions of Tubaz, Bedouin Camp near Jordan,
Deit Dejan, Turmus Aya, Beitin, and Jerusalem by
astronomical observations and sketching in as much
of the country as could be done on the march. The
discrepancies in the position of Wady Zerka have
arisen from the peculiar course the stream takes of ter
leaving the mountains. The mouth of the Wady is
nearly correct in Van de Velde, but the confluence
is some four or five miles lower down near Jisr Da-
mieh ; I am not sure of the exact distance, as the
work has not yet been plotted to scale, but we have
the necessary material.
" Archeology—Plans have been made of an old
masonry tomb at Teyasir, and of the churches at
Beitin and Birch. Seilun and Beitin were examined
with a view to excavation. At the former there is
very little rubbish, except the stone walls of the de-
serted fellahin village, and we could not see any
suitable plan for excavating ; at Beitin the modern
village covers the whole of the mound of rubbish. I
intended to clear out the interior of what is
known as Burj Beitin, but found that since last
year it had been thickly planted with fig
trees, and the amount of compensation de-
manded was too exorbitant. I may; however, be
able to come to terms before leaving Jerusalem.-

" The following photographs have been taken :
Doorway of mosque at Nablus, two views of Nablus
tomb at Teyasir, Bedouin encampment, ruined
mosque at Seilun, general view of ruins at Seilun,
fountain of Seilun, general view of Beitin, two views
of ruins near Beitin, two views of church at Bireh.

" I start this week for Urtas, and shall be away
a few days tracing the courso of the aqueducts be-
yond Urtas, and then go on to Tibneh. I have met
Sir Moses Montefiore since my arrival ; he takes
great interest in our work, and I hope may be per-
suaded to subscribe to the fund. Dr. Hodgkin has
been left at Jaffa seriously ill. lam afraid at his
age he will hardly recover."--7Your obedient servant,
GEORGE GROVE, Hon. Secretary.

LORD STANLEY vice MR. DISRAELI ?—Our con-
temporary the Examiner humorously takes occa-
sion to remark—What will come of it, we sometimes ask
ourselves, if he succeed to power vice Mr. Disraeli invalided
or recommended to retire ? Might not his first Cal)inet Coun-
cil be imagined something like this—Lord Stanley, punc-
tual as his clock, iu his chair at the head of the table. To
him enter, soon after, Mr. Henley, Mr. Walpole, Sir J.
Pakington, Lord Cranbourne, the two Lord Roberts, and
several other gentlemen. All being seated, Lord Stanley
opens—My lords and gentlemen, I think you may expect
me to give you a slight programme, merely heads, of the
measures I should wish to propose in the course of this
session or next. (Signs of interest.) Well, the Irish
Church, I think, should be one of the first points. (Un-
easiness.) The time, it appears to me, has now come,
when the measure 34 years ago inchoated by my father
(marks of adhesion from the less knowing ones) should be
brought to its natural completion by his unworthy son. I
would propose, then, to secularise or hand over—(lnter-
ruptions)—(But, my dear lord—really, Lord Stanley, it is
impossible to surely, my lord—.) Lord Stanley
(calm as Russell before hisi execution), gentlemen, I would
propose that I be allowed to proceed with my list, and
even when I have done it appears to me that it would faci-
litate matters if one person spoke at a time. The next
subject, &c, &c. After four or five other proposals, which
cause much unseemly interruption, Mr. Henley rises—lt is
the most extraordinary thing, but a most peremptory en-
gagement, which I had ontirely forgotten, &c. &c. (takes
his leave, and makes an almost ugly rush to the door.)
Confused conversation ; after which the guests, ono after
another, depart ; most of them to call on Mr. Disraeli, who
at that unusual, hour, by some miracle, happens to be at
home. Lord Stanley, solus, shakes his head three times
slowly ; then settless down to a cozy nap. (Resignation
next morning.)

CLASSICAL QUOTATIONS—in Parliament or out of
Lt—are thus commented upon in the London Review :

—We remember Clive Newcome's distress when the dear
old Colonel, in the innocence of his heart, insisted on re-
minding his friends, in spite of every rule of accidence and
concord, " Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes emollunt
mores," &c. Yet, if we were disposed to be critical, we
might pick holes in cleverer men than Colonel Newcome
ever pretended to be, and might express our wonder at the
frequent inaccuracy of classical quotations in the more
pretentious daily and weekly journals. Even that pure
and perfect chrysolite of classicality, the Saturday Review,
quoting, we suppose, by memory, from Ovid, writes the
following :

" Facies non omnibus una,
Nec diversa tame; quails decet, esse sororum."
The use of quails for qualem after decet would have sent a
fifth-form boy down one form at least. Again, the refined
Pall-Mall Gazette exhibits a deeper ignorance by making
scandala mvgnata the plural of sacandalum magnantum, as if
" magnatum" was not itself a genitive plural of "mag-
nates." And only last week another paper speaks of
spretainjuria, which is simply nonsense, although, of course,
everybody can see it is a loose recollection of the Virgilian
spretce ,injuria formal. These are the dangers to which
would-be scholars expose themselves when once they leave
the flowery paths of the Latin grammar. But we are not
discouraging quotations from foreign languages. Far from
it. Once be sure of your audience, and you may win golden
reputations. There is not the slightest doubt that if you
were to conjugate an irregular Greek verb in the pulpit at
the right time, it would rroduce an immense effect, as a
quotation from some orthodox father of tho Church. For
instance, what could sound nobler than this ?—" The
single-hearted saint could not entertain such a proposition
for an instant. ' No,' he cried, with a gentle but decisive
wave of his hand—'katesthio, katedomai,' adding, with a .ad
smile, his favourite expression, 'katededoka, katephagon."
That this is simple nonsense, and merely the four princi-
pal tenses of a Greek verb, is nothing. It is a good sound-
ing quotation, and with an ordinary audience would be
rapturously received from one who was popular. Indeed,
we hardly like to think how much of this heedlessness
there must be in the pleasure with which some text of
familiar sound is hailed by the unlettered part of a congre-
gation, to whom it cannot convey the smallest idea of any-
thing at all. 'lt may be an exaggeration to represent an old
woman saying that she found great support in the com-
fortable word " Mesopotamia," but the spirit which ani-
mated her is really very widely diffused in other old women,
and young women and men too.
THE COINAGE AT THE MINT for this year will cost
£49,182, of which £lO,OOO is for gold, £4,000 for silver, and
£7,500 for copper. A sum equal to the last will be reco-
vered by the sale of old copper not required for the re-
coinage. The seignorage to be paid in to the Exchequer,
in respect of the year's coinage of silver, is estimated at
£30,000.
SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE iS expected in London
in about three-weeks, from a tour il:4 the 1191 y Land.

THEATRE ROYAL SADLER'S WELLS.

Brilliant First Night of "Dot."
Saturday evening marked another unmistakeably

onward step in the progress—the triumphantly suc-
cessful progress—of Mr. W. H. C. Nation's Manage-
ment at Sadler's Wells. The house, to begin with,
—known, as it is, to playgoers in all parts of London
as one among the most popular of all our little subur-
ban establishments—was crowded in every part of
it ! Again, the audience thus collected together
was vigilantly attentive from the very commence-
ment—lv-as of ten keenly discriminative in the evi-

dente afforded by it of its appreciation of the perform-
ance—and was manifestly in a high state of de-

light with that performance from first to last.
The attraction of the night (to account for all this
in a very few words) was simply the fact of

Saturday evening having been announced as the
first night for the production at Sadler's Wells of
Dion Boucicault's charming little dramatic version,
in three acts, of Charles Dickens's exquisite Christ-
mas story of "The Cricket on the Hearth." As an
Adelphi Drama, entitled Dot, this really beautiful
little dramatic :version of "The Cricket on the
Hearth" has long been known to fame, and has long
enjoyed (and quite deservedly) a wide popularity. Re-
vived upon the stage of Sadler's Wells, and enacted
there by the Sadler's Wells Company under Mr.
Nation's management, Dot appears once more before
a London audience under the happiest auspices and
at the best possible advantage. The scenery, newly
painted for the occasion by Mr. John Johnson and
his assistants, is admirably good—one of the set
scenes especially (presenting to view at one and
the same time a wintry exterior and a wintry

interior) exciting so hearty a burst of admiration
that the artist had to appear before the footlights,

there to bow his acknowledgments. The dresses,
moreover, and the various stage appointments,
have been very carefully attended to. But
—beyond all this—it is to the judicious
distribution of the parts among the company that
we would here more particularly direct attention as
accounting for the triumphant success achieved by
the wholeperformance. Dot, dimpled, little, homely,
sprightly, bustling Dot, the heroine of the piece,
found a fit and proper representative in Miss Ada
Dyas. The John Peerybingle of the night—mis-
spelt, by the way, in the printed list of the dramatis
persona in the playbill—the John Peerybingle
in this revival of " Dot" (Mr. Swinbourne)
being the very John Peerybingle of the original
story—the veritable John Peerybingle of " The
Cricket on the Hearth"—in voice, in look, in dress,

in manner, in every minute particular. Ned Plum-
mer, too--who has secretly returned from the
golden South Americas—Ned Plummer, under both
of his appearances, first of all when disguised as the
stone deaf old gentleman, afterwards when seen in
his own proper identity as the bright, handsome,
curly-headed young sailor, returned to claim his fair
betrothed, May Fielding, was excellent ! As for
Tilly Slowboy, with her invaluable dummy
of the baby—well ! the shouts of laughter
elicited by her every word and act, and
repeatedly by her mere casual bye-play, evi-
denced throughout the piece, that in Miss
Lizzie Wilmore, that most whimsical character
of all in the drama, had found a capital impersona-
tor. Then, as for Tackleton—the raspy-voiced
old curmudgeon of a toymaker—Mr. M'lntyre,
made up the part, looked the part, spoke the part
so nearly to the life, as to be little less than detestable!
Until the ill-nature of the man is miraculously
dropped in the Christmas dance at the very close
of the crowning incident. Then, again, in the
alarmingly genteel person of old Mother Indigo,
meaning (we beg pardon) Mrs. Fielding, Mary's
mother, that highly-starched representative of a
family who can " look back"—a family, the fortunes
of which only fell under a cloud, as she tells
us, through circumstances not altogether uncon-
nected with a crisis in the indigo trade—Mrs.
Poynter displayed so much genuine appreciation of
the humour of that class of character as to have re-
called to oar recollection poor Mrs. W. Clifford, for-
merly, years and years ago, the very best imper-
sonator upon the London boards of this peculiar de-
scription of ladylike old harridan. Lastly—and
we have purposely reserved the mention of them
to the very last—there were Mr. G. Belmore as
Caleb Pluthmer, and Miss Hudspeth as Bertha
poor Old Caleb's blind daughter ! The latter im-
personation being charmingly affecting and graceful
throughout ! The former indicating on the part of
a very clever low comedian, a remarkable capacity
for the display of pathetic tenderness, and at
moments even of genuine tragic passion. The mere
make up of the character—the mere haggard worn
look of the face—indicated of itself, quite clearly, the
artist 1 In the last scene of all, however, the great scene
in the third act, where poor Caleb recognises the
fatal error of his loving deception in regard to poor
Bertha, Mr. Belmore won for himself a triumph
over his audience that many another actor on the
boards might have envied ! A triumph evidenced not
only by the heartiest rounds of applause, but by that
best tribute of all to an actor's powers, the tears of
the spectators ! The Fairy Episode, it should here
be added—that Fairy Episode which it: may be
remembered has been so charmingly borrowed
from our great Novelist's haunting little Christ-
mas Tale of Home, and so very gracefully adapted
to actual representation by that master of stage
effect, Dion Boucicault, in his dramatised version of
the tale under its theatricall title of Dot—it is
only fair to the management that we should
here remark has been most gracefully in-
troduced upon the boards of Sadler's Wells—
in a picturesque forest scene in the first instance,
afterwards in the magically opening back-ground
of the hearth of the poor Carrier—with eight light-
footed, bright-eyed young impersonators, respec-
tively, not only of our old-world friends Oberon,
Titania, Puck, and Ariel, but of those elfine crea-
tions of the poetic fancy of Charles Dickens,
Home, Cricket, Kettle, and Cradle As the curtain
descends at last upon the happy close of the drama
of "Dot," the melody of the Fairy Chorus—heard
again and again at intervals, during the progress
of the piece, like a refrain—not only contrives to
linger upon the ear, but clings long afterwards
hauntingly to the recollection. Altogether, upon
the brilliant success of Saturday night, as the night
of the first performance of " Dot" upon the stage
of Sadler's Wells, under his management, Mr.
Nation may here receive, as he is certainly entitled
to receive, our warmest congratulations.