The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-20 00:00:00

VOCAL ASSOCIA7ION, ST. JAMES'S

IL'II.L.

The last concert for the seasoi of this association

took place last evening, and c.ncluded a series of
I entertainments which have gives great satisfaction
to crowded audiences. The irst concert of the
series probably presented ratter too heavy and
monotonous a programme, )ut M. Benedict
promptly perceived the mistake, and arranged
all that have followed `•ith acute taste
and discrimination. A var.ety of first class
artistes—both vocal and instrumental, choice old
madrigals and part songs, rolnds, classical music,
and a light sprinkling of tha popular melodies of
the day, drew large and deligited audiences. The
performances of last evening /resented rather more
than usual to elicit applause and admiration.
Bach's fine chorale, " God is Our Refuge in Dis-
tress," was sung by the choir, and most perfectly
and effectively given, thiugh executed for
the first time. A rapturous encore was bestowed
on the duet from "It Barbiere,"" All idea di quel
tnetallo," which received great justice from Signor
Belart and Signor Belletti. Miss Mangold's per-
formance on the pianoforte was of a character to
call forth unbounded applause. Her touch and
expression indicate the possession of great natural
talent, well cultivated, and give her a
place among our leading pianists. The trio
" Papataci" from "L'ltaliana in Algeri" was
perhaps never better sung than by Signori Belart,
Garcia, and Belletti. The audience thoroughly ap-
preciated and enjoyed it, bestowing a:warm encore.
The favourite aria "Non piu nzesta," sung by
Madlle. Anna Whitty, was enthusiastically re-de-
manded, and we may warmly congratulate this
charming singer on the purity of her
voice and the spirit of her execution. A
French air, "La Mallon," with words by Lamar-
tine, sung by Signor Giuglini, elicited great
applause, most deservedly; and Miss Stabbach
was quite at home in Haydn's canzonet, "My
Mother bids me bind my hair." The harp per-
formance of Mr. Aptommas was something truly
exquisite. We have never heard this.instrument yield
more entrancing melody than it did beneath his magic
power, and the delight expressed by the listeners
bore ample testimony to the skill of the gifted
player, The numerous " Part Songs" and
" Chorales" given by the choir were, as
usual, well and equally sustained, reflecting
the greatest credit on the conductor. The
Hall was very crowded with a brilliant and
fashionable audience, whose approbation gave full
assurance that the Vocal Association Concerts will
maintain a lasting and high character among our
musical entertainments.

We see that M. Benedict's Concert takes place
on Monday morning, June 24, and the rich treat
promised in the programme will doubtless secure
him the warm patronage which his genius and
labours so greatly merit.

AMENITIES OF LITERATURE.

Atheneum Office, June 19, 186

Mr. W. Hepworth Dixon presents his compli-
ments to the Editor of The Sun, and would be
much obliged by his publishing the enclosed cor
respondence in to-morrow's impression :

"To W.IIEPWORTH Dix oN, Esq., Editor of the Athenaum,

" Sir,—l am aware that you wrote the critique on my
book in last Saturday's Atheneum, which I consider per-
sonally offensive. As two-thirds of the London press have
already recorded opinions in the highest degree flattering, 1
could well have afforded to treat with contempt the ill-con-
ditioned snarliags of a single ' literary Gorilla;' but when a
Reviewer indulges in flippant impertinences upon the cha-
racter and feelings' of an author, instead of confining him-
self to the merits of the work before him, he sometimes lays
himself open to unpleasant consequences. I, therefore, give
you fair warning that unless you take the opportunity now
afforded by the issue of a second edition to make the
einende, I shall do myself the pleasure of hortewhipping you
the first time that I meet you in public, and then hand
you over to the tender mercies of Mr. Alfred Austin, whose
attentions are likely to be equally unpleasant. I shall con-
sider this note private until the 22d ; and remain, sir, your
most obedient humble servant,
" THE AUTHOR OF 'PUCK ON PEGASUS.'
" Conservative Club, June 18."
" Athenceu2n Office, June 19.
" Sir,—l have received your disgraceful letter, to which
I shall of course immediately give the publicity it deserves.
In the meantime I have communicated with the police
authorities, who will take effectual measures to prevent your
committing the outrage threatened.—l am, sir, your obedient
servant, "W. HEPWORTH DIXON.
" To H. Cholmondeley Pennell, Esq.,
Conservative Club."

DUTY PAID BY FIRE INSURANCE
COMPANIES.

A Parliamentary return has just been issued showing
the amount of duty paid by the fire insurance companies of
the United Kingdom. From this document it appears that
the sums paid by the London offices stand as follows, when
arranged in the order of their respective totals :
DUTY PAID BY THE LONDON OFFICES DURING THE
YEAR 1860.

Sun £216,275
Phcenix
Royal Exchange 86,682
County 70,473
Imperial
Alliance
Globe
Atlas 45,727
Law .......... 35,938
Guardian .......... 34,172
London Assurance.. 33,620
Westminster
Union
DITTY PAID BY THE COEN
SCOTCH AND IRISH, D
Norwich Union £82,300
Liverpool and Lon-
don . 60,952
West of England ... 59,856
Royal . ...... 59634
Manchester
.. 41,791
Leeds and Yorkshire 27,588
Lancashire . 24,698
Yorkshire
Birmingham 15,925
Kent
Birmingham District 8,998
Essex and Suffolk
Provincial
Queen
Midland Counties
Nottingham and National
Derbyshire
From the above it appears that the London offices have
contributed £964,970 ; the country offices, £469,756 ;
Scotch, £110,647; and Irish, £13,212, making in the ag-
gregate the sum of £1,558,585. The same return shows
that the total sum insured in the year 1860 on farming stock
(which is exempt from duty) in England and Wales was
£63,963,073; in Scotland, £6,300,772; and in Ireland,
£1,040,053-making a total of £73,302,808.

General
Unity
Royal Farmers
Hand-in-Hand
Law Union 7.196
State . 5,697
Church of England 5,370
Equitable 2,180
United Kingdom
Provident 1,398
Emperor
Preserver 24

TRY OFFICES, INCLUDING
UJUNG TILE YEXR 1860.

I Salop £4,088
Newcastle-up.-Tyne 3,782
Sheffield ... 3,635
Norwich Equitable 3,140
Hants, Sussex, and
Dorset
Shropshire and North
Wales .. 2,061

THE RECENT ANTI-SLAVE TRADE CONFERENCE,

—We are requested to state that the Anti-Slave Trade Cbn-
ference, held at Lord Brougham's on Saturday last, did not
adopt a resolution recommending the suspension of diplo-
matic intercourse with Spain. The resolution was discussed
in committee, but not proposed to the conference.

BRITISH WOOL.—Yesterday Mr. Caird, M.P.,
read at a meeting of the Council of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England a very interesting paper upon British
wool. He remarked that, although there had been an im-
mense increase in the importation from foreign countries
and the colonies during the last 20 years, the rearing of
sheep for the production of British wool continued to be
one of the most profitable branches of our industry.
Within the period referred to there had been, no doubt,
in the imports from Spain and Germany a diminution of
about 4,000,0001 b., but at the same time, to compensate
for this, there had been an increase from Russia, the Low
Countries, Denmark, and Portugal of no less than
20,000,0001 b. There had been an increase within this
period, in round numbers, from Australia of from
13,000,0001 b. to 54,000,0001 b., from South Africa of
from 1,000,0001 b. to 14,000,0001 b., from the East
Indies of from 4,000,0001 b. to 14,000,0001 b. At home
the increase in the amount of wool produced was equally
remarkable. In 1842 the home-grown wool did not exceed
100,000,0001 b. It now amounted to 120,000,0001 b. There
had been, in short, an augmented supply of wool to the ex-
tent of nearly 75 cent. It had not been followed by any
diminution of price to the home producer. Now, the
countries in which the production of wool is likely to in-
crease most rapidly—viz., Australia, the East Indies, South
Africa, and South America, are all unsuitable to the pro-
duction of the lustrous long wools for which there is a great
demand. The British islands supply this wool in the
greatest quantity. They may be almost said to have a
niLlhi:_nnyescobowpbeleonoaltyocrf it, and there are no countries which can enter
into competition with them. Mr. Caird is therefore of
opinion that the British woolgrower should develope its
production as much as possible, and he thinks the supply
Leicesteroincreasedst
h at by
could
raps,
goodauml
dat
nt
presentfa r m i
whichn farming
he
ea
adoptedn
desirable
liberal
on
qualitiesfeeding.
suitable
soils would, he adds, be obtained by using the improved
of length, lustre, strength, and fineness of wool seemed to
In Dot copabbled
t •

,DAY EVENING, Juni 20, 1861.

LATEST NE

.~ ~,1

FRANCE.

FRANCE AND SARDINIA.

The rumour that the annexation of the Island
of Sardinia to France, in return for France's recog-
nition of the Italian kingdom of Victor Emmanuel,
is decided on, is current in the French Ministerial
departments.

PARIS, JUNE 20:
Judgment was given yesterday evening in the
affair of the ,`fonds newspaper,

The charges of insult and libel brought against
the proprietors were admitted by the tribunal.
M. Taconet was fined 500 f., and M. Crampon was
sentenced to 15 days' imprisonmeLt and a fine of
500 f.

VIENNA, JUNE 20.

The Vienna papers of to-day assert that in the
last Ministerial Council it was resolved that the
address of the Hungarian Diet should not be ac-
cepted, and that the Municipality of Pesth should
be dissolved.

PARIS, JUNE 19 (Evening.)
The Pattie of this evening says:—"We are
enabled to guarantee the incorrectness of the state-
ment that the priest who administered the last
sacraments to Count Cavour either obtained or
demanded a retraction of his acts and opinions."

TURIN, JUNE 19.

The Turin papers of today publish despatches
from Florence, dated the 18th inst., stating that on
the previous day some journeymen bakers at-
tempted to get up a manifestation, with the object
of obtaining an increase of wages, The coalition
did not, however, succeed.

VIENNA, .Tura 19.

In to-day's sitting of the Lower House of the
Council of the Empire, the Minister of State
announced that he was authorised by the Emperor
to declare the bill proposed in the Provincial Diet
of the Tyrol against the emancipation of the Pro-
testants to be inadmissible.

THORN, JUNE 19.

The statutes of the future Council of State for
Poland were published yesterday at Warsaw. The
military have been withdrawn from the streets and
public squares.

The Ressource Club was reopened yesterday, and
;he theatre on Saturday.

ST. PETERSBURG, JUNE 19,

The Northern Bee of to-day says :--‘, Up to the
end of May last insurrections of peasants had
taken place in 141 villages of Podolia, containing
altogether a population of 71,000. These disturb-
ances arose from a wrong interpretation of the
imperial ordinances. Order has now been re-
established."

BERLIN, JUNE 19.
There is not the least foundation for the report
of a resignation of the Prussian Cabinet.

The report of the Commission on the Bill for re-
cruiting the army next year has been communicated
to the Legislative Body by Baron Jerome David.
It states that 100,000 men are to be drawn for, who
attained the age of 21 daring the present year.
This number, which is called the normal contingent
for a peace establishment, is represented to be about
as onerous a charge upon the population as was
the contingent of 80,000 men under the Government
of Louis Philippe. In 1832 France contained
32,000,000 of inhabitants_ Tho contingent of 80,000
therefore took one man for every 400 inhabitants.
In 1861 France contains upwards of 38,000,000 of
inhabitsnts ; consequently one man out of every
400 inhabitants will give a contingent of 95,000.
A contingent of 100,000 men will keep the army
effective at 600,000, which is equalled or exceeded
by the great Powers. Baron David says, " But I
apprehend the gentleman must be very much mis-
taken, for although Austria may equal and Russia
surpass, perhaps, this number on paper, in-
cluding frontier sedentary forces and military
colonies, neither of them has anything like the
effective army of France." The pretext for aug-
menting the annual levy by 20,000 men during
peace is sufficiently original to merit notice.

From the 100,000 men obtained annually by
conscription, 5,000 are to be transferred to the
navy, to serve during the whole of the seven years;
5,000 are dispensed with as belonging to public
services (maritime inscription, public instruction,
theological seminaries, *cc.) ; 18,100 are allowed to
purchase exemption at £lOO each, and who are
therefore replaced on the ranks by the substitutes,
who receive a portion of the " smart" money ; 1000
are exempted from service as being necessary to
support their families; and 2,500 are presumed to
die, to be found incapable, or to desert. There
will then remain 64,100 men available from the
contingent for the annual recruitment of the army.
The Donawerth screw liner has also arrived from
Beyrout, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Chopart,
and with troops on board.

The Rodeur has arrived at Toulon, after having
deposited 200,000 young oysters along the coast.
She is under orders for Corsica, where the same
operation will be repeated.

BOURSE, June 19. Business continues in the
same inanimate state, but prices without any mate-
rial change. For the Account, Threes are now at
67f. 85c. Railway shares also quiet. The follow-
ing are the last quotations :

4f per per Cents ... 96 701 Credit Fonder lOOO
Do end month.... 96 SO ,' Belgian 4i 99 75
3 per Cents
Do. end month 67 80' Roman
Bank Shares 2905 Austrian
Credit Mobilier.... 697 301 Spanish Threes —
Do. Account 7OO ; Home Debt