The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-29 00:00:00

THE CONVICTS AT CB A TRAM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,--As the character of Chatham Prison bag
been undeservedly prejudiced in the estimation of
the public by the exaggerated and false reports
which have been circulated of riots among the
convicts, I would vulture to ask the favour of
your allowing the insertion in your columns of
a letter which appears in the Tints: of this day,
from Captain Powell (the Governor), explaining
that no such riots took place.
It is unnecessary for me to say that his letter
contains a faithful and accurate statement of the
facts.---I rim, sir, your obedient servant,
JOSHUA JEBB, Major General.
45, Parliament-street, March 28.

" TO THE EDITOR OF TTIE TIMES.
" SIR,—As a matter of justice to me, aho
am
responsible, as Governor of Chatham Prison, for the
discipline and good order of
.the establishment I
must beg the favour of your allowing me to state
that you have been misinformed in regard to the
continued outbreaks which are represented as bpi,_
ing occurred ; especially that any disturbance either
took place or was contemplated upon Sunday last.
Indeed, so little apprehension did I feel on this
subject that, instead of taking any extra precautions
on that day, as stated by your correspondent, I gave
leave of absence to one-third of the prison officers,
and allowed my children to attend the services in.
the prison chapel as usual.
"Since the outbreak which occurred on the 11th
of February, and which was promptly and
vigorously suppressed, there has not been any
symptom of disorder but once, and that occurred
during the dinner hour on Wednesday, the 20th
inst., when a very fow men rapped at the cell doors,
&c., and five or six voices were heard by those who
were in the corridors close to the cells. This did
not last more than a few minutes; indeed, Major
Ogilvie, the deputy-governor, who was within the
corridors during the whole time, mentioned to the
visaing director that he never even heard any
voices.
" Intimation of an intention to create a disturb.
ance had been given by several well-conducted
prisoners on the previous day, which induced me to
take some extra precautions ; and, among others, I
requested the general commanding at Chatham to
send a stronger party than usual to the ground, in:
the immediate neighbourhood of the prison, where
the troops are in the daily habit of being exercised
at target practice, and to authorise me to call in
their assistance in the event of any disturbance
taking place. The party thus sent might amount
to about 100 men altogether, not much in excess of
the number frequently on the ground.
" With respect to the civil guard, a force of 24
men, having loaded with buck shot, that descrip-
tion of ammunition has been served out for years
past; and it will be easily understood that if ever
it should unhappily become necessary to are, its
effect would be less severe than ball cartridge.
" I may mention, in conclusion, that any precau-
tions which 1 may deem it my duty to maintain are
chiefly necessary in consequence of the directors
having determined, in accordance with my sugges-
tion, that not a single man should be moved to Mill-
bank or Pentonville. The whole, therefore, of those
who were ringleaders in the outbreak before re-
ferred to, are still inmates of the prison, although,
they are more or less under restrictions and prive...
tions. It cannot therefore be expected that under
such circumstances these men will at present be
entirely reconciled to the position into which they
have brought themselves.
" The extra force maintained at the prison is a
military picket of 24 men.—l have the honour to
be, sir, your obedient servirnt,

" 'l'. FOLLTOTT POWELL, Governor.
" Chatham Prison, March 27."

LITERATURE:

BULWER'S LIBRARY EDITION.:
Leila and Calderon. By Sir E. Bulwer 'Lytton.
One Vol. Wm. Blackwood and Sceas.
Another volume of this admirable, Library
Edition has placed in the hands of the sub-
scribers two of the least known and least popular,
but not altogether by any means two of the least
remarkable products of air Edward. Lytton's ima-
gination. Originally these two charming little fic-
tions appeared separately, and each of them in a far
more costly form ; being what are called gift-books,
exquisitely bound and profusely illustrated. Their
having been published in this resplendent manner
in the first instance, we cannot bat think may
account in some measure for their comparative lack
of popularity, when contrasted with the morn am-
bitious novels and x omances penned by th,4 same
master hand. Nevertheless, it must br, borne
in recollection, that neither "Leila," nor yet
"Calderon," aspires to arrogate to itself; credit for
anything at all like the elaboration eif plot or the
minute delineation of character for which the
majority or the world-famous Bulwer Novels and
Romances are so renowned and noticeable. Yet,
in some respects, too, they are each of them—each
of these minor stories (both being founded upon
incidents recorded in the pages of Spanish history),
they are each, in some respects, equivalent in merit
to the happiest triumphs of their author's fancy. So
dramatic is " Calderon the Courtier," that Sir Bul-
wer Lytton tells us in his preface that he at one
period meditated the idea of turning it into a
tragedy. So delicately defined is the position
occupied by Alm amen, between Moor and Christian,
that the romancist avows that that portion at least
of his narrative of " Leila" he could not improve
now with all the aid of his matured judgment.
Viewed as lighter sketches, penciled by the hand
of a great master, they are both of them, in their
way, as worthy of examination, and each, when
examined, will be found, after its own fashion, as
interesting to scrutinise and as delightful to appre-
ciate as the artists more extended and more gorge-
ous masterpiece's. Assuredly there is scarcely one
among the more ambitious and, in most particulars,
more remarkable of the Bulwer Romances, that
closes with a more pathetic or a more bewitching
tenderness than "Leila:" where Boabdil pausing in
the mountain pass, thenceforth called El 'ultimo
suspiro del Moro, weeps over that last glimpse of
his conquered kingdom, while the trumpets and
cymbals heard in the distance, tell of the triumphal
march into Grenada of the Spanish soldiers of
Ferdinand and Isabella. Distinguished, however,
above the clangour of the cymbals and trumpets of
the Christian army—the sigh of the Moor is
appropriately enough the latest sound audible in
this romantic record of the history of the glory and
the downfall of the last of the Abencerages.

The Cotton illanufacture of Great Britain investi-
gated and illustrated. With an Introductory,
View of its comparative State in Foreign Coun-
tries. By the late Andrew Ure, M.D.. F.R.S.
To which is added a Supplement, completing
the statistical and manufacturing information to
the present time. By P. L. Simmonds, F.S.S.
2 vols. Bohn, London.
Mr. Bohn deserves our best thanks for introduc-
ing into his cheap and beautiful series of standard
works the late Dr. Ure's valuable work on the
" Cotton Manufacture of Great Britain." Dr. Ure's
is a standard work. It only needed a continuation
up to the present time, which has been furnished
by the competent pen of Mr. P. L. Simmonds.
The original work is wisely preserved intact, for it
needed additions only, not correction, and those
additions have been supplied. The illustrations are
numerous, and many of them valuable ; they seem
to have been always introduced when a figure ren-
dered description more easily comprehensible. We
do not remember any other work which gives so
complete a view of ouT cotton manufactures ; it is
full of interest to the general reader, while all per-
sons connected with the trade will find a collection
of statistical tables compiled from Government re-
turns and documents widely scattered, and acces-
sible in their completeness to very few, at least not
without much trouble and expense. Our cotton
manufactures have made a bound during the last
quarter of a century, which is probably
in the history of any branch of industry in any t
n.
of the world. The following marvellous table in.
Mr. Simmonds' introduction will illustrate the
truth of this remark : unsurpassed

17751867504,103080 ‘).:8'463°."----::325
COMPARATIVE TABLE.
Population of Great Britain ...........
363,702,963 1,390,938,752
450,009
~ of Manchester ... ._. .
es .
,_ 3
Cotton Production U. Stats, Dal . - 1,-51, 28 4,675,770
Cotton worked up in 1 333 013 464 1 105 965 000
Coltson..ino.r.t.!c.l.i.di.7o.a.t.B.r.n.l.td,.uf.s , :
ostritrende,dd4: n 1 ' , , • ,
dared value .................... £22,128,305 £52,013,482
the United Kingdom,, estimated X 29,504,405 £60,350,976
rked in Cotton
(C3co'tt:°onn
£35,000,000 £100,000,000
dom 9,350,000 33,000,000
so. of Persons employed in Cotton .
SCpatipridt ial
nel sEe
Ft: worklaand • I.n. United IKi n g,
Manufacturesl%lafe exported,
Factories in ditto.. 216,858 500,000
Aggregate Value of the gross Im-
ports of the United Kingdom , £48,911, ,
542 £214000,000
Aggregate Value of Exports of Bri-,
tish Produce and Manufactures I £47,372,270 £135,892,817
Revenue of the United kingdom._ , £5l„ 347 320 i £71,967,494
A-
Surely Pre..., -V— —l:_t.--- --- _,-A_ , . .

_surely every Englishman ought to be acquainted
with the history, progress, and present state of a
native manufacture like this ; and nowhere will he
find the information he should have more easily
than in the present edition of Dr. Ure's book. We'
should not omit to state, for those who do not know
Dr. Ure's work, that it contains an interesting ac-
count of the cultivation, growth, and manufsettrre
of cotton from the most ancient times to the pre-
sent, and of the state of the trade in all other
countries as well as in our own.