The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-17 00:00:00

TILE LATE PRINCE CONSORT.

Yesterday evening Lord Sydney (the Lord Cham-
berlain) issued his instructions for the funeral. The
custom, which remained in force up to the burial of
William IV., of interring members of the Royal
family by torchlight, has for many years been dis-
continued, and will not be resumed on this melan-
choly occasion. The funeral will take place on
Monday next, the 23d inst., and at about the same
hour of the day as when the Duchess of Kent was
buried—between 11 and 12 o'clock in the forenoon.
In accordance with the custom usually followed of
late years, the funeral will not be a state one, nor
will the remains of his Royal Highness lie in state.
All these details, however, have been entrusted to
Messrs. Ranting, who have for so many years
conducted the Royal and public funerals in this
country. But, few and simple as are the rites which
mark these solemn occasions, a great amount of pre-
paration is necessary beforehand. St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, where the interment will take
place, has to be draped and carpeted with black, the
Royal vault to be opened, and time allowed for the
arrival of the representatives of foreign Courts who
will be deputed to attend on this occasion. All
these arrangements have been carefully considered,
and the shortest possible time in which they can be
completed is by the date we have mentioned. At
the funeral his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
will act as chief mourner, supported by the Duke of
Cambridge and by the Crown Prince of Prussia.
The remains will be laid in the Royal vault. There
are two vaults beneath St. George's Chapel—the
Glocester and the Royal vault. The former was
finally built up after the interment of her Royal
Highness the Duchess of Glocester, the last
member of that branch of the House of Hanover.
The Royal vault is kept apart exclusively for the
coffins of the immediate members of the reigning
family. Three gates close the entrance to this
final resting-place of departed Royalty, the keys
of which are kept by the Sovereign, the Lord Cham-
berlain, and the Dean of the Chapels Royal. Except
for the burial of the Queen Dowager, who was laid
by the side of her royal husband, this vault has not
been opened since the death of William IV., and
the descriptions which were put forth by some of
our contemporaries as the place in which the coffin
of the Duchess of Kent was temporarily deposited
in this mausoleum were purely imaginary. The
royal vault was never opened on that occasion at
all, and the coffin only remained at the entrance to.
the first gate till the mausoleum at Frogmore was
completed. During yesterday the inner shell and
leaden coffin which will enclose the remains of the
Prince Consort were forwarded to Windsor. Accord-
ing to custom, the body will be interred in four
coffins, the inner one or shell being of polished
mahogany cased outside with lead, Men an outer
plain, but very massive coffin of mahogany ; over
all comes the State coffin or case, of crimson velvet
and with massive silver gilt ornaments. On the
leaden coffin is to be a silver plate, engraved with
the style and titles of the deceased Prince. The
outer mahogany coffin will simply bear a plate with
his name and the date of his birth and death. On
the State coffin will be the customary silver gilt
plate bearing an inscription similar to that on the
leaden coffin.

Yesterday a notice was issued to the Fellows of
the Royal Horticultural Society that, in conse-
quence of the death of his Royal Highness the Pre-
sident of the Society, the gardens will remain closed
till after the funeral. We are also requested to state
that, in consequence of this great national calamity,
the " Winter Speeches" will not be delivered at St.
Paul's School on the day fixed, viz., Thursday, Dec.
19. The Master and Wardens of the Merchant
Tailors' Company (of which the late Prince Consort
was an honorary member) have also requested us to
state that the meeting of the school for the public
examination and speeches on this day (Tuesday)
and the entertainment at the Hall, will not take
place.

According to present arrangements her Majesty,
with the Princesses Alice and Helena, will not leave
Windsor till to morrow (Wednesday) morning.
From all parts of the country intelligence has
been received of the deep sympathy manifested for
the Royal family under their recent bereavement,
The news of the sad event, widely circulated by
telegram on Sunday morning, appears to have been
referred to from the pulpit in almost every church,
at least during the afternoon service.

The Moniteur, after announcing the sad event,
adds :—This sad event, this most sudden and pre-
mature death, plunges into sorrow the august Queen
of England, the royal family of England, and the
English nation. The Emperor, the imperial family,
and the whole of France associate themselves with
all their sympathies to their regrets and sorrows.
The Debats says :—The mournful and premature
event which has befallen the Queen and the royal
family, in the midst of the gravest political difficul-
ties, will be keenly felt, not only in England, but
throughout Europe. In France especially, where
Prince Albert has left personal recollections, public
opinion will, we are confident, unite in the private
but severe grief into which this great misfortune
has plunged Queen Victoria, the constant and faith-
ful ally of France.

The Siecle observes :—ln a difficult position
Prince Albert won the esteem of the English nation
and:the sympathy of all those who, artists, literary
men, inventors, scientific men, form the party in
England of intellectual progress, in which the de-
ceased Prince was specially interested. Frankly
accepting the subordinate part of the Sovereign's
husband, he sought in learning and the protection
of the acts and of industry an employment useful
to his new country of that intellectual activity which
he was prevented by the traditional susceptibilities
of the nation from applying to political affairs.
His elevated tastes, the dignity of his character
(says La Presse), obtained for the deceased Prince
a well-deserved popularity.
The Independence Beige has the following com-
ments :—Although placed in a position more subor-
dinate, but not less difficult, than that of a reign-

ing Sovereign, especially towards a people who are
proud, reserved, and impatient of all foreign influ-
ence, Prince Albert, without ever exciting the least
censure, succeeded in exercising in the councils of
Great Britain, with as much dignity as prudence, a
legitimate authority, the good effects of which arc
denied by none. All the useful institutions which
originated in England by the initiative of the people
—in this country so vigorous—were honoured with
his advocacy, one which was never sterile or merely
nominal. Wherever there was progress to hasten,
serious work to found or develope, the sympathetic,
active, and energetic concurrence of the Queen's
husband was ever to be reckoned upon. This in-
telligent and comprehensive participation of the
Prince in the social life of the English at first gained
him their esteem and then their affection. They
regarded him as one of themselves, and certain pre-
judices, or rather instinctive prepossessions against
him at the time of his marriage with the Queen on
account of his nationality and tendencies towards
absolutism which were more or less attributed to
him, were soon completely dispersed, to be replaced
by feelings of the utmost cordiality. Thus his loss
will be deeply felt, and all England will participate
in the grief of the Royal family.

THE CASE OF THE HARFA'Y BIRCIL

The New York Post, received by yesterday's
mail, says :—One of the most beautiful of the packet
ships that sail from this port—a pride and boast of
our commercial marine—the Harvey Birch, belong-
ing to Mr. J. H. Brower, of South-street, has fallen
a victim to the piratical lust of the rebels. Return-
ing to this port from Havre, in ballast, after a pros-
perous outward voyage, she was seized by the
steamship Nashville, and burned to the water's edge-
There are reasons, it is said, why we should not
particularly commiserate the owner on his loss;
but be that as it may, the circumstances of the caso
excite many reflections. Her crew, a body of inno-
cent sailors, prosecuting an honest and honourable
vocation, were seized by the lawless rovers, put in
irons as if they had been criminals, and in that
ignominious condition carried off to a foreign port.
Whether the Nashville professes to be a regu-
larly commissioned vessel of war, or a privateer,
does not appear. The probability is that she is
neither, and that she is cruising like a pirate, oil
her own responsibility. But whatever she be nomi-
nally, the outrage is the same ; ono of the grossest
that has yet been inflicted upon the flag of our
country, and the honour as well as property of our
citizens. New York must feel the insult and the
wrong to her very heart. Seldom before in her
history as a commercial metropolis has anyone
dared to question her right to navigate the great
ocean which is the source of her wealth and supre-
macy. In all the seas of the world foreign powers
are glad to acknowledge the emblems of her enter-
prise, are glad to cultivate the most friendly relations
with her representatives, and glad to do all in their
power to foster and extend her commerce. But
these rebels do not scruple to arrest her merchant'
men, sink them in the great deep, and subject their
crews to the indignities which civilised nations
reserve for felons.

THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUSA

M. Luigi Palmieri, director of the Observatory'
of Vesuvius, has presented the following official
report on the present eruption :

Royal Meteorological Observatory of
Vesuvius, Dec. 10, 1861. _

Sir,—Since the 7th of this month the needles of the
Lamont apparatus suffered extraordinary perturbations,
and whilst they increased in intensity, the electio-magnetic
sismograph began on the following day to mark a continual
vibration in the soil, with frequent shocks (sometimes 1111'
dulations, sometimes starts) of earthquake. some of these
shocks were felt at Naples.
At last, about 4 p.m. on the Bth, a large cleft opened in
the lava of 1794, some miles above Torre del Greco, near
the Brancaccio property. At first there issued from it a
great abundance of smoke, and then as usual pieces of lave
violently shot forth with terrible roarings, which reminded
the inhabitants of Torre del Greco of past disasters, and
made them hasten to quit their houses and seek refuge
elsewhere. About 6 p.m. the fluid lava escaped, covered
with great scoria of a singular composition, rich in pyroxenes
and almost entirely devoid of leucites. After having de•
vastated several cultivated fields and partly buried some
country houses, the lava stopped, because the violence Of
the line of craters along the slope gradually diminished
about midnight.

On the morning of the 9th, whilst these lower craterg
wero again in considerable activity, the upper one, which
since the 19th December, 1855, had scarcely over ceased to
emit firo, and which seemed at last disposed to rest, began
violently to shoot out smoke, stones, cinders, and red-hot
materials with horrible detonations, which still continue.
I will not fail to keep you informed of the circumstanceg
of this new kindling up of our volcano, reserving the scien-
tific details for the next volume of the annals of the obser-
vatory, if mears for printing be furnished me.

According to the mercantile advices from New
York by the present mail, the rate of exchange had par-
tially receded from the point at which bullion remittance°
would be requisite, the pressure of produce for exportation
immediately before the final closing of the canals, which
would take place in a few days, having created for the
moment an adequate supply of bills. The shipments for
the week had included about 100,000 quarters of wheat and
25,000 quarters of Indian corn, besides other grain, mak"
ing a total value of about half a million sterling, irrespee'
tive of enormous consignments also of salted meats, butter,
cheese, and other western produce. The public subscrip-
tions to the Federal loan continued on an indifferent scale,
the total having as yet reached only £7,390,000 out of the
£30,000,000 taken by the associated banks. The report of
Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, with the esti-
mates of the Government requirements to the Ist of ne%t
July, the end of the fiscal year, was anxiously awaited.
The news of the burning of the Harvey Birch had caused
the Now York underwriters to increase their premium for
war risks from 1 per cent. to 5 per cent--a step which 1°
alleged to have been regarded by the merchants as un-
called for and impolitic, and as giving an undue advantage
to the vessels of other countries. These advices say little
as to the Trent affair, and the idea of its beiing followed 11
war, nearly all the commercial community having fallen
into a habit of reserve with regard to political matter!,
whether domestic or foreign, almost as peculiar and signi-
ficant as that which is observed at St. Petersburg. The
next steamers to arrive are the City of Manchester, from
New York, with dates to the 7th, and the Bohemian, from
Portland, with dates to the 7th, and probably two days
later by telegram via Cape Race.

The Americans in London belonging to the Con-
federate States manifested satisfaction at the intelligence
yesterday of the proceedings in Congress, on the assume'
tion that all prospect of a surrender of Messrs. Mason and
Slidell, except under compulsion, has thus been terminated•
On the other hand, the Federalists assert that the action of
the House of Representatives, unsupported by a correspond"
ing vote of the Senate or by any declaration of the Presi-
dent or the Cabinet collectively, is but of secondary im-
portance, and merely furnishes another illustration of the
subserviency of that body to the populace. Those who
take this view consider that the avoidance of the subject in
the Presidential Message is a far stronger symptom for
good than the other is for evil. They deem that the Presi-
dent and his advisers had resolved to wait to hear of the
manner in which the affair had been met in England and
throughout Europe, and that, having thus paused, theY
will not be likely when the accounts reach them to act
with sudden recklessness, and to imitate when it is too late
the style of those who had had the sagacity at the
earliest moment to discount their triumph over Great
Britain.

EXTENSIVE SHAWL ROBBERY BY THE CHINESE•
—A curious discovery was made on Saturday at the South-
ampton Docks, involving a robbery of China crape shawl°
to a large extent, perpetrated, there can be little or no doubt
from the circumstances of the case, in the country from
which the packages were imported. It is, of course, well
known that extensive shipments of China crape shawls and
India silks are made by the Peninsular and Oriental Cora'
pany's steamers, that they are landed at Suez, conveyed
across the desert by railway, and reshipped at Alexandria
on board the steamers which arrive at Southampton weekly
with the mails from different parts of our Eastern posses-
sions. Among the cargo brought by the Delta steamer,
which reached Southampton in the middle of last week,
were four cases consigned to Messrs. Dunlop and Schoalesf
shipping agents at that port, the distinguishing marks e°
each being a heart, and the cases numbered respectively
from 716 to 719. Each of the four cases was supposed to
contain 50 dozen China crape shawls, of the value of £320,
making a total consignment of 200 dozen, worth £1,280.
When these cases were opened in the deck warehouse, for
the purposes of examination, by the Customs' authorities, it
was baud that not a single shawl was contained in either of
them. The cases were filled with matting and other light
material, with some heavy stones ingeniously wrapped up
in the centre to make the cases the exact weight they would
have been had the shawls been properly placed in them•
The exterior of the cases presented precisely the usual
pearance, and there was nothing whatever about t'
indicate the fraud which had been perpetrated, wh

not by any possibility be discovered till they were

the end of their jrurney.
The suspension was announced yestc-•.
noon:of Messrs. lirestgarth and Co., a house ' •
lian trade,