The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-28 00:00:00

2,

---e_-

SPEECHES OF THE LATE PRINC.E

CONSO.RT.

a decent-looking man came up to the colonel, at-
, tended by a non commissioned officer, and made a
complaint that he could not get his brother's ac-
counts settled by his captain—the man had died of
some illness in camp. The colonel gave orders that
the papers should be attended to. " I hope it will
be done right away, for my father has sent me
down to take George home with me." He spoke
as if the deceased were still alive, and, added he,
" only I lost my arm by a cross cut saw I would
have been along with him." On inquiry I found
the man had come all the way from a distant part
of Pennsylvania.

Fort Pickens and Pensacola have had afasco of
a fight. My old grim friend Colonel Harvey
Brown silenced my old grim friend General Brax•
ton Bragg—at least, so the Federals say; but he
could not land and finish his work, because he had
not men enough. "We cannot destroy Fort Mtßae
until we have rifled guns," says a naval officer.
" The Niagara did not go inside the bar, and can•
not be much injured." Bragg, by the last accounts,
was quite ready to speak when spoken to once
more. An accident in removing a fuse from a she 11
after the firing had ceased did more damage in Fort
Pickens to life and limb than all the tremendous
cannonading ; but a portion of the fort is said to be
much defaced. So far the contest is ended. Fort
API-14e, a wretched tumble-down affair, with
cracked walls, is, to my wonder still extant. There
was no great glory in the affair to either side ; but
as an illustration of the workings of" sensationism,"
I may remark that not only does a New York paper
publish a pictorial sketch of the much be-sketched
and pictorialized Pickens and its environs, but gives
an account of the Federal vessels engaged, the
names of all the officers, a statement of the garrison
and officers' names, and a sketch (biographical for-
tunately) of Colonel Harvey Brown.

Illaeniillan's Magazine for January makes the following
extracts from speeches delivered at various times by the lath
Prince COnsort

AT A MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR IMPROVING THE
CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES, MAY 18, 1848
" Depend upon it, the interest of classes too often con-
trasted are identical, and it is only ignorance which prevents
them from uniting for each other's advantage. 10 dispel
that ignorance, to show how man can help man, notwith-
standing the complicated state of civilised society, ought to
be the aim of every philanthropic person ; but it is more
peculiarly the duty of those who, under the blessing of
Divine Providence, enjoy station, wealth, and education."

AT THE LORD MAYOR'S BANQUET IN LONDON, MARCH
21, 1851, IN ANTICIPATION OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION :
—" Gentlemen I I conceive it to be the duty of every edu-
cat ed person closely to watch and study the time in which he
lives, and, as far as in him lies, to add his humble mite of
individual exertion to further the accomplishment of what
he believes Providence to have ordained. Nobody, how-
ever, who has paid any attention to the peculiar features
of our presert era, will doubt for a moment that we are
living at a period of most wonderful transition, which tends
rapidly to accomplish that great end to which, indeed,
all history points ; the realisation of the Unity of man-
kind ! Not a unity which breaks down the limits and
levels the peculiar characteristics of the different nations of
the earth, but rather a unity, the result and product of those
very national varieties and antagonistic qualities."
AT THE DINNER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY, MAY 3,
1851 :—" Gentlemen I the production of all works in art
or poetry requires in their conception and execution not
only an exercise of the intellect, skill, and patience, but
particularly a concurrent warmth of feeling and a free
flow of imagination. This renders them most tender plants,
which will thrive only in an atmosphere calculated to
maintain that warmth ; and that atmosphere is one
of kindness, kindness towards the artist personally as
well as towards his production. An unkind word of criti-
cism passes like a cold blast over their tender shoots, and
shrivels them up, checking the flow of the sap, which was
rising to produce perhaps multitudes of flowers and fruit.
But still criticism is absolutely necessary to the development
of art, and the injudicious praise of an inferior work becomes
an insult to superior genius. In this respect our times are
peculiarly unfavourable when compared with those when
Madonnas were painted in the seclusion of convents; for
we have now on the one hand the eager competition of a
vast array of artists of every degree of talent and skill, and
on the other, as judge, a great public, for the greater part
wholly uneducated in art, and thus led by professional
writers, who often strive to impress the public with a great
idea of their own artistic knowledge by the merci-
less manner in which they treat works which
cost those who produce thPin the highest efforts of
mind or feeling. The works of art, by being publicly ex-
I hibited and offered for sale, are becoming articles of trade,
following as such the unreasoning laws of markets and
fashion; and public and even private patronage is swayed
by their tyrannical influence."

AT THE BANQUET IN BIRMINGHAM ON LAYING THE

FIRST STONE OF THE BIRMINGnmq AND MIDLAND
INSTITUTE, NOVEMBER 22, 1855 :---" The Etudy of the

laws by which the Almighty governs the universe is there-
fore our bounden duty. Of these laws our great academies
and scats of education have, rather arbitrarily, selected two
spheres or groups (as I may call them) as essential parts
of our national education—the laws which regulate quan-
tities and proportions, which form the subject of mathe-
matics; and the laws regulating the expression of our
thoughts, through the medium of language; that is to say,
grammar, which finds its purest expression in the classical
languages. These laws are most important branches of
knowledge, their study trains and elevates the mind, but
they are not the only ones ; there are others which we
cannot disregard, which we cannot do without. There
are, for instance, the laws governing the human mind,
and its relation to the Divine Spirit (the subject of logic
and metaphysics) ; there are those which govern our bodily
nature and its connexion with the soul (the subject of phy-
siology and psychology) ; those which govern human so-
ciety, and the relations between man and man (the subjects
of politics, jurisprudence, and political economy), and many
others. Whilst of the laws just mentioned some have been
recognised as essentials of education in different institutions,
and some will by the course of time more fully assert their
right to recognition, the laws regulating matter and form
are those which will constitute the chief object of your pur-
suits ; and, as the principle of subdivision of labour is the
one most congenial to our age, I would advise you to keep
to this speciality, and to follow with undivided attention
chiefly the sciences of mechanics, physics, and chemistry,
and the fine arts in painting, sculpture, and architecture."

AT A MEETING OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
AT YORK, JULY 13, 1848 :--"Agriculture, which once
was the main pursuit of this as of every other nation,
holds, even now, notwithstanding the development of com-
merce and manufactures, a funiamental position in the
realm. And although time has changed the position which
the owner of the land, with his feudal dependents, held in
the empire, the country gentleman with his wife and chil-
dren, the country clergyman, the tenant, and the labourer,
still form a great and, I hope, united family, in which we
gladly recognise the foundation of our social state. Science
and mechanical improvement have, in these days, changed
the mere practice of cultivating the soil into an industrial
pursuit, requiring capital, machinery, industry, and skill,
and perseverance in the struggle of competition. This is
another great change, but we must consider it a great pro-
gress, as it demands higher efforts and a higher intelli-
gence."
AT THE THIRD JUBILEE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE

PROPAGATION OF TIIE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS, JUNE
16, 1851 :—" We cannot help deploring that the Church
whose exertions for the progress of Christianity and
civilisation we are to-day acknowledging, should be
afflicted by internal dissensions and attacks from
without. I have no fear, however, for her safety and ul-
timate welfare, so long as she holds fast to what our an•

cestors gained for us at the Reformation, the Gospel and.
the unfettered right of its use. The dissensions and diffi-
culties which we witness in this, as in every other Church,
arise from the natural and necessary conflict of two
antagonistic principles which move human society
is Church as well as in State—l mean the
principles of individual liberty, and of allegiance
and submission to the will of the community, exacted by it
for its own preservation. These conflicting principles can-
not safely be disregarded ; they must be reccilvil T
this country belongs the honour of having succeeded in
this mighty task, so far as the State is concerned, whilst
other nations are still wrestling with it."

\ — --
MILITARY EXECUTION AT WASHINGTON.—On
Dec. 13, a private in the Lincoln Cavalry, named Johnson,
\was executed at Fairfax Seminary, near Washington for
desertion. The execution took place before a large body of
1 troops. As the procession passed along, the
was a Catholi doomed man
I was seated in a waggon, and by
his side c
priest, who was giving to him the last ministration of reli-
gion. He held open a prayer book before the prisoner, who,
with his head bowed down, was attentively reciting a prayer.
When he had arrived at the place of execution he alighted
from the waggon and seated himself on the coffin. Twelve
men detailed to execute the sentence, took their position
about six paces in front. He addressed a few words to them,
stating that as fellow-soldiers he hoped they would forgive
him for having committed the offence he had, and that they
er
ad
de r.e d
Ilia
i to s i
would not do as he had. A few parting words were given
to his spiritual adviser, and three or feurofficearso officers. After
which he prepared himself to have the sentence executed.
He was seated on his coffin when the word was given to
fire. Eight balls pierced various parts of his body, but as
hla
ies onlyeye
and s showed w
anothere a alight
iiisin
tremor,o mouth,
h ,
and the
h e reservefell was
back
fire, and four other shots were fired, one of which entered
body was then put in his cam, and was conveyed to w mu,
iington for interment,

iii-)

I,,OYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
irt; Manager—Mr. Edmund Falconer.
THIS EVENINi-, Dec. 24, the new and original Drama,
entitled PEEP O'DAY ; or, Savourneen DeeliFh. Messrs.
Walter Lacy, Hermann Vezin, Charles Silby, Edmund Fal-
coney Mes. D. P. Bowers. Miss Clara Weston.
After which, a row and original Burlesque Extravaganza, LITTLE ItED BIDING HOOD ; or, '111? Fairies of
the Pose, the Thistle, and the Shamrock. Principal charac-
r " 3-yYdra Chas. Selby, 31r. Warlow, Miss Cicely Nott, and
i
11° .
1.1.1,,e. Acting Manager—Hr, F. B. Chatterton.
1102,.."
°lace 9p„ daily°ll, trora 11 t open at
111 halfpast 6, to commence at
5.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tins DAY.—Morning, 10h. 25m.—Afternoon, llh. 3m
To-MORROW.-Morning, 11h. 36m.—Afternoon, h. m,