The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-29 00:00:00

Tlli SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 29, 1859,

ration

Yesterday morning, at five o'clock, there died at
Putney, peacefully, and in a ripe old age, one of
the most charming writers (both of prose and verse)
in the English language. How many thousands of
us have lost in LEIGH HUNT a dear old friend.
How many thousands will grieve over the news
that ho has gone at last—that the solitary survi-
vor of that glorious group of poets who ushered in
the nineteenth century with their choral songs has
passed away from amongst us—following tardily, it
is true, though still it seems to us even now prema-
turely, in the track already traversed by so many
of his immortal friends and associates, BYRON,
KEATS, SHELLEY, LAMB, HAZLITT, COLERIDGE. ,
The intelligence of this tranquil death of LEIGH
HUNT yesterday completes that radiant but
mournful catalogue. The whole of that literary
generation has passed away with the departure of
this Ultimus Romanorum. The whole at least of
the great chiefs of the pen—PROCTER and LANDOR
coming but within a secondary category. Peace
to his hor.oured dust—if but in grateful remem-
brance of those abundant and perennial flowers of
fancy he has scattered around him in prodigal
abundance between the alpha and the omega of his
prolonged and stainless life, between the 19th of
October, 1784, and the 28th of August, 1859.
Besides his labours as a liberal and energetic jour-
nalist, when he wag for several years Editor of the

Examiner, we believe his industrious hand has
penned altogether from first to last between
seventy and eighty volumes of the most mis-
cellaneous character. A delightful essayist, a
genial critic, a ripe scholar, a graceful dramatist,
a writer of the most versatile genius—alternately
exquisitely pathetic and exquisitely humorous__
LEIGH HUNT has long since taken his place among

our English classics. He had, at least, while sur-
viving, those glorious friends of his youth, the all
but posthumous happiness of enjoying the universal
recognition of a reputation that no man envied, and
that all who came within its ken delighted in and
revered. Long will his name be held, in this land
of his birth and of his death, in affectionate admi-

CABINET COUNClL—lmmediately after the re-
turn of Viscount Palmerston to town on Saturday forenoon
from visiting her Majesty at Osborne he caused a summons
to be issued for a Cabinet Council this afternoon at his lord-
ship's official residence in Downing-street. Those mem-
bers of the Cabinet absent at a distance from the metropolis
were apprised of the intended Council by telegraph.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge has
left Dover for Germany. His Royal Highness is accom-
panied by Col. Clifton.
We (Gaignani) regret to hear that Marshal
Bosquet has had a relapse, and part of his right side is
paralysed.
To-night, the last of the season at the Princess's,
will conclude Mr. Charles Kean's management, the finel
play selected being "King Henry the Eighth." Mr. Kean
will deliver an address.
The directors of the Great Ship Company have
declined the amended offer of Mr. Lever to charter the
Great Eastern.
Mr. LEIGH HUNT.—It is with much regret that
we announce the death of this very popular author. He
died at an early hour yesterday morning, after having been
for some time in feeble health. Mr. Hunt was born on the
19th of October, 1784.
THE ALBERT INSTITUTION.—His Royal High-
ness the Prince Consort has consented to be patron of the
Albert Institution, consisting of reading room, schools, dor-
mitories, &c., for the working classes, in Gravel-lane,
Blackfriars-road, which was opened by the Lord Mayor and
Sheriffs on Wednesday last. This pleasing fact was com-
municated yesterday to the Rev. Joseph Brown, by Col.
Sir C. B. Phipps. Four thousand persons visited the
building on Thursday.
THE GREAT EASTERN.—EarIy on Saturday morn-
ing, his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constantine
paid a long visit to this vessel. For upwards of three hours
his Highness remained on board inspecting every part of
the ship, from the lowest deck to the iron masts and colossal
wooden yards. He expressed his astonishment at the mag-
nitude of the whole undertaking for a commercial specula-
tion, though, merely judging of it from a nautical point of
view, he had little doubt of its success. He claimed forth.
Russian Government the credit of having the second largest
vessel in the world—the General Admiral—though, as re-
garded fineness of lines and beauty of form, he considered
the Great Eastern to as much surpass that man-of-war as
she did in size and power. His Highness, after partaking
of lunch with Mr. Campbell and Captain Harrison, ex-
pressed a wish to see the new steering apparatus, of which
a full description appeared in The Sun of Saturday. This
simple though most ingenious invention was accordingly
inspected at Mr. Lungley's yard, and commended by the
Duke in the highest terms. After leaving this yard the
Duke proceeded to the manufactory of Messrs. Humphrys
and Tennant, and inspected several pairs of marine engines
making for the Russian Government, varying in power
from 300 to 600 horses. The number of visitors to the ship
on Saturday was immense, and more than double that of
any previous occasion.
THE GREAT EASTERN.—Saturday was the last
day for admitting the public on board the Great Eastern.
previous to her departure on her trial trip. The number of
visitors who have inspected the vessel during the last fort-
night has been very large, the amount realised by the com-
pany on admission fees being upwards of £4,000.
BEACON IN THE BRISTOL CHANNEL.—The erec-
tion of a beacon on the Monkstone-rock was brought to a
successful termination on Friday, the 12th inst., the wrought-
iron mast and globe having been on that day permanently
fixed in the place prepared to receive them.
Mr. Cyrus W. Field was making energetic efforts
in New York to obtain subscriptions to the new capital of
the Atlantic Telegraph Company. As the most conclusive
way of satisfying those sceptics who refuse still to believe
that the cable was ever brought into practical operation,
copies of the 400 messages which passed through the cable,
verified under oath, are published in the Netv'York Herald,
and occupy seven columns of that journal.
The town council of Berlin has just subscribed
£1,600 to a foundation in honour of Humboldt, destined to
afford aid to learned men and travellers in the prosecution
of the studies to which he devoted his long life.
The cholera spreads along the shores of the Baltic.
Its presence in Dautsic is officially acknowledged, as well
as in Osnabruck and Elberfeld, and it is reported to have
made considerable ravages at Hamburg.
THE LATE FATAL OCCURRENCE ON THE TIL-
BURY AND SOUTHEND RAILWAY.—The adjourned in-
quest on the person killed by the recent accident was held
on Saturday, and resulted in a verdict of " Accidental
death."
LIVERPOOL BANQUET TO LORD DERBY.—It is
rumoured that Lord Derby and several of his late colleagues
will be entertained at a public banquet in Liverpool, to
take place in the course of a few weeks, on which occasion
the address, which has been numerously signed, expressive
of the high sense entertained of his lordship's admirable
conduct in the late administration of her Majesty's Govern-
ment, and of the increased confidence with which he is re -
garded as the leader of the Conservative party, will be for-
mally presented.—Liverpool Courier.
VOLUNTEER RIFLE CORPS.—A public meeting
was held at the Guildhall, Falmouth, on Monday last, in
compliance with a requisition to the mayor which was
signed by magistrates, deputy-lieutenants, and others, to
consider the propriety of and the means for raising a rifle
corps at that town for the eight circumjacent parishes.
The mayor presided, and after a discussion affirmative re-
solutions were passed, a committee appointed, and a sub-
scription opened to assist the progress of the work. The
allotments to Falmouth and neighbourhood would be two
companies of 100 men each, one artillery and the other rifle,
but the latter description of force appears the favourite. It
was considered the attempt would be successful, and sub-
scriptions were commenced liberally at once from the ma-
gistrates and surrounding gentry.
THE HARVEST IN NORTHUMBERLAND AND DUR-
HAM.—Last week was extremely favourable for the harvest
in these two northern counties • and on Saturday night an
immense amount of corn had been cut, and very much of
it upon the last farms gathered into the stackyards. Reap-
ing machines have been much employed this season in
Northumberland ; but the harvest coming in so rapidly
there has been ample employment for every one. In Dur-
ham 17s. and 18s. an acre have been paid for reaping ; and
very rarely has less than 12s. been given. In the neigh-
bourhoods of the towns women have been earning from 2s.
3d. to 2s. 6d. per day reaping. The crops are reported to
be extremely fine.
DEATH OF TOM BLANCHARD THE PANTOMIMIST.
—We have to announce the death of one of the best panto-
mimists of his time—poor Blanchard. He was bred to the
stage, and acquired a world-wide celebrity among the fre-
quenters of minor theatres by his dexterity in the use of the
small and broad swords, and by his performance in serious
and comic pantomime, at the Coburg (now the Victoria
Theatre), which opened under the ownership of Mr. Glos-
sop, and took its place as one of the most respectable
theatres in London. Poor Blanchard's performance of pan-
taloon on the first night stamped him a favourite with the
Surrey-side playgoers, his sword combats with Bradley
Huntley, Cobham, H. Kemble, Esq., and by his perform •
ances of "Don Juan," " Obi," " The Drunken Corporal,"
Pantaloon, and occasionally Clown, he kept his position
during a long series of years. Age had latterly incapacitated
him from following his profession, except in obscure or sub-
ordinate parts; and on Saturday, the 26th, poor Tom
breathed his last under the terrible affliction of cancer on
the tongue, and was buried on Thursday, at the Dramatic
Society's ground at Woking. We believe his age was 72.
THE MURDER NEAR LEEDS—On Saturday, at the
Leeds Town Hall, two men named William Appleby and
Walter Bearder, suspecte l of being the persons who mur-
dered Mr. Richard Broughton, of Roundhay, near Leeds,
on Saturday afternoon, the 6th inst., were examined before
the sitting magistrates. The prisoners were brought by a
writ of habeas corpus from the House of Correction at
Wakefield, where they are at present awaiting their trial
for a burglary committed at Batley. Several witnesses
were examined and the prisoners were remanded to a future
day. • The evidence affecting them was that they were
spoken to by three or four persons as like two men seen
near the place of the murder a short time before the unfor-
tunate man was attacked. The pawnbroker's assistant who
received the watch stolen from the deceased in pledge
about two hours after the murder, could not identify
either of the prisoners as the man who pawned it, but he
said that Bearder very much resembled the man. The
police .hope to be able to obtain further evidence before the
prisoners are again brought up for examination.
FEARFUL EXPLOSION.—A MAN BLOWN INTO
THE AIR.—SHIELDS, Friday Night.—A fearful explosion
ocurred on the Tyne this afternoon. A new steam-packet
company has commenced running steamers between New-
castle and Tynemouth ; and this afternoon the Louise
Crawshay, belonging to them, was coming down the river
with passengers, when a steamer named the William and
Mary commenced to race against her. It was observed
that those onboard the William and Mary were putting on
a fearful pressure in the boiler; and they also puffed off
steam at the Louise Crawshay, and blackguarded and
called them on board her. When off Hebburn Qda:r, the
boiler of the William and Mary burst with a fearful
noise, tearing up the decks, and washing the planks, with
all the loose materials on the deck, into the sea. Those
on board the Louise Crawshay also imagined they saw a
human being thrown into the air with the material, and
such seems to have been the case, as one of three men be-
longing to the vessel, a young Dian named Squire Cock-
burn, is missing. The other two men jumped over the
vessel's stern, and the Louise Crawshay running to their
assistance, rescued them I.y means of life buoys. The
William and Mary, which is an old boat, is much damaged
by the explosion. The explosion it solely owing to the
recklessness of the men navigating the vessel.
GREAT FIRE AT KNAPP'S COACH FACTORY,
CLAPHAM.—A fire broke out a little after one o'clock
on Saturday morning on the premises belonging to Mr.
J. Knapp, the well-known coach and carriage builder to
the Royal family, situate at 138 to 1;0, Manor-street,
Clapham. The building in which the fire began Wii
100 feet long, and was used as the coachmakers' shops
and smiths' welding houses. It contained two floors, each
being partially filled with property of considerable value.
The main body of fire continued its ravages for hours, and
was not arrested until the factory and all it contained, with
the exception of a small space about 20 feet long, were de-
stroyed. The dwelling•house in the front is also nearly
destroyed, and the roots are burned off. The sufferer was
insured in the County Fire-office. The origin of the fire
is unknown. No. 242, belonging to Mr. W. Cooper (pri-
vate) has sustained considerable damage by the hasty re-
moval of furniture, and unfortunately he was uninsured.
No. 136, belonging to gr, Tilbury, is similarly damaged,
and that gentleman was also uninsured. No. 137, the
livery stables belonging to Mr. J. Jordan, are also greatly
damaged, but fortunately the horses were all extricated,
but not without great risk.

LATEST NEWS.

The following telegrams have been received at
Mr. Reuter's office :

THE ZURICH CONFERENCE.
BERNE, AUG. 27.

There was no Conference held to-day, but the
Plenipotentiaries of France and Sardinia met to-
gether. A courier from Vienna has arrived.

ZURICH, AUG. 27.
For the last few days there has been no Conference
of the Plenipotentiaries.
It is believed that the Plenipotentiaries will be
enabled to quit Zurich at the latest in a fortnight.

TRIESTE, AUG. 28.

The American ship Benbolt, which had arrived
here lately with a cargo of Havana sugar, and
sailed again for London with the same cargo, for
want of a sale, was wrecked on the 25th inst. at
Brindisi ; the crew were saved. She was insured
in London.

ZURICH, AUG. 29.

Yesterday the Austrian and French Plenipoten-
tiaries held a private Conference. Two Couriers
have been despatched to Milan and Turin.

PARIS, AUG. 29.

The troops forming the garrison in the 3d and
4th divisions, the head-quarters of which are at
Lille and Chalons on the Marne, have been con-
siderably increased.. The regiment of the Imperial
Guard, having suffered severe losses at Magenta
and Solferino, are being reorganised, and the vacan-
cies caused by death filled up. The 4th battalion
of the Imperial Guard is also maintained. The
Government is about to increase the Artillery, but
the Cavalry is to be diminished.

TO THE EDITOR 01' THE SUN.

Sir.,—Having always proved yourself the warm
advocate of the national Italian cause, I beg to
forward you herewith the translation of an address
from the Venetians that has been circulated amongst
the Ministers and foreign Ambassadors at the Court
of Turin, hoping that you will kindly award it a
suitable place in your columns, with a view to
bring the rights of poor Venetia under the cognis•
ance of the world.—l am, &c., S.

" Your Excellency,—Europe knows our hopes,
our misfortunes, and our rights—rights that are
indeed old, but nevertheless full of life. We need
not appeal to public records to prove them, nor
would any one attempt to establish a denial of their
existence, upon the eternal inviolability of political
treaties, for their sacred keeping will be best illus-
trated by the Principalities of Neufchrtel, the
Danube, Belgium, and Lombardy ; and Austria we
need only remind of Cracow.
" Napoleon 111., in his memorable proclamation
of Milan, when alluding to our desire for indepen-
dence, so long expressed, and, unhappily, so often
disappointed, asserted two truths at once—the sanc-
tity of our right, and our consciousness of it.
Then, in reference to the sympathy of Europe for
our cause, he recognised the universal suffrage of
the public conscience in all that Europe possesses
of spirited and generous feeling.
" The peace lately signed cannot, in any way,
alter the real signification of those words which
promised us that Italy should be free to the Ad-
riatic.'
"It would be fruitless to recapitulate all the
hopes that the war aroused in the hearts of the
Venetians and the Lombards, the more so in the
Venetians, because their rights, even in accordance
with the strictest diplomacy, were the most sacred.
However, the very hope repressed their impetu-
osity, and the character given to the war, which
was to have been a regular and dynastic one, was
calculated to prevent any popular movement on

their part.
"After the occurrences of 1848 and 1849, and
after ten years of oppression, that a foreign govern-
ment could not otherwise maintain than by an over-
powering military force, it is scarcely necessary to
demonstrate our will. History shews us many
more warlike nations than Italy has been for the
last three centuries, who nevertheless have groaned.
and still do groan under oppression, without
being considered either timorous or happy. All
that the Venetians could do without the limits
of a war that excluded any national insurrection
was to take up arms under the banner of Piedmont ;
and this they have done. The number of volunteers
was greater than might have been supposed, par-
ticularly considering the difficulties that had to be
surmountad in escaping from a home which had be-
come the land of exile. To brave the dangers of a
flight was counted as nothing, but to consign friends,
father, or mother, to the vindictive suspicions aris-
ing from an honourable and sacredconfederation was
dreadful. The few thousand soldiers that Venetia
offered in this way to the Italian army are a sufficient
interpretation of the nation's will ; our armed depu-
ties, representing the country at large throughout all
grades of society, from the humble villager to the
millionaire, and the count whsse ancestorsbelonged to
history. It is needless to read their names at the
bottom of a political document; what they wanted,
and still want, is written with their blood.
" In spite of the promises and advice of expe-
rienced men, the.streets of Venice were, on the 14th
June, stained with blood; the prisons were packed
with youths, old men, and women. An Austrian
general in the very town in which he was parading
all the luxury of an armed force that should have
created within him a sense of perfect security
wrote his own decree, by saying, I shall have no
regard for persons, I punish only the deed or the
intention to act. I confide in none of you.' There
is not merely a personal feeling expressed by Gene-
ral Urban, but an admission of Austria's thoughts
as regards the Italians ; it is an admonition to the
latter of what they have to expect from the Aus-
trians, who, ever in dread, would always be in
arms against their own fears, and their suspicions
could not fail to arouse the suspicions of other
powers. Attached to Italy as to a prey, they
would not only menace an unfortunate nation, but
also the peace of Europe.
" The expenses necessarily incurred by Austria
keeping continually upon her guard would aug-
ment the miseries of the country and her own
misery too. This attitude, which could only serve
to aggravate her weakness, would. render her ap-
parently formidable to other states, and sooner or
later rear up a league likelyto accomplish her ruin.
Italy oppressed, alone would be her death. We,
Venetians, do not threaten nor dream of discord ;
but in the voice of the weak, wbo feel the dignity
of their rights, there is a power that in the end
will break both swords and chains.
" Two hundred thousand soldiers are encamped
on Venetian ground; the conduct of government
has not changed since the conclusion of peace. To
the expression of sorrow of our citizens, and their
disappointment without precedent, demonstrations
which even the least paternal GovernMent might
have excused—that the enemy, least of all acces-
sible to noble sentiments and enthusiasm created
by the glorious victories previously obtained as
precursors of unhoped-for success, might have con-
sidered in the same light—the Austrian function-
aries at Venice replied. on the 17th July with
threats of unheard-of heartlessness.
" To recite one fact, worth a thousand.
" The prisons of Josephstadt were closed upon
the Venetian landlords, peaceful men and endeared
to the nation by their talents and character having
been arrested without trial, as a mere precautionary
measure of the police, who publicly avowed that
they had in no way disturbed the public order, but
that the possibility of their doing so rendered their
imprisonment an act of utility to themselves and
desirable even to those who loved them. Ought it
not to have bsen supposed that after the compact
of Villafranca they should have been restored to
their lamenting families ? They are, nevertheless,
still there. The slowness of diplomatic proceedings
ought to anticipate the feelings of humanity and
justice, nor should there be even an appearance of
generosity or of any inclination towards those
guarantees vaguely promised. Is not thisrigorous
forbearance in the appearance of clemency—throw-
ing defiance at the sympathies of the country and
of all Europe—a return to the morals and manners
of the least enlightened times, in an age that boasts
of its elegance, and in which acts of the most cour-
teous generosity should only be considered. as mere
ordinary politeness ?
" Even by reducing the domination of Austria
over Venetia to its narrowest limits, even were it
agreed to place an isolated prince upon the throne,
without soldiers or functionaries belonging to his
race, is it supposed that that could satisfy Venetia,
Europe, or Austria herself ? Would it be possible
to allow an Austrian prince to guard the Alps ?
If he were supposed to be already so changed in
nature by his new title as to possess an entirely
Italian heart, could it be pretended that at a time
of war confidence would never be shaken either on
the part of the nation or on that of foreign powers P
Even in ordinary times, to what embarrassment
would that man not be exposed who, seeming to
obey the will of those he is selected to rule—of a man
who, to escape from this humiliating thought,
would ever be ready to encroach upon the powers
he has sworn to respect ?
" No man of feeling could, without a sentiment of
respectful commiseration, look upon a prince con-
demned to govern in so different a manner
there, where his ancestors, or his brother, have
ruled so as to render a murderous war inevitable
and concessions so long and so obstinately refused.
" Unhappy, indeed, is the fate of a prince when
reduced to be pitied by his own subjects, who, under
diffirent circumstances, would have loved and
honoured him with sincerity.
" The force of events offers Austria a precious
opportunity of retrieving herself and acquiring in
moral strength, and subsequently in material power,
much more than she would lose in dominion. She
could then say—After the occurrences of Villafranca
there is neither victor nor vanquished. The honour
of our arms is saved, let us also save that of our
family and the nation ; for here the honour of the
whole of Germany is at stake. We have left too
many brave men on the soil of Italy, let us forbear
leaving more victims on her ground. And if Aus-
tria were to hide these truths from herself, time
would force them upon her some dreadful day.
" The undersigned need not affirm that the Tows
that they now make are not isolated or solitary.
The titles they append to their signatures will de-
note that they are the interpreters of a sentiment
which is nourished by the intellect and the heart
of all who consider that the word nation' is not a
vain sound.
" Diplomatic documents have just been published
giving the thoughts of Daniel Manin—not merely
as a private man, but as the chief of the Venetian
government. Venice possessed an assembly elected
by the universal suffrage, which had bestowed un-
limited power upon it. A committee sat in Venice
to repreE ,nt the different provinces of Venetia; the
legions composed of Venetians, who likewise voted
at the election of the assembly, contributed to ren-
der our resistance honourable as much by the order
they observed as by the firmness they displayed.
Thus this voice issuing from the tomb is the voice
of the nation itself, and during his life Manin was
regarded by Europe as the personification of the
immortal right. Dictator of Venice, in his exile
he was more than a king, Charles X. at Garitz.
Louis Philippe in London, never received be-
fore or after deati, that homage of the heart that