The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-27 00:00:00

BIRTHS.

AsfiLEV On the 22d inst., at 28, Ladbroke •square, Ken.
.--
sington-park W., the wife of Dr. Ashley, of a son.
CHICHESTEn the 2.lst inst., at Guyers Cershatn,
Wilts, Mrs. Nugent Chichester, of a daughter.
GOSNELL.—On the 26th inst., the wife of Charles Gosnell,
Esq., of Parnham House, Pembury-road, Lower Clap-
ton, of a daughter.

EOY AL ENGLISH OPERA,
COVENT-GARDEN.
Under the Mana,gemenist
on ot Miss Louisa P.yne and Mr. W.
Harr, S
TEAS EVENING, LE DOMINO NOIR. %Itss Louisa
Pyne, Miss Thirlwall, Miss Leffler ; Messrs. H. Haigh, H.
Corri, A. St. Albyn, and Horncastle.
To conclude with a Divertissement.
Conductor—Mr. Alfred Mellon. Commence at Seven.

11 EA'rR ItO AL, HAYMARKET.
Lesgee, Mr. J. B. Baukstone.

THIS EVENING, the performances will 'lmmense with
the Comedy of THE BABES IN TIIE WOOD. Messrs. E.
♦illiers, Buckstone, W. Farrell, Mrs. Wilkins, and Miss F.
irling.
After which, a new Pantomime, QUEEN LADYBIRD
AND HER CHILDREN. The Pantomimists by the un-
rivalled Leclercqs, Herr Cole, and Fanny Wright.

Commence at 7.

RO YAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.-
Lessee and Manager, Mr. A. Harris.

TUTS EVENING, the Farce of A.S.S.
To be followed by DON CESAR DE BAZAN. Don
etegar, Mr. Fechter. Supported by Messrs. Basil Potter,
Y. Matthews, .1. G. Shore, Miss M. Harris, Miss C. Leclercq
st►d Mrs. Weston.

After which, a new Christmas comical pantomime, entitled
ROBINSON CRIJSOE ; or, Harlequin Friday, and the King
of the Caribbe Islands : in which Monsieur Espinosa and
N dile. Marie Dumilatre, of the principal cantinental theatres
will appear. Clown, Mr. A. F. Forrest.

rrHEATRE- ROYAL LYCEUM.
LL So.e Lessee and Directress, Madame CELESTE.
THIS EV e:NING the new drama. THE HOUSE ON THE
'MIDGE OF NOTR e; DAME. Principal characters by
Sir. G. Vining Sir. J. Johnstone. Mr. Villiers, Mr. Clifford,
hfr. John Rouse, Mr. Forrester, Mr. Morris ; Miss M.Ternan,
Miss K. Saville, Miss L. Thompson, and Madame Celeste.
After which, the Lyceum Christmas Comic Extravaganza,
CRYSTABELLE ; or, The Rose without a Thorn, showing
ATHE VISIO \I OF A ROSE. ITS FADING AT
ND THE MAY BLOOM OF THE WILD BRIAREVE,.
To conclude with a new Divertissement. Miss Annie
and Miss Marie Collinson, Sze.

A Dimpvii, NEW THEATRE-ROYAL.
Solt Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Beni. Webster.
THUS EVENING, AN UGLY CUSTOMER. Messrs. .T.
L. Toole, C. Selby, and Warde ; Miss K. Kelly, and Miss E.
Thorne.
Alter which, THE COLLEEN BAWN. D. Roucicanit, D.
Fisher, Billington, Falconer, Stephenson. C. J. Smith, Romer.
Miss Agnes Robertson, Miss Woolgar, Mrs. Billington, and
xlre. Chatterley.
To conclude with a new Burlesque Extravaganza, entitled
BLUE BEARD FROM A NEW POINT OF HUE.
wressrs. J. L. Toole, P. Bedford, C. J. Smith ; Miss Woolgar,
Kelly,Laidlaw, and 43. Thorne.

Doors open at half past 6—Commence at 7.
Box-office open from 10 till 5.
No chaN'e for booking.
Private boxes, .£2 25.; Family Boxes, XI.
Orchestra Stalls, ss. ; Balcony, -is. ; Yront Circle Stalls, 28. ;
Pit Stang, 25.; Pit, ls. 6(1. ; Amphitheatre, I. ; Gallery, &I.

emancipation of the Press of France—so did it even_
tually fall out in respect to those other promises,
promises equally specious, equally ostentatious,
articulated by the inscrutable Government of the
EMPEROR, with all his MAJESTY'S old oracular
ambiguity, in regard to the raising once more of a
Free Tribune in each of the two Chambers of the
Imperial Parliament. Scarcely was the Legislature
assembled when these radiant hopes were dashed to
the ground by the very man who had called them
into existence. NAPOLEON told his Senators and
Deputies, as plainly as words could tell them any-
thing, that—as had been so very recently
intimated—they would be allowed the privi-
lege actually of discussing the Imperial policy
with all freedom, but that even their strongest
condemnation of it any time would not necessitate
the change of that policy in any one particular,
would not even necessitate the change of the Ad-
ministration ! It was actually as though the
despotic ruler of France, at the very moment while
he was affecting to concede constitutional privileges
to his Legislature was reserving to himself the
prerogative of remaining very much like that Fool
of the Proverb, who—
" Convinced against his will,
Is of the same opinion still."

Expostulate with me—the EMPEROR seemed to say
to his Senators and Deputies, in his Speech from the
Throne at the beginning of this month of February
—point out to me, an it so please you to do,
what part of my policy may chance to
be distasteful to you, and the result will
be between us as though you had not spoken.
The refrain with him, as with Mr. TOOTS in
Dombey and Son, was literally in this way—" It's
not of the slightest consequence, thank you !" The
problem remaining for solution by the French
Legislature after the Speech from the Throne had
explained the nature of the boon vouchsafed by
the EMPEROR, could have been summed up conse-
quently in two words on the opening day of the
session—Cui bono ? The Senate virtually appear
to have thought with Mr. TOOTS also on their
part—" It's not of the slightest consequence, thani
you "—judging from the whole tone and character
of their Address in answer to the Speech of their
Imperial Benefactor! 'they intimate in their re-
ply to the EMPEROR, these obsequious political
lacqueys, that they accept the whole of his Majesty's
policy, that they are ready to sustain that policy in
everything. The truth being that in so doing they
just simply put a good face upon the matter. They
are positively assured that they may object to any-
thing in that policy if they like to do so--but that
in the event of their objecting nothing whatever
will come of it in the way of any change at all,
good, bad, or indifferent. The pill is gilded for
them—that is all : and thereupon they swallow it
with the least wry face in any way possible under
the circumstances. Nay, with a sort of a grimace
of gratitude. In this respect indeed the
Senate of NAPOLEON 111. bears a certain
degree of resemblance in its polite imperturbabi-
lity, bears a certain degree of resemblance to Prince
TALLEYRAND himself, of whom NAPOLEON the
Great once said that, supposing that Minister at
any time to have been undergoing a kicking, you
could never tell what was occurring from the expres-
sion of his countenance. It is really thus with the
Senate, who have but just now felt the touch of the
Imperial jack-boot, and who,while yet fresh from the
agreeable operation come cringing to his MAJESTY'S
footstool—all politeness. Surely each Senator of
France, as reasonably as he echoes the Imperial
policy in this obsequious Address in answer to the
Speech from the Throne, might quite as reasonably
and as justly and appositely echo Mawworm's
ejaculation in 7he Hypocrite of BICKERSTAFF—" I
likes to be despised."

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1861.

ENGLISH OPERA.—THEATRE-ROYAL, COVENT-
GARDEN.—Auber's opera of "Le Domino Noir" was re-
peated for the sixth time last evening to a fashionable and
crowded audience. By the announcement we peteeive the
season is drawing to a close, there being only ten more
nights. Among the distinguished personages who have
lately honoured the theatre with their presence we have
noticed the following :—The Marquis and Marchioness of
Normanby, Marchioness of Ely, Earl Spencer, Viscount
Exmouth, the Dowager Countess of Essex, Lord and Lady
C. Bruce, Ladies Grey, Mary Bulteel, C. Barrington,
Theresa Lewis, Elinor Stanley, Kinnoul, Churchill,
and Boothby ; Duke of Hamilton, Earl of Carrington,
Lords Alfred Paget, De Tabley, Kinnoul, Cremorne; Sir
C. Armytage, Bart. ; Sir John Stuart, Col. and the Hon.
Mrs. Biddulph, General Cavendish, Colonel Vivian, Hon.
Mrs. Stonor, Hon. Mrs. Ricardo, Colonel and Mrs.
Bathurst, &c., &c.

The late Mr. J. R. Suakin, of St. Thomas's-square,
Hackney, has left a legacy of one hundred guineas, free of
legacy duty, to the National Lifeboat Institution.
SUDDEN DEATH OF LADY RODEN.—It is
with regret that we announce the sudden death of Lady
Roden, which took place on Monday afternoon at the
family mansion in Cavendish-square. We are informed
that the Countess, who had been in delicate health for
some years past, had only left her room to meet her
daughters, the Countess of Gainsborough, the Mar-
chioness of Londonderry, and Lady Marie Forester who
had assembled to take luncheon with their mother, when
she was attacked with an apoplectic stroke, and in less
than half -an - hour afterwards was pronounced
dead. The Earl of Roden was absent from town at the
time, but reached London in the evening to receive the
melancholy news. The Countess Maria Frances Catherine
Stapleton was second daughter o Thomas, 22d Lord Le
Despencer, and was born on the 22d of September, 1794,
and by the Earl of Roden, whom she married on the 9th of
June, 1813, she leaves surviving issue Elizabeth, Mar-
chioness of Londonderry ; Frances, Countess of Gains-
borough ; Maria, widow of the Hon. Charles Weld Forester ;
Colonel the Hon. Strange Jocelyn, married to a daughter
of Lord Broughton ; and the Hon. William N. Jocelyn,
belonging to the diplomatic service.

20TH SURREY RIFLES.—On Monday evening a
dramatio entertainment took place at the Griffin Assembly-
rooms, Kingston, for the benefit of the 20th Surrey Rifles,
under the patronage of her Grace the Duchess of Northum-
berland, and the nobility and gentry of the district. The
play selected for performance was Sheridan Knowles's
" Hunchback," Miss Amy Sedgwick, who generously gave
her services, taking the character of Julia. The other cha-
racters were very respectably acted, especially that of
Master Walter by Mr. Armstrong, which was in the highest
degree satisfactory. The entertainment was numerously
attended, and no doubt the funds of the corps Rill be con-
siderably increased.
THE ALLEGED ILL-TREATMENT IN MANCHES-
TERDZBTORS PRISON.—Sir John Kincaid, who was directed
by Sir G. C. Lewis to inquire into the allegations recently
made respecting the treatment of the debtors confined in
the Manchester City gaol, has mid° his report. Sir
John is of opinion that the debtors department of the pri-
son is " very defective," but with reference to the charges
of harshness preferred against the governor, Captain Lane,
he asserts that he has not been able to discover that he
" exceeded, in any case, the duties which he was bound to
see carried out." Equally satisfactory has been the conduct
of the other officers of the prison, and the visiting justices
are stated to have shown due attention to every memorial
or complaint addressed to them by the debtors.—Manches-
' ter Guardian.
INSOLVENCY OF A PRIVATE BANKER.—The recent
death of Mr. John Crosby, banker, Kirkby Thore, West-
moreland, who during his lifetime was a man highly re-
spected by all classes of society, has revealed a state of in-
solvency which has caused great surprise, and will cause
great misery in the district. Mr. Crosby died very suddenly
at his residence on the 12th inst., and upon his execu-
tors going to examine his books after his death they found
there was a great deficit. A meeting of the creditors was
held on Saturday last at the George Hotel, Penrith, when
it was stated that the liabilities amounted to £Bl,OOO,
and the assets were £39,000, leaving a deficiency of
£42,000. It is generally expected that the creditors will
only receive about ss. in the pound. This failure will
cause the greatest misery in the neighbourhood, where
Mr. Crosby was held in high esteem. The number of
depositors was large. Many small farmers who had placed
their money in the bank to be ready for their rent-
day on the 25th of March will be almost ruined ; others
who had taken farms had their money accumulating in the
bank, as they thought, to stock them ; farm servants had
deposited their savings in Mr. Crosby's hands, and have
lost their all. The losses will be heavily felt in all the coun-
try side. It is supposed the insolvency must have been for
a long time approaching a crisis, but the fact was shut up in
Mr. Crosby's own breast, as he kept his books strictly
private, permitting no one to examine them but himself,
even his son who was in the office not having that privi-
lege. The creditors, a large number of whom assembled at
the meeting on Saturday, appointed a committee of inves-
tigation.

THE CAIRO COURT-MARTIAL.—The revelations
made by the Cairo court-martial are destitute of interest.
Four officers were tried, but the witnesses who were called
forward were generally more in fault than the prisoners.
On what principle the prisoners were singled out appears to
be quite unintelligible. One witness admitted having said,
" How d'ye do, old fellow," as the Paella passed him in the
mosque, but in a very low tone of voice. The others
implicated merely laughed and bowed in the mosque and
overturned'earthenware lamps in the street. The evidence
failed fully to convict any of them of being intoxicated on
the occasion. The sentence of the court-martial is not yet
known. The singular story of Lieutenant R. C. Kennedy
is one of the subjects on the Lapis at present. This
gentleman, when at Damascus, thought proper to dress,
speak, and act like a native of the plane, chiefly,
as he said, to perfect his knowledge of Arabic. He
gave out that his mother was a Mahommedan, and ad-
mitted having married a Mussulmanee in Damascus while
he had a Mussulman wife living in Bombay. The gravest
charge against him was that he spoke against the British
Government, and wished well to the cause of the rebels.
He has been dismissed from the army by order of the Secre-
tary of State.—Overland Friend of India.
RAILWAY EXTENSION IN FRANCE.--The amount
of new railway communication opened in France last year
is returned by the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and
Public Works as follows :—Old reseau—Northern, at Mau-
beuge, 1 kilo. ; Orleans, at Bordeaux, 2 kilos. ; Medi, at
Bordeaux, 2 kilos. New reseau—Northern, Paris to Sevran,
14 kilos. ; Lens to Ostricourt, 16 kilos. ; Eastern, Port
d'Atelier to Aillevilliers-Plombieres, 29 kilos.; Western
Lison to St. Lo, 18 kilos.; Orleans, Perigueux to Brives,
72 kilos. ; St. Cristophe to Rodez, 29 kilos. ; Paris, Lyons,
and Mediterranean, Pontarlier to the Swiss frontier, 11
kilos. ; Moret to Montargis, 51 kilos. ; in all, 245 kilos., or
152 miles. The total length of railway opened in France
to Dec. 31, 1860, was thus raised to 5,778 miles. The
length of line set down for completion during the current
year is about 430 miles.

HEALTH OF SCOTTISH TOWNS.—The
Generalßegistrar-
of scou areports
Jan.tha that a
st hte—d2e,a7t7h9s
—bagthe
tel iyg he
xt
eeeded principalth otowns
any January since the Registration Act came into operation
in 1855. This is partly to be attributed to the prevalence
of small-pox, scarlatina, and diphtheria, and partly to the
severity of the weather at the close of the last year and the
opening of this, though Scotland has again been better off
in this respect than might have been expected from its high
latitude. Indeed, at Aberdeen the thermometer never fell
below 19 deg. in January, while at the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich, nearly six degrees further south, it was at 16
deg. ; at Paisley, however, it marked 8 deg., and at Perth
10 deg. The deaths in the eight towns in 1860 (26,028)
were in the high proportion of 286 in every 10,000 of the
estimated population. It would be understating the facts
to say that for every four persons who died in London last
year five died in the Scottish towns; it would be nearer the
truth and a very little way from it, to state that far every
three deaths in the metropolis there were four in the Scottish
towns. In Glasgow half the deaths in the year were of
children under five years of age. The mortality was
heaviest in Glasgow and Greenock. In Edinburgh it was
but 229 in the 10,000, and the Registrar-General notices the
advantage that city possesses in its exposed site on sloping
hills, and the consequent thorough ventilation of even its
most densely peopled low streets and closes; were its drain-
age, surface as well as underground, and its sanitary ar-
rangements in the lowest class.of dwellings somewhat im-
proved, and overcrowding prevented, he has no doubt that
it would prove one of the very healthiest towns of the
kingdom.

WESTERN BANK GF SCOTLAND. —The liquida-
tors of the Western Bank of Scotland have issued their re-
port to the general meeting of shareholders, to be held on
Wednesday. The report shows that the debts paid off
during the year ending the let of February last amount to
£417,160, and the total liabi itifts discharged during the
three years of the liquidation are upwards of £6,000,000.
In fact, the enormous debt which the bank owed to the pub-
lic at the crash in November, 1857, is now reduced to the
comparatively trifling sum of £53,000. The liquidators are
using every means in their power to pay off this rem-
nant by advertising over the whole kingdom for per-
sons who have paid money into the bank and who have
neglected or forgotton it ; and, meanwhile, interest is
not any longer allowed on these sums. The
sum paid on calls amounts to a total close upon £2,000,000
sterling. The sacrifices made by the suffering shareholders
to discharge their liabilities to the public have been most
heroic, and in connection with t his great calamity these will
ever be remembered as in the highest degree honourable to
the national integrity of the country. The liquidators state
that, apart from litigations with trustees, which involve
some nice and unsettled questions in the law of Scotland
there is only one action in court for recovery of a call. The
probable surplus of the Western Bank, subject to the future
expense of winding-up, amounts to £487,000, being an in-
crease of about £50,000 as compared with the previous
year. A considerable portion of this improvement is, of
course, owing to the saving in interest, for, aft er providing for
all that is due, the amount added to last vear'3 balance of
interest is only about £7,000. The expenses of liquidation
for the year, including law costs, amount to £15,000. r