The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-25 00:00:00

THE PRUSSI4.II7 _REVIEWS.

A letter from Cologne, dated Sept. 21, says :—I
cannot resist sending you a few lines to tell you of
the extraordinary kindness and civility which have
been shown to the English officers attending the
manceuvres. It is really impossible to give you an
adequate notion of the kindness shown us, and of
the hospitality with which we are treated—every-
thing, too, done in such a simple, unpretending
manner, as if, indeed, it were all a matter of course,
and there were nothing unusual or remarkable
about it. The number of foreign officers attending
these manceuvres is about 100. Almost all nations
find their representatives, indeed the Kingdom of
Italy is the only country of importance conspicuous
by its absence. Shall I add the Federal portion of
the disunited States ? But if the North is absent,
the South is represented by two gentlemen from
Virginia, who are here to learn the art of war,
which I guess they intend shortly putting in practice
against the Nor therns. Yesterday a strange looking
person appeared in a black sheepskin busby, and
dark cloth dressing-gown, a Circassian, aide-de-
camp to General Bariatinski. Misfortune cannot
indeed make stranger bedfellows than do these
Prussian manoeuvres ; for the Austrian General
Baumgarten finds himself in daily contact with the
French General Forey, his recent opponent at Mon-
tebello, and the other night I saw Prince Windi-
schratz, an Austrian officer in full uniform, drive
off in a fiacre between two French Generals, looking
very much as if he were a prisoner of war being
walked off between his captors. Well, all these
foreign officers (we are 18 English) are lodged,
feasted, and carried about in special trains and
all manner of carriages, as well as moun-
ted on the King's and regimental horses,
besides having two officers, Count Blumenthal and
Baron Berner specially appointed to look after
them, Most of these officers have been sent
by their respective Governments, some, like my-
self, have come on their own hook; all, how-
ever, are received with the same kindness and
hospitality. The best rooms in an hotel have
been retained for Lord Clyde, General Eyre,
and suite, and it is an understood thing that they
are to consider themselves the King's guests during
their stay, and never to put their hands into • their
pockets—the same applies to all accredited foreign
officers. A special train every morning takes us
part of the way to the manceuvres, the remainder
of the journey being performed in carriages of every
possible shape and description, which we find in
waiting, which have been collected from all parts,
some having come 60 or 80 miles. Of these car-
riages there must be at least 100. At the point
, where we leave the road we find our horses, which
are allotted to us somewhat promiscuously and
without that regard to any congruity between their
furniture and the uniforms of their riders which
an ght desire. The animals them-
artistic eye mi
selves are, however, for the most part good and
well-behaved, as well they may be, for I am told
that they were selected for the foreign officers by
picking out the best horses in the different cavalry
regiments and putting their worst riders on them
as a preparatory test. The manceuvres have been
very interesting, but I do not pretend to give you
any account of them. The first I saw
of the troops was the parade of the Bth Armee
Corps before the King, Queen, Princess of Prussia,
and princes and grand dukes innumerable, indeed,
one daily finds oneself in the midst of a mounted
mob of royalty—the Almanac de Gotha a Cheval,
as I have heard it called. As far as regards the
physique and general appearance of the troops on
parade, nothing can be better. The men, though
necessarily young, are stout and well built, with,
for the most part, intelligent good countenances,
which their conduct, evidenced by the low figures
of their punishment list, does not belie. Their

clothes fit admirably, too well, indeed, in the
opinion of one who thinks that a soldier's dress
should be made like a sportsman's, loose, and suited
to his work as hunter of men. The ranks as they
stood in column were wonderfully dressed, every
bayonet even covering. Their marching past was
excellent as far as steadiness; it was in quick time,
about eight paces (116) in the minute quicker than
ours. Slow time, that barbarous relic of pigtail
days, is quite exploded in the Prussian army,
but they are not without an equivalent to it,
for in marching past on parade occasions they arc
taught to prance, i.e., to bend and raise the knee like
a high-stepping cab horse. This in a parade quad-
ruped is a showy and highly prized and priced qua-
lity, but the Prussians may, perhaps, some day find
it equally costly as applied to bipeds, for it is a most
unnatural action, which must take time to acquire,
which would be more profitably spent, especially by
three-year-old soldiers, in more useful and necessary
training, and on the field of battle the result of such
waste of time may perchance cost the nation dear.
These special parade movements appear to me more-
over a mistake. Why should parade marching be
anything more than ordinary marching done as per-
fectly as possible P A parade is intended to be an
imposing spectacle. It would be made much more
so by giving it a practical character and showing an
army in all the perfection of its natural efficiency,
instead of forcing men into unnatural attitudes and
action. The cavalry look well, and the men ride
particularly well ; perhaps a thought too short,
though it is the best side to err on ; and even all the
infantry officers appear to be at home on horseback.
The horses are slight, but have evidently plenty of
blood, and are said to stand their work well. Among
them I have seen some very pretty chargers. The
artillery horses certainly appear too light for their
draught, and the pole of the carriage, which hangs
down and looks as if made to trip up the wheelers,
cannot contribute to their efficiency. There appears
to be another serious defect in the construction of
the gun carriages—that the wheels of the carriages
are smaller than those of the limber, and are neces-
sarily not interchangeable. Another criticism made
upon their batteries is, that they have only four guns
in a battery and no ammunition waggons. In war
the battery is increased to eight guns, which is more,
it is said, than one officer can command, more espe-
cially in these days of universal concussion shells
which artillery authorities say will necessitate the
adoption of wider intervals between the guns. An
artillery driver takes a long time to make, and I
should think he would, unless in constant exercise,
get rusty, and when they have to increase the
strength of their batteries, it must require time to
get them into a thorough state of efficiency. They
had four batteries (I think) of breechloading guns.
I do not believe they have any advantage over ours,
indeed, they are not such business-looking tools as
the Armstrong, and in sundry instances the breech
gun was seen to stick and cause delay in loading.
Their projectile, however—which, like ours, is
coated with lead—never strips ; which is more than
can be said of ours. This is a defect which can, I
believe, be easily remedied. It is, however, a serious
one, which should be attended to without delay, as
it renders firing over the heads of our own troops
dangerous, and, with these long-ranged rifle guns,
this practice will probably be more resorted to than
heretofore.

The breech-loading rifle is now almost entirely
the arm of the infantry ; they speak highly of its
performances at 600 and 700 yards, and an officer
has promised to come to Wimbledon next year with
one of their best soldier shots, so that we shall have
an opportunity of judging. The needle which ignites
the charge passes through the powder, which thus
burns backwards towards the breech, and every
particle is necessarily ignited and no power wasted.
I heard no complaints of the men firing away their
ammunition too quickly, and at these manoeuvres,
with only 15 or 20 rounds, they never find their
supply run short. At a pinch they can fire 5 rounds
a minute. I timed them several times, and found
they fired volleys at the rate of 1 in 20 to 24 seconds.
I was told by an officer that they could fire a volley
at cavalry charging at 100 yards, load, and fire a
second volley before the troopers could reach the
line or square. Their khapsacks look heavy, and
appear to hang low ; indeed, as a French officer said
to me, " lllais ce qu'il y a de detestable, ce sont leurs
sacs." It is, however, only in appearance, for I tried
one, and found it extremely comfortable, as it is
made to fit the back, and by being attached in front
to the waistbelt, on which the cartridge pouches
hang, it balances well, and it has the great merit of
not cutting the arm, and being so constructed that
a man can unaided put it on and off, which strange
to say is not the case with ours. The officers
all carry a small knapsack, which I likewise
tried and found comfortable and well suited fot
Volunteers. The greatcoat is worn in a
rouleau round the body, passing over the left
shoulder and over the knapsack, which prevents its
pressing on and keeping the body hot. The worst
part of their dress appears to be their boots—short,
clumsy-looking wellingtons, which do not show to
advantage when the men, as they all doin the field,
tuck up the bottom of their trousers in the vain
attempt to keep them out of the mud. A soldier
without leggings, or loose trousers which do not
drag, is a comparatively inefficient animal, for his
powers of marching are sadly interfered with by
trousers draggling in the mud. The general im-
pression, I think, produced by these manoeuvres on
military men, as regards the Prussian army, is
highly favourable to the physique and character
of the soldier, but their tactics and formation are not
suited to the days of canons rayes and acmes de
precision. The men are thoroughly well drilled,
they are kept well in hand, and stand their work
Well; indeed, I saw none fall out as one might have
expected, for they have had long marches, bivouacs
in bad nights, and very trashing work. The officers,
too, appear to know their duty thoroughly, and to
take a pride in their profession ; but, if the Prussian

army is to become an efficient shield to Germany,
considerable changes will have to be made in their
tactics and formation. Attacks in column and for-

mation of solid squares will have to be abandoned,

_. .....•
The artillery will have to be kept more in advance,
and its fire more concentrated ; and, above all, the
cavalry must not be sent to charge villages strongly
occupied by infantry and artillery, as has been seen
in the course of these manceuvres. The reasons

assigned for retaining column and solid square for-

mation is that their—soldiers are young, and that
their courage rises by companionship and being
kept together in masses, This might be the case
until shells such as the Armstrongs, &c., come into

use, but in five minutes columns and squares such
as these must be utterly annihilated. These are
the opinions I have gathered from the various

military lookers-on; but, on the other hand, the
Prussians say all this would be changed in war.
Then, alas ! it will be too late. Changes such as
are required cannot be made in the face of the

enemy, for in these days of railways and rapid
concentration of troops war will be short and

decisive, and victory will be with the army that
enters the field the most thoroughly prepared.
Whatever defects, however, there may be in their
infantry and artillery the impression produced by
the cavalry is, I think, highly favourable. Yesterday
the manoeuvres were closed by their trotting past,
and nothing could look better than the horses and
men, in spite of all their hard work and exposure.
These manoeuvres must certainly be of great service
to the army, as they are, in fact, a short campaign ;
and it would be well if we could have something of
the same kind in England. The cost of the manoe-
uvres here is about 500,000 thalers, to which must
be added 300,000 thalers for those going on in other
parts of Prussia. All damage done to crops is sub-
mitted to arbitration, a mixed local and military
commission going over the ground before and after.
What impression has been produced by these
manoeuvres on the impressionable race who view the
Rhine as their natural boundary it is not for me to 1

say; but I heard a French officer remark "qui'l y
await beacoup de resemblance entre ce peuple et
celui de la France, et qu'ils portaient tous la blouse
comme chez nous." The King, however, has been
well received wherever he has appeared, and patrio-
tic songs are sung by the Cologne and other choirs
to the tune that the Rhine must be defended, Last
night our proceedings closed with a general toast-
drinking and embracing at our last dinner at Disch's
Hotel, where all the foreign officers have daily
dined at the King's expense, at one fricdrich d'or
perhead. It was a curious scene. The Germans
showed unmistakably what value they set upon the
English alliance, and many were the wishes pri-
vately expressed that we might always remain
" treue Freunde," and much was said of the neces-
sity of our being so.

have-omitted to notice that the average
sick, when in barrack, is about one per cent.

M. DE MONTALEMBERT ON POLAND.

• de Montalembert has spent a consi'
part of the summer of this year in visiting Poland,
and in obtaining by personal inspection accurate
knowledge of her present condition. For him this
was a labour of love. M. de Montalembert does not
appear now for the first time as the advocate of that
unfortunate country, or as the avenger, in so far as
the eloquent tongue and the eloquent pen can
avenge, a great nation crushed by so cruel an op-
pression, and abandoned by those in whose cause it
had so often given its best blood. His best sliee-ehes
were delivered in the Chamber of Peers, while
France could yet boast of a free Parliament, on
behalf of Poland; and M. de Montalembert may
indeed appeal to his long services in that glori-
ous cause as his claim to be heard once more in
its behalf as a writer. He has acquired a consi-
derable mass of information during his late sojourn
in Poland, and he has communicated it to the public
in the last number of the Correspondant—a
monthly periodical which, as you are aware, one
celebrated prosecution and the menace of another
have identified with his name. It would be difficult
for such a man to treat any topic wittout adorn-
ing it, and even Poland acquires new interest
from a pen like his.
Of the actual condition of the Polish people he
draws the following picture :
" Let the man who knows the Paris of 1861
figure to himself a whole nation N‘ hich dreams
neither of amusement nor of money-making.
Poland thinks only of her past and her future.
She is absorbed by her sorrows and her hopes.
In presence of modern civilisation, which looks but
to lucre and pleasure, which denies the existence of
pain, and which enervates the will, she suffers and
she wills. Her suffering is incurable ; her will is
invincible. With her all is grave, sad, and sombre.
With her everything bears the impress of one in-
flexib.e determination—that of accepting neither
peace, nor prosperity, nor security, and of never
leaving either to her masters till justice is done her.
That justice is a debt of God ! It will be paid. Cost
what it may it will be paid; and until it be paid we
will protest, and none shall ever force us to a com-
promise with iniquity. This is the dominant thought
of Poland. It is this which speaks in her looks, in
her words, even in every gesture of her children.
It is the ever recurring theme in her conversation,
in every prayer, in every hymn ; it is found in the
chorus of the famous canticle which is heard at this
moment in every church and in every-thoroughfare
of Poland—' Lord God ! restore to us our country ;
restore to us our liberty !'
"Meantime her mourning is complete and uni-
versal. A people gay by temperament, ardent for
show and pleasure, now totally refrain from them.
Theatres are abandoned, gardens deserted, public
and private festivities suppressed. The dance, of
all pastimes the most popular among the Poles, as
among the Hungarians and the Spaniards, is strictly
prohibited, even in the interior of families. Every
woman dresses from head to foot in black. They
who so much love ornament, and for which they
are so well formed, have unanimously renounced
every colour but that of mourning. For the last
six months the practice has been adopted from one
end of Poland to the other, in sign of reprobation
and indignation, but also as a pledge of union and
reconciliation. The parties which once divided
Poland are now but one ; all differences are sus-
pended, forgotten, of lie hidden beneath the funeral
habiliments of the common country. No prohibi-
tion, no violence, no cruelty even (and several acts
of cruelty have been committed against persons
wearing mourning met by the Russian soldiers in
the streets) can put a stop to this terrible and mute
declaration of war." " The churches resound with

the music of mournful chants, mingled with aspi-
rations for a happy resurrection. The words of the
verse of the old Litany, From pestilence, fire, and
war, deliver us, Lord,' have been changed; they are
now From pestilence, fire, and Muscovite servi-
tude, deliver us, Lord.' "
" I have heard and admired," says M. de Monta-
lem bert,—

" All the masterpieces of religious or profane
music, ancient or modern, but neither the boasted
marvels of the Sixtine Chapel nor the enchanting
harmonies of Gluck or Beethoven have ever affected
me so much as that chant inspired by the argent
inspiration of faith, of sorrow, and of patriotism,
and which penetrates the deep mysteries of all.
Every time those truly celestial sounds struck my
ear, whether in the fall choir or in a modest village
chureh, when the organ alternated with the voice
of the peasant, or when the tremulous voice of child-
hood or the sweet accents of the youthful maiden
were heard in a lone garden or by the hearth-
stone, that melody seemed to me like something li
superhuman. Never were imploring accents
expressed in sweeter, more searching, and
more passionate modulations. I pity the man who
could hear them without his heart thrilling with
anguish and his eye being wet with tears as the
plaintive notes rise and fall in a cadence each time
and more pathetic, until the closing invocation is
heard in an irresistible burst of anguish and of
love. But what must be the feelings of those who
have heard it rush forth, like a torrent of fire, from
the lips of twenty thousand, of fifty thousand Chris-
tians at the same moment, standing up, unarmed,
before their bewildered oppressors—of multitudes
determined not to combat but to die, and breathing

in the agony of death, and with their last sigh, a
defiance and a protest—this irresistible appeal to
the avenging Omnipotence of Heaven ! it is at
once the cry of a soul and the cry of a nation, both
bowed down beneath the bitterest of griefs, and

both inflamed by the most fervent faith. It is the

cry of anguish and of confidence, of reproach and
_ _

_
of tenderness, which would force itself through the
vault of Heaven for eternal justice and pity to
descend."

This," adds M. de Montalembert, after giving
a literal translation of the hymn, " Boze eos
polske" which now triumphs over all opposition,
and which is heard in every church and in every
public place in Poland,—
"This, then, is the Marseillaise of these singular
revolutionists ! It shows in what the cause of
Poland differs, and in what it always has differed,
from the cause of revolution throughout the rest of
Europe."
M. de Montalembert affirms that Poland has
never yet for one moment become reconciled to her

servitude. What she demanded in 183'), in 1815,
in 1791, she now demands ; she is resolved to get it;
and she is convinced that she will get it, doubt•
less by other means than at these periods, but
_ _

with the same resolution and the same unanimity.
" What other nation in the modern world," he asks,

"is in the same condition ? What remains to the

Frence of 1789 of her ideal of justice, of progress
and liberty, of her generous aspirations, of her
youthful and candid ardour in pursuit of good, of
her simple confidence in right, in liberty, in rea-
son,* t
in Parliaments, in the all-sufficient
force of

reasoning ? What retains to E.
and powerful policy which, with
all ber.safisLtness, had so justly won c{,
admira:ion of the world—which, witMeans:eite,
eloquence of Burke, and the firm and resistltss
hand of Pitt, seemed to h.-.ve implanted for everin
every guglish heart the eternal distinction between.
revolution and liberty ? What remains to Ger-
many of the memorable union of her princes end
her people in 1813—of the immense and glorious
movement 'which raised them up as one man against
a foreign conquero7 ? What remains to North
America of the institutions and ideas which had so
long accustomed us to seek on her soil the ideal'
of the future? Nothing, alas ! or almost nothine ?"
eu- 1
Casting a glance nearer home, AI. de Montal
bert observes :
" When one comes frown a country where great
minds exercise themselves, now in demonstrating
that the right of force is identical with force ,f
riyht, and now in quoting fl Ta.cittis and Cor-
n Mlle the apology of Cie ; when we cory,
from a country where such things find a public and
official encouragement; where the litterateurs, de-
corated and undecorated, who direct the greater
part of the press, where all those proud champions
of liberty of thought, are unanimous in proelainsing,•,
as a patriotic exploit the act of the general whom
they congratulate on having applied, morally, two
slaps on the face to an ecclesiastic ; when we get
out of that footed atmosphere into a pure air, we
experience an unspeakable -relief on finding honest
people even in servitude to a despotism which they
have neitherereated, nor accepted, nor merited.
" What revolts, discourages, and frightens the
honest mind .in the time we live in is not" the
triumph of roguery or violence ; the history of the
world is full of such pernicious lessons ; but was
there ever a period known in which the triumph of
1 evil wag more speedily and more easily accepted ?
Was there ever less sympathy for the victim of
fortune, more indifference foe unsuccessful courage
or for right oppressed, or When the crushing of tho
weak by the strong was more quickly ranged
among irrevocable facts and invested with the
prestige attached to irrevocable judgments ? Hence
a doubt which seems legitimate. Assuredly, there
have been worse miscreants, and, above all, worse
tyrants than those of the present day ; but for suc-
cessful iniquity and plausible tyranny, have they
.ever met, with honest men, so much indifference,
so much indulgence, and, not to mince the matter,
so much approbation ?
" Such is not the case with Poland. She has never
shown the interested complacency nor the baSe and
cowardly servility of the flatterers of success.
Poland has profited by no iniquity ; she has made
Ino compact with lying. To those who sought to
corrupt her, to turn her to account, or to repress
her, she has always repeated the energetic and reso-
lute No !' which neither Kings nor people dare any
longer to repeat to triumphant iniquity. National
independence is an inestimable blessing, but is there
not a blessing still more precious and more sacred,
and the loss of which is more irreparable ? Is it
not national morality? To lose one's nationality
is indeed a dire calamity. But one may conceive,
and may even undergo sacrifices still more painful,
and above all more disgraceful. There is still some-
thing worse than to be conquered and enslaved by
the foreigner—it is to spontaneously abdicate
liberty, truth, and honour, in order to serve false-
' hood and crime. Some pages written three cen-
turies ago, and entitled Voluntary Servitude,' have
made the name of Boetius immortal. What he
stigmatised as the worst of humiliations has been
again found, and will again be found, in the history
of nations, as in that of minds. But the history
of Poland presents a glorious exception. Upon her
can be found no such stigma."
M. de Montalembert pays a noble tribute to the
memory of Prince Adam Czartoryski; and expresses
full confidence in the future of a country which can
produce men of such a stamp. He recalls with.
pride the protests of the French Parliaments in
which he himself took so large a part, in favour of
Poland. "We did not fail in our duty," he says,
" When we solemnly protested, aided by a publi-
city the most sincere and most complete that ever
existed, for right against force; when we straggled
against indifference and forgetfulness ; when we
cherished the sacred flame of honest indignation ;
when we prevented the establishment of prescri; -
tion for the advantage of iniquity. In spite.of the
contemptuous disdain which the press of the ante-
chamber now affects towards us, we have nothing to
regret. The famous words, 'Polish nationality will
not perish,' heard 30 years ago from a constitutional
throne, are now more than ever a truth. Those
words, which I then repeated with the ardent inex-
perience of youth, I now again repeat with the
rooted conviction of ripe age. Yes, Poland will
have another birth. She has twice lived already.
She has disclosed to the world her existence by a
moral victory, of which her own history, of which
contemporaneous history does not present a second.
example. The events of Warsaw are as a battle won.
I understand the mowing which I have every-
where seen; but it is not the victims, but the vic-
tors who are wept for. Poland will again live by
them, and like them ; let her continue to be herself.
Let her imitate no one. Let her put her trust
neither in orators nor in Ceesars. Let her do nothing
to forfeit the sympathy of honest men, of Christian
people. That sympathy may be often, and even long,
powerless.; but the cause which has it not is con-
demned to perish ignominously. Hail, then,
cherished and noble Poland! If God prolong your
trial, it is to render you worthy of a glorious eman-
cipation. Hail, Niobe of nations! Salvation and
hope be yours, the undying type of right, of inno-
cence, of misfortune, but also of power—of moral
power—of the only power which merits to be
served and admired here below !"

REALLY OF LONDON _DURING THE WEEK.

(From the Registrar-General's Weekly Return.)
The deaths registered in London in the week that
ended last Saturday were 1,126, which is nearly
the same as the numbers returned in three previous
weeks. The average number of deaths in the cor-
responding weeks of ten previous years, 1851-60.,
after the correction for increase of population, is
1,234 ; but if the deaths caused by epidemic cholera
in the 38th week of 1354 are not admitted into the
data on which the calculation is made, it will ap-
pear that the mortality of last week differs little
from the estimated amount.

in the last week of August to 147 in the first week
The deaths from diarrhoea, which fell from 183
ofthepresewneteks, month,nnd in the present eontinupedtenat return they
are in the
subsequent
105. Six persons died lest week from cholera
or choleraic diarrhoea, three of whom were infants.
cow -as t; etehte-
A shoeminamkearr,yaigeebdonseB, yo
fe
cs ,h do ee dr
aai
et 2a3i
a,
rNrhe
dmaeuwgter of a labourer, aged 16 years, brought
from Ratcliff to the London Hospital, of the same
disease ; and a plumber's foreman, aged 44 years,
died at 11, St. Mary's•street, Lambeth, of " malig-
nant cholera," after 36 hours' illness. A man died
at the age of 49 years in the Marylebone Work-
house of " scurvy and apoplexy." Diphtheria was
fatal in 21 cases, 10 of which occurred in the dis-
tricts on the south side of the river. Two nonoge-
narians, both men, died in the week, their ages
being 93 and 94 years respectively.
Last week the births of 944 boys and 886 girls,
n all 1,830 children, were registered in London. In
tho ten corresponding weeks of the years 1851-60
the avenge number was 1,637.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.820 in.
The barometrical readings rose to 30.08in.:0n Wed-
nesday, and fell to 29.44 in. on Saturday. The mean
temperature of the air in the week was 54.4 deg-,
which is 1.7 deg. below the average of the a
isner)•
week in 43 years (as determined by Mr.
The mean daily temperature was alw
s day
the average except on Thursday. The highest
deg. on Thurs-
day, in the shade was 710'8 Gyla below
was 39.4 deg.
day, the lowest night tf.,-mperatu
temperature was 6•2
on Wednesday. The aifferei.ireeb
dew-point temperature an4al
humidity of the air was
retween the mean
deg. The mean degree of
being
represented by 100...
t four days from the
TBlh,ecwominpdletbeleswatuornatiolie
fell on Saturday.
0.25 in., of which 0 1 •
south-west. The naitnntity of rain in the week was

ME TWO MILLS.—In a large school there were
two teachers of the name of Mill. One was bland and for-
bearing, seldom or never having recourse to the exercise of
discipline in its roughest form. The other was firra;hasty,
and a warm upholder of the rights of the rod. The PAiffer-
mace was soon noted by the boys, and the two were appro-
priately known as the flog itfig and the thrashfr Mill.

-,

ALFRED MELLON'S PROMENADE
CONCERTS.
THEATRE ROYAI,, COVENT-GARDEN.
LAST WEEK BUT TWO.
THE FRENC El NIGHT THIS EVENING.
Vocalists PAREPA, Mdme. LAURA BAXTER,
Mr. WEISS, and Mr. VELS.NON RIGBY.
The first part will consist of Pieces by French Composers
:he second part being- Miscellaneous. Beethoven's Battle
I'mphony will be performed by the Orchestra. assisted by
the B yids of the Victoria Rifles and the City of London Rifle
Brig,:e.—Overtures, Operatic Selection, Quadrilles, Songs,
Solos, ,tc.,
Commence at 8. Promenade, is.
Conductor, Mr. ALFRED MELLON.
On Thursday (To-morrow), a MENDELSSOHN NIGHT.
On Friday, an ITALIAN NIGHT ; and on
Saturday, a VOLUNTEER NIGHT, when a copy of the
Grand Volunteer March and Part Song will be presented to
each visitor on enterinz, the theatre.
On Monday next Mendelssohn's Oratorio. ELIJAH, will
be given.

f EA T.H t..• ROYAL. 11A Y k, T.
Lecoiee, Bocksione.
T 41'1 ""INf 3" the nerformanoes will commence with
THE BALANCE OF COMFORT.
After which, a new Comedy, entitled THE SOFT SEX.
Mr. C. Mathews, Mr. Buckstone, Mr. Compton, 31' r. E.Villiers,
Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs. Wilkins, &C.

With USED UP, Mr. C. Mathews.
To conclude with the Ballet, BACCHUS AND ARIADNE.

Commence a 7

It() YA PRINCESS'S THF,ATRR—
Lespee and Manager, Mr. A. Harris.
This theatre will open on Saturday, Sept. 28, with a new
and crizinal comedy, in five acts, written by John Brougham,
entitled PLAYING wrrn FIRE ; characters by Mr; John
Brougham (his first appearance at this theatre), Mr, Ryder.
Mr. H. Widdicombe, Mr. (4 eorge Jordan (of the principal
theatres of the United States, his first appearance in Eng-
land), Miss C. Lelcseicq, and Mrs. Weston. With other En-
tertainments. In active preparation, Shakespeare's tragedy
of 0 MELLO, with new scenery, dresses, and appointments
Othello, Mr. Fechter. The box-office will open on Wednes-
day, Sept. 25.

ROY AL 'LYCEUM THEATRE.
Managcr—lrr. Edmund Falconer.
THIS EVENING, the new and original farce, entitled
THE FETCHES; or, The Onconvanience of a Sin,le
Luc. Tim O'Reilly, Mr. Edmund Falconer; Mary O'Brady,
Mimi Lydia Thompson:

Afte- which, at Eight o'clock, the new and success-
ful comedy of WOMAN; or, Love against the World.
Characters by Messrs. Walter Lacy, Addison, Herman Vezin,
J. Robins, Mrs. Charles Younz, Mrs. Weston, Miss Murray,
and Miss Lydia Thomson.
To conclude with AN UNPROTECTED FEMALE, in
which Miss Lydia Thompson will dance a New Volunteer
Quick Step.
Prices as usual. Doors open at half-past 6, to commence at
7 Box-office open daily from 11 tllll.

ELY THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI.-
Solo Proprietor and Mansrmr, Mr. B. Webster.
Oprn for the Win ter Season.
THIS EVENING, MUSIC HATIT CHARMS. Messrs.
D. Fisher, Romer, Warde, Misacs K. Kelly and Laidlaw.
After which (234th time, THE COLLEEN BAWN. Mr.
D. Bouslcauit, D. teisher, Billing:ton, S. Emery, Stephenson,
C. J. Smith, Horner, Howard, Ward ; Mrs. Boacicault, Miss
Woolgar, Mrs. Billinelon, and Mrs. H. Lewis.
To conclude with LOVE ANT) HUNGER. Messrs. Fisher,
Emery, C. J. Smith, Mrs. H. Marston, and Miss K. Kelly.
Doors open at half past 6—Commence at 7.

C k NPERBURY HALL CONCERTS,
AND FINE ARTS GALLERY.
Mr. SAM COWELL every Evening at Nine and a quarter
to Eleven.—Also, Grand Selections from TROVATORE,
TRAVIATA, NORMA, MARTHA, &c., by Miss Russell,
Miss Ernst, Mr. Herbert, Signor Tivoli, Mr. Morley. and a
powerful Chorus. The Comic department comprises Messrs.
-Harvey and French, " The Nerves " Mr. Marshall—Mr.
Wood and his talented Son and Miss Harriet Coveney.

New Opera by Auber LA CIRCASSIENNE.—A Grand
Selection, arranged and conducted by Mr. Jonghmans, from
this Opera was produced, FOR THE FIRST TIME /N THIS
COUNTRY, on Monday, 23d inst., and will be performed every
evening. Principal Artistes—Miss Russell, Mr. Herbert, and
Signor Tivoli.

Musical Diractor, Mr. Jonghmans.
Admission—Hall, Bd.; Stalls and Balcony, Is.

T H

O X F
,O R D,
8, OXFORD-STREET.

EVERY EVENING

A Grand Selection from Verdi's new opera, " Simon Boc-
eanegra" (now produced for the first time in this country), by
Miss Russell, Messrs. C. Greville, Tivoli, Greene, Morley,
and Herbert ; also from Verdi's " Macbeth" by Madame
Enderssohn and the entire Company. Full band and chorus.
Conductor, Mr. F. .Tone-hmans. Varied Comic entertain-
ments by Harvey and French (the Nerves), Wood and his
Son, E. Marshall, and W. Randall. Hall, 6d. ; Balcony
and Stalls, Is. Private Boxes, 10s. 6d.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

nits DAY.—Morning, sh. 10m.—Afternoon, bh. 26m.
To-moußow.-Morning, sh. 46m.—Afternoon, 6h. sm.

THE WEATIIER..-.-SUN OPFICZ, SEPTEMBER 25. 1861

THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
63—highest since noon yesterday.
47—lowest this morning and during the night.
56—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-29.36.
WlND—South-Westerly—fresh, with rainy weather.

•
7 4n

i ti"R~

TS SUN.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25, 18.61

Our readers will not wish to let Hungary slip
out of their sight. Americans, who occupy so
much attention, share, indeed, our language and
our blood, but we believe it is the truth that the
Hungarians share rather more of our political tem-
perament than do our transatlantic descendants.
Hungary is a Constitutional Monarchy. She loves
that form of Government as ardently as we do.
She cherishes like us the memory of a long Consti-
tutional history ; and the present struggle is, simply
and solely, to preserve intact, though with the im-
provements made in 1848 with the sanction of FER-
DINAND, the Constitution under which she has
lived for more than a thousand years. She exhibits
in this struggle all the law of love and order, all
the respectful demeanour towards a Sovereign in the
hands of bad advisers, and all that attach-
ment to the forms of Constitutional pro-
cedure, which distinguish Englishmen. With
such a nation England must sympathise ; and
we are glad the Hungarians have had an opportu-
nity of seeing that we do. Much as we regret, for
his own sake, the Austrian eccentricities of Mr.
ROEBUCK, his reception at home has shown to Hun-
gary that we are all on her side.
Even the old Tory papers of this country, greatly
to their credit, refuse to sanction the revolutionary
conduct of the EMPEROR, and stand by the Hun-
garians as true Conservatives. Some Tories here,
perhaps most in the highest circles, would like to
see a fusion of Hungary with the rest of the Aus-
trian dominions ; but even they disapprove such
pounding of all into one mass as the SCHMERLING
Cabinet is attempting. It is a voluntary fusion
which our Tories desire; and they have the sense,
and the political experience—taught by the union
Which makes the British Isles—to assure them
that the way to an effective union is not the
coercion of the Hungarian Parliament. They see
-wall dismay a Sovereign professing to be consti-
tutional, dictating to the Parliament of the people
what it shall do, and withholding those rights
which it has always e
enjoy d, and which Tories and
Whigs here, quits as much- as Radicals, deem fun-
damental—the right to
begins b
hero vote troops and supplies.
Well, the Diet is dismissed,
and
another is to
be, chosen. And
another chapter of
Royal Revolution. The
Comitat:er, or county
Parliaments in Hungary, are
Y efficient
naunioipal bodies ; they immediately
commenced
voting resolutions approving the Diet's proceeding
and immediately they, too, are forcibly dismissed
e; ;
end the business they should transact is ordered to
be done by arbitrarily nominated Royal Coratui-
siontys ! An utterly illegal proceeding, It
Was
once before attempted for ten years by the liberal
YosErn H., who was never crowned Icing
of fitING.I.Ity, grid who wes compelled to the
act of repealing everything he
bitterly mortftying
had done during the ten years ; treating the whole
period as a nullity
in legislation. The descen-
dants (-4 those who accopWd commissons under
Joswpir are, it is said, to this day held in
• odium in Hungary, and can only redeem
their character by acts of special patriotism.
Hence FRANCIS JOSEPH finds it impossible to
get
liumgariang of position and character to ac-
cept an
office which
children objects c ,gill make them and their
Jects of hatred to their fellow-coun-
trymen.

"To estimate the bitterness 01 correspondent

writes) which these and like measures produce, I

must beg you to remember that we arc not in
France or in Germany, where the people are accus-
tomed, and Ministers venture, to praise institu-
tions octroyes. The Hungarian is accustomed by
centuries of constitutional conflicts to the veneration
for law and precedent which distinguishes the Eng-
lishman. Each violation of an established law
wounds him to the quick, not because of its parti-
cular effect so much as simply because it is a disre-
gard of what he holds most sacred. It is this great
principle, not less than that of nationality, which
binds together all classes and all creeds, whether
religions or political."

The EMPEROR and his Germans are now
scheming to get another Diet, which they think
will be a manageable one. The scheme is of
course utterly illegal. They will revert to
the election code of almost feudal times,
and only persons paying a large amount of taxes,
and of a few electors who shall have been first elected
by others—double election—will be suffered to vote.
Of course, the idea is that the richer classes will be
more subservient to Vienna, but if all accounts are
correct, this class will prove quite as determined as
any other. The most Conservative Hungarians are as
firmly attached to their constitution—perhaps more
so—as the Radicals themselves. The best informed
correspondents both at Pesth and Vienna expect that
the new Diet will prove as firm and uncompromising
on all the main points as the late one, In tbid
case it is supposed that SCHMERLING will resign,
that the Emperor will give up his revolutionary
projects, and will undertake to reign as a lawful
King of Hungary.
It will be remembered that the Diet refused to
proceed to business till the representatives from
Transylvania, as well as from other parts, were
present. The Vienna Government, of course, de-
sires to divide and conquer. Transylvania, there-
fore, it was ordained, should have her own Diet,
and this Diet is now being convened, with every
artifice of political economy, to secure a separation
from Hungary, and an election of Transylvanian
deputies to the Reichsrath. It appears that the
Government has even quarrelled with its own chief
official for Transylvania. We are informed that
the Chancellor of Transylvania, Baron KEMENEY
—a Transylvanian Hungarian—had already drawn
up all the instructions and details; these had actu-
ally received the Imperial sanction and signature.
Baron KEMENEY had returned to the Chancery
to despatch them, when at ten o'clock in the
evening the Archduke RAIGNIER, the Pre-
sident of the Cabinet, called to communicate to
him the will of the EMPEROR that the rescripts
should be returned, as M. SCHMERLING had
declared that he would resign if the said documents
were• issued. The rescripts were cancelled, and of
course Baron KEMENEY tendered his resignation,
but this the EMPEROR refused for some time to
accept. Yesterday, however, we learned that the
Baron was firm and that the Court was compelled
to accept it.

It is quite probable that the Government will,
in form, at least, obtain its wish in Transylvania.
It has adopted such measures as can hardly fail to
secure that. But the proceeding will have no
moral weight ; and the Transylvanians when
Hungary succeeds will cast in their lot with her.

Our latest intelligence from the Australian colo-
nies is of a gloomy nature. From Victoria we read
of the all but certain failure of Mr. BURKE'S ex-
ploring expedition, positive information of the
death of several of his party, and the too probable
destruction of the leader himself and three com-
panions, who pressed on from their last depot at
Cooper's Creek to endeavour to reach the Gulf of
Carpentaria ; and from the 16th of December, the
day upon which he left Cooper's Creek, until the
return of Mr. BRAHE on the 12th of May, no
tidings had been heard of the missing party. As
soon as the authorities in Melbourne learned the
facts of the case, a strong party was organised to ,
search for it; but much time must be lost before
they can reach Cooper's Creek and commence opera-
tions. The gelbourne Herald gives the following
abstract of the proceedings of the expedition, fol-
lowed by an interesting account, from the pen of Mr.
WRIGHT, which appeared in this journal last week :
—4l Sad,news has been received about the exploring
expedition. Mr. BRAHE, one of the party, arrived
in town on the 29th of last month, and reported
that Mr. BURKE, the leader of the expedition, left
Cooper's Creek on the 16th December, to start for
the Gulf of Carpentaria, and that nothing had been
heard of him since. He was accompanied by
Messrs. WILLS, KING, and GRAY, and six camels
and one horse, and left the remainder of his party
under the charge of Mr. BRAHE, at Cooper's Cteek.
The party remaining at the depot were—Messrs.
BRAIIE (in charge), PATTON, APDONOUGH, DOST
MAHOMMED, and camels and 10 horses. Mr. WniGitT,
the officer in charge of the contingent party, left at
the Darling, moved onwards towards Cooper's
Creek. It being summer, nearly all the watercourses
had been dried up, and the ravages of scurvy re-
duced the effective strength of the party to an
alarming extent. Unable to proceed from these
causes, he established a camp and stockade at Bulla,
where the natives became hostile, and repeatedly
attacked them. Mr. LUDWIG BECKER, the naturalist
and artist, and a gentleman of great scientific ac•
guirements, and Messrs. CHAS. STONE, W. PURCELL,
and PATTON died, at various intervals during the
journey. Three of the horses perished from exhaus-
tion, two of the camels from scab, and another was
lost." The success of this expedition was looked for- i
ward to with confidence by the exploring committee,
great preparations having been made for it. Camels
had been imported at a considerable expense to
accompany it, under the expectation that these
animals would be able to endure the privations of
the desert and want of water better than horses ;
they, however, failed, being all more or less affected
by scab, while the majority of the horses survived.
Too much attention cannot be paid to the appoint-
ment of an expedition into an unknown region in
which the lives of many individuals are at stake.
The stations or depots should be numerous, the
main body should never advance until a small
party lightly equipped had explored some hundred
miles in advance to ascertain whether water could
be found. This could be done easily by providing
the party so employed each with a led horse, and
these horses should be of the bast quality.
Thi3 is a common practice with stock holders,
when they wish to explore in search of a new sta-
tion, and the ground that is thus traversed by two
or three men with little baggage is surprising.
Where a wide extent of desert has to be traversed,
by establishing pickets at short intervals a supply
of water might be brought forward until the ad-
vanced party had di-covered water; to do this pro-
perly a large party would be required, but in the
long run
cheaper bah pinart
Y human o r
lifeth atis "d description
expen s e awnodusitdanbde
a better chance of success. Promptness
and the least possible loss of timeareth, eoe
if.,
ief actionre.
' quisites, therefore to this end, care should be taken
in the selection of all those employed in the enter-
prise. We do not in the least wish to complain of
1 those employed in the present instance, but we do
complain of the practice of sending small parties
of water
into a country remarkable for the scarcity

without every available means being placed at their
disposal for quick travelling and continuous commu•
nication. Scurvy seems to have been prevalent among
the party. A proper supply of preserved meat, and
what game could be killed on the road ought to pre-
vent this, and enable.. the men to travel in safety

and comfort.
Let us change the scene, and see what is going
on in New South Wales. If the China war be over
in Asia, it is by no means so in Australia. The
steady increase of these Mongoliani in the colonies

in spite of all restrictions and taxation has
rendered the diggers already exasperated against
them furious, and despite the endeavours of the
authorities to preserve order by the prac-
tice of fixing certain limits to the Chinese
encampments, a wholesale attack was made
at Lambing Flat, which is situated some six
miles from Back Creek, near Yass, and on the
boundary of the colony, on the unfortunate China-
men, by some three thousand armed ruffians, who
not only maltreated them, bat openly plundered
them of all portable property and burned the re-
mainder ; thence they proceeded to Back Creek,
and here another outrage was committed. The
authorities took up the matter, and the next Sun-

day arrested three of the ring-leaders. The news

spread like wildfire, and the cry of " Roll up " re-
sounded through Tipperary Gully, and in a short
time a large body of armed men attacked the Police
Camp. They were repulsed, however, but the next
day Captain ZOUCH had to retire, leaving the in-
surgents masters of the field. Troops are being for-
warded from Sydney, and elsewhere, and the riot
will no doubt be quelled, but not, we fear, without a
considerable loss of life and property. Since the
memorable Ballarat riots such a scene has not taken
place. In that case the diggers showed a certain
moderation, and were fighting against tyrannical and
unjust oppression; in the present case, however, wan-
ton barbarity has been indulged in, and although
we regret the presence of the objectionable Mon-
golians, still they are hardworking and inoffensive,
and if the authorities allow them to land, they
are bound to protect them from wanton brutality.
We give in another part of our impression an ac-
count of the affair, taken from the Australian Mail
in which our readers will obtain full information

on the subject.
New Zealand is still in a state of partial revolt,
and a renewal of hostilities on a more extended
scale is imminent. The natives, encouraged by
designing missionaries and others, who desire to
keep up their influence over these simple but turbu-
lent creatures, decline all terms offered to them by
the Government. It is not to be expected, when
one set of white men urge them to support their
supposed rights, that they will listen to any

terms from the other side. Those who act in this
unprincipled manner have much to answer for.
The following anecdote is given in the Australian
Mail. It must be taken for what it is worth, but
anyhow it speaks well for the determination of
General CAMERON :—" With regard to the in-
fluences that have been brought to bear upon this
question, and that have so materially tended to the
present complications, the following paragraph is
not without significance :—Referring to a rumour
that was current some days ago, to the effect that
the Bishop of NEW ZEALAND had been endeavour-
ing to influence the mind of the new Commander-
in-Chief (Major. General CAMERON), with regard to
the justice or injustice of the war, we may mention
that a letter was received yesterday by a gentleman
in this city which confirms the report. It would
appear that on a certain day Dr. SELWYN waited
upon the gallant veteran, and after an interchange
of civilities, at once broached the object of his mis-
sion, offering to discuss the Maori question with
the General, and to point out the unjustifiable nature
of the contest now being waged by against New Zea-
landers by the British. General CAMERON'S
reply was just what might have been expected from
his character and reputation as a soldier. My
Lord,' said he, it is no part of my duty to discuss
' questions of theology with your Lordship. The
QUEEN has sent me to quell the rebellion and to
maintain the supremacy of her rule in this island,
and I mean to do it. Good day.' "
All these difficulties will, of course, be overcome,
and matters arranged after some fashion sooner
or later ; but, had proper care been taken
by the various Governments and equal justice
administered, we much doubt whether Captain
BURKE'S unfortunate expedition would have come
to its untimely end, the riot on Lambing Flat been
serious, or the doubtful war in New Zeeland have
ever taken place.

The position of Italy at the present moment is
one of deep interest, in a social point of view no
less than in a political aspect. When the smoke of
the battle has cleared away, when the shock of
overthrown dynasties is no longer felt, when the
enthusiasm and excitement which keep large masses
of men together, lose somewhat of their charm, then
is the severest test of all newly-organised States.
On the same principle that affection which is capa-
ble of great sacrifices cannot stand petty wear and
tear, we often find men who have done great deeds
in the face of hostile force and craft fail in pre-
serving that which they have accomplished. The
Italians, notwithstandicg the proverbial ♦ehe-
mence and fickleness of their Southern race, have
as yet given the world no cause to fear
for their future. The arts are again reviving under
their native skies. Italy, which was once the focus
of the industrial arts, no less than the scene of the
triumphs of the graces, once more takes her place
among the nations of Europe, and the bright city
of the Arno competes with its greater northern rivals
in an Industrial Exhibition. We are not surprised
at the deep interest which the new Sovereign of
Tuscany appears to take in its welfare. We have all
read the sentences he addressed to the enthusiastic
auditory at the opening of the Exhibition at Flo-
rence. We learn that in addition to the state occa-
sions he has since paid a private visit of inspection
and examined the building and its contents with
eagerness, expressing his satisfaction by bestowing
decorations on the architects. It must be in-
deed a matter of gratification to VICTOR Eat-
atANUEL that a people so recently transferred
from one Government to another are so well con-
tented with their new rule; that instead of indulg-
ing in those plots, intrigues, and party feuds which
have been for centuries the grAt drawback to
Italian freedom and Italian unity, his new subjects
can centre their interest on an exhibition of this
nature. The Constitutionnel of the 22d mingles
some truths with the JOSEPH SURFACE platitudes
peculiar to Parisian oratory and journalism. After
being informed that "everything will be unravelled
in time" (the designs of their own EMPEROR pos-
sibly included), we are told that " the unity of Italy
will be longlived and strong because it is the will
of Italy which alone accomplishes it ;'' and further,
that " Italy, free from the Austrian yoke, will
work out alone the modification of her national
existence." The national existence of the country-
men of RAPHAEL and GALILEO would indeed be
incomplete without Art and Science, and in con-
templating the future of Italy we must always
allow for their benign and fascinating influences.
There is scarcely a city in that famous land which
cannot boast its association with some great name