The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-30 00:00:00

B UCKLEYS' SERENADERS-ST. JAMES'S HALL

This talented company of Serenaders announce
this to be their last week but one in the metropolis
owing to the number of provincial engagements
entered into by them on their arrival in England,
for performances in the spring. In the metropolis,
for the last eight or nine months, this eminent
Yankee Troupe has been most welcome, althougk
London had previously been almost driven crazy
by the noises from the bones and banjos of legions
of " Nigger" gentlemen. The Buckley Entertain-
ment was an entirely novel one, and therefore its
peculiar charm. It is true we have the everlasting
" bones "amongst the performers, but then, who
ever heard, before the arrival of the Buckleys, of
the performance of Harold's overture to " Zampa"
on these primitive instruments ? yet such an extra-
ordinary feat has nightly been accomplished by the
inimitable G. Swain Buckley. Then, again, was
there ever, in "a band of blacks," an instrumen-
talist even approaching Mr. Fredk. Buckley, the
talented composer of the troupe ? We answer
immediately, most certainly not, and with these and
other attractions it is no wonder that the St.
James's Hall has been crowded ever since their
opening night. The Buckleys' Serenaders have, we
think, been dealt with rather harshly by the law
authorities, by being prohibited from continuing
their Burlesque Operas, on the ground that such
an entertainment was an infringement on
the rights of the theatres. During the time they
were represented they were the source of great profit
and harmless enjoyment to thousands, and it is to
be regretted that they are precluded from now
performing them. We must confess we cannot see
the justice of prohibiting burlesque opera in one
hall while burlesque comedy is permitted at
another—not a hundred miles from " The
Buckleys' ". 'We leave the solution of " What
is a stage play and what is not" to wiser heads
than our own to decide; but as our motto has always
been "free trade," we in our simple minds imagine
the Buckleys have, as long as certain other

" performances" are permitted, as good a right to
.;•present their burlesque operas as any of the
numerous caterers for the amusement of the public.
We can imagine what an outcry there would
have been had, to use a vulgar but expres-
sive phrase, the boot been on the other leg—had
the Buckleys been Englishmen, and Lon-
don, New York. Notwithstanding this very
serious drawback, the Buckleys have been very
highly patronised, but certainly not beyond their
merits, either as vocalists or instrumentalists. They
have our best wishes for success in the provincial
tour they are about to take ; and when they
return to London, they may fairly rely upon being
most warmly welcomed.

GARIBLDI AND THE ITALIAN
EMIGRANTS.

The emigrants scattered throughout the several
towns of Italy have formed themselves into a
committee, and appointed Garibaldi their president.
They named a committee for carrying to Caprera
an address, which, while thanking him for what
he had already done in behalf of liberty, expressed
the confidence they had in an entire and speedy
deliverance from the tyranny that kept them away
from their homes. But the committee, having
informed Garibaldi of their intentions previously
to their setting out on their journey, received from
him the following letter
I am very grateful for the mark of distinction
which the Italian emigrants so kindly wished to
confer upon me when,they declared me by acclama-
tion their honorary president. I gratefully accept
this honourable title, and I beg you kindly to
express to the emigrants my gratitude for their
sending to me a deputation as bearers of an address,
but I beg them to spare the deputation a journey
to Caprera, seeing that I am about to be absent for
a time, the length of which I do not know.
" Caprera, Dec. 26, 1860. " GARIBALDI."

TILE CHINESE WAR FROM A RUSSIAN

STAND-POINT.

An article in the Northern Bee contains the
following observations on the result of the late
Chinese war :

"It is astonishing that the allies wade such
moderate demands when treating for peace with
the brother of the Emperor. The Chinese did not
expect such generosity from their enemies, whose
prisoners they treated in such a barbarous manner,
and have therefore good reason to chuckle at being
let off' so cheaply, for there have been times when
the capital has fallen into the hands of enemies
who plundered both the Government and the in-
habitants without compunction. China has now
only a comparatively small indemnity to pay for this
war expenses, as compared with what they had to
pay to England in 1842, when the contribution
amounted to forty-five millions of roubles. The
moderation of the victprs this time remains a mys-
tery, and the question naturally presents itself
would the Chinese have been let off so cheaply had
they had to do with the English alone ? In this
affair we can but admire the far-sighted policy of
France. When England commenced hostilities
with China, under a very thin pretext, and the Em-
peror Napoleon might easily have shown his sym
pathy for the rebellion of the natives in India,
which required the withdrawal of the troops des-
tined for China, and their immediate employment
in quelling the dangerous mutiny of the Sepoys,
France offered her assistance and co-operati;rn in
punishing the Chinese. At that time it -was fre-
quently said that England was employing France
to get the chesnuts out of the fire, but it is now
clear that those persons took a very short-sighted
view of the affairs of the East, for England would
have still been in time to chastise China after
having first put down the rebellion in India ; and,
in making war on China with their own resources
solely, they would have dictated the terms of peace
according to their own interests. After the cap-
ture of Pekin they wanted to go to work in their
own fashion, and place the head of the insurgents
on the throie of China ; but the French were of a
different opinion, and their English allies did not
further insist on it, but yielded the point. It cannot
be denied that France has obtained a great
moral preponderance in the East, and the
eyes of all the countries situated on the
Pacific and Southern Oceans are now turned
towards that generous nation which de-
clined to take part in the demands of their avari-
cious and interested allies. If the Chinese empire
be preserved to the present reigning dynasty, they
will not forget the important service that France
rendered them in the moment of danger. This
manoeuvre of the Emperor Napoleon's was worthy
of his superior genius, for by it he has outwitted
the calculations of routine which have hitherto
governed the relations between Europe and the
East. France will now enjoy all the advantages
that England and India obtain by the treaty, with,
moreover, the great moral influence of being con-
sidered the protector of the Catholics in the East.
The superior aptitude of the Catholic missionaries
for proselytism is well knovyn. The Protestant
religion does not ingratiate itself so much to the
tastes and character of the Orientals, and, therefore,
England cannot expect to compete successfully
with the Church of Rome in this field. This is the
reason why France has already obtained a much
firmer footing in China than England has or ever
will have in India."

The Northern Bee then proceeds to demonstrate
that the emigration of the Chinese, to which Eng-
land raised so many objections, is more favourable,
or at least less dangerous to France, and that the
Chinese hive ever shown themselves exceedingly
punctilious in executing to the letter the stipula-
tions of the treaties, as is proved by their relations
with Russia of more than two centuries, though
the latter has often had to swallow many a bitter
pill from that quarter.

REBELLIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.—Since the
organisation of the federal Government there have been 10
attempts made to resist its authority. The first was in 1782,
And was a conspiracy of some of the officers of the federal
army to consolidate the 13 States into one, and confer the
supreme power on Washington. The second was in 1787,
called ,t Shay's Insurrection," in Massachusetts. The
third was in 1794, popularly called "The "Whisky Insur-
rection of Pennsylvania." The fourth instance was in 1814,
by the Hartford Convention Federalists. The fifth, on
which occasion the different sections of the Union came
into collision, was in 1820, under the administration of Pre-
sident Munroe, and occurred on the question of the admis-
sion of Missouri into the Union. The sixth was a collision
between the Legislature of Georgia and the federal Govern-
ment in regard to certain lands given by the latter to the
Creek Indians, The seventh was in 1830 with the Chero-
kees in Georgia. The eighth was the memorable nullifying
ordinance of South Carolina in 1832. The ninth was fn
1842, and occurred :n Rhode Island. between the " Suf-
frage Association" and the State authorities. The tenth
was in 1856, on the part of the Mormons, who resisted the
federal authority,