The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-18 00:00:00

THE :S'ITN,

th a million the duty of evincing their
g-tatituda to great public benefactors before
aeir words of homage and sentiments of affectionate
recognition fall unheeded on " the dull, cold ear of
death." We are solicitous that the almost simulta-
neous, lamentations which are rising up around us
from so many different classes and professions should
inspire society at large with a greater readiness to
acknowledge before it be too late the services ren-
der ed to the world by the great and good, the bene-
vo?.ent and intellectual.
According to an old adage of such universal ap-
plict ttion that it has become proverbial in all languages
—" .No man is a prophet in his own country." With
eqrtal accuracy we might say that no man is great
to his own generation. Before any resplendent mind
can ,')e duly appreciated it must have passed through
the a.'embic of dissolution. It is as if we refused
to rec cgnise the beauty of any architectural master-
piece xt.ntil such time as it should have partially
crumbled away, or until it should be partially clothed
with the ivy of sepulchral recollections. Undoubtedly
there are divers exceptional instances which might be
adduced of men whose glory has been seen and
reverenced before their beams have been multiplied
and refracted by the haze of the tomb, before their
sun has sunk below the horizon of life, before their
names have been sanctified by an apotheosis of intel-
lectual immortality, and the splendour of their careers
illumined by the everlasting sunset of memory. It
was so with AROIIET, when in his eightieth winter
he was borne triumphantly from the theatre on the
shoulders of the Parisians. It was so with the monk
of Vaucluse, when he was crowned with bay leaves
in the capitol. It was so with the Stagyrite when
honoured with the friendship of the Macedonian
conqueror. But in the vast majority of cases it has
been deplorably otherwise. Insomuch so that we
have lingered with a sense of consolation over those
ejaculations of egotism through which we fancy we
may recognize the self-consciousness of greatness on
the part of the most illustrious. With this feel-
ing of joy the student of HollAcs may exult
over the vanity and ostentation perceptible
at times amidst the music and pomp of his
epicurian verses ; while a similar emotion of plea-
sure may be derived from the self-laudatory phrases
audible at intervals among the melodious sonnets of
SHAESPERE. "And you too, BOURRIENNE, you too
will be immortal !" "How so, General ?" "How ?
—Are you not my secretary ?" It is not always
thus, however. Genius, the truest genius, is as re-
markable for its humility as fur its inspiration. Nor
would we have it otherwise. The child-like simp

city accompanying the loftiest order of intellects en-
dears to the hearts of mankind what must otherwise
be the subject of a cold and awful veneration. It is
consequently pleasant to bear of the great VERULABeB
almost infantine fondness for the flowers of the field
and the garden. Hence also, humanity loves to think
of NEWTON (of that wonderful NEWTON of whom
POPE wrote—

"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night,
God said 'Let Newton be r and all was light;")
according to the shape in which be depicted him-
self, namely, as a child picking up pebbles on the
shore of the infinite ocean of Truth. A congenial
simplicity of character is obs;:rvable among the more
conspicuous traits of perhaps the most extraordinary
philosopher now living, a peculiarity which, not less
than the depth and scope of his wisdom, entitles him
to the fulness of contemporary admiration. Neither,
we repeat, would we by any means have it otherwise.
What we acknowledge ourselves solicitous to behold
assuming a different position is, not the estimate in
which the illustrious benefactors of humanity hold
themselves, but the estimate in which they are held
by their contemporaries. We would see the State
elevating its own character by acts tending less to
what might be called the reward than to what

should be more appropriately termed the re-
cognition of genius. We would see the re-
cognition manifest itself substantially before
the death of these distinguished ornaments of all
classes and of all professions. It was the glory of
the magnificent LORENZO (as it was that, more or
less, of all the MeDicts) that from his princely mu-

nificence, the painter and the sculptor, the poet and
the architect, derived solace and encouragement. It

is not less honourable to say of the most extraordinary
man of modern and perhaps of ancient times, that he
was the friend of TALMA and CANOVA, than to record
of him that he constructed the road of the Simplon

and compiled the Code Napol6on. Why cannot the

Government of England in its popular form, and as
the expression of free and popular institutions, by thus

fostering genius in all arts and in all professions, emu-
late the glory of -NAPOLEON the Great and of LORENZO

the Magnificent ? We should then hear somewhat
less frequently of great minds perishing in poverty,

and almost in destitution. We should see the cares

of a public benefactor solaced and his sufferings as-
suaged, instead of seeing his exertions recompensed
by the tardy homage of an epitaph and a monument.
His powers might then be celebrated more frequently

by the household gods, and less frequently by the

*unereal divinities : while the national sentiments of

approval would find a more agreeable expression in
the words of gratitude than in those only of grief and

lamentation.

Must these things always remain as hitherto

Is genius doomed for ever to misfortunes ? Are
the good and the great to receive only a crown of

cypress in death, and to be passed by with merely
petulant depreciation when living? A change might
readily be effected, and such a change is due to the
humanity, the generosity, and the munificence of
England.

ATTEMPT OF THE UNKNOWN CHARTIST TO
ESCAPE FROM THE CITY PRISON.
This forenoon shortly- before twelve o'clock a daring
attempt to escape was made by the Chartist prisoner,
who has just been sent to the City Compter from the
Guildhall Police-court, for failing to find securities for
him to keep the peace towards her Majesty, her Ma-
jesty's Ministers, and her subjects for the space of twelve
months. It will be remembered that the prisoner in
question boasted to no small extent of his being a deter-
mined Chartist, and that he always abstained from
giving his name, address, or occupation. It appears that
he has been in the prison about a week, and during that
period he has behaved himself very well. Yesterday,
however, he commenced haranguing his fellow-prisoners
whilst at dinner upon the Charter and its six points, and
advised them to work strenuously on their liberation
fur its attainment. His place of contieement
was in the second floor of the right hand
wing of the prison, in that portion nearest Newgate-
street. The window of his cell looked into Giltspur-
street, and was about thirty-five feet from the ground.
The prisoner had succeeded in removing two squares of
glass from his cell window, and was on the point of re-
moving the middle bar, when he was noticed by those
passing below. An alarm was instantly given at the
door of the prison, and messengers sent up to prevent
him carrying his scheme into execution. When they
reached his cell they found a leather bag, something like
those used by the Post-office for newspapers, attached to
a long piece of strap, with which, no doubt, he intended
to let himself down. When he discovered tbat he was
found out he grasped the iron railings at the window of '
his cell and delivered a very touching appeal to those be-
low. lie swore that he was wrongfully imprisoned, and
would one day be avenged. It required three men to
remove him from the gaze of the spectators, who could
nut have numbered less than 500. The excitement was
very great.

DEPARTURE OF HER MAJESTY AND THE COURT
Queen and his Royal Highness the Prince Prince
Wales, the Princes
DAY.)—The
accompanied by the
eedPrincesses Royal,
by the Countess
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of Desert (Laly in Waiting), the Hon. Miss Paget
(Maid of Honour), the Hon. Colonel Gordon (Equerry
andttenthd
to the Prince),and the Master of the Household (Major-
General Bowies). left Buckingham Palace this afternoon,
escorted by an officer's party of the 16th.Laneere, for the
Sovereign and family
Nine Blurs' Station, where a special train of the South-
ac
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in utshueat ol:uhro;ns Gosport.
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C
tintiorLsboes,;EpremrsoenNs Dvies Jecr
nal: mcA.—olossTeuh
me followingduring
g is
the
dias;
I
west::—Countess of Lichfield and party, Countess of Shrews-
' bury and party, Lady Grenville, Lord Saltoun and party,
Lord Sudeley and party, Lady Wilson, Lady Lake. Lord
Vivian and party, Lady Rosa, Hon. Mr. H. and Mrs. Tracy
Lady Hood and party, Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Gage, Lady Kaye,
Lady Palmer, Lady Ross and party, Sir H. and Lady Lam-
bert, airs. Hind and party, &c.
TIIING AND REIGATE RAlLWAY.—Yesterday the
Master in Chancery Dowdeswell placed on the list of contri-
butories, as liable to pay off debts, the majority of the forty-
two members of the provisional committee to this company
on the ground, as proved in evidence, of their having acted,
signed consents, made payments, or given guarantees to
bankers on behalf of the company.