The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-13 00:00:00

EXETER 'TALL.

A fashionable and crowded audience bore testimony
last evening to the high estimation in which Mrs. Fanny
Kemble's readings generally, mid of that most exquisite
of dramatic fantasies, A Midsummer Night's Dream, in
particular, are deservedly held. Nothing finer of the
kind than this lady's rendering of the play as a whole
has it fallen to our lot to hear. No stronger proof of
its excellence could well be adduced than the fact that
the accompanying music of Mendelesehn never menaced
the supremacy of the poet, or did more than serve as an
adjunct to the illusion. The last, it may be said, in kin
and kind of an illustrious family, whose histrionic
triumphs are imperishably associated with the palmiest
era of the British stage, Mrs. Fanny Kemble will ever
present herself with irresistible claims to public favour,
evoking, 2,3 she does, in the minds of playgoers a host
of cherished recollections. And when to these must be
added the possession of a cultivated mind, a genial ap-
preciation of the text, and well-disciplined dramatic
powers of a high order at d extensive range,
there need be no hesitation in saying that her suc-
cess on this occasion was such as no living artiste
could surpass. If, then, she fails in doing full
justice to the Midsummer's Night's Dream, it
may reasonably be supposed it is because no single indi-
vidual can do otherwise. Let the reader but conceive
the difficulty of rendering, as it were, at one and the
same time, the tripping gaiety and sportive malice of
Puck, the exacting jealousy and lordly good-nature of
Oberon, the charming waywardness of the lovely Titania/
and the ineffable conceit and whimsical humour of
"Bully Bottom." the weaver, together with the less in-
dividualised characters of the remainder of the dramatis
pez sonw, and the need there is of rounding with a true
midsummer haze the entire Dream—and the wonder
will be that so much was achieved, rather than that the
performance fell short of what an exigent imagination
could desire. For our own part, the impression left on
us by the reading is such that we anticipate with the
greatest pleasure another opportunity of enjoying so
great a dramatic treat ; and we trust it will not be long,
whether at Exeter Hall or elsewhere, before it is afforded
us. The incidental music, as might be expected, suf-
fered nothing under the direction of Mr. Benedict ; but,
on the contrary, told with great effect, and appeared to
give more than usual pleasure to the audience. The
"Wedding •March," that most spirited and jubilant of
marches, was warmly encored, and the efforts of the
vocal performers apparently gave great satisfaction.

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.—MISS GLYN'S READINGS.
—Miss Glyn read Macbeth last night, to a very nume-
rous audience, at the Polytechnic Institution. Her in-
terpretation of the play was such as to give intense de-
light to her auditors.

-GALLERY OF ILLUSTRATION.—Messrs. Grieve and
Telbin are sedulously following the progress of the war.
Balaklava was the lass previous stage, and yesterday
they advanced as far as the affair of lnkerman, which
furnishes four new scenes full of life and action, and well
worthy to follow the other illustrations of the conflict in
the Crimea. Another new picture, likewise exhibited
for the Ent time yesterday, represents the storm in the
Black Sea that occurred last November. This picture,
grand and effective in itself, is rendered more so by the
dioramic effects of lightning and by the scenic arrange.
ment of the foreground rocks, which are attached to a
gauze medium. The whole of the muney taken yester-
day afternoon was devoted by Messrs. Grieve and Telbin
to the Patriotic Fund.

SOCIETE FRANCAISE DE BIENFAISANCR.—Among the
many charitable institutions for which London is re-
markable there is none than can have stronger interest
for the British public than that the name of which ap-
pears at the head of this notice. The French and Eng-
lish nations, after having boen for many centuries en-
gaged in fierce rivalry the one against the other, have
recently come to a better sense of the duties of their
high mission as civilisers of the world, and now wage
as brothers in arms a stern war against civilisation's
great enemy. To such a connection charity cannot
appeal in vain, and therefore wo were by no means sur-
prised to find that at the ball given yesterday evening,
at the Hanover-square Rooms, in aid of the Socidt6 de
Bienfaisance, the British public showed, by a numerous
and brilliant attendance, their sense of the services of
our gallant Allies in the Eastern war. This society,
founded in 1842 by the late gifted Count D'Orsay, un-
der the patronage of the then French Ambassador,
Count St. A.n!a;r has been the means of relieving hun-
dreds of deserving Frenchmen, whom political or other
causes had driyeu to take refuge alnOngrit us.