The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-29 00:00:00

THE NEW NATIONAL GALLERY.

Mr. HEYGATE asked the First Commissioner of Works
whether the scheme for erecting a new National Gallery at
the rear of Burlington House, and which was last year
stated by the First Commissioner of Works to " have been
for a considerable time under the consideration of the
Government," has yet been approved ; and, if not,
to what national purposes it is proposed to devote the estate
purchased for the nation in 1854, at a cost of £140,000, and
now occupied by Burlington House and Gardens.
Mr. COWPER said that the Government determined
to propose an estimate for the erection of a gallery on the
site in question.
THE ARMY ESTIMATES,
In reply to General PEEL,

The Marquis of HAR TINGTON said it would be impos-
sible to say the day on which the army estimates would be
brought on, but when the navy estimates were gone through
they would then be submitted to the hous a.
THE TUSCALOOSA.

Mr. PE A.OOC KE called attention to the case of the
Tuscaloosa; and to move the following resolution :—That
the instructions contained in the despatch of the
Duke of Newcastle to Sir P. Wodehouse, dated the 4th day
of November, 1863, and which remain still unrevoked, are
at variance with the principles of international law." The
hon. member argued, from the dicta of Sir W. Scott and
other learned jurists on questions of international law, that
the Tuscaloosa was sufficiently clothed with the character
of a man of war to exempt her from seizure under the
Queen's proclamation, and that the commander of the Ala-
bama, who had captured her and converted her into a Con-
federate cruiser, had as much right to commission her in
that capacity as a commodore. He charged the Govern-
ment with cowardice in evading the responsibility that
rested only ,apon themselves, and endeavouring to cast it
upon the shoulders of Sir P. Wodehouse. He complained
that one instructions of November remained virtually un-
repealed, and called upon the house to demand their recall,
for if we enforced them against one power we were bound
to enforce them against another; if we acted upon them in
the case of a weak power we must do so in the case of a
strong power. Supposing, then, we applied them against a
strong power, the results must be to plunge the country into
war; and if against a weak power, it would cover the
country with intolerable shame. It was in the interest of
peace that he invited the house to assist in obtaining a re-
vocation of these instructions ; for as long as they stood
unrepealed, they were at once a source of danger and
disgrace.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL, in resisting the motion,
observed that at present we were neutrals, but the day might
arrive when we should become belligerents, exercising belli-
gerent rights, and when we were again in that position it
might be that another armed neutrality was formed against
us. It behoved the house, therefore, to think well before
they furnished such an armed neutrality with weapons
forged by themselves. The question was whether the Tus-
caloosa, when she entered Simons Bay, was still a prize to
the Alabama, or had lost that character and assumed the
new character of a vessel of war. There was no disputing
that she was a prize ; that she had not been taken into any
port of the Confederate States for the purpose of being ad-
judicated upon; and the evidence showed, moreover, that
her supposed conversion into a confederate ship of war was
a mere sham and pretence. Sir Baldwin Walker had no
doubt about her real character from the first ; but he was
overruled by the opinion of the attorney-general of the
Cape. She was, therefore, permitted to leave port , but
upon her return, the instructions from the Duke of New-
castle having been received in the interval, her seizure was
effected. With regard to the cases cited by Mr. Peacocke,
they all applied to vessels which were bone fide armed and
fitted out as vessels of war, which was not the case with the
Tuscaloosa. He admitted on the part of the Government
that, upon reconsideration, they did think that the instruc-
tions were not as full and explicit as they ought to have
been had they been issued as a guide for colonial govern-
ments throughout the empire; but the despatch was not in
the nature of a circular of that sort; it was merely a com-
ment of the Colonial Secretary upon this particular trans-
action. The whole subject had received the serious atten-
tion of the Government, and instructions had been pre-
pared and would be sent by way of circular to the several
colonial governors, so that hereafter these cases would
present no difficulty, and a copy of these instructions would
shortly be laid upon the table of the house. He trusted,
then, that the house would not affirm the proposition con-
taine ; in the •resolution. It was not necessary; it was
useless_ ; it would have no practical effect ; and it might
hereafter IJU LITACII•StM

to the best interests of the country.
Mr. 'WHITESIDE must deny the assertion of the Soli-
citor-General that there was no question of policy involved
in this matter. True, there was a question of law, but there
was also a question of policy, and a very interesting one too.
On the perusal of this despatch, he was induced to ask
himself how it was that such a despatch could have ema-
nated from the Government; but the answer wa4, the war
was gone against the South, and the North was on the eve
of being successful. He called to mind the speech of Earl
Russell at Blairgowrie, and the more satisfactory speech of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer at Newcastle-upon-Tyne;
but he recollected that the speech of the noble lord was the
more recent of the two, He accepted the doctrine of the
Solicitor-General that they were to have strict neutrality;
bnt it was because the laws of neutrality had been most
shamefully violated—(Opposition cheers)—because these,
transactions were indefensible—because his h 0,:., and
learned friends opposite knew they were indefe.;,sible, and
because they themselves had corrected the -;ery instructions
laid down in this despatch of the 4th or November—that he
stood there to protest against ttai. (Renewed Opposition
cheers.) The facts of the rase were very simple—there was
nothing of a sham at P 1
~.1 about it. But, as it appeared to him
throughout, it wr..a Admiral Walker who decided the law,
and the lawyers who decided the facts. (Laughter.) In a
word, A,:imiral Walker had entirely overruled the lawyers,
Nov;, upon the 21st of Jnne, the day on which the Tusca-
loosa—then the Conrad—was captured, did the vessel be-
long to the captor or not? He might have burned it, he
might have destroyed it in any way; unless, indeed, they
would apply a different law to the Confederate States from
that upon which their own admirals and commanders had
invariably acted. At the moment of capture the property in
the ship was changed, and it became Captain Semmes's
without the adjudication of any court of law. The next
question was, had Capt. Semmes a lawful commission from
the Confederate Government? But that was admitted by
the Duke of Newcastle himself. Lastly came the ques-
tion,,,had he authority to grant a commission to the officer
whom he placed on board the Tuscaloosa ? Well, upon
that point, Lord Stowell held that it was enough if an officer
in command had cniy a semblance of such authority; it
sufficed, in fact, if the commission which he granted was
only, as it were, inchoate. Lord Stowell had decided that
officers in command of even single ships might grant such
commissions, and therefore the commander of the Alabama
had authority to grant a commission to the commander of
the Tuscaloosa. It followed from that that the 3 could not
inquire whether the ship was something differenarom what
she appeared to be—that was to say, a ship in the legal
employment of a belligerent power. The effect of that com-
mission was to change the character of the ship, to convert
it from being a ship of commerce into a ship of war. He
had great respeot for seafaring gentlemen, but he denied
that they were safe guides upon a question of law. What
they ought to have done was to follow the advice giyen by
the American consul to the authorities at the Cape; if they
would not seize the Tuscaloosa as being the Conrad, they
ought to have ordered her immediate departure from port.
(Hear, hear.) Instead of that, however, they had allowed
her to remain for seven days, and to take in provisions.
The correspondence with the American Government sup-
plied the key to the course taken by Eerl Russell ; and the
despatch of the 29th of October showed what produced the
instructions of the 4th of November. The hon. gentleman
then, in humorous style, remarked upon the return of the
Tuscaloosa to the Cape as a recognised ship of war, belong-
ing to a belligerent Power, and dwelt with some indigna-
tion upon the seizure of the ship, and the handing of her
over to her former owner, the commander of the Alabama.
Looking at the whole transaction from beginning to end, he
submitted to the house this was a case in which they ought
to affirm the resolution before them, for the purpose of pre-
venting inter national law from being violated in like manner
in time to come, and that the law of neutrality might be
hereafter acted upon towards all nations, whether North or
South, Denmark or Germany, with impartiality, consis-
tency and justice. (Cheers,)

Mr. J. J. POWELL opposed the motion, and said that
if the Tuscaloosa had been a tender she would have h-id as
much right to enter port as the Alabama herself; but this
was altogether a question of fact, and the fact was that, so
far from her being a commissioned vessel and a tender to a
man of war, she was only colourably such, and passed under
that character for purposes which would be in derogation of
the Queen's proclamation against bringing prizes into
English harbours.

Sir J. ELPHINSTO NE complained that the Govern•
ment had throughout the American contest been actuated
more by a spirit of hostility than of neutrality towards the
Confederates.
The motion was opposed by Mr. Lefevre, Mr. Neate, and
Mr. Denman, and supported by Sir J. Hay, Mr, M. Smith,
and Mr. Bovill.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said he understood the
hon. baronet to say that the words used by Admiral Sir B.
Walker were equivalent to saying that the Tuscaloosa was
under the command of one of the Alabama's lieutenants.
At all events, it was subsequently shown that nothing was
founded upon the supposition of there having been a com.
mission. His hon. and learned friend (Mr. Bovill) when he
made the statement respecting Sir B. Walker, must have
overlooked the despatch of that gallant officer written on
the Bth August, when full particulars respecting the Tusca-
loosa had been obtained. Sir B. Walker said, "The admis-
sion of this vessel into port will, I fear, open the door for
a number of vessels, captured under similar circumstances,

TP P

being e,

, -.nominated tenders, With a keieiv to avoid the prohi-
ottion contained in the tneen's instructions ;" and further
on he atria, " 'Viewing all the circumstances of the case,
they afford room for the supposition that the vessel is styled
a tender,' with the object of avoiding the prohibition
against her entrance as a prize into our ports Where, if
the captors wished, arrangements could be Made for the
disposal of her valuable cargo, the traiasb.ipinent of which
might be readily effected on tenY part df the coast, beyond
the limits of this 'colony." And although it did not appear
in the corresponclende on this subject, it was well known
that Sir 33. Walker apprehended what did actually occur.
When the Tuscaloosa went to Angra Pequina to deposit
her cargo, she was followed by the colonial ship Saxon,
and the result was a most unhappy occurrerce, which led
to the loss of the life of a British subject. With regard to
the opinion expressed by the acting Attorney-General for
the colony, that gentleman—who he might observe was a
most able, upright, and excellent public servant—was evi-
dently misled into error by supposing that the passage he
quoted from Wheaton was applicable to this particular case.
The Governor of the Cape and Sir B. Walker of course acted
upon the opinion given by the colonial Attorney-General,
but the latter never changed his own opinion that the Tus-
caloosa was not a vessel of war. The rules laid down by
positive statutes had no bearing whatever upon the rights
of a neutral Power to vindicate the neutrality of his own
territory in any manner he may think fit, whether by the
restoration of the vessel to the owner or otherwise. The
question involved was not one of law, but of discretion on
the part of the neutral Power; and he submitted that,
although hon. members might reason from analogy if they
pleased, the cases of the Exchange and the Santissitna
Trinidad, which had been referred to, were altogether
foreign to the right possessed by every neutral sovereign
to preserve inviolable the neutrality of his own territory.
The house would see that it was altogether a fallacy to
ascribe the character of a vessel of war to the Tuscaloosa
when she first came into Simon's Bay. It was true that
when she returned she had something like an armament
and something like a commission; but the question
which the house was called upon to consider was not
what the Tuscaloosa was when she returned, but what
was the state of the facts as they stood on the 4th of No-
vember. The hon. and learned gentleman then read the
passage in the Duke of Newcastle's despatch, and said he
had no wish to avoid any responsibility which might attach
to it ; for although it was true the law officers had suggested
that the matter was one worthy of serious consideration,
and although they might wish that the form in which the
instruction was conveyed had not been so short and little
developed—(Opposition cheers)—yet he accepted the full
responsibility of it, and maintained that the principle in-
volved in the instruction was not opposed to international
law. No one disputed the proposition that as between bel-
ligerents and belligerents there were no rights whatever
under such circumstances: The capture was good, provided
the neutral Power did not interpose to vindicate its autho-
rity ; but where it did so interpose it was the invariable
practice that the neutral Power restored the property to the
original owner. The house would recollect that, when in
the fight against Lagos, our navy, engaging the enemy in
Portuguese waters, captured several of his ships. Lord
Chatham told our Minister at Lisbon to make every apology
possible to satisfy the dignity of the Portuguese Govern-
meat, but on no account to give back one of the captured
ships. Bat in any case of a capture by a neutral Power, it
was the practice to restore the prize to the original owners.
He quite agreed that the United States consul was entirely
at sea in this matter, and that there was no foundation for
the doctrine that the right of the original owner to have the
prize restored proceeded from the circumstance of its not hav-
ing been condemned in a prize court. It was quite plain,
on reference to precedents, that the principle laid down in
this despatch was not opposed to the principle of interna-
tional law, although it might be open for discussion whether
a less strong course would not have met the difficulties of
the occasion. He maintained, however, that, according to
every principle of international law the doctrine laid down
was justifiable. But had Sir P. Wodehouse construed his
instructions differently, he had no hesitation in saying he
would have been well borne out. Good faith and honour
required that the Tuscaloosa ought to be released, and when
good faith and honour were under consideration, would any
one say that anything should be permitted to let or hinder
them ? (Hear, hear.) He regretted exceedingly that those
circumstances should have occurred, but at the same time
he warned the house that to affirm that the principles laid
down in that despatch were contrary to international law,
would be affirming that all parties in time of war had a right
to set aside the orders of a territorial sovereign, and not only
on the high seas, but in the territory itself, to say they could
violate the principles of international law with impunity.
(Cheers.) Ho therefore pressed upon the attention of the
house that their object should be to maintain those princi-
plea of neutrality for which this country stood pre-eminent
before the world. (Cheers.)
Sir H. CAIRNS said he was glad the Attorney-General
had told the house that they were not required to affirm the
conduct of the Government in these transactions; for he
General,-ev-lid-Wis';S-1= FlTSlAVeAgligcn
the Solicitor-General, who was not quite so bold—would
say these transaction had been characterised by wisdotti.
(Cheers.) With respect to the Tuscaloosa, he should have
thought that the be: t person to pronounce an opinion was
the United States consul, who, he found, on the 10th of
August, when the Governor and Sir Baldwin Walker
were puzzling themseves on the point, wrote to Governor
Wodehouse, saying that an armed vessel called the Tusca-
loosa had entewd Simon's Bay ; that she was formerly a
merchant vessel in the service of the United States, but,
while engaged in la ;qui commerce, was captured by the
Alabama, and was subsequently fitted out to prey on tee
commerce of the United States. (Hear.) Another natural
Course be have taken would have been to ask the comman-
der of the Tuscaloosa if she were a commissioned ship;
but it was not until she arrived a second time that it oc-
curred to the authorities at the Caps that it would be a
desirable thing to ask whether she had a commission or
not. Thus, when they did not know whether she had a
commission or not they let her alone, but when they knew
she had a commission they seized her. (Opposition cheers,)
As soon as her Majesty's Government knew that she was
seized orders were sent to release her. The proper course
to have taken on finding that a mistake had been com-
mitted was to restore the ship, explain the mistake that
had been made to the Confederate captain, and apologise to
him for what was a gross and palpable insult. But what
was the course taken t In a letter of the 10th of March,
the Duke of Newcastle said, " Her Majesty's Govern-
ment have therefore come to the conclusion that, under the
special circumstances of this particular case, the Tuscaloosa
ought to be released, with a warning, however, to the cap-
tain of the Alabama that the ships of war of belligerents
are not to be allowed to bring ships of war into British
ports, and it was left to her Majesty's Government to de-
cide to what class those vessels belonged." Her Majesty's
Government had decided that. (No, no, and Opposition
cheers,) The hon. and learned gentleman proceeded to
argue that in a case in which we had been so clearly in the
wrong as in that of the Tuscaloosa, it was our duty not only
to make restitution, but apology and indemnity. Instead
of doing that, her Majesty's Government had only written
a despatch directing their subordinates to return the ship.
If we had been dealing with the Federals instead of with
the Confederates, a different course would have been taken.
That might be neutrality, but it in no way deserved the
name, because it consisted in doing all the mischief they
could to one belligerent as long as they could, and then
making an ungracious, churlish apology, without any
defence, and restoring property they were afraid any
longer to keep. The motion was altogether beside
the Tuscaloosa; it referred to those instructions which
he understood the. law officers to justify, but which, if
unrepealed, might land us at any time in a war, not only
with one of the belligerents, but with any of the neutral
Powers of Europe. Quoting the proclamation of neu-
trality issued at the outbreak of hostilites, the hon. and
learned gentleman said that it merely warned the bellige-
tents that they were not to bring their prizes into our
colonial ports, and that if after such notice they seized prizes
with the intention of restoring them to the original owners
it would be a gross violation of good faith and international
law. He pointed out an inconvenience of such a course in
regard to neutrals, in depriving the original owner of a cap-
tured prise of the opportunity of going to the prize-courts
of the captor, and there recovering his ship, with costs and
damages, if improperly seized. The neutral owner, he held,
would then have a claim upon us for costs and damages,
which, if refused, might lead to war with the neutral nation
to which he belonged. The fact was, that " Wheaton's
Elements" negatived the idea that her Majesty's Govern-
ment had the right they contended for. As, however, the
law officers of the Crown maintained that the instructions
were in accordance with international law, it behoved the
house to take the matter up, and to declare that the instruc-
tions sent by the Duke of Newcastle to Sir P. Wodehouse,
and which were still in force, were at variance with the prin-
ciples of international law. (Loud and continued cheering.)
The house then divided. The numbers were—
For the motion
Against
Majority

The resolution was acc,urdtngly lost; and the houso went
into committee of supply pro forma, and immediately re-
sumed.

In committee on the Customs and Inland Revenue Bill,

DUTY ON GRAIN.

Mr. CRAWFORD moved a proviso at the end of clause
2, for protecting the rights of the mayor and commonalty
of London with regard to the duty chargeable upon grains
entering the port of London.

_ .
Mr. AYR'! ON opposed the introduction of such a pro-
viso as an attempt to keep up the claims of an antiquated
.
corporation of levying duty on grains entering the port of
London. The claim to levy such a duty had hem con-
demned by successive committees,
After some discussion,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER recom-
mended the hon. member for London to withdraw his pro-
posal, and to endeavour to protect the privileges of his con-
stituents by separate legislation.
Mr. CRAWFORD adopted the suggestion.
New clauses were added, and the bill passed through
committee.

The Court of Chancery Despatch of Business Bill was
read a third time and passed
The Local Government Supplemental Bill and the Pro-

SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 29, 1864.

missory Notes and Bills of Exchange (Ireland) Bill was
read a second time.
Mr. VILLIERS obtained have to introduce a bill to
amend the Union Assessment OmMitten Act.
The house adjourned at 10 miotteS past 2 o'clotk,

Stratford-on-Avon Tercentenary Festival.

STRATFORD-ON-AVON Thursday Evening.

As the week progresses tie entertainments at the
Pavilion increase in attraction, and 'yesterday a
larger audience than that d Tuesday attended the
theatrical performance. Those who in the earlier
days came hither from sore little distance must
nave taken home with then marvellous reports of
the magnificence of the temporary building, and the
manner (to rural eyes grand beyond precedent) in
which everything is done, and probably the curiosity
of remoter Warwickshire will have reached its height
just when the entertainments have come to a close.
However, though to-morrow is the last day men-
tioned in the original programme, there are to be
two extra theatrical nights at reduced prices, on
Tuesday and Wednesday, under the superintend-
ence of Mr. Creswick, and the interval is to be filled
up with miscellaneous entertainments.
The programme of yesterday evening was also
singularly inviting. "Bcmeo and Juliet" is one of
the plays which in the mind of the multitude is
most intimately associated with the name of Shak-
spere. This, though his plays were more than 30
in number, can be only predicated of about six or
seven, and I do not believe that Mr. Phelps, with
all his meritorious revivals of the less familiar of
the poet's works, ever succeeded in making one
permanent addition to the Shakaperian repertory,
even at Sadler's Wells, where all his proceedings
were watched in a spirit of faith, The typical
plays, recognised by everybody, gentle or simple,
are " Hamlet," " Othello," "Macbeth," " King
John," the " Merchant of Venice," "Romeo and
Juliet," " King Lear," and perhaps "Henry V."
Cibber's "Richard III." would once have
stood high on this list, intimately associated as
it was with Garrick, G. F. Cooke, and Edmund
Kean, bat of late years its tenure of the stage has
been uncertain, and it proved one of the least suc-
cessful of Mr. Charles Kean's revivals at the Prin-
cess's, although Glater was one of his favourite
characters in his earlier days. As for Shakspere's
"Richard III.," it is a work altogether unknown
to the mere playgoer, every attempt to revive it
having proved abortive. " Julius Caesar" departed
with the Kembles.

To the curiosity respecting the tragedy may be
added that respecting the tragedienne. The War-
wickshire people had not only heard of Mademoiselle
Stella Colas as a young and beautiful French artist
whose Juliet had charmed all Loud on,but they were
prepared to receive her as a benefactress who had
come forward to help the committee over the most
formidable stile encountered on the thorny path of
preparation. The same feeling was entertained
towards Mr. George Vining, the manager of the
company of which she is a member, who, as soon as
the wreck of Hamlet on the Fechterian strand had
been definitively ascertained, had offered to repair
the loss of one tragedy by the production of another,
and a comedy into the bargain. The wrong and the
reparation were clear to any person who entered the
Pavilion, for the tickets still bore the title of
" Hamlet," while the programme still declared that
Mr. Pechter, " after his repeated pledges to them
to put Hamlet' on the stage, had at the eleventh
hour withdrawn from his engagement," and that
Mr. Vining had kindly undertaken to produce
"Romeo and Juliet" and the "Comedy of Errors."
Hence the applause that greeted the French actress
and the English manager was rigorous and hearty.
I give, as before, the official playbill :
In the Evening, at'' o'clock,
Shakspere's Tragedy of " Romeo and Juliet," and the
" Comedy of Errors," will be represented by the follow-
ing distinguished Artistes
"ROMEO AND JULIET."

PrinOta Psdaltta ;tr. Robins Friar. Lawrence Mr. Forester
Paris ..... .. Smoke Apothecary Mr. Cathcart
Montague if Mr. Lickfold t'eter Mr. D.Fislaer
Captilet 4i4 iMr,ll,Mellon Balthazar Mr.Chap wan
Romeo Mr. J. Belson j Abram Mr. Tresider
• • • glatenn .. Mr. Tapping
Tybalt Mr. C. Seyton Grcgory ...... Mr. Allen
Juliet
Nurse
After which will be pertormed,
" THE COMEDY OF ERRO:iS,"
From the text of Shakspere.
The new and splendid scenery by Messrs. F, Lloyds,
Fenton, Hann, and Gray'. the Act-
N.B.—The scenery has been so arranged tha.`
drop will not descend during the performance of
Robles.filek.:;"e*
Solinus (Duke of Ephesus) Mr Robles.
geon (a Merchant of Syracus) Mr 11 Mellon,

A.ntipholus of Ephesus
Antipholus of Syracuse....., Mr Vining
(Twin Brothers and Sons to ./Egeon and .Emilia, but
unknown to each other.)
Dromio of Bphesus„ .. Mr Hy. Webb
Dromio of Syracuse Mr Charles Webb,
(Twin Brothers and Attendants on the Antiphon.)
13althazir
Angelo ~.. Mr C Seyton
A Merchant
Dr. pinch
Officer
.Emilia
.•
(Wife to dE;eon, an Abbess at Ephesus.)
Adriana
.............. Miss Caroline Carson
(Wife to Antipholus of Ephesus.)
Luciana (her sister) ...
Miss Helen Howard
Lucy (her servant) Miss Sidney
Lesbia .. Miss Emma Barnett
Officers, Lords, Merchan Male and Female Citizens)
Executioner, Nuns, Attendants, &C.
tat
Stage Manager Mr George Ellis
The order of the above was reserved, the "Comedy
of Errors' being played before the tragedy. Con-
densed
into one act, this curious farce, written in
Shakspere's earliest
Manner, has proved one of
the greatest successes at the Princess's Theatre,
partly on account of the extraordinary likeness and
equally extraordinary
humour of the brothers
Webb, who represent the Dromios, partly on ac-
count of the very beautiful scenery and costumes,
by which it is rendered a perfect gem of stage
Npro-
duction.ot only
the brothers Webb but the
whole of the scenery had been brought to Stratford,
and among the many illustrations of modern rapi-
dity of locomotion relay be mentioned the fact that
the very scenes which were used at Oxford-street,
London, on Tuesday night, were employed at Strat-
ford-on-Avon yesterday evening, and will be seen
again at Oxford-street this evening at seven. To
accommodate the decorations brought from the dif-
ferent London theatres, the stage of the Pavilion is
provided with sliding grooves.
The audience was charmed with the beauty of
the pictures and the drollery of the brothers Webb,
whose angular gesticulations and grotesque ap-
pearance are quite in keeping with the extrava-
gent character of the piece. The.` Comedy of Errors"
is just one of those plays in which the mirror is not
held up to nature, and the Messrs. Webb, by make
ing the strange twins look like two odd mediaeval
figures, such as might be found in the illustrations
of Strutt's "Sports and Pastimes," not only amuse
the audience by Constantly presenting a couple of
droll objects, but give an antiquarian quaintness to
the representation. When in the last scene the
Dromios met and gaped at each other, standing in
precisely the same attitude, and reminding the spec-
tator of the odd masks that exchange grins from
corresponding points in a cathedral, the shout of
mirth and surprise was overwhelming.
By the performance of Juliet, Mademoiselle Colas
hag done much to confirm her high London reputa-
tion. Her foreign accent has greatly diminished
since her appearance last year, and in some short
sentences is scarcely to be detected at all. The
girlish naivete in the balcony scene, the pretty coax-
ing of the old nurse, as usual, fascinated all be-
holders; but, of course, the electrifying passage was
the solilcquy in the fourth act, especially the part in
which she imagines the presence of Tybalt's ghost
and follows it as if it were a visible object. Mr.
George Vining gave a spirited interpretation of
Merettio, based on Mr. Charles Kemblo's principle
of so suiting the action to the word that the descrip-
tion of Queen Mab becomes a succession of distinct
impersonations. Mr3,Marston very ably represented
the Nurse, being perfectly acquainted with all the
traditions of this most te: ling character, which she
coloured with the vigour o.f the old school. Mr, J.
Nelson looked exceedingly vvell as Romeo.
At the Princess's theacting N .ersion of the tragedy,
commonly used till within the .last few years, has
been revived, on account of the 14, iditional oppor-

tunity given to the lovers in the last scene. This
was, of course, transported to Stratford, and, as the
Messrs. Chambers' conscientious and elegant re.
print Of the play, according to Knight's text, was
sold about the ravilion, some of the audience must
hare been not a little puzzled. What, fdr instance,
had become of Rossline ?

This afternoon a concert of instrumental music
and glees, conducted by Messrs. Coote and Stockley,
was given at the Shakspere Rooms. One of the
pieces was the following Ode by Mr. J. Brougham,
set to music by Mr. Alfred Mellon :

" What shall his crown be I not the laurel leaf
That blood besprinkled decks the warrior's head,
Who grasps at glory, as destruction's chief,
A living monument to thousands dead,
Bequeathing one vast legacy of grief.
Some pest incarnate, fed with human life,
Born of ambition or the lust of strife
In regal coronet shall we proclaim
Him Monarch T. That would circumscribe his worth ;
A kingly diadem would only shame
The kinglier thought, whose realm is the whole earth.
Such petty vanities but mock his fame.
Profane it not. lie is all crowns above,
Hero of Peace, Evangelist of Love."

The concert, it is needless to say, was on a far
smaller scale than the entertainments at the Pavi•
lion, but it seems to have given satisfaction.
At the Town-hall, besides the collection of works
of art, a bazaar is held, wherein trinkets symbolical
of Shakspere are daily vended. Here, too, may
be seen a loom in full work, making the triple
badges, which it is here the fashion to wear at the
button-hole. On these badges, which are manu-
factured by Messrs, Mullonay and Johnson, of
Coventry, are marked the " Chanclos " portrait of
Shakspere, a view of the birthplace, and another
of the church.