The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-14 00:00:00

THE ROYAL DRAMATIC COLLEGE,

Wonderful Cast of " The School for Scandal."
Old Drury was crammed full yesterday afternoon
from floor to ceiling: and the wonder would have
been had it been otherwise. For the attraction
put forth in the playbills was in truth so extraor•
dinary of its kind as to be really about the
rarest of all rare opp)rtunities. Such a cast, we
believe, has not been witnessed for many and many
a long year in our metropolis. And it would be diffi-
cult, we imagine, to conjecture Vf hen such a cast is
likely to be seen again. The performance was
for the benefit of the Royal Dramatic College. And,
Yor the furtherance of that benevolent design, for
the enhancement of the funds of that noble institu-
tion, the most popular and celebrated actors of the
day, combined together their great and varied
powers in the representation of one of the most
brilliant comedies in the English language—
among all our comedies (Shakspere's alone ex-
cepted) we are tempted to say the wittiest,—
namely, Sheridan's wonderful Five-act Comedy of
The School for Scandal. Whenever, again, any ill-
natured allusions may be made in regard to the
petty jealousies of the profession, let this occasion
be referred to! Talk of jealousies ! above all, of
petty jealousies !—when a great actor like Mr.
Benjamin Webster—(and who that has ever seen his
Triplet in "Masks and Faces" will venture to deny
that he is a great actor ?)—selects for himself the little
part, we had almost said, the contemptible little
part, of Snake ! However—hero is the cast of "The
School for Scandal," precisely as it was put upon
the stage of Old Drury—(the very locality which
witnessed Sheridan's first triumph with his master-
piece)—yesterday :
Sir Peter Teazle Mr. Phelps.
Sir Oliver Surface

Charles Surface
Joseph Surface

Sir Benjamin Backbite
Crabtree
Moses
Sir Barry (on this special occa-
sion, with the original song) Mr. Paul Bedford.
Careless (on this special occa-

sion)
Trip (on this special occasion) Mr. Horaco Wigan.
Snake (on this special occasion) Mr. Benjamin Webster
Rowley (on this special occasion) Mr. Frank Matthews.
Lady Teazle
Lacy Sneerwell Mrs. Billington.
Mrs. Candour (on this special
sion)
Maria (on this special occasion) Miss Henrietta Sims.

The benevolent purpose, which this extraordinary
performance yesterday was designed to forward,
precludes us altogether from anything like search-
ing criticism while we are recording it. Exceptions
taken to any thing whatever in theperformance would
be worse than simply invidious. It would be bad
taste even to hint at the comparative merits of the
eminent actors and actresses taking part in the re-
presentation. Each of them received, as they en-
tered upon the scene, the heartiest welcome imagin-
able. Even the one contretemps of the perform-
ance, we might mention, in its way, as being among
the most brilliant of its successes ! Heartier
shouts of laughter were perhaps never heard in
the building, at the whimsicallest represen •
tation, by the drollest of low comedians, of
the very funniest character, in the most
screaming farce ever put upon the boards. And
all this arising out of a letter of apology accom-
panied by a medical certificate I When, between the
2d and 3d acts, Mr. R. Phillips, the stage manager,
made his appearance between the curtain and the
footlights, carrying in one hand an ominous little
bit of paper, everybody knew, upon the instant, what
was coming ! Nay, before the stage manager could
open his lips is explanation, a voice from the gallery
called out—" Sims Reeves, of course !" Whether
that conjecture was to prove right or not, however,
the stage manager declined to say at once—the letter
itself was gradually to break the fact to the audience.
And how every sentence of thatletter "told" it would
be difficult to afford any one, not present, a notion
of! Surely, it was the oddest reception ever given
to an account of ill-health ! When it came out at
last—after a little preliminary flourish—that it
really was Mr. Sims Reeves who was ill at Dover,
and would in consequence not mike his appearance,
there was a roar ! When it was added that a
medical certificate was enclosed, there ware shouts
of mirth ! When it was announced that, this
time, in addition to a bad cold, the great singer
was suffering horn a severe bilious attack, the au-
dience nearly cried with laughing ! But when at
length the doctor's certificate itself was produced,
it threatened almost to be the death of them—there
were faint cries to the manager to" be off," gasping
entreaties to him (in the homeliest of idioms) to" cut
it short." And so the apology terminated inaudibly
on the part of Mr. Phillips, who withdrew while the
Laughing Audience were yet drying their eyes and
gradually recovering from their paroxysm of merri-
ment. Enoug:), if we add in regard to this
eccentric incident, that Mr. Paul Bedford, of all
people in the world, was good enough to be Mr.
Sims Reeves' substitute in singing Sir Harry's
song, " Here's to the maiden of bashful fifteen."
—Paul receiving the heartiest of welcomes in
consequence.

As to the " Wandering Ministrels" (a band of
amateur instrumentalists, so calling themselves)
while it was no doubt very kind indeed of them to
play, in between the acts, for the benefit of the
Charity—it was equally kind, on the part of the
audience, listening to them.

A FRUITFUL VINE.—I❑ the Hai leian MSS. we
find mention made of a certain Scottish weaver
who had no less than sixty• two children, and all by one
wife. This family included four daughters, who lived to
be women, and the rest of the three-score and two were
boys, who all lived to be baptised. Out of these, forty-six
actually reached man's estate. The writer, one Thomas
Gibbons, adds, that during the, time of this fruitfulness on
the part of the wife, the husband was absent for some
five years in the low countries, where he served under
Captain Selby, and that after his return home his wife was
again delivered of three children at a birth, and "continued
in her due time in such births" until she ceased childbear-
ing. The informant of Mr. Gibbons was John Delaval'
Esq., of Northumberland. who was high sheriff of that
county in 1625, and who, in 1630, rode from Newcastle to
a place about thirty miles beyond Edinburgh to see this
worthy and fruitful couple. Mr. Delaval, however, did not
find any of the children then residing with their parents,
though three or four of them were living at Newcastle at
the time. It appears that Sir John limes, and other
wealthy Northumberland "gentlemen of quality," adopted
and brought up the children in batches of ten and twelve
a piece, and that Ihe residue were " disposed of " by others
among the Scottish and English gentlemen of the Border
Country.—Once a Week.

The Civil Tribunal of the Seine has just given
judgment in a suit arising out of the following
circumstances :—ln the course of the years 1861 and 1862
M. Romieux, a merchant of Paris, was instructed by the
Government of Servia to purchase a large quantity of arms,
which were to be sent from England to Belgrade. After
M. Romieux bad effected the purchase, political difficulties
arose which prevented the delivery of the arms, and M. Ro-
mieux having learned that 1,500,000 fr. had been deposited
with M. Hottinguer, the Paris hanker, to pay for them, he
caused the money to be attached ,en. the ground that he was
about to commence proceedings to recover 200,000 f. from
the Sarvian Government for breach of contract. He accord-
ingly now sued for the above amount M. Leschianine,
Servian charge d'affaires ; M. Miloswhevitch, agent of the
Servian Government in the affair of the arms ; Colonel
Maindain, Servian Minister of War, and even Prince
Michael himself. The defendants pleaded that the French
tribunals were incompetent to try an action against a
sovereign prince, and also demanded that the attachment
laid on the cash in the hands of M. Hottinguar should be
annulled, because it had not been sanctioned by a judge.
After hearing counsel, the tribunal decided, in conformity
wilt the opinion expressed by the Avocat-Imperial, that it
was incompetent to try a case in which a sovereign prince
was defendant, also that the attachment of the funds in the
hands of M. Hottinguer was invalid, as being informal; it
accordingly declared the same null and void, and condemned
M. Romieux to pay all costs of suit.

The construction of the new branch of the Medi-
terranean railway, between Valence and Moirans, is now
terminated, and a train containing the inspectors of the
company passed over the line two days back. Some im-
provements in the stations are about to be introduced, and
the branch will be opened for traffic: by the lath of May at
the latest.

The Brussels journals state that Count de Robiano
met with a serious accident the day before yester-
day, as he was riding along the Rmlevard du Regent.
From some cause unknown, his horse shied, and threw him
with great violence against one of the trees by the road-
side. He was taken up insensible and carried to the house
of the Prince d'Arenberg, where professional aid was pro-
cured, but his injuries were so serious that on the follow-
ing day fears of fatal OQLIBeIatIQUCed were still entertahiad,