The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-21 00:00:00

an American may be quoted at Lloyd's in favour of
a vessel; the letter of the English Foreign Mini-
ster sends up the rates of insurance forthwith.
We are to submit to have our dockyards
watched, and are to be called upon to detain
any vessel at the suggestion of the represen-
tative of the Northern States. Our Government
does not remonstrate though the arms and
ammunition shipped for Matamoras are to be directed
against a friendly power. No wonder the indig-
nant murmurs of the Hous.. of Commons answered
Mr. LAYARD'S reply to Mr. PEACOCK'S question.
The matter is still " under consideration," no com-
munication having yet been made to Mr. ADAMS.
If our ministers do not bestir themselves a little
more actively than they have hitherto done some
communications will be made to Mr. ADAMS and
his countrymen which may teach their inordinate
vanity a wholesome lesson. Englishmen will not
suffer their commerce to be damaged without re-
dress, their vessels confiscated, their mail bags
which loss of
nirtireudrYe to be endured
time brokenan
do pen,an
uncertainty
theinflict
terriblei
c t
o
much longer. The Government are going the way
to provoke men whose interests are so heavily at
stake to take matters into their own bands, in
which case we may expect a naval realisation of
our friend Punch's famous picture of the
shoeless stampedo of Bull's Run " Goin'
to take Canada!" The blockading fleet of Charles.
ton, the vessels which, According to General BUT-
LER, are to sweep English commerce from the seas,
may find cause to remember that the Alabama was
Ch ao English
origin, and, in the words of " Chevy

" We have within our realm
Five hundred good as she."

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

After an absence of much longer duration than London
playgoers could have wished, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wigan
have returned to town, and resumed their professional duties
last evening at the flay:market Theatre, where they ap-
peared in their celebrated characters of John Mildn,ay and
Mrs. Hector Sternhold, in Mr. Tom Taylor's favourite
comedy of " Still Waters Run Deep " Both artists expe-
rienced an enthusiastic reception, and performed with all
the skill, spirit, and refinement for which they are so emi-
nently distinguished. Seldom, if ever, has the art of act-
'
ing been brought to higher perfection on the British stage
than in Mr. Wigan's
performance of John Mildmay
Frank, honest, and manly, and thoroughly English in tone
and treatment, it is an impersonation which challenges ad-
miration equally by its freshness and originality of concep-
tien, and by the care which the actor has so artistically be-
stowed upon the minutest particulars of its execution. The
judgment which he displays in the management of a most
melodious and expressive voice, the " naturalness" and
appropriateness of all his looks and movements, and the
delightful ease of his manner, give to Mr. Wigan's act-
ing an irresistible air of truth. He is at once the most
refined and the most veracious of actors. There is no cla-
mour, no turmoil about him ; all is genuine, artless, and
unaffected, As in the play, so in the performance, the still
waters run deep, and the tide of passion is
all the swifter and more profound for the absence of that
noise which is alike the characteristic of shallow streams
and superficial actors. It too often happens that the per.
formances of other artists, even of those who have attained
high rank in their profession, leave much to the fancy of the
spectator. However highly finished in many respects, they
still have shortcomings which the audience hale to eke out
with their own imaginings in order to make the picture
perfect. But Mr. Wigan's acting is open to no such objec-
tion. Here everything is so complete and absolve that in
returning to the realities of life when the play is over, the
difficulty we experience is to shake off the drematic illusion
we have been under, and to reconcile ourselves to the con-
viction that what looked so like nature was after all only
consummate art. To adopt such a belief does one's judg-
ment as much violence as to distrust those marvellous little
drawings by Mr. William Hunt, in which fruits, flowers,
and birds' nests are depicted with a subtlety of touch and a
witchery of colour that make it all but impossible to dis-
tinguish between the things imitated and their imitations.
Whether it take a pictorial or a histrionic form this is art of
that genuine kind which, operating powerfully, yet conceal-
ing the method of its operation, fully realises the classic test
of excellence—" summa ars artem celere." In vigour and
variety of expression, and the skilful simulation of many
dissimilar emotions, :Mrs. Wigan's
impersonation of Mrs.
Hector Sternhold, as usual, displayed great merit, and was
a worthy pendent to Mr. Wigan's brilliant performance-
The other characters were efficiently sustained, Mr. W.
Farren, as Hawksley, in particular, deserving favourable
notice.