The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-28 00:00:00

Some of our popular authors would do well to
imitate the unostentatious manner in which Mr.
Westland Marston has brought forward his new
play "Pure Gold," now performing at Sadler's
Wells Theatre. The author has depended upon
the intrinsic merit of his composition rather
than tho immense posters and preliminary puffing
which usually herald the first representation of " a
new and original drama," and a success as genuine
and unmistakeable as the play deserved has been
the result. In " Pure Gold" Mr. W. Marston
has departed from his usual style of writing,
and, in the present instance, he tells his
tale in prose, enriched in numerous instances
with an ingenious "and happily expressed
metaphor of the most truthful and ennobling
nature. " Pure Gold" differs essentially from the
gifted author's former productions, " The Patrician's
Daughter" and "Anne Blake,' in both of which
there was a want of sustained interest that the most
graceful, poetic, and refined language could not
outweigh ; and although every person could not but
admire the elevated thoughts in those two plays,
clothed as they were in the moat glowing language,
both failed to maintain a position on the
stage, owing to the absence of the one essential
element. The four acts into which the new drama
is divided, combined, tell a very effective story,
abounding in strong situations, and one which
maintains the interest unflaggingly to its close. In
the first act, or perhaps we should say prologue, we
find a certain Mr. Langley, a civil engineer, with
his nephew, Frank Rochford, and his young wife,
at Baden-Baden ; and, at the same time, amongst
the visitors, there happen to be Sir Gerard Fane,
a spendthrift baronet, and Miss Forteseue. Langley
unfortunately cannot withstand the temptations of
the gaming-table, and, having already lost a con-
siderable sum, he ventures to entrench upon money
he had determined for another and better purpose,
in the hope of regaining that which he had pre-
viously lost. This also he loses, and, in his despair,
Langley hints that there has been more than chance
in his ill-luck, and this remark provokes a quarrel
with two political emissaries, both of whom waylay
him in a wood and compel him to fight a duel, in
which he is mortally wounded. The nephew, who
has previously been despatched by his uncle
on a mission to procure more money, and
to whom he has given a diamond ring,
passing near the spot is startled by the sound
of pistols, and, fearing the worst, he seeks his uncle
and finds him mortally wounded. The police arrive
just as the poor gamester dies, and Frank Roch-
ford is arrested as the murderer; his situation, the
diamond ring on his finger, and other unfortunate
circumstances, all tending to confirm their suspicion.
Fifteen years are supposed to elapse, and the second
act opens at the house of Miss Fortescue, near
Dover. Here we learn that Frank Rochford has
been condemned to imprisonment for life on the
charge of robbery, escaping the scaffold only for
the prison, that grief has killed his wife, and their
child Evelyn has become a dependant on the bounty
of Miss Fortescue. Evelyn has been kept in
ignorance of her father's fate, and we find her on
the point of marriage with Gilbert Brackenbum the
son of a poor but proud gentleman, her kind pro-
tector having endowed her with a large fortune,
The dowry attracts the attention of Sir Gerard
Fane, who for sundry weighty reasons finds it
necessary to marry a lady, possessed of money of
course, and accordingly he lays siege to the lady's
heart. Annoyed at an imagined coolness in Gil-
bert's manner, Evelyn flirts a little with Sir Gerard,
and this only serves to increase his desire for
a marriage with the wealthy orphan. Rochford,
through some noble exertions made at a conflagra-
tion of the prison in which he was incarcerated,
is pardoned and set at liberty, but the
fact that his innocence has not been clearly esta-
blished, and the loss of both wife and child, still
presses him down. He arrives at Dover to under-
take the care of a pupil whom he has been engaged
to instruct in drawing, under the assumed name of
Vernon, and while in the gardens of Miss Forteseue,
he encounters Sir Gerard. The pupil, Vernon
knows to be his own daughter, and his indignation
is fired when he discovers the object of Sir Gerard.
They meet, and to the misfortune of Vernon, the
heartless libertine threatens to discover him to his
own daughter as a convicted felon, and to the
authorities as an escaped convict, in the event of
his refusing to aid him in his schemes to marry
Evelyn. This hurries on the father to discover
himself to his child, when Rochford tells his
own history to Evelyn as an imaginary one. The
daughter listens attentively, and at length nature
penetrates the veil of mystery, and Evelyn sinks
fainting into her father's arms. The baronet, foiled
in his attempt to gain the fortune of Evelyn, reveals
the position of Rochford to Gilbert Brackenbury's
father, the marriage is broken off and villany seems
to be triumphant; but, thanks to Lancia—a noble
and brave refugee, who was at Baden when Lang.
ley was murdered—the stain that rested upon the
name of Rochford is removed, Evelyn marries
Gilbert, Miss Fortescue bestows her hand on
Lancia, and Sir Gerard Fane, baulked and defeated
in his villany, in course of time, we suppose, either
has to surrender his precious person into the
custody of the. sheriff, or take the benefit of the
Act.

Many of the situations in the drama have been
arranged with the utmost dramatic skill; for instance,
the meeting of Vernon with Sir Gerard Fane, and,
best of all, the interview between the almost
heartbroken father with his unsuspecting daughter.
And the embodiment of the author's idea was most
effectively realised by Mr. Henry Marston and Miss
Marriott. Her conception of the part was correct,
almost faultless, and her acting was marked through-
out with tenderness and emotion. Mr. Marston
pourtrayed the innocent but strongly suspected
father with all that emotional passion which is
the great distinguishing feature of his acting,
and Mr. Edmund Phelps as the roue, Sir Gerard
Pane, proved most unmistakably that he has
studied hard, and, we must add, successfully, to
improve his abilities as an actor. Mrs. Bucking.
ham White as Miss Fortescue acted with her usual
excellence, giving the satirical hits of the character
with the utmost keenness and polish. The trifling
part of the Italian refugee, Lancia, was well sus-
Mr. by
Mr. W. D. Graham, but of the other

performers we cannot speak in complimentary
terms, and therefore pass them over silently,
We have to congratulate the management on the
determination and spirit already evinced, and sin-
cerely trust that Miss Marriott's effort to restore
Sadler's Wells to its former reputation may be
crowned with success.

The marriage of Rear-Admiral the Hon. Charles
G. J. B. Elliot, C. 8., brothor of the Earl of 111 into, with
Miss Blackett, daughter of Sir Edward Blackett, Bart., will
take place the week after next.

LIVERPoOL, Nov. 27.—The Meteor, from liavan-
nah for Matamoras, with an assorted cargo, was captured
near Bayport, Florida, on the 28th October, and sent to KeY
West,

BODY. OF A LADY WASHED ASHORE AT ROTTlNG-
DEAL—lntelligence reached us to the effect that
the body of a woman has been washed ashore at Rotting-
dean. From the appearance of the corpse, on one of the
fingers of which were three valuable icings,
it is surmised
the unfortunate deceased must have moved in the upper
walks of life. Some letters or papers were found in her
pessession, which will no doubt be read at the inquest,—
East Sussex News.
SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION.—The council of
this association unanimously resolved, at a meeting held
last Thursday, to hold their meeting next year in the city
of York. The executive committee was at the same time
authorised to carry out a proposed union between the asso-
ciation and the Law Amendment Society. Arrangements
are in progress calculated greatly to increase the activity
and efficiency of the department, and to secure more defi-
nite results from the discussions at the annual meetings.
A PRETENDED MADAME DU CHAILLU.—M. Du
female
Chaillu writes to Sir R. Murchison from Accr
Afriea, " that he was surprised to hear that
Ramsgate
a,
west
a
who had been assaulted whilst bathing sgate had
assumed his name and called herself his Wife, Ike indig-
nantly
repudiated ever having ban married,"
CALAIS, Nov. 2G.—A large threegnasted screw
steamer, named the Rappahaunciek, has come here
to-day. She bears the colours of the Confederate States,
has two funnels, and is fore and aft rigged, and pierced for
eight guns. The vessel is in an n unfinished state, and has a
number of carpenters and other \vorkpeople on board. She
is at present detained by the Customs authorities. She left
Sheerness yesterday.