The Sun.
London, England, 1837-06-27 00:00:00

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

Last night a tragedy called The Bridal, adapted for re-
presentation by Mr. Sheridan Knowles from Beaumont and
Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy, was pei formed for the first time
at this theatre with triumphant success. The Maid's Tra-
gedy has always been considered one of the finest works of
those great dramatists, and kept its place upon the stage down
to tie middle of the last century. Its beauties are gi,s transeen•
dent, and its interest so intense and appalling, that its i.;;lnish-
ment from the stage has been a subject of oft-expressed, be,
till now, unavailing regret; for, both in its language and in-
cidents, it deviates so widely from modern notions of dramatic
propriety, that the task of remodelling it could be accomplished
only by a man of genius akin to that of the original authors.
Such a man has at last appeared in Mr. Knowles. He
has bold re-constructed and re-written a large portion
of the play, and deserves the warmest gratitude of the
public for restoring to the stage one of the noblest spe-
cimens of the old English drama. He has altered its form,
but fully preserved its spirit. We shall not enter into a detail
of the plot of this admirable drama. It is enough to mention
shortly, that Amintor, a noble gentleman of Rhodes, on his
marriage with Evadne, discovers that the marriage had been
brought- about 1y the King, her paramour, to serve as a cloak
to their connection. Melantius, the hero of the piece, is the
bosom friend of Amintor, from whom he draws the fatal secret
of his sister's dishonour. A dreadful catastrophe ensues.
Melantius makes an unsuccessful Attempt on the King's life, and
is thrown into a dungeon. But Evatlne, awakened to a sense of
her guilt and shame, resolves to avenge her wrongs on her be-
trayer. She murders the King in his sleep, swallows poison,
and expires in the arms of Melantius, who dies of grief. The
charactei of Evadne, who, frail as she is, is rendered interest-
ing from the nobleness of her nature, was personated by Miss
Huddart in a style of the highest excellence. In the scene
with Amintor, on the evening of the marriage, there was
something that chilled the blood in the frightful composure
with which the guilty wife blasted her husband's happiness
by the disclosure of her hatred of him and its cause. She
looked like an animated statue, and her cold and hollow
accents seemed " to go like iron" through the wretched list-
ener's blood. The scene in the king's antichamber, where
Evadne enters to kill him, has too much resemblance to the
scene in Macbeth ; but Miss Huddart made it powerfully
effective. The great scene of the piece is that between Me-
lantius and Evadne, in which he tears from her (as it were)
the secret of her guilty commerce with the king, and makes
her swear to wash out her infamy in his blood. Her reckless levity
—the haughty scorn with which she at first spurns her brother's
remonstrances—the screams of terror with which she shrank un-
der his uplifted dagger—the long-delayed confession trembling
on her tongue, and finally the agony of shame and remorse in
which she sank at his feet, were represented with a power and
a truth which could hardly be surpassed. Of Macready's
Melantius we can find no words sufficient to express our ad-
miration. In the scene which we have just mentioned his
acting, jointly with that of Miss Huddart, produced an effect
on the audience which we have hardly seen paralleled. So
deep was the silence that it seemed as if the spectators were
unable even to breathe. Elton, in Amintor, though occasion-
ally too violent, exhibited great feeling, and gave much eff,ct
to the part. The character of Aspasia—a slight but pretty
sketch in the original piece, and very sweetly amplified by Mr.
Knowles—was performed in an interesting manner by Miss
Taylor. Her page's attire, however, should be more de-
cidedly masculine. As it is, it has not even the semblance of
a disguise. The remaining characters were ably played ;
especially the King by Mr. Haines, Dephilus by Mr. J. Web-
ster, and Strato by Mr. Harris. Indeed, we have never seen
a play better cast or better got up.

The Duchess of Sutherland has accepted, we un-
derstand, the office of Mistress of the Robes to her Majesty.
The Countess of Charlemont, we believe, is likely to be one
of the Ladies of the Bed-chamber. These appointments, in
addition to those of the Marchioness of Lansdowne, the Mar-
chioness of Tavistock, and the Countess of Minto, elsewhere
mentioned, will be very acceptable to the public. They sur-
round our young Queen with high moral worth and exalted
dignity, and will make her court, we are convinced, all that
the mothers and daughters of England can desire.
The provincial papers received yester,lav state, gene-
rally, that the announcement of the death of the late King was
received with every public symptom of grief; that the shops
were partially closed, the church bells tolled, &c. The pro-
clamation of her Majesty Queen Victoria has been made in
most of the towns in the country with the usual ceremonies.
The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort entertained the
Earl and Countess of Wilton, Earl and Countess of Albe-
marle, Mal and Countess of Lichfield, lion. Colonel and
Mrs. Anson, Captain G. Herbert, Lord Alvanley, Mr. C. C.
Greville, and a distinguished party at dinner on Sunday even-
ing, at their mansion in Park-place, St. James's.
The following distinguished fasitionables have ho-
noured Medame Tusaud's exhibition with a visit within the
last few days :—The Marchioness of Hastings, the Mar-
chioness of Sligo, the Countess of Wintcrton, Viscount Vil-
liers, Lord and Lady Somers, Lord and Lady Monson, Lord
Yarmouth, Lady Baker and party, Lady Frances Cole, Lady
Cottenharn and party.
The following anecdote places the eminent musician
Rossini in the light of a pleasant-tempered man. When at
Rome he happened to form one of the company at a mu4c2l
lecture delivered by Signor Rosetti, who, having occasion to
descant upon the genius of his distinguished auditor (not
knowing him to be present), handled his defects with consider-
able freedom. As lie was returning home in the dark lie felt
a sudden and smart pinch on the car; and upon turning round
Rossini stood before him, who said in his lively tone, " I say,
you were rather sharp upon me to night :" and then he walked
home with him.—Musical World. _ _

SOVEREIGNS OF Eu itorE.--Great Britain, Alex-
andrina Victoria, born May 24, 1819 ; Holland, William Fre-
derick, born August 24, 1772; Belgium, Leopold 1., born
December 16, 1;90 ; Austria, Ferdinand 1., born April 19,
1793 ; Prussia, Frederick William 111., born August 3, 1770;
France, Louis Philippe, born October 6, 1773 ; Spain, Isa-
bella 11., born October 10, 1830; Portugal, Maria 11., born
April 14, 1819; Denmark. Frederick VI., born January 28,
1763 ; Sweden, Charles Bernadotte, born January 26, 1764 ;
Russia, Nicholas 1., born July 6, 1796 ; Turkey, Mahmoud
11., born July 20, 1785 ; Greece, Otho 1., born June 1, 1815.
It is remarkable that the three only female sovereigns of
Europe should also be three youngest.
The Duke of Wellington has accepted an invitation
from the Lord Mayor to dine at the Mansion-house on the
12th of July, and cards have been sent to the members of the
Committee for erecting the Wellington Statute as a tribute of
gratitude to his Grace. The party, which is a full-dress one,
is confined to the members of the Committee, which includes
Lord Hill, and several of his Grace's distinguished companions
in arms. Flattering as the expression of gratitude is to his
Grace, no part of the subscription can have given him greater
pleasure than the sums which many of the veterans who served
• under him have cheerfully contributed.
Their Excellencies the Lord Lieutenant and Coun-
tess of Mulgrave embarked at Kingstown, shortly after nine
o'clock this morning, on board her Majesty's steamer
the Lightning, for Holyhead, on their way to London. Their
Excellencies were accompanied by Lieut.-Col. Yorke and.the
Hon. Capt. Li:l"dell. The object of his Excellency's visit is
to resign into the hands of her Majesty, according to custom,
the seals of his high office, and his commission of Governor
General of Ireland. At three o'clock this day a- Privy Coun-
cil is to assemble at the Castle, when the Lord Chancellor,
Sir Edward Blakeney, the Lieutenant-General coramanding
the Forces, and the Lord Chief Justice Bushe will be sworn
in as Lords Justices. His Excellency's absence is not expec-
ted to exceed a very few weeks.—Lublin Evening Post of
S:it urday.
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS AT BRISTOL.—The
officers of the " Animals' Friend Society" last week brought
numerous cases of very great cruelty to donkeys before the
Magistrates, the poor animals having been raced about and
cudgelled till they were covered with wheats. Mr. Price
strongly opposed the prosecutions, and said there was no harm
in boys amusing themselves with racing their donkies and
he required more witnesses. The Mayor, however, evinced
humane sentiments, but we are sorry to find that he dis-
missed the case, intimating that the next time he would con-
vict. A Bristol policeman, 133, was strongly repremanded for
having refused his assistance in a case of gross cruelty.