The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 20, 1863,

questions; or, as in the eclee of China the other
evening, for no official personage to reply at all in
debate.

It seems there is good ground for anticipating a
speedy improvement in Lancashire prospects, pro-
vided that the laws of routine can be broken through
and the impediments which, ender the head of legal
difficulties, start up in the way of every social
advantage or scheme of public benefit, can be satis-
factorily disposed of. The amount of work waiting
to be done is commensurate with the number of
willing hands waiting to do it; and the work, too,
is not designed to supply imagined wants or neces-
sities manufactured to meet the surplus labour, but

it consists in a great measure of improvements
which have long been urgently needed, but which
the demand for labour delayed the execution of.
A Manchester correspondent, writing to a contem-
porary, says that in Stockport alone a vast sum of
money might be expended with the greatest advan-
tage in the drainage, which has hitherto been left a
good deal to the chance of its situation, and also in
the formation and completion of streets, which, in
wet weather, are almost impassable for several miles
The towns of Lancashire have grown so simuitane
ously and so rapidly in consequence of their thriving
trade, that all have needed much labour and expendi
ture to adapt them to the requirements of their inha-
bitants, while the very cause of their rapid exten-
sion—the prosperity of the cotton trade—called off all
hands to other work. Blackburn is said to want
five miles of new streets, while in Wigan no less
than £48,000 are reported to have been already
spent upon sewerage, and in Chorley £l,lOO in
the same manner. Oldham, Rochdale, and other
places need a similar outlay on matters which the
most critical can hardly call superfluities. We can
easily understand how every other undertaking
was lost sight of or thrust aside while every one's
interests, exertions, and profits were concerned in
the whirr of the mighty mills and the develop-
ment of the cotton trade, which just before the
crisis had reached an unparalleled height. It is as
if some man of business were so absorbed in the
management and details of his City counting-house
that he had no leisure to spare for the consideration
of his domestic arrangements : or, in another walk
of life, the case is similar to that of PITT, the great
financier, whose private affairs were always hope-
lessly entangled. Now, however, that enforced
idleness has come upon both masters and men, and ,
its blighting effects are to be avoided at all hazards,
what can afford a better opportunity for the comple-
tion of those necessary works which have been
hitherto neglected in the pressure and bustle of their
daily trade ? We cannot doubt that Parliament will
readily advance the necessary funds on reason-
able terms, nor can we suppose that unnec, ssary
difficulties will be put in the way by any reflecting
or conscientious man. The evils of idleness and
enforced pauperism are so great and terrible, the
demoralisation and wretchedness of the whole
county is so draed a calamity, that local jealousies
and legal technicalities should surely not be
allowed to bar the way to better things. "Ic is
calculated," says the gentleman we have already
referred to, " that if 10,000 able-bodied men are
employed, it will at once be the means of taking off
the rate-books no fewer than 40,000 persons."

Surely such an end as this is worth striving for,
even as a matter of social benefit. The Government
have given no grounds for hoping that they will

come forward in a liberal and patriotic spiz it,
while the local authorities will doubtless strain
every nerve to set the work satisfactorily afloat.
There is no fear of lack of employment if the
necessary funds are forthcoming. Let building
and drainage be first thoroughly set in order, and
before the proposed people's parks and people's
playgrounds are completed we may hope that the
four quarters of the globe will have come to our
rescue, and the Lancashire mills and mill-bands
be once more called into full act ivity.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

MADEMOISELLE ARTOT.

This young lady, who made such an impression
at our London concerts three years ago, both on
account of her extraordinary voice and her great
musical accomplishments, and whose appearance on
our lyric stage was looked forward to with so
much anxiety—made her debut at this house last
evening in the sprightly " Figlia di Reggimento,'
and very speedily and amply fulfilled every expec•
tation she had created. We have never witnessed
a more decided, or more entirely deserved success.
The only abatement of our satisfaction was that it
had not been enjoyed before, When such a host of me-
diocrities have found their way to the London boards,
and within the last few years especially, have come
and gone, and been forgotten, we cannot help
asking why such an artist as Madlle. Artot should
till now have been denied a hearing. We fear,
however, the question is more likely to be asked
than answered. The mysteries that involve man-
agements are too many and too inscrutable to
yield to this any more them they have done to
former curiosities.

Madlle. Artot's voice is a mezzo soprano of un-
usual range and pliancy, combining much of the
extent both of soprano and contralto, but which in
point of quality is more distinguished by its ex
pressiveness than richness. Of this organ, the cul-
tivation has been so thorough and so successful
that its executant ability has few living superiors,
and, in union with her taste and feeling,
make her vocalisation perfect. We ex plain
this result in a word when we say that
Madile. Artot is a pupil of Mad, Viardot—one of
the most consummate artists of her time, and we
account also for the thorough development of her
other and higher qualities—her keen dramatic sym
pathy and her intensely passionate fervour. Madile.
Artot's merits as an actress are quite on a level with
her claims as a singer. She has a striking sense
of character as shown in the perfect natural-
ness as well as vivacity of her Viven-
diere rendering its assumption one of the
most charming that has been witnessed on
our stage, whilst in addition her depth of feeling
stamp it with an entirely fresh aspect in all those
opportunities which display Maria's better nature.
We will vent ure to assert that the "Convien Partir," in
which she bids adieu to her companions, was never
given on our stage with such profound and affect-
ing pathos, and the same praise must be bestowed
on the " Quando it D.,stino," in which she reverts
to the claims of her friends, on their re-encounter
in the second act. At the same time, the buoyant
music that more especially denotes Maria lost
none of its old effect. The " Retaplan'
was given with all characteristic spirit, and
the " Ciascun lo Dice," in which she sings the praise
of the gallant 20th, had such a piquant and striking
variety, that it won a vehement encore. A repeti-
tion was alto demanded of the "Terzetto," in the
second act, in which the humour of Madlle. Artot,
in burlesquing the antique theme of the Maestro
Cafferielio with which her aunt is so en-
chanted, was not more remarkable than the
brilliancy of the embellishment, with which she
propounded her own view of it• In a word, her
saccess in this character was in every respect
triumphant—the audience marking their deep sense
of it by the animation of her recalls, and the pro-
fusion of their floral offerings. Nevertheless we
are tempted to think that it is other and graver
characters, she is destined to win her true
celebrity, and to her appearance in which the pub-
lic will attach the greatest amount of expectation.
The Tonic of Signor Bettini was very pleasing,
if not very
Zucchini one of the very best we have ever
impulsive ; and the Sulprizio of Signor
seen. The band and chorus were admirable. The
house was well attended.