The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-08 00:00:00

The Prince and Princess of Wales.

The Prince of Wales, attended by Captain Grey,
honoured Mr. Frith with a sitting yesterday, for
the picture he is painting of his Royal Highness's
wedding.

The Countess of Zetland had an interview with
the Princess of Wales, and presented to her Royal
Highness articles of woollen manufacture, presents
from the islands of Shetland. The Princess was
attended by the Marchioness of Carmarthen and
Lord Harris, K.S.I.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam-
bridge, the Princess Mary, and the Duke of Cam-
bridge visited their Royal Highnesses the Prince
and Princess of Wales at Marlborough House.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, attended by
the Marchioness of Carmarthen and Captain Grey,
went to Chiswick in the afternoon, and visited the
Duchess (Dowager) of Sutherland. •

His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange
honoured Colonel and Mre. White (of Woodlands) with his
company at dinner on Monday, at their residence in Bel-
grave-square. There were present, in addition, the Duke
and Duchess of Montrose, the Countess of Jersey and Lady
Caroline Villiers, Viscount and Viscountess Ingestre,
Lord Loughborough, Viscount Sudley, Hon. Geo. Cadogan,
Hon. C. Carrington, and Mr. Augustus Lumley. Later in
the evening Mrs. White had a small dancing party.

The Earl of Bantry has left Thomas's Hotel,
Berkeley-square, for Bantry Castle, Ireland.

Mr. and Lady Virginia Sanders entertained at
dinner on Monday, at their residence in Eaton-square, the
Duke of Newcastle, Lord and Lady Proby, Lord and Lady
Rendlesham, Earl Annesley, Viscount St. Lawrence, Lord
Londesborough, Lady Moles worth, Colonel and Lady Caro-
line Towneley and. Miss Towneley, Hon. Mrs. Barrington,
Hon. Mrs. Dudley Carleton, Mr. and Mrs. Newton, and
Mr. Corry Connellen.
ROYAL ENTERTAINMENT AT CHISWICK.—Their
Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales yes-
terday honoured the Duchess (Dowager) of Sutherland
with their presence at an afternoon party at her grace's
beautiful villa (the late Duke of Devonshire's) at Chiswick.
A party, chiefly belonging to the family, and the youthfu
branches, began to assemble shortly before four o'cicck,
and had collected before the arrival of the Prince and Prin-
cess of Wales.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE,

MR. SIMS REEVES.

Our great English tenor appeared at this house
last evening, and in a character with which he has
long been identified—the Edgardo of the" Lucia.'
Mr. Sims Reeves has rarely been heard to
more advantage than on this occasion. His superb
voice was in the finest order, and was made the
medium for conveying the most manly and affecting
tenderness which the music could demand. More
boisterous Edgardos it has often been our lot to
hear, but never one who infused the character
with more genuine emotion. Of this great merit
his duet in the first act—his prominent scene in the
second—in which even " the Malediction" denoted
as much agony as fury—and not less his exquisite
"Fra poco," were notable examples. It was through-
out, in fact, a performance of the very highest
order. Mr. Reeves was most cordially received on
his first entrance, and rewarded for his exertions
by a very earnest summons at the close of every act.
When we say the Lucia was Madlle. Titiens we
comprise in those few words all the eulogy, and
therefore criticism, that could possibly be uttered.
The acknowledged Queen of Lyric Tragedy renewed
on this occasion all those marvellous impressions
whiah we had lately the pleasure of recording. In
her superb passion, as well as voice, she marked
every trait of the devoted and doomed maiden with
an excellence that left no emendation conceivable.
Of all living singers Madlle. Titiens is the one we
leave with the most regret and return to with the
most confidence. M. Gassier was again a very ade-
quate Enrico, and the band and chorus were irre-
proachable.

The new divertissement of "La Fills de I'Armee"
concluded the entertainment, in which Madlle.
Pocchini exhibited ail her known exuberance.

•
(From the Times.)
Mr. Sims Reeves may at this moment be fairly cited as
a singer, in varied accomplishments, without a rival.
The artist who shines as Mr. Reeves has shone in the
great oratorios of Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, and
Spohr, who sings the "Death of Nelson," or " The Bay
of Biscay," as well as the elder Braham, who is thoroughly
1 at home in the chamber music of Mozart, Beethoven,
and the other great composers, who imparts an irre-
sistible charm to the humblest English ballad, and who at
the same time makes such a figure in the loftier walks of
Italian opera as to place him side by side with the
most eminent representatives of that particularly attrac-
tive school, exhibits a versatility of power, a variety of re-
sources, and a pliability of talent of which but few in-
stances can be cited. It is not, however, our present task
to dilate upon the qualifications to which the great Eng-
lish tenor is indebted for his extraordinary popularity.
We have merely to record, in a word, the entire success
of his performance of Edgardo at Her Majesty's Theatre.
His conception of the part was admirable, and his execution
of the music faultless. Seldom has an Edgardo appeared
entering with more earnestness into every situation, making
more of every point, embodying, in short, with more poeti-
cal completeness the character of Lucia's chivalrous and
romantic lover. To say nothing of the duet with the heroine,
in the first act, and the renowned " Fra poco"—delivered
with exquisite feeling—in the last, the Contract scene
(finale to Act II.) was a masterpiece of dramatic singing,
the famous " Maledizione" being declaimed with a pas-
sionate intensity that brought out all its meaning. The
audience were enthusiastic, and recalled Mr. Reeves at the
end of every act—twice, indeed, after the third and last.

(From the Daily News,)
Edgardo is one of Mr. Sims Reeves's best impersonations •
both as a singer and as an actor our English tenor may
challenge comparison with any former representative of the
Master of Ravenswood, whose unhappy fate has been so
melodiously set by the Italian maestro. His singing in the
pathetic passages was marked by suave expression and ten-
derness, while in the more passionate situations his decla-
matory power was displayed with most dramatic effect. The
performance, indeed, throughout was of a high order. Mr.
Reeves was called on at the end of each act.

!(Frant tLe Morning Advertiser,)
Ant M. presented, in the madness of Lucia, the perfec-
tion of vocal execution and histrionic genius. The tender
"Sparse a di rose," " Ah non piangere," with the marvel-
lous execution of "Il del clemente" excited a perfect
furore, and bouquets were showered to the gifted singer
who was twice called to receive a perfect ovation.
The last scene, which Edgardo has to himself, culminated
Sims Reeves's triumph. The recitative, subdued, soft, and
clear, was given from the back of the stage, and the con-
trast, on advancing, in the last line, "Tu della gioia in seno
io, della morte,' evinced the pathos and power of the
singer's voice. "Fra poco " was a finished specimen of
vocal art. "Tu the a dio," with the death scene, once
more evinced the success of Mr. Sims Reeves, the unap-
protohed quality of whose voice and style every impartial
musician must admit.

A Supplement to Humboldt's " Cosmos" is an-
nounced in the shape of a" Correspondence between Hum-
boldt and Heinrich Berghaus in the Years 1825-58."
The Mandoline, says the Reader, is an instru-
ment, the tinkle of which is a familiar sound in the ccifia of
Italian towns, and is a pleasant accompat•iment to the sip-
ping of lemonade and ices under the sky of a southern
night. The instrument is a sort of dwarf guitar with a
bulbous back, in shape rather like half of a big melon fitted
with a tail ; and its tone is the tiniest of tinkles.
A NEW PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS IN THIS AGE OF
RAILWAYS.—Swarms of locusts have lately lodged
on the Ottoman Railway and compelled the engine driver
to proceed with great caution. The locusts, on being
crushed by the engine on the rails, make them excessively
greasy and slippery, so that the wheels will scarcely bite.
The consequence is some degree of danger, and sand has
to be dropped on the rails to give the wheels a hold. Seve-
ral trains from Ephesus have been considerably behind
time though the locusts taking possession of the line."
IMPBISONMENT FOR DEBT.—There has been an
increase in the number of prisoners for debt. In
Whitecross-street Prison yesterday the number was 102,
and on Friday there were 126—the highest number since
November, 1861. Some of the persons were committed
by County Courts, and as the law now stands they cannot
when in custody petition under the new Bankruptcy Act,
It was expected that an alteration would have been made
in the law.