The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LoNiEfON MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 2, 1863,

their assistance ; as it is, several of the crew have
been seriously injured. It is very well for the
country and for those immediately concerned that
the mischance and misfortune, the loss of such a
vessel has been avoided, but, perhaps for the
Ministers, it might have been better if they had not
been spared the infliction. It is not often that a
man so contradicts himself as our Foreign Secre-
tary has been doing lately. In his famous speech
at Blairgowrie, he said that in his opinion " the
name of England would have been for ever infamous
if, for the sake of interest, we had violated the laws
of nations." For what purpose are we now violating
the honour of the nation that is the most dear to
us, and whose integrity and independence is a
sicred trust and a precions possession to
all subjects worthy of the name of English-
men.

We are not only to violate the
present reputations, but we are to take steps to alter
whatsoever exists that is prejudicial to th 3 views or
not comprehensive enough for the purposes of the
new allies. After perusing the details of the trans-
actions that have taken place relative to the steam
rams of the Mersey, one is tempted to exclaim with
Mr. COBDEN, " What next, and next ?" Doubtless
before any decisive check can be placed upon their
proceedings, the emissaries of the Government will
have chosen some other extraordinary mode of pro-
cedure and spread amazement abroad, while they
arouse indignation at the same time. The loss of
property, the stoppage to business, the injury to our
merchant service, the insults to our flag on the high
seas, where it once waved inviolate and anap-
proached, all these are as dust in the balance, it it
is a question of giving offence to the Yankees. Now
we are told that not enough has been done, and
that no efforts must be spared to make the Federals
believe us sincere, which they seem to doubt. There
is something suspicious in all this eagerness and
over-haste for propitiation. It is at all times diffi •
cult to persuade the English people that they should
stand in awe of any nation ; but to attempt to put
these restrictions into practice to please those who
have gone out of their way to heap insults and in-
dignities upon us, seems very like making a farce of
a serious question. It would appear as if the next
step would be td summon the Channel fleet to guard
these dangerous constructions. The time for ren-
dering an account has not yet come; but when it
does, the retrospection wid not be so pleasant as
it may now appear to those who are going on
their way rejoicing. When an adverse decision has
been generally threatened they may well wish that
they had not been so meddlesome in their interfer-
ence with private rights, and so lax in their guar-
dianship of public honour..

Mr. BEECIIER has bid farewell to England. He
has delivered his last address, he has informed us
for the last time of his sentiments about slavery,
and after assuring us of his goodwill towards us
and his gratitude for the warmth of his reception,
he has taken his departure for that land of great
men and enlightened ideas, of whose merits and
demerits we have lately heard so much. His speech
on Friday, although quieter and more moderate in
its tone, displayed many of the characteristics of
his former addresses. To our English notions they

appeared remarkable for the vehemence and in-
temperance of their language, but it would seem
that to American minds they ware tame, spiritless,
and subservient. "It had been said," remarked
Mr. BEECHER," that he had tried too much of the
soothing syrup with the British Lion, and if that
were an offence he must plead guilty to the charge

of trying to influence him on the side of good na-
ture." His defence against this remarkable ascii-

sation that he had spoken the words of truth in

soberness the " soberness" of Mr. BEECHER'S
fervid denunciations is certainly very far removed
from the " soberness" of the preaching of that
great Apostle who " persuaded" rather than

threatened bis adversaries. Mr. BEECHER has a

very short and conclusive method of disposing of
the views of his opponents, of which the following

passage is a fair specimen. "He might venture to

say that for a long period the voices of those who
speak as the nation in England were at times like
those of old—possessed by the Devil—and not
under their own control." He then went on to
give us his ideas of the causes of the English
coolness towards the North—that is to say
the coolness of the English people, for it
would be difficult to accuse our Government of any-
thing like lukewarmness in its friendship for the

Federals. He tries to persuade us that fears of the
effect which the diffusion of American ideas and
principles of Government may have upon our con-
stitution is among the influences which render us
unwilling to mix in the war. Surely such a fear
had never less foundation than at the present time,
when the warmest advocates of ultra-republicanism
find it difficult to support their theories with such
startling evidence of their failure before their eyes.
The scenes that have been enacted on the other side
of the broad Atlantic, the spirit which has actuated

the North throughout ; the tyranny, the cruelty,
the injustice of the Government; the lack of public
spirit in the people, have furnished one of the most
striking and melancholy examples in modern his-
tory of the rapid decadence of a great and free
people. Mr. BEECHER admits that the institutions
of this country are so firmly based as to run little
risk of violent change ; and in regard to the intro-
duction of the vote by ballot he gives a happy illus-
tration. He said—" Fifty years hence if, after due
discussion and deliberation, the English people
would have cheap government, and they would
drop into the ballot boxes those flakes of paper
which, like flakes of snow, fell noiselessly, yet soon
made the avalanche which carried all opposing
obstacles before it, England, like America, would
be governed in her political changes and ideas by
the same opinion, that government is solely for the
benefit of the governed." But when he goes on to
tell us that some Englishmen feared that the
Free Church system of America would influence
this country, we must confess, without any personal
disrespect to Mr. BEECHES, that such pulpit poli-
ticians as find favour in sight of our Transatlantic
cousins would not be well adapted to the religious
feeling of this country. The aspiration of " Greek
fire for the masses, and hellfire for their leaders,"is
not exactly the sort of sentiment popular among us,
especially when delivered from the lips of a
minister of religion, even though he be, according to
his own showing, " a man with strong convictions
bat with generous impulses." He is liberal enough
certainly in his distribution of the fiery element,
but such is not exactly the way to " follow the
banner of salvation," as ho prays that England and
America may do together. Another of his views
respecting English sentiments regarding the war
will excite some indignation. He tells us that our
sympathies aro on the side of success, and that it
only requires one or two conclusive Federal vic-
tories to turn her once more to the side of the
North. " Such victories would expedite the change
in English opinion, just as a sledge drives in the
, ia
wedge and splits the log." Our prolonged and
constant sympathy
ns
and the Italians, with the
days
eyPs theoolfest,riali
lsiauosugffiarciirtennst,
answer to this accusation of favouring the winning
side. England feels on the side of independence,
and no platitudes and decl •
%mations about the hor-
rors of slavery will move her in
a case with which
olavery has nothing to do. It is
very well

for Mr. BEECHER to tell us since 1850 he
has stoutly maintained that " the Union with
slavery is a lie," but we are all very
well aware that. such is not the predominant feel-
ing of the Federal States or of the LINCOLN Govern-
ment. The main object of the North undoubtedly
is to secure the continuance of the immense profit
which they have hitherto derived from Southern
slave labour by the vast trade which passed through
New York. Let this be restored with its con-
comitant advantages, and the Fugitive Slave Law,
the refusal to hear blacks in evidence, and every
other atrocity of the slave trade, will become part
and parcel of the Cwastitution for an indefinite
period, It is this hypocrisy and inconsistency
which has disgusted England in the principles of
the North, no less than the savage cruelty of the
Federals has shocked her in the practice of the war,
Long ago one of our sturdy English poets told us a
fable of the sort, pointing his moral with the well-
known lines—

" He blamed and protested but joined iu the plan,
He shared in the plunder but pitied the man,"

We have now a striking instance of the same elas-
tic sort of theoretical virtue, but it is a little too
much to hear it styled "self devotion, love of coun-
try, and love of God." When we hear of commer-
cial jealousy, timeserving, ignorance, and misre-
presentation, suppression and distortion of the
truth, quietly ranked among English influences,we
are inclined to think that Mr. BEECHER'S own
nation has sat for the likeness. This, it must be
remembered, is a specimen of such mild and peace-
ful oratory as has given great offence to his Ame-
rican friends. We are inclined to ask, with the
peasant who preferred an indirect request to a
somewhat hasty tempered monarch, having been
assured he was in a particularly good temper, and
narrowly escaped with his head for his pains,
" What must his Majesty's bad tempered mornings
be?"

" BEL DEMONIO. "

Mr. Pechter at the Lyceum.

The reception accorded to Mr. Pechter on Satur-
day evening at the Lyceum Theatre, upon the
opening of that popular house for the new season,
1863-1864, afforded signal evidence of the estima-
tion in which that great artist is held by the Lon-
don public, both for his rare, in some respects, his
consummate, genius as sn Actor, and for his almost
equally rare combination of taste and enterprise as
a theatrical manager. Other tokens there were of
his popularity—visible at a glance on Saturday—
even before the rising of the curtain. ,The densely
cruwded state of the house from floor to roof was
one. Aeother and a still more noteworthy attes-
tation of the intellectual stand he has taken amongst
us, was the fact that, upon scanning the audience in
almost any direction, we could not but recognise,
scattered amongst them in stalls, boxes, and drew
circle, men of mark in London society of almost
all the intellectual professions without one exception.
Even the popular preacher was there," in defiance
alike of one brief, momentary glimpse of the ballet
(the Tarantella in the fifth tableau), and in spite
of the threatening that the lengthened hours might
eneroach upon the Sunday, a threat so unavoidably
realised by reason of the first night's performance as
to scare him and others away shortly before the
actual arrival of midnight. Plentifully sprinkled
amongst the audience, however—to return to our
former remark—were celebrities of all the more
intellectual professions—drawn thither as ardent
admirers of Mr. Pechter as an artist, and, many
of them, as warm personal friends of his as an
accomplished scholar and gentleman. There, con-
spicuous amongst even these, was the great realistic
Novelist of the Age, the greatest Humourist in
English Literature. There, moreover, were the
leading members of the theatrical profession, rival
mahagers,con temporary actors, distinguished artists,
dramatists, authors, critics (as a matter of course).
members of the Academy and members of the Legisla-
ture, members of the bar, and members of the press in
ebundance. curiosity had been piqued in regard
to the entertainment itself, and, in a peculiar man-
ner, also in regard to its very appointments. Before
entering into any particulars, however, we might
say here, at once, that the curiosity thus excited
was in no way disappointed. We will even add
that the eager hopes and expectations of the majo-
rity were, for the most part, realised and, where
realised, were realised to the full. Of the opening
piece we should prefer to say nothing whatever.
Meaning the comedietta, preposterously entitled
" Uncle Baby." That the first piece should
have been listened to with impatience, what-
ever its character, was only, it may be said, what
might reasonably have been expected, what was
all but inevitable, under the circumstances. But
then, unhappily, the dramatic trifle selected as a
atop-gap between the filling of the house,
at seven, and the commencement of the piece,
at twenty minutes after eight on Saturday
evening, was one intrinsically laying only too dis-
tinct a claim already applied by us to the title of it.
One stentorian voice in the very midst of the per-
formance of it, called with evident disgust for
the descent of the curtain at once ! The courtesy of
the rest of the audience, however, permitted it to
wind its reel of nonsense out to a close—the curtain
falling then, however, amidst evident signs of dis-
satisfaction. Then, at length, he it added—
more than in compensation—came what was
more than the mere bon bouche of the night's feast,
came in fact (literally enough) the piece de
resistance. Tno advent of it, as a grand attrac-
tion for the new season had during some weeks been
announced upon the walls and hoardings of
the metropolis by mysterious placards,
reading simply in huge gaudy letters "Bel
Demonio, a Love Story." What Bel Demonio
might be (even when it had become known that it
was the title of the new play at the Lyceum, and
not, as some had supposed, the name of another
sensation romance) was left until Saturday evening
purely to the imagination. This drama of " Bel
Demonio," however, had not very long commenced,
when the more discerning playgoers, who happened
to be gifted with retentive memories, found it to be
no stranger at all requiring any very ceremonious
introduction. It turned out to be a sufficiently old
friend—though one coming to us. now with a very
new face indeed. The beautiful romantic drama in
Four Acts or Twelve Tableaux, now performing
nightly at the Lyceum, was first performed
in this country no less than a dozen
years ago, under another title, it is true,
and according to another version, at the Olympic.
In 1851 the play was entitled Sixtus the Fifth—
virtually the same play now, in 1863, entitled Bel
Demonio. Then, in 1851, in was announced as
dramatised by Mr. Boucicault and Mr. Bridgman,
the former of whom was recognisable in the stalls
on Saturday, looking on, we may rest assured, with
no unfriendly eye at tl:is new and charming double
of his own " Sixtus the Fifth." The drama of " Bel
Demonio" was announced upon the playbills as
"taken by Mr. John Brougham from Stendhal's
Italian Chronicles." Before the plot of the love
story, thus twice told dramatically, had, however,
been taken, even twelve years ago, by Mr.
Brougham's predecessors from those same old Italian
Chronicles, it had been made the theme of a roman-
tic narrative, if we mistake not, by the vivid pen of
M. Paul Feval. However this may be, here is the
lovely old story beheld tgain under a newer and more
beautiful aspect than ever—dramatised with singu-
lar ability by Mr. John Brougham, and put upon
the stage of the Lyceum Theatre with a splendour
of appointments, of costume, and of scenery that
has rarely, if ever, been witnessed, that, in some
respects, has never been surpasssed. The scenery is
not only very beautiful, but it is entirely novel in its
arrangement. In several of the tableaux it is far
more than anything that has hitherto gone
by the name of scenery. The interiors often,
the landscapes always, being built up in a
wonderful manner—presenting to view in some
instances, as in the opening scene of the Old
Abbey Ruin, or still more in the exquisite moonlit
scene of the Mountain Torrent, with the bridge and

the waterfall, and the craggy heights leading up to
the picturesque little chapel of the monk A nselmo,
presenting to view, we say, a really surprising
series of illusions. That it was so, was evidenced
pretty plainly on Saturday night by the rounds of
applause greeting the first disclosure of each of these
remarkably novel effects of scenery. The reception,
however, as already intimated, was reserved by
the audience for Mr. Fechter himself, upon his
entrance at length before them—for, artfully
enough, it has been so arranged by the dramatist,
that the hero of the love story has been much
talked of by others among the dramatis persona be-
fore he actually makes his first appearance. Angelo
is the hero's name—Brachio Forte he turns out to be
before the play has very far advanced—BelDemonio
he becomes before it has been brought to its termi-
nation. As Angelo he is an amateur artist, living
an obscure life among certain old abbey ruins
beloved by all who know him, idolised by the sur-
rounding pee santry. As Brachio Forte he is the
orphan son of a famous leader of the people, a
plebeian by birth it is true but a man of lofty and
patriotic ambition who has been destroyed like
another Rienzi. As Bel Demonio, this heroic, noble-
hearted Angelo Braehio Forte caused hisname to be
regarded with terror by his foes as the leader of a
daring band of desperadoes. Angelo becoming tha
Bel Demonio, out of the very desperation induced by
his romantic fortunes. The whole secret of the
charm, of the interest, of the passion of the love
story lies, in the fact, that Angelo, the obscure orphan,
loves and is beloved by Lena (tenderly and grace-
fully played by Miss Kate Terry), the only daugh-
ter of the haughty Count Campereali. Nearly
maddened with rage by the mere dread of the pos-
sibility of any such misalliance, the proud Count
and his (if possible, still prouder) son, Fabio, resolve
from the very outset of the piece, on the one hand, to
destroy Angelo, and on the other to wed Lena to a
scion of the powerful but detested house of Orsini.
Boffied, however, the Count and his sort are in both
of these amiable designs. First of all by tee
prowess of Angelo, aidtd by that of a faith
ful adherent to his fortunes under every emer-
gency, namely, his father's old friend and
comrade, the bluff veteran Ranuccio—a burly
old soldier, admirably well represented, from first
to last, by Mr. Emery—throughout every scene, in-
deed, in which he appeared, by every word he had
to utter. Bared these hostile intentions in regard
to the lovers, are, however, far more than by the
combined valour of Angelo and Ranuccio.
['hey aro rendered futile throughout, by the
agency of Ange:o's apparently decrepit uncle,
his dead father's brother, the Cardinal Mon-
talto, afterwards his Holiness the Pope. Ap-
parently decrepit, we say—for, like another
Brutus simulating madness until the moment
when power is actually within his grasp,
the old Cardinal is pourtrayed throughout the
drama as affecting to be borne down by age and
almost by imbecility—until, in the crisis of the
last scene, when the gues of the Castle of St.
Angelo announce by their third detonation
his election as the Sovereign Pontiff, his
Mininence the Cardinal, or rather his Holi-
ness the Pope, throws aside his crutch-handled
stick, draws himself up majestically to his full
height, speaks no longer in quavering, but sonorous
accents, paralyses the evil power alike of the Orsini
and the Campiriali, announces that Rome has in
him a Master, and suspends, with his outstretched
hands above the kneeling lovers at his feet, as the
curtain is descending, the tegis of his pontifical
benediction. It is Cardinal Montalto, it should be
borne in mind, moreover, who has, in the midst of
this dramatic love story, come even then effectually
to the rescue of Angelo and Lena—by (as
the Monk Anselmo) uniting them in marriage
in the very midst of a perfect maze or
labyrinth of difficulties. More of the plot need not
here be particularised. From what has alreaoy
been said of it, the breathless interest of the inci-
dents of the drama as they follow each other in
rapid succession, may be conjectured. Referring
now purely to the acting (we have already spoken
of the scenery), the two most admirable " situations"
of all, our mind, in " Bel Demonio," are the love
scene between Angelo and Lena in the Palace of the
Campiriali, and the duel scene between the
future Bel Demonio and the brother of
his beloved—ono whom Angelo first uncaps
with a pistol-shot, and then disarms with a
sword. Fabio, this same brother of Lena, is the
veriest spitfire and catamaran well conceivable, It
comes quite a relief at last to everyone when he is at
length despatched. With all our admiration for the
skill and the magnificence with which Bel Demonio
is put upon the stage, with all our unstinted and
unaffected admiration for the genius displayed by
Mr. Fechter in his gracious performance of the part
of Angelo Bracchio Forte, otherwise Bel'
Demonio, we cannot anticipate that the new
drama will monopolize this new seas. n as
"The Duke's Motto" monopolized the last—any
more than we can induce ourselves to believe that
Angelo will take rank in the long and brilliant cata-
logue of Mr. Fechter's parts, side by side with Ruy
B las—or even with Captain Lagardere. Bel Demonio
does not hold so well together as " The Duke's
Motto." And certainly Angelo, as a part, is net
by any means so worthy of Mr. Fechter as the
aforesaid Captain Lagardere. Yet, as it is, the
play is a brilliant success, while the hero of the play,
we doubt not, will long continue to be a favourite.

The following are the opinions of our morning
contemporaries :
Tines.--Whether "Bel Demonio" will attain a success
equal to that of the "Duke's Motto" may be doubted, but
there is no doubt that it will long attract the public. As a
specimen of stage management perfect in every detail, while
the details are numerous, almost without precedent, " Bel
Demonio" is a marvel."

POST.—The piece was received throughout with vehe-
ment acclamations, and the principal performers were sum-
moned before the curtain, not only at the end at each act,
but on the conclusion of every tableau.

HERALD.—Whether its career will be as extraordinary
as that of its predecessor we cannot attempt to pre-
dict ; that the triumphant success achieved on
Saturday night will ensure it a long prosperous
run, and that all play-going London will rush
to witness the performance, we do not entertain a doubt.
Much of the success must be attributed to the magrificence
and variety of the scenery, to the picturesque costumes,
and to the excellence of the acting. The performance, re-
ceived somewhat coldly at first, warmed into enthusiasm at
the end of the second act; and at the fall of the curtain
created a perfect furore.

DAILY NEWS.—The success of the adapter and the
manager and actor on Saturday night was unequivocal, and
" Bel Downie" will, doubtless, long continue to fill tho
theatre. The whole piece gave the utmost satisfaction to
the audience, and the cells at the end of the acts and
" tableaux" were hearty and numerous.

ADVERTISIM.—" Bel Demonic)" will roll along every
night as successfully as its predecessor, and attract as many
successive brilliant audiences.

TELEGRAPH. - " Bel Demonio" is emphatically a
marked success, and the new drama and the new stage
will evidently furnish the town with a new topic, and one
which all London during the next few months will be
assiduously qualifying itself properly to discuss.