The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-02 00:00:00

RING CHARLES.'

You shall rule me ; you were best
Return at once ; but take this ere you go (giving a Paper).
Now, do I trust you ? You're an Earl; my Friend
Of Friends ; yes Strafford, while—you hear me not

STRAFFORD.
Say it all o'er again—but once again—.
The first was far the mitsick—unce again 1
KING CHARLES.

Strafford, my brave friend, there were wild reports—
Vain rumours; henceforth, touching Strafford is
To touch the apple of my sight. Why gaze
So earnestly ?

STRAFFORD.
I ant grown young - again
And foolish. What was't we spoke of?

This is the true legitimate action of the drama, in contra-
distinction to mere description. Here Strafford is made to un-
veil his inmost heart unawares, which is the great charm of
Slaakspeare's characters. The Earl's Coronet, accompanied
by the monarch's flattering offer of friendship, has unmasked
him, and he stands revealed in all his weakness. Equally dra-
matic is Mr. Browning's personal description of Henrietta,
Queen of England, which he places vividly, but indirectly be-
fore us, in one line :
KING CIIARLES TO HENRIETTA.
Nay, hear me I—l have schemes—such schemes—will buy
The leaders off; without that, Strafford's counsel
Had ne'er prevailed on me ; perhaps, I call it
To have excuse for breaking it—for ever.
And whose will then the blame be ? See you not ?
Come, dearest—look, the little fairy now,
That cannot reach my shoulder /7-Dearest, come."

A writer less endowed with dramatic skill than Mr. Browning,
would here have brought action to a dead halt, while he in •
dulged in a set description of Henrietta's virtues and graces ;
but Our author has studied Shakspeare and the human heart
with too close attention, to fall into such an error. The
whole of the fifth act of Strafford, especially the closing
speech of Pym, after he has sacrificed his old friend to a pa-
triotic sense of duty, is pathetic in the extreme, though
better calculated to please id the closet than on the stage.
Of the actors we may justly say that all did their duty. Mr.
Vandenhoff made Pym somewhat too solemn and puritanical,
but in the passages where strong emotion was required, he
played admirably. Macready's Strafford is the best part we
have yet seen him play. Had it not been for his chastened en-
thusiasm, the tragedy would have been a dead failure, but his
animation in the third act—by far the most effective—at once
ensured its success. Miss Helen Faucit, as the Countess of
Carlisle, evinced judgment and sensibility, and Mr. Ben-
nett, as Hollis, would have received more applause, had
he not emphasized so much. This gentleman has a
foolish trick of laying a stress on almost every indivi-
dual word that he has to pronounce—just as if all expres-
sions were equally emphatic. This is an absurdity that
should be remedied. The play was received by a crowded
house with enthusiasm ; and Mr. Browning therefore must
set to work again, for if any one can revive the half-extinct
taste for the drama, he can. As a specimen of his more im-
passioned manner, we quote the reflections of Pym, after he
has brought his early friend Strafford to the scaffold. The
lines marked in italics strike us as being exquisitely pathetic :
Have I done well ? Speak, England 1 Whose great sake
I still have laboured for, with disregard
To my own heart,—for whom my youth was made
Barren, my future dark, to offer up
Her sacrifice—this man—this Wentworth here—
That
walked in youth with me—loved me it may be,
And whom, for his forsaking England's cause,
I hunted by all means (trusting that she
Would sanctify all means) even to the grave
That yawns for him. And saying this, I feel
No bitterer pang than first I felt, the hour
I swore that Wentworth might leave us,—but I
Would never leave him : I do leave him now 1
I render up my charge (be witness, God 1)
To England who imposed it I I have done
Her bidding—poorly, wrongly,—it may be
With ill effects—for I am but a man
Still, I have done my best, my very best,
Not faltering for a moment 1 I have done 1
(After a pause.)
And that said, I will say yes, I will say
I never loved but this man—David not
More Jonathan 1 Even thus, I love him now :
And look for my chief portion in that world
Where great hearts led astray are turned again,
( Soon it may be...and...yes...it will be soon :
My mission over, I shall not live long 1)
...Aye here I know I talk—and I IN ill talk
Of England—and her great reward—as all
I look for there • but in my inmost heart
Believe I think ;If stealing quite away
To walk once more with Wentworth—with my friend
Purged from all error, gloriously renewed,
And Eliot shall not blame us ! Then indeed...
( This is no meeting, Wentworth 1 Tears rise up
Too hot...A thin mist—is it blood ?—enwraps
The face I loved so 1) Then, shall the meeting be 1
Then—then—then--I may kiss that hand, I know 1

Tuesday morning a duel took place on the Battle
Common, about four miles from Brecon, between Lieut.
Elmslie and Lieut. Wright, both of the 10th Regiment, now
stationed here,. The cause of dispute we have not correctly
heard. Both parties exchanged shots ; at the second shot
Lieut. Wright's pistol missed fire, when Lieut. Elmslie imme-
diately fired in the air. The seconds here interfered, and both
parties left the ground. It has caused a great sensation in
this town, such a circumstance not having occurred for a great
number of years.—Hereford Times.

WIG AN.—Wili it be believed that not only do the
Tories intend to propose a miserable buffoon again, but that
they have given an invitation to Mr. Peter Greenall, of St.
Helens, who possesses no other recommendation than unrea-
soning Toryism, and that he is a brewer, like Mr. Kearslcy
Will even the humblest voters who have hitherto submitted to
Tory influence, submit to this double insult--this plain decla•
ration that the persons who are most likely to obtain their
suffrages aro those who will administer most plenteously to
their filthiest appetites? We question if all England could
furnish another such instance of moral degradation.—Man-
chester Times.

GOSSIP.—The refuse of humanity—he is the crow
of mankind, feeding upon the carrion that the purer and the
prouder bird loathes and avoids; he is the scavenger of society
et raking together nothing but d .—Grimstone.
ENGLISH CONVERSATION—Is for the most part
carried on in a series of the most extraordinary and rugged
abbreviations—a species of talking short-hand. Hesitating,
humming, and drawling, are the three graces of our couversa-
tion.—Bulwer,