The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-05 00:00:00

ST. PANCRAS LITERARY AND

SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION.

A Lecture, by Mr. Traice, on the Comedy of As You
Like It, was on Friday delivered to the members of this
institution. The Lecturer introduced his subject by re-
marking on the suggestive principle in the human mind,
which rendered everything that stimulated the faculties
into activity, highly beneficial, both as to mental exer-
-03.,... and instruction, and instanced the number and
variety of subjects for reflection that were suggested by
the comedy. He more especially adverted to the acute,
sagacious, and benevolent Jaques, who, whether " weep-
ing and commenting upon the sobbing deer," or when
" most invectively he pierceth through the body of the
city, court,l and camp," is full of matter touching tuna—
his follies, vices, and better qualities. The Lecturer
directed the attention of his audience to the simplicity
of the plot of Ax You Like It, and instituted an amusing
comparison between it and that of the modern comedy.
He viewed the play as the most exquisite pastoral poem
in our language, and contrasted it with the so-called
pastorals of Shakspeare's contemporaries, and those of a
more recent date ; and exemplified the lattar by a whimsi
cal sketch of a noble dame, tending sheep on a moun-
tain, in a hazy morning. He contended that, the
deficiency of action in the pay was no defect
—nothing bad been easier than to have made
Orlando brave a phalanx of dangers to obtain his
Rosalind, who, poor damsel, might have been tor-
tured by all the periis and distractions of true love, be-
fore being permitted to prove any of its joys. But this
had been wholly incompatible with the calm, meditative,
and philosophical character of the serious, and the quiet
rich humour of the comic scenes, which constitute the
great charm of the play.
The Lecturer illustrated his remarks by readings of
the principal scenes—he very effectively touched the
right chord in the pathetic passages, and put his audi-
ence (which was most respectable) on the qui vivo, with
the quaint says of Touchstone, and the sparkling wit of
Rosalind.

STRANGE VISITOR AT FOY.

TAINEBLEAU.

The other day, at the moment when M. Viennet,
duly provided with an invitation, was alighting from a
humble vehicle in the court-yard of the Palace of Fon-
tainebleau, another unseated Deputy, General L—,
gallopped in on horseback, self-invited, insisting upon
speaking with the King of the French.
" Your invitation, General ?"
" I tell you again that I have none. lam not come
to dine with Louis Philippe ; I am come to make him
quite happy. 'Tell him that such is my only object."
" But, General—"
"No buts, Sir! Fetch General Athalin—Let him
know that it is I. I tell you that I have come to make
the King happy ; is an invitation required for that ?"
Upon this Louis Philippe was apprised that General
L—, his eye animated, his face flushed, looking, i
short, like a man entrusted with an urgent and momenn
tons mission, begged leave to make his Majesty quite!!
happy. On the General being introduced,
" Yes, Sire," said he, " I am come for your happiness,
for to afford you the means of making the people happy
i 9, I presume, to contribute to your happiness. For
this I have hurried hither, and got myself introduced to
you a la militaire, in order to impart my secret without
loss of time."

" General, you have acted very properly. And now
pray what is your secret ?"
" There is much ferment and discontent, and your
Majesty is complained of. The ferments wild be con-
verted into riots, and the discontent into rebellion against
your authority, and all this because it is alleged that
there is no bread."

" Bread, General, has, it is true, been very dear ; but
I hope it will fall in price."
" I bring you something which will dispense with that,
and be worth more than all the corn-laws voted by all
the Chambers of Peers and Deputies—l bring you the
means of doing without corn?
Louis Philippe listened to the General, whose eye
seemed inspired.
" Sire, the means of doing without bread, and render-
ing France happy, is to feed all France, and you as well
as France. with buckwheat 1"

" Yes, General, that is an excellent secret, and which
will make me quite happy, I can assure you. But, cn
attendant that France and I have the happiness of thriv-
ing upon buckwheat, do us the honour of dining with
us to-day, and of once more eating wheaten bread, for it
will require some time to sow the buckwheat."
The General accepted the gracious invitation, and was
placed at table between General Athalin and Dr. Marc,
to whose care he was particularly recommended. After
dinner the General was conveyed back to Paris. This
sudden derangement has made a deep impression ; we
know not whether the General he not this evening
lodged in a Maison de Sanle.—Paris Paper.

DESTRUCTION OF THE CAL-

CUTTA THEATRE BY FIRE.

(From the Englishman of June 1.
We have seldom experienced more real pain in
announcing a public calamity than we do in now
putting on record what all our town readers are by this
time aware of—the total destruction by fire of
our long-loved Indian Drury, the Chowringhee Theatre,
After standing for some SO years, a source of delight
to thousands of visitors, and of support to many deserv-
ing professional artistes ; after sustaining numerous
rude shocks from the vicissitudes of fashion and of
taste, and from the operation of the commercial pres-
sures which have at times affected more or less the in-
terests of all institutions supported by the public ; after
enduring unscathed the side-wind attacks of the
righteous overmuch, and the assaults of faction within—
our valued theatre, scene of a thousand delightful remi-
niscences and delicious associations, has shared the
fate of all the mighty temples which devotion to
Thespis had reared in our favoured land. We deeply
regret the catastrophe, for we have reached a condition
of society, a period of pecuniary pressure, and a state of
feeling on the subject of theatricals, which, for the mo-
ment at least, forbids us to hope for an early resuscita-
tion of histrionic amusements.
Various accounts of the origin of the fire have
reached us, but the true version of the business we be-
lieve to be as follows :

Some gentlemen in the Marine Service had been re-
hearsing the drama of the Pilot, preparatory to its per-
formance on the 6th instant, and had duly retired to
their homes about I 'o'clock. At about 12 o'clock
Mr. Chester, the secretary to the theatre, being then in
Led, was suddenly aroused by the ayah with cries
of fire, fire! He jumped up, looked out upon the_stage,
with which his room communicated, and immediately
encountered volumes of smoke proceeding from the stage
itself ;—the mimic sea with which the boards were co-
vered being (ridiculous as it may seem) on fire, and the
flames rapidly enveloping the wings or side scenes, and
ascending to the roof. Mr. Chester saw there was not
a moment to be lost. He rushed out of the house with
his wife and children, and had scarcely got into the
street, when the whole interior became one vast flame
of fire. The roof, composed of the most combustible
materials,—straw, tarpaulin, and wood, soon ignited, and
in a few minutes, we may say, everything was destroyed.
The engines had arrived with extraordinary promptitude,
and as soon as water could be obtained they were brought
to bear upon the conflagration, under the direction of
Captain F. Birch and Mr. Justice M'Mahon, who used
the greatest exertions to give a proper direction to the
labours of the firemen, and to treserve order. All was
in vain, however; the scenery, the splendid wardrobe
and paraphernalia, the valuable dramatic library, the
benches, trellis work, frame work, curtains, cushions, the
whole property, in short (excepting a clock, and the
plate of the beef steak club), including all the chattels
and wearing apparel of poor Mr. Chester and his family,
full a prey to the " devouring element," and by morning's
dawn nothing was to be seen but the bare masonry of the
walls, and a heap of smoking embers. Mr. and Mrs.
Chester were, with prompt humanity, immediately
offered an asylum in the house of a neighbour, but we
believe they have been rendered, by this calamity, so
utterly destitute, that the smallest assistance that can be
sent them by the generous and the charitable, will, we
are sure, be very acceptable.
We regret to bear that the house was not insured.
The loss to the proprietors will consequently not fall
short of half a lac of rupees, in addition to which there
is a debt of some twenty thousand rupees, which they
will now (the mortgaged property being gone) have to
pay to the mortgagees.