The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-01 00:00:00

Me declared he would make no professions, and in
this he was prudent, for it is no moment for pro-
fessions, and he will be a wise man if he refrains
from pledging himself to any line of conduct before
he has gained a better knowledge of the feeling of
the people which he represents.
What attitude the Southern leaders may assume
is uncertain. President DAVIS'S last proclamation
declared his unshaken determination to maintain
the flag of independence, but that was prior to
LEE'S surrender. JOHNSTON is said to have opened
negotiations with SHERMAN for the capitulation of
his army, and Mobile, so often threatened, so long
held against all opposition, has been evacuated by
its brave garrison, and occupied by the Federals.
A few weeks ago this news would have been re-
ceived with the wildest enthusiasm in the North,
now it falls flat and insignificant. The great
calamity which has filled all countenances with
gloom, all hearts with sad foreboding, renders men
indifferent to thepossession of a city more or less, and
Mobile, so long one of the chief centres of interest
has changed hands without a struggle, and almost
unnoticed. Everything is in fact in a transition
state, and we must wait patiently till men have re-
covered themselves a little, till the natural reaction
has come, before we can judge of the prospects or
policy of the future. ANDREW JOHNSTON, at the
close of his address, remarked that if any man gifted
with prescience had four years ago foretold the
events of that period, the story would have seemed
more marvellous than anything in the "Arabian
Nights."

The revelations of the seer at the present moment
might be even more astounding, and it is only to be
hoped that those who guide the helm of the State
will have prudence and statesmanship equal to the
grave responsibilities of their position. On the
action of the next few months may depend the
peace of the whole civilised world, and it is no
wonder that men, not only in America, but in
Europe, should be watching the course of events
with breathless interest.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE,

The First Night of the Season.

On Saturday evening Mr. Mapleson's new season
commenced under the most brilliant auspices. It
could hardly for that matter have been inaugurated
more auspiciously. The opening night, as all the
town knew, came exactly one week later than had
been originally announced. For this brief delay,
however, Mr. Mapleson was, immediately upon the
opening of the doors of Her Majesty's Theatre on
Saturday last, justified to the full, and at a mere
first glance round the interior of that noble temple
of the divine art. It never, to our recollection,
looked more magnificently. Around the whole
of the graceful sweep of the audience-part of
the building, the amber draperies of the boxes, tier
above tier were recognised as having been replaced—
after the lavish and upon the ceiling especially the
gorgeous decorations of the house had been tho-
roughly cleansed and renovated. Added to which,
the general accommodation of the fashionable
public has been so materially cared for by means of
a series of bold yet judicious improvements, that the
comfort of the frequenters of the house and the
splendour of its appearance have been equally and
simultaneously secured. By the very simple device
of removing a few boxes from each tier, so much
more elbow-room has been secured to each of the
boxes still retained under this new and revised sys-
tem of subdivision, that a box now at her Majesty's
is exactly equal to what a box and a half
would have been there previously. Together with
the opening out thus of the no longer closely-packed
pigeon-holed tiers of boxes, the facade of each has
been so far lowered that the fair occupants with
their brilliant toilettes are now framed there by the
gilding and the amber drapery—singly or in groups
—as if in kit-kat portraits done to the very life !
Rapidly, after the opening of the doors, the house
filled in every part—pit, stalls, boxes, slips, amphi-
theatre. Not a single box within the range of our
vision being unoccupied, with the exception of the
Royal box. To complete the brilliancy of the tout
ensemble, Her Majesty's is now lighted as it has
never before been lighted—by some new arrangement
in regard to the gas jets of the candelabra generally,
but mainly and (literally) above all by an increase of
power in those of the great chandelier. Beyond the
curtain, when it had risen, hardly less than
had been the case in front of it previously, the
conspicuous and comprehensive improvements
adventured upon under Mr. Mapleson's management
were visible almost upon the instant even to the-
most careless and superficial of observers. Nor can
this be regarded as in any way an exaggeration of
the fact when it is added that the whole of the old
stage of Her Majesty's theatre has been bodily re-
moved—every beam and lath and nail of it—its place
being now occupied by an entirely new construc-
tion perfected with all the modern stage appliances.
We are here, however, anticipating somewhat, and
that simply out of a natural eagerness to evidence
our recognition at once of the exceptional energyand
enterprise manifested—even in this material way—
by Mr. Mapleson, between the close of the last season
and the inauguration of the one which has now so
very auspiciously commenced. His is an enterprise,
however, in no way restricted to the upholstery and
the carpentery, the adornment ani the illumination
of his great lyrical establishment. It is agreeably
visible in those departments, it is true, but it is yet
more delightfully audible in others—of (may we hint
it ?) just a trifle more importance 1 That is to
say, of course, in the general musical organi-
sation of Her Majesty's, both vocal and
instrumental. Without reverting now to
the whole of the varied programme put forth
by the manager for the new season, we may here
accept certain evidences afforded by the first night's
performance as a justification, or rather, let us say
at once, a fulfilment already, of very many of the
fair promises put forth in that programme of his by
Mr. Mapleson. The orchestral and choral depart-
ments have unmistakeably been, as the manager
announced them to have been, materially in-
creased and strengthened. Under the baton of
the accomplished conductor, Signor Arditi, the
band upon the rising of the curtain played—like
one instrument—what Overture ? That test of any
orchestral capabilities, Rossini's chef louvres among
all his overtures, the overture to Guglielnio Tell.
The execution of it being so nearly an approach to
absolute perfection in its way that from the ascend-
ing notes of the violincello in the opening movement
to the windy, stormfull close of it all, the overture
" went off," from first to last, to admira
tion ! It was listened to with evident deligh
throughout, and rewarded at its close with accla•

mations. The opera selected for performance on
Saturday, as the first night of the new season at

Her Majesty's, was not, to be sure, Rossini's operatic
masterpiece, was merely preceded by the overture to
" William Tell," in fact, by reason, first of all, of its
having no overture of its own, and, secondly, by
reason of its scene also lying in Switzerland. The

opera selected for Saturday's performance at
Her Majesty's being one no less familiar or
less welcome hackneyed one might almost
call it, but that " a thing of beauty is (in very
deed) a joy for ever"—one no less old, yet no less
ever new, than Bellini's delicious capo d'opera
"La Sonnambula." And the performance of this
most charming among all love-operas was rendered

doubly, trebly, one of peculiar interest, or at the
least one provocative of especial curiosity, by reason
of its having been selected as the medium for
the introduction to the operatic world of

London of a primo tenore, a tenore robusto as

he proved to be when he came to be heard—and

together with him of two debfitantes, one of them

the younger, a prima donna of peculiar celebrity.
Peculiar, we say, because of its precocity, and be-

cause of its being Transatlantic. Miss Laura
Harris, in fact—the debfitante here alluded to—
comes to England direct from the Academy of
Music at New York. Looked at, listened to—she is,
quitemanifestly, a mere girl, in spite of the reputation