The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-14 00:00:00

Lyceum Theatre.

Last evening, owing to the sudden indisposition
of Mr. Fechter, Mdlle. Beatrice made her first
appearance at this theatre in the character of Mrs.
Haller in the play of the " Stranger." The per-
formance was marked with all that womanly ten-
derness which so distinguished the lady when she
sustained the character at the Haymarket Theatre
some short time ago. The applause of the audience
was hearty and spontaneous, and the addition of
Mdlle. Beatrice to the company now engaged at the
Lyceum cannot but be productive of the best results.
Of course there were the usual number of calls, all
of which Mdlle. Beatrice most gracefully acknow-
ledged.

EXTRAORDLNARY SCENE.—AduIt baptism in the
river is being revived at Mahon, and on Sunday the
immersion of four upgrown persons was the cause of one of
the most remarkable scenes ever witnessed in the town
That part of the river Derwent between the county bridge
and the old Roman ford is known as "Jordan," and tradi-
tion has held it that the Saxon King Edwin of Northumbria
was baptised here,with many of his subjects, by Archbishop
Paulinus, in the ith century. About 35 or 40 years ago, on
the establishment of the Baptist mission in the town, there
was a resumption of baptism by immersion at this part of
the river, and some 12 or 14 persons were then immersed.
The practice was discontinued on the formation of a well in
the chapel, and has not been revived till about two years ago,
when the new sect calling themselves Christian Brethren, re-
stored it, by the public baptism of a young man in the
river, but the sect do not hold this immersion as a sine qua
non. About two months since a lady was biptized in the
same manner, and on Sunday one young lady, Miss Birss, and
three of the male sex, Mr. Graham, Mr. Vasey, and another
young lad, were immersed in the river by Mr. W. Wright,
the leader of the "brethren." Two baptisms of other young
ladies were deferred until warmer weather, the ladies being
in delicate health. The novelty of the ceremony attracted
crowds of persons of all classes, the bridge, the railway
viaduct, the island, and every available point where a view
could be had, being crowded. The candidates for the rite
met in the bridge-house, from which the three men soon
emerged, lightly clad, followed by the lady in a robe
of, white. Mr. Wright found his task no easy one,
owing to the considerable amount of flood water in the
river, in which a bath was anything but inviting. Some
time was consumed by Mr. Wright in getting into the river
at various points, to try to find out a place sufficiently
shallow for the immersion to take place, each failure being
hailed with derisive laughter from certain of the crowd,
many of whom treated the affair as a capital joke. At
length a suitable place was found, and Mr. Wright was pre-
paring to undertake the baptism of the young lady, when a
young lad named Blackburn, who had perched on a ledge of
the gasworks, was observed to fall headlong into the most
dangerous part of the river, close by the main arch,
through which a very powerful current was running. An
alarm was raised, and the whole 1,200 or 1,500 persons at
once left the baptismal party to see the result of the lad's
struggles in the river at the opposite side of the island. At
first it seemed as if the lad must be drowned in the presence
of every one ; but shortly a young man named Killen, son of
Mr. Killen, shoemaker, threw off his coat and leapt into the
current, and succeded in reaching the drowning lad just in
time. Amid the plaudits of the crowd he brought Black-
burn to land, though himself thoroughly exhausted by the
strong current. Several gentlemen on the spot resolved
that a testimonial should be raised to reward the gallant
fellow. When this drowning business was settled, the crowd
hurried back to " Jordan," where the 'baptismal proceedings
had been arrested by the alarm. Betting on any subject
whatever is sure to characterise a crowd in the sporting
atm.osphere;of Mahon, and offers to back Killen against
Wright were numerous, and again rousedthe hilarity which
the accident had suppressed. Mr. Wright himself seemed
to have somewhat lost nerve, and was possibly rendered
worse by the taunts and gibes of the roughs. At length
all was ready, and Mr. Wright, having walked a few yards
into the river, was followed by the young lady, whom he
baptised in the name of the Trinity, the immersion being
the signal for a grand cheer from a considerable part of the
assemblage. The same form was gone through with each
of the men, one of whom looked particularly nervous, and
was laughed at immensely. After the proCeedings were
completed the newly baptised persons were taken to the
bridge-house to resume their ordinary dress and partake of
hot coffee. The morning was very cold, and the water in
a half muddy state. There were very few sympathisers with
the " brethern," whose particular baptismal notions and the
method of putting them into practice caused amusement
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