The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-16 00:00:00

Death of Mr. W. Vincent Wallace.

We deeply regret to announce the death of this eminent
lyric composer on the evening of Thursday, the 12th inst.,
at the Chateau de Bagen, Haute Garonne, Pyrenees,
whither he had been removed about a month before from
Paris-Passy. Mr. Wallace had for many years been sub-
ject to intermittent and frequently dangerous attacks of
illness originating in a dropsical tendency, and for the last
twelve months has not been able to leave his bed. Re-
duced to extreme weakness by this long-continued
confinement, accompanied with almost incessant bodily
agony, which he bore with the most admirable
fortitude, Mr. Wallace was advised by the eminent
French physician Dr. Bouillaud to try the effect
of the air of the Pyrenees. This was a last resource, and,
as it has proved, an unavailing one. The medical men
present on the sad occasion state the immediate cause of
death to have been " congestion of the lungs." Mr.
Wallace leaves a widow and two young boys. His bril-
liant career as an operatic composer will probably receive
full notice at another time. His most successful works
were " Maritana" and " Lurline." He leaves a posthumous
grand opera in four acts behind him, almost complete, en-
titled " Estrella," founded on a Spanish romance—Mr.
Wallace's favourite genre of operatic subject. The body
will be brought to London this week for interment. The
deceased gentleman was fifty-three years of age.—The
Orchestra.

MISS BATEMAN AT BIRMINGHAM.—If " all's well
thatends well," Miss Bateman must indeed be con-
gratulated on- the results of her second visit to Birming-
ham. Such a successful finale to a three weeks' engage-
ment as the Theatre Royal witnessed last night is without
a parallel. Almost from the opening of the doors the house
was filled to the very roof. Nor was the public testimony
to Miss Bateman's popularity confined to a crowded house.
Applause loud and long, and often reiterated at the en-
trances, exits, and old familiar "points" of the favourite,
alternating with the yet more eloquent stillness exacted by
the graver phases of the performance, and culminating in
that most precious of all tributes to the actors' art—the
silent rainfall of tears--proved that the hold Miss Bateman
has on the affections of the Birmingham public springs
from no accident of fashion, or popular caprice, but from
that best and most enduring of sources, the power of the
true artist, the power which probes and sways the impulses
of the human heart, which breaks down the barriers of
conventionality, penetrates the armour of indifference, and
for a few brief moments "makes the whole world kin."
We hope at some future day, when her Transatlantic wan-
derings are completed, she may return to gratify, not only
her numerous old admirers, but the large class of playgoers
whom the brevity of her Birmingham engagements and
the too limited capacity of the theatre have hitherto pre-
vented from witnessing her performance.—Birminghtn
Journal.
ALL BLANKS !—lt appears that at the last
Eisteddvod, the umpires appointed, Mr. Brinley Richards
and Mr. John Thomas, who are known to be as enthusi-
astic as they are worthy sons of the Principality, found the
Cantatas brought forward so little satisfactory that the
recommendation that no prize should be awarded this year,
followed, as a matter of course.