The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-26 00:00:00

NEW ZEALAND.

The following telegram from the Colonial Secre-
tary, Wellington, New Zealand, has been handed to
us for publication by the New Zealand Government
agent in London :

" The native insurgents were surprised during the
present month, and 186 Hau-Hau fanatics have
surrendered or were captured, and have taken the
oath of allegiance. The friendly natives have
gallantly aided in suppressing the Hau-Haus.
" Parliament was prorogued on the 13th October.
" The Stafford Ministry is in office. Expendi-
ture reduced. Revenue improving. West Coast
Gold Fields returns fast increasing ; they yielded
during the month 44,945 ounces."
*** The telegram bears no date, but October is doubtless
the month referred to.

Lyceum Theatre.
The success which attended the first representation
of the new drama " The Master of Ravenswood"
was of the most decided character. It is pleasing
to record the fact, because failure, after so much
labour in all departments of the theatre, would
have been dispiriting and almost insupportable.
That the adapter, Mr. Palgrave Simpson, had a
difficult task will be at once admitted, especially
as the plot of the great novel of Sir Walter Scott,
the " Bride of Lammermoor," had been already
appropriated by lyric, dramatic, and burlesque
writers, and the public were also well acquainted
with the incidents of the tragic story. To enable
Mr. Simpson to perform his work of producing a
new version of the tale to suit the peculiar require-
' ments of the management of the Lyceum certain
alterations became absolutely necessary, and it was
not to be expected that the departures from the
original would be so contrived as to give universal
satisfaction. However, taking all matters into
consideration, we think it will be generally ad-
mitted that Mr. Simpson has performed the task
allotted to him with judgment and discretion. The
principal alterations occur towards the end of the
play, the conclusion of the drama being the fulfil-
ment of the following " legend"—
When the last Laird of Ravenswood to Ravenswood shall
ride
To woo a dead maiden to be his bride,
He shall find his last bed in the Kelpie's Flow,
And his name shall bo lost for evermoe.

In the opening scene of the drama, a beautifti
representation of the " Mermaid's Well," Edgar
the Master of Ravenswood, appears as the preserver
of the lives of Sir William and Lucy Ashton from
the deadly pursuit of some wild cattle on the
knight's estates, and here also we learn that Hey-
ston of Bucklaw, and his would-be brave follower
Craigengelt, are engaged in the endeavour to per-
suade the Master to join the Jacobites over the
water. The latter intention Edgar has lightly enter-
tained, but the incident above referred to causes him
to alter his determination, and he goes ,against the
wishes of Alice, an old dependent of the ill-fated
house of Ravenswood, to the hall of Sir William
Ashton, to receive the thanks his unerring aim as a
marksman has entitled him to in preserving not
only the life of Lucy but that of her father—the
deadliest enemy of the house of Ravenswood. Sir
William Ashton thinks it policy to bring about a
marriage with Edgar and Lucy, and the course of
true love is allowed to run on its peaceful course,
the father of the lady at the same time guarding
himself from giving his positive assent to their
union. Heystone, of Bucklaw, at the opening of the
play, is a sort of half-outlaw, half-adventurer, but,
by the death of a relative, he becomes the possessor
of a splendid fortune, and, having been smitten
with the charms of Lucy, he easily falls into the
toils set for him by Lady Ashton, who
thinks him a desirable husband for her
daughter. Secret intelligence is forwarded to
Lady Ashton of the suit of the Master of Ravens-
wood, and she arrives unexpected to the Hall ; and
finding Edgar there she indignantly desires to leave
a place where his presence is so distasteful to all
except the now unhappy Lucy. The suit of Buck-
law is now rapidly pressed by Lady Ashton. Lucy
appeals to her father, whom she fondly expected
would at once openly acknowledge his approval of
her match with Edgar, but he fearing the auger of
his now enraged wife, only consoles Lucy with the
declaration that though he had not interrupted her
suit with Edgar he had never given his formal ap-
proval of it. He urges Lucy to comply with the
wishes of her mother, tells her that Edgar has for-
gotten her for another, and that her marriage with
Bucklaw will save the house of Ashton from impend-
ing ruin. The letters of Edgar to Lucy have all
been intercepted by Lady Ashton, and thus
she helps on her suit in favour of Bucklaw, until at
last Lucy, heartbroken and almost bereft of reason,
is induced to sign the marriage contract with the
now much-courted Heyston, of Bucklaw. At this
moment Edgar rushes in breathless from a long
journey, and, finding that Lucy has signed the
document fatal to his hopes, he upbraids her with
her perfidy ; she falls to the ground in a paroxysm
of grief, and her lover endeavours to seek repose
in the ruined castle of the Ravenswoods. Here he
fancies he sees the form of old Alice, and, following
in his imagination the shadow of the old sybil, he
arrives at the chapel cloisters, where he discovers
a marriage ceremony taking place between Lucy
and Bucklaw in the presence of the whole of the
Ashton family and their retainers. Frantic
at the sight, he rushes in, carries off the
bride, and, in order to escape, he flees
to the seashore which leads to Wolf's Crag-
Lucy no longer recognises her deliverer, but, fancy-
ing that she sees in him her hated bridegroom,
Bucklaw, bursts into a paroxysm of madness and
dies iu his arms, but not before she recognises her
lover. Their pursuers are at hand, and Edgar, de-
termined she shall be his in death as in life, again
takes her in his arms, and rushing blindly along the
quicksand is instantly covered by the rapidly rising
waves. The followers crowd on the seashore too late
to save, and the curtain falls as Caleb Balderstone
proclaims the fulfilment of the prophecy.
Mr. Fechter, as Edgar, must have fully realised
the expectations of his most ardent admirers.
Although perhaps a little too interesting in the
opening scenes as the gloomy Master of Ravens-
wood, yet, as the action proceeded, he completely
carried the house with him through the entire per-
formance. Nothing could have been more grace-
ful or impasssioned than his declaration of his love
for Lucy—nothing more dignified whilst listening
to the insults of Lady Ashton, or more poignant
than the grief at the sight of the lifeless form
of his adored Lucy. We have already said
in our hasty notice of the first night's per-
formance that it was equal to his Ruy Blas, and
after calm reflection we see no cause to alter our
opinion. N ext in importance to the character of
Edgar is that of Lucy Ashton ; and we say at once
in her vivid embodiment of the part, Miss C. Le-
clercq fairly took us by surprise. Her acting in the
bethrothal scene was such as to call forth our
highest admiration ; and, speaking of her imperson-
ation of the entire part, were we to devote a column
to her compliment we should have to come to this
conclusion at last, that it was one of the most
graceful and artistic performances we ever had the
pleasure of witnessing. Mrs. Ternan, as Alice,
deserves high commendation, and, although the part
was by no means a long one, in her hands it became
one of the important features of the piece. Mr.
Jordan sustained the part of Sir William Ashton in
a highly commendable manner, and Mr. Emery, as
Caleb Balderstone, drew a life-like picture of the
true and trusted dependent of the Master of
Ravenswood. Mr. Hermann Vezin made his first
appearance here as Heyston, of Bucklaw, and
although the part afforded but little scope for his
talent, yet that little was performed with the greatest
care and discrimination. We cannot compliment
ICTr. Widdicombe upon his version of Capt. Craig-
engelt. It is altogether a mistake.
The entire scenery is of unusual beauty and
excellence. The Hall of Ravenswood, the interior
of Wolf's Crag, and the Kelpie's Flow, are beauti-
fully painted, more particularly the last ; for, when
the moon sinks behind the thick black clouds and
the water begins to rise above the sands, the effect
is perfectly magical.
The piece, we feel certain, will well repay all the
trouble and anxiety attendant on its production.

PLYMOUTH, Sunday Evcning.—The screw steam
gun vessel Dart, 5, Commander F. W. Richards, from the
West Coast of Africa, arrived in the Sound last evening.
The merchant steam vessel Cella, Capt. Bellinge, 19 days
from New York, with a general cargo, put into Millbay,
this morning for coal, and left in the afternoon for London.
GENERAL SHERMAN AND THE BLACKS.—The
Albany Aryus publishes the following as a characteristic
letter from General Sherman, sent by him to a Methodist
minister in Baltimore, who had complained of the General's
refusal to allow the enlistment of negroes in his depart-
ment :—" Atlanta, September 13. Sir,—Yours of the 29th
of August is received.. Thank you for your kind expres-
sions. Iron is iron and steel is steel, and all the popular
clamour on earth will not impart to one the qualities of
the other. So a ' nigger' is not a white man, and all the
Psalm singing on earth won't make him so. It is strange
to me that among the people North and South, who have
so much common sense, you can't say ' nigger,' but both
parties make fools of themselves, and it is hard to say which
are the worst. When we settle this little fight on hand,
the great 'nigger' question will be found settled also.—
W. T. SHER3LAS, Major-G[0110ra"

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