The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-07 00:00:00

SURREY THEATRE.

This favourite theatre has reopened after a brief
recess,' during which time the interior bas been
thoroughly re-embellished, under the sole manage-
ment of Mr. Shepherd. In the decoration the best
taste has been exercised, and the theatre now pre
scuts an appearance unequalled by any other minor
house in London.

If an opening night can be taken as an augury of
success, Mr. Shepherd can have no doubt about the
success of his venture on the perilous sea of theatri-
cal management, as long before the rising
of the curtain every seat in the capacious
theatre was occupied, and previous to the com-
mencement of the evening's entertainment the
visitors gave expression of their approval of the
manner in which their comfort had been provided
for. Amongst the company Mr. Shepherd has
banded round him are many of the old favourites
and several new candidates for public favour, and
the new five act drama, entitled " The Medal of
Bronze, or the Queen of Innocents," afforded ample
opportunity for the display of their ability.
The foundation of the drama is the endeavour of
the population of France during the reign of Henri
Quartre to rid themselves of the Italian favourites
of the French Queen, who by their offensive be-
haviour had made themselves thoroughly obnoxious
to the people, who looked upon the Count Con-
cini as a foreign upstart and impostor, and his wife
as a wily intriguer, whose only object was self-
aggrandisement, even at the expense of the lives
of those who stood between her and the object
of her ambition. At the opening of the play we
find Concini arranging for the assassination of
Henri Quatre with one Ravaillac, with whom he
divides a medal of bronze, to which is at-
tached some magical qualities, as a token
of his sincerity and an earnest of what
he may expect after the French King had been
provided for. The interest of the audience having
been thus awakened, we are next introduced to
Margot and her sweetheart Jacques Bonhomme, a
good-hearted tailor and shoemaker who becomes
entangled in the snares of Cencini, by the fact that
in purchase for some articles which he intends to
use as a disguise he gives Jacques the half of the
bronze medal in place of a current coin. Jacques,
after the assassination of the King, fearing that the
possession of the illfated talisman, the other half of
which has been found on Ravaillac, will lead to his
destruction, becomes so restless and excited that
eventually he hides the half medal in the Cemetery
of the Innocents, and afterwards through the
villany of Concini he is immured in a lunatic
asylum, in order to prevent anything being known
in relation to his bargain with the unfortunate
tailor. The utmost importance is attached to the
recovery of the half of the medal, as it is supposed
that it will undoubtedly prove the means of dis-
covering the accomplice of Ravaillac, and this no
one seems more to anticipate than the Countess of
Concini. A lapse of years occurs between the acts,
and then we find Jacques returned to his homo
through the intercession of his friends, he having,
it is supposed, become an inoffensive lunatic. His
friends, from certain observations he has made,
imagining that he may know the accom-
plice of the assassin of the King, induce
him to endeavour to recover the relic, and for
that purpose he goes to the Cemetery of the Inno
cents; but the Countess who has overheard the
arrangement, arrives at the spot first. She, how-
ever, is unable to raise the stone under which the
relic is concealed, waits until Jacques has possessed
himself of the treasure, and then to regain it, she
stabs the lunatic in the back ; but, unfortunately
for her, befure she can obtain her object, the friends
of Jacques arrive. She escapes, and the half medal
is given into the possession of the sworn avenger of
the King's death. The young King Louis XIII.
has an instinctive hatred of Concini, and more than
suspects him, but until the half medal is forthcoming
he has not the necessary proof to accuse him. This
is at last produced, but the friends of Louis, stung
by the villany of Concini, anticipate all trial, and
the Italian adventurer is stabbed to death as he
descends the marble staircase of the Louvre. Ot
course the Countess is banished, Jacques and Mar-
got rewarded ; in fact justice is meted out to all,
and the curtain descended amidst loud cries of
" Long live King Louis."
As a spectacle, nothing can exceed the splendour
with which it is placed upon the stage.
The arrangement of the different tableaux with
which each act terminates is most artistic, and the
defeat of Concini in the first act, the vision in
the Cemetery, the King's sleeping apartment in the
Louvre, and, finally, the grand staircase of the
Palace, are complete triumphs of stage illusion.
Mr. Shepherd sustained the part of Jacques Bon-
homme in a manner that calls for the highest praise.
Mr. Basil Potter as the King, Mr. M'Clean as Con-
cini, Mr. Robinson as Henriot, Miss Pauncefort as
the Countess Concini, and Miss Clifford as Margot,
sustained their parts with the greatest satisfaction.
At the fall of the curtain Mr. Shepherd was called
for, and received quite an ovation.
The next attraction of the night was the looking
glass curtain, before which a very pretty ballet is
performed. This curiosity will, no doubt, attract
immensely. A more novel sight is not to be wit-
nessed in the metropolis.

CITIZEN BONAPARTE ON THE ROMAN QUESTION.
—When, in 1848, the French National Assembly delibe-
rated on the despatch, by General Cavaignac, of a French
army to Civita-Vecchia to protect the Pope, the Emperor
Napoleon, who was then Citizen Bonaparte, wrote this
letter to the Constitutionnel newspaper :—" Sir,—Knowing
that my absence in the vote on the expedition to Civita-
Vecchia was remarked, I think it right to declare that,
though resolved to support all measures calculated to gua-
rantee the liberty and authority of the Sovereign Pontiff, I
nevertheless could not by my vote approve of a military
demonstration which seems to me perilous, even for the
sacred interests it is desired to protect, and which is calcu-
lated to compromise European peace.—L. N. BONAPARTE.
Dec. 2, 1848."
THE DREADFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR MIL•
FORD JUNCTION.—The public are already in possession of
a few of the facts relative to the accident which happened
between 11 and 12 o'clock at night on Friday last, at a
short distance from the Sherburn station on the North-
Eastern lino, and near to the Milford Junction, when a
stoker named Wm. Markham was killed on the spot, and
others were injured. On Monday, John Wood, Esq.,
coroner, held an inquest at the Wheatsheaf Inn, situate
within 200 or 300 yards of the scene of the catastrophe, the
jury being sworn to decide on the cause of death of the
stoker Markham. The jury, before any evidence was given,
proceeded to view the place where the catastrophe occurred.
All the debris Lad been removed, and the line put again
into proper working order, there being nothing to indicate
that an accident had happened. From the evidence ad-
duced it seemed that the deceased was an engine stoker on
a goods train from Darlington to Normanton. On Friday
night, shortly before half-past 11 o'clock, there was a col-
lision between this train and one from Hull to York, the
accident happening near the Sherburn station. The de-
ceased was found dreadfully mangled underneath one of the
waggons, several having passed over him. After the col-
lision, Mr. Tuff, an official, went to the spbt, and from in-
pities which he made, he ascertained from Davison, the
(laver of the Darlington engine, that there was no signahis
l
stopping on the line, and he therefore proceeded at
a train
from speed towards Normanton. At the same time ain
from Hull came up, and a pointsman held upa red lamp,
and called out "hold on ;" but this was not observed, the
occurred.s
Hull train passed on, and the collision took place. If
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The
driver of this train, whose name is Howden, has been em-
ployed for a length of time in that capacity, and therefore
was well acquainted with the signals. At the time our re.
port was despatched the inquest was pi aceeding, and
whether any blame was attributable to the men in charge
of the train the testimony then given did not sufficiently
disclose.
Importing Tea without colour on the leaf pre-
vents the Chinese passing off inferior leaves as in the
usual kinds. Horniman's Tea is uncoloured, therefore,
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