The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-22 00:00:00

PRINCESS', THEATRE.

Thenew "magical drama" Produced' on Wednesday night
with the title Faust and Margueritl, is a close adaptation
of a Fiench piece of the dime name, written by M. Michel
Carre, and brought out At the Gyiinnase in Augtut, 1860.
As may be supliPseti,.the incidents are taken' from (lathe's
immortal poem, but these are arranged after such a new
fashion that, although no single situation is exactly origi-
nal, the whole leaves an impression very different from
that of the German work.

The opening scene shows us Faust in his study, Tho doe-
, for does not exhibit that craving after knowledge which
Gtithe assigned to him; but merely wishes to " see life," and
feel the delights of love. A hasty invocation of the fiend
causes Mephi-to-pheles to appear, who tempts him by show-
ing a vision of the fair Marguerite, and, on the signature
of a contract, promises to introduce him to her in reality.
The BC6IIO changes, and represents a street in' an old-
fashioned German town, with a cathedral in the distance,
and a hostelry full of roystering students, who celebrate
the departure to the wars of Marguerite's brother Valen-
tine. Feast and Mephistopheles enter, and, while the for-
mer follows the lovely Marguerite to the cathedral; the
latter astounds the party in' the tavern by thawing . wine
from the cask which, with Bacchus upon it, forms the sign
of the establishment, and telling fortunes in no very agree..
able style.
The second act, which takes place in the garden of Mar-
guerite's house, more closely follows the German poem than
the rest of the piece, and the progress of Faust in gaining
the affections of Marguerite, as well as the efforts of the
detestable old Martha to win the heart of Mephistopheles,
are carried out precisely as indicated by Goethe. But even
here the author, while he adopts the plan and some of the
situations of the great German, carefully avoids similarity
of detail, and thus we are constantly warned off-the origi-
nal, while we are greatly tempted to recollect it.
The third act, which takes place outside the cathedral,
and is dupposed to follow the seduction of Marguerite by
Faust, comprises the return of Valentine
and the duel
with the seducer, which ends with his untimely death.
At this point the tale is brought to a sudden termination,
Marguerite falls dead with grief at the fate of her brother,
but her spirit ascends to heaven. Faust, on time other
hand, is conducted-by Ifeplibktophels down a- well, which
is supposed to lead to S. placaunmntionable to ears polite.
The plot just described is an instance of Frenolringe-
unity employed on the task of transforming the most un-
dramatic drama in. the world into a compact effective
melodrama. The poetry and philosophy of the original are
dismissed at one fell swoop, and nothing is left but such
practical dialogue as may serve to connect the " effects" of
the piece. As this total absents of poetry may minima an
uneasy sensationin the mind of the spectator who goes to
see Faust and Marguerite. primed with strong doses of
Gotha, we would advise as deep an oblivion as possible of
the original German text, for it would be a pity to.mar
the effect of a very magnificent and admirably acted tale
-of enchantment bYinconvetnent reminiscences.
As a spectacle, this is one of the most tasteful ai!cl
ela-
borate ever seen even on the boards of the. Princess's
Theatres- The whole action takes place in 4 scenes, but every
one of them is a gem of its kind; and the details, architectu-
ral and social, of old German life are represented to perfec-
tion. Especial attention has been paid to the grouping and
movement of the masses who form the background to the
principal figures. Thus the throng of visitors who press
into the cathedral, while almost every individual has a
distinctive Occupation, and the crowd (after Retzsch) who
surround the dying Valentine, are excellent specimens of
mere earthly effects. -For the unearthly part of the
business we might cite the first revelation of Marguerite
to Faust, but the -whole piece- terminates with suoh an
extraordinary burst of supernatural splendour, that it
thrusts all antecedents of a similar kind into compara-
tive oblivion. This is the ascent of Marguerite, borne
by angels to the regions pf bliss, while the cathe-
dral slowly sinks in the foreground. The group is
after a well = known picture of St. Catherine, and
seldom has a theatrical effect excited so much admiration
and astonishment. The admiration is bestowed on the
beauty of the group, which is wondrously heightened by
an effective distribution of light ; the astonishment is
produced by the mysterious manner in which the figures
ascend. Neither rope, nor bar, nor wire is visible, but,
like the figures in the last Christmas piece at the Lyceum,
Marguerite and her companions sail through empty space
by means unknown to the uninitiated into modern stage
- contrivances.

Mr. Charles Keau's Mephistopheles stands pre-eminent
in the histrionic part in the exhibition. The fami-
liar fiend of Giithe- is sarcastic, but the fiend in the
new piece is decidedly comic; uttering so much cun-
ning satire as blunt downright truth. His odd re-
partees, not very . pungent as far as the writing is
concerned, gained immense value from the peculiar
humour with which they were uttered by Mr.. Kean.
His manner was not caustic, his gestures were not, for the
most paft, demoniac, but be hovered -about the stage
as a sort of eccentric philosopher, who, without having
very bad heart, Was pleased to find his ill-natured theories
prove correct. As for the " make-up" of the character.
it was-admirable. So 'completely had Mr. Charles Kean
identified himself with the demon he assumed to be,
that it was hard to. trace Ms original featurei. A
similar praise for perfect transformation may be
-awarded to Airs. Winstanley, for hard indeed it was
to recognize the handsome buxom widow of genteel
comedy in the hideous beldame whose advances would
even terrify a Mephistopheles. Faust, respectably played
by Mr. Fisher, is, after all, a mere nonentity in this
French version Of. the .atory ; but Marguerite served
to display to an extraordinary degree the talents of
Miss Leclorq. Her appearance, both as the happy
innocent girl, and as the victim of remorse, was beau-
tifully picturesque, and her pantomime, which was
important throughout, was always graceful and impressive.
Mr. Cathcart did himself more than usual credit in the
part of Valentine, and•-the death -scene was most impres-
sively done. The audience, who had followed the -piece
eagerly- throughout, were raised to a pitch of the highest
enthusiasm by the beauty of the concluding picture, and
the curtain fell amid tumultuous applause.

FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE MIDLAND GREAT WESTERN
RAILWAY.— We regret to announce the death of Mr.
Charles Tarrant, engineer of the canal department of
the Midland line, which was occasioned by his being
run over by a locomotive shortly after half-past four
o'cloCk on Thursday evening. It appears that the engine
which was to convey the 5 p.m. down-train to Enfield
had been taken in fuel at the coke-oVens, and was coin-
ing down the inclined plane, in the direction of the ter-
minus, at considerable speed, for the purpose of being
attached to its train, at the same time that the decease*
gentleman was returning along the ,line, from his own
house, as he was iii thelitibit of doing each day Efter lun-
cheon. Mr. Tarranf had just reached the wooden platform.
where the tickets are- usually taken, at which point the
road is suddenly narrowed, owing to a deep water-cat
that runs on the side of it, and but for which peculia-
rity the accident might, in all probability, have been
avoided, when his hat was blown off in consequence of the
draft caused by the rapid approach of the engine and
tender ; and having stooped :to recover it the skirts of
his coat were caught by the machinery and he was
dragged under the -wheels, winch completely removed
the hinder portion of his skull, causing instantaneous
death ; and after dragging the body along the line for
a distance of 50 yards, finally tore off one of the thighs '4;se
and otherwise mangled the remains. It is said that the
coming danger was observed by a man at the side of the
road, who gave the alarm by crying out to Mr. Tarrant ;
upon which the engine-driver shut off steam and reversed
the lever of the locomotive, but unfortunately without
elect, as it was it the time within two perches of the
deceased. Thomas Dowd, the engine-driver, was in-
stantly placed under arrest, to abide the issue of the in-
vestigation, which will be held this day, before Dr. Kir-
wan,• one of the coroners for Dublin, into all-the circuni-
stances connected with the melancholy catastrophe. The
engine‘driver'fi said to have always held the character
of a steady, sober man.
CATASTROPHE AT BRADWELL, DERBYSHIRE.—Four
men lie dead at the works erected four or five years ago,
near the old cupola in Bradwell, for the purpose of ex•
tracting, by an improved process, lead from the slag or
refuse of the old smelting furnace. These works have
been standing about a year, and were being re-coin-
menced on Wednesday. In consequence of the pump
of the engine not acting properly, William Mitchell, the
xe
inches fixed
surface eovoerfstthheegroweul
manager, had frequent occasion to let out air, by 0
belowa stage
theground, sixi fug
eet
about five feet in diameter. It is reached by a 'short
ladder, Between 10 and 11. &clock he went again to
the valve, and not returning, Joseph Hallam, anoth?r
workman, went out of the smelting shed to ascertain
the reason. The other Workmen heard him trying to rouse
Mitchell, and when his voice, also ceased they became
alarmed, ran out, and found them, both senseless at the
bottom of thehole. Another workman then descended, but,
finding himself immediately affected by the foul air, con-
trived, by the assistance of the other two, to reach the
surface again, where he fell senseless. These two then
ran for assistance, and met two young men, John Edwin:
Dernelly, or Donelly, a schoolmaster, about 30 years of
age, and Jonah Elliott, about 27 years, who has lately
returned from Australia. They were both the eons of
widowed mothers. The Men from the mine informed
these persons of the position of their companions, cau-
tioning them as to the danger of entering the well, 'They-
ran to the place, and Elliott iminediately.went down,
regardless of the danger to himself, to -the re sonefofi
Mitchell find the other miner. He succeeded in 061;
one man partly up the ladder ; but, -becoming biruiwu
affected by the air, he.let the man go, and Donellk, ifs
trying to save his friend, was pulled o;fell into the holey
and shared his fate.. Thus four men met their death in
a hole, open at the top to the atmosphere, scarcely large,
for them, suffocated by the
enough to serve for a grave
foul air of the place. Mitchell leaves a wife and ttvo
children, Hallam, a wife, rear her confinement, anti,
four young childten, to bemoan their untimely fate..
The other two were both unmarried.
SUICIDE OF A MAN AND BOY IN TAE RIPER THAMES.
—lnformation has been forwarded from the various Me-
tropolitan and City Poiice Stations of the diScovery of a
man and boy near to each other in the River Thames at,
Blackfriars. The police have issued the following
scription of them :—Male, about 40 years of age, 5 feet
6 inches in height, dressed in brown coat, blue trousers,
black silk waistcoat with stripes, and Blucher boots; boy;
about 15 or 16, black cloth trousers and waistcoat, plaid
scarf, and cord jacket. On his person was a piece of pa-
per, with the words "Mr. Tyrell, Remembrance-office,
Guildhall,. for Mr. Preston." Two shells having been
procured, the bodies were removed to Christchurch
Workhouse, tolie owned and an inquest held:
SLAVES IN RUSSIA.—Of the fifty-three and a half mild.
lions of people which Russia contained in 1842, not less.
than 42,000;000 Were slayes; sad of these, 15,000,040
Were &yes of *Cron, or the Pp