The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-19 00:00:00

FREXCII PLA

A critic of high authority declares the Tartufe to be 1
one of the most complete comedies over written in any
language ; and, certainly, whether it come before us in
the closet or on the stage, one is at a loss which to ad-
mire most, the classical beauty of its proportions, the
ease and propriety of its polished verse, the variety and
distinctness of its characters, or the bold and eloquent
satire of its moral. In each of these essentials Tartuffe
stands pre-eminently excellent. It is indeed seldom that
we find so much animation, energy, criticism, and truth,
crowded together in one single five-act piece. It pro-
perly belongs to that class of comedies which, osten-
sibly written to satirize one particular weakness or de-
fect, are in reality intended to portray human nature in
its most extensive aspects, and to dive into the deepest
recesses of the heart ; but the special satire con-
veyed in the character of Tartuffe is so pointed
and vehement that we can easily understand how it was
that it excited the utmost rancour of the Jesuits, whose
intrigues, in fact, delayed its appearance for at least two
years. As Moliere said himself, ce n'etait pas l'intcret
de Dieu qui pouvoit les emouvoir, for a less immoral
play was scarcely ever written, and they offered no
opposition to other, plays of Moliere of which the same
cannot be said ; but the vigorous exposition of cant and
hypocrisy contained in the Tartuffe must have seriously
damaged that secret chamber influence by which they
then governed so many of the chief families in France,
and, through them, the destinies of the kingdom. But
delineating human nature at large with such force
and truth of observation, satirising vices which
are as rampant now as they were then, a modern
audience can enjoy it to the full as much as did the gay
courtiers of Louis XIV., pretty nearly two centuries ago.
It was produced last night at the St. James's Theatre
with a care and attention fully calculated to display its
peculiar excellencies. The Tartuffe of M. Regnier, diffi-
cult and thankless as is the part, is one of his best
efforts, and he played it last night in his finest manner.
Without the slightest trace of the charlatanrie or extra-
vagance of the stage hypocrite, his performance was
marked throughout with a discrimination and refine-
ment of tone and gesture, and at times with vehemence
and elevation of manner which stamped it as an effort
of the highest genius. Smooth and measured in the
first scenes, by turns ardent and sophistical in his inter-
views with Elmire, and rising almost to a tragic force in
the triumphant tones of the c'est done a vous sortir, with
which' he overwhelms Orgon, when that credulous
dupe discovers .the full measure of his proteges
depravity, M. Regnier marked the varied phases
of the character with a felicity and truthfulness
sufficient to approve him the great artiste which he is.
He was frequently and loudly applauded throughout the
piece. M. Roland played the part of the irascible and
credulous Orgon, especially in the first scenes, with con-
siderable ability, and materially aided the general effect.
Elmire was played by Mdlle. Brohan with all the grace
and delicay which might be expected from her ; and
Mdlle: Bertin played the saucy and sensible Darine with
such spirit and vivacity, that we are almost tempted
to say that she quite shared the applause with M.
Regnier. The other characters were well cast, though
we were much disappointed in M. St. Marie's Cleante.
He made but little of this very importan,t character--
Le Raissoneur, as it is called of Moliere's comedic.
The piece was excellently dressed and mounted. We
had almost forgotten to say that it was M. Lafont's
benefit ; that there were a host of other entertainments
besides Tartuffe in which he did not appear ; but we
were glad, for his sake, to find that the house was fully
attended. He played with Mdlle. Page in one of Scribe's
numerous effusions, entitled line Visit a Bedlame, which
afforded scope for some very clever acting, and also in
the second act of Le Gamin de Paris, which, as it did
not commence till after twelve o'clock, we did not re-
main to witness.

VOCAL MUSIC.

Five Songs. Composed by T. ThOrpe Peed.

Frequently as we have already found it our pleasant
duty to commend the graceful compositions of Mr.
Thorpe Peed, we have never had an opportunity of
doing so with more complete satisfaction. The "Five
Songs" comprised in the voluniet now lying at our
elbow are as various in merit as the subjects of
which they treat are dissimilar. -They illustrate in
an agreeable manner• the composer's undoubted
versatility. Two out of the five are to words
written by George Soane—" The Village Bells, " a
charming melody, and " Sweet Days of Youth," a
lyric full of congenial sweetness. " Happy Friendship"
commemorates one of the most cordial effusions of the
genius of Burns, and one of the most delightful incidents
recorded in his biography. "My Father's Home "is
another of these admirable songs—the' poetry by R.
C. Welsh. But, in all respects, to our mind,
the jewel of the volume is the ballad not yet
mentioned—" I love to look on a scene like this,"
one of the most exquisite productions of the Ame-
rican poet, N. P. Willis—a ballad, which in the
present version, will be found indeed, lovely " music
married to immortal verse!" The volume here noticed
will be welcome in many a drawing-room, and its com-
poser will be regarded by many a fair songstress, almost
we had said with gratitude, certainly with thankful
pleasure.

CHANGES IN THE 110&SE OF COMMONS SINCE
THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Mr. Locke King having moved for a return of the
results of all the election petitions up to Whitsuntide, it
may be acceptable to our readers to know the changes
that hare taken place. They are as follows :
Abingdon—Lord Norreys elected in the room of General
Caulfeild, deceased.
Barnstaple—Sir W. Fraser, Bart.,, and Mr. R. Brom-
ridge declared not duly elected on the ground of bribery
and treating.
Berwick-upon-Tweed—Mr. M. Forster and Mr. J. Sta-
pleton declared not duly elected on the ground of bribery
and treating ; a fresh election, and Mr. Marjoribanks and
Mr. Forster elected. _

Blackburn—Mr. W. Eccles unseated ; Mr. M. J. Feilden
returned in his room.
Bridgnorth—Sir R. Pigot unseated, and Mr. J. Pritchard
seated in his stead.

Bury St. Edmunds—Mr. Oakes elected in the room of
Sir J. Stuart, now Vice-Chancellor.
Cambridge—Mr. K. Macaulay and Mr. H. Astell
seated.
Canterbury—The Hon. B. Johnstone and Mr. H. P.
Gipps unseated for bribery and treating.
Chatham—Sir F. Smith unseated.
Clitheroe—Mr. M. Wilson unseated.
Derby—Mr. Hoyworth seated in the room of Mr. Hors-
fall.
Durham—Lord A. Vane elected in the room of Mr.
Granger, deceased.
Harwich—Mr. Peacocke unseated.
Huddersfield -Mr. Stanfield unseated ; Lord Goderich
returned instead.
Hull—Mr. Clay and Lord Goderich unseated.
Knareaborougli A triple return ; Mr. Westhead
ejected, and Mr. Dent and Mr. Woodd seated.
Lancaster—Mr. Armstrong unseated, and Mr. Greene
elected instead.
Maidstone—Mr. Dodd unseated ; Mr. Leo since elected.
Maldon--Mr. Ducane and Mr. Miller unseated.
Morpeth—Sir G. Grey elected.
Oldham—Mr. W. J. Fox returned in the room of Mr.
Duncuft, who died soon after the election.
Oxford (City)—Mr. E. Cardwell elected.
Peterborough—Mr. Whalley elected in the room of Mr.
Watson, deceased.

Plymouth—Mr. Charles John Mare declared not duly
elected, on the ground of bribery both by himself and
agents. This is the only case of personal bribery by the
candidate.
Rye—Mr. Mackinnon unseated. •
Taunton—Mr. A. Mills unseated ; Sir J. W. Ramsden,
Bart., since elected instead.
Tavistock—Mr. Phillimore seated in the room of Mr
Carter.
Totnes—Mr. T. Mills unseated.
Tynernouth—Mr. Taylor, unseated.
West Worcestershire—Lord Elmley returned instead of
General Lygon (now Lord Beauchamp).
For the Welsh Borough of Merthyr Tydvil—Mr. Bruce
returned in the room of Sir J. Guest, Bart., deceased.
The following are the changes in Irish boroughs :
Athlone—Mr. W. Keogh, the Solicitor-General for Ire-
land, re-elected April 22.
Carlow—Mr. Alexander elected in the room of Mr.
Sadleir.

Lisburn—Mr. Smyth elected in the room of Sir J. E.
Tennent, Bart., who v,:icated his seat by the acceptance of
office.

County Carlow—Captain Banbury elected April 25, in
the room of Colonel Bruen, deceased.

OMNIBUS FARES.—An alteration took place on Mon-
day in the fares of the omnibuses in the service of the
Paddington Associations, running to and from Kilburn
and Bayswater, through the Edgeware-road, Oxford-
street; and Holborn, to the Bank and the different rail-
way termini at the east end of town. The following
fares have now been adopted on this important line of
road, viz. :—Threepence from the extreme distance west-
ward to Tottenham-court-road, and from that point to
the end of the journey eastward, with one intermediate
fare of threepence from the Marble Arch to the General
Post-office, St. Martin's-le-Grand. Simultaneously with
this arrangement, the cheap fare omnibuses some time
since established to run from the Marble Arch to Far-
ringdon-street for twopence, with penny fares for half
the distance in either direction, have discontinued the
penny fares, and charge twopence for any portion of the
journey.

FOREIGN SOAP.—The following note relates to the
modification proposed by the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer of his original plan with regard to the importation
of foreign soap :—"Sir,—ln the amended Customs' re-
solutions a duty of 2s. 4d. per cwt. is placed on soap, to
counteract the duty on tallow. Now, the duty on Rus-
sian tallow is ls. 6d. per cwt., and two-fifths of the ma-
terials of which soap is made are tallow. A duty of 7d.
per cwt. would therefore be quite sufficient for the con-
templated purpose. The duty of 2s. 4d. per cwt. on
soap may be in itself trifling, but it is objectionable, be-
cause the Protectionists and agriculturists may fairly
say that when manufacturers legislate in matters of
trade they are sure to favour themselves, and will cling
to a bit of protection if they can. It is to be hoped that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer will adhere to his first
declaration, that soap should be free of duty ; he cannot
on any principle maintain this charge of 2s. 4d. From
samples of foreign soap now before ins it is clear that
foreign manufactures cannot compete with our own.
Their soap is both dear and bad.—l am, sir, your obe-
dient servant, MERCATOR.—City, May 17."
SoYER's AROMATIC MUSTARD.—This celebrated chef
de cuisine, M. Soyer, has recently added to the list of
articles which pass under his high sanction as peculiarly
adapted to assist the culinary art that of aromatic mus-
tard, the merits of which he says consists in the improved
mode of its preparation, and in its freedom from.
flour
and turmeric, and those other materials with which it
is too frequently adulterated.

•
1 S ANCII ESTER RACE S.

(THIS DAY.)

(BY ELBOTRIO TELEGRAPH.)

HANDICAP STAKES. 5 Sovs.

Eva,dne
Osbaldeston

ORDER OF RUNNING.
Handicap Stakes—Quarter past two.
Two Year Old Stakes—Three.
Tradesman s Cup—Four.
Selling Stakes—Quarter to five.
Her Majesty's Plate—Half-past five.

LATEST BETTING.—TwELvI
MANOHESTER CUP.
2to 1 agst T;,lfourd (taken).
sto 1 agst Bird-on-the-Wing (taken).
sto 1 Apt Weathergage (taken).
sto 1 agst Gadabout (taken).
7to 1 agst Event (taken).
Bto 1 agst Chief Justice (taken).
DERBY.
sto 2 agst West Australian (in force).
ARRIVALS.—Audubon. Red Lion.