The Sun.
London, England, 1838-07-16 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL LYCEUM.

Some curiosity has been excited by the announcement that
a young man named William Shakspcare, purporting to be a
nephew by descent of the great poet, would make his appear-
ance at this theatre. The managers, in their bills, had taken
a prudent way to avoid any imputationt of an attempt gull
the public should the affair turn out an imposition; they had
caused to be printed at the head of their Bills the letter from
the sot disant Shakspcare to Mr. Peake, the treasurer, which
they took as sufficient testimony of the facts, thus laying their
case before the public eye, and fairly leaving to the judgment
of observers whether they would admit the evidence or Lot.
Shakspcare made his appearance on Saturday night, and was
naturally exposed to two species of criticism, each equally
detrimental to his future exertions ; cne class of persons,
taken by the name, _would at once resolve to applaud its
' bearer through thick and thin, whether he did ill or well ;
while another, also taken by the name, would conjure up to
theMselves an ideal standard of perfection, and be inclined
utterly to crush the young debutante, provided he fell short of
the exalted mark. He appeared in a piece of his own, called
the Queen's Command, in which he acted the character of
the great Shakspeare. The little drama had no plot what-
ever. It consisted of a series of detached scenes, each of
which might have been taken from separate pieces, aiid ne-
cessarily representing Shakspeare with the players, Shaks-
pcare in love and jealous, and Shakspeare pleading the enure
of the actors before Queen Elizabeth. The young man's figure
is good, and the expression of his
.face interesting, and bear.
ing in its general contour no small resemblance to the bust of
Shakspeare at Stratford. His acting displays some feeling
and knowledge of stage businass. He does not tread the
boards as a mere novice, and there is evidently somcthiog like
conception about him which is exceedingly crude, and often
vanishes when one attempts to trace it. However, the very
knowledge he possesses he has picked up at a bad school,
and if his own good sense sometimes prompts him to a genu-
ine expression of feA'ngs, he invariably gives a burst of pis•
sion in the worst style of melodramc. As an author, we have
not the slightest hops of him; there was nothing in his pro-
duction to mark even the hand of a crude dramatist. We
may be deceived, but judging from this specimen, we should
at once advise Mr. Shakspeare to have nothing to do with
authorship. Some of Bishop's music, with words from Shak-
spcare's poems, was interspersed throughout, and sung by Miss
Rainsforth and Miss Poole. The former i 3 now one of the
best singers on the English stage, and is at the same time a
pleasing and interesting acress. The Queen's Command was
announced for repetition with loud applause, and Mr. Shak-
speare was called for, and made his how to the audience evi-
clentls hi a state of high nervous excitement.

A NOVEL TRICK —A poor woman living in thy,
neighbourhood of the itue de Bibylone, in Paris, was induced, the day
before yesterday, to give up her child, two years of age, to another
woman who called on her, stating that a Baroness, who had iccenlly
last her own infant of the same age, had heard that it bore a great
resemblance to the woman's, was anxious to se•2 it, and had sent some of
her lost child's linen to dress it in, to render the llkcn7ss more cm-
_ • _

!etc, and promising to bring it ba:k in the afternoo•i. The motlwr

weakly consented to let the chit I go. The time promised for its return
having long elapsed without its being broullit back, the mother went
to the police, and stated the circum•tances. The woman who had pre-
tented to tie the cook of the Baroness, was found, and brought boron
the commissary. Oa bring questioned, she confessed that she had
can il the child to some Scours de ("barite., to whom she was known,
assurin_.; them that it was Ver owii, and had been returned upon her
I ands by the nurse with wlioin she had placed it, !e.au•e she owed her
50f, which slre was unable to ply. The good sist:•rs gave her the
money, and immediately sent the Infant to a pension, to be brought up
at their ovn expense. the woman's story was fully corrol-orated, the
50f. were found at her 1 Idgtngs, and rcturited to the b. nevolont don rs,
the chill restored to its too her, and the culprit cemeitted le prison to
be tried fur child stealing.—Paris paper.

CLIMBING UP TO TIIE TOP OF ST. PRTEIt'S.—
Baron Rochow and myself were constant companions, and in our walks
about Rom? were in the habit of attempting every difficult feat of
climbing and l...aping that fell in our way. One day a party of us, con.
sisting of Rochow, Hu',mantle!, Landoll, Count du 'retire, and myself,
paid a visit to St. Peter's Church. Around the church, at the spring of
the roof, is a broad cornice, and Rochow and I anm.ed ourselves, and
horrified Landon and Du Tertre, by leaping across the chasms formed
by the cornices of the pilasters. Upon arriving at the top of the
pant, rn," on which is the ball and cr ss, we mounted the little irrn
ladder that turns under the bill ake the " futtock shrouds" cf a ship's
top, and got to stand upon the ball. The French had plaved there a
lightning conductor, rising about ten feet above the summit of the
cross, to which it is attached by stron j screw staples. By means of this
rod (nearly two inches in diameter) we got upon the cross-top, and
then I "swarmed" myself up the conductor, so as to emb-ace, with my
thigh, a flange, which, at two feet trom the point, receives four thick
-wire stays attached to the ball below. In this position my head was ac.
tually two feet above the golden Pit of the conductor. '[he wind,
being very high, caused me to sway from side to side in a mariner un
Icasant to behold, whit, Ilullinandel, Land,r, and R chop. were star it.
'under me, on the arms of the cros,. They all three resolved upon
my plsce ; so, after attaching. with copper Sc ire, to the point of
•'e conductor, a littk leaden plate with our names engraved thereon,
and a ribbon six yards long, I descended to the cross, and my corn.
rades, each in succession, swarmed to the top of the conductor.
--
Camel Maceronrs Memoirs.
A BEGGA R.—A fernak mendicant was
brought not long ago before the magi trate of Ambuise. On investi-
gation it was discovered that she was owner of a small cAttage, for uhieb
she had paid 500 francs, a sum of 2,00 fra,.cs in silver money in (die
bag, and an unaccountable number of two sons pieces of nixed metal,
disiribut,d.in closets, chests, baskets, and (Aber places of concealment,
which were put by the magistrates into two casks, and estimated by
measure anl weight at no less than 8,100 : a cs. The rids begge.ri
woman had Insider ninety knives clan sizes and shape:. a gold pin, a

Akl~ z

silver peticil-ease, and a 14rge sore of pl.ite, linen, and household gear.
Chi being questioned how she came by all this wealth, she affirmed that
she had acquired it try gathering 14031, aul sclaug them, and by col'ect-
:.__

manure on the roads.

" Thunder," observes S:r John Herschel, " can
scarcely ever be heard more than 20 or 30 miles from the flash which
prot:ut:es it. Lightning, on the other Lade, may be seen (nr at least its
refection in the tlou.ls, forming •A hat :s called • sheet liLlitning). at .ti e
ci.tance of 150 or :.00 miles."