The Sun.
London, England, 1836-08-23 00:00:00

WINDSOR-MONDAY.

The King's natal day (yesterday) was celebrated to-day both
in the castle and in the town. Upon his Majesty entering the
breakfast-room this morning, the following glees were per-
formed by part of the choir of the Royal Chapel, Windsor,
assisted by Mr. J. Hobbs, of the Chapel Royal, St. James's,
and Mr. Hawkins, of St. Paul's :—" Hail, smiling Morn
( Spofforth) ; " Hail, Star of Brunswick " ( Webb) ; " When
Britain on her sea-girt Shore " ( Arne) ; " Down in a flowery
Vale" ( Wilks) ; " God save the King" was also performed,
at the singing of which the Queen and King, the Duchess of
Kent, and the Princess Victoria, came to the front window, and
stood while it was being sung. At one o'clock the Royal Fu-
sileers formed in the north part of the Little Park, and fired a
feu de joie, which was answered from the cannons on the North
Terrace. The King and most of the Royal party were upon
the ground, and afterwards went to Virginia Water.
His Majesty gives a grand dinner this evening, in St.
George's Hall, to their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent,
the Princess Victoria, the Princess Augusta, Prince Ernest of
Hesse Phillipsthal, the Earl of Winchilsea, and the other visi-
tars at the Castle, the officers of the Life Guards, and of the
Royal Fusilcers, and the nobility, clergy, and gentry of the
neighbourhood. About 170 are expected to dinner. His Ma"
esty is looking remarkably well.

THEATRES.

ENGLISH OPERA-HOUSE.

Last night, after "The Mountain Sylph" and "House Room," the
operatic drama of " Clari, the Maid of Milan," was produced at this
thhatre. It is a piece which, from its very first appearance, has been
well received. It deserved such success. It is moral, tender, and
pathetic ; and, except upon an utterly depraved heart, can scarcely fail
to produce such an effect as will dissuade the wavering from vice, and
fill the seducer with repentance. Miss Shirreff appeared for the first
time in the character of Clari, and succeeded, perhaps, beyond the ex-
pectations which even her greatest admirers might have formed of her.
When she finds that she is the intended victim of perjury and lust, that
the promise of marriage which seduced her from an obscure but
happy home is to be broken, Miss Shirreff's feelings are not suffi-
ciently tragic, nor her voice powerful enough, to give the requi-
site force to ner language. But the brokenheartedness of an af-
fectionate creature, who, though foolish and credulous, is scarcely
guilty—the repentance, the love of parents, in a word, every
good and tender sentiment which the part embraces—were con-
veyed by Miss Shirreff in a manner which could scarcely fail to draw
tears from any person in whom the springs of sorrow were not dried.
Her acting, at least upon this occasion, was, in our estimation, beyond
her singing. It is true that in this latter department she has not much
to do, and the little she has to execute was by no means equal to her
acting. The lesson has been a thousand times inculcated upon singers,
male and female, that sinless the poetry be as distinctly heard as the
music half the effect is lost. Now, in that exquisitely pathetic air,
" There is no place like home," we did not hear one word distinctly and
audibly articulated by Miss Shirreff. She was, however, rapturous!),
encored, and, indeed, throughout her reception was, as it deserved to
be, most encouraging. She was more effective in the closing scene than
in any other, and Mr. Willams, as Rolamo, though somewhat tedinto
in recrimination, expressed with great effect the sorrows of a bereaved
parent.