The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-29 00:00:00

Divine commandment. Shame on the idle ones, who
wholly dependant on other's toil, would " eat bread,"
forgett,ing that

HAYMARKET.
Douglas Jerrold's play of the Housekeeper, cast as it
was performed before her Majesty and the Court, at
Windsor, with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean in the prin-
cipal characters; the comedy of the Wonder, with Mr.
C. Kean as Don Felix, and Mrs. C. Kean as Donna
Violante; and the successful burlesque of the Sphinx,
were the entertainments provided for the holiday folks
at the Haymarket ; and while Mr. Webster can give us
such pieces, so cast, he need not look out for novelties.
The house was very well attended.

ADELPHL
The proprietors of this mirthful establishment having
been so decidedly successful in their last new and splen•
did extravaganza of The Revolt of the Flowers and the
Devil's Violin, they relied upon it as their great attrac-
tion for these holidays, and their confidence was fully
justified by the condition which the theatre presented
last night—had it been half as large again, it might have
been filled with those who were compelled to seek their
evening's enjoyment elsewhere. The amusements com-
menced with The Irish Post, in which Mr. Hudson
played the bustling character of Terence O'Grady with
much spirit. The spectacle followed, and it now runs
very smoothly, and was deservedly highly applauded.
The audience were sent home in great good humour by
the broad acting of Wright and Bedford, and of Miss
Chaplin and Mrs. F. Matthews, in the little piece Going
to the Derby.

LYCEUM.
Notwithstanding tbe absence of novelty at this ele-
gant theatre, the immense audience gathered here last
evening attest strongly to the attractiveness of the pre-
sent " bill of fare." Long before the rising of the cur-
tain the house was crowded in every part by a regular
" Lyceum audience." The entertainments on the
occasion being the amusing and remarkably comic
farce of Kill or Cure Charles Dance's highly
successful petite comedy, A Wonderful Woman,
in which Madame Vestris and Mr. C. Mathews
drew, by their admirable [toting, repeated and rapturous
applause; and Planche's magnificent burlesque extrava-
ganza of The Seven Champions of Christendom. The
admirable medley overture and all the music of the
burlesque was very much applauded, and deservedly so,
the overture very narrowly escaping an encore. Alto-
gether the entertainments at this house, although lack-
ing a Whitsuntide novelty, are highly attractive, and
we have not the slightest doubt but that the theatre will
be attended by similar delighted crowds as that assem-
bled within its walls last evening, for many nights to
come.

SADLER'S WELLS.
The entertainments provided for the holiday folks of
Islington by the enterprising manager of this theatre,
last evening, gave very general satisfaction to a crowded
and delighted audience. Monk Lewis's dramatic ro-
mance of The Castle Spectre was very successfully per-
formed for the first time for some years here. The princi-
pal parts ware well sustained by Messrs. G. Bennett, Dick-
inson, Younge, and F. Marston. Miss Cooper, as Angela,
was exceedingly effective; her acting of the part was very
beautiful, and was loudly applauded. Tobin's Honey.
moon, in which H. Marston sustained the part of Duke
Aranza, Miss Huddart Volante, Miss Murray
Zamora, and Mrs. Newbery Juliana, very effectively.
The scenery, as usual, at this theatre was exceedingly
good. The house was crowded to suffocation.

PRINCESS'S.
A new opera, the composition of Luigi Ricci, was
produced here last evening with considerable success.
It is entitled The Deserter, and the plot, as may be sup-
posed by the title, is one of those dramatic common-places
which have become, by lapse of time, dramatists' common
property. The hero, Enrico (Mr. Weiss), is betrothed
to Louise (Mdle. Nau), a village maiden, and is the
victim of a practical joke. In order to test the strength
of his love a sham wedding procession is got up, in
which Louise enacts the part of bride, and Giovanina,
(Miss Poole) a young country girl seeks Enrico, and
informs him that Louise is married to another. Enrico
rushes out, endeavours to throw himself from a preci-
pice, is prevented by a party of soldiers, to whom he
gives himself up as a deserter, in order to secure the
death which he so ardently desires, and on his own con-
fession ho is condemned to be shot. Then, and not till
then, he learns the trick that has been played on him,
and is visited by Louise in his prison, and assured
of her constancy. She determines to seek the
King, in order to endeavour to procure her
lover's pardon. The King grants her request, and she
rushes in with the pardon just as Enrico is about to be
led to execution, when she sinks senseless in a chair,
and Enrieo is led forth to die. A drunken soldier (capi-
tally acted by Mr. Wynn) discovers the pardon and rouses
Louise just in time for her to rush in and take part in the
time honoured tableau of " shooting a deserter," by
throwing herself between the musketeers and the con-
demned, and holding forth the pardon to the pointed
muskets selen les regles. The music is like all Ricci's
music, pretty, flowing,' graceful, occasionally cha-
racteristic, but without one spark of origi-
nality. The singers, however, exerted themselves
to the utmost. Mademoiselle Nau sang delightfully, and
was greatly applauded. Weiss was excellent as Enrico.
It is somewhat of a novelty to see a bass singer enact
the part ofa lover. Weiss, however, made a very interesting
lover, and exhibited much feeling and pathos in his render-
ing of the music of the part; and Miss Poole, who made a
great deal of a very small part, obtained the only encore
of the evening. Some of the chorusses are very flowing
and graceful. The scenery is very beautiful, and the
opera has been most carefully put on the stage. All the
principal performers were called before the curtain at
the close, and the opera was given out for repetition,
amidst the unanimous applause of a crowded house.

S./ WAND.
The Country Squire, with Mr. W. Farren as Squire
Broadlands, was performed here last evening, and Far-
ren was as great as ever in this, one of his best charac-
ters. He sang the " Old English Gentleman" as he
alone can sing it, and was enthusiastically applauded.
The comedy was followed by Charles Selby's amusing
farce called Taken in and Done For, in which Mr. W.
Farren and Mr. H. Farren again appeared, and kept the
house in a continuous state of merriment. Atter this
came a new drama of much interest by Mr. E. Stirling,
called The Mother's Bequest, in which Mrs. Stirling's
exquisite acting extracted mans a sympathetic tear from
the spectators, which was, hcwever, soon dried up by
the representation of the concluding piece, called John
Dobbs, which sent the delighted audience home laughing
to their beds.

THE SURirEY.

The entertainments at this favourite place of amuse-
menr, under the spirited auspices of Mr. Shepherd, the
sole lessee, were immensely enhanced yesterday evening
by the first appearance of Mrs. Nesbitt and her sister,
Miss Jane Mordaunt, under their engagement with the
present lessee of this theatre; and by the production, for
the first time, of an original romantic drama, called the
Lily of the Desert and the Arab Spy, written expressly
for this theatre by Mr. Edward Stirling, and brought
out under the direction of Mr. Emery, who sustains one
of its principal characters. It had been wonderful if
exertions so great ou the part of the spirited proprietor
in catering for the public amusement at this holiday
season had been but lightly appreciated or esteemed by
the community. The result was far otherwise; and
whatever may have been the amount of patronage be-
stowed on his numerous rivals, Mr. Shepherd, we opine,
had no reason to complain of the share awarded to him last
night, for, from pit to pigeon-hole, his house was literally
crammed. To such a degree was this the case that the
piece at the outset was interrupted for some little time
by the noise of people struggling and clamouring for
places, which brought Mr. Shepherd before the curtain,
who, to still the uproar and to consult the convenience
of his patrons, intimated that to those who could not
find seats he would return their money and cheerfully
give them tickets for another night. This had the effect
of stilling the commotion to some extent; many availed
themselves of the lessee's offer and retired, making it
more comfortable for those that remained, and the per-
formances were allowed to proceed. The piece selected
for the occasion was Mr. Sheridan Knowles's celebrated
comedy of the .Love Chase, in which Mrs. Nisbett
played her original character of Constance with so
wonderful a degreo of spirit and vivacity as to
give to her impersonation all the freshness and
liveliness of an original effort of her genius, and
to earn for her, ever and anon, the enthusiastic
plaudits of a charmed and admiritg auditory. The
scene in which she rallied and twitted Master Wildrake
(Mr. Shepherd) about the Widow Jones and his efforts
at gentility was an admirable piece of acting, and her
own hearty laughter was re-echoed by the irrepressible
cachinations of her audience; In striking contrast to
this piece of coquetry was her fine natural bearing in
the scene which immediately followed, wherein, rapt
and strung to the highest pitch of female rage and
jealousy, she exclaims to Master Wildrake, whom she
had shortly ago ridiculed and despised—" Send tee no
bride's cake! send me no wedding gloves!" The imper-
sonation of Lydia by Miss Jane Mordaunt was given
with admirable taste and judgment, and it proved her to
be little, if at all, inferior to her accomplished sister.
Mr. Shepherd, as Master Wildrake, embodied that
creation of the author's fancy with singular tact and
discrimination; and not less felicitous and spirited
was the acting of Mr. Neville as Sir William
Fondlove. Equally meritorious was the Widow Green
of Mrs. M. Brookes. At the fall of the curtain the house
reverberated with calls for Mrs. Nisbett and Miss Mor-
daunt. They immediately appeared, accompanied by
Mr. Shepherd, when a loud and prolonged shout of en-
timiotie welcome, and ehtmer of b9uquets Orownfrora

"The richest crown-pearls in a naticn
Hang from labour's reeking brow."
'sill honour to the earnest-hearted ones who, amid the
hard struggles of a toiling life, still put their
shoulder to the wheel, and cry, Nil desperandum.

THE THEATRES.
DRURY-LANE.
Herr Formes, the celebrated bass singer from Vienna,
whose appearance here has been from time to time de-
layed in consequence of severe indisposition, made his
debut last evening in the character of Sarrastro, in the
Zauberflote. It was evident that Herr Formes was still
suffering from recent indisposition, nevertheless he went
through the character of Sarrastro excellently well. His
voice is of great power and of fine quality, and has been
cultivated to the highest pitch of artistic excellence. He
was encored in the " Qui sdegno." Mademoiselle Von
Romani was the Queen of Night, and in the difficult air
which taxes so severely the power and register of
soprano voices, exhibited considerable cleverness, and
gained an encore. Mademoiselle Marlow was the
Pamina, Herr Bahrdt the Tamino, and Herr Breuer the
Papageno. The opera was well received throughout by
a tolerably numerous audience.