The Sun.
London, England, 1840-03-17 00:00:00

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD, MARCH 14.—The Professor of Moral Philo.
BPhy has given notice that he will resume his lectures in
the hall of Exeter College on Monday, the 16th inst., at
aqo'clock, and continue them on Mondays, Wednesdays,
aild Fridays.
bln consequence of a scholarship on the foundation of
;tilt. Clarke being vacant, there will be an election to fill
fi.e same, dt Worcester College, May 8; this scholarship
Pen to all who are born of Engli..h parents, with pre.
`-
r,evhurch ence to the orphans of clergymen of the Established
°R Thursday last a Convocation was holden to hear
Jesd. the answers to the addresses presented to her Ma-
ty the
Queen, Prince Albert, and the Duchess of Kent.
Girdlestone, patroness of the Rectory of Kelling-
,,
`al'ncdl-Salthouso, Norfolk, has presented the Rev. J. G.
stone Fellow of New College, to the same.
jThe Dean and Charter of Exeter Cathedral having
resented the Rev. Marwood Tucker, of Balliol College,
t') thtiled e rectory of St. Martin's, Exeter, he has been insti-
accordinnly
.'r h Vfaster ar.d Fellows of Balliol College have pre.
3thnted the 12,,v. Robert Scott, Fellow of that Society, to
vicarage of Duloe, Cornwall.
last Puter Le Page Renouf, of Guernsey, was on Thursday
elecled an exhibitioner on the foundation of the Rev.
Oar' in Pembroke College.

CA inn,
Thul- "11111—, ;MA M.—The Examiners met on
in,..(1,1) last, when it was found that Alexander 131ackall
x -4'll', of King's, and John Bather, of St. John's, were
itQw:rerAlY equal, that the scholarship could not then be
re eu• Consequently those two gentlemen arc to to
-examined.

Lath Peel does not intend having Until after Easter. any soirees
b Tae Sp€aker will give five more Pailiamentary
th -
anquets in Paton square, which will close the series before
e Easte '
,i. r recess.
Ihe Lord Chancellor and Lady Cottenham en-
eirtaincd Sir William Pcpvs, the Bishop of Sodnr and Man,
r. and Mrs. Wingfield, and a small party at dinner, on Sun-
'lay evening at Granville Ilov.-,e.
The D'owager Lady Craven, and Lady Louisa
Craven are visiting the Earl-and Countess Craven at Coombe
bbeYs near Coventry.
The Earl and Countess of Vcrulam and Lady
Mary Grimstone return this week from a visit of several days
to the Earl and Countess Craven, who have seers much com-
pany during the past week at Coombe Abbey.
V. Her :\lajestv the Queen Dowag
er aarty to dinner on Marlboro Saturday last, at Marlborh h!loud sea . szlect
......_._.______

THFATRE-.

COVENT- GARDEN.

Romeo and Juliet was perlorirwd at this Theatre
la 7,t evening for the first time during the present
season. It has seldom been our good fortune to
see this exceedingly beautiful tragedy so well cast
as on the present occasion. It has hitherto been
too often the case with this, as with many of the
other masterpieces of Shakspeare, that the two or
three so-called principal characters having been
given to the leading members of the company, the
remainder of the dramatis persona have been en-
trusted to " Nature's journeymen," who have per-
sonated humanity so abominably that many of the
finest specimens of the Shaksperian poetry are at
this moment never heard on the stage, simply be-
cause they occur in parts for which it has
hitherto been the good pleasure of too many
managements to cast persons absolutely incom-
petent to understand or to recite them. Such,
however, we are happy to say, was not the case
last night. The piece throughout was cast as
strongly as the present strength of the company
will allow. The costumes were gorgeous and cor-
rect—the scenery magnificent, more especially the
architectural portion of it, and those of our readers
who have visited Verona, know well the scope
afforded by the rich architectural remains of that
fine old city for splendid architecture! illustrations.
We would adviqe all the admirers of Shakspeare not
to lose this opportunity of seeing Romeo and Juliet.
The Juliet of the evening was kiss Jane Mordaunt,
who made her debut before a Covent-Garden
audience on this occasion. This young lady is
the sister of Mrs. Nesbitt, and not unlike her in
person and appearance. Her clear dark complexion,
her deeply expressive, lustrous black eyes, and her
glossy raven hair, render her the very beau ideal
of the budding beauty of " the sweet South," just
bursting into womanhood. She has evidently been
well instructed, and has known how to profit by
the instruction she has received. In the scenes
with the Num she was arch and playful, and
judging from those scenes, we should be inclined to
say that comedy was her forte. Some of her tragic
bursts, however, were exceedingly fine. In the
scene in which the Nurse, after informing her of
the death of T)balt, calls down for shame upon
the bead of his destroyer Romeo, her manner of
giving the passage commencing with—
' " Blistered be thy tongue
" For utterance of that wish,"
completely electrified the audience, and was re-
warded with loud applause. The scene of taking
the poison was also given with considerable effect.
She was called for at the conclusion of the tragedy,
and led forward. by Anderson, who was the Romeo
of the night, and by far the best Romeo at present
on the stage. We congratulate this gentleman on
the admirable and effective manlier in which he
performed this most arduous and difficult part. He
should always do as he did last night, trust entirely
to himself in the conception and execution of cha-
racters, and leave imitation to those to whom
nature has not vouchsafed the gift of genius. The
stage has, at length, once again a Mercutio. We
had seen none for many a long day—not since
Charles Kemble left the stage--until last evening,
when Mr. G. Vandenhoff, on whom, in this
character at least, the mantle of Kemble
seems to have fallen, made his first appearance
before a Metropolitan audience as Mercurio. His
is the true Mercutio of Shakspeare—not a buffoon
—not a mere fop—but the most witty and finished
gentleman of his time. The good taste, sound
judgment, and deep, clear voice of Cooper, enabled
him to do full justice to the fine poetry with which
the part of Friar Lawrence is replete. The Nurse
of Mrs. C. Jones, the Peter of Keeley, and the
Apothecary of Meadows, are already too well
known to every play-goer to stand in need of any
extended notice ; but it would be unjust to Mr.
Diddear not to mention his Capulet, which was a
most efficient and admirable piece of acting. The
funeral procession in the fifth act was judiciously
omitted, and, instead, between the fourth and fifth
acts, the curtain rose, and discovered the interior
of a Gothic cathedral, fitted up as for a funeral
ceremony, and a solemn dirge was performed by the
whole vocal strength of the company ; the effect was
sublime. The piece was given out for repetition
to-morrow evening, amidst the applause of a fud
though not crowded house. Previous to the tra-
gedy the band performed Steibelt's overture to
Romeo et Juliette. We hail this as a symptom
of the revival of a taste for the fine compositions
of this once celebrated, but now too much neg-
lected composer.

HAYMARKET.
This theatre, which opened last night for the
season, has been much embellished during the re-
cess. The boxes have been re-gilt, and a new
drop-scene has been added, which is skilfully
painted, and produces a pleasing effect. The
play selected for the occasion was Hamlet, and the
principal character was, of course, performed by
Macready. If anything co old reconcile us to the
representation of this extraordinary drama—the
beauty of which can only be fully appreciated in the
quiet seclusion of the closet—it would be the excel-
lence of this gentleman's acting. His conception
of the part is evidently the result of long and dili-
gent meditation, and his execution is as bold as it
is successful in its effect. He repudiates, we see,
Goethe's ingenious idea that the madness of Hamlet
was the natural—indeed inevitable—consequence
of a burden being laid upon shoulders too weak to
bear it; and takes for granted that it was a mere
feint throughout. The text, in the majority of in-
stances, would certainly seem to warrant this hy-
pothesis; but then how is the Prince's brutality—
for brutal it unquestionably is—to Ophelia, to be
accounted for? He loves her., he more than once
assures us, dearer than his own life; and his nature,
which is kindly, thoughtful, and we may add,
lethargic, addicted rather to speculation than to
action, shrinks from anything like positive inhu li
-
manity. If we agree with Macready, that he is
throughout in the full, unclouded possession of his
wits, then there is a want of keeping—a flat contra-
diction in his idiosyncrasy which we cannot recon-
cile to any known principles of humanity, mote
particularly as his conduct to Ophelia in no wise
assists his project, for he might have affected
madness without exhibiting brutality. Our im-
pression is that Hamlet's intellect, if not posi-
tively overthrown, was at least shattered ; and if
we err in this opinion, we have at least the conso-
lation of er:ing in good company, with Goethe, and,
it we remember rightly, with Shelley. We have said
that Macready's conception istheresultof long study.
Not a scene but evinces proofs of this. His first
soliloquy, " Oh, that this too solid fleA would
melt,'" was declaimed with infinite care ; but we
cannot say that we thought it proportioeately suc-
cessful. It was too much broken up—too full of
tedious pauses—instead of flowing on in a stream
of deep, continuous, heartfelt thought. The aid of
the white pocket-handkerchief, too, was too often
put into requisition—an expedient which, however
sentimental, rather mars than assists the effect in-
tended to be introduced. The scene with the Ghost
was admirably played. Surprise—awe—horror—in-
dignation—were never before more strikingly por-
trayed, or the shades of difference between them more
nicely discriminated. But the sentiment of this im-
posing scene was too soon lost sight of, for, imme-
diately on the disappearance of the spectre, the
actor assumed his most familiar manner, and an-
nounced his intention of henceforth wiping all
" trivial fond reccads from the tablets of his
brain," with as touch ease and composure
as if he were a careful merchant about to enter
a bad debt in his ledger. This is one of those
clap-trap mannerisms which Macready will do well
to get rid of. His advice to the players was
chastely and judiciously given ; nor must we omit
to notice the unaffected simplicity and tenderness
with which he exclaimed, in allusion to his father—
.. He was a mean, v4ke him for all in all,
We ne'cr shall look upon his like again,"
But decidedly Macready's most felicitous effort was
the play-scene, where he probes his uncle and mo-
ther to the quick. Here, art achieved a full and per-
fect triumph._ His moody impatience for the moment
of discovery ; his scarcely subdued air of transport
while the plot is ripening ; and his irrepressible burst
of exultation when he finds that time project has suc-
ceeded, developed skill and power of the highest
order. Mis 3 P. Horton made the best Ophelia
that the stage has known since the retirement of
Miss Kelly. The pathos of her songs went straight
I to the heart ; and the hopeless look of anguish which
sh 9 cast on the flowers, as a gleam of half-extin-
j guished recollection shot across her brain, showed
how completely she had entered into the spirit of
the part. We must see more of this young lady,
for, if we mistake not, she bids fair to compensate

'us for the loss of Miss Kelly. Mr.-Phelps was:but
an indiff:rent appari!ion, evincing too much of
the leaven of humanity. Strickland made an
excellent Polonius. By the bye, how happily the
peculiarities of Toryism are shadowed forth in this old
fashioned character ! Here,mirrored as in a glass,wc see
all its solemn plausibilities, its rigid attention to
Court etiquette, its shallow cunning, and, above
all, its sycophantic adulation of that Royalty which
maintains it in place and pay. The heir-apparent,
for instance, tells Polonius that the clouds look like
a camel ; and the old fox of a courtier is, of course,
infinitely struck with the respmblance. He is then
told that they bear a closer affinity to a whale ; and
what is his answer ? " Very like a whale, indeed !"
Precisely the same answer that Eldon or Sid-
mouth would 'lave made,had the Prince Regent put
to them the same perplexing question ! Lct
those who doubt this, read Lord Brougham's
account of the sacrifices made by the Tories
to place—of their cringing surrender of all manly
independence of thought and action—during the
critical period which immediately preceded the trial
of Queen Caroline. To conclude our parallel,
old Polonius falls a victim to his own shallow
cunning, just as the Tories did the other day, when
they hoped to circumvent the Queen, and re-
establish themselves in office. The theatre was well
attended, and at half-price crowded in every part.