The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-31 00:00:00

MARYLEBONE THEATRE.

This theatre opened last evening for the perform-
ance of the legitimate drama, under the management
of Mrs. Warner, who has secured the services of a
very efficient company. The house last night was
crowded in every part, and before the rising of the
curtain the following address, from the pen of Mr. T.
J. Serle, was delivered by Mrs. Warner:—
" When Bonaparte was threatening invasion,
And frightening all the old ladies in the nation,
A Mana er, tor want of audience, poor
As Joh, was told the Fre, ch were coming o'er.
Good lock!' cried he, the English keep away ;
Let the French come, if they'll but come and pay.'

Actors, are now, by a worse invasion undone :
The foreign Drama has invaded London.
Instead of paying to see us perform,
The foe has taken our own stage by storm ;
The Italian troop in Covent•garden reign,
And Jullien's baton lords o'er Drury. lane,
Bow-street, where Kemble, Siddons, and O'Neil
Presided o'er the Drama's commonweal ;
And Brydges-street, where every playbill seen
Blazed in great letters with the name of Kean,
Might well pass now for streets in foreign cities,
Stuck o'er with French quadrilles, Italian ditties,
Wh. re John Bull driven, at his time of day,
To learn fresh tongues to read a bill o'th'play.
Are the old songs of British glory dumb
For ever ? the old strains that us'd to come
Over our hearts, like spells, rais'd by the skill
Of our own Wizard Shakspere ? No, they still
Entreat, enchant us ; still his name defends
From spoil the home that saw him born and bends
A hallowing lustre to its stocks and stones,
Unrivall'd by the Majesty of thrones.
England clings round the record of his birth,
And guards the trophy on his parent earth.
The homage which we offer at his shrine,
Can we deny to the spirit, by which it is divine?
As to some humble board he'd deign to grace,
Here, with fit mates, let Shakspere find a place.
'Tis Autumn now, and Winter comes—the tide
To bid us draw around our own fireside;
Chat, read, and laugh, tell merry tales or sad;
Such as may melt the heart or make it glad.
Let this be such a friendly, warm, snug retreat
Where I may play the hostess, fit and neat.
You see our well-trimmed house, and, for your cheer,
Judge by the sample that awaits you here;
Though, as .a housewife. I'll to housewives say—
All thing► arn't put in order in a day;
One's sure in moving to mislay and lose.
Hope you—and W. Shakspere will excuse;
And, if our Company is not quite complete,
We hope you'll still find something fit to eat,
Sound English fare to bid you often come,
Join here in English sports as in an English home."
The play chosen for the opening was Shakspeare's
Winter's Tale, in which Mrs. Warner resumed her
favourite character of tiermione, a character which
she alone, of all the ladies at present on the stage, can
personate. It was a great treat indeed to see her
perfect representation of this character, and to listen
to her beautiful declamation of the fine poetry
which Shakspeare has put into, the mouth
of this, one of the most perfect of his
female creations. Mr. Graham, who is year
by year improving, and who, if he trusts to his own
inspirations, and eschews imitation, will ere long be
at the head of his profession in his own peculiar line,
acted the part of Leontes v.ith great judgment and
discrimination, and Mr. James Johnstone (an impor-
tation from the province-) made a most promising
debid in the character of Polyxenes. Mr. 11. Webb
was admirable as Autolychus—he is one of the few
low comedians on the stage who can act Shakspere,
and therefore we trust that he may never want an
opportunity of acting him. The performers were all
called for at the conclusion, and honoured with the
accustomed ovation. The piece was admirably put
on tha stage. At the conclusion the National Anthem
was sung by all the company.

LITERATURE.
ALISON'S IDS TORY OF EUROPE.
Eight volumes of this remarkable work have
already appeared, accompanied by the four first parts
of a series of illustrative maps by the practised hand
of Alexander Keith Johnstone. A better edition of
a standard history has never come under our observa-
tion. For compactness, for elegance of appearance,
and for conciseness, and yet elaboration of arrange
ment, it can scarcely be surpassed. Those who
have already imbibed an enthusiasm for the
narrative of Archibald Alison, will welcome
this excellent republication of an old favourite ; those,
on the contrary, who are still strangers to his pic-
turesque and glowing style, will look with curiosity
into volumes which, from their extraordinary cheap-
ness, are at length brought within the reach of so many
thousands.. For ourselves we cannot but view Mr.
Alison as a writer of most unequal manner, though
occasionally of great power and fascination. He has
been bred, moreover, in a school of the fiercest
prejudices, and consequently cannot expect from the
world that implicit reliance which enforce the deli-
neations and accompanies the assertions of the
historian. Among those who are not imbued with
the virulent passions and perverse bigotry of
Toryism he has long been notorious as a most un-
faithful narrator ; and hence, when the first as-
tonishment had subsided after the original appearance
of a voluminous composition recording the events
of Europe during the most marvellous half-century
in ancient or modern times, Mr. Alison was and is
read with suspicion and doubt. We are no longer,
therefore, fearful that his one thousand and one mis
statements will warp the judgment of one thousand,
or even of one intelligent mind.

ROBINSON CR USUE. 'Newly Edited and illustrated.
Mr. Burns has here published a cheap and popular
edition of one of the most beautiful tales ever written
in the English or any other language. The author
of that story was—a name dear to every true lover of
our native literature !—Daniel Defoe. We would
gladly commend any reprint of a book which is pre-
cious to us as gold (from having been embalmed in
some of our pleasantest memories) providing the ap-
pearance, the arrangement, and the material of the
volume were in any manner worthy of the subject
and of the class amongst which it is intended to cir-
culate. And yet, while we acknowledge that the re-
print before us is neat in typograph.s , chaste
in binding, fanciful in illustration, and moderate in
price, we are anything but disposed to recommend it
to whomsoever may want a good copy of " Robinson
Crusoe." We are not only disinclined to award the
new edition our commendation, but we must confess
that it has rendered us indignant and filled us with
the most intolerable disgust. First of all, in a very
absurd Preface prefixed to the narrative, it is ob-
served in a pert, negligent, and even supercilious
manner that the author of " Robinson Crusoe" "is
generally believed to have been Daniel Defoe." We
could have forgiven this from its mere extravagance,
just as we could forgive any booby of a commentator
for prefacing a new edition of " Hamlet" with an inti-
mation that it is supposed by several persons to have been
penned by William Shakspere. But—what follows ?
Further on in this same Preface the writer (a cer-
tain obscure I. F. R., of Enfield Highway), pro-
claims with the most consummate self-sufficiency that
his editorial revision has resulted only in " such
changes as tended to perspicuity and grammatical
correctness—such as occasionally breaking up Defoe's
long and often badly constructed sentences—and paring
away a few of the more g taring instances of tautology!"
After this some blockhead of an editor, with half a
dozen initials instead of a name, will be favouring
the public with a revised edition of Goldsmith or
Mackenzie, or some other of our British classics.
The impudence of I. F. R. will gain but few vur-
- I chasers to Burns's edition of " Robinson Crusoe.'
tal,

Much interest was felt in the City yesterday
morning to ascertain if the drafts of Prime, Ward, and
Co., which were refused acceptance last week by Ove-
rend, Gurney, and Co., pending the arrival of the
Hibernia, would now be honoured by that firm. At
the close of the day acceptance was still refused, but the
holders were requested to make application again.
AN ANCIENT SrooN.—On Monday afternoon last
the workmen employed in excavating for the main water
pipes up the High-street, Lincoln, cut through the am-
cleat Roman pavement between the Park-lane and
13atchery-street, and found in the subsoil a curiously
formed old spoon or ladle of mixed metal, tin and lead.
This relic Is about the size and form of a common sized
egg cut in half lengthways, and it has a shank, about
two inches in length, tapering upwards. This spoon
being found below the ancient Roman pavement
evidently belonged to a period of very high antiquity.—
Lincolnshire Chronicle.
MERCHANT SEAMEN'S ORPHAN ASTLUM.—Yester-
day the members of this institution, established for the
education and maintenance of the orphans of merchant
seamen, held their annual meeting at the London Tavern
—G. F. Clark, Esq., in the chair. The report congratu•
lated the subscribers on the improved condition of the
as)lum. The increase in the subscriptions had enabled
them to pay off a debt of 30.1/., and a legacy of 5001. had
1-wen received from the executors of the late Thomas
Ward, Esq. At the last anniversary dinner, over which
the Earl of Auckland presided, the collection amounted
to the large sum of 1,0561. The report having been
intoeina thenim Asylum,oustyado makingted,t theelve pr
more children
number
nero werelo, utterelected
which the meting eepusted.

FINE ARTS.
ETTYS JOAN OF ARC PICTURES. I
Since the removal of these magnificent pictures I
from the Royal Academy to the rooms of Mr. Coils,
in New Bond-street, Etty has made several altera-
tions, which have added greatly to the effect of this
superb work of art. In the first compartment (the
finding the sword) there has been an improvement in
the colour and distribution of light in the architec-
tural part of the cathedral : the greatest alteration,
however, has been made in the second compartment
(Joan at the gates of Orleans). The general tone of
this compartment of the picture has been greatly im-
proved, and more care and attention has been given
to thoae parts of the picture which were before un-
finished. The third compartment (the martyrdom
of Joan of Arc) has been greatly im-
proved by the introduction of a clump of
green trees behind the head of the monk, which sends
off the buildings in the distance, and accurately
marks the time of year (spring) in which the fearful
tragedy was enacted. These pictures are seen to
much greater advantage alone than they were in the
Royal Academy ; the gaudy colours of the pictures
by which they were surrounded and the dazzling re-
flection from the hundreds of gilt frames in the col-
lection fatigued and spoiled the eye, and by distract-
ing the attention, unfitted the mind for the proper
contemplation of Etty's grand pictorial epic. Since
their removal they have been the subject of the in-
tense admiration and the deep study of almost all the
artists and ailettanti of the metropolis. The
second compartment is the one we believe the most
generally admired, and as a representation of energy
and of power in action, it is very fine ; but we prefer
the first compartment—the finding the sword. There
is an expression of conscious power—of power
founded on undoubting faith—in the figure of Joan,
that nothing can surpass. That uplifted hand at
once tells the whole story ; and then, what can be
finer than the expression of high and trusting devo-
tion, of full and firm belief in her own inspiration in

the features of Joan ? She looks like an incarnation
of the holiest faith. The " Martyrdom," too, is a
magnificent picture. Look at the features of Joan
here, and compare them with the first picture. There
is the same beautiful expression of unshaken faith,
but it is of faith that has passed through the bitter
trial of physical suffering, and conquered not without
a struggle. These pictures, which, we understand,
are to be exhibited in some of our principal provincial
towns, have occupied Etty for more than seven years,
and are, probably, the last great work which he will
undertake. It is at all times delightful to hear a
great artist describe his own work ; and the following
extract from a letter, addressed by Etty to Mr. Coils
(who, in conjunction with Mr. Wass, purchased the
pictures), will not be uninteresting to our readers;—
" Joan of Arc, I think, was first conceived in
Westminster Abbey, in Henry the Seventh's Chapel,
under the chivalric banners that hang there. Hearing
the anthems sung, and looking towards the grand
portal, I seemed to see her in imagination riding into
the gates of Orleans and raising the siege thereof. I
subsequently, however, changed that subject for the
present one, as better. I thought that as she was the
Judith of modern times, her story, like my first,
ought, like the epic, to have a beginning, a mid-
dle, and an end, and, like all my large pictures,
point a great moral lesson to the mind ; viz , my
" Combat" (the first) was the beauty of mercy ;
; s"yßreehnsaiaahn,d''
sensual appetite ;
" Judith " (the second) patriotitshme
tDavid'slsses,,,chitehfe captain,resi.st
a e
evea louerf ;
" Joan of Arc," the saint, the patrict, and the
martyr—that heroic self-devotion to her country
and her Prince which has stamped her fame. " Long
choosing and beginning late—hesitating among a
variety of points of her story, years passed ere I
could fix my choice. I visited Rouen, and sketched
the old houses which were there, I dare lay, at the
time. I visited Paris, and saw all the works I could
that had been done in modern times. I made a pil-
grimage to Orleans also in search of further infor-
mation. An enthusiastic admirer myself of her cha-
racter, I was desirous of sparing no pains to endeavour
to do justice to her cause, and complete the series of
nine colossal pictures I had set my mind to complete, if
God would so far sustain me. He has done so, and I am
deeply grateful. At times, the severity of the winter,
my struggles for very breath, and severe cough, made
me waver ; but I pressed on, and God has given me
the desire of my heart.
"In the first picture, I suppose her to have found the
sword she had seen in her dreams, and invoking the
inspiration from Heaven which sustained her in this
her arduous course; in the second, having supposed
her to have been imbued with that inspiration, she
accomplishes more by that inspiration than the vulgar
expression of those human passions which actuate
more ordinary characters. This has given rise to an
idea in some minds that she is not sufficiently excited.
The effect was, however, intentional on my part • it
would have been easy to knit the brows and dilate
the nostrils, but I conceived she was in possession of
a superior power, the serene possession of which I
endeavoured to express. In the last, the tale—a sad
one—is pretty plainly told. She had called for a
crucifix—a soldier tied two pieces of wood together
in the form and gave it her ; she clasped it to her
bosom as an emblem of her redemption. In the mean-
while Father Avenal, a monk, having procured one,
made his way through the crowd, and endangered his
own safety several times to administer this consolation
to her, till she, perceiving his danger, begged of him
at last to consult his own safety, and leave her to her
fate. As the smoke and flames cleared away she was
seen clasping the crucifix, awl calling on the name of
Jesus. Tradition says a white dove was seen flying
towards heaven.
" I have now given you a sketch of their intention,
which, I hope, will please you."

COURT CIRCULAR.
Dispatches from the Governor of Ceylon, from
the Governor of the
Cape of Good Hope, from the
Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands, and
from the Governor of Malta, were received yesterday
at the Colonial-office.
Dispatches were sent off last evening from the
Colonial-office for the Governor of the Cape of Good
Hope.

ORKNEY ELECTION.
K
I RKWALL, WEDNESDAY, HALF-PAST ONE.—The
mail is just starting. The state of the poll here is:—
Anderson
Dundas ................... 50
Majority for Anderson .. —2
By express from Stromness we learn the follow-
ing :
Anderson ................ ..• 64
Dundas. . ..
Majority for Anderson ••. —lB
Mr. Anderson is, therefore, 20 ahead.
Mr. Anderson's return is therefore cer.tain. Dun-
das calculated on a large majority in
.Kirkwall. In
Lerwick Anderson will have a majority of from 20
to 30.

EXTENSIVE FIRE IN MARTLEBONE.--Last night,
at a few minutes before twelve o'clock, police-constable
1) 168, while going his rounds in Harewood-street,
New-road. St. Marylebone, discovered that one of the
lofty, newly-erected houses, belonging to Mr. Braine,
builder, No. 7, in the above-named thoroughfare, was on
fire. An instant alarm was raised, a multitude of per-
sons assembled, engines arrived from all quarters, and
the utmost exertions were used to get the flames under ;
but before one o'clock this morning the building, which
l blaze. For some time the greatest
fears were entertained for the safety of the surrounding
wrappedwas fiveeu
in a storiesgera high, including the basement was
habitations, but by carrying the hose of the engines to
the roofs of the several buildings, the firemen were en-
abled to cut off the further progress of the destructive
element, but it was fully half past one before the flre
was safely extinguished, and not until the premises were
time oc
Coroner,
0 theher . ohuetlbdr et iko
nearly gutted. The loss, at a moderate calculation, will
reach to several hundred pounds, and unfortunately Mr.
enrdDwa
Payne,
DEATHS
Th,rip
:lee, 1
t,
Brains was not insured for a single penny. How the
tools, all of which
fire originated is a mystery. The premises bad only
S. BARTHOLO-
they contained a vast number of sashes and other build-
Hospital on
laeln:ysi':Civil Service), and
oampicture dealer The first-
hb:
nteaEgeytne,
in,
A,shraetAieel
inr recentlyoiasA pi
consumed.slc,
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pi s.
besides
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a pen
itnhqeubeosdtstelsaostf eveningThomtss In
rSatb.eßisarwthoogldoemoe,wa'gaed
77,
named, on the 112th instant, was witnessing a cricket
match in the neighbourhood of Hoxton, when a ball
being struck near to the place where he with others
sTinhnoemraosfHtahrerisEoans,taglenddi6a9C,
was standing, a rush was made to get out of its way.
The deceased was thrown down, and five or six persons
tell upon him. lie then lett the field, and was walking
home, when he fell and fractured his thigh bone. He
was taken to the hospital, and died on Friday.—In the
second case the deceased, who was nearsighted and
deaf, was crossing the end of Ray-street, Clerkenwell,
on Wednesday evening last, when
he was knocked down
by a butcher's cart, driven by a man named Lazard.
The wheel passed over his leg, which was fractured, and
caused his death on Saturday. Verdict in each case,
" Accidental death."
A VALUABLE WIFE. A blacksmith, named
Osborne. offered himself as bail, at the Court of Sessions,
for a prisoner whose trial WAS put off till next term.
" Are you clearly worth 500 dollars above all s our
debts ?" inquired the Res!, rder. " Why, Sir, I hull my
wife to be worth 500 dollars at least, without counting
my property." " The Coutt is atisfied," replied the
6 Recorder i " take his bail."--.Nete York Sun,

IRELAND.

EXECUTION OF JOH. HELAHAN.
CARLOW, Auc. 28. On Thursday, at twelve
o'clock, John Ilelahan, who was convicted at the late
assizes of the murder of the late John Kelly, of K iled-
mond, in this county, underwent the extreme penalty
of the law in front of the county gaol. The unfortu-
nate man made a full confession of his crime a few
days previous to his execution, and manifested, to-
wards the close of his mortal career, some degree of
penitence for his offence, although he apeared gloomy
and sullen from the period of his conviction up to the
past week. He detailed the particulars of the murder,
and stated that after its committal he robbed his vic-
tim of about fourteen shillings in silver, after which
he put on the clothes of the deceased, and fled to
Liverpool, where he could not get employment, and
was, in consequence, obliged to part with the clothes
of the deceased to enable him to subsist. Fie de-
scribed himself, after his escape, as much oppressed
in mind, restless, and uneasy, and drawn by some
irresistible impulse back to Ireland, where he ram•
bled about the county Dublin in search of employ-
ment, but was finally arrested in Ballymure-Eustace.
He partook of dinner on Wednesday, as usual, and of
a hearty breakfast on the morning of his execution.
At the place of execution, he implored the people to
pray for him—that he was guilty of the crime for
which he was about to suffer; but that he hoped for
pardon through the merits of his Redeemer. After a
tew seconds the trap fell, and he was launched into
eternity.— Carlow Sentinel.
EXECUTION OF LARKIN AND DANIEL,
FOR THE MUR I_,ER OF MR. PRIM, THE
PAY-CLERIC.

KILKENNY, AUG. 28.—The extreme sentence of
the law was Carried into execution, at the gallows in
front of our county gaol, on Wednesday, on the above
culprits. At one o'clock the prisoners left their cells,
accompanied by their clergymen. As they walked
along the corridors and down the stairs leading there-
from to the front of the gaol, the prisoners joined the
clergymen, apparently with great fervour, in reciting
the Litanies and Psalms ; and, on the ground floor,
they knelt twice in prayer whilst on their way to the
stairs by which the press-room is reached, both the
priests kneeling beside them. Shortly after their
arrival in the press-room the handcuffs were taken off
and their arms tied behind their backs. Daniel
fainted under this operation, and could not be said to
have recovered during the short period of his exist-
ence. After the lapse of about a quarter of an hour
the fetters were removed from their legs, and the
caps drawn over the prisoners' heads. Larkin then
said " Christ have mercy on my soul. I forgive my
prosecutors and every one, and those who swore false
perjury, and (we think) swore my life away." He
was then led out on the drop, and said, " Good people,
all we have to ask is, that you pray for our souls."—

(A loud murmur of " Lord have mercy on your
soul," amongst the crowd in front of the drop.)
Daniel, who appeared insensible, was then placed on
the drop, the bolt was drawn, and in a few minutes the
two prisoners ceased to exist. Larkin made one or
two convulsive struggles, but Daniel did not make
any visible muscular efforts. From the day before
thEir execution neither of the unfortunate men tasted
food ; and they spent nearly the entire of Tuesday
night and Wednesday morning in prayer, manifest-
ing great penitence. There was a very large con-
course of people present ut the execution, including—
we say it with the deepest regret—a great number of
women and children. A strong guard of military
and police surrounded the gaol. We are, likewise,
sorry to add, that there will be another of those de-
moralising exhibitions on Wednesday next. On that
day Walsh (for the murder near Waterford) is sen-
tenced to die.—Kilkenny Journal.
MURDER IN THE COUNTY OF SLIGO.

On Friday the 20th instant, a young man, named
Mitchell, was murdered by a large party of men, in a
public-house, near Tandragee. "fis said the only
crime against the people committed by the ill-fated
victim was his having established an Orange lodge in
the district.