The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-14 00:00:00

FRENCH PLAYS.
ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.

STRAND THEATRE.
Last night a domestic drama, called The Child
ifs
Crime ; ar, the Village Outcast th
, was produced at nic,
theatre for the first time. It is a version of the 0—.6
story upon which the drama of Grace Mina° is
founded, and which was so successful when produced
at the Adelphi theatre a few years ago. Mr. lOgicol:
son sustained poor Yates' character of Joseph lialat`-ble,
very creditably ; and Sandy Smith, a villain of tx.,
first water, was ably repre.tented by Mr. Yarnold. u
berry, as Simon Mealbag, the village baker, was Ye%
good. Miss Love, as Grace, acted with her accustomg
care and judgment. Peggy, a village coquette
re-
presented with spirit and archness by Miss Jane Coleman
Miss Eliza Terry, as Alice Green, sustained the chßrlf
ter in her usual style. The drama was perfectly SuCe
cessfUl. The farce of Mrs. White followed, and
entertainment, with the laughable farce 01.'17e
ned
Potcha's Pets, the principal characters being "3°l jigs
by Messrs. Oxberry, Yarnold, and Rogerson, was
Coleman, and Mdlle. Louise Blanche. The house
well attended.

PRIVATE THEATRICALS. Y
p
COLLEGE FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS, TNE
,
Last night was a gala at this excellent institution•
The students having concluded the more serious label]. _
of the Michaelmas term, invited their friends resident
..1::
the vicinity to an exhibition of private theatricals, allot
gether prepared and got up amongst themselves. withoutl.
any external assistance. ,The lecture-room of the co
lege was fitted up as a theatre, the scenery painted,
dresses arranged, and everything completed for the Per
formauce by the young gentlemen of the colleg••
At seven o'clock, an audience, consisting of the
most respectable inhabitants of the neighbourboo
had assembled. The walls were hung round with IA;
merous flags and banners, and with various garlands of
evergreens, in which the Christmas holly was not for'
gotten. The room was exceedingly well lighted, and
there was a drop scene painted specially for the occasion
by Mr. Christie, a student, which attracted much attew
tion.

The performances commenced with the overture t°
The Caliph of Bagdad, which was extremely well give.°
by the orchestra. The musical taste of the students 15
carefully cultivated, and the college consequently boasts
an excellent band. The first piece was Planch6's cowl!
drama, The Jacobite, with the following cast of charec
ters:—

Sir Richard Wroughton, Bart.... Mr. Harris,
Major Murray
John Duck Mr. Aston,
Lady Somerford Mr. Ashwa,
Widow Pottle ... ... Mr. Sutton,
Patty Pottle ... ... Mr. Davidson,
nymsr.taAg
seh.
being the first appearance of each of the actors IV
••• •.• Mr. Fothergiii,
well made an uncommonly pretty La dl T, dy Sower-
tensions to good looks. All got through
ford—we have seen many fair performers with leas P
very
efficiently, and exhibited much lees nervousness than
,1
might have been expected. Mr. Aston made ::rnintear,
John Duck. He was perfectly at home in the nes
of
and in some of his touches strongly reminue-
Aiff u tion
their Partls !e.
Buckstone, more particularly in his burst of in-era bat
when he becomes jealous of the Major, beli‘iv'lt by
it was Patty he had gone to visit. This was followe- '
Tromp'
son, Politics, in which Mr. Sutton as Mrs. Thlr;
son, and Mr. Harris, as Florid, received much aPPIZilse
The last piece was Morton's farce of Chaos .
Again, which excited muck risibility. The e/eniatbe
entertainments concluded with Negro Melodies,
the
young gentlemen having darkened their TiSligeS for nee
occasion. During the intervals of the perforlMLo
several selections of quadrilles, polkas, waltzes,
e'.11,.
were very pleasingly given by the orchestra, and refr !,0
ments were provided in the adjoining room for
audience. the
Although much care must have been devoted by
students to the getting up of the entertainment, there /v"s
no infringement upon their hours of study or the gra?.
pursuits to which their time should chiefly be devoted
Everything connected with the performances was pre:
pared during their leisure hours, and the practical skill'
which it is the object of the Principal and his assistants
to confer, was thereby brought into operation.
It is always desirable to provide innocent means of re-
creation. for young men approaching to maturity. They
cannot at all times be engaged in study—there is truth
in the old adage, " That all work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy;" and it too often happens that those
who perform all their collegiate duties efficiently, and
make considerable progress in the course of study re-
quired, get into mischief, from having their leisure hours
left unoccupied. A performance such as that which took
place last evening will afford a motive for the employment
of those idle hours that might otherwise be wasted of
misapplied. We trust that the beginning which bill/
thus been made may serve as a precedent for Mull'
years, and that we may have often to record similar 0"
hibitions, so creditable to the students and se pleasing
to the audience.

Viscount Melbourne received a select party t,c)
dinner, on Sunday last, at his residence in South-Str:Z
POWER OF COURTS-MARTIAL AT CaAcovv.---"--
. Austrian governor of Cracow has published the folio
ing decree:—" His Majesty the Emperor has thought
right, under the circumstances, to ordain, by resolution
of the 21st of November, 1847, that courts-martial Os
try all persons guilty of high treason in the following
specified cases:-1. Those who shall excite others t°
revolt or insurrection, with high treason in
although without success. 2. Those who shall resist
with an object of high treason the armed force.
3. Those who being armed shall join a crowd, and 0°
obey the authorities who may enjoin them to withdro7;
or who, during a revolt, are seized with arms in their
hands."

BIRTHS.
On the Bth inst., at Windsor, the wife of Captain Coch-
rane (late) Rifle Brigade of a son.
On the 9th inst., at Harrow-on-the-hill, Madame G'
Rualt, of a daughter.
On the 9th inst., in William-street, Lowndes-square, t"
wife of Robert Frederick Browne, Esq., of a son.
On the 10th inst., at Eltham, the wife of Henry RanisAY
Baines, Esq., of a son.
On the loth inst., at Loosleigh, Devon, the wife of Walter
Ellis, Esq., of a son.
On the 10th inst., the wife of the Rey. W. B. Flower, 8.A7
Assistant-Classical Master at Christ's Hospital, London, O'
a son.

MARRIED. F.
On the 11th inst., at St. James's, Piccadilly, the Baron
Van de Capellen, toCatharina Van lioogstraten

DIED. h Ep of
Yesterday morning, Eliza, the wife of Mr. S. R. Bishop
the Mitre, Downham•road, Kingsland, aged 34.
On the 10th inst., in Lower Eaton-street, Grosvenor-
place, the Right Hen. Lady Montfort, wife of the Right
lion. Lord Montfort.
On the 6th inst., in Park-road, Mrs. Anna Brown, aged°.
On the Bth inst., at Potternewton, near Leeds, C hal
Frederick, infant son of Captain Frederick Cleaveland, Borg
Horse Artillery.
On the 10th inst., at Walmer Miss Staniforth,
On the 10th inst., Sir John Leman Rogers, -uan-P
Blachford, Devon, aged 68.

__ -_---- .
London: Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, ag
1129
No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No.,- of
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, ii the colulq
Middlesex, Tuesday, December 14, 1847.

A pleasant little vaudeville, entitiecli;snche a Mancha,
was produced here last evening, for the purpose of in-
troducing to an English audience M. Henri Allix, in the
character of Montmedi. This Montmedi is an old
veteran, who brings about a reconciliation between
a Captain Geran (M. Tonrillon) and his lady, La
Comtesse Aretheuse de Montabor (capitally acted by
Madame Valmy), who are on the point of repa-
ration in consequence of the jealousy enter-
tained by the lady for a pretty soubrette, Marie,
who has been introduced into the house by the
husband under somewhat suspicious circumstances, and
who has been dismissed by that lady. Montmedi,
who knows something of the antecedents of the Coun-
tess, hints to her that he is aware of certain affairs in
which she was concerned " long, long ago," and the
Countess, imagining that he knows all, confesses that,
some years before, she had given birth to a' daughter,
and entreats him to keep the affair a secret from her
husband, and also to seek out her daughter, of whom age
had long since lost sight. He consents, on condition
that Marie shall remain. The husband Geran, also has
,
a secret. He, too, has had a daughter before his
mar-
riage, and that daughter: is Marie. Montmedi re-
cognises in Marie a young girl whom he had saved fro
minsult some days before, and, from the papers confided
to him by the Countess, proves that Marie is her long-
lost daughter. Marie marries Montmedi, and all ends
happily. M. Henri Allix is an excellent actor, full °(
life, vivacit3, humour, and Lonhentinie. In person, voice,
and style of acting ho hears a close resemblance to the
late Fawcett. The house was well and fashionably
tended.

LYCEUM THEATRE.
A clever adaptation, by Mr. John Oxenford, of al
French vaudeville :Tiridate was produced here la!,
evening with complete success, under the title of Th.
Tragedy Queen. The tragedy queen is Mrs. Bnic..ed
girdle (Mrs. Stirling), who has, by her acting, tarp')
the head of a certain David Standfast (Mr. Parsellei
a law-student. Old Ebenezer Standfast s.
Matthews), his father, an attorney of Banbury, fore's
himself into
.the presence of the ; tragedy cill'h;
and, bearing his testimony against the iniqu'ds
of stage plays and stage players, denial'
01
what she means by beguiling his son fr°a
his studies to frequent such wicked pastimes, :iv,
to seek to ally himself with a " stage woman."
sets old Standfast's mind at rest by telling him she, eds
soon cure his son of his folly ; and when Davin "1„,
for the first time an interview with her, she rialell':a
sentiment, poetry, and everything graceful, and is 'd
coarse. and. boisterous that he leaves her in despair, The
his life is in danger from his disappointment. `to
father, more alarmed than ever, begs the trsgeheir
queen to come again to the rescue. Bridget, "pa..
servant (Miss Marshall), discovers that David is the F.,) le
tleman who had on one occasion saved Mrs. Bracegh-h, e
from insult, and the actress herself finds that he is ',9d
author of a beautiful tragedy, which has been accepted
at the theatre on her recommendation. She seeks
,r
second interview with him, and so charms him by hen
manner of reciting some exquisite passages from his the
tragedy, that he is once more reconciled to life, and
curtain falls. Mrs. Stirling acted the tragedy tltl-sb°°t
to perfection. These was a kind-hearted warmth 0
her inanner that was perfectly bewitching ; and w°
not surprised at the conversion of old Standfast from
ht
heresy of stage play-hating. Miss Marshall, as Bridget'
made much of a little part ; and F. Matthews made a.
admirably stern old Standfast. The piece was c.--
pletely successful.