The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-10 00:00:00

VICTORIA.

Though many years have fled since the committal of
the Brownrigg atrocities, yet it is one of those infamies
which the. public memory seems undesirous to forget,
and which the theatrical art has tended more than all to
perpetuate. Possessing in themselves excellent materials
fur dramatic effect in the heartless inhumanity of the mal-
treater of apprentices, and the sad and revolting cruel-
ties put upon tender flesh and blood, the circumstances of
the reality are admirably adapted for representation, and
in Mary Clifford, or the Foundling Apprentice Girl, which
for the first time appeared yesterday evening at this
theatre, they were skilfully thrown together, and enacted,
in certain points, with adroitness and tragedial skill.
The simplicity of the plot makes it easy of unravel-
ment. Mrs. Brownrigg, at her house in Fetter-lane,
Holborn, had received beneathher roof several foundling
apprentices, comely and well-proportioned girls. Mrs.
Brownrigg's nature, however, is so diametrically op-
posed to the human mood in general, that the " face
divine," instead of kindling in her kindness, seems
to have acted like a trodden snake in coil-
ing up to scourge those around her. Like the
serpents in the hair of Tisiphone; she hissed herself into
rages, and woe was it if her apprentices then came
athwart her path. Four of these poor girls, of whom
the chief is the heroine, Mary Clifford (Miss Vin-
cent) were day by day stung by her words and
bruised by her clenched buffets and flagellations,
till Mary, the youngest, mild as an angel, finds
her lot insufferable. Attempts are made to escape
from this abominable house of misrule, bat John Brown-
rigg (Mr. Seaman), the fiendish abettor of his mother's
cruelties, counteracts the 'plans of escape. Then falls
the heavy vengeance of Mrs. Brownrigg on the at-
tempters at escape, and her direst punishment falls sorely
indeed upon Mary Clifford. The scene which first in-
troduces this suffering heroine to our notice is a desolate
apartment, with a forlorn, broken skylight, through
which wind and rain have unopposed ingress. Central
on the stage, is discovered a figure, fair of form, but
fastened with triple links to a pallet of straw, in
a state of delirium, and almost exhausted. Miss
Vincent was admirable in this scene : the conflict
exhibited in her person between fainting nature °and
trials to uphold her strength, along with her sad
prayings to her torturing mistress not to strike her
more, were affectingly and well developed; and Mrs.
Lee made an excellent female Bellona with the Brown-
rigg-whip. Meanwhile, however, a side-plot has been
proceeding. Next door to Brownrigg's is Deacon (Mr.
Dale), a baker, and this portly master of the rolls has
held sundry communications with a gabbling knave
in the evil house. Deacon, too, is a sweetheart of Mary's,
having been brought up with her at the Foundling, and
having learnt from his loquacious companion that, by
means of the above-mentioned skylight, he might Fain
access to Mary, he accordingly hastes to that airy height.
His voice rouses the almost inanimate sufferer; she tells
him she is dying; he would leap from the roof in his
strong compunction, but she bids him not; he, however,
bidding her be of good heart, determines to summon jus-
tice to investigate this heinous case. Meanwhile it tran-
spires that she is no orphan ; her mother, having grown
rich, now re-seeks her whom she cast away in her days of
10Nslt_lgoolinifiew
were
flowing
poverty. Her father, too, Richard . Clifford (Mr.
Paul), after sixteen years' absence at sea, re-
turns home, has found his wife, and, flush of love
and money, they are both intent, for the completion of
their happiness, to discover their lost Mary. As may
be seen, all the circumstances of the drama are now
drawing together. The constabulary investigators forcibly
enter Brownrigg's house, while his wife and son are at
Greenwich; they demand Mary Cliffbrd to be delivered up,
and, when she is drawn out of a black unseemly hole,
universal execration is heaped on the heartless
punisher. But the strong arm of the law is abroad :
Mrs. Brownrigg and her son, after various elusions, are
at last gyved, and as the judge is then sitting, the
trial is summarily proceeded with. An affecting scene
is here adduced, and Miss Vincent again drew down
most merited applauses by the true and touching pathos
with which she invested her part. In white habi-
liments, she rests on a couch, with the pallor of death
on her countenance, and only the faintest accents on her
lip. Sudden delirium comes over her,—she fancies
her torturer chaining and smiting her ; this beau-
tifully subsides into recognition of those around
her, father, , mother, lover, her spirit fills
with so holy a calm, that she hymns a
song of happiness,—she sees an angel in white
beckoning—she is so glad, so happy, to escape from
the tortures and sufferings of the world, and
true to the angel's beckoning she follows. Mrs.
Brownrigg now only has to be dealt with ; she is
cast for trial ; her cruelties stare her like Gorgons in the
face ; her sentence is for death ; and Newgate receives
her. We last see her in the condemned cell—the officers
demand her body, as is the custom—suddenly the execu-
tion bell peals—the gates open—the funeral cart and her
own coffin wait to carry her to the scaffold—she
turns, beholds them, and expires in a throe of agony.
Mrs. Lee throughout was forcible and energetic. Mr.
Gardner highly amused by his comicalities, and Miss Vin-
cent was greatly to be praised. The piece is viteoirilyd• attractive,standard
and so soon as, by further representations, a ligtrtleeatofectichite,
andpresentprove rigidityn o doubtey es disappears,waere favourite.imt
drama of Black-eyed Susan formed the second of the
Saville appeared to great advantage in One.
night's entertainments, and so exquisite a piece is this
nautical drama, that; though unaided by T. P.
with its glittering heaps of star-strewn
Cooke, .
ri.na ny-
o' Clock, or the Knight and the Wood Demon,—a sort
of German operatic spectacle, with charms and spells,
'd
the whole enchanting machinery of the in-
salamander tongues, and flaming eyes. The scenery of
cClloouuddsl,a na till

cautation scenes, were very. effective. Little Leyolyn
(Miss Wilton) was a charming petitesse. We must nut
omit to notice Miss Edgar and Air. Chapino, the furmer a
very promising and pretty danseuse. Her execution of the
hornpipe, and her subsequent trappings in the imper-
sonation and light garmenture of Summer, showed
great dexterity of limb and a pretty-pointing toe.
The only thing wanted to have given the entertainments
every roundness and completion, was the appearance, in
any shape, of Mr. Osbalaston.

LITERATURE.
TOM BOWLING. 3 Vols.
CoThum London, 1841.
The hero of this tale is a foundling, who has
been reared by a dog-fancier, shortly after whose
death he enters the naval service, rises to de-
served distinction, marries the girl to whom he
was early attached, and finally turns out to be
the son of a nobleman, and, after a happy and
prosperous life, dies in the command of Green-
wich Hospital. There is little of novelty here to
excite attention; but the events of the narrative
are worked up with spirit and ingenuity; and
we have several animated accounts of those glo-
rious naval engagements in which the heroes of
the last century so nobly distinguished them-
selves. In details such as these, Captain Chu-
mier—as might be anticipated—is quite at home.
Indeed, in his description of a sea-fight, he is
only inferior to the author of " Tom Cringle's
Log"—by far the best naval novelist of his time.
We suspect, however, that the taste for this sort
of tale is fast declining among us. We have
had so many writers in the field, and the nauti-
cal character in all its phases has been deline-
ated so often and so minutely, that any novelty
the subject might once have presented, is long
since exhausted.

PICTORIAL SHAKSPERE. Part XXXV.
Knight, London, 1841.
The present Part contains the entire tragedy
of Julius Cesar, embellished with numerous il-
lustrations, and prefaced with an appropriate No-
tice on the subject of the Roman costume in the
days of the illustrious conqueror. Brief, perti-
nent notes, attached to each page, clear up what-
ever difficulties and obscurities occur in the text

HUMILITY.—An humble man is like a good
tree, the more full of fruit the branches are, the lower
hey bend themselves.

A turnip, grown in Maria Island, Van Die-
man's Land, now in the possession of a Norfolk gentle-
man, weighs 841b5., its girth is five feet two inches. •

Some short time since an eminent special
pleader went to see Macbeth performed. He sat quietly
for a long time, cold and abstracted—his thoughts were
far away, among the dark Courts of Chancery-lane. At
length Macbeth questions the Witches in the cavern—
" What is't you do ?" They reply—" A deed without a
name." " A deed without a name ?" exclaimed our
quibbling friend ; why, 'tis void !"

YUCCA GLonwsA.—There is in the garden
of Mr. J. R. Smith, surgeon, of Cirencester, a very fine
specimen of this plant, with one flower stem, on which
are upwards of 500 blossoms.
INTERESTING TO PHRENOLOGISTS.—There
is a man up town whose forehead is so high that he is
obliged to go up in a garret to put his hat on.
" Can't say I admire your style of acting," as
the landlady of the alehouse said to the strolling player
when she caught him stealing her spoons.
Crossing from Kingston to Toronto, if the tou-
rist boat it, and be provided with good tackle, he will
find marvellous sport. Lake Erie abounds with a mam-
moth pike, and parts of these " deep waters" present
rather a novel feature in the art of trolling. The Mac-
kinonge fisher must be provided with an unusual quan-
tum of line, and he must allow his bait to sink to an ex-
traordinary depth before he can hope for a run or cap-
ture ; he must run out at least 30 or 40 yards, or per-
haps more ; he must then exercise his piscatorial skill in
imparting that ap captandum motion which he will have
found so alluring in more shallow water. The tackle
must be strong, for the fish met with here weigh from
50 and 60 to 801bs., and if the hand be not steady, and
the rod and line adapted to such sport, the astonished
angler will be in " a very considerable pretty particular
tarnation fix," as brother Jonathan says. A stout trol-
ling rod of the usual dimensions, with the line of strong
whipcord immersed in linseed oil (only have plenty of it
coiled round in your pocket) will be found indispenspble.
The sport is indescribably exciting, and I should say the
most satisfactory.— The Sportsman.

GRATlTUDE.—Gratitude was fancifully said to
be the memory of the heart ; but, alas ! for poor hu-
man nature, hearts are more than suspected to have
wondrous short memories.

A candidate in the north of England, during
the election, hit upon an ingenious method of corruption.
He presented the wives of several with silk flags to hang
from their windows, each piece of silk being sufficiently
large to make a gown !

KNOWLEDGE.—KnowIedge should be acquired
gradually, and by study ; for the superficial knowledge,
which is the result of the promiscuous and unregulated
adoption of the discoveries of others, affects the mind, as
the sudden removal of &person with weak eyes frona
darkened room into -a blaze of light does the sight—it
overpowers and confuseS.

Some flowers absorb the rays of the sun •so
strongly that, in the evening, they yield slight phosphoric
flashes. May we not compare the minds of poets to
these flowers, which, imbibing light, emit it again in a
different form and aspect.
ELECTION OF THE PEERS OF SCOTLAND.
—Friday the election of the sixteen representative Peers
of Scotland took place in the Picture Gallery of the Palace
of Holy-rood. The following were the Peers elected :
The Marquis of Tweeddale, the Earls of Morton, Elgin,
Airlie, Leven and Melville, Selkirk, Orkney. and Sea-
field ; Viscounts Arbuthnot and Strathallan ; Lords
Forbes, Saltoun, Sinclair, Colville (of Culross), Reay,
and Rollo, and the Marquis of Queensberry. The only
alterations were the substitution of the Earl of Seafield
and Lord Rollo:for the Earl of Home and Lord Gray,
who retire by their own consent.
USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES.—ADVICE
TO PUitCITASERS.—Never deal at a shop that has two
prices, asking in the first instance more than they mean
to take. Whenever you see a shop pretending to sell
" bankrupts' stocks" at great sacrifice; whenever you see
a shop with goods to be sold at " immense sacrifice,"
pass it quietly by and go to some quiet, business-like
shop, not where there is a long train of carriages waiting
at the do6r,.'beeause there, if you walk in, you are not
waited upon until the carriage company are all served.
Also avoid making purchases at a shop where the front
is very handsomely decorated and extravagantly fitted
up ; if you do, you must contribute to the folly of the
owner by paying in proportion for the show besides that
of the actual worth of the article you buy. These shops
aro frequented by those who care little for money ;. but
for a man of moderate fortune they are much more plea-
sant to look at and admire than make purchases at.—
Visit of the Parsees to England.
SALMON-FISHING IN THE NORTH.— The
river Ness has: lately been very productive, and has
afforded' better angling and net-fishing than has been
experienced for several years. The whole of our north-
ern streams have lately been highly successful, and
the present season will form a bright one in the fisher-
man's calendar. About a month ago the river Shinn
was producing its hundreds per day, and everywhere the
take is abundant. From Aberdeen 600 boxes were
shipped last week for the Thames, and about 700 from
Perth and Dundee. The weekly supply from Scotland
to the London market is about 1,000 boxes per week,
and the Cockneys are regaling on fine salmon at 6d. and 7d.
per lb. We may mention, as a remarkable fact, that as
the men were drawing the net here, one day last week,
below the wooden bridge, and within tide-mark, they
caught a small gold fish, healthy and lively, which has
been placed in its usual element of clear fresh water,
in a crystal goblet, in the shop of Mr. Tuit, perfumer.—
Scotsman. _

FEMALE SKELETON FOUND.—On Wednes-
day, the 21st ult., as a boy was gathering blaeberries
near the ford betwixt Loch Loyre and Loch Benvein, in
Strathglass, he found a number of bones beside a large
stone: He communicated the circumstance to his father
and another person, who went to the spot, and the bones
were found to be those of a human body. Beside them
were part of a woman's brown cloak, some pieces of
blue printed cotton and 'worsted, and part of what
appeared to be the straw and wire of a female's
bonnet. One of the men—Alexander Macgruer—
said he had passed the spot about a twelvemonth
previous, and recollected that there was a strong
disagreeable smell, but he did not see or search
for any object. Information of the bones being found
was sent to Mr. Mackay, procurator-fiscal here, and Mr.
John Macbean, messenger, repaired to the spot to inves-
tigate the case. It appeared that no native of the dis-
trict had disappeared, but Mrs. Williamson, Knockfin,
recollected having seen, about two years ago, an insane
woman, who stopped at the door, but would not enter
the house. Another person also saw the poor maniac,
who was dressed in a brown cloak and a straw bonnet.
There seems little doubt that the above are her remains,
and that the poor unfortunate had died by the wayside.
—Scotsman.
GAME PRESERVES.—The extent to which the
system of game-preserving is carried is almost incredi-
ble for not alone in the ranks of our proud and Over-
bearing aristocracy are game-preservers to be found, the
mania extends to tradesmen, ay, to Liverpool tradesmen
too, and we are bound to say that the proceedings of the
latter class are often characterised by a spirit of petty
vindictiveness and spleen generally unknown amongst
despots of a more elevated grade. We spoke of Lord
Stanley presetving lands not his own ; the same remark
will apply, in an equal degree. to the Earl of Sefton.
The latter nobleman commences with his preserves at
Croxteth, and extends it through Kirby, Simmonsivood,
Aintree, Sefton, Thornton, (a township in which he
scarcely owns an acre of land), Altcar, to the sea, a
space, as the crow flies, of some twelve miles in length,
and averaging two miles in width. Lord Sefton should
not put the county to expense for punishing trespassers
on twenty-four square miles of land. Some years Iwo
his Lordship's keeper, Joseph Warner, of Altcar, was
left for dead by some poachers, who were subsequently
apprehended, and one or two were trenspoit.d fur the
crime ; but the expenses of the prosecution were borne by
the county.
Within our recollection one of Lord Skel-
mersdale's keepers in Latham, was shot dead by a poacher,
who was never taken. In Anglesea, the convict Chubb now
lies under sentence of death for the murder of a game-
r jLeoper. We repeat, then, game-preservers should dip
t into their own pockets, and not into those of the public,
' to pay for their whims.—Liverpool Mercury.

PRICE OF WHEAT IN WALES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

send you the prices of wheat per imperial
measure at the undermentioned towns :

Merthyr
Hay its. Od. or 965. ditto.
Abergavenny- lls. Bd. or 935. 4d. ditto.
Brecon lls. Od. or 88s. ditto.

And yet with these exorbitant prices staring the poor in
the face', foreign wheat cannot be imported under a duty
of 225. Bd..per quarter, the aggregate average of the six
weeks, endin July 23, being 645. 2d. per quarter ; and
this average is struck; not impartially, but by excluding
from the list of prices selected for determining the ave-
rage many great and important - districts where the
population, and consequently the consumption, is very
great. How long is this disgraceful infliction on the
community to last ? It is a singular fact that the Tory
paper, which is much patronized by the Rev. Divines of
the diocese, gives no account of the market prices
within the district in which it circulates. If this boiste-
rous weather continues, wheat will be up in this neigh-
bourhood four or five shillings per quarter more ; and
let us reflect that although these• are the market prices,
yet if.a poor man goes to the shop and wants a peck, or
more, of wheat for his immediate consumption, he pays
at the rate of 15 or 20 per cent. more. These are facts,
and the most abominable fact of all is that the poor are
thus mulcted in order to keep up the landlords' rents.
Abergavenny, Aug. 7, 1841: CYMRII.