The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-21 00:00:00

•
u
am 9

MAY

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

A new five-act play, entitled The King of the COMillollB,
in which Macready sustained the principal
wcihtah.racter,
was produced at this theatre last evening,
com-
plete success. The scene is laid in Scotland;
a andh
King of the Commons is the chivalrous, warm llearted
poet-king, James V. The play opens in the ai asmb er
of the palace of Holyrood, where we find Mangolttei 1
mall
(Mr. Oxberry), a foolish, foppish, self-sufficientgt.n
man-usher in waiting. Buckio of Druinshorian(Ntf;
Cooper), the chief of a gang of' robbers, enters, and de-
mands admittance to the King. To m d and
Mungo demurs, whereupon Buckie seats himselef,
and
declares that he will not stir until he has seen the King.
The King is soon after announced, and James V. (Mr.
Macready), accompanied by his nobles, enters. The
king is chafed and iri itated, and dismisses his nobles,
who, it appears have opposed his wish to go to war with
England. Before dismissing them,however, he rates
them soundly, arid, eating to him srd Seton (Mr. C.
Fisher), directs him to go forth among the commons,
and ascertain if they are willing to support him ; and if
so he declares he. sill go to war despite the traitor-
nobles. When .he is. alone Buckie advances to him, and
is recognised as a "man who had saved his life from
drowning. Buckie informslim that the greater part of
his nobles are, as ha had previously suspected, traitors in
the pay of England, and the. communication with Eng-
land is carried on through the medium of Sir Adam
Weir, of Laichmont. The king dismisses him and im-
mediately sets out for Laichmont to reconnoitre.
The scene then changes to the wood at Laich-
mont, where we find Madeline Weir (Mrs.
Stirling), and Malcolm Young (Mr. Leigh
Murray), wandering in the woods. Madeline is the
grand-daughter, and Malcolm the poor relation of old
air Adam, who is a sort of Scottish Sir Giles Over-
reach, and, like Sir Giles, is bent on forming a high
alliance for his grandchild. Suspecting that an attach-
ment subsists between Malcolm and Madeline, he has
forced the former to become a priest, and is using his
utmost endeavours to bring about an alliance between
Madeline and Mungo Small, the gentleman-usher to
whom we are _introduced in the first scene. The two
lovers—for lovers they are notwithstanding the priest-
ship of Malcolm—are just about to come to an eclaireisse-
ment, when the clash of arms is heard at hand in the
wood, and Malcolm rushes out, and returns imme-
diately leading in the King wounded, whom he
has rescued from a gang of robbers. The king
is but too happy to accept the hospitality
proffered him by -Malcolm, in Sir Adam's house, at
Laichmont, and to the residence of that worthy the
scene changes. Sir Adam (Mr. Ryder), a hale, shrewd
old man, is busied with his accounts, when Laird
Small (Mr. Compton), a garrulous old man, in the
last stage of fatuous senility, full of beginnings of
stories which his memory will not serve: him
to bring to a conclusion, enters, and they are negotiat-
ing the marriage which is to join their properties, when
they are informed of the arrival of the wounded stranger.
This incident happens most opportunely to serve the pur-
poses of Sir Adam, who needs a messenger to the traitor
Lords, and he determines to see the stranger,
notwithstanding the opposition of old Small, who
is dreadfully alarmed lest the stranger should die
during the interview; and this brings us to the conclu-
sion of the first act. In the second act we have the in-
terview between the King and Sir Adam, and this is
certainly a most admirably written and cleverly managed
scene. Sir Adam and the King each endeavour to sift
the other, and albeit the King, in this shrewd encounter
of their wits, ultimately comes off victorious, yet he
comes not off altogether unscathed; for instance, he is
obliged to listen to some most bitter sarcasms
on his own poetry, which so gall him to the quick that
he is often on the point of betraying himself. However,
he at length circumvents Sir .Adam, who entrusts him
with a packet containing divers parcels of money, to be
delivered to the various lords at the Scottish Court, to
induce them to prevent the king from going to war, and
persuading him, that albeit unknown at Court,
the delivery f those packets will secure him
friends and promotion. Previous to his departure, he
has an interview with Malcolm and with Madeline, and
discovers their mutual affection for each other ; and
manages so that they shall know the true state of each
other's hearts; and then, meeting Buckie, he delivers to
him the packet, desiring him to bring it to the
palace, and deliver it to the King, in the presence
of his council, in the evening. Meanwhile, Mungo
Small has arrived, and is introduced to Madeline, and,
in the presence of his father and the Widow Barton
(Mrs. Fosbroke), relates all sorts of anecdotes of his
doings at Court. This scene, which is a perfect hors
d'ceuvre, had better; in the future representations
of the play, be omitted altogether ; it is far
from being well writtten, and is anything but
cleverly acted by Oxberry ; and the success of the
play was last night jeopardised—the audience became
impatient, and gave expression to their impatience in a
very audible manner. The aversion of Madeline to the
match is so apparent that Sir Adam threatens her that
if she will not consent, he will send forth Malcolm abeggar,
and sends Malcolm to urge her to it. Makohn, however,
unexpectedly turns upon the old man, refuses to aid him
in his schemes, and taxes him with his cruelty. At this
crisis the whole of the household of Laichmont are sum-
moned to appear at Holyrood instantly, to which spot
the scene must now change. The king, on his return,
is waited on by his old tutor, a bishop (Mr. Walton),
who tells him that he has discovered that Seton in his
absence has entertained an envoy from England,
and has dismissed him with safe conduct. Seton is sum-
moned instantly, and the scene between the King, Seton,
and the Bishop, is the scene of the play. Seton listens
to the Bishop's statement, and admits its truth. The
agony of the King is intense—he has been deceived in
one who had been his playmate in boyhood, his
fellow-student in youth, and his friend in man-
hood—who might have coined him into ingots,
so that he would not have betrayed him ; but
he will be firm. He summonses his guards to lead
Seton to instant execution ; but when he comes to pro-
nounce the fatal words he cannot utter them,
and sinks into a chair speechless with agony.
Seton demands that the Bishop should produce
the messenger, whom he has arrested. The mes-
senger is produced, and delivers the letters
of Seton, in which that faithful and loyal friend spurns
with indignation the offers which have been made him,
and challenges the offerer to single combat whenever
the Scottish army shall cross the Tweed. The King
takes him to his heart, and dismisses the Bishop to the
superintendence of his priests, desiring him henceforth to
insist somewhat more on charity, and somewhat less on
firmness. This powerful scene was given by Macready
with an intensity of passion and tenderness which left
nothing to be desired. He was great—very, very
great in this scene, and worked up the audience to a
pitch of enthusiasm which carried the remainder of the
play through triumphantly. In the last act we find the
captives of Laichmont at Holyrood. The King has pro-
cured from the Cardinal Archbishop a dispensation, re-

lieving Malcolm from the duties of the priesthood, and,
after awhile playing upon his hopes and fears, gives it
to him, and at the same time enrols him in the army.
The nobles are assembled, and Sir Adam is present.
Buckle is introduced, and proves himself to be the
nephew of Sir Adam, who, having been cheated by his
uncle of his property, has been forced into unlawful
courses; and, having made this expose, he accuses Sir
Adam o treason, and produces the fatal packet. The
traitor-nobles are horror-struck. The King opens it,
but, without reading it, destroys it, and by this act of
generosity wins the attachment of the traitor-nobles
themselves. Sir Adam, as the price of his pardon, con-
sents to divide his property. equally between Buckler and
Madeline, and the latter is united to Malcolm, who is
knighted by the King. Chivalrous—high-spirited—
"jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel"—a
lover of adventure—a poet—manly in thought, in act,
.and in bearing, yet with a woman's tenderness of heart,
the character of James the Fifth is one admirably
adapted for dramatic purposes, and most especially
suited to Macready's peculiar powers. It was evident
that he had carefully studied the character, and his
delineation of it was a series of exquisitely-finished
pictures. At the conclusion he was called for, and re-
ceived with rapturous applause; and then there was a
call for the author, Mr. White, who bowed his ac-
knowledgments from the stage box. Mr. Cooper and
Mr. Leigh Murray were very good as Buckie and Mal-
colm; but Mr. Ryder was scarcely the Sir Adam
of the author. He was an old man merely
by virtue of wearing a white wig. Not so
Compton, whose Laird Small was perfect. He was
literally "a foolish and a faded gentleman," and his Laird
Small was, in its peculiar line, quite as great as the
James of Macready. Mrs. Stirling was a very interest-
ing Madeline ; but Oxberry, as Yeung Small, was much
too farcical. The house was crowded, and the play was
announced for repetition amidst loud applause.

_ --
OPENING OF THE EASTERN UNION LINE.—We are
led to understand, from what we believe to be good authority,
that this line will be permanently opened for goods traffic on
May 26, and for passenger traffic on the Thursday following.
—lpswich paper.
[ApVERTIsEmENT.]—A CATHOLIC CLERGYMAN AND
HOLLOWAY'S PILLS.—A poor person, who had been in a very declining
state of health for a considerable time, and bad tried all the doctors
in his neighbourhood, without deriving the least benefit, has been
restored to perfect health in a few weeks by Holloway's celebrated
Pills, which were presented to the then dying man by a distinguished
member of the Catholic clergy. John Thompson. Esq., the proprie-
tor of the Armagh Guardian, can attest to the truth of this, as well
another remarkable cures that have been effected in that part of Ire-
land, by the us, of this invaluable medicine. Sold by all druggists,
and at Brofesor Holloway's Establishment, 244, Strand, London.
[ADVERTISEMENT.] —DEAFNESS AND :DEFECTITIt
VISION RELIEYED,. 39,' ALBERMARLE-STREET, PICCADILLY.—Newly
invented acoustic tubes,' for relief of extreme deafness, and when
insetted in the ear cmincit by perceived by the nearest observer—
they are entirely different from all others, and are the smallest hear-
ing
4istruments constructed—measuring only a quarter of an inch in
their widest part; they may be securely adjusted in the ears unob-
served,
and removed therefrom with as great ease and facility. Per-
inns are enabled to join in geneTal conversation, and to hear most
distinctly in a plant of worship, &c.; and what should be greatly
considered, a natural expansion of the cavity of the ear is preserved
—a thickening or contraction of which in many instances is par-
tially the cause of deafness—and by their use the unpleatar4 sen-
sation of singing noises in the ears is entir.ly c.bvlated. Alto lin-
proved hearing trumpets cf e,yery description. Iminedlatl the
newly-invented spectacle lenset are placed before imperfeft vision,
either by day iircitridielight,'that • mist' and dtillness whal appear
before the eyes is at once- removed, tray ottisct becomes clear and
distiflct, so that 'the Most aged 'defective sight becomes bright and
brilliant, and is brought to its youthful, natural, and original state.
Also the most powerful achromatic telescopes, opera glasses, and
microscopes. Caution—Messrs. S. and B. Solomor% cp,lcipsi, am'
not in any way connected with a pf_Tcou cf coo i
\
immediate rel;bbourlioal.
tnistakes, bt cantions, arid re---onlY_To prevent
th oaeuntrla•.. tit
their
'W( In
any
Palltoefbe hade at 39, bermarle-
---
. liceadilly, opposite the Tor Rotel;

21, tt46.

PRICE SD.

POOR MAN'S GUARDIAN SOCIETY
A public meeting of the inhabitants of the western
division of Finsbury was held last evening, at the
Queen-square Rooms, 8, Theobald's. road, to consider
and to promote -the objects and views 'of this society.
• THOMAS WAKLEY, Esq., M.P., took the chair at higf-
past seven o'clock, and opened the business by reading
the requisition, signed by 116 of the householders of the
district, out of which the meeting originated. He said,
few things could give right-hearted men more plea-
sure than to contribute to relieve the distress of their
less fortunate brethren, and that the objtct of the
society with which he stood connected ; for it was, novel
as it might be among the many combinations for various
purposes at the present day—it was a poor man's leigue
supported by the rich man's purse—supported by those
who desired to lessen the evils which arose from poverty,
and alleviate the ,misfortunes of the poor man. The law
which concerned the poor had undergone'a change, and
was not considered so
good as when the integrity of the
4 '
3d of Elizabeth was maintained; but still there was a
law in the land which says that the
want shall have relief, poor man who is in
and the nljret of the society was
to see, at least, that that law was administered perhaps
to try to improve the law—
working
was perhaps, if its 'orkinrPiqs
was so objectionable, to get rid of it altogether
lie said
that the feeling of unkindness—the hard-heartedness on
the part of the workhouse officials
whose duty
•
it was to administer to the want; of the destitute, was a
disgrace in a civilised country. It was unprecedented
that riches should be accumulating in one part of a
country—a country which stood a terror to foreign
nations—and that those who were the producers of the
wealth of that country should be sinking into deeper
destitution and distress. Poverty was an evil in any
place; but it was a dreadful calamity in England, for it
was punished as a crime. •It was the object, then, .of
the Society to see that the poor but deserving family
should have the attention and relief which , the. 1 im;
entitled them to ; and if the Society did not succetd, it
would not fail for want -of an effort. He was glad to
say, the press had come to the aid of the Society,. and
expOsttre would follow the flagrant conduct of the ad-
ministrators of the poor-la*. Why, he heard of a case
but the Other day. One poor man was guilty of saying
of a poor-house, that the people there were hungry, and
ate raw potatoes ' • but it st) happened that this poor man
was reduced to have to apply to the house for relief.
But what said the officer ? You must get no more out-
door relief. What had you to do with the house that
you should talk of the people here being so hungry as
to eat raw potatoes? You shall come into the house, and
you'll see whether you can't be brought to eat raw
potatoes. In the case of the Andover Union, which was
before the House of Commons Committee at present, the
Society had sent down persons to Andover to make inquiry
of every poor family, what had been their condition ;
whether they had ever applied for relief ; and where
and what answer had been given them ; and what had
been the circumstances of their family at the time : and
there would be poor men and women brought up to Lon-
' don at the expense of the society, to give evidence before
a Committee of the IlouSe of Commons. The Chairman
concluded his energetic address, which called forth great
applause, with expressing his approbation of the society,
as the best he had ever been connected with, and his de-
termination to support it to his utmost.
Mr. COCHRANE gave a statement of the efforts in
which the Society, during the time for which it has
existed, bad been engaged. He said the first effort of
the Society had been to reform a diet table, farmed by
the guardians of the Marylebone Workhouse, for the
casual poor, which proposed gruel or soup for the appli
cant. The gruel, he was glad to say, had been with-
drawn. _ _ _

,•••••••
The next case which came under the Society's notice,
was that of a woman, Gardiner by name, who was
ill-
treated by Ann Lynch, in the Marlboro' House, at Peck-
ham. That woman had had her hair torn out by her
companion, in the workhouse, and then turned out, be-
cause she had become noxious to a person at the head of
that department. The Society took it in hand, and Ann
Lynch was put into flursemonger-lane Gaol, and the case
was to have come on for re-bearing before the magistrate
on the 2d of May, but the woman Gardiner was not
to be heard of. The Society wrote to the Lord Mayor,
and applied to the Commissioners of Police if it were
possible to hear of her, but she bad. not been heard of
since, and there was good reason for believing that
bribery had been exercised on that occasion. The third
case was that of Mary Jones and Mary Smith. One
of these women was coming out of the house before
mentioned, and plucked a flower as she passed along
the garden walk. The workhouse officer upon that came
forward and knocked the woman down. Her companion
remonstrated, but his assistant came forward and
knocked the companion down also. A warrant was ap-
plied for at Lambeth Police-office, and got against the
two men. The case should have come on for hearing
on the 9th instant, but the women were not to be found.
Here, too, they had reason to suspect bribery. The
Society advertised this history, and offered two guineas
to any one who would inform the Society of the women
in question, and two guineas fur information about the
woman Gardiner. The remaining case was that of
another poor woman, recommended to the attention of
the Society, who had attended at the Poplar Union, and
been refused assistance. The society took various
steps, but at last applied to the magistrate at
Lambeth, this being the parish in w hich the
woman had last been staying. She was recom-
mended to apply to the workhouse in Latitheth,
but meanwhile, this woman, met with Mary Smith,
one of the women they had begin wishing to discover,
and it was found out that she had been bribed one day
with 2s. 6d., and another day with 35., besides artiules
of apparel—a list of which the Society had—all
given her by the two ruffians who had abused these
women. Mr. Cochrane concluded his statement by
movin,?;—

" That this meeting is of opinion that the labouring
classes, and the destitute poor, are at all times anxious
to maintain and recover their position of independence
by their own honest labour and exertions, That they
are not insensible to the humiliation; and mortifications
attendant on the necessity to seek parochial relief, and
that the parish authorities ought to be, under every
legal, as they are under every moral, obligation to render
them efficient aid in the hour of trial and difficulty, in a
spirit of kintltfess'and benevolence."
Mr. FIEIAAN, M.P., seconded the resolution, and sup-
ported WWI- many other remarks on the working of
the present .pOor• 1a w.
The resolution was put and earned unanimously.
Mr. KiTcnExER moved, and Mr. Bliss seconded, the
following resolution, which was put from the chair and
carried unanimously :
" That this meeting warmly approves of the principles
and objects of the Poor Man's Guardian Society, acknow-
ledges the services which it has already rendered by
awakening public attention. to many acts of hardship
and cruelty, committed towards the poor by various
parochial authorities, and pledges itself to promote its
benevolent operations, by aiding to increase the list of
members, and the funds of the Society."
It was moved by Mr. SAVAGE, and seconded by Mr.
OSBORNE, and passed unanimously by the meeting,
" That their cordial thanks are pre-eminently due to
' The Press,' for the valuable assistance spontaneously
rendered in recording the exertions of the Poor Man
Guardian Society."
A vote of thanks having been passed to the Chairman
with acclamation, Mr. Wakley acknowledged the honour,
and added several remarks and instances corroborative
of what had been said, after which the meeting separated.

SPORTING INTELLIGENC E.
TATTERSALL'S—YEsTERDAy.

DERRY.
veniterday he had only a
The last four and twenty hours appear
Tto have
uesdaydnisimpohste,(lof
Sting's pretensions for the Derby. O
15,
20, and 25 was laid against him,and
r
nominal standing 18 to 1
bute not very
sanguine
even of navinga racethey are
curious
to know the cause of so extraordinary a retrogression.
His decline gave the two favourites a further lift, and brought
The Premier and the Conqueror more prominently into
favcur. The betting in other respects was flat.
4 to 1 agst Mr. W. Scott's Sir Tatton Syltes—t 9 to 2
13 to 2 agst Lord Maidstone's Torn Tullock—t 7 to 1
10 to 1 agst Sir J. Hawley's Humdrum--t and aft off
10 to 1 agst Mr. Meiklam's Fancy Boy—offered
18 to 1 4gat, Lord E Russell's Sting—nominal
¶2 to 1 agst Mr. Merry's Peri colt—t and aft offered
22 to 1 agst Mr. Gully's Pyrrhus the First—take 25 to
25 to 1 agst Mr. Wall's Crown Prince— t. and aft. off.
30 to.l agst Gen. Shnbrick 's Brocardo —taken
80 to 1 agst Mr. E. R. Clark's The Conjuror—taken
38 to 1 agst Mr. Dawson's Poynton—no backers
33 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's The Premier—taken
50 to 1 agst Mr. E. Peel's Twig—take 1,000 to 15
60 to I agst Mr. Itanasay's Malcolm—take 1,000 to 15

Even on four-against the field.

We have again to remind— parties betting on the above
race that books should be compared this afternoon.
THE LATE CHESTER Cljr..--It will facilitate the settling
of several bets if we state that the question has been sub-
mitted to Colonel Anson, Mr. Greville, Mr. Payne, and seve-
ral other gentlemen, and that they are unanimously of opi-
nion that Corranna yota not one of the Irish lot.

A NEW TRICK.—An impudent fraud, by which many
of the respectable inhabitants of Coventry and the neigh-
bourhood were completely swindled out of their money, was
successfully practised in that city on Fridayse'nnight. It ap-
pears that a concert, under royal patronage, was advertised to
take place in St. Mary's Hall on the evening of the above
day. The artists announced were the veteran Braham, Mr.
C. Bland, Mies Romer, the Misses Smith, Signor Sivori, and
in the whole Tabois 50Q pertlarmers. Admission was to be by
ticket only, ss. each, to be had at the hall, from 12 to 3
o'clock. The scheme was a most attractive one, and tickets
were in great demand. One of the parties engaged in
the hoax remained at his post until four o'clock in the
afternoon, when he left, as it was thought; for the purpose
of completing the necessary arrangements for the per-
formers., having previously taken care to have the music-
stands for them placed in proper position. At the hour
named for the doors to be opened, the purchasers of tickets
flocked for admission; but there was no one to ree-4vz the
tickets, and they walked into the ball and giuletly took their
seats. After waiting long past the. hour announced for the
commencement of the cczcert the audience retired from ttge
hall, much chagrined at their disappointment, and so.mee,
not
a little enraged at having been swindled out oi their money.
There were three actors in this diagraceial affair, the princi-
pal of whom went by tlle name of Hayden, alias Proctor,
and another of .:t.ka gang is known by the name of Chadwick.
l'heliame of the third has not transpired. Twb of these
worthies, it is stated, fonned part of a coMpariy of theatricals
lately performing at Gloucester A description of their per.
sons has beep pulollated, 'which it is hoped will lead 0, •
ti
speedrapprehenaion —Birmingham Gazette.