The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-16 00:00:00

THE

S U

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.

Those surprisingly clever and delightful little ar-
tists, the Bateman children appeared last night as
Natz Teik and Lisette in The Swiss Cottage, and
with even more decided success than attended their
efforts in The Young Couple. The acting of Ellen
as Nata was most easy and natural, showing that
whatever may be said to th© contrary, she perfectly
understands her part. No amount of training could
have brought such perfection, were it not that the
teacher had in his scholar a most precocious genius.
Her acting was nature itself. The part of Lisette was
exceedingly well sustained by Kate, and Max, the
soldier, found an able representative in Mr. Bateman,
who was very warmly received by the audience. The
piece was succeeded by The Young Couple, where
the children again displayed their astonishing dra-
matic powers. The applause was hearty and loud
throughout—indeed we never saw two pieces so highly
relished by any audience. The " young couple" on
being called before the curtain, were literally loaded
with bouquets. The house was crammed in every part.

STRAND THEATRE.
Last evening two new pieces were produced with
success at " Punch's Playhouse." Tne first a one
act comediette, by Mr. Maddison Morton, entitled
A Hopeless Passion, the scene being laid in the Court
of Madrid in the reign of Philip the Fifth. The piece,
which is full of entertaining cross purposes, was very
well put upon the stage, very creditably acted, espe-
cially in the parts of the Lady Beatrice de Sandeval
and her bamboozled guardian, Don Terribio de For-
tabello, which were admirably sustained by Mrs.
Copeland and Mr. Tilbury, and will, doubtless, have
a run. It would rather bear expansion than curtail-
ment. A farce by Mr. Edward Stirling followed,
called A Figure of Fun; ar, the Bloomer Costume,
in which uninterrupted peals of laughter were ex-
cited by a waxwork shwa man and his boy (Messrs.
Hudspeth and Rogers), especially the latter, and
Martha Bailey, a servant of all-work, who is induced
to figure in the new style of female dress, which
looks well enough upon the stage or at a fancy ball,
but will never, we imagine, become naturalised in
this sober land. Miss Marshall did this little part
right cleverly, as she does everything. She had,
however, to speak a " tag" which was so vapid as
greatly to damp the applause at the fall of the curtain.
This can be easily altered, and was the only draw-
back to a rattling, extravagant, improbable, and de-
lightful farce. The plot is simple enough. A ser-
vant girl, on a fair-day, eaters a van where wax-
work is being exhibited, and consents, at length,
to exhibit herself as a "Bloomer," the
proprietor stating, that a lay Bloomer figure,
from America, had been broken. Whilst
standing immoveably and silently in the re-
quisite attitude, she recognises a faithless sweetheart,
who enters the van with a rival beauty, and ulti-
mately an extraordinary denouement occurs, which is
certainly very cleverly precipitated. To simplify
matters, the poor servant being nearly certain of her
discharge by her mistress on her return, marries her-
self to the showman, and the curtain falls just as she
hes pronounced a formal condemnation of " Bloomer-
ism." Herr Franzi Eskens, " the celebrated Tyro-
lean Troubadour," gave three songs with a guitar
accompaniment in very pleasing style. The enter-
tainments altogether, which are stereotyped for the
week, are exceedingly well worth a visit to this ele-
gant little theatre. The house was well attended,
and the audience in a high state of enjoyment at the
various comicalities of the evening.

SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE.
Another Shaksperian revival took place at this
theatre last evening, viz., Timon of Athens. The
production of the play at this time and place is an
event worthy of special notice. It is not only Mr.
Phelps's acting we go to see, but his idea and illus-
tration of the play. The play of Timon of Athens is
one of the mixed dramas. The earlier part is, both
in rhythm, style, and delineation of character, of a
very composite nature, and is certainly derived from
a previous production. That a play did exist on this
subject previously the commentators acknowledge,
and the Shakspere Society have published from an
unique manuscript a play of the same name. From
this play, which is a comedy of serious interest, it is
evident Shakspere borrowed nothing, though there
are coincidences in both, derived probably from a
previous production. In Timon of Athens the only
part of real consequence is that of Timon ; for
though Apemantus is effective, it is still quite se-
condary. Among the many beautiful passages of the
play, nothing could equal the artistic manner in which
the following dialogue, which takes place in the
third scene of the fourth act, between Timon and
Apemantus, was given :
Ape. If thou didst put this scour-cold• habit on
To castigate thy pride 'twere well; but thou
Post it enforcedly; thou'dst courtier be again,
Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery
Outlives incertain pcmp, is crown'd before;
The one is filling still, never complete;
The other, at high wish. Best state, contentless
Bath a distracted and most wretched being,
Worse than the worse, content
Thou shouldst desire to die, being miserable.
Tim. Not by his breath, that is more miserable.
Thou art a slave, whom Fortune's tender arm
With favour never clasp'd; but bred a dog.
Hadst thou, like us, from our first swath proceed
The sweet degrees that this brief world affords
To such as may the passive drugs of it,
Fredy command, thou would'st have plung'd thyself
In general riot; melted down thy youth
In different beds of lust; and never learn'd
The icy precepts of respect, but fullow'd
The sugar'd game before thee. But myself
Who had the world as my confectionary;
The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men
At duty, more than I could frame employment;
That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves
Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush
Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare
For every storm that blows;—l, to bear this;
That never knew but better, is some burden;
Thy nature did commence in sufferance, time
Hath made thee hard in't. Why shoulds't thou hate men;
They never flatter'd thee: what hest thou given?
If thou will curse—thy father, that poor rag,
Must be tby subject; who in spite, put stuff
To some she beggar, and compounded thee,
Poor rogue hereditary. Hence! be gone!
If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
Thou hadst been a knaie and flatterer.
Ape. Art thou proud yet?
1 im. Ay, that I am not thee.
Ape. I that was no prodigal.
7 int. I, that I am one now;
Were all the wealth I have, shut up in thee,
I'd give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone.
That the whole of Athens were in this!
Thus would I eat it.
The applause which followed the giving of this passage
was immense. The Timon of Air. Phelps, taken as
a whole, may be pronounced perfect. Mr. G. Ben-
nett, as Apemantus, stood prominently out; it was an
admirable performance, not one word of the biting
railing missing its mark. Mr. 11. Marston as Alci-
biades was excellent ; in fact, the whole of the cha-
racters in the play were well supported. There was
a very pretty masque of ladies in the first act which
does great credit to Mr. Frampton. The scenery and
dresses were of the most superb description. We
cannot conclude our remarks without entering our
protest against the accommodation given to the repre-
sentatives of the press, who always have a difficult
duty to perform, and therefore their comfort should
be studied to a certain extent. At Sadler's Wells
they have three alternatives of being, firstly, thrust
into an overcrowded back box, where they can neither
sit easily or see plainly ; secondly, of mounting
d-
a
ricketty platform in the lobby; or, thirdly, of stan
ing and looking at a quantity of empty seats in the
ront tier of boxes.

---
ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
Yesterday Dr. Bachhoffner commenced, at the
above-named establishment, the first of a series of
lectures on the electro-metallic deposits in the Great
Exhibition, the Doctor having drawn a brief out-
line of the rise and progress of this interesting and
valuable branch of art, in which he traced its gradual
development from the crude productions first exhibited
in the year 1839, to the magnificent display of gold,
silver, and bronze specimens, kindly forwarded for
the occasion by Messrs. Elkington. The electrotype,
for by such name was the process first designated by
Dr. I3achhoffner, on introducing the subject twelve
years since at the Polytechnic Institution, is a pro-
cess resulting from the action of the voltaic current,
whereby a metal may be deposited on any given con-
ducting surface, when a voltaic current is transmitted
through a metallic solution. The Professor illus-
trated his Subject with numerous beautiful and ap-
propriate experiments, which considerably heightened
the interest of his lecture ; and the Learned Doctor
concluded his discourse with most deserved applause
from a large and highly respectable audience.

PARRICIDE OF A RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIAST.—The
Criminal Court of Stuttgart tried three days ago a female
named Held, for the murder of her mother. The accused,
from her earliest youth, had been noted for her religious fa-
naticism, and at last her mind became so affected that she
fancied she was enceinte by the Holy Ghost of a new Messiah.
In the night of the 11th of last month, as she was
bed, she fancied she heard God say to her—" My new Son
cannot be born until after the death of the mother of his
mother !" She immediately proceeded to her aged mother's
chamber, and strangled her, as she was sleeping, with a
pocket handkerchief. The next morning she proclaimed to
her neighbours Before the Court
she called
she her " heroic
declared with 'much
e
was arrested.
bravado that she considered she had done a meritorious
thing. The jury gave a verdict of guilty, and the Court
condemned her to death; but the jurymen immediately
signed a petition to the King, praying that she might be sent
to a lunatic asylum. —Gabgnam.
RULED BY TEE MAJORITY.--An Irishmen, being
about to enter the army, was asked by one of the recruiting
officers, " Weil, sir, when you get into battle, will you fight
or run ?" " Ah, faith," replied the Hibernian, with a
comical twist of his countenance, "I'll be either (loin', yer
honour; ea the majority pf ye doe'