The Sun.
London, England, 1834-09-30 00:00:00

DEPARTURES

Lord Feversham, from Arlington-street, for Duncombe Park,
Yorkshire; Viscount and Viscountess Sidmouth, for Swanwich ;
the Marquis and Marchioness of Londonderry and suite, from
Wynyard House, near Durham, for Mount Stewart, county
Down ; the Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Godolphin Orborne, - from
Eaton-place' for Bognor ; Lord and Lady Dunsane, on a tour;
Sir J. Franks, from Brook-street, for ditto ; Mrs. Fitzherbert,
from Sydney-street, Park-lane, for the Brighton Steyne ; Lady
Lucy Vaughan, from Bruton-street, on a visit to the Earl of
Lisburne, at his seat in Wales ; Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence,
for Sudbourne-hall. Suffolk ; Sir James Riddell, Bart., from
Warren's Hotel, Regent-street, for Sussex ; Wm. Abbot,
Esq., from Raggett's Hotel, Dover-street,"for his seat, Warn-
ford Park, Herts ; Captain Price, from ditto, for 'Bath ; Mr.
and Mrs. Farrer, from Batt's Hotel, Dover-street, for Paris ;
Lady C. Morris and Miss Purse, from ditto, on a tour; T.
and E. Munro, Esqrs., from ditto ; Wm. Boyd, Esq., from
ditto, for Paris ; the Earl of Onslow, from the Pultency Hotel,
Albemarle-street, for his scat in Surrey ; J. Newbold, Esq.,
from ditto, for Margate; George Swayne, Esq., from ditto,
for Ramsgate; Mr. and Mrs. Poel, from Fenton's Hotel, St.
James's-street, for Germany ; John Leslie, Esq., from ditto,
for Powis, Aberdeen ; Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, from Grosvenor-
street, for their seat in Norfolk. From Cowes, Isle of Wight
—General Johnstone, Earl of Ilchester, Earl of Cavan, Vice-
Admiral Sir Graham Hamond, Lord and Lady Corry, Sir
Peter Halkett, Captains Pechell, Corry, Lyon, Saunders, G.
W. Heneage, Esq., J. Congreve, Esq., A. Corbett, Esq.

THEATRES.

ENGLISH OPERA.

After the Opera of the :Mountain Sylph, a new Musical
Farce was produced, entitled My Grandfather. The plot is
simple and rests upon one point, which is, however, a good
one. Sir Granville Peer (Mr. Tilbury, a new actor) is ex-
tremely anxious to bring about a match between his grandson,
Mr. Percival Paer (Wrench), and Mary Mandeville (Mrs.
Waylett), and the young people are very well disposed to gra-
tify him, except that Mr. Paer, who is a general admirer of
the ladies, is reluctant to transfer his admiration from the
whole sex to a single specimen. A Mrs. Gayton (Miss No-
vello), a widow of course, who is herself a coquette, puts the
Baronet and the inamorata upon a plan for arousing the tardy
passion of the lover. Sir Granville announces to the latter
that he is about to be married, and, having invited him to the
wedding, presents him to his grandmother, who is no other
than his own Mary Mandeville. He is distracted, and, after
having been well tormented, is undeceived, and the real mar-
riage ensues, at the same time with that of a Mr. Lanzbton
(Mr. T. Miller) with the widow, and the usual match between
the servants (Oxberry and Miss Somerville). This portion of
the piece is pleasant enough, if it were but worked glibly off,
without being delayed by a considerable admixture of dulness,
which might very easily be cut out. The music is by Mr. T.
A. Lee ; and there are several pretty songs, a sweet duet, and
quartette very deserving of popularity.

ADELPHI.

This establishment opened for the season last night. The
,nterior of the house has been repaired, and the " stage in-
creased to double its former extent," affording, of course, in-
creased facilities for the display of those scenic effects for
which this Theatre has been long celebrated. The first no-
velty of the evening was " A Ballet Operatic Romantic Spec-
tacle of Diablerie," entitled The Black Hand, or the Dervise
and the Peri. The following is an outline of the plot, as well
as we could collect it amidst the noise and interruptions con-
sequent upon an incessant clapping of trap-doors, mysterious
disappearances, and equally marvellous appearances. Azola,
a Penn (Mrs. Yates), has incurred the displeasure of Soleila
( Miss Daly), the spirit of the golden city, and other Penis of
no less influence in the celestial regions, by being wicked
enough to continue her love for a mortal, to whom, in her for-
mer state of existence, she had been contracted. The nu-
merous virtues of this saintly personage, Sadak, the Dervise
of Mount Caucasus (Mr. Hemming), have rendered him pe-
culiarly obnoxious to Eblis, the King of Demons (Mr. 0.
Smith), and his numerous families, by whom he has been sub-
jected to a long course of persecution. The sentence of the
offending Peri is, that she shall return to earth, " half mortal,
super-human," and that in this mermaid-like state of existence
she shall become the slave of Eblis,and be by him employed in
tempting the unfortunate Dervise to his destruction. She is ac-
cordingly expelled from the bright realms of paradise(where con-
stancy would appear to be little appreciated) and the temptations
of the Dervise commence. Occupied in his rude dwelling in
offering up prayers to Alla, and in feeding the sacred fire
which perpetually burns upon his altar, he is suddenly informed
by a terrified attendant, that a female has just emerged from
the neighbouring wood, pursued by a lion. He rushes to her
rescue, and succeeds in bringing her unharmed to his hut,
where, while occupied in restoring suspended animation, he
discovers her to be no other than the object of his first and only
love. As the lady had departed this life some time previously,
he is naturally somewhat confused at this unexpected meeting,
and a partial explanation ensues, the spirit being prevented by
the presence of Eblis (who is visible only to her), from warn-
ing him of his danger. She declares that wine alone can re-
store her to life ; it is immediately provided by the officious
care of the King of the Demons, and the Dervise is tempted to
indulge in copious libations of the infernal liquid. The Peri
relents, and warns him of his danger; it is too late, the wine
has evidently been " hocussed" by the Eblis ; he becomes pot-
valiant, and declares that, be she mortal or demon, he will live
for her and her alone. He falls senseless at her feet; the
sacred fire is extinguished, and the demons appear to
carry off their prej, which they are, however, pre-
vented from doing by the sudden appearance of Soleila
and her attendants. Here a colloquy ensues between
the contending powers. Elbis contends that he has a
right to the soul of the Dervise, in consequence
of his having neglected to feed the sacred flame ; Soleila,
however, resorts to a little special pleading, and urges that as
it was extinguished through the interference of another party,
the Dervise has a fair right to return to earth. She, accord-
ingly, sends him back " to the place from whence he came,"
to await fresh trials. The disappointed demons hereupon wax
exceedingly wroth, and have recourse to " the weapons of evil."
The good spirits are immediately accommodated with " the
swords of truth," and a " celestial and infernal combat" forth-
with commences. The good spirits are victorious ; the bad
ditto—to the number of some eighteen or nineteen—fall
through a trap-door, and the first act terminates. In the
second act we have the Dervise exposed to the manifold temp-
tations of wine, food, women, suffering, thirst, hunger, and
cold, all of which he steadily resists; the spirit of the golden
city again appears in splendid array; the demons and the stage
o down together, the lovers are united in the regions of para-
dise, and the piece concludes with a strong light and a pretty
scene. It will be readily imagined that it possesses no
merits as a dramatic composition ; we never heard worse
dialogue, or saw clever actors thrust into parts so com-
pletely beneath their talents. The scenery is extremely
good, and the general getting up of the piece evidences all
that tact for which this management is generally remarkable.
The machinery' is extensive, and when the difficulty and
bustle of a first night have been removed, we doubt
not will work well. Having said this much, and giving the
proprietors full credit for sparing no expense, we have said all
we can in favour of the piece. Considerable hissing prevailed
at different periods during the representation, but it was com-
pletely drowned in the general applause which followed its con-
clusion, when Mr. Yates appeared in a somewhat extraordinary
costume, the disordered state of which bore testimony to his
active exertions as stage-manager, and announced the play for
repetition every evening till further notice. We had almost
omitted to say that the several performers did the most they
could with their respective parts. Mrs. Yates looked and
played, as she always does, extremely well ; and Hemming and
Wilkinson played very respectably in the characters which
were originally allotted to Messrs. Yates and Reeve. It is
always more pleasant to bestow praise than inflict censure ;
and we therefore turn with much satisfaction to the second
novelty of the evening, which was a domestic burletta in
three acts, entitled The Chain of Gold, or a Daughter's
Devotion. It is of the same class as The Wrech Ashore, Vic-
torine, and other similar productions, which have acquired
considerable popularity. We think it nearly equal to any of
its predecessors, and this is no slight praise. Mrs. Keely's
acting was perfection itself. For genuine feeling we never
saw it excelled by any actress of much higher pretensions.
Yates, Reeve, and Wilkinson did their best, and contributed
essentially to the success of the piece—especially the former.