The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-23 00:00:00

SURREY TBE4TRE.

A new drama, entitled " Cause and Effect," was
produced on Monday night at this theatre with
great success. The piece is said to be an original
work, and the scene is laid at Marseilles.
The plot turns upon the machinations of a cer-
tain Manteuffel, a swindler, thief, and assassin, and
the counter-machinations of Estelle, a dancing girl,
who, while seeming to aid the ruffian, foils bis
plans, and at length denounces him to the
constituted authorities. Full of incident and
situation, " Cause and Effect " moves briskly
along, and thiugh the author occasionally bursts
out into fine writing, the dialogue as a whole is
close and pointed. The weight of the drama is
sustained by Mr. Shepherd and Miss Sarah Thorne,
both of whom are fully up to their work. In
Manteuffel the former finds full scope for a display
of his talents, and he enters con amore into his part,
presenting a bold picturesque portrait of a scheming
scoundrel whose ingenuity is never failing, whose
audacity is boundless, whose eoolness cannot be
upset, and whose rascality is unfathomable. Miss
Thorne, as Estelle, has to assume many disguises,
and to each impersonation she gives a distinct in-
dividuality, while spirit and point distinguish her
acting throughout. The drama is most admirably
placed upon the stage; the new scenery is exceed-
ingly well painted; and a general view of Mar-
seilles and the bay is one of the most effective "sets"
ever seen in a theatre.

ROYAL GENERAL THEATRICAL

1' UNI) .

The annual general meeting of the members of
this corporation was held in the saloon of the
Lyceum Theatre yesterday—Mr. Buckstone occu-
pied the chair.
The business commenced by the Secretary (Mr.
Cullenford) stating the nature of the proceedings
to be gone through. He would read them the
financial statement, which he was glad to say was
highly satisfactory. From this statement it ap
peared that up to Feb. 20, 1860, the receipts were
£1,382 17s 7d.; the expenditure, £1,061 2s. 21d. ;
leaving a balance of £321 13s. 41d. The total
showed balances in favour of—March 8, 1859,
£10,855 11s. 2(1. ; Feb. 20, 1860, £321 13s. 41d.
of reserve or annuitants' fund, £125 3s. 01d. ; al-
together amounting to £11,302 7s. 7d. This, the
congratulated
secretary said, was the sum total of which the cor-
poration stoodupon it. t possessed,(uear,
hear.)fre e fromuoall
claims
at
present
them on the increase of the receipts of the corpora-
tion. They had been gradually on the increase,
and he hoped they would continue to progress not
less satisfactoiily. Tie might instance the happy
fact that, after paying the Dramatic College £250,
they had £416 15s. sd. left over for the purposes of
the institution. And, although they had lost ten
members by death and other causes, they had ad-
mitted a like number, so that there was no loss on
that head, and the number still remained as last
year—HlS.
The re-election of officers, and the usual votes of
thanks, closed the proceedings.

Mr. Pugh, M.P., and Mrs. Pugh have arrived at
the Albemarle Hotel, Albemarle-street, from their seat
Llanerchydol, Montgomeryshire.
CAPTAIN M'CLINTOCK.—Captain M 'Clintock,
R.N., will have conferred upon him the honour of knight-
hood by her Majesty, at the next levee at st. James's
Palace.