The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-12 00:00:00

THE AFRICAN MAIL.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)

PLYMOUTH, MONDAY MORNING.

The Royal mail steamship Hope, Commander
Macintosh, arrived this morning. She left Lagos
June sth, Sierra Leone 20th, Teneriffe July Ist,
Madrid 3d.

The Hope brings some gold, and among her
passengers Mr. Campbell, Consul at Lagos ; Dr.
Davey, of the Niger Expedition ; Mr. Armstrong,
magistrate at Sierra Leone ; and Captain Murphy
`Vie, from the Gambia.

The coast is healthy. Trade is improving at
Sierra Leone.

The affair of the recapture of the French ship
Regina Cceli is looked on as a vexed question,
and will be adjudicated at Monrovia.

Her Majesty's steam-vessel Hecla was at Lagos
June sth.

The Alecto left Sierra Leone on the 19th June.

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

The season at this theatre closed with Mr. Buck'
stone's benefit, who on this occasion chose to
do two novel things, play Sir Bashful Constant',
and make a long speech. " The Way to Keep Him,''
one of the comedies of the period that lies midwaf
between the profligate wit of Congreve and the sea'
timental rubbish of Morton and Reynolds, was re-
vived and curtailed for this occasion, Buckstone
playing the bashful man—we will not say the bash'
ful baronet—because, although he made it highlf
amusing, he by no means confined himself to the
manners of the time, or the persons represented, or
intended so to be, by the author. These sententious
plays, the dialogue of which is half sermon, half
brisk impertin.encieF, have no hold on this age.
They acco: ded with the sentiment and style of the
time they were written in, but these being entirelf
changed, they are now but listlessly listened to, or
else totally disregarded.
After the comedy, in order to give the manager
breathing time for his speech, Mrs. Howard Payne
sang very nicely her ballad of " King Frost,'' from
her popular entertainment of " Patchwork." This
being concluded, Mr. Buckstone re-appeared, andr
after being clamorously applauded, gave the folloW
ing speech in his very best style :
" Ladies and Gentlemen,—ln previous addresses, 00
the occasion of my annual benefit, I have for five
year°
appeared before you only to thank 3 ou, and bid you fare-
well from one right to the next ; but after this evening
the curtain will fall for a vacation of seven weeks, for
the purpose of repLirs and renovations necessary w be
done to the theatre ; and, but for which necessity, the
house should not Lave closed at al', although it has been
constantly open through summer and winter, for five
years. Such a long season has never before been known
in any London theatre ; and, as regards the Haymas-
ket, I trust it may be looked Upon as a sign that
the drama is not declining in these classic walls,
whatever may be its condition elsewhere. ID'
deed, ladies and gentlemen, I can never join in the
droazy cry cf that decline, for why should I ? Aud,
taking the present state of the stage generally, there is
no reason f )r such talk, for where rhymesters in addresses,
and old playgoers in newspapers, prate of the draws
being bankrupt, it can generally be traced to authors
who cannot get their slays acted, ambitious actors out
of engagements., or, more frequently, to that portion of
the public which never pay for admission. And what
is this state of bankruptcy I One prosperous manager,
Mr. Weles.er, is rebuilding his theatre. The old Adelaisi
was not large enough, or convenient enough, and there-
fore ho intends to give you a more commodious and 3
handsomer house. Is he bankrupt ? Mr. Charles Kean,
at the Princess's, places before you
.the plays of Shak-
kTere, produced in a manner unknown and undreamed
of by the Garricks and the Kembles, and his theatre is
nightly filled by admiring audience?. Is he bankrupt s
Are tue worthy lessees of another thriving theatre--the
Olympic—bankrupts ? And are we bankrupts here ? As
Brutus says, I pause for a reply.' No,oldadtiheast bapnodglieo willntle
menseecome
vethie,ild in
blic an
ything good, a
greater numbers than it did fifty
years ago. During the past season of five years, ladies,
and gentlemen, I have produced eighteen new comedies,
many farces and Easter extravaganzas, five pantomimes,
with ballets and the Spanish Dancers. Many of the come'
dies have been played for sixty, seventy, and one hundred
nights. It would be tedious tos a enusmamerpalteeotfhewmhaatlla,
sal
in
ed.
I will therefore only allude, as
sets ought to be, to the "Unequal Match." During these
five years, we have been so orderly and so peaceable
every night that for the whole of the time we have never
had anything approaching a tumult in the theatre.
but mention this fact, ladies and gentlemen, that you
may know what respectable people you all are. MY
great predecessor here, George Colman the Younger,
has said that few men glide through private life with-
out; encountering an enemy ;' but an actor, a mana-
ger, and a dramatist, accumulates fresh opponents as
often as he courts fresh notice. But though, ladies
and gentlemen, I have been for many years, I hope,
an actor and a dramatist, and now for a consider-
able period a manager, I think I have reason to be
proud. that while I believe the number of my enemies to
be very small, the number of toy friends can be knows
by the numerous and brilliant assemblage of this even-
ing. We know that compezieon leads to t xsrtion ; and,
while at school, most of us have written in our copy-
books, Emulation is a nuole passion.' Of British com-
petition no one ought to complain ; but our English
managers have had to contend against three Italian
operas and one Italian dramatic company. Whether
they Lase all succeeded I do not know, but the tact that
they have existed proves the British public may be
enrolled amongst 'the Friends of Italy,' though it is cer-
tainly not exactly right that, in a wealthy metropolis like
London, there should be three Fallen opera., and not
one establishment for the encouragement of the English
composer and the English singer. As for the future
soisgs at the Haymarket, I can promise you many ine-
portaet novelties. New comedies by Mr. Tom Taylor,
Mr. Bay le Bernard, and other well-tried dramatic writers.
"hero will also be a pantomime at Christmas and an ex-
travaganza at Easter ; and as a better company of per-
fermiers cannot be procured for the purpose of represent-
ing the standard comedies of England than that now
engaged here, there will be no material alteration in it,
although I shall ccrtaioly be constantly on the watch for
talented additions. I heartily thank you, ladies and gen-
tlemen, for your generous and constant patronage during
our long season in this The Little Theatre iu the Hay-
market ;' and though it is no longer the little theatre of
the days of Foote or of the commencement of the present
century, yet it will, no doubt, be called so to the end of
dramatic time, while my ambition will always be to make
it the great theatre in the Haymarket—that is, great in
your estimation. And now, ladies, and gentleme), I hid
you farewell until tae Ist Sep caliber, a day celebrated is
the sporting world, when, instead of bringing down par-
tridgee, we shall again assemble here in the hope of bring-
ing down your applause."
The facts here stated require no comment, and
the public perfectly appreciate Mr. Buckstone's
able and diligent management during a season of
unprecedented length.

The offices of Dean of the Arches and Official Princi-
pal of the Arches Court have been conferred by the
Arctibishop cf Canterbury on the Right Lion. Dr.
Lubliington. Thu functions of the Dean of the Arches
are now merely nominal, but the Official Principal of
the Arches' Court is the Judge of the Court of Appeal
of the Province cr Canterbury. The Court of Appeal
was founi•ily held in Bow Church, or the Arches'
Church Sancta Maria de Anoits), and hence it de-
rived its name cf the Arches' Court, which accompanied
it when the seat cf judicature was transferred to the
o..oounion Hall of the CAt-gei of Advocates in Doctors'
Coital:one. it is reported coat Dr. Travers Twit,s will
succeed Dr. Lushington as Chancellcx of the Diccess of
Lo rid on.

NARROW EgOAPIKS.—grz. Orr mentioned a narrow
escape she bad (at the siege of Luckhovi) some tiwe ago.
She was sittii g on a chair cutside her door, and was in
tiro act of teat LrAaid to pick up Klnethieg for her
child, when a rout d ehut came in and broke the chair
she was sitting o❑ without tcuehiev Ler. A gentleman,
a few days ago, had 11W his pillow carried (II by a
round shot whilst he ira3 lying on it, arid it cid nut even
awake him. Thee w6ndtrful escapes are so frequent
here that one hears the:; related v.it bout feeling much
astonishment. —Day by Day ut kuekiww, by Mrs. Ouse.