The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-28 00:00:00

OLYMPIC THEATRE.

Mr. Horace Wigan commenced his regular winter
season last evening, on which occasion he produced
two new pieces ; one, a comedietta, entitled " The
Best Way ;" and the other, a new and original
drama in three acts, by Mr. Tom Taylor, entitled
" The Whiteboy." The latter is an Irish drama of
the " Peep o'Day" and " Colleen Bawn" class, and
but for the announ.cement we should never have
attributed the work to Mr. Taylor, who has given
us some of the best acting plays ever produced upon
the stage. " The Whiteboy" has, however, been
produced with the utmost care, and although the
acting of all engaged was unexceptionable we can-
not predict for it a long or brilliant career, as the
plot is a very tangled one, and the situations, but
with very few exceptions, conventional in the ex-
treme. The scene of " The Whiteboy" is laid in
Ireland in the year 1795, and the hero is Red-
mond O'Hara, a light-hearted, rollicking Cork
peasant, who belongs to a" lodge," one of the objects
of which is the delight of distilling potheen by moon-
light in the ruins of an old abbey. Capt. Trevor,
an English officer, in the King's service, is quar-
tered in the Galtee Mountains, with the duty of
preventing illicit distillation, and whilst engaged in
the business he makes the acquaintanw of Mr. Corne-
lius Moriarty, a blustering claret-drinking, duelling
Irish gentleman. The captain also secures the
affections of Moriarty's daughter, and as that lady's
father has determined his daughter should never
marry an Englishman, they make up their mind for
an elopement, which is overheardby the villain of the
piece, one Paddy M'Kew, who determines to frus-
trate the runaway match, and to rid the mountains
of the red-coat captain by assassination. A "lodge"
is called, and Paddy M'Kew so arranges that I
the lot of murdering the captain falls to Red-
mond, but he, not feeling disposed to shoot a
man on the eve of his (Redmond's) wedding-
day, sends a message to Captain Trevor not to pass
the abbey ruins as he intended that evening, and
the friendly hint being taken, one, Mr. Cicero
Rabbits, an English attorney journeying to Cork,
is mistaken for him by a lot of the boys and
narrowly escapes the fate intended for the soldier.
Here one of the best bits of the drama occurs, viz.,
the agony of Rabbits, when his real character is
discovered, atbeing ordered by the whiteboys to eat
the writs and mortgage deeds he has brought with
him to Ireland. Captain Trevor, to show his grati-
tude for the preservation of his life, writes a few
hurried words to his bride Grace Moriarty to give
to Grace D wyer, her foster sister, and the beloved
of Redmond O'Hara, a rouleau of guineas as
a marriage portion, and this generous act
leads to unthought of misery to the rustic
lovers. When Grace shows the gold to Redmond,
after their marriage, he becomes uneasy as to how
she became possessed of the fortune, and she refusing
to satisfy him, Paddy M'Kew, the spy and rejected
lover of Grace Dwyer, insinuates villany on the
part of Capt Trevor. Redmond believes the false
accusation, and casts his new made wife off in the
midst of the party who is celebrating his wedding.
Grace is heart-broken at the accusation, and Red-
mond, becoming almost mad, determines to seek
out the Captain and take summary vengeance for
the act. The parties meet at an " old Shebeen up
among the hills," and just as Redmond is about to
shoot the Captain Grace O'Hara rushes in and
prevents her husband from becoming a murderer.
An explanation now takes place, the Captain tells
Redmond that the letter he addressed to " Grace',
was written to his own wife and not to Grace D wyer,
who restores happiness to the heart of Redmond.
Mr. Moriarty gives his consent to the marriage of his
daughter to Captain Trevor. Paddy M'Kew is dis-
covered to be the villain who has caused all the misery,
and is marched off to prison-accordingly, and the
little English lawyer, to his inexpressible delight, is
provided with the means of returning to Thavie's
Inn, an 3 thus the curtain falls upon the general joy
of the characters. Miss Milly Palmer, who made
her first appearance at this theatre as Grace Dwyer,
played the part with great feeling and tenderness, and
Mr. 11. Neville as Redmond O'Hara represented the
part with his usual discrimination and excellence.
Mr. Dominick Murray, as Rabbits, the lawyer, is
provided with a serio-comic part, which he worked
out with great skill, and Mr. G. Vincent as Paddy
M'Kew gave a very vivid realisation of the part.
The scenery, dresses, and music were all in ex-
cellent keeping, and showed that the manager had
omitted nothing that could give effect to the drama.
The house was crowded in every part.

THE LATE FENIAN. DISCOVERY IN LIVERPOOL.—
The recent discovery of Fenian war munitions and destruc-
tive combustibles in Liverpool has been productive of a
greater "scare" among the Brotherhood there than any-
thing which has occurred during the last 12 months. On
Saturday, after the four persons who had been arrested the
previous evening were remanded at the Police-court, meet-
ings were summarily called at three or four places of Fenian
rendezvous, and in the evening there were assembled such
members as had remained scattered through the town, and
even yet, although the number has been much reduced,
the body is not insignificant. What passed at the meeting
did not transpire, but a portion of what was done may be
stated. Up to a very recent period the "Brotherhood"
were ambitious to have allusions made to their proceed-
ings, but on Saturday evening this view was departed
from and caution was the word. It is a fact, nevertheless,
which has transpired that all former " signs" of recognition
were abolished, and one now general one was adopted.
Singular though it may appear, this sign was so rapidly
transmitted that it was used and recognised among the
brethren on Sunday. This is one of the mysteries con-
nected with the movement, and shows how well it is orga-
nised. On Saturday evening emissaries were despatched
to various parts of the country, and to Ireland, to warn the
fraternity as to the altered state of matters. It alsoappears
that there is no present lack of money among the body,
from what source soever it may be derived, and payments
are made in gold and.silyer.