The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-01 00:00:00

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.

A new comedietta was produced at this attrac-
tive little theatre on Saturday night, which has
been adapted from the French by Mr. Leices
ter Buckingham. The piece gives very
plain evidence of its Gallic origin, and
the plot is certainly neither remarkable for
probability nor elegance. It is called " Cupid's
Ladder," and shows us how a young
peasant, Reuben (Miss Lydia Thompson)
arrives at wealth and dignity by means
of a series of very impertinent love
makings. However the spirited acting of
Miss Thompson as the young adventurer
gave zest to the piece, and the absurdity
of some of the situations and incidents seemed to
afford much amusement to the audience. The
piece was very welt received, and may be con-
sidered an undoubted success. It was preceded

by Poole's comedy of " They're both to blame,'
in which Mr. Leigh Murray andMrs.FrankMatthews
acquitted themselves very ably in the arduous
parts of Mr. and Mrs. Dangleton. After the new
comedietta, the little piece of " Magic Toys," was
produced, in. which 'Hiss Thompsim's admirable
dancing elicited warm applause. Tier " Sailor's
Hornpipe" was full of spirit, and the " Shadow
Dance" was very effective. The house was well
attended, and the audience appeared highly grati-
fied by the evening's entertainment.

VISIT OF THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA.
—Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess Frede-
rick William of Prussia, according to present arrangements,
will arrive at Windsor Castle, on a visit to her Majesty and
the Prince Consort on Friday or Saturday next. The infant
Prince Frederick William Victor Albert will not accompany
his illustrious parents, it being the law in Prussia that the
hair apparent shall not leave the country without the per-
mission of the Diet.

FESTIVITIES AT KNOWSLEY. The Earl and
Countess of Derby are dispensing their hospitality at
Knowsley Park, Lancashire, to a distinguished circle of
friends. The party assembled on Friday last, and includes
the Marquis of Salisbury, the Marquis of Bath, the Earl of
Wilton, the Earl of Malmesbury, the Earl of Eglinton, the
Earl and Countess of Hard wicke and Ladies Yorke,Viscount
Grey de Wilton, Lord Ravensworth, Lord and Lady Chelms-
ford and Hon. Miss Thesiger, the Right Hon. Sir John
Takington, Bart., M.P., and Lady Pakington, the Right
Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, M.P., and Mrs. Disraelio Sir
W. H. Joliffe, M.P., and Misses Joliffe, Hon. Frederic
Lygon, M.P., and Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald, M.P., exclu-
sive of the family circle. Major-General J. Feel was among
the guests of the noble earl and countess, but immediately
on the receipt of the intelligence of the sudden death of
Lady Peel. widow of his illustrious brother, the gallant
general took his departure for the metropolis.

The Right Hon. B. Disraeli, M.P., arrived at
Manchester yesterday from Knowsley-hall, the seat of the
Earl of Derby, and is the guest of Sir James Watts, at
Abney-hall. The right hon. gentleman is, to preside this
evening at a meeting, in the Free Trade Hall, of delegates
and friends of the Lancashire and Cheshire Institutional
Association (comprising 105 mechanics' and literary insti-
tuions), and to distribute the annual prizes awarded to
various members.

The contract for the new drop and fortifications
at the Dover Heights is taken by Messrs. Stiff and Richard.
son, who commenced operations on Thursday morning ;
the cost of which, we, understand, will amount to between
£lO,OOO and £20,000. This portion of the work is to be
completed by the 31st of March.
The Dublin Evening Mail states that the Lords
of the Admiralty have intimated to Captain M'Clintock that
her Majesty, in consideration of the brilliant success by
which his late expedition to the Arctic regions was at-
tended, has been pleased to order that from April, 1857, to
Sept., 1859, during which time he was in command of the
yacht Fox, shall count to him as sea time. This favour
can only be granted by the sovereign, and is rarely exer-
cised.

THE GREAT EASTERN. The Liverpool Daily
Post states that the Great Eastern sails to-day (Tuesday)
for Southampton ; that Mr. Scott Russell is to be entirely
dispensed with, and the whole direction committed to Mr.
Bold, of Liverpool; and that £to,ooo has been placed at
that gentleman's disposal to complete the ship as speedily
as possible. It is further stated that in the spring the
vessel will come to Liverpool.
THE TEMPLE GARDENS.—The show of chrysan-
themums in the two Temple Gardens is now open to the
public (free) every day from nine till dusk. Visitors are
respectfully invited to an inspection of the extraordinary
collection of pompones, a dwarf variety of this beautiful
Autumn flower, in the garden of the Middle Temple ; the
entrance to this garden is from the broad flight of steps in
front of the fountain within a few minutes' walk of the
larger garden, and near Essex-street.

SUDDEN DEATH.—Captain Pierce, master of the
Baron 'Osy steamer, trading between London and Antwerp,
died suddetily at his residence, at Greenwich, on Saturday
last. He was in the act of dressing himself to come up to
London to clear his ship from the Customs, when he sud-
denly fell down and expired.
SERIOUS ACClDENT.—Yesterday afternoon, while
the City Artillery Cora was marching down Holborn-hill,
one of thehorses standing at the adjacent cab-stand, startled
by the music of the band, and the driver being absent from
his head, rushed off at a headlong rate down the hill, coming
in contact with a cart containing a man and two boys, all of
whom were thrown by the shock and more or less severely
injured. The horse in the cart was killed.
SPORTING IN THE ISLAND OF ARRAN.—The Duke
of Hamilton left Arran on Thursday week, after a very suc-
cessful campaign on the moors—so much so that his Grace
intends to return about the end of November for black
game and woodcock shooting. The duke has resolved to
put down the rabbit nuisance. The following is the list of
the game killed in Arran by the duke and party from the
22d of August till the 20th of October, last :—Grouse, 916
brace ; black game, 179 brace ; partridges, 102 brace ;
pheasants, 21 brace ; hares, 129. Total number of head,
2,s2l.—Glasgow Herald. •

Bit. LIVINGSTONE AND THE MISSIONARY EXPE-
DrnoNs.—Since the last mail, by which letters were re-
ceived from Dr. Livingstone announcing the discovery of
Lake Shirwa (20 or 30 miles wide and 50 or 60 long), no
further intelligence has reached us from the Zambesi. A
letter from Kuruman, however, mentions that the venerable
missionary, Robert Moffatt, had left that station for Mosele-
katze's country twelve days before, and news had been re-
ceived from him down to the 9th August from Sieklao•oli,
which he and his companion, Mr. Sykes, had reached, after
a journey distinguished by the greatest privations in con •
sequence of the want of water. They had pursued the
tract of the other t vvo parties who had preceded them, but
had not met with any natives who had seen theni. There
were reports (according to the Argus) that hostilities were
imminent between the Matabeles and the Batnano•bwatos,
and that Pretorius had advised Sechele not to allow Mr.
and Mrs. Thompson and Dr. Palgyaye to pass his territory,
as they had three cannons in their waggon for Moselekatze.
—Cape and Natal Neu's.
COMMISSION OF LUNACY UPON A CLERGYMAN.—
A commission was opened yesterday morning at the Horns
Tavern, ,Kennington, before Mr. Barlow, Master in
Lunacy, and a special jury, to inquire into the state of
mind of the Rev. Stephen Lewis Woodcock, a clergyman
of the Established Church. Mr. Huddleston, Q.C., Mr.
Robinson, and M:. Morris appeared for the petitioner;
and Mr. Sergeant Slice and Mr. C. Merewether on behalf
of the alleged lunatic. Mr. Woodcock was present during
the early part of the proceedings,. but his interruptions
wsre so frequent, and his whole conduct so extraordinary,
. that it was deemed desirable to remove him, and he
was accordingly taken back to Bethlehem Hospital in
a cab. It appeared from tho statement of the learned
counsel, and the evidence of the witnesses called, that Mr.
Woodcock obtained his degree at Oxford in 1825, and acted
as curate for some 25 years, when it became necessary to
place him in an asylum for lunatics at Clapton. He had be-
come entitled to an annuity of L2OO a year, which was vested
in trustees on his behalf. A commission of lunacy was
sued out in 1848, but the decision was in favour of the rev.
gentleman's sanity. Upon being released, he squandered
his money, and went about in rags. He then went to Bucks,
and lived on the charity of friends, and from the year 1845
to 1855 he hdd been confined in various gaols of this coun-
try, and in the Queen's Prison for debt. On two several
occasions while in the Queen's Bench, he said the Irvingites
had such control over him, that he had the power to stop
the Queen in the street, and knock her on the head. There
being no doubt of his insanity in the minds of the officials,
he was removed from the Queen's Bench prison to Bethle-
hem under an order of the Secretary of State. When at
liberty, the unfortunate man had beenin the habit of going
about in a very ragged and dirty state—carrying undressed
fish, pieces of mouldy bread, and such like in his hat; and
his conduct generally was such as to lead to the supposition
that he was of unsound mind, and the medical witnesses
called gave it as their opinion that this was the fact. The
inquiry lasted seven hours, and was adjourned for the pro-
duction of further evidence.

THE WEATHER IN THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND.—
During the past ten days the north of Scotland has been
visited by storms of snow, wind, and rain of such seve-rity
as is but rarely experienced at this period of the year. Up
to the 21st ult. the weather had been comparatively fine.
On the morning of that day, however, snow began to fall
very heavily, and by night it lay in many places six or
eight inches deep. This was succeeded by a keen
frost and further snow, and the severity of the weather
may in some measure be calculated from the fact
that two men in their prime, but who had occasion to be
travelling in the night-time, perished in the storm—the one
in Banffshire, the other in Aberdeenshire. On Wednesday,
the 26th, the snow changed into a perfect hurricanee of rain
and wind, and accompanied, we regret to say, with further
loss of life. The foll%wing lamentable occurrence took place
on Wednesday evening, near Aberdeen :—Mr. Cooper, far-
mer, Strathern, Logie-Elphinstone, was returning from a
sale with a neighly.auring farmer, Mr. Booth. On their
way they were joined by Mr. Fawns, cattle dealer, Brechin,
and three friends rode together in Mr. Cooper's gig. Be-
ween the turnpike road and the farm of Strathern they had
to ford the Ury, which in its usual state is there a plea-
sant stream, some seven or eight yards in width. The
tremendous rain throughout the day, however, had swollen
it to a perfect torrent. The hour being about eight at
night, darkness prevented the state of the stream being
seen, and, unfortunately, danger had not been suspected
before entering it. The gig had not advanced far in the
water, however, before Mr. Cooper, perceiving their posi-
tion, got alarmed, and exclaimed that they would_ be all
drowned. Mr. Fawns, who at this moment sat with Mr.
Booth on his knee, called out to the other two gentlemen to
hold on by the gig, if possible. lie had scarcely spoken
when the gig was swept down the current and overturned.
Mr. Fawns, tho Ugh encumbered with a waterproof over-
coat, by great exertions managed to reach the further bank
of the river by swimming, but the others had disappeared at
once, and were never seen again alive. Their bodies were
found next morning a long way down the river. The horse
and gig had also been carried down a considerable distance
by the current, and when seen the animal had shared the
same fate as his roaster. The wind and rain were still con-
tinuing with great violence up to Sunday morning, when
our parcel left. No vessels were attempting to leave the
harbour of Aberdeen. Rain to the depth of several inches
had fallen every day and night..