The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-30 00:00:00

HAY M AREETS.

SMITHFIELD.—MeadowIay• -2110 a to 41 4s ; clover do.,
3/ Os to i 1 Os; and straw, 11 4s to 1/ 9s per load.
A slow trade. • • •

CIIMEERLAND. —Meadow hay; 2/ 12s to 41 4s ; clover
do., 310 s to 51 Os,; and straw, 11 la to 1/ Os per load.
supply goood,.and trade steady; • •
WHITECHAPEL.—Meadow hiy, 21 lOs to 41 Os ; clover
do., 3/ 103 to 51 Os ; and straw, 1/ 4s to .1/ 9s Per lead.
Both hay and straw moved off slowly, at our quotations.

BREAK-UP OF THE QUEEN STEAMER.—The Aberdeen,
Leith, and Clyde steamer Queen, which last week struck
upon the Carr Rock, and from thence fin to Crail, has
now, contrary to expectation, become a total wreck.
The S.E. winds ollast week entirely thwarted the ieffoes
Of a large number of men, headed by .Mr. Hall, of Aber.
-31), find Mir. MeLz;e!,,of et her off. Thc,
v.rt:,(l :Afore th 2 paddle:t)earn en Saturday !ore-
noon. As the vessel did not 'Can. 'either going roan or
south, there were some 3001. worth of articles for par.
ties belonging to /vlacduff, besides a large quantity of
Other good. for Banff, Turriff, tt c.—Banffeltire Journal,

r-TTERATURE,

life and Ente,wises of B. W. Ellistom, Comedian
By George Raymond, author of •' "Drafts for
Acceptance," &c. kc. itoutleciga. and Co., Far-
.

ringd on- street.
The name of Robert William Elliston i 3 a dear
and familiar one to all the lovers of the drama, and
marked in the Thespian System as a " bright, par-
ticular star," which shed a memorable brilliancy on
the age of its ascendancy. He was the first come-
dian of his time, a sound tragedian, and, when
he chose to "wear motley," an exce'lenr. buffoon.
Few men save Elliston could play the role which
he filled with such fascinating and masterly apti-
tude. One night Lord Ogleby, the n'xt Macbeth ;
followed in succ,s,sion by Hamlet, Rang r, Richard
the Third, Rollo, Mercutio, Harlequin, and even
Clown at a pinch—all acted to perfection, and
eliciting clamorous applause from crammed audi-
ence'. It was our fortune to see him once, and
once only, at the close of his career, in the character
of Charles Surface. We were very young, but
such was the impression he made on our opening
mind by his finished performance, that to this rile-
merit we experience an obs-inate conviction that
we have never "looked on his like again" in the
assumption of the g.cinerous gentlemanlike spend-
thrift ; and we have often regretted that we did
not live earlier to have enjoyed a stronger "taste
of la's qually."
This volume is replete with the mingled yarn of
an actor's life. Letters and correspondence in con-
nex'on with Elliston, original anecdotes of himself
and the surrounding "greatnesses" of his day, inci-
dents and adventures of stirring and powerful cha-
racter, are plentifully and ably given. Moreover,
his individual habits, virties, and failings are justly
set forth and commented on, alike untinged with
the glowing inflation of partial enthusiasm and the
dark bitterness of uusympathising prejudice. Mr.
Raymond has done his work well. He begins with
Ellistori's birth on the 7th of April, 1774, in
Orange-street, Bloomsbury, and ends with his
death on the Bth of July, 1831, in Great Surrey-
street, Blackfriars, filling upwards of 400 pages
with valuab'e and entertaining matter. We cannot
resist giving an extract or two, though we cannot
possibly do justice to the work in our limited
space.

Thu following elviract9ristie of our " fanner
king," George the Tniri, and our el;nrer aetor

Elliston had acted this .season at Weymouth, a place
to which the King was Ext.remely partial, and where it
was no unusual thing for him to talc, his stroll, unat-
tended. 01 the morning of Elliston's beneti', he had
been enjoying one of these afternoon wanderings, when
rain coming on just as he was passing the theatre-door,
in he went, and finding no one immediately at hand,
proceeded at once to the royal boz, and seated himself
in his own chair.

The dim daylight of the theatre, and slight fatigue,
which exercise bad occasioned, induced an inciina,ion to
drowiiness. His Majesty, in fact, fell into!' comfortable
doze, which presently became a sound sleep. In the
mean time, Lord Towushend, who had encountered
Rai:sten in the neighbourhood, inquired whether ho had
seen the King, as his Majesty had nut been at the palace
since his three o'cloc% dinner ; and it being then nearly
five, the Qseen and princesses were in some little
aneety about him. But his lordship gaining no direc-
tion from the dramatic star, pursued his object in another
course.

Eliiston, now making his way to the theatre for the
purpose of superintending all things necessary for the re-
ception of his august -patrons, went straignt into the
King's box ; and on perceiving a man fast asleep in his
Majesty's chair, was about recalling him to bis senses,
in no gent]- manner, when, very fonuna.ttly, ho recog-
niz-d the King himself.
What was to be done! Eliiston could not presume
to wake his Majesty—to approach him—to speak to him
—touch him, impossible ! aid yet something was neces-
sary to be attempted, as it was now time the theatre
shou'd be lit.

Elliston hit on the following expedient ; taking up a
violin, from the orchestra, he stepped into the pi', and
',lacing him-telf just beneath his truly exalted guest,
struck up, dokmenie, "God Save the King !" The
expedient bad the desired effect : the royal sleeper was
gently loosened from the spell which had blund him ;
and awaking, up he sprang, and, staring the genuflecting
comedian full in the face, exclaimed, " Hey ! bey ! hey !"
what, what ! O'a, yes ! I see, Ellston—::a ! ha ! rain
came on—took a seat—took a nap. What's o'clock ?"
" Approaching six, your Majesty:" •
"Sx!--six o'clock I" interrupted the King. " Send
to her Majesty—say I'm here. Stay—stay—this wig
won't do,—eh, eh ? Don't keep the people waiting—
li;ht up--light up—let 'em in—let 'em in—ha! ha! fast
asleep.—Play well to-night, Elliston I Great favourite
with the Qaeen. Let 'em in—let 'em in."
The house was presently illuminated—messengers
were sent off to the royal party, which, in a short lapse
of time, reached the theatre. E.li,ton then quitted the
side of his most affable monarch ; and dressing himself
in five minutes for his part in the drama, went through
his besinees with bounding epifit ; nor was his glee at
all diminished, when, on attending the royal visitors to
their carriage, the King once more nodded his head,
saying, "Fast asleep, eh, Elston !—fast asleep !"
We meet with rather a cur:ous composition of
Edmund Kean's, acld.rassei to Elliston, betraying
th,t the "green-eyed monster" proves rather
savagely about the buskins and "footlights."

" Rothsay, Isle of Bute, Oetobor 23.
"Elliston,—l cannot be in London till Monday, tho
11th of next month. Advertise me for Richard on that
night; you must forgive roy being jealous of my hard•
earned laurels. Young has many advantages that I have
not—a commanding figure, sonorous voice, and above
ail, lordly connections ; I kick all such pests to -the
devil, for I hate a lord. I am, therefore, coming to
meet an opposition made up of my own enemies
(which, like locusts, almost darken the sun), Mr.
Young's friends, and his very great abilities—with
nothing but humlle genius to support me,—.l mere
ephemeron, at the command of caprice—the same
breath that nourishes the flame this day, t3-morrow
puts it out.—Aut Omar act nullas, is my text. If I
become secondary in any point of view, I shrink into
absolute insignificance.
"I have taken a house in Scotland, for the purpose of
retirement with my family at the termination of my en-
gagements, and all I ask of you is, to let me go with my
reputation undiminished. As the Covent-garden hero
comes upon my ground the challenger, I have doubtless
my choice of weapons ; be must play lago before I act
Jaffier. lam told he is wonderfully great in Pierre ; if
so, lam beaten: This must not be. I cannot bear it.
I would rather go in chains to Botany Biy. lam not
ashamed to say, lam afraid of the contest. Will you
take the thousand pounds, and dismiss me!
"Eiliston, my dear Etiston, I know you. I see the
deep entangled web you have extended for me ; but that
Providence which has guided me through all the perils
of worldly chicanery fights for me now, and will defeat
the plot, though Coutts's Bank flowed into the coffin of
my enemy, and its suite composed of lords and
auctioneers.—Yours,

"E. KEAN."
Here is a lesson in Cupidezn economy for the benefit
of all frugal Strephous—
Mundeo's eccentricities, and his tendency to parsi-
mony, are well known. The folloeiug is a little
amusing trait of bis besetting foibleasc
Not very many years before his retirement, Munden
fancied himself in love ; the otject of his sly passion
being a country actress. The role of a lover on the
stage of life is always, more or less, an expensive part to
play—a feature as unpalatable to our friend, Joe Mun-
den, as to any perhaps who had stepped forward in the
character. Amongst other things, he announced to his
mistress that he was anxious to possess her likeness, in
the form of a miniature, and requested the would make
him happy by giving the limner a sitting.
But the history of the portrait was this ; Munden had
had in his possession, time out of mind, a little old
miniature of some obsolete relation of his own, in the
costume of the year '45. This miniature was liberated
from its thin wiry frame, and put into the hands of a
young friend, an artist,—"just to alter the features," as
poor Joe observed, to resemble the lady who would sit
to him. This order was given with great secrecy, and '
duly executed.
Tne article being now replaced in its fragile frame,
and brushed up a bit, with the finger of an old glove,
Munden carries it, in topping ecstacy, to his lady-love.
"See cried he, " here it is ! and what a likeness !
My friend is a genius, I assure you—only one sitting !
and see how perfect I —what a likeness ! The old cos-
tume," added be, cunningly, "is more picturesque than
the silly attire of the present day, so I have had you
painted as one of the beauties of the Court of George the
Second." Mundell died in February, 1832.
The learned in gastronomy may be amused by the
particulars of a lady's "dietetics" as detailed here.
Amongst the heavenly bodies, which at this period
were noticed in the Brummagem hemisphere, was the
luminary Allsop, daughter of Mrs. Jordan.
During her sojourn at the above town, Mrs. Allsop
took up her quarters at the "Flea and Chickens," and
at the expiration of three weeks, her " little account"
amounted to 401. Feeling "astonished beyond mea
sure" at this sure total, for the mere necessaries of a
lone woman, Mrs. Allsop applied to Elliston to tax the
bill, On investigation it appeared the menage had been
ordered as follows :—Breakfast, composed of a roast
cbickea (one perhaps especially picked from the firm),
barn, eggs, boiled mushbrooms, honey, and Scotch
cake. This was fcllowed by a meridian lunch of
cold partridge and noyeau, which two meals con-
stituted the first act of the Lenten day, before re-
hearsal at the theatre. At four o'clock Mrs.
Allsop dined—a repast, whereof " the order of the
course" consisted of all delicacies of the season, and
expensive specialties. The hot lobster was charged six
sbilliegs ; the cool cucumber, fain.; the diurnal bottle of
Madeira, ten ; and the port wine, seven ; fresh straw-
berries and preserved cherries bad due consideration.
After the play, Mrs. Allsopp supped—supper was her
"favourite meal," for she had mere time for its discus-
sion. Broiled kidneys, grilled bones, and brandy and
water, were deemed sustaining alter the excitement of
acting ; and on one occasion, Mrs. Allsopp having found
herself indisposed, a few extra articles were in requisi-
tion.

Offering our warm thanks to Mr. George Ray-
mond for these able memoirs of " the joyou--est of
once embodied spirits," and to George Crwkshank
and " Phiz* for the capital illustrations accompany-
ing them ; we can but cordially commend the ex-
tremely cheap volume to an appreciAting public,

and conclude our notica with ills author's final
words—

In the " business" of the stage, Elliston was always
popular. He was, what is called a "fair actor,"—never
appropriating the scenic effects of others, but always
playing in such a manner as might bring into best opera-
tion the professional merits of those around him. This
fact, and a total abeende of jealousy towards rising actors,
rendered him always popular with his brethren. One
thing further we may be permitted to observe (for with
those at all acquainted with theatrics, life, it will doubt-
less be a claim to commendation) : Ellistou never was
guilty of the coarse and ungentlemanly act (to say the
least of it) of common swearing. No one ever heard an
oath pass his lips ; and though be lived in too great
neglect of religious observances, no man was readier to
respect those of better example than himself, and be was
the very ast to treat with levity any question t,f a sacred
nature.

We may, in fine, term him as a kind of dramatic Alci-
biades ; great vereat lity, eccentric enterprif.e, strange
inconsistcncies, with a fervent devotion to the puldic
duties to which fortune had called him, constituted hina
in his time, if not an exemplary general, at least a bril-
liant soldier.

The Fr SS and the Public Service. By a Distin-
guished Writer. Routlodge and Co.
Thera is a large amount of truthful and powerful
wr:ting in this work, whether the author be dis-
tinguiAhed or not. He handles subject 4 of impor-
tant and vital interest to the pub!ic, under the
headings of " Liberty of the Press," " Anonymous
Writing," " Personalities," " Offical Secrets,"
ttc. We are not prepared to admit all the writer
advances, but we are far less able to refute the pre-
ponderance of his arguments and assertions. Most
of his opinions are clear, dtcided, and just; and a
liberal tone, combining popular sense and constitu-
tional policy, pervades the whole of the work. Few
of our readers will deny the plain accuracy of this
statement :

"Let an English Government always take care to
make its administration correspond with the true spirit
of the constitution, end nothing will ever endanger it.
Let It seek to maintain abu.es by severity and coercion,
-neither laws nor arms will long support it. It is never
in such fear of being brought into ridicule and contempt
as when disfigured by the indiscreet zeal of ignorance
and fanaticism. It had better adopt almost any counsel
of conduct than that which shows it in no other light
than tains punishing, and restraining."
"If Government suffers sometimes severely from the
effects of popular ignorance, this arises simply because
it has taken away the key of knowledge. If it is ever
assaaed with blind fury, that is only because it has re-
quired an equally blind submission. The people are
generally right in their disputes with Government; they
have no interest in disorder. Whenever, therefore, they
make complaint, they should be heard at least with re
spectful attention. If they judge one way and Govern-
ment another, it is the duty of a representative ministry
to accept the judgment of their countrymen. If they
have any objections to offer, the pen should settle the
controversy, not the sword. Power applied to influence
opinion is inerely a means of upholding fallacies, and
no Euglihh GovernMent will surely profess to study
Arbuthnot's art of convincing people of salutary false-
hoods for some good end.' Slould they do so, "it wilt be
well to keep their design a profound secret, for the people
will naturally ask, To what end ? To an end which ap-
pears good in the eyes of authority or in the eyes of the
people ? The Opposition also in such a case would be
entitled to ask whether the right of coining political
falsehoods was a monopoly belonging exclusively to the
Government, as the right of printing almanacs was for-
merly reserved to the universities."
In a very competent essay on " Public Service,
speaking of promotion, the author says
" The man who first pulls down the house of fraud and
nonsense; who seeks to bottom his reputation upon
doing good ; who uses the gifts of reason and the efforts
of genius to rectify those evils which all the genius and
talent of his profession have previously been employed to
support and protect ; who turns jobbers into honest
men, scares away the plunderers of the public; and is a
terror to wrong-doers ; such a man is surely the fittest
man who can be chosen for advancement.

" The hope of renown is the instinct of great souls.
Are public ser►ants to be taught that for them the tem-
ple of Fame shall be merely an inner chamber in the
palace of Indolence I Away with so enervating a cheat.
Toe shortest road to riches and preferment should be
over the straight rough way of toil and thought."

' A chapter on " Subordination " conveys some
valuable discussion on palpab'e facts—too lately
and too-frightfully illustrated. ; and we regret we
cannot afford epace fur a more lengthy extract than
the following :

"Men placed in situations for which the strongest
talents wonld not be more than adequate, have fre-
quently no talent at all. The furniture of their minds
is often made up of discordant prejudices ; and they fol-
low that prejudice by which their interest or the gratifi-
cation of their humour for the moment is most promoted.
So won as an employment becomes a source of conside-
ration and of power, it is sought atter, bought and sold,
or tricked and intrigued away by sharpers who have
neither inclination nor power to render themselves use-
ful in it. Such places are the mere appanage of jobbery,
or even the prize cf some act too shocking to speak of.
So snugly have matters been managed by jobbers, that
some of the most considerable offices in our empire are
not less clear of obligation than a seat at the opera.
When they have been begged or bought. all the occu-
pants 'ewe to do, after they have once taken possession,
is to enjoy.
"Such persons may exercise their power, without the
smallest regard for'the public welfare, in whatever man-
ner may be most agreeable or convenient to themselves;
and it is the influence they exercise, and the use to
which their influence is put, which constitutes the great
political disease of our times, and which must ultimately
being about some sweeping reform as a remedy.
"It is impoivible to feel respect for a man merely be-
cauie he fills high office under such circumstances as
these. It is a melancholy thing enough to see some mean
and cunning intriguer fed and lodged at the public ex-
pense, endowed with a rich portion of the product of
other men's industry, using all the influence of a great
situation, perhaps. to deepen the ignorance and inflame
the fury of his fell )w-creatures. It is sad enough to
know, that in times of trouble and difficulty, the greatest
obstacle in the way of every settlement will be found in
those to whose counsels the country ought to look for
dignity and peace; There is something quite revolting
in the power given to such men. Officials, who have
with the utmost influence and in the face of day com-
mitted the worst acts of injustice and oppression, whose
incapacity has been repeatedly testified by the grossest
blunders, may unblushingly avow their guilt and inca-
pacity, and punish any ono who has conscientiously ex-
posed it to the country. They have persecuted such
men with a cold-blooded ferocity, the more determined
because they have been conscious that the truth only
has been proclaimed against them.
" But shall the nation look on approvingly while
criminals are protected from the slightest breath of cen-
sure, and their accusers, wh ) have gallantly risked every-
thing to bring them to justice or stay their mad career,
are put to the rack with impunity 1"

The Night Side of London. By D. Ewing Ritrohie.

iweedie : strand.

The night side of London is doubtless dark
enough ; but we trust that Mr. Ritchie's general
denunciatory tone is somewhat exaggerated by the
"one idea" which evidently occupies his brain and
rules his pen—viz., that no source of sorrow, suf-
fering, or wickedness exists, save in " drink." If
our author pursues his well-intentioned subject with
more expansive perceptions and deductions he will
probably arrive at numerous ethical points of poli-
tical and educational defalcations which demand
the first and fullest attention of all true " re-
formers of the people." Mr. Ritchie very justly
deplores and condemns the moral fungi of intem-
perance, but appears not to notice the more latent
social heap of foul subsoil which promotes the poi-
sonous growth. The advancement of " Teeto-
talism" is unquestionably the aim of this little
work •, but we have a notion that far more power-
ful and practical levers must be applied to raise
the mass of our population, before public-houses,
police-courts, and lunatic asylums will become
tenantless.

Wild Adventures in Australia and New South
Wales. By Frederic De Brebant Cooper.
James Blackwood, Paternoster-row.
This little volume contains some startling inci-
dents by sea ; and more, scarcely less startling, by
land, in the northern part of Australia, where the
remains of the Aborigines are still met, and afford
ample opportunity for the full gratification of those
who are eager to seek a strange and exciting exis-
tence iu far-off lands. Hunting, fighting, gold-
digging, and hasty sketches of savage and bush
lifo are bountifully scattered through the pages,
and will no doubt be welcome reading to those who
revel in the bold and wonderful.

Aldershot, And all About It. By Mrs. Young.
Author of " Our Camp in Turkey," &c. dm.
Routledge and Co., Farringdon-street.
Mrs. Young has entered with considerable spirit
into the doings and sayings at Aldershot. She gives
us lively sketches of public barracks. private
theatricals, Royal collations and regimental balls,
with some account of the surrounding country and
objects of interest. The illustrations by thq author
are very fairly executed ; and, altogether, the
book is very readable.

The Angler in the Lake District. By John Davy,
M.D., F.R.S. Longman and Co.
The disciples of Isaac Walton will find in this a
most attractive and charming work. The book is
full of sound piscatorial information, poetic ele-
gance, and entertaining matter. Those who would
possess a recherche volume on their favourite pur-
suit of " hunting for silver in a sapphire tide,"
cannot do better than secure Dr. Davy's produc-
tion, as its refined and classical tone recommends
it as much as its practical excellency.

A SELF-ELECTED PBOCTOE.—At the election of con.
vocation proctor at Norwich, on Tuesday, Rev.
Canon Hopper, who was returned by a majority of ones
voted for hinuelf.