The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-19 00:00:00

THE St.TN, LONDON, TUESOAY EVENING. FEBRUARY 19, 1861.

BLACKWALL RAILWAY COMPANY.

SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE.

The ordinary half-yearly meeting of the shareholders in
this company was held this day at the London Tavern,
Bishopsgate-street.
The minutes of the last meeting having been confirmed,
and the report, which has already appeared in The Sun,
taken as read, _ _

The CHAIRMAN briefly moved the adoption of the report.
He said the net profit for the six months amounted to
£35,298 10s. 2d. ; and after the payment of £7,589 13s. Bd.
for interest, there would remain a balance of £27,708165. 6d.
for distribution. It was consequently resolved to declare a
dividend at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum.
After some discussion, the report was agreed to.

THE FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT

WIMBLEDON.

The adjourned investigation into the circumstances con-
nected with the death of Dr. Baly, at Wimbledon, on the
28th ult., was resumed this morning at the White Hart
Tavern, -Wimbledon. The coroner commenced by reading
over a portion of the evidence given on Friday last by Mr.
J. seph Beattie, the locomotive superintendent of the South-
Western Railway, which related almost entirely to the mode
of fastening the tires on the wheels and the question of
break power required to a train going 30 miles an hour.
The coroner having concluded reading the former evidence
resumed the examination of Mr. Beattie, who said every
theory of the accident which had been presented was sur-
rounded with so many difficulties that he was completely
and entirely at a loss to assign it to any cause satisfactory
to himself.

(The inquiry was proceeding when we went to press.)

LAW INTELLIGENCE—( This Day.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.

(Peers Present—The Lord Chancellor, Lord St. Leonards,

Lord Cranworth, Lord Chelmsford, and other Peers.)
APPEAL-SA UNDEUS V. EVANS, ET AL.

This is an appeal from a decision of the Lords Justices
discharging an order of Vice-Chancellor Kindersley. The
contention is whether the testatrix, Ann Lewis or Evans,
validly executed the power of appointment contained in
her marriage settlement with john Evans on the 19th of
April, 1794, by deed or will in favour of her trustees. And
whether the trustees have tendered a good and valid title
to the purchaser of her property.
Mr. Green, Q.C., resumed, and concluded his arguments
for the appellants.
The Lord Chancellor, without calling on the Attorney-
General to reply, delivered judgment, affirming the decision
of the Lords Justices, declaring the deed valid, and dis-
missed the appeal with costs.
The other learned and noble lords entirely concurred.
APPEAL-EVINS V. ISI‘LOUGHLA.N.

This is an appeal from a decision of the Second Division
of the Court of Session in Scotland, and the question raised
is whether the Court of Session or the Court of Exchequer
have jurisdiction to take cognisance of a commitment for
breach of the Excise laws for smuggling. The Lord-
Advocate is now being heard fcr the appellant, and con.
tends that the Court of Exchequer only has jurisdiction in
such cases.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.
(Before Mr. Commissioner Evans.)

IN RE TUE SIIOREDITCII BANK-DAVIES AND TROUGIITON.

To-day was appointed for a dividend meeting in the
matter of the Shoreditch Bank. The various legal gentle-
men were engaged as upon previous occasions, and although
nothing decisive was determined upon, it was confidently
stated that ss. in the pound would be the dividend declared
in about tea days.

The announcement of the performance of Shakspeare's
tragedy of "King John," last evening, in which Mr.
Phelps, Mr. Edmund Phelps, and Mr. Hermann Vezin
would respectively represent the parts of the King, Philip
Falconbridge, and Hubert de Burgh, appeared to excite
much curiosity in the minds of the critical and, to an extent,
fastidious habitues of this theatre. The interest was created
more particularly by the latter two gentlemen, as it was
thought the character of the blunt and chivalrous
Falconbridge would afford Mr. Phelps, junior, an ex-
cellent opportunity of showing his qualities as an interpre-
tor of Shakspeare. In the parts he has already performed he
has acquired much success, although in some of them the
master-hand of the father was clearly visible; but nature
had endowed him with the natural qualities for the por-
trayal of Falconbridge, and that being so it was naturally
expected he would rely, in this instance, upon his own
unaided qualities as an actor for a successful result. With
respect to Mr. Vezin, the character of Hubert de Burgh
was looked upon as one that would afford him a
better and larger field for the development of
those great abilities which have rendered him a
favourite with the frequenters of the theatre. The
King John of Mr. Phelps is too well known and appre-
ciated to admit of any speculation as to his embodiment of
the part, all expected a great intellectual treat, and it is
needless to say their expectations were fulfilled to the very
letter. The fact of Mr. Phelps' King John being acknow-
ledged on all hands to be a great and finished perform.
ance, renders it unnecessary for us to remark further upon
it than to say it was marked by all those fine touches that
have already rendered it famous. With the Falconbridge
of Mr. Edmund Phelps we were highly pleased; it was a
performance that showed he had got "the stuff" in him,
and that at no distant day he would become a finished and
accomplished actor. Throughout the whole of the part
he wisely abstained, in order to draw down a round of ap-
plause, from appealing to the free and easy denizens
of the upper regions; all was given with the con-
ciseness of a true Shakesperian actor, and a suc-
cessful and highly satisfactory result was arrived at.
To Mr. Hermann Vezin, for his admirable
rendering of Hubert de Burgh, we must award our unquali-
fied praise. He brought out all the beauties of the charac-
ter to the full, without the slightest attendance of that
stagyness which always mars the performance of some of
our reputed great actors. His acting in the celebrated
scene of the tragedy which occurs within Northampton
Castle, where he is about to burn out the eyes of the
Prince, was of the highest order, and the applause was
both enthusiastic and unanimous. Space, of course, would
forbid us noting at length the scholarly taste and elegance
with which he repeated all the lines of " the great master
spirit," but as a specimen of passionate declamation we
don't remember ever to have heard the following lines more
finely given—

Stand back Lord Salisbury, stand back, I say,
By Heaven, I think, my sword's as sharp as yours :
I would not have you, lord, forget yourself,
Nor tempt the danger of my true defence ;
Lest I, by marking of your rage, forget
Your worth, your greatness, and nobility.
The acting of Miss E. Josephs as Prince Arthur in the
prison scene was pretty, natural, and unaffected, and a better
little prince wo have seldom seen. Miss Atkinson sustained
the part of Constance, but in this instance she was not as
successful as she usually is in the delineation of Shakespere's
female heroes.
The piece was put upon the stage with much elegance
and minuteness of detail, and will, no doubt, prove attrac-
tive every evening it is performed.